Catching a Thief with the Stolen Goods

Li Banfeng, holding Feather Duster, searched around his Portable Abode.

It's not in the main room.

There was none in the second wife's household either.

When Li Banfeng arrived at the third room, he saw Tang Blade sleeping by the door, with several tattered cloths next to him.

Tang Blade was very clean and liked to wipe himself with a cloth when he had nothing to do. Li Banfeng glanced at the third room, then closed the door and left. A piece of "rag" next to Tang Blade moved silently.

This isn't a piece of cloth; it's a glove, its surface covered in mud and grease, making it barely noticeable.

It stretched out two fingers and slowly crawled on the ground, preparing to crawl into the storage box.

Li Banfeng suddenly pushed open the door, grabbed Feather Duster, and beat the gloves mercilessly.

The man in the gloves shouted, "Stop hitting him! Stop hitting him! You can't catch a thief red-handed! Without evidence, you can't just hit someone!"

He shouted as he ran towards the door, rushed into the main room, and was engulfed by steam, nearly scalded to death.

In desperation, the glove crawled toward the door of Portable Abode, but after struggling for a long time near the crack in the door, it could not squeeze through.

Unless Li Banfeng carries it with him, no one can freely enter and leave the Portable Abode. In despair, the gloves huddled together, crying out, "We can't fight anymore! If we really kill someone, you'll all be in legal trouble!"

Li Banfeng pointed at the gloves with Feather Duster and said, "Where's my wallet?"

"Who knows where your wallet went? What do I owe you? Do I watch over it for you every day?"

The gloves stubbornly refused to admit it.

But Li Banfeng did indeed do it.

Li Banfeng had always had doubts about the secrets behind the gloves.

It moves quickly, but it differs from the Travel Cultivator some ways, especially in its movement techniques, which are noticeably more unpredictable.

When dealing with danger, the Travel Cultivator relies on speed and adaptability, while the Gloves rely more on skill and insight. This reminded Li Banfeng of a sect he loathed: the Thief Cultivator.

Li Banfeng had suffered from unauthorized repairs in Green Water City, and the robbery he just encountered reminded him of that experience.

"You don't acknowledge it, do you? I'll have Ah Lian take care of you!" Li Banfeng picked up his gloves and headed to the Sixth Room.

The glove shouted, "In broad daylight, under the clear sky, how can you frame me like this? I really didn't take your wallet! I didn't take it; I just picked it up!"

Li Banfeng, holding his gloves, said, "You'd better explain yourself clearly: where did you find it?"

"I found it in your clothes."

"Isn't that stealing?" Li Banfeng swung Feather Duster and gave him another beating.

"I hate nothing but theft. A true man acts with integrity. If we're short of money, we should rob someone openly and honestly. Why do something as despicable as stealing?"

The glove's five fingers darted around wildly, managing to spit Li Banfeng's wallet out of its stomach. "Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! You need to catch a thief red-handed. Without any evidence, what right do you have to hit me?"

Li Banfeng continued slapping, "The wallet is right here, and you still say I have no evidence?"

The glove shouted, "I have something to say. I'm not after your few coins; I want you to see what I'm made of!"

"What's your quality?" Li Banfeng stopped.

The glove stood upright in front of Li Banfeng, its thumb and little finger forming legs, its index and ring fingers forming a clasp, and its middle finger forming the head. It swayed precariously, saying, "Your cultivation isn't low, and the magic weapon in your hand is quite impressive. Just look at that record player; it's clearly not an ordinary item..."

Li Banfeng slapped the gloves to the ground with a Feather Duster: "Speak properly, and don't give me the middle finger!"

Also, the record player is my wife, not some magical artifact. From now on, you have to call her "Madam."

He tucked the glove away from his middle finger, replacing it with his index finger, and wiggled it slightly before continuing, "Let's not talk about wives, let's talk about cultivation first."

Since your cultivation level is not low, you should know how superb my methods are. When I stole your wallet, you didn't notice at all. That's my true skill!

From now on, you can carry me with you. If you want to take anything from across the street, I can get it back for you.

Especially when facing a powerful enemy, I can take back what you can see, and I can also take back what you can't see.

"After just two rounds, you managed to retrieve the opponent's magical artifact. How could you possibly lose this battle? I have such excellent skills; locking me up in this room is a waste of my talent!"

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "It's not a waste of talent, at most it's a squandering of resources."

Gloves snorted coldly, not entirely satisfied with Li Banfeng's explanation.

Li Banfeng asked, "So, you're a thief cultivator, not Travel Cultivator?"

The index finger of the glove trembled slightly. "I don't like the term 'stealing cultivator.' I consider myself Travel Cultivator."

"Our gatekeepers also need to change locations frequently and move around a lot. Staying in one place for too long makes it easy to get caught. Isn't that the same as Travel Cultivator?"

"Bullshit!" Hong Ying roared. "You piece of trash, who the hell is like you? You damn thief, you deserve to die!"

The spear was so powerful that the man's gloves fell off, and he dropped to the ground, shouting, "You have no evidence, so why are you hitting me!"

Li Banfeng frowned. "Why did you say that again?"

Gloves got up from the ground, straightened his stance, and said, shaking his head, "I always said that when I got beaten up before, it's just a habit."

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "So, you're sincerely going to follow me?"

The glove nodded. "A good minister chooses his lord, and a good bird chooses its tree. I see that you are a good person, so you will be more than capable of charging into battle in the future."

"You said the same thing to Wu Decheng, right?"

Wu Decheng, an elder of the Qingshou Association, was the former owner of the gloves.

Because the gloves malfunctioned at the crucial moment, Lao Wu didn't even have a chance to fight back.

Gloves shook his head and said, "Old Wu's character is far worse than yours. My relationship with him was just a charade."

Li Banfeng nodded and smiled, "So you're truly sincere with me?"

"Of course!"

"All worldly treasures have a cost basis. Tell me, what cost basis do you need to use them?"

He tapped the table with his ring finger, adopting the air of a high-ranking negotiator. "Talking about capital is too formal. We get along so well, we should at least show some consideration."

I'll get you whatever you want, but afterwards I can take one thing from you.

Don't worry, it's probably nothing too valuable. You've gotten a good deal, so I shouldn't be left out. A little reward is only fair.

Li Banfeng brandished the Feather Duster and asked, "Could you explain yourself more clearly?"

"Let me give you an example. If you take me to war, I'll steal back a magical artifact for you, worth 100,000 silver dollars."

"I'll take 20,000 silver dollars from you later, that's not too much to ask, is it?"

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "That's not excessive."

The glove continued, "Sometimes what's taken isn't necessarily silver dollars; sometimes it could be something else entirely."

Gold, silver, gems, calligraphy and paintings, antiques—the price won't exceed what I steal. You definitely won't lose out!

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "Besides these things, there's probably something else, right? Do you occasionally need to take some magical treasures from me?"

"That's not necessarily true..." Gloves' voice was a little soft, but Li Banfeng had hit the nail on the head.

Li Banfeng then asked, "Does that mean sometimes they have to take something from me, like my heart, liver, arms, legs, or eyeballs?"

"Normally not..." the glove's voice trailed off.

Li Banfeng then asked, "If the price is right, are you going to take my life?"

The glove sighed, "How am I supposed to say that..."

Whoosh!

Li Banfeng poured some tea on the glove, which scalded it and hissed in pain, "Even if you catch a thief red-handed, you have to go to the authorities to handle the matter. You can't abuse your power!"

Li Banfeng said to the record player, "Wife, give him a good beating and teach him some manners in our household."

The glove tried to escape but was trapped by the Old Teapot's barrier. The Old Teapot earnestly advised, "Brother, you need to change your rules."

The glove shook its finger and said, "This rule cannot be changed; it's the foundation of our livelihood!"

"Brother, I thought the same thing at first, but I ended up being disciplined for several months. I've changed my mind. It's all the same result anyway, so why make yourself suffer?"

The glove scoffed, "People are different, and gloves and teapots are different too. I'm not that kind of spineless coward!"

Helpless, the teapot poured another pot of tea.

The Wife smiled and then sent over a puff of steam.

Half an hour later.

With all the fingers of the glove flat on the ground, only the index finger remained, struggling to stand upright. It stammered to Li Banfeng, "Master, what are your orders?"

Li Banfeng said, "You work for me, so it's only right that I give you some compensation. But you can't decide that. You take whatever I give you, understand?"

The glove nodded repeatedly. "I'll do whatever you tell me to do, boss. I'll listen to you from now on."

Li Banfeng said, "Words are no proof; let's draw up a contract!"

Normally, there should be a contract between a magical artifact and its owner. However, Li Banfeng trusted the magical artifacts under his command and did not require them to sign a contract.

But gloves are an exception; they are high-level items with many hidden meanings, and must be guarded against.

A contract is easy to write. The Wine Gourd had a contract written with Yao Lao. In just a few words, the agreement was made. The main point was that the magic weapon could not betray its master.

He carefully read the gloves twice, but it was unclear whether he could find any loopholes in them.

He picked up a pen from the table, about to sign, when Li Banfeng took the pen away and replaced it with ink. "Don't try to fool me with a fake name, give me your fingerprint!"

The gloves looked at the inkpad with obvious resistance. "This stuff is hard to wash off once it gets on your skin!"

"I have a way to wash you," Li Banfeng said with a smile. "Stop arguing and hurry up and press."

The record player was still worried and reminded Li Banfeng, "Husband, these gloves are too evil. It's best to keep them at home for a while. It won't be too late to take them out after you've been promoted to the sixth level."

My dear Wife, you have no idea, your husband is already way past the sixth level.

Your husband has eleven levels of cultivation, yet he can't even control a magic weapon?

At the Lu Family, Duan Shaohong was still wiping away tears in front of Duan Shaoxia, pleading, "Sister, please have pity on your sister and let me take Huaiyi away!"

Duan Shaoxia remained silent with a sullen face.

She was fed up with Duan Shaohong's nagging, and especially didn't want to see Duan Shaohong in front of "Zhang Huaiyi".

Monkey Qiu entered the main hall, Duan Shaoxia quickly changed the subject. "Little Qiu, has the date for the banquet been set yet?"

Duan Shaoxia also learned of Lu Maoxian injury, and she felt that now was the perfect opportunity to hold a banquet.

Qiu Zhiheng said, "Madam, we can discuss the banquet later. Miss Dongchun has arrived."

Duan Shaoxia was taken aback. "Lu Dongchun? What's she doing here?"

"I've come to discuss the old master's affairs with you."

Duan Shaoxia waved her hand and said, "I don't want to see her, she's disgusting!"

PS: Who is Lu Dongchun? Why is he so disliked by the madam?

Many thanks to the alliance leaders Xiyuzhou, Xueerfen, and 20170316211056786 for their strong support.

As an extra chapter for the Alliance Leader, please allow Salad a few more days to deliver it.