The Overlord of Puluo

Li Banfeng sat in a teahouse with Tales by the Lamp of Wisdom-Bound Deeds in his hands, slowly turning through the pages.

This was also a legendary novel about the Wisdom-Bound Scholar, but unlike the other versions, it included some of Murong Gui's less flattering history.

The Murong Gui depicted in the book was still skilled at reading people's minds and intentions. However, he had twice misjudged someone so badly that he nearly lost everything his family had built.

Murong Gui had once run a gang. In other books, he was portrayed as exceptionally diligent, never neglecting his responsibilities for even a moment. In this version, however, he spent half a month lounging around the red-light district without concerning himself with anything, nearly causing the gang under his control to collapse.

Li Banfeng idly ran his fingers over the Judge's Brush. "So which one is the real Murong Gui?"

The Judge's Brush gave him a simple answer. "All."

Cedric arrived at the teahouse and found Li Banfeng reading. He nodded. "If I am not mistaken, Murong Gui must be in excellent condition right now. Even you have taken such a liking to books."

"I have always been a great lover of knowledge," Li Banfeng said as he set down Tales by the Lamp of Wisdom-Bound Deeds. "Has the founding cultivator of your Daoist path made his move?"

"Yes. He will arrive at Ink Fragrance Shop tonight, and he is bringing that good friend of yours with him. He plans to find Murong Gui first, kill him, take Ge Junma hostage, and force Chu Shaoqiang to show himself. If Chu Shaoqiang finds Murong Gui first, things will become a little more complicated. The founding cultivator might cut in and steal the winning tile, or wait and take the last winning tile for himself. Those are mahjong expressions. I used them correctly, right?"[1]

"Pretty much."

Cedric took a sip of tea. "No matter how things play out, we have to choose the right moment to make our move. How many fish we can catch in these muddy waters isn't the important part. What matters is whether we can make it safely back to shore."

Li Banfeng asked, "If your founding cultivator makes the first move against Murong Gui, what are you planning to do?"

Cedric wiped his mouth with a napkin. "First, I will help my founding cultivator defeat the local land deity and the people from the Inner Provinces. Then I will find a chance to send my founding cultivator to the next world, take the deed for Ink Fragrance Shop, and go back to Greenwater City."

Li Banfeng was genuinely surprised. "You are still planning to go back to Greenwater City?"

Cedric looked a little sad. "My founding cultivator spent his entire life building up Greenwater City. If the old man dies, I wouldn't be able to bear seeing everything he built fall into ruin."

Cedric looked as though he might burst into tears. Seeing this, Li Banfeng began to wonder if he had seriously misunderstood him. Whatever else could be said about Cedric, his affection for the Greenwater Beggar was clearly genuine.

Li Banfeng asked, "And what if Chu Shaoqiang gets to the land deity first? What will you do then?"

"Then we will have to be a little more patient. Chu Shaoqiang has the Inner Provinces behind him, so he is clearly stronger than my founding cultivator. By my estimate, he might have brought three to five powerful helpers with him. However, the person he wants to save is Ge Junma, a true pure-blooded native of the Inner Provinces. Ge Junma was not supposed to set foot in Puluo Province at all. By coming here, he had already broken its laws, which meant Chu Shaoqiang had to keep a low profile. If my founding cultivator chooses the right moment, he still has a chance to win. When my founding cultivator wins, we will find a chance to send him away forever. After that, there will be no hurry at all. We can take our time dividing the spoils."

"What if Chu Shaoqiang wins?"

Cedric fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "If Chu Shaoqiang wins, then I don't think we can continue this murky water business. We already gathered enough information, and the founding cultivator has made extensive preparations. If he still loses to Chu Shaoqiang after all that, then it can only mean one thing. Chu Shaoqiang brought too many people with him, and they are far too powerful. Under those circumstances, I would be lucky just to make it out alive. You would be better off staying out of the water, or you might find yourself unable to get back to shore."

Li Banfeng looked at him. "So you never had any intention of going after Chu Shaoqiang. Your knife has been pointed at your founding cultivator this whole time?"

Cedric explained, "That's simply my assessment of how the battle is likely to play out. I hope you won't take it as a reason to doubt my affection for my founding cultivator."

"I don't doubt your affection at all. If anything, I would say you are remarkably devoted."

Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat.

Cedric raised his teacup. "Once my founding cultivator arrives, we probably won't have many chances to meet like this. Still, I am sure we'll understand each other well enough on the battlefield."

Cedric's only target was the Greenwater Beggar.

What exactly does he want from the Greenwater Beggar? Greenwater City? His cultivation isn't high enough. Is he planning to do what I did and brazenly pass himself off as a land deity?

The place I chose isn't noticeable, but Greenwater City is the largest city in Puluo Province. With Cedric's strength, how can he possibly hold onto it?

There has to be something else he wants besides Greenwater City. He kept wiping his mouth while he was talking. Don't tell me he's actually salivating over his founding cultivator's body?

***

When Li Banfeng returned to Wildgoose Sand Studio, he found Tan Fucheng clutching an axe and shouting himself hoarse while a crowd of people struggled to hold him back. The whole place was in chaos.

"Stop trying to hold me back! I can't keep this hand. I have to chop it off!" Tan Fucheng shouted.

Ever since he had used the Hundred Family Surnames to wipe away the noodle soup, Tan Fucheng had only felt guiltier the more he thought about it. Eventually, the guilt had driven him to the point of wanting to cut off his own hand.

Li Banfeng tried to talk him down. "Big Bro Tan, keep the hand for now. Take Madam Xiao and Miss Chunying with you and go back to Qi Qiu City as soon as possible."

"But I still want to stay here and study!"

"Don't worry. Once everything here is settled, I will make special arrangements for you to come back and study. We can even sign a contract. By then, you won't be able to refuse even if you want to!"

"Are you for real?"

"So very real!" Li Banfeng exclaimed. If he was going to do a life-risking business, he first had to make sure that there was nothing left behind for him to worry about. If anything happened to Xiao Yeci and the others at Wildgoose Sand Studio, it would be hard for him to deal with it at the same time.

Tan Fucheng was ultimately still a cultivator. Although he had lost his senses earlier, Li Banfeng's persuasion soon brought him back to himself, and he remembered why he had come in the first place.

His duty here was to protect Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying. Studying was only secondary.

Once they had packed their things, Lu Yuanxin let out a sigh of relief. "I never want to come back to this place again."

Li Banfeng smiled. "There's nothing wrong with reading a book once in a while."

Just then, an argument broke out inside the room.

Xiao Yeci refused to leave. "Nan'nan, stay with Mom for another couple of days. There are so many books here, and I haven't even finished reading them all!"

"Mom, we can just buy the books and take them home. You can buy as many as you want."

"Some of the treasured books here aren't for sale, and there are others they don't normally let outsiders read. I spent so much money before they finally agreed to let me see them. Nan'nan, can't we stay just one more night? Just one night?"

"No! Whatever books you want, I will find a way to get them for you. But you have to leave with me now!"

Lu Chunying tried to drag Xiao Yeci away, but Xiao Yeci became furious. "You little lass! Since when do you get to tell your mother what to do?"

Li Banfeng pushed the door open, walked straight in, hoisted Xiao Yeci over his shoulder, and carried her out to the carriage.

Xiao Yeci was still struggling inside, so Li Banfeng found a chain and locked the carriage shut. He then told Lu Yuanxin to drive the carriage to the train station at once.

Hearing Xiao Yeci crying inside the carriage, Lu Yuanxin lowered his voice. "Master Qi, if I drive through the streets like this, people are going to think I have kidnapped someone."

He had a point. Chaining the entire carriage shut was not really a suitable thing to do.

Li Banfeng removed the chain, climbed into the carriage, stuffed Xiao Yeci silent, and tied her up with it instead.

Once everyone had left, Li Banfeng let out a sigh of relief. He planned to get a few things in order before heading to the garden after nightfall to set up an ambush.

There was not actually much to prepare. All his weapons and enchanted artifacts were already inside the Pocket Dwelling.

Still, Li Banfeng found himself wanting to bring a book. Wildgoose Sand Studio really did have quite a few worth reading.

At a time like this, I still feel like reading? Li Banfeng muttered inwardly. Even I can't seem to put these books down. This means that the order within Ink Fragrance Shop must still be extremely stable, which in turn means Murong Gui is doing just fine.

And if Murong Gui is fine, then that giant toad clearly hasn't been bothering him. But why not? What has Ge Junma been doing all this time?

An uneasy feeling crept over Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng was about to head to Willow Garden. Just as he stepped out of his room, he spotted the owner of the Ru Family Bookhouse standing in the corridor with a pleasant smile. "Trader Li, you are staying at Wildgoose Sand Studio too?"

"What a coincidence, Shopkeeper Ru. Are you here to do some reading?"

Shopkeeper Ru shook his head. "I am here to deliver some books to Miss Xiao. You know Xiao Yeci from Greenwater City, don't you?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "I do. Did she visit your bookhouse?"

"She came by yesterday and picked out a few books, but she thought they were too heavy to carry around, so she asked me to deliver them here. I knocked on her door just now, but Miss Xiao doesn't seem to be in."

"Miss Xiao has already gone back to Greenwater City," Li Banfeng said.

Shopkeeper Ru sighed. "I should have come sooner. I meant to head over right after lunch, but an old friend dropped by and insisted on chatting for a while. He used to be quite an important figure in Greenwater City, so I couldn't very well brush him off. We ended up talking until just now, and he's still waiting at my bookhouse.

"Trader Li, are you close with Miss Xiao? Would you mind taking these books to her for me? If it's too much trouble, I can always mail them to her."

"It's no trouble. Leave them with me."

Shopkeeper Ru handed the books to Li Banfeng, then left Wildgoose Sand Studio.

Li Banfeng looked over the books in his hands. One of them was The Wisdom-Bound Scholar, but it was only the second volume. The first was missing.

He had once bought the first volume from the Ru Family Bookhouse. At the time, Li Banfeng had said that carrying the second volume around would be too much trouble, so he didn't buy it.

Now Shopkeeper Ru had brought him the second volume.

Li Banfeng opened it to one of the pages and saw a crease in the paper. He had made that crease himself.

Shopkeeper Ru had not come to deliver books to Xiao Yeci. He had come to send Li Banfeng a message.

An important figure from the old days has arrived at Ink Fragrance Shop, Li Banfeng thought. Who is it? It must be Chu Shaoqiang.

Chu Shaoqiang was still at the bookhouse, which meant that Shopkeeper Ru had managed to keep him occupied. Still, Li Banfeng doubted he could hold him there for much longer.

Li Banfeng hurried to Willow Garden. The gates were shut and the garden was closed, but a young couple had climbed over the fence and were huddled together among the trees, enjoying the snow.

Li Banfeng took out the Music Box. As a beautiful melody drifted through the grove, the couple soon fell asleep.

After carrying them back outside the garden, Li Banfeng took out the Film Projector and began recording the details of the surrounding woods.

He needed to disguise the area somehow. Whether it was the Greenwater Beggar or Chu Shaoqiang who arrived first, he could not let either of them immediately locate that particular willow tree.

The Film Projector sounded a little nervous. "Director Qi, if they were only at the Terranean Layer, I am confident that I can fool them. But if it's against someone at the Cloudborne Layer, I really can't make any promises."

The Glove gave a snort. "Brother, that's not right. You have had your share of fine dishes at the Cloudborne Layer. Now that it's time to put in some work, how can you start making excuses?"

The Film Projector did not actually try to back out. He chose a suitable spot and cast a projection over the area, concealing both the willow tree and Li Banfeng from view.

Li Banfeng took out his phone and called Luo Zhengnan. "Old Luo, have you found the Peddler yet?"

Luo Zhengnan was nearly frantic. He had searched all the way from the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs to Medicine King Gully, but no one in any of the territories had seen the Peddler.

Li Banfeng said, "The fight here is about to start. Keep looking. You have to find him."

The fight is about to start! Master Qi is about to go up against that group of monsters.

Luo Zhengnan could not think of any other way. In desperation, he dialed a number.

A familiar voice came through the receiver. "Dear listener, welcome to Afternoon Teahouse. What would you like to share with us today?"

"The Peddler! I am looking for the Peddler!" Luo Zhengnan had not called the wrong number. He had deliberately called the radio station. "If anyone has seen the Peddler, please tell him I am looking for him in Medicine King Gully. It's extremely urgent. I need to speak with him right away."

***

As darkness gradually settled in, Li Banfeng accumulated enough luck and restored enough strength inside the Pocket Dwelling. He put on the newly repaired Threaded Earring, then quietly concealed himself beside the willow tree.

Under the Film Projector's cover, an ordinary person would have had no chance of seeing the tree at all. However, the opponents coming tonight were anything but ordinary.

Chu Shaoqiang entered the garden with a man dressed in black. The man had large eyes, a long face, and a pointed chin that made him look almost like a bat. He was Wang Fuqi, Chu Shaoqiang's personal messenger.

Chu Shaoqiang had arrived at Ink Fragrance Shop that morning. He knew where Ge Junma was, and through Wang Fuqi, he had already established contact with him.

This was why Ge Junma had been so unusually quiet all day. He had been conserving his strength, waiting to coordinate with Chu Shaoqiang so they could attack Murong Gui from both inside and outside.

Chu Shaoqiang, however, did not trust Ge Junma completely. Before making his move, he wanted to find out exactly what state Murong Gui was in. That was why he had gone to the Ru Family Bookhouse and tried to coax some information out of Shopkeeper Ru.

However, no matter how he asked about it, Shopkeeper Ru claimed to know nothing. Chu Shaoqiang had no intention of letting the matter drag on and risk something changing overnight, so he decided to make a move tonight.

When they reached the edge of the woods, Wang Fuqi did not rush in. Instead, he picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it among the trees.

The stone did not arc through the air. It shot forward in a straight line, ricocheting back and forth between the trees as it went.

The Threaded Earring warned him, "Master, that's Throwing a Stone to Test the Way, a high-level Spycraft Cultivator ability."

The name alone was enough for Li Banfeng to guess what the ability did. If that stone kept going, it would probably see straight through the Film Projector's concealment.

What should we do now?

Li Banfeng prepared to use the Deep Court Domain ability and borrow Wifey's Sound Cultivator methods and strike the Spycraft Cultivator hard before he could discover anything.

However, before the stone could finish its flight, someone suddenly reached out and caught it.

The Green Beggar caught the stone in his hand and grinned. "Since you have already given it!"

Wang Fuqi's expression changed. "Making Insatiable Demands?"

He was startled and hurriedly called the stone back. At the same time, Chu Shaoqiang shouted, "Wait! He's not a Beggar Cultivator!"

The warning came too late. The stone had already returned to Wang Fuqi's hand. Almost at once, the flesh on his hand began rotting away, exposing the phalanges one by one.

1. "Cut in and steal the winning tile" is the translation for 截胡 (Jie Hu). This refers to claiming the discarded tile that would let you win before another player can claim it. When you do this, you shout HU! The other phrase he used was " wait and take the last winning tile for himself" This is "收底" (Shou Di) in Chinese. It's taking the last tile that completes the winning/starting hand. ☜