"What was that you just said about having eyes?"
The gramophone had heated its needle red-hot, and Hong Ying held her longsword raised as the two interrogated the Red Lotus together.
Red Lotus answered calmly, "Eyes are something everyone has."
Her tone was utterly calm, but inside, she was far from calm.
She had just been outside; she had seen what the world looked like out there, and had formed a resonance with it.
Yet that moment had been so fleeting, and now she was back inside the companion dwelling, making that brief instant feel almost unreal.
Hong Ying drew the blade of her sword across a lotus leaf. "Cut the nonsense! Did you just do something out there?"
A lotus leaf shoved the blade away. Red Lotus snapped furiously, "I didn't do a thing! If you keep looking for trouble, don't blame me for being discourteous!"
"Discourteous? What can you do? I've been wanting to fight you for ages!" Hong Ying raised her sword, but suddenly heard a noise outside the door.
"Husband is back!" The gramophone rushed to the door, only to see Li Banfeng stumble through the doorway, nearly collapsing to the floor.
The gramophone quickly supported Li Banfeng, helping him to the bed to rest. Checking his complexion and taking his pulse, she cried out in alarm, "Husband was struck by the sky light!"
"It really was your mischief!" Hong Ying swung her longsword, intending to hack at Red Lotus.
The gramophone stopped Hong Ying. "Don't be rash. Sister Red Lotus, what on earth happened?"
Hearing the gramophone's tone, Hong Ying sheathed her longsword.
Li Banfeng was no longer the raw beginner he used to be. With his current cultivation, being exposed to sky light once in a while would merely be treated as gaining a bit of Dao affinity—it wouldn't be a major issue.
But judging from his current condition, he had absorbed far more than just a little sky light; the situation before them was grave indeed.
Hong Ying said no more. If Xiaowan couldn't save Qi Lang, the only one left who could was Red Lotus.
Red Lotus's attitude softened slightly. "I was sleeping just now when, for some reason, I was suddenly pulled out of the house. I saw Old Qi locked in combat with someone and meant to step in and help, but then I resonated with that person in the sky. I knew disaster was looming and wanted to urge Old Qi to hurry back, but for reasons I don't understand, I was pulled back in first. What happened after that, I have no idea."
The rest was obvious: Li Banfeng had been severely wounded by the sky light.
Having grasped the gist of what transpired, the gramophone said to Red Lotus, "Sister, set everything else aside for now and cure our husband first."
Red Lotus refused. "We need to make things clear first. He's your man, not mine. If I save him and you turn around, refuse to acknowledge it, and settle scores with me afterward, who's going to care whether I live or die?"
The gramophone promptly promised, "Rest assured. As long as Husband is safe and sound, I will never settle scores with you."
Red Lotus unfurled her petals, and from the lotus seedpod emerged a sheet of covenant paper. "Words are wind. Put it in a covenant deed."
The covenant paper Red Lotus crafted herself was of extraordinary quality. The gramophone signed the deed without a moment's hesitation. Red Lotus used a leaf to slit Li Banfeng's blood vessel and said to the gramophone, "Whether he can be saved depends on whether this works..."
The gramophone brought over a puppet body and had Hong Ying stand ready at the side.
***
The peddler jumped into the courtyard and saw Zhong'er lying near the doorway, while in the adjacent wing, Lightbulb was sprawled on the windowsill.
He entered the room and nearly slipped; stumbling and staggering before finding his footing, he saw Lian Buda poking his head out from under the quilt.
"What took you so long?" Lian Buda's face was deathly pale, drenched in sweat.
The peddler didn't answer, asking instead, "What happened just now?"
Lian Buda said, "Shu Wanjuan tracked me down. I set a fire to signal you, but you never showed up, and I was about to lose to him. Then Old Qi arrived. The two of us together managed to get the upper hand on Shu Wanjuan, but then, out of nowhere, the sky light descended—and with terrifying fury. Old Qi and Shu Wanjuan ran off, and I don't know where they went."
"Ran off?" The peddler looked around and spotted the key to the companion dwelling beneath the tea table.
Li Qi had fled in great haste. It was obvious that he hadn't even had the strength left to conceal the key properly; the sky light must have wounded him severely.
The peddler asked Lian Buda again, "You survived the sky light?"
Lian Buda nodded. "Slipped right past it."
The peddler was taken aback. "You could slip past even that?"
Lian Buda nodded. "Back when I was trapped, I encountered the sky light too. Da Lian Buda couldn't hide, so back then I developed a set of methods to use oil and let the sky light slide right past."
The peddler and Lian Buda stared at each other, silent for a while.
Lian Buda looked at the peddler's face. "You're injured?"
The peddler nodded. "A minor injury, nothing serious. The two outside seem to be hurt as well."
Lian Buda gave a start. "They must have been caught in the crossfire of the sky light."
He climbed out of bed, ran outside, helped Zhong'er up, and checked on Lightbulb's condition.
Neither of them had been in the room, so they hadn't suffered direct exposure to the sky light, only bearing some of its residual glow. But the sky light had been far too fierce, and lacking sufficient cultivation, their injuries were by no means light.
Lian Buda turned back to ask the peddler, "Do you have any soul-returning soup?"
"I do," the peddler replied as he stepped out of the room. In the blink of an eye, Lian Buda's room vanished.
This was a Lock Cultivator skill.
Lian Buda frowned. "Why did you lock my room?"
The peddler said, "I was worried Shu Wanjuan left behind some hidden tricks. I need to clear everything out before unlocking this room."
Lian Buda grew annoyed. "You could at least have given me a heads-up! I still have things inside I didn't take out!"
The peddler chuckled. "No matter. Whatever you're missing, have Old Qi buy it for you."
Lian Buda added, "That sky light was extraordinarily fierce, relentlessly chasing after Old Qi. Unable to dodge, Old Qi threw caution to the wind and grabbed Shu Wanjuan, dragging him into the sky light so they'd be blasted together. I've no idea where the two of them ended up."
"I'll go look for them; they shouldn't have gotten far." The peddler leaped over the wall, retrieved two bowls of soul-returning soup, and returned to the courtyard.
Lian Buda took the bowls and asked, "Why didn't you push your cart inside?"
The peddler gave a vague reply, "Not very convenient. I'm leaving now."
Watching the peddler's retreating figure, Lian Buda felt something wasn't right, yet he couldn't put his finger on what.
Standing by his cart, the peddler reviewed the entire encounter, his expression growing grimmer.
The reason he had locked the bedroom was that he had seen Li Qi's key inside.
As long as Li Qi made it back to the little train, he would surely have a way to deal with Shu Wanjuan—he was not worried about that.
What worried him was something else: he feared Lian Buda might tamper with Li Qi's key. He no longer trusted Lian Buda, because Shan Chengjun's arrival had been far too coincidental.
Glancing at the cart, the peddler couldn't help but sigh.
After a moment of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and hoisted the cart onto his shoulders.
The cart was heavy, bending his back beneath the load.
Carrying the cart for a few steps, his eyes bloodshot, he couldn't resist cursing, "Shan Chengjun, you son of a bitch!"
***
Tufang State, Wuxian City.
Shan Chengjun cradled a cart wheel, smiling with immense satisfaction.
The crowd around him couldn't smile; all of them were injured, and none could comprehend why Shan Chengjun was smiling.
Shan Chengjun stroked the spokes of the wheel one by one. "Look closely, all of you. Look at this craftsmanship, look at how many arts are embedded within it! Do you have any idea how much skill is required to forge a wheel like this?"
No one spoke; they could not see much value in this single wheel.
Yet that did not dampen Shan Chengjun's spirits in the least. He wiped the hub over and over. "This is a tremendous victory! Who among you would have dared imagine that the peddler couldn't even protect his wheel? Who among you would have dared imagine how wretched a state he was reduced to? If I could take his wheel this time, next time I can dismantle his cart, and the time after that, I can take his life! As long as Puluo Province is rid of him—"
Halfway through his sentence, Shan Chengjun shuddered. Everyone assumed he had been struck by one of the peddler's skills, instinctively backing away from him.
Shan Chengjun had someone stow the wheel away carefully and told the group, "I'm going to take care of something. I'll be back shortly."
Leaving the estate, Shan Chengjun went to the shore and dove straight into the sea.
After swimming through the water for a long time, he entered a sea cave.
After diving and swimming through the cavern for a good while, he came ashore and flicked his sleeves, scattering droplets of water until not a single drop clung to him.
Walking along the cavern for a moment, Shan Chengjun halted before a stone wall. "Private matters are discussed in private, but out in the open, we serve different masters. Coming to Wuxian City to look for me is hardly appropriate."
No reply came from behind the stone wall.
Shan Chengjun sighed. "The intelligence you gave me was accurate enough—the peddler really did show up. But the news came too abruptly, and I couldn't assemble top-tier fighters in time. It wasn't an easy fight. Although I didn't kill him, I definitely won. I took a wheel off his cart. I'll show it to you another day."
Still, no sound came from behind the wall.
Shan Chengjun grew displeased. "What's with the silence? Think you got the short end of the stick? Let me tell you, if I hadn't gone today, the peddler wouldn't have let you off, and you'd be dead by now. We helped each other out; neither of us owes the other anything."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Shan Chengjun heard a faint noise on the other side of the stone wall.
Unsure of the other's intentions, he waited a moment before circling around to take a look.
Shu Wanjuan was standing on the other side of the stone wall—with only half his body left.
Even that remaining half was barely functioning. On the verge of death, Shu Wanjuan braced himself against the wall with one hand and stared silently at Shan Chengjun.
Shan Chengjun narrowed his eyes. "You're in this state; what good is staring at me?"
Shu Wanjuan stared fixedly at Shan Chengjun; this was his last hope.
"Still want me to save you?" Shan Chengjun smacked his lips. "It's not impossible, but our previous price will have to be renegotiated."
Shu Wanjuan rolled his eyes slightly. His thought was crystal clear: so long as Shan Chengjun was willing to save him, everything was open to negotiation.
Yet Shan Chengjun still hesitated. "If the Demon Lord finds out about this, I'm finished. If Qiao Yi finds out, you're finished. If I kill you quietly right now, neither of us is finished. Wouldn't you say that kills two birds with one stone?"
Shu Wanjuan couldn't answer.
But on one point, Shan Chengjun was entirely correct: Qiao Yi must never find out about this.
***
Shang State, Chaoge.
Qiao Yi sat in Xinxiao Garden, watching Xie Gong and Zhu Jin play Weiqi. Xie Gong controlled the right hand, while Zhu Jin controlled the left. The game had reached the middle phase, the battle fiercely contested. Xie Gong played an aggressive push with the white stones, leaving Zhu Jin momentarily at a loss for a response.
He glanced at Qiao Yi, hoping he would suggest a move.
Qiao Yi shook his head with a sigh. "Watching such an abysmal game, yet seeing the two of you battle with such relish—it really is an ordeal for me."
Zhu Jin said nothing, but Xie Gong could not hold back. In this game, he felt he hadn't played badly at all. "Brother, why don't we start a fresh board and play a match?"
Zhu Jin nodded repeatedly. "It's been a long time since I've seen Eldest Brother play."
Qiao Yi still shook his head. "Your skills still need honing. If you truly played against me, neither of you would last until the mid-game."
Xie Gong smiled faintly. "Brother makes a good point. The man who doesn't play always has the highest skill."
The remark was an obvious barb, but Qiao Yi didn't mind. "When deploying stones on the board, one must first look at the grand trend, then at the local board situation, and only last does it come down to tactical techniques. The two of you play with passable tactical moves, barely spare a glance or two for the board situation, and are utterly blind to the grand trend. As a pastime, it's fine, but in my eyes, this doesn't even qualify as a real game."
Xie Gong set down his stone. "Since Brother is generous with guidance, your younger brother truly has a question to ask. Shu Wanjuan has made his intentions clear, pledging complete loyalty to the court, yet Brother dispatched him alone to navigate the Demonic Land. Should anything go awry and the court lose a loyal minister and capable general, did Brother's move truly perceive the grand trend clearly?"
Qiao Yi smiled, knowing Xie Gong had harbored grievances over this matter all along. "It is precisely because I saw the grand trend clearly that I dispatched him alone to the Demonic Land. The very foundation of the grand trend here lies in order and chaos."
Xie Gong said, "Please elaborate, Brother."
Qiao Yi said, "The rule of Great Shang lies in order. Whether employing personnel, conducting affairs, rites and laws, or high and low stations, everything must remain strictly orderly. Shu Wanjuan possesses peerless talent, and now he has repeatedly affirmed his devotion to the court. By rights, such a man ought to be placed in an important post. Yet he already commands considerable renown among the feudal lords; how should he be employed? By granting him the title of an imperial prince?"
Xie Gong still didn't understand. "If Brother wished to place restrictions on Shu Wanjuan, why dispatch him to the Demonic Land? Once he establishes merit in the Demonic Land, if Brother refuses to ennoble him as a prince, I fear it will hardly convince the masses."
Qiao Yi shook his head with a chuckle. "Gaining merit in the Demonic Land is by no means an easy feat. The crux of the Demonic Land lies in its chaos—so chaotic one knows not where to look, so chaotic it defies reason, so chaotic that the Lord of the Demonic Land must run back and forth from morning till night, unable to spare a thought for anything else. But if one day the Demonic Land ceases to be in chaos, what should the imperial court do? Through all these years of chaos, the Demonic Land has nurtured countless warlords. If those warlords point their swords at Chaoge, how shall we respond?"
Zhu Jin laughed. "Eldest Brother, you worry too much. How could a rabble of grass-roots outlaws ever shake Chaoge?"
Qiao Yi wiped away his smile, his expression turning solemn. "The Grandmaster of the Artisan Sect remains in Great Shang to this day—have you forgotten?"
He was referring to Old Train. Zhu Jin certainly hadn't forgotten that. "Eldest Brother, that mad craftsman is trapped by us."
Qiao Yi added, "The Lord of the Demonic Land has spies spread throughout Great Shang; do you mean to tell me you were unaware?"
Zhu Jin said, "The peddler did plant some spies here, but to claim they're spread everywhere is a bit of an exaggeration..."
Qiao Yi pressed, "He Jiaqing came to Chaoge twice to steal covenants—is that an exaggeration as well?"
Zhu Jin fell silent; there was no talking his way around that.
Qiao Yi gave a long sigh. "Flattery has become second nature on ordinary days, and the ministers in court have grown used to hearing it, all believing the warlords of the Demonic Land to be mere ants and grass, unworthy of concern. Little do they know that every time troops are deployed against the Demonic Land, one must exercise the utmost caution. First, one must see the grand trend clearly; next, one must master the board situation; and only then can one employ schemes and tactics to overcome the enemy and remain invincible!"
Xie Gong said in a low voice, "I understand there are many difficulties involved, but capable and ambitious men like Shu Wanjuan deserve to be given important roles. Even if it were merely a title, it would at least keep people's hearts from turning cold."
Zhu Jin nodded. "Even an honorary title would suffice. If someone like Li Qi can be enfeoffed as a king, denying Shu Wanjuan a title truly makes no sense."
Qiao Yi's brow knitted tightly; the two of them had disappointed him.
"Enfeoffing Li Qi was done to sow discord among the various warlords of the Demonic Land! It was never an actual reward; how can you conflate the two? If Shu Wanjuan were made a king, and other capable ministers followed suit to claim merits, how many titles of king would Great Shang have to hand out? Enfeoffing Li Qi brings chaos to the Demonic Land; enfeoffing Shu Wanjuan would bring chaos to Great Shang! Can you not even fathom this painstaking design?"
Xie Gong and Zhu Jin lowered their heads in silence. Qiao Yi had known all along that neither had an ordinary relationship with Shu Wanjuan.
He also knew other matters: "I hear Shu Wanjuan also has dealings with Shan Chengjun. Having received no letters from Shu Wanjuan these past few days, it's about time we send men to scout his whereabouts."
As they spoke, the hunting hound Zhu Jin kept padded over with a hare in its jaws and squatted at his feet.
Taking the hare, Zhu Jin praised it, "Deserves a reward!" He plucked a meaty bone from a plate and tossed it onto the ground.
***
Shu Wanjuan opened his eyes, struggled to sit up, and looked up at Shan Chengjun.
Cradling the cart wheel, Shan Chengjun chuckled. "Just how much sky light did you take in? Do you have any idea how much capital I sank in to save your life? Our covenant deed must be resigned. I've already written it out; just press your handprint."
Shu Wanjuan took the deed, looked at it, and cried out in panic, "You're dragging me into dishonor!"
Shan Chengjun sneered, "If I were truly dishonorable, I wouldn't have saved you! Besides, why put on such lofty airs in front of me? Back when we went to the City of Fools together for the Fool Cultivator skill, when you made your moves in the city, why didn't you stop to think about what honor meant?"
Shu Wanjuan read through the deed once more. "This... cannot be done, cannot—"
"Won't sign, is that it?" Shan Chengjun set the cart wheel aside. "Then you'll have to give this life back to me."
Shu Wanjuan looked at himself; only half his body remained, far from fully restored.
Shan Chengjun ripped a piece of skin from Shu Wanjuan's wound, causing blood to gush out. "Use this blood to press your handprint."
***
The gramophone, Hong Ying, Jiu'er, Red Lotus, and the rest of the household sat gathered around the bed, watching Li Banfeng.
Mengde nodded toward the crowd, signaling that Li Banfeng had awakened from his dream.
Li Banfeng opened his eyes and sat up.
Seeing that his movements were completely fluid, without any stiffness or sluggishness, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief. Red Lotus proudly spread her petals. "Since you trusted me, you shouldn't have had any doubts. When I said I could save him, I meant it!"
The gramophone was genuinely grateful. "Sister Red Lotus, it's all thanks to you this time."
Li Banfeng said, "Wife, why is everyone crowding around me?"
The gramophone said, "Do you have any idea how many days you've been unconscious?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "No idea."
Puffing steam, the gramophone said, "You didn't open your eyes for three whole days! You scared me half to death!"
"Three days!" Li Banfeng looked deeply chagrined. "What a pity!"
Hong Ying asked, "What's a pity?"
Li Banfeng said, "If this were in the newland and I claimed a territory, hiding at home for three days would have finished opening it up!"
Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter. The gramophone said, "This madman still knows how to crack jokes."
After chuckling for a moment, Li Banfeng took Hong Ying's hand and said, "Wife, it was my fault for making you worry."
The companion dwelling instantly fell dead silent.
The wine gourd felt its breathing was a little too loud and hurriedly covered its mouth.
The Judge's Brush wrapped the newspaper around itself a little tighter.
The glove tossed a silver dollar onto the floor. It clinked and bounced several times, each ringing chime sharp, crisp, and unmistakable.
"Aiya, look! Whose money dropped?" It tried to divert the subject, but failed completely.
No one looked at the silver dollar on the floor. Every single eye was glued to Li Banfeng.
His hand was still holding Hong Ying's hand.
Hiss! Chug!
The gramophone shuddered slightly.
"Qi Lang," Hong Ying trembled even harder. "What did you just call me? Say it again."
"I called you Wife!" Li Banfeng repeated.
Hong Ying sobbed, tears spilling from her eyes.
The gramophone shuddered violently, and two records shattered.
Red Lotus turned around, murmuring under her breath, "I'm getting on in years; I can't bear to watch this—"
Li Banfeng stroked Red Lotus's seedpod and said softly, "Yingying, you worried about me too."
Red Lotus turned her seedpod around, peering closely at Li Banfeng through its seven holes.
Jiu'er tugged on Li Banfeng's lapel. "Ah Qi, what's wrong with you?"
Li Banfeng shoved Jiu'er away with a sharp rebuke: "I knew all along you were harboring ill intent! Shouting outside that 'Heaven has eyes'—did I mistreat you or something? Do you really have to hold such deep resentment?"
Everyone stared at one another in bewilderment, at a loss for words.
Red Lotus turned to leave, but the gramophone hooked her seedpod with its needle. "What is going on here? How did Husband end up like this?"
Red Lotus tore free from the needle. "You can't blame this on me! You were the one who said that keeping him alive was all that mattered!"
The gramophone raged, "That doesn't mean you could drive him crazy!"
Red Lotus retorted, "He was already crazy to begin with!"
"What the fuck did you say?" The gramophone and Red Lotus began clawing and fighting each other.
Hong Ying tried to mediate from the side: "Xiaowan, don't be hasty! I think Qi Lang is doing wonderfully right now!"
The Tang sword chimed in to 'mediate': "Harmony in the household brings prosperity! This Red Lotus was never part of our family to begin with—we can't let her off!"
As the brawl grew increasingly chaotic, the projector hurriedly captured this precious footage.
Fearing someone might accidentally hurt Li Banfeng, the glove guided him to dodge left and right, ducking under the bed.
Jiu'er crawled under the bed after them and said to Li Banfeng, "Ah Qi, don't scare me. Take a good look—do you still recognize me?"
Li Banfeng smiled. "Of course I recognize you. You're Jiu'er, my Senior Sister!"
"Then hurry and go explain things clearly! Don't let them keep fighting!"
Li Banfeng crawled out from under the bed and shouted, "Stop fighting! I was only teasing you!"
The fighting ceased one by one. Hong Ying tugged at Li Banfeng's sleeve. "Husband, what do you mean, teasing?"
Li Banfeng glared at Hong Ying. "'Husband' is not a title you can throw around casually! You're not my wife!"
Hong Ying's eyes brimmed with tears. "You madman, do the words you just uttered not count anymore?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "My wife is a passionate woman—she can boil hot water and spout steam! Can you do that?"
Unable to help herself, Hong Ying's tears fell once more.
The gramophone laughed. "He knows his wife in bed and his shoes when he gets up. My husband would never get that wrong."
"Of course I wouldn't get it wrong!" Li Banfeng embraced the Old Teapot. "Wife, let's go back to our room."
In the blink of an eye, he stepped into the third room.
From inside the room came the Old Teapot's bloodcurdling screech: "Old Qi, no, you can't! I'll fight you to the death!"
P.S. It can boil hot water and it can spout steam—the old teapot truly does fit the bill!
Chapter 707