Li Banfeng lay on the bed, and Sun Tiecheng stood beside it.
With his hands tucked together into his sleeves and an honest, genial smile, he still looked every bit the simple, decent man.
His tone remained rustic and unassuming, as though he were just chatting with Li Banfeng about ordinary household affairs. "I really didn't expect you to be a Sloth Cultivator. I've never seen anyone cultivate both the journey cultivator and Sloth Cultivator pathways. Logically speaking, those two pathways shouldn't be compatible. If I'd known you were a Sloth Cultivator, I wouldn't have invited you to take the trial. Sloth Cultivators have too great an advantage in the City of Fools. You passing the trial was sheer trickery."
"Sloth Cultivators counter Fool Cultivators?" Li Banfeng asked weakly.
"You didn't know?" Sun Tiecheng pursed his lips. Tucking his hands into his sleeves, he squatted down on the floor and said with an honest, down-to-earth air, "Then pretend I never brought it up..."
It was precisely this simple, honest appearance that was so deceptive.
Sun Tiecheng continued, "When I said you passed the trial just now, you might not fully understand what that means. In truth, it's not much different from reclaiming newland. If you survive three days on a plot, you've passed the newland trial. If you can walk out of the City of Fools alive, you've passed the trial of the City of Fools. I have three rewards for you—rewards that others wouldn't dare dream of..."
Li Banfeng's eyes grew unfocused; he was on the verge of falling asleep.
Sun Tiecheng waved a hand, and a gentle breeze swept in, waking Li Banfeng up.
"The first reward: a plot of land reserved for you in the City of Fools. Naturally, it can't be as large as a newland plot. Do you want to choose it yourself, or should I pick one for you?"
"Don't want it," Li Banfeng uttered just three words.
"Why not?" Sun Tiecheng asked, somewhat curious.
Li Banfeng couldn't even be bothered to explain.
Take a plot of land in the City of Fools?
Had he lost his mind?
Not even on pain of death would Li Banfeng ever want to return to that place.
Besides, who asked you to test me?
On what grounds did you get to put me through a trial?
"Refusing isn't an option. I went to all this trouble precisely for this matter. You have to take it whether you want to or not." His tone was no longer quite so simple and genial.
Sun Tiecheng waved his hand once more, dispelling another portion of Li Banfeng's drowsiness. Taking a deep breath, Li Banfeng sat up from the bed.
The price of a magical treasure was an iron rule, one extraordinarily difficult to break; even the wife had no great way of dealing with the cost of a magical treasure.
Yet this man could effortlessly offset part of the Judge's Brush's cost, which went to show just how high his status was.
The fact that he had just offered Li Banfeng a plot of land proved he was very likely an entity on the level of a local spirit.
Could he be even higher than a local spirit?
"Who are you, really?" Li Banfeng wasn't quite so lazy anymore.
"I am Sun Tiecheng, a very honest man. To tell you the honest truth, over all these years, only two people have ever passed my trial. With such a rare opportunity before you, there's no reason not to cherish it." At this moment, Sun Tiecheng sounded much more like a worldly sage.
"Who was the other person who passed the trial?"
Sun Tiecheng shook his head. "I won't tell you, nor will I tell him about you."
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment. "How many people have taken your trial?"
"Tens of thousands. I've lost count. They all remained in the City of Fools."
Li Banfeng thought of those departed souls clad in flesh and blood.
He understood the origin of that flesh and blood.
"Why did you choose me?"
Sun Tiecheng said, "At first, I didn't want to choose you either. I used to pick people without cultivation. Those without cultivation are more useful to me. But they were useless. Once they entered the City of Fools, none could get out, and most couldn't even survive two hours."
The people who had died in the City of Fools before had no cultivation.
No wonder Red Lotus wouldn't eat the scattered flesh on the ground.
Tens of thousands—yet he spoke of it so casually.
Sun Tiecheng suddenly assumed his honest man's demeanor again, squatting beside the bed. "After expending so much effort and ending up with nothing to show for it, I had no choice but to find someone capable, so I picked you."
Li Banfeng still didn't understand. "How did you know I was capable?"
"Anyone who can carve out a ten-li plot in the newland must possess real ability."
"You went to Zhengjing Village just to trick me into coming to the City of Fools?"
"Originally, I intended to trick Ma the Fifth. I didn't notice you at first. Only after staying in Zhengjing Village for a few days did I learn from Shui Yongquan that you were the one truly calling the shots, and you were also the one who reclaimed the land."
A tall tree catches the wind!
I probably stayed in Lüshui City for too long; too many people know about me now.
I told Ma the Fifth to do his best to keep things hidden, and he did his best, but some things just couldn't be kept quiet.
Li Banfeng gritted his teeth. "You really are sinister."
Sun Tiecheng stood up, his rustic face full of indignation. "Speak with a clear conscience! The whole way there, I was advising you not to be taken in. You were the one obsessed with having your own way, insisting on staying in the City of Fools."
Indeed, he had warned Li Banfeng along the entire journey not to be fooled.
Don't fall for the plaster peddler.
Don't fall for the fortune teller.
This had created an illusion in Li Banfeng's mind, making him think this simple, honest hunter was on his side, always looking out for him.
It had kept Li Banfeng from ever suspecting that Sun Tiecheng was a fraud.
"What was the purpose of testing me? Do you want to bring vitality to the City of Fools and turn it into proper land?"
Sun Tiecheng's expression grew solemn, his features shifting back to that of a sage. "An oldland can never become proper land again. Though legendary methods exist, they aren't something mortals can accomplish. I only want to find someone to carry on the Fool Cultivator lineage—to truly carry it on, rather than dragging out a miserable existence like walking corpses as we do now."
Li Banfeng was startled.
He had said before that he had always brought people without cultivation to undergo the trial.
People without cultivation were more useful to him.
What was the reason for that?
Because people without cultivation could more easily enter his pathway!
"You want me to join the Fool Cultivators?"
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "I'm a straightforward man, and that is indeed what I'm thinking. The world slaughtered the Fool Cultivators to the last, but I want this pathway to still have living practitioners."
Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "It's impossible for me to enter your pathway. I'm already cultivating two pathways at once."
Sun Tiecheng nodded again. "That's precisely where my dilemma lies. In your current state, cultivating three pathways would mean certain death. However, I can wait. I can wait until you have the ability, and then initiate you."
Wait?
Could such a thing even be feasible?
Right now I am a Tier 4 Dwelling Cultivator. If I add another pathway, I'd be an initiate without a tier.
With a four-tier gap between two pathways, I'd drop dead on the spot. How could there be any feasibility in that?
Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered to ponder future matters; he focused on what lay before him first.
Going by strength, I definitely can't beat him. He and I aren't even on the same level. Even the wife right now might not be a match for him.
I have to find a way to get away from him first.
"Since you think so highly of me, wait a few years for me then. Once I have the ability, we'll talk about initiation." Fighting off his drowsiness, Li Banfeng stood up from the bed.
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "No rush. Initiation can wait, but we aren't done talking about your rewards."
"I don't want a plot in the City of Fools. If I enter the City of Fools again, I might not come out alive."
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "Which is why you must be given another reward. I shall bestow upon you a technique."
"A Fool Cultivator technique?"
Sun Tiecheng nodded.
"I'm not a Fool Cultivator. Can you still give me a technique?" Li Banfeng didn't understand the mechanics behind this.
Sun Tiecheng said with a smug expression, "Others cannot, but I can."
Just what tier is this man?
Even a local spirit couldn't do something like this, could they?
Will learning a technique from him have negative effects on me?
Probably not. If he wanted to harm me, he'd have countless ways...
Li Banfeng began wavering in doubt again; it seemed he had fallen under a Fool Cultivator's technique once more.
Forget it.
If he wants to harm me, I can't stop him anyway.
Learning a technique is no big deal.
Li Banfeng agreed.
Sun Tiecheng looked at Li Banfeng with a chuckle. "Pick a technique. Anything you like, just name the tier."
"Tier 10!" Li Banfeng replied decisively.
Sun Tiecheng's cheek twitched. He looked at Li Banfeng. "If I taught you a Tier 10 technique, would you even be able to learn it?"
Li Banfeng scoffed. "Then why did you say I could pick anything?"
Sun Tiecheng stared at Li Banfeng for a moment. "I am a person of stature, do you know that? I've killed tens of thousands of people, do you know that? I am your senior, do you know that? Is it proper for you to speak to me like that?"
Li Banfeng didn't feel like mincing words with him. "I met a fortune teller in the city. That fortune teller had a technique that makes people overthink and get terribly conflicted."
Sun Tiecheng tucked his hands into his sleeves once more, squatting on the ground in his simple, honest persona. "Could you not learn that one? Let's switch to a different one."
"Why can't I learn this one? That fortune teller said he was Tier 2, so the technique's tier shouldn't be very high, right?"
"It's not really a matter of tier. This technique... Fine, I'll teach you!" After agonizing for a good while, Sun Tiecheng finally agreed. "This is the Tier 2 technique of the Fool Cultivator: Thousand Deliberations of the Fool."
Li Banfeng started; this matched the description given by the Judge's Brush.
Sun Tiecheng explained, "There's a proverb that says, 'Even a fool in a thousand deliberations makes one gain.' In truth, that's deceptive nonsense. When a fool engages in a thousand deliberations, they won't necessarily gain anything. Instead, they will obsess over gains and losses. It looks as though they've thought through everything thoroughly, yet they can't even take a single step forward. That is why ordinary people can never walk out of the City of Fools."
Is this what the Judge's Brush meant by overthinking?
Sun Tiecheng continued, "The essential trick of this technique lies in saying something that makes the other person agonize. The more they believe you, the more they will overthink, and the more conflicted they will become between gain and loss. Amidst that indecision, with just a little steering, they will make a choice favorable to you."
Sun Tiecheng waved his sleeve, and a fresh breeze brushed across Li Banfeng's face, causing him a twinge of pain.
It was somewhat similar to the pain when he first entered a pathway and had medicinal powder applied, though not nearly as intense.
Sun Tiecheng cautioned, "Thousand Deliberations of the Fool can be controlled with mere intent, but while the technique is easy to learn, it isn't necessarily easy to use. In a fool's thousand deliberations, you must know what they are fretting over. If someone is starving and wants a meal, and you insist on dragging him to a brothel, he won't be able to get aroused, nor will he be conflicted. In that moment, if you want him to agonize, you have to ask what he wants to eat. Meat or vegetarian? Rich in oil or sharp with vinegar? If you want to use a Fool Cultivator's techniques, you have to put some thought into it."
After a moment, the pain eased, and Li Banfeng asked, "You said the technique's key lies in making the other person believe me. What if they don't believe me?"
"Then find a way to make them believe you."
Li Banfeng nodded. "How do I make them believe me?"
Just like why had Li Banfeng believed a plaster peddler?
This was precisely why Sun Tiecheng had been reluctant to teach Li Banfeng Thousand Deliberations of the Fool.
Because this technique worked best when paired with the Tier 1 technique.
Sun Tiecheng curled his lip and turned his head away, refusing to look at Li Banfeng. "I can only teach one technique."
Li Banfeng tucked his hands into his sleeves and squatted down beside Sun Tiecheng. "In all these years, only two people have passed your trial. Shouldn't you show a little extra consideration?"
"I already gave you three rewards."
"Give me one more, then. Buy three, get one free—that's a common promotion."
"No! You aren't someone from my pathway, yet you want to learn two techniques from it?"
"Then I still have one reward that hasn't been redeemed yet, haven't I?"
"The third reward isn't a technique."
"Then let's trade it out."
Sun Tiecheng suddenly grew a bit conflicted.
He raised his head and glared at Li Banfeng in indignation. "You're using Thousand Deliberations of the Fool on me?"
Li Banfeng smiled bashfully. "Didn't I just learn it?"
"Do you know how high my status is? Do you know how formidable my background is? Do you know I've killed more people than you've ever seen? You dare use a technique on me..."
Sun Tiecheng had indeed succumbed to the technique.
The wife had also fallen under the fortune teller's technique.
The techniques of Fool Cultivators could actually bypass differences in tier, which astonished Li Banfeng.
Was this why the major pathways had besieged the Fool Cultivators and slaughtered them to the last?
Of course, indecision was merely indecision; Sun Tiecheng's true strength hadn't diminished. If Li Banfeng were to fight Sun Tiecheng, he still wouldn't stand half a chance of winning.
...
After bickering for a long time, Sun Tiecheng relented.
"The Tier 1 technique is called Incontrovertible Words. What you say will sound credible to the other person. The techniques of the Fool Cultivator pathway all require some finesse. It's not as though whatever you say will automatically be believed. 'Incontrovertible Words' requires you to chisel it in; you must add a touch of calculation. If a statement is entirely false, it's hard for the other person to believe. But if you mix in ten percent truth, the technique succeeds easily. Take that fortune teller, for instance. He told you some truths, so it was easy for you to believe him."
Li Banfeng recalled his interactions with the fortune teller. "From the very beginning, he spoke the truth. I truly did come seeking revenge, and his reading was remarkably accurate."
"That's because I told him beforehand that you came seeking revenge."
Li Banfeng was speechless.
"The essential trick of the Tier 1 technique lies in unwavering conviction. You must firmly believe your own lie is true before you can fool anyone else."
Once Li Banfeng learned the technique's essentials, Sun Tiecheng brought up the City of Fools again. "Now that you've learned techniques of my pathway, you should be able to adapt to the customs and climate of the City of Fools. You must accept the land. Pick a spot yourself."
Li Banfeng didn't want to go back into the City of Fools to choose, so he said offhandedly, "Pick a shop for me."
"A shop selling what?"
"Anything is fine."
"How about a butcher shop?"
"Fine. That counts as honest business."
He would agree to anything; getting away was what mattered most.
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "Changsan Shuyu in the east of the city is yours."
"Shuyu? A bookstore?"
"Didn't I tell you? It sells meat."
A shop that sells meat, named a shuyu—that was certainly an elegant name.
Li Banfeng said, "I have work to do outside, so I won't be able to manage the business here."
Sun Tiecheng had anticipated this long ago. "You don't need to worry about business in the City of Fools. I'll find someone to run it for you."
He waved toward the distance, and the man who sold plasters walked over. "Boss, what are your orders?"
"His name is Tang Changfa. He'll follow you from now on. Changfa, address him as Seventh Master."
Tang Changfa scrutinized Li Banfeng. "You want me to follow him?"
Sun Tiecheng looked at Tang Changfa. "Is there a problem?"
Tang Changfa lowered his head. "No problem."
Sun Tiecheng added, "From now on, Changsan Shuyu is in your hands to manage."
Tang Changfa looked up. "I'm to manage that place?"
"You object?" Sun Tiecheng shot him another glance.
"No objection!" Tang Changfa turned and headed back into the city.
Watching Tang Changfa's retreating figure, Sun Tiecheng sighed. "That flesh of his needs replacing. Crumbs are practically falling off him as he walks."
Li Banfeng was curious about this very thing. "They're all departed souls. Why must they drape themselves in flesh and blood?"
Sun Tiecheng sighed. "Because only like this can they believe they are still alive."
Li Banfeng looked at Sun Tiecheng. "Did you deceive them?"
Sun Tiecheng shook his head. "They fooled themselves. The crux of the Tier 1 technique lies in unwavering conviction. Fooling oneself is very difficult. They must have flesh and blood, and they must have a livelihood; only then can they believe they are truly alive. Fooling is fooling, and deceiving is deceiving. They are two different things. If the day comes when they no longer believe they are alive, their souls will scatter, the departed spirits will turn into empty spirits, and the Fool Cultivator pathway will be no more."
Li Banfeng said expressionlessly, "That flesh on them was piled up from tens of thousands of people."
Sun Tiecheng shook his head. "Those people deserved to die. Lacking real ability, they still wanted to strike it rich in the oldland. They thought the departed spirits of the oldland were like wild weeds they could harvest at will. They forgot that departed spirits were once human too. They got hold of some talismans from Nightmare Cultivators and ruined both living spirits and empty spirits indiscriminately. Seeing so many departed souls in the City of Fools, they barged in, thinking this city full of departed souls was like paper money scattered across the ground, there for the picking. After they broke into the city, I advised them to leave immediately, but they wouldn't listen. They sought their own deaths. When you entered the city, I advised you as well. Yet if any among them managed to survive, that person was someone of genuine ability, and deserved a reward. You have three rewards. I've given you two, and now one remains."
Li Banfeng was very curious about what that reward was. Sun Tiecheng took a parcel from behind him and handed it to Li Banfeng. "I don't know what feud you have with Iron Sheep Mountain, but you can dispose of this thing as you see fit."
Li Banfeng took the parcel and opened it. Inside was a severed human head.
Sun Tiecheng smiled. "The head of Iron Sheep Mountain's grand chieftain, Rong Yeguang. It's yours."
PS: "Changsan Shuyu" was an elegant name for a special type of high-class establishment during the Republican era. In such places, serving tea cost three silver dollars, wine with accompaniment cost three dollars, and staying overnight was also three dollars—hence the name "Changsan" (Long Three).
Chapter 206