Chapter 110: Wife, Don't Be Afraid

The phonograph finally made a sound. Li Banfeng breathed a sigh of relief. “My dear, I thought you were gravely injured and couldn’t speak.”

“Gravely injured? What are you saying, dear husband? A good woman can manage both the household and the kitchen. Preparing a simple dish is hardly ‘getting injured.’”

As she spoke, the phonograph’s sound became somewhat distorted, its pitch rising and falling like a roller coaster, making Li Banfeng nervous again.

“Husband, today’s ingredient is special. Your humble servant is truly full this time. Please give this corpse to Honglian to process. She can refine some good things for you. Even if you can’t eat them, you can sell them for a good price. You know your humble servant’s nature; once full, I just want to sleep a little longer. If you have anything to do, please go attend to it; you don’t need to mind me.”

The phonograph’s voice kept changing pitch, and Li Banfeng’s brow furrowed as he looked at the scattered parts on the floor.

“Husband, don’t worry about those trivial bits. They weren’t very useful anyway; having them or not having them makes little difference. When your humble servant wakes up, I’ll just pick out a few useful ones and put them back together.”

Li Banfeng picked up a gear and saw that its teeth were broken and its axle was bent. Could this really be put back together?

“Husband, quickly dispose of that insect’s corpse. Your humble servant finds it disgusting.”

Li Banfeng brought over the copper lotus. The copper lotus sensed Lady Mantleskirt’s corpse, quickly unfurled its petals, and drew her inside.

The phonograph then added, “Husband, your humble servant is truly tired and wants to sleep soundly. Please move Honglian to the outer room so she doesn’t disturb me.”

Afraid of being disturbed? Did this mean she no longer had the strength to defend against the copper lotus?

Li Banfeng moved the copper lotus. When he returned to the main room to check on the phonograph, it was silent. He gathered the scattered parts, remained silent for a moment, and then left the personal residence.

In the outer room, the copper lotus scoffed, “Wicked woman, you’ve met your match today. Your body is ruined, and you don’t even dare to admit it. You still don’t trust that madman. Let’s see how long you can hold out.”

The phonograph’s voice changed pitch as it retorted, “Wretch, do you believe I can take your life right now?”

“Come on, if you dare!”

“Honglian, don’t be too arrogant. Once you’re in this room, the one above can’t sense you. Without their protection, do you really think I can’t kill you?”

Li Banfeng followed the footprints and found Ma Wu, then took him back to Blue Poplar Village. Having survived the ordeal, Ma Wu was still terrified. Along the way, he kept asking Li Banfeng how he had gotten rid of Lady Mantleskirt, but Li Banfeng remained silent.

Back in the wooden house, Li Banfeng asked, “Brother Ma, do you know where I can find a phonograph in Blue Poplar Village?” He needed to find a way to replace some parts for his dear wife.

“A phonograph?” Ma Wu thought for a moment. “Those are hard to come by. I remember the Song family should have one.”

“Is it a steam phonograph?”

“A steam phonograph? Made in Amikan?” Ma Wu shook his head. “Those are even rarer. I only know of one, on the Lu family’s private train. I’ve seen it a few times; it’s quite troublesome, needing both water and oil.”

Ma Wu had only seen one? Li Banfeng remembered. Shopkeeper Feng had once said that these phonographs were handcrafted in Amikan, and there were only two in the entire Province of Puro. One was with Li Banfeng, and the other was on the Lu family’s private train.

Steal the other phonograph from the Lu family’s private train? Li Banfeng couldn’t even get on a regular train, let alone the Lu family’s private one. This was clearly not feasible.

Ma Wu chimed in, “Brother Li, if you like phonographs, don’t get one that’s so fancy. A hand-cranked or wind-up one would be good, and they’re more affordable.”

“Where can I buy one?”

Ma Wu thought for a moment and said, “The Marvelous Sound Phonograph Store in Greenwater City has a remarkably full selection, but given your current situation, it’s best not to go into the city.”

Li Banfeng unrolled the map he had bought from Shopkeeper Feng. “First, tell me, where is the Marvelous Sound Phonograph Store?”

Ma Wu looked at the map and shook his head slightly. “This map isn’t detailed enough, so it’s hard to say precisely.”

The map Shopkeeper Feng gave Li Banfeng was of the entire Greenwater Bay area. However, the actual situation of Greenwater Bay was much more complex than what the map showed. The central area of Greenwater Bay was called Greenwater City. Several small towns surrounded Greenwater City. Beyond the towns were some legitimate villages, whose residents lived by farming and supplied crops to Greenwater City. Beyond the legitimate villages were the illegitimate ones, and Blue Poplar Village was one of them. These illegitimate villages had almost no farming, but they could still provide special resources to Greenwater City.

“It seems quite far, then.”

Ma Wu pointed on the map. “It’s about 120 *li*. Brother Li, if you insist on going into the city, let’s pick a suitable day, and I’ll find someone to scout the situation first…”

“No need to pick a day; it’s today.”

“Today? You’re going into the city today?” Ma Wu was stunned. “Just to buy a phonograph?”

“Yes, just to buy a phonograph,” Li Banfeng nodded. “I need to listen to music. If I don’t hear it for a day, I feel unwell all over.”

“Brother Li has this habit?” Ma Wu wanted to laugh, but Li Banfeng wasn’t joking. Seeing this, Ma Wu quickly packed his things. “I’ll bring some food, and we can go together.”

“You don’t need to go. Just tell me the location.” Li Banfeng didn’t plan to take Ma Wu; he walked too slowly.

Ma Wu didn’t know what to say. “Brother Li, what exactly are you going to Greenwater City for?”

“Didn’t I just say? I need to buy a phonograph. I can’t wait another moment.”

At the Lu family mansion, Lu Dongliang summoned a fifth-level scholar-cultivator to test Lu Chunying’s knowledge. In Puro Province, scholar-cultivators and martial-cultivators were widely considered orthodox, and the four major families were no exception. However, the Lu family was not as conservative as the Ma family and didn’t resist other Daoist schools. But for a young lady from a prominent family, scholarship was clearly the more suitable path.

The fifth-level scholar-cultivator posed over a dozen questions, and Lu Chunying answered them fluently. This was thanks to Xiao Yeci’s regular tutelage; even though Xiao Yeci was only first-level, the foundation she had given Lu Chunying was very solid.

Lu Dongliang nodded and praised Lu Chunying a couple of times. “Good, quite good.”

The praise sounded a bit forced, and Lu Chunying carefully pondered Lu Dongliang’s thoughts. In fact, she wasn’t just pondering at that moment; she had been pondering ever since she entered the Lu family mansion.

Lu Dongliang was a high-level journey-cultivator, though his specific cultivation level was unknown. But none of his children had chosen journey-cultivation. Did Lu Dongliang not want them to? Of course not. The characteristic of journey-cultivation is a lack of fixed abode. Lu Dongliang had traveled far and wide for years, managing the family business. For him, cultivation was never a burden. But his children didn’t need to live such a hard life.

Xiao Yeci had once told Lu Chunying a story about a wealthy young lady who eloped three times with her beloved. All three elopements failed because the young lady couldn’t endure the hardships of travel. When on a journey, living outdoors and eating on the go was not easy to bear. Xiao Yeci had warned Lu Chunying that if a wealthy young master said he was tired of restrictions and longed for freedom and travel, she should never take him seriously. He just wanted to go out and have some fun, not truly endure hardship and suffering with her. Journey-cultivation and tourism were two entirely different things.

Lu Chunying observed Lu Dongliang’s expression and carefully asked, “Dad, I’d like to see my mother.” She hadn’t seen Xiao Yeci in a long time.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Lu Dongliang said, his face clouding over, dismissing her with a perfunctory remark.

Lu Chunying quietly asked, “Dad, do you think she isn’t my mother at all?”

Lu Dongliang frowned and counter-questioned, “Do you think she’s your mother?”

According to Lu Dongliang’s prediction, Lu Chunying would say she recognized this mother, would detail their past struggles together, and would beg Lu Dongliang to take in Xiao Yeci. He detested such worthless old sentiments the most. But Lu Chunying simply replied indifferently, “I don’t think she is.”

Lu Dongliang narrowed his eyes and asked, “How did you figure that out?”

“She’s almost the right age to be my elder sister, so how could she be my mother? It’s obvious.”

Lu Dongliang chuckled. “Then why do you still want to see her?”

“I just want to make it clear to her that I’ve returned home and been reunited with my family. The past should be left behind. She’s not my mother, nor is she my family. Her background doesn’t matter. Some illusions, she needs to let go of them. But I can’t let her go around spreading rumors, making outsiders call me heartless. Just give her some money and send her on her way.”

Lu Dongliang was very satisfied with this answer. This was largely consistent with Lu Dongliang’s own thoughts. The only difference was that Lu Dongliang hadn’t intended to simply send Xiao Yeci away; he wanted her to disappear completely. But these two outcomes weren’t contradictory. If someone else were sitting there, they might have found Lu Chunying too heartless. But Lu Dongliang didn’t think so; he believed this was exactly how his daughter should be.

He nodded slightly and said, “Alright, in a couple of days, you can go see her. Now, let’s talk about your initiation. I plan to have that scholar-cultivator be your master. What do you think?”

Lu Chunying blinked her sparkling eyes and said, “Dad, do you want to hear my honest opinion?”

“Is that even a question?” Lu Dongliang glared. “Would you lie to me?”

“Dad, to be honest, I don’t want to be a scholar-cultivator.”

“Why?” Lu Dongliang was taken aback.

“Xiao Yeci is a scholar-cultivator, and after following her for so many years, I’ve always felt she was unproductive.”

Lu Dongliang chuckled. “Then what kind of person do you think is promising?”

“Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand *li*. Only by traveling far and wide does one truly gain insight. Dad, I want to learn journey-cultivation from you.”

“You want to practice journey-cultivation?” Lu Dongliang was both surprised and delighted, yet worried that the girl couldn’t handle the hardship. “Have you thought this through? Journey-cultivation is tough; you won’t have a moment of rest.”

“Dad, I’m still so young. If I always seek idleness day and night, when will I ever stop hiding?”

The more Lu Dongliang listened, the happier he became. “Yingying, since you’ve made up your mind, when do you plan to begin your initiation?”

Lu Chunying thought for a moment and said, “Today.”

Lu Dongliang was surprised. “Today? Why so urgent?”

“If I hadn’t been worried that you wouldn’t agree, Dad, I would have wanted to start days ago. I’ve been impatient for a long time.”

Lu Dongliang smiled. How could this child’s temperament be so much like his own? Even this impatience resembled him greatly. This couldn’t be called impatience; rather, it was knowing when to be quick and when to be slow, which meant acting with proper judgment.

“Yingying, then it’s settled. I’ll call the apothecary over soon to prepare some things for you. The initiation can be a bit painful, so let him prepare the anesthetic for you first.”

Lu Chunying shook her head. “No need for anesthetic. It’s just a moment of pain, isn’t it? Dad, did you use anesthetic when you were initiated?”

Lu Dongliang shook his head. “Your grandfather didn’t let me learn journey-cultivation back then. I was initiated by a peddler, so there was no anesthetic. I just slapped the initiation powder directly onto my belly and gritted my teeth through it.”

“If you didn’t need it, Dad, I don’t need it either!”

Lu Dongliang shook his head. “No, that won’t do. I suffered that because I had no choice. How can I let you endure such hardship?”

That evening, Lu Chunying successfully initiated into journey-cultivation. Lu Dongliang then arranged for Xiao Yeci to meet Lu Chunying.

Seeing Lu Chunying, Xiao Yeci was very emotional and asked with concern, “My dear, you’ve suffered. The initiation is very painful, isn’t it? Does it still hurt now? Have you eaten…”

Lu Chunying looked at Xiao Yeci with a cold expression and said impatiently, “I called you here to tell you that our time together has ended. From now on, we’ll live our own lives. Thank you for taking care of me all these years. Now, please leave quickly.”

Xiao Yeci stared at Lu Chunying in surprise, speechless for a long moment.

Lu Chunying took out a box containing one hundred silver dollars and handed it to Xiao Yeci. “This is a small token of my appreciation. My father will give you another sum of money later. From now on, let’s not meet again.”

Xiao Yeci’s eyes reddened, and she called out, “My dear…”

“Please take the money. You’ll need it for travel expenses.” Lu Chunying turned her face away, not wanting to see her anymore.

Xiao Yeci, holding the box, left Lu Chunying’s bedroom. She didn’t know how she walked back. When she returned to her room, she stared at the box of silver dollars for a long time. She really wanted to throw away the box of silver dollars and then secretly leave the mansion. Eating required observing expressions, leaving required observing expressions, even going to the toilet required observing expressions. She could endure all of that, but Xiao Yeci couldn’t bear Lu Chunying’s attitude. She felt she had completely lost her dignity. As a first-level scholar-cultivator, she could find any livelihood later, which would be more dignified than her current life.

Yet, she finally opened the box. Because she truly didn’t even have money for travel expenses. The box contained one hundred silver dollars, which was not a small sum and would be enough for Xiao Yeci to live on for a while.

There seemed to be something beneath the silver dollars. It was a piece of paper. Xiao Yeci unfolded it and saw written on the paper: “Mom, I’ve initiated. Rest for one day. Tomorrow night, find an opportunity, and let’s escape!”

In the bedroom, Lu Chunying tightly clutched the bedsheet. She chose journey-cultivation precisely to be able to run fast.

Mom, you absolutely must open the box and see.