Chapter 42: Chu Yunlong's Gift

Li Banfeng felt a pang of discomfort as he looked at Chu Yunlong lying on the ground. He was a good person; he had even offered to buy him a train ticket.

The area was so desolate that wild beasts might appear. Li Banfeng couldn't bear to leave Chu Yunlong's body exposed in the wilderness, so he decided to take him back to his Portable Residence and use the copper lotus to refine a pill.

Inside the Portable Residence, Li Banfeng lit the candle and placed Chu Yunlong's body next to the copper lotus. He was curious: what exactly was the process of transforming a corpse into a medicinal pill?

A soft hiss.

The copper lotus sensed Chu Yunlong's presence, and its petals slowly unfolded one by one. Why did it sense Chu Yunlong? Was it because Chu Yunlong had cultivation? I have cultivation too, so why didn't the copper lotus turn me into a pill? Was it because it recognized me as its master? Or because it only recognized the dead, not the living?

A soft whoosh!

What was that sound? Li Banfeng looked back at the phonograph, which seemed to have just puffed out a bit of steam. *I didn't light a fire, did I?*

As he pondered, the candlelight flickered, and a whirlwind swirled inside the Portable Residence. Chu Yunlong's gray suit and white shirt disintegrated, and even his peaked cap tore into strips. The naked corpse twisted and deformed, eventually becoming a gelatinous blob, like a paste, which then entered the heart of the copper lotus.

The petals of the copper lotus immediately closed, and it glowed with an aura as it refined the pill. Shredded fabric was scattered all over the floor. Among the pieces, Li Banfeng found an exquisitely made dagger still in its sheath. He drew the dagger from its sheath, and a cold glint immediately met his eyes, proving it was a rare and excellent weapon. *Quite a haul!*

Li Banfeng was about to examine the dagger closely when another whirlwind began to swirl inside the Portable Residence. The whirlwind still originated from the lotus heart, and a powerful force snatched the dagger from Li Banfeng's hand. Li Banfeng tried to snatch the dagger back, but he was a moment too slow. The dagger turned into a paste and was swallowed into the lotus heart.

*Was the Gold-Rimmed Spectacles man's fan swallowed in the same way?* The fan was refined into a rust-red pill. What would this dagger become? Li Banfeng instinctively clutched his sickle and shovel. However, on second thought, these two items had been near the copper lotus many times before, and the copper lotus seemed to have no interest in them. What exactly were the copper lotus's criteria for choosing materials?

Li Banfeng felt a slight pang of regret that he couldn't keep the dagger, and he continued searching Chu Yunlong's belongings. He found Chu Yunlong's wallet. He carefully opened the wallet, afraid the banknotes inside would be swallowed by the copper lotus. He almost forgot that he had retrieved over 200,000 from Shopkeeper Feng yesterday, and the copper lotus hadn't touched it. It was a lotus that didn't care for money.

Chu Yunlong's wallet contained 1,226 yuan, 8 jiao, and 2 fen in banknotes, along with six silver dollars. Li Banfeng took the banknotes and casually tossed the silver dollars onto the bed.

While the copper lotus was still refining the pill, Li Banfeng pondered his current situation and future plans.

The first question was how to return to Yuezhou. Li Banfeng didn't know what a travel permit was, and it would be very difficult to buy a train ticket through official channels.

The second question was how to deal with the Dark Star Bureau after returning to Yuezhou. Even if he found a travel permit, bought a ticket, and returned to Yuezhou, could he escape the entanglement of the Dark Star Bureau? Obviously not. As long as the copper lotus was in Li Banfeng's hands, he would not be able to escape Xiao Zhenggong's pursuit.

The third question was whether he should hand over the copper lotus to ensure his safety. Li Banfeng quickly rejected this idea. Because handing over the lotus would not guarantee his safety at all. Besides, to whom would he hand it over? To He Jiaqing? He Jiaqing was lying in the hospital, most likely still unconscious. Even if he woke up, could he protect this copper lotus? Hand it over to his third uncle? Or simply give it directly to Xiao Zhenggong? Both of them definitely wanted the copper lotus, but they certainly wouldn't want anyone to know it was in their possession. In other words, if Li Banfeng handed the copper lotus to them, they would immediately kill him to silence him.

Xiao Zhenggong had already proven Li Banfeng's theory with his actions: his order to the Big-Eyed Man was to shoot Li Banfeng to death, and his order to the Jiangxiang Gang was to kill Li Banfeng and retrieve the treasure. From beginning to end, Xiao Zhenggong had never intended to let Li Banfeng live.

The copper lotus absolutely could not be handed over, but he still had to return to Yuezhou. In Yuezhou, Xiao Zhenggong did have some reservations, whereas Medicine King Gully was clearly much wilder. But to return to Yuezhou, he first needed a travel permit. Where could he get such a thing? Did Qin Xiaopang have connections? Did Shopkeeper Feng have a way?

Li Banfeng peeled two greenish-blue lotus seeds. The first one quickly burst, revealing a rust-red iron bead, identical to the rust pill he had seen before. Seeing the rust pill, Li Banfeng's scalp tingled, and he quickly threw the pill onto the ground. Even though his movements were swift, Li Banfeng still felt a faint stinging pain in his palm. The item's toxicity and corrosiveness were too strong, and Li Banfeng still had the urge to personally verify its effects.

The previous rust pill was refined from the fan; this time's rust pill must have been refined from the dagger. Li Banfeng carefully put the rust pill into an eyeglass case. The two rust pills lay quietly in the case, with no reaction between them.

After a while, the second lotus seed burst. Li Banfeng peeled the lotus seed, and after it burst, two entirely crimson pills appeared. Two? When he refined the Gold-Rimmed Spectacles man and the Tiger Cub, each person yielded only one pill. This time he refined only Chu Yunlong, so why were there two pills? The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles man and the Tiger Cub had entered the Daoist path but were unranked cultivators. Chu Yunlong yielded more pills. Was it because his cultivation was higher than theirs? This meant Chu Yunlong was likely a First-Tier Cultivator. But this First-Tier Cultivator's strength wasn't that impressive! Was it because I didn't give him a chance to show his full power?

"Brother Yunlong, I apologize," Li Banfeng murmured. "Next time, I'll definitely give you a chance to truly shine."

Li Banfeng swept the scattered fabric pieces into a corner of the room and lay on the bed, continuing to ponder his strategy. Since he couldn't return to Yuezhou anytime soon, he needed to find a way to survive in Medicine King Gully for a while. Money was not an issue; at least food and drink wouldn't be a problem. He should improve his living conditions as much as possible and get more furniture. He should try not to go out for the next couple of days. With Chu Yunlong dead, the Jiangxiang Gang would surely be looking for him everywhere. But not going out wasn't an option either. What about his cultivation? He needed to walk fifty li every day, a necessary condition for a First-Tier Traveler Cultivator.

*What if he just walked inside this small room?* Li Banfeng got up and paced back and forth in the room. Pacing in such a confined space was extremely difficult for Li Banfeng; if he didn't control his strength even slightly, he would crash into the wall at over twenty miles per hour. By Li Banfeng's estimation, he paced back and forth inside the Portable Residence for at least five hours, ending up bruised and battered. He had mostly controlled his movements, but Li Banfeng could sense that his cultivation hadn't grown at all. Constantly walking in a small room clearly wouldn't be recognized by his own being; no matter how many steps he took, it wouldn't count as a Traveler Cultivator's practice.

But it wasn't safe to go out now! How great it would have been if he could have been a pure Home Cultivator! There was no helping it. This house couldn't produce a 'house spirit,' meaning a Home Cultivator's cultivation was destined not to advance in tiers. From now on, Traveler Cultivation had to be his main focus. Of course, Li Banfeng also remembered the peddler's instructions: the gap between Home Cultivation and Traveler Cultivation couldn't exceed three tiers. After returning to Yuezhou, he had to buy a house as soon as possible, even a small one, to cultivate a 'house spirit.'

But that was for later. For now, he had to manage his basic Traveler Cultivation.

Li Banfeng left the Portable Residence and retrieved his key from the rubble of the abandoned farmhouse. Dressed in a beige suit and wearing a black fedora, Li Banfeng pulled down the brim of his hat and walked briskly through the wilderness.

It was getting dark, and the deserted village was empty. Li Banfeng initially tried hard to control his steps, but once he left the deserted village and reached an open field, he ran freely, his feet flying. Running was a very enjoyable thing for a Traveler Cultivator. There were no roads in the wilderness, but for Li Banfeng, everywhere was a path. Reckless sprinting brought a sense of satisfaction and release from within.

After running for over an hour and passing several villages, Li Banfeng sensed his cultivation had responded; his basic cultivation for the day was sufficient. He didn't stop but continued to sprint forward. It wasn't because he hadn't run his fill, but because he was hungry and needed to find something to eat. This wasn't difficult for him, because he remembered the roads and every place he had passed.

Reaching the entrance of a village, Li Banfeng looked at the stone tablet, which read: Changliu Village. A house in the village still had its lights on. Li Banfeng walked to the door, intending to ask the residents for some food. To be precise, it wasn't 'asking for' but 'buying.' This was the method Qin Xiaopang had taught Li Banfeng. Calming his mind, Li Banfeng carefully sensed his surroundings, detecting no danger, and then knocked on the door.