Xiaopang had nothing against teaming up. To be honest, he and Li Banfeng were hardly well acquainted—they had merely crossed paths once at the peddler's cart.
The sole reason he had looked out for Li Banfeng so much along the way was to secure a partner.
Now that an expert like Gold-Rimmed Glasses had come along, Qin Xiaopang naturally had no reason to refuse, and he agreed at once.
Once he agreed, the other four around them agreed as well.
With an insider speaking so sincerely, there was really no cause to turn him down.
Those four consisted of a middle-aged man in his fifties named Lao Yanpao, who claimed to be a first-tier Smoke Cultivator and never let go of his pipe bowl;
a plump, handsome woman in her twenties named Youtao, who claimed to be a newly initiated body cultivator with no tier;
a girl of fourteen or fifteen named Caoye, who claimed to be a newly initiated Medicine Cultivator, also with no tier;
and a young man in his early twenties named Hu Gaozi, who claimed to be a first-tier Martial Cultivator.
Their names were obviously fake, and as for their cultivation and pathways, it was hard to tell truth from fiction.
Qin Xiaopang's pathway had already been guessed by Gold-Rimmed Glasses, so he owned up to it frankly: "I'm Xiaopang, a Food Cultivator with no tier."
When it came to Li Banfeng, Li Banfeng replied, "My name is Baisha. I'm a Joy Cultivator, no tier."
Xiaopang froze, staring blankly at Li Banfeng for a good while.
Before, the man had called himself Li Qi. Whether Baisha was his real name didn't matter.
But when had he turned into a Joy Cultivator?
Wasn't he a journey cultivator?
Was he deliberately withholding the truth from Gold-Rimmed Glasses?
Then had he told me the truth before?
Gold-Rimmed Glasses was quite curious as well and asked Li Banfeng, "You're a Joy Cultivator? You came alone?"
Joy Cultivators usually traveled in pairs with their partners to facilitate their practice.
Li Banfeng pointed at Qin Xiaopang. "I came with him."
Everyone's eyes converged on Qin Xiaopang. Qin Xiaopang went quiet for a moment, then untied the bundle from his back, revealing the dry rations inside, and said to the group:
"I'm a Food Cultivator. I can eat five jin of rations in one meal, sometimes ten jin. I really am a Food Cultivator, I'm not lying to you—I'll eat right now and show you."
Gold-Rimmed Glasses said to the crowd, "You can call me Kaishan. I'm a first-tier journey cultivator. I usually enjoy traveling across famous mountains and great rivers, and I've been to Bitter Mist Mountain several times before. Wherever I can give everyone a heads-up along the way, I certainly will."
Hu Gaozi chimed in from the side, "Brother Kaishan, we all trust you. You're our leader. Once we pick the flowers, by the rules of the road, we'll each set aside twenty percent for you. How does that sound?"
Hearing this, the others grew displeased.
Who gave you the right to decide our cut? Did you even ask us?
Gold-Rimmed Glasses shook his head repeatedly. "I cannot take your flowers. Those flowers are earned with your lives.
"I haven't done any great favors for you either. I help you, and you help me—it's a mutual arrangement."
Hearing that, everyone's respect for Gold-Rimmed Glasses grew even deeper, and leadership naturally fell to him.
The figures of the medicine house were vaguely visible within the thick fog, and Gold-Rimmed Glasses led the group along at an unhurried pace behind them.
Ahead lay a stone bridge, just over a meter wide, broad enough for two or three people to cross side by side.
"This is called the No Regrets Bridge," Gold-Rimmed Glasses said, pushing up the bridge of his spectacles. "You might feel some discomfort in your throats. That's because you're already smelling the poisonous mist.
"Cross the No Regrets Bridge, and you enter the territory of Bitter Mist Mountain. Everyone, I don't know whether the cultivation you reported is true or false, but I sincerely urge you: anyone without cultivation should not go forward.
"Every year, people with no cultivation try their luck on Bitter Mist Mountain, and of those who go up, not one has ever returned alive.
"I'm not trying to block anyone's fortune. I'm urging you to think twice before proceeding."
Everyone exchanged glances in silence. Hu Gaozi sneered. "Brother Kaishan, you've put it as plain as day. If anyone still doesn't know what's good for them, they're courting their own death.
"Little girl, you look to me like you've got no cultivation at all. If you ask me, you'd better turn back right now while there's still time."
The young girl named Caoye lowered her head, blushing as she said, "I really am a Medicine Cultivator. I understand medicinal theory, and I can be of help."
Hu Gaozi then glanced at Lao Yanpao. "Old bones, even if you do have cultivation, will you be of any use once we're up on the mountain?"
Lao Yanpao gave a faint smile. "Whether I'm of any use, we'll see as we go."
None of them showed any intention of backing out. The party of seven crossed the bridge.
Reaching the other side, Li Banfeng felt a tightness in his throat and broke into fits of coughing.
Li Banfeng had stepped into the pathway under the Heavenly Light, lacking the prolonged foundation that others had accumulated; the gap in physical constitution was beginning to show.
Gold-Rimmed Glasses frowned. "Brother, do you really have cultivation?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "I do. Joy Cultivator."
Lao Yanpao chuckled and said, "Joy Cultivators have frail constitutions. It's only natural he can't withstand the bitter mist."
The moment the words landed, everyone looked at Qin Xiaopang.
Qin Xiaopang puffed out his chest. "I'm a Food Cultivator."
Gold-Rimmed Glasses told Li Banfeng, "Brother, once we're on the mountain, if you can't hold out, head down as early as possible. Don't lose your life over greed for coin."
Caoye drew a palm-sized cloth pouch from her bosom and took out a piece of hard candy.
"Brother, keep a medicinal lozenge in your mouth. It works."
Medicinal candy?
What kind of thing was that?
Li Banfeng looked at the lozenge, wondering whether he should eat it.
Seeing his hesitation, Caoye popped one into her own mouth and offered him another. "Brother, I'm not a bad person."
Refusing again would be impolite.
Li Banfeng put one into his mouth. A cool, slightly tart juice slid down his throat, instantly dispersing the dry itch.
His coughing ceased; the stuff truly worked.
Li Banfeng thanked her and continued forward with the rest. After walking for over half an hour, they finally reached the foot of the mountain.
A winding dirt path extended upward from below. Visibility was no more than twenty or thirty meters, still offering no glimpse of the mountain's overall shape.
"Little sister, give me one too. Once I sell my flowers, I'll pay you," the curvaceous beauty Youtao said, beginning to cough as well as she asked Caoye for a medicinal lozenge.
The mountain path was narrow and steep. The group formed a single file to climb, and Li Banfeng happened to walk right behind Youtao.
Li Banfeng had seen plenty of pretty girls, but a figure like Youtao's was truly rare.
Finger-waved hair paired with a red-and-green cheongsam, smooth lines across her shoulders and back, and a waist slender enough to span with a single hand.
Especially the pair of peaches below her waist—plump and proud, endowed with a distinct exquisite grace amidst their generous swell.
No wonder she called herself Youtao, the Oily Peach.
Those peaches were shaped to utter perfection.
She swayed right in front of him, step by step, sway by sway...
Was she really here to pick flowers on the mountain?
Why wear a cheongsam to pick mountain flowers?
It clearly hindered her movement!
She was plainly trying to distract him!
Li Banfeng tried his best to shift his gaze away from those two halves, but Youtao suddenly turned back and flashed him a smile.
Her crescent-moon eyes brimmed with endless charm, and that smile tightened Li Banfeng's chest.
"Little brother, are you truly a Joy Cultivator? I hear Joy Cultivators can manage seven or eight rounds a day without breaking a sweat."
Li Banfeng replied calmly, "Elder Sister flatters me."
Youtao's vermilion lips quivered slightly as she whispered, "How about sparing some time another day to spar with me?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "My cultivation is still shallow; I fear I'm no match for Elder Sister."
Youtao glanced back at Xiaopang behind Li Banfeng and chuckled behind her hand. "I almost forgot, your Dao companion is right here. You prefer them round, not flat."
Xiaopang wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I'm a Food Cultivator..."
Journey cultivators were exceptionally sensitive to distance. By Li Banfeng's calculation, after the group had traveled more than five li up the mountain path, a black-and-white flower appeared beside the trail.
The shape of the flower was exceedingly peculiar: each petal was narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, bearing black spots across a white base, like the head of a scaled serpent.
A snake-spot chrysanthemum!
Gold-Rimmed Glasses had described its features, and Li Banfeng recognized it instantly—the flower matched the description down to the finest detail.
Xiaopang recognized it as well. Delight surfaced on his face, and he was just about to step forward and harvest it when a man suddenly lunged out from the bushes beside the path, wielding long-handled shears, and snipped the flower away first.
Xiaopang flew into a rage, not just because someone had snatched the flower, but because of who it was.
The man before him was none other than the bald fellow they had encountered before setting off up the mountain.
Him again, dammit!
Xiaopang hefted his axe once more, genuinely ready to strike this time.
The bald man looked at him with utter contempt. "Stupid as a pig—you couldn't even catch a fresh turd! What are you doing with that axe? Go on, take a swing!"
Gold-Rimmed Glasses held Xiaopang back, and in the blink of an eye, the bald man vanished into the thicket.
Gritting his teeth, Xiaopang said, "That son of a bitch, I'm going to hack him to pieces!"
Gold-Rimmed Glasses gripped Xiaopang tight. "One or two by the roadside aren't worth fretting over. Once we reach a good spot, there'll be plenty."
"Where is a good spot?" Xiaopang demanded, still unreconciled.
Gold-Rimmed Glasses looked up the mountain path. The people from the medicine house were swift-footed, and their figures were already gone.
"Let's pick up the pace and see if we can still catch up with them."
Lao Yanpao lit his pipe, drew on it hard several times, and exhaled a puff of yellowish-white smoke.
The smoke drifted rapidly forward. Lao Yanpao kept the stem between his teeth, savoring the flavor.
"They haven't gone far. There's a fork ahead; they went right."
Hu Gaozi started upon hearing this. "Old man, don't talk out of your ass if you don't know."
Lao Yanpao tapped his pipe bowl twice. "If you don't believe me, don't follow along!"
Gold-Rimmed Glasses took Lao Yanpao's word for it, because there truly was a fork ahead.
Turning right along the fork, they walked for more than an hour until a clearing appeared beside the path, just outside the dense forest.
"They're right here." Lao Yanpao stepped into the clearing, with Gold-Rimmed Glasses close behind.
As a journey cultivator, Li Banfeng was naturally swift on his feet and could easily have stayed ahead, but he deliberately lagged behind, his eyes seemingly fixed on Youtao's two swaying peaches.
After searching the clearing for a short while, Li Banfeng spotted a black-and-white flower beside his foot.
Having watched those peaches sway all this time, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.
He bent down to look closer. He hadn't mistaken it—this was indeed a snake-spot chrysanthemum.
He took out his sickle, pinched the stem as Gold-Rimmed Glasses had instructed down below, and cut the flower just over an inch from its root.
The first snake-spot chrysanthemum was in hand!
Chapter 29