New Ground

Before discussing business, Private Detective Dabo Ensi asked one question, "Madam, with your status and position, you have plenty of capable people to do things for you. You don't need to ask me to handle these three matters."

Zhuo Yuling was silent for a moment before replying, "I don't want others to know about the latter two things, especially not the Lu Family."

Dabo Ensi chuckled, "The land reclamation was done for the Lu Family, but that's just a cover. The real work of saving and killing people was done for you, Madam?"

Zhuo Yuling frowned slightly. "I remember you weren't so talkative before. Hurry up and tell me the price."

After a moment's consideration, Dabo Ensi's set a price for the three things Zhuo Yuling had proposed:

"The first thing is to clear the land. There's a market price for that. The piece of land you want will cost three thousand silver dollars, no need to say more."

Zhuo Yuling nodded and agreed.

Dabo Ensi continued, "The second thing is finding people. This is very difficult, harder than finding a needle in a haystack."

A needle dropped into the ocean won't just drift away on its own, but your daughter is currently on the run from the He Family. Finding her won't be so easy.

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Yuling was displeased, but she didn't show it on her face. "Who told you that the He Family wanted to kill my daughter? What did my daughter do to offend the He Family?"

Dabo Ensi laughed and said, "Madam, nothing stays hidden forever. This news didn't come from me, so you don't need to get angry with me. I just wanted to tell you that this is not a good thing to do."

Zhuo Yuling extinguished her cigarette and didn't dwell on the topic any further. "Just name your price, no need for any other nonsense."

Dabo Ensi held up one finger. "Ten thousand dollars."

Zhuo Yuling asked, "Is there a guarantee the deal will succeed?"

Dabo Ensi shook his head and said, "I can't guarantee a success, but if I can't find the person, I won't charge you."

Zhuo Yuling nodded. "Okay, we'll go with the price you said."

"The third thing is to kill someone, kill this Li Banfeng, preferably alive..." Dabo Ensi thought for a moment, "Live, 20,000 silver dollars; dead, 10,000 silver dollars."

Zhuo Yuling picked up her teacup, took a sip, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Ten thousand silver dollars for killing a scoundrel? Do you think that's reasonable?"

She wanted to say that Li Banfeng's worthless life could not be compared to Lu Xiaolan's.

But he didn't say it aloud.

She wouldn't compare Li Banfeng to her daughter.

In fact, according to the price Dabo Ensi offered for capturing her alive, Li Banfeng was worth more than her daughter.

Dabo Ensi flipped through the intelligence about Li Banfeng and said to Zhuo Yuling, "I don't know Li Banfeng's background, and your intelligence is inaccurate, which means I have to take a big risk."

"Why do you say the intelligence is inaccurate?" Zhuo Yuling frowned slightly.

Dabo Ensi was very patient. "Madam, your intelligence says that Li Banfeng has no cultivation, but as far as I know, he is a cultivator who has reached a certain level."

"A cultivator?" Zhuo Yuling didn't believe Dabo Ensi. "How do you know he's a cultivator?"

Dabo Ensi laughed and said, "Would you believe me if I said I just saw him?"

"Have you seen him?" Zhuo Yuling smiled and shook her head.

She naturally wouldn't believe such a thing.

Dabo Ensi did not know Li Banfeng at all, let alone have any contact with Li Banfeng.

Keda Dabo Ensi believed that the person he had just met on the road was Li Banfeng, the flamboyantly dressed man.

"You're asking for too much," Zhuo Yuling said, lighting another cigarette and shaking her head. "Li Banfeng isn't worth that much money."

"I don't care how much he's worth, but I'm worth this price." Dabo Ensi adjusted his sunglasses.

Zhuo Yuling tried her best to control her emotions, maintaining a gentle and lazy smile as she said, "Da Binzi, I called you here because I thought of our past acquaintance. Don't be ungrateful."

"Thank you for your kind words, Madam," Dabo Ensi said, removing his hat and bowing again. He then lowered his voice and said, "I call you 'Madam' out of respect. Little Lingzi, you're a wealthy lady now, how can you still be so petty?"

Zhuo Yuling's eyes twitched, a cold glint in them. "Spider Bin, watch your words."

Dabo Ensi smiled and said, "Gecko Ling, you should know your limits. If you can afford it, I'll do things for you. If you can't, find someone else."

Zhuo Yuling's expression changed; her laziness and indifference vanished, replaced by an undisguised rage.

Dabo Ensi put on his top hat, still wearing a very gentlemanly smile.

Li Banfeng sat in the gatehouse of Yu Family Stronghold, chatting idly with Old Zhu, the gatekeeper.

Li Banfeng said he was Yu Nan's friend, Old Zhu believed him without a doubt.

"Boss Li, you look like a friend of our young manager. She likes to wear men's clothes, just like you."

Wearing men's clothes?

I am a man!

What's wrong with this old man...?

Li Banfeng touched his face and felt a smooth sensation.

What is this?

Blush?

Li Banfeng suddenly realized why the spider in the canyon called him "madam"—that bitch with blood had put heavy makeup on his face.

When did she make the move? How come I didn't notice?

"Mr. Zhu, could you please fetch me a basin of water so I can wash my face?"

Old Zhu is a long-term worker in Yu Nan's family. He entered the Yu family at the age of seventeen and has been working there ever since.

Now that he's old and can no longer work as a farmhand, Yu Nan didn't fire Old Zhu. Instead, she gave him two rooms in the new place and asked him to help guard Yu Family Stronghold.

The so-called Yu Family Stronghold consists of two rows of wooden houses, with about seven or eight rooms in each row.

These two rows of wooden houses are quite unique. They are surrounded by a vast, dark forest, and only the area where the wooden houses are located is bright.

Li Banfeng looked up at the sky and noticed a halo of light in the night sky, which was projected precisely onto the Yu family's residence.

Where does this light source come from?

Upon landing, there was no excessive dispersion. According to Li Banfeng's understanding, there should have been a light source with excellent performance and high precision in the high altitude.

But Old Zhu's understanding was different.

"The new land originally had no sunlight; only after it was cleared did sunlight begin to shine in."

"Dawn!" Li Banfeng tensed up, remembering the dawn he had once shone upon.

Old Zhu waved his hands repeatedly and said, "It's not that kind of daylight; this is the light that should be there during the day."

Li Banfeng asked, "Was this place originally pitch black too?"

"That's for sure," Old Zhu sighed softly. "It's not easy for the young manager to run the cloth shop all by himself. He's saved up over a thousand silver dollars, and he's spent it all on this new piece of land."

Li Banfeng was even more confused. "This land was bought?"

"Buy? Where can we buy it?" Old Zhu gave a bitter smile. "The young manager hired six people to clear the land, paying each of them two hundred silver dollars. Five of the six died before they could clear this piece of land."

"Six people died, five of them? Can farming kill people?" Li Banfeng was stunned.

Old Zhu explained, "Clearing wasteland isn't about farming. It means staying in the wasteland for three days. The host family first makes offerings and establishes an alliance, and then sends people in to clear the wasteland."

The settlers go in at a certain time today and come out three days later. As long as the land shows signs of light, and the homeowner leaves a mark with blood, the land is considered cleared.

What kind of process is this?

Li Banfeng was completely confused.

Old Zhu explained it carefully, and Li Banfeng finally had a basic understanding.

Yu Nan reclaimed this wasteland in three steps.

The first step was for Yu Nan to bring offerings to the gods in the wilderness and make a covenant with them. It is unknown which god she specifically offered the sacrifices to.

The second step was to send out Yu Nan on the day the covenant was made. They would stay in the wasteland for three days and three nights, guarding the altar. As long as one pioneer survived, the reclamation would be considered a success.

The third step was for Yu Nan to return to the wasteland and leave her blood as a mark on the ground, thus making the land Yu Nan.

Li Banfeng roughly understood the process.

However, this process is unreasonable.

"Yu Nan hired six people, five of whom died. The last one who survived dripped his blood onto the wasteland, and that wasteland became his, didn't it?"

Old Zhu shook his head and said, "No, he didn't make a covenant with the gods of this land."

"Making an alliance is simple, isn't it? Just offer some sacrifices, right?"

"It still doesn't work. Our young master has already made a pact with the spirit of this land. The spirit will not accept any more offerings from others for three days."

If he were to establish the alliance in another location, that would be his own land, and he would have to pay for the land reclamation himself—spending a thousand silver dollars to buy such a piece of wasteland—it's up to him whether he's willing to do so.

Li Banfeng still didn't understand. "Since the land reclaimers weren't willing to buy it themselves, why did Yu Nan still spend a large sum of money to buy this land?"

Old Zhu sighed and said, "The young manager wants to have a way out, and no matter who tries to persuade her, she won't listen."

Li Banfeng didn't press further; he was more concerned about Yu Nan's schedule than about pioneering the land.

"Old Zhu, when will your young manager arrive?"

Old Zhu thought for a moment and said, "You said before that they set off last night, so they probably won't arrive until tomorrow night at the earliest."

"Two days and two nights?"

Old Zhu nodded. "Two days and two nights is considered fast."

Li Banfeng arrived early.

He was Travel Cultivator and it took him seven hours to get to the new land.

But Yu Nan didn't have that ability. She was also leading a group of subordinates with no cultivation and a lot of heavy belongings. It was indeed fast for her to arrive in two days.

Old Zhu stood up and said, "Boss Li, I've tidied up the room for you. Take a shower and rest for a while. I'll go prepare dinner."

When they first met, Li Banfeng simply introduced himself, but to his surprise, Old Zhu didn't suspect him at all.

"Aren't you afraid I'm a bad guy?" Li Banfeng asked casually.

Old Zhu shook his head. "This is Yu Family Stronghold, this is the young master's territory. With the protection of the gods, bad people dare not come here. As long as the young master drips his blood on Yu Family Stronghold, anyone who dares to break in will be crushed to pieces."

Li Banfeng was stunned. "Is that so?"

Yu Nan and her group of subordinates were still trekking along the road.

The journey was slower than expected because there were too many wounded soldiers under their command, plus Qin Xiaopang, who did nothing but eat and sleep and was almost never awake.

One hundred miles from Jiangyue Mountain, Yu Nan received news that the Yu family's old house had been burned down.

Although it was expected, everyone was still so angry their eyes reddened. Wang Xuejiao cursed, "That bastard Geng Zhiwei! We should chop him up and feed him to the dogs! Boss, we're not leaving! Let's go fight him to the death!"

A group of people joined in, shouting, "Let's go fight them!"

"That bastard Geng Zhiwei must not be let off the hook!"

Yu Nan bit down hard on the Smoking Pipe, remaining silent.

Old warehouse manager Zhang Shiquan advised, "A gentleman takes revenge even after ten years. Let's listen to the manager and say less."

After traveling another thirty li, the group rested by the roadside. A shop assistant ran up with a message, panting, and said, "Manager, the Geng Family Medicine Shop has been burned down. Geng Zhiwei is missing; he must have been burned to death!"

Yu Nan was stunned and speechless.

The Geng Family Medicine Shop was burned down?

Who did it?

P. S.: Hey dear reader, Salad prepared a pot of hot wine. Come over here and let's chat.