Chapter 578: Jiaoqi River

Walking on the main street of Pillow City, Li Banfeng and Zhao Lanmeng chatted for a bit. With Zhao Lanmeng present, Li Banfeng didn't feel tired, likely due to the influence of his technique.

They hadn't walked far when they suddenly heard someone shouting behind them, "I saw it! I saw something happen to the Peddler!"

Ye Haolong burst out of his mansion and ran wildly down the street.

This person just wouldn't quit.

Li Banfeng asked, "Is he dreaming, or is he awake?"

Mengde replied, "He's probably awake."

Ye Haolong came before Zhao Lanmeng and said in a flustered tone, "Master Zhao, something happened to the Peddler! Something terrible happened."

Li Banfeng calmly said, "Something happened again?"

Ye Haolong retorted, "Who are you? What do you mean 'again'? This time it's different; the Peddler lost his life!"

Ye Haolong was extremely anxious but saw that Li Banfeng remained unfazed.

Looking at Zhao Lanmeng's expressionless face, Ye Haolong felt even more disappointed.

Pillow City was like this; they simply couldn't understand how important this matter was.

Ye Haolong ran at full speed, intending to immediately deliver the news outside the city.

This wasn't the first time he had left the city to deliver news; the messages Liao Zihui received came this way, and all the news received throughout Puro Province came this way.

Ye Haolong was a Cloud-tier cultivator, so his words naturally carried some weight. As the news spread from person to person, what wasn't true became true.

Li Banfeng looked at Zhao Lanmeng, "You're not going to do anything?"

Zhao Lanmeng shook his head and said, "No killing, no stealing. In Pillow City, one is free to come and go."

Li Banfeng sighed and said, "He means well; he just can't distinguish between dreams and reality. I'll go talk some sense into him."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Banfeng had already caught up to Ye Haolong, pinned him to the ground, and proceeded to give him a good talking-to.

"You're spouting nonsense! Do you know how much trouble you've caused? You wouldn't get proper sleep—"

Ten minutes later, Ye Haolong fell silent. Li Banfeng carried him back to the mansion, helped set his bones, wiped away the bloodstains, tucked him into bed, then locked him with iron chains. He turned to Zhao Lanmeng, saying, "He's fast asleep. Make sure he doesn't wake up again."

Zhao Lanmeng understood Li Banfeng's meaning: Ye Haolong could no longer run outside. This person had already stirred up trouble and threatened the safety of Puro Province, and Li Banfeng had already considered killing him.

"I'll watch him." Zhao Lanmeng agreed to make an exception and personally restrained Ye Haolong.

Li Banfeng returned to the street and sighed, "Such a large Pillow City, all matters, big and small, have to be handled by you alone. Even a thief requires your personal attention. It must indeed be exhausting."

"It's not exhausting." Zhao Lanmeng shook his head slightly and turned his gaze towards a small courtyard.

Was there anything special about this courtyard?

Li Banfeng looked towards the courtyard and saw a black cat quietly opening a jar at the base of the wall, pulling out a salted fish from it.

The black cat jumped onto the wall, intending to escape, but its legs suddenly went weak, and it collapsed onto the wall, fast asleep.

"Hmph!" Zhao Lanmeng gave the black cat a disdainful look. He hadn't made a move the entire time, yet the thieving black cat was simply asleep on the wall.

This cat, who knows where it came from or how it resisted the overwhelming weariness, came to steal salted fish. But in Pillow City, if you steal something, don't expect to leave with it. This seemed to be a rule that was very difficult to break.

Li Banfeng looked at Zhao Lanmeng with sincere curiosity, hoping he would offer an explanation.

Zhao Lanmeng actually did give an explanation: "A dream's reality is not false; a mastered technique never ceases."

What did that mean?

Li Banfeng didn't quite understand. Zhao Lanmeng waved his hand, and the eight characters he had just spoken appeared in mid-air.

Li Banfeng still didn't quite grasp the meaning of these eight characters, but he was somewhat concerned about the current situation.

Zhao Lanmeng could write characters in the air at will. Was this a dream or reality?

Li Banfeng nudged Mengde, and Mengde also found it hard to tell.

Zhao Lanmeng could see Li Banfeng's doubt and replied, "Why bother distinguishing so clearly?"

He sent Li Banfeng outside the city, his originally solid form gradually becoming ethereal.

Li Banfeng looked around at Pillow City. He thought Pillow City would vanish along with Zhao Lanmeng, but Pillow City remained distinctly real.

"The city is real, I am not," Zhao Lanmeng said, and then completely vanished.

The one who had been speaking to Li Banfeng just now was not Zhao Lanmeng's true self, but a dream projection of Zhao Lanmeng.

This was very similar to the situation of a certain person in the past; Li Banfeng remembered Grandfather Train.

Then he thought of the eight characters Zhao Lanmeng had spoken earlier.

"A dream's reality is not false" must be a type of technique.

"A mastered technique never ceases" meant that once a technique was perfected, it would never stop.

Could it be that Pillow City's existence, almost like a universal rule, was a certain technique of Zhao Lanmeng?

One person's technique could become the rule of an entire region?

What level was Zhao Lanmeng, then?

This gave Li Banfeng a new understanding of local deities.

According to his previous understanding, local deities should have Cloud-tier cultivation, lagging considerably behind the formidable cultivators above the Clouds.

But Zhao Lanmeng seemed to be an exception; he should be no less inferior to cultivators like Gui Jianchou and Ye Jianhuang, who were above the Clouds, and might even be stronger.

The cultivation system in Puro Province didn't seem so simple.

After leaving Pillow City, Li Banfeng headed for Lacquer River.

Zhao Lanmeng's note came with an accompanying map. This map was truly crudely drawn, with no place names written along the route, only a general direction.

Halfway there, the magic treasures all woke up one after another, each feeling refreshed, as if they had all had a good sleep in Pillow City.

The Projector whispered, "I had a good dream."

The Wine Gourd teased, "What good dream did you have? Did you dream of art again?"

"It truly was art. I was lying on a white cloud, watching other white clouds drift past me, seeing huge dark clouds fly overhead, and terrifying storm clouds crackling with lightning and thunder."

The Pendulum laughed, "This is considered art? Isn't this common on television in other provinces?"

"This is true art, not art that is forced. It's very pure—" The Projector was still savoring its recent dream.

Not just him, all the magic treasures were sharing their dreams; only the Glove was not in a good mood.

"Master, I fell asleep just now, but I could still hear some movements; I just couldn't wake up." The Glove's strength was indeed remarkable; although forced to sleep, it never let down its guard.

Li Banfeng said, "No need to worry. The matter in Pillow City is over. Ye Haolong took what happened in his dream seriously, spouted nonsense, and created a rumor. It happened that the Peddler wasn't there, which almost led to a great disaster."

"Master, that person should be killed!"

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "He should indeed be killed, but if I really killed him, it would be a cover-up, and with no one to