Chapter 140

On the pitch-black path, Li Li Banfeng carried a feather duster and moved forward cautiously.

This road was called Little Huang Quan. The old hunter had repeatedly warned him that this stretch of road was the most dangerous and he must not be greedy for speed.

Both sides of the path were filled with thick fog; there seemed to be wild grass, there seemed to be trees, and there seemed to be creatures crawling forward vaguely.

According to the old hunter, one could only walk along this path and not step off it; even taking one extra step out was a matter of life and death.

Besides that, one had to pay attention to the wind direction at all times while walking.

If the wind was blowing south, one could continue forward, but definitely don't look back; there was no telling how many things were following behind.

If the wind was blowing north, one had to stop and stand still; taking even one more step, it was hard to say what one might encounter.

If the wind was blowing east, take out some food and drink and place them on the ground; it didn't need to be much, just a gesture of sincerity. As long as the food and drink disappeared, one could continue forward.

If the wind was blowing west, light a cigarette and show some fire; as long as the cigarette butt didn't go out, one could continue forward.

If the wind direction wasn't right, turn around and walk backward until the wind direction was correct.

The old hunter had repeated this several times: "Others told me these rules; as for the logic behind them, I can't explain it clearly."

"But I have seen people who didn't follow the rules on Little Huang Quan; even if they only made one mistake, they lost their lives in the blink of an eye."

"Ghosts are invisible things; in the end, you don't even know how you died."

Li Li Banfeng was still quite optimistic; he could see ghosts.

But that didn't mean he wanted to watch himself walk to his death.

The rule about wind direction still had to be followed. The best tool for judging wind direction was the feather duster.

Li Li Banfeng carried the feather duster and walked south. A light breeze blew south the whole way, and the feathers drifted south, making the walk very smooth.

After walking more than ten miles, the wind suddenly stopped.

Li Li Banfeng also stopped in his tracks, not knowing how to handle the situation next.

The old hunter hadn't mentioned the situation when the wind stopped.

The old hunter had said the wind on Little Huang Quan would blow continuously.

But now the wind had indeed stopped, and the feather duster was motionless.

Should this count as the wind direction being incorrect?

Li Li Banfeng turned around, preparing to walk backward, when he suddenly saw a ball of green flame following behind him.

It wasn't one ball; it was a whole trail.

Countless ghost fires, one cluster after another, neatly lined up in a row, followed behind Li Li Banfeng.

It seemed he shouldn't have looked back just now.

Just as Li Li Banfeng was thinking about whether it would be fine if he turned his body back, a wave of malice surged from within the ghost fires.

There was no time to think; Li Li Banfeng immediately picked up the Blood-Containing Pendulum. This was the only magic treasure he had that could attack wandering souls.

Bang!

The Blood-Containing Pendulum suffered a heavy blow, and along with Li Li Banfeng's body, it trembled violently.

Bang, bang, bang!

The collisions were continuous, and Li Li Banfeng retreated repeatedly.

"Master, I can't hold on!" the pendulum cried out in misery.

Li Li Banfeng used one hand to open the door of the Leaving Suishenju, threw the key, but didn't close the door.

Since you've come to deliver food, I won't be polite.

Clusters of ghost fires chased in, lingering in the room for a long time, but the record player didn't show any movement.

Li Li Banfeng dodged left and right in the main room, calling out repeatedly: "Wife, it's time to eat!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The record player finally responded: "Husband, go wait in the outer room for a moment. Little Slave has been hungry for many days, and my eating manners are a bit unrefined; I don't want Husband to see."

"There are only the two of us, husband and wife, here; do you still care about that?"

Li Li Banfeng didn't understand the record player's intentions, and besides, he had no way to go to the outer room now.

More than a dozen wandering souls were responsible for attacking, more than a dozen were responsible for support, and more than a dozen were responsible for blocking the route.

These wandering souls acted in an orderly manner and cooperated tacitly, like a well-trained army, making it difficult for Li Li Banfeng to parry.

What's wrong with Wife?

I've bought the food back; why isn't she active at all?

Ssh! Ssh! Ssh!

The sound of a zither slowly rang out.

With a crackling noise, the record player began to sing a song:

Green grass grows in spring, war clothes are sewn with care.

Red flowers bloom in summer, drums and horns sound with a rumble.

Yellow leaves fall in autumn, taking the enemy's head before the battle line.

White snow flies in winter, spilling blood to sacrifice to the heroic spirits.

Whoosh~

The sound of wind rang out, so real, as if there were truly wind inside the Leaving Suishenju.

Amidst the sound of the wind, one could still hear Wife's singing; it was the most beautiful singing voice Li Li Banfeng had ever heard.

What song is this?

Perhaps he shouldn't dwell on this question; no matter what song Wife sang, she could calm the wandering souls down.

These well-trained wandering souls were no exception; they immediately stopped their actions, stood neatly in a line, and listened silently to the singing from the record player.

A puff of steam was spat out, pushing open the door to the outer room.

Li Li Banfeng understood, entered the room, and closed the door.

He took out the Thread-Pulling Earrings and listened carefully to the sounds outside the door.

The song was still continuing, and he vaguely heard the sound of sobbing, the sobbing of wandering souls.

At first it was one or two sounds, gradually turning into a large patch; the dozens of wandering souls that had entered the room seemed to be sobbing.

Were they moved by Wife's singing?

Just because they were moved?

After the song ended, the record player spoke:

"I intended never to see you again, but I still saw you here."

"What you owe me, you cannot repay, and I don't need you to repay it."

"You may go; from now on, you are not allowed to touch that man."

Wife knows them?

Knows this group of lonely ghosts on the New Land?

Li Li Banfeng was stunned, only to see the door to the outer room open.

Dozens of ghost fires stood neatly, waiting for Li Li Banfeng to open the door.

Wife returned to her usual singing style and sang in a slow tempo: "Oh, Husband, these resentful ghosts don't know how long they've been dead; they are old and tough, bitter and spicy, really hard to swallow. Hurry and send them away."

Li Li Banfeng was silent for a moment and nodded.

Li Li Banfeng had heard everything the record player had just said to those wandering souls.

The record player also knew that Li Li Banfeng had heard everything.

But Li Li Banfeng didn't ask a single extra question; he opened the door and led the group of wandering souls out of the Leaving Suishenju.

Just as he reached outside the door, before he had time to pick up the key, a large patch of ghost fires outside rushed up again.

The ghost fires that came out of the room circled around Li Li Banfeng, forcing the ghost fires outside to retreat one after another. Once Li Li Banfeng picked up the key, they escorted Li Li Banfeng south all the way.

Inside the Leaving Suishenju, Did Honglian spoke: "Seeing old friends, is your heart about to be gouged out?"

The record player also sneered: "If you want to mock me, you have to hit the mark. Do I even have a heart?"

Did Honglian's petals opened and closed slightly, seemingly still mocking the record player: "Whether you have a heart or not, only you know. What have they turned you into? Can you forget that? When you encountered a chance for revenge, you didn't take it, and actually let them go?"

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

"What if I killed them? What if I took revenge? It's precisely because I have no heart that I don't care anymore."

Li Li Banfeng was escorted by a group of wandering souls and walked a full hundred miles.

Blue Yang Village isn't considered big, but the area of this New Land is too vast!

The narrow path became wider as he walked, and as the cold, chilly fog slowly dissipated, the surroundings turned into an open wilderness.

Li Li Banfeng walked out of Little Huang Quan.

The remaining journey was all flat land; occasionally he would encounter some strange creatures, but fortunately, their levels weren't too high, and Li Li Banfeng used his skill of seeking good fortune and avoiding disaster to dodge them.

Running wildly in the wilderness for two hours, Li Li Banfeng saw a large patch of orange trees.

From a distance, these orange trees didn't look any different from the orange trees Li Li Banfeng was familiar with, except that they had more leaves and the oranges were a bit bigger.

After walking closer, Li Li Banfeng realized where the problem lay.

These orange trees were all over ten meters tall, and each orange was about fifty centimeters in diameter, much larger than the normal oranges Li Li Banfeng understood.

For the old hunter in Blue Yang Village, the Orange Forest was a genuinely good place.

The oranges in this Orange Forest could be eaten; they were rich in sugar and also contained fat. In the New Land, they were a very rare source of food.

Orange peel was a very precious spice and was worth a lot. At Ma Wu's place, a jin of orange peel could sell for eight hundred.

Besides orange peel, there were orange maggots (a type of pest that parasitized oranges). The orange maggots in this Orange Forest could be used as medicine and had miraculous effects on external injuries. A high-quality orange maggot could sell for two hundred yuan at Ma Wu's place.

Besides orange maggots, there were elephant beetles. Elephant beetles were weevils. The nose needles of the weevils in this Orange Forest were particularly long and were excellent tools for acupuncture. An elephant needle could sell for more than five hundred yuan.

In the Orange Forest, peeling oranges was fine, looking for orange maggots was fine, and catching elephant beetles was also fine, but one couldn't go too far, especially not hurting the orange trees. In the old hunter's words, this was called "Look at the tree when looking up, look at the seedlings when looking down."

Some hunters came to the Orange Forest to catch orange maggots, directly cutting down the orange trees, picking all the oranges, and crushing them one by one to find the orange maggots.

Such people would die; specifically how they died, no one knew.

Others, in order to peel the orange skin, regardless of whether they were green or yellow, beat down thousands of jin of oranges, peeled the skin, and ruined all the orange flesh. Such people would also die.

There were also hunters who came to catch elephant beetles, finding the seedlings under their feet in the way, and brought sickles to clear the path, cutting down all the orange seedlings. Such people would also die.

Simply put, as long as one took what was needed in moderation and didn't cause excessive destruction, nothing would happen in the Orange Forest.

The old hunter had told Li Li Banfeng that Blue Leaf Yang might suddenly appear among the orange trees. Yang trees and orange trees were very different; as long as one was slightly careful, one would definitely not mistake them.

Li Li Banfeng walked in the orange orchard for two hours, but besides orange trees, he didn't find any other tree species.

Walking for a day was also very tiring, so Li Li Banfeng returned to the Leaving Suishenju early to rest.

Just as he entered the door, a puff of warm steam rushed toward him, as if he had been tightly hugged by Wife.

"Husband~ this journey was truly tiring."

"Husband~ take off your clothes quickly and change them; Little Slave will wash them for you."

"Husband~ the hot water is ready; Little Slave will serve you for your bath."

"Husband~ if you want to be comfortable, be as comfortable as you like while bathing; Little Slave will clean up in a while."

Because she had hidden some things from Li Li Banfeng and had also let down Li Li Banfeng's good intentions, the record player felt guilty in her heart and spoke especially gently tonight.

Li Li Banfeng ignored the record player and squatted down to look for something in the cabinet.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~

The singing voice was slightly nervous: "Good Husband~ are you angry with Little Slave? I know Husband was tired from buying food, but Little Slave really has no appetite today. Don't blame Little Slave; Little Slave apologizes to Husband."

Li Li Banfeng took an oil can out of the cabinet and said with a smile: "I'm not blaming Wife; I just feel that Wife's speech isn't smooth today, probably because it's a bit clogged, so I want to apply some machine oil for Wife."

The record player was a bit panicked, and the singing lyrics were a bit off-key: "Husband~ let's talk things over. Machine oil isn't needed; Little Slave is quite smooth here."

Li Li Banfeng didn't allow any argument, carried the oil can, went behind the record player, and opened the machine box cover.

The record player hurriedly explained: "Husband, Little Slave really doesn't need machine oil."

"Husband, listen to me. Little Slave didn't mean to hide it from you, nor was I speaking unclearly. Those people were indeed old acquaintances, but I really don't want to bring up the old matters again."

"Husband, it's fine if you insist on applying oil, but you must use an oil brush; other tools can't be used!"

"Husband~"

"Husband~"

PS: Readers, readers~ give Salad a monthly ticket.

(End of chapter)