Chapter 474: A Huge Mountain

Five days later, Liao Zihui looked at the sunset outside the window, picked up his teacup, and took a silent sip.

His secretary, Ling Sujun, walked in; her deeply sunken eyes were dark.

"Chief, do we still need to keep everyone on standby today?"

Liao Zihui thought for a moment and asked, "Have the tea leaves been distributed?"

"They were distributed the day before yesterday."

"Were elixirs mixed into them?"

"They were mixed in, but the effect isn't noticeable. Do we need to increase the dosage?"

Liao Zihui took another sip of tea. "Let's call it a day."

Ling Sujun bowed deeply to Liao Zihui, not daring to ask another question, and turned to leave.

Liao Zihui put on his coat. Before leaving the office, he glanced at his drawer, wondering if he should listen to the earpiece one more time.

He pulled open the drawer, hesitated for a moment, then closed it again.

If he listened to the earpiece, he was sure to hear Li Qi's voice.

Li Qi would surely express, in some veiled way, his intention to attack the Border Control Bureau.

And just because of a single word from him, he wouldn't get any sleep tonight.

No one knew Li Qi's true intentions, but since they didn't know, why bother himself with it?

He'd just pretend it wasn't happening.

Deputy Chief Xia Shumin, holding two tickets to Carefree Villa, was waiting at the office door. Seeing Liao Zihui emerge, Xia Shumin quickly went to meet him.

"Chief, I heard you like Jiang Mengting's songs. Tonight, Carefree Villa is hosting a special concert for Jiang Mengting. I bought two tickets for you; you and your wife can go relax tonight."

Liao Zihui accepted the tickets and smiled, "Xiao Xia, you seem to have a lot of energy."

Xia Shumin chuckled, "I used to have many urgent missions, so I got used to staying up late."

Liao Zihui nodded. "Youth is good, youth is really good. My wife doesn't like Jiang Mengting. How about we go to Carefree Villa to listen to music tonight?"

Xia Shumin waved his hand. "To be honest, I don't care for it either. I went to a concert once when I was young. It was too noisy there, and too far from the stage. I just yelled along with a crowd, couldn't even see what the singer looked like."

"You can see here! The concerts in Puro State are different! There aren't many people in one venue, and there are no microphones or anything like that here. You hear the original sound and see the original appearance.

Let's go together. First, we can have a couple of drinks at Carefree Villa, eat dinner. The concert should be starting in about two hours."

"Mengting, the concert is about to start, you can't be difficult!" Manager Zhang of Carefree Villa was frantic. The concert was about to begin, but Jiang Mengting said her throat was bothering her and she couldn't sing.

"My voice is hoarse just from talking. How can I sing? Just put up a notice at the entrance saying it's postponed."

Manager Zhang said anxiously, "My dear lady, the tickets sold out a month ago! You want me to postpone it now? The reputation of Carefree Villa will be ruined! I beg you, I'll kowtow to you, alright? Just go on stage and sing a couple of songs, that would suffice."

Jiang Mengting simply refused to go on stage, so Manager Zhang quickly told Li Banfeng about it.

Li Banfeng had dinner with Jiang Mengting and personally fed her a bowl of lung-cleansing and throat-soothing herbal soup. Jiang Mengting recovered and could perform that night.

When the concert began, Li Banfeng took his seat in the audience and looked up to see Liao Zihui in a second-floor private box.

Li Banfeng entered the box, sat beside Liao Zihui, and, noticing his dark circles, asked, "Chief Liao, you don't look very well. Have you been staying up late these past couple of days?"

Liao Zihui chuckled, "Indeed, I've been thinking about you these past few days, hoping you'd come visit the Border Control Bureau, but you haven't arrived yet."

Li Banfeng asked, surprised, "Since you were thinking about me, why didn't you come to Carefree Villa to find me?"

Liao Zihui nodded. "I came to find you last time, but you didn't give me a warm welcome."

Xia Shumin caught on and greeted, "This must be Mr. Li, correct?"

Li Banfeng looked at Xia Shumin and asked, "How should I address this gentleman?"

Liao Zihui said, "This is the newly appointed Chief Xia."

Li Banfeng exclaimed, surprised, "A new Chief has arrived? Chief Liao, have you retired?"

Liao Zihui sighed, "I long for that day."

Li Banfeng looked at Xia Shumin and asked, "Do you also long for that day?"

"I haven't..." Xia Shumin inhaled sharply. He wanted to say he didn't, but felt it wouldn't be appropriate.

Liao Zihui said, "It's usually not good to discuss such matters in front of me. How about this, you two chat here, and I'll go downstairs to listen to the music."

Li Banfeng felt a little awkward. "How could we make you move? Chief Xia and I should find a private place to talk. You certainly shouldn't know about this."

Xia Shumin let out two dry chuckles. "Mr. Li certainly has a way with words. Let's just focus on the music."

Li Banfeng really wanted to talk more about retirement with them, but as he spoke, he suddenly felt a pang in his heart.

This feeling was very familiar.

Someone was cultivating!

He bid farewell, left the private box, quickly returned to his room, entered the Portable Abode, and said to the Old Man, "Go to the station, the one in my territory."

A few minutes later, Li Banfeng borrowed the full imposing aura from Hong Ying, exited the Portable Abode, arrived in his territory, and walked towards the direction where he sensed the cultivation.

The first person to appear in his sight was Cui Tik.

Li Banfeng immediately dismissed the idea of responding to the cultivation. Allowing him to cultivate here would be a torment to the strange creatures in his territory.

But he wasn't the only one cultivating. Li Banfeng counted fifteen people in total. The one waiting for news in front of the offering table was Chu Huaiyuan.

She's here to cultivate?

He hadn't seen her these past few days. How did she end up in the New Land?

Li Banfeng took out the Judge's Brush and the Projector. "Ah Bi, take me there. Ah Ji, create a disguise for me, project an aura of a local deity."

The Projector quickly prepared, using a cloud of black smoke to conceal Li Banfeng's figure and face, leaving only a cluster of bluish-green flames drifting within the smoke.

The next step was to fly. Li Banfeng said to the Judge's Brush, "Station time is limited, move faster."

"Hmph!" The Judge's Brush let out a long breath, stretched, and flew Li Banfeng to the center of the land plot. The Projector chose its own hiding spot, allowing Li Banfeng to appear before everyone as a cloud of mist.

Li Banfeng looked down at Chu Er and asked, "You wish to cultivate?"

Chu Er was puzzled why the local deity had been slow to respond, thinking there was a problem with the offerings.

Unexpectedly, the local deity suddenly appeared. The cultivators were all nervous.

Chu Er respectfully replied, "Yes, I wish to cultivate a three-li radius plot on your land."

"Why do you want to cultivate in my territory?"

Why ask such a thing?

Chu Er replied, "I was recommended by a friend."

This was the truth. Chu Er had been recommended by He Yuxiu, who said this place was quiet and very suitable for Chu Er's cultivation.

Li Banfeng asked, "Have the cultivators been chosen?"

Chu Er answered truthfully, "The cultivators are all here."

Li Banfeng said, "Foreigners cannot cultivate here."

Cui Tik was startled, not expecting the local deity here to discriminate against foreigners.

Is this really a local deity?

This imposing aura was indeed terrifying.

Cui Tik replied, "Respected deity, I am not a cultivator. I am a healer hired by the cultivators."

Behind Cui Tik were two more people, both healers.

If Cui Tik wasn't participating in the cultivation, then this matter could still be discussed.

Li Banfeng said to Chu Er, "You must specify the landlord's identity in the contract and the cultivators' identities. Once everything is properly prepared, come back tomorrow to present your offerings."

After speaking, Li Banfeng vanished.

Chu Er had some cultivation experience, but she didn't fully understand local deities and dared not casually raise questions, so she could only rewrite the contract.

With the help of the Greenwater Beggar, Cui Tik had already reached nine levels of cultivation. He could sense that the local deity just now seemed somewhat unreal, but his cultivation experience wasn't extensive, and he didn't know what a local deity in that state should look like.

Looking into the distance, he saw the territories of Zhang Wanlong and Xiao Genzi.

In such a remote New Land, there were such lush crops. Cui Tik was very interested and went to the fields for a look.

Zhang Wanlong walked over with a hoe on his shoulder and greeted with a smile, "My foreign friend, can you understand me?"

"Yes!" Cui Tik nodded.

"Are you here to buy grain, or fruits and vegetables?"

Cui Tik stared at Zhang Wanlong, sizing him up. "I'd like to buy some of both."

It was time to leave. Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Abode, waited a few minutes, then returned to Carefree Villa.

He entrusted his business matters to the manager, restocked supplies for the Portable Abode, and immediately set off for the New Land.

Cultivation required assessment, which wasn't something that could be resolved by just stopping at a station. Li Banfeng had to make the trip himself.

It happened to be when the concert was ending, and the area in front of Carefree Villa was bustling with traffic. Li Banfeng pulled down his fedora and walked forward, when he suddenly saw a man standing under a streetlamp, staring with enormous eyes, looking around.

Those eyes were far too large.

If he had spicy strips, Li Banfeng really wanted to test if his skill within five meters had grown rusty.

Wasn't that Lightbulb?

When did he come to Puro State?

Li Banfeng walked up and stared at Lightbulb for a moment.

Lightbulb looked at the bearded man in front of him, dressed in a black suit and wearing a black fedora, and felt a wave of nervousness.

Li Banfeng asked, "Are you looking for me?"

"No, I'm not." Lightbulb turned his face away.

Li Banfeng confirmed again, "I am Li Qi. Are you really not looking for me?"

"No, I'm not." Lightbulb's voice grew softer and softer.

He was there to find Li Qi; Xia Shumin's mission for him was to monitor Li Qi.

This man in the black suit had admitted he was Li Qi. What did that mean for Lightbulb?

It meant his situation was dire.

If this person wasn't Li Qi, it meant Lightbulb's identity was exposed, and he knew nothing about the other's identity.

If this person was Li Qi, it meant Lightbulb was likely to lose his life.

Oil oozed from Lightbulb's entire body as he prepared to escape.

Li Banfeng offered a suggestion. "I'll find a good place for you. Escape there, and most people won't be able to find you."

"What?" Lightbulb was stunned.

Li Banfeng grabbed Lightbulb and started sprinting.

Lightbulb had ridden in Xiao Zhenggong's convertible; even when Xiao Zhenggong floored it, it wasn't this fast.

The problem was Lightbulb's feet couldn't keep up; he couldn't move them fast enough and could only slide along the ground.

The oil film on his body hadn't dissipated yet, and Lightbulb didn't know how to get away.

Li Banfeng reminded him, "Save some oil, use it all on the soles of your feet. We have a long way to go."

Lightbulb didn't know how long he had been running or how far he had traveled. When they finally stopped, the oil on his body was depleted, his shoe soles were worn through. Snot and tears flowed out, dried, and then flowed out again, forming layer after layer of hard crust on his face.

Sitting on the ground, Lightbulb gasped for a long time and cried with a twisted mouth.

"Wuaaaah..." Lightbulb pointed at Li Banfeng, looked around, slapped his thighs several times, and couldn't speak for a long time.

Li Banfeng gave him a water bottle, two cans of food, and a piece of bread.

"This is the New Land. There are also many hunter camps nearby. If you can find a way to get out, you'll survive. If you can't, you'll be stuck here permanently. Understand?"

Lightbulb looked up at the bearded man, still sobbing.

Li Banfeng frowned. "Why are you crying? You're in a much better position having met me than I was when I met you!"

Lightbulb didn't understand what the bearded man meant, and Li Banfeng wasn't in the mood to explain.

Watching the bearded man slowly walk away, Lightbulb didn't know whether he should follow him.

After much thought, he decided not to follow. The power gap between them was too obvious; another step with him could mean his life.

After all that running, Lightbulb was indeed hungry.

He tore open the bread, stuffed it into his mouth in a few bites, and washed it down with water.

He was about to eat a couple of bites of the canned food when he suddenly felt something slimy beneath him.

Was he leaking oil?

It shouldn't be, as his oil had long been depleted.

Lightbulb looked down and saw a patch of blood-red land moving beneath him.

Why would land move?

Lightbulb looked back and gradually understood the current situation.

It wasn't the land that was moving, but an enormous blood-red worm.

Had he been sitting on this worm just now?

It seemed he was still on this worm now...

He looked at the worm's size. It was several times larger than the silkworms he had seen in the factory.

Lightbulb wanted to cry again.

But he stopped his tears and prepared to flee for his life.

The next morning, Li Banfeng returned to his territory. Chu Er had already laid out offerings early, waiting for the local deity's response.

Li Banfeng transformed into a black cloud, carefully inspected the contract, confirming that Cui Tik and the others were not participating in the cultivation. Li Banfeng then illuminated the land plot.

The cultivation matter was settled, and now it was time for the assessment. Li Banfeng returned to the Residence of the Mountain Mover, took the local deity's seal, and went to find strange creatures.

The local deity's seal contained the cultivation of the territory. This was the capital for hiring strange creatures.

Who would be suitable to hire?

Fly around the territory and do some advertising?

No!

That kind of street-vendor behavior was a bit low-class.

Put up notices?

How many strange creatures could read notices?

Surprisingly, there was indeed one literate among them, who at least recognized the character "叶" (leaf).

Li Banfeng thought of the Ox-headed Man. Expecting him to read a notice might be too difficult, but he should be competent enough to act as a mouthpiece.

After walking around the territory, Li Banfeng found the Ox-headed Man in a forest. He was playing chess with the Jujube Tree Monster.

The chess pieces were made of stone, and each had their own board.

The Ox-headed Man threw a stone towards the Jujube Tree Monster. "I attack!"

The Jujube Tree blocked with its board and threw a stone back, "I move the chariot!"

The Ox-headed Man headbutted the Jujube Tree. "I advance the pawn!"

The Jujube Tree stumbled a few steps, picked up a wild horse nearby and hurled it at the Ox-headed Man. "I jump the horse!"

The Ox-headed Man was hit hard, threw his chessboard, and yelled, "I fly the elephant!"

The Jujube Tree sneered, "You dare to fly the elephant? If Lord Qiu heard that, wouldn't he kill you?"

The Ox-headed Man retorted, "Lord Qiu isn't here, so I will fly the elephant!"

Just as he was about to go find the elephant, Li Banfeng, controlling the Projector, Judge's Brush, and Wine Gourd, transformed into a ball of green flame and appeared before the Ox-headed Man. "Where are you going?"

"I'm flying the elephant..." The Ox-headed Man was stunned for a long time, then retorted, "Who are you?"

Li Banfeng said, "I am the local deity of this territory."

The Ox-headed Man scoffed, "Another one impersonating a local deity. Does a local deity look like you?"

A wave of imposing power swept over him, forcing the Ox-headed Man to step back a few paces.

Li Banfeng chuckled, "You signed a contract with me before, have you forgotten so quickly?"

The Jujube Tree beside him said, "Brother, that voice is the same as the local deity from back then!"

The Ox-headed Man lowered his head and said, "You've come to visit. How may I help you?"

Li Banfeng sighed, "If you haven't studied, don't try to use fancy words here. Is that how you use 'visit'?"

The Ox-headed Man looked at the Jujube Tree.

The Jujube Tree snorted, "What's the use of looking at me? I don't know what 'visit' means either."

Li Banfeng said, "I have a business proposition for you. Someone is cultivating a three-li plot to the east of the forest. Find some people to assess them, and I'll give you rewards afterward."

Hearing this, the Ox-headed Man was pleased. "Let's discuss the price first. For a three-li territory, how much reward will you give?"

How much was appropriate?

Before, when He Yuxiu, Zhang Wanlong, and Oil Peach came to cultivate, the strange creatures for assessment were all found by Meng Yuchun, and none of the strange creatures received rewards. Li Banfeng truly had no idea how much should be rewarded.

Now that the Ox-headed Man asked, if Li Banfeng went to Meng Yuchun again, he would lose face. After a moment of thought, Li Banfeng named a number: "If the assessment is successful, you'll each get three months of cultivation."

The old Jujube Tree's branches and leaves trembled. The Ox-headed Man asked, "Is three months the total amount, or does everyone get it?"

If it was the total amount, three months was indeed a bit little.

But if everyone got it, he didn't know how many people this old ox would bring. If he brought a thousand or eight hundred people, Li Banfeng couldn't afford it, and Chu Er couldn't handle it either.

Li Banfeng said, "Everyone will get it, but there's a cap of ten people."

The Ox-headed Man nodded, "I'll go gather the people right away!"

The Jujube Tree shifted its body and said, "I'll go with you."

Seeing how eager they were, Li Banfeng felt he had given too much.

How much?

It depends on who you're comparing it to.

Compared to Qiu Luoye, this amount was indeed too much. Qiu Luoye didn't give so many rewards not because of stinginess, but because he didn't want the assessment to be too difficult.

However, some local deities gave even more than this. The reason was that some local deities nurtured humans, while others nurtured strange creatures.

Local deities who nurtured humans all wanted to reduce the difficulty of assessment to make their territory more popular. Of course, there had to be a basic bottom line; they couldn't just let anyone take a plot and eventually leave it desolate.

Local deities who nurtured strange creatures never expected their territory to become a proper land; they hoped to temper the strange creatures through generous rewards.

With more strange creatures, popularity could also increase. More importantly, the local deity's strength would increase, allowing them to expand their territory and even completely annex surrounding territories.

Whether to nurture strange creatures or humans was a matter to be considered only after reaching the clouds. The assessment was left to the Ox-headed Man to handle. Li Banfeng returned to the Portable Abode and suddenly felt that the atmosphere was off.

Excitement.

The walls were somewhat hot, emitting faint rumbling and vibrations from time to time. Although he didn't hear the Old Man's voice, Li Banfeng could sense that the entire Portable Abode was in a state of excitement!

When the Old Man became excited, everyone in the abode felt fear, not daring to speak loudly.

Glove woke up, ran from the shelf to Li Banfeng's side, and whispered, "The Old Man found something good; it's in the third room."

"What good thing?"

Could it be that he found the train tracks himself?

Glove said, "We didn't dare go in. The Old Man didn't want us to see."

Li Banfeng walked towards the third room, but Wife dissuaded him. "Husband, don't go look. He probably just picked up a trinket outside, nothing special."

The Wife's words made Li Banfeng even more curious. What kind of trinket could make the Old Man this excited?

As soon as he entered, Li Banfeng was stunned.

Five large stones were placed in the third room.

Li Banfeng asked, surprised, "Old Man, why did you bring these stones back?"

"Ah Qi!" The Old Man lowered his voice, speaking mysteriously, "These are Heaven's Heart Stones."

Heaven's Heart Stones?

He seemed to have heard of them.

The Old Man reminded him, "I told you before, one Heaven's Heart Stone is worth as much as a pair of railway tracks!"

The price of a pair of railway tracks was equivalent to an entire Paramount nightclub.

Li Banfeng was overjoyed, and holding a stone, he laughed, "First, let's go to Medicine King Gully, find Manager Feng's brother, and discuss the price with him."

The Old Man asked, "Discuss the price for what?"

"To sell them! Each one should be worth at least a million silver dollars!"

"Sell what?!" The Old Man got angry. "I'm keeping them to build a station!"

Li Banfeng remembered this. Three Heaven's Heart Stones were enough to build a large station, and the Portable Abode could stop for an hour at a large station.

But was there a big difference between an hour and half an hour?

Using all these Heaven's Heart Stones to build a station, Li Banfeng felt a little pained.

"Let's build the station after we move to another place!"

The Portable Abode said, "Ah Qi, you must look to the long term. This is your territory, and there will be many things to do in the future. Building a large station will give you more time."

Li Banfeng clicked his tongue. "The key is, there's already a station here."

"The former Happy Land can still be reclaimed. We can build a station in another place and not waste anything."

More words were useless. The Portable Abode was impatient; it wanted to build a large station right now, so Li Banfeng could only agree.

What Li Banfeng found strange was, where did these Heaven's Heart Stones come from?

"I've walked this territory countless times. You followed me wherever I went. How come we never found Heaven's Heart Stones before?"

"Heaven's Heart Stones are nameless objects. Their locations aren't fixed. We just got lucky this time; all five stones gathered right here for you!"

What exactly were "nameless objects," Li Banfeng couldn't figure out either.

The Portable Abode began building the station. Li Banfeng first went to check on the assessment situation.

Old Ox had brought ten strange creatures, and they were ready.

Li Banfeng, in the guise of the local deity, said to Old Ox, "If you can't win, retreat as soon as possible. Don't risk your lives over this."

Old Ox chuckled, "I'll deliver the message, but whether they can hold back is hard to say."

Three months of cultivation was a strong temptation. As soon as the time came, the strange creatures rushed into the land plot together.

Chu Er, with eleven subordinates, charged forward to meet the enemy. It was a chaotic battle across the three-li territory.

After watching for over half an hour, with neither side gaining an advantage, Li Banfeng left. He wanted to wander around his territory to see if he could find any more good things like Heaven's Heart Stones.

After walking more than three li to the south, the outline of a large mountain appeared in the hazy night.

Where did this mountain come from?

Li Banfeng was very familiar with his territory. There shouldn't be a mountain here; it should be a grassland.

Had he remembered it incorrectly?

He walked closer to look. The vegetation on this large mountain was extremely lush, and there was almost no path to climb it.

There definitely wasn't this mountain in his territory. This mountain had appeared at some unknown time.

Li Banfeng didn't rashly go up the mountain. He immediately went to Meng Yuchun's residence.

Meng Yuchun was cultivating in front of a mirror. Li Banfeng waited at the door, but he disturbed her concentration.

After seeing off two sisters, Meng Yuchun wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, "You came to see me just to ask about a mountain? There are many hills in your territory, what's so strange about that?"

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "This isn't a mountain in my territory."

Meng Yuchun sneered, "A hundred-li territory, it's not small. How can you remember it so clearly? Isn't it reasonable to misremember some places?"

Meng Yuchun was speaking the truth. For residence cultivators, misremembering locations was common, and even she didn't remember her own territory very clearly.

Li Banfeng said, "I'm a travel cultivator. How could I forget even a single mountain?"

"So what if you're a travel cultivator, are you amazing? If you misremembered, just say so. Would I make fun of you?" Meng Yuchun huffily followed Li Banfeng to the base of the mountain, looked up at the peak, and remained silent for a long time.

There truly wasn't such a high mountain in Li Qi's territory.

Meng Yuchun pinched her chin and tried to offer a reasonable explanation. "The New Land is constantly changing. It's perfectly reasonable for a mountain to occasionally appear."

Li Banfeng knew Meng Yuchun was someone who cared about her reputation, and it was understandable for her to occasionally make up a few words to save face.

But this was too far-fetched!

According to Li Banfeng's understanding, the changes in the New Land referred to the continuous emergence of new land plots. Li Banfeng had never heard of a New Land changing after it had already formed.

After her feeble attempt, Meng Yuchun also felt that this matter was a bit strange. "Let me go back and ask