Hong Ying was dressing up in front of a mirror. Hearing a noise outside the door, she hurried to greet him.
"Husband, you’re back?"
"Ying Ying, give me your hand."
Li Banfeng grabbed Hong Ying’s hand firmly.
With a bashful lowering of her head, Hong Ying looked forward to the Phonograph’s reaction at this moment.
Li Banfeng cut her palm, squeezed out some fresh blood, and then left.
The Phonograph chuckled.
Hong Ying covered the wound and returned to the mirror to continue dressing up.
Before long, Li Banfeng rushed back in, followed by seven or eight Sweet Melon Hong Yings, each carrying seven or eight Strange Monsters and bringing them into the Portable Residence.
The Phonograph commented with a laugh, "Our Ying Ying is quite useful, isn’t she?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Useful indeed. Don’t be fooled by the fact they were made from sweet melons; their strength is no less than mine."
Throwing down her brush, Hong Ying escaped to the Third Room to wipe her tears.
Li Banfeng kept bringing Strange Monsters into his home, quickly filling up all the rooms.
The Phonograph reminded him, "Husband, you don’t need to bring those kinds of dishes home; Little Servant can’t eat them."
Li Banfeng wasn’t angry. "My beloved wife, these aren’t for eating. They’re to be sent to my territory."
"Using our home as a means to send them?" His wife was startled. "We must be very careful with this!"
Li Banfeng had brought many living people into the Portable Residence, but besides his wife and the one full of Magical Treasures, he had never taken living people out. Although these Strange Monsters lacked Spiritual Wisdom, who could say when they would come to their senses and remember this affair.
A Music Box poked its head out from Li Banfeng’s coat pocket. The Little Copper Man on the box looked at the Phonograph with full confidence, wanting to assure the Lady that it had this handled.
The Phonograph frowned. "You can’t even speak, and you expect me to trust you?"
His wife indeed couldn’t trust the Music Box. Steam spread throughout every room of the Portable Residence, while the Phonograph inspected all the Strange Monsters carefully.
After making sure all the Strange Monsters were asleep, the Phonograph said to Li Banfeng, "Husband, you can set off. Little Servant will watch over you all the way."
Li Banfeng went to the Third Room. Thinking he came to apologize, Hong Ying wiped her tears and turned to face the wall, saying nothing.
Li Banfeng paid no attention to Hong Ying and told the Portable Residence, "Go to the station in my territory."
Hong Ying remained silent, and so did the Portable Residence; the Old Man seemed to be perpetually deep in thought.
Li Banfeng waited over half an hour before going outside and seeing that they had indeed arrived at the station. He had the Sweet Melon Hong Yings unload a group of Strange Monsters. Just unloading them wasn’t enough; the station was situated inside the Mountain-Uprooting Master’s abode where Li Banfeng’s Contract Book was hidden, and he couldn’t allow just anyone to enter and leave at will.
After returning to the Portable Residence, Li Banfeng said with a naive smile, "Ying Ying, lend me your Technique."
Hong Ying asked calmly, "Qi Lang, have you started treating me as a servant girl?"
Grasping Hong Ying’s hand, Li Banfeng said affectionately, "Ying Ying, you understand me."
Hong Ying spat in Li Banfeng’s face and then lent him the Technique.
Li Banfeng wiped his face, led the group of Strange Monsters through the rock walls, and scattered them across his own territory.
He acted fast; the stopover lasted only half an hour.
After three trips, the Strange Monsters from Qiu Luoye’s territory were nearly all delivered, and Li Banfeng made a round in his own territory. Before, running ten-plus miles didn’t necessarily mean encountering a Strange Monster, but now, a simple glance revealed Strange Monsters sightseeing.
Qiu Luoye had elevated her status to the Cloud Top Second Layer through the number of monsters, but all her years of assets were taken by Li Banfeng.
Returning to the Portable Residence, Li Banfeng said, "One more trip to do a final sweep, to ensure no one slips through the net."
The Portable Residence spoke irritably, "We’re running low on oil; save it for proper uses. Hurry back to Qiu Luoye’s territory; there are still some things I haven’t figured out yet."
The Old Man was researching the Boundary.
But one thing was now confirmed: Qiu Luoye’s territory had merged, and its boundary combined with that of the original Proper Land, without any involvement from the Border Defense Envoy—at least Li Banfeng didn’t see them take part.
This implied two possibilities.
One possibility was that the Border Defense Envoy had secretly manipulated the shift in Qiu Luoye’s territory, using the existing Boundary to seal it off.
The other possibility was that the creation and merging of Boundaries were unrelated to the Border Defense Envoy; they merely grasped how to utilize the Boundaries.
「Back in Qiu Luoye’s territory」
Li Banfeng took another walk. He Yuxiu and Ma Wu were anxious about the current situation; they couldn’t leave this territory and didn’t even know where they were. A few villagers were on the other side of the Border Line, and despite shouting at them for a long time, they scarcely responded. The Three-Headed People, however, were not anxious; they were tidying up their collapsed wooden houses and salvaging their damaged fields. This was their home, and whether they could leave or not wasn’t important to them.
Li Banfeng headed to the edge of the Border Line and moved a Stone to take a seat.
After watching for a long time without discovering anything, Li Banfeng took out the Music Box and smiled. "This time you’ve made a great contribution, and you shall be rewarded."
Understanding Li Banfeng’s words, the little figure on the Music Box gave a slight bow before starting to spin.
What the Music Box produced was not a tune but the sound of two people arguing.
"You wretch! You don’t believe I’ll truly chop you?"
"Go ahead. Make it swift."
"You have no sense of repentance?"
"There’s nothing to regret. If I had to choose again, I’d still kill you!"
These were the sounds of an argument between his wife and Hong Ying. Li Banfeng held the Music Box close to his ear, listening intently.
「 」
Qiu Luoye stood at the entrance to the New Land, ready to walk in.
Shui Yongquan cautioned him, "You’re now the Local Deity of the Proper Land. You should try not to go to the New Land; others might think you’re going after their territory."
Qiu Luoye shook his head. "Can’t the Local Deity of the Proper Land visit the New Land? Didn’t Green Flower often go to the New Land?"
Shui Yongquan sighed and patiently explained, "When Green Flower went to the New Land, it truly was to claim territory."
Qiu Luoye dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand. "I’m not like him; I don’t bully people. I’m just asking for directions."
"Wait a few days. You’ve just arrived, and it’s definitely not appropriate to be so presumptuous."
"Wait? I think you’re just not in a hurry. I still don’t even know where I am. I can’t wait a moment longer!"
Shui Yongquan replied, "I’m even more anxious than you are! Right now, I don’t even know how to return to my territory!"
"If you’re that worried, let’s go together. There’s a saying, ’No one strikes a smiling face.’ The more we mingle, the better our neighborhood relations will be."
Qiu Luoye, looking at his friendly smile reflected in the pond, confidently stepped into the New Land, with a reluctant Shui Yongquan following him.
It was almost like the New Land they knew well. Even at noon, it was pitch-dark.
Shui Yongquan frowned. "This place is right next to the Proper Land; it should be considered Shallow Land. So why isn’t there any Heavenly Light?"
Looking around, there was not a speck of light ahead of them. This indicated that there were no successful Pioneer plots nearby, and they didn’t see any Pioneers, not even Hunters.
Qiu Luoye thought for a moment. "Perhaps this is not Shallow Land; it might have followed me and suddenly come over."
The two walked for over an hour without seeing anyone, nor did they encounter any Strange Monsters with Spirit Attribute.
Shui Yongquan’s eyebrows knit together slightly. "Qiu Daxiang, is this really New Land? I hope it’s not Old Land."
Qiu Luoye looked around. "If it were Old Land, there should be houses—but there’s nothing here."
"Maybe it’s been abandoned for too long, and even the bricks and tiles are gone. We should be more careful," Shui Yongquan said as he heightened his vigilance. Though his cultivation level was Above the Clouds, he was unwilling to travel through the Old Land; it was hard to say what he might encounter.
Qiu Luoye was less concerned. Whether New Land or Old Land, as long as there was an owner, they were neighbors.
After crossing a hill, they saw a clearing ahead with a faint outline of a house.
Shui Yongquan grabbed Qiu Luoye. "A house in the Wilderness—that’s most likely Old Land!"
Qiu Luoye laughed. "I also live in a house, with a courtyard even bigger than this one. Does that make mine Old Land too? Don’t be so skittish. A house means there are people, and finding people is a good thing."
When they arrived at the front of the house, Qiu Luoye grabbed the door knocker and tapped on the door.
Soon after, the door opened, revealing a burly man standing behind it. This burly man was too stout; he couldn’t walk through the open double doors and had to squeeze his body sideways to get out. He stood in front of Qiu Luoye, and the two were of similar stature. Judging by their appearances, they also seemed somewhat fated to meet. The burly man had a round face, with two long tusks protruding from his mouth and a large nose—of course, compared with Qiu Luoye, his nose could only be considered average.
Given how similarly the two looked, one would think their conversation would naturally flow smoothly.
The burly man asked, "Who are you?"
Qiu Luoye replied with a smile, "A neighbor from the north."
"From Unburied, are you?"
Qiu Luoye glanced at Shui Yongquan; he hadn’t heard of a place called Unburied.
Shui Yongquan shook his head; he hadn’t heard of it either.
The burly man grew impatient. "I’m asking you a question here! Are you both mutes?"
Qiu Luoye was taken aback, and Shui Yongquan quickly picked up the conversation. "We’re not from Unburied."
"Then where are you from?"
This question was not easy to answer, as Qiu Luoye’s territory currently had no name.
The burly man demanded, "I only have one neighbor to the north! If you’re not trash from Unburied, then where do you come from? Who is your neighbor? What are you doing trying to cozy up by coming here?"
Qiu Luoye remained silent.
Shui Yongquan also didn’t speak; he was familiar with Qiu Luoye’s temperament, and it was too late for words now.
The burly man asked, "Don’t you understand human speech, or can you just not express yourselves clearly? I’m asking where you’re from! Why is there no response?"
Qiu Luoye smiled and said, "I kept silent to give you a chance to escape, but you, ah, you didn’t grasp that opportunity."