Li Banfeng called out, "Old Pan."
Niu Fuzhi had no idea who he was calling.
He looked toward his wife in the kitchen.
She was still aching over the cured pork.
"Um, Benefactor, what did you mean just now by..."
Before Li Banfeng could answer, Niu Fuzhi clapped a hand over his own mouth.
He felt he shouldn't ask, couldn't ask. He felt asking that did Li Seven a disservice.
Li Seven was his benefactor, the benefactor of the entire village. The man only wanted a quiet place to talk for a moment, yet here he was prying into everything—how could he be so shameless?
Not only did Niu Fuzhi feel guilty, his wife felt guilty too.
The benefactor needed a meal, yet she had begrudged measuring out the rice; the benefactor needed food, yet she had begrudged slicing the pork. She wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
They couldn't stay in this house any longer. Husband and wife backed out the door together, and then retreated entirely from the courtyard.
Such were the methods and power of a Virtue Cultivator.
Li Banfeng sat quietly in the room, watching an elderly man who wore a round cap atop his head, round-rimmed spectacles perched on his nose, a long gown draped over his frame, and a walking stick in hand—dressed just like an old remnant official of the previous dynasty—sit down right across from him.
Li Banfeng had guessed right. This person was Pan Dehai, the local spirit of Haichiling!
"Young man, you can actually see me." Pan Dehai gave Li Banfeng a faint smile.
Li Banfeng didn't smile. His expression unchanged, he said, "What's so rare about seeing you?"
In truth, it was remarkably rare.
Pan Dehai was not a living human; he was a departed spirit. Few could see departed spirits. Even high-tier cultivators from certain pathways could not perceive them without the aid of spiritual artifacts.
Pan Dehai also possessed special methods to conceal his form.
When he ambushed Feng Daiku, even she hadn't detected him.
To have his concealment pierced today by a mere youngster took Pan Dehai by surprise.
Little did he know that the skill of Golden Eyes Discerning the Minutest Detail was a special technique granted to Li Banfeng by the gramophone.
"Young man, what kind of artifact did you use?" Pan Dehai probed further.
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I didn't use an artifact. It's my skill."
Pan Dehai's gaze darkened, his tone turning somewhat chilly. "Do not lie before me."
Li Banfeng gave a cold sneer. "If you can't even tell a lie from the truth, what's the use of your cultivation?"
Pan Dehai grew all the more astonished.
Virtue Cultivators were experts at discerning lies.
Li Banfeng had indeed spoken the truth; he was using a skill.
But how could a youngster wield such a formidable technique?
What baffled Pan Dehai even more was Li Banfeng's attitude.
Why didn't this young man show the slightest hint of awe or deference before him?
Under normal circumstances, Li Banfeng treated elders with great respect—take Old Mr. Yao and the coachman, for instance.
But today's situation made Li Banfeng rather irritated.
Pan Dehai had exploited Niu Fuzhi's family, using their sincerity and simplicity to make Li Banfeng feel guilty and force him to hand over the prescription. This kind of conduct filled Li Banfeng with utter disgust.
Pan Dehai measured Li Banfeng from head to toe, asking in a slow, interrogative drawl, "Did Old Yao send you?"
Li Banfeng raised the liquor bowl and took a sip. "You asked Old Mr. Yao for medicine, and I brought it to you."
Pan Dehai's tone sharpened. "The young are to be reckoned with. To earn Old Yao's favor, you must be no ordinary fellow. What pathway do you belong to, and what tier is your cultivation?"
Blank-faced, Li Banfeng countered, "Why should I tell you?"
Pan Dehai froze for a long while. Li Banfeng remained neither servile nor arrogant, entirely unaffected by his intimidation.
He shifted his approach, putting on a slight smile. "This old man is some years your senior and has cultivated a few years longer than you. Surely asking a few trifling matters doesn't offend you, does it?
"When you first arrived at Laobing Village, did you see this old man?"
He was testing Li Banfeng.
"No," Li Banfeng answered truthfully.
At that time, he truly had not seen Pan Dehai, because Pan Dehai had not been in Laobing Village at all.
When had he entered Laobing Village?
It was the moment Li Banfeng uttered the words, "I came to deliver medicine."
The words "deliver medicine" were an imprint, a brand that Pan Dehai had etched into Haichiling.
Knowing Old Yao would send him medicine, he had carved those words into the hearts of everyone. As soon as anyone in Haichiling heard those three words, Pan Dehai could sense it. Thus, he had rushed to Laobing Village immediately and influenced the villagers' behavior.
Pan Dehai followed up, "Then when did you realize this old man was in Laobing Village?"
Li Banfeng replied, "The moment I entered the village, I suspected you were here."
Pan Dehai's brow furrowed tightly. Li Banfeng was still telling the truth.
*This youngster sensed me the moment he entered the village?*
*I had just arrived in the village then too. Could he see my every move?*
*Just what tier is he?*
*What kind of person did Old Yao find?*
In fact, Li Banfeng had not sensed Pan Dehai's presence back then. Although journey cultivators possessed the skill of seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity, Pan Dehai's status and rank were clearly beyond Li Banfeng's perceptual range.
Yet Li Banfeng had indeed spoken the truth. From the moment he entered the village, he had felt something was off.
Niu Fuzhi possessed respectable cultivation and was tasked with keeping watch at the village entrance. A misunderstanding arose between them, and blows were traded.
Li Banfeng said he had come to deliver medicine, and Niu Fuzhi simply let him inside.
He had agreed just like that.
Was someone so simple and trusting suited to keep watch outside?
At first, Li Banfeng tried to understand Niu Fuzhi's reasoning.
Was Laobing Village so desperately short of medicine that Niu Fuzhi let down his guard the moment he heard someone had come to deliver medicine?
But after sharing a meal, Li Banfeng realized something was wrong. According to Niu Fuzhi's description, Laobing Village was not short on medicine at all; peddlers had brought plenty, and many medicines simply no longer worked for them.
After meeting the Tillage Cultivator Niu Jingchuan and listening to Niu Fuzhi recount past events, Li Banfeng found the situation even stranger.
Laobing Village had just suffered a massive loss at the hands of a Thief Cultivator. Under such circumstances, they would never easily take in an outsider.
Yet these villagers showed no guard against Li Banfeng whatsoever.
If the people of Laobing Village were truly that reckless, they never would have lasted until now.
From that point on, Li Banfeng suspected that these honest, simple villagers were all under the influence of some external power.
And as for the source of that power, the first person Li Banfeng thought of was Pan Dehai.
Naturally, Li Banfeng kept these thoughts to himself. But his silence severely skewed Pan Dehai's assessment of him.
Unable to determine what tier of cultivator Li Banfeng was, Pan Dehai adopted a much more polite manner:
"You call yourself Li Seven, so this old man shall call you Old Seven! Since you have come entrusted by Old Yao, shouldn't you hand the prescription over to this old man now?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "The prescription is easy enough to discuss. But you questioned me for so long just now, and as the saying goes, courtesy demands reciprocity. May I ask you a few questions as well?"
Pan Dehai nodded. "Ask."
Li Banfeng asked, "Do you intend to lure the insect blight to Yaowanggou?"
Hearing this, Pan Dehai fell silent for a long moment, but unexpectedly, he did not deny it. "Yes."
Li Banfeng paused, then asked, "Did you get into a fight with Kudaikan's leader, Feng Daiku, over the insect blight as well?"
"Yes!" Pan Dehai still did not deny it. "I wanted to draw the mosquitoes to Kudaikan, but that vicious woman discovered it and insisted on crossing hands with me."
He admitted it.
He had admitted it so openly and brazenly.
And he even called Feng Daiku a vicious woman.
*How fucking shameless can one person get!*
Li Banfeng forced a slight smile and asked, "Could you tell me why you did that?"
Pan Dehai replied with a serene expression, "I did it for Haichiling."
Li Banfeng couldn't make sense of it. "If you lure the bugs elsewhere, will the bugs in Haichiling just disappear?"
Pan Dehai shook his head. "This old man's purpose in doing so is to pool collective wisdom and strength."
*Pool collective wisdom and strength?*
Li Banfeng still didn't understand.
Pan Dehai sighed. "You've seen the disaster in Haichiling with your own eyes—flesh and blood devouring each other, corpses of the starved littering the ground. In this old man's domain, countless tragedies unfold every day. As I watch with my own eyes, my heart aches—it aches as though pierced by twisting blades."
At this point, Pan Dehai coughed twice.
His chest truly did ache.
Feng Daiku had gouged a chunk of flesh from his heart, and it had yet to fully heal.
After coughing, Pan Dehai wiped his tears and continued, "Haichiling is no vast territory; it lacks capable talents and sufficient wealth. If you speak of capable talents, Yaowanggou has plenty, with Medicine Cultivator experts in abundance. If you speak of wealth, Lüshuiwan has ample wealth, with genuine gold and silver piled up like mountains. Yet have they ever cared for Haichiling?
"Sending over a bit of grain and a few prescriptions—can that save Haichiling? Can that save the suffering common folk? Since they don't know the pain, this old man must make them feel it! Only when they know the terror of the insect blight will they bend every effort toward devising a cure. Only then can Haichiling be saved! All of this old man's painstaking intentions have earned nothing but endless curses. Who can ever understand the agony in this?"
As he spoke, Pan Dehai clutched his chest again.
Li Banfeng had intended to sip his liquor and listen at leisure, but the liquor got stuck in his throat, and the bowl nearly slipped from his hand to shatter on the floor.
"Your meaning is... drag everyone down into the water, and Haichiling can be saved?"
Pan Dehai shook his head. "This is not dragging others down into the water. This is uniting the whole of Puluo Province against a common enemy! This is great virtue."
*This was so fucking bereft of any virtue.*
Li Banfeng had truly had his horizons broadened today!
"I still have one more question. You just said Lüshuiwan has the greatest wealth. Why didn't you lure the insects to Lüshuiwan?"
Pan Dehai looked up to the heavens with a long sigh, his eyes brimming with helplessness. "Because the Lüshui Beggar is fierce and valiant, and this old man is no match for him."
Because he couldn't beat him, he didn't dare.
He admitted it.
He admitted it just like that.
Without so much as blushing!
How in the world did a person like this ever become a Virtue Cultivator?
Chapter 163