Chapter 102: Snake Moray Eel

Ma Wu stood in front of the Song family's main warehouse, making a scene: "I say, Boss Luo, you're a big shot with a lot of money; surely you won't quibble with me over a few dollars?"

Luo Sancai, the warehouse manager, smiled and said, "Fifth Master, look at what you're saying. We buy peaches for a hundred yuan a catty. We can't break that rule."

"But you also have to consider the quality of these peaches. Are my peaches the same as theirs? Asking for an extra twenty yuan isn't too much, is it?"

Ma Wu wanted to sell them for one hundred and twenty yuan per catty.

He wasn't truly aiming for the extra twenty yuan; he was putting on a show for the Song family.

Luo Sancai actually wanted to give him the twenty yuan, as he didn't want to offend this fallen young master over such a small amount.

However, the head of the Song family, Song Jiasen, was sitting in the courtyard. He had given Luo Sancai orders: "A hundred yuan a catty, not a single cent more!"

Luo Sancai pleaded, "Master, it's only a few thousand yuan in total. Just give it to him."

Song Jiasen's face darkened. "What capabilities does he think he has, using the Ma family's name to act like a rogue here! Damn it, who indulged his rotten habits!"

"Master, the key is that he truly is a young master of the Ma family."

Song Jiasen sneered, "So what? This is Lanyang Village. In this village, things are done by my rules. Tell the weighers to be meticulous; calculate every catty and ounce precisely for him. If he doesn't want to sell, he can carry them home himself and let them rot in his hands!"

Luo Sancai, helpless, could only settle the payment at the market price.

"Just you wait, when I, your young master, rise again, I'll make you realize what regret is!" Ma Wu, failing to get a better deal, took the money and left, grumbling.

That evening, Li Banfeng and Ma Wu took a bag of rotten fish and went to Xindi again. The butler had received the news early this time and quickly informed the family head, Song Jiasen.

Hearing this, Song Jiasen sneered, "Knowing it's not profitable, he's reluctant to hire people. Let him go. If he catches peaches, we'll still buy them at the market price. Just don't let anyone say we didn't give him enough to eat."

Ma Wu and Li Banfeng walked through the forest. They moved quickly, and Ma Wu kept confirming their direction with Li Banfeng along the way.

"Brother Li, if it weren't for you, I truly wouldn't dare to cross this forest alone. Let's walk faster, so we don't attract the peach trees."

"Brother Ma, I can walk as fast as you want, but I'm worried you won't be able to keep up."

"My body is too weak. How about you carry this bag?"

"No discussion. You have to carry the rotten fish."

At two in the morning, the two crossed the forest and arrived at a lakeside.

The lake was quite large, over three *li* in circumference. Its water was extremely murky; if you scooped some up, you couldn't even see your palm.

Li Banfeng took out a fishing net, baited it with the tiger head lice he had caught from the peaches, and began fishing.

"In Xindi of Lanyang Village, tiger head lice are best for catching snakehead eels. The insects we have should be enough to catch dozens of them." Ma Wu was confident, but after waiting an hour, not a single fish was caught.

That's how business is; there's always a risk.

If they didn't catch any snakehead eels tonight, all their previous efforts would be in vain.

"The fish aren't biting quickly today, Brother Li. Be patient and wait a bit longer."

Li Banfeng sniffed, then looked at Ma Wu and asked, "What's that smell? It's so fishy!"

Ma Wu's face lit up. "Brother Li, you smell the fishy odor? The snakehead eels are coming! They have a very strong smell!"

Li Banfeng sniffed carefully for a moment, then shook his head. "It's not on this side; it's across the lake."

Ma Wu was very surprised. He couldn't smell anything, so how could Li Banfeng smell something from across the lake?

Following Li Banfeng to the other side of the lake, they cast their net again. With one sweep, two black-scaled eels were pulled from the water.

The snakehead eel truly lived up to its name. It had a snake-like head with two sharp, serpent-like fangs and could even flick its tongue like a snake.

Li Banfeng suspected it was originally a snake that had grown a fish body.

Ma Wu quickly intervened: "Brother Li, don't touch it yet. This fish is highly poisonous. A single bite will kill you within an hour."

He used gloves to put the fish into a bag, while Li Banfeng continued to bait and fish.

Two hours later, they had caught a total of thirty-one snakehead eels.

With enough fish, Li Banfeng carried the snakehead eels, Ma Wu carried the rotten fish, and the two returned to Lanyang Village.

Tang Tianjin, the Song family's chief butler, saw Ma Wu and specifically approached him to greet him: "Fifth Young Master, you're back so early! Oh, why are you carrying these rotten fish back again? Did you not catch any peaches last night?"

Ma Wu snorted coldly and said nothing.

Tang Tianjin remained enthusiastic: "Fifth Young Master, please don't be upset, truly don't be upset. Go again tonight, and if you catch peaches, we'll be waiting for your goods."

During the day, Ma Wu slept downstairs, while Li Banfeng returned to his portable residence and said to the gramophone, "My dear wife, I'm covered in fish smell. Could you heat some water for me to wash with?"

The gramophone retorted angrily, "Hot water, hot water! Why don't you buy a boiler for your home? Do you know how many days I haven't eaten?"

Indeed, since arriving in Lanyang Village, apart from the bandits, Li Banfeng truly hadn't fed his wife anything.

"Don't worry, my dear wife. In the next day or two, I'll definitely give you a good meal."

The gramophone roared, "If you don't buy food back in the next two days, I'll eat *you*!"

Li Banfeng said angrily, "What kind of talk is that? Are you trying to murder your own husband?"

"What if I do harm you? If I did, I'd just marry someone useful! Then I wouldn't have to live this hard life, sometimes hungry, sometimes full!"

Despite her words, the gramophone still heated a basin of hot water for Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng enjoyed a quick wash and was about to lie down when he suddenly saw Tang Dao appear before him, proclaiming loudly:

"Slay one person in ten steps, leave no trace for a thousand miles! The time for our decisive battle has come!"

"What decisive battle?" Li Banfeng was stunned, staring at Tang Dao in bewilderment.

"If you dare not fight me, I will certainly not be at your command." Tang Dao stood before Li Banfeng, looking just as he did when they first met.

How did this thing restart?

The gramophone beside him scoffed, "Oh, my dear husband, I told you before that this magic artifact is not worth keeping. It can only be used three times, with one strike each time. After three strikes, it becomes a stranger again. Do you want to subdue it yet again?"

Li Banfeng looked at Tang Dao and said, "After three strikes, I have to fight you? Isn't that rule a bit inconvenient?"

Tang Dao's tone was firm: "This is the way of the saber for our kind!"

Li Banfeng was even more displeased: "You're clearly a saber, so why do you always talk about swords?"

Tang Dao straightened his posture: "The essence is what matters. Now, where shall we duel?"

Observing Tang Dao's somewhat exaggerated movements, Li Banfeng noticed a detail.

His scabbard was exceptionally tight, seemingly fixed to the blade by some means.

Li Banfeng said, "Let's fight in the outer room today."

"Excellent!"

Tang Dao followed Li Banfeng to the outer room. The gramophone let out two cold laughs but said nothing.

In the outer room, the man and the saber stood ready. Li Banfeng said, "Aren't we supposed to have a decisive battle? Why haven't you drawn your blade?"

"Hmph hmph hmph," Tang Dao sneered, "If I draw my blade, wouldn't I be threatened by your elixir again? The disparity in our martial prowess is vast. Even without drawing my blade, I can still kill you!"

Tang Dao wasn't exaggerating. There was indeed a significant power gap between Li Banfeng and him. Without drawing its blade, Tang Dao was essentially a wooden stick, yet even that stick could kill Li Banfeng.

Tang Dao still maintained the demeanor of a martial artist, calling out to Li Banfeng, "Make your move."

Li Banfeng said to the bronze lotus, "Take him in."

Hiss, hiss, hiss.

The bronze lotus had been waiting for this day for a long time.

She also hadn't eaten in a long time.

Its petals unfurled, and the lotus core shone with light.

A whirlwind stirred up, pulling Tang Dao towards the lotus core.

Tang Dao hissed, "One-on-one, a fair victory! What kind of hero are you, calling for help?"

Li Banfeng replied, "Our previous duel was by mutual agreement. This time, it's just your wishful thinking."

Tang Dao, nearing the lotus core, struggled desperately: "You're winning unfairly. I will never submit to you."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I don't need you to submit. I just find this saber of yours too troublesome, so I'm thinking of melting it down and recasting it."

Tang Dao looked at the increasingly close red lotus. He didn't know its origin, but he could sense that he might be reduced to ashes. "If you put me into this thing, I might not come out as a magic artifact anymore."

Li Banfeng nodded. "That's fine. Even if it refines two elixirs, they'd be more useful than you."

Tang Dao struggled weakly, then shouted loudly, "Your humble subordinate has drifted through life and finally found an enlightened master. I am willing to serve you like a dog or horse..."

Li Banfeng told the bronze lotus to pause and had a serious discussion with Tang Dao.

"You strike three times, and then I have to duel you once. I really dislike that. From today onwards, this rule of yours has to change."

Tang Dao explained, "I am a magic artifact. Rules are fundamental to my existence. If they are changed, my spiritual essence will have nothing to rely on, so this rule absolutely cannot be..."

Li Banfeng turned back and said, "A-Lian, are you hungry?"

Tang Dao immediately changed his tune: "The rule cannot be changed, but the method can be flexible. From now on, every time I'm supposed to duel with my master, we won't actually fight. I'll simply concede."

Li Banfeng nodded. "That's a good attitude. Also, you can only strike three times. Isn't that too few?"

Tang Dao shook his body repeatedly: "My master, this is an unchangeable rule. Your subordinate only possesses this one ability."

"Who says this rule can't be changed? Next time I send you into battle, you strike three times, then we fight, and you concede. Couldn't you then strike three more times?"

Tang Dao explained, "My master is wise, but this method is truly unfeasible. After striking three times, I must rest for several days before I can fight again."

In other words, Tang Dao only had the power for three strikes. If he wasn't allowed to rest sufficiently, he couldn't help Li Banfeng in battle.

This time, no matter how much Li Banfeng pressured him, Tang Dao had no way to circumvent the rule. Seeing his sincerity, Li Banfeng decided not to press him further.

That night, Li Banfeng and Ma Wu once again carried the rotten fish to Xindi. This time, they passed through the forest from the west, not heading towards the lake, but instead reaching a desert.

The night wind blew, sweeping the yellow sand. It was hard to imagine such a desert existing next to a dense forest.

Ma Wu tossed the rotten fish aside.

Li Banfeng took out the snakehead eels and placed them beneath a patch of cacti.

In the vast desert, almost no other plants could be found besides cacti. Ma Wu counted them first: "One, two, three..."

There were a total of twelve cacti in this patch. After counting, the two lay on the yellow sand, backs to the cacti, and began to chat.

Li Banfeng said to Ma Wu, "Actually, we didn't need to return to the village last night. We could have just stayed in Xindi."

Ma Wu shook his head. "That won't do. Song Jiasen would become suspicious. In Lanyang Village, it's not hard to acquire treasures from Xindi. The difficulty lies in evading the Song family's watchful eyes. For example, the Thorn-Swallowing Pearl we're looking for—a top-quality one—if sold to the Song family, they'd give at most twenty thousand. But if we take it to Greenwater City ourselves, we could sell it for two or three hundred thousand. To make money in Lanyang Village, the challenge isn't in the methods themselves, but in the deceptions, in..."

As he spoke, Ma Wu glanced back: "One, two, three..."

He counted again.

"Twelve, thirteen," Ma Wu chuckled, "They're here!"

The cacti were here.