Before discussing business, the private detective, Da Boyins, asked a question, "Lady, with your status and position, you have plenty of capable people to do things for you. You needn’t come to me for these three matters."
Zhuo Yuling was silent for a moment, then answered, "For the last two matters, I do not wish others to know, especially not the Lu Family."
Da Boyins laughed. "The pioneering task is for the Lu Family, but that’s merely a front. The matters of saving and killing people, are they for you, Lady?"
Zhuo Yuling furrowed her brow slightly. "I remember you used to be less talkative. Just name your price."
Da Boyins pondered for a moment before naming his price for the three tasks Zhuo Yuling had proposed:
"The first task, pioneering the New Land, has a going rate. The Earth Skin you want will cost 3,000 Ocean Dollars, no need for further explanation."
Zhuo Yuling nodded, agreeing.
Da Boyins continued, "The second task, finding someone, is very difficult—more so than finding a needle in the ocean. A needle dropped into the ocean won’t run around on its own, but your daughter is currently evading the He Family’s pursuit. Finding her won’t be easy."
Upon hearing this, Zhuo Yuling felt displeased but did not show it on her face. "Who told you the He Family wants to kill my daughter? What has my daughter done to wrong the He Family?"
Da Boyins smiled. "Lady, word gets around. This information didn’t originate with me, and you needn’t get angry. I just want to tell you this task is no easy feat."
Zhuo Yuling extinguished her cigarette, no longer dwelling on the topic. "You just name a price. Spare me any unnecessary talk."
Da Boyins held up a finger. "10,000 Ocean Dollars."
Zhuo Yuling asked, "Is success guaranteed?"
Da Boyins shook his head. "It’s not guaranteed. But if I can’t find her, I won’t take your money."
Zhuo Yuling nodded. "Fine, we’ll go with the price you quoted."
"The third task, assassination. To kill this Li Banfeng, and better still to catch him alive..." Da Boyins thought for a moment. "Alive, 20,000 Ocean Dollars; dead, 10,000 Ocean Dollars."
Zhuo Yuling picked up her teacup and took a sip. Silent for a moment, she then asked, "10,000 Ocean Dollars to kill a piece of trash? Do you think that’s appropriate?"
She wanted to say that Li Banfeng’s worthless life couldn’t compare to Lu Xiaolan’s, but she held her tongue. She would never compare Li Banfeng with her daughter. In fact, based on the price Da Boyins had set for capturing him alive, Li Banfeng was worth more than her daughter.
Da Boyins, looking through the intelligence on Li Banfeng, said to Zhuo Yuling, "I don’t know the details about Li Banfeng, and the information you provided is inaccurate. This means I have to assume a lot of risk."
"Why do you say the intelligence is inaccurate?" Zhuo Yuling’s brow knitted slightly.
Da Boyins patiently explained, "Lady, your intelligence says Li Banfeng has no cultivation level, but according to my knowledge, he’s a Cultivator of a certain standing."
"A Cultivator?" Zhuo Yuling didn’t believe Da Boyins. "How do you know he’s a Cultivator?"
Da Boyins laughed. "Would you believe me if I said I just saw him?"
"You’ve seen him?" Zhuo Yuling laughed, shaking her head. Of course, she wouldn’t believe such a thing. Da Boyins didn’t know Li Banfeng and would not have had any dealings with him.
Yet, Da Boyins believed the person he’d encountered on the road—that extravagantly dressed man—was Li Banfeng.
"Your price is too high," Zhuo Yuling said as she lit another cigarette, shaking her head. "Li Banfeng isn’t worth that much."
"How much he’s worth doesn’t matter to me, but I am worth that price," Da Boyins adjusted his sunglasses.
Zhuo Yuling struggled to keep her emotions in check, maintaining a gentle, languid smile. "Big Bin, I called you here out of regard for our past acquaintance. Don’t push your luck."
"I appreciate your high regard, Madam Xie," Da Boyins took off his top hat and bowed once more, before lowering his voice. "I address you as ’Lady’ out of respect, Xiao Lingzi. Now that you’re living the posh life, why are you still so petty?"
Zhuo Yuling’s eyes flickered, emitting a cold light. "Spider Bin, choose your words carefully."
Da Boyins smiled. "Gecko Ling, you’d do well to know your own limits. If you can afford it, I’ll do the job. If not, find someone else."
Zhuo Yuling’s expression changed; her indolence and detachment vanished, replaced by an unmistakable fury.
Da Boyins donned his top hat, his face still adorned with an exceedingly gentlemanly smile.
「...」
Li Banfeng sat in the gatehouse of Yu Family Village, chatting idly with Old Zhu, the gatekeeper. Li Banfeng said he was a friend of Yu Nan’s, and Old Zhu believed him without a hint of doubt.
"Boss Li, anyone can tell you’re a friend of our Young Shopkeeper. She likes dressing in men’s clothes, just like you do."
Li Banfeng touched his own face, feeling a smooth greasiness.
Li Banfeng suddenly understood; no wonder the spider in the gorge had called him ’lady.’ That scoundrel Blood-Thirsty had put thick makeup on his face again.
"Old Master Zhu, could you please fetch me a basin of water? I need to wash my face."
Old Zhu had been a long-term laborer for Yu Nan’s Home since he was seventeen and had worked there to this day. Now that he was older, he could no longer keep up with the heavy labor. Yu Nan hadn’t let him go, however. Instead, she gave him two rooms in the New Land and assigned him to help guard Yu Family Village.
The so-called Yu Family Village consisted of just two rows of wooden houses, with perhaps seven or eight in each row. These houses were peculiar. They were surrounded by an endless, dark forest, yet only this place with the houses was lit up.
Li Banfeng looked up at the sky and noted a halo of light, perfectly casting its glow over the Yu Family estate.
But Old Zhu’s understanding wasn’t the same.
"The New Land originally had no Heavenly Light. Only after pioneering would Heavenly Light shine in."
"Heavenly Light!" Li Banfeng tensed, remembering the Heavenly Light he had once encountered.
Old Zhu waved his hands repeatedly. "It’s not *that* Heavenly Light. This is the ordinary light one expects during the day."
Li Banfeng asked, "Was it pitch black here originally?"
"Indeed it was," Old Zhu sighed lightly. "It wasn’t easy for the Young Shopkeeper to run the cloth business alone. She saved up more than 1,000 Ocean Dollars and spent it all on this piece of New Land."
Li Banfeng was even more confused. "Was this land purchased?"
"Purchased? Where would you purchase it?" Old Zhu chuckled sorrowfully. "The Young Shopkeeper hired six Pioneers at 200 Ocean Dollars per person. Five of the six died before this piece of land was opened."
"Five of the six died? Can farming kill people?" Li Banfeng was astounded.
Old Zhu explained, "Pioneering isn’t farming. It’s staying in the wilderness for three days. The master of the house first makes an offering and swears an oath. Then, people are sent to pioneer the land. Whenever the Pioneers enter on a given day, they must leave at the same time three days later. As long as light appears on the Earth Skin, the master of the house drops blood to mark it, and the land is considered opened."
Li Banfeng was utterly confused. Only after Old Zhu patiently explained it once more did Li Banfeng begin to grasp the concept.
Yu Nan had pioneered this wasteland in three steps.
First, Yu Nan brought sacrificial offerings to the Gods in the wilderness and made a covenant with them. It was unknown which specific God was offered to.
Second, on the day the covenant was made, Yu Nan sent the Pioneers to guard an offering table and dwell in the wilderness for three days and nights. If even one Pioneer survived, the land would be considered successfully pioneered.
Third, Yu Nan returned to the wilderness and left her own blood on the ground as a mark. Then the land would become hers.
Li Banfeng generally understood the process.
"Yu Nan hired six people, and five died. If the one who survived dripped his blood on the wasteland, wouldn’t that make the land his?"
Old Zhu shook his head. "That wouldn’t work. He hasn’t made a covenant with the God of this land."
"Isn’t making a covenant easy? Just offer some sacrifices, right?"
"Still no good. Our Young Shopkeeper has already made a covenant with the God of this land. The God won’t accept offerings from anyone else within three days. If he decided to make a covenant elsewhere, that land would be his. He would also have to pay for hiring Pioneers himself. It remains to be seen if he’d be willing to spend 1,000 Ocean Dollars to buy such a wasteland."
Li Banfeng still didn’t understand. "If the Pioneer was unwilling to buy it himself, why would Yu Nan spend so much to buy this land?"
Old Zhu sighed. "The Young Shopkeeper needed a backup plan. She wouldn’t listen to anyone who tried to persuade her otherwise."
Li Banfeng didn’t press further. Compared to pioneering, he was now more concerned about Yu Nan’s itinerary.
"Old Zhu, when will your Young Shopkeeper arrive?"
Old Zhu pondered. "You said earlier that they left last night. They should arrive by tomorrow night at the latest."
"Two days and nights?"
Old Zhu nodded. "Two days and two nights is already quite fast."
Li Banfeng had arrived early. He was a Traveling Cultivator and had reached the New Land in seven hours. But Yu Nan didn’t have such an ability. She was also bringing a group of subordinates without cultivation levels and loads of heavy belongings. It was indeed fast for them to make it in two days.
Old Zhu stood up. "Boss Li, I’ve tidied up a room for you. Take a bath, rest a bit, and I’ll go prepare dinner."
When they first met, Li Banfeng had only briefly introduced himself, yet Old Zhu hadn’t suspected him at all.
"Aren’t you afraid I’m a bad person?" Li Banfeng casually asked.
Old Zhu shook his head. "This is Yu Family Village, the Young Shopkeeper’s territory. There is a God blessing the Young Shopkeeper; bad people daren’t come here. Once the Young Shopkeeper drops her blood on Yu Family Village, anyone who dares to trespass will be ground to dust."
Li Banfeng was stunned. "There’s such a thing?"
「...」
Yu Nan, leading her subordinates, was still trekking on the road. The journey was slower than anticipated due to the large number of injured subordinates, plus Qin Xiaopang, who did little but eat and sleep, hardly ever waking.
One hundred miles from Jiangyue Mountain, Yu Nan received the message that the Yu Family’s ancestral home had been burned down. Although it was expected, everyone still reddened with anger. Wang Xuejiao cursed, "That son of a bitch Geng Zhiwei! We have to chop him up and feed him to the dogs! Shopkeeper, let’s not go on. Let’s go fight it out with him!"
A group followed, shouting, "Let’s fight it out with them!"
"We can’t let that bastard Geng Zhiwei get away with it!"
Yu Nan bit down hard on her pipe, remaining silent.
The Old Storekeeper Zhang Shiquan advised, "A gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years. Let’s listen to the Shopkeeper and say less."
After another thirty miles, the group rested by the roadside. A helper came running with a message, panting for a while before saying, "Shopkeeper, the Geng Family Medicine Shop was burned down by someone! Geng Zhiwei is missing—probably burned to death!"
Yu Nan was speechless with astonishment.
PS: Hey, dear readers, Shala has prepared a pot of warm wine. Come on over and join the conversation.