Across the wilderness, private detective Daboyins was sprinting for his life.
The tails of his coat were mostly torn away, and Madam Bagworm Moth was busy chewing on his top hat.
Deciding the hat didn't taste very good, Madam Bagworm Moth chewed it a few times and tossed it by the roadside.
Spitting out a strand of silk to bind Daboyins's feet, she closed in and cooed, "Be my man. I'll take good care of you."
"Madam, I might not be your type," Daboyins said as his body rapidly swelled, transforming into an enormous spider.
Tearing free of the silk, he shot out a line of spider silk and hoisted himself up into a tree.
Madam Bagworm Moth was thrilled. "I just love men like you. I love the way you spin silk."
With all eight eyes, Daboyins gazed at Madam Bagworm Moth. "I don't know what you've been through, Madam, but I have a wife of my own."
Madam Bagworm Moth laughed. "Is your wife prettier than me? Does she know how to love a man better than me?"
Daboyins still wanted to run, and Madam Bagworm Moth was poised to give chase.
Could he escape?
He could!
Madam Bagworm Moth had pulled her punches, both with Li Banfeng and with Daboyins.
She wasn't out to kill; she just wanted to have fun.
He couldn't beat her in a fight.
He couldn't shake her off.
Should he just let her have her fun?
Could a man really endure such a thing?
At that thought, Daboyins suddenly smiled—a smile filled with heroic dauntlessness and grace.
Think of how much pain and hardship I endured to get where I am today.
What does a little humiliation like this amount to?
His eight eyes flickered for a moment. Then Daboyins offered a bow. "Madam, could we talk first?"
"What is there to talk about? Let's consummate this at once!" The giant caterpillar pinned the spider down.
This was within Daboyins's expectations.
The giant bagworm moth's body shuddered violently.
Daboyins closed all eight eyes, all eight legs clutching tight to the spider silk.
***
Li Banfeng slid down from the roof of the wooden cabin. Yu Nan didn't know how he had gotten into the Yu Family Stronghold, and Li Banfeng offered no explanation.
He was hungry and thoroughly exhausted.
After eating some food, taking a bath, and changing clothes, Li Banfeng regained some of his strength. When Yu Nan brought up the detective from earlier, Li Banfeng fell into contemplation.
"Detective Daboyins is a good man."
Yu Nan asked, "What grievance do you even have with him? Why did he attack you?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I don't know. I don't know him."
Yu Nan found his reasoning even harder to grasp. "If you don't know him, why call him a good man?"
Li Banfeng couldn't understand her perspective either. "Didn't you see it just now? If he hadn't saved me, how could I have shaken off that caterpillar?"
"He... saved you..." Yu Nan couldn't accept that interpretation.
Li Banfeng stood by it. "Whatever his motives were, he did a good deed in the end. One of these days, I'll pay him a visit to thank him in person."
"You want to pay him a visit to thank him?" Yu Nan shook her head vigorously. "Seventh Master, that private detective was trying to kill you. Don't go looking for him under any circumstances! I'm worried he might be tied to the Geng family."
At this, Yu Nan brought up the matter she cared about most: "The Geng Family Medicine Shop caught fire and Geng Zhiwei is dead. Did you know about this?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "I know. I killed Geng Zhiwei. You can go back to Ligou and reopen the cloth shop."
Yu Nan was stunned for a long time. She hadn't expected Li Banfeng to answer so bluntly. "N-no, wait, I don't follow. Seventh Master, you went in alone, torched the Geng Family Medicine Shop, and killed Geng Zhiwei?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Not entirely by myself. Someone helped me."
Who could have helped him?
Yu Nan was dying of curiosity, yet didn't dare pry.
Li Banfeng said, "Tomorrow I'll give you six hundred thousand in cash. Help me hand it over to Senior Yao. Five hundred thousand is to settle a debt, and the remaining hundred thousand is to buy some things."
"Buy what things?" Yu Nan was completely baffled.
Li Banfeng said, "Two sheets of paper. That was the price Old Mr. Yao and I agreed on."
Yu Nan was struck dumb.
Before her father died, he had given her a spirit tablet inscribed only with the surname Yao, meant for venerating Old Mr. Yao.
According to her father, Old Mr. Yao was an extraordinary hermit from beyond the mundane world. Before such a master, not a single out-of-line word should ever be spoken; that was the rule.
Old Mr. Yao had met Li Banfeng only once. How could they already be so familiar?
"Seventh Master, did you do something improper?"
Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered to explain.
It was precisely because you have so many rules that Old Mr. Yao keeps his distance from you.
Her thoughts in disarray, Yu Nan could only set the matter of Old Mr. Yao aside for now. "Seventh Master, what do you plan to do next?"
Li Banfeng had torched the Geng Family Medicine Shop and killed Geng Zhiwei. The Geng family would never let him off, and neither would the Jiangxiang Gang. Li Banfeng couldn't stay in Yaowanggou anymore; he might not even be able to stay anywhere in Puluo Province.
Li Banfeng had made his plans long ago. "Manager Yu, ask around for me and find out where I can get a travel permit to the Outer States."
Going to the Outer States—it seemed that was the only way out.
"Seventh Master, I won't lie to you. I've never done anything like this before and have no confidence in it at all. Besides, the cost isn't small. It'll take me some time to scrape the funds together."
"How much is needed?" When it came to money, Li Banfeng was confident.
"I've heard of someone pulling it off before. In Huan Country notes, it takes about twenty million."
"Twenty million?" Li Banfeng's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Seventh Master, don't worry. You did us a great kindness. I'll find a way to get the money." Yu Nan meant every word. Li Banfeng had avenged her; no matter how hard a travel permit to the Outer States was to obtain, Yu Nan would give it her all.
Li Banfeng blinked, looking at Yu Nan in utter bewilderment. "What kindness did I do for you?"
Killing Geng Zhiwei was his own business; he didn't see what it had to do with Yu Nan.
And the travel permit was business, not a favor. Li Banfeng naturally intended to pay for it himself.
It was just that twenty million sounded absurd. Li Banfeng needed to find someone to verify the number.
Yu Nan sighed inwardly with admiration. Doing good without expecting a reward—Li Qi was a true hero. "Seventh Master, whatever you instruct, I'll definitely do my utmost to carry out. But until it's done, you must stay in the newland. You can't go anywhere. The Jiangxiang Gang could send men after you at any time. I suspect that private detective was hired by the Jiangxiang Gang."
Hired by the Jiangxiang Gang?
That remark jogged Li Banfeng's thinking.
Did the Jiangxiang Gang need to hire private detectives to handle their business?
Even if they did, he had only just burned down the Geng Family Medicine Shop. Could the Jiangxiang Gang really have traced it to him so fast and tracked his movements?
That seemed unlikely.
If the Jiangxiang Gang really sent a private detective after him, was it over the Geng family, or over the bronze lotus?
If it was for the bronze lotus, things were far from simple.
The Jiangxiang Gang might very well surround the Yu Family Stronghold!
Li Banfeng muttered softly, "Looks like I can't stay here. Before long, a lot of people might come looking for me."
"They wouldn't dare," Yu Nan said with utter confidence. "This is the Yu Family Stronghold. This is territory I, Yu Nan, bought with my blood. On this ground, as long as I bleed, no one dares barge in."
Yu Nan explained the rules of pioneering to Li Banfeng.
This was newland cleared through a covenant with the spirits. As long as Yu Nan shed her blood on this land, anyone who dared trespass would suffer severe punishment from the spirits.
The covenant lasted a lifetime, meaning this land belonged to Yu Nan for life unless she died or made a covenant transferring the Yu Family Stronghold to someone else.
Yu Nan's explanation matched Old Zhu's completely.
This gave Li Banfeng an idea.
Could I claim a piece of territory here as well?
Recalling his earlier experiences, he quickly dismissed the thought.
What territory would I claim here?
Sooner or later, I'm heading back to Yuezhou. This perilous place isn't for me.
Li Banfeng produced Geng Zhiwei's pistol. "Do you recognize this gun?"
Yu Nan examined it for a moment. "A Glock 17, made in Austrilia. Guns like this are rare in Puluo Province. It's Geng Zhiwei's."
Seeing the pistol dispelled any lingering doubts: Li Banfeng really had killed Geng Zhiwei.
"How do you use this thing?" Li Banfeng hadn't been able to load the rounds or pull the trigger.
Yu Nan flicked the safety and taught Li Banfeng how to operate the pistol.
"Seventh Master, this gun looks sharp and shoots straight, but it's not very useful in Puluo Province."
"What do you mean? If it shoots straight, why isn't it useful?"
Yu Nan explained, "In Puluo Province, gunpowder is fickle. Out of ten rounds, only two or three might actually fire. If a pistol like this misfires, clearing the chamber is tricky. Seventh Master, if you want a gun for self-defense, I'll give you mine."
Yu Nan drew her own revolver. "An eight-inch barrel Colt Python. It's a revolver. If a round doesn't fire, you just pull the trigger again."
A revolver didn't require ejecting a spent casing before the cylinder was empty. In Puluo Province, its reliability was far superior to other handguns.
The Colt Python was gorgeous, fulfilling all of Li Banfeng's romantic notions of a revolver.
The eight-inch barrel was plenty long, the cylinder was well-proportioned, and the silver finish made Li Banfeng feel like he was stepping into a Western.
It was a fine gun, but Li Banfeng wasn't one to take things for nothing.
"Manager Yu, how much is this gun?"
Yu Nan shook her head. "I won't take any money. Consider it a token of my regard, Seventh Master."
Li Banfeng handed Geng Zhiwei's pistol to Yu Nan. "This is a token of mine. You take it too."
As they exchanged pistols, Yu Nan's cheeks flushed slightly.
Li Banfeng thought nothing of it. He pocketed the revolver, took some ammunition from Yu Nan, and, unable to hold back his exhaustion, returned to the Portable Abode to sleep.
At noon the next day, Li Banfeng had a refreshing lunch. Yu Nan gathered all the hands of the Yu Family Cloth Shop before Li Banfeng to offer their gratitude.
One clerk named Ling Xiu stepped forward and immediately dropped to his knees. "Seventh Master, you avenged our brothers! There's nothing more to say—I'm kowtowing to you!"
"What are you doing?" Li Banfeng leaped away from Ling Xiu at once and pulled him up from the side.
Ling Xiu was taken aback. "Seventh Master, I was trying to kowtow to you!"
Li Banfeng frowned. "Why would you do that?"
Li Banfeng was an orphan. He had seen many pitiful people kowtow to others, often just for a bite to eat.
In his eyes, kneeling and kowtowing were the most abject acts in the world, bar none.
A person shouldn't kneel—at least, not to the living.
Seeing that Li Banfeng was displeased, Ling Xiu had no idea what to do.
Yu Nan felt this was only to be expected; Li Banfeng was a pragmatic man, not the type to value hollow gestures.
She ordered two chests of gold bars brought out. "Seventh Master, I am not an ungrateful woman. Though times haven't been easy for our Yu family lately, we will never fall short of showing the appreciation you deserve."
Li Banfeng was still confused. "What are you giving me money for?"
This caught Yu Nan off guard. Li Banfeng was a straightforward man; there was no need to be so bashful about money.
This put her in a bind. She had no idea what else she could offer him.
Focusing on getting him a travel permit—once that was done, the debt of gratitude would be repaid.
Yet the chances of actually securing a permit were minuscule.
While Yu Nan was racking her brains for a way to repay him, Wang Xuejiao stepped forward. Thrusting out her ample chest, she yelled, "Seventh Master, do you want to marry our boss?"
Hearing this, Yu Nan's face flushed from pale to crimson.
This girl... she never watches what she says!
Wang Xuejiao snorted. "Seventh Master, put that out of your mind! Our boss is proud and strong-willed; she will never marry you!"
At that, Yu Nan's face drained from crimson to pale.
Damn girl, don't go making decisions for me!
Wang Xuejiao continued, "If you want a woman, don't make things hard for our boss—just marry me!"
Li Banfeng was stunned speechless for a long time. "Why on earth would I do that?"
Wang Xuejiao declared with utmost righteousness, "Don't worry, I'm being sincere! All the conditions Geng Zhiwei demanded back then, I agree to them all! I'll fetch a whip right now, strip off my clothes, and let you thrash me. Just find a private room—don't do it in front of the others!"
Thrash you?
What was that even about?
Li Banfeng glanced around at the crowd. "Have you all lost your minds?"
Her eyes rimmed with red, Wang Xuejiao said, "Seventh Master, we genuinely want to repay your kindness! I have to repay it for myself, and for my little brother too!"
"There's no talking sense into you people..." Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "Just get me some dry rations. I'm going back to Ligou."
"Back to Ligou?" Everyone gasped in horror. Going back to Ligou right now—wasn't that courting death?
Suddenly, someone shouted from outside the door, "Brother Seven, I'll go back with you!"
Looking toward the voice, it was Qin Xiaopang.
Chapter 73