Making a Living by Craft

Xiao Yeci? It had been so long since they last met that Li Banfeng could barely recall what Xiao Yeci looked like, but her distinctive cadence was something he hadn't forgotten. "Benefactor, quick, come with me! Don't stay in this village—if the Sage finds you, it will be a disaster, ya!" Xiao Yeci pulled Li Banfeng into a mountain hollow. Inside a cave, Li Banfeng saw Xiao Yeci's daughter, Lu Chunying. Aside from Lu Chunying, he also saw several other children, ranging in age from four or five to twelve or thirteen. "Benefactor, how did you end up in this place?" How had he ended up here? That was impossible to explain. Li Banfeng said, "Don't ask about me yet. How did you two end up here?" Xiao Yeci lowered her head, her face flushing red. "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, Benefactor, but I brought my girl here to study." Li Banfeng actually laughed. "Study in a place like this? When we first met, I remember you being quite sensible. How could you do something so ridiculous?" Before Xiao Yeci could speak, Lu Chunying chimed in from the side, "Isn't that why she's a Mouth Cultivator? When it comes down to it, the only thing she's good at is running her mouth!" Xiao Yeci snapped angrily, "You wretched brat, speaking without respect again! Benefactor, I came to this place wanting to help my girl learn real skills. Ever since we parted ways back at Yaowanggou, my daughter and I have been through a lot. Some things are inconvenient to bring up..." "If it's inconvenient, don't bring it up. Stick to the point. How did you get here?" "To escape our enemies, the two of us wandered around for a time. We lived in constant fear and trembling. When it comes down to it, it was because our cultivation was lacking. Wherever we went, we were pitiful wretches that anyone could squash like a bug, ya. "Later, I caught wind of some news that there was an exceptional place for cultivation, where practitioners of any pathway could rapidly advance their mastery. "I heard this news from a friend, and she was originally quite reliable..." Lu Chunying gave a cold snort and cut in. "Yeah, exceptionally reliable. My mom's friend belonged to the Jiangxiang Gang. She conned us out of two hundred silver dollars and trafficked us right out here." Li Banfeng was taken aback. "You had dealings with the Jiangxiang Gang?" From his very first day in Puluo Province, Li Banfeng had harbored an abysmal impression of the Jiangxiang Gang. Xiao Yeci glared at Lu Chunying. "Don't talk nonsense! Benefactor, I truly had no idea she was from the Jiangxiang Gang back then. Otherwise, I never would have fallen for her trick, ya. "Once she trafficked us out here, after hearing so many legends about the Sage, I honestly thought we had come to the right place at first. But in the end, my girl didn't learn a single thing, and took quite a few beatings besides. The moment I saw how wrong things were, I took her and fled the village." Lu Chunying looked at Xiao Yeci. "Mom, could you stop flattering yourself? Did you take any fewer beatings than me? If I hadn't been fast on my feet, you might not have escaped at all." "You wretched brat, stop talking back to me!" Li Banfeng glanced at the other children and asked, "Did these kids all escape with you?" Xiao Yeci nodded. "Some of them were trafficked in like us, and others were sent here by their parents. "None of them are locals, though. The local children wouldn't run. They don't dare to, and they don't want to." Li Banfeng's head spun. The demographic makeup of this place was surprisingly complicated. "First, tell me: what is this place called?" "Benefactor, you still don't know? This village is called Jingde Village, ya." "I'm not asking about this village-ya, I'm asking about this entire region-ya!" Li Banfeng felt like talking was becoming an uphill battle. "Which region?" Xiao Yeci couldn't quite grasp what he meant. "From that tallest mountain, the Peak of the Sages, all the way down to this village—what is this whole area called?" Xiao Yeci shook her head. "These aren't the same place, ya. Jingde Village is Jingde Village, and the Peak of the Sages is the Peak of the Sages." Her answer was completely earnest, but it wasn't what Li Banfeng was looking for. "Does the Peak of the Sages have nothing to do with Jingde Village, then?" "There is a connection. The Sage on the Peak of the Sages sent dozens of disciples out to lecture in dozens of surrounding villages. All these villages are profoundly grateful for the Sage's benevolence day and night. "But we aren't from these villages. After staying for a while, we realized something wasn't right." Li Banfeng asked, "What can anyone learn by following those disciples of the Sage?" Xiao Yeci shook her head. "Nothing of real substance. At first, they taught reading and writing. My girl already knew how to read, so she didn't need that. "Later, they started teaching sacred maxims and precepts. The more you listen, the emptier and more hollow it all sounds. "There were parts my girl didn't understand, so she asked them a few questions. They raised their hands and hit her on the spot, saying her heart lacked sincerity, and that she would never become a disciple of the Sage in her lifetime, ya." After months of study, they hadn't taught a single useful skill. Li Banfeng asked, "How much do you have to study to become a disciple of the Sage?" "That's hard to say. For ordinary folks, nine out of ten will never become a disciple of the Sage in their entire lives. They said that becoming a disciple depends on karmic affinity; you need sincerity, you need perseverance. Waiting eight or ten years is considered nothing at all." "You saw through them as frauds, so you took this bunch of kids and escaped?" Xiao Yeci hung her head. "I wouldn't dare claim outright that they're frauds, but I didn't think they were good people. These children all wanted to escape, and they had the courage to do so, so I brought them along." Li Banfeng frowned. "This place isn't far from the village. Nobody from the village came looking for you?" Xiao Yeci shook her head. "We weren't locals to begin with, so they couldn't be bothered with us. These past two days, we really couldn't find any food. I wanted to slip into the village to get a little something, and that's when I ran into you, Benefactor." "Get a little something?" Xiao Yeci blushed. "J-just... steal. The children need to eat, and I... I really couldn't think of any other way." Lu Chunying snorted. "I'm fast on my feet. It would've been better to let me go. If we waited for you to get food, we'd all starve to death." Looking at the pack of gaunt, sallow-faced children, Li Banfeng asked, "How long have you been out here since escaping?" "About a month." "You've been staying here for a whole month and never thought of leaving?" "Benefactor, we can't get out! I remembered the road we came in on, but when we tried walking back, we couldn't leave. "Over this past month, we've tried so many paths, but not a single one leads out. We just keep going in circles inside these few mountains, ya! I'm afraid we might never get out for the rest of our lives, ya!" "We can get out." Li Banfeng went into the mountain forest, hunted a deer, and brought it back to Xiao Yeci so she could give the children a full meal first. Once everyone was asleep, Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Abode and asked the gramophone, "Wife, what kind of place is the Peak of the Sages?" Hiss... After pondering for a long time, the wife said, "I have never heard of such a place." Hong Ying sneered, "Ignorant and narrow-minded. Peak of the Sages? I know that place." The wife puffed out a cloud of steam. "Then why don't you enlighten us?" "Why should I tell you two? Unless you let me out!" Clang-clang-clang! The wife struck up the drums and gongs, singing out, "Insolent little tart! Playing such petty schemes in front of me—have you no shame at all?" Hong Ying fell silent. The gramophone huffed. "Husband, do not believe her. She knows nothing of the Peak of the Sages either." Li Banfeng felt thoroughly helpless. "I've been trapped here for an entire day, and I still can't find a way out." The wife said, "Oh, Husband, 'Peak of the Sages' is likely not its true name. You must still investigate what this place truly is. "That you lost your way here means either the terrain itself is peculiar, or you have fallen into the trap of some villain. Only once we uncover the root cause can we properly deal with it." A villain's trap. Li Banfeng truly had overlooked that possibility. All along, he had assumed some bizarre property of the territory was preventing him from leaving. Now that he thought about it, it was just as likely that this Sage didn't want him to leave. What was his purpose in keeping me here? Li Banfeng slept the night in the Portable Abode. When dawn broke the next morning, he searched in every direction for a way out, yet by late night, he was still spinning in circles in the exact same place. This was far more infuriating than getting lost in the City of Fools. And this place was even more repulsive than the City of Fools. Over the course of that day, Li Banfeng had watched group after group of children being tormented by those so-called disciples of the Sage, and he had seen group after group of impoverished peasants hauling their most precious harvests up toward the Peak of the Sages. When he returned to the cave, Li Banfeng found Xiao Yeci sitting beside the fire, her face black and blue from a beating. Lu Chunying complained from the side, "I told you to let me go, but you just wouldn't listen to me!" Xiao Yeci shook her head. "I can't let you do such things. You're still too young; I can't let your hands be stained with something so dirty." Li Banfeng asked, "What happened? Did someone track you down?" Xiao Yeci shook her head. "The deer you caught yesterday, Benefactor, was almost finished. Tonight I went into the village to look for food, but someone spotted me and gave me a beating..." Li Banfeng frowned. "You got caught stealing? Aren't you embarrassed? And here you call yourself an educated woman!" Xiao Yeci's voice trembled slightly. "What other choice did I have, ya?" "Why wouldn't there be another choice?" Li Banfeng pulled out a short blade and handed it to Xiao Yeci. "Get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow, you're coming with me to commit highway robbery." Holding the blade, Xiao Yeci looked at Li Banfeng blankly. "Benefactor... isn't robbery... embarrassing too?" "What's embarrassing about highway robbery? We're earning a living by honest craft, making clean money with a clear conscience." "Th-this... what kind of craft is in that, ya?" "Plenty of craft!" Li Banfeng asked with utmost gravity, "Do you know how to chant the bandit rhyme?" ... At daybreak the next morning, several peasants were pushing small wheelbarrows, hauling grain up toward the Peak of the Sages. Xiao Yeci crouched in the wild grass, trembling all over. Lu Chunying said beside her, "Mom, if you can't do it, let me go instead." "Who says I can't, ya! You're still too young; I can't let you do this, ya." Li Banfeng chimed in from the side, "Stop bickering. Did you memorize the lines?" Xiao Yeci nodded. "I memorized them, ya!" "Then get on out there-ya!" Xiao Yeci leaped out from the tall weeds, blocking the peasants hauling grain, and bellowed: "Hear ye! This mountain was carved by me, this tree was planted by me! If you wish to pass through here, leave behind your toll money! If anyone dares utter half a no, one blade for each, I care only for the killing, not the burying, ya!" Li Banfeng and Lu Chunying shook their heads at the exact same moment. She had been doing so well up until then! Tacking on that 'ya' just ruined the whole mood! Several peasants shouted furiously, "Where did this wild woman come from? This is grain meant for the Sage! How dare you rob it?" Li Banfeng stepped out from the wild grass and said to the group of peasants, "I am the Sage's father. This is what he owes me. It doesn't count as robbery; consider it filial tribute. Your delivery can serve as fulfilling his filial duty on his behalf." What an arrogant madman! "To dare utter such words on the Sage's domain—have you grown tired of living?" Lu Chunying jumped out from the weeds, blade pointed at one of the peasants. "Are you handing it over or not?" This girl had promise. A crowd of children scattered dirt and shook branches in the tall grass, bolstering their presence and making a racket. These kids had promise too! While the peasants were still hesitating, Li Banfeng moved like a ghost among them with his short blade, opening a shallow gash across every single one of their faces. Terror-stricken, the peasants bolted as fast as their legs could carry them. Li Banfeng had Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying lead the children in wheeling the grain back, while he remained by the roadside to continue the hold-up. Won't let me leave? Then I'm truly not leaving. From this day forward, whatever the villagers send up to you, I'll be collecting it on your behalf. I want to see what kind of mettle you really have, 'Sage'!