Li Banfeng had been thinking about his oil can the entire time, never expecting that the moment he stepped out the door, he would plunge into an oil lake.
Where on earth had an oil lake come from?
Wasn't I at Xiaoyaowu? How did I end up in this place again?
A faint shimmer played across the surface of the lake, but not a single star could be seen in the night sky above.
Was this a newland?
Or perhaps an oldland?
Oil offered very little buoyancy and was extremely viscous, making swimming through it an exhausting ordeal.
Li Banfeng looked toward the shoreline in the distance; it was rather far. He turned to look at a small island in the center of the lake, less than a hundred meters away from him.
By all reason, he should have swum toward the shore.
Yet after swimming just a few meters in that direction, Li Banfeng sensed that something was wrong. Some sort of creature in this oil lake seemed to have locked its eyes on him.
No matter what kind of creature it was, engaging in a fight inside an oil lake would put Li Banfeng at a severe disadvantage.
He had to get ashore first and observe the situation.
Li Banfeng swam swiftly to the edge of the small island. He was drenched in oil, and the rocks on the island were coated in it as well, making it impossible for him to climb up.
Having fallen into an oil lake the second he stepped outside, he had been so focused on swimming that he nearly forgot his treasures.
Among the treasures on him, some could fly.
Li Banfeng tapped the Tang dao and the liquor gourd. The Tang dao flew over to the shore, while the liquor gourd rinsed the grease from the scabbard with wine. Gripping the scabbard, Li Banfeng was pulled along and landed safely on the shore.
The small island was not large; one could see from one end to the other at a glance.
In the center lay a spring. Li Banfeng stepped forward and sniffed it; the spring welled with water, not oil.
He brought out the liquor gourd and said, "Elder Sister, produce some good liquor so I can wash off this grease."
The liquor gourd was uncomfortable as well. "Wash big sister too. It's so sticky, it feels absolutely dreadful."
The Tang dao, on the other hand, did not mind in the least. "This is top-grade oil. Just wash my hilt; there's no need to wash the blade."
The clock pendulum also recognized the fine quality of the oil, but worried that Li Banfeng would find it dirty, and for a moment did not know whether it should be washed or not.
Li Banfeng washed his body clean and washed his clothes too, though he had nothing to change into.
With oil everywhere around him, Li Banfeng did not dare light a fire. He simply went naked, waiting for his clothes to slowly air-dry.
The glove had been washed clean as well. Mingling among the pile of clothes, it quietly slipped several banknotes out of his wallet.
Li Banfeng looked all around, quietly observing this unfamiliar place.
It felt very familiar, as if he had been here before, yet he could not recall the exact time or circumstance.
Gazing at the ripples rolling across the lake's surface, Li Banfeng finally realized where he knew it from.
He had been here in a dream.
In his dream, he and his wife were sitting aboard a cruise ship, sharing a romantic time across a calm sea in the fading glow of the sunset.
*But what I dreamed of was the ocean. Why did I end up on a lake?*
*Could something unusual have happened during my dream?*
Li Banfeng patted the liquor gourd. Having just finished washing, she chided coquettishly, "With so many people watching, stop smacking me on the peach! Do you really think your big sister has no sense of shame?"
Li Banfeng asked, "Did I do anything strange while I was asleep?"
The liquor gourd thought for a moment. "Nothing strange, really—you just talked in your sleep a bit."
"What did I say?"
"You seemed to keep muttering 'oil lake.' You must have been talking about this place, right?"
*I said oil lake...*
"I clearly said *oil can*!"
Li Banfeng was furious.
Last time, simply because he looked at a photograph of Heishipo, the Portable Abode hauled him all the way there.
This time, just because he muttered 'oil can' a few times in his sleep, combined with a few scenes from his dream, the Portable Abode dragged him off to an oil lake—a place he had never even seen before.
The Portable Abode had really been crossing the line lately.
Dragging him all over the place was one thing, but it didn't even bring the key, completely neglecting the question of how he was supposed to get back.
He had to find an opportunity to have a serious talk with it.
After waiting over an hour, his clothes were half-dry. Li Banfeng made do and put them on, pondering how to leave this place.
The liquor gourd reminded him, "Little brother, now that we've washed so thoroughly, are we going to have to swim to the shore in a bit?"
Li Banfeng had no desire to swim through the oil again. He constantly felt that unknown creatures were still watching him, and more than one at that.
He examined the island's environment. There was some wild grass, but no trees, so the idea of making a raft seemed out of the question.
Aside from building a raft, was there any other way?
The Judge's Brush!
Li Banfeng took out the Judge's Brush, drew a circle on the ground where he stood, and pointed toward the shore. "Take us there!"
After waiting about ten minutes, the Judge's Brush uttered two words: "Too far."
Li Banfeng snapped angrily, "You've been resting for so many days, and flying a few hundred meters is too far for you?"
The Judge's Brush took a deep breath, mustered its spirits, and offered four words: "Rest two more days."
Li Banfeng was tempted to chuck the Judge's Brush into the lake, but ultimately could not bring himself to do it.
Since the Judge's Brush was useless, Li Banfeng looked toward the Tang dao and asked seriously, "Do you know of sword flight?"
The Tang dao answered earnestly, "I am a saber."
"That doesn't matter, as long as the artistic conception is there!"
The Tang dao's cultivation had improved considerably of late. With Li Banfeng holding onto the scabbard, it actually managed to lift him into the air. But after flying a dozen meters, the Tang dao suddenly nose-dived toward the lake's surface.
"What are you doing!" Li Banfeng cried out in shock.
The Tang dao struggled desperately to control its direction, carrying Li Banfeng back onto the island.
"My lord, there is a chilling wind dragging me down into the oil! I truly couldn't control my body. Please grant me another attempt!"
Li Banfeng looked at the yellowish, amber lake surface and could not help shivering.
The chill came on for no apparent reason. According to the technique of seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity, this was an omen of extreme peril.
Let the Tang dao try again?
Better not.
Was there a safer way?
Li Banfeng gathered his treasures together to discuss a plan. The newly arrived projector offered his idea.
"I can give it a try. I can project a boat onto the surface of the lake, but I need a stable, flying anchor point."
In terms of flying stability, the clock pendulum was undeniably the best. Although its strength was limited, hoisting a single projector should not be too difficult.
The greatest difficulty lay in controlling the projector's light source.
This projector used candlelight as its light source. If even a tiny spark dropped from the flame, one could easily imagine what would happen to an oil lake.
Whether they could keep it steady depended entirely on the clock pendulum's skill.
The clock pendulum hovered in midair, suspending the projector above the lake. The projector cast the image of a small boat onto the water.
Li Banfeng stepped into the boat, gathered all his treasures, and rowed, gliding slowly across the lake's surface.
The clock pendulum flew gently alongside the boat.
Steady, it had to be steady.
Li Banfeng rowed smoothly, the clock pendulum flew steadily, and the projector's beam remained rock-solid.
The island was seven or eight hundred meters from the shore. When they had covered roughly half the distance, a sudden, fierce gust of wind blew across!
The projected image shook violently, and Li Banfeng shouted, "Hold it steady!"
The clock pendulum tried its absolute best to steady itself, but unfortunately failed to keep its balance.
The projector rocked continuously, and the projection wobbled along with it. Had Li Banfeng not possessed the exceptional coordination of a journey cultivator, he would certainly have tumbled into the lake.
With great difficulty, they waited for the wind to subside. Just as Li Banfeng was about to row forward, a spark appeared on the surface of the lake.
It had dropped from the projector.
Because of the turbulence moments ago, no one had noticed.
Seeing flames surge across the water, Li Banfeng grabbed both oars and rowed toward the shore as fast as he could!
Too late!
In the blink of an eye, the lake transformed into a sea of fire, and the small boat caught ablaze right along with it.
The things created by the projector had physical form, and anything with physical form was subject to the environment.
The projector attempted to restore the boat, but the speed of restoration lagged far behind the spread of the flames.
Li Banfeng grabbed the Tang dao. "Go!"
The Tang dao wanted to fly, but amid the raging flames and chaotic air currents, it could not lift Li Banfeng off the ground.
A weapon was just a weapon, not a vehicle; faced with such a situation, it had no way to cope.
At this critical juncture, Li Banfeng had no choice but to dive into the lake, submerge himself beneath the oil, and swim to the opposite shore.
Beneath the surface of the oil, colossal creatures were swimming about; Li Banfeng could already see their silhouettes.
In this dire dilemma, the Judge's Brush suddenly piped up: "Doable."
*What's doable?*
The Judge's Brush meant that the distance was doable.
The full journey had been too long, but half the distance was no problem.
It carried Li Banfeng along with the rest of the treasures and flew straight to the shore. Reaching dry land, Li Banfeng threw himself onto the gravelly ground and rolled around, first extinguishing the flames on his body.
When he got to his feet and looked back at the oil lake, the fire on the water had died down as well.
The mirror-like surface rippled faintly every now and then, as though nothing had ever happened.
Li Banfeng sensed danger drawing near, quickly gathered his treasures, and hurried on his way.
A good deal of his hair had been singed off, and the clock pendulum kept consoling him: "Master, don't worry. Once we get back, I'll style it properly for you. I guarantee it will look even better than before."
Li Banfeng had no time to worry about hairstyles; he walked faster and faster.
After walking over two hundred meters, his feet suddenly slipped, sending him skidding several steps in place before coming to a stop.
He looked toward the side of the road.
Sitting by the roadside was a middle-aged man of about fifty, who looked up at Li Banfeng.
"Leaving already?" the man asked with a smile.
Li Banfeng looked at the man's face. His features were fairly regular: slightly small eyes, rather thick eyebrows, a somewhat low nasal bridge, and a very round nose tip. He looked like an affable middle-aged man.
However, his skin possessed an extraordinary sheen, glistening brightly under the night sky, with beads of oil occasionally sliding down his cheeks.
"Since you're already here, could you stay and chat with me for a bit? It's been a long time since anyone talked to me," the middle-aged man said in an imploring tone.
Li Banfeng looked at the ground beneath his feet. There was only dirt and sand, without the slightest trace of oil.
If there was no oil, why had his feet slipped?
The reasons might be complicated, but there was only one conclusion.
This oil-faced middle-aged man possessed strength far beyond Li Banfeng's.
Chatting for a bit wouldn't hurt. Li Banfeng looked down at his feet, and the middle-aged man smiled, signaling that Li Banfeng could move again.
Li Banfeng sat down beside the man, routinely offered him a cigarette, and asked, "Are you the master of this place?"
"This is indeed my place." The middle-aged man nodded, but did not accept Li Banfeng's cigarette.
Noticing that the cigarette was smeared with oil stains, Li Banfeng withdrew it sheepishly.
Seeing this, the middle-aged man quickly explained, "It's not that I'm turning down your cigarette; I just don't feel like smoking today. I've had too much internal heat these past two days, and a lot of bumps have broken out on my face."
Li Banfeng took a closer look. Indeed, the man's face had quite a few bumps, especially on his nose. Most of them had whiteheads, looking as though the fluid inside was about to burst forth.
The middle-aged man touched his nose and smiled wryly. "These bumps are especially uncomfortable. They burst at the slightest touch, yet you can't squeeze them out."
Li Banfeng advised, "You shouldn't squeeze them recklessly. You have to find one that's fully ripe before you can squeeze it out."
The middle-aged man looked at Li Banfeng very earnestly. "Which one do you think is fully ripe?"
Li Banfeng pointed at a bump. "That one looks about ready. See how the whitehead has turned blackish? Apply a little pressure, and it'll pop right out."
The middle-aged man reached for that bump, pinched its base, and pressed hard with his thumb and index finger. The tip of the bump swelled rapidly.
*Pop!*
The bump burst open, and a blob of greasy gunk shot out, landing right beside it.
A single pimple popping—how could it make such a massive racket?
This was no mere pimple.
Li Banfeng looked toward the lake. The small island in the center had launched into midair, coated in thick grease, and crashed down onto the opposite shore of the oil lake.
The pimple had been squeezed out, leaving traces of blood around the wound.
The once-amber oil lake had turned red.
Wearing an expression of tingling, refreshing relief, the middle-aged man looked at Li Banfeng and smiled.
He asked Li Banfeng, "Do you know where you've come to?"
Li Banfeng was dumbstruck for a moment. "I feel like... I've climbed onto your face."
The middle-aged man laughed and rubbed his nose. "Ain't that the truth? You stepped right on my nose to get up here!"
Chapter 300