Nectarine went into the specifics of the checkpoint. "There's only one border checkpoint within fifty kilometers, but it isn't fixed."

Li Banfeng still didn't get it. "If there's only one checkpoint, why isn't it fixed in one place?"

Nectarine patiently explained, "That's the rule set by the Border Controller. The checkpoint changes location every day. Anyone who wants to cross brings a travel permit to the patrol office in the morning, and they cross through the checkpoint together at noon. They say it's to make it impossible for anyone to make preparations to pass through the checkpoint illegally."

It truly was hard to make preparations for a checkpoint with no fixed location. That meant Li Banfeng found no chance to set things up in advance.

After thinking for a moment, Li Banfeng asked, "Do you have a way to cross through the checkpoint?"

Nectarine blinked. "What do you mean? Just have your friend bring a travel permit. In two days, I'll take him to the patrol office, and he can go straight through."

Li Banfeng raised his brows. "And what if he doesn't have a travel permit? How can he cross through?"

"No permit means you'd be passing the border illegally, doesn't it? What's your friend's background?" Nectarine said as she stepped closer and teasingly hooked a finger under Li Banfeng's chin.

Cough, cough, cough!

A woman's coughing drifted down from upstairs again.

Nectarine called out to the woman upstairs, "I told you. He's my friend."

The coughing stopped. Nectarine looked at Li Banfeng and said, "Crossing the border without a travel permit is very difficult to do. Unless your friend's cultivation level is absurdly high, he shouldn't even think about crossing without a permit."

"It depends on the cultivation level?" Li Banfeng had thought the man riding the celestial crane had a very high cultivation level, yet he hadn't been able to cross the border either.

Nectarine nodded. "Yes, it does. Without a travel permit, there are only two ways to cross the border.

"First, impersonation. If someone has a travel permit, you can pay a high price for it and pretend to be that person to pass through the checkpoint."

Li Banfeng nodded. "That sounds like a good idea. And how much does a travel permit cost?"

"I can't say. I've never done it before. I only heard someone once succeeded because they happened to share the same exact name."

Li Banfeng didn't understand. "Why must it be the same exact name?"

Nectarine explained, "The Border Controller has a Moralism Cultivator's enchanted artifact. He will ask your name, and when you stand before that enchanted artifact, you have to tell the truth. Otherwise, you will die on the spot. That means that your name has to match the permit holder's exactly, or your cultivation level has to surpass the artifact's level."

The exact same name?

That seems like something that could be discovered serendipitously but not sought.

It was probably better to target that artifact. After all, Li Banfeng was already a level-two Homebound Cultivator.

"What level is that enchanted artifact?"

Nectarine replied, "I heard it's level eight. As long as your cultivation level is higher than level eight, and you can suppress that enchanted artifact for a short time without showing even the slightest flaw, you can pass through the checkpoint safely."

Li Banfeng nodded. "Then tell me about the other way."

Level eight?

How many level-eight cultivators were there in Puluo?

And you have to be higher than level eight!

That means level nine or ten.

Li Banfeng had never even heard of people like that.

Nectarine said, "The other path is called the Peddler Road. They say the peddlers who travel between regions use that route."

Li Banfeng's eyes lit up. "Where is the Peddler Road?"

"Over one hundred kilometers to the west."

"A bit far, but that's fine."

For Li Banfeng, one hundred kilometers was a distance he could cover in just over three hours.

Nectarine sighed. "The distance isn't the problem. The Peddler Road is just a legend. I may not have experienced a lot, but I

have

lived for twenty-six years here, and I've never heard of anyone who found it, let alone anyone who managed to use it to get out of Medicine King Gully alive.

"They say to find the Peddler Road, you must have great skill and luck. There are countless demons, ghosts, and ferocious beasts on that road. The Peddler Road is a hundred times more dangerous than the New Lands. If your friend isn't that powerful, then he shouldn't even think about it."

With both paths closed to him, Li Banfeng's expression turned a little grim.

Having given all the advice she could give, Nectarine cautiously asked, "Why must you leave Medicine King Gully?"

There was no point pretending anymore;everyone understood what Li Bafeng meant by "a friend."

Li Banfeng didn't beat around the bush. "To avoid an enemy."

The answer was simple, but Nectarine could tell how serious the situation was.

She said, "Just hide here at my place for now. I doubt your enemy will come to such a remote place."

Li Banfeng hesitated for a long while before shaking his head. "He hasn't come yet, but he will eventually. I can't hide here. Take me to see the patrol office."

Nectarine shook her head. "It's useless. You can't find any loophole there. The checkpoint won't open today or tomorrow. You'll have to wait until the day after."

Li Banfeng glanced at the illustrated calendar. It was Saturday.

After all, the Border Controller was from the Outer Provinces and kept the habit of taking weekends off.

Nectarine went around the village and bought a bunch of ingredients. Then she fired up the stove in front of her bamboo house and cooked a hearty meal for Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng took out his salted fish and wine. After several days of canned food, this meal was immensely satisfying.

Li Banfeng glanced upstairs. "Your partner isn't coming down to eat?"

Nectarine shook her head. "She's afraid of strangers. You don't need to worry about her."

After they finished eating, Nectarine found a hammock for Li Banfeng to sleep in on the first floor.

When Nectarine went upstairs, Li Banfeng heard raised voices. Nectarine's partner was clearly upset.

"He's my friend! We didn't even do anything. What are you so mad about?" Nectarine scolded her partner.

Her partner said nothing;she just kept sobbing.

Li Banfeng did not sleep inside the bamboo house. He went into the fields beside it and entered the Pocket Dwelling.

He had just lain down on his bed when the Gramophone suddenly crackled to life. "Oh, dear husband, why do you smell like cosmetics? Which slut have you been meeting in secret?"

Li Banfeng stroked the Gramophone's front cabinet. "She's not a slut;she's a good person."

"And what makes her a good person?"

"She can help me leave Medicine King Gully."

"Leave Medicine King Gully? Where do you plan to go, dear husband?"

"Greenwater Bay!"

Clanggg~

"Greenwater Bay! What a brilliant plan, dear husband!"

Li Banfeng's eyes lit up. "So, even you think this plan is good, dear wife?"

Hiss, hiss.

"I don't understand strategy. But whether you're a chicken or a dog, I'll follow you all the same. Whatever plan you have, I'll think it's good."

According to Li Banfeng's plan, he would go to the patrol office early the day after tomorrow to see who would be crossing the border.

Once he found someone suitable, Li Banfeng would immediately enter the Pocket Dwelling and find a way to slip his house key into that person's clothes.

His actions had to be discreet, steady, and precise.

As long as that person crossed the border successfully, Li Banfeng would leave with them.

It wasn't the same situation as if he were to take the train.

Li Banfeng didn't need to worry too much about timing.

If he came out too early, he would only startle the person a bit. There wouldn't be any terrifying attendants or the problem of being stuck on the train and having nowhere to run.

At dawn the next day, Nectarine went downstairs, but she did not see Li Banfeng.

Where did he go?

Did he hear us arguing last night and leave because he was unhappy?

He left without even saying goodbye?

By noon, there was still no sign of Li Banfeng. Nectarine grew very anxious. Then she heard footsteps outside. She thought Li Banfeng had returned, but when she opened the door, she found herself standing before patrol captain Wu Jinming instead.

Nectarine quickly hid her disappointment and put on a bright smile. "Officer Wu? Are you here for me?"

Wu Jinming, however, did not smile. He was there on important business. "The man who came to see you yesterday—your sworn brother. Where is he?"

Nectarine laughed. "I'm looking for him too! That heartless man, I fed him well last night, and this morning he disappeared without a trace."

"What's his name?"

"His surname is Bai. His full name's Bai Sha[1]." Nectarine didn't hide the name from Wu Jinming. Regardless of whether the name was real, she couldn't just make one up. If Wu Jinming were to run into Li Banfeng later, their stories wouldn't match.

"His surname is Bai?" Wu Jinming looked unconvinced. He pulled out a photo from an envelope and handed it to Nectarine. "Is this him?"

Nectarine took a look at the photo.

It was a photo of Li Banfeng from his university days.

At first glance, it didn't look much like him.

In the photo, Li Banfeng had a buzz cut and wore sportswear, and he still had a youthful, boyish face.

He looked completely different from how he looked when Nectarine last saw him. Li Banfeng hadn't cut his hair in a long time, and he now had a habit of wearing suits, so he looked much sterner and more mature.

Yet, if someone were to look closely at the photo, they would still be able to recognize the parts of Li Banfeng's face that were unique to him.

Feigning ignorance, Nectarine said, "Judging by his clothes, I assume he's from the Outer Provinces?"

"It doesn't matter where he's from. Is this man your sworn brother or not?"

Nectarine shook her head. "No, it's not him. This guy doesn't look like him at all. Bai Sha has a square face, and this young man has a long one. Bai Sha's thirty-five or thirty-six, but this fellow's probably barely twenty, right?

"Bai Sha has tanned skin and small eyes, while this guy's got fair skin and big eyes. How could they possibly be the same person? They look nothing like each other."

Could there really be such a big difference between Li Banfeng in the photo and in person?

There really was, and it was thanks to Nectarine's way with words.

Li Banfeng did indeed have a long face. Back in school, his buzz cut had made it look even longer.

However, when he appeared in Pricklebamboo Village yesterday, he had worn a fedora, which had made his face look much shorter.

Under the shadow of the fedora, Li Banfeng's skin had appeared darker and his eyes smaller, so everything Nectarine said was actually true.

Furthermore, Li Banfeng had stuck on a mustache, so he looked significantly older. He really did seem like a totally different person compared to that photo of him.

Under her subtle suggestion, Wu Jinming also began to feel that the man he had seen yesterday didn't quite resemble Li Banfeng.

Yet, he still couldn't let this lead go. He changed the topic. "What line of work is your sworn brother in?"

Nectarine shook her head. "I don't know. It's just a casual relationship. We meet for pleasure, nothing more. I don't bother asking too many questions."

Wu Jinming kept his eyes fixed on Nectarine.

Her gaze remained calm and steady;she didn't try to avoid him in the slightest.

Wu Jinming frowned. "You Xuetao, almost every cultivator in Pricklebamboo Village has visited the patrol office at some point, but I've never made things hard for you. Don't give me a reason to. If that sworn brother of yours comes back, report to me at once."

There was a flicker of fear in Nectarine's eyes. She shook her head repeatedly. "I wouldn't dare let him come back now. Hearing you say that really frightens me. Officer Wu, what exactly did he do?"

Wu Jinming said, "The man we're looking for is named Li Banfeng. There's already a notice posted at the village entrance. You can go take a look when you have time. I don't know whether your sworn brother is Li Banfeng, but Li Banfeng has offended the Lu Family. They're searching all over Medicine King Gully for him, and he's likely trying to cross the border illegally. I'll say this again. If you hear anything about him, you'd better report it to me immediately. Otherwise, you'll be treated as his accomplice!"

1. We translated this as “White Sand” previously, but it’s being used as a proper name here, not just an obvious alias. ☜