The Overlord of Puluo

When Ma Wu suddenly mentioned Li Banfeng’s name, it gave him quite a jolt. He slowly set his chopsticks down on the edge of his bowl and simply stared at Ma Wu, saying nothing at all.

The silence between them was not tense. Li Banfeng understood that if Ma Wu truly meant him harm, he would never have shared a meal with him at the same table, much less spoken of the matter so openly.

Ma Wu smiled and said, ”Brother Li, I’m talking about Li Banfeng, not you. Li Banfeng is a friend of mine. We met in Medicine King Gully. Though I’ve fallen on hard times, I can still hear bits of news here and there.

”I heard that Li Banfeng offended the Lu Family, and they’re searching for him in Medicine King Gully. If you happen to know Li Banfeng, please pass him a message. Tell him that hiding in Greenwater Bay would be the right move. Greenwater Bay is where all the great families keep their roots. None of them would dare act recklessly there.

”Puluo Province is vast, and finding one person in it is no easy task. The Lu Family has considerable power, but if they fail to find Li Banfeng in Medicine King Gully, they won’t waste their time searching elsewhere. After all, this whole affair began with Lu Xiaolan’s words alone.

”Besides, there have been plenty of rumors lately saying that after Li Banfeng went to the He Family’s old residence, he vanished without a trace. Many already believe he was killed by Lu Xiaolan. People from great families are not known for their patience. With no sign of Li Banfeng, they’ll soon turn their suspicion toward Lu Xiaolan, thinking she lied.

”In time, both the Lu Family and the He Family will lose interest. When that happens, Li Banfeng will gradually be forgotten. Brother Li, please make sure to deliver this message. Tell Li Banfeng to stay away from crowds and endure patiently. If he can do that, he’ll surely survive this calamity.”

Such was the insight of a young man who had grown up among the wealthy and powerful.

This was Ma Wu’s way of repaying Li Qi.

He already knew that the man sitting before him was Li Banfeng. He knew that Li Qi had come from the Outer Provinces and bore a faint resemblance to the man in the photograph.

Moreover, the timing of Li Qi’s arrival matched perfectly with the Lu Family’s account of when Li Banfeng had gone missing.

Li Banfeng took a slow sip of wine and said, ”You could tell the Lu Family that Li Banfeng is in Greenwater Bay. They would reward you handsomely, perhaps even give you a family business of your own.”

Ma Wu nodded. ”I’ve thought about it, but I can’t. Li Banfeng was the one who fed me when I was starving.”

The two of them sat quietly for a while. Then Li Banfeng reached for the wine and filled his cup to the brim.

Ma Wu poured himself one as well.

They lifted their cups at the same moment. The wine gleamed for an instant, then was gone, swallowed down to the last drop.

Li Banfeng took a bite of spiced beef and asked, ”What are you planning to do next?”

Ma Wu smiled. ”I’ve done the math. At best, I’ve got five or six days left. I plan to show you around Blue Poplar Village and tell you what makes Greenwater Bay such a special place.”

Only five or six days left, Li Banfeng thought. He looked at Ma Wu and asked, ”Since you still have five or six days, why not spend them cultivating? Don’t you want to live?”

Ma Wu shook his head with a tired smile. ”Back in the day, women used to throw themselves at me. I never thought cultivation could be difficult. But now that I’ve fallen this far, even finding a woman willing to sleep with me has become hard.

”If you want a partner, don’t even think about the possibility of mutual affection. The first thing you talk about is money. Real money. And so, I don’t even dare dream of achieving a breakthrough and reaching level one. Even the simplest daily practice, three sessions a day, costs more than I can afford.

”Brother Li, I know you’re a man of loyalty. You might be thinking of paying for me, and I thank you for the thought, but this is a bottomless pit that no one can fill.

”Besides, I’ve stopped cultivating for ten days already, and my body’s as good as dead wood. Even if a woman were handed to me now, I wouldn’t so much as twitch.”

Li Banfeng blinked. ”You mean there’s no saving you?”

Ma Wu smiled faintly. ”Brother Li, you do like to get straight to the point. It’s not all hopeless yet. My meridians are weak, but they haven’t snapped. With the right pills, I might nourish myself back to life. If my meridians break, though, only soul-returning soup can prolong my life.

”However, this isn’t Medicine King Gully,” Ma Wu said. ”Pills here cost a fortune, and half of them are nothing but colored dust. As for soul-returning soup, that’s a dream for the rich or the desperate. I wouldn’t even know where to find the Peddler now. It seems my story is already coming to its last page.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”What kind of pill could help you recover?”

Ma Wu answered, ”The most common one is the Speckled-Snake Pill,” Ma Wu replied. ”I don’t know if you’ve heard of it. If I could take seven in a row, I’d be more or less cured. But Speckled-Snake Pills...”

Unfortunately, Ma Wu could not afford even a single Speckled-Snake Pill, let alone seven.

”I don’t have any Speckled-Snake Pills but maybe this one will do,” Li Banfeng said and reached into his robe and took out a small red pill, setting it gently in Ma Wu’s hand.

Ma Wu studied it closely. His eyes widened. ”This is a Mystic Blazing Pill?”

Li Banfeng asked, ”Can it save you?”

”Yes, yes!” Ma Wu’s eyes shone with excitement, but then he looked up and asked, ”Why are you saving me?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”Save you? Hardly. I’ve just been holding on to this pill, and I need money, so I might as well sell it to you. If you recover, find a way to make some money and pay me back as soon as you can.

”If you can’t pay me right away, we will talk it through properly, the amount, the interest, and all that, and you can write me a note to say you owe me. But if you take the pill, live a little longer, and still wait around to die, then I’ll just call myself unlucky. The pill can serve as your burial offering.”

Li Banfeng meant every word. He truly intended to sell the pill to Ma Wu.

Ma Wu held the pill as if it might vanish at any moment. His fingers trembled, and when he spoke, the words wobbled out of him. ”Brother Li, I don’t know how to thank you. Truly, I don’t.”

”Didn’t I already tell you how?” Li Banfeng said. ”Don’t act so lost. You’ll repay me with money, of course. You’re good at making it, aren’t you? Go on then! Tell me how you do it!”

Ma Wu put the pill away and began explaining his way of making money with great seriousness. ”The speed of making money depends on two things: capital and risk. Turning one into a hundred is very hard. Turning a hundred into ten thousand is much easier.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”What if I want to turn a million into ten million?”

Ma Wu paused to think. ”The quickest way is to hunt in the new land. It’s risky, but not too risky. You have got a thirty percent chance of losing half, a twenty percent chance of losing everything, and a fifty percent chance of turning a profit. ”Of the fifty percent chance of turning a profit, ”there’s a twenty percent chance you will make over ten million. As for the remaining thirty percent, no one can say for sure how much you will earn.”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”Alright. I will get you a million first, and we will start right away.”

Ma Wu grabbed his arm. ”Brother Li, I told you, I am being watched. Every time I have money, someone turns up to rob me.”

”What sort of person behaves like that?” Li Banfeng frowned and shouted. ”Robbery is simply rotten. When he turns up again, bring him to me. I’m an upright man and I’ll give him a proper scolding.”

Ma Wu didn’t quite understand what Li Banfeng was getting at. ”Brother Li, I’m telling you, the ones who come each time aren’t the same. They’re different people, and there’s no way to guard against them.”

Different every time? Li Banfeng frowned at the thought. ”Do you know any of them?”

”No.”

”If you don’t know them, then how do they recognize you? How do they keep finding you?”

Ma Wu couldn’t make sense of it either.

Li Banfeng was still turning the problem over in his head when someone knocked at the door. He opened it and there stood Landlord Wei.

”Sorry for the intrusion,” Landlord Wei said with a bundle of cash in his hands. ”This is two months’ rent, five thousand. Please keep it safe.”

Li Banfeng blinked in surprise. ”What do you mean? Are you kicking us out?”

”Kick you out? Nah, nah.” Landlord Wei pointed at the bandages wrapped round his face. ” You can stay as long as you like. Returning the two months’ rent is just my way of saying thanks.”

He had realized it earlier when Ma Wu stepped in and lent him strength.

”Tomorrow night, there’s a bloodcall out on the open. I’ll be stomping’ the Skyblack Field with that mutt Yu Mazi. If I crawl back breathin’, I’ll count myself a lucky man, and you two can stay here for the rest of your days. Even if you stay for a hundred years, I won’t take a single coin.

”But if I don’t make it tomorrow, I’ll be crossing the bridge myself. If that happens, I am afraid I will not be able to help you guys with your lodging anymore.”

After saying that, Landlord Wei took his leave. Ma Wu gave a dry, humorless chuckle. ”This is Blue Poplar Village for you. It’s hard to find even a place to live in peace.”

Li Banfeng tilted his head. ”What did he mean by ’bloodcall,’ ’Skyblack Arena,’ and ’crossing the bridge’?”

Ma Wu explained, ”A bloodcall is just our way of saying duel. When it’s out on the open, it means two poor fools head to one of those spots where the buildings were torn down but not yet rebuilt, and fight until only one is left standing.”

”This was the rule in Blue Poplar Village. Everything, be it big or small, could be settled with a duel.

”For small disputes, people fought right on the street while the neighbors stood by as witnesses. Whoever won got the final say, though it wasn’t rare for the loser to go back on their word afterward.

”For bigger matters, the duel took place in the open field. A member of the Song Family would stand by as the official witness. If the loser ever dared to go back on their word afterward, the Song Family would personally see to it that justice was enforced.”

”The Song Family?” Li Banfeng was startled. ”What’s their background?”

Ma Wu said, ”The Song Family are the top dogs of Blue Poplar Village. Even if you set up a stall to sell fried dough sticks, you need the Song Family’s permission. Even if you only make one coin a day, fifty cents of it goes to the Song Family.

When duels were held in the open field, the Song Family acted as witnesses. If the fight happened during the day it was called the Qingtian Arena and ended when one side admitted defeat. If it happened at night it was called the Huntian Arena and ended when one side died.

”Landlord Wei and Yu Mazi chose the Skyblack Field, which means they plan to fight to the death. If Landlord Wei crosses the Bridge of Helplessness tomorrow, meaning he dies in the field, these houses will belong to Mazi afterward. We’d better pack up and move out soon.”

Li Banfeng exclaimed in surprise, ”Then we must go and see who wins!”

Ma Wu shook his head and said, ”Tomorrow, every loafer in Blue Poplar Village will be out in the field watching the fight. You shouldn’t go. It’s better for you to stay away from crowded places. I’ll go myself, and if I can, I’ll bring back a few men to help.”

He continued, ”We have got to hunt three times in the new land. We will need plenty of hands during the first hunt and we need a lot of stinky fish too. They serve two purposes, bait and distraction. Making money isn’t the hard part. The hard part is fooling the Song Family so they don’t notice.”

”Can we not use the stinky fish?” Li Banfeng asked. He hated the smell of fish, and the stench of the stinky fish was even more unbearable for him.

Ma Wu looked at Li Banfeng sincerely and said, ”Brother Li, we are meant to do great things, so it is only right that we endure a little hardship.”

That night, Li Banfeng went out to familiarize himself with every crooked alley and dark corner of the village, while Ma Wu swallowed his pill and slept like a log until the following evening.

After sleeping for an entire day and night, Ma Wu woke up looking refreshed and full of life again. He got to his feet and made his way to the open field to watch the duel.

Meanwhile, Li Banfeng bought supplies in the village to prepare for the hunt.

At one in the morning, Ma Wu came back with good news and ten young men.

”Good news,” he said with a grin. ”Landlord Wei won the duel, so we don’t need to move for now.”

The ten young men were to be their helpers in the new land.

Ma Wu brought paper and brush and had several of the young men sign a life-and-death agreement on the spot.

”I, Ma Junyang, am a simple, straight sort of fellow,” he declared. ”Work with me and your pockets will not be empty. But if anyone chicken out in the field or blab afterward, I will show no mercy.”