The Overlord of Puluo

「 If I were to want you, to have you by my side, keeping vigil through the night until tomorrow... ♪ 」

Miss Chu sat alone in the grand dance hall of the Paramount Club, quietly watching the performance by the Singing Queen, Jiang Mengting.

She was the only person there. That, however, did not stop the show in the slightest.

The band played as though the hall were packed to the rafters. The backup dancers twirled and stepped with flawless enthusiasm. The color-changing gas lamps glowed, shifted, and shimmered, changing moods with great seriousness, as if thousands of eyes were upon them instead of just one. Every segment of the performance was done perfectly well.

Jiang Mengting sang and sang, all the while feeling unbearably awkward. Singing to a single listener in the enormous dance hall of the Paramount Club, a place meant for hundreds, felt absurd in the extreme.

She kept singing anyway.

Jiang Mengting did not dare utter a single word of complaint. She knew Miss Chu’s temperament far too well. One moment, Miss Chu might smile sweetly and address her as the Singing Queen. The next moment, just as casually, she might decide to peel the skin right off her face.

When the song ”I Want You” finally came to an end and the band began bustling about and preparing for the next song, Yang Yanzheng stepped up to Miss Chu’s side.

Miss Chu gestured for Jiang Mengting not to stop and then left the dance hall. Now there was not a single guest left, yet Jiang Mengting still had to keep singing.

***

When they reached a suite on the third floor, Miss Chu stopped and turned to Yang Yanzheng.

”Well?” she asked lightly. ”Did you find anything out?”

Yang Yanzheng nodded. ”Monkey Qiu has been spreading the word all over the city. He says that anyone who dares step into the Paramount Club will have the Lu Family knocking on their door the very next day.”

Miss Chu scoffed and refused to believe that would work. ”Do you know how many people there are in Greenwater City? Does everyone in this city listen to Monkey Qiu?”

”It’s not just him,” Yang Yanzheng replied. ”Eldest Master He Haiqin of the He Family has issued an order as well. Anyone under the He Family’s protection is forbidden from coming to the Paramount Club. The Ma Family followed suit.”

He hesitated, then added, ”Even the Chu Family...”

Yang Yanzheng did not finish the sentence. The meaning was clear enough. The four great families were all setting their sights on Chu Huaiyuan.

Miss Chu lifted her head and looked at him. ”The major families can’t possibly control every commoner, can they? Are you telling me that even the common folk wouldn’t dare to come?”

Yang Yanzheng gave a bitter smile. ”Miss, you must be joking. How many common folk can even afford to come to the Paramount Club in the first place?”

”Fine,” Miss Chu said. ”I will lower the price. Twenty dollars to come in and dance.” Her eyes gleamed faintly. ”They can pick any dance girl they want.”

Yang Yanzheng was struck speechless.

Doing business like that would not merely lose them money. It would empty their coffers, tip the cupboards upside down, and leave them bankrupt.

And really, twenty dollars was beside the point. Even if they opened the doors for free, even if they begged, pleaded, and handed out invitations tied with ribbons, not a single soul would dare step inside.

”The Lu Family has planted several support hooks nearby,” Yang Yanzheng said carefully. ”They’re carrying enchanted artifacts. Ordinary people would take one look at our sign and detour without a second thought.”

Miss Chu’s eyes flashed. ”Call Wen Hongyan over,” she snapped. ”Have her kill those support hooks for me.”

Yang Yanzheng nearly choked on his own words. ”Miss, please calm down. If those support hooks are killed, how could Monkey Qiu possibly let it slide?”

”Then kill Monkey Qiu as well!”

Kill Monkey Qiu? Yang Yanzheng felt his head go a little hollow at the thought. Miss Chu had truly lost all sense of reason. With what, exactly, did she intend to kill Monkey Qiu?

Frankly speaking, it was already good that Monkey Qiu had not killed her.

The only reason she was still breathing was because this was Greenwater City and Monkey Qiu did not wish to stir up too much trouble here. Otherwise, he would have dealt with Miss Chu long ago.

Yang Yanzheng gave up on being polite. He had no choice but to be straightforward.

”Miss, the strongest person we have is Wen Hongyan,” he said flatly. ”So tell me. What exactly are we supposed to kill Monkey Qiu with?”

”Then we hire people,” Miss Chu shot back. ”Assassins!”

”What assassin would dare touch the Lu Family’s chief steward?”

”I’ll pay,” she said immediately. ”I’ll sell my house if I have to. I’ll live in the Paramount Club from now on. I won’t stop until one of us is dead!”

Yang Yanzheng rubbed his forehead. His temples were starting to throb. When he saw her finally pause to catch her breath, he hurried to speak.

”Miss, listen to me. We should just return the Paramount Club to the Lu Family. Sit down, talk it through, negotiate a proper price. We won’t lose much.”

”No! The Paramount Club is mine! I’m giving it to no one!” Miss Chu grew agitated again, and Yang Yanzheng stopped speaking.

After a long silence, Miss Chu stood up and said, ”Prepare the carriage. We’re going to Blue Poplar Village.”

”What are we going to Blue Poplar Village for?”

”To find Ma Wu,” Miss Chu replied without hesitation. ”Back when he was operating the Freewind Wharf, the major families made things difficult for him too. He knows how to deal with this sort of thing. We need him. He’ll definitely have an idea.”

Yang Yanzheng shook his head so hard it nearly hurt. ”Miss, Freewind Wharf and the Paramount Club are completely different matters. How big was the purchase of Freewind Wharf, really? On the other hand, Paramount Club is the signboard of Greenwater City!”

”You don’t know a damn thing,” Miss Chu snapped. ”Ma Wu is the real expert at making money. If anyone has a way out of this, it’s him.”

”Miss, please don’t be reckless,” Yang Yanzheng said urgently. ”The Lu Family has only blocked our business for now. Who knows what they’ll do next? You can’t leave the city at a time like this. If you do, the Lu Family might start using underhanded methods. Miss...Miss...”

Yang Yanzheng tried again and again to persuade her, but Miss Chu would not listen. Once the carriage was ready and her attendants had gathered, she set off for Blue Poplar Village.

***

Blue Poplar Village, Dreamspring Garden[1].

Zuo Wugang, a burly support hook, stomped from the dance hall to the restaurant, then from the restaurant to the inn. He circled the inn twice, frowned at it as if it might suddenly confess something, then turned around and headed back toward the tavern.

Little Chuan hurried after him, sweat pouring down his face.

”Chief Zuo,” he gasped, ”you’ve already gone around more than twenty times. Could you at least come up with something?”

”What are you yelling for?” Zuo Wugang snapped as he frowned. ”Do you think I’m strolling around for fun? I’m thinking of a solution right now!”

Miss Chu had arrived! Li Banfeng and Ma Wu were both away. She refused to leave, rented more than ten rooms at Dreamspring Garden, and settled in.

She was now a thorn that the Lu Family was adamant to remove, and the other families had begun targeting her secretly. Under such circumstances, she could not be allowed to remain in Blue Poplar Village for long.

Zuo Wugang had thought as far as that. As for what to actually do next, he hadn’t the faintest idea. Little Chuan was anxious. Zhen Jincheng and Cao Zhigang were anxious as well.

Cao Zhigang was the first to suggest something. ”Chief Zuo, I say we stop dancing around it and just use force. Miss Chu only brought a handful of people with her. We can drive them out easily!”

Zuo Wugang waved a hand, cutting him off. ”And why, exactly, should we use force? They came to Dreamspring Garden to enjoy themselves. They paid for their rooms. They paid for their drinks. On what grounds do we throw them out? Is that proper?”

Zhen Jincheng cleared his throat. ”Then... how about we talk it through? Reason with her. Persuade her to leave?”

Zuo Wugang spat to the side. ”Reason, my ass. You never even went to school, and you want to reason with a rich young lady?”

Cao Zhigang frowned. ”If we can’t drive her out openly, then we do it in secret. Give her a scare, make things difficult, and she’ll retreat by herself.”

”That won’t do either.” Zuo Wugang shook his head hard. ”Miss Chu and Young Master Wu might actually have feelings for each other. If we go too far and he comes back to find out, he’ll blame us for it.”

Zhen Jincheng let out a long sigh. ”So what do you suggest? If we just sit here and wait for the Lu Family to show up, it’ll be too late by then.”

”I don’t think that will happen,” Zuo Wugang said slowly. ”Miss Chu isn’t nobody. The Lu Family wouldn’t go so far as wiping her out completely.”

Cao Zhigang said anxiously, ”In Greenwater City, the Lu Family still has limits. But this is Blue Poplar Village. Killing someone here is easier than killing a chicken. If they make a move, they’ll make it fast. And if Miss Chu dies here, we’re done for, Lu Family or not. We won’t be able to explain this.”

Zuo Wugang had thought of this as well, and that was exactly why he had no answer. His agitation finally showed.

”Enough,” he snapped. ”All of you, go back. Stop shouting in my ear. Leave. All of you. Go far away!”

The three of them found a room in Changchun Garden and sat down, while Zuo Wugang remained outside, pacing back and forth as if the ground itself had offended him.

Little Chuan let out a long sigh. ”Why can’t Chief Zuo come up with a single idea at all?”

Zhen Jincheng shook his head slowly. ”That’s his weakness. Give him orders and he’s a tiger. Take the orders away, and he’s not even as capable as a cat.”

Cao Zhigang slammed his palm against the table. ”Why hasn’t Master Wu come back yet? And why is there still no word from Master Qi?”

***

After twenty hours, Li Banfeng woke up inside the Pocket Dwelling.

”Heyaaa~ Husband dear~ Did you have a pleasant dream?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”I had a nightmare. I dreamed a swarm of insects ate me alive.”

Pop... crackle... pop...

”Heyaaaa~ Husband dear~ That shouldn’t happen. Anyone who encounters that wretch ends up having sweet dreams. Some of them never wake up for the rest of their lives.”

Li Banfeng sat on the edge of the bed and asked, ”The wretch you’re talking about... is she the young lady with the surname Feng?”

”If this humble one hasn’t guessed wrong, my dear husband must have encountered Feng Daiku.”

”Feng Daiku? What kind of name is that?”

The gramophone crackled as it sang, ”When this woman was born, she brought calamity upon her family. Because of that, her kin despised her and gave her such an ugly name.[2] instead. It sounded smoother, so the name stuck.”

”Feng Koukai? Doesn’t that sound even worse?”

Pop... crackle... pop...

”That was already one of the nicer versions. A few more years passed, and who knew whether it was rumor twisting rumor or what, but someone started saying ’Koudai’ as ’Kudai[3].’ After that, people all began calling her Feng Kudai.”

”Kudai? She could tolerate that?”

”She could. Like it or not, that wretch truly had remarkable tolerance. She accepted the name ’Kudai’ and even went so far as to rename her domain after it.

”She first called it the Pocket Hollow, since ’pocket’ carried the same meaning as koudai. Later, she changed it again to Girdle-Slipping Hollow, because kudai essentially meant girdle.”

Girdle-Slipping Hollow... Li Banfeng thought. Suddenly, realization hit him. It was Girdle-Slipping Hollow!

”Wifey, are you saying that Girdle-Slipping Hollow is her domain, and she even named it herself?”

”That’s right! She is the local land deity of Girdle-Slipping Hollow. Husband dear~ You should know what kind of status a local land deity holds.”

Local land deity. These three words echoed back and forth in Li Banfeng’s mind.

If Miss Feng was the local land deity of Girdle-Slipping Hollow, then what about Old Mister Yao from Medicine King Gully? Is he also a local land deity? The local land deity of Medicine King Gully?

The thoughts followed one after another, fitting together all too neatly. The logic itself was sound. If Old Mister Yao was a ghost, then the other local land deities were likely ghosts as well.

Is Miss Feng a ghost? Li Banfeng wondered. I should have checked with Keen-Eyed Perception.

Li Banfeng asked the gramophone, ”Wifey, what is the origin of a local land deity?”

”This little wifey can’t remember.”

”My good wifey, just tell me. I’ll get you something to eat. Fresh, sweet, crisp souls. You can have as many as you want.” Li Banfeng leaned closer to the gramophone.

”Heyaaa~ Husband dear~ This little wifey isn’t trying to be shameless and difficult. I truly can’t remember. The origins of local land deities are tied to the Inner Provinces, and anything related to the Inner Provinces is something this little wifey does not wish to recall.”

Inner Provinces?

This was the first time Li Banfeng had ever heard the term.

”What kind of place is the Inner Provinces?”

”The Outer Provinces lie outside, while the Inner Provinces are located within. Between them sits Puluo Province.”

”Wifey, tell me more about the Inner Provinces.”

”Husband dear~ This little wifey truly does not wish to remember.”

”Wifey, think carefully. I’ll be going to buy groceries in a bit.”

”Husband dear~ If you insist on forcing this little wifey to think about it, I can. But remembering it will drive me mad.”

Li Banfeng smiled faintly. ”A little madness is nothing. Who among us has never gone mad?”

Pop... crackle... pop...

The gramophone’s song slowed with each note sounding heavy and deliberate.

”Once madness takes root,” it sang softly, ”this little wifey may no longer recognize you! Husband dear~ Will you still dare to listen? Will you still dare to have me think about it?”

Li Banfeng fell silent for a moment and moved a little farther away from the gramophone. ”My dear wifey, then I won’t force you.”

Clang-a-lang-lang~ da~

The wifey’s singing suddenly turned bright and lively, rising like a playful aria.

”Heyaaaa~ Husband dear~ Setting all that aside, this little wifey remembers clearly. You have always lingered in Greenwater Bay. So how did you ever wander so far, only to run into that wretch, Feng Daiku?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”I don’t know either. She said she was injured.”

”Oh my, how strange, how very strange~ In all of Greenwater Bay, how many could wound her so?

”Could it be that beggar who once hurt her? But if so, oh tell me, tell me~ Why would she go to Greenwater Bay, only to provoke that beggar?”

The beggar of Greenwater Bay? The master of Greenwater Bay? They fought? Was it over the domain?

The thoughts tumbled over one another like children racing down a staircase. There was simply too much information. The more Li Banfeng listened, the more tangled everything became, until his head felt stuffed full of loose string.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

He remembered the thing Feng Daiku had given him. That odd little bundle. The lump of flesh wrapped carefully in bamboo leaves.

Li Banfeng reached into his suit pocket, pulled it out, and held it up.

”This,” he said, ”was given to me by Feng Daiku.”

Hiss~

A puff of steam slithered out, curling around the bamboo leaves like a nosy little creature. It lingered there for a long while, sniffing and circling, as though trying to decide exactly what it was looking at.

”That wretch has grown in power, oh has she not~ The seal she laid is deep and hidden, beyond even this little wifey’s sight. Husband dear~ Open the bamboo leaves and allow this little wifey to take a single look.”

Li Banfeng untied the grass stem binding the bamboo leaves. The leaves fell apart, revealing the lump of flesh hidden inside.

Tap~ tap~ tap... da~

After the gongs and drums rang on for a long while, the gramophone finally spoke. ”If this humble one did not see wrongly, this is the flesh of Pan Dehai.”

Li Banfeng stared at it, utterly baffled. ”And who is Pan Dehai?”

”A Moralism Cultivator. The world called him Mister Dehai. He was also a local land deity. But how did he end up fighting Feng Daiku?”

Author’s Note:

PS: Why would the local land deity of the Girdle-Slipping Hollow appear in Greenwater Bay? And even get into a fight with someone in Greenwater Bay? Is she not taking Greenwater Bay’s top boss seriously?

1. There seems to be an inconsistency. The raw really says 畅春园, which means Carefree Spring Garden. But then, in some paragraphs later on, it shows that she paid for rooms in Dreamspring Garden. Since Dreamspring Garden appeared before, I decided to change this to Dreamspring Garden instead. ☜

2. Feng is her surname. Daiku means ’bringing bitterness.’”

”Feng Daiku was a mouthful, so after some time, people began calling her Feng Koudai[ref]Koudai means pocket ☜

3. Kudai means girdle ☜