At dusk, Li Banfeng went for a stroll in the wilderness.
Last night, he had practiced with the iron ruler alongside the gramophone in the Portable Abode through the entire night. After eating two cans of food, he had gone to sleep and did not wake until five in the afternoon.
Taking advantage of the remaining daylight, Li Banfeng hurried to complete his foundational cultivation as a journey cultivator.
Mazhu Mountain was vast and its terrain treacherous; walking one li along its mountain paths yielded the cultivation equivalent of walking a li and a half under normal conditions.
After trekking over thirty li of mountain trails, Li Banfeng felt a familiar sensation—his foundational cultivation was complete for the day.
In the more than two months since initiating as a journey cultivator, Li Banfeng had never missed a single day of practice. By his calculation, after deducting the required expenditures of routine cultivation, he had stockpiled an extra three months' worth of time.
This was mostly thanks to his frequent habit of cultivating in perilous environments—or in other words, flirting with death.
Li Banfeng wanted to walk a few more li to accumulate a bit more time, when he suddenly noticed figures moving within the bamboo grove.
He took out the Thread-Hook Earring and listened for a moment, catching Patrol Captain Wu Jinming's voice.
"Keep your eyes peeled, all of you. Once we clear this ridge, we call it a day."
"Captain Wu, let's just go through the motions. Coming out to patrol the mountains in the dead of night—I haven't had to do this sort of thing once since the day I took the job."
"What else can we do? The Lu family talks big, and they're insisting we track down Li Banfeng."
"We work for the Garrison Commissioner, and he's from the Outer States. Why the hell should he care about Lu family business?"
"Our commissioner must've taken plenty of bribes from the Lus. Why else would he be so eager?"
"If he took bribes, he ought to share a cut with us, damn it! We've been trudging all over the place all day long, wearing holes right through our leather boots, and he hasn't said a word about issuing us an extra pair."
"Quiet down with that nonsense. This isn't about bribes. The Lu family is about to dominate Puluo Province. Neither the Hes, the Mas, nor the Chus are any match for them. At the end of the day, the commissioner operates in Puluo Province, so he'll inevitably need the Lu family's favor."
Wu Jinming led his men through a stretch of woods. Seeing the sun about to dip below the horizon, he said to his subordinates, "All right, let's wrap it up for today. The checkpoint opens tomorrow, so nothing must go wrong. Everyone get some rest early, and don't go wandering around outside."
The patrolmen headed down the mountain, and Li Banfeng stepped out from the Portable Abode.
The Lu family has already tracked me all the way to the border?
Will I still be able to cross tomorrow?
If I go anywhere near the police station, I'll surely be caught.
I need to find another way.
Late at night, Li Banfeng arrived at Youtao's house.
Seeing Li Banfeng, Youtao felt a surge of delight. She hurriedly closed the bamboo building's front door and whispered, "Brother Baisha, you scared me to death! When you said you were hiding from enemies, you meant the Lu family?"
Li Banfeng nodded slightly.
Youtao smacked her lips. "Then this is going to be difficult. If the Lu family is searching for someone, as long as you're in Yaowanggou, you definitely won't get away."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Which is why I originally planned to head to Lüshuiwan."
"Go to Lüshuiwan? Have you lost your mind?" Youtao was bewildered. "The Lu family's home base is in Lüshuiwan! Going there is just throwing your life away, isn't it?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "You're right. I've thought it through now. I can't go in person, but an item must be delivered. Can you help me take something across to Lüshuiwan?"
It was not that he distrusted Youtao, but circumstances were pressing, and there were things she could not be permitted to know.
"Take something across..." Youtao pondered for a moment and nodded. "Tomorrow I'll go see a flower-tongue broker and ask about the going rate."
Having spent time around Yu Nan, Li Banfeng had picked up a bit of underworld slang.
A "flower-tongue" was a broker or middleman.
Along the border, there was a special type of flower-tongue broker who specifically approached passing travelers to do business.
These travelers possessed travel permits and could cross the border lawfully. The flower-tongue brokers would ask them to carry a small item across, paying thirty to fifty thousand dollars for the favor.
Naturally, one could not bring too much.
Carrying an envelope or a parcel was fine—the Garrison Commissioner wouldn't mind—but driving a horse carriage across was strictly out of the question.
Was it truly necessary to entrust someone to carry an item across the border?
Didn't Puluo Province have post offices?
There were post offices, but the rules were stringent, especially regarding cross-border mail, where the regulations were far more elaborate.
Elixirs could not be mailed; artifacts could not be mailed; weapons could not be mailed; living creatures could not be mailed; and anything endowed with spiritual nature could not be mailed.
All items sent through the mail underwent layer upon layer of inspections, and delivery was exceedingly slow. By the time a parcel reached its destination, an entire month might have passed. Li Banfeng could not afford to take such risks.
"When a flower-tongue broker finds someone to carry something, he pays thirty to fifty thousand, and he takes an equal cut for his own profit. Getting a parcel across might run you a hundred thousand dollars—it's nothing like sending regular mail." You Xuetao explained the costs, looking at Li Banfeng with slight unease.
Li Banfeng had done her a great favor—he had saved her life. By all rights, she did not wish to mention money to him.
Yet You Xuetao had none.
She was someone willing to risk her life for eighty-five dollars worth of snake-spot chrysanthemum. Even though she had received several elixirs from Li Banfeng, her life remained financially strained.
A hundred thousand dollars, however, was no great matter to Li Banfeng.
"I'll give you two hundred thousand."
Youtao hastily shook her head. "It won't take that much..."
"Whatever is left over belongs to you. Midway up the western slope of Mazhu Mountain, there's a pond. Do you know it?"
Youtao nodded. "The water is very clear, and few people go there. I often go there to bathe."
"Beside the pond is a large green boulder. It's quite big, with a hollow underneath. Do you know of it?"
Youtao nodded. "I know it. When I bathe, I usually put my clothes on that boulder."
Li Banfeng frowned. "Why do you keep bringing up bathing?
"Tomorrow night at two in the morning, go to the pond. In the hollow beneath that boulder, you'll find a parcel. Help me get that parcel to Lanyang Village in Lüshuiwan. Leave it at the village entrance, hidden in a discreet spot. That will be enough."
Lanyang Village was a place Li Banfeng had spotted on the map, situated very close to the border.
Youtao was somewhat puzzled. "What is it? Can't you just hand it to me right now?"
"Not right now. The time isn't right yet."
You Xuetao offered a word of caution: "When you entrust things to border crossers, there's no guarantee the item will arrive. People who travel between both sides regularly have some degree of credibility, but others may not be reliable.
"If it isn't an absolute emergency, taking it to the post office is safer. If you insist on using a border crosser, I'll speak to the flower-tongue broker tomorrow and have him look for someone familiar. But if he really can't find anyone..."
"Then we take the gamble."
In truth, it didn't strictly have to be Lanyang Village—so long as it got out of Yaowanggou, that would suffice.
Li Banfeng turned to leave.
You Xuetao reached out and caught his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"To the mountain to spend the night."
"The mountain isn't safe either. I heard the patrolmen have started sweeping it."
"I'll manage. In any case, I can't drag you down with me."
Li Banfeng departed, and You Xuetao stood by the doorway for a long time.
She worried this might be the last time she would ever see him.
Coughing sounded from upstairs again. You Xuetao walked up to the second floor.
The young woman sitting in the corner gave a snort. "If you've fallen for him, just go with him then."
You Xuetao nodded. "Fine, I'll go with him."
"Heartless!" The young woman began to weep. "One look at him tells you he's no good. What do you even see in him!"
You Xuetao smiled and gently stroked the girl's cheek. "He's a good man. A truly good man."
...
The next day, You Xuetao went to the village entrance to meet the flower-tongue broker. He asked for one hundred and twenty thousand, promising to find an acquaintance for her and guarantee delivery.
You Xuetao frowned. "Why did the price go up? In the past, the most expensive was only a hundred thousand!"
The flower-tongue broker smiled. "Lanyang Village isn't peaceful these days. If you don't pay enough, nobody's willing to go."
You Xuetao had never been to Lüshuiwan and had no idea what sort of place Lanyang Village was, but since Li Banfeng had settled on the location, she didn't ask further.
The two agreed to meet the following morning to exchange the goods and the cash at the same time.
The flower-tongue broker added a warning: "Peach, we go back a ways, so let me make this clear. The patrolmen have been searching strictly these past two days. I don't dare take anything improper across. Don't go setting me up."
Youtao agreed. She didn't know what Li Banfeng intended to send either.
At two in the morning, Youtao arrived at the pond on the western slope of Mazhu Mountain. Beneath the green boulder, she found the parcel Li Banfeng had left behind. It was only the size of a palm and extremely light.
Holding the parcel, Youtao was about to head down the mountain when she suddenly heard movement nearby.
She peeked toward the bamboo grove and spotted several points of light.
Not good—patrolmen!
Those lights were distinct: gas lamps used exclusively by patrolmen.
A gas lamp was an oil-gas lamp, consisting of a fist-sized gas cylinder fitted with a pipe. Turning the valve on the pipe released the gas, which, once ignited, burned far brighter than an ordinary lantern.
In Puluo Province, fuel oil solidified rapidly and could not be stored in large quantities. Equipment capable of converting congealed fat into small amounts of flammable gas was prohibitively expensive; around Mazhu Mountain, only the patrolmen could afford to use gas lamps.
Youtao wanted to flee, but a beam of light flickered toward her. The patrolmen had already spotted her and were flashing their light to signal her to stay put.
Left with no choice, You Xuetao stripped off her clothes at lightning speed, stuffed the parcel inside her garments, and slipped into the water.
Moments later, Patrol Captain Wu Jinming led his men up to the water's edge.
Seeing Youtao curled up in the water, several patrolmen wished they could plunge their heads beneath the surface to take a closer look.
Unfortunately for them, the spot where Youtao was positioned sat obscured by the shadow of the massive green boulder. The men could only fret in vain, unable to see a thing.
Wu Jinming frowned. "You Xuetao, what are you doing here?"
Youtao knitted her brows as well. "Officer Wu, can't you see what I'm doing? I'm bathing. Or would you like to come down and join me?"
Normally, Wu Jinming would have traded a few playful remarks with You Xuetao, but today he was in no mood for banter. "I've told you before, I've never made trouble for you. Why must you insist on making trouble for me?"
"Officer Wu, you bring a whole pack of subordinates to watch me bathe, and then turn around and say I'm making trouble for you? Is there any fairness left in this world?"
As she spoke, Youtao kept her eyes on Wu Jinming, her tone neither servile nor defiant—tinged with thirty percent resentment, fifty percent grievance, and twenty percent helpless misery.
Tears hovered at the rims of her eyes, carefully kept from falling.
She could not push the technique too hard; Wu Jinming was a cultivator as well, and she must not provoke his hostility.
Nor could she apply too little force, or else Wu Jinming's heart would not soften.
The art of the Joy Cultivator depended on cultivation depth, precision of touch, and shrewd calculation.
Wu Jinming did not reply, but several of his subordinates lowered their heads.
They felt pity for Youtao.
They felt guilty.
They did not want to linger here for another second.
...
Wu Jinming questioned Youtao no further. He led the patrolmen back down the mountain. Along the way, none of the men suspected Youtao; instead, they complained endlessly to Wu Jinming.
"Captain Wu, why bother? Miss You hasn't committed any crime. Why make things hard on her?"
"Exactly. Patrolling the mountain in the middle of the night is miserable enough as it is, and here we are, a bunch of grown men, going around bullying a girl."
"We run into each other all the time around here, and we still have to do our jobs in this place. We can't go offending everyone just over some Lu family nonsense!"
"What a mess. I'll feel ashamed just looking at Miss You after this!"
"I didn't even have the nerve to look into the water just now!"
The patrolmen's hearts brimmed with tenderness toward Youtao, to the point of producing intense self-reproach.
Wu Jinming remained silent. He knew his men had fallen under the arts of a Joy Cultivator.
He was certain Youtao was hiding something, and that something was very likely connected to the Li Banfeng the Lu family was hunting.
If Youtao's supposed godbrother had been present, Wu Jinming certainly would not have let him off.
But since the man was nowhere to be seen, Wu Jinming truly had no desire to press the issue.
His men were right: he still had to earn a living here. He really couldn't throw caution to the wind just because the Lu family gave an order.
...
At daybreak, You Xuetao handed the parcel over to the flower-tongue broker. Right in front of her, the broker handed the parcel to a middle-aged man.
This middle-aged man was named Yang Yanzheng, a manager for the Chu family—one of the Four Great Families of Puluo Province. He regularly visited Yaowanggou to procure medicinal herbs and was an acquaintance of the broker, carrying a solid reputation for reliability.
The broker smiled. "Peach, you're in luck. Mr. Yang happens to be heading to Lanyang Village. Your parcel will definitely be delivered."
Taking the parcel, Yang Yanzheng headed to the police station. Wu Jinming led twenty patrolmen and ten border-crossing travelers to the checkpoint.
At Mazhu Mountain, only ten people were permitted to cross the border each day. If you missed your turn today, you had to wait until tomorrow.
The checkpoint changed locations daily—such was the rule in Puluo Province. Today's chosen location lay at the southern foot of Mazhu Mountain.
The borderline was barren of vegetation and easy to recognize. Ten patrolmen escorted a steam automobile, transporting an iron chest measuring two meters long, one meter wide, and one meter tall directly beside the borderline.
Accompanied by five bodyguards, the Garrison Commissioner personally produced a key and unlocked the iron chest.
A patrolman lifted out a square lightbox, and the commissioner personally inspected its positioning.
Once everything was verified, one patrolman poured water into the top of the lightbox, another opened its rear cover to load coal, and a third carried a bucket of grease to handle ignition.
*Chuff! Chuff! Chuff!*
Steam puffed rhythmically from the top of the lightbox. As the rhythm accelerated, the lightbox flickered a few times and gradually shone bright.
This was not powered by electricity; it was high-temperature steam triggering an artifact housed inside the box.
A beam of cyan-blue light shot toward the borderline, casting a spot of light a meter and a half in diameter across it.
Anyone who had crossed the border knew that within that illuminated circle, the otherwise impenetrable, lethal borderline temporarily ceased to function.
Yang Yanzheng was first in line. Accompanied by a patrolman, he stepped before the Garrison Commissioner.
The clerk beside the commissioner ordered, "Present your travel permit."
Yang Yanzheng produced his permit and handed it over.
The commissioner glanced at it, raised his head, and asked, "What is your name?"
At this moment, one must never lie, for the commissioner carried an artifact on his person.
Yang Yanzheng did not know what the artifact looked like, but he knew the consequences of dishonesty. He had once witnessed three travelers using other people's permits under assumed identities; the moment they gave false names, their bodies shattered on the spot, turning into puddles of minced flesh.
Not just impostors—even someone who had recently changed their name and did not yet fully identify with it would drop dead on the spot before this artifact.
Some first-time border crossers could not understand why crossing on foot required the commissioner's personal inspection of permits, when crossing by train or boat only involved ticket collectors.
Make the trip a few more times, and the reason became clear.
Those who avoided trains and boats always had special reasons for walking across the border on foot.
Take Yang Yanzheng, for example. His purpose on this trip was to deliver a box of rare elixirs to the Chu family's Second Miss and handle some business in Lanyang Village on the way. That box of elixirs was extremely toxic and could not be brought onto trains or boats; had a conductor discovered it, Yang Yanzheng might have lost his life en route.
Anyone crossing on foot was almost certainly engaged in peculiar business, and most possessed remarkable skills. The Garrison Commissioner had to appear in person to maintain strict vigilance.
Once his identity was confirmed without error, the commissioner granted permission to cross.
Yang Yanzheng walked up to the borderline, carefully stepped onto the spot of light on the ground, and crossed over.
In less than half a day, Yang Yanzheng arrived at Lanyang Village. He placed the parcel inside a hollow tree at the entrance to the village and immediately entered.
Three hours later, calculating that he should have reached the destination, Li Banfeng stepped out of the Portable Abode. Covered in wood shavings and moss, he squeezed out from the tree hollow.
*This fellow really was responsible, hiding the parcel in a place like this.*
Li Banfeng dusted off his clothes, let out a long breath, and looked at the village before him.
He had finally reached Lüshuiwan.
Here lay the largest city in Puluo Province.
Here was a paradise of glittering decadence!
Here... looked rather different from what Li Banfeng had imagined.
Chapter 96