Zhang Liuzi laughed out loud. "Brother, it’s a success! I too got much fatter back in the day!"
Everyone celebrated together. Only then did Zhang Liuzi remember the stranger who had saved Little Fatty just a while ago.
Zhang Liuzi approached Li Banfeng and asked in a lower voice, "Friend, what method did you just use?"
"Ancestral medical techniques, not convenient to disclose," Li Banfeng smiled, then quickly changed the subject. "Brother Liu, what’s the story behind that Stomach Cleansing Powder? I’d like a dose too, to regulate my stomach."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liuzi couldn’t help but laugh. "Friend, I won’t lie to you. I bought that Stomach Cleansing Powder at a roadside Medicine Shop; it really isn’t anything special. I just gave it to Little Fatty to bolster his courage."
The drinking lasted until the wee hours of the morning before the gathering dispersed. Li Banfeng had left early. No one noticed when he arrived, and no one knew when he left.
This was the strength of a Second Layer Home Cultivator. Most of the people present had insufficient cultivation levels and had overlooked Li Banfeng’s presence. However, one person had not.
Li Banfeng walked down the alley, intending to find a quiet place to activate his Portable Residence, when he suddenly sensed danger approaching.
He abruptly turned around and saw a man slowly walking into the entrance of the alley.
The man was around fifty years old, dressed in a long gown and a flat-topped round hat, carrying a teapot, and walking towards Li Banfeng with a grin.
"Qin Tianjiu calls you Brother Seven, and the assistants at the Yu Family Cloth Store have also mentioned a Seventh Master. You must be that Li Qi, right?"
Li Banfeng didn’t answer, instead asking, "Shopkeeper Zhong, do you have any instructions?"
The newcomer was none other than Zhong Desong: shopkeeper of the Qingtang Teahouse, Sage of the Second Helmsman of the Jiang Xiang Gang’s Medicine King Hall, and a Second Layer Bitter Cultivator.
Zhong Desong, holding the teapot, looked at Li Banfeng and said with a slight smile, "Instructions is hardly the word. I simply wish to invite Seventh Master for a cup of tea. Would Seventh Master prefer to visit my teahouse, or shall we have a cup right here?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "It’s too late for tea. I’m afraid it will keep me from sleeping. Thank you for your kind offer."
Zhong Desong kept the teapot resting in his palm, gently stroking its lid and spout. The previously still water inside slowly began to boil.
"Seventh Master, you are ruthless," he said. "You burned down the Geng Family Medicine Shop, yet now that you’re here with me, you don’t even dare to drink a cup of tea?"
Li Banfeng, his hands in his pockets, confirmed the position of each of his weapons. "Shopkeeper Zhong, I don’t know where you heard that. I have little to do with the Geng Family, and their Medicine Shop burning down has nothing to do with me."
Zhong Desong sneered. "A true man stands tall and upright. If you dared to do it, why not admit it? Geng Zhiwei deserved to die, and I don’t plan to inquire about that.
"As for the Xianle Dance Hall, that’s our Gang’s property. I suspect you were behind that as well, but since the Gang forbids inquiry, I won’t ask.
"But there is one thing I must ask you: Old Lady Han from Changliu Village and her two sons—was their murder your doing?"
"You’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’ve never been to Changliu Village. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going." Li Banfeng turned to leave.
Zhong Desong flicked the teapot, and its contents spilled onto the ground. Instantly, scalding water erupted from beneath the earth.
Li Banfeng leaped onto the wall to avoid the hot water at his feet.
He intended to jump into the courtyard of a nearby house to escape Zhong Desong.
But Li Banfeng couldn’t get through. An invisible wall blocked the courtyard, sealed the alley entrance, and even covered the sky, turning the entire alley into a confined space.
The hot water continued to gush, its level rising rapidly. The temperature far exceeded that of boiling water, even surpassing that of molten iron.
Li Banfeng stood atop the wall, his back pressed against the invisible barrier, in danger of falling into the hot water at any moment.
He strained his ears, faintly hearing an old voice speaking.
"Come now, warm yourselves by me! Both of you, come up here!"
It was Zhong Desong’s teapot. It was speaking.
The hot water wasn’t from Zhong Desong’s Spell, but from this teapot. Li Banfeng recognized the teapot’s Spiritual Sound; it was a Magical Treasure.
However, the Magical Treasure seemed to have a flaw. Li Banfeng noticed Zhong Desong had also leaped onto the wall, his back against the invisible barrier, likewise avoiding the hot water below.
The teapot attacked indiscriminately; the hot water and the invisible walls affected both Li Banfeng and Zhong Desong equally.
But the effects of the attack were vastly different on each of them.
Blistering steam churned within the confined space, and Li Banfeng began to sweat.
Zhong Desong, however, did not sweat. He remained composed, able to endure pain most people couldn’t even imagine.
This was a Magical Treasure specifically crafted for Bitter Cultivation.
This Magical Treasure could create harsh environments, greatly affecting cultivators of other Taoist Sects but having minimal impact on practitioners of Bitter Cultivation.
Li Banfeng raised an eyebrow. "Shopkeeper Zhong, what’s the point of this? Are you trying to take us both down?"
Zhong Desong shook his head and smiled. "We won’t perish together. I can endure this suffering, but you can’t. You’re a Home Cultivator, aren’t you?"
Li Banfeng’s heart tightened.
Zhong Desong caressed the teapot in his hand, chuckling softly. "Old Lady Han had a treasure in her house—that grandfather clock. Others might not see it as a treasure, but I understand the mystery within. Actually, it was Old Lady Han’s House Spirit,"