The Overlord of Puluo

The sudden appearance of the foreigner Cedric surprised Daboinsky.

He remembered the foreigner vividly from their first encounter outside the general store. The man’s body had been covered in strange rashes that left Daboinsky so uneasy he kept checking himself afterward, afraid of being infected.

His behavior had been odd too. He had come all the way to Medicine King Gully yet hadn’t even known where to buy medicine, which had already made Daboinsky suspicious.

What Daboinsky never expected was that this foreigner was also after Li Banfeng.

Cedric did not even work on investigating Li Banfeng’s whereabouts. He had simply waited for Daboinsky to find Li Banfeng, intending to swoop in and claim the prize for himself.

Could there really be such a good deal in the world?

Daboinsky laughed. “Very well, then. I shall be generous. He is right there. Come along, old chap, and take him if you can.”

Li Banfeng was trapped within layers of spiderwebs, and Daboinsky was curious to see how Cedric planned to get close to him.

Cedric’s green eyes blinked. “Would you be so kind as to clear these webs away? It would make things far easier for me.”

Daboinsky stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. “Good heavens, you can’t be serious. Do you honestly consider that a reasonable request?”

Cedric shrugged. “Quite. If you don’t remove them, how am I supposed to take him?”

Daboinsky chuckled. “Then I shan’t. If you’ve the skill, come over. If not, get lost.”

Cedric nodded. “Remember what you said. Don’t you dare take them down. Should you take them down, you will have proved yourself to not be a man!”

As soon as Cedric finished speaking, he unbuttoned his shirt and slit open one of the rashes on his chest with his fingernail.

A burst of greenish fluid splattered across the webs, droplets glinting like emerald dew as they clung to every strand of the spiderwebs.

Daboinsky froze, momentarily stunned. He had never witnessed such a grotesque method of attack before.

What followed was even more bizarre. Every emerald droplet on the webs began to move on its own. The fluid from Cedric’s rashes seemed alive, crawling along the strands as if guided by a will of its own.

This meant that every one of Daboinsky’s webs had turned into a conduit for the diseased fluid, allowing it to strike at him from every direction.

What would happen if the diseased fluid touched him? Would his body erupt in sores, or would he die instantly? Daboinsky didn’t dare to find out. He immediately ripped through a section of the spiderwebs, forcing a way out before the infectious fluid could reach him.

At the same time, Li Banfeng pulled the Tang saber from his pocket and shouted, “Strike!”

The Tang saber instantly extended to over a meter in length, ringing as it left the sheath before slicing through a wide section of the webbing.

At that very moment, Li Banfeng took the opportunity and dashed out.

Gripping the webs, Daboinsky sprang up and swung into position above Li Banfeng. His arms suddenly stretched downward, reaching to seize him. If he managed to grab hold, he would spit venom to knock Li Banfeng unconscious, then use the webs to fling himself onto the nearby rooftops.

Unfortunately for Daboinsky, he failed. If Daboinsky’s plan had worked, Li Banfeng would be caught and Cedric would never catch up.

The Tang saber flashed before Li Banfeng, slicing cleanly through one of Daboinsky’s arms and sending him crashing to the ground.

Li Banfeng didn’t dare stay and fight. Behind him stood another man whose entire body oozed and bubbled with a sickly green fluid. One glance was enough for Li Banfeng to know this was someone he couldn’t approach.

He took out a Corrosion Pill and flicked it at Daboinsky, striking him on the cheek before bolting away.

Ignoring the rust spreading across his body, Daboinsky charged after Li Banfeng without pause.

The foreigner pursuing him muttered in astonishment, “Good Lord, what sort of disease is this? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

”If you’re so dreadfully curious, allow me to indulge you!” Daboinsky quivered violently as a layer of skin peeled off from head to toe.

What on earth did you shed? Cedric wondered. He had no idea, but he saw that the layer included Daboinsky’s clothes, fedora, face, hands, feet, and shoes.

Daboinsky had molted his skin! The rust-stained outer layer nearly clung to Cedric as it fell away.

What was even more peculiar was how Daboinsky looked after shedding his skin. He still wore clothes and shoes, and the fedora remained neatly on his head.

Seeing this, Cedric exclaimed, ”Your clothes are your skin. No, that’s not it. Your skin’s wearing your clothes. No, that’s wrong too. Wait... To be exact, you’re not wearing clothes at all. That’s all your skin!”

Cedric’s remark greatly displeased Daboinsky. At the very least, he shouldn’t have said it so loudly.

Daboinsky turned sharply and lashed out with a web. “Can you stop following me?”

Cedric dodged the web and replied indifferently, “Really now, you don’t own this street. If you can walk here, why on earth shouldn’t I?”

Daboinsky let out a cold snort. “This is the land of Puluo Province, and you are not from Puluo Province.”

Cedric replied, “But I love Puluo Province. I even have a tattoo to prove it. Want me to show you?”

Currently, Li Banfeng was running with all his might, but still couldn’t shake them off.

Neither Cedric nor Daboinsky were Wanderlust Cultivators, yet they could still keep up with Li Banfeng. The reason was simply because of the vast difference in cultivation.

Daboinsky was a level-five cultivator. Though he was no match for a level-five Wanderlust Cultivator in speed, he could still keep up with one at level one.

Cedric’s cultivation level was still unknown, but it was clearly higher than Daboinsky’s. If either of them went all out to capture him, Li Banfeng would have no chance of escape.

Fortunately, the two kept getting in each other’s way, giving Li Banfeng some chances to mess with them. When Cedric began to close in, Li Banfeng hurled the bloodstained pair of scissors at him.

The scissors shot straight toward Cedric’s throat, but he managed to catch them midair with effort. Taking advantage of that brief opening, Li Banfeng slipped past him.

Daboinsky caught up moments later and stretched his two long arms out to trap him. The Tang saber sprang from its sheath once more, flying behind Li Banfeng and thrusting straight toward Daboinsky’s chest.

The strike was as fast as lightning and sparks. Daboinsky barely managed to dodge and ended up sprawled on the ground.

Li Banfeng was overjoyed and immediately ordered, ”Second Saber! Kill him!”

However, the Tang saber hastily shrank and slipped back into his pocket.

What the heck? Only three strikes? You useless hunk of metal. Even calling you “Second Saber” would be praise. Li Banfeng cursed inwardly. He had no time to think and immediately turned to run for his life.

Still, those two interruptions had bought him some time. He darted off and slipped into a narrow alley.

By the time Daboinsky and Cedric chased him into the alley, Li Banfeng had already vanished.

Daboinsky searched the ground for footprints, but they abruptly stopped near the entrance of the alley.

Did he jump over the wall? Daboinsky thought and began examining both walls. Yet, he found no trace of climbing.

“Where did he go?” Daboinsky muttered in confusion.

Cedric nodded thoughtfully. “Indeed, where could he have gone?”

Daboinsky suddenly turned and roared at Cedric, “Stop following me!”

Cedric sighed. “Sir, how many times must I say it? This street isn’t yours, and neither is Medicine King Gully.”

Daboinsky’s body swelled as he transformed into a giant spider. He leapt in front of Cedric and trapped Cedric with his long legs. Then, he aimed his two fangs at Cedric’s throat. “Do you have a death wish?”

Cedric smiled faintly. “You dare come this close? I’m starting to wonder which of us wants to die more.”

Bumps began to form across Cedric’s face, oozing beads of greenish fluid.

Daboinsky’s eight eyes gleamed with mockery. “Go on, spread your germs. I’ll simply shed another layer of skin.”

Cedric shook his head and said, “You do realize, don’t you, that diseases don’t have to spread through contact with the skin, right?”

““Oh, through the air, is it? How quaint,” Daboinsky sneered. “In that case, I shall simply stop breathing. And I can kill you before it reaches me.”

“That’s not very nice of you,” Cedric said with two weak coughs. “I have a fever, you know. It’s rather ungentlemanly to treat a patient this way.”

“Fever? You must feel dreadful. How’s this? I will just kill you so you won’t have to suffer anymore,” Daboinsky said before baring his fangs and lunging for Cedric’s throat.

”Don’t be so violent, I’m really having a fever.”

The moment Cedric said this, his body turned blazed red-hot. It was so hot that Daboinsky started burning up with greenish steam.

Cedric was really having a fever. His body temperature was higher than a red-hot iron rod.

This was a special technique of a Disease Cultivator, one that Daboinsky had never encountered before. Scorched by the intense heat, he was forced to molt once again, shedding his old skin and collapsing against the wall.

When Daboinsky’s discarded skin burned to ash, he finally realized just how powerful his opponent was.

He pulled a cocoon from his coat, about the size of a ping-pong ball, and dangled it from a thread, letting it sway slowly in his hand as a warning to Cedric.

Cedric glanced at the cocoon and took a step back. “Good heavens. Is that Madam Bagworm’s?”

Daboinsky nodded. “You know your stuff.”

“The fact that you have this cocoon means you have paid a heavy price,” said Cedric. He did know his stuff. He knew Madam Bagworm’s level and understood that this cocoon held great power.

Daboinsky hissed through clenched teeth, “Then you should also know what great power this cocoon holds.”

However, Cedric had no intention of stopping. He kept his gaze on Daboinsky and asked, “Shall we keep fighting?”

Daboinsky shook his head. “There’s no need for us to fight. Why should we? We are both after Li Banfeng. He’s not here right now, so if we want to catch him, we will have to find him first.”

Cedric nodded. “Exactly. I believe you’ll manage to track him down. From now on, I’ll be following you.”

Cedric still had no intention of investigating on his own. He trusted Daboinsky’s abilities and planned to keep leeching off the detective’s findings.

The bristles on Daboinsky’s body trembled as his seven legs rubbed against the surrounding webs. The eighth, which the Tang saber had severed[1], lay lost somewhere behind him.

He muttered through clenched teeth, “Don’t make me do this, you damned foreign devil.”

Cedric smiled faintly. “You fake foreign devil, watch me force you do it.”

The two exchanged looks of contempt, spat at each other, and left the alley to continue their search for Li Banfeng.

Two hours later, Li Banfeng stepped out of his Pocket Dwelling and ran at full speed away from Inner Gully.

If one could win, one should fight. If one could not win, one should run. That had always been Li Banfeng’s rule, and this time he was sure he could not beat the two of them. He had to run this time.

He wanted to leave Medicine King Gully, but how could he without a travel permit?

He glanced in the direction of the train station and thought, If I toss the key to a random passenger boarding the train, wouldn’t that let me escape Medicine King Gully?

He took a step, then stopped. No, I must not go to the station. I absolutely cannot go there.

1. The author added a note （One leg had been severed by the Tang saber 一条腿被唐刀斩断了）to the narration but I decided to just integrate this into the narration since I think the text in parentheses breaks the flow a bit. ☜