The Overlord of Puluo

Chapter 152: It’s Been a Long Time

After hiding for half an hour, Li Banfeng went outside again. The human head had already disappeared.

Li Banfeng did some calculations. The human head appeared roughly once every six hours. At Li Banfeng’s current speed, it was impossible for him to make it out of the thicket of thorns within six hours.

If he did not have the Pocket Dwelling, what should he do if he ran into that human head?

He could only hide in the thorny undergrowth on either side of the pathway.

Would hiding among the thorns make him safe? It would not.

First, the lower half of the thicket of thorns was black. This was not the result of weathering; the thorns had been burned black by that human head.

Moreover, this human head liked living people, and it had developed a strong interest in Li Banfeng.

If Li Banfeng had not hidden in the Pocket Dwelling just then, that human head would very likely have tracked him down.

Within this thicket of thorns—or more precisely, within this wasteland—Li Banfeng’s stamina was drained at an alarming rate. That human head would catch up to him pretty soon.

It might burn him to death or turn him into its plaything. As for whether it could be gentler than Madam Bagworm Moth, no one knew.

An ordinary person would find it extremely difficult to leave this thicket of thorns, unless they could defeat that human head.

Even defeating the human head might not be enough.

Li Banfeng just wanted to leave this thicket of thorns as quickly as possible. He did not know whether there were other creatures here.

Li Banfeng trudged through the pathway in the thicket of thorns for a full day and night. The human head appeared four times in total, and Li Banfeng avoided it by relying on his ears and his nose.

Doing so not only prevented him from replenishing his stamina but also impeded his cultivation progress as a Homebound Cultivator.

Why did he not hide in the Pocket Dwelling and sleep for a while? Because it was not safe.

He was not sure whether there were other creatures in this thicket of thorns or whether they would give a warning like the human head did, allowing Li Banfeng a chance to hide.

Additionally, he did not want to leave his house key in the thicket of thorns for too long because he could not be sure that some strange creature would not pick it up.

The last time he encountered the human head had been three hours ago.

Exhausted, Li Banfeng was about to rest for a bit. Then he suddenly heard a gust of wind again.

Is the human head coming again?

No, the sound’s different.

The sound of the wind did not grow from faint to loud. It was steady, maintaining the same intensity the entire time.

This was not the sound of the human head approaching.

Moreover, there was no smell of smoke.

Li Banfeng broke into a sprint. He knew what this wind meant.

He was close to the end of the pathway through the thicket of thorns. He was about to get out.

His body still felt heavy. Gritting his teeth, Li Banfeng ran with all his might. After more than half an hour, he finally found the exit.

A forest. There’s a forest up ahead!

Overjoyed, Li Banfeng burst out of the thicket of thorns and entered the forest.

He listened carefully through the Threaded Earring. He could still hear the wriggling sound from the Iron-Thread River, yet he couldn’t see any sign of the river.

Strange.

Inside the thicket of thorns, Li Banfeng had always chosen routes that were closer to the Iron-Thread River, and the sound had never once stopped. How was it that the moment he left the thicket, the Iron-Thread River suddenly vanished?

As he was puzzling over it, the Threaded Earring responded, ”Master, the sound is coming from below.”

Below?

Li Banfeng squatted down, placed the earring against the ground, and listened carefully.

The wriggling sound was indeed coming from below. The Iron-Thread River had turned into an underground river.

This is troublesome.

Did I choose the wrong tributary earlier?

Or is there a section of the correct route that was underground to begin with?

Looking back at the thicket of thorns, Li Banfeng had no desire to retrace his steps. Under the current circumstances, he could only rely on the earring and follow the wriggling sound to walk toward the underground river.

After walking fifteen kilometers or so, Li Banfeng’s pace grew faster and faster. He’d felt so heavy before, but he suddenly seemed to break free of the invisible shackles holding him down and became much lighter.

It appeared that his physical condition hadn’t been the cause of his poor stamina earlier. There had likely been some kind of special force within that wasteland.

Li Banfeng did not know the exact reason, but he could now run fast, and his speed kept increasing.

However, the sound of the underground river kept getting fainter and fainter. From time to time, the Threaded Earring warned, ”Master, that source of the sound is getting deeper.”

After walking another twenty-five kilometers or so, the sound of the underground river vanished completely.

Am I lost?

Am I completely lost this time?

What should I do now?

It’s fine. There’s still a way...

In the vast, boundless forest, Li Banfeng was utterly exhausted. He unlocked the Pocket Dwelling and entered it. Then he dove onto the bed and fell asleep.

***

The First Ridge, the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs.

There was a crowd standing outside the Hall of Celestial Feasts.

Among them were local aristocratic families, wealthy merchants, members of the major gangs, as well as starving commoners with sallow and gaunt faces.

Paramount Club was the pride of Greenwater City, while the Hall of Celestial Feasts was the pride of the Ridge of Bottomless Stomachs. The restaurant had one main building and two side buildings. The main building stood five stories tall, the side buildings three stories each. It covered a vast area and was built along the river. All its halls and private rooms were usually occupied, and it was said to be able to accommodate up to three thousand people at its peak.

However, this restaurant had already shut its doors.

It wasn’t even possible to get any rice to eat in the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs anymore. The aristocratic families had hoarded everything edible, and the restaurant owner kept the ingredients he owned securely inside the restaurant, unwilling to give them to anyone.

So, what were these people doing, gathering outside a closed restaurant?

They were waiting for Lu Dongjun.

Today, Lu Dongjun was going to take action to wipe out the mosquitoes.

Wan Jinxian had originally wanted to wait a couple more days, but Lu Dongjun did not want to wait any longer. Pressure from all sides weighed heavily on him, and he was eager to prove his strength.

Lu Dongjun stood at the main entrance of the main building and ordered his men to unload the goods.

Dozens of servants carried twenty iron crates over and set them down in front of the restaurant.

The moment the crates were opened, the onlookers could no longer remain calm.

The crates were filled with white rice. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on them, especially the starving commoners, many of whom tried to rush forward to seize the grain.

The support hooks shouted and lashed out, kicking and punching the commoners to maintain order. The commoners, driven to extreme hunger, were not afraid of being beaten up. They only wanted a bite to eat.

Seeing the situation starting to spiral out of control, Lu Dongjun waved his hand. He sent a powerful pressure sweeping out, forcing everyone to retreat.

”Everyone, this grain cannot be eaten. It has been treated with a poison just to kill these pests. Today, I, Lu Dongjun, am using this grain—”

Before he could finish speaking, a black mass of mosquitoes surged over, blotting out the sky.

Lu Dongjun had accused the major aristocratic families of not putting in their full effort to exterminate the mosquitoes, but that wasn’t true. These mosquitoes were no ordinary creatures. The moment they smelled grain, all the mosquitoes within several kilometers would gather swiftly.

They swarmed toward the iron crates, seized the rice grains, and began sucking. In less than ten minutes, all twenty crates of white rice were reduced to empty husks.

This was the insect calamity of the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs, the terrifying plague that struck fear at its very mention.

A woman clutching a child endured the punches and kicks of the support hooks and rushed to the crates. She grabbed a handful of white rice and tried to feed it to her child, but what she held was nothing but powder.

The woman burst into loud sobs, and the child wailed along with her.

Having eaten their fill, the mosquitoes scattered in all directions, seemingly unaffected by the poison.

The onlookers unleashed a barrage of curses.

”What’s fucking use is this? It can’t even poison a single mosquito to death!”

”So much grain, and it’s all gone to waste. Why didn’t he give us a bite to eat?!”

”That man is so vile! He doesn’t deserve to be the head of the Lu Family!”

The uproar grew louder and louder as the enraged crowd tried to surround Lu Dongjun.

Nevertheless, Lu Dongjun wasn’t worried at all.

He coughed twice, and the crowd fell silent once more.

Lu Dongjun swept his gaze over the crowd and said calmly, ”I, Lu Dongjun, am staying right here on the First Ridge. I believe many of you know where I reside. Three days from now, if the insect calamity on the First Ridge has not been brought under control, you may come to my home to demand my life!”

The crowd was cowed by this display of resolve, except for one beggar.

The beggar did not look at Lu Dongjun. He kept staring at the mosquitoes flying in the air, watching them circle, land, and mate.

There were many beggars in the Ridge of Bottomless Stomachs now, but this one looked quite terrifying.

His body was covered in festering sores. Some leaked white fluid, some seeped red ichor, and others oozed green pus.

His face had become completely distorted, his features unrecognizable. Without careful inspection, he looked almost identical to the Greenwater Beggar.

The only difference was that he had a head of golden hair. He was a Westerner—Cedric.

A trickle of green fluid flowed out from one of his bleeding sores.

Cedric’s cheek twitched repeatedly. He was close to his limit. He had ingested the Greenwater Beggar’s pus, and that pus was now corroding his body.

He glanced once more at the mosquitoes that were mating and muttered to himself, ”So my fellow Disease Cultivator is here. He was also the one who had caused He Haiqin to fall gravely ill.”

***

After sleeping for a full eight hours, Li Banfeng woke up, but the Gramophone was still asleep.

Li Banfeng drank some water, ate a bit of food, and went out again.

His food supply was sufficient, but he truly did not have much water left. He still had to save some for the Gramophone, so he needed to find a way out of this New Land as soon as possible.

What if he could not find a way out?

Li Banfeng still had another plan. If he still could not find an exit after two days, then he would set up an offering table and open another New Land.

The local land deity near the orange grove greatly disliked Li Banfeng.

But the other local land deities likely did not know Li Banfeng yet.

All he had done was open a plot of land half a kilometer in radius near the orange grove. The local land deity would not go around spreading word over such a trivial matter. As long as the land deity here accepted him, he would have a water source. Food could be dealt with later.

After walking through the forest for an entire day, Li Banfeng came to a stop.

He stood there in a daze for a long moment, then he suddenly lifted his head.

This place feels familiar...

It did not simply feel familiar; he was sure he had been here before. His impression of this place was far too deep.

Right there... at this spot. There was something dangling down.

Madam Bagworm Moth’s child!

A Wanderlust Cultivator would never forget how to get to a place they had been to before.

Li Banfeng followed his memory and continued forward, his pace growing increasingly faster.

Up ahead lay a stretch of wilderness, and within it was a patch of light.

Beneath the light stood two rows of wooden houses, one with seven units and the other with eight.

A woman was standing at the end of the first row of wooden houses. She was draped in a red padded coat and held a lady’s cigarette between her lips, seemingly lost in thought.

When the woman saw someone approaching from afar, she found the figure familiar at a glance, yet could not recall his name.

As the man drew closer, she saw that he had a large beard and that he was not all that familiar after all.

It was not until Li Banfeng removed his fedora that the woman finally recognized him.

”Master Qi, you’re back!”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”It’s been a long time, Shopkeeper Yu.”

This time, Li Banfeng finally understood one thing—why Madam Bagworm Moth, the very same one, had appeared in the New Land of Mount River Moon and in Blue Poplar Village.