Pan Dehai appeared midair and delivered several hundred catties of finished medicine to Li Banfeng.
Thoughtful as ever, Pan Dehai also brought Li Banfeng an enormous iron pot, vast enough to rival a farmhouse in area.
Wood was placed under the pot, and clean water filled it. Pan Dehai watched Li Banfeng, indicating whether he needed anything else.
He didn’t speak, for fear that merely opening his mouth would infect him with Green Flower’s pustules.
Pan Dehai had flesh and blood—very special flesh and blood, enough for Li Banfeng’s whole family to eat for a long time. Having flesh and blood proved he was not an ordinary Lost Soul. But where the flesh came from, Li Banfeng couldn’t fathom.
After mulling it over, Li Banfeng turned to Cui Tiq. "What else do you need?"
Startled by the sudden appearance of so many items, Cui Tiq was fearful. He knew that Li Banfeng was dealing with a high-level entity, yet he could not sense its presence at all.
Cui Tiq dared not look directly. But seeing Li Banfeng’s fearless demeanor, he felt the man was so insane as to be beyond reason.
Li Banfeng urged, "I’m asking you, what else do you need?"
Cui Tiq cautiously answered, "When I perform the Technique, I’ll become extremely vulnerable and will need someone to watch over me, to protect me."
Li Banfeng looked to Pan Dehai, still hovering in midair, expecting him to make an appearance. After all, it was his territory, and protecting Cui Tiq should be his duty.
Pan Dehai, leaning on a cane, quickly departed into the night, layers of mist trailing behind him like smoke.
Li Banfeng sighed softly, poured some wine onto the wood, and kindled a fire. Then he added the finished medicine into the pot, basket by basket.
Cui Tiq came to help. Seeing his body covered with pustules, Li Banfeng felt itchy all over.
The wind was strong tonight. After the water boiled, the fragrance of the medicine scattered far and wide, attracting mosquitoes from miles around.
The dense swarm of mosquitoes enveloped the two men. Less than five meters apart, they could no longer see each other’s figures.
Cui Tiq looked up briefly, then shook his head. "Still not enough. We might have to change locations tomorrow."
"Let’s give it a try first."
Cui Tiq sat silently beside the cauldron. His pus started to ooze out quickly until his entire body was covered in a layer of green pus, making him resemble a green glass sculpture.
He hadn’t lied. At this moment, he was extremely fragile, and it would take no effort for Li Banfeng to kill him.
The mosquitoes continued to hover around the cauldron. Many died, and some survived, but the ones that did survive didn’t come near Cui Tiq.
"I’m a bit cold. Do me a favor and splash some medicinal soup on me," Cui Tiq said, half-jokingly trying to lure mosquitoes to him.
Li Banfeng scooped up a ladle of broth and asked, "It’s boiling water. Can you withstand it?"
"I have a fever. I shouldn’t be afraid of the heat."
Li Banfeng poured the seething broth over Cui Tiq. Whether it was the cold or the heat, Cui Tiq shivered.
The soup gradually cooled on his body, drawing mosquitoes towards him, circling slowly nearby.
Many mosquitoes touched Cui Tiq momentarily then flew away, while others, ignorant of danger, just stuck onto the pus.
Li Banfeng asked, "Does the pus contain the virus you want to spread?"
Cui Tiq nodded.
"Why don’t you collect the pus to make poison? Why must you use yourself to attract mosquitoes?"
"My fellow disciple created his own virus and made bait with it, but that only works for one virus. His cultivation level is higher than mine, and that’s the best he could do. I, on the other hand, need to mix several viruses and spread them. Although I have the Grandmaster’s power, I can only use it within a limited range. Under these circumstances, I can’t allow the pathogens to leave my body."
Two hours later, Cui Tiq was drained. The pus on his body slowly receded, reverting to full pustules once again.
Sitting in the pitch-dark farmland, Cui Tiq could barely make out distant lights.
Only on this special day were lights still on so late.
"New Year, tonight is New Year’s," Cui Tiq murmured with a bitter smile. "I don’t know how much longer I will live. If we fail, the Peddler won’t save me. This might be my last New Year’s, yet here I am spending it with you in this place."
Li Banfeng spat dismissively. "You think I want to spend New Year’s with you? Your country’s New Year’s isn’t today, is it?"
Cui Tiq shook his head. "It doesn’t matter now. I love Puluo State, and perhaps it’s my fate to remain in Puluo State. Put out the fire. I want to sleep for a while. We’ll continue tomorrow."
Li Banfeng extinguished the fire and told Cui Tiq, "I also need to find a place to sleep for a bit. I’m afraid I won’t be able to watch over you continuously."
Cui Tiq shook his head. "I’m not so vulnerable right now. As long as I don’t encounter a formidable enemy, I should be fine."
Li Banfeng walked away to a secluded spot and entered his Portable Residence.
He soon came back out.
He brought Cui Tiq a blanket and a few cans.
Seeing Cui Tiq shivering in the cold wind, he poured a bowl of wine into Cui Tiq’s battered begging bowl.
"Happy New Year."
Li Banfeng walked away with the Wine Gourd.
Cui Tiq clutched the broken bowl and took a big gulp.
As his body warmed, Cui Tiq exclaimed, "This is really good."
He wanted to drink the wine dry, but after some thought, left a mouthful.
"Happy New Year, have a drink too," he whispered to the bowl.
...
The next day at dawn, Li Banfeng lit a fire and brewed the medicinal soup, continuing to lure mosquitoes.
He persisted intermittently until dusk, by which time no more mosquitoes appeared. Cui Tiq then said to Li Banfeng, "It’s time to change locations."
Li Banfeng looked up at the sky and echoed, "It’s time to change locations."
From somewhere in the sky, Pan Dehai’s voice faintly said, "Don’t bother with the stuff. I’ll choose a good spot, and when you get there, I’ll send you new supplies."
Soon after, Pan Dehai appeared in the sky, handing Li Banfeng a map of Hai Chi Ridge.
The map marked the areas where the mosquitoes were most concentrated.
Li Banfeng said to Cui Tiq, "Let’s go, it’s time to set out."
"I can’t move; the toll has been too great. Can you carry me? I know it’s a bit much to ask." Cui Tiq looked at his own pus-covered body and smiled awkwardly.
Li Banfeng hoisted him onto his back and hastened through the wind and snow.
Murmuring in the wind, Cui Tiq whispered, "In my country, there’s a story that says a god sent his messenger to save the suffering people. I always thought it was just a tale, but now it seems we might just be the messengers of a god."
Li Banfeng let out a wry laugh. "Don’t make us sound so noble; you didn’t volunteer for this."
"But you volunteered. I might die tonight. Can you tell me why? What are you really staying in Hai Chi Ridge for?"
Li Banfeng was silent for a moment before replying, "Because I’ve known hunger."
Cui Tiq resonated with Li Banfeng’s response. "I’ve been hungry too. I know the feeling. My brother and I were sick from childhood, covered in blisters. People in the village despised us, stole our food, and beat us up. We often went hungry."
"What about your brother?" asked Li Banfeng.
"Dead. Starved to death. On the night he died, I hoped for a divine messenger to appear, but I didn’t see one. So, I always thought the story was false."
"Tonight, I’ll give you an extra can of food, an extra bowl of wine to share with your brother."
Cui Tiq chuckled. "Can he even taste it?"
Li Banfeng nodded earnestly. "Yes, he can."
Through the blizzard, Li Banfeng carried Cui Tiq, speeding along.
...
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Niu Fuzhi was patrolling at the entrance to the village.
Farming Cultivating Niu Jingchuan arrived at Guotie Village and left some swiftly germinating seeds for the village chief. "These seeds, plant them for at most three harvests. You absolutely mustn’t plant more!"
Village chief Xiang Jichun expressed his deep gratitude, "What should I say? How could I ever repay your kindness?"
"What kindness?" Niu Jingchuan waved his hand dismissively. "It’s Seventh Master’s orders. He asked me to check which villages still have people and bring some seeds. Quickly take them."
"Seventh Master..." Xiang Jichun finally remembered Li Banfeng, who had helped with exterminating pests in their village. "Where did Seventh Master go? Is he in your Pancake Village?"
Scratching his head, Niu Jingchuan replied, "I don’t know where he went. To tell you the truth, I can’t even recall what he looks like."
"I can’t remember either. There was a benefactor who brought us medicine before, but I can’t recall that either," Xiang Jichun scratched his head. "How can we be like this, not even remembering our benefactor?"
...
In the depths of New Land, inside a cavern, a massive aberration was striking the rocks with its hard forelimbs.
Its head resembled that of a locust, but unlike a locust, it had no hard shell on its torso and squirmed on the ground like a rat-tailed maggot.
Its back was covered with fur, interspersed with hundreds of tentacles swaying back and forth.
Beneath it flowed the surging Iron Thread River, the terminus of the river.
The Iron Thread Worms wriggled in and out of its body, conveying information to it.
This giant insect was planning its next move when a bone-chilling sound reached its ears.
DING-DANG, DING-DANG.
The sound of a peddler’s rattle.
It heard the peddler’s whispers.
"I had guessed it was you, but I never expected you to redirect the course of the Iron Thread River and add several underground streams in-between. It was quite the struggle to find you.
"Tell me, who put you up to this? Was it someone from the Outside Provinces or the Inner State?"
DING-DANG, DING-DANG.
The sound of the rattle grew closer, and the hulking insect let out a fierce howl, "You come then! They gave me power! I am not afraid of you!"
"Really? I’d like to witness that myself." The peddler, with one hand pushing the cart and shaking the rattle, entered the cave.
PS: Thankfully, Ban Feng did not run along the river, or else he would have encountered this giant insect.
On the first day of the New Year, an extra update for Shala, thanking everyone for their support over the past year.