It's Been a While

After hiding for half an hour, Li Banfeng stepped outside again. The human head was long gone. Li Banfeng did the math: the head appeared roughly once every six hours, and at his current speed, there was no way he could make it out of the briars within six hours. What would someone do if they encountered this head without the Portable Abode? Their only option would be to dive into the briars flanking the path. Would hiding in the briars be safe? Not at all. First of all, the lower parts of the briars were blackened—not from weathering, but scorched black by this very head. What was more, the head had a taste for living people, and it had taken a keen interest in Li Banfeng. If Li Banfeng hadn't ducked into the Portable Abode just now, the head would most likely have tracked him down. In these briars—or more accurately, upon this wasteland—Li Banfeng's stamina drained at an alarming rate; the head would have overtaken him in no time. He might have been burned to death, or perhaps turned into the creature's plaything. As for whether the head would be any gentler than Madam Bagworm Moth, there was no telling. An ordinary person would find it nearly impossible to make it out of these briars, unless they could defeat the head. And defeating the head alone might not even be enough. Li Banfeng only wanted to get out of this thorny thicket as quickly as possible. He had no idea what other creatures lurked here. Li Banfeng trudged through the briars for a day and a night. The head appeared four times in all, and Li Banfeng managed to evade it each time by relying on his ears and nose. Doing this not only prevented him from replenishing his stamina, but also hindered his progress as a Dwelling Cultivator. Why didn't he hide inside the Portable Abode to catch some sleep? Because it wasn't safe. He couldn't be certain whether other creatures inhabited these briars, nor whether those creatures, unlike the head, would give warning signs before arriving and grant him a chance to hide. Nor did he want to leave the key sitting in the briars for an extended period, uncertain if some bizarre creature might come along and carry it off. The last time he encountered the head had been three hours ago. Bone-tired, Li Banfeng had meant to rest a moment when he suddenly heard the sound of wind again. Was the head coming back? No, the sound was different. The wind did not build from faint to loud; it blew steady and unbroken, holding the exact same intensity throughout. This was not the sound that heralded the head's approach. What was more, Li Banfeng detected no scent of smoke. Li Banfeng took off at a full sprint. He knew what the wind meant. The end of the briars was near; he was about to make it out. His body was still leaden, but Li Banfeng gritted his teeth and ran for dear life. After sprinting for over half an hour, he found the way out of the briars. Woods! Ahead lay a tract of woods! Overjoyed, Li Banfeng burst out of the briars and stepped into the forest. He listened intently through the Thread-Hook Earring. The wriggling sound was still there, yet he could see no trace of the Wireworm River. Strange. In the briars, Li Banfeng had consistently kept to paths close to the Wireworm River, and the noise had never stopped. Why had the Wireworm River suddenly vanished the moment he left the briars? While he was puzzling over this, the Thread-Hook Earring spoke up: "Master, the movement's down below." Down below? Li Banfeng crouched down and pressed the earring against the ground to listen carefully. Sure enough, the squirming sounds came from beneath him. The Wireworm River had turned into a subterranean river. Now this was trouble. Had he chosen the wrong tributary earlier? Or was a subterranean stretch simply part of the correct route? Looking back at the briar patch, Li Banfeng had no desire to retrace his steps. Given the situation, he had no choice but to follow the earring's guidance and keep walking in the direction of the underground river. After covering more than thirty li, Li Banfeng found himself moving faster and faster. His once-heavily burdened body felt as though it had cast off its shackles, suddenly much lighter. It seemed his previous sluggishness hadn't been an issue with his physical condition after all, but rather some strange power at work across that wasteland. Whatever the cause, Li Banfeng ran faster and faster. Yet the sounds of the subterranean river grew fainter and fainter. The Thread-Hook Earring chimed in now and then: "Master, the movement's getting deeper down." After another fifty-odd li, the sound vanished entirely. Lost? Was he utterly lost this time? What should he do now? No matter, there was still a way... Amidst the boundless forest, the bone-tired Li Banfeng opened the Portable Abode, dove onto the bed, and fell fast asleep. ... In Haichiling, in Toudaoling, a vast sea of people crowded outside the Shiweitian Restaurant. Among them were Haichiling's prominent local families, wealthy merchants, members of the major gangs, and sallow, emaciated common folk on the brink of starvation. Just as the Paramount was the hallmark of Lüshui City, the Shiweitian Restaurant was Haichiling's crown jewel. The restaurant comprised a main building and two wings—the main building standing five stories high and the wings three. Sprawling along the riverbank, it was said that if every hall and private room were packed, it could seat up to three thousand guests. Yet the restaurant was now shuttered. In Haichiling, people couldn't even put food on the table. Every edible scrap had been hoarded by the prominent families, and the restaurant's ingredients were guarded jealously by its owner, given away to no one. Why had this crowd gathered before the shuttered restaurant? They were waiting for Lu Dongjun. Today, Lu Dongjun was going to eradicate the mosquitoes. Wan Jinxian had originally wanted to wait a couple more days, but Lu Dongjun refused to delay any longer. The pressure mounting from all sides was intense, and he was eager to prove his strength. Lu Dongjun stood at the main entrance, ordering his men to unload the cargo. Dozens of servants carried out twenty sheet-iron crates and set them before the restaurant. When the crates were pried open, the watching crowd grew agitated. The crates were filled to the brim with polished white rice. The crowd stared with wide, fixed eyes, and among the starving commoners, many were ready to rush forward and snatch the food. Guards shouted and lashed out with fists and kicks to keep order, but the famished crowd feared no beatings; all they wanted was a bite to eat. Seeing that things were slipping out of control, Lu Dongjun gave a wave of his hand, releasing a potent wave of pressure that forced the crowd backward. "Everyone, this grain cannot be eaten! It is laced with poison meant specifically to wipe out these pests! Today, I, Lu Dongjun, have brought this grain—" Before he could finish, a black swarm of mosquitoes swept in, blotting out the sky. Lu Dongjun had claimed the great families hadn't put their hearts into exterminating the mosquitoes, but it wasn't that they hadn't tried. These mosquitoes were no ordinary insects. The moment they caught the scent of grain, every mosquito within several li would converge at once. They plunged into the iron crates, latching onto the rice grains and sucking them dry. In less than ten minutes, twenty crates of white rice were reduced to hollow husks. This was Haichiling's insect plague, a scourge that struck terror into all who heard of it. A woman clutching a child braved the guards' blows and rushed to one of the crates. She grabbed a handful of white rice and tried to shove it into the child's mouth, only to find nothing in her hand but powdery crumbs. The woman broke down in wails of grief, and the child wailed along with her. Having gorged themselves, the mosquitoes scattered in all directions, seemingly unharmed. The crowd erupted into furious shouts. "What the hell was the point of that? Not a single mosquito died!" "All that good grain wasted! Why couldn't you give us a mouthful to eat?!" "What a wicked bastard! He doesn't deserve to be head of the Lu family!" The uproar surged like a rising tide, and the frantic crowd prepared to mob Lu Dongjun. Lu Dongjun wasn't troubled in the least by such a spectacle. He coughed twice, and the crowd fell silent once more. Sweeping his gaze across the multitude, Lu Dongjun said placidly, "I, Lu Dongjun, reside right here in Toudaoling. I trust many of you know where I live. If the insect plague in Toudaoling is not brought under control in three days' time, you may come to my home and take my life!" The crowd was stunned by his commanding aura—all except for a single beggar. The beggar did not look at Lu Dongjun. Instead, his eyes remained fixed on the mosquitoes flying through the air, watching them circle, watching them land, watching them mate. There were many beggars in Haichiling these days, but this beggar looked particularly ghastly. He was covered in pustules and sores: some oozing white liquid, some seeping red fluid, and others leaking green pus. His face was completely disfigured beyond recognition. Without a close look, one would take him for the spitting image of the Lüshui Beggar. The only difference was his head of blonde hair—he was a foreigner. From a bleeding sore, a trickle of greenish fluid seeped out. Critick's cheek twitched violently. He could barely hold on. He had consumed the Lüshui Beggar's pus, and that venomous fluid was now eating away at his body. He cast another glance at the mating mosquitoes and muttered under his breath, "So that's where my fellow disciple is... The one who made He Haiqin so gravely ill back then was him too." ... After sleeping for a full eight hours, Li Banfeng woke up, but his wife had yet to awaken. Li Banfeng drank some water, ate a bite of food, and stepped out once more. His food supply was plentiful, but his remaining water was running low, and he had to save some for his wife. He needed to find a way out of this newland as soon as possible. What if he couldn't find one? Li Banfeng still had options. If he failed to find a way out in two days, he planned to set up the altar table and claim another newland. The local spirit near the Orange Grove disliked Li Banfeng intensely. But other local spirits shouldn't know him yet. He had only claimed a plot of land one li across near the Orange Grove; the local spirit wouldn't go spreading word about such a trivial matter everywhere. As long as the local spirit here accepted him, he would have water, and food could be figured out later. After walking through the forest for an entire day, Li Banfeng came to a halt. He stood frozen for a long time, then abruptly looked up. This place... felt familiar... It wasn't just familiar; he had truly been here before. The memory was burned into his mind. Right at this spot, something had hung down from above. Madam Bagworm Moth's child! Any place a journey cultivator had visited, they would never forget the direction. Tracing his memories, he pressed onward, moving faster and faster. Ahead lay an expanse of wild land, and amidst the wilderness shone a patch of light. Under the light stood two rows of wooden cabins, with seven or eight cabins in each row. At the end of the first row stood a woman draped in a red padded coat, a slender lady's cigarette between her lips, seemingly lost in thought. Spotting someone approaching from the distance, she found the figure familiar at first glance, yet couldn't place his name. As the man drew nearer, she thought the bearded fellow didn't look quite so familiar after all. It wasn't until Li Banfeng took off his fedora that she finally recognized him. "Seventh Master, you're back!" Li Banfeng nodded. "It's been a while, Shopkeeper Yu." In that moment, Li Banfeng finally realized something. Why the exact same Madam Bagworm Moth had appeared both in the Mount Jiangyue newland and in Lanyang Village.