Chapter 26: Making a Living

Li Banfeng sat in his "Portable Abode," deeply summarizing the series of crazy actions he had just taken.

He had attacked people from the Dark Star Bureau. Although he didn't know what kind of organization the Dark Star Bureau was, since it had the word "Bureau" in its name, it must be related to the government.

He had arrived at an incredible place and, inexplicably, had become a Dark Energy User.

If he were just a normal Dark Energy User, that would be one thing, but he was also cultivating two completely incompatible Daoist sects.

What should he do next?

Return to Yuezhou?

Find He Jiaqing on his hospital bed?

What would he use to buy a train ticket?

His wallet, shirt, trousers, and leather shoes were all left in the old mansion, and it was impossible for Li Banfeng to go back and get them.

All his current assets included one top hat, one hiking hat, one set of pajamas, one T-shirt, one pair of sweatpants, one pair of sneakers, two boxes of instant noodles, one box of potato chips, a little over one bag of spicy gluten strips, and He Jiaqing's copper lotus.

Sell the copper lotus and exchange it for a train ticket back to Yuezhou?

The key was, how much was this copper lotus worth? Selling it as scrap copper probably wouldn't be appropriate.

If he didn't sell the copper lotus, what would he eat next?

He didn't even have a single yuan on him.

Li Banfeng slept in the "Portable Abode" for one night.

The "Portable Abode" was very quiet; he could barely hear any noise. Although there were no windows, the air was very fresh, and apart from the dust accumulated over many years, there were no other smells.

What woke Li Banfeng from his sleep was hunger and thirst.

Yesterday, he had only eaten one bag of instant noodles, and he hadn't really drunk any water.

Now, Li Banfeng fumbled for another bag of instant noodles, but he didn't know how to swallow it.

Eating it dry definitely wouldn't work. Li Banfeng left the "Portable Abode," returned to the alley, put away his key, found a household, and knocked on the big gate.

Although he had grown up in a welfare academy and had suffered quite a bit, begging for water... was still a bit hard to bring himself to do.

"Big Sister, could you please give me a bowl of water? I don't want food, just a bowl of water."

Li Banfeng repeatedly emphasized that he didn't want food, and the big sister did indeed give him a bowl of water, but the look in her eyes made Li Banfeng feel as if dozens of thorns were pricking his face.

Right now, he was begging for water, but how far was he from begging for food?

There were only two boxes of instant noodles left.

He had to find a way to find a way to make a living.

A Traveler walked at least twenty *li* every day. Li Banfeng ate one noodle cake and started strolling along the edge of Neigou Street.

"Extra! Extra! The Chu family's second young lady attempted to murder her husband on their wedding night and fled to avoid punishment. The husband's family is offering a reward of three million!

Sir, buy a newspaper. There's a new extra today, big news, fifty cents!"

Fifty cents—he didn't have that either.

Li Banfeng looked at the newsboy with a smile.

How about I sell newspapers with you?

The job of selling newspapers wasn't easy to find either; there were quite a few children relying on selling newspapers to make a living.

And Li Banfeng neither understood the market for newspapers nor the techniques for selling them. In his impression, newspapers had faded from the public eye ten years ago.

Li Banfeng found two shops in the town hiring manual laborers: one was a furniture store, and the other was a rice shop.

Li Banfeng's requirements weren't high; he just wanted to do odd jobs for a few days to earn enough for a train ticket.

But neither shop hired Li Banfeng because his attire was strange.

A short-sleeved T-shirt paired with a top hat didn't seem that strange to Li Banfeng, but the shopkeepers felt he didn't look like a decent person.

By noon, his stomach started growling again. Li Banfeng begged for another bowl of water and ate a noodle cake. By this time, his food supply was down to one box of potato chips.

It was hard; it was truly hard.

He really couldn't find work in Neigou. Li Banfeng walked all the way to the edge of the town and headed toward Waigou.

The area of Waigou was much larger than that of Neigou.

The situation in Waigou was also much more complex than in Neigou.

Walking along the dirt road, Li Banfeng saw farmers working, saw low-lying residential houses, and also saw mountain forests where no one was seen for *li*s.

Walking until dusk, the last bag of instant noodles had long since been digested, and the potato chips were finished too.

The only good news was that Li Banfeng felt tremors in his intent.

This was a special sensation for a cultivator; it was a reminder to Li Banfeng that he had walked twenty *li*, and his basic cultivation for the day as a Traveling Cultivator was sufficient.

Residential cultivation had similar sensations in this regard, but it was relatively gentler. Every time he stayed in the "Portable Abode" for two hours, Li Banfeng could feel a wave of cool comfort.

Ahead, there was a restaurant—a very small restaurant. In the pitch-black tiled house, there were five tables, and a notice was posted at the entrance saying they were hiring a waiter.

Li Banfeng originally wanted to go over and try his luck, when he suddenly heard someone in the restaurant call out: "Brother Li, is that you?"

Li Banfeng turned his head and saw a fat, sturdy youth eating noodles. On the table were three bowls of noodles and three empty bowls that had already been finished.

Qin Xiaopang!

Li Banfeng was stunned!

Qin Xiaopang called out: "Brother Li, come sit quickly. We really have fate; you like this restaurant too? I especially like it; the things here are cheap and filling."

Li Banfeng spoke the truth directly: "Brother Qin, to tell you the truth, I didn't come here to eat. I saw this place was hiring, and I came to find work."

Qin Xiaopang was stunned: "Coming to a restaurant to find work? What kind of situation is this?"

Li Banfeng's face showed bitterness: "I have to find work; I don't have a single cent on me, and I'm about to start begging for food!"

Qin Xiaopang was a righteous person. He patted his chest and said: "Waiter, bring two more bowls of noodles! Brother Li, if you don't mind, let's eat first!"

Li Banfeng felt a bit embarrassed. They were just passing acquaintances; why should he eat someone else's food?

"If you don't eat, you're looking down on me!" Qin Xiaopang pulled over a chair and dragged Li Banfeng to sit down. The steaming hot plain noodles were served in no time.

As a Food Cultivator, five *jin* of food a day and five bowls of noodles in one sitting was basic operation for Xiaopang.

Li Banfeng was also starving. The plain noodles had no meat, half a bowl of broth, a spoonful of soy sauce, and two small bok choy, yet Li Banfeng felt it was the most delicious delicacy he had ever eaten.

Two bowls of noodles were finished in the blink of an eye. Xiaopang paid the bill and said to Li Banfeng: "Brother Li, this place is crowded with eyes; let's find a place to talk."

The two left the restaurant and found a quiet place by the edge of the woods. Xiaopang asked in a low voice: "Brother, have you entered the gate yet?"

"I have." Li Banfeng nodded.

Qin Xiaopang lowered his voice even further: "Which gate did you enter?"

Xiaopang was a sincere person, and Li Banfeng also knew Xiaopang's Daoist sect. If he didn't tell the truth at this time, it would be a bit unrighteous.

"I entered the Traveling Cultivator sect."

Li Banfeng didn't mention the residential cultivation matter; it was hard to explain, and it couldn't be mentioned lightly.

Qin Xiaopang scratched his cheek: "Logically speaking, Traveling Cultivators don't lack ways to make a living—delivering letters, acting as guards, bodyguards, or at the very least, pulling a rickshaw."

Li Banfeng smiled; he really did want to pull a rickshaw.

He had inquired about it: as a Traveling Cultivator, if he went to pull a rickshaw, he would be a rickshaw puller with "fire wheels." One trip could earn hundreds of yuan, which was a very easy thing to do.

Especially with Li Banfeng's hiking hat, he had the temperament of a rickshaw puller!

But to pull a rickshaw, one had to have a rickshaw first, and Li Banfeng didn't have one.

He could rent one, but he needed a deposit, and Li Banfeng couldn't come up with a deposit.

Moreover, rickshaw pullers needed a license, and Li Banfeng couldn't get a license in the short term.

Most importantly, pulling a rickshaw required knowing the roads, and Li Banfeng didn't know the roads.

Traveling Cultivators had the talent of "Knowing the Path," but he didn't even know the most basic place names, which obviously didn't meet the basic business requirements for a rickshaw puller.

Seeing Li Banfeng remain silent, Qin Xiaopang laughed: "My apologies for not knowing how to speak. What kind of people are we brothers? How could we do the trade of pulling rickshaws?

Brother Li, I have a small business here. It's not much money, but it can earn enough for an emergency. It just depends on whether you're willing to take it."

"Brother, I've already gone to a restaurant to beg for food; what else is there to be picky about? It's just that you said it's a business, and I don't have any capital."

"No capital needed. This is a business without capital; the capital is our lives. Have you heard of Bitter Wushan?"

Bitter Wushan?

Li Banfeng shook his head: "Never heard of it."

Qin Xiaopang said: "In Medicine King Ditch, there's no one who hasn't heard of Bitter Wushan. This mountain is shrouded in thick fog all year round, and there is deadly poison in the fog. Ordinary people who go up the mountain will surely die."

Li Banfeng frowned; this was practically a natural poison gas chamber: "What business are you doing going there?"

"Have you heard of the Snake-Pattern Chrysanthemum on Bitter Wushan?"

Li Banfeng shook his head; he definitely hadn't heard of it.

Qin Xiaopang raised his voice slightly: "This Snake-Pattern Chrysanthemum blooms once a year, and the blooming period is only one day.

The Snake-Pattern Chrysanthemum is the main ingredient for refining Snake-Pattern Elixir. One Snake-Pattern Elixir can replace one day of cultivation.

Didn't I tell you before? It takes ten years of cultivation to improve one level of cultivation base. If you eat one Snake-Pattern Elixir every day, it's equivalent to cultivating for one extra day. Calculating it this way, you can improve one level in five years.

The day after tomorrow is the day the Snake-Pattern Chrysanthemum blooms. Several medicine shops have already offered a price: eighty-five yuan per Snake-Pattern Chrysanthemum.

On Bitter Wushan, if an ordinary person is lucky, they can find two or three in an hour. If they find twenty or thirty in ten hours, they can earn two thousand yuan.

You are a Traveling Cultivator with good footwork; in ten hours, you can earn at least three thousand, and some can even earn five thousand. How about this business?"

Three thousand yuan—the train ticket definitely wouldn't be a problem, and he could live a carefree life for a few days after returning to Yuezhou.

This business could be done!

Li Banfeng was just about to agree when he had a second thought: "That's not right. Since the fog is deadly poisonous, isn't going up the mountain to pick herbs just sending yourself to death?"

Qin Xiaopang said: "Ordinary people going there are just sending themselves to death, but we are not ordinary!

We have cultivation; our physiques are much better than ordinary people. A Traveling Cultivator like you can easily support yourself on the mountain for ten hours. Gritting your teeth, you can even hold out for fifteen hours.

After coming down the mountain, you vomit for a day, vomit it out cleanly, and rest for two days, and it'll be over.

I am a Food Cultivator; after eating and drinking my fill, staying on the mountain for twenty hours is easy."

This business really was using one's own life as capital!

Li Banfeng thought about the earnings and nodded: "Brother, I'll do this business."

Qin Xiaopang laughed: "You run fast, and I can hold out. We brothers are sure to make a profit on this trip!"

PS: Dear readers, let's go pick chrysanthemums with Banfeng!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 27 =====