Exploiting the phonograph’s guilt, Li Banfeng had his way with her. After spending the night, Li Banfeng went to the Orange Orchard again the next morning.
Li Banfeng wandered around the Orange Orchard for half the day and still had no harvest by noon.
Feeling hungry and not wanting to eat canned food, he simply climbed a tree, plucked two oranges, and ate them under the tree.
Fifty-centimeter oranges were bigger than grapefruits, yet their skins were soft and thin.
Peeling back the orange skin, the plump, large segments released a unique fragrance. Li Banfeng, with his sensitive sense of smell, couldn’t resist. He picked up a segment and bit into it.
The sweet and slightly tart juice rushed into his mouth; the nine parts sweetness and one part tartness stimulated every taste bud.
The initially refreshing fragrance wafted from his throat to his nasal cavity with each swallow. After that first bite, Li Banfeng just couldn’t stop.
In the Outside Provinces, he was a poor man who had never eaten much good food in his life.
But in Blue Poplar Village, he lived a life of abundance. He had tasted a few delicacies, yet none compared to this orange.
Not the greasy fat from animals, but semi-congealed fat mixed in with the orange juice.
The fat flowed with the juice in his mouth. His tongue could capture the delicate texture, yet the juice didn’t wish to linger too long. It slipped down his throat with the Coagulated Cream, settling into his stomach.
Li Banfeng picked up another segment and slurped it down.
Two large oranges disappeared in the blink of an eye, filling Li Banfeng’s stomach until it was round and taut.
He collected the orange peels.
He didn’t particularly want the orange peels. He really wasn’t short of money. Besides, the peel was very thin; the skins of two oranges combined didn’t even weigh a pound.
But Li Banfeng remembered the old hunter’s advice: to avoid wasting anything in the Orange Orchard.
Such good oranges indeed shouldn’t go to waste. Li Banfeng even carefully buried the orange seeds in the soil.
Smelling the fragrance of the oranges from the tree, Li Banfeng’s appetite was provoked again.
He was struggling intensely with his thoughts when he suddenly caught a whiff of smoke mingled with the orange fragrance.
「...」
In the east of the Orange Garden, an old man of Huajia was tied to an orange tree, with two young men waving torches in front of him.
"You tell me, you old thing, already becoming coffin timber, what mess are you trying to create here?"
Grinding his teeth, the old man said, "With what you are doing, aren’t you afraid of retribution?"
"What are we doing? We haven’t cut down any trees, nor have we wasted any oranges. What rule did we break?"
Li Banfeng was curious too, standing behind the two young men, listening quietly.
The old man gritted his teeth and said, "You burned the trees; all those trees are dead now because of you!"
A young man bared his teeth and laughed, "What does us burning trees have to do with you? Or how about we don’t burn the trees and burn you instead?"
Another young man laughed and waved a torch in the old man’s face again.
Li Banfeng asked, "Why are you burning the trees?"
The two young men were startled, only then noticing someone behind them.
One of the youths drew a Short Knife and shouted, "Who are you?"
Li Banfeng frowned and said, "I asked first. Why are you burning the trees?"
Without further ado, the two young men charged at Li Banfeng with their Short Knives, one from the left and the other from the right.
They were quite in sync; it was clear they had coordinated for some time.
Their use of the Short Knives was extremely proficient; they were probably Martial Cultivators, between the First and Second Layer of cultivation level.
It wasn’t easy for these two to make it to the Orange Garden; they must have asked for a strategy in advance.
But how did they get past the Iron Thread River? This made Li Banfeng somewhat curious.
Li Banfeng stepped to the left, swung his Sickle, and chopped at one man’s neck. Then, he quickly stepped to the right, reaching the other youth, and hooked his Sickle into his chest.
"Don’t move, or I’ll gouge out your heart!"
The blade was almost touching his heart, and the young man stood completely still.
Li Banfeng said with an impassive face, "I’ll ask you one more time, why are you burning the trees?"
The young man gasped with difficulty, "We’re here to capture elephant beetles. They’re in the tree trunks and hard to catch. Burning the trees forces them out."
Li Banfeng looked around. More than a dozen orange trees were scorched black. The old man, with tears in his eyes, said, "They’ve ruined all these trees."
The oranges were still on the trees, and Li Banfeng could still smell their fragrance.
Such fine orange trees, dead just like that.
Li Banfeng looked at the young man and furrowed his brow. "Such fine oranges, and you’re ruining them like this?"
"We’re after the elephant beetles! These bugs are too slippery. We brothers can only catch thirty or fifty in a day, but if we burn the trees, we can catch over a hundred! We’ve come all this way, through so much hardship, just wanting to catch more to take back, so it’s worth the effort!"
Li Banfeng said, "If it’s too slow, just catch them over a few more days. There are oranges to eat here anyway. The way you’re ruining them, this Orange Orchard will be wiped out in a few days."
Enduring the pain, the youth clenched his teeth and said, "Friend, be more broad-minded and don’t push things to a dead end. You don’t even know which faction I’m with. I’m from Blue Poplar Village. Fifth Young Master Ma Family is my Store Manager. Do you dare lay a hand on me? Have you considered the consequences?"
"You’re from Blue Poplar Village?" Li Banfeng looked surprised. "So that’s it. Turns out we’re all brothers here. Come on, let’s go somewhere else to talk."
The one whose neck had been cut wasn’t completely dead yet. Li Banfeng took him along as well. They went to a distant spot, ensuring they were out of the old man’s sight, and he threw them both into the Portable Residence.
This time, his wife didn’t hold back; she started eating before Li Banfeng even closed the door.
Returning to the old man’s side, Li Banfeng untied the ropes.
The old man stood up, stretched his limbs, and asked, "What about those two young men?"
Li Banfeng said, "They’ve gone home. I told them to reflect carefully on their actions. They’ve promised they won’t do it again."
The old man sighed, seemingly understanding Li Banfeng’s meaning. He walked to the burned orange trees and touched their charred bark.
"Those beasts, what a sin! Did you also come from Beggar Bay?"
"I come from Greenwater Bay."
Upon hearing this, the old man smiled. "Greenwater Bay is what you call it. When I was young, it was called Beggar Bay, and it was full of beggars."
"Sir, you must be mistaken about the place?" Li Banfeng blinked. "Greenwater Bay is full of wealthy people."
Caressing the tree bark gently, as if recalling past events, the old man said, "When I was young, there was a beggar in Beggar Bay. He caught some strange disease from somewhere and developed sores oozing with pus. It started with white pus, then red, and eventually, the pus turned green.
"At that time, besides beggars, the rest of the people in Beggar Bay were also poor. They were lucky to have a full meal and definitely couldn’t afford treatment if they fell ill.
"The beggar’s disease was terrifying. His body was covered in green pus. Nobody dared to get close to him. No one would feed him. Even if he tried to pick up some garbage from the gutter to eat, people threw stones at him.
"Even in such dire straits, he didn’t die. He kept on living, neither human nor ghost."
Li Banfeng had seen this man.
That person’s voice echoed in his ears again: "Have pity on me, please."
"Young man, what are you thinking about?"
Startled, Li Banfeng replied, "He’s still alive? Then he’s quite resilient."
"Resilient! Indeed resilient! Because his cultivation level was high."
"What Taoist Sect was he from, and what was his cultivation level?"
"His Taoist Sect was self-founded; others couldn’t say for sure. As for how many layers his cultivation reached, no one knows either. It’s a pity he fell ill and couldn’t use any of his abilities.
"One day, amidst heavy snowfall, he was starving and begging in the streets; not a single person would feed him.
"He starved to death. On the day he died, many people in Beggar Bay caught peculiar diseases. They first came down with rashes. Once the rashes broke, they turned into sores. These sores initially leaked white pus, and after some days, it turned green.
"After the green pus flowed for a few days, those who were sick also died. The people around them also began to develop rashes and soon started leaking green pus.
"People died one after another; almost everyone in Beggar Bay was gone. From then on, Beggar Bay became Greenwater Bay."
The more he listened, the more frightened Li Banfeng became. He carefully observed the old man in front of him and tentatively asked, "When did this happen?"
The old man shook his head. "Many years ago. Exactly how many years, I don’t remember anymore."
"Have you been to Beggar Bay?"
The old man chuckled. "How can you say ’been there’? I *am* from Beggar Bay. I fled to this New Land to escape that great disaster."
This was something Li Banfeng had never heard anyone mention.
"Old man, have you always lived in this Orange Orchard? Have you never gone back to Greenwater Bay?" Li Banfeng activated his Golden Gaze Autumn Hair; he wanted to know if this old man was human or a ghost.
There was no Ghost Fire on the old man; he should be human.
The old man nodded. "I dare not go back. Although that beggar has died, I heard his soul still lingers. Every so often, he comes out with his Begging Bowl to seek alms.
"If three people give him alms, the matter is considered closed. If not, he will bring down a calamity—the very same calamity as when he was on the verge of death."
Li Banfeng’s scalp tingled. He had given that beggar some steamed buns, which should count as giving alms.
Xiao Chuanzi had given the beggar two eggs, which also counted as giving alms.
As his thoughts raced, the old man suddenly asked, "Young fellow, did you just bury seeds in the soil?"
Li Banfeng was startled but did not lie. He answered truthfully, "Yes."
The old man nodded and then inquired, "Why have you come to the Orange Orchard? Are you after orange peels, Orange Maggots, or something else?"
Li Banfeng replied, "I came to eat oranges."
The old man shook his head with a smile. "Young man, be honest. In front of me, you must tell the truth."
Li Banfeng answered truthfully, "If I come here again, it will definitely be to eat oranges, because the oranges here are truly delicious."
The old man nodded; he believed Li Banfeng. "Then why did you come this time?"
"This time, I came looking for Blue Leaf Poplar."
"What do you need Blue Leaf Poplar for? To forge weapons?"
"Not exactly. I want Blue Leaf Poplar for Alchemy." Li Banfeng decided to tell the truth, feeling that any lie would be seen through by this old man.
After a long pause for thought, the old man said, "You want to use Blue Leaf Poplar to counteract Pill’s Poison, right?"
Li Banfeng nodded.
The old man sighed. "You might as well give up on that idea. It’s true that the toxicity of Blue Leaf Poplar can counteract Pill’s Poison. However, over the years, no one has successfully refined it into medicine, not even the Medicine King from Medicine King Valley.
"You seem like a decent young man; please don’t gamble your life on this. The moment Blue Leaf Poplar enters your system, your death is certain."
PS: I think, in such cases, one should still listen to the Copper Lotus Flower.