Chapter 423: Neighbor

Hong Ying was doing her makeup in front of the mirror. Hearing a sound outside the door, she quickly went to greet him.

“Husband, you’re back?”

“Yingying, give me your hand.”

Li Banfeng grabbed Hong Ying's hand.

Hong Ying shyly lowered her head, eagerly anticipating the phonograph's reaction at this moment.

“Wicked woman, are you about to cry?”

Li Banfeng made an incision on Hong Ying’s palm, squeezed out some fresh blood, and then left.

The phonograph burst out laughing.

Hong Ying covered her wound, returned to the mirror, and continued with her makeup.

Soon after, Li Banfeng returned, followed by seven or eight melon-made Hong Yings. Each of them was carrying seven or eight oddities, which they brought into the portable residence.

The phonograph chuckled, “Our Yingying is quite useful, isn’t she?”

Li Banfeng nodded, “Very useful. Don’t let the fact that she’s made of melon fool you; her strength is no less than mine.”

Hong Ying threw down her comb and went to the third room to cry.

Li Banfeng transported oddities home trip after trip, and in no time, all the rooms were filled.

The phonograph reminded him, “Husband, there’s no need to bring home this type of food. Your little servant can’t eat it.”

“Can’t eat” was a polite way of saying it; the phonograph meant she didn’t want to eat this type of food, but was afraid her husband would get angry if she said so directly.

Li Banfeng wasn’t angry. “My dear wife, these aren’t for eating. They are to be sent to my domain.”

“Using our residence to transport them?” His wife was surprised. “This matter requires caution!”

Li Banfeng had brought many living beings into the portable residence, but apart from his wife and his body full of magical artifacts, he had never taken a living being out of it.

Although these oddities lacked intelligence, it was hard to say when they might gain sentience and recall this incident.

The music box peeked out from Li Banfeng’s pocket. The small copper figure on the box confidently watched the phonograph, wanting to tell Madam that she would take care of it.

The phonograph frowned, “You can’t even speak, and you expect me to trust you?”

His wife indeed didn't trust the music box. Steam spread throughout the various rooms of the portable residence, and the phonograph carefully inspected all the oddities.

After confirming all the oddities were asleep, the phonograph told Li Banfeng, “Husband, you can depart. Your little servant will watch over them the whole way.”

Li Banfeng went to the third room. Hong Ying, thinking he had come to apologize, wiped her tears and turned her face to the wall, remaining silent.

Li Banfeng ignored Hong Ying and said to the portable residence, “Go to the station in my domain.”

Hong Ying was speechless, and the portable residence remained silent. The old master seemed to be deep in thought.

Li Banfeng waited for over half an hour. When he went outside, he found they had indeed arrived at the station.

He, along with the melon-made Hong Yings, moved a group of oddities down. Simply unloading them here wasn't enough, as the station was built inside the residence of the Mountain-Pulling Master, where Li Banfeng’s contract was hidden, and unauthorized entry and exit were not permitted.

Li Banfeng returned to the portable residence and chuckled simply, “Yingying, lend me your technique.”

Hong Ying asked calmly, “Qilang, are you treating me like a maidservant?”

Li Banfeng held Hong Ying’s hand and said affectionately, “Yingying, you understand me.”

Hong Ying spat on Li Banfeng's face, then lent him her technique.

Li Banfeng wiped his face, then led a group of oddities through the rock wall, scattering them across his domain.

He had to move quickly; the stopover time was only half an hour.

After three round trips, most of the oddities in Autumn Leaf’s domain had been delivered. Li Banfeng then ran a circle around his own domain.

Before, he could run for dozens of miles and might not even see a single oddity. Now, he could glance anywhere and see oddities wandering about.

Autumn Leaf had ascended to the second layer of the clouds by accumulating oddities, but all the capital she had amassed over so many years had now been taken by Li Banfeng.

Returning to the portable residence, Li Banfeng said, “Let’s make one more trip to sweep up any stragglers.”

The portable residence impatiently replied, “There isn’t much oil left. Save it for more important uses. Let’s quickly return to Autumn Leaf’s domain; there are some things I haven’t figured out yet.”

The old master was studying the boundary lines.

Li Banfeng had thought new boundary lines would form in Autumn Leaf’s domain, but to his surprise, Autumn Leaf’s domain had moved directly from the deep lands to the edge of the true lands, merging with the true lands’ existing boundaries.

Why would a domain move?

During the merging of new and old true lands, would the true nature of the boundary lines be revealed?

And where exactly was Autumn Leaf’s domain located now?

All these matters required investigation.

However, one thing was now confirmed.

The merging of Autumn Leaf’s domain with the original true lands’ domain occurred without the participation of the Border Guard envoys; at least, Li Banfeng didn’t see them involved.

This implied two possibilities.

One possibility was that the Border Guard envoys secretly manipulated and moved Autumn Leaf’s domain, directly using the existing boundary lines to seal off this area.

Another possibility was that the formation and merging of boundary lines had nothing to do with the Border Guard envoys; they merely mastered the method of utilizing them.

What exactly were these boundary lines?

Returning to Autumn Leaf’s domain, Li Banfeng walked around.

He Yuxiu and Ma Wu were both anxious about the current situation. They couldn’t leave this domain and didn’t know where they were.

There were a few villagers across the border line who had been shouting at them for a long time, but they hadn’t really responded.

The three-headed people, however, weren’t nervous. They were re-tidying their collapsed wooden houses and salvaging damaged farmland. This was their home, and whether they could leave wasn't important to them.

Li Banfeng walked to the edge of the boundary line, moved a stone, and sat down.

The portable residence had a rule: if Li Qi was inside, the portable residence would follow Li Qi; if Li Qi wasn't inside, the portable residence would follow the key.

Being closer to the border line allowed the portable residence to see more clearly, and Li Banfeng himself wanted to observe more, to see if he could find any mysteries.

After observing for a long time with no results, Li Banfeng took out the music box and chuckled, “You’ve rendered a great service this time; you deserve a reward.”

The music box understood Li Banfeng's words. The small figure on the turntable bowed slightly, then began to spin.

What is it doing?

Playing a tune for me?

What the music box played wasn’t a tune; it was an argument between two people.

“Bitch, do you really think I won’t cut you?”

“Go ahead, just do it.”

“You have no remorse at all?”

“Nothing to regret. If I had to choose again, I’d still kill you!”

These were the voices of his wife and Hong Ying arguing. Li Banfeng held the music box to his ear, listening carefully.

Autumn Leaf stood at the entrance to the new lands, ready to go in.

Water Spring dissuaded him, “You are now the local god of the true lands. Try not to go into the new lands; others will think you’re trying to seize territory.”

Autumn Leaf shook his head. “Can’t the local god of the true lands go into the new lands? Didn’t Green Blossom often go into the new lands before?”

Water Spring sighed and patiently explained, “When Green Blossom went into the new lands, he really was trying to seize territory.”

Autumn Leaf waved his hand. “I’m different from him. I don’t bully people; I’m just going to ask for directions.”

“Wait a few days first. You just arrived; being so abrupt certainly isn’t appropriate.”

“Wait longer? I think you’re not in a hurry. I don’t even know where I am right now; I can’t wait another moment!”

Water Spring said, “I’m more anxious than you. I don’t even know how to get back to my own domain now!”

“If you’re anxious, then let’s go together. As the saying goes, ‘one doesn’t hit a smiling face.’ The more we interact, the more harmonious our neighborhood will be.”

Autumn Leaf showed a friendly smile to his reflection in the pond, then strode into the new lands. Water Spring, helpless, followed him.

It was similar to the new lands they were familiar with; even at midday, it was completely dark.

Water Spring frowned. “This place is right next to the true lands, so it should be considered shallow land. Why is there no daylight at all?”

Looking ahead, there wasn’t a single flicker of light, which indicated that there were no successfully developed land plots nearby. They didn’t see any developers, not even hunters.

Autumn Leaf thought for a moment. “Perhaps this isn’t shallow land. It might have suddenly appeared here along with me.”

They walked for over an hour but saw no one, not even a single intelligent oddity.

Water Spring slightly frowned. “Autumn Elephant, is this new land? It’s not old earth, is it?”

Autumn Leaf looked around. “If it were old earth, there should be houses. There’s nothing here.”

“Perhaps it’s been so long that even broken bricks and tiles haven’t remained. We should be more careful.” Water Spring heightened his vigilance. Although his cultivation was high, he was still reluctant to walk on old earth, as it was hard to say what they might encounter.

Autumn Leaf wasn’t very concerned. Whether it was new land or old earth, as long as it had an owner, they were neighbors.

They climbed over a hill, and in front of them was an open space, where a house could vaguely be seen.

Water Spring pulled Autumn Leaf back and said, “A house appearing in barren land, this is most likely old earth!”

Autumn Leaf chuckled, “I also live in a house, and my yard is even bigger than his. Does that mean mine is old earth too?

Don’t be so jumpy. Where there’s a house, there are people, and finding people is a good thing.”

Arriving at the front of the house, Autumn Leaf grabbed the door knocker and rapped a few times on the door.

Soon, the large door opened, and a muscular man stood inside.

This burly man was so massive that he couldn’t walk through the double doors normally; he had to squeeze out sideways.

The burly man stood before Autumn Leaf. Their builds were quite similar, and in terms of appearance, they also shared a certain resemblance.

This burly man had a round face with two long teeth curving upwards from his mouth and a large nose. Of course, compared to Autumn Leaf, his nose could only be considered ordinary.

Given their shared appearance, one would expect them to get along well in conversation.

The burly man opened his mouth and asked, “Who are you?”

Autumn Leaf chuckled, “A neighbor from the north.”

“From 'Nobody Buried There'?”

Autumn Leaf looked at Water Spring; he had never heard of a place called ‘Nobody Buried There.’

Water Spring shook his head; he hadn’t heard of it either.

The burly man said impatiently, “I’m asking you a question, are you both mute?”

Autumn Leaf was taken aback. Water Spring quickly interjected, “We are not from ‘Nobody Buried There.’”

“Then where are you from?”

This question was a bit difficult to answer, as Autumn Leaf’s domain currently had no name.

The burly man roared, “I only have one neighbor to my north. If you’re not ‘goods from Nobody Buried,’ then where are you from? Who are your neighbors? Why are you trying to get familiar with me here?”

“Goods from Nobody Buried”...

Autumn Leaf said nothing.

Water Spring also said nothing. He was familiar with Autumn Leaf’s temper, and at this point, anything they said would be too late.

The burly man asked, “Do you not understand human speech, or can you not speak it clearly? I asked where you’re from. Why no response?”

Autumn Leaf chuckled, “My silence was giving you a chance to escape, but you didn’t seize it.”