Sabotage

Late at night, Li Banfeng sat in the Fifth Chamber, watching a movie with the projector.

After editing, the storyline is more coherent, the characters are more fully developed, the frequent frame drops have been greatly improved, and the female lead in the film looks more and more realistic.

Li Banfeng praised, "To be able to conceive such a complete film from a story on paper, your skill has improved so much. It seems you've found a good teacher."

The projector, flashing its lens, said, "It's all thanks to Seventh Director's excellent guidance."

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "Don't flatter me, I can't accept that. In filmmaking, I'm not even a tenth of your skill. You really don't want to recommend that teacher to me?"

The projector replied firmly, "You mean that girl? That was just something I imagined."

Li Banfeng glanced at the projector.

The projector calmly said, "Seventh Director, my loyalty to you has never changed."

The projector might still have some grievances about what happened before, but he wouldn't deceive Li Banfeng because of it.

In his view, this woman was truly a figment of his imagination.

What exactly is this woman trying to do?

Regardless of her motives, Li Banfeng had instructed his Wife that she absolutely must not let this woman damage the projector.

As the movie drew to a close, Li Banfeng noticed a vase on the female lead's table that looked very familiar.

"This vase is—"

"Seventh Director, this vase belongs to our family. I'm borrowing it to use as a prop."

This is the lost vase that the glove mentioned.

What kind of technique is this?

"Seventh Director, the newspapers from Black Stone Slope are really good, they're almost like natural scripts."

Li Banfeng stood up and said, "I'll go buy some more."

Li Banfeng left the newspaper office and was about to go out to buy some newspapers when a rickshaw was parked at the door.

Rickshaws are not common in Black Stone Slope; people usually travel by Small Train.

The short, stocky Carriage Driver stood up and said, "Sir, where are you going? I'll take you—is that you?"

The Carriage Driver recognized Li Banfeng: "Young man, you've come to Black Stone Slope?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "Brother, what brings you here pulling a cart?"

"Business is good here, young man. You work at this newspaper? That makes sense. I told you before, finding a job isn't shameful, it's much better than risking your life. Do you know the manager of this newspaper?"

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "In a newspaper office, you don't usually call someone 'manager'."

"Yes, everyone here calls him 'Boss.' The Boss's name Li Qi, and I'm here to see him."

Li Banfeng nodded. "Then you've come to the right person."

The Carriage Driver looked Li Banfeng up and down, and seeing his suit, exclaimed in surprise, "You're Li Qi?"

Li Banfeng nodded slightly, and the Carriage Driver said with a happy face, "Brother, get in the car quickly, I'll take you away."

"Which way?"

"Let's go to Yellow Earth Bridge!"

"Shall we take this car?"

"This vehicle is faster than a train, brother, you have fiery wheels under your feet!"

Li Banfeng and Ma Wu took the train to Yellow Earth Bridge.

Upon exiting the Train Station and seeing the deserted streets, Li Banfeng sighed, "Business is tough here."

Ma Wu knew that business in Yellow Earth Bridge was tough, but he really wanted to give it a try. If Xindi could turn into Seven Autumn City, Yellow Earth Bridge might be saved too.

The rickshaw Carriage Driver waited at the intersection, waving to Li Banfeng from afar. "Brother, you've arrived! And who is this friend?"

Ma Wu introduced himself, and the Carriage Driver nodded and said, "So you're Brother Ma Wu. I've heard so much about you. Please, both of you, get in the carriage. I'll give you a ride around."

In the past, various Lineage also had contact with Local Earth God, but this was limited to the core members of the Lineage.

After getting to know Li Qi, Ma Wu met many Local Earth God. They usually treated each other like brothers, but today the Local Earth God wanted to pull the cart himself, so Ma Wu dared not ride in his cart.

"You're too kind, we can walk there."

The Carriage Driver was still displeased. "What, you look down on me? You think I'm a poor rickshaw puller?"

Ma Wu shook his head repeatedly and said, "I'm afraid you'll get tired."

"I'm the one who's going to get tired from taking you all the way. Let's get in the car quickly."

Li Banfeng and Ma Wu rode in a rickshaw, following the Carriage Driver around the town.

Yellow Earth Bridge is rich in coal and yellow clay. A Coal Sand River winds around the town, and there are more than a dozen bridges of various sizes in the town. Among them, the four largest bridges in the east, west, south, and north divide the entire town into four areas.

Not every part of Yellow Earth Bridge is sparsely populated. The East Bridge, West Bridge, and South Bridge are relatively desolate, while the North Bridge has a fairly large population, and you can occasionally see people setting up stalls to do business.

Ma Wu asked, "How do these people make a living?"

The Carriage Driver said, "There are several coal mines nearby. They work there, but they don't earn much money; they just barely make ends meet."

Ma Wu then asked, "Are all the coal mines in Yellow Earth Bridge under their control?"

The Carriage Driver shook his head and said, "How much mine do they own? Less than a tenth! If you want to get into the coal business, I'll take you there, and you two can have vast mines."

The Carriage Driver led the two of them West Bridge, out of the town, and to the edge of the Yellow Earth Bridge, where they finally saw the mine.

This place is indeed quite large. When Ma Wu saw the mine, it was like seeing a gold mine; his eyes lit up.

The Carriage Driver continued, "Look at this mine shaft, railway tracks, and mine carts—they're all ready-made—"

Whoosh!

The mine cart fell apart.

The Carriage Driver said somewhat awkwardly, "It's nothing serious, we can fix it and it'll still work."

Li Banfeng didn't understand coal mines, but Ma Wu was an expert.

"Seventh Brother, this brother didn't lie to us, this is a good mine."

Although most of the equipment here is broken, we can call our repairmen over to fix it up, and we should be able to reopen in less than two weeks.

Li Banfeng asked, "Why start with the coal mines?"

Ma Wu said, "Firstly, coal mines are profitable, and secondly, they require a lot of workers. Such a large mine can accommodate three to five thousand workers."

Once the workers arrived, their basic needs for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation had to be met, and business in the town gradually flourished, bringing life to Yellow Earth Bridge.

Ma Wu was full of confidence, while Li Banfeng was somewhat worried. "If the coal mining business is so simple, why doesn't anyone want to do it?"

Ma Wu shook his head and laughed, "This business isn't for just anyone. An ordinary person, even after emptying their pockets, can only afford to open a small coal mine."

Operating a mine requires a huge initial investment; we only dared to make this plan because we have the capital.

Li Qi and Ma Wu are indeed wealthy, but the Four Great Families are also quite wealthy. Why haven't they come to Yellow Earth Bridge to do business?

Li Banfeng recalled that Qiu Zhiheng once said that doing business in Yellow Earth Bridge was full of troubles.

Ma Wu also knew the inside story. "There are too few people in Yellow Earth Bridge. It is definitely not feasible to recruit workers from the local area. If we recruit workers from other places, we have to bear the costs of food, accommodation and travel. The operating costs are higher than in other places. In addition, I have also heard that the local businessmen in Yellow Earth Bridge are not easy to deal with and always trip up outsiders."

As he spoke, Ma Wu looked at the Carriage Driver.

The Carriage Driver waved his hand and said, "There's nothing to be afraid of. It's just a few small coal mines near North Bridge. Leave it to me. Anyone who dares to cause trouble, I'll send them on their way. Brothers, let's get to work!"

When Ma Wu wanted to do it, Li Banfeng first made a deal with the Carriage Driver: "The land around Yellow Earth Bridge, except for the land currently owned, will all belong to us for management in the future."

The Carriage Driver patted his chest and declared, "Any place that's already taken is yours. I'll take them all!"

Li Banfeng waved his hand and said, "We don't covet land that's already owned; this is legitimate business."

After both parties reached an agreement and signed a contract, with the Local Earth God's blessing, Ma Wu was confident and immediately took the train to Black Stone Slope to recruit workers.

Mining is tough, and they have to go to places like Yellow Earth Bridge. It's really hard to recruit people. Ma Wu raised the wages by 100%, but in three days he only managed to recruit a little over 200 people.

Two hundred or so people will do. Let's get the coal mine up and running first. Ma Wu is very optimistic. "Seventh Brother, the coal mine business is easy to do. Once it's up and running, we can just have our men keep an eye on it. I still have to go back to Seven Autumn City. That's our most important place."

Once the miners were in position, they went down into the mine to dig coal. Ma Wu, along with his maintenance crew, bought equipment and materials from outside and repaired the railway from the mine to the station.

This isn't Outer State railway; it's Small Train coal-carrying railway, so the construction isn't that sophisticated.

There are a few rotten parts, but they can be used after repair.

Once the railway was completed, the first batch of coal was mined, and Ma Wu arranged for people to contact buyers in Lushuicheng, thus securing the first deal.

The cost was slightly higher, but because Li Qi and Liao Zihui had an agreement that Li Qi would have a better deal on shipping, the business was still profitable.

Ma Wu was in high spirits as he watched the first truckload of coal leave the mine.

After leaving the mine, less than a mile away, the railway had a problem and the mine cart overturned.

It's understandable that such a dilapidated railway would experience some malfunctions; fortunately, there were no casualties.

Ma Wu ordered his men to investigate the cause and carried out emergency repairs overnight.

That very night, the railway was repaired, and all sixteen wagons of coal were stolen.

This is absurd, so absurd that even Ma Wu doesn't believe it. "Sixteen cartloads of coal, how could they have been stolen?"

Just watch him try to move it; he can't move it!

The train driver said, "I don't know what they used, but they unloaded the coal in the blink of an eye."

In the blink of an eye, they were all gone.

Ma Wu frowned and said, "This must be those people from North Bridge causing trouble, right?"

Li Banfeng didn't care about the sixteen truckloads of coal; what he cared about was the other party's methods.

The fact that they were able to move all sixteen truckloads of coal means they must have some powerful magic weapon.

Those who possess such advanced magical artifacts are certainly not ordinary people; it seems we have underestimated these coal mine owners.

The Carriage Driver was still trying to comfort him, saying, "Brother Ma Wu, this is my fault. I should have followed the train the whole time. I was too careless."

Ma Wu didn't complain. It's normal to have some setbacks when business has just started. He went to the station first. They were waiting to ship the goods that night, and he had to give them an explanation. They were also waiting to receive the goods in Green Water City, and he had to give them an explanation as well.

After handling the matter properly, Ma Wu went back to the mine to work on coal. Li Banfeng tightened his guard to prevent anyone from attacking the mine.

That very night, an accident did indeed occur at the mine, not in the mine shaft, but in the living quarters.

The workers' shed was burned down, and the workers had nowhere to stay for the night.

Ma Wu quickly led his men to put out the fire. When they returned, they found that the mine carts had been smashed, the steam drum of the Train Head had been punctured, and the connecting rods had been broken.

Little Chuanzi cursed, "These bastards, they always target vital spots!"

The air drum and connecting rod are special components; they are difficult to replace and repair.

What's worse is that this time the opponent made a move right under Li Banfeng's nose. Li Banfeng has the cultivation level of the eighth level in both cultivation, but he failed to detect the opponent's whereabouts.

Where did the Carriage Driver go?

He is Local Earth God and Cloud Above Cultivator. If even he didn't notice, then the other party must have a very powerful background!

Why would such a powerful opponent target a coal mine?

Chuanzi was arranging for people to repair the train when the foreman rushed over and said to Ma Wu in a panic, "The ledger is gone."

The foreman's ledger records the workload of each worker; if this ledger were lost, wages could not be calculated.

These were workers hired by Black Stone Slope, and they couldn't stand being treated like this, so they all went to Ma Wu to demand an explanation.

One of the workers got agitated and pushed Ma Wu.

Ma Wu didn't care, but he was very angry. "This is really weird. Is there some kind of 'spirit medium' here?"

I reckon their level is quite high!

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "This wasn't done by Sang Xiu."

He had fought against Sang Xiu in Medicine King Gully and was very familiar with him.

Ma Wu asked, "Which Daoist sect made this?"

"I can't tell which sect it belongs to, but I have a feeling that some ruthless person is causing trouble."

But if he's a ruthless person, why cause trouble? Why not just use force directly?

Li Banfeng was at a loss for words.

As he pondered, the Tang Blade trembled incessantly at Li Banfeng's waist.

P. S.: Tang Blade seems to have remembered something.