The Overlord of Puluo

”How much is this gramophone? I want it!”

Li Banfeng had taken a liking to this gramophone. Just the fact that it was steam-powered and so intricately engineered made it a rare sight, even in Yuezhou.

If he brought it back to Yuezhou and sold it as a collectible, he would definitely make a fortune. Even if he didn’t sell it, he would be delighted to own such a marvelous item.

Shopkeeper Feng wiped the gramophone, seemingly reluctant to part with it. ”This is a handcrafted piece from the Amikan Kingdom. There are only two of them in all of Puluo. I honestly don’t want to sell it.”

Li Banfeng could hear the implication behind those words. It was going to be expensive.

”Name your price, Shopkeeper Feng.”

Shopkeeper Feng hesitated for a moment, then he raised two fingers.

Chubby Qin’s eyes went wide with shock. ”You want twenty thousand?”

Shopkeeper Feng shook his head. ”Two hundred thousand Huan yuan!”

”Two hundred thousand!” Chubby Qin gave a baffled smile. ”Shopkeeper Feng, do you really take us for fools?”

Shopkeeper Feng replied, ”It’s worth every cent. No bargaining on this one!”

Li Banfeng’s gaze lingered on the gramophone.

It was encased in a vintage rosewood cabinet, with three brass horns at the top. A slow stream of steam was still puffing out of the small horn on the right.

「The forest flowers have withered,

And my heart has been buried deep.

When the spring swallow returns one day,

Where will I be? ♪」

The touching melody lingered in Li Banfeng’s ears, making him want the gramophone even more.

However, two hundred thousand was far beyond his reach.

He had worked odd jobs to pay for his tuition and living expenses. In his whole life, he had never even had more than ten thousand yuan in savings.

He glanced at Li Banfeng and shifted his gaze to Chubby Qin.

Chubby Qin widened his eyes and said, ”What are you looking at me for? I’ve never even seen that much money in my life. In my village, two hundred thousand is enough to build a house!”

Li Banfeng thought, A sickle costs five hundred, and a house costs two hundred thousand? Is he joking?

Of course, that sickle wasn’t just any sickle, and who knew what kind of ”house” Chubby Qin was referring to.

Nevertheless, Li Banfeng couldn’t take his eyes off the gramophone. Based on his estimation, this machine would fetch at least five hundred thousand back in Yuezhou. This was going to be the biggest investment of his life, and he was extremely confident it was a good one.

Looking at Shopkeeper Feng, Li Banfeng straightened his back and said, ”Save this gramophone for me. I’m definitely buying it!”

Shopkeeper Feng looked into Li Banfeng’s eyes and sensed that those words carried a special weight for the young man.

He felt that Li Banfeng really would come back and buy the gramophone.

”Sure, I’ll hold it for you,” Shopkeeper Feng promised.

I’m definitely buying it!

Those words were indeed special to Li Banfeng.

At the orphanage, when he saw other kids eating popsicles outside, he had said, ”I’m definitely buying one.”

Back in middle school, when he saw his classmates wearing basketball shoes, he had said, ”I’m definitely buying a pair.”

In college, when he saw his classmates using their phones, he had said, ”I’m definitely buying one.”

Eventually, he had bought the popsicle, the shoes, and the phone.

Li Banfeng would definitely buy this gramophone too.

”Brother, let’s go! We’re running out of time!”

Chubby Qin pulled Li Banfeng away from Feng’s General Store.

The shop assistant sighed and said, ”Boss, when are we ever going to sell that thing?”

Shopkeeper Feng thought about it for a moment. ”That guy just now, the one surnamed Li—I think he genuinely wants to buy it.”

”What’s the use of wanting it?” The shop assistant shook his head several times. ”Two hundred thousand? He probably doesn’t even have twenty on him!”

***

Chubby Qin went to a blacksmith’s house and bought an axe.

The combined length of the handle and blade was seventy centimeters.

Li Banfeng frowned. ”You’re bringing that thing up the mountain?”

”I heard that only the fiercest people dare climb Mount Bitterfog. With this axe, I’ll scare off at least half of them.”

Carrying the axe, Chubby Qin went to the market, bought around ten kilograms of rations, filled two large water flasks, hired a carriage, and took Li Banfeng westward toward Mount Bitterfog.

They traveled for a whole day. Of the ten kilograms of rations, Li Banfeng ate less than half a kilogram, while Chubby Qin ate nearly five kilograms.

By midnight, they had reached the vicinity of Mount Bitterfog.

Li Banfeng looked out into the distance. All he saw was the hazy night; there was no sign of a mountain.

Chubby Qin found an inn and rented two bed spots in the communal sleeping area.

Despite having selected and paid for the communal sleeping area, he found it quite ridiculous. He felt a bit ashamed that he had dragged Li Banfeng into this situation with him, so he made a point to explain himself to Li Banfeng.

”I wanted to get us a private room, but this damn inn raised its prices. A room’s a hundred, but it’s only twenty for a spot on the shared bed. We’re all brothers. Let’s just squeeze together.”

Li Banfeng wasn’t picky. He lay down on the bed and pretended to fall asleep.

It was one giant wooden plank bed, crammed with over twenty people. They were snoring, grinding their teeth, talking in their sleep, making all kinds of noises that people made in their sleep.

Once Chubby Qin fell asleep, Li Banfeng quietly slipped out of the inn. He hid his house key in a small grove nearby and entered the Pocket Dwelling.

Nothing beats my own place.

Since his days at the orphanage all the way to his last days at university, Li Banfeng had never had a room of his own. Now, he was comfortable even sleeping on this ice-cold floor just because it was his.

This time, Li Banfeng didn’t oversleep. When he stepped out of the Pocket Dwelling, dawn was just breaking.

Chubby Qin was already up, looking around for him. ”Brother Li, where did you go?”

Li Banfeng replied vaguely, ”Went to pee. Brother Chubby, should we sleep a little more?”

Chubby Qin said anxiously, ”Sleep? What are you saying? We need to hurry and climb up the mountain!”

Li Banfeng followed Chubby Qin westward. They walked for an hour, but the fog in the distance never lifted, and there was still no sign of a mountain.

There were quite a number of people on the path. Chubby Qin held his axe and carried their rations, staying alert and scanning the people around them.

A bald man in his thirties with a scar at the corner of his left eye was rushing along the path and happened to bump into Chubby Qin from behind.

Chubby Qin staggered, nearly falling. He looked up at the bald man.

The bald man turned back and looked at Chubby Qin, his eyes glinting menacingly. ”Are you blind? Don’t you know you’re in the way?”

Chubby Qin instantly snapped. ”You’re the one who ran into me, yet you’re fucking insulting me?”

The bald man stepped toward Chubby Qin. ”So what if I insulted you? It’s not like I fucking hit you. Are you just itching for a beating?”

Chubby Qin raised his axe and waved it in front of the bald man.

The bald man spat a mouthful of saliva on the ground and pulled out a machete from his waist. It was over a third of a meter long and threatening in his hands.

Li Banfeng stood quietly on the side. Without a word, he wrapped his right hand around the handle of the small sickle he’d bought.

The small sickle was hidden in his pocket, unnoticed by both the bald man and Chubby Qin.

Right then, a man in his early thirties with neatly parted hair stepped between the bald man and Chubby Qin. He had on a gray plaid suit and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

”Gentlemen, if you’ve got strength to spare, save it for the mountain. Why waste it showing off here?”

Truth be told, Chubby Qin didn’t want to fight. He was in a rush to climb the mountain and gather flowers. However, he had been too prideful to simply let the matter go.

The bald man glanced at the man in gold-rimmed glasses before sliding it back into its sheath hanging on his waist.

Since both sides had backed down, the matter was left at that.

The bald man continued on his way, and Chubby Qin put his axe away as well.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses lowered his voice and said to Chubby Qin, ”I’m guessing this is your first time climbing the mountain, brother?”

Chubby Qin gave a dismissive snort. ”I’ve been to Mount Bitterfog more times than I can count. No way it’s my first!”

It was indeed his first time, but he couldn’t let anyone know that.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses chuckled. ”Whether it’s your first time or not, I’ll give you a word of advice. That bald guy is not a good person. Once we’re on the mountain, he’ll surely pull something on you.”

Chubby Qin spat on the ground and said, ”What, you think I’m scared of him?”

The man in gold-rimmed glasses raised his brows. ”It’s easy to dodge a sword in the open, but an arrow in the dark is another matter. It’s not just you. Seeing as I spoke up for you, I might end up paying the price for it once we’re up there.”

”I’m not afraid of him anyway,” Chubby Qin said, gripping his axe tightly.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses looked at Li Banfeng, who kept his head down and said nothing. With that one glance, the man in gold-rimmed glasses had Li Bafeng pegged as meek and honest.

The three of them walked together for a while. A few flags gradually came into view through the fog up ahead.

There were yellow ones, green ones, and even purple ones.

Li Banfeng asked, ”Whose flags are these?”

Chubby Qin shot Li Banfeng a glare, warning him not to reveal their inexperience.

Chubby Qin didn’t know where the flags came from either, but Li Banfeng asking that out loud was as good as admitting it was their first time climbing Mount Bitterfog.

In truth, the man in gold-rimmed glasses had already figured out it was their first time. Gazing at the flags, he muttered, ”The Bai[1], Huang[2], Ru[3] , and Liu Families—all the major medicinal trading houses are here.”

Chubby Qin had heard of these medicinal trading houses, but he didn’t understand why their people had come all the way out here.

Once people harvested speckled-snake chrysanthemum, they would sell it to the medicinal trading houses anyway. Why not just stay home and wait for business to come to them? Why wait at the foot of Mount Bitterfog?

The man in gold-rimmed glasses knew the reason but didn’t explain. ”Gentlemen, let’s not go any further. Let’s wait here for news.”

”Wait for news?” Chubby Qin frowned. ”The speckled-snake chrysanthemum only blooms for a day. Every moment we waste here is one less flower we can gather.”

The man in gold-rimmed glasses shook his head and pulled out a folding fan from his waist pocket. ”Do you know when the speckled-snake chrysanthemum actually blooms?”

Chubby Qin stated loudly, ”It blooms today!”

The man in gold-rimmed glasses fanned himself and said slowly, ”It does indeed bloom today, yes. But the specific time of when it blooms is uncertain. If it blooms at daybreak, that’s today. If it blooms at noon, it would still be today, and of course, if it blooms at dusk, that would still be today. If you go up now and it doesn’t bloom until dusk, wouldn’t you be breathing in toxic fog all day for nothing?”

Chubby Qin smirked. ”I’m a cultivator. I’m not afraid of toxic fog.”

”I know you’re a cultivator, but even so, there’s no point in wasting your strength,” the man in gold-rimmed glasses said, looking out at the dense fog in the distance. ”The toxic fog on Mount Bitterfog will kill an ordinary person in about three hours. A beginner cultivator who has yet to enter a cultivation layer might last seven or eight hours at most. Judging by your build, you must be a Gourmandism Cultivator, right?”

Chubby Qin didn’t respond. After all, cultivators shouldn’t be casually revealing their cultivation path and level to others.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses smiled. ”If you’re a Gourmandism Cultivator, and you’ve eaten your fill, you should be able to last over ten hours. Wait until the flowers bloom before heading up. As long as you know where to go, it will be easy for you to gather even seventy or eighty flowers.”

At eighty-five yuan per flower, seventy to eighty flowers could be sold for more than six thousand yuan in profit.

Hearing that, Chubby Qin rushed forward, but the man in gold-rimmed glasses snapped his fan shut and used it to block Chubby Qin’s way.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses frowned as he said, ”Didn’t I tell you? It’s not time yet. Wait until the flowers bloom before going up. You have no idea how many people die up there every year because of this same reckless behavior.”

Chubby Qin huffed angrily. ”Then do you know when it’s going to bloom?”

The man pointed his fan toward the distant flags. ”I don’t, but they do. Every year, the medicinal trade houses hire two scouts to climb the mountain and check. Once the flowers bloom, the scouts will send a signal, and the medicinal trade houses will send their people up. We just need to follow them.”

Chubby Qin was stunned. ”The medicinal trade houses send people up too?”

The man in gold-rimmed glasses chuckled. ”If they don’t send people up, how are they going to get the speckled-snake chrysanthemum to make Speckled-Snake Pills? If a major medicinal trading house can’t even produce Speckled-Snake Pills, wouldn’t their reputation go down the drain?”

Chubby Qin looked around. ”With this many people going up the mountain, and everyone selling to them, why would they be worried about not being able to buy enough?”

The man in gold-rimmed glasses fanned himself and explained, ”If there were only one medicinal trading house buying, they wouldn’t have to worry, and they’d set the price themselves. However, all the major medicinal trading houses in Medicine King Gully want to buy the herb. This means there’s competition, so the sellers get to set the price.”

Chubby Qin still didn’t understand. ”Didn’t they already say it’s eighty-five per flower?”

The man in gold-rimmed glasses shook his head. ”That’s just the base price. Once people descend from the mountain, things will change. If you owned a medicinal trading house and didn’t have even one speckled-snake chrysanthemum in your inventory, and the sellers demanded a high price, would you buy it? But if you had already sent people up and brought down three to five hundred flowers, at least you’d have some in hand. Even if you make fewer pills, you won’t be at the mercy of sellers.”

The man in gold-rimmed glasses was clearly an insider. From the way he spoke, it was obvious he had intimate knowledge of the business dealings associated with Mount Bitterfog.

As he spoke, several people quietly gathered around to listen. None of them had ever been to Mount Bitterfog before and wanted to learn from his experience.

He wasn’t stingy with his knowledge and went on and on. He shared a great deal of practical information, especially the identifying traits of the speckled-snake chrysanthemum.

Partway through, the man in gold-rimmed glasses suddenly stopped talking. His eyes were fixed on the flags of the medicinal trading houses in the distance.

Beneath those flags, several men were heading into the thick fog.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses turned to the others and said, ”The medicinal trading houses are sending their people up now. It’s time for us to move too.”

Chubby Qin stepped forward eagerly.

However, the man in gold-rimmed glasses warned, ”Don’t follow them too closely. Down here at the foot of the mountain, they’ll follow the rules for the sake of their trading house’s reputation. But once we’re up on the mountain, they won’t hold back. Gathering flowers is tough work; stealing is a lot faster.”

Hearing that, Chubby Qin tightened his grip on his axe again. The others around them grew tense too.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses said, ”If you trust me, let’s form a group. That way we can all look out for each other.”

1. White ☜

2. Yellow ☜

3. This transliteration clashes with the first Lu Family that appeared (The pinyin for both 鲁 and 陆 are the same). We have decided to translate 鲁家 (Lǔ Jia) as Ru Family. ☜