Chapter 42: Chu Yunlong's Gift

Looking at Chu Yunlong lying on the ground, Li Banfeng felt a pang in his heart.

What a good man... He even said he would buy me a train ticket.

The wilderness was desolate, and wild beasts could appear at any moment. Li Banfeng couldn't bear to leave Chu Yunlong's body to rot in the open, so he resolved to take him into the Pocket Dwelling and refine him into a pill using the bronze lotus.

Inside the Pocket Dwelling, Li Banfeng lit the candlestick and laid the corpse beside the bronze lotus.

Srrrk

~~

Upon sensing Chu Yunlong's presence, the bronze lotus stirred, its petals unfolding one by one.

Li Banfeng couldn't help but wonder,

How did it sense Chu Yunlong? Was it because he possessed cultivation? But I possess cultivation too, so why didn't the bronze lotus try to refine me into a pill?

Could it be that it has already acknowledged me as its master? Or does it only recognize the dead and not the living?

Crackle~

What was that sound?

Li Banfeng glanced at the gramophone, which seemed to have just released a puff of steam.

But I didn't light it...

As he was still puzzling over it, the candle flames flickered and a whirlwind swept through the Pocket Dwelling. Chu Yunlong's gray suit and white shirt were torn apart, and even the Gatsby cap on his head was ripped to shreds

The naked corpse twisted and warped until it melted into a paste-like essence that sank into the lotus core of the bronze lotus. The petals then folded shut, and its body glowed with halos of light as it began to refine the pill.

Tattered scraps of cloth littered the floor. Among them, Li Banfeng discovered a finely crafted dagger, still resting in its sheath. He drew it out, and its cold gleam cut through the air, a clear sign that it was a rare and exceptional weapon.

This is a good harvest,

Li Banfeng thought to himself. He was about to examine the dagger more closely when a whirlwind swept through the Pocket Dwelling.

Once again, the whirlwind rose from the lotus core, and a powerful force tore the dagger from Li Banfeng's hands. He tried to grab it back, but he was too slow. The dagger dissolved into pulp and was swallowed by the lotus core along with everything else.

Is this how the gold-rimmed glasses guy's fan was swallowed? If the fan became a rusty red pill, then what would this dagger have turned into?

Li Banfeng wondered.

By instinct, he clutched his sickle and trowel to his chest. Yet when he thought about it, those two tools had been near the bronze lotus many times, and it had never shown any interest in them.

He couldn't help but question,

Just what standard does this bronze lotus use to choose its materials?

He couldn't save the dagger, and though he felt a twinge of regret, he kept searching through Chu Yunlong's belongings until he came across his wallet.

Worried that the bronze lotus might devour the banknotes inside, he carefully opened the wallet. Then he remembered,

Wait... the bronze lotus never touched the two hundred thousand in cash that Shopkeeper Feng gave me. This lotus clearly has no love for money.

In Chu Yunlong's wallet, he found 1,226 yuan, 8 jiao, and 2 fen in banknotes, along with 6 silver dollars. Li Banfeng stuffed the notes into his pocket and tossed the silver coins onto the bed.[1].

After a moment, he picked one up and carefully examined it for a while. One side was stamped with the characters "Puluo," while the other bore the imprint of a flower.

What kind of flower is this? The petals looked a little strange.

He stared at it for a long while before finally realizing it was a snowflake.

As the bronze lotus went on refining the pill, Li Banfeng turned his thoughts to his situation and what he should do next.

The first problem was how to return to Yuezhou Province. He had no idea what a travel permit even was, and buying a ticket through official channels would be extremely difficult.

The second problem was the Dark Star Bureau. Even if he managed to get a travel permit, buy a ticket, and make it back to Yuezhou, would they really stop bothering him? There was no way they would let him go. As long as the bronze lotus was in his possession, Xiao Zhenggong would never stop pursuing him.

The third problem was whether he should hand over the bronze lotus in exchange for his own safety. Li Banfeng quickly pushed the thought aside as giving up the lotus wouldn't guarantee his safety at all.

Who can I give this thing to?

Li Banfeng wondered.

He Jiaqing? But He Jiaqing is most likely still unconscious lying on a hospital bed. Even if he woke up, can he even keep the bronze lotus flower safe? Should I give it to his Third Uncle? Or should I just hand it over to Xiao Zhenggong?

Those two men definitely want me to give them the bronze lotus, but they would never allow anyone to know they possessed it. The moment I handed it over, they would kill me and shut me up forever.

Xiao Zhenggong had already proven it through his actions. He had ordered the man with lightbulb eyes to execute Li Banfeng and ordered the Jiangxiang Gang to kill him and take the treasure back. From beginning to end, he had never intended to let Li Banfeng live. Li Banfeng could never hand over the bronze lotus, but he knew he needed to go back to Yuezhou.

Back in Yuezhou, Xiao Zhenggong had to hold himself back because of certain concerns. Here in Medicine King Gully, however, things were far more rampant and wild. Yet if Li Banfeng wanted to return to Yuezhou, he first needed a travel permit. Where could he obtain one?

Could Chubby Qin have a way? Could Shopkeeper Feng find a way?

Li Banfeng peeled off two jade-green lotus seeds. The first one burst open at once, revealing a rusty red iron bead identical to the Corrosion Pill he had seen before.

The sight of it made Li Banfeng's scalp prickle, and he flung the pill to the ground at once. Even with his quick reaction, a faint sting lingered in his palm. Its poison and corrosiveness were terrifying, yet he still felt an urge to test it for himself.

The previous Corrosion Pill had been refined from the fan, so this one must have come from the dagger. Li Banfeng carefully set it into the spectacle case, where the two Corrosion Pills sat quietly without reacting to each other.

After a while, the second lotus seed split open. As Li Banfeng peeled it apart, it burst with a flash, revealing two pills that glowed a deep crimson.

Two? When the man in gold-rimmed glasses and Tiger Lamb were refined, each had produced only one pill. Yet this time, refining Chu Yunlong alone had yielded two. Why?

The man in gold-rimmed glasses and Tiger Lamb are cultivators who have yet to reach level one. Did two pills get refined from Chun Yunlong because his cultivation is higher? If that's the case, then he was very likely a level-one cultivator.

But this first-level cultivator didn't seem that strong? Is it because I never gave him the space and time to show his skills?

He chuckled softly. "Brother Yunlong, sorry about that. Next time I'll give you a real chance to show your skills."

After sweeping the scraps of cloth into the corner, Li Banfeng stretched out on the bed and started thinking about his next steps.

Going back to Yuezhou was not an option for now. He had to find a way to get by in Medicine King Gully. Money was not a problem since he could at least eat and drink without worry. What he needed to do was improve his living conditions and buy more furniture.

He should stay in for the next couple of days. With Chu Yunlong dead, the members of the Jiangxiang Gang would be out searching for him everywhere. Still, he couldn't hide indoors forever.

What am I to do with my cultivation requirements?

At the moment, Li Banfeng had to walk twenty-five kilometers each day, as it was the requirement for a level-one Wanderlust Cultivator.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Should I just walk in this house?

Li Banfeng thought and immediately got up and started pacing back and forth in the house.

However, pacing in such a cramped space was extremely difficult for Li Banfeng. If he failed to control his strength, he could crash into the wall at a speed of over thirty-two kilometers[2] an hour.

By his own estimate, if he had paced around the Pocket Dwelling for at least five hours, his face would be left bruised and swollen from all the collisions.

He could more or less control his footwork now, but he sensed that his cultivation had not improved at all. His body clearly did not recognize pacing in circles inside this tiny house as real cultivation practice. No matter how many steps he took, it wouldn't count as the cultivation of a Wanderlust Cultivator.

But it's too dangerous to go outside right now! If only I had chosen to be a pure Homebound Cultivator from the start!!!

Li Banfeng complained inwardly.

Li Banfeng had no choice. This Pocket Dwelling couldn't nurture a dwelling spirit, so he would never reach level one in Homebound Cultivation. From here on, he would have to focus on Wanderlust Cultivation instead.

Of course, Li Banfeng also remembered the Peddler's warning that the gap between his Homebound Cultivation and Wanderlust Cultivation couldn't exceed three levels. Once he returned to Yuezhou, he would need to buy a house as soon as possible, even if it was just a small one, so he could nurture a dwelling spirit.

Of course, that could wait until later. For now, he had to focus on meeting the basic requirements of Wanderlust Cultivation.

Li Banfeng stepped out of his Pocket Dwelling and dug the key out from the rubble of the abandoned farmhouse.

He wore a beige suit with a black fedora and pulled the brim low as he moved quickly across the wilderness.

Dusk had already fallen, and the deserted village was silent and still. At first, he held back his pace, but once he left the village and reached the open fields, he let himself go. He ran like the wind, reckless and unrestrained. For a Wanderlust Cultivator, running was pure satisfaction.

There were no roads in the wilderness, but for Li Banfeng, every path was his to take. Running without restraint filled him with a deep sense of satisfaction and release that surged from the depths of his being.

After running for more than an hour and passing several villages, Li Banfeng felt his cultivation reacting, a sign that he had completed the day's required practice. Still, he didn't stop. He kept running, not out of dissatisfaction, but because he was hungry and needed to find something to eat.

That wasn't difficult for him. He remembered the roads clearly, every place he had passed. When he reached the entrance of a village, his eyes fell on the stone stele standing there. There were two words carved into it:

Hearthstay Village.

One household still had its lights on, and Li Banfeng walked up to the door, ready to ask for a meal. He was not begging, since he intended to pay for it. This was exactly the method Chubby Qin had taught him.

Li Banfeng calmed his thoughts and carefully felt out his surroundings. Sensing no danger, he knocked on the door.

1. I wondered how he moved the bed into the house? ☜

2. 20 miles ☜