The Overlord of Puluo

Li Banfeng sat in the main room while Lin Dexing’s corpse lay on the floor.

The room was terribly quiet. After a long while, the Gramophone finally spoke. ”Brothers and sisters, since our husband has already brought the food home, let us eat.”

Her voice sounded very muffled, as though she were speaking with her nose pinched shut.

No one in the room answered. The Gramophone said to the Pendulum, ”Sister Hanxue, taste a bite of this.”

Hanxue bent forward and gave a polite bow. ”Madam, you haven’t eaten yet. We cannot break the rules of the household.”

”We are all family here. There’s no need for so many rules. Hong Ying, why don’t you try it first?”

Hong Ying was combing her hair in front of the mirror. When she heard the Gramophone call her name, she quickly answered, ”I think Sister Hanxue makes a very good point. We cannot break the rules of the house. Sister, you should eat first.”

The Gramophone responded, ”I already said that there aren’t that many rules in this house.”

”That will not do. Even if the household rules do not matter, we have to follow the rules of the army. You are the chief commander, and I am one of your subordinates. I cannot touch my chopsticks until you have taken the first bite.”

The Gramophone sighed. ”Why bring up all that? This is not an army camp.”

”I have spent my whole life fighting battles. It is a hard habit to change.” Hong Ying’s voice trembled a little, and so did the comb in her hand. ”In my opinion, Glove should eat first. He earned the greatest merit in this battle.”

The Gramophone agreed at once. ”That does make sense. Where is Glove?”

Glove was lying beside the Tang Saber, pretending to be a scrap of cloth. The Tang Saber stood propped in the corner, pretending to be asleep.

”Sister Liquor Gourd, you are hungry, aren’t you?”

The Liquor Gourd gave a satisfied burp. ”I just had a few extra drinks earlier, and the liquor is going to my head. I will sleep for a while first.”

The Gramophone turned to the projector. ”You missed the last meal, so you should have the first bite this time.”

The Film Projector was an honest fellow. ”Madam, if I eat that thing, my artistic soul will die on the spot.”

Li Banfeng’s face turned dark. ”Eat! Why is no one eating? This man has cultivation at the Cloudborne Layer. Normally, you couldn’t get a meal like this even if you wanted one!”

The Gramophone placed all her hopes on Crimson Lotus. ”Sister Crimson Lotus, our husband brought this back out of kindness. Hurry and eat it.”

However, the Crimson Lotus answered, ”I don’t eat the living. This man is still alive.”

The Gramophone left out a long sigh. Then, she sang mournfully while beating a slow rhythm, ”Ohhhh~ What are we to do now?”

Li Banfeng did not think the smell was all that bad. Perhaps he had smelled too much of it at Old Mister Yao’s house.

”Wifey dear, you eat souls. That is different from what the others eat. How much smell can a soul have?”

The Gramophone sobbed. ”Heyaaaaa~ Husband dear, who used this ability on him? This man stinks all the way down to his soul!”

Who used this ability? I really should ask about this, Li Banfeng thought. With that, he stepped out of the Pocket Dwelling and left a house full of individuals sighing.

The enchanted artifacts in the house couldn’t bring themselves to eat the corpse. But if they didn’t eat it, this thing would just keep lying there in the house.

***

When Li Banfeng went back to Old Mister Yao’s courtyard, Pan Dehai was already gone. He had left a sugar figurine beside Old Mister Yao’s bed.

The old Gold Cultivator was still there and Little Gen was standing right next to him.

”Master Qi, this is the founding cultivator of my cultivation path,” Little Gen hurriedly introduced.

Li Banfeng straightened his top hat and gave the old man a respectful bow.

The old man waved it off. ”No need to talk about me being a founding cultivator. My surname is Xu, and my name is Xu Han. I have only been in this path a couple more years, and I am only a few years older than you. Just call me Big Brother Xu.”

This founding cultivator was surprisingly friendly.

Li Banfeng cupped his hands. ”Big Brother Xu, may I ask what brings you to Medicine King Gully?”

The old man glanced at Old Mister Yao. ”I came to watch over him.”

Hearing this, Li Banfeng fell silent for a long while.

Little Gen looked nervous. ”Master Qi, my founding cultivator won’t lie to you...”

It was not that Li Banfeng distrusted this old senior, nor did he distrust Little Gen.

With the old man’s strength, if he really wanted to seize Old Mister Yao’s territory, he wouldn’t need to lie to Li Banfeng. In front of him, Li Banfeng was no match at all.

However, this concerned Old Mister Yao’s life and territory. He couldn’t simply hand everything over to a stranger and feel at ease.

”Are you Old Mister Yao’s friend?”

Xu Han shook his head. ”Yao Xin doesn’t make friends.”

”Are you his relative then?”

Xu Han shook his head again.

That made it even harder to explain. If they were neither friends nor family, why had Xu Han come to help Old Mister Yao?

Xu Han reached into the basket on his back and searched around for a while. At last, he pulled out a feather duster.

Li Banfeng recognized it. He knew it too well. It was the Peddler’s feather duster. Back at Iron Gate Fort, Li Banfeng had once taken a terrible beating from this very feather duster.

Xu Han said, ”I was not planning to get involved in this matter. Plenty of people must have their eyes on Medicine King Gully, and I fear there will be no end of trouble here from now on. But I owe the Peddler a favor. Since he asked, I cannot refuse.”

The feather duster meant something only Li Banfeng and the Peddler understood. With that, Li Banfeng could trust Xu Han about eighty percent, but the remaining twenty percent still needed to be verified.

However, Li Banfeng had a question he was so curious about. ”The Star of Misfortune came to the Medicine King Gully because of the Inner Provinces. What about Greenwater Beggar, Pan Dehai, and Lin Dexing? Were the three of them sent by the Inner Provinces too?”

”I can’t say for sure why Pan Dehai came by. However, Greenwater Beggar and Lin Dexing were most likely sent by the Inner Province. Yao Xin is not a land deity who came from the Inner Province. They have wanted to get rid of him for a long time. And Medicine King Gully is a special territory. The Inner Provinces have always wanted to have a hold of this in its own hands.

”What makes Medicine King Gully so special?” Li Banfeng didn’t understand.

In a strange place like Puluo Province, Medicine King Gully seemed more normal than almost anywhere else.

”It’s Mount Bitterfog that is special,” Old Xu said with a smile. ”Little Bro, don’t ask so many questions and don’t investigate this. Knowing too much will only bring you harm.

”I promised the Peddler that I would stay here for three years. While I am here, I might as well teach that useless disciple of mine a lesson too. As for whether Yao Xin can wake up within these three years, that will depend on his own luck.”

What if Old Mister Yao still didn’t wake up after three years? Even Greenwater Beggar had personally stepped into this fight. With things in such a state, Li Banfeng really didn’t know what else he could do.

Li Banfeng glanced at Little Gen, then asked Old Xu, ”When you mentioned that useless disciple of yours, were you talking about this brother of mine?”

Xu Han shook his head and smiled. ”Gen is a good kid. He is sure to amount to something in the future. The disciple I was talking about is not a Gold Cultivator. He is an Agrarian Cultivator.”

Agrarian Cultivator? Li Banfeng thought. He’s a founding cultivator of Agrarian Cultivation too? Who is this old man?

Xu Han clearly didn’t want to say much about his own identity. He sighed and said, ”Agrarian Cultivators toil bitterly until they amount to something. At level five, they can stand above others and become lords of a land. Over the years, that disciple of mine has grown stronger. From the look of things, he has started thinking about becoming one of those lords. Every day, he plants all sorts of strange things. Two years ago, he planted a batch of watermelons and sold them all over the place. By now, they have already become a menace.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”Do you mean those watermelons that can fight? I ran into them once.”

Xu Han smiled. ”He is talented. If I can persuade him to turn back, he may still achieve something in the future. But if he refuses to listen, then I cannot let him remain.”

”Little Gen, go back with Brother Li Qi.”

Little Gen cast a glance at Li Qi. He still wanted to cultivate alongside the founding cultivator, but he was worried that Li Qi wouldn’t agree.

This was such a good opportunity, and Li Banfeng was not the sort of man to stand in the way.

”Big Brother Xu,” he said, ”why not let Little Gen continue learning from you?”

Elder Xu shook his head and looked at Little Gen.

”Cultivation is not something you can spoon-feed into a person. I have taught you what I should teach. You have ambition, and you have patience too. You will surely accomplish great things in the future. Listen to me now. Go out into the world. Wander a bit. Struggle a bit. See things for yourself. That is how you will grow.”

Since Old Xu had put it that way, there was no point pressing him further. Li Banfeng brought Little Gen down the mountain and first found him an inn to stay in. Given the way Little Gen cultivated, Qiu’s Medicinal Trading House was obviously not a suitable place for him to stay.

Li Banfeng booked a room for himself as well, then entered the Pocket Dwelling. His dear wife had just finished eating Lin Dexing’s soul and was now forcing everyone else to eat.

”What are you all staring at? I ate it, did I not? What excuse do the rest of you have? Eat. Every last one of you. No one gets to skip this!”

Hong Ying gnashed her teeth and said, ”Even if you beat me to death today, I am not eating that thing!”

”Then I will beat you to death, you wretched hoof!”

The two of them were just about to fight when Li Banfeng stepped in. ”If you all really don’t want to eat, just give it to the Crimson Lotus.”

”Heyaaaa~ Husband dear~ You must not spoil them like this,” the Gramophone said in a trembling voice. ”If you keep siding with them, what will happen to the rules of this house?”

The Gramophone’s voice was even trembling. She had eaten it already. She had swallowed the awful thing down like a proper lady of the house. And now the rest of them thought they could simply sit there and refuse?

”My wifey dear, have you ever heard of a man named Xu Han?”

”No.”

Li Banfeng’s heart gave a nasty little jump. ”Then do you know who’s the founding cultivator of the Gold Cultivation path?”

”That one I know. His name is Xu Jinkui.”

Xu Jinkui? Same surname, yes, but that is not the same man. Something fishy is going on! Li Banfeng thought and hurried out.

Li Banfeng was just about to leave when Hong Ying suddenly called out, ”Darling Qi, I have something important to tell you. But if I tell you, you have to make that wicked woman stop forcing me to eat this thing!”

”What is it?”

”Xu Han is Xu Jinkui. They are the same person.”

”Are you sure?”

”I know Xu Han. He founded the Gold Cultivation path, and he is an old senior among cultivators. Xu Jinkui is just a mistaken name that people spread around. There is no mistake about this, Darling Qi. Please stop making things hard for me.”

Since Hong Ying called him an old senior, this man definitely has a high status.

Still, Li Banfeng was a little worried. ”What’s his relationship with Agrarian Cultivation?”

”He’s a grandmaster of the Agrarian Cultivation path. Though he is not a founding cultivator, his achievements in this cultivation path are extremely high.”

Hong Ying’s description matched everything Old Xu had said. At last, Li Banfeng could set his worries aside.

He looked at Lin Dexing’s corpse, then turned to Hong Ying. ”This man also carries a bit of that old senior’s goodwill. You must not let it go to waste.”

Hong Ying sobbed. ”I cannot accept this goodwill. Darling Qi, spare me this once, and from now on, I will do everything you say.”

Li Banfeng gave a meaningful smile. If he pushed Hong Ying to the edge first and then spared her at the last moment, she would naturally owe him a favor. When he asked about the level-seven ability in the future, she would naturally have to teach him.

***

At the Jiangxiang Gang’s Medicine King Hall, Luo Zhengnan sat on the rooftop with a heavy heart.

Mo Jiansheng had been gone for ten days. Following his father’s instructions, Mo Jiansheng’s son had already passed the news to Luo Zhengnan.

Something had happened to the land deity, and it was no small matter. By sheer accident, Mo Jiansheng had found out about it. Now that he had followed Han Jinwei to Yuezhou, could he still come back alive?

Luo Zhengnan did not think Mo Jiansheng would make it back alive. In fact, he even wondered if he could still stay in the Medicine King Gully.

While he was deep in thought, Redstaff Crewmate Sun Xingbing came to report. ”Hall Master Pei from Blue Wispy City is here.”

”You mean One-Mouthful Pei is here?” Luo Zhengnan froze for a moment, then his face lit up with delight. ”Quick! Invite him to the main hall.”

Sun Xingbing then went downstairs to host Hall Master Pei. The moment he left, Luo Zhengnan’s smile faded.

”One-Mouthful Pei,” Luo Zhengnan muttered. ”One breath of fire from him leaves neither corpse nor ash behind. A level-five Fire Cultivator with that kind of skill... What is he doing here?”

Luo Zhengnan didn’t go straight to the main hall. Instead, he went back into his bedroom. A few minutes later, he emerged with a smile full of pleasant surprise

Author’s Note:

PS: Looks like something is about to happen to Luo Zhengnan.