The Overlord of Puluo

In the early morning, Blockhead woke to find his wife already dressed in her work uniform. Breakfast was laid out neatly on the table.

”If you get off work early tonight, go pick up our child. Several companies are holding events at the hotel, so I’ll be busy,” Miao Ruifang said. Ever since she had gone back to work, her spirits had lifted. There was color in her face again.

Blockhead nodded. ”I will pick up our child. I will cook dinner tonight.”

”You better not,” she replied at once. ”With your cooking skills, how exactly are we supposed to swallow that? Wait for me to come back and cook. If you are hungry, eat some biscuits first.”

Blockhead grinned sheepishly. ”How about we eat out tonight?”

”No need. I have already bought today’s groceries.”

Of course she had. Miao Ruifang was as frugal as ever.

”You are pretty busy too. Why don’t we hire a nanny?”

”I have only been back at work for a few days and you are already dreaming big,” she said. ”While we are still young, we should earn more and save more. Later, there’ll be plenty of ways to spend money.”

Blockhead looked at his wife and child sitting at the table, steam rising from bowls, morning sunlight slipping through the curtains, and felt a swelling in his chest that made him quite certain he was the happiest man in the entire world.

He first drove their child to school, then dropped his wife off at work. By the time he reached the bureau, he was a few minutes late. In the elevator, he ran into a superior, who scolded him about workplace discipline.

The truth was that this superior was also late.

After returning to his desk, a colleague nicknamed Glasses leaned over with a mysterious expression and said, ”Have you heard? Sugar Cube is getting promoted to team leader.”

Sugar Cube, a second-level Love Adept, had joined the Dark Star Bureau only three years ago. And now, she was about to become a team leader.

Blockhead had spent nearly twenty years in the Dark Star Bureau and was still just an investigator.

”That’s good. Sugar Cube’s a good person,” Blockhead said with a nod.

Another colleague, nicknamed Bun, chimed in. ”Brother Ming, I really don’t get it. In terms of ability or seniority, how does she compare to you? How can someone like her become team leader?”

Blockhead simply smiled. ”It’s fine. It’s good.”

Captain Chen and Deputy Xiao both arrived that morning. After the team finished its routine meeting and everyone returned to work, Blockhead took some time off and went to Yuezhou Third Hospital.

He Jiaqing’s ward was crowded with doctors and nurses. One of the critical tubes inserted into his body had come loose. No one could explain how it had fallen out.

The attending physician frowned when he saw Blockhead. ”I suspect the patient may have moved. Otherwise, this tube wouldn’t have come out on its own.”

Blockhead looked at He Jiaqing lying in the hospital bed and said to the physician, ”It was probably an accident.”

”Should this be reported to your captain?”

Blockhead nodded. ”I’ll report it shortly.”

He did not report it.

Instead, in that day’s work log, he wrote that everything was normal.

Doing so meant taking a certain risk. However, based on his past experience, matters like this rarely attracted any attention. It was a risk he believed he could bear.

***

Li Banfeng found a stretch of wasteland. In Bitter Greens Manor, land like this was everywhere

He scattered a sack of seeds into the soil. The seeds had been given to him by the Agrarian Cultivator from Flatbread Village. Once planted, they would sprout and ripen within the same month.

The land in Bitter Greens Manor was barren and thin.

Once a batch of quick-sprout seeds was planted, the soil would be exhausted. That patch would have to lie fallow for a full year before it could bear anything again. However, at the very least, this harvest would provide enough grain to feed the sixty-odd residents of Bitter Greens Manor.

For now, that was enough.

Next year, he would simply switch to another plot. Bitter Greens Manor was vast. Vast enough that Li Banfeng had once walked for several days straight, covering more than five hundred kilometers, yet still failed to find its boundary.

No hills marked its edge. No walls rose in the distance. The land simply went on and on, barren and silent, as though the world itself had forgotten where the manor was supposed to end.

Old Teapot had once said that Bitter Greens Manor bordered every place in Puluo Province. Yet when Li Banfeng unfolded the map Shopkeeper Feng had given him and examined it carefully, he could not find the manor marked anywhere.

No outline. No name. Not even a faint dot. As for what kind of existence this place truly was, Li Banfeng still had no answer.

If something could not be understood, then it was better not to dwell on it. There were far too many matters at hand that required his attention.

The Ascetic Cultivators of Bitter Greens Manor now held Li Banfeng in high regard. With his Tang saber at his side, he made a round of the households one by one. Wherever he went, people followed.

Before long, a group of Ascetic Cultivators had gathered behind him. Soon, they followed him out to the fields to begin planting the crops.

The Ascetic Cultivators could endure hardship and worked diligently. They were especially motivated whenever they saw Li Banfeng bring out the teapot.

After finishing the farm work, those who lived nearby returned home. Those who had come from farther away pitched tents beside the fields and stayed overnight.

Qian Jiafeng and Ou Haidong returned to the same house. Granny Bitter did not hold them accountable for what had happened that night, since it truly had not been their fault. But from that night onward, they had grown much bolder and completely forgot the rules.

There were some others who were even bolder than them. For example, the middle-aged woman. She still did not trust any men, though she remained very interested in a certain piece of male anatomy.

When night fell, Li Banfeng brought out the liquor and distributed it openly.

This time, he did not mix it into the porridge. Whoever wanted a drink could come and take some. After all, it was this bearded guy that caused this whole mess. If Granny Bitter intended to blame someone, she should be blaming the bearded guy.

Li Banfeng did not mind. Granny Bitter could not kill anyone. At worst, she would drive him out of Bitter Greens Manor. And if that happened, the situation would be perfect.

At dawn the next day, three newcomers arrived at the Free Meal Hall, preparing to become Ascetic Cultivators.

Li Banfeng rushed into the dining hall and drove them all away with punches and kicks.

Today, the rice-ladling man had put on a bright red padded jacket. He hid in the kitchen and did not dare make a sound.

In the afternoon, everyone worked in the fields while Li Banfeng painted nearby.

Surprisingly, his painting skill had indeed improved. The overall outlines looked good, and the details of several laborers were passable as well.

Miss Chu walked up to Li Banfeng, glanced at the painting, and said in surprise, ”You can paint? Can you paint one for me?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”Your family should have painters working for you.”

”Just paint one for me,” she insisted. ”I have helped you quite a bit these past few days!”

”Sure. Shall we do it now?”

Miss Chu shook her head. ”Not now. Wait until tonight. I’ll tidy myself up first.”

That night, Li Banfeng went to Miss Chu’s residence. She was still dressed in coarse cotton clothes and had not put on any makeup. She had only washed her face and tidied her hair a little.

She sat upright in the courtyard, hands resting neatly on her knees, trying her best not to move. Across from her, Li Banfeng held his drawing board and carefully sketched each line.

”I don’t look good without makeup, right?” Miss Chu asked nervously.

Li Banfeng did not even pause. He simply shook his head. ”You look quite good.”

”Do I look a bit silly sitting like this?” she asked, trying not to fidget.

”Not at all,” Li Banfeng replied. ”Just don’t move.”

”Should I maybe...” Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly shuddered and sprang to her feet.

Li Banfeng turned and saw Granny Bitter standing in the doorway.

He calmly set down his paper and brush, then looked at her with a faint smile, as though he had expected her to appear. ”Another round of tempering today?”

Miss Chu hurried forward and explained anxiously, ”Granny, please listen to me. I was the one who asked him to paint...”

”Girl, go back inside and wait. I will deal with you in a moment,” Granny Bitter said, dismissing her. Then she turned to Li Banfeng. ”You. Come with me.”

Li Banfeng followed Granny Bitter all the way into the wilderness.

Granny Bitter looked at him and said, ”Do you know that there were never many cultivators in Bitter Greens Manor to begin with?”

”I know.” Li Banfeng nodded.

”Do you know that if you keep stirring things up like this, this Daoist path will cease to exist?”

”Really?” Li Banfeng smiled. ”If this Daoist path really cease to exist, I’d be willing to keep causing trouble here forever.”

Granny Bitter frowned slightly. ”Such audacity! How dare you say such things in front of me? Do you know that someone is bound to suffer in this world?”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”I know. But one still has to live striving toward enjoying blessings.”

”Do you know that those who have never suffered cannot understand what blessing truly is?”

”I know. But one still has to live striving toward enjoying blessings.”

”Do you know that cultivating through hardship is also a righteous path?”

”It is a righteous path,” Li Banfeng replied. ”But in the end, we humans still have to live striving toward enjoying blessings.”

Whenever Li Banfeng spoke the words ”enjoying blessings,” his face bore the same unchanging smile.

Seeing that smile, Granny Bitter seemed to think of someone and asked, ”Do you know Feng Daiku?”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”I met her once.”

”The ’ku’ in her name is written as 苦. It means suffering and bitterness, yet that was the character she hated most. Later, some people called her Feng Koudai, and she did not get angry. Others called her Feng Kudai, using the character 裤, which meant trousers, and she still did not get angry. As long as the character 苦 was not in her name, she would answer to whatever they called her. In temperament, you and she are somewhat alike.”

Li Banfeng let out a cold laugh. ”She refused to endure hardship herself, yet she made me endure quite a bit of it.”

”She harmed you?”

”That depends on how you look at it. If you tally everything up, I did not suffer too great a loss.”

Granny Bitter sighed. ”In the end, it is all cause and effect. It is karma. Do you know why you came here?”

”You mean Bitter Greens Manor?”

Granny Bitter shook her head.

Finally, Li Banfeng figured it out.

When Granny Bitter worried that Li Banfeng wanted to leave, she believed he intended to depart from Puluo Province. And when she asked him why he had come, she was also referring to Puluo Province.

”Why did I come? I can’t say it clearly,” Li Banfeng said. ”But it’s good to stay here. Whether it’s suffering or enjoying blessings, it’s all fine by me.”

”Very well. I had sent you on your way once before. I will do it again.”

Granny Bitter seized Li Banfeng by the collar and dragged him to a barren wasteland. Sand and wind whipped wildly around them. Amid the howling gusts, Li Banfeng saw a stretch of pitch-black, dense mist looming ahead.

It was the edge of the new land.

Granny Bitter looked at Li Banfeng. ”Do you remember how many times you endured my tempering?”

”Three times.”

Li Banfeng had taken three vicious beatings in total. That was something he would never forget.

”This karmic debt ends here,” Granny Bitter said. ”Blessing and hardship arise together. What is owed must be repaid. Originally, I should have made you repay more, and more harshly. But if I let you continue stirring things up, my Daoist Path might truly cease to exist.”

Hmm...My Daoist Path, Li Banfeng thought. She seemed to never talk about the Ascetic Cultivators.

Li Banfeng blinked. ”Big Sis, can we be a little more straightforward when we speak?”

Granny Bitter frowned. ”You call me Big Sis? Do you even know who I am?”

Li Banfeng pondered for a long while. ”I can’t say clearly.”

Granny Bitter let out a sigh. ”Take care, young man.”

Blessing and hardship arise from one another. Where there is blessing, there is hardship; where there is hardship, there may be blessing.

Li Banfeng walked toward the depths of the dense mist. After a few steps, he turned back. Granny Bitter was still standing where she had been.

”Take care, Second Aunt,” he called out.

Hearing that form of address, Granny Bitter could not help but smile.

”Second Aunt, blessing and hardship arise together. Letting the Ascetic Cultivators enjoy a little blessing now and then does not put you at a loss.”

”You rascal,” Granny Bitter said. ”If you understand that blessing and hardship give rise to one another, then you should all the more prevent this Daoist Path from going extinct.”

Li Banfeng did not quite understand. He only smiled at Granny Bitter, then turned and left.

Granny Bitter watched him go, his figure growing smaller and smaller until he was nothing more than a stubborn speck swallowed by the mist.

Then she let out a long, weary sigh.

Every cause produces an effect, and the chain cannot be broken. You brat even ate one of my bitter greens. I was the one who met you first. I knew that your life force is stubborn and difficult to extinguish. You should have been a member of my Daoist path.

My Daoist Path has always been difficult. Many died halfway through. For many years, no high-level cultivator has emerged. Others labeled us Ascetic Cultivators.

After so long, I finally encountered someone whose life force is as hard to extinguish as yours. Unfortunately, you fear hardship and refuse to come. It makes me wonder... are there any others with such a stubborn destiny?”

***

Granny Bitter returned to Miss Chu’s residence. Miss Chu was staring at the unfinished sketch, lost in thought.

”He has left,” Granny Bitter said calmly.

Miss Chu’s body trembled. She clutched the drawing tightly in her hands.

”Does it hurt?” Granny Bitter asked.

”It does,” Miss Chu whispered, nodding. Her hand crept to her chest, pressing hard. ”It hurts badly.”

”As it should be. Only when your heart has known suffering can your cultivation make progress.”

Miss Chu could no longer hold back her tears. ”It hurts too much.”

”Heartache alone is not enough. Your flesh must ache as well,” Granny Bitter said as she dragged over a stool. She picked up a stick of firewood, and barked, ”Lie down here!”

Miss Chu sobbed twice and lay down over the stool.

”Wretched girl! So you go and seduce men! You seduced him and still could not keep him. The entire manor is in such chaos because of you. Now do you know what pain is?”

Granny Bitter swung the firewood stick with a sharp whoosh and brought it down across Miss Chu’s backside with a crack.

Miss Chu bit down hard, refusing to make a sound. She kept her eyes stubbornly fixed on the drawing as tears streamed steadily down her face.

***

Li Banfeng walked more than five kilometers through the new land and gradually figured out where he was located.

After comparing the terrain with Old Mister Yao’s map, he quickly found the route back to Blue Poplar Village.

The two places were not far apart after all. If he kept a steady pace, he could return in less than a day.

A surge of joy rose within him. Just as he was about to quicken his steps, he suddenly noticed a massive figure ahead, clinging to a tree and gnawing at its leaves.

A green caterpillar? Could it be... No. There is more than one. Two? Three? Five?

Li Banfeng did not dare to count anymore. He knew that this was the new land near the Bitter Greens Manor.

If a female Ascetic Cultivator refused to step into reincarnation after death, she would turn into a Madam Bagworm Moth.

There are so many Madam Bagworm Moths here... Li Banfeng muttered inwardly. He carefully reflected on life and felt that Granny Bitter was right. Everything she said was reasonable. In fact, he wished he could go back to the Bitter Greens Manor and stay for a while longer.

”That man is quite handsome,” one bagworm moth said, noticing Li Banfeng.

”Look at that full beard. I like men like that the most.”

Without hesitation, Li Banfeng tore off his beard and stuffed it into his pocket. ”I don’t have a beard.”

”Oh myyyyyy gooodnesssss~~ He’s even more handsome without a beard!”

Li Banfeng turned and bolted while a swarm of Madam Bagworm Moths chased after him.

***

For more than ten days, there had been no sign of Li Banfeng in Blue Poplar Village, and Ma Wu had worn a path into the dirt floor from pacing alone.

He marched from the doorway to the window and back again, muttering inwardly, Is Old Qi in trouble? Is this Miss Chu’s doing? Careless. Absolutely careless. I should have followed her. I should have escorted her out of the new land myself.! But even if I had sent her away, it would have been useless. She would have found her way back. Why won’t that girl just give up?

While Ma Wu was still pacing in anxious circles, the door burst open and Little Chuan stumbled inside, breathless. ”Master Wu, Master Qi is back! There are two bagworm moths chasing after him! And he can barely run anymore!”

Ma Wu was startled. He dashed outside without another word and hopped onto Swallowie’s back in one swift motion. He then turned to Little Chuan and shouted, ”Quick! Lead the way!”

Swallowie tossed her head, utterly unbothered. ”Handsome little fella, don’t panic. Two wretched creatures like that? I can deal with them on my own.”

Ma Wu asked Little Chuan, ”Did Old Qi make it back to his own plot of land?”

”He did!”

”Then splatter blood!” Ma Wu snapped. ”He can stop the bagworm moths by splattering blood!”

”He already did!” Little Chuan cried. ”It didn’t work. The land deity didn’t respond at all!”

Author’s Note:

PS: How could the land deity possibly remain unmoved?