Chapter 302: His Face Isn

This vast oil lake was a pimple on the middle-aged man's face.

The island in the center of the oil lake was the hard core at the pimple's center.

Li Banfeng was pondering a question: Where am I positioned?

On the face?

I'm on someone else's face…

The concept was hard to grasp, but Li Banfeng understood it anyway—he'd just treat this man's face as enormous.

Yet he could still see the middle-aged man, observing him with normal proportions and perspective.

I'm standing on this man's face, looking at him.

This was hard to understand.

What dimension of being is this man?

The middle-aged man bowed to Li Banfeng: "Let me introduce myself—I'm surnamed Face, Face Bud."

Li Banfeng quickly returned the bow: "I'm surnamed Li, Li Not Crazy."

Face Bud stared at Li Banfeng for a long time, then said seriously: "My face really is small—my wife says so too."

Li Banfeng agreed: "I really am not crazy—the doctors said so too."

Face Bud blinked and said: "You're a slippery fellow."

Li Banfeng shook his head: "You misunderstand—I'm perfectly sincere."

The middle-aged man chuckled: "I like slippery people."

Li Banfeng replied earnestly: "Whether you like it or not, I've always been a sincere man!"

"Since you're so sincere, let me ask you one thing—how did you find this place?"

That question truly stumped Li Banfeng.

"If I say I don't know, will you believe me?"

Face Bud shook his head—he clearly didn't believe it: "Did someone from Neizhou send you? The one who throttles? The one who plugs ears? The one who cuts hands? The one who seals mouths? Or the one who blinds?"

Li Banfeng looked bewildered: "Who are you talking about?"

Face Bud lowered his head slightly, raised his eyebrows, and looked at Li Banfeng: "You don't know them? You've made it all the way here, and you still deny it?"

Li Banfeng frowned: "I don't know them—that's just the truth. What's there to deny?"

Face Bud snorted twice: "Fine, assume you're not from Neizhou. Tell me—have you ever seen cars?"

Li Banfeng nodded: "Yes."

"Were the cars you saw coal-burning or oil-burning?"

"I've seen both." In Lüshuicheng, there were steam cars, but few in number.

Face Bud pressed: "Prozhou has no oil-burning cars—you're from Waizhou, then?"

Li Banfeng evaded: "I've been to Waizhou."

Face Bud rubbed his greasy cheek and shook his head: "How could someone from Waizhou find me? They don't have this kind of ability."

"I don't believe you—not even your name."

Li Banfeng replied calmly: "If you don't believe anything I say, why ask me at all? The outcome's the same either way."

Face Bud laughed: "I'm just bored—I wanted someone to talk to. But you're right: no matter what you say, the outcome's the same. I won't let you leave alive."

Li Banfeng suddenly rose and sprinted away.

Face Bud glided along the ground on one foot, like ice-skating, trailing Li Banfeng at a steady pace:

"Are you a Traveling Cultivator? Your footwork is rare—who taught you this step?"

Li Banfeng ignored him. Ahead lay a hill; he climbed it.

Face Bud still followed behind, effortlessly: "Watch your step as you walk—I could drown you with a single pore."

Over the hill, Li Banfeng saw a river, over twenty meters wide, exhaling a fishy, salty odor.

Face Bud added: "I just sweated a bit—once this sweat dries, this river will vanish." As he spoke, he wiped sweat from his face.

The river before him had indeed dried up, leaving only a slightly damp riverbed.

Li Banfeng charged straight toward the riverbed, calling out as he ran: "You sweated—that means you're tired. Keep chasing, and you'll fall behind."

"Whether I keep up or not, what does it matter? You're still on my face—where can you run?" Face Bud wiped sweat from his face and flung it at Li Banfeng's feet.

The sweat was thick with oil; Li Banfeng's foot slipped, nearly toppling—he instinctively stomped hard, unleashing the technique of Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers at full speed.

Boom!

Sand and stones sprayed, dust rose—beneath Li Banfeng's foot appeared a shallow crater two meters wide.

Face Bud rubbed his nose.

It wasn't completely painless—there was a faint itch.

But as for actual pain? Less than a mosquito bite.

Li Banfeng glanced behind at Face Bud, then down at the skin beneath his feet—he tried to link the two.

First, he confirmed: this was one being manifesting in two dimensions.

But Li Banfeng's current mental capacity couldn't comprehend how two dimensions coexisted.

He could only offer a more intuitive explanation.

He called the real Face Bud "True Face Bud," and the one chasing him "Little Face Bud."

To True Face Bud, Li Banfeng might be something like a bacterium.

In this context, that was actually good—normal people have no way to deal with bacteria.

So the real threat now must be Little Face Bud.

Li Banfeng planned to escape Little Face Bud's sight, then find a way to escape True Face Bud's face.

Decided, Li Banfeng accelerated repeatedly—Little Face Bud began to struggle to keep up.

"Hey, don't run so fast—don't head toward that oil lake—it's got something there that'll eat you…"

Before he finished speaking, Li Banfeng had reached the oil lake and was sprinting along its edge.

Face Bud stopped chasing.

The previously calm lake surface suddenly rippled.

A wave spread—then the entire lake trembled.

Li Banfeng understood now.

The unknown creature he'd sensed in the oil lake was emerging.

In a flash, a shrimp-headed monstrosity burst from the water, crawling toward Li Banfeng on two scythe-like limbs.

He called it a shrimp-headed monstrosity because he couldn't find a better term—it had a head vaguely shrimp-like, but blunter, with no visible eyes, and far more antennae than a shrimp.

It stood seven or eight meters tall, over twenty meters long.

Li Banfeng turned and asked Face Bud: "What is this?"

Face Bud's face flushed slightly—he seemed embarrassed: "It's a mite. I wash my face often, but this thing won't come off—it crawls on legs, wriggles on its body, sometimes it itches."

Mite?

Are the mites living on his face this big?

Did these creatures evolve on his face—or are they naturally this large, only able to parasitize massive beings?

The oil-slicked mite swung its limbs, lunging at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng dodged aside.

He moved too fast—the mite's poor eyesight couldn't track him.

When Li Banfeng stopped, the mite sensed his position with its antennae and began to turn—then its hard shell rapidly swelled and exploded.

Shattered shell and flesh sprayed oil in all directions.

Face Bud praised: "Walking Through Flowers—everyone says this technique is useless, but you use it smoothly. Clearly, you've been taught by a true master."

One mite exploded—dozens more surged from the lake, surrounding Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng used Walking Through Flowers again, exploding two more mites, trying to carve an opening.

But as soon as the two mites burst, others instantly filled the gaps—layer upon layer closed in, leaving no escape route.

Any other options?

Dash through the mites, exploding them all?

Not impossible—but it would drain too much energy. The number of mites on this face might be staggering—he needed to save strength for Little Face Bud.

As the swarm of mites advanced, Li Banfeng stared at the ground and shouted: "Open!"

The ground beneath him split—a narrow path, over a hundred meters long, cut through the mites and stretched into the distance.

Traveling Cultivator Technique: Sever Path, Clear Way.

Oddly, on normal soil, Li Banfeng could only open a path of twenty or thirty meters—but Face Bud's skin was surprisingly soft.

Li Banfeng sprinted along the newly opened path; mites tried to rush in but were blocked by invisible resistance.

The old teapot spewed tea water, forming barriers on both sides of the path.

Li Banfeng sprinted over a hundred meters, leaving most mites behind—but Little Face Bud still followed.

Little Face Bud called from behind: "Li Not Crazy, you're going too far—you cut a gash on my face and poured hot water! What if it leaves a scar?"

He still couldn't shake this guy—he'd have to go even faster.

As Li Banfeng prepared to accelerate, at the end of the gorge, a nested circular mouth appeared before him.

A nested circular mouth meant one giant mouth enclosing a slightly smaller one, with a ring of dark yellow fangs between them.

Where did this nested mouth come from?

Li Banfeng leapt out of the gorge and saw the full scene.

A blood-red worm emerged from the ground.

"Blood louse—a type of facial parasite. This thing is a nuisance," said the small face, rubbing his nose. "You had to go and provoke it. Now I'm in for a day of itching."

The worm, dozens of meters long and resembling a hybrid of earthworm and leech, slithered swiftly toward Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng dodged aside; a mite chasing him was snatched up in one bite by the blood louse.

The blood louse swiftly shattered the mite's shell with its fangs, then sucked the entire creature into its massive mouth.

Seizing the opportunity, Li Banfeng pulled out his wine gourd and sprinkled some liquor onto the blood louse.

The small face sniffed and said, "This is Old Yao's wine. Did Old Yao send you? What does Old Yao want with me?"

After a moment's thought, the small face muttered to himself, "It can't be Old Yao—he has no reason to seek me out. He's close to the peddler. Could it be the peddler who sent you?"

"If it's the peddler, we might still have something to discuss. I might consider letting you go!"

Li Banfeng ignored the small face. He struck a match and set the blood louse on fire.

Under the influence of the liquor, only a small flame rose from the blood louse's body.

But the ground around was coated in grease; as the worm writhed, the fire spread rapidly across the oily surface.

The small face grew angry: "Why are you setting fire to my face again?"

He blew a gust of air from his nose, and a violent wind extinguished all the flames around him.

This was why Tang Dao and the Pendulum couldn't fly steadily.

The connection between the small face and the true face eluded Li Banfeng's understanding.

"I don't want to talk to you anymore!" the small face glared at Li Banfeng. "You keep defiling my face. I want to kill you right now."

As he spoke, the small face grew even more greasy.

At the same time, grease began surging beneath Li Banfeng's feet, quickly rising past his ankles.

Li Banfeng didn't hesitate—he kept running.

No matter what tricks you have, if you can escape from your face, you might still live.

The grease beneath his feet grew deeper. Li Banfeng pushed his legs hard and sang to distract the small face.

There was one song that was perfect for exerting force!

"Run across flat ground, cross mountains and rivers, puffing and panting, smoke pouring out, add coal, add water, we hit the road—once the train starts, strength knows no bounds…"

Li Banfeng's singing was shrill and piercing, giving the small face a headache.

Yet the familiar melody and lyrics made the small face unable to stop listening.

"Is that the 'Train Ballad' you're singing?" The small face froze—the grease stopped rising.

Li Banfeng said nothing.

"Where did you hear this ballad?"

Li Banfeng remained silent.

"Did you learn your steps from him too?"

Li Banfeng ran farther and farther away.

Only when the small face's figure vanished completely did Li Banfeng stop in a grove to catch his breath.

The forest was thick with vegetation, but the wind was strong. He had barely rested when the small face's voice drifted from deep within the woods.

"Don't stay here. If the wind picks up, it might blow you somewhere you won't like."

Li Banfeng exclaimed, "You caught up so fast?"

"This is my face. I know the shortcuts."

You can take shortcuts across a face?

The small face didn't want Li Banfeng to escape again. He kept a distance and said, "If you truly were sent by him, carry this message: Even today, I still say it—whether it's a train or a car, burning oil is better than burning coal."

Was he referring to Eunuch Train?

What agreement existed between these two?

Li Banfeng said, "Provincial Zhou can't burn oil. Fuel can't be stored in large quantities."

"That's because they haven't found good oil. That's because…" The small face's tone suddenly changed. "You're lying to me, aren't you? You came to steal oil, didn't you? You sang his Train Ballad to steal my oil?"

Li Banfeng frowned. "Catch the thief with the stolen goods. You need evidence. When did I ever steal your oil?"

"You're covered in oil. How can you say you didn't steal it?"

"In this place, who isn't covered in oil?"

The small face gritted his teeth. "No one will steal my oil. Even if I'm forced to the brink of extinction, I won't let you take my oil!"

PS: Oil cultivators are indeed rare.

(End of Chapter)