Chapter 72: The Cloak Moth Lady

At nine o’clock, Yu Nan led the group to Yu Family Village.

Lao Zhu hurried out to greet them, and after everyone entered Yu Family Village, he brought up Li Qi.

“Li Seventh came?” Yu Nan’s face lit up. “Where is he?”

“He said he’d take a walk in the woods—he’s been gone eight or nine hours.”

Yu Nan frowned, puzzled by why Li Banfeng dared wander alone in the New Land.

Wang Xuejiao said, “Shopkeeper, if you’re worried, we should go look for him in the woods.”

Yu Nan shook her head. “The New Land is too dangerous. If we rush in blindly, we won’t just fail to find him—we might not even come back alive. Li Qi is a Traveling Cultivator; he knows the way home. Let’s wait.”

Another two hours passed. The group had traveled two days straight, exhaustion overwhelming them—they all fell asleep.

Yu Nan couldn’t sleep. She paced outside the wooden hut when suddenly a middle-aged man in a tailcoat appeared before her, tipping his top hat in greeting.

“Excuse me—are you Madame Yu of Yu Family Cloth Shop?”

Yu Nan froze. She didn’t recognize him.

The man smiled. “I am a private detective, Da Boyens.”

He was a local—why did he have a foreign name?

“Detective?” Yu Nan sized him up. “What brings you to Yu Family Village?”

“I’m looking for someone. His name is Li Banfeng.”

“I don’t know him. Ask elsewhere,” Yu Nan ordered him out.

Da Boyens made no move to leave. “I’ve asked everywhere. There are few villages on this New Land, and yours is the only one that had visitors yesterday.”

Yu Nan smiled, but her heart pounded.

From the detective’s words, Yu Nan gleaned two critical pieces of information.

First: the Li Banfeng he sought was likely Li Qi.

Second: he could tell a visitor had come to Yu Family Village yesterday—meaning he possessed some special technique.

He had come here certain Li Banfeng was here.

Yu Nan had no patience for further talk. “Detective Da Boyens, I don’t know any Li Banfeng here. It’s late. If you have nothing else, we won’t be keeping you.”

Da Boyens smiled. “Since you mentioned it, I do have another matter.

I’m a timid man—I don’t dare walk at night. Madame Yu, would you mind if I stayed the night here?”

Yu Nan’s smile vanished. “I mind. Yu Family Village never hosts outsiders.”

Da Boyens kept smiling. “No lodging is fine. May I at least have a cup of tea?”

Yu Nan gripped her pipe. “The well’s dry today. No water, no tea.”

Da Boyens still wouldn’t leave. “May I at least have a cigarette, Madame Yu?”

Hss~

Yu Nan exhaled a plume of smoke. “Detective, is this smoke enough for you?”

The smoke circled Da Boyens several times.

It was a warning from a Smoke Cultivator.

Da Boyens adjusted his hat and raised an eyebrow. “Madame Yu, are you going to fight?”

“Yes!” The lady’s cigarette on her pipe flared brightly; ash rained onto Da Boyens.

Da Boyens brushed off the ash, expression weary. “Madame Yu, this isn’t wise.”

The ash simply fell away.

Clearly, this detective’s cultivation base surpassed Yu Nan’s.

Yu Nan drew her dagger and pressed it to her palm. “This is Yu Family Village. I am its master!”

She held the dagger not to fight the detective, but to draw her own blood.

Being the land’s master wasn’t just a threat—it was a law.

Her blood could awaken spirits bound to this land—spirits that could kill Da Boyens.

Da Boyens had spent years carving out the New Land—he understood the stakes. Continuing now would be suicide.

He raised both hands, palms downward. “Madame Yu, no need for anger. I take my leave.”

With that, Da Boyens stepped beyond the boundary of Yu Family Village.

But he didn’t go far. He circled the two rows of wooden huts dozens of times, spinning spiderwebs across the surrounding trees.

Yu Nan knew those webs were meant for Li Banfeng.

But knowing didn’t help. Da Boyens operated outside Yu Family Village’s protection—beyond it, she was no match for him.

Yu Nan stared anxiously into the forest’s depths, unsure when Li Banfeng would return.

Before, she’d longed to see him immediately.

Now, she prayed he wouldn’t appear at all.

Da Boyens sat beneath a tree, pulling out a harmonica. “Madame Yu, Li Banfeng and I share a special bond. I feel it hasn’t broken. I believe he’ll return tonight.”

Yu Nan sneered. “You’re no foreigner—so why do you speak like one?”

Da Boyens smiled. “Madame Yu, a gentleman’s bloodline doesn’t define him, nor does his grace have borders. Don’t try to provoke me with your sharp tongue—it won’t work.

Also, let me remind you: Li Banfeng will appear tonight. If he’s your beloved, wait here. This may be your last chance to see him.”

With that, Da Boyens began to play the harmonica.

The melody was uniquely serene, leisurely, yet to Yu Nan, it carried nothing but lethal intent.

After two tunes, Da Boyens tucked away the harmonica, stood, gazed into the night, and adjusted his hat and tailcoat.

He felt the spider silk tremble—he knew someone was approaching.

Yu Nan instantly exhaled a cloud of smoke, trying to locate Li Banfeng and warn him.

It would come down to cultivation strength.

Da Boyens clearly had full confidence. “Madame Yu, don’t waste your effort. By the time your smoke reaches Li Banfeng’s face, his head will already be in my hands.”

Yu Nan glanced at the iron bell at the village gate—she wanted to ring it, summon her people.

Da Boyens saw her intent and shook his head. “Don’t be foolish. Once you leave your village, you and your people are no more than ants.

Isn’t it better to live? You’ve known him only a short time. Let him go quietly. Isn’t that enough?”

Yu Nan burned with rage—but Da Boyens spoke truth.

Moments passed. Then, in the darkness, Li Banfeng appeared. Yu Nan shouted: “Seventh Master, don’t come closer!”

Da Boyens shook his head, smiling. “Too late. It’s already too late.”

Once Li Banfeng entered Da Boyens’s line of sight, only two outcomes remained.

First: Li Banfeng charges toward Yu Family Village—and gets caught in the webs, waiting to be killed.

Second: Li Banfeng heeds Yu Nan’s warning, stays away—and is killed outright.

Li Banfeng, however, seemed not to hear Yu Nan’s cry. He charged straight toward Yu Family Village.

Da Boyens stepped forward. “From the moment we parted, I sensed we’d meet again. I didn’t expect it so soon, my friend.”

Li Banfeng called back: “Yes! We’re friends!”

Da Boyens sighed. “I always felt our bond ran deeper than this. I truly hope, in the next world, you’ll remember me, my friend.”

Li Banfeng shouted again: “Did you hear that? He’s my friend!”

Da Boyens froze. Who was he talking to?

To Yu Nan?

Da Boyens looked at Yu Nan. She looked equally confused.

In that moment of bewilderment, Da Boyens sensed another presence around Li Banfeng.

Its position shifted constantly—sometimes on the trees, sometimes on the ground, sometimes drifting midair.

It was immensely strong—some of Da Boyens’s webs had been torn apart.

What was it?

Before he could react, a massive shape uncoiled from a tree, blocking Li Banfeng’s path to Yu Family Village.

Both Yu Nan and Da Boyens lost sight of Li Banfeng.

All they saw was a huge, emerald-green worm.

Da Boyens blinked, murmuring: “The Cloak Moth Lady… this is trouble.”

Li Banfeng dodged and weaved around the worm all night, finally sprinting back into Yu Family Village.

He shouted: “You heard him—he’s my friend!”

The face on the worm turned toward Da Boyens. “You say you’re not friends?”

Da Boyens licked his lips. “I—I mean, no, I’m not—”

The Cloak Moth Lady turned to Li Banfeng. “He says you’re not—”

Li Banfeng pulled out the Blood Pendulum, twisted the screw beneath it, and spewed a clot of blood onto the worm’s eye.

It was the blood of a Joy Cultivator—Geng Zhiwei—stored inside the pendulum all along.

The Cloak Moth Lady roared, thrashing her long antennae to wipe the blood from her eye.

Seizing the moment, Li Banfeng dashed into his Personal Dwelling, hurled the key with all his strength—two hundred meters away—onto the roof of a wooden hut inside Yu Family Village.

Lao Zhu had said: this was Yu Nan’s land. If she dripped her blood on Yu Family Village, anyone who intruded would be crushed to dust.

No human could enter—and neither could this worm!

When the Cloak Moth Lady opened her eye, Li Banfeng had vanished.

She turned again to Da Boyens. “Where did he go?”

Dabo Eyns could not answer; his view was blocked by Madam Capeworm, and he could not even see Li Banfeng’s figure.

Madam Capeworm looked tenderly at Dabo Eyns: “He killed my child. Will you be my child instead?”

Dabo Eyns stepped back two paces, his expression tense: “I’m not really friends with him—we don’t even know each other…”

He had been a pioneer in Xin Di several times; he knew what level Madam Capeworm was, and he knew such beings were not to be trifled with.

“If you don’t want to be my child, you can still have a child with me.” Madam Capeworm’s cheeks flushed faintly, her bulky body rippling in wave after wave.

Under the influence of Huan Xiu’s blood, she had fallen in love with Dabo Eyns.

“We’re probably not suited for each other.” Dabo Eyns stepped back faster, walking on his own silk threads.

PS: Dear readers, Huan Xiu’s blood is ready, and the salad is ready too.

(End of Chapter)