Withered

The Demonic Land was Puluo Province? Li Banfeng had trouble wrapping his mind around that conclusion. Was something wrong with him, or had something gone wrong with the peddler? He could ponder that at his leisure, but the pressing issues before his eyes needed resolving as quickly as possible. He Caiyuan was still alive. Though his body had been twisted like cruller dough, several of his joints were still twitching. Since he wasn't dead, dealing with him was straightforward. Li Banfeng scooped him up and hauled him directly into the companion dwelling. Yet that giant toad was alive as well. Though not a shred of vitality was apparent on the surface, he was indeed alive. With the toad being so massive, let alone the companion dwelling's doorway, not even an entire room inside could accommodate him. How was he supposed to get it in? Leaving him outside wasn't an option either. This was a purebred Inner Stater. Even if they didn't eat him, he couldn't just leave him lying here to attract unwanted attention. Might as well try cramming him in. Li Banfeng opened the companion dwelling, then grabbed the toad's head and started dragging it inside. The toad's head alone completely stuffed the doorframe. Just as Li Banfeng was about to yank harder, he suddenly heard the companion dwelling call out, "Hold on!" Li Banfeng asked, "What is it? Did I break the door?" The companion dwelling gave a disdainful chuckle. "Such a prime ingredient cannot be ruined like this. Step aside for a moment." Ingredients? Since when had the Old Master cared about that? The glove laughed. "Whenever there's good stuff, our Old Master is full of spirit!" The companion dwelling's doorframe shifted from straight to curved, and the entire main doorway began to warp. Ge Junma's body also began to contort. First flattened, then elongated, it was finally rolled into a giant dumpling-like ball and pulled through the doorway. This meatball took up most of the space in the main room, so much that the companion dwelling had to move Li Banfeng's bed into Room Two. Yet even though it had been compressed into a ball, Li Banfeng still felt the toad's body had shrunk considerably. "Doesn't this toad seem a bit smaller than it should be?" Li Banfeng asked in a low voice. The glove chuckled. "Once it passes through our Old Master's hands, how could it add up? Why don't we head over to Room Three and take a look?" Li Banfeng stepped into Room Three and saw that oil drums covering the floor had all been filled to the brim. "Old Master, where did all this oil come from?" The companion dwelling laughed. "Toad oil burns just as well!" It could actually be used as fuel? Inner Staters really had so many uses! In the main room, the gramophone shouted, "Sisters! Our man has brought back delicious food! This toad is no ordinary treat—having a taste even once in this lifetime makes it all worthwhile!" The Tang dao rushed forward. "Mistress, don't think only of the sisters! Don't forget the brothers!" The sickle followed close behind. "I'm the big blade! I stand in front; you get behind me!" Meng De climbed out from the calendar poster and waited quietly beside the meatball. The earring, only recently recovered from serious injury, moved with clumsy steps; the pendulum supported her as they walked up to the meatball. The teapot shouted, "Who will give this old man a hand? After that fierce battle just now, I was wounded too!" The liquor gourd sneered, "If you're hurt, don't eat! Go find a place to rest and recuperate!" Li Banfeng asked the glove, "Aren't you in a hurry?" The glove chuckled. "What's the rush? Until First Mistress finishes, who dares raise their chopsticks? Once First Mistress is done, I'll step in—guaranteed to be faster than all of them." "Hmph!" The Judge's Brush had woken up at some point. Regardless of whether the gramophone permitted it or not, it plunged headfirst into the meatball. The music box waited obediently to the side, the little bronze figurine on its turntable gazing at the meatball with great anticipation. The gramophone took a bite of the toad's soul, completely casting aside her dignified demeanor as mistress of the house to shout, "This toad is far too delicious!" Hong Ying frowned. "Hurry up and eat! You're always making a fuss—insisting on eating them while they're still alive!" From Room Nine, the Red Lotus looked toward Li Banfeng, gently unfurling its lotus leaves. Getting the first bite was out of the question; it could only hope this horde of ravenous ghosts would leave a bit behind. After his wife finished consuming the soul, everyone joined in. Watching the harmonious, domestic scene of his household, Li Banfeng smiled faintly and left the companion dwelling. He was exhausted as well. With the companion dwelling so clamorous, he wanted to head back to the study for a good sleep. When he reached the garden gate, Li Banfeng saw the young couple still lying in the snowbank. Sleeping so deeply? That wouldn't do. If they lacked cultivation, they would freeze to death here. Li Banfeng was about to wake them when he suddenly heard them whispering. "Why am I in your arms?" "I don't know." "Let go of me and let me leave." "I won't let go." The woman said, "If you won't let go of me, I won't let go of you either." The man said, "I will never let go of you, even if you let go of me." Li Banfeng called out, "I'll count to three, and both of you let go at the same time!" The two kept their eyes shut and held each other tight, pretending to be fast asleep. As exasperating as they could be, sometimes they were rather endearing. Li Banfeng hailed a carriage, paid the driver some money, and told him to take them to an inn. Returning to Yanshazhai, Li Banfeng lay in bed, his whole body numb and limp. Too exhausted? It wasn't just exhaustion; a surge of power seemed to be churning within his body. Am I about to advance? It was quite possible! Through tonight's fierce battle, amid life-and-death perils, his journey cultivator cultivation had progressed substantially. Perhaps he was about to reach the eighth tier. His eyelids grew heavier, and Li Banfeng was on the verge of falling asleep. Did I forget something? Forget it. Too much had happened tonight. He would think about it tomorrow. Early the next morning, Li Banfeng ran as fast as his legs would carry him to the Willow Garden. He remembered what he had forgotten: he had left the projector behind. Due to its unique combat method, the projector had to be positioned at a designated spot in advance to function, which occasionally led Li Banfeng to forget to retrieve him. The projector was still in the tree, firelight flickering behind its lens. "Director Seven, you're back!" Li Banfeng held up the projector and said, "I'm back." "Is the battle over?" "It's over." "Did we win?" "Brother, we won!" "That's good." The projector's voice was a bit weak, tinged with fatigue, yet carrying the pride of a victor. Last night, the projector had seen the giant toad's body and had watched the peddler effortlessly defeat He Caiyuan. Yet so long as Li Banfeng had not issued an order, the projector would not slacken in the slightest. He had remained steadfast in the tree, executing his covering mission with absolute diligence. Holding the projector, Li Banfeng opened the companion dwelling with a heart full of trepidation, only to find the rooms impeccably tidy. He ventured a tentative question: "Wife, is it all finished?" "Uh..." The wife glanced at the firelight behind the lens and sang in a slow tempo, "Brother Projector, why have you only just returned? It must have been quite cold outside, wasn't it?" The projector replied, "Thank you for your concern, Mistress. Did I arrive too late?" "Too late?" The gramophone's voice carried a hint of guilt. "Precious husband, souls fall under my management. For the rest of it, you'd better ask Yingying." Li Banfeng looked toward Hong Ying. "Such a massive toad, and you ate the whole thing?" Hearing the anger in Li Banfeng's voice, Hong Ying replied nervously, "I don't know anything! I didn't see how big he was back then! Go ask the Red Lotus—she took the leftovers!" If even the Red Lotus had cleared the scraps, what was the point of asking? "What about that old man's corpse?" "There was an old man too?" Hong Ying recalled the events of last night. "Oh, right! After eating so much toad meat, everyone felt greasy, so we switched things up to cleanse our palates... and then, well, there was none left..." "What about that Poison Cultivator?" "That one was tingling and spicy, so he was eaten as an appetizer. He's been gone for ages." The room fell silent for a good while before the companion dwelling spoke up: "Ah Tao, you've always liked stashing things away. Don't think I don't know. Hurry and bring it out for Ah Ji. Ah Ji put in immense effort last night!" The glove said, "Old Master, I did stash away a piece of meat, but that glutton Tang dao stole and ate it!" The Tang dao burped and leaned against the wall without a word. "Ah Ji, don't take it too hard..." The companion dwelling sighed softly and fell silent. Li Banfeng looked down at the projector, his voice trembling. "Brother, I've let you down..." "Art... has withered." The firelight behind the lens went dark. *** At Huangtuqiao, the peddler pushed his cart down the street, hawking his wares: "Foreign soap! Vanishing cream! Vanishing cream here..." The peddler's cries were listless. There was no one on the street. Who was he shouting for? The peddler pushed his cart past two streets without seeing so much as a single beggar. He crossed an alley and was already preparing to leave when a rickshaw puller pulled a rickshaw up to him. "Mister, need a ride?" The peddler chuckled. "Do I look like someone who needs a ride?" "Mister, don't you worry. I brought the rickshaw out today just to learn the roads. I won't charge you a copper—I'll pull you for free this time!" The peddler frowned. "Even if you pull me for free, I can't ride. What am I supposed to do with my cart?" "Your cart? I'll pull it right along with you! Hurry and get on." The peddler stuck his pellet drum onto the cart, looked at the puller, and frowned slightly. "Still joking around with me? If you have something to say, spit it out! If you don't, I'm leaving." The puller set down the rickshaw. "Lord Peddler, please lend me a hand. My territory won't be able to hold out much longer. If things keep going like this, it's going to turn into oldland." The peddler laughed. "I was wondering why you were speaking so politely today. So you're in trouble! Turning into oldland is great—it saves me another trip out here. I can't sell a single thing, just wasting my time in your place." The puller said, "Lord Peddler, you and my master are old friends. You can't just stand by and watch me die!" The peddler frowned. "You still have the nerve to mention your master? Your master handed over such a fine territory to you, and look what kind of mess you've made of it!" "You can't blame me! All these years, I wasn't the one running Huangtuqiao! It was all that bastard the Star of Mourning's doing!" "Not your fault?" The peddler laughed. "Instead of staying properly in your territory, you insisted on running off to pull rickshaws, giving the Star of Mourning an opening to exploit! Who else is to blame for that?" The puller hung his head. "I was careless back then. But didn't I take the territory back?" "Don't flatter yourself," the peddler scoffed. "The Star of Mourning was killed by Yao Xin. You picked this territory off the scrapheap. Did you think I didn't know?" The puller nodded repeatedly. "I did pick it back up, but at least it's back in my hands! You can't just watch this proper land turn into oldland, can you?" The peddler sighed. "You have no people here. What good ideas could I have? Go find someone capable of drawing in crowds to help you out." The puller said, "As a matter of fact, I've already found the right person! I heard there's a man in Lüshui City named Li Seven. He's formidable—single-handedly developed Qiu Luoye's territory! He has a good relationship with you. Could you put in a word with him?" "Put in a word? How am I supposed to say it? Tell him: 'Li Seven, do me a favor and help that rickshaw puller out'? Would that work?" "Of course!" The puller nodded. "In the entire Puluo Province, who has more face than you?" The peddler laughed. "Even if I really do have that much face, why should I risk putting my face on the line for you?" The puller hung his head. "Then point me in the right direction. What should I do?" "Go find Li Seven yourself." "I'm afraid he won't pay me any mind." "Empty words and empty hands—why should he pay you any mind? Profits and losses, squared and even—if you want someone to do work for you, you have to pay them." The puller nodded. "As long as you make the introduction, Li Seven can pick whatever he wants from everything I have." The peddler looked around. "Give that rickshaw of yours to Li Seven." "No way!" The puller panicked. "My master left this to me! I can't give it to anyone else!" The peddler said helplessly, "Then tell me yourself—what else in this dump of yours is worth anything?" *** In the morning, Li Banfeng woke up and went to the study to read. Because the household had gorged themselves, they were rather sluggish and sleepy over the past two days, making almost no noise. Behind the projector's lens, a small flame sparked to life. Floating in midair, he slipped silently into Room Five. Of the nine rooms, Room Five sat dead in the center, isolated from the front and back, making it the quietest. There was little furniture inside—only a leather sofa, a mahogany table, and a vase. The projector floated onto the table. The image of the vase appeared in his lens. "Hehehehe~" The projector laughed. The low, hoarse chuckling woke the glove, who followed the sound to Room Five. Entering the room, the glove saw the projector perched on the table, the firelight inside the lens glowing as it swept back and forth across the sofa. "Brother, what did you run in here for?" In a melancholic tone, the projector said, "Here, I am contemplating the philosophical truths within art." The glove sighed. "Don't overthink it. What's done is done. Following our master, there's always plenty of good food and drink. Why fret over just one meal?" "Brother Glove speaks reason. Go get some rest. I only hope that through this ordeal, I can comprehend even more of the true essence of art." The glove left Room Five. When he reached the entrance of Room Four, he glanced back over his shoulder. Something seemed to be missing from Room Five just now. Where did the vase go?