Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'

Ma Wu wanted to mention both himself and Seventh Master.

He knew that Li Banfeng didn't want to reveal his identity, but this was a golden opportunity to make a name for himself. Ma Wu didn't want to hog all the glory; after all, Li Banfeng had won it all.

But before Ma Wu could finish, Li Banfeng suddenly shot him a glare.

Ma Wu quickly changed his tune. "The price for goods from the Song Family, if it comes through me, Ma Junyang, will only go up, never down!"

Blue Poplar Village was bustling all night long. An old lady, at the ripe age of eighty-five, pushed a small cart and made three trips moving things from the Song Family!

The entire Song Family residence was emptied, even the doors were taken off their hinges.

Li Banfeng, driving a road roller, had Xiao Chuanzi call a group of workers to start demolishing the house.

Ma Wu felt a pang of regret. After enduring such long hardship, he was somewhat reluctant to part with such a fine estate.

"We must tear it down!" Li Banfeng was resolute. "From now on, Blue Poplar Village will have nothing to do with the Song Family. The Song Family shall never think of returning, and the people of Blue Poplar Village will forget they ever existed."

By daybreak, the Song Family had completely vanished from Blue Poplar Village.

Li Banfeng instructed Xiao Chuanzi, "Tell all the workers that those willing to work for Ma Wu should come and sign up with you. Going forward, Ma Wu will pay their wages monthly. Those who don't want to work for Ma Wu can continue working on the road at the village entrance. No need to force them."

Xiao Chuanzi gathered all the workers and relayed Li Banfeng's words.

Of the seventy-odd workers assigned to road construction, about thirty chose to follow Ma Junyang, while the others said they'd think it over.

Thinking it over was fine; Li Banfeng had said he wouldn't force anyone.

But the implications had to be made clear: if they decided to join Ma Wu later, their status would be more than just one level lower.

Ma Wu discussed with Li Banfeng, "Brother, by doing this, we're basically undercutting my father. I'm afraid..."

When it came to family matters, Ma Wu was often confused.

Li Banfeng waved his hand. "Don't be afraid. As long as he *is* your real father, he definitely won't pursue this matter. If he isn't your real father, we'll discuss this again."

Song Zhigang, along with his entire family, made his way to Taiming Town.

In this town, the Song Family owned a residence. It wasn't too large, with front and rear courtyards, but it was spacious enough to accommodate the whole family.

Just after the family settled in, Song Zhigang took two servants and ten thousand Ocean Dollars, and went to Liu's Paper Horse Shop.

What was he doing at the Paper Horse Shop? Buying joss paper for his father?

That wasn't it.

He went to the Paper Horse Shop to find Liu Liangyi, the local hegemon of Taiming Town and the Family Head of the Liu Family.

Thirty percent of the credit for Song Jiason's twenty-plus years of dominance in Blue Poplar Village went to the Liu Family, another thirty percent to the Si Family above them, and the remaining forty percent to the Lu Family, who were even higher up.

Liu Liangyi possessed a Fourth Layer Cultivation, which wasn't considered high in Greenwater Bay.

However, Liu Liangyi's Taoist Sect was special; his family was a Nightmare Cultivating Family, skilled at manipulating Ghost Servants. In most confrontations with other Taoist Sects, Nightmare Cultivators tended to have an advantage.

Moreover, Liu Liangyi had a special combat technique: he could use Ghost Servants to possess paper figures. A Fourth Layer Nightmare Cultivator could control sixty Ghost Servants, and these sixty Ghost Servants could command three hundred paper figures in battle. This was akin to commanding a small army.

Liu Liangyi had started as a Grass Bandit. Relying on the Liu Family's paper figures, he had reigned as a mountain king for over twenty years, rarely meeting an equal.

Although they had since laundered their reputation and no longer engaged in robbery and plunder, within the territory of Taiming Town, the name of the Liu Family still commanded a certain degree of fear among the various Mountain Bandits.

Upon reaching Liu's Paper Horse Shop, Song Zhigang didn't find Liu Liangyi. Instead, he met Liu Changyu. Tears streamed down Song Zhigang's face as he said, "Young Shopkeeper, please inform the Old Master that our family has fallen on hard times."

Liu Changyu was the Young Shopkeeper of the Paper Horse Shop and Liu Liangyi's younger son. At twenty-one years old, he was Song Zhigang's contemporary. Seeing Song Zhigang about to kneel, Liu Changyu quickly stepped forward to help him up. "Brother Zhigang, what's happened? What's the trouble?"

Song Zhigang selectively recounted the events.

He mentioned Ma Wu selling goods behind their backs but omitted that they had planned to beat Ma Wu severely.

He described the confrontation in the wilderness and Ma Wu setting a trap, but he failed to mention the trap his own father had laid.

Liu Changyu furrowed his brow upon hearing this. "Ma Junyang is too unruly! There's no need to tell my father; I'll handle this. Whether he's a down-and-out young master or someone else, he can't be allowed to turn Blue Poplar Village upside down!"

The Young Shopkeeper, taking two shop assistants, was about to head to Blue Poplar Village. This greatly boosted Song Zhigang's morale, so he had his men call for a few more servants to make a show of force. However, before the group could even leave town, Hu Juncai, the Account Manager from the Paper Horse Shop, hurried after them.

"Young Master, the Old Master asks you to return."

Liu Changyu reluctantly followed the Account Manager back. Song Zhigang, his hopes dashed, could only return to his residence and wait for news.

Liu Changyu returned to the Paper Horse Shop and saw his father, Liu Liangyi, sitting in the rear hall. Just as he was about to explain the situation, Liu Liangyi waved his smoking pipe, signaling him to not speak.

"Changyu, I put you in charge of the shop so you could gain more experience and meet more people, not so you could go out seeking trouble and showing off."

Liu Changyu didn't understand. "Father," he asked, "the Song Family are our people. Isn't it our duty to take care of their affairs?"

Liu Liangyi sighed, disappointed by his son's approach. "You only see the Song Family's people and affairs. What about the Ma Family?

"Why didn't Song Jiason come to us himself? Why has there been no word from him? Ma Wu is a downtrodden young master eking out a living in Blue Poplar Village. Why would he insist on fighting the Song Family to the death? Have you considered these things?"

Liu Changyu hadn't really thought about it.

Liu Liangyi tapped his smoking pipe. "You haven't thought about it, but I have. Song Jiason is a Third Layer Martial Cultivator. The fact that there's been no word from him by now means he's probably gone.

"If even he is gone, do you think you can return alive if you go to Blue Poplar Village with just a few people?

"Ma Wu is desperately trying to make a living in Blue Poplar Village. He wouldn't be fighting to the death with Song Jiason unless he had no other choice.

"They've already escalated to a life-or-death struggle. What rules are you going to talk about with Ma Wu now?

"If you can't win against Ma Wu, you'll be going to your death. Even if you could win against Ma Wu, could you kill him? Would the Ma Family let you off?"

Liu Changyu fell silent. He realized he had been reckless.

"Father, then are we just going to ignore this matter?"

"What happened with the Song Family is their own doing. We don't need to get involved," Liu Liangyi explained. "But Blue Poplar Village is our territory, and that we must manage. In three days, it's the day for collecting debts. Let Old Hu collect the money as usual and see whether Ma Wu will pay.

"If he pays, the rules haven't been broken, and it's not out of the question for Blue Poplar Village to have a new master.

"But if he doesn't pay, the rules *will* be broken. Then, when we go to settle things with him, we'll have a just cause."

Liu Changyu understood the reasoning behind his father's words. He quickly apologized and resolved to dutifully manage the shop.

The next day, Song Zhigang came back to Liu Changyu, weeping about his woes. Liu Changyu sighed and said, "Zhigang, go back and wait for news. Your family has earned a considerable amount in Blue Poplar Village over the years. If you ask me, living a quiet, honest life from now on would be good."

PS: Leading an honest life is a sound idea, but it was wrong of them to seek out Li Banfeng for debt collection.