The Overlord of Puluo

The Formation of Misfortune—neither Li Banfeng nor Qiu Zhiheng had ever heard of it before.

Old Mister Yao stood in the courtyard in a daze, muttering to himself. He was beginning to doubt his own judgment.

”That can’t be right. If the Star of Misfortune wanted to set up a Formation of Misfortune, preparations would have had to be made in advance. How did he set up a formation within my territory without me knowing about it?”

Qiu Zhiheng thought, Old Mister Yao, there’s no need to doubt it. It certainly is possible for him to have done it without your knowledge.

Old Mister Yao was nowhere near as cautious as the other land deities. He was far too carefree.

Li Banfeng asked, ”What is a Formation of Misfortune used for?”

Old Mister Yao sighed. ”The Formation of Misfortune is a Mourning ability of the Cloudborne Layer. A formation is drawn in Medicine King Gully using the blood of Mourning Cultivators, and living Mourning Cultivators are then sent into it. If a Mourning Cultivator dies within the formation, baleful misfortune spreads throughout the area where the formation is located. This means that these Mourning Cultivators can no longer be killed. What are we supposed to do now? Capture them all alive and then drive them out?”

Having come up with a solution, Old Mister Yao was about to set out again, but Li Banfeng stopped him.

Old Mister Yao had drunk a bit too much today, and that meant he was likely to act impulsively.

”Old Mister Yao, let’s sort things out first. Your idea is a good one, but you can’t be the one dealing with the Mourning Cultivators. You need to stay here and deal with the Star of Misfortune. Leave the Mourning Cultivators to Elder Brother Qiu and me. If they want to cultivate, they’re bound to stir up trouble. It will be easy to find them. As for how we’ll drive them out once we find them, we can figure that out then.”

Old Mister Yao shook his head. ”You two shouldn’t be dragged into this.”

Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. ”We’re not being dragged into anything. Since this concerns Medicine King Gully, there’s no way for me to avoid it. My home is here.”

After much persuasion, Old Mister Yao finally agreed to stay at home. Li Banfeng and Qiu Zhiheng headed down the mountain, discussing countermeasures as they went.

The first thing they needed to determine was how Yu Heshun had died. Li Banfeng was worried that Yu Heshun had come to the Formation of Misfortune to seek death on the Star of Misfortune’s orders. If that were the case, and the other Mourning Cultivators chose to die en masse, there would be no stopping them.

Nevertheless, Qiu Zhiheng was not worried about that. ”With the way Mourning Cultivators are, there’s no way they’d willingly die. I’m more concerned that the Star of Misfortune had someone kill him.”

Li Banfeng and Qiu Ziheng settled on a plan and split up. Qiu Zhiheng would track down the Mourning Cultivators, while Li Banfeng would investigate Yu Heshun’s cause of death.

The news had come from Yu Nan, so Li Banfeng went to the Yu’s Cloth Shop first. Yu’s Cloth Shop was in disarray. The clerks were rushing about, sorting through bolts of fabric. The fabric was moldy. Yu Nan had been in the cloth business for years, so there was no way she did not know how to prevent mildew. Yet, the inside of the warehouse was practically being turned upside down, without a single bolt of fabric found in perfect condition.

Li Banfeng called Yu Nan to a secluded spot and asked, ”How did you learn of Yu Heshun’s death?”

”I heard it from a rickshaw driver. Someone saw Yu Heshun walking from the station toward the ticket office. On the way there, he suddenly coughed up blood and died. His body is still lying there. Everyone thinks it’s bad luck, so no one’s willing to collect the corpse. I knew Old Mister Yao cared a lot about this matter, so I hurried over to inform him.”

Yu Heshun had reached the train station. No one had laid a hand on him. Yet, he died suddenly, just like that. Did someone poison him with a slow-acting toxin or use an ability that casts a mortal curse?

Li Banfeng went to the train station to examine Yu Heshun’s body. Aside from the blood staining the ground, there was indeed no obvious cause of death.

The train station falls under the Border Controller’s jurisdiction. Is even the Border Controller unwilling to send someone to collect the corpse?

Li Banfeng considered bringing the body back for the Gramophone to examine, but he decided it would be wiser to discuss the matter first.

Upon returning to the Pocket Dwelling, Li Banfeng brought up the matter of Yu Heshun to the Gramophone.

Before he could finish explaining, the Gramophone spat twice and said, ”Pui, pui! My dear, why are you bringing up that unlucky thing again? Didn’t he get done in by a donkey?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”He’s dead, and now more than a dozen Mourning Cultivators have arrived.”

”More than a dozen?” The Gramophone did not quite believe him. ”My dear, did you look carefully? Are they really Mourning Cultivators? How many followers does that path even have in total?”

”I asked the local land deity. It seems the Star of Misfortune has set up a Formation of Misfortune in Medicine King Gully.”

Huff! Huff!

The gong-and-drum contraption rang urgently.

Before the Gramophone could speak, Hong Ying spoke first. ”Forget about this matter. Just hurry up and leave.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”And what happens if I don’t?”

”When one Mourning Cultivator dies, it’s called the First Layer Formation. A second death makes it the Second Layer Formation. The more Mourning Cultivators that die, the stronger the formation’s baleful misfortune becomes. Once that misfortune gains momentum, you won’t be able to leave even if you want to. The Formation of Misfortune is extremely sinister. Don’t get yourself caught up in it and bring that bad luck back home.”

Li Banfeng remained silent.

Knowing Li Banfeng’s temperament, the Gramophone said to Hong Ying, ”That’s enough.”

Hong Ying refused to drop the topic. ”I’m saying this for his own good.”

”Bitch, are you asking for a beating? I told you to stop talking!” the Gramophone chided Hong Ying.

This time, Hong Ying finally fell silent.

”Darling dearest, how do you intend to handle this matter?” the Gramophone asked.

Li Banfeng answered, ”I want to bring Yu Heshun’s corpse here and determine exactly how he died. That might lead us to the Star of Misfortune’s whereabouts.”

”That won’t do, my dear. A Mourning Cultivator’s corpse contains too much bad luck. If you bring it here, it won’t simply ruin our fortune; it may even enrage the dwelling.”

Li Banfeng sighed. ”Very well. Let’s just find a way to drive these Mourning Cultivators out then.”

”My dear, you’ll need to find a suitable location to deal with them. Since the Star of Misfortune has already made a move, he certainly won’t let the matter rest. This is Old Mister Yao’s fault for being so careless. All he does is spend his days at the drinking house, drinking liquor. Someone laid such a massive formation in his territory, and he didn’t even notice. We’ll see whether he learns a lesson from this.”

After Li Banfeng left the Pocket Dwelling, Hong Ying asked, ”Which Old Mister Yao were you talking about just now?”

”Just a local land deity with the surname Yao.”

”You said he spends his days at the drinking house. Could it be—”

The Gramophone snapped, ”Why do you have so much to say? Go put on your rouge. Just look at how terribly you’ve drawn your eyebrows.”

”So what if it’s ugly? Not like I can see them anyway.”

***

Li Banfeng went to Qiu’s Medicinal Trading House. The place was in even greater disarray than Yu’s Cloth Shop. The medicinal herbs had all gone moldy as well.

With tears streaming down her face, Leafy said, ”Master Qiu, Madam Qiu, all the herbs I delivered were of good quality. They shouldn’t have become moldy.”

Madam Qiu comforted her. ”Leafy, this isn’t your fault. Don’t cry.”

Li Banfeng walked through the streets. The whole Memorial Arch Street was in chaos.

Shopkeeper Feng’s goods had gone moldy. The grain at Zou’s Rice Shop had gone moldy. The tea leaves at Pinming[1] Tea House had gone moldy. The steaming cloths at the bun shop had gone moldy. Even the diapers the wife of the Liu Family’s second son had prepared for her child had gone moldy.

The whole Inner Gully reeks of mold. Is this what they meant by misfortune permeating the land? And what will happen if another Mourning Cultivator dies?

Mourning Cultivators sought out misfortune everywhere and should have been easy to find, but things did not unfold as expected. Qiu Zhiheng had ordered his employees to search throughout the Inner Gully, but they failed to find a single Mourning Cultivator.

Where have they gone? Did they all run off to the Outer Gully to stir up trouble?

Qiu Zhiheng called upon all his connections to search. Li Banfeng had the newspaper publish a bounty notice, while Yu Nan and Shopkeeper Feng mobilized their own networks to hunt for the Mourning Cultivators.

After searching for an entire day, they failed to find a single living Mourning Cultivator. Instead, they found a corpse. The corpse was found at the train station once again. It belonged to the old woman who had harassed a rickshaw driver there. Her cause of death was exactly the same as Yu Heshun’s. She had coughed up blood and died mysteriously on the spot in front of the station.

Not long after the old woman’s death, insects began infesting the medicinal herbs in the various medicinal trading houses. Cloth shops and general stores also started seeing outbreaks of pests. That wasn’t even the worst of it. The real disaster struck the Outer Gully, where vast numbers of crop-eating insects appeared in the fields.

Li Banfeng tensed his jaw. Seeing the insects reminded him of the tragic devastation that had once befallen the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs. Fortunately, these insects were not nearly as vicious.

Heavy rain fell throughout the night. The rain stopped the next day, and all the pests had vanished. After examining dead insects, Medicine Gourd confirmed that they had been poisoned to death.

”This poison kills only insects and doesn’t harm people. Old Mister Yao must have stepped in.”

The pest infestation had been resolved, but the Mourning Cultivators were still nowhere to be found.

Two more days passed, and several of Qiu Ziheng’s friends sent word to him that they were leaving Medicine King Gully. These friends were people of high status who could obtain travel permits. They planned to leave and wait out the calamity elsewhere.

Those unable to obtain travel permits could not escape Medicine King Gully. They hid in their homes instead. Restaurants, teahouses, inns, and dance halls all shut down. The streets of the Inner Gully were deserted before sunset even arrived.

Li Banfeng had now witnessed the true terror of the Formation of Misfortune. The vitality of an entire region had withered away to such a severe extent in such a short time. Qiu’s Medicinal Trading House had also closed its doors.

During dinner that evening, Qiu Zhiheng advised Li Banfeng, ”Brother, go back to Greenwater City. I’ve never encountered a Formation of Misfortune before. To be honest, I don’t know how to deal with what’s coming next either.”

Li Banfeng looked at Qiu Zhiheng for a moment.

Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. ”I can’t leave. It’s not just because of Old Mister Yao. The business I’ve built is here.”

Given Qiu Zhiheng’s abilities, would it be difficult for him to establish a new business elsewhere? No, not at all, but he treasured Qiu’s Medical Trading House.

Lowering his head, Li Banfeng continued eating. ”I can’t leave either.”

”Why not?”

Li Banfeng did not answer. Some things could not be explained with words.

Medicine King Gully was where he had entered his cultivation path. It was where he had obtained the Pocket Dwelling and taken the Gramophone home to be his wife. It was also where he had met Ma Wu and Chubby Qin. He had climbed Bitter Mist Mountain and gathered speckled-snake chrysanthemums there. He had gotten everything that had allowed him to survive in Puluo until now in Medicine King Gully.

”I’ll go search again,” Li Banfeng said.

Even if I have to walk every inch of Medicine King Gully on foot, I’ll drag every last Mourning Cultivator out into the open!

Li Banfeng set down his chopsticks. He was just about to get up and leave when someone knocked at the door.

Qiu Zhiheng opened the front doors of the medicinal trading house and frowned.

Since arriving in Medicine King Gully, Qiu Zhiheng had visited every major faction except the Jiangxiang Gang. Deep down, he looked down on them. Yet, standing before him now was Luo Zhengnan, the hall master of the Jiangxiang Gang’s Medicine King Hall.

”Hall Master Luo, what brings you here?” Qiu Ziheng asked.

The moment he heard that Luo Zhengnan had arrived, Li Banfeng quickly slipped into the back hall. To Hall Master Luo, Li Banfeng was Fort Lord of Iron Gate Fort—his surname was Fort, and his given name was Lord.

Luo Zhengnan cupped his fist in greeting. ”Master Qiu, there’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

”Say it here,” Qiu Zhiheng replied. He neither returned the respectful greeting nor showed any intention of inviting Luo Zhengnan inside.

Luo Zhengnan gestured behind him. Two Redstaff Crewmates brought forward a man who was trembling in fear. Qiu Zhiheng recognized him immediately. He was a Mourning Cultivator and had been among those harassing the rickshaw driver at the train station.

Luo Zhengnan said, ”I heard Master Qiu has been searching for Mourning Cultivators, so I captured one for you. People like this bring bad luck. I came to discuss whether he should remain in my custody or be handed over to you.”

Qiu Zhiheng looked at the Mourning Cultivator and asked, ”Are you doing this to help me?”

Luo Zhengnan shook his head. ”This is for Medicine King Gully. Medicine King Gully is such a good place. We can’t let it be ruined by these bastards.”

Qiu Zhiheng returned the respectful greeting then. ”Hall Master Luo, please come inside!”

Luo Zhengnan had the Mourning Cultivator kept outside and entered the medicinal trading house alone. Qiu Ziheng and Luo Zhengnan sat facing each other and had some tea.

Then Luo Zhengnan said, ”I’ve spent many years wandering the jianghu. I’ve heard of this situation before. If I’m not mistaken, this is a Formation of Misfortune, isn’t it?”

Qiu Zhiheng nodded. ”Hall Master Luo has sharp eyes.”

”Master Qiu, do you intend to drive all the Mourning Cultivators out of Medicine King Gully?”

Qiu Zhiheng nodded.

Luo Zhengnan set down his teacup. ”Every brother of the Medicine King Hall will devote himself fully to searching for Mourning Cultivators. As for travel permits and train tickets, we’ll work out a solution together.”

1. This means to taste/sip tea. Seems a bit redundant, seeing as it’s called a tea house, so we’ll leave it transliterated for this. ☜