Chu Shaoqiang wasn’t surprised by Qiu Luoye’s attitude.
"Qiu Luoye, as I said, I’ve heard of you in the Inner State and have seen the Contract Book bearing your name. Don’t you believe me?"
"So what if you’ve seen it?"
"Three days from now, at this same time, I’ll come find you again. I’ll also introduce two friends to you. It won’t be too late for you to give me your answer then."
Chu Shaoqiang turned to leave, but Qiu Luoye laughed.
"You still want to come back after I told you to get lost? No need to wait three days."
"Today’s a good day. We can take care of your funeral before the year ends, save you from bringing bad luck in the new year!"
As his words fell, Qiu Luoye approached unhurriedly.
Chu Shaoqiang flung his sleeves, and a shower of arrows shot towards Qiu Luoye.
Qiu Luoye didn’t dodge or hide, letting the arrows strike him. He waited for Chu Shaoqiang to exhaust his supply. Then, Qiu Luoye shook his body, flicking off all the arrows.
Chu Shaoqiang thought with alarm. He pulled out a long knife, a Long Spear, and a pair of swords from under his coat. He then began to thrust and slash around Qiu Luoye.
Qiu Luoye caught all the weapons with his bare hands, broke them one by one, and continued to advance.
Chu Shaoqiang’s robe trembled, and a handful of Lime flew towards Qiu Luoye.
With this very Lime trick, Chu Shaoqiang had once severely wounded the Greenwater Beggar.
Qiu Luoye swung his long trunk, blowing a strong gust of wind that sent the Lime back onto Chu Shaoqiang’s face, nearly injuring his eyes.
Chu Shaoqiang was startled; he hadn’t expected Qiu Luoye to be prepared.
Actually, Chu Shaoqiang was overthinking things. Qiu Luoye hadn’t been prepared in advance.
He had experienced many trials in the Jianghu and had seen his fair share of underhanded techniques like throwing Lime or scattering sand. He was accustomed to dealing with such tactics.
"Lowly scoundrel!" Qiu Luoye chuckled. "Is that all you’ve got?"
Chu Shaoqiang switched strategies and secretly activated a Dream Cultivation Treasure, aiming to pull Qiu Luoye into a dream.
Qiu Luoye felt his eyelids grow heavy, and his steps began to slow.
Chu Shaoqiang seized the opportunity to prepare a killing move, but suddenly he heard Qiu Luoye let out a roar: "WU!"
The roar sent a sharp pain through Chu Shaoqiang’s chest and also snapped Qiu Luoye back to alertness.
In the Inner State, rumors portrayed Qiu Luoye purely as a brute, which was a misunderstanding.
Qiu Luoye had cultivated in the New Land, relying on the Strange Monsters of the territory to advance to the Cloud Top Second Layer. Having controlled so many Strange Monsters for years, he naturally possessed his own cunning and methods.
He’d be fooled once at most, but never a second time. When Qiu Luoye had fought Li Qi, he had been tricked by a Dream Cultivation Treasure. Ever since then, he had been wary of Dream Cultivators and even had a special method to counter their power.
He had practiced the roar he just unleashed countless times. It could withstand an assault from a Dream Cultivator and was equally effective against Mental Cultivators, Literature Cultivators, Virtue Cultivators, and Sound Cultivators.
Chu Shaoqiang was about to switch to another Magical Treasure when Qiu Luoye’s punch arrived.
BANG!
Chu Shaoqiang raised his arms to block. The armor on his arms shattered, and he was flung into the air, crashing through several large trees behind him.
Previously, with thorough preparation and a first-move advantage, Chu Shaoqiang had defeated the Greenwater Beggar.
Now, despite being equally well-prepared and making every move with a first-move advantage, he found it incredibly difficult against Qiu Luoye.
Qiu Luoye’s cultivation level was supposedly not as high as Green Flower’s, and Body Cultivation was far more common than Disease Cultivation. However, the Taoist Sect’s principles of mutual overcoming and generation sometimes made things unpredictable. For Qiu Luoye to push his physical advantage to such an extent was indeed rare.
Chu Shaoqiang no longer wanted to fight Qiu Luoye. He realized that his previously prepared combat strategy was clearly incorrect.
Moreover, he didn’t need to fight to the death with Qiu Luoye today—the real fight was in three days.
Chu Shaoqiang pulled out a Water Smoke Pot from his waist, took a puff, and exhaled the smoke. The smoke quickly spread out, obscuring his body.
This was a Smoke Cultivator’s Magical Treasure, capable of obscuring vision and containing deadly poison.
SWOOSH!
Qiu Luoye sucked in all the smoke with his trunk; it then billowed out from his ears.
The smoke only obscured vision for a brief moment.
As for the poison, Qiu Luoye wasn’t afraid at all.
"Impressive!" Qiu Luoye exclaimed, and then he kicked Chu Shaoqiang.
CRASH!
Chu Shaoqiang fell apart.
Qiu Luoye looked around; the real Chu Shaoqiang had already vanished.
"Damn you, don’t let me see you again!" Qiu Luoye cursed. "If you really dare to come find me in three days, I’ll make sure there’s nowhere in the Inner State to collect your corpse!"
「The next night.」
Li Banfeng walked out from the construction site.
During the day, construction proceeded normally. Li Banfeng hid in his Portable Residence, which didn’t hinder the Old Man from observing the construction process. However, after observing for an entire day, the Old Man still couldn’t understand the Outside Provinces’ Craftsmanship Method.
When night fell and the workers had left, Li Banfeng moved to a new location. He continued to let the Portable Residence observe, watching late into the night until the Portable Residence finally replied:
"Seems to have some insight, but difficult to articulate."
Li Banfeng was astonished. "Is it that profound?"
The Gloves shook their index finger at this. "Our Old Man is cultured. He hasn’t learned it, and he says it’s difficult to articulate, like he’s speaking a foreign language."
CLANG!
The Old Teapot fell from the tea table as the Gloves dodged quickly.
"You can’t smash me, brother. I’m fragile. Smash something else instead," the Teapot shouted.
Bottles and jars flew around the room; the Gloves dodged left and right, laughing loudly, "Old Man, you can’t hit me, are you frustrated?"
SMACK!
A broom slapped onto the Gloves, and they suddenly stilled.
The Portable Residence trembled, and the Phonograph slowly sang, "Old sir, please don’t be annoyed. This Craftsmanship Method is the cornerstone of the Outside Provinces’ strength; it can’t be deciphered so easily. Husband, tomorrow, take the Old Man to see how they work again. If he watches a few more times, he should be able to figure out some of their methods."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "It’s New Year’s Eve the day after tomorrow; the construction site will be closed tomorrow."
"New Year’s Eve?" the Phonograph exclaimed in surprise. "Heavens, husband, it’s almost New Year, and our home hasn’t even prepared any window flowers or couplets!"
"No need to worry, I’ll take care of it tomorrow."
「On New Year’s Eve.」
Ma Wu hosted a dinner in his residence with He Yuxiu, Lu Chunying, Chu Huaiyuan, and others coming to enjoy the New Year’s Eve dinner.
Once all the dishes were on the table, He Yuxiu asked, "Why isn’t Old Qi here yet?"
Ma Wu replied, "Old Qi said we shouldn’t wait for him; he’s got some things to take care of and won’t be back until later tonight."
He Yuxiu frowned. "It’s rare for us to gather for New Year’s Eve dinner, yet Old Qi insists on coming only later tonight. We’re getting along harmoniously now. But who knows what will happen if we fall out in the future? It’ll be difficult to sit down for a meal together again then."
Xiao Yeci said, "Sister Xiu, we are all family. How could we ever fight?"
He Yuxiu smiled. "My dear girl, the Four Great Families were once harmonious too, but didn’t they eventually end up fighting tooth and nail?"
Lu Chunying shook her head. "I’ll listen to Brother Seven. As long as Brother Seven gives the word, there’s no feud that can’t be resolved as far as I’m concerned."
Chu Huaiyuan murmured with her head down, "I’ll also listen to Brother Seven. Whatever he tells me to do, I’ll do. I’ll listen to everything he says."
He Yuxiu pinched Chu Huaiyuan’s cheek and chuckled, "Girl, when you talk like that, it doesn’t even sound like you!"
Chu Huaiyuan blushed and said, "Aunt Xiu, I was ignorant before and caused you a lot of trouble."
"Don’t call me Aunt Xiu, call me Sister Xiu. Everyone else does."
"That won’t do. I can’t break the rules."
"Oh my, you mentioning ’rules’ just makes me want to laugh! When have you ever abided by any rules, you naughty girl?"
Watching everyone, Ma Wu sighed to himself.
He Yuxiu wasn’t wrong. Based on the past conduct of the great families, conflict was inevitable sooner or later.
But with Old Qi around, things might genuinely turn out differently.
Li Banfeng, carrying two jars of wine, went up the mountain to spend New Year’s with Qiu Luoye.
Qiu Luoye, having spent a long time in the New Land, had long lost any sense of the New Year. But now, as the Local Deity of the Proper Land, he could enjoy a New Year’s Eve dinner and experience life here.
He had spent the previous New Year in Puluo State as well, at Hai Chi Ridge. It was just him and Cui Tiq then, braving the wind and snow to deal with pest infestations.
This year was different. Qiu Luoye had many Covenant Guardian Spirits around him. He planned to drink at his place for the first half of the night and then go to Old Five’s for the second half. After eating his fill and drinking to his heart’s content, he would go home and have fun with his wife all night. That would truly make it feel like New Year’s.
Upon arriving at Qiu Luoye’s residence, there wasn’t a soul in sight.
They had agreed to celebrate the New Year together; where had Big Elephant gone?
Li Banfeng searched the mountain but couldn’t find Qiu Luoye; however, he found Old Hu, the tiger.
"Where is Big Brother Qiu?"
The tiger laughed and said, "Today is New Year’s. Master Qiu was in high spirits and had a few extra cups, then he got drunk and passed out. He said he was going to sleep, and we didn’t dare disturb him, so we let him sleep it off in the mountains. He specifically told us to let you know that he can’t drink anymore today, and that you should come back tomorrow to celebrate together!"
"Is that so..." Li Banfeng turned and left.
The tiger, seeing Li Banfeng gone, went uphill to gather herbs. He had just picked two when Li Banfeng came back. "You sly tiger, Old Hu! How dare you try to deceive me?"
Old Hu was startled. "Seventh Master, why did you come back?"
"Where exactly has Big Brother Qiu gone?"
"I told you, Master Qiu got drunk..."
"Nonsense! What kind of liquor could make Big Brother Qiu drunk? And why are you gathering medicinal herbs?"
When Li Banfeng and Qiu Luoye had clashed before, even Elder Yao’s potent wine couldn’t get Qiu Luoye drunk.
"Well, Master Qiu really did drink too much... He, he..." As the tiger spoke, his voice trembled, and tears began to fall. "Seventh Master, Master Qiu didn’t want me to tell you. He’s injured and can’t get up anymore. He’s in a cave on the back mountain, and he’s not doing well."
Li Banfeng was shocked. "How did he get so badly hurt?"
"I don’t know how it happened," cried the tiger. "The day before yesterday, someone came, I don’t know from where. He fought with Master Qiu but couldn’t beat him, so he ran off. He said he’d come back in three days. Master Qiu didn’t take him seriously. Who would’ve thought Master Qiu would suddenly be injured today, covered in blood? We don’t even know how it happened."
Li Banfeng ran towards the cave on the back mountain.
Qiu Luoye was leaning against the cave wall, his clothes soaked through with blood, staining him crimson.
Seeing Li Banfeng, Qiu Luoye smiled. "Old Qi, why are you here? I almost forgot, today’s New Year’s. Did you come looking for me for a drink?"
"Big Brother Qiu, who did this to you?"
"People from the Inner State came. They wanted to make me their slave again. I refused and drove him away. He must have contacted the Inner State, and they’ve probably done something to my Contract Book."
"Contract Book?"
"I have a Contract Book in the Inner State."
Li Banfeng was taken aback. "Don’t you still have two more Contract Books? The two from Madame Wuqin! They shouldn’t be able to affect you!"
Qiu Luoye sighed. "I thought the same, but I’m still hurt. This business with the Contract Books... we still haven’t completely figured it out. That man will come again tomorrow night, and he’ll bring two helpers. You can’t beat him, so don’t fight him. My other two Contract Books are also here on this mountain. I’ll have Old Hu take you to them."
"You dig up these two Contract Books and take them with you. Find a place to cultivate. Once you reach Above the Clouds, don’t suffer in the Inner State. Just rely on these two Contract Books to support yourself. Green Flower also did it this way back then."
"Big Brother, you focus on recovering. Leave this to me. I’ll go gather our people right now..."
"Old Qi!" Qiu Luoye grabbed Li Banfeng. "We agreed, didn’t we? You handle the strategies, I do the fighting! You have to live, you hear me? Live well for my sake! Once you reach Above the Clouds, then go find those bastards and get revenge! Your brother will be cheering you on from the underworld!"
PS: Hold on, Qiu Luoye!