Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'

When you're hungry, just eat.

Suddenly, the Judge's Pen uttered this phrase and then fell silent.

The Fortune Teller didn't possess the Insightful Spirit Sound Technique, so he couldn't hear the voice of the Judge's Pen, but he perceived a slight change in the atmosphere of the room.

It seemed as though there were more dewdrops on the mouth of the Phonograph.

"I can't eat, I can't eat," the Phonograph murmured softly, "I still need this old thing to lead my husband out of the city."

The wife wasn't desperate for this meal and immediately dismissed the thought.

But Li Banfeng hadn't dismissed it. "Wife, eat him!" he urged.

"Husband, this person... we can't eat him yet," she replied.

"Hurry up and eat him," urged Ban Feng.

"If I eat him now, how can my husband..." she hesitated.

Li Banfeng looked at the Phonograph and said, "Aren't you listening to me?"

The Phonograph pondered for a moment, and clouds of mist rose from its mouth.

The Fortune Teller was greatly alarmed. "What are you doing? Young man, don't you want to leave? Do you want to be trapped in this city for the rest of your life? I'll take you out, I know the way out, I can take you..."

BANG!

Li Banfeng kicked the Fortune Teller, who staggered and came closer to the Phonograph.

A whirlwind rose from the Big Horn, and the wife swallowed the Fortune Teller's Soul; there was no intact corpse left on the ground, only scattered pieces of flesh and blood.

Li Banfeng looked at Red Lotus, saying, "Eat up!"

Red Lotus glanced at the flesh and blood on the ground but didn't take a bite.

She was unwilling to consume mundane things.

But the corpse of a Cultivator was not a mundane thing.

Wasn't this flesh and blood a part of the Fortune Teller?

What was the point of this flesh and blood then?

Was it merely for deception, to make this Fortune Teller seem more human?

There was no need for that.

Li Banfeng could tell he was a ghost because he possessed the Golden Gaze Autumn Hair Technique. Ordinary people who entered Fool's City would see them all as normal humans and couldn't tell he was a Lost Soul.

The purpose of the flesh and blood was secondary; the source of it was what needed consideration first.

If this flesh and blood wasn't a part of the Fortune Teller, then it probably wasn't grown by him either; he must have obtained it from somewhere else.

At this thought, Li Banfeng felt a chill down his spine.

The inn's people had been chasing him, and the fortune-telling man had also been following Li Banfeng; their likely aim being his very own flesh and blood.

If not for Li Banfeng's habit of residing within his Portable Residence, he would have certainly perished at the inn; the Shopkeeper was a Fourth Layer Foolish Cultivation, certainly much harder to deal with than this Fortune Teller.

There were quite a few Foolish Cultivations in the city, so why hadn't they made a move on me?

That ointment seller, those onlookers, that auntie who gave me directions...

That auntie!

She didn't give me directions.

She invited me into her house to drink water.

If I had entered her house, would she have made her move?

Just as entering the inn was akin to entering the Shopkeeper's house, which gave him the right to kill me.

The others couldn't kill me simply because I hadn't entered their homes.

Is this the rule in Fool's City?

But why did the fortune teller want to kill me?

Had I entered his house?

I had.

The desolate house was his abode.

This fortune teller was incredibly deceitful; he truly lured me into his house.

Li Banfeng hugged the Phonograph and kissed the Big Horn. "Wife, I've figured it all out. Don't you think I've become much smarter?"

Not only had Li Banfeng become much clearer-headed, but even the wife was much more lucid.

SIZZLE.

"Oh dear husband, did Little Servant also fall for his Technique?" asked the wife.

The Portable Residence fell silent. After a few seconds, the wife roared, and smoke billowed from all three horns, "A Second Layer Cultivator managing to trick me with his Technique! What in the world kind of sense does that make?"

Red Lotus didn't mock the Phonograph; just a moment ago, even her own thoughts had been in disarray.

The Foolish Cultivation Techniques were too powerful.

Li Banfeng sat at the edge of the bed, lost in thought for a long while. He then formulated a simple and crude plan.

"Wife," he said, "later I'll push out another Phonograph, play some music, and lure in the Lost Souls. I'll let in one, then shut the door, and hand them over to you for interrogation until we find out how to leave the city."

"Husband, it's easy to get information, but hard to discern truth from lies," she pointed out.

"No need to differentiate," he explained. "I'll just catch another one, and you can interrogate them again. If the two statements match, that means they've told the truth."

SIZZLE.

The wife expelled a puff of Steam, saying, "That does sound like a plan."

Li Banfeng wheeled out the Windmill Phonograph from the Third Room. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard Meng De say, "Sir, it's time for you to sleep."

"Sleep? Are you trying to put me into a dream again?" he questioned.

Meng De said modestly, almost shyly, "I also exerted effort in the recent battle."

Li Banfeng retorted angrily, "What effort did you exert? You cursed 'lack of integrity' once, and it ended up trapping me. Does that count as helping?"

Meng De hung his head, looking wronged. "It was an unintentional mistake."

Seeing Li Banfeng was very irate, the Phonograph intervened, "Husband, have something to eat and rest for the night. You're also worn out."

Li Banfeng ate two cans of food and, to the melodious singing of Meng De, fell asleep on the bed.

The Phonograph, addressing the Month Plate, said, "There will be more battles tomorrow. Don't let him have nightmares! You didn't put in much effort today, but I won't punish you this time. If it happens again, I won't go easy on you."

Meng De quickly bowed in gratitude. "Thank you, Madam Xie, for your leniency."

The Judge's Pen humphed. "It's still too much."

The Phonograph let out a gust of Steam, scorching the Judge's Pen red, asking, "What exactly is too much?"

HUMPH!

The scalding was indeed painful, but the Judge's Pen was too lazy to dodge and remained lying there.

「That night, Li Banfeng arrived at Iron Sheep Mountain.」

Rong Yeguang of Big Dipper was not around, leaving just Lu Xiaolan to guard the mountain gate.

Using the Portable Residence, Li Banfeng sneaked into the stronghold, killed Lu Xiaolan, and stole one hundred thousand Ocean Dollars. He then set the entire stronghold ablaze!

HAHAHAHA! Li Banfeng stood at the center of the stronghold, laughing uproariously.