Li Banfeng did indeed need to return to Ligou.
If private detective Daboyins truly had been sent by the Jiangxiang Gang, Li Banfeng could under no circumstances stay at the Yu Family Stronghold. Otherwise, once the gang dispatched men to surround the stronghold, he wouldn't stand a chance of escaping.
If Daboyins hadn't been sent by the Jiangxiang Gang, Li Banfeng had to find a way to uncover his origins.
On top of that, Li Banfeng needed to see Shopkeeper Feng to uncover the origin of the gramophone.
Beyond that, he also needed to inquire about travel permits. A permit to the Outer States was far too difficult to obtain; if Yu Nan couldn't manage it, he would have to ask Shopkeeper Feng for potential leads.
If it truly cost twenty million, Li Banfeng would have to reconsider returning to Yuezhou very carefully.
Therefore, heading back to Ligou as soon as possible was the only right choice.
With Li Banfeng preparing to leave, Xiaopang wanted to go along as well.
"Seventh Brother, my life belongs to you from now on. Climb a mountain of blades or plunge into a sea of fire—say the word, and I won't even blink."
Li Banfeng frowned. "It doesn't matter if you blink or not, but you're supposed to hold me back. If I'm heading up a mountain of blades, you can't just pretend you didn't see it."
Qin Xiaopang pondered this for a long time, then nodded. "Seventh Brother makes a good point. Let me kowtow to you first."
Li Banfeng's frown deepened. "From now on, you're not allowed to kowtow to the living. If anyone tells you to kowtow, you kill them."
Qin Xiaopang thought about that for a while and nodded. "Seventh Brother makes sense. When do we set off?"
"You'd better stay put. Rest up at the Yu Family Stronghold for a while. I'll leave you some money so you can have Shopkeeper Yu make you plenty of good food." Li Banfeng was somewhat concerned about Qin Xiaopang's physical condition; standing for any extended period left him drenched in a cold sweat.
Qin Xiaopang smiled. "Seventh Brother, don't worry about me. Once we're back in Ligou, I can find a way forward. I definitely won't hold you back. I'm not afraid of the Geng family, and I'm not afraid of those bastards in the Jiangxiang Gang either!"
Yu Nan chimed in to dissuade him. "Boss Qin, don't act on impulse. The Jiangxiang Gang is on the warpath right now. Forget Ligou—the moment you step outside the Yu Family Stronghold, the odds will be stacked against you."
Qin Xiaopang shook his head. "Shopkeeper Yu, thank you for your kind intentions. I know heading out now is a narrow brush with death, but if I can't walk out of the Yu Family Stronghold today, I'm afraid I'll never be able to leave it for the rest of my life. Seventh Brother, could you lend me some money so I can buy some dry rations from Shopkeeper Yu first?"
That money truly ought to be paid; all provisions in the Yu Family Stronghold were carried back from outside on the backs of Yu Nan's subordinates.
Li Banfeng had just pulled out his wallet when Yu Nan waved her hands. "Seventh Master, don't shame us. What are dry rations worth? Shopkeeper Qin could eat here for the rest of his life and it wouldn't matter. What worries me is..."
Qin Xiaopang laughed. "Shopkeeper Yu, don't worry. I, Qin Tianjiu, won't die so easily. When your fabric shop reopens in the future, I still need to come and offer my congratulations."
Li Banfeng praised him. "Now that's a man with real backbone!"
Yu Nan looked at Li Banfeng. "Seventh Master, I'm coming back to Ligou with you too."
Li Banfeng asked with a straight face, "Do you have the guts too?"
Yu Nan looked awkward. "I'm not... I don't..."
"Since you don't have any, stay hidden here and don't go running around."
Li Banfeng wasn't joking. Yu Nan's situation was different from his; she had the entire Yu Family Gang on her shoulders. With her abilities and strength, she couldn't return to Ligou right now.
Li Banfeng departed the Yu Family Stronghold.
Yu Nan felt a surge of impulse; she truly wanted to leave with Li Banfeng.
But the old storekeeper stopped her. "Boss, wait a little longer. Knowing full well it's a blade's edge, we can't throw ourselves against it. Boss Li is an exceptional man; we can't compare to him. The Jiangxiang Gang can't keep their eyes on us forever. Wait six months or a year for the heat to die down, and it won't be too late to return to Ligou."
...
Li Banfeng moved swiftly across the pitch-black newland, while Qin Xiaopang struggled to keep up behind him.
As they climbed a hillside, Li Banfeng gave Qin Xiaopang a hand. "If you can't handle it, don't try to be brave. I still think you should have rested longer at the Yu Family Stronghold."
Qin Xiaopang wiped away his sweat. "Seventh Brother, if you think I'm moving too slow, go on ahead. Don't wait for me."
"You can barely walk right now. Once we're back in Ligou, how will you handle running into the Geng family?"
Qin Xiaopang bit into a piece of dry ration. "Like I said, I'll never drag you down, Seventh Brother. I'm planning to join a gang."
"Which gang?"
"The Sanying Gate."
Although Li Banfeng knew little about gangs, he had heard Yu Nan mention the Sanying Gate. It was one of the three major gangs in Puluo Province, and Li Banfeng doubted whether Qin Xiaopang even qualified to join.
Qin Xiaopang took a sip of water and washed down the dry food. "I do have the qualifications. As long as you're an initiated cultivator, the Sanying Gate will take you. It's just that someone without a tier like me will only be a regular grunt once I'm inside. Good food and fine drinks will be nowhere to be seen, but when it's time to charge into battle, I'll be right at the front."
Wasn't that just being cannon fodder?
Li Banfeng narrowed his eyes. "What good does joining the Sanying Gate do you?"
Xiaopang said, "Once I'm in the Sanying Gate, those low-level thugs from the Jiangxiang Gang won't dare provoke me anymore, and the Geng family definitely won't dare cross me."
They might not dare provoke you, but if you're cannon fodder in the Sanying Gate, you probably won't live very long anyway.
Li Banfeng asked, "If you reach a tier, you won't have to be a regular grunt?"
Xiaopang nodded. "Reaching the first tier means you can become an iron seal in the Sanying Gate."
"What does 'iron seal' mean?"
"It's a low-ranking boss. You get five or six people under you, an iron seal, and you can oversee some neighborhood business."
As he spoke, Xiaopang's face was filled with yearning. Li Banfeng asked, "Have you been wanting to join the Sanying Gate for a long time?"
Xiaopang shook his head at first, then nodded. "I did consider joining, but I didn't want to be a lackey. I wanted to at least reach the first tier so I could be an iron seal and not lose face."
"Then wait a bit longer until you can eat twenty jin of food."
"I tried once," Xiaopang said, shaking his head. "I bought twenty jin of steamed buns to give it a shot, but after thirteen jin, I couldn't swallow another bite. I'm just not cut out for it."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Twenty jin of plain steamed buns—who could choke that down? Once we're back in Ligou, eat the good stuff. Find the best food and eat twenty jin of that!"
Xiaopang smiled and said nothing.
The two walked out of Mount Jiangyue, where Li Banfeng found a horse carriage. After traveling for a day and a night, they returned to Ligou.
Xiaopang was heading to the Sanying Gate's lodge and asked if Li Banfeng wanted to go along. "Seventh Brother, I can tell you've already reached a tier. I know people in the gang. If you join, you'll definitely get an iron seal."
"If you know people, look out for yourself first. Even if you're just a grunt, pick yourself a decent gig."
After seeing Xiaopang off to the lodge, Li Banfeng headed to Feng's Grocery Store.
Shopkeeper Feng sat behind the counter, his face flushed red as he hummed an opera verse: "Forty-eight stops along the Xiliang River; this soldier wants people, not silver!"
It was from *Wujia Slope*. His lady loved to sing it, and Li Banfeng often heard it.
He originally intended to join in with a verse of his own, but when the shop hand Chunsheng caught sight of Li Banfeng, he trembled in terror and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Shopkeeper, the debt collector is here!"
Shopkeeper Feng was a man of the world. Seeing Li Banfeng at the entrance, he first instructed Chunsheng to shutter the shop, then ushered Li Banfeng into the back room.
Once Li Banfeng took a seat in the back room, Shopkeeper Feng brewed a pot of tea for him and said, "Boss Li, I know why you've come. I truly feel bad about this matter, but friendship is friendship, and business is business. Once a deal is struck, you can't go back on it. If you feel aggrieved, I can offer some compensation, but under no circumstances can you return the item."
Li Banfeng took a sip of tea, puzzled. "Return what?"
Shopkeeper Feng added a piece of charcoal to the tea stove. "Boss Li, honest men don't play underhanded tricks. Since you're here, let's not speak in riddles. You've already bought that gramophone, and no matter what you say, you can't bring it back."
"Who said I was bringing it back?" Li Banfeng looked at Shopkeeper Feng in bewilderment. "That gramophone is great. There's nothing wrong with it. Why would I return it?"
"Great..."
Shopkeeper Feng froze, speechless for a long time.
Ever since his grocery store took in that gramophone, there hadn't been a single day of peace. He suspected Li Banfeng was speaking in sarcasm—or had been tortured out of his mind by the gramophone.
"Boss Li, are we talking about the same gramophone?"
Li Banfeng blinked. "I only have one gramophone."
"Boss Li, do you know that it doesn't need anyone to touch it, that it sings all on its own?"
"I know. Isn't a gramophone meant for playing songs?" Li Banfeng thought it was completely normal.
Shopkeeper Feng stood dumbfounded for a long moment. "When it's happy, it sings a couple of tunes; when it's upset, it can sing all night long! You can't stop it, and you have to listen attentively, or else a burst of scalding steam will burn you half to death. You know that, right?"
Li Banfeng thought about it. "I didn't really notice that. If she wants to sing, let her sing. Why stop her?"
Shopkeeper Feng stared at Li Banfeng in shock, finding the man completely beyond reason.
Was he truly insane?
"Boss Li, let me give it to you straight. You might not know this yet, but that gramophone summons the spirits of the dead from all around." Since a deal couldn't be undone anyway, Shopkeeper Feng laid bare his past experiences to Li Banfeng.
An old lady who passed away in Chuanzi Alley would come to the grocery store every night to listen to songs, and she particularly loved sitting right beside Shopkeeper Feng.
An old yellow dog from Yuqian Alley had only been dead two days before being lured in by the gramophone, showing up every night to listen to the tunes while sprawled beside Shopkeeper Feng's bed.
It was said that the shopkeeper's long-deceased father even came back twice; he liked to brew a pot of tea and listen while puffing on his tobacco pipe.
From the Green Xiao Pavilion, Miss Xiaoxuan, who had drowned herself in a river for love, liked to bring her pipa and play along, singing in harmony with the gramophone.
Brother Hu San, who had died for love alongside Miss Xiaoxuan, liked to dangle a cigarette from his mouth and hold Chunsheng in his arms as they listened together.
Every night, the shop was filled with wandering souls and wild ghosts—how was anyone supposed to live like that?
In a burst of desperation, Shopkeeper Feng had Chunsheng throw the gramophone out.
At eleven o'clock that very night, the gramophone returned home right on time. First, it scalded Shopkeeper Feng and Chunsheng until they were covered in blisters, and then it went right back to singing.
Driven to wit's end, Shopkeeper Feng closed up shop and simply took Chunsheng back to his old home in Waigou.
But moving back was useless; the gramophone followed Shopkeeper Feng all the way to his ancestral home.
Shopkeeper Feng rented another room and moved there to hide.
That very night, the gramophone followed him there and sang the entire night. It warned Shopkeeper Feng that wherever he went, it could follow, and if he ever dared leave without saying goodbye again, it would make sure Shopkeeper Feng and Chunsheng got good and warm.
The gramophone also stated that she liked her original place.
Shopkeeper Feng didn't dare disobey. The next day, he took his clerk and moved back to the shop.
If he couldn't hide from it, he would sell it away.
Shopkeeper Feng reasoned with the gramophone: he was a merchant, so if someone wanted to buy the gramophone, he couldn't very well refuse them.
The gramophone agreed. The next day, Shopkeeper Feng put a price tag of twenty dollars on it and sold it off.
That night, the gramophone returned once more, scalding Shopkeeper Feng with a fresh batch of blisters and saying he had sold her too cheap.
The gramophone told Shopkeeper Feng to ask for at least two hundred thousand, though some bargaining was permitted. Shopkeeper Feng had dragged things out until today, finally managing to sell it.
He had felt guilty toward Li Banfeng in his heart, never expecting Li Banfeng would actually say the gramophone was great.
After finishing the recount of his trials, the shopkeeper added at the end, "Boss Li, that gramophone doesn't just summon ghosts—it can eat ghosts too! Do you know that?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "That's exactly what I like about her. She knows how to manage a household—never lets anything go to waste!"
Seeing that Li Banfeng had lost his mind to this extent, the shopkeeper felt all the more guilty. He had Chunsheng hurriedly fetch two hundred and sixty thousand in cash. "Boss Li, here is your one hundred and sixty thousand back—I don't want a cent. On top of that, I'll add another hundred thousand as a token of my goodwill. How does that sound?"
Li Banfeng waved his hands repeatedly. "What are you doing? I genuinely like that gramophone. I didn't come here for a refund. I'm here to buy something."
Shopkeeper Feng froze for a moment, then asked, "Boss Li, what would you like to buy?"
"I want to buy information. Information about that gramophone. I want to know who is inside it."
Chapter 74