Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1329 619: Talent Eight-Dou_4

Boss Lu shook his head and said, "No need to bother, probably someone didn't see the closed sign. I'll send a clerk to shoo him away."

...

Mr. Kong Fang stepped into the bookstore; he didn't see Li Banfeng, nor the tableful of wine and tea. He only saw Boss Lu on a ladder, tidying the shelves by himself.

Boss Lu glanced at Mr. Kong Fang. "We're already closed. If you want to buy books, come back tomorrow morning."

Mr. Kong Fang let out a chuckle. "Lao Zhou, I came all the way here myself, and now you tell me you're closed—does that really seem appropriate?"

"It's not that we're closing now; we've long since closed." Boss Lu kept solemnly straightening the bookshelves.

...

Just now Li Banfeng felt someone enter the bookstore, but in the blink of an eye that person vanished again.

Boss Lu sat opposite him, still checking his notes. "Seventh Master, just now you were saying how the sixth chapter of the second volume ought to be revised?"

Li Banfeng was about to shift his train of thought back to the "Xiu Shuang Collection" when he vaguely heard some sounds from upstairs.

Creak creak creak~

Li Banfeng raised his head slightly. Boss Lu said, "These past two days, the bookstore's got a few more woodworms—once night falls they start gnawing. Seventh Master, let's continue with chapter six."

Li Banfeng felt that wasn't the sound of woodworms.

...

The window of the second-floor storeroom opened. Du Wenming slid in through the window into the outer room, quickly pushed open the inner room door, swept his gaze around the room, did not see Yu Yaoming, but instead saw Boss Lu draw back the bed curtains, sit on the bed and say, "Looking for me?"

...

Mr. Kong Fang was downstairs, watching Boss Lu tidy the shelves. He wasn't in a hurry to make a move; his aim was to buy time for Du Wenming.

"Lao Zhou, after all these years apart, this is how you receive me?"

Boss Lu turned his face, looked at Mr. Kong Fang. "Do we know each other?"

"How can you say we don't? Back then we…"

"We really are closed. If there's something, we can talk tomorrow."

Boss Lu was about to usher him out when the sounds of fighting suddenly came from upstairs.

Du Wenming had made his move upstairs.

Mr. Kong Fang was a bit surprised. Going by what Du Wenming had said, Yu Yaoming's cultivation level wasn't high; there shouldn't have been any need for Du Wenming to make such a racket.

Had something gone wrong upstairs?

Mr. Kong Fang pointed upward. "Got thieves? I'll go help you take a look?"

Boss Lu climbed down from the ladder, shook his head. "The second floor is the little shop's storeroom; no admittance to idlers."

"I'm not an idler, I'm your friend." Mr. Kong Fang shifted his toes, as if about to head upstairs.

Boss Lu showed himself at the second-floor storeroom door, holding an old book in his hand. "I truly can't recall having a friend like you."

Mr. Kong Fang flicked his hand, sending out two Copper Coins, which flew straight toward Boss Lu.

There was no way to block these Copper Coins; even if Boss Lu used characters to summon a wall three feet thick, the Copper Coins would easily punch through.

But if Boss Lu chose to dodge, it would mean yielding the staircase.

Boss Lu didn't dodge. He gave the old book in his hand a shake.

Dust from the old book scattered into the air, converging into the character "gate."

The two Copper Coins flew into the "gate" and vanished without a trace.

Mr. Kong Fang shot left and right toward the second floor, intending to use the Copper Coins to smash down the second-floor walls.

The Copper Coins flew at extreme speed; he was certain Boss Lu could only block one of them.

Boss Lu stood where he was and wrote the character "collect" in the air with his finger. Both Copper Coins dropped neatly into his hand.

Mr. Kong Fang nodded. "After all these years without crossing hands, your caliber isn't any worse than before. It's a pity though—I'm not the same as I was back then."

With that, Mr. Kong Fang tore three tassels off his hat, pinching one between each finger from index to pinky.

The tassels lengthened like three golden snakes lunging for Boss Lu's face. The Copper Coins on the tassels gave a shake, unleashing a harsh, clattering racket that threw off Boss Lu's judgment.

If he tried to write at the last second, he definitely wouldn't make it. Boss Lu opened the book; the characters on the pages flew out in droves and tangled with the three tassels.

The battle power of those three tassels clearly surpassed the characters Boss Lu had released. An entire page of text was quickly beaten into scattered shreds all over the floor, and even the book in Boss Lu's hand was smashed to pieces by the tassels.

"The book's ruined—what are you going to use to fight me now?" Mr. Kong Fang bounded up to the second floor.

Boss Lu gave a wave; two bottles of Paste flew up from the first floor, one to glue the book pages, the other to glue the soles of Mr. Kong Fang's shoes.

Glue his shoes?

Mr. Kong Fang almost laughed out loud. "Lao Zhou, your skills are still decent, but your brains really aren't. Standing here selling books every day—have you sold yourself stupid?"

He simply kicked off his shoes, his body hovering in midair. With a twitch of his fingertips, the Copper Coins on the three tassels flew out, riddling Boss Lu's body with holes.

He didn't dodge?

Mr. Kong Fang froze, seeing blood spilling from Boss Lu's body.

The blood wasn't red; it was black.

Mr. Kong Fang muttered under his breath, "You're not Zhou Badou?"

Boss Lu's body swayed. "I don't know you—but let's call this our first acquaintance."

As he finished speaking, "Boss Lu's" figure flattened, his limbs twisting and stretching, his body full of perforations, his whole person turning into the character "Zhou," dissolving into a pool of ink stains on the floor.

Was this a single character written by Zhou Badou?

Just a single character?

Mr. Kong Fang's thoughts grew somewhat blurry; this situation was a little too much for him to process.

He kept repeating one line under his breath: "We've been spoken of in the same breath for so many years; our methods ought to be on par, ought to be on par…"

The situation clearly wasn't on par. Mr. Kong Fang stopped thinking it through; he hurriedly pushed open the storeroom door.

The storeroom was divided into inner and outer rooms. Kong Fang passed through the outer room, pushed open the inner room door, and saw Du Wenming covered in ink stains, trapped on the floor.

He had indeed thought of letting Du Wenming suffer a bit, to curb his arrogance and gain some experience, but he had never once thought of letting Du Wenming be captured alive by an enemy.

Mr. Kong Fang rushed into the inner room, wanting to snatch Du Wenming away. But the instant his whole body crossed the threshold, the scene around him changed.

The storeroom was gone; Mr. Kong Fang was standing on a street.

By an icebound lakeshore, a man in a black Chinese suit, wrapped in a white scarf, was reciting poetry amidst the gently drifting snowflakes: "Beautiful flowers are in full bloom at this very moment; the cold wind cannot blow away their glorious life, nor can it blow away my love for you."

A woman gazed up at the man with deep emotion, tears shimmering in her eyes. Only after the man finished reciting did the first tear slide from the corner of her eye.

Mr. Kong Fang knew exactly where he was.

He had been sent to the Ink Shop.

"I'm his equal in fame; our methods ought to be on par." He was still repeating that line.

...

At the Lu Family Bookstore, Boss Lu had been discussing the details of the sequel with Li Banfeng the whole time; he hadn't left even once.

The two talked until dawn. Having gained quite a bit of insight, Boss Lu planned to close shop for a day to focus on writing.

"Seventh Master, I'll remember this kindness. If ever there's a time when Lu has any use, just give the word." Boss Lu bowed deeply.

Li Banfeng rose to return the courtesy. He first glanced at the doorway, then up at the floor above.

He could indeed confirm that someone had come in through the door last night, but he had no idea where that person had gone.

Last night he had sensed someone enter the storeroom, yet now he couldn't sense anything at all.

Li Banfeng left the bookstore and returned to Xiaoyao Lodge, resting for a full day.

Boss Lu wrote straight through until late at night. Very satisfied with his new work, he put the manuscript away and pushed open the door, stepping out of the bookstore.

Outside the door was Pants Belt Pit. Boss Lu headed for Piaoxiang Courtyard.

On the second floor of Piaoxiang Courtyard, Yu Yaoming had girls in both arms and was still indulging in flower wine.

Boss Lu dismissed all the girls, then said to Yu Yaoming, "Time to go back. I've found a test subject for you."

PS: Will Yu Yaoming succeed this time?