He Is My Junior Martial Brother

"One hundred dollars for a Gold Cultivator, but three hundred thousand for a Deception Cultivator?" The disparity in price was utterly ridiculous. Sui Donglan sized Li Banfeng up and down, asking, "Are you really the peddler?" Li Banfeng gave a cold snort. Ignoring her, he pushed his cart, sounded his rattle-drum, and kept walking forward. Sui Donglan hurried to block his path. "Don't be in such a rush! Let me ask first—what kind of pathway is a Gold Cultivator?" "A splendid pathway!" Li Banfeng produced a wooden commode bucket and a toilet brush. "First, strap this onto your back. It's for collecting liquid gold. And here's the brush—this is for stirring the liquid gold!" Li Banfeng hadn't been able to buy a ladle for scooping liquid gold; such implements weren't easy to come by. Sui Donglan shuddered, shoved the bucket aside, and pinched her nose. "What kind of pathway is that? Isn't that just mucking out shit?" "For a young woman, you certainly have a foul mouth! If you don't want it, forget it—wait for next time!" Li Banfeng stowed the bucket and brush, then continued pushing his cart forward. Sui Donglan chased after him. "I want to join the Deception Cultivators." "A pretty girl like you, in the prime of your youth—why on earth would you want to learn deception? I'm not selling to you. Wait for next time and pick a proper pathway." The girl blocked him again. "This is the only pathway I want!" "What a temper you have! So what if you want to join? I refuse to sell to you!" Li Banfeng pushed his cart to leave, and Sui Donglan began to suspect certain rumors might be true. The fact that she had missed the peddler the previous two times wasn't bad luck—the peddler had been deliberately avoiding her. There was no mistake: the man standing before her was the genuine peddler. Back in Lüshui City, someone had once told her that the peddler didn't sell initiation powders for profit, but rather to entrust them to the right people. *He probably thinks I'm not suited to be a Deception Cultivator.* "I genuinely want to become a Deception Cultivator. Please, just sell it to me!" The more Li Banfeng refused, the more convinced Sui Donglan became that he was the real deal. After she pleaded repeatedly, Li Banfeng grudgingly relented. "Three hundred thousand for the powder. Not a copper less." Sui Donglan put on an aggrieved pout. "Where would I ever get that kind of money?" "Then what are you wasting my time for?" Sui Donglan grabbed Li Banfeng's sleeve. "Couldn't you let it go a bit cheaper? Would two hundred thousand do?" This girl certainly knew how to act. Her delicate, pitiful display was enough to melt anyone's heart. Li Banfeng gritted his teeth. "Fine. Seeing how sincere you are, if you choose the Gold Cultivator, I'll throw in an extra bucket." "I don't want to be a Gold Cultivator..." "Then there's no room for negotiation on Deception Cultivator. Three hundred thousand, flat." Seeing that the peddler wouldn't budge on the price, Sui Donglan gritted her teeth and agreed. Did she have three hundred thousand? Yes! Dwelling Cultivators were easy marks; all told, she had swindled over five hundred thousand out of Tiemenbao. Parting with more than half of it broke her heart, but if she could truly enter the pathway, she would earn that money back in no time. She returned to her lodgings, retrieved her stash of cash, and handed it over to Li Banfeng. After counting and verifying every note, Li Banfeng grabbed a handful of "powder" from one of the crocks and said to Sui Donglan, "Come here. Stick your face out." Sui Donglan froze, bewildered. "Why rub it on my face?" Li Banfeng frowned. "Where else do you expect to rub it?" Sui Donglan rubbed her backside. "Isn't it always applied where there's plenty of meat?" She actually seemed to know a thing or two. "Have you no shame?" Li Banfeng scolded. "A young woman, baring your backside in front of a man!" Sui Donglan didn't even blush. "You're an expert from beyond the mortal dust. If you look, you look—why would you care about taking a little peek at me?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "Other pathways rub it where the meat is thickest. A Deception Cultivator must rub it where the skin is thickest—and in this pathway, the thickest skin is on the face." Sui Donglan was skeptical; she had never heard of such a thing. Li Banfeng maintained his aloof stance. "If you don't want to buy, forget it. I'll refund your money." Sui Donglan quickly stopped him. "I'll buy it! I'll do as you say..." For reasons she couldn't explain, the more conflicted she felt, the more trustworthy the peddler seemed. Li Banfeng fetched a writing brush from the cart, mixed the powder evenly with water, and said to Sui Donglan, "Stand still. Don't move!" Sui Donglan didn't dare budge. With the brush in hand, Li Banfeng wrote the character for "Deception" across her left cheek, and "Cultivator" across her right cheek. "You have entered the pathway of the Deception Cultivator!" As the words fell, a surge of joy washed over Sui Donglan. Right after the joy came unbearable agony. Sui Donglan clutched her face, crying out from the pain. This was normal. Other cultivators had said that initiation powder burned fiercely even when applied to one's backside, let alone the face. After waiting a moment, Sui Donglan felt as though the skin of her entire face was being stripped away with a knife. The agony blurred her vision, set her whole body trembling, and choked off her breath. *This is normal. Just endure it a little longer, and it will pass...* She held out a bit longer, but the dreadful torment tore through flesh and seeped straight into her skull. Sui Donglan could bear it no longer and collapsed, rolling across the ground. With tears streaming down, she looked up at Li Banfeng. "It hurts too much! Do you have medicine for the pain? It hurts so bad..." Sitting on the cart, Li Banfeng smiled at her. "So you know what pain feels like? Did you ever ask those honest folk you swindled whether it hurt them?" "You..." Only now did Sui Donglan realize she had been tricked. She lunged forward, ready to stake her life against his. Li Banfeng dodged to the side. Sui Donglan slammed headfirst into the cart without catching so much as his shadow. Why was he so agile? Not even the bandits from Feiying Mountain possessed such agility. Old Liu, the dried-fruit vendor, had said the peddler was an extraordinary master. He truly was the peddler! So why had he deceived her? Seeing that force was useless, Sui Donglan hurriedly defended herself. "Master Peddler, I didn't swindle them! I was just selling flowers—they bought my flowers of their own free will!" Li Banfeng chuckled. "By that logic, didn't you buy my medicine of your own free will as well?" "I... I..." Sui Donglan stammered for a long while before replying, "I bought it willingly too! Master Peddler, I know I was wrong! I'll never dare do it again!" Li Banfeng sighed. "Very well. I'm a generous man. Go back to Tiemenbao and return all the money you swindled, house by house. Once you've paid them all back and knocked your head to the ground three times for each household, I'll give you the antidote. Go on." Sui Donglan fell to her knees with a thud. "Master Peddler, I'll do it right away! But please ease this pain first—I truly can't endure it!" The excruciating pain wracked her entire body with convulsions. Li Banfeng produced his liquor gourd, poured out a cup of liquor, and handed it to her. Sui Donglan raised the cup and drained it in one gulp. Before long, the pain receded. "Thank you, Master Peddler!" Sui Donglan knocked her head twice, rose to her feet, and turned to leave. Was she going to return the money? Not a chance. Having been cheated out of three hundred thousand by the "peddler," her heart was already bleeding. How could she bear to part with any more cash? Seeing her turn to go, Li Banfeng tossed her a mirror. "Don't rush off. Take a look at your face first." Sui Donglan looked into the mirror: "Deception" was written on the left side of her face, and "Cultivator" on the right. She rubbed her face frantically, but the two characters wouldn't budge. "Master Peddler..." Li Banfeng's smile vanished. "Didn't you want to become a Deception Cultivator? I've granted your wish. Those two characters will never wash off for the rest of your life. Wherever you go, everyone will know what you are." "Master Peddler, spare me this once! I truly know I was wrong!" Sui Donglan scrambled back to Li Banfeng and began kowtowing repeatedly. Li Banfeng frowned. "Why are you kowtowing to me? Head over to Tiemenbao." "Sir, looking like this, how could I ever show my face to anyone?" "If you don't want to be seen, you can wait for death. By this time tomorrow, once the liquor wears off, the pain will return. You'll die in sheer agony—and even in death, those two characters will remain on your face." With that, Li Banfeng pushed his cart, sounded his rattle-drum, and prepared to leave. Sui Donglan clung to his pant leg, weeping. "Sir, I'll go return the money right now! But... but I gave all my money to you. I don't have anything left..." Li Banfeng glanced back with a grin. "Gave it all to me? You didn't keep any for yourself?" "I kept a little..." Sui Donglan dared not lie. "Hand it all over!" Sui Donglan returned to her lodgings and brought out the remaining two hundred thousand and more. Li Banfeng said, "First pay back the money you have in hand, and pay back the remaining three hundred thousand as well. But that part you owe to me—you'll work it off yourself." Sui Donglan blushed. "Then... will you give me a proper status?" "Of course. You'll have a status. From now on, you're the cart-puller!" *A cart-puller?* *What kind of status was that?* Li Banfeng handed the pushcart to Sui Donglan, while he sounded the rattle-drum and strolled toward Tiemenbao. Sui Donglan pulled the cart along behind him. As they walked, Li Banfeng questioned her about Tiemenbao. "How many Dwelling Cultivators live in Tiemenbao?" Sui Donglan replied, "Two to three hundred households. Tiemenbao is huge; from the entrance inward, it stretches over a dozen li." "Is there another exit at the far end of the ravine?" "No, Tiemenbao is a dead end. There's only one gate in and out." "Did these Dwelling Cultivators enter their pathway inside Tiemenbao?" Sui Donglan shook her head. "I haven't stayed here long, but I've never seen anyone initiated here. The few Dwelling Cultivators I know all moved here from outside." Li Banfeng looked back at her, suspecting she wasn't telling the truth. "How could Dwelling Cultivators just move on a whim? Did they abandon their houses and dwelling spirits?" "I wouldn't know about that. I'm just a white lamb; I don't understand much about cultivation matters. I only heard an older fellow say that he carried his dwelling spirit here on his back." *Moving while carrying a dwelling spirit?* The essence of a Dwelling Cultivator lay in the balance between the house, the dwelling spirit, and the cultivator. Once a dwelling spirit stepped beyond the threshold, it would turn into an evil spirit. What tremendous risk had that older fellow run to relocate with his dwelling spirit? "Why did he move to Tiemenbao?" "He said Tiemenbao was a fine place, and that the fort lord was a good man." "Is the fort lord a Dwelling Cultivator too?" "Rumor has it he's an eighth-tier Dwelling Cultivator, though I've never laid eyes on him. That older fellow only saw him once, when bandits from Feiying Mountain raided the fort. The fort lord stepped in personally and drove them off." So Dwelling Cultivators fled to Tiemenbao seeking asylum. The fort lord was an eighth-tier expert; it seemed Li Banfeng could indeed learn a great deal here. Yet by what avenue could he get close to the fort lord? "I have a friend who wants to settle down in Tiemenbao. Does he need the fort lord's permission?" Sui Donglan nodded. "First he must obtain the fort lord's consent, then purchase a plot of land from him, build a house according to the fort lord's regulations, sign a covenant deed, and pay monthly rent before he can settle in Tiemenbao." "If I buy a house, why would I still have to pay rent?" "Those are the rules of Tiemenbao. It's not just them—anyone who conducts business in Tiemenbao has to pay rent to the fort lord." As they spoke, the two reached Tiemenbao. With tears in her eyes, Sui Donglan pleaded, "Sir, please give me another dose of medicine to remove the words from my face first." Li Banfeng smiled genially. "That won't do. Return everyone's money first, then we'll talk." Sui Donglan sniffled twice, found a headscarf to wrap around her face, and went from door to door repaying the money. The characters for "Deception Cultivator" were written so large that the scarf couldn't hide them. Seeing Sui Donglan arrive at their doorsteps to apologize, return the money, and knock her head to the ground, the swindled Dwelling Cultivators had varied reactions. Some chose to forgive her. Some not only forgave her, but even felt deep sympathy for her. Others were thoroughly incensed, but once they took back their money, they didn't pursue the matter further. The young man who had given Li Banfeng directions earlier belonged to this third group. He was furious with Sui Donglan, yet deeply grateful to Li Banfeng. He readily gave his name and cultivation level. "My name is Wu Yongchao, a fourth-tier Dwelling Cultivator." That was just the kind of person he was—whenever someone showed him kindness, he poured out his heart in return. Li Banfeng was straightforward as well, replying, "I am the peddler." Wu Yongchao peered intently at Li Banfeng, studying him before shaking his head. "I've seen the peddler before. You seem..." Dwelling Cultivators took life very seriously and rarely forgot a face. He remembered that the peddler didn't look like this. Li Banfeng explained, "The peddler you met is my junior martial brother." "You come from the same sect? Then your cultivation must be like his..." In Wu Yongchao's memory, the peddler's cultivation had been extraordinarily high. Li Banfeng answered tactfully, "He and I aren't quite the same." Watching Sui Donglan apologize from door to door, Wu Yongchao agreed wholeheartedly with Li Banfeng's assessment. "If that other peddler had run into something like this, he wouldn't have bothered. Your character is much better than his." Li Banfeng sighed softly. "In short, we're not quite the same..." Sui Donglan finished her round of apologies, returning whatever money she could. As for what truly couldn't be repaid, there was nothing to be done. Part of the money had already been spent. "Doing business here, I have to pay rent to the fort lord too. Asking a bit more from the Dwelling Cultivators couldn't be helped." Li Banfeng frowned. "Even swindlers pay rent?" "We do! In fact, we pay more! The fort lord said people like me shouldn't be allowed inside the fort in the first place, so I had to pay double." If he knew she was a swindler, why let her in at all? Li Banfeng frowned inwardly. "Master Peddler, I've returned all the money. Please give me the antidote." "No rush. There are other things I need to ask you. Do you know where the fort lord lives?" Sui Donglan shook her head. "I've never seen the fort lord. I've only met two of his subordinates..." Before she could finish, a piercing steam whistle wailed aloud. *Woooo— Woooo—* Wu Yongchao started. "Not good! The great iron gate is closing!" Sui Donglan shouted, "Master Peddler, run! If we don't leave now, we won't be able to get out!"