Qiu Luoye

Late at night, Li Banfeng familiarized himself with the terrain in the canyon. The terrain offered considerable advantages. The canyon stretched ten li, over a zhang wide, twisting and turning with nine bends and eight curves, densely overgrown with thick vines. Sprinting with all his might from one end to the other had taken Li Banfeng a little over two minutes. He was a third-tier journey cultivator and still required that much time. If the other side sent ordinary cultivators, as long as their tiers weren't too high, they would find it difficult to exit the canyon within ten minutes. *Does that mean I only need to hold out for ten minutes?* *What if the local spirit comes in person, though?* Recalling the speed of the will-o'-the-wisps—appearing out of nowhere, arriving in the blink of an eye—crossing a ten-li canyon wouldn't even take them a minute. *Can every local spirit turn into will-o'-the-wisps?* *Even if Qiu Luoye might not necessarily turn into a will-o'-the-wisp, what if their side also has an anomaly similar to a journey cultivator?* Li Banfeng slowly paced through the canyon, scrutinizing every spot. As he reached a bend, the Tang dao spoke up. "My lord, this is a prime spot for an ambush." The Tang dao had seen war and was the only magical treasure with military experience. Li Banfeng marked the position and continued walking through the canyon. He made more than twenty marks in a row. Together, Li Banfeng and the Tang dao filtered through them to select the best, settling on three key locations. All twenty marks had their uses, but these three were critical for ambushes. Arriving near the canyon mouth facing Luoyeping, Li Banfeng saw the shattered remains of an altar table on the ground and thick fog drifting in the distance. "Brother Li the Seventh, don't go any farther. Step any further, and you'll enter Qiu Luoye's territory. Since you've made a covenant with me, you count as my man. The battle hasn't started yet, so you cannot cross into Qiu Luoye's land. One step across that boundary into the mist, and you'll lose your life." Shui Yongquan drifted to Li Banfeng's side, appearing in human form this time. Li Banfeng stared at the fog for a moment. It was dense, but shadowy figures were faintly visible within. Looking at the shattered altar table on the ground, Shui Yongquan said to Li Banfeng, "This was left behind by those land reclaimers. Three times in a row, and each chosen right at the mouth of the canyon. Once could be a coincidence, twice might be considered a fluke, but what about three times? Someone is stirring up trouble." Li Banfeng had no interest in listening to his analysis of the situation; he kept studying the terrain. Shui Yongquan marveled, "Brother Li the Seventh, you're genuinely dedicated. But where did Brother Ma the Fifth go? Please don't tell me he isn't coming." "He's coming. I've already agreed with him that he'll only handle the fighting, while deploying troops and setting formations are up to me," Li Banfeng gave a perfunctory excuse. Shui Yongquan chuckled. "Deploying troops and setting formations? There's no need for any of that. When local spirits go to war, did you think it was a clash between two great armies? There aren't that many formalities here. Once the battle begins, everyone jumps right in. Waste a single moment, and morale crumbles. Those fighting alongside you just want to earn cultivation progress. If you want to fight, don't hold back. Whoever is faster and strikes more ruthlessly is the one who wins!" Li Banfeng frowned. "Isn't that just a rabble?" "What else did you think? Qiu Luoye's subordinates are all a disorganized rabble!" This deviated from what Li Banfeng had envisioned. He had counted on reading a proclamation before the battle, negotiating for a while, and stalling for a bit of time. If they started fighting the moment they met, things would be much harder to manage. His tactics had to change. Shui Yongquan sighed. "You're the one who signed the covenant, and whether you bring Ma the Fifth is your business. Young man, let me give you a piece of advice: having an extra helper on the battlefield gives you an extra life. Even if he just helps you hold the gate, one more person means more strength. I'm talking about serious business. Holding the Waterfall Gate on your own won't be easy." Li Banfeng looked at the cliffs on both flanks. "The Waterfall Gate can only hold out for three minutes. Relying solely on the Waterfall Gate won't work either." Shui Yongquan smacked his lips. There were things he hadn't wanted to say, but Li Banfeng had already signed the covenant. Even if told, Li Banfeng couldn't back out. After weighing his thoughts, he decided to give Li Banfeng a warning. "If Qiu Luoye charges into the valley in person, the only thing that might hold him back is the Waterfall Gate." Li Banfeng furrowed his brows. "Will he come in person?" "Hard to say." "Only the Waterfall Gate works?" Shui Yongquan pondered for a long while before replying, "Aside from the Waterfall Gate, there are certain specialized arts. Qiu Luoye's head doesn't work too well, so any pathway that can confuse the mind can counter him. Joy Cultivators are one such group." He still wanted Ma the Fifth to join the fight. Li Banfeng didn't turn his thoughts to Ma the Fifth. Instead, he asked Shui Yongquan, "Do Virtue Cultivators count as a pathway that confuses the mind?" Shui Yongquan nodded. "They do." "What about Dream Cultivators?" "Them too. If you can find helpers from the Virtue or Dream pathways, you might be able to stall a bit longer." Shui Yongquan crossed through the canyon and returned to his own territory. The gramophone had guessed right: Shui Yongquan hadn't placed all his chips on Li the Seventh. He had kept contingencies for himself. The wild boar was also wandering near the mouth of the canyon, searching for an ambush position. The House Centipede mother and daughter had already chosen their spot and were squabbling at that moment. "Mother, have some shame, would you? We came here for serious business. Stop mooning over that Ma kid all the time." "Pah! Who gave you the guts to meddle in your mother's business?" The House Centipede Mother glanced toward the canyon from time to time, hoping to catch another glimpse of Ma the Fifth. Shui Yongquan gave a cold snort. "If you two want to guard the canyon, I won't stop you." The House Centipede Mother swayed her body and said, "Oh, Lord Shui, we don't have that kind of ability. Once you enter the canyon, there's only one path. If we get flanked, we won't even have a place to run." Shui Yongquan knew they lacked the skill; these were merely scattered stragglers. Their task was to hold the canyon entrance and, once Li the Seventh fell in battle, continue delaying the enemy forces. Over at Baizu Cave, the monstrosities there were the main combat force. Their tiers varied, but their loyalty to Shui Yongquan was absolute! An eagle flew down and whispered into Shui Yongquan's ear, "Qiu Luoye has guarded both routes. The forces on both sides are roughly equal." Shui Yongquan gave a cold laugh. "I knew he'd do that. When he sees someone, he charges; when he doesn't see anyone, he splits his forces to guard both sides. His blockhead can only come up with such wooden tactics. Go make some noise over by the canyon. Don't overdo it, just enough to make Qiu Luoye deploy more men there." *** Li Banfeng walked out of the canyon. Guided by the resonance of the Thread-Hook Earring, he found the wild boar hiding in the weeds. "Old Boar, I have something to discuss with you." The wild boar remained completely still, convinced he had concealed himself well and that Li Banfeng couldn't see him. "Old Boar, I can see you." The wild boar still didn't budge, sneering inwardly: *Don't fall for his bluff. He can't see me at all.* "I have good stuff for you." Li Banfeng produced a Xuanchi Pill. Catching the medicinal fragrance of the pill, Old Boar stood up from the weeds. "What do you want me to do? I won't defend the canyon with you." "I'm not asking you to defend the canyon. I just need you to help me move some rocks—the bigger, the better." The House Centipede Woman lowered half of her torso from a tree. "Pills just for moving rocks? How much do you want moved?" Li Banfeng smiled. "That depends on how much strength you all have. After moving the rocks, there are logs to move too." The House Centipede Mother twitched the antennae on her head. "You want us to help you set up traps, don't you? The two of us happen to be quite good at that. But don't skimp on our pills." "Rest assured, you'll get your share. Who else knows how to make traps?" Two bears, six deer, along with three centipedes and a python crawled out from the grass and trees, turning their eyes toward Li Banfeng. *** On the second day, Li Banfeng stayed inside the Portable Abode during the daylight hours and came out at night, using pills to hire the creatures at the mountain ravine entrance to help set up traps. On the third day, Li Banfeng painted inside the Portable Abode. *Huu—huu—* The gramophone's wheezing continued. The clock pendulum pressed against the back of Li Banfeng's hand, coloring along with him. The Tang dao scraped back and forth across a whetstone. The liquor gourd smacked its lips. "I really want a sip." The old teapot chuckled. "If you want a drink, come have some tea. Liquor is out of the question. Save it; if you're drinking, you have to wait until tomorrow." The earring whimpered, "Master, I'm scared." The clock pendulum spat, "You cheap hussy, if you're scared, don't go outside. Just wait for the Second Mistress to refine you into scrap." The earring broke into sobs. The Judge's Brush grunted, "What time is it?" Three words! Even the Judge's Brush was taking things seriously. Li Banfeng glanced at the calendar poster hanging on the wall. Calendar posters were items still widely used in Puluo Province. One could call them New Year paintings, or hanging calendars: an illustration mounted on the wall with dates and solar terms printed below. Li Banfeng's calendar poster was over a meter tall, featuring a graceful, elegant beauty seated in the center of the image. Hearing Li Banfeng's question, the beauty hurriedly held up a clock face. "Sir, it's half past three." From here on, tracking time would rely on the clock face on the calendar poster, because the pocket watch wasn't accurate enough. *** Xiao Chuanzi entered Ma the Fifth's wooden hut. "Fifth Master, I just went to Seventh Master's plot. Seventh Master isn't there." Ma the Fifth opened his pocket watch. Four in the morning. *Old Seven has already left?* *That can't be!* *If he was leaving, he should have let me know.* Zuo Wugang spoke up from the side. "Fifth Master, I've never seen local spirits fight a war, but I know this is a matter of life and death. Seventh Master has already left; you should get moving too." Ma the Fifth walked to the door and saw Yanzi, Qianqian, and Qiaocui all prepared. "Young master, when are we leaving?" Ma the Fifth knitted his brows. *Has Old Seven really left?* *** At half past four in the morning, the Tang dao came before Li Banfeng, bowing deeply. "'Ivory tallies depart the Phoenix Palace; armored cavalry encircle the Dragon City!' My lord, it is time to take the field!" Li Banfeng looked at the Tang dao, feeling that it looked quite like a general today. "Can you strike an extra blow?" "Three strikes are still three strikes, but every strike shall claim an enemy's head!" "Good." Li Banfeng took all his magical treasures with him and made a trip outside to set up the crucial positions. At four forty-five, he returned to the Portable Abode and spread out all three hundred and three paintings. Three were hand-drawn, and three hundred were block-printed. At four fifty, Li Banfeng pricked his fingertip and began splattering blood over the sheets of paper. Once the blood was applied, Li Banfeng walked up to the gramophone. He first filled its fuel tank, then stood gazing at the gramophone for a while. Seeing a speck of dust on the turntable, Li Banfeng carefully wiped it away. "Wait for me to come back." Li Banfeng pulled the brim of his hat down low, took all the paper charming beauties, and stepped out of the Portable Abode. *Huu—* The gramophone's wheezing persisted. *** At four fifty-five, the paper charming beauties were all in position. Left to do nothing, the printed paper charming beauties could hold out for fifteen minutes. At four fifty-eight, the mist cleared slightly. Concealed among the vines, Li Banfeng faintly spotted figures of the enemy forces. Over the past two days, Shui Yongquan had continually stirred up commotion near the canyon. To play it safe, Qiu Luoye had deployed sixty percent of his forces near Baiman Valley. Possessing overall superior strength, Qiu Luoye had no reason to stay on the defensive. Today, as the battle began, he had arrived at the valley mouth in person. Hiding in the vines, Li Banfeng observed in silence. To his understanding, a name like Qiu Luoye—Autumn Fallen Leaf—suited a creature like a butterfly. Or perhaps an erratic, drifting will-o'-the-wisp. Yet this local spirit had not appeared as a will-o'-the-wisp; he had revealed his true form. On all fours, over five meters tall, with a massive head, a long trunk, round ears, and no neck. It was an elephant. *Why would an elephant be named Fallen Leaf?* *Wuu—oohh!* At five o'clock, the war horn sounded again. The war between the local spirits had begun! Qiu Luoye prepared to lead his men into the canyon to battle Shui Yongquan. His tactic was simple: if Shui Yongquan was in the canyon, they would fight head-on; if his numbers proved insufficient, he would reassign troops from the cave. If Shui Yongquan launched a surprise attack from the cave, he would lead his forces there to provide support. Just as Qiu Luoye was about to order a charge, amidst the hazy fog within the valley, the vines began to shudder violently, as if a mighty host of thousands was bearing down. Shui Yongquan's numbers appeared far greater than Qiu Luoye had anticipated. Qiu Luoye commanded, "All troops await my order! Wait until they exit the canyon before engaging!" At five-o-one, the enemy didn't emerge. Withered branches and shredded leaves swirled within the valley. The enemy seemed to be amassing forces at the valley mouth. Qiu Luoye bellowed, "Prepare to attack!" At five-o-two, dust billowed within the valley. Qiu Luoye still hadn't issued the order to advance, unsure of just how many enemy troops were hidden inside. A scorpion stepped forward and whispered, "They seem to outnumber us. Let's reassign more hands over here." A fox beside him shook its head. "We must not act rashly. Let's observe the movements a bit longer." At five-o-three, absolute silence suddenly fell over the valley. The fox said to Qiu Luoye, "Master, there's trickery afoot. The enemy definitely has an ambush." *Why did the commotion stop all of a sudden?* Even Qiu Luoye couldn't understand it. The reason was actually quite simple: the paper charming beauties Li Banfeng had created could only last three minutes when performing physical labor. Shaking vines, hurling leaves, kicking up sand—all of these tasks consumed considerable energy. This was a tactic his wife had taught him: you didn't need much bait, but you had to create a massive spectacle to make the enemy want to attack while making them hesitant to dare! Attacking didn't seem right, yet refraining didn't either. As Qiu Luoye hesitated, a pheasant took to the air. "I'll fly in first to scout out the situation." According to his wife's tactics, whenever one encountered flying scouts, they had to be shot down immediately to blind the enemy's vision. Li Banfeng lacked the ability to do so, however. This pheasant possessed third-tier cultivation and flew exceedingly high. Li Banfeng couldn't reach her, so he could only crouch within the vines and watch. The pheasant circled once and flew back. "Master, I didn't see any enemy troops in the valley." The fox asked, "Not a single enemy?" The pheasant replied cautiously, "I said I didn't see any. Baiman Valley is covered with vines, so I couldn't see clearly. Perhaps they're hiding." Of course she couldn't see them. The paper charming beauties Li Banfeng had made were now shredded bits of paper, and Li Banfeng was a fourth-tier Dwelling Cultivator, whom she simply overlooked. Qiu Luoye grew increasingly anxious, unsure whether to launch an all-out assault on the valley. The fox advised him to keep observing, but the pheasant chimed in, "Master, if there are no enemy troops, we should just charge straight through! The brothers don't want to wait around!" These monstrosities were not an army. Just as Shui Yongquan had said, Qiu Luoye's subordinates were merely an undisciplined rabble. They had followed the local spirit to fight purely to earn cultivation progress. Assembling together, they wanted to finish the fight as early as possible; no one was willing to grind away their time here. If they dragged this out any longer, morale would disintegrate. In his desperation, Qiu Luoye summoned a horse-headed man. "Lead your subordinates in first to scout the path." The horse-headed man was rather reluctant; he had no idea what was happening in the valley either. Qiu Luoye nodded. "I'll credit you with the first merit!" The horse-headed man agreed. Earning the first merit meant double the cultivation reward. Twenty horse-headed men charged into the valley. Were these horse-headed men high in cultivation? Not high. They were all at the second tier. Yet they ran astonishingly fast, not in the least inferior to second-tier journey cultivators. In under a minute, they covered more than three li. According to his wife's tactics, such units should be ignored; under no circumstances should one pursue them. Li Banfeng couldn't afford to ignore them, however. According to his agreement with Shui Yongquan, if even a single person broke out of the canyon, Li Banfeng would be deemed to have failed. The horse-headed men saw no sign of the enemy along the way. The leader snorted coldly. "Nothing but an empty bluff!" He craned his neck, preparing to whinny three times to signal Qiu Luoye. Li Banfeng manipulated the clock pendulum along the cliff above, severing the vines. Huge boulders thundered down. These were the mechanisms the wild boar, the house centipedes, and the others had helped Li Banfeng set up. Three horse-headed men were crushed beneath the giant boulders. The leader let out three whinnies—two long and one short—signaling an ambush in the valley. The leader continued charging forward with his subordinates. After advancing another li and rounding a corner in the valley, the falling boulders ceased. It wasn't that Li Banfeng hadn't prepared enough rocks, but that the clock pendulum simply couldn't keep pace with the speed of these horse-headed men. "Just petty parlor tricks!" The horse-headed leader was about to whinny again when an overwhelming scent of liquor assailed his nostrils. *Where is this smell of liquor coming from?* Realizing something was wrong, the horse-headed leader shouted, "Get out—" He had just uttered those two words when the Tang dao flashed into view, severing the leader's head in a single slash. This was the first ambush spot Li Banfeng had chosen; the Tang dao had been waiting here all along. With their leader dead, the remaining horse-headed men didn't know which way to run. Should they keep scouting ahead, or turn back? As they hesitated, Li Banfeng struck a match, igniting the liquor mist, and swiftly darted upwind. Fierce flames erupted, and the liquor mist seemed almost alive, clinging tenaciously to the horse-headed men. The horse-headed men caught fire one after another. Without a leader, they descended into chaos. Some ran backward, only to be greeted by falling boulders guided by the clock pendulum. Others pushed forward, only to be trapped within the inferno of burning mist. One jin of liquor was far too limited. In the blink of an eye, more than half was spent. The liquor gourd closed its mouth, tucking away the remaining fraction. When the flames died down, three horse-headed men were still alive. One charged toward the end of the valley, while the other two dodged the falling rocks and fled back the way they had come. He didn't care about the ones retreating. The one charging forward couldn't be allowed to live. Li Banfeng sprinted at full speed, closing the distance. With a single half-step, he appeared behind the horse-headed man, swung his sickle, and drove it clean through the back of the creature's skull. The first wave was held! Li Banfeng flipped open his pocket watch. Five-o-eight! He had held out for eight minutes! In a moment, he would pull another bluff to stall for three more minutes. Though the liquor gourd didn't have much liquor left, Li Banfeng had laid out plenty of traps that could buy another three minutes. Relying on the Waterfall Gate would buy another three. The enemy would also need time to march. Considering Qiu Luoye's massive build, if he made him move slower and dragged things out for another three minutes, wouldn't that be enough? *Wuu—wuu—* A resounding trumpet of an elephant echoed through the pass! Li Banfeng froze. Qiu Luoye didn't give Li Banfeng any further opportunity to bluff; he had charged in himself. *Is he truly that reckless?* *Isn't he afraid I have an ambush?* Qiu Luoye genuinely wasn't afraid. After listening to the horse-headed men's account, he feared it even less. "Dropping rocks! Setting fires! Shui Yongquan! What kind of fool do you take me for? Can't you show some real ability for once!" Hearing the thundering footsteps, Li Banfeng had yet to see Qiu Luoye's form. Yet he finally understood why this local spirit was named Qiu Luoye—Autumn Fallen Leaf. With every step the elephant took, withered leaves upon the vines rained down like a downpour.