The Overlord of Puluo

Within the dense fog, the two hurried forward.

The hunter, Sun Tiecheng, moved at a fair pace. In half a day, he had covered more than thirty-five kilometers. However, for a level-three Wanderlust Cultivator, that speed was honestly quite slow.

”Are you really a Wanderlust Cultivator?” Li Banfeng asked, growing impatient with the sluggish pace.

Sun Tiecheng answered honestly, ”Sir, we can’t walk too fast. If we move too fast, we won’t be able to find Old Land.”

”Why is that?”

”I can’t really explain it,” Sun Tiecheng said. ”I only know that along this road, you have to walk slowly if you want to find the gate to Old Land.”

A gate? Old Land had a gate?

The more Li Banfeng heard, the more curious he became.

After another half day of walking, the fog finally began to thin. Little by little, something dark took shape ahead of them.

It was a city. Unlike Greenwater City, this was not a modern settlement but an ancient one. High stone walls ringed the city. Jagged battlements crowned the top. And above the entrance rose a tall, heavy gatehouse that stared down at the road like a watchful giant.

Sun Tiecheng pointed ahead. ”Sir, that’s Yuren City. Once we pass through it and keep heading south, we’ll reach Iron Goat Mountain.”

”Yuren City?” Li Banfeng asked. ”Does that mean there are lots of fishermen there?”

Sun Tiecheng shook his head. ”Not that yu. It’s the other yu. I can’t read, so I don’t really know how to explain it.”

A city appearing so suddenly in the middle of an endless wilderness put Li Banfeng on edge. The place gave him a bad feeling, as if danger were already waiting inside.

A Wanderlust Cultivator’s first rule was simple: Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity.

Li Banfeng said to Sun Tiecheng, ”We won’t go into the city. We will go around it.”

”You can’t go around. You will get lost.”

Li Banfeng looked at him in surprise. ”Have you been to Iron Goat Mountain before?”

”I have.”

”You are a Wanderlust Cultivator,” Li Banfeng said. ”You have already walked this path once, and you can still get lost?”

”You can get lost here. This city is strange. The only way forward is straight through it. There’s no way to go around.”

Li Banfeng grew even more puzzled. ”Even if we walk right along the city wall, we still can’t go around it?”

Sun Tiecheng looked troubled. ”Sir, you paid me. I wouldn’t dare lie to you. There’s no way around this city. If you don’t believe me, I will give you back your money.”

”No need for that,” Li Banfeng said, waving his hand. ”Let’s go in.”

After passing through the city gate, Li Banfeng looked around.

To Li Banfeng’s surprise, the city was quite large.

The streets were broad and paved with neat stone slabs. Buildings stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides of the road. Most of them looked rather tired, their walls cracked and their roofs sagging after years without proper care.

The buildings might be worn down, but there were plenty of people. Some wandered slowly along the streets. Some ran little roadside stalls. Shops stood open on both sides, and every now and then someone walked in or came back out again.

A Proper Land became Old Land when people stopped living there. The Gramophone once said that even within fifty kilometers, there might not be a hundred people. Yet here was a whole city full of them. Why were there so many people here?

Anyone else would have found it impossible to understand, but Li Banfeng found nothing strange about it. These people were special. A faint green glow shimmered across their faces. To be precise, they were not people at all. They were ghosts.

The entire city was crowded with wandering spirits drifting in every direction. Just as Ma Wu had said, they behaved as though they were still alive, showing none of the caution or taboos that ghosts normally observed.

These spirits were also different from the ones Li Banfeng usually saw. The flesh on their bodies looked solid and complete, almost as real as the body of a land deity.

But could they be land deities? Impossible! They didn’t carry that kind of authority or presence. So how had they ended up with bodies like this? Could it be the result of living in Old Land for many years?

The two had not walked far when a voice rang out from a roadside stall.

”Pain is pain! Injury is injury!

”Blood flows like a river!

”A chill in the cold becomes sickness.

”A wound in hot blood turns into a festering sore!”

What is this about? Li Banfeng thought.

When they walked closer, they saw a man with a wooden box strapped to his back, selling medicine to a crowd gathered around him.

”This is a secret remedy passed down through my family,” the man proclaimed. ”Specially made for treating pain and injuries of the waist and legs.”

”Each patch contains twenty-one medicinal herbs! No pearls, no ginseng, no bezoars or rare treasures. Just ordinary herbs! But don’t underestimate them. Folk remedies cure great illnesses. Simple herbs make famous physicians grind their teeth in envy!

”My medicine isn’t expensive. Two dollars a patch. If the illness is severe, two patches will cure it. If it’s mild, one will do.”

Li Banfeng laughed. ”This fellow is quite interesting.”

Indeed, he was. The man was selling herbal plasters to ghosts.

Would ghosts need herbal plasters? And even if they did, would they work? For ghosts whose flesh and blood were still intact, they might actually help.

Sun Tiecheng smacked his lips and said, ”Sir, he’s a skin-picker. A stove-gnawing fellow. Just a street scammer. Nothing worth watching.”

In jianghu slang, a skin-picker meant a medicine hawker. A stove-gnawing fellow referred to someone who sold herbal plasters, since the plasters had to be heated over a flame before being applied.

Medicine hawkers like this in the jianghu never sold real medicine. What surprised Li Banfeng was that even after becoming a ghost, the fellow was still using the same old jianghu tricks to swindle people.

The strange part was that everyone gathered around to buy medicine was also a ghost. Li Banfeng grew curious. He wanted to see what tricks ghosts used to scam other ghosts.

The man glanced at Sun Tiecheng and continued shouting, ”Someone just called me a fraud. We don’t even know each other. I have no idea where you got that idea from.

”I am an honest man. At home I honor my parents. Outside I make friends wherever I go. My reputation means everything to me. Hearing you say that leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

”I will defend my reputation. I won’t swallow this insult. Today, to prove my name, I am going all out. These plasters won’t cost a single cent. I am giving them away for free!”

Free? If they are free, how will he scam their money? Li Banfeng thought. He stroked his chin and watched with growing interest.

”Sir, don’t watch. He’s just shaping the sticky trap. It’s a jianghu trick.”

The phrase shaping the sticky trap meant he was putting on a show to draw people in.

Li Banfeng still refused to leave.

The man continued, ”My medicinal herbs may be cheap, but they still cost money. I really won’t be able to afford giving everyone here a patch of my medicinal herbs.

”I have ten tickets here. I’ll toss them into the crowd, and you can grab one. Anyone who gets a ticket will receive a patch of medicine. Only those with a ticket get a free patch. If you miss it, you get nothing.”

The man began throwing paper tickets into the crowd. Li Banfeng actually caught one.

Looks like my luck is good today, Li Banfeng thought. Let’s see how he talks his way out of this now.

The man went on shouting, ”Yesterday someone took one of my patches home. Since he didn’t pay for it, he didn’t value it and threw it away.

”A gentleman is easy to deal with, but a petty man is hard to guard against. So if you take a patch today, at least cover the cost. Just give me one yuan.”

Li Banfeng immediately shouted from the crowd, ”Wait a minute! Didn’t you say the medicine was free? Why are you asking for money now?”

The man nodded solemnly. ”This brother is absolutely right. A man must keep his word. When I spit, it is like driving a nail into wood. If I say it is free, then it is free. If you pay one yuan to cover the cost of one patch, I will give you another one for free. If it doesn’t work, come find me and get your money back. If it works, spread my name.”

Li Banfeng kept shaking his head.bWho would fall for such an obvious trick?

***

Five minutes later, Li Banfeng was walking down the street again with Sun Tiecheng. In his hand, he held two herbal plasters.

”Sir, I told you he was a fraud. Why did you still fall for it?” Sun Tiecheng asked.

”It’s fine. It’s only one yuan. Consider it the price of watching a show. Besides, my legs really has been aching these past few days,” Li Banfeng said.

Li Banfeng’s legs really did hurt. It wasn’t from an injury. The pain came from his Homebound Cultivation suppressing his Wanderlust Cultivation.

But what good would these herbal plasters do? Well, he had already bought them.

Before they had gone far, they heard an old man shouting nearby.

”Not many people have come for fortune telling today, yet trouble never runs short! Good fortune and ill fate are written plainly on the face.

”The changes of yin and yang never end. The whole world fits within this palm. One glance is enough for me to read the signs.

”Someone here has suffered a disaster at home. Someone else is tangled in disputes and slander.

”And someone...has come seeking revenge. I can see bloodshed written on his face!”

Li Banfeng stopped.

What does this person mean? Is he talking about me?

Sun Tiecheng whispered from the side, ”That’s a gold-gate picker. One of those fish-players. Don’t fall for it.”

Gold-gate picker was gang slang for a fortune teller, while fish-player meant a scammer.

Li Banfeng did not stop. He kept walking straight ahead. Before long, the old man hurried after him and caught up.

”Young man, don’t misunderstand. I am not trying to earn your money,” the old man said. ”I chased after you for half a street just to give you a warning.”

”Today you are under an evil omen. Put aside your revenge for now. Every grievance has its source, and every debt has its owner. Heaven follows its own order. There is no need to rush this moment.”

Li Banfeng studied the old man for a long moment. Then he took one hundred Huan yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into the old man’s hand.

The old man sighed. ”Young man, I will accept this money. One look at your face tells me you have a kind heart. I’ll teach you a way to break this misfortune.

”Stay in the city tonight. Do not leave the city under any circumstances. When tomorrow comes, come back and let me read your face again. Then I’ll tell you how to deal with what’s coming.”

With that, the old man turned and left.

Sun Tiecheng stomped his foot in frustration. ”Sir, how did you fall for another scam?”

Li Banfeng thought for a long time before answering, ”What he said was actually quite accurate.”

”Let’s not waste time here,” Sun Tiecheng said. ”I will take you up to Iron Goat Mountain right away.”

Li Banfeng waved his hand. ”I won’t go up the mountain tonight. I will stay in the city for the night and decide tomorrow.”

”You really believe him? I am not staying here!” Sun Tiecheng shook his head. ”Sir, I have told you what I know. Tomorrow, once you leave the city, head south and you will see Iron Goat Mountain.”

Li Banfeng gave Sun Tiecheng another twenty silver dollars, bringing the total to fifty as payment for his help.

Sun Tiecheng pursed his lips. ”Sir, you are a good man. Since you insist on staying in the city, I will take you to the Kindred Wayfarers Inn. They don’t cheat people there.”

Li Banfeng followed Sun Tiecheng to the inn. The innkeeper’s face glowed faintly green. He was clearly not one of the living. Still, the price was fair. Eighty a night for a private room.

That night, Li Banfeng settled into the inn.

Not long after Li Banfeng checked in, the innkeeper glanced sideways at the waiter standing beside him.

”Go to the back courtyard,” he said quietly. ”Call the brothers. Bring the weapons. It’s time to start the feast!”

The waiter leaned closer and whispered, ”Start the feast now? Shouldn’t we wait until he falls asleep?”

”Bah!” The innkeeper spat on the ground and snapped, ”You just want me to wait while you sneak off and eat first while the meat’s still hot. Do you think I can’t see through your little trick?”

”Innkeeper, what kind of talk is that?” the waiter protested. ”I am thinking of your interests. If we wait until he falls asleep before making a move, it’ll be safer for everyone.”

”Cut the nonsense and go get the others!” the innkeeper snapped.

The waiter trudged off to the back courtyard with a long, unhappy face. He was about to call the day worker, the hired hand, and the cook.

To his surprise, those fellows had already sharpened their knives and were getting ready to climb in through the window.

The waiter snapped angrily, ”You heartless bastards! The innkeeper hasn’t even given the order yet, and you are already sneaking in for a bite. You don’t even know to respect the rules!?”

The cook clapped a hand over the waiter’s mouth. ”Why are you shouting? We are worried that kid might try to pull something. We are just scouting ahead for the innkeeper.”

The waiter shoved her aside and waved his hand. ”Come with me. The innkeeper’s waiting in the main hall. We will start together.”

They hurried to the main hall and looked around, but the Innkeeper was nowhere to be seen.

One of the odd-job workers asked, ”Where’s the innkeeper?”

The waiter shook his head. ”I don’t know. He told me to come here.”

The day worker stamped his foot in anger. ”That old bastard! He sent you away so he could eat first!”

Everyone rushed straight up to the second floor and arrived at Li Banfeng’s door, only to find it still closed.

The Innkeeper isn’t here?

The cook grinned. ”Good. If he’s not here, we will start first.”

The day worker lifted his foot and kicked the door open with a bang. Then he rushed inside and threw himself onto the bed, pinning the person underneath before they could even move.

The odd-job man hurried in behind him and flung a thick quilt over the figure, covering the person from head to toe.

The waiter gave the order. ”Chop!”

The cook stepped forward and brought the knife down.

A miserable howl burst out from under the quilt.

”What the hell are you chopping me for?!”

The odd-job man froze. Slowly, he pulled the quilt back.

The person lying there was the innkeeper.

The waiter’s eyes widened. ”Innkeeper? How did you get up here before us? Didn’t we agree to come up together?”

The innkeeper kept a straight face. ”I came up first to scout the way for you lot. Now which bastard just chopped me?”

The day worker immediately pointed at the cook. ”Her! The knife’s still in her hand!”

The cook protested, ”Don’t blame me! My knife only works on living people. It can’t cut ghosts. And even if it could, it shouldn’t hurt.”

”Doesn’t hurt?” the innkeeper snapped. ”Who are you trying to fool, ghosts? Am I not made of flesh? I will show you what ’doesn’t hurt’ means. Let me chop you once and see how you like it!”

Just as the innkeeper raised his knife to chop the cook, the waiter asked, ”Innkeeper, where did the guest go?”

The innkeeper froze. With his knife still raised, he stood there thinking for a long moment. He had not seen the guest when he came in. So where had the guest gone?

***

Li Banfeng had not gone anywhere. He had placed the key on the roof beam and slipped into his Pocket Dwelling. He sat in front of the Gramophone with two herbal plasters in his hand, staring blankly at them.

”Hey, husband, what is that thing you’re holding?” the Gramophone asked. ”It’s all sticky. That’s disgusting.”

”I bought it from a roadside stall,” Li Banfeng said. ”It’s for leg pain.”

”Your leg hurts?”

”A little.”

”You are treating it with that thing?” The gramophone sounded incredulous. ”Husband dear~ You may be a little crazy sometimes, but you are still a clever man. How did you get scammed by a skin-picker?”

”I didn’t just get scammed by a skin-picker. I also got scammed by a gold-gate picker. It didn’t cost much, and I am not short on money,” Li Banfeng said, tossing the herbal plasters aside.

He truly wasn’t short on money, but at the moment he seemed to be short on brains.

Looking at the gramophone, Li Banfeng spoke slowly. ”Wifey, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Ever since I entered the city, my brain hasn’t been working properly. I believe whatever people say.”

”What city did you enter?”

”Yuren City.”

”On Old Land?”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”Yes. It’s on Old Land. I thought that it meant that there would be many fishermen. Who would have known that there would be many swindlers.”

”Heyaaa! Husband dear~” the gramophone exclaimed. ”That yu isn’t the one that means fisherman. It’s the yu that means fool. Yuren City means a city that fools people. You have walked straight into the City of Folly. You have run into Folly Cultivators!”

”Folly Cultivators?” Li Banfeng asked. ”There’s actually a Daoist Path like that? And it’s that powerful?”

”Husband, the Folly Cultivators were once the number one Daoist Path under the heavens. Those of the same cultivation level would not be able to defeat them.”

Author’s Note:

PS: The number one Daoist Path under the heavens is the Folly Cultivators? Would the other Daoist Paths accept that?