Li Banfeng went over his memories of the past few days again and again, denying the Peddler's accusation on the spot. "I truly did have the sensation of boarding a cloud, but as for setting a fire, that is something I absolutely never did. I was burned by fire myself these past few days."
The Peddler was also surprised. "Who burned you?"
Li Banfeng looked grave. "This matter is not as simple as we imagined. I don't know who burned me yet, but it's probably the same person who set fire to your house. They might not have been trying to burn me—they were probably trying to burn you!
"This person is exceedingly insidious. Either they have a grudge against you, or a grudge against your lover, or they're having an affair with your lover and the two of them teamed up to harm you.
"I think the affair is the most likely scenario. Every time I imagine that cloud, fire erupts on my body. That proves someone set an ambush up there in advance, specifically targeted at you!"
The Peddler thought it over carefully and shook his head. "When I went up to the cloud, I was never burned. They aren't targeting me."
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, his expression turning even graver. "Then they're targeting me."
The Peddler was all the more baffled. "Why would they target you?"
Li Banfeng sorted out his train of thought and offered another sound deduction: "Because they thought I uncovered their plot! To silence me, they've been targeting me all along—burning me on sight and even turning around to play the victim, telling you that I was the one who set the fire!"
The Peddler and Li Banfeng sat shoulder to shoulder, both falling into deep thought.
After ten-odd minutes of silence, Banfeng couldn't help scratching an itch. The Peddler asked, "If they want to kill you, why must they use fire? Aren't there other ways?"
Li Banfeng answered in all earnestness, "I believe it's to destroy the corpse and eliminate all evidence."
The Peddler gave a slight nod. "If you were a decent person, I might actually have believed that."
"I am a decent person! Think about it carefully—aside from an enemy of yours, who else could possibly go to your house and set a fire?"
That question truly stumped the Peddler. "Very few people understand the Cloud Gate technique, and those who can find that cloud are even fewer. First, tell me: how did you get up there?"
Li Banfeng answered honestly, "At first I couldn't get up there either. But after observing it closely, I got a clear impression of that cloud."
"Observing? With your eyes?" The Peddler was astonished.
"Yes, with my eyes." Li Banfeng pointed toward the window. "Isn't that cloud right over there? You don't even need to open the window—you can see it right through the glass."
The Peddler looked at the window—the very one he had entered through. There was nothing special about the frame or the glass.
Yet under normal circumstances, Li Banfeng shouldn't have been able to see that cloud at all.
The Peddler stood by the window and looked out. "You saw the cloud from right here?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Yeah, the view here is pretty good."
The Peddler asked again, "How many times did you look at it?"
"I can't recall. If you mean just casual glances, I see it whenever I look up, so I never kept count."
"Whenever you look up..." The Peddler narrowed his eyes and asked, "Setting casual glances aside, how many times did you look at it earnestly?"
"You wouldn't need to look at it many times, right? That cloud hardly ever changes. Isn't once enough?"
To tell the truth, Li Banfeng had genuinely observed it earnestly only once.
"What time of day did you look at it?"
"Dusk."
The Peddler gave a slight nod. "So you saw a sunset-reddened fiery cloud?"
Li Banfeng recalled briefly and nodded repeatedly. "It really was a fiery cloud, glowing completely through. The weather that day was exceptionally clear..." Mid-sentence, Li Banfeng frowned. "You can't possibly say that just because I saw a fiery cloud, I ran up into the clouds to start a fire, can you?"
"A decent person probably wouldn't. With you, it's hard to say."
"Then tell me, how am I not decent?"
The Peddler sat back down beside Li Banfeng and handed him a cigarette. "Do you even know what the Cloud Gate technique is?"
"No idea!" Li Banfeng answered candidly. "Since it's a technique I could learn, it should be either a Traveler or Homebody technique, right?"
"Neither," the Peddler shook his head. "The Cloud Gate technique is a boundless technique. That means regardless of pathway or cultivation level, anyone can learn it."
"Then there must be a lot of people who know it."
"Not many!" The Peddler shook his head. "Because it's far too difficult. Many cultivators of extremely high cultivation fail to master it in their entire lifetimes. As for why you stumbled into learning it by chance, there are probably a lot of complicated reasons."
Li Banfeng lowered his head modestly. "Actually, I haven't mastered the Cloud Gate technique either. I probably didn't truly board the cloud. I merely used the false moving technique to transport the scene on the cloud into my room. Your house getting burned down definitely has nothing to do with me."
"Still refusing to admit it? I saw you burn down my house with my own eyes yesterday."
"Why should I admit to it?" Li Banfeng remembered the details vividly. "When I used the false moving technique, I only saw white clouds, not fiery sunset clouds."
The Peddler nodded. "If it were a decent person who didn't see fiery clouds, they'd think they had gone to the wrong place. But with you, not seeing a fiery cloud, you'd probably set fire to the cloud yourself."
"Do you think I'm crazy? Why on earth would I do something like that?" It wasn't that Li Banfeng was dodging blame—he genuinely had no memory whatsoever of setting any fire.
"You truly know nothing about the Cloud Gate technique; you don't even know how to control certain aspects of it." The Peddler took a drag of his cigarette and asked about something else: "Why are you so bent on learning the Cloud Gate technique? Are you looking to leave yourself a way out, or are you trying to conceal your combat strength?"
Li Banfeng didn't understand what he meant. "Why would I need to conceal my combat strength?"
"Exactly. How much combat strength do you even have? Why would you hide it? Could it be that you're preparing for advancement?"
Did advancement have something to do with the Cloud Gate technique?
An unexpected gain?
Li Banfeng took the opening and set up a ramp immediately. "I indeed ought to start preparing."
The Peddler paused. "You've reached Cloud Three?"
"In Homebody, yes; not quite yet in Traveler." A piece of truth, spoken with utmost certainty, making the ramp all the sturdier.
The Peddler asked, "You don't want to advance to Above the Clouds Beyond?"
"Who'd want to go to Above the Clouds Beyond? Above the Clouds Beyond doesn't even have tiers. Just the name sounds rustic!"
The Peddler deeply agreed. "I think it's rustic too. In the past, people called Above the Clouds Beyond 'the Stars,' and others called it 'the Heavenly Constellations.' I told them, do you even know where the stars and constellations are? To shamelessly boast with such grand names! In my view, Above the Clouds Beyond isn't the proper path of cultivation at all. Without even distinct levels, just stumbling forward with your eyes closed—it's completely unscientific!"
Li Banfeng nodded vigorously. "I also find that path unscientific, which is why I want to learn the Cloud Gate technique."
"The Cloud Gate technique is one method, to be sure, but do you know how to use it?"
"I've only heard a few rumors and know nothing of the details. I just thought I'd learn the technique first!"
Li Banfeng looked earnestly at the Peddler. The ramp was built; he was just waiting for the donkey to walk down it.
"It's still early," the Peddler said. "To advance from Cloud Three, whether going to Above the Clouds Beyond or Cloud Four, requires a massive surge of human presence. Accumulate enough human presence first, then we'll talk."
The Peddler didn't take the bait.
The corners of Li Banfeng's eyes dropped, thoroughly dissatisfied with this outcome.
"I've already accumulated human presence—almost enough, in fact. The trouble is, I don't know what to do next. If I use the wrong method and surge into Above the Clouds Beyond, wouldn't all my efforts be wasted?"
The Peddler shook his head slightly. "You make it sound too simple. Advancing from Cloud Three to Cloud Four requires an immense amount of human presence. A single Lüshuiwan cannot solve that problem."
A shiver ran down Li Banfeng's spine.
The Peddler chuckled. "What is it, brother? What are you afraid of? You've been the local spirit of Lüshuiwan for quite some time. Did you think I didn't know?"
Tucking his hands into his sleeves, Li Banfeng offered an honest, meek smile. "I never intended to hide it from you. Between brothers like us, what is there to keep secret?"
"Then why didn't you mention it when we met last time?"
"I meant to, but wasn't I interrupted by your lover?"
The Peddler let out a cold laugh. "Fine, you always find a way to smooth things over. Lühuazi reached Cloud Three long ago. He saved up all that human presence without using it, just waiting to break through to Cloud Four. Now that he's gone to Daogui Ridge to play living immortal, the human presence he painstakingly gathered ended up filling your belly instead."
Li Banfeng asked, "Lühuazi had so much human presence, yet it still wasn't enough to advance to Cloud Four?"
"It was plenty, but he couldn't advance. Because back then, I didn't acknowledge his pathway and refused to give him the introductory powder. After Cloud Three, he couldn't find the way forward, and he was unwilling to ascend to Above the Clouds Beyond, so he remained stuck at Cloud Three. Even though he was only at Cloud Three, many cultivators in Above the Clouds Beyond were no match for him. It's a shame about his great talent. Disease Cultivators are far too sinister; to cultivate, Lühuazi constantly spread focal infections. I wanted to kill him, but just as I was preparing to strike, he did a great good deed."
Li Banfeng thought for a long time. "What kind of good deed could Lühuazi possibly do?"
"The Inner States once spread a plague in Puluo Province, causing massive casualties. Lühuazi cured that plague."
Having reached this point in the tale, the cigarette was finished, and Li Banfeng lit another for the Peddler.
The Peddler recalled the situation at that time. "It was very tricky to handle. Losses and gains balance out, owing nothing either way. Whatever I do, fairness must come first. Lühuazi saved Puluo Province, so I couldn't kill him, yet I couldn't allow him to roam free either. I made a covenant deed with him: he is permitted to emerge and beg once a year. He may go wherever he pleases—a village, a town, a city—even if the place lies outside Lüshuiwan, I cannot interfere. But wherever he goes, there is one condition: he must beg his way across that domain. So long as three people give him alms, he must return to his residence."
"And if three people don't?"
"He will spread an epidemic."
Li Banfeng recalled his experience in Lanyang Village. "Back then, when the Lüshui Beggar begged in Lanyang Village, he intended to spread an epidemic there. But Lanyang Village was his own territory. What was his goal in doing that?"
The Peddler shook his head. "I still haven't figured that out to this day."
Li Banfeng asked another question: "There's one more thing. Spreading an epidemic depends on population density. Why didn't he go to a populous city? Lanyang Village is so remote; an epidemic might not spread well."
"According to the covenant deed, if he went to a city, he would have to traverse the entire city. With so many people, he would definitely receive alms three times, losing any chance to spread the epidemic. That is the beauty of a covenant deed." Turning the topic, the Peddler said to Li Banfeng, "If you want to learn the Cloud Gate technique, I can teach you. Why don't we sign a covenant deed as well? It's not to restrict you; it's to help you gather human presence. There's a place in Puluo Province brimming with human presence called Desong Cliff. It's a prime cultivation spot. Go there and serve as local spirit for three years..."
"Not going!" At the mention of Desong Cliff, Li Banfeng felt sick to his stomach. "It's a domain of Virtue Cultivators. Why should I be their local spirit? Where did their original local spirit go?"
The Peddler let out a long sigh. "Desong Cliff's former local spirit was named Wang Zhengde, a paragon of virtue. Perhaps due to old age, his mind became somewhat muddled, and he went over to Black Rock Slope to set up a lecture hall, teaching virtue studies and recruiting quite a few disciples. Last month, Tang Shijiang lost his patience and told Wang Zhengde to pack up and leave immediately. He wouldn't listen. Afterward, Tang Shijiang went to persuade him. As you know, Tang Shijiang is clumsy with words and not much of a talker, so he didn't say much."
Li Banfeng didn't quite understand. "If he didn't say much, how did he persuade him?"
The Peddler ground his teeth in vexation. "That thickheaded brute Tang Shijiang beat Wang Zhengde straight to death! If he had left him with even a single breath, Desong Cliff wouldn't be in such chaos! Now that the local spirit is gone, a bunch of Virtue Cultivators are brawling in utter chaos over the seat. I believe a truly virtuous person isn't defined by their pathway, but by their state of mind. With your state of mind, going to Desong Cliff would definitely command everyone's respect. Just trust me..."
"Don't trust me, I'm not suited for it," Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "Old Pan is suited. Pan Dehai is already the local spirit of a proper land. He has seniority, strength, and experience. That position belongs to no one else but him."
"The moment Wang Zhengde died, Pan Dehai went to Desong Cliff. He fought for nearly a month, had every single old tooth knocked out of his mouth, and just yesterday went back to Haichiling to nurse his wounds. So consider the matter again..."
Li Banfeng squatted on the ground. "I'm not going to Desong Cliff. There's no room for discussion!"
The Peddler squatted down beside him. "Brother, I'm doing this for your own good. Wang Zhengde had also gathered a great deal of human presence. He wanted to break through to Cloud Four as well, but he couldn't find the trick to it and never managed to make the leap. If I tell you the trick now and you go consume Wang Zhengde's human presence, a single gulp will make you rich! No matter how you calculate it, wouldn't you make a huge profit?"
"I just look down on that Virtue Cultivator territory."
"That is a proper land, and yet you look down on it! If you're going to be this picky, I can't help you. Go figure out the Cloud Gate technique on your own."
Li Banfeng sniffled, tears welling in his eyes. "At such a critical juncture, you won't help me? Where is our brotherhood? Where is our fraternal bond?"
"I remember both our brotherhood and our bond, but business can't rely on sentiment alone. The key is agreeing on the price—fair trade, Fair to Old and Young Alike."
The moment he heard the phrase "Fair to Old and Young Alike," Li Banfeng sucked back the tears that were about to spill.
No wonder the Peddler never took the bait. Sun Tiecheng had mentioned before that the Peddler invented the Fair to Old and Young Alike technique, which counteracted Fool cultivators.
"Fine, don't help me then. I'll figure it out myself." Li Banfeng turned his gaze back to that cloud in the sky.
The Peddler tidied up his cart. "Brother, figuring it out on your own is fine, but stop thinking about burning down my house. Switch to a different cloud."
"Are there other suitable clouds?"
"Of course!" The Peddler looked at the sky. "There are many clouds in the skies of Puluo Province. Some you can see, though most you cannot. Among those you can see, some remain completely motionless—those have owners. Others shift and change constantly—those are ownerless. If a cloud has an owner, you can snatch it; if it is ownerless, you can claim it. As long as you don't burn my house, the vast sky and wide sea are yours to roam."
The Peddler pushed his cart, preparing to leave. Li Banfeng remembered another important matter. "Where should I go to find water snake grass?"
"Dried or fresh?"
"Dried is fine."
"I have some right here. Twenty silver dollars a stalk."
The Peddler was almost too reliable! Li Banfeng asked excitedly, "How many do you have?"
"Over thirty stalks."
"I'll take them all!"
Li Banfeng paid, and the Peddler handed over the goods. Pushing his cart, the Peddler walked right out the window, landed steadily on the ground below, shook his pellet drum, and continued pushing his cart while crying his wares.
Watching the Peddler's receding back, Li Banfeng smiled secretly to himself.
*It doesn't matter if you won't teach me the Cloud Gate technique. My dear wife is bound to know something about it.*
Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling. Seeing the water snake grass, his lady was overjoyed. "My husband actually brought back so much! This is exceptionally hard to find."
"Is this enough?"
"More than enough. Even after making the rope, quite a bit will be left over. This is a very precious medicinal herb that will certainly be of great use in the future."
"Darling wife, do you know anything about the Cloud Gate technique?"
His lady thought for a moment. "I heard some rumors in the past. It seems to be a technique that can be performed above the clouds."
Li Banfeng was sorely disappointed. "Even our Ah Bi knows about this, yet you've only heard rumors?"
The gramophone laughed. "Darling husband, you underestimate our Ah Bi. He is a Wisdom-Karmic Scholar, a figure of standing among Literary Cultivators. He has probably read more books than the rest of our household combined."
"Hmph!" The Judge's Brush swayed at Li Banfeng's waist.
"Yet he can't remember the essentials of the technique either."
"Why do you want to learn the Cloud Gate technique, husband?"
"For my future advancement. Darling wife, I don't want to advance to Above the Clouds Beyond. I want to advance to Cloud Four."
The gramophone fell silent for quite a while. "Oh, husband, Cloud Four is only a rumor too. Your humble servant has seen people who claimed to be beyond Cloud Three, but whether it was true or false cannot be verified. It is also true that some have sought to bypass Above the Clouds Beyond and continue cultivating upon the clouds, but that is said to require special auxiliary means. As for what those means are, opinions vary widely, and your servant cannot tell which is true. In any case, it is not the proper path of cultivation. Husband, it's best not to dwell on it."
His lady had walked the path of Above the Clouds Beyond and was unfamiliar with breaking through to Cloud Four.
Hong Ying was in the same situation as his lady; she didn't even believe Cloud Four existed.
The Judge's Brush knew the most and might have truly taken that path, but he couldn't remember it.
The red lotus might know more, but she claimed to have forgotten, and Li Banfeng could do nothing about her.
What to do? Rely on his own fumbling?
Or grit his teeth and go serve as the local spirit of Desong Cliff?
It was still too early to worry about this. His Homebody cultivation had just reached Cloud Three, while Traveler was still at Cloud Two. The human presence from his various territories had mostly been drained by Li Banfeng already. Who knew how many years it would take to scrape together enough human presence to surge to Cloud Four?
Better to wait for his lady to finish the rope and rescue Fatty first.
Two days later, the rope was complete.
It was an earthy-yellow hemp rope, three fingers thick. Li Banfeng couldn't see anything extraordinary about it, but his lady had labored hard over it, arranging every single detail with meticulous care.
Li Banfeng didn't go to Mazhu Village this time. Using the Dark Bridge Cannon in the same location over and over risked arousing suspicion.
He went to Yueqing Town, situated on the border between Lüshuiwan and Kudaikan. The boundary line ran across a vast tract of marshland. Not a soul was seen here year-round; it was even more desolate than Mazhu Mountain.
Li Banfeng carried his lady out of the companion dwelling. Operating the Dark Bridge Cannon, she projected two overlapping shadows along the boundary line.
"Husband, be exceptionally careful when using the rope. If anything feels amiss, abandon the rope immediately and hurry out of the wormhole. Whether Qin Tianjiu can be saved depends on his own fortune; you must under no circumstances let yourself be dragged into peril."
Li Banfeng agreed. Taking the rope, he stepped into the shadows.
A cascade of dust fell, and Li Banfeng entered the wormhole. Walking for ten-odd seconds, he first caught sight of the white crane.
The white crane stood on one leg beside the dark bridge, its slender neck curved back and its long beak tucked beneath a wing.
It was sleeping.
Li Banfeng slipped past the white crane without a sound and walked forward a short distance.
He reached nearly the very end of the dark bridge, yet he still hadn't seen Qin Tianjiu.
Where had the kid gone?
Visibility within the wormhole was exceedingly poor. Li Banfeng tapped the Qiansi earring, intending to locate Qin Tianjiu through sound.
He could faintly hear some light breathing, but couldn't be sure whether it was Qin Tianjiu.
With no other choice, Li Banfeng called out, "Qin Tianjiu?"
The shout echoed in the wormhole for a long time.
The white crane woke, stretching its neck and looking around for a moment before cocking its head to fix a single eye on Li Banfeng.
This white crane's perception was remarkably sharp.
Li Banfeng was debating whether to keep calling for Qin Tianjiu, and how to respond if the white crane took Qin Tianjiu hostage.
While he was pondering, the white crane suddenly spoke: "Little brother, come quick! Someone is looking for you!"
Qin Tianjiu emerged from the darkness and walked toward the dark bridge. He was even thinner than before. Looking around with sunken eye sockets, he shook his head. "Senior, who's looking for me?"
The white crane didn't speak. Li Banfeng called back, "Fatty, it's me."
Qin Tianjiu was overcome with excitement. He wanted to call out "Brother Seven," but didn't dare utter the words, knowing he couldn't casually expose Li the Seventh's identity here.
Li Banfeng fixed his gaze on the path beneath his feet, letting his vision slowly extend outward. Using the Golden Eyes of Keen Detail technique, he gradually searched for the seam between the dark bridge and the wormhole.
Determining the location of the seam wasn't difficult. Near the seam, due to incoming light, a distinct shift in light and shadow occurred.
Once Li Banfeng located the general area of the gap, he placed the rope near it.
The thick hemp rope slithered like a snake. After probing for a moment, it suddenly flattened and broadened like a sheet of paper, slipping right out through the seam.
The rope possessed a degree of perception, but it didn't recognize Qin Tianjiu; it could only slither toward living targets.
It wriggled right up to the white crane's feet.
The white crane looked down at the rope on the ground, silent for ten-odd seconds.
Stepping aside, it said to Qin Tianjiu, "Little brother, this has come to save you. Go on, quickly."
Qin Tianjiu bowed deeply to the white crane. Just as he took hold of the rope, a white-robed man came rushing over, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Don't leave yet! Take us with you! Don't go yet!"
The white crane blocked the white-robed man, keeping him away from Fatty.
The white-robed man cried out, "My lord, let this little brother take us with him! We've never treated him poorly!"
The white crane shook its head. No matter how the white-robed man wept and shouted, the crane refused to let him near.
Following his lady's instructions, Li Banfeng drew the rope back slowly.
Fatty followed the rope to the vicinity of the seam. Under the rope's pulling force, Fatty's emaciated body was gradually flattened.
"Cough, cough!" Unable to bear the excruciating pain, Fatty coughed up bloody froth. Before long, he lacked even the strength to cough; his entire body flattened like a sheet of paper as he slid slowly into the seam.
He wasn't crushed flat by the gap of the dark bridge; he was flattened by the special magic woven into the rope. Once inside the dark bridge, the magic dissolved. Fatty suffered no grave injuries, merely breaking several bones—already the best possible outcome according to the plan.
The white crane remained outside the dark bridge, still fixing one eye on Li Banfeng. "Friend, if you still have the strength to spare and can lend us a hand, we will never forget your kindness in this lifetime. If you cannot save us, then take this brother and go. Take care of yourselves."
Li Banfeng looked at the white crane, then turned to support Fatty. Reaching the end of the dark bridge, a puff of ash rose, and the two of them walked out of the wormhole together.
Before them lay a marsh. Fatty plunged straight into the muddy water and gulped down two mouthfuls.
During his time trapped in there, he had survived only by eating moss off the ground to quench his thirst. Filthy as the marsh's muddy water was, to Fatty it tasted sweet as honey.
Li Banfeng pulled him up and handed him a canteen.
Clutching the canteen, Fatty's knees trembled.
Li Banfeng frowned. "If you dare kneel, I'll throw you right back in."
Fatty didn't dare kneel, but tears streamed down his face nonetheless.
"Brother Seven..." He sobbed with an open mouth, weeping so hard that he couldn't speak for a long time.
Someone was weeping even harder than him. The white-robed man was sitting beside the white crane, wailing inconsolably: "My lord, how could you do this? We had only this one chance—how could you just let him leave? How long have we been trapped here? Can we ever get out? Is our entire life finished just like that?"
"Stop your whining!" The white crane swung a wing and slapped the white-robed man.
The white-robed man lowered his head and saw a rope wriggling across the ground.
It was the rope that had just rescued Qin Tianjiu.
Li the Seventh had returned. Once again, he had released the rope through the dark bridge.
The white crane looked at the white-robed man. "You go first."
The white-robed man wiped his tears, took hold of the rope, hesitated a moment, and offered it back to the crane. "My lord, you should go first."
"No need to yield back and forth. Everyone can get out. Go on." The white crane ushered the white-robed man into the gap first.
Could everyone truly get out?
The white crane couldn't say for sure. The person on the other side might only have been able to rescue one more person, yet he still yielded the opportunity to the white-robed man.
Before long, the rope poked through once more. The white crane let out a long breath. Just as it was about to take the rope in its beak, it paused, thought for a moment, and turned to call out, "Miss, come quickly! Grab this rope!"
Li Banfeng greatly admired this white crane. Trapped in the wormhole for two whole years, finally having a chance to get out, it could still yield that chance to others. Such people were extraordinarily rare.
A young woman walked over. "Senior, you go first."
The white crane shook its head. "You go. My cultivation is high; even if I can't get out, enduring a few more years here won't kill me."
The woman still wanted to refuse, but the white crane urged, "Hurry and go! The person who came to rescue us took enormous risks. Don't waste time here!"
The woman said no more and quickly seized the rope.
Though she looked far more haggard, Li Banfeng recognized her at a single glance. Her appearance, figure, and voice were all intimately familiar to him.
Teacher Song.
*Why on earth are you in the wormhole?*
Chapter 605