Second floor of Lu's Bookhouse.
Holding a handkerchief over his nose and mouth, Yang Xiangjun wept incessantly.
"Zhou Badou, you're a figure of standing in Puluo Province! We agreed to a one-on-one duel: I take three of your strikes and that settles the matter. The Eight-Dou Scholar ought to stand by his word, shouldn't he? What kind of ability is it to call in Li Qi?"
Boss Lu said nothing.
Yang Xiangjun looked toward Li Banfeng. "Li Qi, you're supposedly a hero of our generation, yet what kind of business is this? Outnumbering me with Zhou Badou was one thing, but launching a sneak attack from behind? Think about it yourself—aren't you ashamed?"
Li Banfeng stared at the paper and brush on the table and made no reply either.
Boss Lu sighed deeply. "Brother Yang, truth be told, I feel rather ashamed. Given our many years of friendship, my heart aches to see you suffer so much grievance."
Wiping his tears, Yang Xiangjun said, "You see how much grievance I've suffered. Let's let bygones be bygones. I'll leave Moxiang Shop this instant, and everything from before will be wiped clean."
"I'm afraid it can't be wiped so easily," Boss Lu said. He looked over the prescription Yang Xiangjun had written, then turned and picked up an iron rod. "You spent two hours and only wrote down three medicinal ingredients, yet you want to walk away? Aren't you degrading our cultured dignity?"
Thud! Thud!
Under the harsh beating, Yang Xiangjun pleaded repeatedly, "Stop hitting! I remember! I remember now! If you hit me again and beat the memory right out of me, don't you blame me—"
Yang Xiangjun finished writing the prescription. There were over seventy medicinal ingredients in total, many of which Li Banfeng had never even heard of.
After reviewing the formula, Boss Lu asked Yang Xiangjun, "If all materials and hands are ready, how long will you need to make Wuwang Blaze?"
Yang Xiangjun wiped the ink from his hands. "About half a year should just about do it."
Boss Lu and Li Qi both picked up iron rods and beat him for about ten minutes. Yang Xiangjun clutched his head and screamed, "Half a day! Half a day is plenty!"
"Seventh Master, keep watch over Yang Xiangjun here while I go procure the ingredients."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Leave the ingredients to me. I run faster."
Boss Lu smiled. "I have other means."
He did indeed have his means. Across Puluo Province, Lu's Bookhouses were scattered far and wide. In less than half a day, Boss Lu brought back every single item.
Among them were traditional herbs and modern pharmaceutical reagents. Yang Xiangjun mixed the various substances, testing again and again. He produced several test tubes of liquid one after another, dissatisfied with each.
Li Banfeng asked Yang Xiangjun, "With such practiced technique, do you have a foundation in Medicine Cultivation as well?"
Yang Xiangjun gave a disdainful chuckle. "Seventh Master, shouldn't you be putting it the other way around? Medicine Cultivators are our juniors—their entire foundation was learned from us!
"The progenitor of Medicine Cultivators was originally a Poison Cultivator. It was only because his innate talent fell short and he couldn't master our Daoist order's arts in full that he was forced to create Medicine Cultivation.
"I'm not talking nonsense. If you don't believe me, ask Zhou Badou."
Boss Lu nodded. "Brother Yang speaks no lie. Jiang Xuanhu, progenitor of the Medicine Cultivators, indeed originated as a Poison Cultivator. Unable to master poison, he turned out to be extraordinarily gifted at neutralizing it, thus establishing the Medicine Cultivator order."
"Brother Zhou, don't go thinking only Medicine Cultivators know how to neutralize toxins. The true experts at detoxifying are right here among Poison Cultivators. Medicine Cultivators aren't even worth mentioning before us." Yang Xiangjun took several dried flower buds, mashed them with a mortar and pestle, poured the powder into a test tube, and simmered it for over half an hour.
The liquid in the test tube shifted from red to blue. Yang Xiangjun took the tube down, let the concoction cool, and told Li Qi, "Bring over a worm so we can test it."
Li Banfeng fetched a Xuyuan silkworm from the teapot. The thing had a remarkably resilient life; after being disciplined by the teapot for so many days, it was actually still alive.
Yang Xiangjun stared at the Xuyuan silkworm for a moment. "This one has been modified by curse arts."
Li Banfeng said, "Is a Xuyuan silkworm modified by curse arts tougher?"
"Hardly." Yang Xiangjun held a dropper and let a single droplet fall onto the Xuyuan silkworm. It squirmed for a brief moment, then stiffened and ceased moving.
Yang Xiangjun checked his pocket watch, then prodded the silkworm with a probe.
The silkworm was truly dead, taking only six seconds or so.
Yet Yang Xiangjun was not particularly satisfied. "Xuyuan silkworms are famous for being tough to kill, but one altered by curse arts has a far weaker constitution. You'd best bring an unmodified worm to test."
Boss Lu returned to the bookhouse in Green Water City, found Yu Yaoming, asked for a few unmodified Xuyuan silkworms, and brought them back to the bookhouse in Moxiang Shop.
Holding the dropper, Yang Xiangjun applied poison to a worm, opened his pocket watch, and timed it. After more than fifty seconds, the silkworm rolled onto its back, went rigid, and finally stopped moving.
Yang Xiangjun snapped the watch shut and let out a long breath. "Not bad. The poison still works."
Boss Lu expressed some concern. "It took nearly a minute after poisoning to die. Such potency hardly inspires confidence."
Yang Xiangjun looked up at Boss Lu. "Brother Zhou, speak with a clear conscience! If I went to your bookhouse to kill termites, a single dose would wipe them out cleanly within half a minute. But these are Xuyuan silkworms, not termites! Feed them ordinary poisons and they'll eat it like a meal. Killing them in a minute is already an impressive feat."
As soon as the words left his mouth, the silkworm lying belly-up on the table kicked its legs, flipped over, and began crawling all over the place again.
The thing was alive once more.
Li Banfeng asked Yang Xiangjun, "What do you have to say to that?"
Yang Xiangjun stammered, "Th-this formula was lost to time, wasn't it? I... I must have missed something in my memory. Perhaps an ingredient slipped my mind..."
Thud! Thud!
Boss Lu swung the iron rod, pinned Yang Xiangjun down, and resumed beating him.
After a brief pummeling, Yang Xiangjun drew blood. Whether he suddenly remembered or had intentionally concealed it before, he clutched his head and cried out, "Blood! It needs blood!"
"What kind of blood?"
"A cultivator's blood! The higher the level, the better—"
"Easy enough!"
Boss Lu picked up a knife and strode over to Yang Xiangjun. Yang Xiangjun stared at the blade and shook his head frantically. "It doesn't have to be mine! Any cultivator's blood will do!"
Boss Lu pinned Yang Xiangjun down and slit open his fingertip.
Tears streamed from Yang Xiangjun's eyes in indignation. "Zhou Badou, I plotted against you just this once, and I didn't even succeed! Was it necessary to take such revenge on me? Are all you cultured scholars this petty?"
He dripped the blood into the solution, shook it evenly, and sprinkled it over the Xuyuan silkworm.
The silkworm's body convulsed once, and all life left it immediately.
Boss Lu probed it several times with the needle. The Xuyuan silkworm did not revive; this time, it was dead beyond doubt.
He tested several more intact Xuyuan silkworms, and every single one perished within a second.
Li Banfeng nodded in praise. "This poison truly is remarkable."
Boss Lu felt something was amiss. He took a dropper, drew up some of the liquid, returned to the bookhouse in Green Water City, and conducted an experiment there.
He suspected Yang Xiangjun might have used some other trick, and that what killed the silkworm might not have been the liquid in the dropper.
Before long, Boss Lu returned. "Brother Yang, your medicine doesn't work. When I tried it elsewhere, it still failed to kill the silkworms."
Yang Xiangjun licked the cut on his finger and looked at Zhou Wencheng with a smile. "Brother, without me by your side, the medicine naturally won't work. If the medicine worked on its own anywhere, people would just buy my concoctions instead of hiring me in person!"
Boss Lu looked toward Li Banfeng. "Seventh Master, it seems you'll have to handle this matter together with him."
Li Banfeng glanced at Yang Xiangjun. "Looking at him, he doesn't seem like someone capable of handling serious business."
Fearing he might be silenced for good, Yang Xiangjun could only brace himself and agree: "Tell me what it is first. As long as it's within my ability, I don't mind lending a hand."
Li Banfeng gave Boss Lu a slight nod. Boss Lu picked up a magazine and said to Yang Xiangjun, "Please step into the book to talk."
Yang Xiangjun let out a dry, nervous laugh. "Brother Zhou, why are you having me go into your book? I did what needed doing, and our grievances are settled. Denying me a way out like this isn't very honorable."
Boss Lu pointed to an illustration in the magazine. "There are ingredients and equipment inside. You just need to focus on brewing medicine in there."
Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling. His lady had already drawn the map. "Husband, back when we followed Meng Qian, it took a whole day of running to reach the Zhougu Ruins. But if you run at full speed, two or three hours should be plenty."
The map not only marked every landmark along the way, but also laid out emergency contingencies. Even if some landmarks changed, Li Banfeng would still be able to determine his direction within a certain range and avoid being trapped in dreams.
With the route settled, the next step was considering their actions upon reaching the Zhougu Ruins.
"Husband, use your Dwelling Cultivator abilities so no one recognizes you. Release the poison and come straight back. Avoid engaging Curse Cultivators if at all possible."
Hong Ying chimed in, "Seventh Brother, you truly must listen to Xiaowan on this. Those Curse Cultivators are utterly revolting. On the battlefield, you sometimes don't even notice them, only to find yourself afflicted by their curses after you return home."
Li Banfeng brought Hong Ying and his lady to Room Nine and had Jiu'er watch along with them.
"Yingying, take off your clothes."
Hong Ying's cheeks flushed warm. "Seventh Brother, for us as a couple to do that sort of thing... why do it in Jiu'er's room? And you even brought Xiaowan along to watch—"
Zhao Xiaowan said with displeasure, "What of it if I follow? Are you shy?"
Li Banfeng said to Zhao Xiaowan, "Lady, you take off your clothes too."
Zhao Xiaowan froze, growing even more indignant. "You madman! You want both of us sisters to serve you together? Who did you learn this from? That's getting far too fanciful!"
Li Banfeng looked at Jiu'er.
Jiu'er's cheeks flushed crimson. "I obey my husband. Whatever my husband says goes—"
Li Banfeng said to Zhao Xiaowan, "Lady, both you and Yingying fought Hen Wuyou. Yingying was definitely struck by Hen Wuyou's calamity. Whenever fighting Hen Wuyou is mentioned, she can't even hold her spear steady."
Hearing this, Hong Ying ground her teeth in fury. "I knew it! How could I possibly be terrified of that wretched woman? I fell right into her scheme!"
Zhao Xiaowan was not at all surprised. After learning that the Blood Tooth Monster was Hen Wuyou, she had long suspected that she had been cursed.
Li Banfeng said, "Lady, whether we can spot where the calamity lies will depend on our eyesight."
Zhao Xiaowan did not hold much hope. "Husband, relying on Golden Pupils and Autumn Hair alone probably won't find Hen Wuyou's calamity."
Sure enough, the couple searched Hong Ying's body for a long time without finding any calamity.
Li Banfeng sighed. "It seems we'll still have to ask A'yu for help. It was thanks to her assistance earlier that I managed to extract the calamity."
Hong Ying felt it would not be so easy. "Is she really the type to be easily persuaded? Asking her for a favor costs who knows how steep a price."
Li Banfeng said, "She didn't ask for a price; she just wants to drop by our home and bring the Heavenly Maiden along."
Hong Ying shook her head. "That won't do! Last time she came, she nearly tore our place apart. If she truly misses me, I'll go visit her at her place."
Jiu'er looked at Li Banfeng. "Husband, I'll go persuade my mother. Even if she refuses to help in person, it would still work if you borrowed her technique using Sprawling Compound."
Li Banfeng planned the same. "First we deal with Hen Wuyou's nest, then clear away the calamities she planted, and then catch her completely off guard!"
After resting for half a day, Li Banfeng picked up the magazine Boss Lu had given him and looked inside.
On the first page of the magazine, two women wearing bright red padded jackets held up a pair of Spring Festival couplets, gently swaying. Li Banfeng realized then that this was a New Year special issue.
The second page was an advertisement: a woman applied vanishing cream in front of a mirror, and her dry, dull skin instantly turned radiant and delicate.
Moving magazines like this were something Li Banfeng had only ever seen at Lu's Bookhouse. Not only did he find it novel, even the projector found it marvelous: "Art captured upon paper can actually be animated? Is this a technique of the Scholar Cultivator, or an esoteric craft of light and shadow?"
On the third page was Yang Xiangjun, grinding medicinal ingredients inside the book. Looking at the bottles and jars around him, he had already produced a considerable amount of liquid.
To be safe, Li Banfeng slept for several hours in the companion dwelling—partly to build up some fortune for himself, and partly to give Yang Xiangjun enough time to produce an adequate supply of poison.
Once he awoke, Li Banfeng took the map from his lady and arrived at Black Rock Slope.
The last time they went to the Zhougu Ruins, they had departed from the abandoned station at the edge of the newland because Meng Qian could be found there.
This time, according to his lady's deduction, their route included a main street in Black Rock Slope. Li Banfeng chose to depart directly from the street; as long as he skirted around the platform, he could steer clear of Meng Qian.
Without Meng Qian's suppression, Mengde was able to exert her abilities. She first sent Li Banfeng into a dream, then guided him within the dream, using the map to remind him which way to go.
After walking for over an hour, Li Banfeng reached Xiaoyaowu. Ma the Fifth had laid out a banquet, and Fatty Qin filled the cups. Just as the brothers were about to share a drink, Mengde's urgent voice came: "Seventh Master, it's time to wake up."
This was why the path was so difficult to navigate.
If it were entirely a dreamscape, Mengde could follow the route and guide Li Banfeng straight through.
If it were entirely real roads, Li Banfeng could walk it relying on his Travel Cultivator talents.
Yet this road was half dream, half reality.
On the dream portions of the path, reality's methods were useless for getting through.
On the real portions of the path, someone trapped in a dream would lose their sense of direction.
Zhao Xiaowan had marked every detail along the route. When Mengde woke Li Banfeng, he found that there was no Xiaoyaowu ahead—only a stretch of swamp.
Crossing the swamp, he arrived at an ancient city in the oldland. Li Banfeng entered a dream once more. Inside the old city, a man kept singing "Tuberose," and Li Banfeng locked onto his direction by following the man's singing.
Shifting between dreams and reality over a dozen times, Li Banfeng finally woke completely.
He had arrived at a vast snowy expanse.
He had reached the Zhougu Ruins. This was the place where they had parted ways with Li Yuping, but it was still far from the village. Li Banfeng only remembered that the village lay to the southwest.
Fortunately, he was a Cloud Six Travel Cultivator. An ordinary person on this vast snow plain would never have been able to tell north from south.
Li Banfeng walked dozens of li southwest and soon spotted Curse Cultivator sentries: first roaming pickets in groups of several dozen, then watchtower lookouts in teams of three, and patrol squads of ten.
He did not disturb the sentries. Following the relieving sentries as they moved along, Li Banfeng soon arrived at the village.
A faint aroma of rice wine drifted on the wind. Li Banfeng looked up to see stilt houses arranged row upon row against the cliff face, with women stepping in and out of the buildings from time to time.
Beside the cliff was a steep, slippery flight of stone steps. The women climbing the stairs to return home treaded with great care, as they could not fly.
If they could not fly, why build their dwellings in such a precarious location?
Li Banfeng flew slowly along the cliff face, trying to discern the pattern behind the stilt houses.
Reaching the midpoint of the cliff, Li Banfeng spotted an unusual structure.
At the center of the cliff, a sequence of stilt structures connected vertically to form a ten-story building. Its pillars, walkways, walls, window sashes, and roofs were all natural timber-colored, blending inconspicuously against the yellowish earth of the cliff.
On each floor, several women clad in winter garments carried leather whips, pacing back and forth.
There was also a group of women in ragged clothes carrying baskets, jars, and boxes on their heads, coming and going from the stilt buildings on each level.
This had to be where they bred the insects.
Li Banfeng did not rush inside. According to Li Yuping, those responsible for rearing the insects were given five hours of sleep each day; it would not be too late to strike after they fell asleep.
He circled the village a few times and discovered eight such multi-story breeding buildings in total: five clung to the cliff, while the other three were built within the mountain ravine.
Poisoning all the silkworms in these eight buildings would be no simple task. Whether they had enough poison was a critical question.
At midnight, a contingent of women marched in formation away from the buildings. It was time to sleep.
The sounds of washing up and chatting lingered for a while. Li Banfeng waited until past one in the morning, when the village fell entirely still, before silently flying up to the building.
The first floor had three rooms, each guarded by Curse Cultivator sentries.
Li Banfeng used Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity to pick a room, then used Unimpeded Passage to pass directly through the wall. There were many traps and mechanisms inside the walls, but their level was too low to perceive him at all.
Inside, Li Banfeng saw a small mound of earth. Loose dirt was piled from the floor all the way to the ceiling, marked with numerous footprints where people routinely trod up and down. Was this earthen mound used for rearing the worms?
Li Banfeng activated Golden Pupils and Autumn Hair and scanned the area. Countless black worms were indeed writhing through the soil—some burrowing into the earth, others poking out and crawling sluggishly.
With such a massive mound of dirt, how was he supposed to administer the poison?
Li Banfeng produced the magazine and summoned Yang Xiangjun out.
Yang Xiangjun looked at the mound of dirt inside the room and gasped, "What is this place?"
Li Banfeng clamped a hand over Yang Xiangjun's mouth. "This is the Zhougu Ruins."
Yang Xiangjun raised a slender, delicate fist and thumped Li Banfeng. "What did you bring me here for?!"
"Brought you here to kill bugs!" Li Banfeng looked toward the earthen mound.
Yang Xiangjun scanned the mound and rolled his eyes at Li Banfeng. "Are you mad? Coming to the Curse Cultivators' den to kill their worms?"
Li Banfeng also felt the task was daunting. "There are too many worms. We might not have enough poison."
"Who said the poison isn't enough? Do you realize whose medicine this is? Do you have any idea how potent my concoction is? One small bottle poured out, and every single worm in this dirt mound will die!"
With that, Yang Xiangjun produced a small porcelain vial, pricked his fingertip, popped the cork, dripped a drop of blood into the vial, poured the medicine into his mouth, and swallowed it.
Li Banfeng looked at him in shock. "Brother Yang, how could you drink the poison? Didn't I tell you we might not have enough?!"
Yang Xiangjun took out another small vial of liquid and handed it to Li Banfeng. "Add a drop of your blood and drink it too. This medicine only poisons Xuyuan silkworms; it can't harm humans."
Holding the vial, Li Banfeng asked, "Then what good does drinking it do me?"
"It kills calamities!" Yang Xiangjun laughed with a hint of smugness. "Why else do you think I brewed a poison specifically designed to kill Xuyuan silkworms? You think I just found the worms an eyesore?"
Li Banfeng looked down at the vial. "You mean Wuwang Cinder counters Curse Cultivators?"
Yang Xiangjun nodded. "Wuwang specifically kills Xuyuan silkworms, so it counters both high-level Curse Cultivators and Gu Cultivators. Back then, after being battered into fear by those two orders, I created Wuwang specifically for this. Hurry up and drink it! If you haven't caught a calamity, it will prevent one; if you have, it will kill the parasites."
"This truly is great medicine!" Li Banfeng looked at Yang Xiangjun, a touch of admiration entering his eyes. "With such an incredible formula, how could you let it be lost to time?"
Yang Xiangjun sighed. "Back then, I relied on Wuwang Cinder to defeat countless Curse Cultivators and Gu Cultivators. Members of both orders walked the long way round whenever they saw me. But later, every time I took Wuwang Cinder, guilt stirred in my heart. Over time, I simply couldn't bear the torment of that guilt, so I destroyed the formula."
"What were you guilty about?" Li Banfeng opened the stopper, dripped a drop of blood inside, and prepared to drink.
Yang Xiangjun's expression turned mournful. "I felt guilty for myself, felt it wasn't worth it. Why was I born a man, missing out on so much delicate loveliness and radiant blooming beauty..."
*Pfft—!*
Li Banfeng spat the medicine right out of his mouth, then rinsed with his wine gourd.
Yang Xiangjun smiled gently. "Now do you understand why I tore up the formula?"
Li Banfeng pointed at the mountain of worms. "Hurry up and kill the bugs. Focus on serious business."
Holding the small porcelain vial, Yang Xiangjun sprinkled a bottle of Wuwang Cinder over one corner of the worm mound. Instantly, all the worms across the entire mound became hyperactive, wriggling toward that single corner en masse.
"Brother, if you've got time to spare, wait right here. If you're in a hurry, let's head to the next one!" Yang Xiangjun pulled a cloth sack from his robes, which contained over a hundred vials, all filled with the liquid.
Chapter 820