Li Banfeng asked Bei Xianzhong where they had come from, but the three hemmed and hawed, none of them willing to tell the truth.
Lu Maoxian even offered an explicit excuse: "This matter is a state secret of the imperial court; it is not suitable to speak of it openly here."
His meaning was that speaking here was inappropriate—so Li Banfeng would simply change the location for them.
Using his technique of Extending the Wide Bridal Chamber, Li Banfeng sent Bei Xianzhong back into the companion dwelling and swapped Jiu'er out.
Meng Yuchun did not understand Li Banfeng's techniques, and seeing Bei Wushuang vanish so abruptly made her rather nervous.
Yet the moment she laid eyes on Jiu'er, Meng Yuchun promptly forgot all about Bei Wushuang.
Could such a stunning woman truly exist in this world?
Meng Yuchun stared at Jiu'er in a lovesick daze. From that instant forth, her eyes had room for no one else.
Jiu'er knew some medicine, so Li Banfeng had her help treat Meng Yuchun's injuries.
Meng Yuchun took hold of Jiu'er's arm, her cheeks flushing red as she said, "Treating wounds out in the open like this... wouldn't one die of embarrassment?"
Jiu'er understood her predicament. An unmarried maiden could hardly strip off her clothes out in the open.
"Miss Meng, I will escort you home." Jiu'er accompanied Meng Yuchun back to her cave dwelling. After dressing her wounds, Jiu'er was about to take her leave, only to see Meng Yuchun gazing at her with hazy, enraptured eyes.
"Miss Meng, is there anything else?" Seeing that Meng Yuchun remained silent and was sweating profusely, Jiu'er thought she had handled the wound improperly. "Does your injury still hurt?"
"It hurts!" Meng Yuchun replied weakly.
Jiu'er reflected carefully; she shouldn't have applied the wrong medicine, so why was she still in so much pain?
"Miss Meng, bear with it a moment. Let me check it for you again."
"Mm!"
Jiu'er unwrapped the bandage and reexamined the wound.
Meng Yuchun bit her lip, her cheeks blushing scarlet.
***
Meanwhile, under the scalding steam of the cooking pot, Bei Wushuang's camel face was also flushed bright red.
Spinning a vinyl record, Zhao Xiaowan asked in a gentle tone, "Where did you come from?"
*Snort, snort, snort...* Bei Wushuang's throat and snout healed rapidly, proving that his physique was indeed worlds apart from what it once was. He snorted repeatedly and said, "I came from the Inner States, dispatched under the orders of Lord Yu to seize territorial ground here."
Zhao Xiaowan asked, "Who is Lord Yu?"
"The Senior Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, Lord Yu Zhuo."
Zhao Xiaowan pressed the edge of the record against Bei Wushuang's eye. "Isn't the Senior Grand Secretary Qiao Yi?"
Bei Wushuang did his utmost to dodge the record, explaining, "Lord Yu is the Senior Grand Secretary of the New Secretariat. Lord Qiao is the Senior Grand Secretary of the Old Secretariat."
Li Banfeng said in surprise, "What New Secretariat and Old Secretariat? Did someone usurp Qiao Yi's power?"
Hong Ying jumped in fright. "Seventh Brother, when did you get back? Don't just chime in out of nowhere, at least give some warning!"
Zhao Xiaowan, however, wasn't startled in the slightest. Her own husband could appear whenever he pleased without frightening her.
She continued questioning Bei Wushuang: "Who established the New Secretariat?"
"It was the new sovereign."
Li Banfeng retorted, "Nonsense! The new sovereign is in Santoucha! When did he ever issue an imperial edict to establish a New Secretariat?"
Bei Wushuang looked at Li Banfeng and dared not open his mouth again, terrified that a single wrong word would cost him his life.
Hong Ying barked, "Seventh Brother is asking you a question! Why aren't you answering?"
That sheer aura alone frightened Bei Wushuang half to death. His tongue tied in knots, Lu Maoxian spoke up from within his belly on his behalf: "The royal family of the Shang State believes the bloodline of that new sovereign in Santoucha is questionable, and that he might not be of orthodox imperial lineage."
"What kind of talk is that!" Li Banfeng was exasperated.
How could that new sovereign in Santoucha have a questionable bloodline? He wasn't imperial blood to begin with!
Zhao Xiaowan remarked, "So the imperial family members enthroned another new sovereign, and then had that sovereign replace the Grand Secretariat—that's the sequence of events, right?"
Bei Wushuang nodded repeatedly.
Zhao Xiaowan said to Li Banfeng, "They simply wanted to replace Qiao Yi."
Lu Maoxian added, "Lord Qiao mismanaged both internal affairs and foreign diplomacy, stirring widespread resentment throughout the court. Lord Yu sent us to the Great Totem to fuse our combat strength into one, all to turn the tide of our flagging war effort."
Li Banfeng scrutinized Bei Xianzhong. These three people were the creations of the Great Totem?
Then this whole affair needed some sorting out.
"Yu Zhuo sent you to the Great Totem? The Great Totem is under his charge?"
As a disciple of the Sage, Lu Maoxian held a certain status in the Shang State and knew the most: "The one in charge of the Great Totem has always been Lord Yu. The one in charge of the Great Smelter was Lord Qiao."
It seemed Li Banfeng still knew too little about the Shang State; he hadn't expected it to be split into two factions.
If the Great Smelter and the Great Totem each represented a faction, the Great Totem's faction had maintained a remarkably low profile.
This was not a conclusion reached by Li Banfeng alone; his wife also possessed some understanding of the Inner States, and she had never heard of any Great Totem faction either.
She suspected Bei Xianzhong was not telling the truth.
"Precious Husband, your humble servant feels something is amiss. Qiao Yi is not a man easily pushed around, nor have we ever heard of a towering figure named Yu Zhuo in the Shang State. It would be best to find a place where they can be made to speak the truth, and question them thoroughly."
Bei Wushuang kowtowed in succession. "We are speaking the absolute truth! Not half a sentence is fabricated!"
Li Banfeng used Extending the Wide Bridal Chamber to bring Bei Xianzhong to A'yu's residence.
After casting a single glance over Bei Xianzhong, A'yu arrived at an immediate conclusion: "This isn't a single person. This is someone molded together by the Great Totem."
A'yu's discernment was truly astonishing!
Bei Wushuang nodded vigorously. "The fairy speaks the truth! We were indeed kneaded together by the Great Totem."
A'yu's face beamed like a spring breeze as she turned to Li Banfeng. "Look how sweet-talking this camel is. He called me a fairy."
Li Banfeng asked again, "You said Yu Zhuo established a New Secretariat. Is this secretariat still in Chaoge?"
Bei Wushuang shook his head. "Not in Chaoge. It is in Haocheng."
Li Banfeng frowned. "If it's not in the capital, how can it be called a Grand Secretariat?"
Afraid he couldn't explain it clearly, Bei Wushuang hurriedly let Lu Maoxian speak.
Lu Maoxian said, "Lord Yu already intends to relocate the capital."
A'yu said to Li Banfeng, "He isn't lying. The Shang State has a history of moving its capital multiple times."
She could hear his inner thoughts, an ability that Lu Maoxian was utterly powerless to resist. As long as A'yu wasn't playing tricks, it proved Lu Maoxian was telling the truth.
Since he was not lying, Li Banfeng moved to the most crucial question: "Where is the Great Totem? Is it in Haocheng?"
Bei Wushuang said, "It shouldn't be in Haocheng. As for where it actually is, we don't know either."
Lu Maoxian explained from within, "We set out from Haocheng toward the Great Totem, and subsequently returned to Haocheng. We have no memory whatsoever of anything that occurred along the journey."
A'yu nodded slightly to Li Banfeng. This was the truth as well.
Li Banfeng followed up with his second crucial question: "How much of the Great Totem has been repaired?"
"Repaired?" Lu Maoxian sounded somewhat surprised.
Shen Jinzhong spoke up: "Hasn't the Great Totem always been intact? Why would it need repairs?"
Li Banfeng suspected he was lying.
Yet A'yu discerned the truth: "The Inner States never mentioned the damage of the Great Totem to them. In their impression, the Great Totem has always been whole."
Li Banfeng asked again, "Was Lu Xiaolan also molded together by the Great Totem?"
Bei Wushuang fell silent, and Shen Jinzhong kept his mouth shut as well.
Li Banfeng questioned Lu Maoxian directly: "Old Master Lu, surely you must know about your own granddaughter?"
Lu Maoxian hesitated for a moment before saying, "This old man heard that Lu Xiaolan has also been working for the imperial court. As for which lord she serves, this old man genuinely does not know."
A'yu shook her head. "A lie! Lu Xiaolan also answers to Yu Zhuo!"
That was Lu Maoxian's inner thought. But Lu Maoxian did not know A'yu, nor did he know her methods, assuming she was merely probing him.
"Perhaps by some stroke of fortune, Lu Xiaolan also ended up serving under Lord Yu, but I truly know nothing about it. In my impression, she was supposed to answer to Lord Qiao—"
"Still lying!" A'yu said. "It was through your introduction that Lu Xiaolan came to know Yu Zhuo!"
Lu Maoxian was terrified. He never imagined word of this affair could have leaked.
Li Banfeng said, "Old Master Lu, there's no need to hide this from me, is there? Whom Lu Xiaolan answers to has nothing to do with me. Does that even count as a secret?"
Lu Maoxian gave a dry laugh. "Since it concerns affairs of the court, it is better to remain discreet."
A'yu heard Lu Maoxian's inner thoughts once more and turned to tell Li Banfeng, "After Lu Xiaolan's first encounter with the Great Totem, she changed her identity and went over to Qiao Yi. She was Yu Zhuo's undercover agent at Qiao Yi's side."
All four of Bei Wushuang's legs trembled in unison. This was something he shouldn't have known, nor wanted to know.
Lu Maoxian shuddered even harder; if word of this ever spread, it would cost him his life.
Shen Jinzhong remained completely quiet, desperate to draw a clear line between himself, Lu Maoxian, and Bei Wushuang.
Li Banfeng had no interest in the past rivalry between Yu Zhuo and Qiao Yi. He only cared about one thing: "Does Lu Xiaolan know where the Great Totem is?"
Lu Maoxian dared not make a definitive claim: "Ever since her second resurrection, this old man has had virtually no contact with her."
A'yu nodded slightly. "That is the truth."
Li Banfeng studied Bei Xianzhong closely, feeling somewhat underwhelmed by the Great Totem: "Molding three people together only produced something like this? The Great Totem's might really isn't anything special."
A'yu shook her head. "Little Brother, compared to you, he is indeed clumsy, but if an ordinary Cloud-ascended cultivator crossed paths with him, they really wouldn't be his match."
Her words rang true. Among local spirits, Meng Yuchun's combat strength was by no means low, yet before Bei Xianzhong, she had been entirely helpless.
Even so, that level of fighting power was hardly comparable to the Bandit-Subduing Battalion. Was it truly worth the peddler risking his neck in the Inner States for the sake of the Great Totem?
A'yu turned to Li Banfeng. "Little Brother, is there anything else you want to ask?"
Sensing the turn in the conversation, Bei Wushuang hurriedly pleaded, "Lord Seven, ask anything you wish! I shall tell you everything I know!"
Li Banfeng drew out a longsword and asked Bei Wushuang, "Do you recognize this sword?"
The longsword was stained with mottled bloodstains. Bei Wushuang naturally recognized it—it was his treasure, which Li Banfeng had retrieved from his lair while searching for Bei Wushuang's covenant deed.
"This is a supreme treasure of our lineage. Many of my techniques were learned from this longsword."
Techniques?
This was Hong Ying's sidearm, and the bloodstains upon it belonged to his wife.
"How does one learn techniques from this thing?"
Li Banfeng had listened to it with Discerning Spiritual Sound before; the sword could not speak.
Bei Wushuang answered, "By slashing myself with this longsword. If the timing is right, one can grasp the essentials of a technique. It's just that the karmic chance isn't easy to master; if the cut is too deep or too shallow, there is no resonance at all. Sometimes after hacking myself dozens of times, I might not succeed even once."
Li Banfeng was dumbfounded. "Techniques can actually be learned like that?"
A'yu looked over the longsword. "These bloodstains likely belong to a founder or grandmaster of the Sound Cultivators. A lineage's pioneer or reformer can leave techniques embedded in their blood, and by stroke of fortune, impart those techniques to others of the same school.
"However, such opportunities are exceedingly rare. Take this sword, for example: there must be an extraordinarily powerful intent within the bloodstains, and that intent must linger upon the blade for a very long time. Objects like this are few and far between—they can only be chanced upon, never sought."
Li Banfeng was even more astonished. Was his wife a founder or a grandmaster of the Sound Cultivators?
Probably a grandmaster, right? She was so clever; reforming the Sound Cultivator lineage was well within reason.
As for the intent lingering on the blade, that was easy enough to understand: this was the weapon Hong Ying had used to murder his wife, so all of his wife's resentment toward Hong Ying had crystallized upon it.
Having asked everything he needed, Li Banfeng turned to A'yu. "Do you have any use for them?"
A'yu nodded. "Yes. They can serve to nourish my body."
Hearing this, Bei Xianzhong scrambled to get up and flee.
Before Bei Xianzhong could even rise, A'yu had already seen through his intentions. Ahead of time, she whipped a scarf out of a wardrobe, tripping Bei Xianzhong cleanly around the legs.
Bei Xianzhong crashed to the floor. When he tried to get back up, the house gave him no chance, pinning his entire body firmly to the ground.
Li Banfeng glanced at A'yu. "Do you plan to eat them yourself, or give them to the Heavenly Maiden?"
A'yu smiled. "To the Heavenly Maiden, of course. Her eating them is the same as me eating them."
"Red Lotus doesn't eat raw flesh. How will you handle their souls? Just don't let them escape."
A'yu stepped forward and pinched the camel's head. "Red Lotus is Red Lotus, and the Heavenly Maiden is the Heavenly Maiden. These souls certainly won't go to waste. Put your heart at ease."
Li Banfeng stood and left the residence. Before he returned to the companion dwelling, he could still hear the wails of the three:
"Lord Seven, I told you everything you asked! Lord Seven, spare my life!"
"Lord Seven, at my advanced age, I too am calling you 'Lord'! Let us not dwell on past grievances! From this day forth, I will follow your every bidding, working tirelessly at your beck and call!"
"Lord Seven, I am not like them! I have no grudge against you! Lord Seven, you are my benefactor, and I am entirely loyal to you!"
Li Banfeng shut the door, carried his wife into the main room, and spent some playful time with her.
***
When Li Banfeng arrived at the Orange Grove, the elder had already prepared two branches of Blue Leaf Poplar.
He had also peeled an orange and warmed a pot of fine wine.
Li Banfeng clasped his fists in greeting. "Senior, I won the battle."
The elder nodded. "I was worried, so I went to your territory to take a look. The soil on your land told me that you won the fight without breaking a sweat."
Li Banfeng smiled. "Senior flatters me."
The elder waved his hand. "It's no flattery, it's the honest truth. What I love most are promising young people. Our lineage has produced quite a few individuals more capable than myself, and I think they are all splendid; never has there been the slightest jealousy in my heart."
Those words were far from ordinary.
What kind of standing did this old man have among Farming Cultivators?
Li Banfeng asked, "Is Old Xu your senior or your junior?"
The elder sighed. "Seniority means very little. Xu Han is a man of genuine ability, and the disciples he trained are capable as well. I respect him!"
After drinking a few cups together, Li Banfeng recounted Bei Wushuang's situation to the elder: "Senior, Bei Wushuang isn't just one person, but three. Inside his belly is Lu Maoxian, and inside his hump is Shen Jinzhong."
"The Great Totem?" The elder was unfamiliar with Lu Maoxian and Shen Jinzhong, but he had seen instances of fusing three people into one, and hit the nail on the head the moment he spoke.
Li Banfeng was pleasantly surprised. "Senior, have you seen the Great Totem?"
The elder shook his head. "I haven't seen the actual object, but I've seen far too many local spirit seals. Normally buried in the earth, they can draw upon the human vitality of a territory through their resonance with the Great Totem. Through a local spirit seal, I can trace backward and catch faint glimpses of the Great Totem's shadow."
Li Banfeng set down his wine cup. "Senior, you can sense the Great Totem? Do you know where it is?"
The elder scooped up a handful of soil and sighed softly. "I don't know where the Great Totem is. The soil might know, but there is so little it can say, and broken fragments cannot make it clear."
Li Banfeng asked, "Do you think the Great Totem has been repaired?"
"Repaired?" The elder closed his eyes in contemplation. Around them, some orange trees sprouted, some grew leaves, some bore fruit, and many oranges fell with soft thuds.
After a long while, the elder opened his eyes, looked at Li Banfeng, and said, "I don't believe the Great Totem has changed at all."
No change?
Li Banfeng's brow furrowed tightly. The whole matter felt increasingly wrong!
The Great Totem was a crucial bargaining chip in the internal struggle between Yu Zhuo and Qiao Yi, as well as a vital asset for the Shang State against Puluo Province.
If seventy percent of the Great Totem had truly been repaired, it would be a top-level state secret for the Shang State, something they would never allow to leak.
Yet the Shang State's demeanor made it seem as though it wasn't a secret at all.
Yuan Youshang ferreting out the intelligence could still be written off as an accident.
But sending Lu Xiaolan to assassinate Ma the Fifth, and dispatching Bei Xianzhong to seize land in Puluo Province—what kind of move was that?
Thinking from their perspective, if Li Banfeng were Yu Zhuo, at such a critical juncture he would never release people modified by the Great Totem. Even if their memories had been wiped, there remained the risk of exposure.
Could Yu Zhuo really be so reckless?
Yet if he acted so rashly, how could he have contended with Qiao Yi to this day?
Could it be that the Great Totem hadn't been repaired at all, and the entire thing was a bluff?
And what would be the purpose of such a bluff? Was it to lure the peddler into the Inner States?
Cold sweat poured down Li Banfeng's back. The elder picked up an orange wedge and handed it to him.
"Child, eat this orange wedge first."
Weighed down by heavy thoughts, Li Banfeng hardly tasted it. But the moment he swallowed the wedge, a cool sensation surged throughout his body, swiftly calming him down.
The elder poured Li Banfeng a cup of wine. "Child, true and false, virtual and real—Puluo Province is full of such things. It won't be that easy for them to deceive us."
Those words brought Li Banfeng considerable reassurance.
What kind of figure was the peddler? How could he fall into a trap so easily!
If the other side truly was bluffing, the peddler would certainly be able to withdraw unscathed.
Having eaten and drunk his fill, Li Banfeng bid the elder farewell, took the Blue Leaf Poplar branches, left the Orange Grove, and returned to the companion dwelling.
***
The bronze lotus refined the Blue Leaf Poplar into Blue Leaf Pills. Just as Li Banfeng was preparing to bring Jiu'er back and deliver the pills to Chu the Second, Zhao Xiaowan said, "Husband, there is something I'd like to discuss with you. Your humble servant has learned a new technique, but it cannot be tested at home; it must be practiced outside."
Li Banfeng said, "That's easily arranged. Where would you like to go, Madam? I'll take you!"
Zhao Xiaowan shook her head. "You need not accompany me, Husband. When this technique is truly unleashed, I fear it might harm you as well. I will simply practice on your territory, and while I'm at it, fetch Jiu'er for you."
Li Banfeng sent his wife out onto the territory, drew a map for her, and handed her a simple telephone.
Zhao Xiaowan came to a patch of woods and began practicing the technique. She sat beneath a tree without making a sound. A moment later, the leaves in the forest began to quiver violently.
This was Zhao Xiaowan's original Soundless Technique. Though called soundless, there was still sound; the essence of the technique lay in killing invisibly with the faintest noise.
Yet when executing it just now, the leaves had vibrated so conspicuously that an enemy would inevitably detect it, proving the technique was still far from mastery.
After practicing for an hour or so, Zhao Xiaowan felt weary. Checking Li Banfeng's map, she found her way to Meng Yuchun's door, ready to bring Jiu'er home.
Hearing Zhao Xiaowan knock, Meng Yuchun's heart tightened. "Miss Jiu, who is that?"
The moment Jiu'er heard the voice, she knew. "That is my elder sister. It really is time for me to go home."
Meng Yuchun's eyes were filled entirely with Jiu'er, with room for nothing else; how could she bear to let her leave?
She had Zhao Xiaowan wait in the parlor. After half an hour of waiting, Zhao Xiaowan grew annoyed: "Miss Meng, if you dawdle any longer, I am taking Jiu'er away."
With that, she walked straight into Meng Yuchun's bedroom.
Meng Yuchun was originally furious, but the moment she laid eyes on Zhao Xiaowan, there was no longer room for Jiu'er in her sight.
"There truly are fairies in this world!" Meng Yuchun stood dazed for a moment, then grabbed Zhao Xiaowan's hand. "Miss, my wound has torn open again. Could you please take a look!"
Jiu'er found it utterly bizarre: "Miss Meng, why does your wound keep opening up? I've stitched it several times and none of it helps!"
***
Li Banfeng delivered the newly refined Blue Leaf Pills to Chu the Second. Having taken medicine earlier, Chu the Second had improved considerably and could now speak.
Seeing Li Qi sitting by the bedside, Chu the Second felt sweet inside and wanted to whisper a few tender words, only for Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying to arrive at the Chu family mansion to visit her.
Chu the Second welcomed them with a smile, though she was bursting with impatience inside. In the past, she would have driven the mother and daughter out on the spot.
But now was not the past. With Li Qi watching from the side, Chu the Second had to do her utmost to maintain her propriety: "Sister Yeci, Younger Sister Chunying, aren't you both very busy? You needn't worry about me. I just took too many pills, and I'll recover very soon."
Lu Chunying, however, was in no hurry to leave. Sitting by Chu the Second's bed, she teased, "Sister Huaiyuan, this illness of yours is a blessing in disguise. It's rare for Seventh Brother to dote on you like this."
"What kind of talk is that?" Chu Huaiyuan snapped. "Do you think I enjoy lying here? Why don't you come lie here and try it?"
Lu Chunying looked at Li Banfeng with a smile. "Seventh Brother, tomorrow I'll go home and lie in bed too. You must dote on me just as you dote on her!"
Xiao Yeci blushed crimson. "You shameless girl, what on earth are you saying!"
The more Chu the Second looked at Lu Chunying, the more irritating she found her. The girl had grown up, and Chu the Second suspected she might not be joking.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Xiao Yeci hurriedly led Lu Chunying away.
Only she and Li Qi remained in the room. Just as tender affection began welling up in her heart, Old Mother Ku appeared before her with a sunken face.
Chu the Second burst into tears. Sobbing, she said, "Mother, we agreed that fortune and bitterness give rise to each other! I've endured so much bitterness, can't you just let me—"
Old Mother Ku stuffed a bitter herb into Chu the Second's mouth, then glanced down and spotted the pills beside her bed.
"So many Blue Leaf Pills!" Old Mother Ku was astonished. "Who gave these to you?"
Chu the Second certainly couldn't say they were given by Li Qi.
Then again, where had Li Qi gone?
He had been right beside the bed just a moment ago, yet vanished in the blink of an eye.
Could he have been seduced away by that little vixen Lu Chunying?!
***
Lu Chunying and Xiao Yeci returned home together. Xiao Yeci read in the study while Lu Chunying balanced the account books in the living room.
By midnight, both felt weary and retired to their respective rooms to sleep.
Lu Chunying took a bath and had just slipped into bed when a song suddenly drifted in from outside the window:
*"The moonlight, so hazy; the earth, shrouded in night mist; O person of my dreams, where are you?"*
"Person in a Dream"!
Who was playing music?
Music shouldn't be playing at this hour.
Moreover, the Lu family held a deep taboo against this song—when Lu Dongliang died, this was the very melody playing on the gramophone.
Lu Chunying pushed open the window and looked out. A woman stood downstairs, singing.
There was only one woman singing, yet why could the sound of musical accompaniment be heard as well?
Lu Chunying stared at the woman, and the woman looked up at her.
The woman was exceedingly beautiful.
Lu Chunying couldn't help but shudder.
The woman was terrifyingly beautiful.
Chapter 802