Chapter 304: The Door Flung Wide Open

Half a roast chicken was gone, and the plot suddenly lit up.

A woman said the examination had begun.

What does that mean?

Is she the local land god?

She wants me to develop the land?

Li Banfeng shouted, "I didn't mean to offer a sacrifice, I didn't set up an altar!"

"The offering has already been received." The woman replied while gnawing on a chicken leg.

"If you want an examination, we need to sign a contract first!"

"Signing after the exam is the same; I don't care about all the formalities!"

Sign after the exam?

What if you refuse to honor it after the exam?

Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered to deal with her; this local land god was not right in the head.

He walked straight toward the edge of the plot, figuring at worst it would just count as a failed development.

This place was so out of the way; he'd just never come back again.

Just as he reached the plot's boundary, a leaf fell onto the glowing border line and turned to ash in an instant.

What's going on?

Li Banfeng had only seen this kind of thing on the borders between regions.

"You think you can leave after coming to my place?" the local land god snorted. "I've already taken your tribute; you have to develop this land here. Don't you know the rules?"

Li Banfeng couldn't make sense of this local land god. He looked for a long while with Jin Jing Qiu Hao but couldn't see where she was.

"Let's talk reason. Forget the contract for now. If you want me to develop the land, at least wait until this time tomorrow, give me a day to prepare, and then we can start.

As for whether I find someone to develop it or do it myself, I'll decide that when the time comes. Surely there should be some rule like that."

"There are no such rules! Once the tribute is taken, we start. Everything else can wait!"

"Then I won't develop this land. I don't want it. Just count it as a failed development!"

"No! As long as you're alive, it doesn't count as a failure. Three-li plot—the examination starts right now!"

"How am I supposed to develop a three-li plot all by myself..." Before Li Banfeng could finish, roars sounded from all around.

Strange monsters were coming!

He had never developed a three-li plot and didn't know the rules for one.

Was it like a one-li plot, where the strange monsters came one after another, or could they all attack together?

The thing was, knowing the rules wouldn't help anyway; this local land god herself didn't follow the rules.

For Li Banfeng, developing land was originally a simple matter. As long as the local land god gave him a day to prepare, he could get the key, run back, and hide in Leaving Leaving Suishenju for three days—that would be enough.

But this local land god was unreasonable!

He couldn't get past the boundary. With no other choice, Li Banfeng had to take out all his treasures and prepare for battle.

Before he could even set the treasures out, a giant tiger over five or six meters tall charged into the plot.

Li Banfeng dodged aside, and a large tree behind him that would take two people to wrap their arms around was knocked down by the tiger.

The fallen tree slowly stood up, yawned, and smashed a branch straight at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng pointed at the tiger and said to the tree, "He's the one who knocked you down. Why are you hitting me?"

The tiger bit down on a branch and stabbed it toward Li Banfeng's chest. The movement was fast, the thrust accurate, the timing excellent, making it very hard for Li Banfeng to dodge.

Using a branch so skillfully—is this tiger a Wu Xiu?

Li Banfeng dodged the tiger's attack and chopped through the tree's main trunk with his Tang Dao.

Out of the broken trunk leapt a toad, shouting at the top of its lungs, "Croak! Croak! Boundless falling leaves rustle down!"

As the words landed, a large number of sharp branches on the tree plummeted rapidly, like a rain of blades.

Words becoming reality?

This toad is actually a Five Wen Xiu too!

Li Banfeng dodged among the branches while also having to watch for sneak attacks from the giant tiger.

While he was dealing with the situation, the local land god's voice reached his ear: "Your movement skills are so nimble—could you be a traveling cultivator? I can't let you off easy for that!"

This woman has a grudge against traveling cultivators too?

Could she be a Yu Zhaixiu?

While he was thinking, the earth trembled.

An earthworm over a meter in diameter and over ten meters long burrowed up from underground, coiled its body, and wrapped Li Banfeng up.

The earthworm's tactic was simple: it held Li Banfeng in place while the tree, the toad, and the giant tiger attacked.

It had very strong regenerative ability and wasn't afraid of being caught in Li Banfeng's attacks.

Wrapped by the earthworm, Li Banfeng's situation grew dire. He shouted toward the projector: "Get someone out here to help me hold them off!"

The projector had been adjusting its projection angle the whole time and finally managed to project an image.

A beautiful Miss came to Li Banfeng's side, first got ready for battle, then turned her body, her back to Li Banfeng, and began undoing the frog closures of her qipao.

"Why are you taking off your clothes?" Li Banfeng said angrily. "Fight first!"

In Leaving Leaving Suishenju, the phonograph was sweating profusely.

"That madman has been gone so many days again without coming home. Let's see how he explains himself to the house this time!"

"Explain? Fucking explain what?" Xiang Xiang Hongying struggled in the corner of the wall. "You vicious woman, let me go! I'll fight this house to the death!"

"Can you win?" the phonograph said with a hint of mockery. "Take a look at what you look like now—a blind Ku Pozi. What are you going to fight him with?

"That bitch Honglian has been hiding who knows how much strength, just waiting to get out of this place — even she doesn't dare act rashly?"

Xiang Xiang Hongying was taken aback: "What strength has Honglian been hiding?"

From far away in the Seventh Room, Honglian bellowed: "You two bitches, stop gossiping behind my back!"

The three were about to start tearing into each other when the house suddenly trembled, and an aged laugh reached their ears: "Hehehe~"

It was the house that was laughing.

The Phonograph, Honglian, and Xiang Xiang Hongying — their three stations were high enough that all three of them had heard this laugh before.

They all had backbone, and every time they heard it, everyone got goosebumps.

Xiang Xiang Hongying's body trembled as she shrieked: "Wicked woman, let me go, I'll fight it out with him, I can't take it anymore!"

"Bitch! Shut your mouth! Want a beating?!" The Phonograph scolded her a few times, and Xiang Xiang Hongying quieted down for the moment.

After a few minutes, Xiang Xiang Hongying lost control again: "No, I'm fighting it out with him! I'll kill this old thief!"

She summoned a strange burst of strength, took advantage of the Phonograph's inattention, broke free of the steam's restraint, and stabbed the wall of Leaving Leaving Suishenju with her spear tip.

"Wooo-oooo~~~"

A train whistle sounded within Leaving Leaving Suishenju.

The long spear whirled, putting on a display of desperate fighting amid the whistle's blast, though no one knew who she was fighting.

Five minutes later, Xiang Xiang Hongying lay on the ground, motionless.

Huff~ puff~

The Phonograph asked cautiously: "Bitch, you're still alive, right?"

Xiang Xiang Hongying propped herself up and stood.

The Phonograph stared blankly for a long while — she couldn't figure out what Xiang Xiang Hongying was using to prop herself up, nor what she was using to stand.

Xiang Xiang Hongying had grown hands, and she had grown feet!

"Bitch! What's happened to you?" The Phonograph was very nervous.

Xiang Xiang Hongying ran her hand along her own spear shaft and said in a low voice: "I'm fine. This fight is a draw."

With that, Xiang Xiang Hongying strode with great steps to the corner of the wall and stood there properly.

In the Phonograph's memory, Xiang Xiang Hongying was a woman who knew no fear.

She also had no idea what methods the house had used to beat Xiang Xiang Hongying into this state — to the point of knocking hands and feet out of her.

"Bitch, you didn't wet your pants, did you?"

"Hmph!" Xiang Xiang Hongying gave a cold laugh. "What kind of talk is that? How could I wet my pants? Do I even have pants?

Now that you mention it, I really do need to find a pair of pants. I've got legs now, haven't I? Legs need pants — what if someone sees?"

Xiang Xiang Hongying's words were incoherent; this battle had shaken her greatly.

The Phonograph lowered her voice: "This house is probably even more formidable than the person who built it."

Xiang Xiang Hongying asked: "Who built it?"

"It should be a Grandmaster, one above even the Chief."

"The one who built it is above the Chief, yet it's more formidable than its builder, hehehe…" Xiang Xiang Hongying suddenly laughed, laughing until she was gasping for breath.

The Phonograph asked: "What are you laughing at? What's so funny? Don't laugh yourself into a stitch."

"I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing at myself. My chest feels so stuffy and uncomfortable — it's like I've grown a conscience."

"A conscience…" The Phonograph turned her speaker toward Xiang Xiang Hongying and noticed that about a quarter of the way up the spear shaft, there was a slight bulge.

"It really can grow one…" The Phonograph was very excited. "If you can grow one, does that mean I can grow one too?"

"It seems like it's not just a conscience…" Xiang Xiang Hongying still wasn't speaking smoothly. "Seems like there's something else too…"

"What else? A gate?" The Phonograph grew even more excited!

"It seems like there really is!" Xiang Xiang Hongying cried out in surprise. "I know why this house is so formidable — it has the techniques of many sects.

Where did all these techniques come from? How could it have cultivated so many sects at once?"

The Wife used steam to encircle the long spear and asked in a soft, gentle voice: "Sister, let's not talk about techniques for now — let's talk about the gate. Did it really grow?"

"It grew — both of them came out. If you can grow a gate, both of yours have to grow too. Don't let that madman go looking in the wrong place again — even I feel the pain for you."

"Pah! What pain are you feeling?" The Phonograph spat.

Xiang Xiang Hongying said in a panic: "Wicked woman, stop talking about gates. Do you know where the house's techniques come from? Could we turn into techniques too? Could it be that we'll never get out again!"

"Bitch, I told you not to provoke it — do you understand now?" The Phonograph turned to look at the Calendar and said to Mengde: "Not a single word about what happened here can be mentioned to the Master. Remember that?"

Mengde nodded rapidly.

Xiang Xiang Hongying asked: "I really don't understand — why do you always keep things from that madman?"

Honglian shouted from the Seventh Room: "You know he's mad too! Aren't you afraid he'll fight the house? If something happens to him, we're all done for!"

"Shut your trap, you're the crazy one, damn it," the Phonograph cursed Honglian twice, then turned to Xiang Xiang Hongying and said, "The Master isn't mad — he just doesn't act by common sense. We have to tell him about this slowly. We absolutely can't push him into a corner."

Xiang Xiang Hongying said: "I'm in a rush too — find me a pair of pants, I really do have a gate now!"

……

Li Banfeng was very anxious.

He had run for three days and three nights at Face No Big, fighting for half his life.

Now, with the remaining half of his life, he had spent it fighting on New Land.

Corpses littered the ground.

Wounded strange fiends stood in several rows along the edge of the plot.

Li Banfeng kicked a leopard flying, stepped on a wild boar, and fought until his eyes were blood-red.

He suddenly heard the Land God shout: "The trial is passed."

The strange fiends withdrew from the plot one after another.

Li Banfeng sat on the ground, utterly exhausted, his vision blurring in waves.

He wanted to sleep.

Leaving Leaving Suishenju appeared before Li Banfeng, sat beside him, and said, "Good man, I admire you."

Li Banfeng's gaze drifted toward the half-sky.

Light flickered in the air — the land-breaking had succeeded.

Li Banfeng gave a slight nod, and before he could make out Leaving Leaving Suishenju's appearance, his eyelids closed and he fell asleep.

PS: Leaving Leaving Suishenju's strength is above that of its builder? What's the reason for this?

(End of chapter)