Chapter 43: Old House in the Deep Mountains

Li Banfeng knocked on the door. The person who opened the door was a man, about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, not tall, but sturdy, wearing a sleeveless jacket and long pants, with patches upon patches all over his clothes.

A dark face, thick long eyebrows, thick lips—the whole appearance revealed honesty and simplicity.

Xiao Pang once told Li Banfeng that in Medicine King Gully, as long as you leave Li Gully, restaurants become very scarce. If you are hungry on the road and want to find a place to eat, you can go to someone else's house to ask for a meal. Give three or five dollars for the meal, and generally, people won't refuse.

Li Banfeng stated his purpose, and the man enthusiastically welcomed Li Banfeng into his home.

The male host's clothes were plain, but this courtyard was not small. Looking at the size of this front courtyard, it was about the size of a basketball court.

There were three tile-roofed houses in the courtyard, and a warehouse. The houses were a bit old, but they were kept very clean.

The reason for saying this was the front courtyard was judging from the walls and layout of the house; there should be a back courtyard with a not-small area.

As a residential cultivator, seeing a spacious and tidy courtyard, Li Banfeng was truly a bit envious.

"There's still some rice left at home, no vegetables, just make do." The man lit an oil lamp in the courtyard, and a woman brought out a bowl of rice and a small dish of pickled cucumbers.

That woman was wearing a slanted-collar cloth shirt, and her clothes were also full of patches. Judging by her age, she should be this man's wife. Li Banfeng didn't look much, nor should he look much.

After setting the bowls and chopsticks, the woman hurried back to the room.

Li Banfeng first took out thirty dollars and stuffed them into the man's hand. The man waved his hands repeatedly: "Don't need this much."

Li Banfeng waved his hands: "Take it. Coming to disturb you so late, I also feel sorry."

The rice was very coarse, with a lot of rice husks, but Li Banfeng didn't care. He was truly hungry, so he shoveled the rice into his mouth with the pickled cucumbers.

The man gripped the banknotes, his expression very guilty, as if he owed Li Banfeng something.

He quietly returned to the room, and before long, an old woman with gray hair walked out of the room.

The old woman held a jar of wine in her arms, came to Li Banfeng, and said with a smile: "Young man, try our homemade sorghum wine."

Li Banfeng shook his head: "Old lady, I don't drink."

It wasn't being polite, but Li Banfeng really wasn't used to drinking the wine here. He hadn't heard of any of the wine names here.

For such a poor family, a jar of wine was very precious. The old woman had even been disturbed, so since Li Banfeng didn't like it, he shouldn't ruin people's good things.

But the old woman insisted on pouring a bowl for Li Banfeng: "Young man, drink a bowl. It's not any good wine, but don't look down on it. My son took your money, and he feels really sorry in his heart."

Since the old woman had poured it herself, Li Banfeng couldn't refuse anymore, so he picked up the wine bowl and took a sip.

You really have to say, this wine was fragrant and mellow, better than the wine in the bun shop.

The bowl of rice was eaten, the pickled cucumbers were eaten, and the wine bowl was empty. Li Banfeng burped.

The old woman laughed: "Young man, have you found a place to stay? If not, stay at our house."

"I have a place to stay. I'm leaving now. Many thanks for the hospitality."

After eating, hurry away. Li Banfeng was being hunted by the Jiang Xiang Gang and couldn't implicate this honest family.

Just as he stood up, Li Banfeng suddenly felt dizzy, and the figures of the mother and son floated up and down before his eyes.

Is this drunk?

No!

This is poisoned!

The old woman looked at Li Banfeng with a smile: "Young man, don't run around anymore. I think you'd better stay."

What's the situation?

Li Banfeng turned to run out the door, and suddenly saw the man's wife blocking the door.

The woman raised her head and punched Li Banfeng in the chin.

Li Banfeng wanted to dodge, but his body didn't listen to him, so he couldn't dodge and took the punch solidly.

This woman has such great strength!

Li Banfeng took two steps back and fell to the ground.

He looked carefully at the woman's face.

Under the candlelight, this time he saw very clearly: there was a circle of blue-black stubble around her lips.

This is a man.

This is a black shop!

Impossible, I didn't perceive any danger just now!

Li Banfeng rubbed his forehead, rubbed his eyes, wiped the blood from his mouth and nose with his hand, lay limp on the ground, and slowly closed his eyes.

His eyes were closed, but he hadn't fainted; his mind was still clear, and he heard the conversation of the people around him clearly.

The honest-looking eldest son looked at the old woman: "Mom, to deal with such a white lamb, do I still need to waste a jar of my good wine? That dish of pickled cucumbers was enough."

So there was poison in the pickled cucumbers too!

Li Banfeng felt annoyed in his heart. He had survived the Bitter Fog Mountain, yet he had capsized in this gutter!

Strange, I can perceive malice. At the station, I could perceive Chu Yunlong's malice. Why couldn't I perceive this family's malice at all when eating?

Could it be that this family's cultivation is all surprisingly high?

With such high cultivation, they still use such despicable means?

The old woman laughed: "Silly boy, look carefully. This is no white lamb. His walking posture is strange; this is a traveler cultivator, and a traveler cultivator who has reached a new level."

"Traveler cultivator?" The eldest son scratched his scalp. "I really haven't seen this before."

The old woman said: "Haven't seen it? Today you'll learn something. Traveler cultivators have fast footsteps. This person has the ability of 'Wind Rising from Flat Ground,' which proves he has reached a new level.

It's just that he reached a new level not long ago and hasn't learned how to control his strength. If it weren't for using wine to poison him, he would have run away in the blink of an eye.

And traveler cultivators know danger. If it weren't for my move, he would have woken up when he entered the door."

Waking up, underworld slang, meaning the person being deceived has awakened.

So it was this old woman who made a move in advance, making me unable to perceive their malice.

What layer of cultivator is this old woman?

What level of ability did she use?

The eldest son heard this and was a bit proud: "Mom, is my wine getting better and better!"

The old woman hummed: "You reached the first layer the year before last, and a year and a half has passed. If you can't even take down someone with equivalent cultivation, what face do you have to eat this bowl of rice?"

From this remark of the old woman, Li Banfeng heard that this man was a poison cultivator, with cultivation equivalent to his, both at the first layer.

Li Banfeng wanted to open his eyes, but his eyelids were too heavy, and he couldn't open them after trying several times.

The second son, disguised as a woman, said: "Mom, since he's not a white lamb, why not take advantage of him being down and just harvest him."

The second son hadn't seen a traveler cultivator either, but he felt that for a seedling with cultivation, it was better to kill him.

Hearing this, Li Banfeng's heart tightened.

With his current state, he didn't have many means to resist.

But even if he didn't have many means, he had to fight once; he couldn't just die here!

The old woman poked Li Banfeng with her cane. Seeing that he had no reaction, the old woman instructed her two sons: "Clean him up, lock his hands and feet, send him to the seedling room, and don't make a move until the Zi hour."

The second son didn't understand: "Mom, why must we wait until the Zi hour?"

Yes, why wait until the Zi hour? Li Banfeng didn't understand very well either. He had already prepared for a life-and-death struggle.

Could it be that they want to make a move when I'm relaxed?

That's her overthinking; I can't possibly be relaxed.

"If I tell you to wait until the Zi hour, then honestly wait. Clean him up first!" The old woman scolded, and the two sons stepped forward to search Li Banfeng, taking away his sickle, shovel, and wallet, and even the spicy strips Li Banfeng had hidden in the lining of his clothes were confiscated.

But there was one thing they didn't take.

When Li Banfeng was wiping his mouth and nose just now, he had hidden the key in his mouth.

He had wanted to open the Suishenju and escape immediately, but under the gaze of the three, Li Banfeng wasn't sure he could hide the key, or even turn the key smoothly.

The old woman really didn't want to kill Li Banfeng now.

She said wait until the Zi hour—what exactly was it for?

Why could he still not perceive the danger here until now?

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(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 44 =====