Chapter 317: The Mountain-Pulling Master

The best way to enter the Mountain-Pulling Master's residence unnoticed is to move through without obstruction.

Li Banfeng's own skill of unobstructed passage is likely insufficient; he must borrow it from Hong Ying.

Hong Ying is also Li Banfeng's household spirit; borrowing her technique through the Deep Courtyard technique is technically easy.

But the precondition is that Hong Ying is willing.

These days, Hong Ying has changed greatly, but Li Banfeng has paid her little attention.

Now that he needs her help, to flatter her again would make Li Banfeng seem insincere.

At the very least, he should bring her a gift first.

She's grown her hair long—should he bring her a hair tie?

Too light a gift won't show sincerity.

What about some rouge?

Even rouge isn't enough.

Bring two pieces of jewelry?

Where in this wasteland could he buy them?

Li Banfeng wanted to buy jewelry from Meng Yuchun, but Meng Yuchun doesn't wear jewelry, not even rouge.

What should he do?

After much thought, Li Banfeng finally thought of the right gift.

He knew what Hong Ying truly desired—it was far away, yet right before his eyes!

No gift could surpass genuine sincerity!

Li Banfeng returned to his personal dwelling, sat beside Hong Ying, and said with nervousness: "Miss Hong, I need to discuss something with you."

Hong Ying knew Li Banfeng had returned; she sat demurely beside him, shyly eating the Mountain-Pulling Master's flesh.

Hearing Li Banfeng speak up, Hong Ying gently wiped the blood from her lips with a silk handkerchief and said softly, with the grace of a noble lady: "Why call me Miss Hong? That makes us seem distant."

Li Banfeng called her tenderly: "Yingying, I want to borrow your technique."

Hong Ying turned her face away and pouted: "Do you think I'll lend it just because you ask?"

Li Banfeng took Hong Ying's hand and said earnestly: "Yingying, I know your heart—I won't betray you."

"Seven Lang, are you sincere?" Hong Ying gripped his hand tightly.

"Sincere!" Li Banfeng shoved ten silver dollars into her hand. "I'm always genuine—I never play at false feelings."

Hong Ying clutched the silver dollars, her right hand trembling for a moment: "You give me silver dollars… and only ten?"

Li Banfeng gave her another ten: "If that's not enough, there's more!"

Hong Ying suppressed her anger, counted the silver dollars carefully, then put them away.

"What technique do you want to borrow?"

"The skill of unobstructed passage."

"What for?"

"To enter the Mountain-Pulling Master's lair and find her covenant."

"Ten silver dollars aren't enough!"

"Then name your price!"

Hong Ying paused, then smiled: "You keep going to bed with that wicked woman every few days—I want to know how you oil the machine."

"Why ask that?"

"Not just ask—I want to try it myself."

Li Banfeng looked at Hong Ying seriously: "Do you have gears?"

Hong Ying replied: "No."

"Chains?"

"No."

"Bearings?"

"No either…"

"Then what are you oiling?"

Hong Ying didn't know how to answer.

Li Banfeng shoved another ten silver dollars into her hand: "It's settled."

"Fine," Hong Ying replied dazedly.

Li Banfeng made a covenant with Hong Ying using the Deep Courtyard technique, then left the personal dwelling.

Hong Ying tidied her hair and went back to eating the Mountain-Pulling Master's flesh.

After two bites, she lost her appetite.

"What's the point of eating this? Even if it grows back, no one cares."

The phonograph watched silently, then couldn't help laughing: "Hey, you slut, didn't he just give you thirty silver dollars? Outside, three silver dollars is the going rate—you're not cheap."

"What's three silver dollars?"

"A long-three brothel—you don't know?"

Hong Ying truly didn't know; the phonograph refused to explain, so Hong Ying grabbed Tang Dao: "What's a long-three brothel?"

Tang Dao trembled as he replied: "I am a righteous person—I've never been to such places."

Hong Ying threw Tang Dao down and sighed heavily.

The other magic treasures, seeing she had stopped eating, gathered to share the Mountain-Pulling Master's flesh.

The phonograph advised: "Slut, regaining your human form is your fortune—don't waste it on petty spite."

"Who am I spiteful toward?" Hong Ying snorted. "I just like that madman—is that a crime?"

"What do you like about him? You're just trying to spite me—he's unpredictable, so stop wasting your thoughts on him."

As they spoke, all the magic treasures had finished eating, yet the room remained a mess.

"What a disgrace! Hong Ying, go bring that bitch Honglian to clean up."

Hong Ying spat at the phonograph—but perhaps from years of serving her, she obeyed, going to the Seventh Chamber to fetch Honglian.

Honglian looked at the shattered remains and said to the phonograph: "Wicked woman, do you treat me like a garbage bin?"

"Oh, sister, how can you say that? Where else would garbage contain so many fine ingredients?"

Honglian swallowed her anger and ate every scrap of flesh from the floor.

…

Li Banfeng returned to the cliffside and asked Meng Yuchun: "What does the covenant look like?"

Meng Yuchun picked up a stick and drew a picture on the ground.

All household cultivators have good drawing skills—it's the foundation of the Golden Chamber Hidden Beauty technique.

But Li Banfeng saw no scroll-like object in the drawing—only a box containing something resembling a seal.

"Is this the covenant?"

Meng Yuchun pointed to the drawing: "This isn't the covenant—it's the land seal and its box.

The box is entirely yellow, with a silver-white circular ring carved on the lid; once you find the box, you'll find the land seal.

The covenant is buried beneath the land seal—dig no more than half a foot down and you'll find it."

Li Banfeng frowned: "Why is that?"

Meng Yuchun explained: "The covenant gathers cultivation from the land, but cannot store it.

Once buried, the covenant cannot be unearthed—if it is, the land god will lose his position and soon lose his celestial cultivation. That's why you'll never see the covenant above ground.

The land seal can store cultivation; it normally rests atop the covenant, drawing out its energy to distribute to the land's living beings.

But the land seal's cultivation easily dissipates, so it must be kept inside the box.

The covenant, the land seal, and the box are all gifts from the Inner State—no land god, not even a craft cultivator, can replicate them.

So if you find the box, you'll find the covenant."

Having understood the details, Li Banfeng carefully studied the shape of the land seal and its box.

After dismissing everyone else, Li Banfeng used Hong Ying's power and the technique taught by Train Eunuch to crash into the cliff.

Hong Ying's strength far surpassed Li Banfeng's; with her power, his unobstructed passage technique allowed him to go deeper and even turn corners.

Li Banfeng traveled more than two li through the rock and finally saw the Mountain-Pulling Master's residence.

The Mountain-Pulling Master's residence was a three-compound courtyard.

Li Banfeng struck a match and saw two mountain wolves guarding the entrance.

"Someone's coming."

"Not the master—the footsteps are wrong, the scent is wrong."

"What scent do you detect?"

"Smoke."

"And blood—this person is covered in it."

These two wolves could speak human language, but could only judge identity by sound and scent.

Li Banfeng looked closely and realized their eyeballs had been gouged out—only two black hollows remained on their faces.

"Who are you! How did you get in?" one wolf snarled at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng looked at the wolves and asked: "Did that old hag gouge out your eyes?"

The other wolf shouted: "What's it to you? Serving the master is our fortune!"

Li Banfeng advanced step by step toward the two mountain wolves, his voice calm: "Master Ba has died. You need a new master."

One mountain wolf growled: "Don't waste words. A loyal subject serves no second master. As long as we draw breath, you won't set foot through this gate!"

Li Banfeng fixed his gaze on the wolf—and suddenly vanished.

The wolf had no eyes, could not see Li Banfeng; it tried to locate him by sound, but sensed no trace of his position.

The other wolf felt something deeply—it felt the sticky wetness of blood across its face.

The wolf beside it exploded, its flesh and blood splattering the other's face.

Li Banfeng crouched on the ground, stroking the wolf's head: "If you don't want a new master, you can join Ba in death."

The wolf gritted its teeth: "I'm not a man without backbone!"

Li Banfeng smiled: "Show me your backbone, then."

"No need to pull it out—you can see it already!"

The wolf straightened its spine, marched into the courtyard, and shouted to those inside: "New master's here! Stand aside! You, the one sweeping—blind are you? Your master's arrived, and you're blocking the way!"

The one sweeping was a rabbit—truly blind, her eyes gouged out by Master Ba. At the wolf's shout, she froze, unsure where to move.

The wolf turned to Li Banfeng: "Master, this way, please."

Trusting a blind creature to lead—was that reliable?

The wolf was confident: "Master, you're looking for the contract, right? None of these others know where it is. I know."

"How do you know?"

"My ears are sharp. I can't see, but I hear clearly."

Could hearing alone reveal where the contract was hidden?

This wolf truly knew.

He led Li Banfeng to a cellar door at the back of the courtyard: "Master, go inside. If you recognize the contract's appearance, you'll find it."

Li Banfeng frowned: "How do you know the contract is definitely beneath this cellar?"

The wolf said: "Every Lunar New Year, Master Ba distributes cultivation to the living beings of this territory—we all get a little. Every time, she comes down to this cellar. I've listened for years. I'm certain."

Li Banfeng stared at the cellar entrance—a massive stone door, tightly shut, no lock visible, no method of opening discernible.

Li Banfeng looked at the cellar entrance; the stone door was tightly shut, with no lock visible and no method of opening it.

Li Banfeng passed straight through the door, descended the stairs into the cellar, and lit a match for light.

The cellar was vast, piled high with clutter: bolts of cloth, furs, numerous herbs, cabinets, chests, and broken furniture.

This hardly looked like a place to hide a contract.

Li Banfeng scanned the clutter—and spotted something strange.

A stone lion, taller than a man.

Why was a stone lion placed inside a cellar?

Could something lie beneath its paws?

Li Banfeng tried to move the stone lion—he was a Level Six Traveler and Home cultivator, far stronger than an ordinary man.

But the lion's stone defied him. He tried three times. Not a single inch moved.

Master Ba was a Strength cultivator. Whatever she used to guard this place, Li Banfeng couldn't budge.

Something must lie beneath those paws.

Dig straight down, beneath the lion?

Li Banfeng tapped the floor. The stone slabs were as hard as steel.

Digging was impossible.

Drill then.

Li Banfeng used his Unimpeded Passage technique again, drilling underground beside the lion's paw, then swiftly turning toward its body.

As he turned, he broke through a wall—and entered another room.

When he lit another match, he finally saw the layout.

Beneath the cellar lay a smaller cellar.

The ceiling of the smaller cellar had an entrance—blocked by the immovable stone lion. No normal person could enter.

Inside the small cellar, only one object rested on the floor: a yellow wooden box, one foot long, half a foot wide, half a foot high.

The box bore engraved silver-white rings.

PS: The Seal Box—found!

(End of Chapter)

(End of chapter)