Chapter 179: Bitter Vegetable Village

My wife was right; in combat, the paper figure created by Li Banfeng would disintegrate in less than a minute.

In fact, it lasted much less than a minute. Li Banfeng timed it with his pocket watch: standing still, doing nothing, the paper figure could last fifteen minutes.

Doing some chores, it could last three and a half minutes.

In unarmed combat, it lasted roughly fifteen to twenty seconds.

With a weapon, it lasted about ten to fifteen seconds.

The duration was indeed short, but the paper figure was genuinely capable in combat. Its exact combat strength depended on Li Banfeng's will.

With a gentler infusion of will, the paper figure could perform simple actions like punching or stabbing.

With a more forceful infusion of will, the paper figure could even exhibit a certain level of martial arts skill, but it would disintegrate even faster.

The Pendulum advised, "Master, you should still learn painting techniques from me. This shortcut method is too impractical."

"I'll learn painting techniques, but this method is still quite useful." Li Banfeng bought a pile of paintbrushes and pigments. While learning painting from The Pendulum, he also trained the replicated paper figures, striving to maximize their combat effectiveness within the limited time.

Neither task was easy. Li Banfeng prepared all his provisions and went to the New Land for isolated training.

As he walked, Li Banfeng suddenly spoke to himself:

"Did you forget something?"

"What is it?"

"Weren't you going back to Yuezhou?"

"That can wait now."

"Why the rush?"

"He's still in Yuezhou, and I don't know what he's thinking. If I go back now, I probably won't be able to defeat him."

In Yuezhou, Zou Guoming, an agent for the Dark Star Bureau (nicknamed 'Big Head'), was eating dinner at home, a meal prepared by his wife.

Big Head's wife was Miao Ruifang. She was an excellent cook, good at managing the household, very frugal, and considerate.

However, since losing her job, Miao Ruifang's personality had changed somewhat.

Mid-meal, she suddenly put down her chopsticks and said to Big Head, "Let's sell the house."

"Why?" Big Head was stunned.

Owning a 103-square-meter apartment in Yuezhou was Big Head's only pride for many years.

Miao Ruifang said, "Our child is starting junior high next year. We either need to get a house in a good school district or send the child to a private school. We can't just 'make do' like we did for elementary school."

The Dark Star Bureau's income was not low. Even with his wife unemployed, the family lived comfortably.

However, the tuition fees for private schools in Yuezhou were enough to make one tremble.

As for houses in good school districts, they were so expensive they left people without the energy to even tremble.

Big Head looked at his wife and said, "I'll figure out something about the school enrollment."

"What can you figure out? You said you'd figure something out for elementary school, but what did you come up with?"

When their child started elementary school, the Bureau promised to secure Big Head a spot in a key elementary school.

The spot was eventually approved, but for various reasons, Big Head didn't get it.

The Bureau's explanation to Big Head was that they had to consider the bigger picture.

The Bureau also promised to apply for a junior high spot, but what if he was asked to consider the bigger picture again?

"I have a night shift tonight, I'm leaving now." Big Head put down his chopsticks and put on his jacket.

"Didn't you just have a night shift yesterday?"

"It's emergency overtime today."

"I really don't know what kind of job you do!"

After more than a decade of marriage, his wife had never visited Big Head's company or asked much about his work. She only knew that Big Head worked at an appliance company, but she didn't understand why an appliance company would require frequent night shifts.

Not understanding, she didn't ask. His wife silently cleared the dishes, and Big Head left the house with his head down.

He didn't have a night shift today. Big Head went to Huahu Park.

Walking behind the Western-style building, he once again saw the weeping woman.

Hu Lishan, who had drowned herself in the lake. Was she still here?

She hadn't been there for a long time. Neither her body nor her soul remained.

What remained was merely a marker. A marker left by He Jiaqing for Big Head. Only Big Head could see this weeping woman, and seeing her meant finding the entrance to the New Land.

Big Head followed the woman, step by step, into the lake. Unlike before, Big Head was prepared.

He brought an oxygen bag to ensure he could last twenty minutes.

He knew how to leave the New Land and had a way to escape if he couldn't endure.

Submerging into the cold lake water, Big Head found a loach in the mud and sand at the bottom of the lake.

Big Head carefully pulled the loach out of the mud. It appeared to be twelve or thirteen centimeters long.

This loach could increase a man's length by five or six centimeters. No surgery was required; one only needed to eat the loach.

Big Head had once handled a case where someone brought this type of loach from Prouzhou to sell on the black market. A single loach could fetch eight hundred thousand. The case eventually went nowhere, but Big Head knew where the black market was and who to sell to.

"I'm just making a deal. I caught the loach, and I'm selling it. It's no big deal."

One loach wouldn't buy them a house in a good school district, but it would be enough for three years of private school tuition.

As Big Head gripped the loach, preparing to surface, the seemingly docile loach suddenly unleashed a strange force, broke free from his grasp, and bit Big Head fiercely.

After a sharp pain, Big Head's body began to go numb. His head hit the surface of the lake, as if striking a rock.

He couldn't break through the lake surface.

He couldn't get out!

Panicked, Big Head didn't know what to do. Although he had been to the New Land before, this environment was still too unfamiliar to him.

Suddenly, a hole appeared on the lake's surface. A hand grabbed Big Head's clothes and pulled him up.

It was He Jiaqing.

"I'm a patient; I should be lying in a hospital bed, not constantly running out to save you!" He Jiaqing looked at the wound on Big Head's hand and asked, "Why were you catching loaches?"

"I wanted to earn some extra money, to pay for my child's tuition," Big Head explained the situation with his child's schooling.

He Jiaqing gave Big Head a pill. "A fifth-level martial cultivator, worrying about this kind of money? You might as well go to Prouzhou. You could be a major supporter there and earn much more than you do now."

Big Head took the pill and quickly thanked him.

He truly wanted to go to Prouzhou and see it for himself, but he couldn't abandon his wife and child.

"I'll try going back into the lake." The pill had taken effect; the numbness in his body had significantly eased. Big Head wanted to re-enter the lake, but He Jiaqing stopped him.

"Aren't you afraid of being investigated if you do business in the black market?"

Big Head was silent for a moment, then said, "Some people in the Bureau also deal with the black market, and they haven't been investigated."

"They don't get investigated, but you're not them! If you sell today, you could be arrested tomorrow! How would your wife and child live then?"

Big Head remained silent.

He Jiaqing thought for a moment and said, "Your wife is unemployed?"

Big Head nodded.

"What was her previous job?"

"Lobby manager at a hotel. The hotel went out of business, and she lost her job."

"I have a friend who just opened a hotel and needs a lobby manager. It pays twenty thousand a month, with bonuses extra. It also covers the school enrollment. Let your wife take the job."

Big Head's identity was special. He couldn't be helped directly with money, otherwise Big Head would certainly be investigated.

This was the safest method He Jiaqing could think of.

Big Head was stunned.

He didn't understand why He Jiaqing was helping him.

He knew He Jiaqing was someone who could change his destiny. It was He Jiaqing who had shown him the New Land in other states. The two would have some cooperation on certain matters in the future.

Yet, ever since they had met, He Jiaqing had never asked him anything or made him do anything.

"Why are you helping me?"

"No reason. You are a truly capable person, and capable people deserve to live with dignity." He Jiaqing took out paper and a pen and wrote down the hotel's address.

The paper and pen were items he had just taken from a stationery store. His movements were too fast for Big Head to clearly see.

"A fifth-grade martial cultivator should live with a bit more backbone. Why risk your life over such trivial matters?" He Jiaqing handed the hotel address to Big Head. "If you need anything in the future, come find me."

"Can you please stop coming to find me?" Ma Wu looked at Chu Er helplessly. "The Belle Gate incident is over. I've even hidden myself in the New Land, why are you still bothering me endlessly?"

Chu Er's expression was slightly forlorn. "I came to bid you farewell. I'm going to Kucaizhuang for cultivation."

After the Belle Gate incident, Chu Er had also become much clearer-headed. In Prouzhou, the most valuable asset was one's cultivation level.

Ma Wu nodded and said, "Going to Kucaizhuang is good. Do you lack a travel permit or travel funds? You don't need a permit for Kucaizhuang. If you don't have travel funds, I can lend you some."

Chu Er rolled her eyes and said, "Ma Wu, we do have some sort of connection between us. You don't have to speak so harshly."

"You and I have no connection, never have. Is there anything else? If not, I won't see you out."

Yanzi had told Ma Wu not to speak of affections with ascetics. Ascetics don't talk about affection or love. If they truly desire something in their hearts, they would never say it. If they do say it, it's definitely an act.

Just like Zhong Desong with old Mrs. Han. No matter how much he truly felt, he never dared to tell her.

Chu Er sighed and said, "I actually have one thing to ask of you. I want to meet Li Qi."

"Why do you want to see him? Do you know him? You only danced with him once. Don't tell me there's some kind of connection involved again!"

As for a connection, Chu Er herself didn't believe it.

But she knew that Ma Wu's situation had changed dramatically since he met Li Qi. Li Banfeng had the ability to help people turn their lives around.

"I respect capable people. I just want to meet him. Otherwise, I won't leave."

"If you don't leave, there's nothing I can do. Li Qi isn't here."

"He has a plot of land here," Chu Er calmly looked at Ma Wu. "If I can find you, I can find him. But if I go to find him myself, there's no telling what might happen."

Ma Wu scoffed. "What could you possibly do? Am I supposed to be afraid of you?"

Chu Er lowered her head and said, "You can take your chances."

Ma Wu was silent for a long time, then helplessly said, "Alright, I'll take you to see. But if Li Qi refuses to see you, there's nothing I can do."

The two plots of land were ten *li* apart. Under Ma Wu's arrangement, a row of wooden houses was built on each.

Arriving at the entrance of Li Banfeng's wooden house, Ma Wu knocked on the door, but there was no response. "You've come at an inconvenient time. Li Qi isn't here."

Chu Er sat in front of the door and said, "I'll wait for him here."

"Don't wait. Once he leaves, he might not return for three to five days."

Chu Er sat for over half an hour. She indeed didn't see Li Qi, and left with a frustrated expression.

Ma Wu didn't see her off. He returned to his own plot of land to cultivate with Yanzi.

Among the many unique beings in the New Land, Yanzi was the one Ma Wu treated best. His fondness for Yanzi was not in vain. Following the cultivation of the eighth-level Madam Suo E, Ma Wu's cultivation level advanced rapidly, already reaching the second level. If Chu Er dared to cause trouble, he was ready to face her.

But he didn't expect that Chu Er hadn't gone far and had circled back.

She pried open Li Banfeng's door and quietly entered the house.

The wooden house had only recently been built and had sparse furnishings. There was only a table, a bed, and a few boxes.

Li Banfeng truly wasn't there.

Chu Er rummaged around and found a key in a gap in the bed frame.

What kind of key was this?

Had it fallen there, or was it hidden?

Chu Er put the key away, and a faint smile appeared on her face.

If this key isn't important, I'll just keep it as a memento.

But if this key is very important, you'll definitely come looking for me!

The train arrived at Kucaizhuang Station. Chu Er prepared to disembark.

Yang Yanzheng and Wen Hongyan wanted to follow, but Chu Er stopped them.

"You both know the rules of Kucaizhuang. Go back. Unless it's urgent, don't come looking for me."

Chu Er stepped off the train with her suitcase. Wen Hongyan and Yang Yanzheng watched her with worried expressions.

"Old Yang, what if she causes trouble again at Kucaizhuang?"

"If she deserves a beating, she'll get a beating; if she deserves a penalty, she'll get a penalty. It's up to her own fate; what else can we do?"

Li Banfeng was controlling the paper figure with his will, battling against Tang Dao.

As soon as Tang Dao made a move, the paper figure was cut into two pieces.

Li Banfeng was displeased. "Didn't I tell you not to go for a killing blow?"

Tang Dao said, "I only used thirty percent of my strength. This figure truly can't withstand a hit."

"Then use twenty percent of your strength this time!"

With twenty percent of the strength, the paper figure still couldn't withstand it.

After three slashes, Tang Dao went to rest, and The Pendulum stepped in.

The paper figure, in front of The Pendulum, still couldn't last more than one round.

What good was it then?

In a real fight, it would be better to just send The Pendulum directly.

No, he had to train more!

Li Banfeng didn't leave his house for two days, diligently training his fourth-grade skill.

His cultivation as a traveling cultivator was delayed a bit, but his skill had indeed improved.

He controlled the paper figure, making it maneuver around The Pendulum for two rounds. Although The Pendulum intentionally held back, the paper figure still had chances to retaliate.

He was almost out of white paper. Li Banfeng wanted to ask Ma Wu for some. He pushed the door open to leave and found that he wasn't in his wooden house, but in a mud house.

The mud house was dark, dilapidated, and rundown. There was only a hole in the south-facing wall, barely serving as a window.

"Where is this place?"

Li Banfeng's mind buzzed. He realized his key had been taken.

There was a sound from the outer room.

It sounded like someone was chopping wood.

Li Banfeng walked into the outer room. He saw a simple-looking farmwoman. Her head was wrapped in a towel, she wore coarse cloth clothing, and carried an axe. She looked at Li Banfeng with surprise.

"You really did come to find me!" The farmwoman's face lit up with surprise.

Li Banfeng stared for a moment, then asked, "Who are you?"

Chu Er removed the towel from her head, wiped the dust from her face, and said, "Don't you recognize me?"

Do I know her?

She looks a bit familiar.

"Where is this place?"

Chu Er was stunned for a long moment, then asked, "You came here yourself, and you don't know where this is? This is Kucaizhuang!"