The Overlord of Puluo

The Tang Saber trembled at Li Banfeng’s waist.

Li Banfeng went somewhere secluded and asked, ”What happened?”

”My lord, this humble general just felt a sudden ominous chill.”

Why the ominous chill? Has the Greenwater Beggar come? But it can’t be the Greenwater Beggar. If he wanted to cause trouble, he could simply spread a plague, and none of the workers would escape. Besides, given his status and strength, there is no need for him to target a mine, much less cause trouble in such a crude manner.

The opponent’s methods were indeed crude. They had risked a confrontation with the local land deity just to play these despicable little tricks.

Ma Wu asked, ”Where did that rickshaw puller go?”

Normally, Ma Wu was very respectful toward local land deities, but after having dealt with one mess after another that day, he sounded quite irritated.

When he finally met up with the rickshaw puller, Ma Wu’s attitude was not particularly cordial. ”Elder Brother, we’re doing business here to bring some human presence to your territory. Can’t you put a little more attention into taking care of us?”

The rickshaw puller replied, ”I am! I really am! I pulled my rickshaw around the mine several times. But the moment I put it down, someone stole it, so I hurried off to look for it. I searched for over an hour and finally managed to get it back. I never expected something to happen at the mine in that short amount of time.”

Ma Wu said nothing and went down the mountain alone. He truly could not understand why a local land deity needed to pull a rickshaw, or why that rickshaw had to remain by his side at all times. Nevertheless, Ma Wu fortunately managed to restrain himself and did not have a falling out with the rickshaw puller.

The next day, Ma Wu went to make arrangements to acquire the replacement parts for the train repairs, and he also had to contact the buyer to postpone the shipment again.

When he arrived at the railway depot, Ma Wu showed the depot chief the list of parts Little Chuan had drawn up. He did not want to go all the way to Blackstone Slope to buy them because that would waste too much time, so he simply gave the depot chief a gift, with the intention of buying some parts from him to use for now.

In a place like Yellowclay Bridge, there were usually few opportunities to earn extra income. When Ma Wu voluntarily brought him a gift, the depot chief was overjoyed and hurriedly called over a mechanic to prepare the parts.

However, the mechanic searched the warehouse all morning, only to fail to find even one thing Ma Wu needed.

The depot chief frowned. ”That’s impossible! We just removed an old set of connecting rods two days ago. They should be compatible with the small trains in town.”

The mechanic nodded. ”That’s the set I’ve been looking for. The warehouse keeper says they’re in the warehouse, but I can’t find them anywhere.”

The depot chief hurriedly apologized to Ma Wu, ”Master Wu, my men are too careless with their work. I’ll go take another look. Please don’t get impatient.”

How could I not be impatient? I’ve wasted half a day here and gotten nothing. I would have been better off going to Blackstone Slope to buy the parts from the very beginning.

Ma Wu did his utmost to suppress his irritation and exchanged a few more pleasantries with the depot chief. Then he left for Renfu[1] Inn.

Renfu Inn was the only inn in Yellowclay Bridge. The buyer in Greenwater City had sent a representative to stay there specifically to handle the business deal with Ma Wu.

Ma Wu went to the inn to apologize. The representative was no novice to business. Considering that he was dealing with someone of Ma Wu’s stature, it was unlikely he would say anything that could damage their cordial relations, even if he was unhappy.

Yet, when Ma Wu met him at the inn, the representative somehow spoke without any sense of restraint. ”Master Wu, coal isn’t hard to buy. Blackstone Slope, Blue Wispy City, and Soda Kiln all have plenty of it. We came here to buy coal purely to give you face, yet you keep failing to ship the goods. What exactly is the meaning of this? If you don’t want to do business with us, then just say so. It’s not like we begged you to come here. Stop jerking us around!”

Ma Wu’s cheek twitched in irritation. Then he raised his head and swept his gaze over the man.

The corners of the representative’s eyes split open and began to bleed.

He covered his face and looked at Ma Wu in terror. ”Y-You, what are you trying to do?”

Ma Wu stood up with a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.

***

At Li Banfeng and Ma Wu’s mine, the miners were yelling.

”I dug six loads of coal yesterday, and I’m not lying at all. If you’re only paying me for five loads, then there’s no way I can keep doing this job.”

”You can’t take advantage of people like this! Yesterday, I didn’t eat just so I could dig one extra load of coal. Now you tell me the ledger burned up? I think you’re just trying to weasel out of paying us!”

”We’re not working today. You have to give us an explanation!”

Li Banfeng quietly slipped away from the crowd and found a secluded place. He hid his house key securely and returned to the Pocket Dwelling.

Then he sat on his bed for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts. However, it had actually been better before he tried. His thoughts were now spiraling beyond his control.

Banfeng B said, ”Five loads of coal is basically the most one person can dig. The wages we’re paying are generous, not stingy. We’ve given them an inch, but they want a mile. People like this must be punished severely.”

Banfeng C countered, ”That’s not how you should look at it. Some people only dug three loads and are getting paid for five, while others dug five loads and are also getting paid for five. Of course the latter are going to feel resentful!”

Banfeng D said, ”Even so, we can’t just let them cause trouble. The ledger is gone, so this is the only way we can distribute the pay. This is the only way the matter can be handled!”

Banfeng E asked, ”What do you mean, the only way? They don’t resent being paid a lower amount; it’s the unfair distribution of the pay that they resent. You’re being irresponsible!”

Banfeng F replied, ”Then come up with a responsible solution yourself. Don’t fucking criticize when you’re not the one dealing with it!”

Banfeng G questioned, ”Can’t speak nicely, can you? Then how about we communicate another way?”

Banfeng A said, ”Maintain order and behave yourselves. No fighting during the meeting!”

The Gramophone coaxed them, ”Maintain order. No fighting. All of you should listen to my husband, just him.”

Hong Ying laughed. ”Aren’t all of them your husband? But speaking of which, usually we only hear two or three Darling Qis arguing. Why have so many popped up today?”

The Gramophone also found it strange. ”They haven’t just increased in number; they’re also much more chaotic. There’s no order to them at all. It seems like he’s been affected by some ability, but I can’t tell what Daoist path it belongs to.”

Li Banfeng asked the Gramophone, ”Is there such a thing as Chaos Cultivation?”

The Gramophone froze for a moment. Li Banfeng seemed to have returned to normal, but he had recovered a little too quickly.

Da-da-da-dai!

The Gramophone said, ”Chaos Cultivation? I’ve never heard of such a Daoist path.”

”Maybe it’s not called Chaos Cultivation. Maybe the Daoist path has another name,” Li Banfeng replied. While he was speaking, his cheek suddenly contorted.

Seeing that, the Gramophone grew nervous. ”Husband dear, don’t be impatient. We should think this through carefully.”

”I’m not being impatient.” Li Banfeng rubbed his cheek. ”The meeting is just a little disorderly.”

***

That evening, Ma Wu had the cooks prepare several hearty dishes and invited Li Qi to have a few drinks with him.

”Old Qi, I feel terrible.”

Li Qi asked, ”Because of what happened at the mine?”

Ma Wu shook his head. ”Actually, nothing that happened at the mine is a serious problem. The miners’ barracks collapsed. We can just build new ones. The train broke down, but we have people who can repair it. However, business should be strictly business and handled professionally. I’ve followed that rule for all these years and never broken it, yet today, of all days, I hit the buyer’s representative.”

Li Banfeng smiled. ”I heard about that. You hit him pretty hard.”

Ma Wu rubbed his forehead and said, ”I really don’t know what’s gotten into me!”

As they were talking, Little Chuan pushed open the door and stepped inside. ”The miners are causing trouble again.”

Li Banfeng frowned. ”What are they making trouble about? Haven’t they all been compensated for their work? Everyone was paid the maximum. What else are they dissatisfied with?”

”They say a few people who didn’t do any work took advantage of the situation, and they insist on getting an explanation for that.”

Ma Wu let out a bitter laugh. ”Either they think they got too little, or they think someone else got too much. There’s never a moment of peace. I’ll go take a look.”

Li Banfeng waved his hand to dismiss the notion. ”No need. Just let them make trouble.”

Ma Wu froze in place.

Then Li Banfeng said to Little Chuan, ”I had the cooks prepare plenty of food and wine. Send it over to the miners in a while. If they want to eat, then let them eat. If they don’t, then let them keep making trouble. Little Chuan, don’t worry about this. In a while, set another table at your side and have our brothers eat and drink to their hearts’ content.”

However, how could Little Chuan possibly not worry about this? He went with the cooks to deliver the food and wine.

Before long, Little Chuan came running back again. ”The food and drink have calmed them down quite a bit, but many of the miners don’t want to sleep out in the open and are clamoring to leave.”

Li Banfeng replied, ”For those who want to stay at an inn at the foot of the mountain, I’ll pay for their rooms. Those who think going back and forth is too troublesome can stay on the mountain. Those who don’t want to work anymore can leave. Little Chuan, listen to me. Just take our brothers and go enjoy some wine. Don’t concern yourself with anything else.”

Ma Wu was taken aback. ”Old Qi, how come you’re taking things so well this time?”

Li Banfeng drank a cup of warm wine and shook his head. ”I’m not taking it well. I haven’t figured it out at all.”

”What haven’t you figured out?” Ma Wu asked puzzledly. He only felt that things had not been going smoothly. He did not think there was anything particularly difficult to understand.

”It’s chaotic, so chaotic that I don’t even know where to begin!” Li Banfeng exclaimed in exasperation. He had a cook bring several more pairs of chopsticks and arranged the chopsticks end-to-end to form a long line. ”We came to Yellowclay Bridge to do business. From the very beginning, you wanted to get into the coal mining business. Then there happened to be this large mine waiting for us here. That’s correct, right?”

Ma Wu nodded. ”It’s one of the few good things that has happened since we came to Yellowclay Bridge.”

”But if it’s such a great business opportunity, why hasn’t anyone else done it? Why didn’t the Lu Family do it? Why didn’t the He Family do it?”

Ma Wu blinked. ”Didn’t you ask about this before? I thought they didn’t come to Yellowclay Bridge to do business because they were worried the costs would be too high.”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”Yes, I asked about it when we first saw the mine. I wasn’t this confused at the time, but after we officially entered this business venture, I became a mess.”

Ma Wu was still puzzled. ”What do you mean?”

”The day we shipped the coal, something happened to the tracks, the train overturned, and the coal was stolen. We suspected it was done by the coal mine owners in the Northern Bridge, so I tightened our security measures. Old Wu, does tightening our security measures sound like something I would do?”

Ma Wu froze for a moment, then he quickly understood. Li Qi was not someone who accepted losses quietly. Since they had known the other coal mine owners in Northern Bridge were behind it, Li Banfeng should have already gone and turned the tables on them. How could he still have the patience to sit around and focus on defending against them?

Li Banfeng continued, ”Because it happened so suddenly, I really did get confused. From then on, all of us became a mess. When the miners’ barracks caught fire, we immediately went to put out the fire. When the train broke down, we immediately went to repair the train. Even the local land deity became a mess. When his rickshaw was stolen, he went looking for it. After finding it, he did not bother to investigate who had stolen it and simply returned to watch over the mine.

”You were busy handling business. But when you really couldn’t take it anymore, you raised your fist and hit the representative, making things even more chaotic. When there was a problem with the business, we went to deal with the business. When there was a problem with the railway, we went to repair the railway. Whatever others threw at us, we simply defended against it, and the more we defended, the more chaotic things became.”

”Exactly!” Ma Wu rubbed his forehead. ”Why did things get so chaotic?”

Li Banfeng gathered the chopsticks together and laid out a new line. ”Brother, what happened at the mine actually isn’t that urgent. You know that too. And even if the deal with that buyer in Greenwater City were to fall through, finding another buyer wouldn’t be difficult with our current forces, would it? Shouldn’t we first deal with the people causing trouble and clean up Yellowclay Bridge before thinking about doing business?”

That’s right! Ma Wu suddenly came to his senses. Why did we have to rush into getting the coal mine running? We should have dealt with those bastards in the Northern Bridge first!

Ma Wu poured Li Banfeng a cup of wine. ”Old Qi, my state of mind still isn’t as good as yours. I became such a mess, while you’re totally fine.”

In truth, Li Banfeng was a mess too, even more so than Ma Wu. However, even when he was confused, he could discuss things with himself. Once he talked things through with himself, he could generally reach an agreement.

But it was sometimes very difficult to reach an agreement—for example, at the last meeting he had held with himself. Banfeng B had become quite worked up and had hit people in the meeting, expressing all the dissatisfaction he had accumulated toward Banfeng A over the years. Banfeng A believed that expressing one’s dissatisfaction was a good thing, but hitting people was wrong. Then he rallied the other Banfengs and beat Banfeng B into submission.

”Old Wu, I suspect we’ve been under the effect of an ability.”

”What Daoist path does the ability belong to?”

”Is there such a thing as Chaos Cultivation? A Daoist path that can cause people to fall into disorder?”

Ma Wu thought carefully for a moment and shook his head. ”I’ve never heard of such a Daoist path.”

Do Chaos Cultivators really not exist? Or is Ma Wu simply not knowledgeable enough?

Li Banfeng had asked his wife earlier. She was extremely knowledgeable, yet even she had never heard of Chaos Cultivators.

Perhaps they are not called Chaos Cultivators. Perhaps it’s a high-level ability from some other Daoist path. Since it can interfere with a person’s thoughts, this ability likely belongs to a Daoist path in the same vein as Literary Cultivators, Moralism Cultivators, or Mentalism Cultivators.

What level is this powerful person at? Probably the ninth? Why would a level-nine cultivator do something so preposterous in a rundown place like Yellowclay Bridge?

The Tang Saber spoke quietly by Li Banfeng’s ear and reminded him, ”Before the Greenwater Beggar seized Beggar Bay, I had never heard of Disease Cultivation either. Because that Daoist path had not yet existed in the world.”

Li Banfeng looked at the Tang Saber in astonishment. ”You mean... it was a new Daoist path?”

”Only after Beggar Bay became Greenwater Bay did Disease Cultivators come into existence.”

Li Banfeng gathered the chopsticks together and laid out another line. ”We need to sort this matter out again from the beginning.”

Ma Wu said, ”What else is there to sort out? Haven’t we already traced everything back to the Northern Bridge?”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”We need to track everything back to the Star of Misfortune.”

1. Consists of two characters that mean “humane” and “blessing/good fortune”. ☜