The Overlord of Puluo

As the banquet drew to a close, Qiu Zhiheng found Li Banfeng. ”Brother, I am heading back to Medicine King Gully.”

Li Banfeng warned him, ”Big Bro Qiu, that fake Lu Dongliang knows where you live. You need to be extra careful.”

Qiu Zhiheng was not particularly worried about himself. Old Master Xu was in Medicine King Gully, and could keep Qiu Zhiheng and his family safe. Therefore, Qiu Zhiheng was more worried about Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng had already offended the fake Lu Dongliang, which meant that he was in serious danger in Greenwater City.

Li Banfeng knew this as well. He ordered Old Luo and the Omnidirectional Peeper to stay on high alert, keeping a close watch on the fake Lu Dongliang’s movements. They were ready to fight at any moment.

Suddenly, Li Banfeng received news that the fake Lu Dongliang had disappeared. It was not just him, even Lu Dongchun and the men he had recruited at the last minute, disappeared without a trace.

Had he given up on Greenwater City and decided to attack Yellowclay Bridge instead?

Yellowclay Bridge was prepared as well. Li Banfeng was considering whether to strengthen its defenses when, three days later, Luo Zhengnan suddenly tracked down the fake Lu Dongliang’s whereabouts.

”Master Qi, Lu Dongliang might have gone to Properfolk Village!”

What would he be doing in Properfolk Village? Li Banfeng wondered. ”Is the information reliable?”

”I wouldn’t call it reliable. No one has actually seen Lu Dongliang, but someone did see Lu Dongchun in Properfolk Village. There are a few experienced hunters there who activated land for the Lu Family back in the day. They know Lu Dongchun, and they even greeted her and exchanged a few words with her.”

If Lu Dongchun was in Properfolk Village, Lu Dongliang might very well be there. But why would they go to Properfolk Village? Do they want to attack the village? This doesn’t seem very wise.

Properfolk Village was in Shui Yongquan’s territory. After what had happened in Kinless Township, Li Banfeng and Shui Yongquan had grown somewhat closer. If the two of them joined forces against a single fake Lu Dongliang, there shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Could there really be a problem? Then again, maybe there was.

The fake Lu Dongliang had been sent by the Inner Provinces. Shui Yongquan probably wouldn’t dare fight him. When it came to matters involving the Inner Provinces, Shui Yongquan was somewhat of a coward. This was a common trait among land deities of the New Land.

That night, Li Banfeng went to Properfolk Village. The village was as lively as ever. Hunters were selling their haul, farmers were clearing new land, and merchants were doing a little business in the village. In fact, Cedric had opened a clinic here.

Li Banfeng stepped inside. ”Dr. Cedric, aren’t you running a hospital in Greenwater City? What are you doing all the way out here?”

Cedric said nothing. He simply pulled open his clothes and bared his chest, revealing his newest tattoo: I LOVE PROPERFOLK VILLAGE!

”I don’t doubt that about you,” Li Banfeng said as he gestured for Cedric to button his clothes back. ”I just want to know the deeper reason.”

Cedric wrote out a prescription for the patient, then asked the nurse to take him to collect the medicine. Whether the patient actually took any medicine hardly mattered as Cedric had already devoured all the pathogens in his body. He simply wanted an excuse to send both the patient and the nurse away.

Once they were alone in the consultation room, Cedric locked the door and turned to Li Banfeng. ”I came here to do business.”

”What kind of business?”

”The same kind as last time. Fishing in troubled waters.”

Li Banfeng immediately grew interested. ”Which fish are we after this time?”

Cedric fell silent for a moment and said, ”If I told you the fish was you, you wouldn’t attack me right here, would you?”

Li Banfeng blinked. ”Have you considered choosing a different fish?”

”You know me. I have never thought of you as my enemy and I believe that our friendship runs deep. But this isn’t up to me. My founding cultivator knows Lu Dongliang is around Properfolk Village, and he wants to profit from the fight between you and Lu Dongliang.”

”Why has your founding cultivator targeted me and Lu Dongliang? Can’t he think of other places that he can fish?”

”Because he loathes you, and he loathes Lu Dongliang too. As far as I know, the two of them have an old grudge.”

This was hardly surprising. Lu Dongliang had once been the top figure in Greenwater City, so he must have crossed paths with Greenwater Beggar before. If Greenwater Beggar got involved as well, this situation would not be something that Li Qi and Shui Yongquan could handle.

Li Banfeng said, ”Maybe the grudge between Lu Dongliang and me isn’t as deep as you think. Some things might still be settled peacefully. If that happens, your founding cultivator won’t have any troubled waters to fish in around me.”

Cedric nodded. ”The founding cultivator thought of that too. If it looks like you and Lu Dongliang might reconcile, I will spread a plague through Properfolk Village and pin it on him.”

Li Banfeng did not quite understand. ”If a plague breaks out, it has to be either you or Greenwater Beggar behind it. How could anyone possibly blame Lu Dongliang?”

Cedric looked at him. ”My friend, I really value our friendship. There are some things I shouldn’t tell you, but today, I am going to tell you anyway. You know far too little about Disease Cultivators, and you don’t know much about plagues either. Coughing and fever can be a plague. Blisters and festering sores can be a plague. However, you have never seen how a plague can make a person’s body explode. Imagine hundreds, perhaps even a thousand people, suddenly bursting into bloody pulp. After that, I will take back the pathogens very quickly and when you see hundreds of bodies blown apart, what would you think had happened? You would probably think that a high-level Wanderlust Cultivator had slaughtered them using Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers or Passing Flowers on Horseback. And Lu Dongliang happens to be a high-level Wanderlust Cultivator. Tell me, wouldn’t you suspect him?”

Li Banfeng tipped the brim of his hat and asked, ”You are not actually thinking about doing that, are you?”

Cedric shook his head. ”If the target were a city, maybe it would still be worth the risk. But attacking a village in the New Land is different. If the truth came out, I would have then provoked both the local land deity and you. I really don’t think it’s worth it at all. However, like I said, this is not something I can decide. If Lu Dongliang makes a move, I must get something out of the fight between you two. If he keeps holding back, then I will have to make the first move myself. And even if I refuse, my founding cultivator might come here and do it in my place. You wouldn’t want to see him, would you?”

Li Banfeng pulled the brim of his hat low. ”In that case, it seems we have nothing more to discuss.”

”It’s still negotiable,” Cedric said and took out three little clay figures he had bought from a peddler in the village. He set them on the table and said, ”You and I are both in the village. We know that Lu Dongliang is in the village too. You and Lu Dongliang meet somewhere here, but for some reason, you don’t want to fight inside the village. So you lure him outside, far away from Properfolk Village.

”You are both high-level Wanderlust Cultivators. I am just a Disease Cultivator, so there’s no way I can keep up with you. By the time I catch up, the fight would have been over and I would have missed out on the whole thing. Does this explanation sound reasonable?”

As Cedric spoke, he moved two of the clay figures far into the distance, leaving the third trailing helplessly behind.

Li Banfeng frowned. ”But if we don’t fight in Properfolk Village, I won’t have much of an advantage.”

Cedric shook his head. ”Even if you fight here, you might not have much of an advantage anyway. Shui Yongquan is the land deity, and I know perfectly well that he’s your friend. If you want to defeat Lu Dongliang, you will need Shui Yongquan’s help. What you should do is leave Properfolk Village but go somewhere that’s still within his territory. This way, you can still get help from him without having your precious Properfolk Village smashed to pieces in the process. It works out for all of us, so why not go with it?”

Li Banfeng moved the little clay figure representing Lu Dongliang back to its original spot. ”What if I want to leave, but he refuses and insists on fighting me here? I can’t just abandon the village and leave everyone to fend for themselves.”

”I can help with that,” Cedric said as he stroked the little figure representing himself, and a layer of dark-green pus quickly spread across its surface. ”I doubt Lu Dongliang would want to deal with you and a Disease Cultivator at the same time.”

Cedric was right. No one would want to fight a Disease Cultivator. The two reached an agreement, and Li Banfeng left the clinic. He did not stay in Properfolk Village. Instead, he went back to his own domain, the half-kilometer plot he had first activated in Shui Yongquan’s territory.

The wooden hut was still there. Someone usually looked after it, so the inside was kept reasonably tidy.

Li Banfeng sent everyone away, cut open his palm, and sprinkled his blood onto the ground.

Before long, a ball of ghostly fire appeared above his head. It circled him for a moment before asking sharply, ”Who are you?”

”Li Qi.”

Li Banfeng was taken aback. He had no idea what kind of game Shui Yongquan was playing.

”How did you activate this patch of wasteland back then?”

”I found a place and hid there for three days.”

Only then did Shui Yongquan appear. He stared at Li Banfeng for a long moment.

Noticing the wounds on his face, Li Banfeng asked, ”Did you fight with Lu Dongliang?”

Shui Yongquan shook his head. ”It wasn’t Lu Dongliang. It was a Performing Arts Cultivator. He came to me disguised as you. I fell for it and nearly paid dearly for the mistake.”

A Performing Arts Cultivator? So the Inner Provinces sent a Performing Arts Cultivator to impersonate Lu Dongliang... Li Banfeng thought and asked, ”How did he find you?”

”He sprinkled blood over this domain of yours.”

Li Banfeng frowned. ”But I was the one who activated this domain. If he sprinkled blood here, how could you sense it?”

”A high-level Performing Arts Cultivator can even fake someone else’s blood. He must have gotten hold of your blood beforehand.”

”How could he have gotten my blood?”

Li Banfeng was still thinking about it when Shui Yongquan suddenly asked, ”How did Ma Wu activate his plot of wasteland?”

Li Banfeng answered, ”Well... the story has to start with a pair of centipedes... So here’s what happened back then...”

Pffffft! Splash!

Shui Yongquan suddenly spat a mouthful of water at Li Banfeng.

Soaked from head to toe, Li Banfeng wiped his face. ”Big Bro Shui, can’t you at least wait until I am done talking?”

Shui Yongquan waved a hand. ”No need. Old Qi, I know it’s you now.”

Li Banfeng said, ”If that Performing Arts Cultivator managed to injure you, he must be pretty powerful.”

”A Performing Arts Cultivator is really hard to judge. They might not be good at much else, but they are really good at sneak attacks. This one has already reached the Cloudborne Layer. If he catches you off guard even once, you might really die,” Shui Yongquan said and smiled helplessly. ”I really am getting old. I knew full well he was a Performing Arts Cultivator, yet I still fell for his trick. I don’t even know why I let my guard down at the time.”

Shui Yongquan was normally so cautious. How could he have simply forgotten to stay on guard? There had to be another reason.

”Old Qi, that man was sent by the Inner Provinces, wasn’t he?”

Li Banfeng didn’t hide it as he answered, ”He was most likely sent by the Inner Provinces to seize land. I will find a way to lure him away, so you aren’t implicated.”

Shui Yongquan laughed. ”Brother, you underestimate me too much. I am not as reckless as Elephant Qiu, but I can’t allow him to exist if he’s already come knocking at my door.

”Stay in the domain you activated for the next couple of days and be extra careful around the people near you. If anything happens, spill some blood and call me immediately. I have already figured out how to deal with him. No matter what form he takes, he won’t fool me again. The next time I run into that bastard, I will take his life!”

With that, Shui Yongquan left. Li Banfeng went back to Properfolk Village.

A Performing Arts Cultivator could disguise themselves as anyone. This really was a bit troublesome as there were plenty of familiar faces in the village, which meant Li Banfeng had to stay on guard around everyone.

Li Banfeng entered his wooden hut and was just about to take out the key to the Pocket Dwelling when he heard footsteps outside. He opened the door and found a woman in her twenties standing there, looking anxious and panicked.

”Who are you?” Li Banfeng did not recognize her.

The woman lowered her head, her cheeks turning red. ”You are Master Qi, aren’t you? Everyone in Properfolk Village has heard of you, but hardly anyone has actually seen you. I just wanted to see you once. Then I could say my life wasn’t lived in vain.”

Li Banfeng kept his distance and pulled the brim of his hat lower. ”You have seen me now.”

The woman pleaded, ”Master Qi, just say a few more words to me. When I go home, I’ll have something to brag about to my sisters for a whole year.”

Before Li Banfeng could answer, Cedric’s voice came from outside. ”Ma’am, aren’t you being a little greedy? You just said that seeing Master Qi once would mean your life hadn’t been lived in vain. Well, you have seen him now. Why are you still pestering him?”

As Cedric spoke, a streak of green pus suddenly splattered across the woman’s face.

The woman cried out in shock, turned, and ran. By the time Li Banfeng chased her out of the wooden hut, she had already disappeared from sight.

Cedric rubbed the pus sores on his face and said to Li Banfeng, ”She has my pus on her. I can sense where she is.”

Li Banfeng looked at him in surprise. ”You really did show up at just the right time tonight.”

Cedric smiled. ”Believe it or not, there’s a woman in my clinic who looks exactly like her. That woman is still there getting an IV drip. I stepped out for a walk, and then I saw her again, right outside your hut. Whether this is some kind of cloning technique or a disguise technique, I don’t think it’s that simple. We can go back to the clinic first and take a look at the woman there. Maybe ask if she has a twin sister...”

Li Banfeng waved his hand and said, ”Let’s not talk about your clinic right now and catch that person!”

Cedric chuckled and said, ”He’s affected by my ability. Even if he’s at the Cloudborne Layer, he would still lose a good deal of fighting strength. In this situation, we are in control, so we really don’t need to rush...”

”Stop talking. Move!”

And off they went, Cedric in front and Li Banfeng behind. After they had run several kilometers, Li Banfeng was getting a bit impatient and asked, ”Can’t you move a bit faster?”

Cedric responded, ”I am not a Wanderlust Cultivator. I am a Disease Cultivator. It’s impossible for us to run at the same speed. Until we find that woman, you must learn to adapt...”

”Sure! I will adapt!” Li Banfeng said with a helpless expression. He could only slow down and continue following Cedric.

They ran like this for another hour or so before an ancient city suddenly appeared ahead.

Cedric pointed at the ancient city and said, ”That woman escaped into the city.”

Li Banfeng was very much surprised as he asked, ”How on earth is there a city in a place like this?”

”I thought it was strange too. Why don’t we go in and have a look?”

Li Banfeng turned and looked back the way they had come before asking, ”Just how far have we run?”

Cedric shrugged. ”You are a Wanderlust Cultivator. You shouldn’t ask me about distance. But if I had to guess, we are still within Shui Yongquan’s territory. If we run into trouble, you can always call the local land deity for help. So, are we going into the city or not?”

Li Banfeng hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth. ”As long as we are still in Big Bro Shui’s territory, there’s nothing to worry about. We have already chased her this far. We might as well go in and take a look.”

The two entered the ancient city.

Cedric glanced at the people coming and going around them, then lowered his voice. ”I can still sense that woman. She’s nearby. Very nearby.”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”Why are you helping me this much?”

Cedric paused for a moment before answering, ”For our friendship, of course. And because I love Properfolk Village.”

Li Banfeng smiled. ”You really love Properfolk Village that much?”

Cedric nodded. ”From the bottom of my heart.”

”How do you prove it?”

”Does something like this even need proving?”

As Cedric spoke, he walked toward Li Banfeng.

”Who are you?” Li Banfeng asked and stretched his hand out, warning him not to come close.

This fake Cedric went silent for a moment and said, ”Don’t you think it’s a little too late to be asking me who I am?”

Li Banfeng continued, ”Why must you lure me here?”

”Because I don’t want to fight Shui Yongquan again. He’s found some special method that can wash the makeup right off my face. And I can’t simply stand there and watch you run. You are a high-level Wanderlust Cultivator. If you really decided to bolt, I would never catch you.”

The man standing opposite Li Banfeng grinned. He was not Cedric, and there was no longer any reason for him to continue pretending to be Cedric.

At the Cloudborne Layer, a Performing Arts Cultivator’s disguise was nearly flawless. From appearance alone, there was no way anyone could tell that he was not Cedric.

Li Banfeng looked around frantically, panic plain on his face. ”What exactly is this place?”

The Performing Arts Cultivator shook his head. ”You don’t need to know. No one here can save you, and you won’t be getting away either. So be good and wait for death.”

Author’s Note:

Banfeng says he’s absolutely terrified. He really has never been here before! The content of this chapter is worth more than three chapters. Readers! Please vote for me!