Wuyouping

Li Banfeng led Xiao Yeci and the rest of their group of twenty-seven southward. The mountain path grew narrower and rougher as they went. By two in the morning, most of the group could walk no further; even Xiao Yeci was stumbling. Li Banfeng had Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying lead everyone in setting up camp on the spot. Using scouting the route as an excuse, he didn't rest at the campsite, but went back to stay in the Portable Abode. Though the others had struggled through the march, such a distance was nothing to Li Banfeng. He wasn't sleepy in the least, making it the perfect time to open the history books the Sage had given him and take a good look. Yet the moment he started reading, Li Banfeng grew sleepy. It wasn't that he disliked learning. He could tolerate the ancient format of vertical text opening from the right; he could tolerate the convoluted, obscure ancient grammar. What he couldn't tolerate were annals. Annals narrated historical events along a timeline. For a historian, such chronological histories were ideal for looking up factual occurrences and historical context, but to Li Banfeng, it was nothing more than a glorified ledger of daily trivialities. The text chronicled the history of a dynasty named Great Huan, and its very first line was a date. "Sixth year of Xiankang, third month: East Ping suffered a severe drought; the Emperor dispatched the Grand Tutor to provide relief." That was disaster relief. Come the fourth month, Emperor Xiankang had a son. Come the fifth month, Emperor Xiankang went hunting outside the city. ... Li Banfeng searched all the way to the end of that year, but found no further word regarding the disaster relief. Reading annals was agonizing enough to begin with, and these volumes were not even complete; they didn't start from the founding emperor, but somewhere midway through the dynasty with a random ruler. With neither beginning nor end, and no narrative continuity between entries, Li Banfeng's eyelids grew heavy, and before long he drifted off to sleep. The next morning, Li Banfeng woke to Mengde announcing the time. "Sir, on such a wonderful morning, please allow me to sing 'I Want You' for you: I want you, By my side to stay, Keeping watch through the dark night, Until the break of day. I want you..." Smack! Li Banfeng threw the history book right into Mengde's face, put on his clothes, and left the Portable Abode. Alarm clocks, in whatever form they took, were inherently unwelcome objects. Xiao Yeci and the others had spent a peaceful night. They packed their bags and continued on their journey behind Li Banfeng. The mountain path grew increasingly treacherous. By noon, the path had vanished altogether. No path was fine—it proved they weren't walking in circles. Ahead, brambles choked the way; underfoot, tangled weeds caught their steps; all around, mosquitoes swarmed and bit; across their faces, spiderwebs clung thick. By dusk, everyone was near collapse. Only two people felt no fatigue: Li Banfeng and Lu Chunying. Had she not been matching the group's pace, Lu Chunying alone could have covered several times that distance. Seeing darkness fall, Xiao Yeci wanted to make camp but didn't dare mention it to Li Banfeng. Fortunately, they found a water source. Li Banfeng instructed everyone to fetch water and rest there for the night. Making camp early today gave Li Banfeng more time to leaf through the history books. He gave an extra glance to what he could understand and skipped whatever he couldn't. Forcing himself to stay alert, Li Banfeng flipped through all five volumes the Sage had given him. At long last, toward the very end of the scrolls, he found a shred of useful information: "Sixth year of Yuanxi: the Demonic Land rose in arms; the Emperor dispatched Cavalry General Zhao Xiaowan to suppress them. The Cavalry General was haughty and recalcitrant; the Emperor reprimanded her." My wife. This is my wife. Li Banfeng had finally seen the wife's name in a history book. The entry merely stated that the wife had been sent to do battle with the Demonic Land, and because she was defiant, the Emperor reprimanded her. As for how exactly she was reprimanded, how she had been defiant, or whether the battle had been won or lost, the book recorded none of it. This matched the chronicler's consistent style. Throughout all five volumes, everything revolved entirely around the emperor. If the emperor ate something bad one day and had diarrhea, the entire cause and consequence had to be detailed meticulously—how he ate it, how he excreted it, how much he produced, not a single detail spared. Everything else was brushed aside in a single stroke. Flipping to the end of the text, Li Banfeng saw no further mention of his wife, but he did encounter another familiar name. "Eighth year of Yuanxi: the Demonic Land rose in arms; the Emperor dispatched General of the Timber Corps Hong Ying and Wave-Calming General Cong Shixiang to suppress them." Who was Cong Shixiang? He had no idea. Hong Ying had also served as a commanding general in a campaign against the Demonic Land. Just what was her connection to the wife? Li Banfeng looked at the gramophone and the long spear, seemingly picking up on a thread of the truth. The next day, Li Banfeng continued leading the group onward. They marched for a full twelve days. Their provisions had run out long ago, and they barely scraped by on hunting game. On the afternoon of the thirteenth day, amid a pouring downpour, the group actually broke into smiles. Ahead lay no mountains, only a vast plain. Ever since arriving at Jianrengang, endless connected mountains had filled their sight; none of them had enjoyed such a wide, open horizon before. Reaching a plain meant they had left the territory of Jianrengang behind. But what place was this? Li Banfeng had never been here. He hadn't, but someone had. Xiao Yeci was the first to speak up: "Benefactor, oh, I know this place! When Nannan and I came, we passed right through here!" Lu Chunying nodded. "We really did pass through here." Several others in the group also claimed to have passed through here, but none could say what the place was called. Now Li Banfeng had an important decision to make: where should these people go? The group's wish was to return to their respective homes, and most said they knew the way they had come. Yet how were they to go back? "When you came, you all had travel permits, didn't you? Do you still have travel permits to go back?" Everyone looked at one another in dismay. Aside from Li Banfeng, none of them seemed to possess a travel permit. Li Banfeng's permit could only grant passage to himself alone. His plan had been to settle everyone here first, return to Lüshuiwan, have Ma the Fifth procure a batch of travel permits, and send them all back to their respective homes. That seemed to be the only feasible solution, yet Xiao Yeci brought an important matter to his attention: "Benefactor, I don't know about other places, but coming here from Lüshuiwan doesn't require a travel permit." Li Banfeng was startled. "Are you sure?" "Positive. You really don't need a travel permit." Lu Chunying could attest to this. Unlike the others who had been abducted and trafficked, Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying had been tricked into coming. When they reached this wasteland plain, their freedom hadn't been restricted, and the friend who brought them had indeed never presented a travel permit. This made things much simpler. If going to Lüshuiwan didn't require a travel permit, Li Banfeng could take everyone to Lüshuiwan first, then plan their next move. Now that they had left Jianrengang, Xiao Yeci remembered the way they had come, and Lu Chunying was a journey cultivator, Li Banfeng felt confident letting mother and daughter lead the way. From dawn till dusk, the heavy rain never ceased. Xiao Yeci encouraged everyone along the way: "Just push a little harder! There's a village ahead. Once we reach it, we can find a place to lodge for the night." They walked until deep into the night, but Li Banfeng still saw no sign of a village. Xiao Yeci began to panic. "We didn't take the wrong way! It was this road! Where did that village go? There was a patch of woods earlier, and back then we went around the woods heading east! Did I remember wrong?" Lu Chunying said, "Mom, you didn't remember wrong. This is how we came." Crack! A flash of lightning ripped across the night sky, faintly illuminating a cluster of buildings ahead. Li Banfeng asked, "Is that the village?" "Yes, yes! There are houses—it must be the village!" Xiao Yeci was certain. Lu Chunying remained silent. The group walked toward the buildings. As they drew near, Li Banfeng's head throbbed as he laid eyes on the scene he least wanted to see. The supposed cluster of buildings was, in reality, a single grand manor. Earthy-red courtyard walls, a vermilion gate, rusted studs in the planks, and a pair of massive door knockers. This was the signature architectural style of the Peak of the Sages! Li Banfeng looked at Xiao Yeci. "Did we circle back?" Xiao Yeci shook her head repeatedly. "That's impossible! Impossible! I remember this was the way! I didn't remember wrong..." Lu Chunying was equally astonished. "That really is how we came back then, but I don't remember there being a manor like this." They couldn't blame mother and daughter for this. If after marching for nearly half a month they still hadn't made it out of Jianrengang, it could only mean the Sage had broken his word. That bastard played me? If you're playing me, I'll go head-to-head with you to the bitter end—you won't have another day of peace in your life. Li Banfeng stepped closer to the manor and, by the lingering flash of lightning, scrutinized the compound carefully. First, he could be certain this was not that Sage's residence. The Sage's residence stood upon a mountain, whereas this was still a plain. Setting location aside, this manor differed from the Sage's. The walls were mottled, paint peeled from the door panels, and the stone pavers on the ground were riddled with cracks sprouted with all sorts of weeds. Though the Sage's residence had been lifeless and grim, it was nowhere near as dilapidated as this place. Li Banfeng looked back at the group. After trudging through heavy rain for an entire day, most were at their limits. If they pushed any further, quite a few would likely fall ill. Entering this manor might be dangerous. Yet camping outside was hardly safe either. First see what sort of master this place has. If they aren't wicked, they could ask to lodge here for the night. If they turned out to be villains—well, the wife hadn't eaten in a long time. He would handle it as the situation warranted. Li Banfeng lifted the door knocker and rapped several times. Thump, thump. From within, no response came for a long while. Li Banfeng pushed on the door planks. The gate wasn't locked. With a sharp creak, the rusted hinges groaned gratingly, and the gate swung open. Looking through the entryway, Li Banfeng saw a weed-choked front courtyard and brick walls overgrown with moss. An abandoned manor?