Chapter 71: Tree Hanging Under the Tree

Li Banfeng practiced with his iron ruler for two hours, feeling he had gained some insight.

The phonograph repeatedly encouraged him, "My lord, a man of ambition aims to travel far. What are you doing staying at home all day? Hurry, go out and buy groceries!"

Does going out to buy groceries make one a man of ambition?

Li Banfeng checked his pocket watch; it was already ten o'clock. It was indeed time to head out.

Upon returning to Yujia Village, Li Banfeng first had lunch with Old Zhu, then decided to explore the new land.

Travel Cultivation required walking fifty li each day. Although he had walked a much greater distance yesterday, completing the task with an excess, he had, in cultivator's parlance, "banked time."

However, even with banked time, it shouldn't be squandered on routine cultivation.

Old Zhu couldn't dissuade Li Banfeng, so he simply informed him of the taboos of the new land: "Boss Li, don't chop down trees, don't pull up weeds, and don't harm the birds or beasts in the forest.

"Don't eat any fruit from the forest, and don't drink its water. If you encounter people you don't understand or situations you can't comprehend, return immediately.

"You've walked this path once when you first came to the new land; try to stick to it, and please be extremely careful."

The advice was worth heeding, but Li Banfeng decided against following the same path. Constantly treading the same route wasn't conducive to accumulating cultivation.

Relying on his Travel Cultivation technique for seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster, Li Banfeng tried to choose paths that weren't overly perilous.

However, there were few truly safe places in the new land.

Within three li of Yujia Village, his progress was relatively smooth.

Beyond the three-li radius, Li Banfeng constantly felt danger drawing near. Goosebumps rose in layers, and he couldn't help but shiver every couple of steps. His Travel Cultivation technique for seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster was continually warning him.

After walking nearly ten li, Li Banfeng realized he had completed enough basic cultivation for the day.

Should he go back now?

Going back seemed reasonable. A leisurely afternoon stroll followed by a nap was a perfectly sensible plan.

Li Banfeng turned to head back the way he came, when he suddenly heard someone speaking from a tree:

"Brother, is that you?"

Whose voice was that?

He Jiaqing?

Li Banfeng silently raised his head.

He saw an almost transparent silk thread, as thick as a finger, hanging down from the tree.

Following the thread upwards, Li Banfeng saw a massive "bamboo basket" slowly descending along it.

Was it a bamboo basket?

It was pitch black and airtight, seemingly woven from branches and covered completely with leaves, sealing every gap.

The basket's opening faced directly downwards, right above Li Banfeng's head.

The silk thread entered the basket through its opening, exited from the other end, and was secured to the tree.

From inside the basket, a man's voice declared, "Brother, you've finally arrived."

When he first heard the voice, Li Banfeng felt a pang of emotion, thinking it was He Jiaqing.

Hearing the sentence again, Li Banfeng realized the voice was quite different from He Jiaqing's. It was merely muffled and deep because the speaker was inside the "bamboo basket," giving it a slight resemblance to He Jiaqing's low, hoarse voice.

Li Banfeng looked at the basket. Sensing no danger, he calmly asked, "Why do you call me brother? Have you mistaken me for someone else?"

The basket hovered in mid-air. After a moment, another voice emerged: "Child, is that you?"

The voice was hoarse yet gentle, like that of a white-haired old mother.

Li Banfeng was skilled at imitating female voices, but this time, he couldn't detect the slightest hint of mimicry.

Could there be another person inside the basket?

Although he still sensed no danger, Li Banfeng decided to leave immediately.

He hadn't forgotten the coachman's warning.

If the opponent was on a higher cultivation level than himself, he might not be able to perceive their malicious intent.

Just as Li Banfeng took a step forward, a silk thread suddenly shot out from the basket and coiled around his legs.

The thread tripped him, and he fell backward onto the ground.

He tried to struggle free a couple of times, but the silk thread was incredibly strong; he couldn't break loose.

Li Banfeng didn't rashly try to pull the thread with his hands. If his hands were also trapped, he would have no chance of escaping.

He simultaneously plunged both hands into his pockets. His right hand emerged first, holding a pair of Mandarin Duck Yuet.

This unusual weapon, formed by two interlocking crescent blades, had extremely sharp edges.

But after several attempts, Li Banfeng found that the Yuet couldn't sever the silk thread.

The massive basket slowly descended, swaying gently.

Another voice emerged from inside the "basket," gentle and delicate: "Husband, you've arrived?"

This was the voice of a young woman, again with no trace of mimicry.

"You've truly mistaken me," Li Banfeng calmly replied. He immediately put away his Yuet and took out his iron ruler.

The iron ruler had no blade, but its pointed end was extremely sharp.

The basket continued its descent, swaying with increasing intensity.

A human face slowly emerged from the basket's opening—the face of a young woman with delicate features. A silk thread, as thick as a finger, emerged from between her lips and stretched downwards.

So the thread was coming from her mouth.

This reminded Li Banfeng of a particular type of worm, one that suspended itself from trees using silk threads.

What was that insect called again?

A bagworm, he thought.

Was this woman a bagworm?

A single thread ran through her body. One exit was her mouth; where was the other?

And what was this basket?

It was a bagworm's cocoon!

The cocoon continued to descend, and the human face wriggled, slowly emerging from it.

Long, slender black hair brushed Li Banfeng's face. The delicate-faced woman looked down at him, the silk thread still held in her mouth, and asked in a muffled voice, "Did I guess wrong all three times?"

"Yes, all wrong," Li Banfeng replied, his brow relaxing into a faint smile. He tightened his grip on the iron ruler in his right hand and thrust it towards the face.

As a travel cultivator, Li Banfeng moved quickly. Having only recently left his residence, his physical strength was at its peak.

The strike was both swift and precise. Just as the iron ruler's point was about to pierce the woman's forehead, another silk thread suddenly extended from within the basket and coiled around Li Banfeng's arm.

More silk threads?

Where had this one come from?

The cocoon swayed back and forth with increasing amplitude, as a short-haired human head struggled to emerge from its opening.

With thick eyebrows, large eyes, and full lips, a distinctly angular man emerged. He held a silk thread in his mouth, looked down at Li Banfeng, and asked, "Were they really all wrong?"

"I'm not lying to you, they were all wrong," Li Banfeng replied, pulling his left hand from his pocket.

Before he could open his palm, yet another silk thread tightly wrapped around his entire left arm.

From within the cocoon, a white-haired human head, squeezing past the other two, bit onto a silk thread and struggled to emerge.

It was a wrinkled old woman.

Were there three worms crammed into one cocoon?

Or was it a single worm with three heads?

The toothless old woman, holding the silk thread in her mouth, opened her mouth and chuckled at Li Banfeng, "I guessed wrong. It's your turn. Guess who I am?"

Li Banfeng blinked and asked, "What happens if I guess wrong?"

The woman replied, "Then we'll eat you."

Li Banfeng asked again, "And if I guess correctly?"

The man replied, "Then you'll live with us."

Damn it, this was a no-win situation!

Li Banfeng channeled all his strength into his left hand and struggled with all his might.

The old woman bit down on the silk thread, tightening her hold.

"What are you holding? It must be something fun! Let me see, quick, let me see! Hehehe," the old woman cackled, her voice muffled by the silk thread.

Under the pull of the silk thread, Li Banfeng's left hand slowly opened.

What lay in his palm was not his usual key, but a glove, and on the glove, a rust-red pill.

The old woman tried to use the silk thread to grab the pill. The moment the thread touched the rust pill, rust rapidly spread across it.

The speed of its spread surprised even Li Banfeng; it was faster than the rust pill corroding an iron cigarette case.

Did the rust pill truly counteract these silk threads so effectively?

This was a delightful surprise.

The silk thread on his left arm quickly rusted through. Li Banfeng then took the rust pill and swiftly rolled it over his entire body.

Rust spots spread across all the silk threads, making the tough threads quickly brittle. Li Banfeng swiftly broke free.

The three human heads in the cocoon also bit off their silk threads.

They had no choice but to bite them off, as the rust had crept up the threads, almost entering their mouths.

The three heads spat out threads and lunged at Li Banfeng simultaneously.

This time, Li Banfeng was prepared. He rolled on the ground, dodging the threads, and with a backswing, plunged his iron ruler into the man's temple.

The man cried out in agony, and the other two heads, sensing the pain, wailed alongside him.

Li Banfeng then raised his hand again and tossed the rust pill into the cocoon.

The expressions on all three heads twisted simultaneously as they felt an unbearable pain, and they all quickly retreated into the cocoon.

A short while later, the young "wife's" head re-emerged from the cocoon, her beautiful face now heavily rusted.

For a moment, Li Banfeng truly wanted to bring the cocoon into his portable residence, feed its souls to his wife, and see what the copper lotus could refine from the bodies.

But after a moment of hesitation, Li Banfeng decided to leave.

Li Banfeng still didn't understand the true nature of these three worms. If the rust pill couldn't truly subdue them, he might very well end up staying here as their permanent companion.

This was the new land.

Li Banfeng finally understood why, after three days of surveying this new land, five out of six people had died!

Without another thought, Li Banfeng ran back to Yujia Village with all his might.

As he passed under a massive banyan tree, he suddenly saw the treetop tremble, and another cluster of silk threads fell before him.

Li Banfeng quickly retreated, dodging the threads as a cold sweat broke out all over him.

Had those three worms come after him?

Was the rust pill no longer effective?

A woman's voice came from above the treetop, not the old woman's, nor the young "wife's."

"My children just wanted to play with you for a while. Why did you hurt them?"

A middle-aged woman's face emerged from the canopy.

Was this the mother of those three worms?

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

The thick leaves rustled as a massive body moved among them.

Li Banfeng changed direction, intending to bypass the tree.

Thump!

With a muffled thud, the woman dropped from the tree.

She had a human face and a human head.

But she had no neck; behind her head was a fat, bloated, emerald-green body.

It was a green worm, lying on the ground, a creature significantly taller than Li Banfeng himself.

"Don't leave! Stay, and be my child."

Ripples undulated across the worm's body as it crawled towards Li Banfeng.

P.S. Shala spat out silk threads, entangling you, dear reader! Don't leave! Stay and chat with me!