The Deathgate Formation.
Li Banfeng and Qiu Zhiheng had never heard of this name.
Elder Yao stood in the courtyard, lost in thought and muttering to himself, starting to doubt his own judgment.
"No, if the Deathgate Star wants to set up the Deathgate Formation, they would have to have started early. And they set it up in my territory—how could I not know?"
Compared to other Local Deities, Elder Yao was clearly not cautious enough; he was too casual in his ways.
Li Banfeng directly asked, "What is the Deathgate Formation used for?"
Elder Yao sighed. "The Deathgate Formation is a Technique from the Grieving Cultivators’ Above the Clouds. It uses the blood of a Grieving Cultivator to draw the Formation in Medicine King Valley, and then sends a living Grieving Cultivator into it. If a Grieving Cultivator dies within the Formation, the land where it’s located will be shrouded in ominous energy. Then, these Grieving Cultivators simply cannot be killed! What is to be done? Capture them all alive and then send them away?"
Elder Yao thought of a countermeasure, and as he was about to take action, Li Banfeng stopped him.
Today, Elder Yao had drunk a bit too much, which could make him rash in his actions.
"Elder Yao, let’s first sort things out," Li Banfeng said. "Your plan is good, but you can’t go up against the Grieving Cultivators. You need to stay home to confront the Deathgate Star. Leave dealing with the Grieving Cultivators to Big Brother Qiu and me. If the Grieving Cultivators want to continue their cultivation, they’ll definitely cause trouble. It won’t be hard to find them. When the time comes, we can figure out a way to send them out."
Elder Yao shook his head. "This is not something you two should be involved in."
Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. "This isn’t getting involved. Since it’s about Medicine King Valley, I certainly can’t hide. My home is here."
After a lot of persuasion, Elder Yao finally agreed to stay at home while Li Banfeng and Qiu Zhiheng went down the mountain, discussing countermeasures along the way.
First, they needed to confirm one thing: how did Yu Heshun die.
Li Banfeng was worried that he had followed the orders of the Deathgate Star and came to the Deathgate Formation to seek death willingly.
If that was truly the case, and the other Grieving Cultivators sought collective death, then they could not be stopped.
Qiu Zhiheng, on the other hand, wasn’t worried about this. "Given the character of those Grieving Cultivators, they wouldn’t willingly seek death. I’m worried the Deathgate Star sent someone to do it."
The two set their plan and went their separate ways, with Qiu Zhiheng searching for the Grieving Cultivators’ whereabouts and Li Banfeng investigating the cause of Yu Heshun’s death.
The news was delivered by Yu Nan, and Li Banfeng first visited the Yu Family Cloth Store.
The Yu Family Cloth Store was in disarray; the employees were busy sorting out the fabrics.
The fabrics had all gone moldy. Yu Nan had been running the cloth store for years and would not lack measures against mold, yet now the warehouse was almost turned upside down, with hardly any fabric left unspoiled.
Li Banfeng took Yu Nan aside to a secluded spot and asked, "How did you find out about the death of Yu Heshun?"
"I heard it from a coachman," Yu Nan replied. "Someone saw him walking towards the ticket office at the station, then suddenly he vomited blood and died. His corpse is still lying there, as others find it bad luck and no one will collect it. I knew Elder Yao would care greatly about this, so I hurriedly sent the message to him."
At the station, no one else acted; he just suddenly died.
Was this a case of slow poisoning, or a curse Technique of some sort?
Li Banfeng visited the train station and saw Yu Heshun’s corpse. Aside from a pool of blood, the cause of death was indeed undetectable.
The train station fell under the control of the Border Defense Envoy; was even the Envoy afraid to send someone to collect the body?
Li Banfeng considered whether to take the corpse back to his wife for study, but decided he should return and discuss it further first.
Back in his Portable Residence, Li Banfeng brought up Yu Heshun. Before he could finish, his wife spat twice in disgust. "Ptooey, ptooey! My beloved husband, why bring up such an unlucky thing again? Wasn’t he dealt with by a donkey?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "He’s dead, and there are a dozen more Grieving Cultivators now."
"A dozen?" His wife was not quite convinced. "My husband, did you take a good look? Are they really Grieving Cultivators? How many Disciples does that sect of Grieving Cultivators even have?"
"I asked the Local Deity. It seems that the Deathgate Star has set up the Deathgate Formation in Medicine King Valley."
HUFF! HUFF!
The sound of drums and gongs picked up in urgency.
Before the Phonograph could speak, Hong Ying was the first to say, "Don’t deal with it. Just leave quickly."
Li Banfeng countered, "If we don’t leave, what else can we do?"
"One dead Grieving Cultivator means a first-pass Formation; another dead means a second-pass Formation," Hong Ying explained. "The more Grieving Cultivators die, the stronger the malicious energy of the Deathgate Formation becomes. Once the malicious energy gains momentum, you won’t be able to leave even if you want to. The Deathgate Formation is extremely malignant. Don’t bring misfortune upon yourself, and don’t bring that bad luck back home."
Li Banfeng didn’t respond.
Knowing Li Banfeng’s temperament well, the Phonograph said to Hong Ying, "Don’t talk anymore."
Hong Ying, however, was not convinced. "I am saying this for his own good."
"Bitch, are you asking for a beating? I told you to shut up!"
The Phonograph scolded sharply, and Hong Ying fell silent.
"My beloved husband, what do you plan to do about this situation?" the Phonograph asked.
"I want to bring back Yu Heshun’s corpse to see exactly how he died. From there, perhaps we could ascertain the whereabouts of the Deathgate Star."
"That won’t do, my husband. The corpse of a Grieving Cultivator is too inauspicious. If you were to bring it back, it could ruin our fortune, and I fear it would even anger the household spirits."
Li Banfeng sighed. "Well then, I guess we should just send this group of Grieving Cultivators away."
"You’ll need to think of a good place to deal with these Grieving Cultivators," the Phonograph advised. "Since the Deathgate Star has already made a move, they will surely persist in the future. This is also Elder Yao’s fault for being too careless. He spends his days immersed in wine, oblivious to someone setting up such a huge Formation in his territory. He wasn’t even aware of it! We’ll see if he learns a lesson from this."
Li Banfeng left the Portable Residence, and Hong Ying asked, "The Elder Yao you mentioned earlier, who is he?"
"Just a Local Deity named Yao."
"You said he is submerged in wine casks, could it be..."
His wife snapped again, "Why so many questions? Hurry up and apply your Rouge. Look how terribly you’ve drawn your eyebrows!"
"Ugly is ugly, I can’t see them anyway."
「」
Li Banfeng returned to Qiu’s Pharmacy. The Medicine Shop was even more chaotic than the Yu Family Cloth Store, and the medicinal ingredients had also grown moldy.
Cao Ye said with tears in his eyes, "Master Qiu, Lady, the medicines I brought were of good quality; they shouldn’t have grown moldy."
The Sister-in-Law reassured him, "Ye Zi, this isn’t your fault, don’t be upset."
Li Banfeng walked down the street, and the entire Paifang Street was in disarray.
Shopkeeper Feng’s goods were moldy, Zou’s Rice Shop’s grains were moldy, the tea leaves at the tea house had grown moldy, the Steamed Bun shop’s drawer linens were moldy, and even the diapers Liu Er’s sister-in-law prepared for her child had grown moldy.
The whole of Li Gou was permeated with a musty smell—was this what they called the ominous haze?
What would happen if another Grieving Cultivator died?
Grieving Cultivators were supposed to be easy to find in places with an ominous haze, but things weren’t going as expected.
Qiu Zhiheng had his helpers search Ligou Street thoroughly, but they didn’t find a single Grieving Cultivator.
Where had they gone? Had they all run off to cause trouble in Waigou?
Qiu Zhiheng contacted various connections to search far and wide, Li Banfeng had the newspapers publish a reward, and Yu Nan and Shopkeeper Feng mobilized their own channels to search for Grieving Cultivators.
After searching day and night, not a single living Grieving Cultivator was found, but a corpse was.
The corpse once again appeared at the train station. It was the old lady who had given the coachman a hard time at the train station, with the same cause of death as Yu Heshun — she died vomiting blood in front of the station.
Not long after the old lady died, worms began to infest the herbs in the various Medicine Shops, and moths appeared in the cloth and grocery stores.
But that wasn’t the big issue. The real trouble was in Waigou, where a multitude of pests had appeared in the fields.
Li Banfeng’s face tensed as he saw these insects; they reminded him of the tragedy that had once befallen Hai Chi Ridge.
Fortunately, these insects weren’t as ferocious. A heavy rain fell overnight; by the next day when the rain stopped, all kinds of pests had disappeared. Upon checking, Medicine Gourd noted that the pests had indeed been poisoned to death.
"This poison kills only insects, not humans. It must have been Elder Yao who took action," said Medicine Gourd.
The pestilence was dealt with, but the Grieving Cultivators were still nowhere to be found.
Two days later, several friends sent word to Qiu Zhiheng that they were leaving Medicine King Valley.
These friends were influential people who could obtain Guide Tokens. They decided to flee and avoid the disaster.
Those unable to acquire Guide Tokens could not escape from Medicine King Valley; they each returned to their homes to hide. Restaurants, tea houses, inns, and dance halls all closed down. Before dusk, not even a single pedestrian could be seen on the streets of Li Gou.
Li Banfeng now realized the terrifying power of the Deathgate Formation; the human energy of an entire town had declined to such an extent in such a short time.
Qiu’s Pharmacy had closed its doors. During dinner that evening, Qiu Zhiheng had a word of advice for Li Banfeng, "Brother, go back to Greenwater City. I’ve never encountered the Deathgate Formation before, and to be honest, I don’t know what to do next."
Li Banfeng looked at Qiu Zhiheng.
Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. "I can’t leave, not just for Elder Yao, but my business is also here."
With Qiu Zhiheng’s capabilities, would it be difficult for him to start over with a new business? It wouldn’t be difficult.
But he cherished Qiu’s Pharmacy greatly.
Li Banfeng lowered his head and continued eating. "I can’t go either."
"Why not?"
Li Banfeng didn’t answer. Some reasons are hard to articulate. It was in Medicine King Valley that he joined the Taoist Sect, acquired his Portable Residence, and married his wife, bringing her home. It was in Medicine King Valley where he met Ma Wu and Little Fatty, climbed Kuwu Mountain, picked Snake-Patterned Chrysanthemums, and accumulated the wealth that sustained him in Puluo State.
He put down his bowl and chopsticks. "I’ll go out and search again." Even if it meant covering every inch of Medicine King Valley on foot, he had to find all the Grieving Cultivators!
Just as he was about to stand up, someone suddenly knocked at the door.
Qiu Zhiheng opened the big door of the pharmacy, furrowing his brow.
Ever since his arrival in Medicine King Valley, he had visited all the factions except Jiang Xiang Gang, which he genuinely despised.
The man standing before him was Luo Zhengnan, leader of Jiang Xiang Gang’s Medicine King Hall.
"Hall Master Luo, to what do I owe the honor?"
Hearing that Luo Zhengnan had arrived, Li Banfeng quickly retreated to the back hall.
To Hall Master Luo, Li Banfeng was the Fortress Lord of Iron Gate Fort, known by his title.
Luo Zhengnan saluted Qiu Zhiheng with a fist. "Master Qiu, I have come to discuss a matter with you."
"Speak here," Qiu Zhiheng replied, giving no courtesy in return, nor any intention to invite Luo Zhengnan inside.
Luo Zhengnan gestured to his men behind him, and two Staff Bearers brought forth a trembling man. Qiu Zhiheng recognized him as a Grieving Cultivator; he too had caused trouble for the coachmen at the station.
Luo Zhengnan said, "I heard Master Qiu is rounding up Grieving Cultivators, so I’ve captured one. These kinds of people bring misfortune. I came to discuss with you, Master Qiu: should we keep him at my place, or leave him with you?"
Qiu Zhiheng glanced at the Grieving Cultivator and asked Luo Zhengnan, "Are you doing me a favor with this?"
Luo Zhengnan shook his head. "This is for Medicine King Valley. Our good Medicine King Valley can’t be ruined by these scoundrels."
Qiu Zhiheng saluted with a fist. "Hall Master Luo, please come inside!"
Luo Zhengnan instructed his men to leave the Grieving Cultivator outside and entered the pharmacy alone. Sitting opposite each other, after a cup of tea, Luo Zhengnan said, "I’ve been in Jianghu for many years now, and I’ve heard about this situation before. If I’m not mistaken, this is the Deathgate Formation, isn’t it?"
Qiu Zhiheng nodded. "You have good eyes, Hall Master Luo."
"Does Master Qiu intend to send all the Grieving Cultivators out of Medicine King Valley?"
Qiu Zhiheng nodded again.
Luo Zhengnan set down his teacup. "All the brothers in Medicine King Hall will do their utmost to search for Grieving Cultivators. As for the Guide Tokens and train tickets, we’ll find solutions together."
PS: Luo Zhengnan is a courageous man and capable of achieving great things.