Li Banfeng sat in his Portable Residence, reflecting deeply on the series of crazy actions he had taken previously. He had attacked people from the Dark Star Bureau. Although he didn’t know what kind of organization the Dark Star Bureau was, given the "Bureau" in its name, it must have some connection with the government. He had arrived at an incredible place and had inexplicably become a Dark Energy User. If he were just an ordinary Dark Energy User, that would be one thing, but he had also practiced two entirely incompatible Taoist Sects.
His wallet, his shirt, his trousers, his leather shoes—he’d left them all at the old house, and it was impossible for Li Banfeng to go back and retrieve them. All his belongings now consisted of one top hat, one climbing hat, one set of pajamas, one T-shirt, one pair of sweatpants, one pair of sneakers, two boxes of instant noodles, one box of chips, slightly more than a pack of spicy strips, and He Jiaqing’s Copper Lotus Flower.
He didn’t have a single Yuan to his name.
Li Banfeng slept in the Portable Residence for one night. The Portable Residence was very quiet, nearly free of any noise. Although it had no windows, the air was fresh. Aside from the dust accumulated over many years, there were no other odors.
What woke Li Banfeng from his slumber was hunger and thirst. Yesterday, he had only eaten a bag of instant noodles and hadn’t had much water either. Now, Li Banfeng groped for another bag of instant noodles, unsure of how to swallow it down.
Eating it dry was definitely not an option. Li Banfeng left the Portable Residence, returned to the alleyway, secured his key, and knocked on a household’s door. Having grown up in an orphanage and endured plenty of hardships, asking for some water to drink was still something he found difficult.
"Ma’am, could you please give me a bowl of water to drink? I don’t need food, just a bowl of water."
Li Banfeng emphasized repeatedly that he didn’t need food, and the woman did indeed give him a bowl of water. But the look in her eyes made Li Banfeng feel as if dozens of thorns were pricking his face.
There were only two boxes of instant noodles left. He had to find a way to earn a living.
Travelers walked at least twenty miles every day. Li Banfeng ate a noodle cake and started to wander around Neigou Street.
"Extra! Extra! Chu Family’s Second Miss attempted to murder her husband on their wedding night and fled in fear of her crime! The husband’s family is offering a three million reward! Sir, would you like to buy a newspaper? There’s an extra edition today with big news, only 50 cents!"
Fifty cents, which he did not have either. Li Banfeng smiled at the newsboy.
Jobs selling newspapers were not easy to come by; many children relied on selling papers to survive. And Li Banfeng neither understood the business of newspapers nor the skills of selling them. In his memory, newspapers had faded from the public eye ten years ago.
In town, Li Banfeng found two shops hiring day laborers: a furniture shop and a rice shop. Li Banfeng wasn’t asking for much; he just wanted to work a few days to earn enough for a train ticket. But neither shop would hire him because of his strange attire. To Li Banfeng, wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt with a top hat didn’t seem so odd, but the shop owners felt he did not look like a decent person.
By noon, his stomach was growling again. Li Banfeng begged for another bowl of water and ate another noodle cake. At this point, only a box of chips remained of his food supplies.
Unable to find work in Neigou, Li Banfeng walked to the edge of the town and headed toward Waigou. Waigou was much larger than Neigou, and the situation there was much more complicated than in Neigou. Walking along the dirt road, Li Banfeng saw farmers at work, low houses, and also stretches of woods where no one could be seen for miles.
He walked until twilight; the last packet of noodles had long been digested, and the chips were all eaten. The only piece of good news was that Li Banfeng felt the tremors of his will. This was a Cultivator’s special sensitivity. It reminded him that he had walked twenty miles, fulfilling the basic daily cultivation requirements for a Traveling Cultivator. The sensitivity from Home Cultivation was similar, though somewhat milder. Each time he stayed in the Portable Residence for two hours, Li Banfeng could feel a refreshing sense of comfort.
There was a small restaurant ahead, tucked inside a dark, tiled house with only five tables. A notice posted at the entrance said they were looking for help.
Li Banfeng was about to go try his luck when he heard someone in the restaurant calling out, "Brother Li, is that you?"
Li Banfeng turned around to see a chubby young man eating noodles. On the table were three bowls of noodles and three empty bowls.
Qin Xiaopang!
Li Banfeng was astonished.
Qin Xiaopang called out, "Brother Li, come sit! It seems we’re fated to meet. You like this restaurant too? I particularly like it; the food here is cheap and substantial."
Li Banfeng was straightforward, "Brother Qin, to be honest, I didn’t come to eat. I saw that they’re hiring, so I came to find work."
Qin Xiaopang was startled, "You’re here at a restaurant looking for work? What’s going on?"
Li Banfeng’s face showed bitterness. "I have no choice. I don’t have a single copper on me; I’m about to start begging for food!"
Qin Xiaopang was a righteous person. He slapped his chest and said, "Waiter, bring two more bowls of noodles! Brother Li, if you don’t mind, let’s eat first!"
Li Banfeng felt a bit embarrassed. They had just met by chance; why should he accept this man’s hospitality?
"Not eating would mean looking down on me!" Qin Xiaopang pulled over a chair, sat Li Banfeng down, and soon, steaming hot plain noodles were served.
For a Food Cultivator, five kilograms of food a day and five bowls of noodles per meal were standard fare for Xiaopang. Li Banfeng was also terribly hungry. The plain noodles had no meat, just a half-bowl of broth, a spoonful of soy sauce, and two heads of bok choy, yet Li Banfeng thought it was the most delicious meal he’d ever had.
After gulping down two bowls of noodles, Xiaopang paid for the meal and said to Li Banfeng, "Brother Li, there are too many eyes here. Let’s find a place to talk."
The two left the restaurant and found a quiet spot by the edge of the woods. Xiaopang asked in a low voice, "Brother, have you joined a sect?"
"I have," Li Banfeng nodded.
Qin Xiaopang’s voice became even lower. "Which sect have you joined?"
Xiaopang was sincere. Li Banfeng also knew which Taoist Sect Xiaopang belonged to, so it would be somewhat dishonorable not to tell the truth now.
"I’ve joined the Traveling Cultivators."
Li Banfeng didn’t mention his Home Cultivation; it was a complicated matter that couldn’t be explained easily.
Qin Xiaopang scratched his cheek. "Logically, Traveling Cultivators shouldn’t lack means to make a living: delivering messages, escorting, bodyguard work, or at the very least, even pulling a rickshaw."
Li Banfeng smiled;
He had inquired about it. As a Traveling Cultivator, if he were to pull rickshaws, especially with Fire Wheel capabilities, a single job could earn him hundreds of Yuan quite easily. Especially with Li Banfeng’s climbing hat, he really had the air of a coachman! But to pull a rickshaw, one first needed to own one, and Li Banfeng didn’t. He could rent one, but that required a deposit, which Li Banfeng couldn’t afford. Furthermore, coachmen needed a license, something Li Banfeng couldn’t get in the short term. Most importantly, a coachman needed to know the routes, and Li Banfeng didn’t know his way around. Traveling Cultivators had a natural talent for knowing directions. However, Li Banfeng didn’t even know the most basic place names. This clearly didn’t meet the fundamental requirements for a coachman.
Seeing Li Banfeng remain silent, Qin Xiaopang laughed. "My apologies, I misspoke. A man like you, Brother, how could you stoop to pulling a rickshaw? Brother Li, I have a small deal here. It’s not big money, but enough for an emergency, provided you’re willing to take action."
"Brother, I’m so desperate I was looking for work in a restaurant; I’m not in a position to be picky. It’s just, you say it’s a business deal, but I don’t have capital."
"No capital needed. This is a business without capital; our lives are the capital. Have you heard of Kuwu Mountain?"
Kuwu Mountain?
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I haven’t heard of it."
Qin Xiaopang said, "Inside Medicine King Valley, there’s no one who doesn’t know of Kuwu Mountain. The mountain is enveloped in dense fog all year long, with deadly poison within the mist. Any ordinary person going up the mountain is bound to die."
Li Banfeng frowned. "What kind of business are we talking about in such a place?"
"Have you heard of the Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemum that grows on Kuwu Mountain?"
Li Banfeng shook his head;
Qin Xiaopang’s voice got a bit louder. "This Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemum blooms once a year, and the flowering period is just one day. It’s the main ingredient for the refinement of the Snake-Patterned Pill. A single pill is equivalent to one day of cultivation. Didn’t I tell you before? Ten years of cultivation are needed to advance one’s cultivation by a single layer. But if you take one Snake-Patterned Pill each day, it’s like an extra day’s cultivation. By that math, you could advance a layer in five years. The day after tomorrow is when the Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemum blooms. Several Medicine Shops have already quoted a price: one plant for eighty-five Yuan. On Kuwu Mountain, if an ordinary person is lucky, they might find two or three plants in an hour, and twenty to thirty plants in ten hours, earning up to two thousand Yuan. You’re a Traveling Cultivator with excellent speed; you could earn three thousand Yuan in ten hours. Some even earn up to five thousand Yuan. What do you think of this business?"
Three thousand Yuan would surely cover the ticket, and upon returning to Yuezhou, he could live comfortably for a few days.
Just as Li Banfeng was about to agree, a thought struck him. "Wait a minute," he voiced his concern, "if the mist is highly poisonous, isn’t going up the mountain to gather herbs suicide?"
Qin Xiaopang said, "For ordinary people, it’s certainly death, but we’re not ordinary! We have cultivation levels; our physique is much stronger than that of ordinary people. For a Traveling Cultivator like you, it’s nothing to withstand ten hours on the mountain. If you grit your teeth, you can hold out for fifteen hours. After coming down from the mountain, you’d just need to throw up for a day, get it all out, take a couple days’ rest, and it’ll pass. I’m a Food Cultivator; well-fed, I can easily stay on the mountain for twenty hours."
Li Banfeng thought about the potential earnings and nodded. "Brother, I’m in for this deal."
Qin Xiaopang laughed. "You’re quick on your feet, and I can take a beating. This deal is as good as ours, brother!"
PS: Dear readers, let’s follow Ban Feng to gather chrysanthemum!