Eighteen Wheels and Li Banfeng were worried about the exact same thing.
"Old Seventh, back then, I loved the path of the Travel Cultivator too much and hated being an Artisan Cultivator, so I relied on Lian Buda's methods to split my body and soul into halves. Later, due to various circumstances, half my body and half my soul were trapped in the Great Crucible, half my soul was trapped in Dream-Tethering Tower, and half my body remained in the Outer States. But splitting a person in two isn't simple at all. First, that person must genuinely, wholeheartedly want to divide themselves, and second, it requires Lian Buda's formidable craft. I trust Lian Buda's character; there's no way he would work for the Inner States. I truly can't fathom why another Qiao Yi has popped up out of nowhere. Could both of these Qiao Yis have been produced by the Great Totem?"
Just how many unraveled secrets did that Great Totem still hold?
Its potential seemed limitless.
By now, it was virtually confirmed that the Qiao Yi in Earth Market was real, and that there was a vast Totem Army stationed in Earth Market right now. Like a factory, the Great Totem was mass-producing massive combat strength for the Shang State with terrifying efficiency.
"Elder Brother, do you know about the paths of void origin?"
Old Train pondered for a moment. "They should be like the land of void origin, shouldn't they?"
No wonder the peddler had said Old Train only understood things half-baked. While paths of void origin shared similarities with lands of void origin, they certainly weren't the same thing.
"Elder Brother, let's go find Tou Youlu. We can use pursuing good fortune and avoiding calamity together to see if we can locate an entrance to a path of void origin."
Old Train thought it over. "If we're talking about the strongest Travel Cultivator, that's certainly Tou Youlu. But if you're talking about the strongest at pursuing good fortune and avoiding calamity—"
There was a name he didn't want to mention; he felt it was bad luck.
Li Banfeng understood what Old Train meant. He went looking for Che Wushang and explained the situation.
"Brother Che, I plan to make a sweep along the border between Earth Market and Mankind Market to see if there's any path of void origin."
With Che Wushang, things would certainly be much easier. The boundary between Earth Market and Mankind Market wasn't long, and with their footwork, they could make a round trip in the blink of an eye.
Che Wushang took a drag of his cigarette and kept shaking his head. "Old Seventh, you're looking at this all wrong."
Li Banfeng asked, "You don't think there's a road between Earth Market and Mankind Market?"
Che Wushang shook his head. "There might be a road, but why do you assume the entrance to a path of void origin must be on the border between the two regions?"
Li Banfeng was stunned for a long while before realizing where his thinking had gone astray.
The road leading from the Inner States to Jianren Mound exited at Sage Peak, not at a border.
The road from Sage Peak to Heroes Mountain exited in Wulao Valley, not at a border either.
Che Wushang added, "What you're looking for isn't a road from Earth Market to Mankind Market. You're looking for a road leading from Earth Market to the outside. As long as there's a way out, they can bypass the Heavenly Maiden's boundaries."
Li Banfeng rubbed his temples. That broadened the search area considerably.
Che Wushang said, "This won't be easy to pull off. Let's not trouble my master just yet, nor our Patriarch. Just follow me, and we'll see where our feet take us."
Li Banfeng followed Che Wushang, walking back and forth through Mankind Market for dozens of li.
"Brother Che, we're looking for a road leading from Earth Market to the outside. What can we possibly find circling around Mankind Market like this?"
Che Wushang replied, "Brother, don't be hasty. If you're talking about avoiding calamity, Earth Market is crawling with perils everywhere. The enemy army is right there—how could it not be dangerous? Even if we went, we wouldn't find anything useful. To find this entrance, we must pursue good fortune. The underground city has been battered to this state, so how could there still be an auspicious place? But believe it or not, Mankind Market actually does have one. Shouldn't we go take a look?"
Li Banfeng followed the Rickshaw Man on a loop through Mankind Market. They didn't find an entrance to a path of void origin, but they did find a person.
Che Wushang said to Li Banfeng, "This person will definitely be of great use. But there are some things I'd better not overhear. Auspicious and calamitous portents shift constantly—weigh them yourself."
With that, Che Wushang departed.
The person across from them approached and greeted Li Banfeng. "Seventh Master, pardon the intrusion."
Li Banfeng cupped his fists. "Boss Lu, you came looking for me? It seems the Ink Fragrance Shop must be at peace."
Boss Lu pondered for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "Not quite at peace. I simply have an urgent matter that I must discuss with you."
Back when he had received Li Banfeng's message, Boss Lu had gone to Heroes Mountain as well, fighting a fierce battle against the Totem Army. After the fighting ended, Boss Lu hadn't accompanied them to Santoucha; he had returned to the Ink Fragrance Shop.
The matter should have ended there, but Boss Lu couldn't let it rest with his own conscience. In the end, he had still come to Santoucha, though he had hesitated over whether to seek out Li Seventh. Now that Li Seventh stood right before him, he hesitated no longer.
"Seventh Master, can we find a place to speak?"
Li Banfeng was fairly familiar with Mankind Market. He found a factory that had suspended operations due to the war. Though idle, it wasn't abandoned and hadn't been requisitioned to house displaced refugees. The main gate was locked and no one was inside, so the two sat down beside a machine tool to converse.
Boss Lu produced a brocade box from his breast and handed it to Li Banfeng. "Seventh Master, keep this in your custody for the time being."
Li Banfeng opened the box; inside lay the Imperial Jade Seal of State.
He wasn't surprised. He had heard rumors before that the seal was in the hands of the Eight-Peck Inkman. But Li Banfeng wouldn't turn hostile toward Boss Lu over mere rumors, not to mention that Boss Lu had earned the jade seal through his own merits. Li Banfeng had no cause to seize it without reason.
He had never expected Boss Lu to deliver the seal of his own accord.
Boss Lu said, "I took the jade seal and walked across Sage Peak, where I found two paths. According to the seal's guidance, one path leads to the Inner States, and the other leads to Heroes Mountain. The jade seal can open these paths. The troops Qiao Yi brought must have come through there. Using the jade seal, I sealed off those paths. But if he uses his own jade seal, he can reopen them. If Seventh Master can devise another method, you must block these paths at all costs. Otherwise, Wuyouping and Heroes Mountain will suffer disaster once more."
Li Banfeng nodded slightly. He would have to inform the Heavenly Maiden and have her encircle Sage Peak with a boundary.
Boss Lu marked the paths from Sage Peak to Heroes Mountain and the Inner States on a map, and handed it over to Li Banfeng along with instructions on how to use the jade seal.
Once everything was properly explained, Boss Lu cupped his fists in salute to Li Banfeng and turned to leave.
Li Banfeng called after him, "When this business is concluded, I will deliver the jade seal to the bookshop."
Boss Lu shook his head. "I can no longer keep this item."
Li Banfeng insisted, "This belongs to you. Offering it up at a time like this is a tremendous kindness. Not only must the item be returned, but the debt of gratitude must be repaid as well."
Boss Lu adjusted his scarf, exhaled a breath of warm air, and rubbed his hands together. "If one day I can see the peddler again, perhaps I ought to calm down and have a proper talk with him. I always wanted to find a new order for Puluo Province, but I discovered that no other order in this world would ever permit someone like me to exist. Perhaps this world never had an order to begin with; when enough people follow along, it becomes an order. Perhaps right here is the newest order—an order he trod out while pushing his handcart."
Boss Lu took his leave.
Taking the jade seal with him, Li Banfeng went over to Earth Market and cautiously made a circuit.
The residential houses in Earth Market had all been converted into barracks, and the horse carriages originally meant for hauling dirt had all been refitted to transport troops. From Sea Market, a steady stream of ships continued ferrying soldiers into Earth Market. The situation in Santoucha looked grimmer by the minute.
Li Banfeng slipped through the enemy encampments. This was undeniably an extraordinarily perilous place, and for him, departing Earth Market as quickly as possible was the very definition of pursuing good fortune.
After circling Earth Market twice, the jade seal lit up twice.
Each glow signaled the discovery of a path leading out of Earth Market.
One path lay inside a street-side water well.
The other lay inside a residential home abandoned for many years.
A fissure ran down one wall of the house, and whenever he approached the crack, the jade seal emanated a brilliant light.
Both paths genuinely existed. Where they led, whether the enemy could discover them, and whether they were currently passable, Li Banfeng did not know. But Li Banfeng knew how to block them. He fetched brush and paper and drafted a proclamation, stating roughly that this passage was of grave significance and that starting from today, no one was permitted to pass through it for the next month.
Once Li Banfeng finished writing the proclamation, he stamped it with the jade seal. According to the method Boss Lu had taught him, tossing the proclamation into the well or stuffing it into the fissure in the wall would seal both paths completely.
Yet Boss Lu had also tested this: a blocked path could still be opened using a jade seal.
For now, he couldn't block the paths just yet, lest he alert the enemy prematurely. Li Banfeng slipped silently out of Earth Market and returned to Mankind Market.
Inside the companion dwelling, Zhao Xiaowan and the Fifth Miss were busy tracing boundaries onto a map. According to their plan, they had plotted six boundaries across Earth Market. Aside from the outermost boundary enclosing the perimeter, the remaining five boundaries—four horizontal and one vertical—divided Earth Market into ten distinct sectors.
This was a battlefield designed jointly by two renowned generals, taking nearly every angle into account.
Ten sectors would make it easy to defeat the enemy piecemeal. Even if a particular sector contained a road leading to the outside world, the enemy troops in the other sectors would still have nowhere to flee.
Li Banfeng looked over the map and thought the plan was brilliant.
Yet the Heavenly Maiden was not pleased.
Looking at the schematics, she snapped, "What are you two doing, painting flowers? You think this is easy?"
The Fifth Miss looked at the Heavenly Maiden with an expression of pure innocence. "Every boundary in Puluo Province was crafted by you. You are a person of formidable ability, and I revere you so deeply—how difficult could this possibly be for you?"
The Heavenly Maiden didn't buy the flattery at all. "How many years of painstaking effort did those boundaries cost me? How could this many boundaries be forged in a day or two?"
Zhao Xiaowan pondered removing one of the lines, but after weighing it repeatedly, every single boundary seemed vital.
The Heavenly Maiden looked at Li Banfeng. "There's no rush to erect the boundaries yet. I will discuss it further with them. You go talk things through with the others first and ask whether they can even fight this battle."
"Is there any need to ask?" Li Banfeng felt confident. "We endured through such hardship at Wuyouping and Heroes Mountain, and now only Santoucha remains. Why wouldn't they be able to fight?"
The Heavenly Maiden shook her head. "With them, variables can crop up at any given moment."
Li Banfeng went to assemble everyone to discuss the campaign. This time, he didn't invite many people, summoning only a few core figures, worried that an informant might leak the news.
Before everyone had arrived, He Yuxiu pulled Li Banfeng aside alone to raise an issue.
"Seventh Brother, I have to go take care of something."
With battle on the horizon, He Yuxiu leaving now would hurt morale.
"Xiuer, what happened?"
He Yuxiu wasn't one to mince words, speaking directly: "To hold onto those thirteen territories, Jiaqing has been fighting day and night against the Inner States, and now he's about to lose his life. I know you have some bad blood with Jiaqing, but he is my nephew after all. Right now, no one can help him except me. If I don't go save him, he's a dead man."
Under these circumstances, Li Banfeng certainly couldn't make things difficult for He Yuxiu. He quickly found the Rickshaw Man to see her off on her way back.
Once nearly everyone had gathered, before Li Banfeng could even bring up the battle, Huan Wuchang offered him a suggestion: "Old Seventh, since the Heavenly Maiden is out, have her draw a boundary to seal off both Earth Market and Sea Market. As long as we keep the Inner States from coming in, this war will be considered won."
Li Banfeng was stunned for a good while. "You mean... abandon Earth Market and Sea Market?"
Huan Wuchang sighed. "What do we need them for? Puluo Province has plenty of territory; we won't miss this little bit."
Li Banfeng asked Huan Wuchang, "Could you tell me your reasoning?"
Huan Wuchang glanced at Granny Ku. Granny Ku said, "Nephew, I'll speak plainly today. Up to this point in the war, half the Bitter Cultivators of Kucaizhuang have fallen, and forty percent of Huan Wuchang's cultivators are gone. Ask the other sect patriarchs and grandmasters how many of their people have died. Just now, I even went around asking the various gangs. Over half of the Three Heroes Sect has suffered casualties, the Hundred Flowers Sect barely has any fighters left, and the casualties among the Four Great Families are too numerous to tally at a glance. If we keep fighting like this, all our foundations will be wiped out."
Fatty Qin waved a hand. "No one needs to meddle in our gang's business."
Granny Ku snapped, "I don't care to meddle either! But our sects cannot go on fighting!"
Ma the Fifth looked toward Li Seventh; the casualties suffered by each family were indeed severe.
A'yi kept her head down and said nothing. Hulu Village had suffered heavy losses as well. If it were only a matter of fighting the Quenching Camp, A'yi wouldn't bat an eye and would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Li Banfeng to fight to the bitter end. But now that she knew fifty thousand Totem soldiers were waiting on the other side, she didn't want to fight anymore either.
Seeing this, Xu Han rose quietly to his feet. "Bloody combat and fierce warfare are never easy. Defending Santoucha is Xu's duty, and I should never have troubled all of you in the first place. That you were willing to come to Santoucha to lend a hand fills me with endless gratitude. I thank you all!"
With that, Xu Han cupped his fists, and the stubborn old man walked away.
Granny Ku nodded. "Fine! Old Xu has plenty of backbone and doesn't need our help, so we'll be leaving too!"
Eighteen Wheels stepped forward to dissuade her, and Lian Buda joined in the urging. Yet the more they urged, the angrier Granny Ku became.
Li Banfeng saw it clearly: Granny Ku was seizing upon her anger to walk away directly and wash her hands of the mess. Kucaizhuang's losses this time were indeed immense. If Granny Ku left, the Brotherhood Alliance would follow, and subsequently, the patriarchs and grandmasters who were on poor terms with the peddler would leave as well. If they departed like that, the united front would crumble.
"Seniors!" Li Banfeng stood up. "Please stay in Santoucha for a few more days. For now, you won't need to fight, but at least hold up the appearance for Puluo Province."
Granny Ku nodded. "Fine, we'll promise you that much. We'll hold up the appearance here. If the enemy attacks out of the underground city, we won't hesitate when it's time to strike back. But if they pull back inside the underground city, this war should pretty much end right here."
The crowd dispersed. Chu the Second walked over to Li Banfeng's side. "Seventh Brother, no matter how many people the Chu family has left, say the word, and we'll fight the Inner States to the end!"
Lu Chunying nodded. "The Lu family stands with you as well. Even if I'm the only one left, I'll fight to the end."
Ma the Fifth stood up. "Old Seventh, don't worry. I'll go gather more manpower. We brothers won't back down."
Fatty Qin said, "Seventh Brother, none of my men are cowards. Rest easy and fight."
A'yi said, "None of us from Hulu Village are cowards either. The question is, can this battle be won?"
"It can be won!" Li Banfeng smiled. "Take your people back to rest for now."
Lian Buda approached Li Banfeng. "Old Seventh, I heard about the two Qiao Yis from Old Train. This has nothing to do with me. I could never work for the Inner States."
Li Banfeng nodded. "I trust you."
Lian Buda nodded as well. "But I don't trust Big Lian Buda."
Li Banfeng locked eyes with Lian Buda. "Does Big Lian Buda have consciousness?"
Lian Buda lowered his voice. "He didn't before, but now I don't dare say. That Great Totem is far too uncanny."
"Where is Big Lian Buda?"
"At the border between Wansheng Province, the Inner States, and Puluo Province," Lian Buda said, a trace of dread surfacing on his face. "That place is somewhere I must never return to. If I go, I'll never come out. Even the peddler barely escaped with his life back then. But if I don't go, I'm truly terrified..."
Li Banfeng glanced around and whispered to Lian Buda, "Supposing this really was Big Lian Buda's doing, if Qiao Yi can be divided into two, could he be divided into four?"
The terror on Lian Buda's face grew even more intense. "I dare not say. Ordinarily it shouldn't be possible, but now with the Great Totem involved, I dare not guarantee anything!"
Li Banfeng hardly dared imagine it. Could Qiao Yi be subdivided indefinitely?
For a fleeting moment, Li Banfeng felt as though a swarm of Qiao Yis had materialized before his eyes, bustling all around him.
"Brother, do not breathe a word of this matter to anyone for now. Regarding Qiao Yi, no matter who asks, it has nothing to do with you."
He couldn't let those old seniors seize on an excuse, or they would turn Lian Buda into the public enemy of Puluo Province.
Exiting the meeting place, Li Banfeng spotted a familiar group of people.
Meng Yuchun was scolding Wu Yongchao: "I can't stand people who talk out of their ass like this! You claimed you knew the way, and yet you couldn't find a single place!"
Wu Yongchao hung his head. "I checked the map several times! I knew how to reach the underground city, it's just that this place was too hard to find!"
Meng Yuchun shot Wu Yongchao a glare. "You can't even tell east from west, what map were you looking at? If Miss Jiang hadn't guided us here, who knows how long we would've wandered around with you!"
Jiang Mengting had come as well.
Li Banfeng looked at the crowd and revealed his form.
Wu Yongchao shouted excitedly, "Fort Lord!"
Li Banfeng asked, "Why are you all here?"
Wu Yongchao said, "The local god told us that someone had invaded Puluo Province, and that anyone with guts should follow the Fort Lord to battle. We consulted with our dwellings, grabbed our dwelling spirits, and set off that very day!"
That was the honest truth. The moment they received news of the war, they had set out that same day. The reason they had only arrived now was that they didn't know the way and couldn't even find the train station at first.
Li Banfeng glanced over; more than eighty percent of Tiemen Fort's people had come. Some carried bowls, some held basins, some hauled tables, and someone was even carrying an entire bed on his back.
The dwelling spirits took all manner of bizarre forms. Li Banfeng asked, "If you've left, what about your houses? What kind of Dwelling Cultivators run around all over the place!"
Wu Yongchao said, "We talked it over with our houses. The Fort Lord has been good to us, and we're following the Fort Lord to war. The houses agreed!"
Meng Yuchun chuckled. "I talked it over too. Old Seventh, are those two young ladies who helped treat my injuries back then still around?"
Hiding in the shadows, Jiu'er giggled. "She still remembers us!"
Zhao Xiaowan pinched Jiu'er. "What are you laughing at? Is being remembered by her a good thing? Did you forget how her hands were wandering all over that day?"
Li Banfeng looked toward Jiang Mengting and smiled. "You've come too."
Jiang Mengting's cheeks flushed red, and she lowered her head. "I raised a sum of money and gathered a shipment of grain. The Jiang family is just getting on its feet, so our reserves aren't deep, but I was thinking..."
Li Banfeng nodded repeatedly; he understood her intentions.
Ma the Fifth chuckled from the side, and Chu the Second praised her as well: "This lass didn't let you down."
His wife sighed. "Miss Jiang is a good person, but that rouge scent on her is truly obnoxious."
Hong Ying said, "It's not obnoxious at all. I think it smells quite like Qilang's scent."
Jiu'er looked at Hong Ying. "The wooden ruler back home was broken over your backside, don't you truly know how to feel pain?"
Fatty Qin said, "Seventh Brother, heroes from all walks of life are heading this way. We have plenty of hands. Even without those old geezers, we can still fight this war!"
Li Banfeng nodded repeatedly, telling Ma the Fifth to quickly settle everyone into quarters while he went to find Zuo Wugang to check on Qiu Zhiheng's injuries.
Qiu Zhiheng remained unconscious, with Bamboo looking after him.
Grassy Leaf kept wiping away tears. "I'm completely useless. All I can do is help Brother Qiu buy some medicinal herbs, nothing else!"
Nectarine hadn't recovered from her injuries yet, but she offered Grassy Leaf a few words of comfort from the side: "Sister, you're plenty capable. If it weren't for you, I might not have made it back alive."
Li Banfeng lowered his voice and asked Zhong'er, "How is the combat capability of the Sinless Army?"
Zhong'er was a quick learner. After fighting in Santoucha these past days, he had grasped a great deal of the underlying dynamics, but with so many people around, certain things couldn't be stated plainly.
Li Banfeng took him into another room to talk. Zhong'er said, "Director Li, in the past, using the Sinless Army to maintain order or deal with local thugs was sufficient, but when it comes to real warfare, they're more than one level below the Bandit-Quelling Army. Liao Zihui, just to save face, keeps asking the Outer States for more equipment. No matter how much equipment you give them, it's useless. Sending the Sinless Army onto the battlefield is just sending them to die."
Li Banfeng sat in a chair, rubbing his temples.
It wasn't just the Sinless Army being sent to die.
This was a war that even patriarchs and grandmasters couldn't withstand. How many more lives would have to be fed into the meat grinder?
Perhaps, just as Second Aunt had suggested, they should abandon both Earth Market and Sea Market?
Li Banfeng shook his head to himself. Those two places could not be surrendered.
Without Earth Market, Santoucha would lose its grain supply. Sea Market was the foundation of Earth Market's survival, since Earth Market relied on Sea Market for soil exchange. Furthermore, the Inner States had another road leading into Sea Market; if they didn't block that path, the Inner States would continuously pour reinforcements into the underground city, and the entirety of Santoucha would fall sooner or later.
How exactly should this war be fought?
Zhao Lanmeng stepped into the room and glanced at Zhong'er.
Zhong'er took the hint and departed first.
Zhao Lanmeng sat beside Li Banfeng. "Yesterday, I made a trip to Dream-Tethering Tower to scout for news from the Inner States. By chance, I encountered a friend who wishes to see you."
Li Banfeng looked up. "Which friend?"
Zhao Lanmeng pointed at the nearby bed.
Li Banfeng understood his meaning; this was a friend in dreams.
Without permission, Zhao Lanmeng naturally wouldn't dare force Li Seventh into a dream. Once Li Banfeng lay down on the bed, Zhao Lanmeng activated his technique.
Li Banfeng drifted into dreamland. A cavern appeared before his eyes, where a blond man in a swallowtail coat was tending an iron pot propped up over a fire, boiling noodle soup.
He scooped out a bowl and handed it to Li Banfeng.
Carrying the bowl of noodle soup, Li Banfeng sat down. He looked at Little De beside him, then across the iron pot at Critik, and asked first, "Are you certain this food is suitable for me?"
Critik inspected the noodle soup carefully, then looked at Li Banfeng. "The food is completely safe. We are friends; you can speak more directly."
Li Banfeng asked point-blank, "Are you still alive?"
"Alive," Critik nodded. "Existing in an extremely unique state of life. Thanks to this extraordinary state of existence, I have achieved numerous new breakthroughs in my research on life. Of course, these achievements are currently confined to theory, and many theories still lack experimental backing. That is why I require your assistance."
Li Banfeng tipped up the brim of his hat and looked at Critik with utmost politeness. "Are you asking me to conduct experiments for you?"
Critik shook his head. "I believe using the word 'assist' is quite inappropriate. My research findings here are grounded in the research we conducted in reality, and our real-world research was accomplished jointly by the two of us. Therefore, the theoretical portion of this project falls to me, while the experimental portion rightfully belongs to you."
Li Banfeng frowned. "Friend, do not drag me into this again. Right now, I have countless complicated situations to confront. You should already know that Puluo Province is in grave peril—"
Critik's expression turned intensely solemn. "The problem before you is precisely what you must face. When I say those are our joint research findings, it has never been a joke. If you are familiar with scientific research, you ought to understand one thing: the theoretical research of a project and its practical application may not be carried out by the same group of people. If you are unwilling to put our achievements into application, someone else will beat you to it. That constitutes the theft of scientific achievements."
Li Banfeng instantly grew tense. "What do you mean by that?"
Critik scooped a bowl of noodle soup for Little De, then turned back to Li Banfeng. "Under this unique mode of life, I have recently been paying frequent visits to other people's dreams, including Qiao Yi's. I discovered that he possesses a tremendous talent for the study of life. If he steals our research findings, you should know what a terrifying threat that would pose to Puluo Province. If daolao ghosts are fed into the Great Totem as well, can you imagine the consequences? That is why there are some things we must accomplish before he does."
Chapter 838