That Was a Debt

When Li Banfeng arrived at the village chief's house, the three sworn sisters were drinking merrily. A'yi pulled up a chair for him. "Brother, sister was speaking without a filter earlier. Don't hold it against me. Let me toast you first as an apology." From the side, Jiu'er chimed in, "Ah-Qi, A'yi claims her artisan craft is inferior to Old Train's, so she refuses to go to the Dark Star Bureau." Li Banfeng paused in surprise. "Isn't your artisan craft superior to Old Train's?" A'yi shook her head impatiently. "Why does everyone keep asking that? My craft is inferior to Old Train's. Anyone saying I'm above him is talking nonsense. I really have no clue where you heard that rumor." Setting aside whether it was a rumor or not, Li Banfeng asked, "If you don't go to the Dark Star Bureau, how will you rescue your mother?" Holding a plump roasted chicken and gnawing on it, A'yi replied, "He who tied the knot must untie it. The one who trapped my mother is Old Train, so this still requires his hand." Jiu'er scoffed, "Is Old Train really that easy to find?" A'yi put down the chicken and sucked her fingers. "I know where he is. He's at Huangtu Bridge." Li Banfeng's heart tightened. "What did he go to Huangtu Bridge for?" A'yi took a swig of liquor. "Huangtu Bridge was originally Old Train's territory. Later, it was passed to Che Wushang, and after that, Qin Bulou snatched it away. You should know all about this." Li Banfeng certainly knew; he had participated in everything that happened in the latter half. "Does Old Train want to take the territory back and return it to Che Wushang?" A'yi fetched another jar of liquor and filled everyone's bowls. "Logically, he shouldn't. By the peddler's rules, given Old Train's cultivation level, he isn't allowed to interfere in disputes between local gods. "Yet you know Old Train's temperament. Once he goes mad, he acts with reckless disregard, so there's no telling how this will end. "As for the gap between the two sides, we know it all too well. If they truly fight, Qin Bulou is dead for sure. But if Old Train really breaks the rules, I doubt the peddler will let him off either." Jiu'er set down her liquor bowl and looked at A'yi. "Since you know how terrifying Old Train is when he loses his mind, how dare you send him to the Dark Star Bureau? If he gathers his full body and goes berserk again, who will be able to hold him down?" A'yi cocked her head at Jiu'er, knitting her brows. "You little wench, whose side are you on?" Jiu'er sneered. "I'm already married off. Whose side do you think I'd be on?" A'yi spat. "You're just someone's ninth concubine, and you have the nerve to say you're married off?" Jiu'er refused to yield an inch. "What's wrong with being the ninth? It's far better than being a bachelor like you!" A'yi snapped furiously, "Who are you calling a bachelor?" Jiu'er beamed. "All your wives ran away. If that's not a bachelor, what is?" "You little slut!" A'yi drew her firearm. Not one to back down, Jiu'er drove two chopsticks into the ground, executing the Hundred Steps Traverse. As the two glared at each other, the Tang dao offered a word of counsel: "A home is not a place for reasoning; a home is a place for deciding life and death!" Zhao Xiaowan could barely stifle a laugh. Fortunately, A'yi had not heard the blade's remark, or she might have taken it to heart. Li Banfeng kicked the Tang dao and mediated between A'yi and Jiu'er. "Hold your fire for a moment. We need to clear something up. If Old Train fully recovers his artisan cultivator half, what will he become?" A'yi put away her firearm and smiled sweetly. "He'll go completely insane—right on par with the two of us." "I am not insane; I've seen a doctor," Li Banfeng said, looking straight at her. "But if Old Train truly loses his mind and wreaks havoc across Puluo Province, how do we handle it?" Gnawing on a chicken leg, A'yi shook her head. "That's none of my business. Puluo Province is Puluo Province, and Hulu Village is Hulu Village. Each lives its own life. My reach isn't that broad." Li Banfeng shook his head. "No. You must take responsibility for Puluo Province. Once I rescue A'yu, I will settle her in Hulu Village. You must be accountable for her actions and prevent her from harming Puluo Province." A'yi thought it over and muttered softly, "She's my mother. If she wants to do something, I can hardly stop her." Li Banfeng's face darkened. "If that's your attitude, this business is off." After weighing her options for a moment, A'yi conceded, "Fine, I agree!" Li Banfeng added, "If Old Train really goes mad, we must find a way to restrain him." A'yi looked reluctant. "I have to manage his affairs too?" Jiu'er scoffed, "Oh please! Weren't you saying before that you'd marry no one else? Seeing him fallen on hard times, now you want to wash your hands of him? Talk about being heartless after the fact!" "Nobody asked you!" A'yi glared at Jiu'er, then turned back to Li Banfeng. Deep down, she knew that if she didn't agree to this, the deal would fall apart. Thumping her chest, A'yi pledged on her conscience, "Fine, let's lay it out here: as long as my mother is rescued, I will never let her cause harm in Puluo Province. "And as for Old Train, if he loses his mind over this, even if it costs me my life, I, A'yi, will help you pin him down." Li Banfeng said, "Words alone are not enough." "Then we put it in writing!" A'yi declared. Li Banfeng produced a sheet of covenant paper. A'yi said, "We also need to make one thing clear. Suppose I clear the path to Dingye City for you, but in the end you fail to bring my mother out. In that case, our agreement is void, our friendship is severed, and we become irreconcilable enemies from then on. Do you agree to that?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "I do not." A'yi froze, veins bulging on her forehead. "What do you mean?" Li Banfeng replied, "Because that will never happen. Before you open the path to Dingye City, I will rescue your mother first and deliver her to Hulu Village." A'yi thought her ears were playing tricks on her. Beside them, Zhao Xiaowan chimed in, "My husband means that we will pay the compensation first, and only then ask you to do the work." A'yi stared blankly for a long while before rising to her feet. "Brother, are you serious?" Li Banfeng nodded. "Dead serious." A'yi added, "People from the Brotherhood Alliance lied to me plenty over this." Li Banfeng shook his head. "I won't lie to you." A'yi grabbed a jar of liquor, gulped it down until it was empty, and smashed the jar to pieces on the floor. "Brother, if you truly bring my mother here, I will march with you to assault the Bandit-Subduing Battalion. If we fail to take it, I'll leave my life behind in Dingye City!" Jiu'er fetched another jar of liquor. "Sister, that's the spirit! For our mother's sake, we two sisters will ride into battle together!" "Who is your mother!" A'yi barked, startling Jiu'er into a shudder. A'yi drank half of another jar, then said to Jiu'er, "That's our Eldest Sister! We kowtowed together on the ground; we must honor our brotherhood! Today, to rescue our Eldest Sister, I stake my life on the line!" Hearing this, Jiu'er's eyes reddened. "Sister, you have true loyalty! Though we and Eldest Sister aren't biological sisters, we are closer than blood! I'll throw my life on the line too!" Li Banfeng pondered a question. He asked Zhao Xiaowan in an undertone, "Darling wife, do the three of them count as biological?" Zhao Xiaowan had no words. Clever as she was, even she could not fathom the logic here. Tears welled in A'yi's eyes as she embraced Jiu'er. "Good sister, your elder sister has never forgotten the oath we swore back then: We seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month, and in the same year, but we vow to die on the same day, in the same month, and in the same year!" Wiping her tears, Jiu'er said, "Well, Sister... Eldest Sister and I seem to be dead already." A'yi thrust out her chest. "No matter! I'll die right alongside you two!" Li Banfeng took a sip of liquor and shook his head. "Stop talking nonsense. You cannot die. You must come back alive. You have to keep watch over A'yu." *** Returning home, Li Banfeng heard the companion dwelling's voice. The old master sounded furious: "Ah-Qi, come to Room Three!" Li Banfeng went to Room Three, and the old master sealed the room from eavesdroppers. "A'yi talks pretty, but you must never listen to her! That woman is utter scum!" Li Banfeng asked, "Why do you say that?" "Her artisan craft is superior to Old Train's! Old Train told me that with his own mouth—I remember it clear as day! "When it came time for her to pull her weight, she made every excuse in the book, claiming her craft is inferior to his! "She wants to rescue her mother, yet she won't go to the Dark Star Bureau herself, leaving all the risks to us! How rotten can a person get?" Li Banfeng pondered. "Perhaps she truly cannot unravel Old Train's artisan craft." "What's there that can't be unraveled? The principles behind artisan craft are all identical! Mark my words: if Old Train is truly restored in full, there's no telling what horrors will follow. "I was against rescuing him from the very start. When he turns Puluo Province upside down, it'll be too late for regrets!" It would be a lie to say Li Banfeng had no worries, but he still had to visit Huangtu Bridge to seek out Old Train. *** Huangtu Bridge, North Bridge. The local god, Qin Bulou, was making jianbing at a roadside stall. Li Banfeng bought a jianbing and asked for an extra egg. Even after frying the crepe and collecting the coins, Qin Bulou still hadn't recognized him. "Old Qin!" Li Banfeng cleared his throat. Qin Bulou looked up at him, eyes vacant and dull. "It's me." Li Banfeng tipped up the brim of his hat. Only after a long while did Qin Bulou recognize him. "Seventh Master, you've come!" Li Banfeng hadn't used his Dwelling Cultivator talents on him. Qin Bulou's failure to recognize him was purely due to being scared out of his wits. "Old Qin, what happened? Have you lost your soul?" "My soul is still here, but I've nearly lost everything else," Qin Bulou said with a bitter smile. "A senior came to Huangtu Bridge, presumably to demand justice for Che Wushang. My territory is about to be lost, and so is my life. In a few days, all that's left of me will probably be just a soul." Li Banfeng understood his meaning. "Where is this senior right now?" Qin Bulou pointed toward the East Bridge. "Over there is an abandoned factory district. The senior is staying there. I don't know when he'll come for me, nor do I know what to do when he does. "I sent someone to find the peddler, hoping the peddler would grant me justice, but that person has been gone so long without a word. I wanted my daughter to leave first, but she refuses. I'm truly terrified that the senior..." Eating the jianbing, Li Banfeng asked, "If you're so terrified, why are you still running a stall here?" Qin Bulou smiled faintly. "What else can I do? Go home and wait for death? Dying in the street means someone will witness it, and at least people will know a local god like me once existed." Finishing his crepe, Li Banfeng grabbed a piece of coarse paper to wipe his hands. "Then keep running your stall here, and wait for my word." Qin Bulou was startled. "Seventh Master, are you going to—" Li Banfeng said nothing more and walked straight toward the East Bridge. Qin Bulou stood in the wind for a long time. He had never expected that after offending a figure like Old Train, someone other than the peddler would step forward to look out for him. Li Banfeng arrived at the abandoned factory district. The dilapidation here was worse even than the industrial quarter of Qishuiyao. Although Ma the Fifth had invested heavily in Huangtu Bridge and Qin Bulou had worked diligently to manage it, Huangtu Bridge's poor reputation and sparse population meant visible results would take time. Inside one of the workshops, Eighteen Wheels was drafting blueprints. When Li Banfeng walked in, Old Train shuddered in fright. "What are you doing here?" "Brother, what kind of talk is that? Am I not allowed to visit? I bear no ill will." Li Banfeng truly harbored no hostility; he had even bought wine and food for Old Train at the North Bridge. Old Train glanced behind Li Banfeng. "Did you bring anyone else?" "No." Li Banfeng shook his head, baffled by what Old Train was so afraid of. Even if Li Banfeng had brought someone, who could possibly frighten Old Train? The two cleared off a lathe, set out the dishes, poured the wine, and chatted over their meal. Old Train said, "Old Seven, I'm glad you came to see your elder brother, but let's not speak of other matters." Li Banfeng smiled. "Why can't we speak of them?" Old Train shivered again. "Old Seven, you truly didn't bring anyone else?" "No." Li Banfeng had brought no malice, nor did he sense any. He had no idea why Old Train's Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity was acting up so frequently. Old Train said, "I know you have some friendship with him, but we must make things plain. My cultivation has long fallen from above the clouds. I cannot interfere in territorial matters." *He doesn't want to interfere?* That was entirely different from what Li Banfeng had expected. Li Banfeng smiled. "Brother, hearing those words puts my mind at ease. But if you don't wish to interfere, what did you come to Huangtu Bridge for?" Old Train brought over several blueprints. "Huangtu Bridge used to be a fine place, and seeing it like this now breaks my heart. "I wanted to lend them a hand. These are machines of my latest design. When you have time, pass them to Qin Bulou and tell him to build more factories. "I know Huangtu Bridge is short on hands, but these machines don't require many people. Besides, this place has abundant coal; as long as there is coal, the machines won't stop running. "Qin Bulou is sharp. He should know where to site the factories. If he works steadily for a few years, Huangtu Bridge can turn itself around." Li Banfeng looked over the blueprints, but knowing nothing of artisan crafts, he couldn't make heads or tails of them. The glove appraised their worth and whispered, "Master, these are good things." Li Banfeng stowed the blueprints away. "Brother, with such excellent machinery, why not hand them directly to Qin Bulou?" Old Train shook his head. "Qin Bulou fears me. I don't want to frighten him. More than one person fears me; I remember even Little Train was afraid of me. If everything were explained, it wouldn't be a big deal, but there are too many misunderstandings that were never cleared up." These words seemed to come out of nowhere, and Li Banfeng couldn't quite grasp their meaning. Seeing that Eighteen Wheels had no intention of elaborating, Li Banfeng didn't press the matter. "Brother, there is something I'd like to ask your help with." Eighteen Wheels shook his head. "I have urgent business of my own right now. In the coming days, I must help someone handle a major matter. We'll speak of this after that is over." *Help someone handle a major matter.* Li Banfeng recalled something: the peddler had said he found Li Banfeng a helper. It seemed the one assisting him against the Bandit-Subduing Battalion was Old Train. "Brother, we might be talking about the exact same matter." Eighteen Wheels kept his head down, eating, before suddenly spitting out three words: "Prying for information?" Li Banfeng suddenly felt an ominous chill creeping in. "Brother, you're overthinking it." Old Train slowly raised his head to stare at Li Banfeng. "Are you afraid of me too?" Li Banfeng nodded. "A little bit, yes." The two stared at each other for a moment before Old Train abruptly laughed. "Fearing me is good. Fearing me isn't a bad thing. Only by fearing me can you stay on guard against me." After laughing, Old Train's face went deadpan, and he resumed eating. Neither spoke for a long time. Then Li Banfeng asked, "Brother, just how high is your attainment in artisan cultivation?" "Extremely high." At the mention of this, Old Train grew slightly excited, the earlier chill vanishing without a trace. "I am a grandmaster of artisan cultivation. I altered several core methods of the artisan lineage—an achievement worthy of founding a sect! In both Puluo Province and the Inner States, not a single soul refuses to bow before my artisan craft!" Li Banfeng nodded. "I've heard the same. Every one of them bows before it!" The two shared a bowl of liquor, Old Train beaming with pride. Li Banfeng asked again, "Brother, how does A'yi's craft compare to yours?" Old Train stopped smiling. He lowered his head again, chewing his food slowly. "Her craft is somewhat better than mine." "Truly?" "Could it be false?" *Whoosh—* A cold gust swept into the decrepit workshop, sending a shiver crawling up Li Banfeng's spine straight to the crown of his head. "Heh heh..." Old Train slowly lifted his head. His brows were inverted, the corners of his mouth turned upward in a twisted grin as he looked at Li Banfeng. "Do you think I'm lying to you?" The companion dwelling whispered a warning beside him: "Ah-Qi, be careful." Li Banfeng remained calm. "Brother, I think it's entirely possible you lied to me." Old Train took a sip of liquor and pursed his lips. "Being deceived by me isn't necessarily a bad thing. "I've lied to many people—so many that I can't even remember the count. Do you think I'm a bad person?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "Hard to say. I don't remember how many people I've lied to either, yet I don't consider myself a bad person." "Brother, you truly are an honest man," Old Train sighed. "I remember the time I fooled the most people. The entirety of Puluo Province was taken in by my lie." "What happened?" Li Banfeng was intrigued. Old Train lowered his voice. "I made a Little Train. You know about that, right?" "I know." The question was illogical. When they first met, Old Train already knew the Little Train was in Li Banfeng's hands, but since he asked, Li Banfeng simply answered along with him. "Heh heh heh!" Old Train chuckled. "That's why I say you're honest—you never lie to me. "In the past, plenty of people knew about the Little Train, but they only knew it could fight. They had no idea it had other abilities. "One day, I told them that my Little Train had suddenly grown up. And once it grew up, it could cross the Boundary. "At first, none of them believed it. They didn't believe a train could grow up, nor did they believe a train could cross the Boundary. "To tell the truth, crossing the Boundary wasn't something I wanted to tell others. It was too risky. But I had done a few things that left traces, and someone was already suspecting me. "Rather than waiting for that person to uncover it, I chose to speak up on my own. When I repeated it enough times, people began to believe it. They asked me why this Little Train could cross the Boundary. "I never told them that part. I only said one thing: I wasn't the only one who built this train. "That was the truth. When making the Little Train, many people helped me, including A'yi. "I also told them that A'yi's artisan craft was superior to mine. Then everyone who learned of this believed it—even the Little Train believed it." *Pshhh—* The companion dwelling puffed a breath of steam behind Li Banfeng. Old Train smiled upon hearing the steam. "Must be infuriating to find out you were deceived, eh? "In truth, what A'yi helped me with had nothing to do with the Boundary. The Little Train can burn whatever it finds—coal, oil, or even dry firewood picked up from the ground. That was A'yi's contribution." Li Banfeng asked, "Why lie to them?" Old Train's cheek twitched. "Because someone was displeased. Because someone declared the Boundary insurmountable. I am a Travel Cultivator; I couldn't stand for that. Gradually, that person and I became adversaries. "That person kept her eyes glued to me and to the Little Train, which made things troublesome for me. "At first, I had ways to avoid her, but later I couldn't dodge her anymore. That person had a sworn sister—A'yi's mother. Her mother had exceptionally sharp eyes; nothing I did could escape her notice. "I dragged A'yi into the mess so her mother would have reservations. I thought that by muddling the waters, the whole matter would blow over. "I figured that person wouldn't investigate A'yi. Out of respect for her sworn sister, she shouldn't have suspected A'yi either. "I had already confessed that I was the one behind those deeds. In fairness, none of it had anything to do with A'yi. "Besides, I believed A'yi's craft still had a long way to go. She certainly wouldn't possess the skill to cross the Boundary, so she posed no threat to that person. "Turns out I was wrong. I underestimated A'yi. She did have the ability. Though her method differed from mine, she truly could cross the Boundary. "Then everything fell apart. That person dug into A'yi's background, saw A'yi as a threat, and resolved to eliminate her. "It was my mistake. I had to protect A'yi. I went to risk my life against that person, but I was no match for her. The only person capable of defeating her had already left Puluo Province at the time. "I didn't know what to do. In the end, A'yi's mother sacrificed her own life, submitting entirely to that person, just to preserve A'yi's life. "From then on, I owed A'yi a life. And from then on, A'yi kept saying she wanted to marry me. You didn't actually think she had feelings for an old bag of bones like me, did you?" At this point, Old Train stared fixedly at Li Banfeng. "She came to claim my life. She wants me to pay back a life for her mother! Do you understand?" Li Banfeng nodded. "Now I understand. Brother, can you tell me who that person was?" "Heh heh..." Old Train smirked. "Trying to pry information out of me again? I won't tell you!" Li Banfeng ate a piece of beef and took a sip of liquor. "Even if you don't tell me, I can guess. That person is the Heavenly Maiden." Old Train gritted his teeth. "She is the scourge of Puluo Province!"