Chapter 73

In the wilderness, the private detective Da Boyins was running wildly.

Most of the tuxedo's tails had been torn off, and his top hat was being chewed in Madam Madame Suoe's mouth.

Madam Madame Suoe felt the top hat didn't taste very good, chewed it a few times, and dropped it by the side of the road.

She spat out a mouthful of bug silk, bound Da Boyins's feet, leaned in close, and said: "Be my man, I will treat you well."

"Madam, I might not be the type you fancy." Da Boyins's body expanded rapidly, turning into a massive spider.

He broke free from the bug silk, spat out a mouthful of spider silk, and hung himself on a tree.

Madam Madame Suoe was very happy: "I just like men like you, I like the way you spit silk."

Da Boyins gazed at Madam Madame Suoe with his eight eyes: "Although I don't know what you've been through, Madam, I have my own wife."

Madam Madame Suoe laughed: "Is your wife prettier than me? Is she better at treating people well than me?"

Da Boyins still wanted to escape, and Madam Madame Suoe prepared to pursue.

Could he escape?

Yes!

Whether toward Li Li Banfeng or toward Da Boyins, Madam Madame Suoe had not dealt a lethal blow.

She didn't want to kill; she just wanted to play.

He couldn't beat her in a fight.

He couldn't shake her off.

What if he just let her play?

But could he endure this?

Thinking of this, Da Boyins suddenly smiled, a smile carrying the fearlessness and detachment of a brave man.

Thinking of how far I've come today, how much pain and hardship have I experienced?

What does this little bit of humiliation before me count for?

His eight eyes flickered for a moment, and Da Boyins bowed: "Madam, can we talk first?"

"What else is there to talk about? Let's consummate the marriage quickly." The huge green worm pressed down on the spider.

This was within Da Boyins's expectations.

The huge moth's body trembled violently.

Da Boyins closed his eight eyes, his eight legs hooking tightly onto the spider silk.

……

Li Li Banfeng slid down from the roof of the wooden house. Yu Nan did not know how he had entered Yu Family Village, and Li Li Banfeng did not offer any explanation.

He was hungry and very exhausted.

After eating some food, taking a bath, and changing into a set of clothes, Li Li Banfeng recovered some of his strength. Yu Nan spoke of the detective from just now, and Li Li Banfeng fell into deep thought.

"Detective Da Boyins, he is a good person."

Yu Nan asked: "What grudge do you actually have with him? Why did he attack you?"

Li Li Banfeng shook his head and said: "I don't know, I don't know him."

Yu Nan was even more unable to understand Li Li Banfeng's thinking: "Since you don't know him, why say he is a good person?"

Li Li Banfeng was also unable to understand Yu Nan's thinking: "Didn't you see it just now? If it weren't for him saving me, how could I have shaken off that worm?"

"He, saved you..." Yu Nan could not agree with this statement.

Li Li Banfeng agreed very much: "Regardless of his starting point, he ultimately did a good deed. Another day, I will find him and pay a visit to thank him."

"You still want to pay a visit to thank him?" Yu Nan shook her head repeatedly. "Brother Brother Qiye, that private detective wants to kill you. You must not go find him. I suspect he might be related to the Geng family."

Speaking of this, Yu Nan asked about the thing she cared about most: "The Geng family pharmacy caught fire, and Geng Geng Zhiwei died. Do you know about this?"

Li Banfeng nodded and said: "I know, I killed Geng Zhiwei. You can go back to Ligou and continue running your cloth store."

Yu Nan couldn't recover for a long time; she hadn't expected Li Li Banfeng to answer so directly: "No, no, I didn't understand. Brother Brother Qiye, you single-handedly burned down the Geng family pharmacy and also killed Geng Geng Zhiwei?"

Li Li Banfeng shook his head: "It can't be counted as just me alone; someone helped me."

Who exactly helped him?

Yu Nan was very curious but didn't dare to ask too much.

Li Li Banfeng said: "Tomorrow I will give you six hundred thousand in cash. Help me give it to Master Yao Lao. Five hundred thousand is to repay the debt, and the remaining one hundred thousand is to buy something."

"Buy what?" Yu Nan was confused.

Li Li Banfeng said: "Two pieces of paper, the price I agreed upon with Master Yao."

Yu Nan was stunned for a long time.

Before her father died, he gave her a spirit tablet with only the character "Yao" on it, used to worship Master Yao.

According to her father, Master Yao was a master from outside the world. In front of such a master, one should not say a single word that shouldn't be said; this was the rule.

Master Yao had just met Li Li Banfeng once, so why were they so familiar?

"Brother Brother Qiye, did you do something that doesn't follow the rules?"

Li Li Banfeng couldn't be bothered to explain.

It was precisely because you had so many rules that Master Yao was so distant from you.

Yu Nan's thoughts fell into chaos, so she could only put the matter of Master Yao aside for now: "Brother Brother Qiye, what are your plans for the next step?"

Li Banfeng burned down the Geng family pharmacy and killed Geng Zhiwei; the Geng family would not let him go, and the Jiang Xiang Gang would not let him go either. Li Banfeng could no longer stay in Medicine King Valley; he might not even be able to stay in the entire Puluo Province.

Li Li Banfeng had long since made plans: "Shopkeeper Yu, help me inquire about where I can get a travel permit to the Outer Provinces."

Going to the Outer Provinces, it seemed this was the only way out.

"Brother Brother Qiye, I'm not lying to you, I've never handled this matter, I really have no certainty, and the cost is not small. I still need to raise funds for a period of time."

"How much money is needed?" In terms of money, Li Li Banfeng was very confident.

"I heard someone succeeded in getting one; calculated in Da Huan currency, it probably needs twenty million."

"Twenty million?" Li Li Banfeng's eyeballs nearly fell out.

"Brother Brother Qiye, you don't need to worry. You have done us a favor; I will think of a way to get this money." Yu Nan was speaking from the heart. Li Li Banfeng was willing to avenge her, so no matter how difficult it was to get the travel permit to the Outer Provinces, Yu Nan would do her utmost.

Li Li Banfeng blinked and looked at Yu Nan, very confused: "What favor have I done for you?"

Killing Geng Geng Zhiwei was Li Li Banfeng's own business; he didn't feel this matter had anything to do with Yu Nan.

And as for the travel permit, this was business, not friendship; Li Li Banfeng naturally had to pay.

It was just that the figure of twenty million was a bit absurd; Li Li Banfeng had to find someone to verify it.

Yu Nan sighed in her heart; doing a favor without expecting a reward, Li Qi was a true hero: "Brother Brother Qiye, I will definitely do my best to handle the matter you entrusted to me, but before it is done, you must stay in the New Land and go nowhere.

The Jiang Xiang Gang might send people to find you at any time. I suspect that private detective was hired by the Jiang Xiang Gang."

Hired by the Jiang Xiang Gang?

This sentence reminded Li Li Banfeng.

Does the Jiang Xiang Gang need to hire a private detective to do things?

Even if they did hire one, I just burned down the Geng family pharmacy; could the Jiang Xiang Gang find me so quickly? And master my whereabouts?

This is not very likely.

If the Jiang Xiang Gang really sent a private detective to find me, was it for the Geng family's business, or for the Bronze Lotus?

If it was for the Bronze Lotus, the situation would not be so simple.

The Jiang Xiang Gang might very likely surround Yu Family Village!

Li Li Banfeng whispered: "It seems I can't stay here. If things go wrong, many people will come looking for me."

"They wouldn't dare," Yu Nan said with great confidence. "This is Yu Family Village, this is the territory I exchanged for with my blood. On this territory, as long as I bleed, no one dares to trespass."

Yu Nan told Li Li Banfeng the rules of land reclamation.

This was a covenant Yu Nan made with the gods. For the New Land she reclaimed, as long as Yu Nan spilled her blood on this territory, anyone who dared to trespass would receive severe punishment from the gods.

This contract was for life, meaning this land belonged to Yu Nan for life, unless Yu Nan died, or Yu Nan made a contract to transfer Yu Family Village to someone else.

Yu Nan's statement was completely consistent with Old Zhu's.

This gave Li Li Banfeng an idea.

Should I also reclaim a piece of territory here?

Recalling his previous encounters, this idea was quickly dismissed.

What kind of territory would I reclaim here?

I will return to Ban Yue Province sooner or later, and this dangerous place is not suitable for me either.

Li Li Banfeng took out Geng Geng Zhiwei's pistol: "Do you recognize this gun?"

Yu Nan looked at it for a moment: "Glock 17, made in Austria. This kind of gun is rarely seen in Puluo Province. This is Geng Zhiwei's gun."

Seeing this gun, Yu Nan no longer had any doubts; it was indeed Li Li Banfeng who killed Geng Geng Zhiwei.

"How do you use this gun?" Li Li Banfeng couldn't load the bullets, nor could he pull the trigger.

Yu Nan flipped the safety and taught Li Li Banfeng how to use the pistol.

"Brother Qiye, this gun looks good and shoots accurately, but it's not very useful in Puluo Province."

"What do you mean? Why is it not useful if it shoots accurately?"

Yu Nan explained: "In Puluo Province, gunpowder works sometimes and doesn't work other times. Out of ten bullets, maybe only two or three will fire.

If this kind of pistol doesn't fire, the shell is hard to eject. If Brother Brother Qiye wants a gun for self-defense, I'll give you this gun of mine."

Yu Nan took out her own revolver: "Eight-inch barrel Colt Python, a revolver. If a bullet doesn't fire, just fire another one."

Before a revolver runs out of bullets, it doesn't need to eject shells. In Puluo Province, its stability is clearly higher than other pistols.

This Colt Python pistol was very beautiful, and because of this gun, it met all of Li Li Banfeng's fantasies about revolvers.

The eight-inch barrel was long enough, the size of the revolver's cylinder was moderate, and the silver gun body gave Li Li Banfeng a sense of immersion in a Western film.

The gun was a good gun, but Li Li Banfeng had no reason to take someone else's things for free.

"Shopkeeper Yu, how much is this gun?"

Yu Nan shook her head: "I won't take money; this is a token of my heart for Brother Brother Qiye."

Li Li Banfeng gave Geng Geng Zhiwei's pistol to Yu Nan: "This is a token of my heart, you take it too."

The two exchanged pistols, and Yu Nan's cheeks flushed slightly.

Li Li Banfeng didn't feel there was anything special about this; he put the pistol away, got some more bullets from Yu Nan, and, unable to endure the fatigue, Li Li Banfeng returned to the Leaving Suishenju to sleep.

At noon the next day, Li Li Banfeng ate a refreshing lunch. Yu Nan called all the clerks of the Yu Family Cloth Store before Li Li Banfeng to thank him.

A clerk named Ling Xiu stepped forward and knelt on the ground first: "Brother Brother Qiye, you avenged our brothers; there's nothing else to say. I'll kowtow to you."

"What are you doing?" Li Li Banfeng immediately jumped away from Ling Xiu and pulled him up from his side.

Ling Xiu was stunned: "Brother Brother Qiye, I wanted to kowtow to you!"

Li Li Banfeng frowned: "Why would you want to do that?"

Li Li Banfeng was an orphan; he had seen many poor people kowtow to others, often just for a mouthful of food.

In Li Li Banfeng's view, kneeling and kowtowing were the most lowly things, none more so.

People shouldn't kneel, at least not to the living.

Seeing that Li Li Banfeng was unhappy, Ling Xiu didn't know what to do for a moment.

Yu Nan felt this was within expectations; Li Li Banfeng was a down-to-earth person and couldn't possibly value these insincere gestures.

She ordered people to move two boxes of gold bars over: "Brother Brother Qiye, Yu is not an ungrateful person. Although our Yu family's days are not very easy, we will absolutely not be lacking in the sincerity that should be there."

Li Li Banfeng was still confused: "Why are you giving me money?"

This was something Yu Nan hadn't expected; Li Li Banfeng was quite straightforward, there was no need to be so coy about money.

This was difficult; Yu Nan didn't know what else she could give Li Li Banfeng.

Focus on handling the travel permit for him; once the permit was obtained, the favor would be repaid.

But the matter of the travel permit had a very slim chance of success.

Yu Nan couldn't think of a way to repay the favor, so Wang Wang Xuejiao stood out, puffed out her massive conscience, and shouted: "Brother Brother Qiye, do you want to marry our shopkeeper?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Nan's cheeks turned from white to red.

This girl, she doesn't even look at the occasion when she speaks...

Wang Wang Xuejiao snorted coldly: "Brother Brother Qiye, give up that idea. Our shopkeeper is a strong-willed person; she won't marry you!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Nan's cheeks turned from red to white.

You dead girl, don't act on your own!

Wang Wang Xuejiao continued: "If you want to find a woman, don't make things difficult for our shopkeeper, just marry me!"

Li Li Banfeng was stunned for a long time: "Why would I want to do that?"

Wang Wang Xuejiao said righteously: "Don't worry, I'm sincere. I agree to all the conditions Geng Geng Zhiwei mentioned before. I'll go get a whip now, take off my clothes, and let you whip me once, just ask that you find a separate room and don't do it in front of others."

Whip you once?

What is this for?

Li Li Banfeng scanned the crowd: "Are you all crazy?"

Wang Wang Xuejiao's eyes turned red: "Brother Brother Qiye, we sincerely want to repay your favor. I want to repay it myself, and I have to repay it for my brother as well!"

"I can't make sense of you people..." Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "Get me some dry rations, I want to return to Ligou."

"Return to Ligou?" Everyone was shocked. Returning to Ligou now, isn't that just courting death?

A person suddenly shouted from outside the door: "Brother Qi, I'll go back with you!"

Looking in the direction of the sound, it was Qin Qin Xiaopang.

(End of chapter)