Chapter 341: No Land Left to Lose

Luo Zhengnan and Qiu Zhiheng concluded their discussion. Upon returning to their headquarters, they immediately issued an order for the entire Medicine King Hall to dedicate all efforts to capturing the ominous cultivators.

Capturing ominous cultivators was considered unlucky, so many were reluctant to participate. Luo Zhengnan, however, had a solution for their reluctance. If any novice from the hall discovered an ominous cultivator's whereabouts, and the information proved accurate, they would first receive fifty silver dollars. Those who reported promptly and participated in the capture would be further rewarded with pills that enhanced spiritual affinity.

For gang disciples with cultivation, capturing an ominous cultivator alive would earn them Snake-Spotted Pills. The primary capturer would receive a minimum of twenty pills, while those who assisted would get at least ten. Unlike Xiao Zhenggong, Luo Zhengnan always fulfilled his promises, disbursing rewards on the spot.

True to the saying that generous rewards breed brave men, the Jiangxiang Gang captured another ominous cultivator by the next afternoon. Ominous cultivators, after all, needed to practice, and no matter how deeply they hid, they always sought opportunities to bring misfortune upon others. With growing experience, the Jiangxiang Gang's operations became increasingly swift, leading to the capture of another one that very evening.

The Jiangxiang Gang's actions spurred the Sanying Gate into motion as well. Zhang Liuze, recently promoted to Copper Seal, captured an ominous cultivator in Ligou, while two other Copper Seals jointly apprehended two more in Waigou.

The Qingyun Association captured two. The Baihua Gate captured one. The Yuhua Gang, not being very powerful and with most of its disciples lacking cultivation, managed to locate two ominous cultivators. Li Banfeng then used these clues to capture them. Qiu Zhiheng also apprehended two, thanks to clues provided by Shopkeeper Feng and Yu Nan.

Initially, aside from Yu Heshun, fifteen ominous cultivators had arrived in Yaowang Gully. Now, with Yu Heshun dead, and one of the fifteen also deceased, thirteen had been caught, leaving only one at large. Qiu Zhiheng, concerned about more ominous cultivators potentially infiltrating Yaowang Gully, received assurances from the major gangs. Their disciples were stationed at train stations, docks, and border crossings. They were instructed to apprehend any suspicious individuals, especially those who seemed to seek out trouble or spread misfortune, without delay.

Disregarding the potential for bad luck, Qiu Zhiheng kept all the ominous cultivators at the pharmacy and interrogated them one by one. Yu Heshun had originally fled to Yaowang Gully because his presence had driven everyone away, leaving him with no place to cultivate. However, the circumstances of other ominous cultivators arriving in Yaowang Gully varied. Some had offended ruthless individuals, fearing retaliation, and thus fled their homelands. Others felt their cultivation was progressing too slowly and sought a new place to practice. Still others were simply impoverished and hoped to find a new place to earn a living.

But why had all of them chosen Yaowang Gully? Using his techniques, Qiu Zhiheng eventually extracted the truth from them. They had all dreamt the same dream, sent by their Patriarch. In the dream, the Patriarch told them that coming to Yaowang Gully would offer them a path forward. But could something from a dream be so easily believed? Furthermore, even if it truly was the Patriarch's summons, Daoist disciples weren't strictly bound to obey; matters of cultivation ultimately rested on one's own will.

Initially, they disregarded the dream, but the Patriarch had issued a warning: those who disobeyed his command would inevitably face misfortune. True to the warning, within two days, these ominous cultivators genuinely encountered misfortunes: some fell ill, some were beaten, and some nearly lost their lives. Fearing further disobedience, they all made their way to Yaowang Gully.

Li Banfeng was greatly surprised by this revelation, realizing that even ominous cultivators feared misfortune. But how could misfortune from a dream become a reality? Qiu Zhiheng still found the matter suspicious. He and Li Banfeng went together to visit Old Yao.

Old Yao, covered in bruises and cuts, was in his courtyard, drinking while holding a three-pointed, two-edged saber. The day before, his hand had slipped, losing his grip on the handle, causing him to cut himself twice. Two days prior, his wine cellar had caught fire, burning Old Yao. The worst incident occurred three days ago: to guard against the Star of Misfortune, Old Yao had set up a room full of traps and mechanisms in his house. However, in the early morning, the roof beam collapsed, triggering all the traps in the room and nearly inflicting severe injuries.

While these sounded like mere accidents, Old Yao knew deep down that the Star of Misfortune was behind these covert attacks. Despite his setbacks, Old Yao remained unyielding. Standing in his courtyard, he still appeared formidable, declaring, "I'm not afraid of him. If he dares to show his face even once, I'll take his life!"

Qiu Zhiheng asked, "Is the Star of Misfortune the Patriarch of the ominous cultivators?"

"He's no patriarch! When the true ominous cultivator Patriarch was alive, he hadn't even entered the Daoist path!"

"Does the Star of Misfortune possess dream cultivation abilities?"

"No! It's already a great feat for that old dog to have cultivated a Daoist sect to the Cloud level; he has no talent for dual cultivation."

If he wasn't the Patriarch and didn't possess dream cultivation abilities, where did those ominous cultivators' nightmares come from? These were nightmares that could genuinely bring misfortune. Qiu Zhiheng was perplexed, but Old Yao suddenly remembered another connection.

"Could it be connected to Neizhou?"

Li Banfeng recalled that the Insect Sovereign, responsible for the insect plague in Haichi Ridge, also possessed power from Neizhou. Old Yao couldn't confirm this, but if Neizhou's power was truly involved, defending Yaowang Gully would become incredibly difficult. The Star of Misfortune, having been modified by Neizhou, was likely on a completely different level than Old Yao.

Back at Qiu's Pharmacy, Qiu Zhiheng continued his interrogation of the ominous cultivators. "Since you came to Yaowang Gully, why did you then hide and not dare to show yourselves?"

The group exchanged uneasy glances until an elder named Ge Tugen finally spoke. "I've been in the Daoist sect for a long time, and after Yu Heshun died, I felt something was amiss. Later, near Yuxiang Village, I noticed some bloodstains. Even after heavy rain, they wouldn't wash away. I suspected it was an Ominous Gate Array. This array is created by sacrificing the lives of fellow sect members. I told them to flee immediately."

"But you didn't escape."

Ge Tugen replied, "Sir, we wanted to escape, but travel permits are hard to come by. The permit we used to get here was given to us by the Patriarch in a dream. We're strangers in Yaowang Gully; how could we find a permit to go back?"

So, things could be delivered in dreams. If the Star of Misfortune truly possessed dream cultivation abilities, what level of power had he achieved?

With the interrogation nearly complete, Qiu Zhiheng awaited news of the final ominous cultivator's capture. The next day, news arrived: the last ominous cultivator had not been captured. Instead, someone discovered clues in Mazhu Village in Waigou. When Jiangxiang Gang disciples went to apprehend him, they found the ominous cultivator's corpse.

Mazhu Village was a place Li Banfeng had visited; it was You Tao's home, situated on the border between Yaowang Gully and Lushui City.

Qiu Zhiheng asked, "When did this happen?"

Luo Zhengnan replied, "The body was just discovered this morning."

"Mazhu Village isn't close to Ligou," Qiu Zhiheng remarked, a hint of suspicion in his voice. Given the distance, Luo Zhengnan shouldn't have received the news so quickly.

"I have my own methods," Luo Zhengnan replied, "you needn't inquire further."

"Did he die while attempting to cross the border illegally?"

Luo Zhengnan shook his head. "He had a travel permit on him. While I don't know its origin, he shouldn't have needed to cross illegally."

Li Banfeng, listening from the back room, heard everything clearly. Someone had reached the border, had a travel permit, didn't need to cross illegally, yet still died suddenly. The two previous ominous cultivators had died at the train station. Besides the Star of Misfortune personally sending someone to kill them, there was another possibility. The Ominous Gate Array might have mutated, preventing these ominous cultivators from leaving Ligou. Any attempt to cross its boundary would result in sudden death.

Could such a mutated array truly exist? If such an array existed, it would mean they couldn't possibly send the ominous cultivators away; they would die in Yaowang Gully regardless.

Luo Zhengnan and Qiu Zhiheng also fell silent. After much thought, Luo Zhengnan proposed a gamble: "Tomorrow, a cargo truck is going to Huangtu Bridge. I'll find a way to get one of the ominous cultivators onto it. If he dies at the station, it will prove they can't leave, and we'll have to devise another plan. But if he successfully reaches Huangtu Bridge, it will confirm our method is sound, and I'll arrange another cargo truck to send them all back!"

The method seemed sound, but the potential cost was substantial. Qiu Zhiheng, having frequently dealt with border guards, was well aware of their conduct. "Hall Master Luo," Qiu Zhiheng cautioned, "if we take him there tomorrow and he dies at the station, will the border guards let you off? At this critical juncture, they might turn against you completely."

Luo Zhengnan sighed, admitting he shared that concern. And that wasn't the only potential cost.

As the two drank tea, a sudden gust of wind swept through, causing the roof tiles to clatter loudly. They stood at the doorway and watched as countless white pellets, the size of thumb pads, rained down from the sky. Hail? Yaowang Gully's climate hadn't seen hail in many years. Qiu Zhiheng had chosen high-quality tiles, which barely held up, but within three to five minutes, vast sections of ordinary tiles on other houses were shattered.

A scent of wine drifted on the wind, and as the aroma permeated the air, the temperature suddenly spiked. The hailstones rapidly melted before hitting the ground, transforming into a torrential downpour amidst the wine mist. The heavy rain lasted for three full hours. If that had been three hours of hail, it was hard to imagine what Yaowang Gully would have become.

This was only the beginning; by midnight, the hail returned. Old Yao, carrying his wine pot and holding his three-pointed, two-edged saber, stood in his courtyard and shouted, "Whatever tricks you have, come at me! What kind of skill is it to bully common folk!" He spewed a mouthful of wine mist, and the hailstones once more turned into rain. Old Yao single-handedly withstood the Ominous Gate Array for an entire day and night.

This was what Hong Ying had referred to as the Three Paths Array. Li Banfeng dared not imagine what kind of disaster would ensue if Luo Zhengnan were allowed another attempt at trial and error.

But what should they do next? Should they guard these ominous cultivators, ensuring they didn't die? Not only was this task inherently unlucky, but even if they disregarded the bad luck, they couldn't guard them indefinitely. What if the Star of Misfortune suddenly attacked one day and personally killed the ominous cultivators? Even if everyone present attacked together, they couldn't stop a cultivator at the third Cloud-level. Old Yao, on the other hand, might be able to seize an opportunity to launch a sneak attack and kill the Star of Misfortune, but while the idea was good, carrying it out would be extremely difficult. It's easier to be a thief for a thousand days than to guard against one for a thousand days. Could they really expect the local guardian deity and all the people of Yaowang Gully to keep watch over these ominous cultivators every single day?

The only feasible solution seemed to be to destroy the Ominous Gate Array.

Li Banfeng and Qiu Zhiheng, accompanied by the elder ominous cultivator Ge Tugen, went to Yuxiang Village and located the bloodstains he had mentioned. It was a palm-sized, dark red bloodstain; it was remarkable that the elder's keen eyesight had allowed him to discover it.

Li Banfeng asked, "If we dig up this bloodstain, can we break the Ominous Gate Array?"

The old man shook his head. "Digging up one piece definitely won't work. I can't say how much you'd need to dig for it to be effective."

Qiu Zhiheng's brows furrowed. The old man wasn't lying; Old Yao had said the same thing. The crucial question was: where were the other bloodstains?

Li Banfeng took out an iron shovel and dug up the bloodstain from the ground. Qiu Zhiheng stepped forward to stop him. "Brother, don't touch it. Be careful of the misfortune. Let me do it." Li Banfeng waved him off; he had already started digging. After dealing with ominous cultivators for so many days, he had long ceased to care about bad luck. The bloodstain went deep; he dug over five feet down, removing half a sack of soil before it was entirely cleared.

Back at the pharmacy, Li Banfeng brought some of the soil back to his spatial dwelling. Hong Ying, detecting an unusual scent, shouted, "Did you bring an ominous cultivator back? Why is there such a strong stench of misfortune?"

Li Banfeng, surprised and delighted, exclaimed, "Your nose is so keen! Why don't you come with me to Yaowang Gully? I'll lead you, and you can sniff out all the bloodstains to break the Ominous Gate Array."

Hong Ying retorted angrily, "I would never do such an unlucky thing! Besides, what you're doing is useless."

"Why is it useless?"

"I don't know how large this Yaowang Gully you speak of is, but it must be at least a hundred li in area, right? Across an area of a hundred li, a small bucket of blood was scattered. You'd have to dig out at least more than half of it to break the Ominous Gate Array."

Li Banfeng actually considered this a viable plan. "What shape is the Ominous Gate Array? How many blood-scattering points are there? I'll find them one by one!"

Hong Ying scoffed. "You truly don't give up! Back when I was in the military, I vaguely recall the Ominous Gate Array having over sixty variations, each with a different shape, and the blood-scattering points ranged from one hundred to three hundred. Do you truly think you can find them?"

The string of numbers left Li Banfeng speechless for a long time.

The Phonograph reprimanded Hong Ying, "Stop talking!"

"Why can't I speak?" Hong Ying retorted angrily. "I'm just telling him not to waste his effort!"

"Still chattering on endlessly," the Phonograph sighed, "go take twenty military rods!"

"I'll say it even if I get beaten! The Ominous Gate Array is simply unbreakable! Such a massive array laid out in one's own home—that drunkard deserves his fate. Why do you still care about him?"

Before she finished speaking, the residence suddenly emitted a low hum. Hong Ying put on her full armor and stood beside the Phonograph. The Phonograph and Hong Ying only heard a continuous low hum, like the sound of mechanical parts colliding and grinding. Only Li Banfeng heard the voice of the spatial dwelling: "I can help you, but I need at least two more railroad tracks."

"How can you help me?"

"By traversing every inch of Yaowang Gully, leaving no ground untouched!"