Ren Wenlie had his throat slit by Li Banfeng, leaving his two junior brothers, Pei Maojin and Gao Yangting, still standing right where they were.
They didn't dare turn around, nor did they dare take a step forward, because Li Banfeng had told them that staying put was their best choice.
Li Banfeng patted both their heads and smiled faintly. "You two are disciples of the Sage?"
Pei Maojin stammered through trembling lips, "The Sage possesses boundless divine powers! You have already made a grave mistake, but turning back now is not too late!"
Gao Yangting chimed in from the side, "We can put in a good word for you before Master! We can let this matter drop here, and no one will hold you and your people accountable in the future!"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Truly worthy of being disciples of the Sage—so kindhearted, so magnanimous. Come, why don't you two join me inside my cave dwelling for a chat?"
Xiao Yeci stood where she was, her clothes thoroughly drenched in sweat.
Li Banfeng looked at the woman with deep appreciation. "You rendered great service today. First, I'll have a good talk with these two disciples of the Sage. Tonight, you'll receive a proper reward."
Xiao Yeci turned and watched Li Banfeng's retreating figure, unsure of what sort of reward he meant.
...
Once inside the cave, Pei Maojin still maintained a blustering front. "You seem like a reasonable man. The Sage is waiting for us to report back, so we ought to set off as soon as possible and not waste any more time here."
As he spoke those words, Pei Maojin was on the verge of pissing his pants, yet he still believed that as long as he sounded tough enough, the bearded man before him would let him off.
Gao Yangting, however, had already realized that something was very wrong.
With a thud, he dropped to his knees before Li Banfeng and wailed, "Lord Benefactor, I was forced into coming! I studied under them for so many years, and every year they told me my destiny wasn't ripe. Then today, out of nowhere, I was suddenly made a disciple of the Sage!
"They only tricked me into coming here to die! I didn't want to come, but I didn't dare refuse either! Lord Benefactor, please spare my life!"
At the threshold of life and death, the two acted entirely differently.
Where did this difference stem from?
Li Banfeng brought the two into the Portable Abode to study them thoroughly. Before two questions had passed, he had found the root cause.
Pei Maojin was born and raised in Muxian Village; in his eyes, the Sage was omnipotent and omnipresent.
Gao Yangting grew up in Heishipo and was sent to Huai'en Village by his family at fifteen; he knew that a figure of such high standing as the Sage would rarely deign to intervene on behalf of minor pawns like them.
Li Banfeng asked Pei Maojin what this place was called. Pei Maojin gave the answer: "This is a barren mountain next to Muxian Village. It has no name."
"I'm asking what this whole region is called."
"This is the Sage's domain. The entire realm under heaven belongs to the Sage."
In Pei Maojin's worldview, the world was only this big.
The same question yielded a vastly different answer from Gao Yangting.
"Lord Benefactor, do you want to hear what outsiders call it, or what the insiders say?"
There was no need to hear the insider version; Li Banfeng had heard it far too many times already.
There were two outsider versions, which Gao Yangting explained one by one: "My father told me this is Sheng'enshan, the Mount of Sacred Grace, where the Sage imparts the teachings of sages and worthies.
"But along the road, I heard people say it isn't called Sheng'enshan at all—it's called Jianrengang."
Jianrengang!
Li Banfeng recalled Old Yao's map, and recalled Ma the Fifth's description of Puluo Province's Rear Three-Tenths. Every time he heard the name Jianrengang, Li Banfeng had always wondered what kind of place could possibly earn such a name.
Now, his curiosity was gone.
Ever since arriving here, Li Banfeng had seen far too many despicable wretches—so many that anyone who didn't want to be one ended up being an anomaly.
Li Banfeng was surprised, but the gramophone was even more astonished.
"Husband, how did you end up in Jianrengang?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "It's a long story that can't be explained in a sentence or two. Wife, have you been to Jianrengang before?"
Chhh—chhh—
The wife replied, "Aiya, Husband, your humble servant has never been to Jianrengang, but I've heard of it."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Mm, heard of it."
"Aiya, Husband, this place is out of the ordinary!"
"Yeah, out of the ordinary."
Why was the wife being so hesitant in her speech?
"Aiya, Husband, Jianrengang is terribly hard to find, and in recent years it's become harder still. They say that out of everyone who has ever entered this place, only a scant few have managed to get out. I'm afraid we might be trapped here for quite some time."
Li Banfeng blinked. "I've already been trapped for some time—ten-odd days now, if you count it up."
"Ten-odd days is hardly long. Your humble servant once heard of people being trapped here for decades before they could leave."
Li Banfeng waved a hand. "I can't endure that. Decades? Give me three to five years, and I'll probably have butchered every last scoundrel here."
"Husband, this truly cannot be rushed. Listening to you interrogate those two earlier, the Sage they spoke of is no ordinary figure. You must take care, Husband—in a few days, I fear he may come knocking in person."
Being able to casually dispatch tier-five masters, not to mention a formidable subordinate like the broken-cocoon pupa—such a person was indeed extraordinary.
Li Banfeng looked at the gramophone, sensing she still knew things she hadn't voiced.
If the wife didn't want to speak, there was no need to press her.
Li Banfeng hauled Pei Maojin and Gao Yangting over. "Wife, enjoy your meal."
Gao Yangting wept relentlessly. "Lord Benefactor, spare my life! I was forced to come!"
Pei Maojin didn't forget to toss out harsh words: "I don't care who you are or where you come from! Laying a hand on a disciple of the Sage means you're a dead man! Release me this instant! I'll plead with Master on your behalf, and the Sage might still show mercy—"
Whoosh—
A jet of steam slashed across, severing Pei Maojin's tongue.
The wife was not in the best of moods; she found Pei Maojin far too noisy.
After Li Banfeng left the Portable Abode, the wife had no patience to savor their souls slowly, swallowing the souls of both men whole.
Huuuh—huuuh—
After mulling it over again and again, the gramophone asked Hong Ying, "Bitch, when you saw that broken-cocoon pupa earlier, did it look familiar?"
Hong Ying answered viciously, "Vicious woman, do I even have eyes? What would I look at it with to find it familiar?"
She had almost forgotten: Hong Ying was blind.
The gramophone asked again, "Jianrengang—have you ever heard of this place?"
"Never heard of it. All those place names you people talk about—Lüshuiwan, Yaowanggou, Haichiling—I've never heard of any of them. I hadn't even heard of Tiemenbao."
Wasn't that a bit absurd? Hong Ying had been trapped in Tiemenbao for so many years, yet she had never heard of Tiemenbao.
She truly hadn't heard of it. Deaf and blind, she had long lost the ability to take in outside information. She had had no idea where she was, entirely oblivious to the many changes in the world over the years.
"You vicious woman, on the other hand, seem to know quite a lot. It looks like you had plenty of experiences after you died." Hong Ying's voice grew considerably darker.
In the past, if Hong Ying had brought up that part of her history unprompted, the gramophone would have flown into a rage.
Yet today the gramophone was in no mood for anger. Jianrengang was a place she had kept an eye on for a very long time.
Her horn turned toward the Red Lotus, and the gramophone asked, "Do you happen to know any inside details?"
The lotus remained silent. Whether she truly didn't know or simply didn't care to answer, she remained wholly engrossed in refining Cong Shixiang's corpse.
...
Upon returning to Benefactor Stockade, Li Banfeng first instructed his people to repair the damaged wooden cabin and gate.
The way the people in the stockade looked at Li Banfeng had completely changed.
They had sought refuge with the Benefactor in the past because they heard he dared to defy the Sage and rob the Sage's things.
Yet today, they saw with their own eyes that the Benefactor killed the Sage's disciples—and killed several of them at that.
From this day onward, Li Banfeng never had to repeat an order twice, and for things he hadn't even mentioned, they would take the initiative to get them done.
Xiao Yeci's standing had also surged dramatically. The Benefactor had said so himself: she was a tier-eight Literary Cultivator, a tier-eight master.
As for what tier eight actually meant, none of them had the knowledge to grasp it, but anyone held in high esteem by the Benefactor naturally commanded their deepest respect.
That night, Li Banfeng sought out Xiao Yeci and gave her a hundred silver dollars.
He had promised a proper reward during the day, and Li Banfeng was a man of his word.
Xiao Yeci refused to take it. "Benefactor, I cannot accept this money."
Li Banfeng was taken aback. "Think it's too little?"
Xiao Yeci waved her hands frantically. "A hundred silver dollars is no small sum for my daughter and me. But I didn't help you today, Benefactor; one shouldn't receive a reward without merit. I already owe you so much, and I have no idea when I'll ever be able to repay it.
"Besides, in a place like this, money is completely useless. We don't dare go into the villages to buy anything, and even if we dared, the villagers wouldn't sell to us."
"Then save it for later."
Xiao Yeci lowered her head. "Benefactor, there are some words I dare not tell Nannan, only to you. I don't know what will become of me in the future, nor am I willing to think about it.
"That senior brother who came today—even now when I think of him, my chest still aches with terror. I couldn't tell if he was a human or a demonic beast. I've read so many books, and not a single book ever described something so horrifying.
"Benefactor, when you fought him with your life on the line, I was truly scared out of my wits. I really never imagined you could win. All I could think was that I'd just die fighting alongside you right here."
Li Banfeng gave a chuckle. "What? Regret following me?"
Xiao Yeci shook her head repeatedly. "Not at all! Since childhood I lived under someone else's roof, and before I even grew up, I became a mother.
"I drifted from place to place with Nannan, scraping by wherever I could. When I finally found a wealthy household, they couldn't even tolerate my presence.
"In all my life, these past days have been the only time I've lived with dignity. Benefactor, if I may speak without shame, even if we truly can never leave this place for the rest of our lives, I am willing to follow you forever. Benefactor, I..."
When Xiao Yeci looked up, she found Li Banfeng was already gone, leaving only a pouch of silver dollars beside the straw mat.
Xiao Yeci bit her lip and muttered to herself, "Did I say something wrong? Did he take me for that kind of woman?
"I didn't mean anything like that... I have a daughter with me, how could I ever be worthy of him?"
Li Banfeng had departed silently not because Xiao Yeci had said anything wrong, but because he sensed danger.
Though he did not yet know the specific technique, his journey cultivation had already reached tier five; he knew danger was right at the stockade entrance.
Arriving at the gates, Li Banfeng saw a white-robed youth waiting quietly. The stockade men on sentry duty stood frozen by the gate like clay statues, temporarily stripped of normal human reactions.
The white-robed youth sized Li Banfeng up from head to toe. He desperately wanted to know who this man before him was, and why he could make three of his senior brothers—including his Eldest Senior Brother—never return.
Just as he wanted to look a bit closer, he suddenly heard Li Banfeng bark, "Look not upon what is improper!"
The white-robed youth hurriedly bowed his head and explained, "I harbor no malice. I haven't harmed your men—they're merely in a temporary slumber..."
Li Banfeng barked again, "Speak not what is improper!"
The white-robed youth dared not speak another word.
Li Banfeng was silent for a moment before asking, "Did your master send you?"
The youth nodded. "He wishes to meet you."
Li Banfeng said, "If he wants to see me, let him come see me himself."
The youth didn't know how to respond. His master had meant for Li Banfeng to pay a visit, but it seemed Li Banfeng had no intention of calling upon him.
Pausing a moment, the youth continued, "Master said he wishes to meet you in ten days and told you to prepare in advance."
Li Banfeng frowned. "Why ten days from now? Not today?"
The youth lowered his head. "That is what Master said..."
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment and agreed: "Go back and tell your master: in ten days, at ten o'clock at night, I will wait for him right here."
Chapter 247