The Old Man, Don't Get Excited!

Guan Zhengzhang, Zou Maoqing, Cao Dayong.

The three people were in three separate rooms, where they were questioned by Li Banfeng, Changji, and Hong Ying respectively.

Li Banfeng, in the main room. "What's your rank in the Ferry Gang?"

Guan Zhengzhang replied, "I am the Towing Foreman of the boat trackers. The boat trackers don't usually go into the water, which means they don't do business. But if something happens, we have to find a way to pull the boat out."

Guan Zhengzhang, the Towing Foreman, was not of low status.

"Who has a higher social status, you or Du Wenming?"

The problem is obvious: the fact that Guan Zhengzhang dared not mention Du Wenming's name shows that Du Wenming's status was higher than Guan Zhengzhang's.

Li Banfeng asked this question to see how much Du Wenming restricted the members of the Ferry Gang. At Guan Zhengzhang's level, he should be able to reveal some inside information.

Surprisingly, Guan Zhengzhang dared not mention anything related to Du Wenming.

In every word he uttered, he couldn't use terms like "Director Du," "Boss Du," "Brother Du," or "that person's surname is Du." Guan Zhengzhang even dared not easily mention such words.

Li Banfeng asked, "Will bringing up these things cause an explosion on the spot?"

Guan Zhengzhang nodded, not daring to say anything more.

Li Banfeng took out the information Shen Jingye had given him. "You just said that those who pull the boats don't participate in business,

But as far as I know, some time ago, someone sent a batch of Ghost Servant from Pro State, which you sold through your hands.

Guan Zhengzhang lowered his head and said, "This is his order, and I have no choice."

"Who gave the order? Du Wenming?"

Guan Zhengzhang nodded repeatedly. "Recently, the sect needs money, and business on the Black Market is not good. Good Ghost Servant can't fetch a good price. There are quite a few deals that can only be made by me."

"When did the Ferry Gang start running out of money?"

"Everything was fine before the Ferry Gang existed. It was precisely because life was tough that the Ferry Gang came into being."

"What do you mean by that? You knew Du Wenming before the Ferry Gang even existed?"

Guan Zhengzhang lowered his head and said, "I am still from Snowflake Port. Snowflake Port formed the Ferry Gang with those foreigners because they were short of money."

Have you ever been to Pro State?

"I went, we went together." He only said half of the sentence because there was a name Guan Zhengzhang couldn't say. His full meaning was that he went with Du Wenming.

"How many residences does the person who went with you have in Yuezhou?"

Guan Zhengzhang lowered his head and remained silent.

Li Banfeng then asked, "Just tell me the most crucial point, and figure out a way to do it."

Guan Zhengzhang thought about it for a long time, but out of caution, he chose to remain silent.

Li Banfeng took out the Blood-Containing Pendulum: "If you won't listen to my advice, we'll have to find another way to communicate."

The record player was in the second room. He asked, "Were you drugged or subjected to some kind of spell? What method did Du Wenming use to cast the curse on you? Tell me the truth, and I might be able to help you break the Curse Art."

"We don't have any Curse Art on us," Zou Maoqing said, glancing at the record player, his tongue tumbling over his words.

The record player scalded Zou Maoqing with steam, leaving blisters. "I only asked you to talk about Curse Art, not to mention Du Wenming. Wouldn't it be better to leave yourself a way out?"

Despite the excruciating pain, Zou Maoqing shook his head repeatedly. "There really is no Curse Art, we, we don't—"

In the third room, Hong Ying stabbed Cao Dayong in the left shoulder with her sword. "You're going to die either way, don't you want to die a quick death?"

"Just tell me the truth: does Du Wenming still have a place to stay in Yuezhou? If he does, tell me the address. The more you tell, the faster the bomb will be blown up, and the quicker your death will be."

Cao Dayong didn't want to die, so he gritted his teeth and refused to say anything.

Hong Ying laughed and said, "I really admire your backbone. I'll take your bones out and see how much spirit is inside."

The three interrogated the suspects for two hours, uncovering nine hideouts and five records from the record player.

Li Banfeng and Hong Ying each asked two questions.

It wasn't that these three people were too tough to talk; it was that as long as they voluntarily revealed the location of their hideout,

It will explode.

The record player had interrogation skills, going around in circles dozens of times until Zou Maoqing revealed three more addresses. Li Banfeng compared the nine addresses together and found that four of them were duplicates, while the remaining five were all unique.

Three people were arrested to verify each other's statements and avoid being misled, but I never expected it to turn out like this.

Of these five hideouts, neither Hong Ying nor the record player were sure which one was valuable. Ever since sending Green Flower to Knife Ghost Ridge, Du Wenming had become the most troublesome opponent Li Banfeng had ever encountered.

With no other choice, Li Banfeng decided to try them all.

The first hideout was in a residential building, the closest to the city center, a house of about 50 square meters.

This area is clearly unsuitable for placing large equipment, Li Banfeng deduced that it should be used to store some key documents.

The apartment had one bedroom and one living room, and the layout was very compact. Upon entering, the gloves discovered several hidden compartments.

They're in the wardrobe, under the floor, and in the walls.

The hidden compartment was small and completely empty.

Li Banfeng arrived late; Du Wenming must have been to this hideout and moved everything away.

The second hideout was a warehouse in White Plain District.

Inside the warehouse, there was a storage room that Du Wenming had been renting for a long time. Upon entering the storage room, Li Banfeng found several boxes of wireless equipment. Most of these devices were still unopened, indicating that Du Wenming had just purchased them.

Having a love for science is nothing to be ashamed of, especially since this equipment was obtained through legal channels.

The gloves didn't contain anything valuable, meaning the equipment hadn't been modified and didn't contain anything like the Heaven Heart Stone.

Du Wenming hadn't had time to move the things out of the warehouse yet, and probably these things really weren't worth moving.

The third hideout was a basement.

This basement is located in an urban village. It used to be rented by someone, but Du Wenming later rented it out.

Upon entering the basement, although he didn't find any useful information, Li Banfeng figured out its purpose.

This is a conference room with a long table, leather chairs, white porcelain cups, and a thermos. Just seeing these things makes Li Banfeng feel sleepy.

The Ferry Gang probably holds meetings here often, but Du Wenming will definitely not be in the mood for meetings for some time to come, so this meeting room is basically useless.

The first three hideouts were of little value. Li Banfeng brushed the dust off his trousers and continued on his way.

Thankfully, I'm Travel Cultivator. If I were a Lazy Cultivator, I would be exhausted just thinking about the locations of the five hideouts, let alone personally visiting them.

The fourth hideout was a fishpond.

Du Wenming leased a fishpond and hired a worker to raise fish there.

According to regulations, Du Wenming's position strictly prohibits commercial activities. Is raising fish a violation of regulations?

No, according to the workers at the fishpond, Du Wenming never sells the fish; he raises them just for fun.

Even if this was against the rules, Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered to care. He was interested in the fishpond because the gloves sensed something good.

When the workers finished their shift that evening, Li Ban sneaked into the fishpond and, based on the glove's markings, dug out something very valuable from the silt at the bottom of the pond.

This valuable thing is money.

The eight million yuan in cash was sealed in a waterproof bag and buried at the bottom of the pond. This money was for emergency use, and Du Wenming didn't have time to take it with him.

"A'Tao, we've been running around all day, and this is all the money we've earned?"

"Keep it; it's better than nothing. There's still another place, isn't there?"

The last hideout was in a factory in the far suburbs.

The factory produced cement boards. When Li Banfeng arrived, the workers had already left. He walked around the factory but found nothing. He couldn't even figure out what the factory was for.

Something sensed something and Beggar Bowl.

There is Dark Dimension Space here.

Behind the factory, Li Banfeng found the location of the Dark Dimension Space. He turned the spoon in the bowl and opened the entrance to the Dark Dimension Space.

This is the most enclosed type of Dark Dimension Space; those outside cannot see inside, and those inside cannot see outside, completely isolated from each other.

Upon entering the space, Li Banfeng used the light from the projector to see the entire space.

Spectrometer, resonator, interferometer—

For a moment, he wondered if he had come to the wrong place; he felt like he was back in Yu Yaoming's laboratory.

The equipment layout here is almost exactly the same as that in a laboratory.

We've finally found the core hideout— Du Wenming's own laboratory!

But where does this laboratory get its electricity?

As far as Li Banfeng knew, several pieces of equipment in this laboratory consumed an astonishing amount of electricity.

"A'Tao, is there anything valuable here?"

"Yes, it seems quite valuable!" A'Tao was estimating the price, but couldn't give a specific amount right away.

"Are all the good stuff in these machines?" Li Banfeng thought the situation was exactly the same as the previous laboratory.

The glove shook its index finger. "There's nothing in the machines. These machines are similar to the ones in the lab, but there's nothing good inside."

The key components may have been removed, or they may not have been installed.

It's a good thing it wasn't installed; it proves that Du Wenming hasn't come back yet. If it had been taken away, then this place would have been a waste of time.

After passing through various experimental equipment, Li Banfeng first saw a wall, and then a door.

There are walls and doors?

Du Wenming renovated this Dark Dimension Space.

The cement wall was almost dust-free, proving that he had been there not long ago and was diligent in cleaning. What was on the other side of the door?

It took Gloves ten minutes to unlock the door and push open the heavy iron door. Li Banfeng saw a deep corridor with identical iron doors on both sides.

The glove opened the first iron door, behind which were two rows of iron cabinets. Each cabinet was about the size of a trash can at the elevator entrance, and each cabinet had a screen on top displaying various parameters.

To the untrained eye, this might be mistaken for advanced experimental equipment. Li Banfeng had seen this before during his university days; it was a DC battery pack, the power source for the laboratory.

Judging from the parameters, all the batteries in these batteries were completely depleted, which is likely because Du Wenming exhausted the stored power before he left.

Leaving the battery room, the glove opened the next room, which was the power distribution room.

Moving on to the next room, Li Banfeng entered the bedroom, where there was a bed with bedding still on it.

This should be Du Wenming's residence.

The projector suddenly spoke, "My friends are here."

Following the light, Li Banfeng saw a ceiling light on the bedroom ceiling, next to which was a camera.

The projector and camera stared at each other for a moment, then the projector said to Li Banfeng, "My friend said that a middle-aged man used to live here, and last night, he was taken away."

"Who took them away?"

He said he was the owner of this place.

The owner of this place is Du Wenming, but who lives here?

"Could I see what that middle-aged man looks like?"

The projector and camera communicated for a moment. "Seventh Director, the camera has lost power and cannot display any images."

Even without showing the images, Li Banfeng could roughly guess that Yu Yaoming originally lived here, and Du Wenming imprisoned him here.

After the battle in the laboratory, Du Wenming realized the situation was dire and took Yu Yaoming away.

Aside from Yu Yaoming, based on normal circumstances, Du Wenming would likely take away anything of value.

Since you took everything with you, why did you say there were valuables in the gloves?

Li Banfeng returned to the corridor and checked each room one by one.

He saw the warehouse, toilets, server room, and bathroom.

There is also a spacious dance studio with mirrors on the walls, a dance floor, and various lights on the ceiling.

With almost complete isolation from the outside world, Li Banfeng found it hard to imagine how Du Wenming had completed such a large project.

He definitely didn't do it himself; there must have been a technician who helped him, and a very high-level one at that, most likely a member of Snowflake Port.

It was precisely because of this repairman that Du Wenming was able to be dressed up exactly like a puppet.

There was a cabinet in the dance studio that wasn't locked, and it contained a lot of dance textbooks.

From a purely value perspective, these teaching materials are certainly not precious, but for Dance Cultivator...

These might be equivalent to his martial arts manuals.

Li Banfeng did indeed notice one of the teaching materials, which explained the String Puppet Dance.

There really is such a dance.

Li Banfeng put these dance textbooks away, hoping to find a way to deal with Du Wenming inside.

Next to the dance studio was the archives room, which was completely empty, with nothing left behind.

Li Banfeng had given up all hope for this hideout. When he reached the end of the corridor, he saw the last iron door.

The man with gloves looked at the lock. "Honey, this lock is hard to open. You'll have to wait a while."

The lock was unremarkable, with no discernible features. Gloves spent half an hour trying to open it, but still couldn't.

He said there were valuable things behind the iron gate. What exactly were they? Why did Du Wenming leave them there?

"Bro, don't open the door, I'll just walk through the wall."

"Honey, don't be reckless. You don't know what's going on on the other side of the wall."

"Then I'll clear a path first."

"Honey, this is someone else's land, especially some unknown territory. We'd better be careful. If you open a road and the whole house collapses, we'll suffer a huge loss!"

Click~

After waiting for ten minutes, the door lock finally opened.

Li Banfeng carefully opened the door, maximizing his techniques for Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity and seeking good fortune as he carefully sensed the danger on the other side.

The space outside the door seemed to be much larger than the space inside.

There was indeed danger on the other side of the door, but it was within a controllable range. When Li Banfeng fully opened the door, he saw the two treasures and understood why Du Wenming hadn't taken them with him.

These two treasures are too big.

Two spheres, each over ten meters in diameter, floated in the space outside the door, slowly rotating.

They rotate on their own and orbit each other, as if they were two planets drifting in the universe.

Li Banfeng couldn't tell what the two spheres were made of; they looked like stones, but they still shimmered with a metallic sheen.

It wasn't a reflection; rather, the two spheres themselves shimmered with a faint light, with wisps of light appearing like layers of veins slowly gliding across their surfaces.

"This is the treasure you were talking about?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Come, let's bring him into the Portable Abode."

"It won't fit! Our house isn't that big!"

Just as the gloves finished speaking, Li Banfeng suddenly heard a rapid whistle.

Woo, woo!

The old man is awake?

I was in such a hurry right after waking up.

The glove added a reminder: "Honey, we don't need to get our hands on the good stuff. The old man's hands are quick."

"His hands are big too. If you walk a little further, I reckon the old man could collect them himself."

Li Banfeng took two steps toward the two spheres, and the spheres, like magnets, attracted Li Banfeng toward them.

Where does this force come from?

Even if those two balls were really magnets, Li Banfeng isn't made of iron, so why was he attracted to them?

Using his own strength to resist the force of the sphere, he carefully took two steps toward the sphere. When he was about three meters away from the sphere, Li Banfeng stopped.

We can't get any closer; if we do, we might not be able to come back.

If this were an Earth Skin Cultivator, they would already be sucked onto the sphere.

The glove noticed something stuck to the sphere; it was quite valuable and likely made of gold.

It flew towards the sphere, its body about to lose control.

Li Banfeng grabbed the glove and, with great effort, dragged it back.

Where are you going?

"Master, I've got something good. Take a look—"

Before the gloves could even display the treasure, the two spheres suddenly shrank and then disappeared.

The space became empty and pitch black, Li Banfeng heard a long, drawn-out whistle.

Ugh~

A few laughs were mixed in with the sound of the steam whistle.

Hahaha!

The glove shook its index finger and said to Li Banfeng, "The old man has succeeded, so we can't go back empty-handed. This is what we just found, sir. Take a look; it's pure gold."

Li Banfeng took a piece of gold from his glove; judging from its shape and size, it looked like a leaf.

Gold leaf?

No, it's not a leaf; it has a pattern on it, it's a tree.

There are patterns on the tree trunk, which look like two eyes.

What kind of tree has eyes?

Birch!

This is a badge, likely the Birch Hermit Association Badge.

Why is this badge on the sphere?

Li Banfeng left the Dark Dimension Space, walked out of the factory, found a patch of grass nearby, hid the key, and entered the Portable Abode.

"Grandpa, you're awake?"

"Yes, I'm awake!" Portable Abode replied cheerfully.

Li Banfeng asked, "What treasure did you just encounter that made you so happy?"

"Two whole Heaven Heart Stone!"

"Was that the Heaven Heart Stone?" This was completely different from the Heaven Heart Stone that Li Banfeng had imagined.

"That's right, those are two complete Heaven Heart Stone, completely intact!"

"Didn't those parts I brought back before also contain Heaven Heart Stone?"

"Those are just rubble, nowhere near as good. Back then, Chu Shaoqiang was able to send Knife Ghost Ridge to Sage Peak."

They used this kind of complete Heaven Heart Stone.

Li Banfeng recalled the appearance of the two spheres, "These things are too big."

The old man sighed, "Thank goodness there were two pieces; it would have been troublesome if there had only been one."

The glove chuckled, "Old man, you're too greedy. Even just one piece would be a huge profit, wouldn't it?"

"It's not about making more or less money. With two Heaven Heart Stones, the suction forces cancel each other out, so you can still stand next to the Heaven Heart Stone. But if there's only one, you'll definitely be sucked onto the stone, and it won't be easy to get you out of there."

"Sticked to the rock?" Li Banfeng was confused.

The record player understood a bit. "The suction the old man mentioned should be the same as the gravity that Outer State talk about."

"Can the gravitational pull between two spheres be that strong?" According to the formula for gravity, gravity is related to mass and distance.

How dense must these two spheres be to generate such a strong gravitational pull?

With so much information, Li Banfeng needed to sort out his thoughts. After thinking for more than half an hour, Li Banfeng finally understood the whole process of the incident.

After abducting Yu Yaoming, Du Wenming settled him in this hideout and rearranged the laboratory according to Yu Yaoming's requirements.

The key components in the laboratory were missing because they were mixed with Heaven Heart Stone. Since the material was not easy to obtain, Du Wenming chose to steal it from Yu Yaoming's laboratory.

Wrong.

He has two complete pieces of Heaven Heart Stone. Why not use them to make the parts directly?

Making the parts would take a long time, but stealing parts from the lab would be very risky.

In fact, Du Wenming's operation had failed; he was unable to steal the parts from the laboratory.

Instead, he was injured and put in a very unfavorable situation, with his identity at risk of being exposed at any moment.

The only reasonable explanation for why he didn't use the Heaven Heart Stone from the Dark Dimension Space as a material for manufacturing parts is that these two complete Heaven Heart Stone were too expensive.

Moreover, these two Heaven Heart Stones have other uses; since they can move Knife Ghost Ridge, they can certainly make this Dark Dimension Space move as well.

The clues have connected.

Du Wenming tried to use the Heaven Heart Stone to move the hideout, but he failed, and the birch tree badge on his body was absorbed by the Heaven Heart Stone.

Why did he fail?

"Only a craftsman can use the Heaven Heart Stone to move a piece of land, right?"

The old man thought for a moment and said, "Cultivators from other Daoist sects can also try, but unless their cultivation level is ridiculously high, they may not succeed even after trying a thousand or a hundred times."

Du Wenming tried, but obviously it didn't work.

So what is he doing now?

He's from Snowflake Port and also a member of the Birch Hermit Association; he should be looking for help now.

A helper who can move the laboratory.

In an office building that was still under construction, Du Wenming stood at the top of the stairs on the 28th floor, watching a man on the stairs.

The man, holding calipers and with a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his mouth, kept a half-floor distance from Du Wenming and asked, "What do you want?"

Du Wenming said, "There's something I need your help with, it's about my experimental base. I'd like to—"

Before he could finish speaking, the man waved his hand and said, "I don't remember you having any experimental bases. We can talk about it later."

Du Wenming climbed two steps. "My current situation is extremely dangerous, there's no time..."

The man gestured for him to stop immediately and not go any further. "I know you're in danger, so it's best if you don't come looking for me for a while."

Du Wenming stretched his toes on the stairs. "Is it appropriate for you to talk to me like that?"

The man rubbed the calipers in his hand. "I'm not from the Ferry Gang, nor am I from Snowflake Port. I think it's fine for me to talk to you."

Du Wenming smiled and said, "I just want to use our friendship to gain your trust and help."

The man shook his head. "I don't trust you. I've heard rumors that you're silencing people everywhere; three people have already gone missing."

If I went to your lab, I'm afraid I wouldn't come back alive.

"I don't know where you heard this rumor. I didn't kill anyone. I haven't killed anyone in the past two days." Du Wenming took two more steps up.

Bang!

Two floor tiles protruded from the stairs, trapping Du Wenming's right foot.

The man warned again, "Don't go any higher. Didn't I already tell you? I don't trust you."

I can assure you I won't report you. You'd better get out of here right now.

Du Wenming's face darkened. "What if you don't leave?"

The man closed the two clips of the calipers together. "You really want to hit me here?"

Du Wenming remained silent for a moment, then abandoned his plan to use force.

He wasn't afraid of the repairman, but the office building was in the city center, and if something happened, Du Wenming wouldn't be able to get away easily.

Du Wenming left with Yu Yaoming, and the man breathed a sigh of relief. He carefully checked all the mechanisms in the building, fearing that Du Wenming might come back.

Upon reaching the eighth floor, the man suddenly heard footsteps.

He turned around abruptly, the calipers spinning rapidly in his hand.

Footsteps approached, but it wasn't Du Wenming who came; it was a middle-aged man, thin with a square face, thick eyebrows, big eyes, a clean chin, and a mustache on his upper lip.

The man, relieved, wiped the sweat from his brow and asked, "Boss Lu, what brings you here?"

Boss Lu carried a book. "The book you ordered from my store has arrived, and I've brought it to you."

Walking down the street, Yu Yaoming's stomach kept growling. "At least ask your friends for some money; we don't even have money for food!"

Du Wenming sneered, "Didn't you see his attitude just now? Asking him for money in this situation, don't you have any dignity?"

Yu Yaoming shook his head and said, "We don't even have a single copper coin, we can't even afford a bowl of noodles, what are you talking about dignity for?"

"I have plenty of money, I just don't want to risk taking it. I'll take you now, and you can take as much as you want."

Du Wenming led Yu Yaoming to the fishpond. "Can you swim?"

Yu Yaoming shook his head.

"Then wait on the shore, and whatever you do, don't wander off."

Du Wenming went into the water himself, and after a short while, he walked out of the fishpond covered in mud.

"Where's the money?"

Du Wenming caught two fish from the pond. "The money is gone, but we still have fish to eat."

Back at his residence, Li Banfeng lay on the sofa, quietly looking at the calendar.

By tomorrow night, the Coloring Agent will have faded, and Du Wenming can go back to work.

He has a lot to explain, but he can definitely explain it all. He lost two Heaven Heart Stones, so he must be heartbroken. After he's heartbroken, he'll still have to fight me to the death.

Having fought so many times, a few more rounds wouldn't hurt, but the fact that he could escape unscathed after being pushed to this point made Li Banfeng very dissatisfied.

At the very least, we can't let him take back his position, and we can't let him use his official status to target us again. We still have one day left, what can we do?

The phone rang; it was Tang Changfa.

"Shopkeeper, those foreigners are here again. They seem suspicious and don't look like they're here to do business. It looks like they're here to cause trouble again."

Is causing trouble on the Black Market another trap?

Li Banfeng looked at the golden badge and pondered for a moment.

They've set so many traps, should I play along and fall for it this time?

P. S.: These two intact Heaven Heart Stone are going to be of great use!