He Is Not a Good Person

Li Banfeng looked calmly at the hunter. "Speak up. Are you Linli?" The hunter couldn't answer. On Mount Xueya, lying brought punishment. With so many stones on the ground, if the hunter said he wasn't Linli, the shattering rock would very likely grievously injure him. Even if he weren't badly hurt by the flying shards, it would still give Li Banfeng an opening for a sneak attack. After a long silence, the hunter asked Li Banfeng, "How did you figure it out?" Li Banfeng didn't answer either. He had no desire to explain that much to him. "Dripping bloodfang monster"—it was an awkward name to say. Just how awkward? Say it a couple of times, and even Li Banfeng's tongue would get tied. If even Li Banfeng's tongue got twisted, how difficult would it be for the hunter, who already slurred his words? Shortening "dripping bloodfang monster" to "bloodfang monster" was completely natural. Li Banfeng had referred to it as the bloodfang monster all along. Yet the hunter hadn't done that. Even with his slurred speech and difficulty talking, he sometimes said "bloodfang monster," and other times went out of his way to say "dripping bloodfang monster." When talking about what monster lived on the mountain, he said there was only the dripping bloodfang monster. When talking about the monster's roaming range, he said the bloodfang monster couldn't come down the mountain—but he never said Linli couldn't come down the mountain. Everything he said was the truth, but he had distinguished Linli from the bloodfang monster. A journey cultivator wandering the world, traversing thousands of mountains and tens of thousands of rivers, had to be exceedingly cautious with every step. Li Banfeng naturally wouldn't overlook an anomaly like that. Seeing that Li Banfeng didn't answer, the Linli monster asked again, "It's rare for paths to cross like this, even if it has to end with one of us dead. Before we fight, can you tell me the truth? If you knew I was Linli, why did you still hire me as your guide?" Li Banfeng still didn't answer. Back then, he hadn't yet confirmed the other's identity; he had only suspected ill intent. The basis for his suspicion was that when the man appeared by Li Banfeng's side, Li Banfeng had barely sensed him. From this, he inferred that this was someone skilled at ambushes, very likely an anomaly of the newland. If Li Banfeng's deduction was wrong and the man bore no malice, then paying to hire him made even more sense—having a guide couldn't hurt. If the man was a monster, then rather than waiting to be ambushed from the shadows, it was better to keep him in plain sight. Of course, if the hunter hadn't agreed at the time, Li Banfeng couldn't have forced him. But he believed that a hunter couldn't resist the temptation of money, and a monster couldn't resist the temptation of food. Having spent plenty of time in newlands, Li Banfeng was familiar with both types of creatures. Linli asked yet another question: "If you knew I wanted to kill you, why did you still follow me?" This time, Li Banfeng answered, "If I didn't follow you, how was I supposed to avoid the bloodfang monster?" Linli wanted to avoid the bloodfang monster—Linli had said so himself, and that was the truth. Along the way, he had indeed avoided the bloodfang monster. As for why Linli wanted to avoid the bloodfang monster, the exact reason was unclear, but Li Banfeng had a rough guess. Whether his guess was accurate would be tested shortly. Linli let out a cold laugh. "You think avoiding the bloodfang monster means you get to live? Do you know why I brought you to this place?" Li Banfeng nodded. "I know. Because it's hard to flee from here." Wild grass on all sides, mountain stone underfoot—such rare terrain was indeed terrible for making an escape. Linli looked at Li Banfeng and said, "I know you're a journey cultivator. Do you think your footwork is really something special? Try running and see!" Li Banfeng was in no rush to run. Looking at Linli, he countered: "Why are you avoiding the bloodfang monster? "Is it because he always steals your food, and you can't beat him in a fight? "At the foot of Mount Xueya, you claimed to be a hunter. You didn't lie there—you really are a hunter, and the prey is me. "So why did you urge me not to go up the mountain? Did you want to wait until I left Mount Xueya before making your move? Were you afraid your prey would be stolen? "Are you really that terrified of the bloodfang monster? He has fifth-tier cultivation, so you certainly don't measure up to him. At best, you're fourth tier—or maybe not even fourth tier?" A glint of cold light flashed in Linli's eyes. That hit him right where it hurt. Li Banfeng had guessed correctly: he hadn't originally wanted to strike on the mountain. He genuinely feared the bloodfang monster. His roaming range was larger than the bloodfang monster's, but he truly was no match for him. Li Banfeng continued, "Mount Xueya is territory belonging to the two of you. Why does the bloodfang monster always bully you?" Linli gritted his teeth, provoked into fury by Li Banfeng. "Don't bother trying to drive a wedge between us. It won't work." "Won't work? I think it works quite well. The gap between you and the bloodfang monster can't be that big, can it? If you found a helper, you could kill the bloodfang monster." Linli ground his teeth and snapped, "Shut your mouth!" Li Banfeng pressed on: "Don't you want to kill him? You definitely want to! Do you think you and I joining forces could kill him?" "Shut up!" Thoroughly enraged, Linli prepared to slaughter Li Banfeng on the spot. No matter how much he hated the bloodfang monster, he would never fall for the instigations of a stranger. Even if every word the other spoke was true. Li Banfeng kept going: "Kill the bloodfang monster, and Mount Xueya will be yours alone!" "Shut up!" "Helpers don't come easily. You ought to cherish the opportunity." "Shut up!" "There's a helper right before your eyes. I want to kill the bloodfang monster too." "I told you to shut up!" "I'm a good person. I can help you!" "I told you—" *Bang!* Just as Linli lunged toward Li Banfeng, a boulder suddenly exploded, sharp gravel slashing several bloody cuts across his body. He indeed hadn't fallen for Li Banfeng's attempts to drive a wedge. He had been focusing entirely on waiting for the right moment to strike. Yet he never imagined that Li Banfeng hadn't been trying to drive a wedge at all. He never imagined Li Banfeng would suddenly tell a lie. "I can help you." That was a lie. This was step one of the tactic: lie! After speaking an unbroken stream of truths, Li Banfeng had suddenly let slip a lie, catching Linli completely off guard. "I truly want to help you! I never once thought about killing you!" Li Banfeng blurted out another lie. *Bang! Bang! Bang!* This lie so severely contradicted Li Banfeng's genuine thoughts that the rocks exploded with tremendous violence, injuring both Linli and Li Banfeng. "I sincerely want to make friends with you! I never had any intention of harming you!" *Rumble!* Dust billowed as shattered stones burst continuously. Clutching his head, Linli curled up on the ground. This guy was utterly insane! This was up on the mountain! The rock explosions here were far more violent than at the mountain's base. And he had told such shameless lies! Linli couldn't comprehend Li Banfeng's thinking, assuming he wanted mutual destruction. *In that lunatic's dreams!* Mount Xueya was Linli's home turf. Linli knew how to dodge the flying rock shards, so his injuries weren't severe. Yet through the smoke and dust, he noticed that Li Banfeng wasn't heavily injured either. At the base of the mountain, Li Banfeng had kept using lies to detonate the rocks, making Linli think he was crazy. Li Banfeng wasn't crazy; he had been testing the blast locations of the rocks and the flight trajectories of the shards. His familiarity with Mount Xueya certainly couldn't match Linli's, but relying on the footwork of a journey cultivator, he hadn't suffered much either. Then what in the world was he doing this for? Just to pin Linli down? Now that Linli was pinned, why wasn't Li Banfeng running? Furious, Linli was about to get up when he suddenly caught a whiff of an intoxicating aroma of liquor. Where was the liquor scent coming from? It seemed to be coming from his own body. This was step two of the tactic: sprinkle liquor. While the rocks were exploding, douse Linli in liquor. It was just that executing this step was difficult—Li Banfeng had to dodge the exploding rocks himself and had no opening to splash liquor. Yet he didn't need to do it personally. The liquor gourd possessed high spiritual intelligence and knew what to do at what moment. While Li Banfeng was dodging the stone fragments, the liquor had already been poured. The liquor gourd called out a reminder: "Little brother, set the fire!" Li Banfeng struck a match against his trousers, igniting it, and tossed it onto Linli. Flames surged all around his body, and Linli screamed in agony. He rolled all over the ground trying to put out the fire, but to no avail. This was the Medicine King's medicinal liquor; how could it be so easily extinguished? Before he could find a chance to extinguish the flames, the Tang dao had already cleared its sheath, stabbing straight into Linli's chest. Enduring the excruciating pain, Linli drew the longbow from his back, swiftly nocking an arrow to shoot Li Banfeng dead. The pendulum swept forward and severed the bowstring, then struck into Linli's neck, frantically drinking blood. Step three of the tactic: grab the weapons and attack. Whatever weapons could be brought to bear, bring them all! Li Banfeng hurled the sickle, hooking it into Linli's skull. He drew his shovel and was about to throw it as well when he suddenly felt something wrap around his wrist. It was wild grass. A stalk of wild grass as tall as a person reached out with its stem, tightly binding Li Banfeng's wrist. Switching the shovel to his left hand, Li Banfeng severed the grass, but two more stalks wrapped around his legs. All around him, massive amounts of wild grass were madly surging toward Li Banfeng. Linli was fighting back. "Herb Cultivator!" the liquor gourd cried out, splashing a bit of liquor onto the wild grass clinging to Li Banfeng. "Set the fire!" the gourd urged again. Li Banfeng was genuinely worried he might burn himself, but the gourd exercised restraint; the flames merely burned away the grass on Li Banfeng without harming him in the slightest. At the same time, a dense blanket of green grass wrapped around Linli's body, finally snuffing out the fire on him. A blade of grass coiled around the Tang dao, forcefully wrenching it out. Linli no longer wanted to fight back; he wanted to flee. The sickle was pulled free, and the pendulum was torn away as well. Though a massive amount of his blood had been drained, his chest stabbed, a hole cleaved into his skull, and his body covered in burns, the heavily wounded Linli could still channel his techniques. Thick wild grass wrapped him up like a mummy as he sped swiftly through the vegetation. He was going to find the bloodfang monster. He feared the bloodfang monster deeply, and he hated him deeply. Yet now, the bloodfang monster was the only one who could save him. Where was the bloodfang monster? Probably at the summit, in his lair. *He'll definitely save me. Definitely...* *Sss-shhh—* the grass leaves around Linli slowly came loose. He could no longer sustain his power. The burns and blade wounds he could just barely endure, but the sickle was poisoned; that, he could not withstand. It was the virulent Blue Leaf Poplar, further refined by the bronze lotus. That Linli had lasted this long was already remarkable. The Tang dao rushed forward, plunging another strike into Linli's throat. The pendulum took the opportunity to sweep in and drink its fill of blood. The liquor gourd laughed and praised, "Fine liquor! Truly fine liquor!" The artifact Old Yao gave really was wonderful; the liquor gourd had rendered immense service in this battle! Looking at the liquor gourd, Li Banfeng grew somewhat lost in thought. As a local spirit, Old Yao could be considered the best of good men. He knew I would encounter danger on the road; he told me methods to avoid the danger, and even gave me the means to avoid it. Yet there was another person who also knew I would face many dangers. The situation back then was far more dangerous than now, because back then I understood nothing at all. He had told me to make a phone call. He had suddenly appeared before me. He had dragged me into a life-or-death struggle. Yet he had told me nothing. Before that, he hadn't even mentioned Puluo Province. As for the things he gave me, I don't even know if he truly gave them to me, nor what his intentions were, nor whether I can even hold onto them. After being stared at by Li Banfeng for a while, the liquor gourd grew somewhat warm. "Little brother, don't keep staring at elder sister like that." Li Banfeng smiled. "Elder sister is so pretty, can't I even take a look?" "How old are you, daring to flirt with me?" The liquor gourd sprayed a mist of liquor across Li Banfeng's face, sounding slightly cross. Li Banfeng stroked the liquor gourd. "Mount Xueya is my witness: I sincerely admire you, Elder Sister." The mountain rocks made no sound, proving Li Banfeng was telling the truth. The gourd giggled several times. Mount Xueya truly was an interesting place. Li Banfeng carried Linli's corpse back into the Portable Abode. This battle had caused quite a commotion; before the bloodfang monster came after him, Li Banfeng hurried down the mountain. Reaching the foot of the mountain, Li Banfeng muttered in a low voice, "I didn't kill Linli." *Bang!* A mountain rock exploded at once. Even speaking so quietly didn't work? Then he might as well speak louder! Li Banfeng shouted toward Mount Xueya, "I'm a good person!" Mount Xueya gave no response whatsoever. Li Banfeng yelled again, "My wife is also a good person!" Mount Xueya still gave no response. Li Banfeng called out once more, "My entire family are good people!" Not a single stone exploded. What about that person? Was he a good person? Li Banfeng called out again, "I don't think he's a good person!" A gentle breeze blew past; silence reigned over the mountain. Li Banfeng was very satisfied with this result. He took off his fedora, brushed off the bits of stone and dust on the hat, put it back on, turned, and walked into the night. PS: Just who on earth is that person? Why isn't he a good person?