Chapter 16

Geng Xiu, Huan Xiu, Two Two Shi Xiu, Lv Xiu, Yu Yu Zhaixiu.

Li Banfeng had never heard of these terms.

But now he needed to make a choice.

Hou Zi Qiu put Li Banfeng down and let him lean against the tree, half-lying: "He can't move now; give him a bowl of 'Soul-Returning Soup' first."

"Give?" The peddler shook his head. "There's no such thing as giving for free here."

Hou Zi Qiu felt his inner suit pocket: "I'll pay for the soup; I didn't bring much cash today, so I'll owe you for now."

The peddler took an earthenware pot from the lower layer of the wooden cabinet, added herbs, mixed in water, set it on charcoal, and started boiling the soup.

"Hou Zi Qiu, what's your relationship with this kid? Why are you so good to him?" The peddler took a fan and fanned the charcoal fire unhurriedly.

"He gave me food," Hou Zi Qiu answered simply.

The peddler asked again: "Who's paying for the entry medicinal powder?"

Hou Zi Qiu said: "I'll pay; it doesn't matter which path he chooses."

After saying this, Hou Zi Qiu took out a left hand from his pocket—a left hand that had been half-eaten.

So it's him!

Li Banfeng suddenly realized that this man called Hou Zi Qiu was the one who had begged him for food on the train.

At that time, the man's voice was extremely low, and Li Banfeng couldn't distinguish the tone.

Li Banfeng had given him two boxes of instant noodles; he didn't expect this man to save Li Banfeng's life because of it.

"Do you have medicine? Help me reattach my hand." Hou Zi Qiu handed the left hand to the peddler.

Looking at the condition of the left hand, the peddler didn't really want to deal with it: "Isn't that miracle doctor in Yaowanggou familiar with you? Go find him to reattach it; his technique is brilliant."

Hou Zi Qiu had originally planned to find that miracle doctor to reattach his hand, but since he had encountered the peddler, he didn't want to owe the miracle doctor another favor.

Favors aren't easy to repay; the peddler's price is more practical.

Hou Zi Qiu smiled: "Since I'm already here, I'll just find you."

"Your hand is already like this, and you still insist on finding me!" The peddler complained while rummaging through the cabinet for ointment: "How much ointment will this take? Next time, tell your wife to gnaw on some meat to fool her stomach, don't eat the tendons too..."

Li Banfeng lay half-reclined under the tree, watching the peddler take out several plasters.

Hou Zi Qiu took out his left hand from his trouser pocket for the first time.

To be precise, he didn't have a left hand; what was tucked in his trouser pocket was only a bare left wrist.

"You align it yourself first!" The peddler roasted the plaster over the fire, and Hou Zi Qiu used his right hand to hold the left hand, aligning the break on the severed wrist.

The plaster was roasted, and the peddler stepped forward, wrapping several plasters around the break on the wrist, wrapping them in several layers, just like using tape to stick the hand onto the wrist.

Stuck on?

Can this work?

Although Li Banfeng had experienced many incredible scenes along the way, treating a severed hand like this still seemed too much like child's play to him.

If you want to stick a hand on, you should at least smear some saliva on it!

This also made Li Banfeng feel worried about his own condition; he was now breathing four or five times a minute, and his heart could only beat twenty-something times.

Wait, Hou Zi Qiu's little finger seemed to move.

Did I see it wrong?

He didn't see it wrong.

It wasn't just the little finger; Hou Zi Qiu's five fingers, including a ring finger that only had bone left, were all moving slightly.

It really was reattached!

"It's just reattached, don't be in a hurry to move it!" The peddler warned, then brought some medicinal powder, applied it to Hou Zi Qiu's left hand, and then wrapped his left hand tightly with gauze.

"Don't get it wet for ten days, don't remove the plaster for a month. When we meet next month, remember to bring money, and we'll settle the account!"

Hou Zi Qiu nodded upon hearing this, got on the rickshaw, and left.

He left!

What should I do?

Li Banfeng looked at the peddler with unease.

The peddler checked the heat, picked up a rag, padded it in his hand, took the earthenware pot off the charcoal fire, and poured the medicinal soup into a bowl.

"Little brother, time for medicine." The peddler took out a funnel, stuffed it into Li Banfeng's mouth, steadied the funnel with one hand, and poured the medicinal soup in with the other.

A warm current surged in Li Banfeng's stomach; Li Banfeng only felt his eyelids grow heavy, and before long, he fell asleep.

An hour later, Li Banfeng opened his eyes; his body could already move.

The peddler was busy with business; a young man of eighteen or nineteen was buying medicinal powder.

The young man was about 1.7 meters tall, weighed about 170 jin, and his face was as round and plump as his figure.

He narrowed his small eyes and made his choice with a solemn expression.

"Two Two Shi Xiu! I choose it!"

"Good!" The peddler waved his hand, opened a drawer on the upper layer of the cabinet, scooped out a small spoonful of medicinal powder with a unique little wooden spoon, placed it on a piece of cowhide paper, wrapped it up, and handed it to the "Qin Xiaopang."

Qin Xiaopang gave 60,000 Huan currency to the peddler and was about to put the medicinal powder into his mouth when the peddler shouted: "Wait!"

Qin Xiaopang widened his eyes: "What for! I paid! Do you want to raise the price on the spot?"

The peddler looked at Qin Xiaopang and didn't respond.

A man in flashy clothes standing behind Qin Xiaopang, who was also there to buy medicinal powder, smiled at Qin Xiaopang: "You really don't know anything; the peddler is saving you!"

The man looked to be in his twenties, wearing a fedora, a suit, a vest over his shirt, and a tie; he was handsome and dashing, followed by five attendants and a rickshaw puller—one look and you could tell his status was unusual.

Qin Xiaopang turned around: "I paid, why won't you let me take the medicine?"

The man looked at Qin Xiaopang with contempt: "Can this medicine be eaten? This is a guiding agent concocted by countless predecessors with infinite effort; the medicinal properties are incomparably fierce. If you just eat it like this, won't your intestines be pierced and your stomach rot?"

The peddler tidied up the cabinet: "This medicine is to be applied to the body, not eaten."

Qin Xiaopang was stunned, holding the medicine packet: "Apply it where?"

The peddler said: "As long as it touches the skin, anywhere is fine; whatever is convenient for you."

The flashy man behind him reminded him: "Choose a fleshy place; this medicine is very painful.

I once saw a sister who applied the medicine to her fat peach-like buttocks; her fat peach was over a foot thick, and yet it still hurt so much she couldn't walk!"

"I'm not afraid of pain!" Qin Xiaopang lifted his clothes, revealing his snow-white belly, and said to the peddler, "After applying this, I'll be a first-layer Two Two Shi Xiu, right!"

The peddler shook his head: "You've misunderstood again; this medicinal powder can only lead you to enter the path, it can't bring you to a higher level."

Qin Xiaopang was furious: "Isn't this cheating? Such expensive medicine, and I can't even reach the first layer?"

The peddler closed the drawer, not wanting to explain.

The rich man behind him became impatient: "If you don't know anything, find someone who understands and ask, don't embarrass yourself here!

This is entry-level medicinal powder; reaching a higher level isn't that easy. To reach the first layer, you have to pass a test!"

Qin Xiaopang looked puzzled: "Pass what test?"

The rich man didn't remember very clearly either: "Two Two Shi Xiu, it seems you have to eat more..."

The peddler said: "To reach the first layer of Two Two Shi Xiu, you have to eat twenty jin of food at one time."

"Twenty jin..." Qin Xiaopang was a bit nervous. "How long is 'at one time'? Does eating for a whole day count as one time?"

The peddler shook his head: "What are you thinking? One time is just one hour; if it exceeds one hour, it doesn't count."

Hearing this, Qin Xiaopang was in a dilemma: how can one eat twenty jin of food in one hour?

Seeing Qin Xiaopang silent for a long time, the peddler waved his hand, and the 60,000 yuan appeared in the peddler's palm again.

"If you regret it now, it's still not too late; I'll return the money to you."

Qin Xiaopang gritted his teeth and slapped the medicinal powder onto his belly.

The medicinal powder touched his skin and quickly disappeared; Qin Xiaopang's face turned pale, and he walked unsteadily to the tree and sat down beside Li Banfeng.

"It hurts, it really hurts like hell!"

"How much does it hurt?" Li Banfeng asked curiously.

"It hurts more than being burned by fire; I can't take it, I can't hold on!" The skin on Qin Xiaopang's face twitched with pain.

The rich man looked at the suffering Qin Xiaopang, his expression somewhat complex.

"It's going to hurt sooner or later, so let's just get it over with!" The rich man approached the peddler. "I want the medicinal powder for Huan Xiu."

The peddler looked at the rich man and asked: "You don't look like someone short of money, why do you want to take the path of Huan Xiu?"

The rich man said: "This path is the most to my liking."

The peddler smiled: "Cultivating Yu Yu Zhaixiu, lying at home and growing cultivation base, isn't that good?"

The rich man shook his head: "I'm a person who can't stay still; I won't say more, I just want Huan Xiu!"

The peddler said: "Let me remind you: to reach a higher level of Huan Xiu, you have to do it ten times a day, without interruption for a single day, and you must persist for two months; only then can you reach the first layer."

Ten times a day?

Li Banfeng was dumbfounded!

What is this supposed to be?

It's not that kind of thing I'm thinking of, is it?

Two months, ten times every day!

This rich young master is really fierce!

"I know the rules!" The rich man had his attendants bring 50,000 Huan currency and handed it to the peddler. The peddler took the money, wrapped up a packet of medicinal powder, and gave it to the rich man.

An attendant beside him said: "Young master, apply it to your buttocks; this medicine is really painful!"

The rich man snorted: "Taking off my pants in front of so many people, what kind of person do you take me for?"

The rich man unbuttoned his collar and slapped the medicinal powder onto his chest.

As soon as the medicinal powder touched his flesh, the rich man's legs went soft, and he almost fell to the ground.

Several attendants behind him stepped forward to support him, but the rich man waved his hand: "I don't need you, I can stand."

He stumbled to the tree and sat down beside Li Banfeng, and although sweat kept dripping, he gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound.

Li Banfeng was truly puzzled: "Two friends, since this medicine is so painful, why not wait until you get home to apply it? It would be easier to have someone take care of you."

Qin Xiaopang had recovered quite a bit, and seeing someone even more ignorant than himself, his sense of superiority exploded instantly, and he couldn't help but laugh:

"You, how come you don't know anything? This is the peddler's rule.

After you buy the entry-level medicine from the peddler, you must use it in front of the peddler and wait for half an hour to see if there are any abnormalities before you can leave; otherwise, if something happens, the peddler won't be responsible."

The rich man looked at Li Banfeng's attire and asked through the intense pain: "This friend, your clothes don't seem to be from around here, right?"

Qin Xiaopang also found it strange: "Did you come down from the train? I heard people say that those who come down from that train have all been to the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm!"

The rich man shook his head: "Not the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm, but from the Outer Provinces. I haven't been to the Outer Provinces, but someone in my family has.

My surname is Ma, and I'm the fifth in my family, so acquaintances call me Ma Wu. May I ask how to address you two?"

This young master came from a wealthy family, yet he didn't have any airs.

Qin Xiaopang cupped his hands: "My surname is Qin, and I'm the ninth in my family; acquaintances all call me Qin Qin Xiaopang."

Qin Qin Xiaopang?

Does this have anything to do with being the ninth in the family?

Li Banfeng said: "My surname is Li, and I'm the seventh in my family; acquaintances all call me Li Qi."

"Five, Seven, Nine?" Ma Wu was stunned for a moment.

Qin Qin Xiaopang smiled: "Consecutive odd numbers; this can be considered a kind of fate!"

Perhaps it was because of this fate that Ma Wu took the initiative to chat: "Brother Li, may I ask which path you have chosen?"

"Path?" Li Banfeng didn't quite understand.

Ma Wu was stunned for a moment, then understood Li Banfeng's confusion: "I remember now; in the Outer Provinces, the path of cultivation isn't called a 'path,' it should be called a 'profession,' and practitioners aren't called 'cultivators,' they should be called 'Dark Energy Users'."

Dark Energy Users!

Li Banfeng had heard of this concept; those people from the Dark Star Bureau who were hunting him down were Dark Energy Users.

That big-eyed man whose body could ooze oil—what was his profession?

Should be Two Two Shi Xiu, right?

Must have eaten a lot of oil beforehand, which is why he could ooze oil from his body.

He Jiaqing is very likely a Dark Energy User too.

Being able to monitor remotely, what profession is he?

So, entering the path means becoming a Dark Energy User.

The medicinal agents sold by the peddler in front of him are for becoming a Dark Energy User.

He seems to sell more than just medicinal agents; he also sells daily necessities.

An old man came to him to buy candles.

A child came to him to buy rock candy.

There was also a woman who brought her own porcelain bottle to buy vanishing cream; she gave him a silver dollar, the peddler verified it was correct, and gave the woman a full, large spoonful.

While the peddler was busy with business, Ma Wu asked again: "Brother Li, which profession have you chosen?"

Li Banfeng shook his head: "I haven't decided yet."

Ma Wu took a water bottle from his attendant, took a sip, and while the pain was slightly relieved, he advised Li Banfeng:

"Since you haven't decided, don't act rashly. The peddler only brought five types of medicinal powder; if you don't feel any of them are to your liking, just wait for next time. Once a path is chosen, there's no regret medicine to eat."

Li Banfeng was even more surprised: "Geng Xiu, Huan Xiu, Two Two Shi Xiu, Lv Xiu, Yu Yu Zhaixiu—besides these five paths, are there no other choices?"

"There are!" Qin Qin Xiaopang's expression was slightly excited. "Wen Xiu, Wu Xiu, Du Xiu, Yao Xiu, Kui Xiu, Nian Xiu, Chong Xiu, Cao Xiu, Yan Xiu, Jiu Xiu, Qing Xiu, Mian Xiu... There are a hundred paths in the world, ten thousand cultivations under heaven!"

PS: Thanks to Bai Sun, the glory of Bai Sun County remains.

Three chapters today, another one at twelve o'clock.

(End of chapter)