Chapter 372: Three Kill Each Other

Li Banfeng and He Yuxiu jumped off the cart midway and returned to Green Water Bay, not entering Green Water City, but first found lodging in Tai Ming Town.

He Yuxiu deeply admired Li Banfeng: "Seventh Brother, where did you hide yourself on the cart? How did I not see you at all?"

Li Banfeng said: "This mainly depends on your state of mind; when your mind reaches the right level, you can merge with all things in the world."

He Yuxiu looked at herself: "Aren't I already merged with everything?"

Her entire body was as black as coal.

The key wasn't her state of mind—it was that Li Banfeng spent most of his time inside his Personal Dwelling, so of course He Yuxiu couldn't find him.

After washing off the coal soot, they changed into new clothes, and Li Banfeng pondered He Yuxiu's next destination.

The Border Inspector wouldn't let this go easily in the short term; He Yuxiu still needed to lie low for a while.

The He family owned many newly reclaimed plots near Green Water Bay, but these plots were already heavily developed, crowded with people and eyes, making it hard to hide.

Not to mention the He family's land—even He Yuxiu's condition made it unsuitable to go to any proper village.

Li Banfeng did think of a suitable place: Meng Yuchun's territory.

That place was remote enough, and Li Banfeng still owned three li of land there—he could let He Yuxiu stay there; ordinary people wouldn't find her.

Moreover, that land wasn't just Meng Yuchun's—it was also Li Banfeng's own, and after so long, he should go back and take a look.

Thinking of that land, Li Banfeng felt genuine pride—he was its Land God, the foundation he'd built after arriving in the Clouds…

Thud!

The more he thought, the more excited he became; Li Banfeng clutched his chest and collapsed to the ground.

He Yuxiu was terrified: "Seventh Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Li Banfeng waved his hand, telling He Yuxiu to rest at the inn, then returned to his room and entered his Personal Dwelling.

Seeing Li Banfeng's pale face, the phonograph used steam to support him: "Oh, my husband, what's happened?"

"My heart suddenly pounded hard, as if about to leap out of my chest," Li Banfeng pointed to his chest; after returning to his Personal Dwelling, he felt somewhat better.

The phonograph thought for a moment: "This is palpitation, my husband—do you have something troubling you?"

Li Banfeng shook his head: "Nothing troubling me—just thinking of my own land."

"Land…"

Huff~

The phonograph sang in a slow rhythm: "My husband, since you've become Land God, it's natural you'd feel some connection to your land—but what on your land could cause such palpitation?"

What could have happened?

Had someone from Neizhou arrived?

Had my impersonation of the Mountain Puller been exposed?

Li Banfeng grew tense; once the palpitation passed, he returned to the inn, drew He Yuxiu a map, and told her to find Meng Yuchun's land on her own.

He Yuxiu had also wandered the newly reclaimed lands; she nodded: "Don't worry about me, Seventh Brother—just be careful yourself."

Li Banfeng sprinted to his own land; when he arrived, he found Meng Yuchun equally anxious.

"You're finally back—someone's reclaiming land, what should we do?"

"What's hard about reclaiming land? You've done it before."

Meng Yuchun shook his head: "Not on my land—on yours."

"My land?" Li Banfeng was stunned into silence.

Meng Yuchun said: "Two girls set up an offering table on your land. I assumed you wouldn't respond, so they'd leave on their own,

but I didn't expect them to dig in—they've been waiting here for days, refusing to leave."

Who's girl is so stubborn?

Li Banfeng rushed to the edge of the land and quickly spotted a girl in the woods.

The girl was bending over to gather firewood; in the dim night, two full, rounded curves came into view.

Li Banfeng smiled faintly: "Peach."

You Tao startled, whirled around, and nearly attacked Li Banfeng.

As she drew closer and saw him more clearly, You Tao's face lit up with delight: "White Sand Brother, what are you doing in this dump?"

He never imagined—after parting in Mazhu Village a year ago, they'd meet here.

"This place… a dump?" Li Banfeng glanced around and asked, "I came here to hunt—what are you doing here?"

You Tao lowered her head slightly: "I came to hunt too."

She'd traveled the world, lied and deceived often—but for some reason, seeing Li Baisha made her uneasy.

Li Banfeng's face was expressionless: "You ran all the way from Mazhu Village to hunt here?"

You Tao explained: "Actually, it's not too far from Mazhu Village."

Not too far.

It depends on how you count.

If you travel through the newly reclaimed lands, at Li Banfeng's speed, it wasn't too far.

But You Tao wasn't a Traveling Cultivator—she was a Joy Cultivator.

And how would she even know the routes through the newly reclaimed lands?

Li Banfeng nodded: "Hunting's easy—I know this place well. Come with me, I know where the good game is."

You Tao shook her head: "No need—I've already gathered plenty; if I hunt more, I won't be able to carry it."

Li Banfeng pulled out his purse: "If you can't carry it, give it to me—I have plenty of hands, and I'll pay market price."

"That won't do—it'd be taking advantage of you…"

"Not taking advantage—I have buyers lined up. Let me see what you've caught."

"No, really…" You Tao's voice grew fainter—she had no game at all.

"A year apart, and we've grown so distant you won't even tell me the truth," Li Banfeng pulled down his hat brim and turned to leave.

You Tao held back for a long time, then finally called out: "White Sand Brother—I—I came here to reclaim land."

Li Banfeng stopped: "Why come here to reclaim land?"

"Because nowhere else can accommodate us—only this place can."

Li Banfeng stood frozen for a long while.

Is my land really that special?

Li Banfeng walked back to You Tao and spoke calmly: "You Tao, we're friends—if you want my help, you need to tell me the truth."

You Tao hesitated, then said: "I'll take you to meet someone."

Deep in the forest stood a tent; a slender woman was boiling two fruit the size of fists.

These were a specialty of Meng Yuchun's land, one of the few things that drew people here.

The water for boiling came from Meng Yuchun's land, where reclaimed plots existed—and the landowners wouldn't refuse a pretty girl like You Tao.

The steam rising from the pot smelled like taro—once boiled, they'd be edible.

You Tao called out: "Little Phoenix!"

The slender woman was about to answer, but seeing Li Banfeng, she quickly ducked back into the tent.

Li Banfeng asked: "Is this your companion?"

You Tao nodded: "You met her in Mazhu Village."

You Tao was mistaken—Li Banfeng had never met her; this Little Phoenix, a Home Cultivator, had been unfriendly toward Li Banfeng and even argued with You Tao over him.

Now You Tao had brought Little Phoenix to the newly reclaimed lands—and that left Li Banfeng deeply puzzled.

How could a Home Cultivator travel so far from home?

You Tao called out several times, but Little Phoenix refused to come out; reluctantly, she told Li Banfeng the story from outside the tent:

"You, Little Phoenix, and Ah Xia lived together in Mazhu Village. Those days, maybe because of the pills, I felt especially… drawn to Little Phoenix, grew close to her, and unintentionally neglected Ah Xia—then it happened…"

"You're still defending her!" Little Phoenix stepped out of the tent. "We didn't even want to bring her along—she begged and begged until we did. You Tao needed care those days, but Ah Xia only cared about her own pleasure—You Tao didn't want to deal with her—was that wrong?"

Li Banfeng listened for a long time, unsure where the focus lay, yet sensing everything was important.

"Well, let's not argue right or wrong—this Ah Xia, who is she?"

You Tao lowered her head, silent—she clearly had more than one companion.

Little Phoenix fidgeted for a long while, then spoke: "She's my Home Spirit."

Li Banfeng thought for a moment, then roared: "Is that how you use a Home Spirit?!"

Little Phoenix shuddered and immediately hid behind You Tao.

You Tao stared at Li Banfeng, bewildered—she didn't understand why he was angry.

Li Banfeng calmed his tone: "So you ran away?"

You Tao said: "We had to—Ah Xia was going to kill Little Phoenix."

Li Banfeng remained silent for a long while.

He'd heard of Home Spirits killing their masters—but never imagined something like this.

A female Home Spirit, for the sake of a female Joy Cultivator, wanted to kill a female Home Cultivator.

How could these three women have reached this point?

Was there some misunderstanding?

Li Banfeng asked Little Phoenix: "You say the Home Spirit wants to kill you—did she hint at it, or say it outright?"

Little Phoenix hid behind You Tao: "I divined it."

"Divined?!" Hearing this, Li Banfeng grew furious—he thought of Jiang Xiang and those fortune-tellers again.

You Tao explained: "It's Little Phoenix's technique—she reads hexagrams, and she's always accurate. Ah Xia definitely intends to kill her."

Xiao Feng tugged at You Tao's sleeve, signaling her not to say too much.

Li Banfeng was also curious—how could Zhaixiu possess the technique of divination?

After a moment's thought, he remembered.

Li Banfeng's first two techniques, Golden Eyes That See the Finest Details and the Hundred Flavors of Linglong, were both given to him by his wife; this one was likely also granted to her by the dwelling spirit.

You Tao said: "Xiao Feng didn't misread the omen—on that night, the east wall of the bamboo pavilion collapsed. The dwelling fought to protect Xiao Feng, clashing with the dwelling spirit."

The dwelling spirit directly confronted the dwelling itself—Luo Yujun never had such power.

Of course, another factor can't be ruled out: Luo Yujun's dwelling was inherently stronger than Xiao Feng's bamboo pavilion.

You Tao said: "The dwelling has been subdued. If we don't leave now, Xiao Feng won't survive."

"So you abandoned the dwelling spirit and ran?"

You Tao looked ashamed: "Xiao Feng did all this for me."

Xiao Feng sniffled: "She wanted to kill me—you're the one who never left me."

"This whole affair started because of me. If I hadn't been here, A Xia could still have trained you."

"Without you, what's the point of cultivating? I want nothing anymore."

Li Banfeng stared at them, expression grim.

They wiped each other's tears away, setting aside their tender affection for now.

Li Banfeng asked: "If you escaped the dwelling, why come back to this place?"

Xiao Feng said: "To hide from A Xia—she broke free from the dwelling."

"And why hide so far?"

"We didn't want to," You Tao said. "But every time we ran, A Xia followed!" Xiao Feng and A Xia share a connection—if A Xia draws near, Xiao Feng will know."

"Why must you flee to new land?"

"That's what Xiao Feng's divination revealed. Every place we go, she casts an omen—every route was chosen by her divination."

Li Banfeng said: "Was the decision to clear this land also determined by divination?"

Xiao Feng nodded.

Li Banfeng pointed to Meng Yuchun's land: "That land isn't bad—it has food, water, and many cultivators looking out for each other. Why not clear there?"

Xiao Feng shook her head: "I divined it—staying there too long won't work. When A Xia comes, the local earth god there won't be able to protect us."

Can't Meng Yuchun protect you?

"Do you think the local earth god here can protect you?" Li Banfeng deeply doubted Xiao Feng's divinations.

Xiao Feng nodded: "The omen says so—powerful earth gods won't let us clear land; those who allow us to clear land can't protect us; only this one can both protect us and let us clear land."

"So there's truly only this one?"

PS: Is Banfeng really such an outstanding earth god?

(End of Chapter)