The Overlord of Puluo

Li Banfeng set down the oil can and sat on the edge of the bed, carefully considering the question Wifey had raised.

It was an important problem. What exactly should he do with Bei Wushuang's contract? Should he return them to Bei Wushuang's residence?

Leaving aside the fact that Bei Wushuang's home wasn't an easy place to enter, even if he managed to get inside and put the contract back where they belonged, the person who would ultimately benefit would still be Pan Dehai.

What would happen if Pan Dehai obtained the contract? If Pan Dehai wanted this piece of land and intended to remain here as its land deity, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

The problem was that Pan Dehai already had a territory of his own. He was the local land deity of Proper Land. How could someone like him possibly take an interest in such a remote corner of the New Land?

Pan Dehai would most likely take the contracts to the Inner Provinces and trade them for more years of life.

That would be troublesome. Once the people of the Inner Provinces got their hands on the contracts, they might begin looking into matters that had gone unnoticed before.

"Wifey, why don't I keep the contract with me for now?" Li Banfeng asked. "I can decide what to do with them when they become useful."

"Husband dear, that would cause no trouble for you," Wifey replied. "But something might happen in Bei Wushuang's territory. A fiendish aberration might be born there."

"What is a fiendish aberration?"

"It is a monster with very great cultivation and terrible strength, but hardly any humanity at all. The New Land generates cultivation energy every day and every night, but this generation of cultivation energy is not balanced in all places. Some places might go eight or ten years without producing even the tiniest trace of cultivation. In other places, so much cultivation might gather that an aberrant creature can rise several levels in only a few months, or even a few days.

"Most aberrant creatures would die if they took in so much power. Their bodies simply couldn't bear it. But now and then, there might be one with an unusually strong body. If it survives, its cultivation will grow very quickly while it will not have any qualities of being a human. That is how a fiendish aberration is born."

"Is a fiendish aberration similar to a roaming aberration?"

"It is much fiercer than a roaming aberration. Roaming aberrations have some sort of human qualities, while a fiendish aberration has almost none. They don't follow rules and they even dare to wreck havoc in the Proper Land."

A monster that dares to wreck havoc in the Proper Land?

Li Banfeng had spent a year and a half in Puluo Province, yet he had never heard of anything like this.

"Wifey, do fiendish aberrations appear in every masterless territory without a local land deity?"

"Husband dear, a masterless territory simply means that it has no land deity. Having no land deity is not the same as having no contract. Some land deities die while the contracts remain within their domains. Those contracts continue gathering cultivation from the New Land and storing it inside the land deity seal. A land deity seal has an enormous capacity, so it can easily hold several decades' worth of cultivation.

"If another land deity takes control of the territory later, they only need to distribute the cultivation stored in the seal evenly among the aberrant creatures in the territory. That will prevent any of them from experiencing a sudden surge in cultivation.

"But if you take Bei Wushuang's land deity seal away, the cultivation here will no longer be kept under control, and a fiendish aberration might eventually emerge. Many aberrant creatures will also come here to make a living. After all, there will be no restrictions on how they obtain cultivation. Everything will depend on the principle of the strong preying upon the weak."

This won't do, Li Banfeng thought.

The chances of a fiendish aberration forming wasn't high, so Li Banfeng decided to put that concern aside for now.

What worried him more was the possibility of aberrant creatures gathering in the area. If too many of them flocked here, word that the contracts had been dug up would inevitably spread. Should the Inner Provinces begin paying attention to this domain, some of his secrets would be exposed.

He would wait until Pan Dehai was no longer paying attention to Bei Wushuang's affairs, then find an opportunity to bury the contracts again.

As Li Banfeng spoke with Wifey, he suddenly heard soft sobbing beside his ear.

It was the Threaded Earring.

"Why are you crying?" Li Banfeng asked several times, but the Threaded Earring didn't answer and only continued to sob.

Sensing that something was wrong, the Gramophone told Li Banfeng to remove the earring and place it on the tray. She examined it carefully for a moment.

No matter who called out to her, the Threaded Earring showed no response.

The gramophone sighed. "That girl was injured by a Sound Cultivator ability, and now she cannot hear. The ability is called Blood-Splattering Thunderous Sound. Threaded Earring is a Spycraft Cultivator, so this is the kind of technique she fears most."

The mention of a Sound Cultivator ability reminded Li Banfeng of something.

"When I fought Bei Wushuang, I suddenly heard a deafening noise. My vision blurred, and I couldn't hear anything. It was only after I heard your voice that I recovered. Wifey, were you the one who saved me?"

Huff!

Wifey laughed. "This little wifey heard that deafening noise and realized someone had used a Sound Cultivator ability. Husband dear, I was worried that you might be hurt. The house knew where you were, so it used its steam whistle to send this little wifey's song to you."

Li Banfeng wrapped his arms around Wifey and pressed his cheek against the front of her cabinet. "Wifey, thank you for saving me."

"I am your wifey, so there is no need to thank me. Hearing you say that makes this little wifey feel like a stranger. Husband dear, leave Threaded Earring with me for a while so she can recover. How well she heals will depend on this little wifey's skill and her own strength.

"This little wifey has also prepared some medicinal pills. Take them to your friends outside. Anyone struck by Blood-Splattering Thunderous Sound can take one to neutralize its effects."

Li Banfeng nodded and left the Pocket Dwelling.

When he reached Zhang Wanlong and Little Gen's domain, he first thanked them for their help earlier, then asked how much they wanted in return.

Li Banfeng had never asked someone to work for free, and Zhang Wanlong had helped him a great deal, so Li Banfeng naturally wanted to give a proper reward.

Zhang Wanlong stood there with a cucumber in his hand and took a cheerful bite. "Master Qi, you are far too polite. I was only trying out a new kind of seed to see what might grow from it. As for everything else, I really know nothing at all."

What a clever fellow. It's not that he doesn't know. He just doesn't want to be dragged into unnecessary fights, Li Banfeng thought. He looked over the half-kilometer plot. Crops of every shape and sort were packed in so tightly that even a mouse would have struggled to find a place for its toes.

Zhang Wanlong smiled and said, "As I told you before, we didn't dare activate too much land. We won't be able to get more people to join us here. We are worried this will cause trouble for the land deity.

"That will not be a problem. What matters is whether the land deity agrees. Once the land deity agrees, the two of you should hurry to activate the land over the next few days."

Zhang Wanlong thanked him again and again.

Li Banfeng called Little Gen over and gave him ten Mystic Blazing Pills. They were not just a reward for the golden juice. Little Gen had been staying close to Zhang Wanlong and dealing with him all this time, so Li Banfeng had to make sure he had something to protect himself.

At this moment, Little Gen's ears were still ringing, so Li Banfeng handed him one of the pills for neutralizing the effect of Blood-Splattering Thunderous Sound. "Take this, and your ears will soon be better. Big Bro Zhang, you should take one too."

"Master Qi, I don't need one." Zhang Wanlong had heard the Blood-Splattering Thunderous Sound as well, but it had hardly affected him.

He picked another cucumber, washed it with clean water, and handed it to Li Banfeng. "Master Qi, give this a try. It is crisp and sweet."

Li Banfeng accepted the cucumber but he didn't eat it.

The fake Bei Wushuang was a cucumber. Pan Dehai had once said that no single cultivation path could create an entirely new species, but Li Banfeng was beginning to have serious doubts about that. Did the strange things Zhang Wanlong grew count as new species?

When Li Banfeng reached He Yuxiu's domain, he took out twenty Mystic Blazing Pills.

He Yuxiu waved the pills away at once. "Big Bro Qi, you are treating me like an outsider. It is only right for this little sister to help you, so there is no need to be so formal with me."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "Even between siblings, what is owed should still be paid. Take them."

He Yuxiu examined the quality of the pills. "Big Bro Qi, these are valuable, but I have no use for them."

Mystic Blazing Pills were indeed precious, and He Yuxiu had taken plenty of them in the past. However, at her current level and age, she no longer used them. Their pill poison was too strong and hard to neutralize, and even she couldn't handle taking too many.

"If you don't want to take these pills, give them away," Li Banfeng said.

He Yuxiu glanced at Nectarine. The girl was crouching beside the wooden hut with her face still pale from the effects of Blood-Splattering Thunderous Sound.

Li Banfeng took out another two pills and handed them to He Yuxiu. "These can neutralize the effect of the Sound Cultivator ability."

He Yuxiu waved them away. "It was only one loud blast. I don't need any medicine. Give them both to that girl. Big Bro Qi, when can we go back to Greenwater City? I want to take her out and let her see more of the world so she can stop thinking about polishing mirrors."

Li Banfeng chuckled and said, "Soon."

"Big Bro Qi, that camel was a land deity, right?"

"Yes," Li Banfeng said. He didn't keep this a secret.

"Do you know where his contract is?"

"It should still be at his house. Why do you care about this?"

He Yuxiu explained, "If you hand over the contract of a land deity to the Inner Provinces, you will be able to get a hundred years of life in return. Back then, my father spent everything that the He Family owned to buy a land deity's contact. However, when he brought them to the Inner Provinces, he discovered that they were fake.

"He was furious. He risked everything we had left and called upon every connection the He Family possessed before he finally recovered our property. At the time, I couldn't understand how he had fallen for such a scam. Looking back now, though, the reward was a hundred years of life. Who could resist an offer like that?"

Li Banfeng had long known that contracts could be exchanged for a hundred years of life in the Inner Provinces. However, if the land deity contract wasn't buried in the land, a fiendish aberration could emerge. Why, then, were the Inner Provinces deliberately offering such a high price for them? Were they intentionally causing the very conditions that allowed fiendish aberration to emerge?

Li Banfeng asked He Yuxiu, "How did your father get to the Inner Provinces?"

"With a travel permit. You can obtain one from the Border Control Office. Most wealthy families have permits for entering the Inner Provinces, but they are very difficult to secure, far more difficult than permits for traveling to the Outer Provinces."

So the routes into the Inner Provinces were also controlled by the Border Controller? Li Banfeng thought.

***

By the time Li Banfeng reached Meng Yuchun's house, she was still dazed and had not fully recovered. If she had faced Bei Wushuang alone today, she would have had little chance of winning, no matter what methods she used.

Meng Yuchun asked, "Where is Bei Wushuang?"

"No idea where he went. Pan Dehai went after him," Li Banfeng answered. It was not that Li Banfeng didn't want to tell her the truth. Meng Yuchun was just better off not knowing some of these things.

Meng Yuchun sighed. "Let us hope Pan Dehai kills that wretched birdbrain. Otherwise, this place will never know peace. And Pan Dehai better stay away too. That old bastard is quite disgusting..."

The mention of Pan Dehai made Meng Yuchun feel like puking.

Li Banfeng blinked. Pan Dehai might be unpleasant, but surely he wasn't revolting enough to make her want to puke at the mere mention of his name.

"Take this pill first. It can neutralize the effect of a Sound Cultivator. I still have no way to deal with the effect of that Moralism Cultivator ability. You will have to work that out of your system on your own."

Meng Yuchun pushed the pill aside and glared at him. "Who wants your medicine? Explain first! Why did you write on my butt?"

"It was a unique situation and I was worried about the news leaking."

"You couldn't find anywhere else to write?"

"Nowhere else would have worked. Pan Dehai was watching."

Meng Yuchun's face reddened. "You knew someone was watching, yet you still dared to put your hands on me. You are growing bolder by the day!"

Li Banfeng chuckled. "I still need your help with the things on my territory."

Meng Yuchun nodded. "That is no trouble."

"Also, ask the Cook Monster and the others to keep looking for news of Bei Wushuang. We can discuss what to do together if they learn anything."

***

Five days later, the Cook Monster returned with news. Bei Wushuang was still missing, and no one knew where he had buried the contracts. Pan Dehai had searched for three whole days without finding them, then left with Gao Shuxia and the Hundred-Eyed Fish.

"Is the information reliable?" Li Banfeng asked.

The Cook Monster sounded certain. "This friend of mine served Bei Wushuang for many years. He witnessed everything himself."

Pan Dehai had indeed failed to find Bei Wushuang. He had seen flesh and blood scattered across the ground, but he had no way of knowing whether they made up Bei Wushuang's entire body.

Meng Yuchun was puzzled. "Why did Pan Dehai take Gao Shuxia and the Hundred-Eyed Fish with him?"

Li Banfeng replied, "Those two ladies are quite beautiful. Perhaps the Great Moral Paragon is planning to take a few concubines."

Three days later, after confirming that Pan Dehai never came back, Li Banfeng buried Bei Wushuang's contract back into Bei Wushuang's territory. Following the method Wifey had taught him, he transferred the cultivation stored in Bei Wushuang's land deity seal into his own.

Cultivation was a form of hard currency, and to the aberrant creatures, nothing was more valuable than this.

Another two days passed and the construction of the station was finally done. When Li Banfeng stepped out of the Pocket Dwelling, he could clearly see the platform and its roof, but there were no tracks or trains in sight.

The station was small and built in a simple, old-fashioned style, yet every part of it had been crafted with great care. The packed earth was so smooth and even that, unless someone looked closely, it was almost indistinguishable from stone.

Once Li Banfeng walked about twenty meters from the carriage door, the platform vanished. When he returned to the spot where the door had been and waited for a moment, the station slowly appeared once more.

The Pocket Dwelling called this process the "ticket inspection."

The Pocket Dwelling even emphasized that anyone who entered without undergoing ticket inspection would be severely punished.

When Li Banfeng called Luo Zhengnan on the phone, Luo Zhengnan told him that the Border Control Office wanted to buy the Paramount Club. The Chu Family had already agreed, and they were now waiting for the Lu Family's response.

The Chu Family agreed? Did Boss Chu agree? Or did Miss Chu agree? Li Banfeng thought.

Li Banfeng didn't care about the Chu Family's attitude. However, half of the Paramount Club belonged to the Lu Family, which meant the Border Control Office was using the purchase to put pressure on them.

Luo Zhengnan added, "The Border Control Office also seems to be interested in the newspaper business at Blackstone Slope."

This was the Border Control Office's way of warning Li Qi and Ma Wu.

Li Banfeng changed into his familiar black suit and put on his black fedora. After securing the key, he lowered the brim of his hat and started walking. He walked beyond the border of his fifty-kilometer territory and headed toward Greenwater City.

Author's Note:

PS: Let's see who will succumb to the crackdown!