Sun Tiecheng, master of the City of Fools, had once disguised himself as a hunter to trick Li Banfeng into entering the City of Fools. After Li Banfeng passed his trial, Sun Tiecheng had taught him two techniques.
He had arrived out of nowhere, standing in the midst of the girls without anyone knowing when he had appeared.
With a face full of pleasant surprise, Li Banfeng said, "Now that you're here, I won't have to ask anyone else."
Sun Tiecheng frowned. "What did you come here for anyway?"
Li Banfeng smiled. "Isn't it the New Year? I came home to visit."
"Visit if you want to visit, but why are you making trouble?"
"I'm not making trouble. I just want to learn another skill. Look at these people—so many years have passed, yet they all still think they're alive. There's definitely more to it than just Incontrovertible Words..."
As he spoke, Tang Changfa and the girls all turned their eyes on Li Banfeng.
Sun Tiecheng ground his teeth. "Shut your mouth! Say another word and I'll beat you to death—beat you to death right on the spot!"
Li Banfeng smiled. "Don't worry, we're all family here. We know each other inside and out. I just wanted to ask how this was done."
With a wave of his hand, Sun Tiecheng dismissed everyone in the shuyu courtesan house from the hall to wait in the backyard.
Once everyone was gone, Sun Tiecheng rolled his eyes at Li Banfeng. "Didn't I tell you already? You just have to make them believe they're alive. Incontrovertible Words is all it takes."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm afraid that one technique alone wouldn't do it, would it?"
Sun Tiecheng snorted. "That's because your skills are lacking."
Li Banfeng wasn't about to accept that. "This isn't a matter of skill. If Incontrovertible Words alone could pull it off, you wouldn't have needed to give them full bodies of flesh and blood to make them seem so real. Besides, I've noticed that deep down, they actually know they're dead. They also know that their flesh and blood aren't theirs, and quite a few of them have to scrounge and trade for replacements. Yet every single one of them believes they're alive. Even though they know full well the flesh was taken from someone else, they firmly believe it grew on their own bodies. This kind of self-contradiction clearly exceeds the scope of Incontrovertible Words. There must be another secret at work."
Sun Tiecheng chuckled. "That's where A Thousand Considerations of a Fool comes in. Think about it: whether they're dead or alive, they can't figure it out anyway. When they can't figure it out, they just stop thinking about it altogether. Doesn't that make sense?"
Li Banfeng smiled back. "One is Incontrovertible Words, and the other is A Thousand Considerations of a Fool. Both just happen to be the ones I know. What a coincidence, isn't it?"
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "Isn't it just! You already know the techniques, so go synthesize them yourself."
The two looked at each other for a moment and shared a knowing smile.
After their laughter faded, Li Banfeng sighed. "You're the one who initiated me into the fold. I'm a disciple under your tutelage. Is it really right for you to deceive me like this?"
"What nonsense is that!" Sun Tiecheng thumped his chest and gave a thumbs-up. "Every single disciple under my tutelage was tricked into it by me!"
"I'm different from them," Li Banfeng said, looking at Sun Tiecheng with utter sincerity. "They were only playing along with you, but I genuinely want to carry forward and glorify our pathway!"
"Don't give me that!" Sun Tiecheng's face darkened. "Do you even know any of my other disciples? How can you say they were just playing along?"
Li Banfeng said, "Let's not talk about how many disciples you had before. In the City of Fools, only two have passed the trial, and I'm one of them. Shouldn't you look out for me a little?"
Sun Tiecheng replied, "I've looked out for you plenty! Whatever you asked, I told you. You came barging into the city making trouble, and I haven't even settled scores with you yet!"
"What you told me was obviously fake. Giving them bodies of flesh and blood so they act like living people isn't something done through words or thoughts alone. This technique is channeled through external objects. The mechanics are fundamentally different from Incontrovertible Words and A Thousand Considerations of a Fool."
Sun Tiecheng sniffled, tucked his hands into his sleeves, and squatted on the ground.
For some reason, this seemed to be second nature to him: whenever Li Banfeng struck a nerve, he would immediately adopt this simple, honest country bumpkin posture.
"There really is another technique at work," Sun Tiecheng confessed. "But when it comes to the techniques of my pathway, I cannot teach you any more."
Li Banfeng tucked his hands into his sleeves too and squatted down beside Sun Tiecheng. "We're our own people, what's there to hold back? You've already taught me two, why not teach me one more?"
"No way. You haven't entered my pathway yet, so I can't let you learn so many techniques." Sun Tiecheng shuffled two steps away, turning his face aside so he didn't have to look at Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng circled around and squatted in front of Sun Tiecheng. "Then let me enter the pathway! I'm utterly loyal to our pathway."
Sun Tiecheng turned his face to the other side, continuing to avoid Li Banfeng. "You can't enter the pathway yet. The time isn't right."
"If the time isn't right, that's not my fault. Since I'm not in the wrong, why won't you teach me?"
"I'm just not teaching you, period!" Sun Tiecheng drew circles on the ground with his finger.
Li Banfeng drew circles beside him too. "If you don't teach me, I'm not leaving. I'll make trouble here every single day!"
"Make trouble again and I'll beat you to death!"
"Beat me to death, and you won't have any disciples left."
"I still have another."
"You mean He Jiaqing? That useless fellow?"
Sun Tiecheng stared blankly. "How did you know it was him?"
Li Banfeng said, "I crossed paths with him once on a train and was nearly done in by his Fool Cultivator techniques. At the time, I didn't know who he was, but when I thought back on it carefully later, I realized it was him."
On the train bound for Wuqin Township, Li Banfeng had indeed encountered Fool Cultivator techniques, and he had deduced that the person using them was He Jiaqing.
Judging from Sun Tiecheng's reaction, it was true.
The other disciple who had passed the trial really was He Jiaqing.
As for why He Jiaqing had come to the City of Fools and how he had made his way out, that was currently unknown, nor was it the time to press the issue.
Striking while the iron was hot, Li Banfeng pressed on, "He Jiaqing's cultivation is higher than mine, and he knows more Fool Cultivator techniques than I do. If I run into him again in the future, just think of what a terrible disadvantage I'll be at! We come from the very same sect—you, the master, are being unfair!"
Sun Tiecheng kept his head down and went on drawing circles. "That's not how it works. I only taught him two techniques as well. That counts as keeping the bowl level between you two."
"That's not the same! I'm your closed-door disciple—your final disciple. You have to treat me better."
Sun Tiecheng surged to his feet in anger. "Who said anything about closed doors? Why would the doors be closed? My pathway is doing perfectly fine—when did it ever close its doors?"
Li Banfeng said, "Then after me, do you have any other disciples?"
Sun Tiecheng squatted back down and resumed drawing circles. "I haven't found anyone suitable for now."
"Doesn't that settle it? At the end of the day, there's nobody else. It's only right for you to treat me better. I'm honest, upright, and of fine moral character. The future of our pathway depends entirely on me."
Sun Tiecheng wrestled with himself, then let out a heavy sigh. "Your character... how should I even put it? Look at you—you motherfucker, you're using a technique on me again... Do you know who I am? Do you know what kind of figure I am? If you dare use a technique on me again, I'll beat you to death on the spot!"
Li Banfeng gave a simple, honest chuckle. "We're on the same side. I just wanted you to see that what I learned from you didn't go to waste."
Sun Tiecheng fell silent for a moment before asking, "You came this time for Qiu Luoye, didn't you?"
Li Banfeng was startled. "You know about that?"
"Of course I know. I travel outside quite often too. I've been hoping to find a more proper disciple."
Li Banfeng sniffled. "Am I not proper?"
"Proper, my ass! You either don't come back at all, or you come back only to make trouble for me. Let me tell you, stop spouting nonsense from now on. The people of this entire city are living people!"
Li Banfeng smiled faintly. "We both know what's going on. There's no need to hide it."
"What am I hiding? The people in this city were living to begin with!" Sun Tiecheng stood up and yelled, "Yanhong, come out here! Eat some food for him to see!"
Yanhong came out carrying a bowl of noodles. Right in front of Li Banfeng, she ate every last noodle and drank the broth dry.
Sun Tiecheng said, "See that? Being able to eat and drink means she's a living person. This is called Ironclad Evidence! What reason do you have not to accept it?"
Li Banfeng pursed his lips. "You can't just base it on eating and drinking..."
"Yan Qing'er, come out and sing a piece for him!"
Carrying a record, Yan Qing'er wound up the gramophone, started the song, and came before Li Banfeng. Swaying her slender waist, she danced and sang:
"Gusts of wind blow, chilly and cold,
Rippling the pool's spring waters with waves manifold,
Blowing away all the springtime passion in my chest,
Leaving my heart only deeper in sorrowful unrest..."
It was the famous Puluo Province tune *Awaiting My Man's Return*.
Sun Tiecheng spoke up again: "Did you see that? Did you hear that? Able to sing, able to dance—ironclad evidence! She is a living person!"
Li Banfeng said, "You can't just say being able to sing and dance makes them..."
"Seeing is believing, and you're still not convinced?" Sun Tiecheng shouted. "Yan Cui'er, let him have a feel!"
Yan Cui'er had a plumper figure than Yanhong and Yan Qing'er. She walked right up to Li Banfeng, grabbed his hand, and shoved it inside her collar. "Your conscience is clutched in your palm—try it yourself! The flesh in your palm is real, and the pearl in your palm is real too!"
*Pearl in the palm indeed...*
Seeing Li Banfeng remain silent, Yanhong caught his hand again, hiked up her qipao, and placed it below her waist. "The peach is clutched in your palm—try again! Both cheeks are real, and the cleft between them is real too!"
Sun Tiecheng said, "Not only is it real, the flesh and blood are warm! Ironclad evidence! They are alive! What more do you have to say?"
Li Banfeng yanked his hand back. "You can't just say that this means..."
"Still not convinced!" Sun Tiecheng barked. "Yan Cui'er, pin him to the ground and take him!"
The girl possessed surprising strength, actually pinning Li Banfeng down.
Li Banfeng yelled, "Wait a minute, this isn't proper!"
"She's not proper?" Sun Tiecheng hollered. "Tang Changfa, get over here and take him!"
"Right away!" Tang Changfa rolled up his sleeves and headed over.
Li Banfeng shouted, "Stay back! I believe it! They're alive, alright?!"
Yan Cui'er let go of Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng was thoroughly intrigued: what had just happened? Why hadn't he been able to break free?
Sun Tiecheng said to Li Banfeng, "Open your eyes, and you can see it. Prick up your ears, and you can hear it. Reach out your hand, and you can feel it. Piece after piece of ironclad evidence is laid out before your eyes—these are living people! What reason do you have to deny it?"
Li Banfeng's thoughts ground to a halt.
Sun Tiecheng was right.
They were alive.
Li Banfeng could not find a single reason to refute him.
Even if someone else stood here today, they wouldn't be able to find any ground to refute him either.
"But before this, they were..."
Sun Tiecheng waved his hand dismissively. "Forget about causes and consequences, and don't beat around the bush with me. Ironclad evidence is right in front of you. I've settled the matter right here and now: this is real! They are alive!"
Li Banfeng stood in stunned silence for a long time, sensing an unquestionable authority.
He looked at Sun Tiecheng and asked, "This is the technique?"
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "This is the technique of Ironclad Evidence."
Li Banfeng smiled.
He had taught it. At long last, he was willing to teach it.
Chapter 439