The Pill’s Poison was neutralized by the Blue Leaf Pill, and Li Banfeng entered the Portable Residence to rest for the night, planning to enter the cave the following day.
It was cold outside, but upon entering the house, Li Banfeng took a sip of wine and suddenly felt the room was much warmer than usual.
"Hey you, madman! Kissing another woman right in front of me, how am I supposed to live with this?"
His wife awoke, and Li Banfeng hurriedly explained, "I wasn’t kissing, I was just taking a sip of wine."
"I saw it with my own eyes, and you still won’t admit it!"
The Wine Gourd spoke up, "Girl, the Gourd only has one mouth. I just fed him a sip of wine; you’re overthinking this."
"Girl? Who’s your girl? After you’ve taken my man, I’m supposed to call you sister, is that it?"
"This lass has quite the temper, eh? What’s the matter? Want to see who’s tougher?" The Wine Gourd’s temper also flared.
"Hmph, so now I’m a ’lass’? I suppose tomorrow I’ll have to call you ’Lady’!"
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The percussion instruments grew louder, and then the Tang Sword chimed in, "We see the newcomer smile, but who hears the old one weep? Times have changed, times have changed! This matter must be settled clearly!"
Li Banfeng kicked the Tang Sword away and, seeing the situation deteriorating, decided to take temporary refuge in the outer chamber.
In the outer chamber, the Copper Lotus Flower was still engaged in Alchemy, surrounded by Light Haloes, layer upon layer.
The Elixir was taking a long time to emerge from the cauldron this time. Not only was Pan Dehai’s flesh and blood slow to process, but Lin Li’s corpse had yet to emerge as well.
A clattering noise came from outside the door, and five minutes later, laughter followed.
"HWA HA HA!"
Li Banfeng turned pale with shock, pushed open the room door, and was greeted by an overwhelming aroma of wine.
HIC~ GLUG GLUG~
His wife let out a wine-scented burp and sang, "Good sister, today we can say we’ve become friends through this little tiff!"
The Wine Gourd responded, "Senior, I spoke out of turn just now and offended you. With my status, how could I presume to call you sister?"
"Let’s not fuss over such things. And don’t call me Senior; it makes one sound old. From now on, we’re sisters!"
It was quite simple. The Wine Gourd hadn’t intended to fight the Phonograph. During their maneuvering, she had sprayed a cloud of wine mist, sending half a Gourd of wine into the Phonograph’s water tank. His wife drank the wine, her mood improved, and the two became sworn sisters.
PHEW!
His wife took a big gulp from the water tank and sighed, "Wine without snacks is always missing something."
Li Banfeng quickly said, "I’ll go buy groceries tomorrow."
Still unsatisfied, his wife replied, "Buying groceries tomorrow? Does that mean we drink on an empty stomach tonight?"
Li Banfeng was grumbling internally when he noticed the percussion instruments starting up again, their rhythm growing more intense.
DA DA DA~ YAH!
The tension was peaking when the Wine Gourd spoke up, diverting the topic, "Sister, what did you mean by ’buying groceries’ just now?"
"Catching people to eat!" the Phonograph’s reply was anything but euphemistic.
The Wine Gourd wasn’t surprised. "Sister, you can’t blame our little brother for that. The day before yesterday, he did indeed capture someone. Unfortunately, you weren’t awake then, so he handed them over to the Second Lady."
"Second Lady? You mean you gave it to that cheap wench, Red Lotus? Hey, Husband~ are you saying the one you captured was dead?"
The Wine Gourd said, "Indeed, dead. Dead before even entering the door."
PFFT!
The Phonograph snorted coldly, "I don’t eat dead things. What’s appealing about such filthy stuff?"
"Sister, the Second Lady is certainly enjoying it. It’s been two days, and she still hasn’t finished."
"Not finished after two days?" PFFT, PFFT~ The Phonograph exhaled two puffs of Steam. "Hey, Husband, what delicacy did you catch for that cheap wench, Red Lotus?"
"It wasn’t anything special," Li Banfeng said with a simple smile, "just Lin Li from Bloody Fang Mountain."
"Lin Li? One of the Lin Li Blood Fang Monsters?" The Phonograph’s knowledge was indeed extensive.
Sanpan River New Land was rarely visited by humans, and Bloody Fang Mountain wasn’t a well-known place. Lin Li wasn’t even a high-level Strange Monster, yet the Phonograph recognized such a creature.
"Wife, that really isn’t anything special. Blood Fang Monsters only have Fifth Layer Cultivation, and Lin Li might even be inferior to a Blood Fang Monster."
"Hey~ Husband!" The Phonograph sang with indignation, "You’re being foolish! The Lin Li Blood Fang Monster is a unique species in New Land. Such creatures can’t be measured by their layer! They are truly fine ingredients. That cheap wench, Red Lotus, got lucky!"
Li Banfeng didn’t understand. "Why can’t it be measured by its layer?"
"Within New Land, Strange Monsters are divided into three types. The first type consists of creatures from Puluo State that accidentally entered New Land. After being eroded by New Land for years, they gained Taoist Fate and became Strange Monsters. This type possesses little Taoist Fate, and their cultivation is quite difficult.
The second type of Strange Monster are descendants of the first. Though born in New Land, their Souls are not. They possess more Taoist Fate in their bodies than the first type and have a more bizarre appearance. The Bagworm Moth is an example of this category.
The third type includes Strange Monsters native to New Land. Both their Souls and bodies are nourished there, leaving them filled with Taoist Fate. They are considered rare ingredients!"
Li Banfeng asked, "How much Taoist Fate does Lin Li have?"
The Phonograph made a comparison, "It’s like those bathed in Heavenly Light; just the thought of them is appetizing!"
Li Banfeng shivered and dropped the topic of Strange Monsters. "Wife, I’m going to sleep in the fourth room."
"What are you going to the fourth room for?"
"The smell of alcohol here is too strong; it’s choking me, and I can’t sleep."
"Go on, go on, don’t disturb us sisters drinking! Gourd Girl, your Gourd mouth is too small; you’ll suffer for it in the future."
"Suffer in what way? Sister, don’t scare me."
"I’m not scaring you. You don’t know how fierce our crazy fellow can be. When he’s in the mood for mischief, he truly is a despicable sort, deliberately targeting places where you can’t stand it..."
The fourth room was at the end of the outer chamber, the furthest from the main room. Li Banfeng entered it, laid down his bedding, crawled into the blankets, and slept.
「The next morning.」
Li Banfeng used the Green Vine to climb the rock wall and entered the cave.
The cave wasn’t wide, but it was well-ventilated. Li Banfeng sniffed carefully; there was no foul air inside.
After walking a few steps into the cave, the feeling of resistance underfoot returned, strikingly similar to the sensation Li Banfeng experienced walking through the Thorn Bushes.
It couldn’t just be called similar; it was even more intense than the feeling in the Thorn Bushes.
In the Thorn Bushes, Li Banfeng felt as though he was shackled; in this cave, he felt as if his feet were bound.
After walking a few dozen meters, Li Banfeng was gasping for air, sensing some change in his body, as if his cultivation for the day was complete.
A Traveling Cultivator of the Third Layer, in his understanding, should at least cover a hundred and fifty li in a day.
According to Elder Yao’s map markings, this cave stretched for over a hundred li, but now, just upon entering, he could hardly move.
Li Banfeng was fretting when he idly glanced towards the entrance. Something was stirring there. Because it was distant, it wasn’t very clear. It looked like it had a couple of antennae, many segments, and a lot of legs.
It was a Ma Lu!
This creature, also known as a Centipede, was enormous. Li Banfeng compared its size to the cave entrance; sprawling on the ground, it reached half the height of the opening. It was about a meter high, its length unknown.
Li Banfeng hurriedly rose, intending to run, but after taking two steps, he realized his pace was inadequate. His legs were too heavy; he simply couldn’t run fast.
His speed wasn’t great, but the Centipede’s was not slow.
SKITTER! SKITTER!
The creature, with its dense, blurred legs, crawled towards Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng drew his Sickle and Tang Sword and charged at the Centipede.
Seeing Li Banfeng approach, the Centipede immediately became defensive, raising part of its body and looking down at him.
Under normal circumstances, Li Banfeng wouldn’t really fear this insect, but the current situation was abnormal. His legs felt like they weighed a thousand jin, rendering him unable to stride forward, effectively losing a Traveling Cultivator’s greatest advantage.
The insect made the first move, waving its antennae toward Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng dodged with difficulty as an antenna hit the rock wall, shattering a Stone.
The Centipede raised its two antennae, ready to strike again.
In such grave danger, he couldn’t just sit and wait to die. Li Banfeng tried to jump, aiming to hook the insect’s head with his Sickle, then let his Tang Sword sweep across in an effort to chop off its head.
THUD!
Li Banfeng stomped on the ground but failed to jump.
The Tang Sword swept forward but, lacking Li Banfeng’s coordination, the strike was too obvious, and the creature’s antennae swatted it away.
The two antennae struck from both sides, aiming for Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng ducked to avoid them; the two antennae whipped through the air and swept back across the ground.
It realized Li Banfeng couldn’t jump and started attacking his lower body.
The two antennae crossed behind Li Banfeng, leaving him no room to retreat.
Li Banfeng gritted his teeth, his eyes bloodshot as he concentrated all his strength into his legs, desperate to jump.
His right leg lifted, but his left did not. Instead of leaping, he only managed to stomp in place.
Previously, seeing it was just an insect, Li Banfeng hadn’t taken it seriously; he never expected to suffer such a huge setback.
Li Banfeng quickly fumbled for his key; even if his legs were swept off by the Centipede, he’d have to crawl back into the Portable Residence.
He had just taken out the key when he noticed the antennae hadn’t swept his legs. They were drifting above, near the cave roof.
The Ma Lu tilted its head back, its body upright, as if pondering something.
The Wine Gourd said, "Little brother, you just cracked a pebble with your stomp."
Li Banfeng looked down and saw half a pebble under his foot.
The other half was embedded in the Centipede’s head. Its skull was hard; it hadn’t been penetrated, but a dent had been made.
Li Banfeng looked dumbfounded at his own feet and then back at the broken piece of stone.
PS: New Land is a good place, especially suited for Ban Feng.