Chapter 371: Three Killing Each Other

Li Banfeng and He Yuxiu jumped off the vehicle halfway, returning to Green Water Bay. Instead of entering Green Water City, they first found a place to stay in Taiming Town.

He Yuxiu greatly admired Li Banfeng. "Seventh Brother," she asked, "where did you hide yourself on the vehicle? Even I couldn't find you!"

Li Banfeng replied, "This matter mainly depends on one's state of mind. When your state of mind reaches that level, you can merge with everything in the world."

He Yuxiu looked at herself. "Wouldn't you say I've already merged?" she questioned. She was as black as coal from head to toe.

The key wasn't the state of mind; it was that Li Banfeng had spent most of his time in his Portable Residence. Of course, He Yuxiu couldn't find him.

After washing off the coal dust and changing into new clothes, Li Banfeng pondered where He Yuxiu should go. The Border Guard Commander wouldn't give up easily in the short term, so He Yuxiu still needed to hide for a while.

The He family owned many newly developed lands near Green Water Bay, but these lands had been developed to a certain extent. With many people around, it would be difficult for her to hide there. Given He Yuxiu's current situation, even going to a regular village wouldn't be suitable, let alone the He family's land.

Li Banfeng, however, thought of a suitable place: Meng Yuchun's territory. That place was sufficiently remote. Li Banfeng also owned a three-mile plot there. He could have He Yuxiu stay there for now, as most people wouldn't be able to find her. Moreover, it wasn't just Meng Yuchun's territory; it was also Li Banfeng's own. After so long, he should go back and check on it.

Thinking of that territory, Li Banfeng felt a genuine sense of pride. He was the local deity of that place; it was his foundation after reaching the Cloud Realm...

Thump!

The more he thought, the more excited he became, until Li Banfeng clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground.

He Yuxiu was terrified. "Seventh Brother, what's wrong?" she cried.

Li Banfeng waved his hand, telling He Yuxiu to rest in the inn first. He then returned to his room and entered his Portable Residence.

Seeing Li Banfeng's pale face, the Phonograph used steam to support him. "Oh, my husband, what happened?" it asked.

"My heart suddenly started pounding, almost leaping out of my chest," Li Banfeng said, pointing to his chest. After returning to the Portable Residence, he seemed to feel a little better.

The Phonograph pondered for a moment. "These are heart palpitations," it said. "Do you have something troubling you, my husband?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "Nothing troubling," he said, "I just thought of my own territory."

"Your territory..." The Phonograph, singing slowly, began, "My husband, since you are a local deity, it's reasonable for you to have a connection with your territory. But what could have happened on this territory to cause you such palpitations?"

What could have happened? Could it be that people from Neizhou had arrived? Had his impersonation of the Mountain-Pulling Master been exposed?

Li Banfeng felt a surge of tension. Once his heart palpitations subsided, he first returned to the inn, drew a map for He Yuxiu, and told her to find Meng Yuchun's territory herself.

He Yuxiu had also traveled in the new lands before. She nodded and said, "Don't worry about me, Seventh Brother. You be careful yourself."

Li Banfeng rushed to his territory. When he arrived, he found Meng Yuchun was also very anxious.

"You're finally back!" she exclaimed. "Someone is reclaiming land here. How should we handle this?"

"What's difficult about handling land reclamation?" Li Banfeng asked. "It's not your first time."

Meng Yuchun shook her head. "They're not reclaiming land on my territory," she said, "they're on yours."

"On my territory?" Li Banfeng was stunned into silence.

Meng Yuchun explained, "Two people set up an offering table on your territory. I thought they would leave if you didn't respond, but who would have thought these two young women would persist? They've been waiting here for several days and just won't leave."

Whose girls could be so stubborn?

Li Banfeng went to his territory to take a look. He quickly found a young woman in the jungle. The young woman was bending over, picking up firewood. In the dim light of dusk, her full, rounded figure came into view.

Li Banfeng smiled slightly. "Taodzi!"

Taodzi was startled, turned around sharply, and almost attacked Li Banfeng. When she got a little closer and could see more clearly, Taodzi's face lit up with surprise. "Brother Baisha," she exclaimed, "what are you doing in this rundown place?"

He truly hadn't expected it. A year after their parting in Mazhu Village, the two of them had unexpectedly met here.

"Is this place... rundown?" Li Banfeng asked, looking around. "I came here to hunt. What are you doing here?"

Taodzi lowered her head slightly. "I'm also here to hunt," she said. She had experienced the world, and lying and deceiving people were common for her. But for some reason, when she saw Li Baisha, she became a little flustered.

Li Banfeng said expressionlessly, "You came all the way from Mazhu Village to hunt here?"

Taodzi explained, "Actually, it's not too far from Mazhu Village."

"Not too far," he echoed. That depended on how one measured it. If one traveled through the new lands, at Li Banfeng's speed, it wouldn't be too far. But Taodzi wasn't a traveler cultivator; she was a pleasure cultivator. Moreover, how would she know the routes through the new lands?

Li Banfeng nodded. "Hunting is easy enough to arrange," he said. "I'm familiar with this area. Come with me; I know where the good stuff is."

Taodzi shook her head. "No, thank you," she said. "I've already gathered quite a bit this time. If I hunt more, I won't be able to carry it."

Li Banfeng pulled out his wallet. "If you can't carry it, give it to me," he said. "I have many people with me, and I'll buy your haul at market price."

"Oh, no, that won't do," she stammered. "That would be a loss for you..."

"No loss," Li Banfeng interrupted. "I have channels for selling goods. Let's first see the quality of the game."

"No, really..." Taodzi's voice grew fainter. She didn't have any game at all.

"After a year apart, we've become distant after all," Li Banfeng said, "You won't even tell me the truth." He pulled down the brim of his hat and turned to leave.

Taodzi held back for a long time, but finally called out, "Brother Baisha, I... I came here to reclaim land."

Li Banfeng stopped and asked, "Why come here to reclaim land?"

"Because other places wouldn't work," she replied. "Only this place can accommodate us."

Li Banfeng was stunned for a long time. "Is my place that special?" he wondered.

Li Banfeng walked back to Taodzi. In a calm tone, he said, "Taodzi, we are friends. If you want me to help you, you at least have to tell me the truth."

Taodzi thought for a moment. "I'll take you to meet someone," she said.

Deep in the forest, there was a tent where a slender woman was boiling several fist-sized fruits. These were specialties from Meng Yuchun's territory, and also one of the few attractive features of her land. The water for boiling the fruits was taken from Meng Yuchun's territory. There were well-developed plots there, and the owner of the plots wouldn't refuse a pretty girl like Taodzi. Smelling the steam from the pot, these two fruits likely had a taro flavor. Once cooked, they would be edible.

Taodzi called out to the woman, "Xiaofeng!"

The slender woman was about to reply, but seeing Li Banfeng arrive, she quickly hid inside the tent.

Li Banfeng asked, "Is this your companion?"

Taodzi nodded. "You've met her in Mazhu Village," she said.

Taodzi was mistaken. Li Banfeng hadn't seen her then. This house cultivator named Xiaofeng had been very unfriendly to Li Banfeng, and had even argued with Taodzi over him. Now that Taodzi had brought Xiaofeng to the new lands, it greatly perplexed Li Banfeng. How could she, a house cultivator, travel so far from home?

Taodzi called out several times, but Xiaofeng refused to come out. Left with no choice, Taodzi recounted the events to Li Banfeng from outside the tent:

"Xiaofeng, A'xia, and I were living together in Mazhu Village," Taodzi began. "Those few days, perhaps because of the pills I took, I had an especially strong desire, and I became closer with Xiaofeng. I accidentally neglected A'xia, and as a result..."

"You're still protecting her!" Xiaofeng walked out of the tent. "We weren't going to bring her along originally, but she pestered us until we did. Taodzi needed care those days, but A'xia only cared about her own pleasure. Is it wrong that Taodzi didn't want to bother with her?"

Li Banfeng listened for a long time, unsure of what the main point was, yet feeling that everything was important.

"Well then, let's put aside right and wrong for now," Li Banfeng said. "Who is this A'xia you're talking about?"

Taodzi lowered her head and remained silent. It seemed she had more than one companion.

Xiaofeng fidgeted for a while, then spoke, "She's my House Spirit."

Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, then roared, "Are House Spirits meant to be used like this?"

Xiaofeng trembled and quickly hid behind Taodzi. Taodzi looked at Li Banfeng in astonishment, not understanding why he was angry.

Li Banfeng calmed his tone. "And then you escaped?" he asked.

Taodzi replied, "We had to escape. A'xia wanted to harm Xiaofeng."

Li Banfeng was silent for a long time. He had heard of cases where House Spirits killed their masters, but he had never imagined a situation like this. A female House Spirit, for the sake of a female pleasure cultivator, wanted to kill a female house cultivator. How could these three women let things escalate to this point? Was there some misunderstanding involved?

Li Banfeng asked Xiaofeng, "You said the House Spirit wanted to kill you. Did she show signs, or did she explicitly state it?"

Xiaofeng, hiding behind Taodzi, replied, "I calculated it through divination."

"Divination again!" Hearing this, Li Banfeng became annoyed. It reminded him of that group of fortune-tellers from the Jiangxiang Gang.

Taodzi explained, "This is Xiaofeng's technique. She can divine, and her divinations are very accurate. A'xia definitely intends to harm her."

Xiaofeng tugged at Taodzi's sleeve, signaling her not to say too much.

Li Banfeng was also very curious. How could a house cultivator have divination techniques? He pondered for a moment, then it dawned on him. Li Banfeng's level one techniques, Golden Gaze and Exquisite Hundred Flavors, were given by his wife. He estimated this was also a technique given to her by her House Spirit.

"Xiaofeng really wasn't wrong in her divination," Taodzi said. "That very night, the east wall of the bamboo house collapsed. It was the house trying to protect Xiaofeng, fighting with the House Spirit."

The House Spirit directly confronted the house. Luo Yuni didn't even have this ability back then. Of course, another factor couldn't be ruled out: Luo Yuni's house was inherently stronger than Xiaofeng's bamboo house.

Taodzi continued, "The house had been subdued. If we didn't leave then, Xiaofeng would surely lose her life."

"So you abandoned your House Spirit and escaped?"

Taodzi looked a little ashamed. "Xiaofeng did it all for me," she said.

Xiaofeng sobbed. "She wanted to kill me," she said. "You were the one who never abandoned me and brought me along."

"This matter was ultimately because of me," Taodzi replied. "If it weren't for me, A'xia could still have guided you in cultivation."

"Without you, why would I cultivate?" Xiaofeng countered. "I don't want anything else."

Li Banfeng's face darkened. He silently watched the two women. The two women wiped away each other's tears, temporarily setting aside their tender affection.

Li Banfeng asked, "Since you escaped from the house, why did you come to this place?"

Xiaofeng replied, "To hide from A'xia. She managed to break free from the house."

"Why hide so far?"

"We didn't want to," Taodzi said, "but as we kept hiding, A'xia kept chasing! There's a connection between Xiaofeng and A'xia. If A'xia gets close to us, Xiaofeng will definitely know."

"Why did you have to hide in the new lands?"

"This was divined by Xiaofeng," Taodzi replied. "Everywhere we went, Xiaofeng performed a divination. Every part of our journey was divined by Xiaofeng."

Li Banfeng asked, "So reclaiming land on this territory was also divined?"

Xiaofeng nodded.

Li Banfeng pointed to Meng Yuchun's territory. "That territory isn't bad either," he said. "There's food and water there, and many land reclaimers looking out for each other. Why didn't you reclaim land there?"

Xiaofeng shook her head. "I divined it," she said. "We can't stay on that territory for long. Otherwise, if A'xia comes, the local deity there won't be able to protect us."

Meng Yuchun couldn't protect them?

"You think the local deity here can protect you?" Li Banfeng asked, deeply skeptical of Xiaofeng's divination.

Xiaofeng nodded. "The divination signs said so," she explained. "A capable local deity wouldn't let us reclaim land. A local deity whose land could be reclaimed wouldn't be able to protect us. The only one who can protect us and let us reclaim land is this one."

"Really, only this one?"