Chapter 418: She Misses You

Juanzi controlled her body's movements to clean Mengzi's and Xiaoshan's wounds. With only one body, apart from the facial wounds, the remaining injuries belonged to all three of them, and cleaning them hurt equally for each.

Mengzi was upset. "We're just not united," he said. "Two-Needle bullied us like that, and some people just stood by, not even daring to lift a finger."

Juanzi sighed, "The local god showed mercy, otherwise we wouldn't know how many of us would have died."

Mengzi remained silent.

A three-headed person, with an old lady named Ma Huifang in charge in the middle, a middle-aged woman on the left, and a young girl on the right, sat down beside Juanzi. People usually called the old lady Aunt Fang. All three of her heads were female, which was quite rare among three-headed people. When they reached Wuqin Village, Juanzi had gathered such individuals, hoping to settle them there, but this old lady refused to go. Her understanding of certain matters was clearly more experienced than Juanzi's.

Juanzi thought Ma Huifang was mistaken. "Aunt Fang," she said, "that local god had the upper hand just now, then suddenly pulled back. He was going easy on us."

Ma Huifang shook her head. "There were about fifty of us against him just now, and he still had the upper hand," she said. "What if another fifty came? Or another hundred? Do you think he could hold up?"

Juanzi still disagreed. "Aunt Fang, I've also been out there before," she said. "Local gods aren't alone; they have subordinates!"

"I know they have subordinates, but what quality are they?" Aunt Fang retorted. "Those with one or two layers of skin, at most three or five. The more powerful ones usually become rogue monsters. How many truly want to follow a local god? Even if he called out all his subordinates, could they stop us?"

Juanzi was stunned for a moment. "Aunt Fang, do you mean...?"

"Anyway, it's come to this point; we should fight back," Aunt Fang said. "You saw it yourself just now: when Two-Needle pushed us too far, we dared to fight back. Although we didn't win, we scared Two-Needle half to death. If fifty people can scare a local god, three thousand of us attacking together could kill him."

Juanzi frowned deeply. "This won't do," she said. "We shouldn't do such a thing!"

Aunt Fang frowned. "Then what kind of thing do you think we *should* do?" she asked. "We've walked this entire journey honestly, only to be tricked, deceived, and bullied to what extent? We care about others and act properly, but now that we're starving, does anyone care about us?"

Juanzi shook her head. "I promised my benefactor that after we escaped, we would keep following the map, and someone would definitely take us in."

"But we also need to be able to get there alive," Aunt Fang countered. "Yesterday, several more people couldn't walk anymore and waited by the roadside. They said they were resting, but that means waiting to starve to death!"

Juanzi fell silent.

The middle-aged Aunt Fang on the left spoke up. "Juanzi, if you ask me, we can follow the map, keep looking for a suitable place, and pick up some food along the way. That way, we don't delay either matter."

Juanzi understood that "finding food" meant stealing. "But how is that 'not delaying either matter'?" she asked, "I don't understand."

The young Aunt Fang said, "Let's go to the next place first and ask if they are willing to take us in. If they are willing to take us in, we won't say a word. That means we've met our benefactors, and we'll live peacefully with them. If they are unwilling to take us in, then fine, we'll ask them for something—at least some grain. Even important figures like Pan Dehai gave us food, so our request isn't excessive. But if they don't even give us food, and insult us like that jerk from Wuqin Village, or deceive us like that jerk Two-Needle, then we can't be polite. If we need to fight, we fight; if we need to rob, we rob! Juanzi, you've been out there before; you know how hard it is to find a way to survive! If we try to be honest people again, we're truly finished!"

Juanzi lowered her head and remained silent.

Mengzi said from the side, "Sister, I think Aunt Fang makes sense. We need to be a bit ruthless now."

Juanzi shook her head. "We're being pursued by the Border Guard," she said. "If we fight with the local god again, we'd be attacked from both sides. Wouldn't all three thousand of us be finished?"

The elderly Aunt Fang shook her head repeatedly. "My girl, if only that were the case! At least we'd die quickly! We're already finished now; dying by the sword is better than starving to death!"

The middle-aged Aunt Fang said, "Juanzi, since we've left Sinner City, if we want to continue living, some aspects of our character must change."

"Chu Er's character has changed so much, I almost don't recognize her anymore," Ma Wu said to Li Banfeng as they walked toward Zhengjing Village.

Li Banfeng scoffed, "How much can she change?"

"You'll know when you see her," Ma Wu replied. "She's really different from before."

"I don't want to see her," Li Banfeng said, waving his hand. He turned back and called out to Zuo Wugang, "Tell the people behind to keep up. It's marshy ground; it's hard to walk."

Over seven thousand plots were reclaimed in the Autumn Leaves territory. Ma Wu had experience with land reclamation, but turning a hundred *li* of land into one's own territory was something he had never experienced before. Not only him, but even his father, Ma Chunting, wouldn't dare to imagine such a feat.

"Old Seven, I still can't believe this is real," Ma Wu said. "You're truly crazy; you managed to do something like this! Back then, the Lu family and the Chu family teamed up and couldn't even reclaim ten *li* of land."

"That's why I can't figure this out either," Li Banfeng said. "We accomplished this partly through our own efforts—about thirty percent—but seventy percent was thanks to Autumn Leaves' assistance. Considering the power of the Chu and Lu families back then, why did the local god prevent them from reclaiming this land? If they had reclaimed this land, both families could certainly have developed it. For the local god, it would have been all benefit and no harm. Why didn't they just let it go and instead insisted on killing Chu Shaoqiang?"

Ma Wu lowered his voice. "I just recently heard my fourth brother talk about this," he said. "It seems there's a hidden story behind it. Chu Shaoqiang's death wasn't just about the reclamation assessment; it appears the Border Guard was also involved."

Li Banfeng's cheek twitched. "The Border Guard already controls enough in the settled lands," he muttered. "And they're still not quiet in the new lands. There's nowhere these jerks' hands can't reach."

"Let's not talk about the Border Guard for now, Old Seven," Ma Wu said. "Last night, I couldn't sleep thinking about this land. If it truly becomes settled land, what would you want to operate?"

Li Banfeng smiled. "We are the first landowners," he said. "We can operate whatever we want."

"I specifically asked about this," Ma Wu said. "The first landowners are not ordinary. The rule of 'blood sacrifice and protection' still exists. With this protection, no one will dare to cause you trouble in business later."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "It's causing *us* trouble," he corrected. "The business belongs to both of us."

"Old Seven, you fought for this place yourself," Ma Wu said. "I wouldn't dare..."

"Without your support in business, what capital would I have had to fight with?" Li Banfeng interrupted. "Let's think about the future: to what extent can we develop this territory?"

Ma Wu's voice trembled slightly. "I don't know what good fortune I accumulated in past lives to be able to know you in this one. Old Seven, I... I think in our lifetime, we should be able to develop it into a Medicine King Gully."

"No, that won't do," Li Banfeng replied. "It has to be more prosperous than Medicine King Gully."

"If we work hard, perhaps it can become Blackrock Slope."

"Blackrock Slope is still a bit lacking."

"Do you still want to make it into Green Water City?"

"It depends on our abilities as brothers!"

Ma Wu was very excited, but the deeper they went into the new lands, the more apparent the practical problems became. Autumn Leaves' territory was not shallow land, nor did it border any settled lands. What kind of situation was it to have a piece of settled land appear, surrounded by new lands? This was a situation Ma Wu couldn't comprehend; currently, there was no such scenario in the entire Puluo Province. Would anyone really travel over mountains and rivers to live in a city deep within the new lands?

Such disheartening thoughts could be saved for later; after all, the reclamation wasn't over, and the matter of ten thousand people was still unresolved.

When they reached Autumn Leaves' territory, Chu Er came to greet them. The one-*li* and three-*li* plots had already been reclaimed, and Chu Er was preparing to open up a five-*li* plot. Reclaiming five *li* of wasteland required a lot of preparation, and Chu Er's face was covered in dust, making her look quite dirty. Li Qi almost didn't recognize her, though Ma Wu found her quite pleasing to the eye.

"Second Miss, you've suffered."

"Fifth Young Master, you exaggerate," Chu Er said with a smile, turning to Li Banfeng. "Seventh Brother, long time no see."

"Indeed!" Li Banfeng replied, preparing to leave immediately.

From behind, Chu Er said, "I have two things I'd like to tell you privately."

Li Banfeng nodded. "You two can talk it over," he said.

Ma Wu stopped Li Banfeng. "Old Seven," he said, "Second Miss wants to talk to *you*."

Resigned, Li Banfeng followed Chu Er to a secluded spot and asked, "What do you want?"

Chu Er lowered her head and smiled shyly, then slowly raised her head, her eyes rolling upwards as she looked at Li Banfeng. "You just left, abandoning me alone in Kucai Village?"

Li Banfeng was astonished. "You went to Kucai Village for cultivation," he said. "I'm not an ascetic; what would I be doing staying there?"

"Because of you, Granny Ku beat me countless times. How do we settle that score?"

"Go settle it with Granny Ku," Li Banfeng retorted. "Why are you telling me?"

"You ungrateful wretch!" Chu Er exclaimed, then went up and started fighting with Li Banfeng.

Ma Wu heard the commotion and walked over. Chu Er quickly stopped, then said with a shy smile, "Seventh Brother, you're too eager."

Eager? What did they do?

Li Banfeng tidied his clothes, then looked at Ma Wu. "You said she changed?" he asked. "What part of her changed?"

Ma Wu didn't understand Li Banfeng's meaning. Chu Er had changed so much, yet Li Banfeng couldn't see it.

Li Banfeng didn't want to look at Chu Er again; he turned and walked away.

Chu Er followed behind, saying softly, "Seventh Brother, your second aunt asked me to pass on a message. She says you haven't visited her in a long time."

"More damn nonsense, where would I get a second aunt...?" Li Banfeng suddenly stopped, his attitude towards Chu Er noticeably softening. "Well, uh, Second Miss, please do me a favor and pass a message to my second aunt. Tell her when I'm done with this busy period..."

Chu Er shook her head. "If you have anything to say, it's best you tell her yourself," she replied. "Second Aunt often tells me that what's owed must be repaid."

Li Banfeng laughed heartily. "The old lady's words are too distant," he said. "It's her own nephew; what's wrong with owing a little?"

Chu Er added, "Second Aunt also often says that you need more tempering, and you'd better not wait for her to come out and catch you."

A chill ran down Li Banfeng's spine. Just as he was wondering how to have Chu Er pass a message to Granny Ku, he suddenly saw Autumn Leaves walking over.

Autumn Leaves looked at Chu Er, then asked Li Banfeng, "Is this your sweetheart?"

"How embarrassing!" Chu Er's face flushed, and she turned and walked away.

Li Banfeng was very curious how she managed to feign all that.

Autumn Leaves said to Li Banfeng, "Brother, something happened. Have you heard of Sinner City?"

Li Banfeng shook his head; he had indeed never heard of it.

"Sinner City is Three-Headed Fork's territory," Autumn Leaves explained. "It's full of monsters, and a group of them have escaped from Sinner City. These monsters have come near our territory and are looking for trouble. I'll go deal with this. If I can talk sense into them, I will; otherwise, I'll fight them. Please focus on the reclamation; I won't be able to attend to it for the next couple of days."

Autumn Leaves turned to leave, but Li Banfeng stopped him. "Brother Qiu," he said, "don't rush off yet. If you go, you might make things worse."