Li Banfeng and He Yuxiu jumped off the train mid-journey and returned to Greenwater Bay. They didn’t enter Greenwater City but settled down in Taiming Town for the time being.
He Yuxiu greatly admired Li Banfeng. "Brother Seven, where did you hide when you were on the train? Even I couldn’t find you."
Li Banfeng said, "It mainly depends on the Mental State. Once your Mental State is right, you can become one with everything in the world."
He Yuxiu looked down at herself. "Am I not yet one with everything?"
She was as black as coal all over.
The point wasn’t about the Mental State; the key was that Li Banfeng spent most of his time in the Portable Residence, so of course, He Yuxiu couldn’t find him.
After washing off the coal dust, they changed into new clothes, and Li Banfeng pondered He Yuxiu’s next hiding place.
The Border Defense Envoy would not let things go easily in the short term, so He Yuxiu had to hide for a while longer.
The He Family owned quite a few New Lands near Greenwater Bay, but these lands had already been developed to some extent. It was too crowded and conspicuous on these parcels, making it difficult to hide.
Let alone on the He Family’s lands, even going to Zhengjing Village wasn’t appropriate given He Yuxiu’s current situation.
Li Banfeng, however, thought of a suitable place—the territory of Meng Yuchun.
The place was secluded enough. Li Banfeng also had a three-li plot of land there. Letting He Yuxiu stay there for the time being was an option, as ordinary people could not easily find it.
And it wasn’t only Meng Yuchun’s territory there but also Li Banfeng’s own territory. Enough time had passed, and he should indeed go back to have a look.
Thinking of that territory, Li Banfeng felt proud of himself. He was the Local Deity of that territory. It was his foundation after going "Above the Clouds"...
THUMP!
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Li Banfeng clutched his chest and collapsed onto the ground.
He Yuxiu was terrified. "Brother Seven, what happened to you?"
Li Banfeng gestured with his hand for He Yuxiu to rest at the inn first. He returned to his room and went into the Portable Residence.
Seeing Li Banfeng’s pale face, the Phonograph stabilized him with Steam. "Hey, my dear, what happened?"
"My heart suddenly started jumping violently, almost leaping out of my chest." Li Banfeng pointed to his chest; after returning to the Portable Residence, he seemed to have improved a bit.
The Phonograph pondered for a moment then said, "This is palpitations. Do you have any worries, my dear?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "There’s nothing worrying me. I just thought of my own plot of land."
"Plot of land..."
HISS.
Humming a slow tune, the Phonograph said, "My dear, since you became a Local Deity, feeling connected to your own plot of land is only natural. But what could have happened on this plot of land to make you feel palpitations?"
Li Banfeng tensed up. Once the palpitations subsided, he first returned to the inn and drew a map for He Yuxiu to find Meng Yuchun’s territory on her own.
He Yuxiu had also struggled in the New Lands and nodded. "Don’t worry about me, Brother Seven. Take care of yourself."
Li Banfeng ran swiftly to his own plot of land. Upon arrival, he found that Meng Yuchun was also very anxious.
"You finally came back! Someone is pioneering the land. How should we deal with this?"
"What’s the problem with pioneering? It’s not your first time dealing with that."
Meng Yuchun shook his head. "They’re not pioneering on my land, but on your territory."
"My territory?" Li Banfeng was at a loss for words.
Meng Yuchun said, "There are two girls who set up an altar on your territory. I thought they would leave on their own when you didn’t respond, but to my surprise, these two girls have dug in their heels and have been waiting here for several days, refusing to leave."
Li Banfeng hurried to the spot and soon found a girl in the jungle.
The girl was bending over to pick up firewood, and in the dim night light, her plump and round buttocks came into view.
Li Banfeng smiled slightly and said, "Peach!"
Oil Peach was startled and almost attacked Li Banfeng when she turned around abruptly.
As she got closer and saw a little clearer, Oil Peach exclaimed with joy, "Brother Bai Sha, what brought you to this godforsaken place?"
"This place... godforsaken?" Li Banfeng looked around and asked, "I came here hunting. What brings you here?"
Oil Peach bowed her head slightly. "I came hunting as well."
She had roamed Jianghu, where lying and deceiving were common, yet for some reason, she felt uneasy speaking to Li Baisha.
Li Banfeng spoke impassively, "You came from Hemp Bamboo Village to hunt here?"
Oil Peach explained, "Actually, it’s not too far from Hemp Bamboo Village."
Li Banfeng nodded. "If it’s hunting you’re after, I’m familiar with this place. Follow me. I know where the good stuff is."
Oil Peach shook her head. "No need, I’ve got plenty this time. Any more, and I won’t be able to carry it."
Li Banfeng pulled out his wallet. "If you can’t carry it, leave it to me. I brought enough people, and we’ll buy it at market price."
"No, that won’t be right. That would be a loss for you..."
"No loss there. I have a channel for selling. Let’s see what you got first."
"Really, no need..." Oil Peach’s voice grew softer. She had no game to show.
"After a year apart, it seems we’ve grown distant, not even willing to speak a straightforward word." Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat and turned to leave.
Oil Peach held back for a long time but still called out, "Brother Bai Sha, I... I came to pioneer."
Li Banfeng stopped in his tracks. "Why did you come here to pioneer?"
"Because other places won’t do. Only this place can hold us."
Li Banfeng stood there, stunned for a long time.
Li Banfeng walked back to Oil Peach and spoke in an even tone, "Oil Peach, we’re friends. If you want my help, you at least need to tell me the truth."
After pondering for a moment, Oil Peach said, "I’ll take you to meet someone."
Deep in the forest, there was a tent where a slender woman was cooking several fruits, each about the size of two fists.
These were the local produce of Meng Yuchun’s territory, and also one of the few attractions on her land.
The water for cooking the fruits had been taken from Meng Yuchun’s territory. There were well-developed plots of land there, and their owners wouldn’t refuse a beautiful girl like Oil Peach.
Smelling the steam from the pot, these two fruits should be taro-flavored. Once cooked, they would be ready to eat.
Oil Peach called out to the woman, "Xiao Feng!"
Just as the slender woman was about to respond, she saw Li Banfeng coming and quickly hid inside the tent.
Li Banfeng asked, "Is this your partner?"
Oil Peach nodded. "You’ve seen her in Hemp Bamboo Village."
Now that Oil Peach had brought Xiao Feng to the New Land, Li Banfeng was all the more puzzled.
After calling out several times with no response from Xiao Feng, Oil Peach had no choice but to recount the events to Li Banfeng outside the tent:
"Xiao Feng, Ah Xia, and I were living together in Hemp Bamboo Village. In those days, perhaps it was because of the Elixirs I had taken, I had strong urges and got very close to Xiao Feng, inadvertently neglecting Ah Xia, and then..."
"You’re still covering for her!" Xiao Feng emerged from the tent. "We were never going to bring her along. It was only after she pestered us endlessly that we did. Tao’er needed someone to care for her those days, and Ah Xia only cared about her own pleasure. Tao’er didn’t want to bother with her. Was that wrong?"
"Let’s not argue about who’s right or wrong for now. This Ah Xia you mentioned, who is she?"
Oil Peach hung her head, silent.
Xiao Feng hesitated for a while before speaking, "She’s my House Spirit."
After a moment of contemplation, Li Banfeng shouted angrily, "Is that what you use House Spirits for?"
Xiao Feng shook and hurriedly took refuge behind Oil Peach.
Oil Peach looked at Li Banfeng with astonishment, not understanding why he was angry.
Li Banfeng calmed his voice and said, "And then you two escaped?"
Oil Peach replied, "We had to. Ah Xia was going to hurt Xiao Feng."
Li Banfeng fell silent for a while.
Li Banfeng asked Xiao Feng, "You said the House Spirit wants to kill you. Did she leave any trace, or did she outright confront you?"
Hiding behind Oil Peach, Xiao Feng said, "I figured it out through divination."
"Divination again!" Upon hearing this, Li Banfeng became irate. It reminded him of that bunch of fortune-tellers from the Jiang Xiang Gang.
Oil Peach explained, "This is Xiao Feng’s Technique. She can divine, and she’s very accurate. Ah Xia is definitely going to harm her."
Xiao Feng tugged at Oil Peach’s sleeve, signaling her not to say too much.
Oil Peach said, "Xiao Feng definitely didn’t get it wrong. That night, the east wall of the bamboo house collapsed. That was the house itself trying to protect Xiao Feng, fighting against the House Spirit."
Oil Peach continued, "The house was already subdued. If we didn’t leave then, Xiao Feng would surely have lost her life."
"So you all fled and left the House Spirit behind?"
Oil Peach appeared somewhat ashamed. "Xiao Feng did all that because of me."
Xiao Feng sobbed. "She wanted to kill me, and you stuck with me through thick and thin."
"All of this started because of me," Oil Peach said. "Without me, Ah Xia could have continued cultivating with you."
"Without you, what’s the point of me cultivating?" Xiao Feng cried. "I don’t want anything else."
Li Banfeng watched the two women with a stern face, silent.
They wiped away each other’s tears and set aside their tender affections for the moment.
Li Banfeng asked, "Now that you’ve escaped the house, why come to this place?"
Xiao Feng replied, "To hide from Ah Xia. She got out of the house."
"But why hide so far away?"
"We didn’t want to either, but Ah Xia kept chasing us wherever we went," Oil Peach said. "Xiao Feng and Ah Xia are linked. If Ah Xia gets close, Xiao Feng will definitely sense it."
"Why did you choose to hide in New Land, specifically?"
"Xiao Feng divined it. At every place we went to, Xiao Feng would perform a Divination. Every part of our journey was determined by Xiao Feng’s Divinations."
Li Banfeng asked, "Was pioneering on this territory also determined by Divination?"
Xiao Feng nodded.
Li Banfeng pointed to Meng Yuchun’s territory. "That territory isn’t bad either. There’s food, water, and plenty of Pioneers to look out for each other. Why didn’t you clear land there?"
Xiao Feng shook her head. "I’ve divined that we shouldn’t stay on that territory for long, otherwise when Ah Xia arrives, the Local Deity there won’t be able to protect us."
"So you think the Local Deity here can protect you?" Li Banfeng was deeply skeptical about Xiao Feng’s Divination.
Xiao Feng nodded. "The divination signs say so. Powerful Local Deities won’t let us clear a plot. Local Deities on whose plots we *can* succeed can’t protect us. The only one who can protect us AND allow us to clear a plot is this one."
"Really just this one?"
PS: Is Ban Feng really such an excellent Local Deity?