Chapter 74: Once a Deal Is Done, There's No Backing Out

Li Banfeng would indeed need to return to the Inner Gully.

If the private investigator Daboinsky truly had been sent by the Jiangxiang Gang, then staying at the Yu Family Village was impossible. Once the Jiangxiang Gang sent men to surround it, he would have no chance to escape. If Daboinsky had not been sent by the Jiangxiang Gang, Li Banfeng would need to find out where the man came from.

He would also need to track down Shopkeeper Feng to figure out the origin of the gramophone. On top of that, he would need to ask about a travel permit. It was too difficult to get a travel permit to the Outer Provinces. If Yu Nan couldn't do it, he would need to see whether Shopkeeper Feng had contacts who could help.

If a sum of twenty million Huan yuan was really needed, Li Banfeng would have to carefully reconsider returning to Yuezhou.

Regardless, returning to the Inner Gully now would be the most correct decision.

Li Banfeng prepared to leave, and Chubby Qin insisted on following him.

"Big Bro Qi, this life of mine, Qin Tianjiu[1]'s life, belongs to you from now on," Chubby Qin said. "Whether it's following you up a mountain of blades or down into a sea of flames, I will do it without a blink of an eye!"

Li Banfeng frowned. "You can do it without blinking; I do not mind. But you must stop me. If I really climb a mountain of blades, don't pretend like you didn't see it."

Chubby Qin thought for a long moment, then nodded. "What you said was reasonable. Let me give you a kowtow first."

Li Banfeng's frown deepened. "From now on, do not kowtow to living people. If anyone forces you to kowtow, kill them."

Chubby Qin considered the order, then nodded. "What you said was reasonable. So when do we leave?"

However, Li Banfeng was worried about Chubby Qin's health, since he would break out in a cold sweat even after standing for only a short while.

"I do not think you should leave," Li Banfeng said. "Stay at the Yu Family Village for several more days and recover. I will give you some money and ask Shopkeeper Yu to prepare some good food for you."

Chubby Qin laughed. "Big Bro Qi, do not worry. Once we get back to Inner Gully I will find a way out. I will not hold you back. I am not afraid of the Geng Family, and I am not afraid of those bastards in the Jiangxiang Gang."

Yu Nan interrupted. "Trader Qin, do not act on impulse. The Jiangxiang Gang is being vicious right now. It would be extremely dangerous if you even stepped outside the Yu family's land, let alone go to the Inner Gully."

Chubby Qin shook his head. "Shopkeeper Yu, I appreciate the good intention. I know there is an extremely high chance of dying if I leave this time, but if I do not leave the Yu Family Village today, I might never walk out in this lifetime.

"Big Bro Qi, could you lend me some money so I can buy some dry rations from Shopkeeper Yu first?"

Regardless, Chubby Qin still needed to pay for the dry rations, since all the food in the Yu Family Village was carried in from outside by Yu Nan's men.

Li Banfeng had just taken out his wallet when Yu Nan waved her hand. "Master Qi, please don't embarrass us. What are a few dry rations compared to that? Trader Qin could eat here for a lifetime and it would not matter. What I truly worry about is..."

Chubby Qin laughed. "Shopkeeper Yu, there's no need to worry. I, Qin Tianjiu, will not die. When your cloth shop opens in the future, I will still come in person to congratulate you."

Li Banfeng exclaimed in admiration, "As expected, you've got balls!"

Yu Nan looked at him and said, "Master Qi, I will go back to Inner Gully with you as well."

Li Banfeng looked at her seriously. "You have balls too?"

Yu Nan flushed with embarrassment. "No... I don't have those..."

"Since you don't, hide here. Don't run around."

Li Banfeng was not joking. Yu Nan's situation was different from his. She still bore the responsibility of the Yu Family Gang, and with her current strength, she could not return to Inner Gully.

With that, Li Banfeng made his way out of the Yu Family Village.

Yu Nan's heart stirred with a sudden impulse. She longed to follow him, her desire growing stronger with each step he took away.

However, the old warehouse keeper stopped her. "Shopkeeper, wait a little longer. You know there's a blade waiting for us. We can't throw ourselves against it. Trader Li is an expert, and we are no match for him. The Jiangxiang Gang won't keep their eyes on us forever. Give it a year or so, and when the storm has passed, it won't be too late to return to Inner Gully."

***

Li Banfeng moved swiftly through the pitch-dark new land, while Chubby Qin trailed behind, struggling to keep up.

When they were climbing the slope, Li Banfeng pulled him up and said, "Don't push yourself if you can't manage it. I still think you should have stayed a few more days at Yu Family Village to recuperate."

Chubby Qin wiped the sweat and said, "Big Bro Qi, if you think I'm slowing you down, then go ahead. Don't wait for me."

"You're already struggling to walk. Once we return to Inner Gully, if you run into a member of the Geng Family, how will you deal with them?"

Chubby Qin tore off a bite of dry rations. "I said I won't be a burden to you. I plan to join a gang."

"Which gang?"

"The Three Heroes Sect."

Li Banfeng didn't know much about gangs, but he had heard Yu Nan mention the Three Heroes Sect. It was one of the three great gangs of Puluo Province, and he doubted whether Chubby Qin even qualified to join.

Chubby Qin took a drink of water and forced down the rations. "I do qualify. As long as someone has stepped onto the path of cultivation, the Three Heroes Sect will accept them. But for someone like me, who hasn't reached a cultivation level yet, I'll just be a common soldier. I won't get any good food or wine, and I'll always be sent to charge first into battle."

Isn't that just being a cannon fodder?

Li Banfeng thought as he narrowed his eyes. "And what's the benefit of joining the Three Heroes Sect?"

Chubby Qin said, "Once I join the Three Heroes Sect, the Jiangxiang Gang's lackeys won't dare provoke me again, and the Geng Family will be even less likely to."

They might not provoke you

, Li Banfeng thought,

but if you're just cannon fodder in the Three Heroes Sect, you won't live long either.

Li Banfeng asked, "If you are able to advance to a higher level in your cultivation, you won't have to be a common soldier anymore, right?"

Chubby Qin nodded. "Once I reach the first level, I can become an Iron Seal in the Three Heroes Sect."

"What's an Iron Seal?"

"It means becoming a small leader. I would get an iron stamp, command five or six subordinates, and have the authority to manage some minor affairs on the streets."

As Chubby Qin spoke, his face was full of longing.

Li Banfeng asked, "You've been wanting to join the Three Heroes Sect for some time, haven't you?"

Chubby Qin first shook his head, then gave a nod. "I did think about joining a gang, but I didn't want to be a lackey. I thought I should at least reach the first level of cultivation and join a gang as an Iron Seal. This way, it would at least not be embarrassing."

"Then wait a bit longer. Let's talk about it when you can eat twenty jin of food."

"I tried once," Chubby Qin said, shaking his head. "I bought twenty jin of steamed buns to test myself. But after thirteen jin, I just couldn't eat any more. I'm really not cut out for it."

Li Banfeng shook his head. "That's twenty jin of buns! How can anyone swallow that much buns! Once we reach Inner Gully, eat something good. Eat twenty jin of the best food!"

Chubby Qin just smiled without replying.

Finally, the two of them made it out of Mount Jiangyue.

After Li Banfeng located a carriage, both of them continued their travel for a day and a night before they finally reached Inner Gully.

Chubby Qin wanted to head straight for the Three Heroes Sect's hall and asked if Li Banfeng would come along. "Big Bro Qi, I can see you've already reached a level. I know some people in the sect. If you join, you'll definitely be able to get an Iron Seal."

"If you have connections, then take care of yourself first. Even if you start out as a common soldier, try to get a decent assignment."

After dropping Chubby Qin off at the sect hall, Li Banfeng headed to Feng's General Store.

With flushed cheeks, Shopkeeper Feng sat at the counter and sang in a high-pitched, drawn-out opera voice, "Xiliang Plaaain... forty-eight staaations... I'll take no paay... to serve the aaaarmy!"

This was a line from

Wu Family Slope

, a Chinese opera that his little wifey loved to sing and that Li Banfeng often listened to.

Li Banfeng was about to join in when the clerk Chun Sheng spotted him. The terrified clerk trembled and shouted, "Shopkeeper, the debt collector is here!"

Shopkeeper Feng was no stranger to big commotions. When he saw Li Banfeng appear in front of the door, he told Chun Sheng to shut the shop and then invited Li Banfeng into the back room.

Once they were seated in the back room, Shopkeeper Feng served Li Banfeng tea and said, "Trader Li, I know why you're here, and I admit I feel some guilt over it. However, friendship is friendship, and business is business. Once a deal is made, there's no going back. If you feel wronged, I can try to make it up to you, but you absolutely cannot return the item."

Li Banfeng took a sip of tea and asked in surprise, "Return what?"

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Shopkeeper Feng tossed a piece of charcoal into the tea stove. "Trader Li, an honest man shouldn't play tricks. Since you've come, there's no need to speak in riddles. You already purchased that gramophone. No matter what you say, it cannot be returned."

"Who said anything about returning it?" Li Banfeng looked at him in puzzlement. "The gramophone works fine. There's nothing wrong with it. Why would I return it?"

"Fine..."

For a long moment, Shopkeeper Feng sat frozen, as if his tongue had forgotten how to move.

From the moment that gramophone entered his store, his life had been nothing but chaos and commotion. He suspected Li Banfeng was mocking him, or that the gramophone had already driven him mad.

"Trader Li, are we even talking about the same gramophone?"

Li Banfeng blinked. "I only have one gramophone."

"Trader Li, are you aware that even without winding or touching it, the gramophone can begin playing songs entirely on its own."

"Of course I do. Isn't a gramophone meant for singing?" Li Banfeng thought it was perfectly normal.

Shopkeeper Feng stared at him. "When it's in a good mood, it sings a few songs. When it's unhappy, it can sing all night. And you can't stop it. If you try, it spews steam hot enough to scald a person half to death. You know this, don't you?"

Li Banfeng paused to think. "I never really paid attention to this. If she wants to sing, let her sing. Why would you stop her?"

Has he truly gone mad? Shopkeeper Feng stared at Li Banfeng in shock, feeling that it was impossible to reason with this man.

"Trader Li, I'll be honest with you. You may not know this, but that gramophone can summon the wandering souls nearby." Since the deal could not be undone, Shopkeeper Feng decided to tell Li Banfeng everything he had experienced with this gramophone.

He went on, "Every night, an old woman who had passed away in String-Bead Alley would come to the store to listen. She always sat right beside me.

"There was an old yellow dog that died in Elm-Coin Alley just two days ago, yet the gramophone summoned it too. Every night it lay by my bedside, listening to its songs.

"They even say that my own father, who has been dead for many years, returned twice. He brewed a pot of tea and smoked his long pipe while listening.

"Miss Xiao Xuan, a girl from the Green Flute House who drowned herself for love, would also come with her pipa and play along with the gramophone. And Third Brother Hu, who died with her, would enjoy holding a cigarette between his lips and embracing Chun Sheng while he listened.

"When I saw my shop packed with wandering ghosts every night, I asked myself how life could possibly go on like this.

"At last, I hardened my heart and told Chun Sheng to throw the gramophone away.

"But that very night, at the eleventh hour, it came back on its own. First it scalded the two of us until we were covered in blisters, then it went on singing as if nothing had happened.

"I had no choice. I shut the store, took Chun Sheng with me, and moved back to my old home in Outer Gully.

"However, moving back was useless. The gramophone followed us back to our old home.

"And so, I rented another place, hoping to hide from this unlucky disaster. But that very night, the gramophone followed me to my new house. It sang all night long and warned me that it would follow wherever I went. It even said that if I dared to slip away again without saying goodbye, it would make sure Chun Sheng and I were thoroughly steamed.

"The gramophone even told me she preferred the old store. I didn't dare disobey, so the very next day I moved back with my clerk. Since I couldn't escape her, I decided I might as well give her away.

"I negotiated with the gramophone, saying I was a businessman and that if someone wanted to buy her, I could not refuse. The gramophone agreed, and the next day I set the price at twenty silver dollars and sold her. However, she came back that night, scalded me with blisters all over, and said I had sold her too cheaply."

"The gramophone told me to set the price at no less than two hundred thousand, with some room for bargaining. I dragged it out until I met you, and only then did I finally manage to sell it."

Shopkeeper Feng felt truly sorry toward Li Banfeng, but when Li Banfeng returned and remarked that the gramophone was a fine one, he was greatly surprised.

After telling everything, he added, "Trader Li, this gramophone doesn't just summon wandering souls. It can devour them as well. Did you know that?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "That's exactly what I like about her. She knows how to live and never lets anything go to waste!"

Shopkeeper Feng, seeing how far gone Li Banfeng was, felt a surge of guilt. He told Chun Sheng to bring out two hundred and sixty thousand in cash. "Trader Li, take back your hundred and sixty thousand. I won't take it. I'll even give you another hundred thousand as a token of goodwill. Will that do?"

Li Banfeng waved his hands repeatedly. "What are you doing? I genuinely like that gramophone. I didn't come here to return it. I came to buy something else."

Shopkeeper Feng froze for a moment before asking, "Trader Li, what is it you want to buy?"

"I want information. Information about the gramophone. I want to know who the person inside it really is."

1. It turns out that his real name is Qin Tianjiu ☜