Chapter 158

In a vast pine forest, Li Banfeng sat on the back of a woodlouse, moving slowly through the pine forest.

The woodlouse, also known as the watermelon bug, is also called the rice-soup bug by some; it is a common multi-legged insect found in damp places.

This woodlouse was very large, with a back over two meters long and over one meter wide; it could carry people and could also carry luggage.

Not only was it large, but it also had spirituality; this woodlouse could speak and was a very honest old man. He carried Li Banfeng through this red pine forest and only charged Li Banfeng fifty Huan State banknotes.

Li Banfeng was also a straightforward person and gave the woodlouse one hundred directly.

It's just that he was very curious: after this woodlouse earned money, where would he spend it?

"Young man, you don't understand. We have our own village; in the village, there is food and shelter, and there is a market. There are many places to spend money, cough, cough, cough..."

The weather was very cold, and the wind was very sharp, making the woodlouse old man cough continuously.

Since he was so old, and Li Banfeng was still sitting on his back, he felt quite bad about it.

It wasn't that he was too lazy to walk these few steps, but the woodlouse old man had said that on this road, if he carried Li Banfeng, it would be fine, but if Li Banfeng walked himself, there would be big trouble.

The wine gourd confirmed the woodlouse's statement: "This is an iron-skinned dumpling bug; I saw one once in another place when I was young. In the new territory, the iron-skinned dumpling bug is a rare kind creature. Near his residence, all kinds of creatures will give him some face."

"Sister, aren't you also young now?" Li Banfeng touched the wine gourd.

"Your mouth is truly sweeter than honey." The wine gourd sprayed a mist of wine.

Li Banfeng was chatting with the wine gourd when the woodlouse old man asked: "Young man, who were you talking to just now?"

The woodlouse couldn't hear the wine gourd's voice, so Li Banfeng explained casually: "I'm a person who likes to talk to myself."

"I have a daughter who also has this problem. The doctor in the village said she had hysteria, and she got better after taking three doses of medicine. Another day, you should go find our doctor to take a look; this illness should be treated early, it can be cured."

"You have a doctor in your village?"

"How could we not? The medical skills are superb, the person is beautiful, a first-class good girl!"

What type of girl is this?

Walking for a full eight hours, the woodlouse passed through the red pine forest; as he had said, they didn't encounter any trouble along the way.

Jumping off the woodlouse's back, Li Banfeng gave the woodlouse another fifty, totaling one hundred and fifty.

The old man felt bad about it and pushed it away several times, but Li Banfeng insisted on giving it.

The old man sighed and said: "Young man, you are a good person. Ahead is the Golden Shrimp Pond; you are here to catch shrimp, right?"

Li Banfeng shook his head: "What's good about those shrimp?"

"Those shrimp are alive in the pond, but once caught, they become dead. After being dead for two hours, they can turn into gold.

In the past, many people came to catch shrimp, but later Blood-Tooth Mountain suddenly appeared, and no one dared to come anymore.

If you want to catch shrimp, don't be greedy. If you encounter small shrimp, you must let them go. At most, catch a dozen or so; never provoke the Shrimp King. That Shrimp King is over a hundred feet long, and with one hook, he can drag people into the pond and chew them down to the bone."

Li Banfeng said thank you and turned to leave.

The woodlouse old man continued to wait for business at the edge of the forest.

A centipede crawled onto the woodlouse's back, rolled up a silver dollar with its antennae, and handed it to the woodlouse.

The old man tested the quality of the silver dollar with his antennae and said to the centipede: "Old brother, you have so much money, I can't give you change."

The centipede smiled and said: "You take it first; this isn't the first time I've done business with you, so it saves me from giving it to you every day."

The woodlouse carried the centipede into the red pine forest, chatting and laughing all the way.

Li Banfeng brushed the snowflakes off his body and arrived at the edge of the cliff.

On this cliff, it was densely packed with mountain caves, even more densely than the insect holes on Li Banfeng's body.

According to the markings on the map, the seventh row from the bottom and the sixth cave from the left to the right was the one he was going to.

The cliff was hard to climb, so Li Banfeng decided to rest for a day and drill into the cave tomorrow.

He took out a Golden Origin Pill, took it with a Blue-Leaf Pill, and sat quietly at the foot of the cliff.

After more than ten minutes, Li Banfeng's body fell into numbness.

Numbness is not to be feared; the Tang Dao, pendulum, wine gourd, and silk-thread earrings were all by his side.

But he didn't dare to return to the Suishenju to take medicine.

His wife's breathing wasn't very even last night; judging by a normal person's sleep habits, she seemed to be waking up soon.

After taking this pill, according to Li Banfeng's calculations, he would be promoted to the third layer of traveling cultivation.

Next, he would face a difficult hurdle; he must learn the third-layer technique of traveling cultivation: Stepping Across Ten Thousand Rivers.

Sea-Eating Ridge, First Ridge; every household in the city was holding brooms, mops, and rags to clean up.

Wiping dust and dumping trash were secondary; the main target of this cleaning was mosquito corpses.

Mosquito corpses were everywhere in First Ridge; they were cleaned up at night, and another layer piled up the next morning.

Lu Dongjun had once said that mosquito corpses didn't need to be bothered with.

But the people of First Ridge were tireless; seeing mosquito corpses, they had to collect them, pile them up, and then burn them with fire, feeling that this was the only way to eliminate future trouble.

And this process was also very satisfying.

As for Lu Dongjun's other words, naturally, they had to be listened to.

Lu Dongjun told them to queue up at the train station to collect grain; they went to the train station in an orderly manner, queued up honestly, and not a single person looted.

Lu Dongjun told them to make beautiful clothes for the New Year; those who still had some spare money all went to the Lu Family Cloth Shop to buy cloth, and they actually bought the largest cloth shop in Sea-Eating Ridge out of stock.

Lu Dongjun was preparing to open a factory; some people had prepared the land, some people had contacted the equipment, and quite a few people were waiting to work in the factory.

Lu Dongjun wanted to do more business; the local large and small gangs gathered all the businesses that had failed during the insect disaster and sold them to Lu Dongjun at a low price.

This was submitting a letter of allegiance to Lu Dongjun.

The local gangs all wanted to rely on Lu Dongjun.

Lu Dongjun was now the god of Sea-Eating Ridge.

Because he had exterminated the mosquitoes in First Ridge!

Since he sprinkled white rice with medicine in the Shiweitian Restaurant, the mosquitoes in First Ridge became extinct not long after!

Late at night, Lu Dongjun, reeking of alcohol, returned to the residence, drank a cup of tea, and said to Wan Jinxian: "Old Wan, when are we making a move in Second Ridge?"

Wan Jinxian took a list and gave it to Lu Dongjun:

"Master, there's no rush for this. We haven't started managing the businesses in First Ridge yet.

I have selected these dozen or so shops for you; please take a look."

Lu Dongjun pushed the list aside: "Don't bother me with these trivial matters. I've already told the accountant; leave business matters to you to manage.

I'm telling you, keep your mind on the Second Ridge matter. I've already discussed it with the outer provinces tonight; within five days, the mosquitoes in Second Ridge must be extinct!"

Wan Jinxian nodded and said: "You can rest assured about this, but I heard that the He family and the Ma family have both sent people to Sea-Eating Ridge. I'm worried they'll come to pick the peaches."

"Let them come," Lu Dongjun sneered, "let's see if anyone in Sea-Eating Ridge pays any attention to them!"

"Quite a few people from the Sanying Sect and the Qingyun Society have also come."

Lu Dongjun spat: "Let them come, let them all come; I'm waiting for them one by one!"

"Chu family's eldest son has come. He didn't come to cause trouble; he's here to talk business with you. We've collected quite a few businesses, and he wants to come and share a piece of the pie."

Lu Dongjun smiled: "Want to get rich with us? Fine, count him in. Chu the eldest has always been a sensible person; it's just his sister who is too reckless!"

"The Hundred Flower Sect and the Jiang Xiang Gang also want to talk business with you..."

"Talk, we can talk to anyone; as long as they are sensible, there's meat to eat here.

But there is one thing: for the businesses I bought, I'll sell them shares at three times the price, only shares, and only at three times the price. If they don't want to buy, forget it!

If they want to open new businesses in Sea-Eating Ridge, that's fine, but they have to give me half the shares. If they don't want to give them, I'll smash their shop the day after they open. Whoever isn't convinced can try it."

Wan Jinxian lowered his head and said: "Master, I listen to you."

Lu Dongjun shook his head and said: "You don't need to come to me for everything. I'm too busy dealing with those reporters every day. Old Wan, leave these matters to you!"

Outside the residence, He Haisheng bought an evening newspaper from a newsboy.

The local newspaper of Sea-Eating Ridge had its entire front page occupied by Lu Dongjun, and the second and third pages also had a large amount of news about him.

He Haisheng looked at the layout of the residence, pulled up the collar of his wool coat, and disappeared into the night without a sound.

Lu Family Mansion, Monkey Qiu was also reading the newspaper; the news from Sea-Eating Ridge had already reached Green Water Bay.

Lu Family's eldest young master, Lu Yuanshan, said: "Uncle Qiu, should we go to Sea-Eating Ridge?"

Qiu Zhiheng shook his head and said: "We can't go; now is not the time."

Lu Yuanhai said: "If we don't go now, our businesses in Sea-Eating Ridge will all be lost."

Qiu Zhiheng put down the newspaper and said: "The businesses are already lost; those shopkeepers in Sea-Eating Ridge have all handed their account books to Lu Dongjun."

Lu Yuanshan looked at Lu Yuanhai; it seemed Qiu Zhiheng also had quite a few eyes and ears in Sea-Eating Ridge.

But regarding the current situation, Qiu Zhiheng wasn't worried: "It's not just us who lost business; the He family, Ma family, and Chu family have all suffered big losses. Let's wait and see who can't hold back first."

Lu Yuanshan brought up another matter: "The leader of the Sanying Sect has sent me another invitation; should I go or not?"

Qiu Zhiheng nodded and said: "Go, but don't promise him anything. Talk to him slowly and wait until there's a result in Sea-Eating Ridge before deciding."

Yuezhou Third Hospital, He Jiaqing sat up in his hospital bed.

Beside his ear, a man's voice was whispering: "Lu Dongjun is very glorious now; First Ridge has been completely taken by him, and he is buying low and selling high on all kinds of businesses, earning a fortune."

He Jiaqing's expression was calm, and he continued to ask: "What about Second Ridge?"

"There are quite a few families in Second Ridge who have also come to find Lu Dongjun to pay their respects."

"What's the use of paying respects? What about their family industries?"

"The industries haven't been handed over."

He Jiaqing frowned and said: "If you don't hand over your own industries and just pay respects with empty words, it's all nonsense. These people play these games every day; they are all scourges of Puluo Province!

Can Second Ridge still be taken?"

"It's tough; let alone Second Ridge, even First Ridge can't hold on."

"If it can't hold on, then don't hold on," He Jiaqing gave the order, "tell Old Wan, close the net."

PS: How much longer can Lu Dongjun be glorious?

(End of chapter)