Chapter 204: Ceasefire as Martial Virtue

Chapter 204: Transforming Weapons into Peace

Brows like willow leaves, phoenix eyes radiant.

Long legs, crimson lips, ample, curvaceous, undulating.

A lone figure, knocking in the rainy night.

Undoubtedly, a dangerous individual.

This was Li Jun's first impression upon seeing the woman.

"I don't recall ordering any door-to-door service."

Li Jun leaned against the doorframe with one hand, gazing down at the woman before him.

A single glance, and his gaze was swallowed whole by those unfathomable depths. He nearly lost his footing, stumbling forward.

Truly, very dangerous.

"Why so timid? Your predecessors from sixty years ago all came knocking willingly. No, they broke the door down directly!"

The woman gritted out words that made no apparent sense.

Taking advantage of Li Jun's momentary daze, she bent at the waist and slipped right under his arm into the shop.

Li Jun stood behind her, shrugging helplessly, glancing at the feng shui compass worn like a watch on his wrist.

After a moment's hesitation, he still chose not to switch the trigram positions, merely raising his hand and snapping his fingers at the lintel.

"Close."

The restaurant door shut without a sound.

When Li Jun turned back, the woman had already lifted that jar of Ming wine "Jiannan Shaochun," drinking straight from the vessel.

Liquid traced down her ruddy lips, flowed over her fair, elegant neck, soaking the fabric at her chest.

"Hah."

The woman parted her painted lips, exhaling a breath thick with alcohol.

Casually discarding the empty jar.

Perhaps finding the wine-soaked clothes uncomfortable, the woman's hands moved toward her own collar.

Li Jun was stunned by this fierce action, blurting out, "A honey trap?"

"Bullshit. Even if I were extorting you, it should be called 'Buddha Jumps Over the Wall'!"

The woman said coldly, the three lotus clasps at her chest already fully undone.

"Women count as Buddha too?"

"Why not?!"

The azure overshirt fell away, and Li Jun's heart sank abruptly.

Not because the scene before him was too vivid, but because it was bone-chillingly terrifying.

The woman's left arm was clearly a mechanical limb gleaming with frosty light.

Her right arm, from the wrist up, was covered in various Buddhist motifs—countless nude, bewitching demonesses winding upward, encircling an immovable golden Buddha.

Buddha's light shone universally, burning the demonesses into wisps of black smoke, revealing the grim truth of steel-reinforced bones beneath the skin.

Witnessing this scene, the woman's identity was self-evident.

Li Jun frowned slightly, "'Rumor General' Yuan Mingfei?"

"Believe it and that's enough."

Yuan Mingfei put her overshirt back on, face calm: "Sit and talk?"

"Please."

At opposite ends of the long table, each sat on one side.

Thud.

Yuan Mingfei opened the chilled briefcase on the table, revealing a severed arm lying within.

"Gong Qinghong's right arm, smashed by Cao Cang."

Li Jun tapped the table lightly, smiling without warmth, "What he promised me as a pledge of allegiance was far more than just one arm."

Yuan Mingfei's phoenix eyes widened, "He nearly lost his life!"

"That was his choice."

Li Jun remained entirely unmoved.

The woman clenched her teeth, "Clearly a mutually beneficial arrangement, yet you still demand a pledge—aren't you being a bit petty?"

Li Jun countered: "How would I know if you truly wish to cooperate?"

"You've been in Chongqing Prefecture long enough; you should've heard I already betrayed the Buddhist Order, left the Huangliang Buddhist Kingdom of Dazhao Temple!"

"Rumors save lives, gossip kills."

Li Jun sneered: "Even three-year-olds in Chongqing Prefecture know this logic."

"That was Jin Shenghuo, that dead fatty, deliberately spreading it to disgust me—you believe it too?" Yuan Mingfei raged.

"No smoke without fire. I once heard a profound saying: the more beautiful the woman, the more dangerous she is, especially when you don't pay."

Yuan Mingfei's brows shot up, speaking without restraint, "Can't this face of mine be fake?"

"Then drop the disguise, let's speak frankly."

"You—"

Yuan Mingfei's chest heaved unsteadily; the wine fumes in her lungs had been burned clean by rage.

She took several deep breaths before halting the trend of collapsing peaks.

"Gong Qinghong has escaped, and he's now with Honghu."

Yuan Mingfei's lovely face tightened, "The pledge you want—we can't provide it now."

"In that case, I can only see you out."

Li Jun smiled faintly, raising a hand toward the jar the woman had tossed by the wine cabinet, "Right, remember to settle the tab for that wine just now. The price is on the screen by the door. I'm just helping watch the shop; can't let the boss bleed and weep both."

Yuan Mingfei braced both hands on the table, leaning forward like an enraged leopardess, "Truly nothing to discuss?"

Li Jun's smile didn't waver, "You want something for nothing—how to discuss?"

Four eyes met, sparks seemingly flashing in the air.

"Heh, what if I didn't come empty-handed?"

Yuan Mingfei suddenly smiled, settling back in her chair, leaning back, crossing her legs boldly.

That formerly iron-green face now revealed a faint smile.

"Gong Qinghong I may not be able to kill, but I hold something you desperately desire."

"Oh? Do tell."

Li Jun wore an air of listless disinterest. "But let's get one thing straight: though I, too, walk the Martial Path, I have no taste for venturing into the Huangliang Buddhist Kingdom to slake my lusts. And I doubt you possess a Huangliang Mainframe, do you?"

"I do. Do you dare?"

"I dare. Do you have it?"

The woman’s face was like peach blossoms; the man’s brows, like keen blades. Both wore smiles in their eyes, yet in truth, swords were drawn and bows bent.

A stalemate lasted a moment. In the end, it was Yuan Mingfei who spoke first.

"Care to guess what lies above the Tyrant?"

Li Jun’s hand, resting on the table, suddenly clenched into a fist. The mocking smile on his face gradually cooled into something grim.

Yuan Mingfei watched the shift in his expression, and the pent-up resentment and grievance in her heart eased a fraction. Her tone promptly lightened considerably.

"'One fist opens the way; a hundred fists cannot follow.' What else could that phrase describe?"

The woman cast out another line, slowly goading Li Jun.

Li Jun’s expression grew grave. In a low voice, he said, "The Martial Sixth Rite?"

Yuan Mingfei caught the thread, enunciating each word: "Cease War."

"Cease War?"

Li Jun fell silent for a long while, brows knitted tight, as if savoring the flavor of those two characters.

Suddenly, he let out a cold laugh. "Ask a tyrant to lay down the butcher's knife and cultivate his nature? What a joke. Swindling me with a Rite—Yuan Mingfei, are you tired of living?"

"Lay down the butcher's knife, turn back and you're on the shore. That is merely Buddhist rhetoric to coax surrender. What is laid down is not the knife, but the path to survival. Turning back is not repentance; there is only rebirth in the Pure Land."

"None of that is worthy of the words 'Cease War.'"

Yuan Mingfei lowered her crossed legs, straightening her posture. Only then did she speak with a serious mien.

"To cease war is martial. If a man refuses to yield, you beat him until he does. *That* is the Martial Sixth—Cease War!"

*Click. Click!*

A familiar, crisp sound rang once more beside Li Jun’s ears. It was the copper lock shackling his genes, trembling and rattling.

There was no need to probe the truth of Yuan Mingfei’s words. At this moment, the throbbing of his genes was proof enough.

"I'll help you kill the Walker sent by the Xifan Dazhao Group."

Li Jun’s tone was decisive, final.

Yuan Mingfei’s phoenix eyes curved like crescent moons; she smiled, alluring and radiant. "Then this servant girl shall give you the Rite for advancement to Martial Sixth."

"Deal."

The two locked gazes, speaking in unison.

*Screech!*

The harsh, grating sound of a door opening rang out at the worst possible moment.

The two sitting at opposite ends of the long table turned their heads simultaneously. A man with delicate features and a horsetail bun pushed the door open and walked in.

He wore a cyan cloth shirt and trousers, wooden clogs on his feet. Emblazoned boldly across his chest in neat regular script was a line of large characters: 'Dragon Tiger Mountain Grand Offering Believer Commemorative.'

Yuan Mingfei asked in a low voice, "Uninvited guest?"

Li Jun’s face darkened. He replied irritably, "Can't you see he broke the door down?"

The woman’s face cleared with realization. She sat up properly, eyes on nose, nose on heart, the picture of 'this has nothing to do with me.'

"Oh, there's a guest. Then another day?"

The Daoist, dressed in a most unconventional manner, grinned wide.

"Since I'm here, better to hit the day than pick the day. Right now."

"In front of her?"

The Daoist lifted a hand, pointing at Yuan Mingfei.

Before Li Jun could speak, the woman rose with a *swish*, clutching her skirt, a sweet smile on her face. "No need. Men's business, women stay out. I'm leaving right now."