The Overlord of Puluo

Age had caught up with the old woman and she was no longer able to stay up late. At this moment, she was dozing off in the house.

Dong... Dong... Dong... The old pendulum wall clock struck nine times.

Suddenly, she felt a throb in her chest, and she jolted awake. It was only nine o’clock; midnight was still far off. So why did she feel this uneasy?

Tick-tock! Tick-tock! Tick-tock!

The pendulum of the old clock swung back and forth, and shadows slowly gathered on its gleaming surface.[1]

The prey room! Knives! Blood! Something horrible happened!

The old woman sprang out of bed and hurried to the prey room. Inside, she found the mother and daughter, Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying, still sitting obediently where they had been. However, Li Banfeng was nowhere in sight.

”Decai! Demao! Get over here, both of you!”

The old woman shouted for her two sons. Before long, the elder, Decai, came hurrying in.

”Where’s Demao?” the old woman asked.

Rubbing his eyes, Decai said, ”I think he went to the backyard to sharpen the saber. You know how it’s a struggle to sharpen that old saber and he might not be done even after an hour. I told you we should just buy a new one, but you wouldn’t let me...”

The old woman turned around and slapped Decai across the face. ”You’re still rambling about that damn saber? Can’t you see he’s already escaped, and you didn’t even notice?”

Decai held his cheek and finally realized that Li Banfeng had already escaped. He lunged forward, grabbed Xiao Yeci by the hair, and questioned, ”Where did he go? When did he escape?”

Xiao Yeci screamed in a rasping voice, ”I don’t know! I really don’t know!”

Beside her, Lu Chunying wailed, ”Don’t hit my mom! We don’t know anything! When they threw that man in, we didn’t even talk to him. We fell asleep, and when we woke up, he was gone!”

The girl was braver than her mother. She could explain things clearly. But would explaining clearly help at all?

No, it was useless. The girl didn’t understand that, but Xiao Yeci knew it well. This was a family of villains. No matter what you said to them, it would never matter.

The old woman turned to her elder son. ”Go call Demao. Kill these two sluts first. That Wanderlust Cultivator can’t have gone far.”

When Xiao Yeci heard that, she begged, ”Elder Sister, please show mercy! Do whatever you want to me, but spare my child. I beg you, I beg you!”

There was a shift in her pitch as the words left her mouth.

Xiao Yeci pleaded again and again, but the old woman didn’t spare her a glance. Instead, Decai felt his heart stir. ”Mother, weren’t we supposed to wait until midnight?”

The old woman snapped, ”Something’s already gone wrong! What the hell are we waiting for?!”

”Mother, this woman is so juicy and fine. There is even this fresh and pretty girl. You won’t even let us brothers have a taste before you...”

Smack!

The old woman slapped him again. ”What the hell have I taught you? Just a few lewd words and you’ve forgotten the rules? Go fetch your brother, now!”

Decai dared not say another word and hurried out of the prey room.

He had long lusted for the mother and daughter. However, his mother never allowed him to touch them. In fact, his mother had never allowed him to touch any bitches they had kidnapped in the past.

His family had never let anyone leave alive. Regardless of their gender and their age, none of the preys that stepped foot into this house made it out alive.

However, he had never once slept with the girls they kidnapped. He wasn’t even allowed to touch them or speak to them. His mother always said that doing so would break the gang’s rules.

His mother wouldn’t allow him and his brother to interact with the women in the gang as well. Whenever one would visit, she would ask the brothers to step aside. If his mother ever heard him and his brother talk about women, they would be scolded.

What’s wrong with me today? I usually just think about it, I’d never dare say it to Mother. So why did I just blurt it out? Decai patted his cheek, feeling something was off.

Then he glanced at Xiao Yeci and thought, This woman is no ordinary one. With that, he walked away sullenly.

Xiao Yeci kowtowed to the old woman. ”Elder Sister, we’ve already given you all our money. Please, do good and earn virtue. Spare my daughter. Keep me instead. Make me a servant, make me toil for you, grind me into paste if you must. Just please, I beg you, Elder Sister, I beg you!”

Her words lingered in the prey room, echoing again and again. Before the echo had faded, Xiao Yeci spoke once more. Her voice and its echo overlapped, each word pounding against the heart.

The old woman yanked Xiao Yeci’s hair and sneered viciously. ”You two sluts haven’t shown enough of your shameless tricks before my sons, and now you dare flaunt them at me? Do you think I can’t see through your little games?

”I know what you are! You are a Mouth Cultivator. With just a few filthy words, you can hook a man’s very soul. But here with me, you’d better shut that filthy mouth. I might let you die quickly. Otherwise, I’ll slice every bit of that cheap flesh off you and your daughter, piece by piece!”

A Mouth Cultivator? A Daoist path like this exist? What are cultivators of this Daoist path good at? Li Banfeng thought.

Xiao Yeci wept. ”Madam, with my low cultivation level, I wouldn’t dare use any trick on you. Every word I spoke was sincere. Carve me to pieces if you must, but spare my child!”

The old woman sneered coldly and said, ”Because of what you said, I will send your little slut of a daughter on her way first!”

With that, she yanked Lu Chunying’s hair.

The little girl truly had some courage. She cried bitterly, but her hands weren’t idle as they clawed and struck at the old woman.

Xiao Yeci pleaded through her tears. ”Elder, I swear I was telling the truth. I am begging you! Please let my daughter live.”

The old woman sneered. ”If the mother dies, what use is a child left behind? Leaving her alone in this world would only mean suffering. It’s better if she follows you in death.”

She kicked Xiao Yeci aside and yanked harder on Lu Chunying’s hair. Then she barked over her shoulder, ”Decai, bring me the saber!”

The girl screamed, ”Mother, save me!”

Xiao Yeci threw herself at the old woman again, but another kick sent her crashing back down.

”Decai, where’s the saber?!”

”Mother, save me!”

Huh? Who just said that?

When she turned, she saw Decai standing in the doorway with the tip of the saber protruding from his chest. At this moment, his face streaked with tears.

Li Banfeng stood behind Decai and said with a smile, ”Old woman, the knife’s right here. I brought it for you.”

At the sight of the blade sticking out of her son’s chest, the old woman’s eyes flushed red with rage.

Decai was a first-level Poison Cultivator, whose cultivation was on par with Li Banfeng. However, Li Banfeng had the speed of a Wanderlust Cultivator and the subtlety of a Homebound Cultivator. This was how he had managed to ambush Decai.

The old woman grabbed Lu Chunying and roared, ”Let go of my son! Or I’ll kill her right now!”

Li Banfeng didn’t understand what she meant. ”If you want to kill her, then kill her. You don’t need to tell me. She’s not my child.”

The old woman gnashed her teeth. ”Do you think I’m joking with you?”

Li Banfeng looked even more confused. ”Did you say a joke? What was funny about what you said? Weren’t you about to kill someone? Let’s do it together. I’ll join in the fun.”

With that, he gripped the knife and thrust it deeper into Decai’s back. The tip jutting out of Decai’s chest inched farther forward.

The old woman flung Lu Chunying aside and rushed to save her son. Li Banfeng lifted his leg and kicked at her kneecap. It was a vicious move, perfect against someone charging straight at him. If it hit, it could cripple her on the spot.

However, the old woman dodged the kick and threw a heavy punch at him. The blow landed with full force, sending Li Banfeng reeling, nearly crashing to the ground.

Impossible. What level of cultivation does this old woman have? She is even faster than a Wanderlust Cultivator? And she is crazily strong!

Before Li Banfeng could think further, the old woman yanked the hairpin from her head and drove it straight toward the center of his brow.

Li Banfeng crouched down just in time to dodge.

Oh. He doesn’t know martial arts. The old woman sneered inwardly. If he did, he would step back, tilt his head, or raise his weapon when the hairpin came at him. Crouching down like this... isn’t that just waiting to be struck?

The old woman raised the hairpin high and drove it down at the top of his head. But she was wrong.

Li Banfeng had no intention of just sitting there and taking the blow. He had dealt with bullies all his life, often beaten until he crouched on the ground.

Crouching didn’t mean he couldn’t fight back. From that low stance, he drove a heavy punch into the old woman’s ankle. He had put real force behind it. Normally, that would have been enough to dislocate it.

She only staggered back a step, completely unharmed. Yet that one misstep saved him. The hairpin sliced past, missing his head by a breath.

What Daoist path is this old woman part of? She can fight fast and fiercely. She is also good at taking hits. Is she a Gourmandism Cultivator?

She doesn’t seem like it though. No matter how much Chubby Qin ate, he never reached the level of speed she showed. Not only was he slower, but he wasn’t nearly as strong as this old woman either.

The worst thing was that every time the old woman struck, Li Banfeng sensed no danger at all. He couldn’t sense her intent, so he had no way to predict her moves or choose the right response.

Obviously, he couldn’t rely on just his fists and feet. Li Banfeng circled behind Decai and tried to pull the saber out.

With her skills, the old woman could have killed the mother and daughter bare-handed. The fact that she insisted Decai bring the saber meant it was no ordinary weapon.

Li Banfeng tried to pull it free, but the old woman gave him no chance. She lifted her foot and kicked him out the door, causing him to fly several meters away. Before he could get up, the old woman suddenly appeared right in front of him.

Teleportation? What level of cultivation grants this kind of ability? Li Banfent thought.

Bang!

The old woman kicked him again, flipping him through the air and slamming him flat on the ground.

This time, Li Banfeng didn’t get up. With such a gap in speed, standing up would only invite another kick.

He dropped to all fours and scrambled frantically toward the wall. This time, he held nothing back. He pushed his Raising a Gale on Level Ground ability to its limit, shot to the base of the wall, and without a moment’s pause, climbed straight to the top.

Just as Li Banfeng was about to leap over, the great willow tree in the courtyard lashed its branches with a crack and whipped him back down.

Controlling willow branches to strike? The old woman knows spells too! Just what Daoist path is this? Li Banfeng thought as he crashed hard to the ground. His vision was already starting to blur.

If this old woman is so strong, then why use poison on me? She could have taken me down right away. Wouldn’t that have been the cleaner move?

The old woman wiped the sweat from her brow. The fight had clearly been very draining. She was no longer young, and if there had been a safer way, she would never have chosen to face him head-on.

The old woman crouched low, lifted the hairpin, and prepared herself to deliver the final strike

Dazed as he was, Li Banfeng suddenly kicked upward, driving his foot into her stomach. If he had aimed for her head, the move would have been too obvious and she would have seen it coming.

However, the kick to the stomach was subtle, and she hadn’t guarded against it. The kick made her convulse and her mouth opened instinctively.

Seizing the instant her mouth opened, Li Banfeng yanked out a Corrosion Pill and hurled it into her throat. He never missed anything within five meters.

1. I thought it would be interesting to share the translation choice for this clock. Since the world setting in Puluo seems to be during the Republican era in China (roughly 1912–1949), I looked into the types of clocks that were most common in Chinese homes of that time. Considering that this household doesn’t appear very wealthy, it would not have one of those tall, standing grandfather clocks. That narrows it down to either an old pendulum wall clock or a tabletop pendulum clock. ☜