Sun Tiecheng pointed at the bloody ball of yarn and said to Fan Zhongfu, "The person inside this ball is you. You used the Seamless Heavenly Clothes technique to trap yourself inside this garment."
Fan Zhongfu stared blankly at the ball in his hand and shook his head. "This can't be me."
The reason was simple: it was his own technique, so how could it possibly suck him inside?
Sun Tiecheng said, "It's definitely you. Who else could it be?"
Fan Zhongfu looked at the ball of thread in his hand, feeling slightly more clearheaded. "No, I just trapped you inside."
Hearing this, Sun Tiecheng chuckled. "Aren't you talking nonsense? I'm standing right before your eyes. When did you ever trap me?"
Fan Zhongfu touched the thread ball in his hands. Blood was still oozing out, and the flesh inside seemed to still be pulsing.
He was terrified. The more terrified he grew, the faster his heart beat; and the faster his heart beat, the faster the flesh in his hands pulsed.
"Th-then even if it isn't you, it... it doesn't necessarily have to be me." Fan Zhongfu spoke with zero confidence. Right now, the only explanation was that when he unleashed his technique just now, he had failed to trap the middle-aged man before him and had instead caught someone of unknown origin.
Sun Tiecheng sighed. "Why are you so thickheaded? Take a good look first. I'm standing right here in front of you, safe and sound. It definitely isn't me."
As he spoke, Sun Tiecheng pointed at Qiu Zhiheng. "This fellow is as skinny as a monkey, but he's standing there safe and sound too. It definitely isn't him either."
Qiu Zhiheng didn't know what to say. He couldn't make heads or tails of the situation before him. To Qiu Zhiheng, Fan Zhongfu was an insurmountable, invincible existence.
Yet in front of this middle-aged man, Fan Zhongfu was someone who could be toyed with and squeezed at will.
Not metaphorically—literally squeezed.
Sun Tiecheng said to Fan Zhongfu, "There are only three of us here. It isn't me, and it isn't him. Who else could it be? Doesn't that leave only you?"
Fan Zhongfu was rendered speechless.
Having lived to such an age, he had never seen a genuine Fool Cultivator, nor had he ever seen the technique of inverting cause and effect. He had no idea what trickery this middle-aged man had used.
Sun Tiecheng said, "If you don't believe me, give that ball of thread in your hand a squeeze and see if it hurts."
Fan Zhongfu's hands trembled unceasingly; he didn't dare squeeze it.
With a wave of his hand, as if performing magic, Sun Tiecheng made the ball of thread appear in his own palm. "If you can't bear to squeeze it, I'll help you. Let's see if it hurts."
He took it. He squeezed it.
Sun Tiecheng gave the ball of thread a gentle squeeze in his hand. The bones throughout Fan Zhongfu's body cracked and popped crisply, and with a thud, he collapsed to the ground.
Pain! Heart-wrenching, bone-shattering pain!
Yet after the wave of pain passed, Fan Zhongfu felt somewhat bewildered. Where had his bones come from?
He was a Garment Cultivator, a Garment Cultivator above the clouds. His flesh, bones, and internal organs had long since transformed into clothing.
*This is an illusion!*
*A trick of the eyes!*
*The person inside that ball of silk thread isn't me at all. I was fooled by him!*
Gritting his teeth, Fan Zhongfu immediately pushed himself up and swung his hand, unleashing thousands of needles and threads that encircled Sun Tiecheng.
Garment Cultivator technique: Pacing the Thread, Guiding the Needle.
These needles and threads formed a specialized formation. Anyone trapped inside could not move carelessly, lest they be sliced by the silk threads.
Between the interwoven threads, there appeared to be numerous gaps and openings. Yet one must never think of escaping through them—thrust a hand through, and the hand would be severed; poke a head out, and the head would fall off.
The formation created by Pacing the Thread, Guiding the Needle offered no escape route whatsoever. The only way to break it was to destroy the needles and threads.
However, these threads were exceptionally tough and resilient. Destroying them required targeted techniques or specialized weapons.
Fan Zhongfu's tactics were crystal clear: if the needles and threads could trap this middle-aged man, he would kill him immediately, then deal with Qiu Zhiheng.
If they couldn't trap him, it would at least buy some time, giving Fan Zhongfu a chance to flee.
Trapped within the needle-and-thread array, Sun Tiecheng looked at Fan Zhongfu and asked, "Does it hurt or not?"
He squeezed the bundle of silk threads in his hand once more.
Fan Zhongfu vomited a mouthful of blood and slumped to the ground again. Under the searing agony, he could no longer maintain the formation, and the needles and threads collapsed into a tangled mess.
What on earth was going on?
Wasn't it an illusion?
Why did the pain feel so vividly real?
Kicking aside the threads beneath his feet, Sun Tiecheng strolled up to Fan Zhongfu with a beaming smile. "Just tell me, is this you or not?"
Fan Zhongfu nodded repeatedly. "Senior, whatever you say goes! As long as Senior spares my life, I'll agree to anything you say."
"Spare you?" Sun Tiecheng gave the ball of silk thread another squeeze. Fan Zhongfu felt several more of his bones snap, the pain rolling his eyes back in his head.
"Why should I spare you?" Sun Tiecheng squatted down and looked at Fan Zhongfu. "You lied to me earlier, claiming you knew where the iron-tendon bamboo was. I'm an honest man, so I took you at your word, never expecting you'd stab me in the back. Doesn't a scoundrel like you deserve to die?"
"Senior, I am from Xuehuapu! Even if you want to kill me, you must show some face to Xuehuapu!"
Sun Tiecheng laughed. "What face does Xuehuapu have? When it comes to face, you need vanishing cream—now that's good stuff to rub on your face. Are you vanishing cream?"
Fan Zhongfu stuck to his line: "Whatever Senior says, goes. If you say I'm vanishing cream, then I'm vanishing cream!"
Sun Tiecheng extended a hand toward him. "All right then, squeeze out some cream for me to see."
"I... I can't squeeze any out."
"Shall I help you squeeze?" Sun Tiecheng squeezed the thread ball.
Fan Zhongfu wailed loudly, "Junior was blind and offended Senior without knowing better! Please, Senior, be generous and don't stoop to my level. As long as you spare my life, I'll do whatever you command!"
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "First tell me: do you know where the iron-tendon bamboo is or not?"
"Senior, I truly don't know!" Fan Zhongfu wasn't lying; he genuinely had no idea where the iron-tendon bamboo was.
That iron-tendon bamboo grew on Bitter Mist Mountain was merely a legend. Fan Zhongfu had never seen it in his entire life. In all of Puluo Province, very few people had ever laid eyes on it.
"You don't know? Then what's the use of keeping you?" Sun Tiecheng kneaded the ball of silk thread back and forth several times.
Fan Zhongfu felt as though all the bones and internal organs in his body had been squashed into paste together.
He had tormented many people using the Seamless Heavenly Clothes technique, but only today did he truly experience what it felt like.
"Se-Senior, allow me a word! I know where the iron-tendon bamboo is—"
Rubbing the ball of thread, Sun Tiecheng said, "If you know, then spit it out."
This ball of thread had become Fan Zhongfu's nightmare. Even a single glance at it felt like suffering a thousand cuts.
"Senior, I really can't recall—"
Sun Tiecheng moved to squeeze the ball again. Fan Zhongfu cried out hoarsely, "I'll take Senior there! I'll take Senior there right away! It's been many years since I last visited Bitter Mist Mountain, so my memory's a bit rusty. Once we cross through this patch of woods, I'll remember! Senior, I really will remember!"
Tears streamed down Fan Zhongfu's face. Sun Tiecheng sighed. "You're quite a pitiful sight. Fine then, lead the way. I'll believe you this once."
The two walked into the woods. Qiu Zhiheng stood where he was, at a loss for what to do.
Sun Tiecheng glanced back and said, "I see a flower in your basket. Did you come to pick blood-skin apricots? There are apricots in this wood. Go on ahead, and just pretend you never saw us."
Qiu Zhiheng didn't dare go pick apricots, nor did he dare head down the mountain. He stood rooted in place, waiting until Sun Tiecheng was completely out of sight before daring to leave.
After waiting a while, he suddenly heard Sun Tiecheng shout in the distance: "Why are you running? Don't run! Staying with me was good for you. If you run now, you'll definitely regret it!"
As the words landed, Qiu Zhiheng saw Fan Zhongfu sprinting down the mountain like his life depended on it. After just a few strides, with a splash, the man vanished from the mountainside.
The mist on Bitter Mist Mountain was thick. Qiu Zhiheng didn't know why Fan Zhongfu had vanished. Stepping a bit closer, he caught a strange stench, immediately followed by the sounds of Fan Zhongfu struggling.
*Splosh, splash!*
Fan Zhongfu was swimming frantically in a pool of golden broth, but the broth was far too thick. Every step forward met with immense resistance.
Why would there be a pit of golden broth on Bitter Mist Mountain?
This place wasn't suitable for farming. Who would carry out such a massive engineering project here?
After a grueling struggle, Fan Zhongfu finally reached the edge of the pit.
Clutching the slick wall, he used a Garment Cultivator technique—Feather Garment Sprouting Wings.
The clothes on his body converged behind his back, unspooling into threads that rewove themselves into a pair of massive wings.
Saturated with night soil, the wings were somewhat heavy, but after flapping several times, Fan Zhongfu managed to take flight.
The pit was very deep, and climbing each foot upward cost Fan Zhongfu immense effort.
This was not only because his wings were heavily weighed down, but also because his body had been severely corroded by the night soil.
Ever since falling into the golden broth pit, he had reverted to his Garment Cultivator form. He had no flesh or blood on his body, only layer upon layer of clothing, but from the innermost garment to the outermost, every single one had been corroded into a sieve of holes.
It was equivalent to a normal human having a thousand holes burned through their body. That Fan Zhongfu could still take flight in such a state demonstrated the profundity of his cultivation.
Ascending inch by inch, Fan Zhongfu finally reached the rim of the pit.
Old Xu stood at the edge, casually ladling down a scoop of golden broth.
Gold Cultivator technique: Golden Light Illuminating All.
Under the gleaming golden light, the pair of wings on Fan Zhongfu's back turned to flying ash, and he plummeted back into the pit.
Sun Tiecheng sighed and walked up to the edge of the pit, saying to Fan Zhongfu, "Look at you, why won't you listen? I told you not to run, but you refused to hear it. Regretting it now, aren't you?"
Seeing Old Xu arrive, Qiu Zhiheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Xu Han asked, "Little Qiu, what brought you to Bitter Mist Mountain?"
Qiu Zhiheng took the blood-skin apricot blossom from his basket and said to Xu Han, "I wanted to pick some blood-skin apricots for Old Yao."
Xu Han smiled. "Silly boy. In the future, just tell me directly about things like this. Try to stay away from places like this as much as possible. Hurry on down the mountain."
Qiu Zhiheng turned to head down the slope. Sun Tiecheng chimed in, "Don't chase him away! He came to pick apricots! Little brother, there really are apricots in those woods. Pick a few extra and bring some for Old Xu too. If Old Xu hadn't saved you today, your life would've ended right here."
*That's true. It was entirely thanks to Old Xu saving me that I got to keep my life.*
Qiu Zhiheng looked back, feeling a bit worried for Old Xu.
Xu Han waved his ladle, gesturing for him to leave quickly.
Once Qiu Zhiheng was far away, Sun Tiecheng sighed. "Old Xu, what are you doing? The boy really came to pick apricots. Aren't you getting in the way of proper business?"
Xu Han looked at Sun Tiecheng. "Never mind what he's doing. Why don't you explain first: what did you come here for?"
Sun Tiecheng glanced at the golden broth pit, chuckled, and said nothing.
Xu Han poured another ladleful over Fan Zhongfu's head. This technique was called Night Soil Crowning the Head. The golden broth flowed evenly down Fan Zhongfu's head until he was drenched in gold from head to toe. Now Fan Zhongfu could hear nothing, and except for blazing golden light, he could see nothing.
Seeing this, Sun Tiecheng spoke up: "I came to Bitter Mist Mountain hoping to get some iron-tendon bamboo to take back and refine pills."
Xu Han frowned. "Who told you iron-tendon bamboo is used for pill refinement?"
Sun Tiecheng laughed. "Never you mind that. Just tell me: are you giving it to me or not?"
Xu Han shook his head. "For such a precious medicinal ingredient, why on earth should I give it to you?"
Sun Tiecheng twitched his brows. "On account of our past friendship."
Xu Han shook his head again. "I have no friendship with you."
"If not friendship, then let's talk about old grievances."
"I have no grievances with you either. When the City of Fools was wiped out, I didn't take part."
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "The fact that you didn't take part proves you're a friend of Old Sun here. When friends meet, they ought to drink wine and reminisce about the old days. Why must we draw weapons against each other?"
Xu Han thought about it and found some logic in that. He scooped up a ladleful from the pit and held it out before Sun Tiecheng. "How about we have a drink?"
Sun Tiecheng nodded. "Sure! If we drink, we drink together!"
Xu Han untied a liquor gourd from his waist and drank every last drop inside. "I'll drink first as a toast!"
He had drunk all the liquor, leaving only the golden broth in the iron ladle.
Sun Tiecheng sighed and gave a bitter laugh. "You old codger, why won't you play along?"
Xu Han sighed as well. "I'm a farmer. Whenever I follow your lead, it's always the farmer who gets the short end of the stick."
Sun Tiecheng waved his hand. "Let's drop the small talk and stick to the matter at hand. I want the iron-tendon bamboo. Are you giving it or not?"
Xu Han said, "You want it, but I don't want to give it. There's no point in continuing this debate. How about we just have a fight?"
"I already told you, we're friends. No brandishing weapons! How about this: let's have him judge who's right. Whatever he says, that's what we'll do!" Sun Tiecheng looked at Fan Zhongfu in the pit.
Xu Han used his ladle to fish Fan Zhongfu out.
Fan Zhongfu wiped the golden broth from his face and looked at Sun Tiecheng and Xu Han.
Sun Tiecheng spoke first. "There's a disagreement between the two of us, and we want you to judge who's in the right. I traveled all this way to Bitter Mist Mountain hoping to harvest some medicinal herbs, yet this old fellow refuses to give me any. How do you say this should be handled?"
Holding the ladle, Xu Han stirred the golden broth in the pit. "Ordinary herbs, I'd give away without a second thought. But some herbs are priceless; they aren't something someone can just walk off with on a single word."
Sun Tiecheng said, "If one word won't do, we'll say a few more. Name your price, and I'll buy it."
Xu Han said, "I'm not naming a price, I'm not selling to you, and I won't let you take it. What can you do about it?"
Sun Tiecheng looked at Fan Zhongfu. "Listen to that. Does he sound reasonable to you?"
Xu Han also looked at Fan Zhongfu. "You tell me: what exactly is reason?"
Fan Zhongfu licked his lips and looked at Xu Han first.
He knew this was the progenitor of Gold Cultivators. Before coming here, someone in Xuehuapu had instructed him to avoid Xu Han at all costs. Yet not only had he failed to avoid Xu Han, but he had also run into another ruthless monster.
Sun Tiecheng grew impatient and squeezed the ball of thread in his hand. "We're asking you a question. Why aren't you speaking?"
Xu Han was also getting annoyed, waving his ladle in front of Fan Zhongfu. "What are you hemming and hawing for? Once you've thought it through, speak your mind!"
What could he say?
Side with Sun Tiecheng, and he would offend Xu Han and get tossed back into the pit of golden broth.
Side with Xu Han, and he would offend Sun Tiecheng and suffer a thousand cuts again.
Fan Zhongfu dropped to his knees and kowtowed to both of them. "Seniors, Grandpas, please have mercy and spare my life!"
At these words, neither man was pleased.
Sun Tiecheng squeezed the thread ball. "I see you're sick. You can't even speak straight. I'll have to loosen your bones and sinews properly."
"Don't just loosen his sinews; sickness requires medicine," Xu Han said, thrusting the ladle before Fan Zhongfu's face. "Come, youngster, open wide."
If he didn't speak today, he wouldn't survive.
Fan Zhongfu had never imagined that a day would come when he would arbitrate between two transcendent masters.
After careful deliberation, Fan Zhongfu spoke up. Looking at Sun Tiecheng, he said, "I believe this elder brother makes sense. We are all friends here. He traveled from afar without stealing or robbing, simply hoping to gather some herbs. It's only right to grant him a convenience."
Sun Tiecheng laughed. "Old Xu, listen to what the man said!"
Fan Zhongfu hadn't spoken carelessly; he had weighed it thoroughly.
If he offended Sun Tiecheng, a couple more squeezes of that thread ball would end his life on the spot.
But if he offended Xu Han, soaking in the pit of golden broth a bit longer would still leave him breathing.
As long as he survived, he would have a chance to escape.
Xu Han sighed. Since they had agreed beforehand, figures of their standing could not break their word on such a matter.
"Old Sun, where the iron-tendon bamboo grows is something I truly cannot tell you."
Sun Tiecheng clasped his hands behind his back. "If you go back on your word, you're bullying an honest man."
Xu Han pointed at Fan Zhongfu. "Hand this man over to me, and I'll go fetch you two stalks of bamboo. How does that sound?"
"Deal!" Sun Tiecheng nodded. "I don't want bamboo leaves, and I don't want bamboo stalks. I only want the bamboo shoots!"
He wanted the bamboo shoots!
Xu Han's expression grew even graver.
With his hands tucked in his sleeves, Sun Tiecheng said, "What, backing out again? The mouth sits right below the nose, and a spoken word is like an iron nail driven into wood. Old Xu, I respect you greatly; you must keep your word!"
"Fine, I'll keep my word. Wait here, and I'll go fetch the shoots."
Before long, Xu Han returned, carrying two bamboo shoots in his hands. "Ten iron tendons. Inspect the goods yourself. If you find anything amiss later, there are no returns or exchanges here."
Sun Tiecheng examined the bamboo and nodded. "Anything you bring out definitely can't be fake."
With that, Sun Tiecheng cupped his hands and left with the bamboo shoots.
Xu Han glanced at Fan Zhongfu and smiled. "Now it's just the two of us."
Fan Zhongfu fell to his knees, kowtowing repeatedly as he pleaded, "Senior, spare my life! I never intended to offend Senior! I came here looking for Qiu Zhiheng. I stayed in Yaowang Gully for days without daring to approach him, precisely out of fear of offending you! Only after learning Qiu Zhiheng had gone up Bitter Mist Mountain did I follow him up. You saw it just now—Qiu Zhiheng is safe and sound. I didn't beat him or kill him, I just frightened him with a couple of words! Senior, you can't take my life over such a trivial matter!"
"Stand up first. I don't intend to kill you. Answer three questions truthfully, and I'll let you go."
Fan Zhongfu nodded. "Senior, please ask."
"First question: why were you looking for trouble with Little Qiu?"
Fan Zhongfu answered honestly, "I am a member of Xuehuapu. My superiors ordered me to find Qiu Zhiheng, use him to draw out Li Seven, and through Li Seven investigate the whereabouts of the Xuansheng Red Lotus."
Hearing this, Xu Han asked the second question: "People say Xuehuapu does business for the Peddler. Have you ever seen the Peddler in Xuehuapu?"
Fan Zhongfu said, "In Xuehuapu, I have never seen the Peddler."
"Third question: outside Xuehuapu, have you ever seen the Peddler?"
Lowering his head, Fan Zhongfu replied, "I certainly have seen him. When I entered the pathway, I bought my medicinal powder from the Peddler."
Xu Han shook his head. "I'm not asking about things that far back. I'm asking whether you've encountered the Peddler after joining Xuehuapu."
"I've encountered him then too. I once bought some things from him, and naturally I didn't dare show any lack of courtesy. But I couldn't speak much with him, especially regarding matters inside Xuehuapu—those must never be mentioned. Xuehuapu has a rule: unless on an official mission, once outside the settlement, one must not speak of Xuehuapu's affairs, nor acknowledge fellow members. Even in front of the Peddler, one must act like an ordinary person, never letting anyone notice anything unusual."
After the three questions were answered, Xu Han pondered for a long time.
Putting away his ladle, he said to Fan Zhongfu, "I can let you go now, but once you return to Xuehuapu, you must serve as my inside informant. You must write me a letter every day, reporting on Xuehuapu's situation."
Fan Zhongfu nodded repeatedly.
A letter every day—could he do that?
He couldn't, nor would he ever serve as an informant for Xu Han.
Right now, he only wanted to escape as quickly as possible. Whatever Xu Han said, he would agree to it.
Xu Han took out two gold nuggets—real gold nuggets—and handed them to Fan Zhongfu. "Use these to write your letters from now on. If you have paper, write on paper. If you don't have paper, write on a wall. If you don't have a wall, write on the ground. As long as you write down the words, I will receive them. Do you understand?"
Accepting the gold nuggets, Fan Zhongfu nodded. "Understood."
"Now that you understand, head down the mountain. With your cultivation, you can leave Bitter Mist Mountain within an hour. Once you're out, find a place to stay, and write me your first letter. Do you understand?"
"Understood!"
"Let me remind you once more: within one hour, you must write to me. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Clutching the gold nuggets, Fan Zhongfu dashed down the mountain at top speed.
*Leave Bitter Mist Mountain within an hour?*
*He underestimates me too much!*
Fan Zhongfu used the technique Feather Garment Sprouting Wings once more. Two wings sprouted from his back. Taking out needle and thread, he stitched his wounds as he flew.
At first, he flew very slowly. After five minutes, once the night soil on his wings dried and he had stitched up some of the wounds on his body, it took him less than ten minutes to fly beyond the borders of Bitter Mist Mountain.
After descending the mountain, he didn't head into town, nor did he look for a place to stay. He headed straight for the newland, wanting only to leave Yaowang Gully as quickly as possible.
After flying for more than three hours, Fan Zhongfu noticed the scenery below looked somewhat familiar. After a village came wilderness; after wilderness came a village, looping over and over, yet he never reached the newland.
*Lost?*
Fan Zhongfu was convinced he couldn't have gotten lost. He realized he had likely fallen into one of Xu Han's backup measures.
*Careless.*
He should have written him a letter. If he didn't write that first letter, he definitely wouldn't be able to leave Yaowang Gully.
Fan Zhongfu landed on the ground and found a boulder in a grove of trees. Just as he was preparing to write the letter, he looked up and saw Xu Han standing right before him.
"Se-Senior—" Fan Zhongfu shuddered. "I was just about to write to you! I couldn't find a suitable spot earlier, but I'm writing right away. I've already pulled out the gold nuggets!"
Xu Han sighed. "Why did you break your word after we made an agreement?"
As the words fell, the surrounding scenery shifted.
The surrounding trees vanished, replaced by dense, swirling mist.
He was still on Bitter Mist Mountain.
Fan Zhongfu shouted, "Senior, I was wrong! I really intended to write to you, I just forgot the time!"
Xu Han shook his head. "This is an illness. It needs to be cured!"
"Senior, Se—"
Xu Han clamped Fan Zhongfu's mouth shut, raised his ladle, and served up the glittering golden medicinal soup: "Come, take your medicine."
The warm broth slid down his esophagus and into his stomach.
Tears welled in Fan Zhongfu's eyes, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
***
"Sun paced beneath the wall, pondering and lamenting,
Recalling past deeds with sorrowful gloom.
I'm like a caged bird unable to spread its wings;
I'm like a tiger parted from the mountain, suffering in isolation;
I'm like a wild goose flying south, separated from the flock;
I'm like a dragon in shallow waters, stranded upon the shoal..."
Having adapted a version of *Silang Visits His Mother* himself, Sun Tiecheng walked and sang all the way back to the City of Fools, strutting triumphantly into his courtyard.
Gui Jianchou was still squatting by the entrance, having not moved an inch.
Sun Tiecheng frowned. "You really stayed squatted here? Hurry up and get on your feet. Don't block the way!"
Gui Jianchou stood upright and smiled. "City Lord Sun, the deed is done?"
Sun Tiecheng snorted coldly. "Does that even need asking? Today I'll let you broaden your horizons and see what an iron-tendon bamboo shoot looks like!"
Gui Jianchou truly did want to see it; he had never seen an iron-tendon bamboo shoot either. "I've heard iron-tendon bamboo has ten iron tendons. I wonder if they can be seen on the shoot."
"Of course! Why wouldn't they be?" Sun Tiecheng beamed with pride. "Afraid Old Xu might cheat me, I counted them right to his face, one by one. Exactly ten tendons, not a single one missing!"
As he spoke, Sun Tiecheng took out the bamboo shoot. Gui Jianchou counted carefully beside him.
Across the emerald-green shoot sheath ran bands of metallic iron tendons, each extending from the tip all the way to the base—exactly ten tendons.
Gui Jianchou praised, "Indeed, not a single one missing."
Sun Tiecheng frowned. "Wait, something's wrong. One is missing."
Gui Jianchou shook his head. "I counted. Ten iron tendons, not a single one missing."
Sun Tiecheng shook his head. "Not the tendons—a bamboo shoot is missing!"
Xu Han had given Sun Tiecheng two bamboo shoots, but Sun Tiecheng had brought back only one.
"Where did the other bamboo shoot go?" Sun Tiecheng looked at Gui Jianchou.
Gui Jianchou shook his head. "I certainly wouldn't know."
Gui Jianchou grew nervous. In truth, Sun Tiecheng wasn't angry; he was looking at Gui Jianchou with utmost seriousness. "I'm asking you to tell me: who stole it?"
Gui Jianchou pondered. "To steal something from you, I'm afraid only the progenitor of the Thief Cultivators could pull it off."
Sun Tiecheng thought about it. "You mean Xiao Qianshou? It must be him. But as I recall, he was already beaten to death by the Peddler."
Gui Jianchou mused, "In my view, the Peddler beating him was undoubtedly child's play, but whether he actually beat him to death remains another question entirely."
***
Lüshui City, Yuanzhu Ward, deep in an alley, stood a small courtyard.
Inside the courtyard were two tile-roofed rooms. An old man sat in the main room, sipping tea.
This old man possessed very distinctive features: his frame was emaciated and his back hunched. Sitting in a chair, his feet barely touched the floor; standing on the ground, he was barely taller than the table.
Looking at his countenance, his high cheekbones were flushed red, his pointed chin dark and dusky. He had two thin eyebrows, a pair of narrow slit-like eyes, and between his thin lips, two sharp, slender incisors peeped out from time to time.
The old man took a sip of tea, set down his teacup, and called out to the empty courtyard, "Come inside!"
Beside the old poplar tree in the courtyard, He Jiaqing materialized. Entering the main room, he bowed respectfully to the old man.
The old man chuckled. "You little rascal, tell you to come and you actually came!"
He Jiaqing said, "The Patriarch commands; how could I dare not come?"
"How is the ring coming along?"
"Only a bit of embellishment remains. It will be finished shortly."
"Bring it here and let me see."
He Jiaqing hastily placed the ring on the table.
The old man took a look and nodded. "To tell the truth, I really don't think much of your other craftwork, but this ring actually looks decent. Forget the decorations. Leave this one for me, and we'll call things even."
"Patriarch is generous!" He Jiaqing bowed once more.
The old man took the ring, though He Jiaqing didn't catch how he took it.
With one hand holding the teacup and the other holding the lid, gently stirring the tea, the ring on the table simply vanished.
"Little Qing, I called you here today to show you something good." Without the old man moving his hands, a bamboo shoot appeared on the table. "Do you recognize this?"
He Jiaqing looked it up and down, then nodded. "I've seen photographs of this. Iron-tendon bamboo. It can cure internal injuries and is considered a rare medicinal ingredient."
"Considered rare? Big words, you boy!" The old man bared his teeth in a grin. "Little Qing, do you know what kind of person I offended for the sake of this bamboo shoot?"
He Jiaqing shook his head. "I truly wouldn't dare guess."
The old man asked again, "Do you know what this iron-tendon bamboo is used for?"
He Jiaqing thought for a moment and shook his head. "Aside from treating internal injuries, what else could it be used for?"
The old man said, "It can also be refined into medicinal powder. Iron-tendon bamboo shoots are the primary ingredient used by the Peddler to refine initiation powder!"
"Refining initiation powder?" He Jiaqing was shocked. "Isn't initiation powder always refined from cultivators' corpses?"
Hearing this, the old man laughed. "Refining powder from corpses? What kind of skill is that? Even a wretched bird like Hua Manchun could do it. Corpses pass down from generation to generation, with losses in every generation. If everyone relied on that method, wouldn't Puluo Province end up with fewer and fewer cultivators?"
He Jiaqing's eyes widened as he stared at the bamboo in front of him. "The Peddler can use medicinal herbs to refine initiation powder?"
"What do you think?" The old man took a sip of tea. "That is the very foundation of the Lord of Puluo."
Chapter 565