Newland

Before talking business, the private detective Daboyins asked first, "Madam, given your status and standing, you have plenty of capable people at your beck and call. For these three matters, you hardly needed to come to me." Zhuo Yuling fell silent for a moment before answering, "The latter two matters, I don't want anyone else knowing about—especially anyone from the Lu family." Daboyins smiled. "Clearing land is done for the Lu family, but that's merely a cover. Saving someone and killing someone—those are done for you, Madam?" Zhuo Yuling frowned slightly. "I remember you didn't talk so much before. Just name your price." Daboyins weighed it for a moment, then quoted prices for the three matters Zhuo Yuling had put forward: "First matter: land clearing. There's a market rate for this. The plot you want will run three thousand silver dollars, plain and simple." Zhuo Yuling nodded and agreed. Daboyins continued, "Second matter: finding someone. That's difficult—harder than fishing a needle from the sea. When a needle drops into the sea, it doesn't scurry around on its own, but your daughter is currently dodging the He family's hunt to kill her. Tracking her down won't be so easy." Hearing this, Zhuo Yuling was displeased, though not a trace showed on her face. "Who told you the He family wants to kill my daughter? What has my daughter done to wrong the He family?" Daboyins chuckled. "Madam, no wall is completely windproof. This rumor didn't start with me, nor do you need to take your temper out on me. I only wanted to inform you that this won't be an easy task." Zhuo Yuling stubbed out her cigarette, not lingering on the subject. "Just name your price and spare me the chatter." Daboyins held up a single finger. "Ten thousand silver dollars." Zhuo Yuling asked, "Guaranteed success?" Daboyins shook his head. "No guarantees. But if I can't find her, I won't take your money." Zhuo Yuling nodded. "Fine. We'll go with your price." "Third matter: killing someone. Killing this Li Banfeng—and ideally taking him alive..." Daboyins pondered for a moment. "Alive: twenty thousand silver dollars. Dead: ten thousand." Zhuo Yuling picked up her teacup, took a sip, and after a moment's silence asked, "Ten thousand silver dollars just to kill a nobody? Do you think that's reasonable?" She wanted to say that Li Banfeng's worthless life couldn't possibly be mentioned in the same breath as Lu Xiaolan's. Yet she didn't say it aloud. She wouldn't put Li Banfeng and her daughter together for comparison. In fact, according to Daboyins's price for capturing him alive, Li Banfeng was worth more than her daughter. Daboyins leafed through the intelligence on Li Banfeng and said to Zhuo Yuling, "I don't know Li Banfeng's background, and your intelligence is inaccurate. That means I have to shoulder immense risk." "Why do you say the intelligence is inaccurate?" Zhuo Yuling's brow furrowed slightly. Daboyins was very patient. "Madam, your intelligence says Li Banfeng has no cultivation, but from what I know, he is an accomplished cultivator who has attained a rank." "A cultivator?" Zhuo Yuling didn't believe Daboyins. "How do you know he's a cultivator?" Daboyins chuckled. "If I told you I just met him, would you believe me?" "You met him?" Zhuo Yuling gave a faint laugh and shook her head. She naturally wouldn't believe such a claim. Daboyins didn't know Li Banfeng at all, much less have any dealings with him. Yet Daboyins was convinced that the person he had encountered on the road earlier was Li Banfeng—that flamboyantly made-up man. "You're asking too much," Zhuo Yuling lit another cigarette and shook her head. "Li Banfeng isn't worth that kind of money." "How much he's worth is none of my concern, but I am worth that price." Daboyins adjusted his sunglasses. Zhuo Yuling did her best to control her emotions, maintaining a gentle, languid smile. "Dabinzi, I called you here out of sentiment for old acquaintance. Don't push your luck." "Thank you for the favor, Madam." Daboyins tipped his hat, gave another bow, and then lowered his voice. "I call you 'Madam' out of respect as well. Xiaolingzi, you're a rich lady now, so why are you still acting so petty?" A twitch stirred at the corner of Zhuo Yuling's eye, her gaze turning cold. "Spider Bin, watch your tongue." Daboyins laughed. "Gecko Ling, mind your own limits. If you can afford the price, I'll do the job for you. If you can't, find someone else." Zhuo Yuling's expression shifted. The languid calm vanished, replaced by rage she could hardly conceal. Daboyins donned his hat, the courteous, gentlemanly smile remaining on his face. *** Li Banfeng sat in the gatehouse of the Yu Family Stronghold, chatting idly with old man Zhu, the gatekeeper. Li Banfeng had said he was Yu Nan's friend, and Old Zhu believed him without the slightest doubt. "Boss Li, anyone can tell at a glance that you're our young shopkeeper's friend. Just like her, you like wearing men's clothes." Wearing men's clothes? I am a man! What is this old man on about...? Li Banfeng touched his face and felt a slick, greasy film. What was this? Rouge? Realization dawned on Li Banfeng. No wonder that spider in the gorge had called him "Madam"—that wretched Hanxue had slathered heavy makeup across his face again. When did she do that? How did I not even notice? "Mr. Zhu, could I trouble you to fetch a basin of water? I need to wash my face." Old Zhu was a long-term hired hand of the Yu family. He had joined at seventeen and worked for them right up to the present. Now that he was old and could no longer handle heavy labor, Yu Nan hadn't dismissed him; she had given him two rooms in the newland and had him help look after the Yu Family Stronghold. The so-called Yu Family Stronghold was merely two rows of wooden cabins, with seven or eight rooms in each row. These two rows of cabins were peculiar. All around was a boundless, pitch-black forest, yet only the area where the cabins stood was illuminated. Li Banfeng looked up at the sky and discovered a faint halo of light in the night sky, projecting straight down without deviation onto the Yu family's compound. Where did this light source come from? Reaching the ground without excessive dispersion, Li Banfeng reasoned that high up in the sky, there must be a light-emitting body of exceptional performance and precision. Yet Old Zhu's understanding was completely different. "There was no Heavenly Light in the newland originally. Only after clearing the land does the Heavenly Light shine in." "Heavenly Light!" Li Banfeng tensed, reminded of the Heavenly Light he had been exposed to. Old Zhu waved his hands repeatedly. "Not that kind of Heavenly Light. This is the natural light meant for daytime." Li Banfeng asked, "Was it completely dark here before?" "Certainly was," Old Zhu sighed softly. "It wasn't easy for the young shopkeeper to run the fabric shop alone. She scrimped and saved over a thousand silver dollars, and spent it all on this piece of newland." Li Banfeng was even more confused. "This land was bought?" "Bought? Where would you buy it?" Old Zhu laughed wryly. "The young shopkeeper hired six land-clearers, paying each two hundred silver dollars. Five out of the six died before this plot was cleared." "Five dead out of six? Can farming kill people like that?" Li Banfeng was dumbfounded. Old Zhu explained, "Clearing land isn't farming. It's staying in the wasteland for three days. The owner first presents offerings and makes a covenant, then sends people in to clear the land. "Whatever time the land-clearers enter today, that's the time they must come out three days later. As long as the ground lights up and the owner drips blood to leave a mark, the land is cleared." What kind of process was this? Li Banfeng was thoroughly baffled. Only after Old Zhu explained in detail did Li Banfeng grasp the concept somewhat. Yu Nan's reclamation of this wasteland involved three steps in total. First step: Yu Nan brought offerings to sacrifice to the deities of the wilderness and established a covenant with them. Which deity was sacrificed to remained unknown. Second step: On the day the covenant was established, Yu Nan sent in the land-clearers to guard the altar table and live in the wasteland for three days and three nights. As long as even one land-clearer survived, the clearing was considered a success. Third step: Yu Nan returned to the wasteland and dripped her blood onto the ground as a mark, making the land hers. In terms of procedure, Li Banfeng understood the basics. Yet the procedure made little sense. "Yu Nan hired six men, five died, so if the last survivor dripped his blood onto the wasteland, wouldn't the land become his?" Old Zhu shook his head. "Doesn't work that way. He didn't make a covenant with the deity of this land." "Isn't making a covenant simple? Wouldn't setting out an offering do it?" "Still no. Our young shopkeeper has already sworn a covenant with this land's deity; within three days, the deity won't accept anyone else's offerings. If he were to switch to another spot to make a covenant, that would be his own land, and he'd have to pay the land-clearers out of his own pocket. It'd cost a thousand silver dollars to claim such a plot of wasteland—he'd have to decide if he was willing." Li Banfeng still didn't understand. "Since land-clearers aren't willing to buy it themselves, why did Yu Nan spend so much money to get this land?" Old Zhu sighed. "The young shopkeeper wanted to leave herself a way out. None of our advice could sway her." Li Banfeng pressed no further. Compared to land clearing, he was more concerned with Yu Nan's itinerary right now. "Old Zhu, when will your young shopkeeper arrive?" Old Zhu thought it over. "You said earlier they set out last night. At the earliest, it'll probably take until tomorrow night." "Two days and two nights on foot?" Old Zhu nodded. "Two days and two nights is fast already." Li Banfeng had arrived early. He was a journey cultivator; it had taken him just seven hours to reach the newland. Yu Nan, however, had no such abilities. She was leading a group of subordinates without cultivation and hauling a heavy load of possessions. Covering the distance in two days was indeed fast. Old Zhu stood up. "Boss Li, I've tidied up a room for you. Wash up, rest a bit, and I'll go prepare dinner." When they first met, Li Banfeng had only briefly introduced himself; he hadn't expected Old Zhu not to doubt him in the least. "Aren't you afraid I might be a bad person?" Li Banfeng asked casually. Old Zhu shook his head. "This is the Yu Family Stronghold. This is the young shopkeeper's territory. The deity protects her; bad people wouldn't dare come here. Once the young shopkeeper leaves her blood mark on the Yu Family Stronghold, anyone who dares barge in will be smashed to pieces." Li Banfeng was astonished. "There's such a thing?" *** Yu Nan and her followers were still trudging along the road. The journey proved even slower than anticipated. There were too many wounded among her men, plus Qin Xiaopang, who did almost nothing but eat and sleep, rarely waking up. A hundred li from Mount Jiangyue, Yu Nan received news: the old Yu family residence had been burned down. Although it was within expectations, everyone's eyes still reddened with fury. Wang Xuejiao cursed, "That bastard Geng Zhiwei—I'll chop him up and feed him to the dogs! Shopkeeper, let's stop running! Let's go fight him to the death!" A crowd chimed in, shouting: "Fight them to the death!" "We can't let that son of a bitch Geng Zhiwei off!" Yu Nan bit hard on her pipe stem, saying nothing. The old storekeeper Zhang Shiquan advised, "A gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years. Let's listen to the shopkeeper and hold our tongues." After another thirty-odd li, as everyone rested by the roadside, a shop hand came running with a message. He panted for a long while before gasping out, "Shopkeeper, the Geng Family Medicine Shop was burned to the ground! Geng Zhiwei's whereabouts are unknown—he was likely burned to death!" Yu Nan was stunned into silence. The Geng Family Medicine Shop was burned down? Who did it?