Li Banfeng had practiced the Iron Ruler for two hours and felt he had gained some insights.
The phonograph repeatedly inspired him, "My lord, a true man aspires to travel a thousand miles. Why stay at home all the time? Hurry out and buy some groceries!"
Li Banfeng looked at his pocket watch and saw it was already ten o’clock. Indeed, it was time to go out and look around.
After returning to Yu Family Village, Li Banfeng first went to Old Zhu for lunch, then decided to take a walk in the New Land.
A Traveling Cultivator must walk at least fifty li each day. Although he had traveled a longer distance the day before, completing the task with surplus—in the jargon of Cultivators, this was like banking time—one should not waste surplus time on daily cultivation.
Old Zhu couldn’t dissuade Li Banfeng and could only tell him the taboos of the New Land: "Boss Li, don’t cut down trees, don’t pluck grass, and don’t harm the birds and beasts in the woods. Don’t eat the fruits in the woods, nor drink the water there. If you encounter people or things you don’t understand, hurry back. You’ve been through the New Land once when you came here, so try to follow the same path as much as possible, and be extremely careful."
Advice should be heeded, but the same path should not be taken. Continually moving back and forth on one route is not conducive to the accumulation of cultivation.
Li Banfeng relied on the Seek Fortune and Avoid Disaster Skill of the Traveling Cultivator, trying to move towards areas that were not too dangerous.
However, there were not many places in the New Land that were not dangerous.
Within three li of Yu Family Village, his progress was reasonably smooth.
Beyond the range of three li, Li Banfeng occasionally felt danger approaching. Goosebumps rose one after another, and every couple of steps, he couldn’t help but shiver. The Traveling Cultivator’s Seek Fortune and Avoid Disaster Skill was constantly warning him.
After covering nearly ten li, Li Banfeng realized that he had done enough basic routine cultivation for the day.
If I return now, I can take a leisurely stroll in the afternoon and then go back for a nap. A very reasonable arrangement.
Li Banfeng turned around, preparing to head back the way he came, when he suddenly heard someone speaking from the trees:
"Brother, is that you?"
Li Banfeng silently raised his head.
He saw a thread, nearly transparent and as thick as a finger, dangling from the tree.
Following the thread upward, Li Banfeng saw a huge "Bamboo Basket" sliding down slowly along it.
It was pitch-black and airtight, seemingly woven from branches and covered with leaves that blocked every gap.
The mouth of the Bamboo Basket faced directly downwards, right above Li Banfeng’s head.
The thread entered the Bamboo Basket through this opening, passed out from the basket’s far end, and was looped over a branch higher up in the tree.
A man’s voice came from the basket, "Brother, you’ve finally arrived."
The first time he heard this voice, Li Banfeng was somewhat moved, thinking he had encountered He Jiaqing.
Upon hearing it a second time, Li Banfeng realized this voice was very different from He Jiaqing’s. It only sounded muffled because it came from inside the "Bamboo Basket," and slightly resembled He Jiaqing’s husky voice.
Li Banfeng looked at the Bamboo Basket. Sensing no danger, he calmly asked, "Why are you calling me brother? Could you have mistaken me for someone else?"
The Bamboo Basket hung in mid-air. It waited for a moment, and then another voice came from inside: "Child, is that you?"
The voice was husky and gentle, like that of an elderly mother with white hair.
Li Banfeng was quite adept at imitating women’s voices, but this time, he did not detect any trace of imitation.
Although he still did not sense any danger, Li Banfeng decided to leave immediately.
He hadn’t forgotten the Coachman’s advice.
Li Banfeng had just taken a step forward when the thread suddenly shot out from the Bamboo Basket and wrapped around his legs.
Li Banfeng tripped over the thread and lay on his back on the ground.
He tried to struggle free a couple of times, but the thread was very tough, and his legs couldn’t escape.
He avoided rashly reaching for the thread with his hands, knowing that if they also became trapped, he would have no chance of escape.
He plunged both hands into his pockets, first pulling out a pair of Mandarin Duck Axes.
This unique weapon, formed by two intersecting crescent blades, had extremely sharp edges.
But Li Banfeng tried several times and couldn’t cut the thread with the Mandarin Duck Blades.
The huge Bamboo Basket slowly descended, trembling gently.
Another voice came from inside the "Bamboo Basket," tender and delicate, "Husband, have you come?"
It was the voice of a young woman, still without any trace of imitation.
"You really have mistaken me for someone else," Li Banfeng calmly replied. He immediately put away the Mandarin Duck Axes and pulled out the Iron Ruler instead.
The Iron Ruler had no cutting edge, but its spike was very sharp.
The Bamboo Basket continued to fall, shaking even more violently.
A young woman’s face slowly emerged at its opening, her features remarkably delicate. A thread as thick as a finger extended from her lips, stretching downward.
This reminded Li Banfeng of a particular type of worm that hangs itself in trees by a thread.
The Insect Cocoon continued to approach. Amid its wriggling, the woman with the exquisite face slowly emerged further from it.
With long black hair that fell onto Li Banfeng’s face, she looked down at him, the thread still between her lips, and asked in a muffled voice, "Have I guessed wrong all three times?"
"Yes, all your guesses were wrong." Li Banfeng’s brow smoothed, and a smile touched his lips. With his right hand clenched around the Iron Ruler, he thrust it toward the woman’s face.
A Traveling Cultivator was very fast, and Li Banfeng, having just left his dwelling not long ago, was at his physical peak.
The thrust was quick and accurate. The Iron Ruler’s sharp tip was about to pierce the woman’s brow when suddenly another strand of insect silk shot out from the Bamboo Basket, wrapping around Li Banfeng’s arm.
The Insect Cocoon swung back and forth with increasing amplitude. A head with short hair struggled to emerge from the opening of the Insect Cocoon.
Thick eyebrows, big eyes, thick lips—this was a sharply featured man. With insect silk in his mouth, he looked down at Li Banfeng and asked, "Were they really all wrong?"
"I didn’t lie to you. They were all wrong," Li Banfeng said as he pulled his left hand out of his pocket.
Before Li Banfeng could open his palm, another strand of insect silk tightly wrapped around his entire left arm.
From within the Insect Cocoon, an elderly woman’s head, white-haired, squeezed out between the other two heads. Biting a strand of insect silk, she strained to extend herself.
It was an old woman, her face a mass of wrinkles.
The old lady, toothless, holding the insect silk in her mouth, smiled at Li Banfeng and said, "I guessed wrong. Now it’s your turn. Guess who I am."
Li Banfeng blinked and asked, "What if I guess wrong?"
The woman answered, "Then we’ll eat you."
Li Banfeng then asked, "And what if I guess right?"
The man replied, "Then you’ll stay and live with us."
Li Banfeng exerted all his strength into his left hand, struggling mightily.
The old lady bit down on her strand of insect silk, pulling it tighter and tighter.
"What’re you holding in your hand? It must be something fun! Let me see it, quickly show me! Hehehe~" The old lady, biting her insect silk, let out a weird laugh.
Under the tug of the insect silk, Li Banfeng’s left hand slowly opened.
It wasn’t the key he usually carried. In his hand was a glove, and on it lay a rust-red Elixir.
The old lady tried to snatch the Elixir with her insect silk, but as soon as the silk touched the Rust Pill, signs of corrosion swiftly spread along the strand.
The speed of the spread surprised even Li Banfeng—it was faster than the Rust Pill corroding the Iron Tobacco Box.
The insect silk on his left arm quickly rusted and snapped. Li Banfeng, holding the Rust Pill, swiftly rolled it over the remaining strands on his body.
Rusty spots spread over all the insect silk. The formidable strands quickly became brittle, and Li Banfeng rapidly broke free.
The three heads inside the Insect Cocoon also bit through their strands of insect silk.
They had to; the rust was climbing the silk, nearly reaching their mouths.
The three heads spat out new strands of insect silk and lunged at Li Banfeng together.
This time, Li Banfeng was prepared. He dodged by rolling aside, avoiding the insect silk, and thrust back with the Iron Ruler, stabbing the man in the temple.
The man screamed in pain. The other two heads, feeling his agony, screamed along with him.
Li Banfeng raised his hand again and threw the Rust Pill into the Insect Cocoon.
All three heads contorted their expressions simultaneously, sensing unbearable pain, and retreated into the Insect Cocoon together.
After a while, the head of the young wife emerged from the Insect Cocoon, her beautiful face marred with patches of rust.
But after hesitating for a moment, Li Banfeng still walked away.
He still didn’t know the full situation with those three worms. If the Rust Pill couldn’t completely subdue them, Li Banfeng might well have had to stay and keep them company.
Li Banfeng didn’t dwell on it further and ran full tilt back to Yu Family Village.
As he reached the base of a large banyan tree, he suddenly noticed its crown shaking, and another clump of insect silk fell in front of him.
Li Banfeng hastily retreated, dodging the insect silk, and broke out in a cold sweat.
A woman’s voice came from the tree crown; it was neither the old lady’s nor the young wife’s.
"My children just wanted to play with you for a bit. Why did you hurt them?"
A middle-aged woman’s face emerged from the crown of the tree.
RUSTLE! RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
The dense leaves stirred as a massive body moved among them.
Li Banfeng changed direction—he wanted to get around this tree.
BOOM!
With a muffled thud, the woman fell from the tree.
She had a human face and a human head.
But she had no neck. Behind her head was a bulky, swollen green body.
This was a green worm, now lying on the ground. It was a huge worm, significantly taller than Li Banfeng.
"Don’t go. Stay with me. Be my child."
Waves rippled across the worm’s body as it crawled towards Li Banfeng.
PS: Shala spat out insect silk, wrapping around you, dear readers! Don’t go! Stay and chat with me a bit longer!