[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-lord-of-the-proles":3,"chapter-lord-of-the-proles-lord-of-the-proles-chapter-140":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Lord of the Proles",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2290438,4478,"Chapter 140: Spilling Blood to Honor the Fallen","lord-of-the-proles-chapter-140",140,"\u003Cp>On a pitch-black path, Li Banfeng walked cautiously, holding a chicken feather duster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This path was called Little Huangquan; the old hunter had repeatedly warned him that this stretch was the most dangerous, and he must never rush.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thick fog lined both sides of the path—perhaps overgrown grass, perhaps trees, perhaps even creeping lifeforms barely visible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the old hunter, one must walk only along this path; stepping even a single foot off it could mean life or death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides that, one must constantly pay attention to the wind’s direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the wind blew south, one could continue forward, but must never look back—there might be countless things following behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the wind blew north, one must stop and stand still; taking another step might bring something terrible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the wind blew east, place some food or drink on the ground—no need for much, just a token offering; once the food vanished, one could proceed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the wind blew west, light a cigarette; as long as the ember stayed lit, one could continue forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the wind direction was wrong, turn around and walk backward until the wind corrected itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old hunter had repeated this many times: “These rules were told to me by others; as for why they work, I can’t explain,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>but I’ve seen those who broke them on Little Huangquan—even one mistake, and they vanished in an instant,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>ghosts are invisible, and in the end, they don’t even know how they died.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng was still optimistic—he could see ghosts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that didn’t mean he wanted to watch himself die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still followed the wind rules; the best tool for judging wind direction was the chicken feather duster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng walked south with the duster; a light breeze blew south, the feathers drifted south, and he moved smoothly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking ten miles, the wind suddenly stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng halted, unsure what to do next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old hunter never mentioned what to do if the wind stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old hunter said the wind on Little Huangquan never ceased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet now it had stopped—the chicken feather duster stood perfectly still.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should this count as wrong wind direction?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng turned around, preparing to walk backward, when he saw a green flame behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not one flame—a whole line of them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Countless ghostly flames, one after another, neatly lined up behind Li Banfeng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He shouldn’t have turned around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Li Banfeng wondered whether turning back would fix it, a wave of malice surged toward him from the ghost flames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No time to think—he immediately grabbed the Blood-Soaked Pendulum, his only magic treasure capable of attacking spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRASH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Blood-Soaked Pendulum took a heavy blow, trembling violently with Li Banfeng’s body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>CRASH CRASH CRASH!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The impacts kept coming; Li Banfeng staggered backward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master, I can’t hold on!” the pendulum cried out in agony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng opened the door of his Personal Dwelling with one hand, dropped the key, but left the door ajar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since you’ve come to deliver yourself, I won’t be polite.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghost flames followed him inside, swirling around the room for a long time, yet the phonograph made no move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng dodged and weaved inside the main room, calling out: “Wife, it’s time to eat!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>HUFF! HUFF!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The phonograph finally responded: “Husband, wait outside for a moment—your wife has been starving for days, and my eating manners are unseemly; I don’t want you to see.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s just you and me—why care about that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng didn’t understand the phonograph’s intent, and besides, he couldn’t go outside now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of spirits attacked, dozens guarded the flanks, and dozens blocked escape routes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These spirits moved with order and perfect coordination, like a disciplined army, overwhelming Li Banfeng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What’s wrong with my wife?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I came back with groceries—why isn’t she excited?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>SSSS! SSSS! SSSS!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A slow melody began to play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With crackling static, the phonograph sang:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In spring, green grass grows, sewing battle robes with care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In summer, red flowers bloom, drums and horns thunder loud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In autumn, yellow leaves fall, severing enemy heads on the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In winter, snowflakes fly, spilling blood to honor the fallen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>HHHH~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wind sounded—so real, as if wind truly stirred inside the Personal Dwelling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within the wind, he heard his wife’s singing—the most beautiful voice he had ever heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What song is this?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps he shouldn’t dwell on it—no matter what song his wife sang, it calmed the spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These disciplined spirits were no exception—they instantly ceased movement, standing in perfect formation, silently listening to the phonograph’s song.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A puff of steam burst forth, pushing open the outer room’s door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng understood—he entered the room and closed the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled out the Threaded Earrings and listened carefully to the sounds outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The song continued; faintly, he heard sobbing—sobs from the spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At first just one or two, then swelling into a chorus—the dozens of spirits inside the room all seemed to weep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were they moved by his wife’s song?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just because they were moved?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the song ended, the phonograph spoke:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I intended never to see you again, yet here we meet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What you owe me, you cannot repay—and you need not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Go now. Never touch that man again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Did his wife know them?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Know this band of lost spirits on the New Land?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Li Banfeng stared in shock, the outer room’s door opened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dozens of ghostly flames stood in perfect order, waiting for Li Banfeng to open the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His wife’s voice returned to its usual tone, singing slowly: “Husband, these vengeful ghosts have been dead for ages—withered, dry, bitter, spicy—hard to swallow. Send them away quickly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng fell silent for a moment, then nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had heard every word the phonograph had spoken to the spirits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The phonograph knew he had heard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet Li Banfeng asked no questions—he opened the door and led the spirits out of the Personal Dwelling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No sooner had he stepped outside than a vast wave of ghost flames surged toward him again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spirits who had followed him from the room circled around Li Banfeng, forcing the others back; once he picked up the key, they escorted him southward in unison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the Personal Dwelling, Honglian spoke: “Seeing an old acquaintance—has your heart nearly been torn out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The phonograph scoffed: “If you want to mock me, at least aim true—I still have a heart?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Honglian’s petals fluttered slightly, as if still laughing: “Whether you have a heart is known only to you. What did they turn you into? Can you forget? You had a chance for revenge—and you let them go?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>HUFF!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>HUFF!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What good would killing them do? What difference does revenge make? I lost my heart long ago—I no longer care.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng was escorted by the spirits for a full hundred miles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lanyang Village wasn’t large, yet the New Land was vast beyond measure!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The narrow path widened as the icy mist gradually faded, revealing an open wasteland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng exited Little Huangquan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rest of the journey was flat ground; occasional strange beings appeared, but none were powerful—he evaded them all with his Fortune-Deflecting Technique.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After sprinting across the wasteland for two hours, Li Banfeng saw a vast grove of orange trees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From afar, the trees looked no different from the oranges he knew—just more leaves, slightly larger fruit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as he drew closer, he realized the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each tree stood over ten meters tall; each orange measured nearly fifty centimeters in diameter—far larger than any orange he had ever known.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the old hunters of Lanyang Village, this orange grove was a true treasure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The oranges here were edible, rich in sugar and oil—a rare food source on the New Land.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The peels were a precious spice, worth a fortune—Ma Wu paid eight hundred per jin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides orange peels, there are orange maggots (a pest that parasitizes oranges); the orange maggots in this grove can be used in medicine and are miraculously effective for external wounds—one high-quality maggot can sell for two hundred yuan at Ma Wu’s place.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides orange maggots, there are weevils; weevils are long-nosed beetles, and the snout-needles of those in this grove are especially long, making them excellent tools for acupuncture—one weevil needle can sell for over five hundred yuan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the orange grove, you may peel oranges, search for orange maggots, or catch weevils, but you must not overstep—especially not harm the orange trees. As the old hunter said, this is called “look up at the trees, look down at the seedlings.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some hunters come to the grove to catch orange maggots and simply chop down the orange trees, pick all the fruit, and crush each one by hand to find the maggots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those people die—no one knows exactly how.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Others, to peel orange peels, harvest thousands of pounds of oranges regardless of ripeness, strip the peels, and waste the fruit pulp—those people also die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still others come to catch weevils, find their feet hindered, and slash through with sickles, cutting down young orange saplings—those people also die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Put simply, as long as you take only what you need without excessive destruction, nothing will happen to you in the orange grove.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The old hunter told Li Banfeng that Lan Ye Yang might suddenly appear among the orange trees; poplars and orange trees are very different—so long as you pay slight attention, you absolutely won’t mistake them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng walked through the orange orchard for two hours and found no other tree species besides orange trees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After walking all day, Li Banfeng returned early to his personal quarters to rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he stepped inside, a warm cloud of steam rushed toward him, like being tightly embraced by his wife.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My dear husband~ You’ve had a tiring journey.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My dear husband~ Take off your clothes quickly—I’ll wash and starch them for you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My dear husband~ The hot water’s ready—I’ll bathe you myself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My dear husband~ If you want to relax, bathe as freely as you like—I’ll clean up afterward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she had concealed some things from Li Banfeng and disappointed his goodwill, Changji felt guilty, and tonight her voice was unusually tender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng ignored Changji, crouched down, and rummaged through the cabinet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huh-huh~ Huh-huh~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Changji’s voice grew tense: “My dear husband~ Are you angry with your little servant? I know how hard you work buying groceries, but today I truly have no appetite—please don’t blame me, I beg your pardon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng pulled out an oil can from the cabinet and smiled: “I’m not angry with you, my wife—I just think your voice sounds a bit stiff, probably needs lubrication. Let me oil you up.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Changji grew flustered, her tune wavering: “My dear husband~ Let’s talk this over—no need for oil, I’m running perfectly smooth!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Banfeng didn’t listen, walked behind Changji, lifted the oil can, and opened the casing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Changji hurriedly explained: “My husband, I truly don’t need oil!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My husband, listen to me—I didn’t hide things on purpose, nor am I being evasive. Those people really are old acquaintances, but I truly don’t wish to revisit the past.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My husband, if you insist on oiling me, use a brush—no other tools allowed!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My husband~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Husband~”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>PS: Dear readers~ Please give Shala Zhang a vote.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1880,"2026-06-20T03:43:13.043Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","e2c58631631c4a3c62d91682710720f610b178b1b4f2a3a1cced4b9262f13a14","lord-of-the-proles-chapter-141","lord-of-the-proles-chapter-139",863,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Flord-of-the-proles-cover.jpg"]