To the sound of music, Li Banfeng danced at the White Peach Gathering, taking every single step with utter solemnity.
Inside the "hornet nest," Li Banfeng's shadow, Banfeng Yin, sat silently on the stairs, waiting.
"Old Master, isn't it about time?" Banfeng Yin asked in a low voice, worried that this hornet nest might scurry back to the royal capital on its own at any moment.
"Don't worry, it can't move. It moves only when I say it moves." The companion dwelling wanted to haul away some fine treasures from within the hornet nest. In just this short span of time, the old man had already uncovered five Heavenly Heart Stones inside.
There were things even more precious than Heavenly Heart Stones. The old man could sense them, and the glove could sense them too; the two of them were rummaging about with all their might.
The glove pried a good number of bolts loose from the pipes. "Old Master, these bolts are rare treasures!"
The companion dwelling inspected the quality of the bolts; they were indeed top-notch. "Pocket anything good. Don't leave a single scrap behind. I swear I can sense train tracks somewhere in this place."
The glove was still a bit hesitant. "If we fleece him completely clean in one go, it won't be easy to do business next time."
The companion dwelling replied, "Rest easy, this business won't dry up. Courtesy demands reciprocity—I'll leave some fine gifts for him too."
"Heheheh~"
After a moment of silence, the glove and the companion dwelling broke into low chuckles in unison.
***
When the White Peach Gathering came to an end, Ling Baitao looked up at the sky. The hornet nest was still there, lingering without departing.
It had stayed for unusually long.
"Every time the Inner States dispatches troops, Baisun Commandery gets to see a new sea. Friend, if you wish to head into the New Sea, there is still time."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "As I said, I'm not going to the New Sea. I'll return straight to the underground city. I am a Travel Cultivator; I possess the technique of Parting Ten Thousand Li."
Ling Baitao nodded and had the islanders craft a raft for Li Banfeng out of peach branches.
To be frank, even accepting this raft made Li Banfeng feel guilty. Resources on the island were so scarce; these peach branches could otherwise have been used to build houses.
The companion dwelling and the glove finished packing away all the treasures inside the hornet nest. Slowly, the hornet nest drifted into the distance, and the ocean suspended in the sky began to move sluggishly along with it.
Li Banfeng still could not tell. "Is the sea moving, or is the island moving?"
Ling Baitao replied, "Both are moving. Which moves more, even we cannot say."
Today's battle had gone smoothly, and time was plentiful. Many young folk climbed up the peach trees to catch fish in the New Sea. By the time the islands drifted back into the cavern, all five islands were overflowing with bountiful catches.
Ling Baitao asked Li Banfeng, "Friend, are you in a rush to leave? We have fish to eat tonight."
Li Banfeng said, "I am indeed in a bit of a hurry. It's time I set off."
Ling Baitao presented Li Banfeng with a flagon of white peach wine. "Will you return?"
"I will," Li Banfeng said, handing a bag of canned provisions to Ling Baitao. "Next time I come, I'll bring more food for all of you."
Ling Baitao wrapped a bag of peaches for Li Banfeng. "That other out-of-town friend of ours always brought us delicious food too. He insisted he wasn't giving it away for free, but trading it for peaches. He said he was particularly fond of Baisun Commandery's peaches, and he always had a saying on his lips. It went..."
For a moment, Ling Baitao could not recall it.
Li Banfeng took the peaches. "He probably said: 'Wins and losses, profits and costs—all squared away, neither side owes across.'"
Ling Baitao nodded. "Yes, exactly that!"
Li Banfeng stepped onto the raft and waved goodbye to the island's inhabitants.
Once Baitao Island disappeared from view, Li Banfeng murmured under his breath, "You can't say neither side owes anything. A debt remains. I owe you far too much."
Li Banfeng still had many things he wanted to ask. What he wanted to know most was why the warriors of Baisun Commandery turned into peach trees after falling in battle.
Yet he could not bring himself to ask, and the residents of Baisun Commandery clearly did not wish to bring up the subject.
Fortunately, there were others he could question. When it came to these people from the Inner States, Li Banfeng had no such qualms.
Lang Daoshou, Xie Baheng, and Shan Yuzhu had all plunged into the sea, ropes tied around their bodies as they towed the boat forward.
Li Banfeng turned to the Luo sisters. "Why aren't you pulling the boat?"
Luo Lijun wore a cold, aloof expression. "Even if we were to tow the boat, we could not do it alongside them."
Li Banfeng paused, not understanding her meaning.
Luo Yanjun hurried to explain, "According to our customs, it is not fitting for us to work together with them."
"What custom?" Li Banfeng did not follow. Luo Yanjun always beat around the bush, unwilling to speak too plainly.
It was Luo Shaojun who spelled it out. "Elder Sister is a feudal lord. We are grand masters, while they are mere gentlemen. Our statuses are not the same."
Li Banfeng told Luo Shaojun to elaborate.
Luo Shaojun drew a diagram. "In Great Shang, the highest is the King. Beneath the King are the feudal lords, beneath the feudal lords are the grand masters, and beneath the grand masters are the gentlemen.
"Beneath the gentlemen are commoners, and beneath commoners are bondsmen. A grand master cannot perform the same task alongside a gentleman; that would break the rules."
Li Banfeng detested rules like that. His face sank as he said, "Then break the rule for once. Pick two among the five of you sisters to tow the boat with them."
Luo Shaojun stuck out her tongue, preparing to haul the boat herself. Luo Yanjun stopped her. "You're too young. I'll go."
Yanjun dove into the sea, and Luo Yujun followed her in.
Li Banfeng looked at Luo Lijun. "So, no matter what, you refuse to go, is that it?"
Luo Lijun bowed her head in silence. At her side, Luo Xiujun remarked, "She is a feudal lord of an entire realm. With airs that grand, how could she ever stoop to such work?"
Not only was Luo Lijun unwilling, even Xie Baheng was scared half to death. Staring at Luo Yanjun and Luo Yujun, he did not even know how to pull the boat anymore. "Young Mistresses, please, get back on board! This work isn't for you!"
Luo Yujun huffed. "Young Master Li ordered us to come. We do as Young Master Li says."
Luo Yanjun said, "Focus on pulling the boat and keep your mouth shut."
Xie Baheng dared not speak further, but he was profoundly uneasy. His kicks in the water grew unsteady, causing the raft to pitch and roll.
Lang Daoshou and Shan Yuzhu were swimming just as erratically. Between them and the Luo family, there seemed to exist an insurmountable gulf.
Luo Lijun said, "In truth, there's nothing strange about this. Isn't it just like Puluo Province? Puluo Province has plenty of nobles too, doesn't it?"
Nobles in Puluo Province...
Who in Puluo Province could truly count as a noble?
Prominent clans certainly existed, but could they match the nobility of the Luo family?
Li Banfeng looked at Luo Lijun. "How high was your status in the Kingdom of Great Shang?"
Luo Lijun thought for a moment. "At our peak, we could be considered the foremost among the feudal lords."
Li Banfeng asked, "Then why did you end up as prisoners?"
Luo Lijun replied, "It all comes down to the plague. The epidemic spread, bringing immense suffering throughout the entire realm. Our Luo family was ordered to eradicate the illness. In the end, while the three of us sisters recovered, we failed to decipher the formula.
"The royal house claimed we were suspected of colluding with the enemy. They sent us to the military encampment to lead troops against Baisun Commandery. They called it commanding troops, but in reality, they were forcing us to take the field as condemned criminals, using the battlefield as an excuse to send us to our deaths."
Li Banfeng pondered this, shaking his head slightly. "You were a feudal lord of an entire realm. You shouldn't have faced such severe punishment over a single matter like that."
Luo Lijun remained silent, but Luo Shaojun interjected, "When all is said and done, it's because our Luo family advocates peace over war. They seized on a pretext to wipe our family out entirely."
The struggle between the pro-war and pro-peace factions had actually reached such an extreme?
Luo Xiujun scoffed. "That's why following your Luo family brings nothing but hardship and suffering! Who told you to go against the royal family in the first place!"
*Following your Luo family?*
What did that mean?
Li Banfeng looked closely at Luo Xiujun. Because fabric was scarce, her figure was fully on display.
Luo Yujun had jumped into the water, showing her figure even more distinctly.
Both women possessed striking beauty and attractive physiques, yet their bodies were packed with sinewy muscle, displaying far more sharp angles on their physiques than on their faces—a stark contrast to the rounded contours of the other three sisters.
Li Banfeng asked, "Are you two members of the Luo family?"
Before Luo Xiujun could speak, Luo Shaojun chimed in, "Yes, we're all one family. It's just that Yujun and Xiujun don't share the same father or mother as us."
Li Banfeng seemed to understand. "Ah, cousins, then."
Luo Shaojun shook her head. "Not cousins either. We are biological sisters."
Li Banfeng looked at Shaojun, then turned to Luo Lijun. "This child is quite clever. You really ought to give her some schooling."
Luo Shaojun protested, "Seventh Brother, I have studied!"
"If you've studied, then you should know that if you don't share the same parents, you can't be considered biological sisters."
"Yes, we can! In our land, bloodline isn't determined entirely by one's parents. I had an older brother who shared the exact same father and mother as me, but he turned out looking different from us, so he was no longer surnamed Luo."
Li Banfeng recalled a remark made by Han Xiaoxuan, the hulking Rouge Cultivator: bloodline in the Inner States was an entirely different concept from offspring as Li Banfeng understood it.
Luo Shaojun explained earnestly, "When we are born, we are actually just like bondsmen—we are all worms, with no distinguishable difference between us.
"Before the age of fifteen, we take medicinal pills at home and cultivate according to our family's ancestral methods. Once we turn fifteen, changes occur in our bodies. Most of the brothers and sisters in our household will grow into our current appearance; that is the bloodline of our Luo family.
"My brother, however, grew into a leopard. Even though my mother and father gave birth to him, his bloodline differed from our family's, so he was sent to the Bao family and took the surname Bao. The Bao family is also a feudal lord of a realm, so my brother didn't suffer any loss.
"As for Elder Sisters Yujun and Xiujun, they originally belonged to the Yuan family and should have transformed into giant apes. Yet they grew to look just like our family, so they were considered to possess the bloodline of our Luo family. Thus, our Luo family adopted them, and they became our true sisters."
Li Banfeng asked, "The bloodlines of the Inner States are determined entirely by this transformation at age fifteen?"
Luo Shaojun nodded.
Luo Xiujun added, "When we were in the Yuan family, our father was a grand master, but we were not of the direct lineage, so down the line we could only be considered gentlemen.
"The Luo family is a feudal lord. After joining the Luo family, we became the descendants of a lord and could be enfeoffed as grand masters. In terms of rank, we were indeed elevated by a tier."
Luo Lijun grunted. "At least you have the conscience to admit that much."
Li Banfeng asked, "If a bondsman turned into a river snail at age fifteen, would they become a member of your Luo family as well?"
Luo Shaojun thought about it. "In theory, yes. But it's practically impossible for them to undergo such a change at fifteen.
"Because bondsmen have nothing at all. They can't get their hands on medicinal pills, so they remain in the form of grubs for their entire lives."
Li Banfeng asked again, "What about commoners?"
"Commoners pinch pennies and scrape by, and might manage to consume a single pill every six months or a year. But hoping to change into an appearance like ours is exceedingly difficult. There are cases of commoners becoming gentlemen, though.
"With the wealth of a gentleman's household, taking a pill once a month still creates a massive disparity compared to commoners. Yet among the commoners, there are standout talents who, despite consuming few pills, manage to transform into gentlemen.
"In the households of grand masters, pills are taken every three to five days, which isn't a small gap compared to gentlemen either. Even so, there are children from gentlemen's families who enter the gates of grand masters after turning fifteen."
With that explanation, Li Banfeng finally grasped the truth: in the Kingdom of Great Shang, consuming medicinal pills was the crucial factor governing one's bloodline.
Nobles consumed abundant pills, while commoners took very few. After reaching age fifteen, the children of nobles had a high probability of remaining nobles, though some might regress into commoners due to lacking innate physical talent. By the same token, children of commoners possessing exceptional constitutions could rise to become nobles.
Naturally, there were also commoners whose weak constitutions caused them to degenerate into bondsmen—an occurrence by no means rare. According to Luo Shaojun, if a commoner family had five children, typically three would end up as bondsmen.
Li Banfeng inquired further, "Aside from pills, are there other ways to alter one's fate? Cultivation or physical training, for instance?"
Luo Shaojun replied, "There are, in a sense. Every year, the royal house singles out a few individuals to make a show of it, claiming that such-and-such bondsman cultivated with all their heart and soul and eventually attained the rank of a gentleman.
"But Elder Sister says it's all lies. Those bondsmen only managed to change their fate because they served their masters so pleasingly that they were awarded extra pills. You can't believe a single word from the royal house..."
*Smack!*
Luo Lijun sent Luo Shaojun flying into the water with a slap.
"Little Sister, go pull the boat. Swap your elder sister back."
Luo Shaojun pouted and went to haul the boat, while Luo Yanjun climbed back aboard.
Luo Xiujun whispered, "Actually, Shaojun wasn't wrong. Those two centipedes you encountered in the camp were bondsmen who turned into commoners, then became gentlemen, and ultimately rose to become diviners. Yet Zhaoge actually sent them out to command troops in battle."
"What sort of people are diviners?"
Luo Xiujun said, "They are the ones in charge of sacrificial rites, holding a status between feudal lords and grand masters. Did you find them powerful?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "They had nothing to do with being powerful."
Luo Xiujun said, "They shouldn't have been placed in command to begin with. Those two fools knew nothing."
"Then why were they sent to attack Baisun Commandery? Hasn't Baisun Commandery handed you countless defeats?"
Luo Xiujun lowered her voice. "That's because of the restrictions. Some of our truly formidable generals cannot pass through, nor can our heavy weapons be transported over."
Li Banfeng pressed, "Restricted by whom?"
Luo Lijun glared at Luo Xiujun, and Luo Xiujun dared not speak further.
Still withholding the truth, even now. Li Banfeng was in no rush; he had plenty of ways to make these sisters talk. As he analyzed the social hierarchy of Great Shang, key classes gradually mapped onto his understanding of Puluo Province. "Your King is the Sage?"
Both Luo Lijun and Luo Yanjun remained silent. Seeing this, Luo Xiujun took the initiative to speak. "That's what they say, but the Sage's word carries no weight in Zhaoge. What counts is the Grand Secretariat."
Li Banfeng caught another unfamiliar term. "What is the Grand Secretariat?"
Luo Xiujun pondered how best to describe it. "The Grand Secretariat consists of the royal bloodline. They are the ones who truly hold the reins of the imperial court."
Li Banfeng had some inkling of what "royal bloodline" meant. "The royal family you speak of—are they the three-headed people?"
Luo Xiujun nodded.
Li Banfeng examined the diagram Luo Shaojun had drawn. "The primary heir of the royal family becomes King, while other children remain ordinary royalty. The primary heir of a royal remains royal, while other offspring become feudal lords.
"Following this logic, nobles at every tier should multiply endlessly. Can the Kingdom of Great Shang even sustain so many nobles?"
Luo Xiujun said, "Legend has it that long ago, nobles were indeed plentiful. But back then, Great Shang's territory was vast and its resources bountiful, so sustaining those nobles posed no problem at all.
"Later on, the Tufang Kingdom grew greatly in power. We suffered several defeats, and vast swathes of territory were seized from us. We could no longer feed so many nobles, so their numbers dwindled. Just recently, another one was struck off..."
Before she could finish, Luo Lijun kicked her. The noble family that had just fallen was none other than the Luo family itself—a routine occurrence in the Inner States.
"What kind of country is the Tufang Kingdom?"
"Their ruler is called the Demon Lord, and their royal capital is Silver Bear City."
*The Demon Lord.*
Li Banfeng was reasonably familiar with this term; the proprietor of Hundred Demons Workshop was the Demon Lord.
"How much do you know about Baisun Commandery? Do you know why their people turn into peach trees after falling in battle?"
Luo Lijun kicked Luo Xiujun again, warning her not to speak.
Luo Xiujun paid her no heed. Under current circumstances, currying favor with Li Seven was clearly the smarter move. "That's because the people of the Baisun Alliance helped them."
*The Baisun Alliance?*
Li Banfeng recalled the Baisun Alliance mentioned by Professor Balloon.
"This Baisun Alliance you speak of—is it a kingdom in the Inner States?"
Luo Xiujun first nodded, then shook her head. "Their capital is on Seven Star Mountain—or rather, you can't really call it a royal capital. They aren't a single kingdom at all.
"They have no king, but are a coalition formed by a cluster of smaller states. At first, neither Great Shang nor Tufang took them seriously. But later, the Baisun Alliance grew larger and larger, and both Great Shang and Tufang suffered heavy losses at their hands.
"The Baisun Alliance provided substantial aid to Baisun Commandery. We once contaminated the soil of Baisun Commandery with chemicals so that no crops could grow, aiming to let Baisun Commandery wither away naturally.
"Yet the Baisun Alliance delivered medicinal pills to Baisun Commandery through special means, enabling their people to turn into peach trees upon death. That allowed Baisun Commandery to survive once more."
"Why would the Baisun Alliance help Baisun Commandery?"
Luo Xiujun thought for a moment. "I heard it's because the Baisun Alliance and Baisun Commandery share the same bloodline. Both have 'Baisun' in their names, and many figures in the Baisun Alliance can transform into birds, just like in Baisun Commandery..."
"Stop listening to her nonsense!" Luo Lijun could finally contain herself no longer. "The Baisun Alliance and Baisun Commandery sharing a name is pure coincidence! They don't share the same bloodline at all!"
Luo Xiujun retorted indignantly, "Then you tell us—why did the Baisun Alliance help Baisun Commandery?"
Luo Lijun saw through the matter far more clearly. "Hustle and bustle, all driven by profit. They have their eyes on the Outer States as well, but they've never managed to carve out a path. Unwilling to see us succeed, they lent a hand to Baisun Commandery purely to create trouble for us.
"That's exactly what they did in the Country of Amikan. Last year, they helped the Amikans defeat the Demon Lord. By now, the route leading to Amikan has nearly fallen into their grasp."
The route leading to Amikan likely referred to another wormhole, or a branch of the wormhole—the very Inner Amikan that Ling Miaosheng had recently visited.
"So that means the Baisun Alliance has also mastered how to navigate these passages?"
Luo Lijun sighed. "Where do you think all the restrictions along the pathway came from? Weren't they all tampered with by the Baisun Alliance? It's entirely because of them that we could never unleash our full might against Baisun Commandery. Otherwise, if our true armaments had been brought through, Baisun Commandery wouldn't have lasted a single moment.
"Then again, I never truly wanted war. We desperately wanted to carve out a path to survival in the Outer States, but the Outer States aren't easy to deal with. The Baisun Alliance makes trouble behind our backs, and Puluo Province stands blocking the way ahead. If this path must be paved with mountains of corpses and seas of blood, what good is winning it in the end?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Well said. Does your Luo family still wish to reclaim your power in the Inner States?"
"Reclaim it? How?" Luo Lijun gave a bitter laugh. "When a single feudal lord falls, dozens of grand masters fall behind them, along with countless gentlemen. The Luo family's estates will soon be carved up clean."
Luo Xiujun said, "The key issue is that this was an imperial decree from the royal house. In Great Shang, who can overrule royalty?"
Li Banfeng said, "Then install another royal family."
Luo Lijun looked at him in disbelief. "Where on earth would we find a royal family?"
Li Banfeng tipped the brim of his hat, fixing his gaze on Luo Lijun. The bargaining chip was on the table; it was time to talk business.
"Do you know the whereabouts of Old Train?"
The five river snail sisters exchanged glances, none of them speaking a word.
Li Banfeng smiled faintly. "The road is long. We can take our time to talk."
***
Relying on his memory, Li Banfeng towed the raft toward the vicinity of the Boundary.
The five Luo sisters, along with Lang Daoshou, were all fast asleep on the raft, slumbering soundly.
The music box paced along the wood, ensuring that every last one of them remained deeply asleep.
Li Banfeng picked up the makeshift telephone and dialed his wife. "Darling wife, I—"
"Heartless madman! What are you coming back for? Go fool around out there!" His wife slammed the receiver down.
Luo Zhengnan let out a sigh. "Madam is angry."
With the call cut off, Luo Zhengnan was about to nod off, but before long, his wife called back. "Madman, where are you?"
"Right by the door!"
Zhao Xiaowan hung up and stepped to the bow of the ship. Across the Boundary, she faintly made out Li Banfeng's figure floating in midair.
"Hurry, bring the Dark Bridge Cannon over!" The gramophone waved its arm. Banfeng Bing and Banfeng Ding dashed forward at once, while Banfeng Two stood aside watching, refusing to lift a finger.
After dialing in the parameters, a shot was fired. Li Banfeng summoned a swarm of shadows to carry the raft, crossing the dark bridge and landing back onto the ship.
Seeing the cluster of shadows, Li Banfeng said in pleasant surprise, "You're all still here!"
Banfeng Two huffed. "Where else would we be? Even without you, life goes on just fine, doesn't it?"
Zhao Xiaowan caught hold of Li Banfeng, beating against his chest before turning to fuss over him with heartache. "Where on earth have you been all these days? Do you have any idea how terrified I was?"
Li Banfeng wrapped his arms around Zhao Xiaowan from behind. "Darling wife, it's a long story. Allow us to share some tender affection first, and then I shall tell you everything in detail!"
After a moment of playful bantering, both found their interest piqued. Li Banfeng pulled out an oilcan. Zhao Xiaowan's face fell instantly. "What did you pull that out for?"
Li Banfeng quickly put the oilcan away, scooped Zhao Xiaowan up, and headed into the guest cabin.
In the blink of an eye, Li Banfeng emerged fully dressed, smiling cheerfully. "Wife, wasn't that delightful?"
Zhao Xiaowan, her clothes draped loosely over her shoulders, wore a blank, deadpan expression. "Husband... engine oil really is better."
Li Banfeng tucked his hands into his sleeves and squatted on the deck. "Wife, being brief has its advantages. Let me explain the reasoning behind it..."
"Save the nonsense," his wife said, finishing dressing and stepping onto the deck. "How do you plan to handle these Inner States people?"
Though the five Luo sisters had assumed human shape, she saw right through them at a glance.
Li Banfeng said, "I plan to take them to the Inner States and have them guide the way so I can find an old friend."
Li Banfeng gave a rough account of what he had witnessed in Baisun Commandery. His wife immediately guessed the old friend's identity. "Husband, you wish to rescue that lunatic craftsman—do you intend to enter the Inner States through Baisun Commandery?"
"Baisun Commandery will likely be difficult. The Inner States frequently deploys troops there, so security is bound to be airtight," Li Banfeng said, having already formed a plan. "We still have another route, which shouldn't be blocked off yet."
***
He Jiaqing pushed through a thicket of brambles. After trekking across the newland for several hours, he arrived at a factory building.
A factory inside the newland was an extraordinary oddity. He Jiaqing slipped past the patrolling aberrations and entered the workshop, where he spotted a white-haired elder polishing machinery components.
"Senior Shi, He greets you with respect." He Jiaqing offered a deep bow.
Shi Gongxing looked up, set his tools down, and wiped the grease from his hands. "Young Master He, what brings you here?"
He Jiaqing glanced around the workshop. Compared to other factories in Puluo Province, the equipment here was noticeably crude. This was a newland; products made here had virtually no chance of being sold. Erecting this factory was likely just Shi Gongxing's way of finding solace for himself.
"With your profound mastery, Senior Shi, your talents ought not to be buried in a place like this."
Shi Gongxing shook his head slightly. "At my age, being able to earn a bit of peace and quiet is a rare blessing. There is no talk of being buried. Young Master He, speak your mind plainly."
He Jiaqing said, "The covenant deed for this newland is incomplete. I intend to help Senior retrieve the other half, and then help you transform this newland into proper land. What do you think, Senior?"
Shi Gongxing froze for a moment. "One does not accept rewards without merit. Young Master He, such an enormous favor—how could this old man ever shoulder it?"
He Jiaqing produced a covenant deed. "It is no mere favor. This junior simply wishes to accomplish a great undertaking alongside you, Senior."
Chapter 661