Chapter 66: Whose Medicine Is Best?

Li Banfeng changed into a guard’s uniform and slipped silently into the herb storehouse, where shelves were piled high with layers of medicinal materials.

He didn’t recognize herbs or prepared medicines; the large sacks of herbs were probably worthless, so Li Banfeng ignored them, but the bottles and jars likely held valuable items—he made trip after trip, moving everything into his Personal Dwelling.

One wooden box was locked, and he guessed its contents were the most valuable—he took it too.

Seeing Li Banfeng drag back a pile of loot, the phoneme spat out a puff of steam, clearly disdainful.

The herb storehouse was emptied; Li Banfeng went to the front counter, found eighty-three thousand two hundred and eighteen yuan in cash and one hundred and twenty-six silver dollars, and stowed them all into his Personal Dwelling.

With most items secured, Li Banfeng returned to the Watermelon Man’s room, picked up some watermelon flesh, swallowed it, then dragged out a sack from the corner.

The sack contained brown granules with a pungent, fishy stench.

This was the Watermelon Man’s fertilizer; Li Banfeng didn’t know its origin, but he knew its purpose.

He fed the fertilizer into the Watermelon Man’s mouth; the previously dull Watermelon Man’s eyes bulged wide, his aura turning murderous.

Li Banfeng was saturated with watermelon scent inside and out—the Watermelon Man now saw him as one of their own.

Li Banfeng gave the order: “Kill!”

More than twenty Watermelon Men marched in perfect formation out of the room and into the courtyard.

A dozen guards were sleeping in the side rooms when—CRASH—the doors burst open and the twenty-plus Watermelon Men stormed in.

One guard rubbed his eyes, saw a horde of Watermelon Men entering, and shouted: “Danger! Quick—”

He’d only gotten out three words when a Watermelon Man slashed off his head.

The guards jolted awake; the timid ones didn’t even understand what was happening before they were cut down by Watermelon Men.

The braver ones grabbed weapons and fought back, but the Watermelon Men felt no pain, knew no fear—the guards stood no chance, falling one after another under the blades.

The two smartest guards leapt straight out the windows, shouting: “Da Zhi Guai! Something’s happened!”

In the back courtyard, Da Zhi Guai (Head Guard) Song Baiming heard the commotion and ordered two First-Stage Wu Xiu: “Stay here in the back courtyard—don’t go anywhere!”

Then Song Baiming rushed into the front courtyard, intending to see who the intruders were and negotiate first.

But when he saw Watermelon Men everywhere in the courtyard, his brow immediately knotted.

How could this have happened?

For Watermelon Men to attack, two conditions must be met.

First, they must consume fertilizer.

Second, someone must eat a special watermelon, sweat, then issue commands to them.

These Watermelon Men were under strict guard—this should have been impossible.

No point overthinking; Song Baiming called a guard: “Go get watermelons!”

The guard had barely taken two steps when a Watermelon Man drove a blade through his chest.

Seeing this, Song Baiming charged toward the herb room himself to retrieve watermelons.

The Watermelon Men, killing anyone in sight, surrounded Song Baiming in the courtyard.

In desperation, Song Baiming suddenly crouched—his arms swelled instantly, tearing his clothes.

From shoulder to fingertip, both arms were covered in hardened armor; his palms swelled again, his five fingers fused into two, resembling giant pincers—he crushed a Watermelon Man’s head with one clamp.

Watermelon flesh oozed out; Song Baiming picked it up, aiming to shove it into his mouth.

But his speed was too slow—now encased in armor, he moved even slower.

The decapitated Watermelon Men swung their cleavers, continuing to attack; Song Baiming swung his pincers up and down, reducing them to piles of pulp and rind.

This man… looked like a crab.

Body cultivators seem to have strong biomimetic traits.

Li Banfeng didn’t delay; while Song Baiming was occupied, he climbed onto the back courtyard’s roof.

Geng Zhiwei stood in the courtyard’s center, berating the guards: “Who the hell let the Watermelon Men out? I’m going to peel that bastard alive today!”

Two Wu Xiu urged Geng Zhiwei to return indoors: “Young Master, go back inside—the courtyard’s dangerous!”

“What’s there to fear? Bring me a watermelon, shout one command, and they’ll all stop. I’ll tell you, I paid a fortune for these—break one or two, I won’t hold it against you, but if you wreck them all, I’ll make you regret it!”

One guard ran to the front herb room for watermelons.

The handsome Third Madam stepped out in a blue satin jacket, linking arms with Geng Zhiwei, cooing: “Master, please return to your room—I’m frightened.”

The Third Madam was truly terrified—her body trembled, her conscience trembled, and her large peaches trembled too.

Geng Zhiwei shoved her away and barked at the guard: “Where’s the watermelon? Are you going to dawdle all day?”

This was the Watermelon Men’s weakness: eat the watermelon, sweat, and you could command them.

At this rate, Geng Zhiwei would soon eat the watermelon and regain control.

But Li Banfeng’s goal wasn’t just to steal elixirs, or money, or even to cause chaos with the Watermelon Men.

He intended to do something monumental!

He could do it alone—but to finish it thoroughly in a short time, he needed a helper.

To act, you must invest.

To do something monumental, you must invest heavily!

Li Banfeng lay on the rafters, struck a match, and lit the paper money in his hand.

A whiff of alcohol rushed over him—he heard Old Man Yao’s voice:

“What do you want me to do? You’re not asking me to kill someone, are you? That’s beneath my dignity.”

This was expected—Old Man Yao had said he wouldn’t do anything beneath his dignity.

“Who would dare trouble you with murder?”

“Then what do you want? Healing or medicine? Nothing else.”

Li Banfeng said: “I want to buy medicine—some top-grade medicinal wine.”

“Medicinal wine?” The old man chuckled. “Strong or weak?”

“Strong. The stronger, the better.”

“Just you drinking?”

Li Banfeng roughly calculated: “Enough for over a hundred people.”

“So much wine? I sell medicinal wine, not poison—think carefully!”

Li Banfeng replied firmly: “I’ve thought it through. This wine is perfect for treating Little Fat.”

“Where do you want to drink it?”

“Right here in the herb store.”

The old man replied: “I have bottled wine and bulk wine. Bulk is stronger, but messy to handle—which do you want?”

“Bulk. The messier the better. Preferably, you personally spray a mouthful.”

The old man chuckled: “Besides the deposit, the wine costs fifty thousand—no haggling. You drink it here, and you can’t take it out.”

Li Banfeng nodded: “Deal!”

The moment he spoke, the paper money turned to ash.

Whoosh—a gust of wind.

Thick wine fumes instantly engulfed the entire herb store.

Old Man Yao’s voice echoed again: “Remember, my medicine is the best in Medicine King Gully—it’s only for healing.”

Li Banfeng replied seriously: “Don’t worry, I’m bringing it here to heal them.”

“Hehehe!” After a chuckle, Old Man Yao’s voice vanished.

Li Banfeng pulled out the Blood-Soaked Pendulum, unscrewed the cap, and sprayed out the residual grease.

He struck another match and tossed it onto the grease stream.

A fire serpent surged through the night sky—in an instant, the entire Geng Family Herb Store was engulfed in flames.

Li Banfeng opened his Personal Dwelling and tossed the key beyond the herb store’s courtyard wall.

Sitting in the main house, Li Banfeng pondered Old Man Yao’s words.

Old Man Yao had said: if Li Banfeng was clever, he’d know his identity once the deal was done.

Did Li Banfeng know now?

He did.

Old Man Yao said his medicine was the best in Medicine King Gully.

Whose medicine is the best in Medicine King Gully?

Of course—the Medicine King.

Outside Medicine King Gully, the Medicine King is powerless; inside it, he can help.

The Medicine King of Medicine King Gully is a Wine Cultivator.

Surprised?

Li Banfeng had no time to be surprised—he had other tasks to complete.

…

Flames raged; Young Master Geng Zhiwei could no longer stay calm—he burst from the house, stood in the courtyard, shouting:

“What the hell are you all standing around for? Put out the fire! Put out the fire! I told you to store more water—why didn’t you listen?!”

“You two, come inside and carry things out—first, take the cash, then the silver dollars, then the paintings…”

Geng Zhiwei carried two boxes of cash; two Wu Xiu each carried two boxes of silver dollars out of the house.

Geng Zhiwei called for others to carry the paintings—but the fire had already reached inside.

The guards dared not enter, fleeing desperately through the back gate.

Geng Zhiwei roared: “Useless bastards—go get the elixirs first!”

He went to the front courtyard to fetch the elixirs, only to see the Watermelon People marching in neat formation into the back courtyard.

How did the Watermelon People get in?

Where is Captain Song Baiming?

Song Baiming fled.

It’s not that Captain Song was disloyal—he’s a man, and he fears fire, but the Watermelon People do not.

The fire grew fiercer, the Watermelon People multiplied, and the two Wu Xiu guards urgently urged Geng Zhiwei: “Young Master, flee now, or it’ll be too late!”

Geng Zhiwei gritted his teeth, grabbed the money chest, and dashed for the back gate.

The two Wu Xiu guards followed close behind; Third Madam lagged, stumbling and barely keeping up.

Near the back gate, the smoke was so thick it blinded Geng Zhiwei; he tripped over debris and nearly fell.

One guard rushed forward and caught him: “Young Master, follow me!”

Geng Zhiwei hurried after the guard, leaving the two Wu Xiu guards furious.

Who the hell is this guy?

What a shameless bastard!

He shows up now to steal the credit just as we’re about to escape?

Where was he when we were risking our lives protecting the Young Master?

The two Wu Xiu guards immediately chased after them, burst out the back gate—and found the Young Master’s figure had vanished.

Damn it! That man was an impostor—he’s not a guard!

“Young Master!” the two guards shouted, racing after the direction he disappeared, but after only two steps, darkness swallowed them whole.

Ding ling.

Li Banfeng threw the key away.

Bang.

The door shut.

The guard who led Geng Zhiwei to safety was Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng had been wearing guard attire all along; Zhai Xiu were easily overlooked, and Geng Zhiwei, already panicked and blinded by smoke, never noticed this “guard” was a stranger.

Li Banfeng led Geng Zhiwei straight into the Suishen Residence.

Geng Zhiwei fumbled around, crying: “Where is this? What place is this?”

The two Wu Xiu guards sensed Li Banfeng’s aura but couldn’t pinpoint his exact location; they shouted angrily: “Who the hell are you? What illusion are you using? Come out now, or I’ll leave you a whole corpse!”

Li Banfeng sighed deeply: “I only meant to let my wife eat one, to keep her from getting fat—but now three have shown up.”

He’d only intended to lure Geng Zhiwei in; he never expected the two Wu Xiu guards to be so loyal—and follow him inside.

Hearing Li Banfeng’s voice, the two Wu Xiu guards identified his location and charged to kill him.

But could they match Li Banfeng’s strength?

A first-layer Zhai Xiu in his own residence could rival a second-layer cultivator.

Besides, his wife was waiting for her meal.

Clang clang clang~

Gongs and drums began to sound.

Li Banfeng easily held off the two Wu Xiu guards, yet still called out to the player: “Wife, dinner’s ready—eat slowly.”

Hss! Hss! Hss!

“Husband, I can’t slow down! Don’t tease me—I’m truly starving~”

PS: My wife is hungry, the salad is hungry too—vote and comment!

(End of Chapter)