The Overlord of Puluo

Zhou Yujuan jolted awake. From the corridor came faint noises that sounded like a fight.

She was not mistaken. Du Hongxi's two men had fought briefly with Li Banfeng before dying.

She slipped into her robe and crept to the door. Her hand brushed the doorknob, but before she could turn it, she stopped and pulled her hand back.

Through the door, she heard someone breathing.

Is it Du Hongxi? No, it doesn't sound like him, Zhoui Yujuan thought.

The breathing was lighter than his and came from higher up, at a height that didn't match where Du Hongxi would normally be.

Knock, knock, knock!

The knocking began.

It's definitely not Du Hongxi! Du Hongxi would never knock on the door! Zhou Yujuan muttered inwardly.

Zhou Yujuan stepped back toward the bed and pulled a pair of scissors from the drawer beside her pillow. As a first-level Spycraft Cultivator, she was not skilled in combat, so she had spent a large sum of money on this special weapon.

The scissors measured more than twenty centimeters and were completely black except for a few dark red stains along the blades.

The knocking stopped. Zhou Yujuan held her breath and listened. The breathing outside the door continued.

Click!

The doorknob turned. The person outside the door was about to come in.

Creak! The door was pushed open.

Zhou Yujuan slashed her palm and threw the bloodstained scissors toward the doorway. The scissors extended to nearly a meter in length and snapped open. They cut clean through the neck of the person standing outside.

The attack was swift and precise. As long as the timing was right, even first- and second-level cultivators had no chance to dodge or defend.

Zhou Yujuan listened as the corridor fell silent. She crept to the door and picked up the severed head.

Who could it be? Could it be that idiot who caused trouble tonight? That fool really has no fear of death. He actually dared to come back for revenge!

It is too kind of me to just cut off his head. I should have let Old Du deal with him and torture him to death. He should be bound as a ghost servant, and then...

Zhou Yujuan examined the head for a long moment.

It's bald. It looks like Old Du's head, but how is that even possible? He was sleeping on my bed just moments ago. How could it be his head that fell?

Did I cut it off? No! Absolutely not!

"It's not me!" Zhou Yujuan cried out in panic.

"Don't be afraid. It's not you."

"Not me!"

"I know it's not you."

"It's really not me."

At the side, Li Banfeng spoke in a soothing tone. "Don't be scared. It wasn't you. It was me. He was already dead. I killed him."

Someone came in! Zhou Yujuan jolted fully awake and scrambled on all fours toward the spot where the scissors had fallen.

Li Banfeng snatched up the scissors first. "This thing is dangerous. I'll hold onto it for you. Now tell me where the money is."

"What money?" Zhou Yujuan asked, clearly confused.

Li Banfeng's eyes bulged as he glared at her. "My money! You took so much from me tonight. Did you already forget?"

Zhou Yujuan froze for a few seconds before it hit her. She finally remembered who the man was.

It's that idiot who caused trouble earlier. How is he back? Did he kill Old Du?

Zhou Yujuan met Li Banfeng's gentle smile and felt her mind go blank. She did not dare to think any further. "Of course not. I haven’t forgotten. I'll get it right away."

Tears streamed down her face as she turned and led him toward the counter on the first floor.

A mechanical cash register sat beneath the counter.

Click, click~ She entered the code with trembling fingers, the soft clicks of the keys breaking the silence. With a hard pull of the lever, the gears ground and the shafts turned until the drawer popped open.

Zhou Yujuan quickly grabbed two stacks of bills and held them out. "This is all your money, sir. Please, take it."

Li Banfeng gave the cash a quick glance and frowned. "How much is this?"

"It's two thousand." She had extorted two thousand from him earlier, and the wad of cash in her hand now was definitely even more than that.

"Do you think two thousand is enough?" Li Banfeng's tone matched the one Zhou Yujuan had used when she extorted him earlier.

"Not enough, not enough." Zhou Yujuan emptied the entire register and handed him all the cash.

Li Banfeng's tone didn't change. "Do you think this is enough?"

"N-no, it's not enough." Zhou Yujuan, knowing better than to argue, led him to the third floor and opened the safe.

Inside the cabinet sat more than three hundred thousand in cash. She packed the bills into a box and handed it to him. "All the cash is here. The rest is in the bank. I can take you there to withdraw it."

"Do you think it's suitable for me to go to the bank with you?" Li Banfeng wasn't about to follow her there. The moment he stepped outside with her, his life would probably be over.

With a surge of resolve, Zhou Yujuan pulled a key from a hidden compartment beneath the bed and opened a secret door behind the bookshelf.

Behind it was a narrow cabinet lined with gold bars, more than a dozen in total. "Sir, this is everything I've saved over the past ten years. It's all yours."

Li Banfeng frowned as he stared at the gold. "Is that all?"