Chapter 435: Old Seven, Stay Alive!

Chu Shaohong wasn't surprised by Qiu Luoye's attitude.

"Qiu Luoye, I just said—I've heard your name in Neizhou, seen your covenant. Don't you believe me?"

"So what if you saw it?"

"Three days from now, same time, I'll come back again. I'll introduce you to two friends. You can give me your answer then."

Chu Shaohong turned to leave, and Qiu Luoye laughed.

"You still want to come? I told you to get lost and you didn't listen? Then why wait three days?

Today's a fine day—let's finish your funeral before the New Year, so we don't invite bad luck in January!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Qiu Luoye walked forward calmly, straight toward him.

Chu Shaohong flicked his sleeve, and a rain of arrows shot toward Qiu Luoye.

Qiu Luoye didn't dodge or shield—he let the arrows strike his body, waiting until Chu Shaohong exhausted his supply. Then he shook his frame, shaking every arrow clean off.

"Such a formidable body cultivator," Chu Shaohong thought in shock. He pulled from his outer robe a long knife, a long spear, and a pair of long swords, circling Qiu Luoye to stab, slash, and thrust.

Qiu Luoye caught every weapon bare-handed, snapping each one in turn, then kept walking forward.

He'd need to use special methods—ordinary weapons were useless against Qiu Luoye.

Chu Shaohong's robe trembled, and a cloud of lime flew toward Qiu Luoye.

With this lime trick, Chu Shaohong had once severely wounded Lüshui Gai.

Qiu Luoye swung his long nose—whooosh! —and unleashed a gale that blew the lime straight into Chu Shaohong's face, nearly blinding him.

Chu Shaohong was startled—he hadn't expected Qiu Luoye to be prepared.

Did he know this lime was special?

Did Lühuazi tell him?

Did they have dealings?

In truth, he overthought it—Qiu Luoye hadn't prepared anything in advance.

He'd been through the Jianghu, seen lime thrown, sand flung—he'd seen it all and knew how to handle it.

"Despicable scum!" Qiu Luoye grinned. "That's all you've got?"

Chu Shaohong switched tactics, secretly activating his dream cultivator's treasure to drag Qiu Luoye into a dream.

Qiu Luoye felt his eyelids grow heavy, his steps slowing slightly.

Chu Shaohong seized the chance to strike with his killing move—when suddenly Qiu Luoye roared: "Woo~"

The roar shook Chu Shaohong's chest with searing pain—and jolted Qiu Luoye awake.

In Neizhou, rumors painted Qiu Luoye as a pure brute—a misunderstanding.

Qiu Luoye cultivated in Xindi, using the region's strange creatures to reach Cloud Level Two. To control so many anomalies for years, he clearly had strategy and cunning.

You can be fooled only once—never twice. When he fought Li Qi, Qiu Luoye had been tricked once by a dream cultivator's treasure. Since then, he'd been wary, and had developed a specific countermeasure.

That roar he'd practiced countless times—it repelled dream cultivator attacks, and worked equally well against mind, literary, virtue, and sound cultivators.

Chu Shaohong was about to switch treasures again when Qiu Luoye's fist came flying in.

Boom!

Chu Shaohong raised both arms to block—the armor shattered, and he was launched into the air, crashing through several trees behind him.

He'd underestimated Qiu Luoye.

Back then, he'd prepared thoroughly—used a first-strike move to defeat Lüshui Gai.

Now he'd prepared just as thoroughly, every move a first strike—and still, he struggled against Qiu Luoye.

Qiu Luoye's cultivation base shouldn't surpass Lühuazi's, and body cultivators were far more common than sickness cultivators. But Dao sects counter and support each other in unpredictable ways. For Qiu Luoye to push his physical advantage to this extreme? It was rare indeed.

Chu Shaohong no longer wanted to fight Qiu Luoye—he realized his battle plan had been fundamentally wrong.

Besides, he didn't need to kill Qiu Luoye today. The real battle was in three days.

Chu Shaohong pulled a water pipe from his waist, drew a deep puff, and exhaled smoke that instantly spread, obscuring his body.

It was a smoke cultivator's treasure—could blind, and was highly toxic.

Shhh!

Qiu Luoye inhaled through his long nose, sucking in all the smoke—then it seeped out from his ears.

The smoke only obscured for a moment.

As for poison? Qiu Luoye didn't care.

"Strong stuff!" Qiu Luoye praised, then kicked Chu Shaohong hard.

Crash!

Chu Shaohong fell apart.

A puppet?

Qiu Luoye scanned the area—the real Chu Shaohong was gone.

"Dog bastard! Don't let me catch you again!" Qiu Luoye spat. "If you dare show up in three days, I'll make sure Neizhou has no place to collect your corpse!"

…

The next night, Li Banfeng stepped out of the construction site.

During the day, the site operated normally; Li Banfeng hid inside his personal dwelling, observing without interference—but after a full day, the old man still couldn't understand the outer state's methods.

At night, after the workers had left, Li Banfeng moved to a new location, allowing his personal dwelling to continue observing—until late into the night, when his personal dwelling replied:

"Seems to have gained insight, but hard to put into words."

Li Banfeng blinked. "So profound?"

The glove shook its index finger. "Our old man's cultured—he just never learned. When he says 'hard to put into words,' he's speaking like a foreign language."

Clang!

The old teapot tumbled off the table; the glove dodged aside.

The teapot cried: "Don't drop me, big brother—I'm fragile! Drop something else!"

Bottles and jars flew everywhere in the room; the glove dodged left and right, laughing loudly: "Old man, you can't hit me—aren't you mad?"

Smack!

A broom slapped the glove—suddenly, it went still.

His personal dwelling trembled, and the phonograph played a slow tune: "Old sir, don't be angry—this construction method is the foundation of the outer state; how could it be cracked so easily?"

Master, tomorrow take the old man again to watch how they work. Watch twice more—you'll surely see the pattern."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "Tomorrow's New Year's Eve—the site's shutting down."

"New Year's Eve?" The phonograph paused. "Oh my, Master, it's almost the New Year—we haven't even prepared paper cutouts or couplets!"

"No rush—I'll handle it tomorrow."

…

On New Year's Eve, Ma Wu hosted a feast at his estate; He Yuxiu, Lu Chunying, Chu Huaiyuan, and others came for the reunion dinner.

When the dishes were served, He Yuxiu asked: "Where's Old Seven?"

Ma Wu replied: "Old Seven said not to wait—he's got something to do, won't be back till after midnight."

He Yuxiu frowned. "It's rare we all get together for New Year's dinner. Why must he wait till after midnight?

We're getting along fine now—but once we turn against each other, who knows how bad it'll get? Then it'll be impossible to gather like this again."

Xiao Yeci said: "Sister Xiu, we're family—how could we ever fight?"

He Yuxiu smiled. "Little sister, the Four Great Families used to get along too—didn't they end up tearing each other apart?"

Lu Chunying shook her head. "I follow Old Seven. If he says so, no grudge of mine can't be resolved."

Chu Huaiyuan lowered her head. "I follow Old Seven too. Whatever he tells me to do, I do. I listen to him completely."

He Yuxiu pinched Chu Huaiyuan's cheek and laughed. "Girl, you sound nothing like yourself saying that!"

Chu Huaiyuan blushed. "Aunt Xiu, I was young and foolish before—I caused you so much trouble."

"Don't call me Aunt Xiu. Call me Sister Xiu. Everyone else calls me Sister Xiu."

"No, I can't break the rules."

"Oh dear, the moment you say 'rules,' I want to laugh. When have you ever followed rules?"

Ma Wu watched them all, silently sighing.

He Yuxiu wasn't wrong—based on past family conduct, conflict was inevitable.

But if Old Seven was here? Maybe things could change.

Where had Old Seven gone?

…

Li Banfeng carried two jars of wine up the mountain to celebrate the New Year with Qiu Luoye.

Qiu Luoye had lived in Xindi so long he'd forgotten the New Year entirely. Now that he was the land god of Zhengdi, he might as well share a New Year's meal and experience Zhengdi's customs.

Last New Year, he'd spent it in Puluo Zhou—on Haichiling, just him and Cui Ti, braving wind and snow to control pest infestations.

This year was different—Qiu Luoye had many covenant spirits around him. They drank with him in the first half of the night, then went to Ma Wu's for the second half. Full and satisfied, they returned home to spend the night with their wives—that's how a New Year should be.

At Qiu Luoye's estate, no one was there.

That wasn't right.

We agreed to celebrate together yesterday—where did that elephant go?

Li Banfeng searched the mountain, didn't find Qiu Luoye—found the tiger instead.

"Where's Brother Qiu?"

The tiger grinned. "It's New Year's Day—Master Qiu was in high spirits, drank a few extra cups of wine and passed out in the cave. He said to let him sleep, so we didn't dare disturb him—he's still sleeping in the mountains."

He specifically told us to let you know: today's drinking is done, let's have fun again tomorrow!

"I see…" Li Banfeng turned and walked away.

The tiger watched Li Banfeng disappear into the distance, then ran up the hill to gather herbs; he'd just picked two when Li Banfeng returned: "You big beast, you dared to trick me?"

The tiger startled: "Seventh Master, why are you back?"

"Where exactly is Brother Qiu?"

"Didn't I say? Master Qiu passed out from drinking…"

"Nonsense! What kind of wine could knock down Brother Qiu? What are you gathering herbs for?"

When Li Banfeng fought Qiu Luoye, even Yao Lao's wine couldn't knock Qiu Luoye down.

"Well, Master Qiu drank too much—he really did—he, he…" As he spoke, the tiger's voice trembled, tears falling, "Seventh Master, Master Qiu told me not to tell you—he's wounded, can't get up, hiding in the cave behind the mountain, barely holding on."

Li Banfeng froze: "How did he get hurt?"

"I don't know how," the tiger wept. "Two days ago, someone showed up—no one knows where from—he fought Master Qiu, lost, and ran off."

"He said he'd come back in three days. Master Qiu didn't take him seriously. But today, he suddenly got wounded—covered in blood, no one knows how."

Li Banfeng sprinted toward the cave behind the mountain.

Qiu Luoye leaned against the cave wall, his clothes soaked through with blood, his whole body crimson.

Seeing Li Banfeng, Qiu Luoye smiled: "Old Seventh, you came? Almost forgot—it's New Year's Day, you came to drink with me?"

"Brother Qiu, who did this to you?"

"Someone came from Huineizhou, trying to drag me back as a slave. I refused, beat him off—he must've contacted Huineizhou. They've probably moved my contract."

"Contract?"

"I have a contract buried in Huineizhou."

Li Banfeng paused: "Aren't you still holding two other contracts? The ones from Wuqin Lady! They shouldn't be able to touch you!"

Qiu Luoye sighed: "I thought so too—but I'm still wounded. We still don't fully understand these contracts. Tomorrow night, he'll return—with two allies. You can't fight him. Don't engage. My other two contracts are still on this mountain. I'll have the tiger take you there."

"Dig them up, take them, find a place to cultivate. When you reach Yunshang, don't go back to Huineizhou to suffer—rely on these two contracts. Green Flower Kid did the same thing back then."

"Brother, rest and heal. Leave this to me—I'll gather men right away…"

"Old Seventh!" Qiu Luoye grabbed Li Qi. "We agreed from the start: you handle strategy, I handle fighting. You've got to live—live well for me!"

"When you reach Yunshang, then go hunt down those bastards. I'll cheer you on from the netherworld!"

PS: Qiu Luoye, hold on!

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