The Overlord of Puluo

After Li Banfeng and Chubby Qin had finalized their business deal, they made preparations to head up Mount Bitterfog to gather speckled-snake chrysanthemum.

That night, Chubby Qin went home to pack a bag and invited Li Banfeng to stay over. Li Banfeng politely declined.

As a Homebound Cultivator, he had to spend at least two hours a day inside his home. That was the most basic cultivation rule of Homebound Cultivation. With Qiao Yuesheng’s fate as a cautionary tale, Li Banfeng didn’t dare break the rules.

They agreed to meet at the noodle shop at eight the next morning. However, Li Banfeng had no watch or any sort of timekeeping tool. By the time he arrived, it was nearly noon.

He couldn’t be blamed for oversleeping. In the Pocket Dwelling, there was no sense of day or night, and the sleep quality was just too good.

Chubby Qin was quite anxious. ”Brother Li, why are you so late? We’ve got to hurry. We need to stop by the Inner Gully first.”

”The Inner Gully? What for?”

”To buy something useful.”

Li Banfeng was puzzled. ”Aren’t we just gathering herbs on the mountain? Aren’t spades and sacks enough? We need to go to the Inner Gully to buy those?”

Chubby Qin shook his head. ”There’s no time. I’ll explain once we get there.”

He treated Li Banfeng to two bowls of plain noodles, while Chubby Qin ate eight. Brimming with energy, the two young men ran over to the Inner Gully.

Li Banfeng was running at only thirty percent of his maximum speed, but Chubby Qin was struggling to keep up with him. As a Gourmandism Cultivator, he just needed to eat until he was full, and his speed and stamina would far surpass that of ordinary people. Yet, his improved speed was barely fast enough to keep up with a Wanderlust Cultivator.

Previously, Li Banfeng had taken most of the day to walk from the Inner Gully to the Outer Gully. However, now that they were running from the Outer Gully to the Inner Gully, it took them less than two hours to reach it.

Chubby Qin was so out of breath that he couldn’t speak. He led Li Banfeng straight to Memorial Arch Street.

When they arrived, Li Banfeng grew a little tense. The He Family’s old residence was nearby, and Lu Xiaolan was still inside the house.

Nevertheless, Chubby Qin knew nothing about what had happened at the He Family’s old residence. His destination was Feng’s General Store.

When Li Banfeng and Chubby Qin entered Feng’s General Store, its owner was dusting the shelves with a feather duster.

He hurriedly greeted them with a friendly smile. ”Trader Qin, it’s been a while. And this gentleman, I see that he is under your care as well.”

He recognized Chubby Qin, and he also recognized Li Banfeng, who was still wearing the fedora he had purchased from this very store.

Chubby Qin wasn’t in the mood to exchange pleasantries. He got straight to the point. ”Shopkeeper Feng, got anything good? I’m rushing to leave on a business trip.”

It seemed that whatever Chubby Qin was referring to wasn’t meant to be discussed at the counter. Shopkeeper Feng called over his assistant to watch the store.

Then he turned to Chubby Qin and Li Banfeng and said, ”Please, come into the back room for some tea.”

Li Banfeng and Chubby Qin followed Shopkeeper Feng into the back room. The back room had even more shelves than the front, and they were all stacked to the brim, making the space feel extremely cramped. If not for the small tea table in the center, the room would’ve been indistinguishable from a storehouse.

The three of them sat around the tea table.

As he poured the tea, Shopkeeper Feng lowered his voice and asked, ”Pardon my curiosity, but may I ask what you will be doing on that business trip?”

”Gathering flowers on Mount Bitterfog,” Chubby Qin answered frankly.

Shopkeeper Feng considered it for a moment, then he pulled a small sickle from one of the shelves.

The blade of the sickle was no more than ten centimeters long. The handle was even shorter; it was just long enough for a hand to wrap around it.

Chubby Qin stared at the dainty little sickle for a while before saying, ”Shopkeeper Feng, what am I supposed to do with this? You can’t even harvest wheat with this thing.”

Shopkeeper Feng was just as flabbergasted. ”Didn’t you say you’re going up Mount Bitterfog to gather flowers? This sickle’s perfect for that.”

Chubby Qin furrowed his eyebrows. ”I treated you like a friend and was honest with you, yet you’re treating me like a fool. You think I’d need to come all the way here just to buy a sickle?”

With an exasperated expression, Shopkeeper Feng replied, ”Trader Qin, you said you’re going to gather flowers, so I brought out a tool for gathering flowers. What exactly did I do wrong?”

Chubby Qin grew agitated. ”Do you truly not understand, or are you just pretending? Do you really think the flowers on Mount Bitterfog can be gathered so easily?”

Shopkeeper Feng shook his head repeatedly. ”Then I really don’t understand. If you want this sickle, take it. If not, then forget it.”

As the two men argued, Li Banfeng came to a realization.

Chubby Qin didn’t actually know much about the things that occurred on Mount Bitterfog. He also knew about the jianghu’s rules, but his knowledge was very limited.

Li Banfeng had grown up in an orphanage and made it through university by working part-time jobs. He had met many people and seen many things, so it only took one glance for him to figure out that the real old hand here was Shopkeeper Feng.

Li Banfeng quickly stepped in to de-escalate the situation. ”Brother, I don’t understand either. What exactly are you trying to buy?”

Chubby Qin frowned. ”A weapon!”

”What do you need a weapon for?”

Chubby Qin explained it in one sentence. ”It’s easy to gather the flowers, but descending the mountain is a whole other story.”

That one sentence revealed everything he’d left unsaid.

Speckled-snake chrysanthemums were extremely valuable. Many people were likely heading up the mountain to gather the flowers, but just as many might be looking to steal them. Chubby Qin clearly wanted to buy a weapon for self-protection.

Of course, Shopkeeper Feng understood what Chubby Qin meant. He replied with one sentence as well. ”It’s easy to come down the mountain with a sickle, but do that with the Azure Dragon Saber, and the road gets rough.”

Li Banfeng asked, ”What do you mean by that?”

Shopkeeper Feng smiled. ”A sickle belongs to a farmer. The Azure Dragon Saber belongs to Emperor Guan[1]. A farmer walks quietly. At most, he’ll run into a stray bandit or two. He deals with each bandit in one stroke, and that’s the end of it.

”But if you walk around carrying an Azure Dragon Saber like Emperor Guan, you’d better be prepared to fight your way past five fortified checkpoints and slay six generals.[2] Without his skills, how would you make it down the mountain?”

As Shopkeeper Feng spoke, he brushed his fingers along the edge of the sickle blade. Li Banfeng was pretty knowledgeable about this sort of thing and could tell that it was indeed a fine blade.

Li Banfeng asked, ”How much for this sickle? I’ll take it.”

Chubby Qin glared at him. ”What’s the point of buying that? Let’s go to another shop. I’ve got plenty of connections.”

Shopkeeper Feng didn’t try to stop them from leaving. ”Then, please feel free to check other shops, Trader Qin. The kind of weapon you want, I don’t have it here.”

Li Banfeng remarked inwardly, Shopkeeper Feng is a good man. He doesn’t want to put Chubby Qin in danger.

And so, he insisted on buying the sickle. Shopkeeper Feng asked for five hundred yuan, and Li Banfeng didn’t even try to haggle for a lower price. He intended to borrow five hundred yuan from Chubby Qin.

However, Chubby Qin looked heartbroken to part with his money. ”Five hundred for this thing?”

Shopkeeper Feng could tell that Li Banfeng was strapped for cash.

Just a few days ago, he had helped the young man with directions, and the young man had bought a fedora and a feather duster.

Shopkeeper Feng remembered Li Banfeng clearly. He’s a sensible young man with good principles.

He asked, ”Sir, how should I address you?”

Li Banfeng answered, ”My surname is Li. You can call me Li Qi.”

”Trader Li, I’ll let you have the sickle on credit. You can pay me when you’re back from gathering the flowers.”

Li Banfeng was stunned. On credit?

Shopkeeper Feng’s smile didn’t waver in the slightest. ”You’re someone who gets things done. I trust you.”

Li Banfeng thanked him and accepted the sickle.

Shopkeeper Feng then pulled out a trowel, about a dozen centimeters long, from beneath the counter and handed it to Li Banfeng. ”Some plants are rooted deep and hard to gather. What do you think of this trowel?”

Li Banfeng took the trowel, studied its form, and brushed his fingers along the edge of its blade. He asked, ”How much for this one?”

Shopkeeper Feng chuckled. ”In terms of materials and craftsmanship, this trowel’s even better than the sickle. Eight hundred would be a fair price, but since you’ve got a good eye for quality... If you like it, I’ll give it to you for seven hundred.”

”Seven hundred...” Li Banfeng was a little hesitant to accept the deal. The trowel was a good item, but he didn’t feel right taking it on credit too.

Shopkeeper Feng could tell why Li Banfeng was hesitating, so he said, ”Just take it. Go try it out. If it suits you, pay me later. If it doesn’t, just return it.”

Li Banfeng ultimately accepted the trowel as well. However, he wanted to buy a few sacks too.

Shopkeeper Feng gave him two. ”Two sacks are plenty. The flowers are easy to gather, but they’re not so easy to carry down the mountain.”

Li Banfeng nodded, taking note of the advice.

Shopkeeper Feng smiled. ”Anything else you need?”

The Pocket Dwelling had no windows. He couldn’t see any sunlight or moonlight, so it was impossible to tell day from night. Li Banfeng wanted to buy a watch.

Shopkeeper Feng took out a pocket watch. It was about twice the size of a one-yuan coin, with a shiny silver case that reflected its surroundings.

Click!

He popped the case open and revealed the pocket watch’s white watch face, embossed with twelve elegant markings for the hours.

The crown of the pocket watch, used for winding the watch, was at the twelve o’clock position. Shopkeeper Feng grasped it, wound it a few times, and then pulled it out two clicks.

Li Banfeng had seen mechanical wristwatches like this before. When the crown wasn’t pulled out, it was used for winding the watch. To set the time, the crown had to be pulled out one click. Two clicks were for setting the date.

But there’s no date displayed on the pocket watch. Why did he pull it out two clicks? Li Banfeng wondered.

The pocket watch played a music box tune.

This sounds really familiar. Think I’ve heard it before, somewhere...

A shopping mall? A restaurant?

An upstairs VIP lounge?

Li Banfeng had worked in all those places. The tune left a deep impression on him, but he couldn’t recall its name.

It has been quite a while since I last heard some music.

The familiar music made him feel warm and relaxed.

”How much is this watch?”

Shopkeeper Feng lifted the watch by its chain. ”This pocket watch is from the country of Geman. Authenticity guaranteed. If proven otherwise, you’ll get your money back. Two thousand two hundred. I can’t give you this one on credit, I’m afraid.”

Li Banfeng was tempted to buy the pocket watch, but the price left him speechless.

Chubby Qin huffed impatiently. ”What’s the point of buying that? You’re better off just buying a clock!”

Shopkeeper Feng smiled but said nothing.

Chubby Qin urged Li Banfeng to leave, so Li Banfeng gave the shelves a final glance to see if there was anything else that could be useful. He suddenly paused, resting his gaze on an unusual object.

It was a rosewood cabinet with a simple and plain design, about the size of two bedside tables stacked together. At the top of the cabinet, there appeared to be three morning glory flowers in full bloom, sculpted from metal.

To be precise, they weren’t morning glory flowers but horns in the shape of morning glory flower[3]. One was especially large; its bell[4] wider than a large plate. The other two were much smaller, with bells roughly the size of a fist.

Li Banfeng’s eyes lit up. ”A record player?”

He’d seen record players on television before. They were machines that played music from vinyl records.

”Record player?” Shopkeeper Feng shook his head. ”That’s not what this is called.”

It doesn’t matter what it’s called.

If it’s a record player, that means there’s electricity here.

And if there’s electricity, that means I can charge my phone.

And if I can charge his phone, this world would be perfect!

Even if I can’t get a signal here, at least I won’t need to buy a watch.

However, Shopkeeper Feng’s response left Li Banfeng deeply disappointed. ”We don’t sell anything that uses electricity. This is a gramophone; it doesn’t run on electricity.”

Li Banfeng couldn’t wrap his head around it. How could it play music without electricity?

He had only just found out that the original version of the record player had nothing to do with electricity or magnets. It relied on only two things to play music: the stylus and the record.

Shopkeeper Feng placed a Bakelite record onto the turntable of the gramophone. Then he pulled a crank handle from a drawer underneath and inserted it into the side of the gramophone, turning it forcefully a dozen times.

He did that to wind up the gramophone’s spring.

Once the spring was fully wound, he flicked a latch, and the record began to spin rapidly on the turntable.

Shopkeeper Feng gently lowered the needle onto the record. Amid the faint crackles of static, melodic vocals reverberated from the large horn.

「As the drifting clouds scatter,

The bright moonlight illuminates the path

Leading to a blissful reunion.

Tonight, we drink 」

The song it played was ”Blossoms Under the Full Moon.”

The mechanics behind this old gramophone were very simple.

Grooves of varying depth were etched into the record, created by the vibrations of a stylus during the original performance.

Now, as the stylus of this gramophone retraced those grooves, it made the same vibrations, reproducing the song from that performance.

That was the acoustic principle behind the gramophone.

The sound quality wasn’t great. In fact, it was quite rough.

Nevertheless, Li Banfeng really liked the song. It made him feel relaxed and content.

Unfortunately, it ended too quickly. In less than three minutes, the stylus reached the edge of the disc, and the spring wound down. The record stopped spinning.

Chubby Qin looked unimpressed. ”What’s so great about that? Winding a crank just to hear one song? That’s such a hassle.”

”If you don’t want to wind it, you can still listen to music,” Shopkeeper Feng said as he placed another record onto the turntable.

He fetched a tin cup and used it to pour two cups of water into the small horn on the left side of the large horn.

Shopkeeper Feng struck a match and opened a small door on the bottom-right corner of the gramophone.

It revealed a hidden compartment holding an iron box that was fixed in place, half-filled with fat. A single wick stood upright in the center.

He lit the wick, and a small flame flared up, lighting up the entire compartment.

Li Banfeng had no idea what kind of substance was being burned, but he could feel its intense heat even from a distance.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

The small horn on the right side of the large horn began rhythmically releasing bursts of steam.

The small horn on the left was for pouring in the water, and the one on the right was for releasing steam.

What kind of setup is this?

Could it be...

The turntable started spinning the record.

A steam-powered gramophone?

What is this amazing machine?

Li Banfeng’s eyes widened in shock. Everything he’d learned during his over ten years of schooling and higher education was once again being challenged.

After about a minute, the record’s speed gradually stabilized. Shopkeeper Feng lowered the stylus onto the spinning record.

「Butterfly~ take flight~

My heart is no longer here.

In the cold, endless night,

Who will wipe away my tears? 」

The song it played was ”Wild Grass and Blossoms Bloom Again in Spring.”

What a beautiful song.

1. Emperor Guan was not a real emperor. He’s Guan Yu, a famous general from the late Eastern Han dynasty. After death, he was deified and is worshipped as the deity of war and protection. Emperor Guan is a title he was given by his worshippers. ☜

2. Guan Yu was a significant character in the 14th-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This part refers to this story, where Guan Yu passes through five fortified checkpoints and slays six generals to reunite with his sworn brother, Liu Bei. ☜

3. There’s a wordplay here that doesn’t work in English. In Chinese, the morning glory flower’s name is 喇叭花. 喇叭 means horn/trumpet, 花 means flower, i.e. flower that looks like a horn/trumpet. So, what the author wrote was that Li Banfeng saw metal horn flowers, but no, they’re actually just horns. ☜

4. The large opening at the end of a horn. ☜