The Overlord of Puluo

”Ge Junma is a pure-blooded native of the Inner Provinces,” Li Banfeng asked Qiu Luoye. ”Are all people from the Inner Provinces toads?”

Qiu Luoye shook his head. ”There are chickens, ducks, geese, and dogs too. Some even look human.”

”So they are Physique Cultivators?”

Qiu Luoye shook his head again. ”I don’t know what cultivation path they follow, and I don’t know what level Ge Junma is either. He can read, and I’ve seen him use One Word Worth a Thousand Gold before, so he might be a Literary Cultivator.”

”In other words, he was born a toad?”

Qiu Luoye could not answer. He had met people from the Inner Provinces before, but he did not know much about them. Just as Meng Yuchun had said, people like them were only utility animals there. No one bothered explaining much to livestock.

Li Banfeng used Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers and crushed the cabbage toad into a pulp. At the same time, the clues in his mind began to come together.

Chu Shaoqiang would definitely come to Ink Fragrance Shop.

He had suffered a serious setback because of Qiu Luoye. Once he returned to the Inner Province, he would have a hard time explaining what had happened. If he wanted to make up for his failure, he needed to earn some merit. The best way to do that was to obtain a piece of Proper Land. If he could secure Proper Land, there was a good chance his earlier mistakes would be forgiven.

If Chu Shaoqiang could secure a piece of Proper Land and rescue someone from the Inner Provinces at the same time, his past failures would not only be forgiven, he might even earn a promotion. That was why he had chosen Ink Fragrance Shop. He knew Ge Junma was here.

However, why was someone from the Inner Provinces at Ink Fragrance Shop in the first place?

Li Banfeng asked, ”Big Bro Qiu, can people from the Inner Provinces just come to Puluo Province whenever they want?”

Qiu Luoye shook his head. ”According to the rules, they can’t.”

”Because of the boundary lines between the two places? Then how did Chu Shaoqiang get out?”

”It’s not just because of the boundary lines,” Qiu Luoye said. He drew a circle on the ground, then rubbed out a small gap along its edge. ”There are a few fixed passages in the Inner Provinces and only one or two people are allowed through each passage every year. The people who come through are either lackeys working for the Inner Provinces or people who have been officially appointed to serve as land deities. If a pure-blooded native of the Inner Provinces came to Puluo Province, they would be killed.”

Li Banfeng froze. ”Who would kill them?”

Qiu Luoye shook his head. ”I don’t know. I have heard they are powerful people from Puluo Province. However, the rule is very much real. Pure-blooded natives of the Inner Provinces have never dared to come to Puluo Province. I can’t figure out why Ge Junma came here either.”

If Chu Shaoqiang came to Ink Fragrance Shop, he would likely find the Wisdom-Bound Scholar’s house very quickly. If he joined forces with the toad, the Wisdom-Bound Scholar would definitely die. By then, Ink Fragrance Shop would become a territory of the Inner Provinces.

”I need to kill Ge Junma before that happens,” Li Banfeng said. With the station stop duration being only half an hour, Li Banfeng had to hurry back into the Pocket Dwelling.

Qiu Luoye said, ”Brother, I will go with you. That bastard Ge Junma has made me suffer plenty. I have been wanting to get revenge on him.”

Li Banfeng looked at him. Qiu Luoye was still covered in bandages, many of them stained with blood.

”Big Bro Qiu, there will be plenty of chances for revenge. Get yourself healed first.”

”I am in no shape to fight right now,” Qiu Luoye admitted. ”Take my junior brothers with you instead. They can fight.”

Li Banfeng shook his head.

Qiu Luoye was talking about the three-headed people from Convict City. Those three-headed people could indeed fight, but what gave Li Banfeng the right to tell these three-headed people to go to Ink Fragrance Shop? When these three-headed people risked their lives and fought against Chu Shaoqiang last time, they did it for their own home. What reason would they have to fight this time?

Li Banfeng returned to Pocket Dwelling and said to Judge’s Brush, ”Brush, we are going back to Murong Gui’s place in a moment. You need to explain everything clearly to him. Explain to him that I am here to help him. If he wants to get rid of that toad, he needs to work with me.”

”Hmph...” Judge’s Brush gave a weak snort.

”Hmph!” Pocket Dwelling snorted as well, full of mockery.

Li Banfeng glared at Judge’s Brush. ”What are you snorting for? We are trying to get something serious done here!”

Judge’s Brush slowly replied, ”I try.”

Li Banfeng left Pocket Dwelling and headed to Wildgoose Sand Studio.

Xiao Yeci was still reading in the study. She had stayed there all night instead of going back to the inn.

Tan Fucheng was still studying the Hundred Family Surnames. Apparently, he had gained some new insights and had already cried three times that morning.

It was not the first time, either. He had cried the night before as well. While reading, he had accidentally sneezed and gotten a little saliva on the book. He felt that he had shown disrespect to the book, so he slapped himself more than a dozen times and nearly chopped off one of his fingers.

Li Banfeng took the key and headed straight for Willow Garden. While he was on the way, he kept thinking about one thing. If he killed Ge Junma, could Murong Gui protect Ink Fragrance Shop?

In a one-on-one fight, Murong Gui might be able to defeat Chu Shaoqiang. But would Chu Shaoqiang really fight him alone?

When Chu Shaoqiang had gone after Qiu Luoye, he had brought two helpers with him. This time, Chu Shaoqiang wanted to seize the land and save the pure-blooded native of Inner Provinces. How many people would he bring?

According to Qiu Luoye, anyone coming out of the Inner Provinces had to use one of the passages, so there could not be too many of them. Even so, if just three or five came, Li Banfeng was not sure he and Murong Gui could defeat them together.

Should I kill Ge Junma first and worry about the rest later? Li Banfeng thought.

The real problem was that there was no time to waste. Li Banfeng had no idea when Chu Shaoqiang would arrive at Ink Fragrance Shop. He might come tomorrow, or he might show up that very night.

Defending Ink Fragrance Shop would not be easy. Since the Inner Provinces were involved, Li Banfeng needed help.

He thought back to what Qiu Luoye had told him. Pure-blooded natives of the Inner Provinces did not dare enter Puluo Province because some powerful figures there would kill them.

Just who were these people? Of all the powerful people Li Banfeng knew, there were only a few who came to mind: the Peddler, Grandpa Train, Sun Tiecheng, and Granny Bitter. There was also Old Mister Xu, the founding cultivator of Gold Cultivation.

Grandpa Train was trapped in the Inner Province, so there was no point considering him for now. Granny Bitter was at Bitter Greens Manor, but would she really come if Li Banfeng asked for her help? She had a strange temper. Getting beaten up by her was not a big deal, but he could not afford to waste time going through another trial at Bitter Greens Manor.

Old Mister Xu seemed like a good person, but he had to stay in Medicine King Gully and protect Old Mister Yao. He probably would not get involved in what was happening at Ink Fragrance Shop.

The only person left was the Peddler, but would the Peddler help?

When the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs had been hit by the mosquito plague, the Peddler had stepped in. Now that something this serious was about to happen at Ink Fragrance Shop, he would probably get involved as well. Besides, out of all of them, the Peddler was one of the easier people to find.

The New Year had just passed. Under normal circumstances, the Peddler should be somewhere around the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs or Girdle-Slipping Hollow.

When Li Banfeng reached Willow Garden, he took out his portable phone, connected the battery, attached the antenna, and contacted Luo Zhengnan. ”Old Luo, go to Girdle-Slipping Hollow and find the Peddler. Tell him that someone from the Inner Provinces has gone to Ink Fragrance Shop.”

Luo Zhengnan was startled when he heard that someone from the Inner Provinces had appeared. He quickly had a travel permit arranged and boarded a train that same day.

Li Banfeng went over to the willow tree. When no one was around, he had Judge’s Brush write the word ”Wisdom” on the ground. Leaves sprouted from the willow tree, and catkins drifted through the air. Li Banfeng entered Murong Gui’s house once again.

On the frozen lake, Murong Gui was still sitting at his desk, writing. He had already filled one scroll and had moved on to another.

Li Banfeng sent Judge’s Brush forward to speak with him. Judge’s Brush flew over to Murong Gui and said, ”It’s me.”

Murong Gui stopped writing. He looked up and silently stared at Judge’s Brush.

Seeing that the two seemed to be getting along well enough, Li Banfeng walked over to Murong Gui.

What Murong Gui was writing today was a little different from the night before. Along with the characters ”Kill” and ”Battle,” there were also the lines ”The blind ought to be ashamed,” ”Scholars ought to strive,” and ”Everyone ought to study literature.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”What do those three lines mean?”

Murong Gui did not answer.

Li Banfeng did not spend any more time thinking about the three lines. He went straight to the point. ”That toad is a pure-blooded native of the Inner Provinces. He came here to take your territory. I want to work with you and kill him. Do you know when he usually appears?”

Murong Gui looked up at him but said nothing. A moment later, his pupils narrowed and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

Li Banfeng sensed malicious intent and quickly moved off the frozen lake.

This time, there was no doubt about where it came from. The malicious intent was coming from Murong Gui. The words on the paper rose into the air one after another and flew toward Li Banfeng. They were so fast that even he, a level-seven Wanderlust Cultivator, struggled to block them.

”Brush, what did you even say to your old master? Isn’t he supposed to be incredibly smart? Isn’t he supposed to be able to tell why someone came to see him after three sentences? Shouldn’t he be able to guess what they are thinking after five sentences? I came with good intentions and he couldn’t figure that out?”

Judge’s Brush sighed and said, ”Forget it. Let’s beat him up.”

Something seemed to be wrong with Murong Gui. Other than writing, he didn’t seem capable of doing anything else. Could he be in some kind of strange sleepwalking state?

Li Banfeng dodged the words attacking him while trying to get a better look at Murong Gui. Then, with a loud crash, the ice split open and Ge Junma burst out from beneath the lake.

Murong Gui was still fighting Li Banfeng and did not have time to form his wings. Instead, a sheet of floating words supported both him and his desk above the broken ice. Even then, the brush in his hand never stopped. He just kept writing.

To buy Murong Gui some time, Li Banfeng used Passing Flowers on Horseback again. However, the giant toad did not fall for it this time. The toad wrote more than a dozen ”eye” characters across his body, and each one turned into a real eye. They opened across his cheeks, front legs, hind legs, and back, taking turns watching Li Banfeng.

Ge Junma really was a Literary Cultivator! He had known that Li Banfeng was coming and had prepared for him.

Li Banfeng already had a standard way of dealing with anyone who refused to take their eyes off him. He pulled Ling Miaoying’s pistol from inside his coat and aimed at the eyes.

Bang! Bang!

Two of the six bullets hit their mark. The pistol was not powerful enough to seriously injure Ge Junma, but Li Banfeng only needed to make him blink. That would be enough for his ability to work.

Ge Junma blinked. For a brief moment, Li Banfeng vanished from his sight. The next instant, a hole exploded open in the toad’s back.

Li Banfeng thought this would give Murong Gui a chance to strike back. Instead, Murong Gui ignored Ge Junma and wrote dozens of ”Forbidden” characters, sending them flying toward Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng knew how dangerous those characters were. Guo Jinshi had once attacked him with twelve of them, leaving him unable to use any of his weapons or enchanted artifacts.

As Li Banfeng carefully dodged the flying characters, Ge Junma charged forward and spat a glob of slime at him.

Li Banfeng dodged very quickly and the slime stuck a tree thick enough for two people to wrap their arms around. In the blink of an eye, the entire tree dissolved into a puddle of mush.

That was close! If that touched me, I would be dead! Li Banfeng exclaimed inwardly. He had planned to team up with Murong Gui and fight Ge Junma. Instead, he now found himself fighting both of them alone.

What was wrong with Murong Gui? Even if he had failed to understand Li Banfeng’s intentions earlier, surely he could tell who the enemy was by now.

With the toad blocking him from the front and the flying characters surrounding him from all sides, Li Banfeng was ready to pull out his key.

Ge Junma shot out his tongue and was about to grab Li Banfeng when over a hundred characters flew onto the toad’s back and tore off a large piece of flesh.

Unable to bear the pain, the giant toad turned and attacked Murong Gui. Li Banfeng seized the chance to attack from the other side, but another barrage of flying characters forced him back.

Honestly, Li Banfeng had the urge to team up with Ge Junma and kill Murong Gui first, then settle things with Ge Junma later. At least Ge Junma wouldn’t behave as weirdly as Murong Gui.

The ink in Murong Gui’s inkstone was almost dry. As Murong Gui quickly ground more ink with an ink stick, Li Banfeng rushed toward him. He wanted Brush to try one more time and see if he could snap Murong Gui out of whatever state he was in.

Murong Gui immediately raised his brush. In the blink of an eye, he wrote characters that filled up an entire scroll.

The entire scroll was filled with a single character: ”Kill.” The characters flew through the air, forcing both Li Banfeng and Ge Junma back.

Ge Junma jumped into the lake. Before long, the surface froze over again and Murong Gui went back onto the ice and continued writing.

The fight had been intense, and Murong Gui seemed a little nervous. Now, he wrote only three characters: ”Kill,” ”Battle,” and ”Forbidden.”

Li Banfeng stood nearby, staring at Murong Gui helplessly. He had no idea how to communicate with him, but one thing was clear. If he took even one step closer, Murong Gui would attack.

In this situation, there was no way he could kill Ge Junma. Li Banfeng had no choice but to leave Willow Garden.

Chu Shaoqiang could arrive at any moment. What was he supposed to do now? Where else could he find someone to help?

Author’s Note:

PS: Looks like they will have to wait for the Peddler.