The Overlord of Puluo

After resting for a day at the inn, Li Banfeng and Chubby Qin hired a carriage and set off.

Li Banfeng thought Chubby Qin would take him somewhere special, but Chubby Qin brought him to Inner Gully instead.

While standing on the street, Chubby Qin reminded him, ”Brother, that man is far too sly. Don’t listen to his sob stories or excuses. Set a price in your mind, and don’t sell for less than that.”

Li Banfeng had already set a price. He expected at least five thousand per pill and would definitely not sell for less. The logic was simple. If something worth ten thousand could not even sell for half, he would rather swallow it himself. After all, he wasn’t short on travel money.

He also recalled the Peddler’s reminder that a cultivator must never miss a day of practice. If special circumstances kept him from going out or returning to his Pocket Dwelling, a Speckled-Snake Pill could still cover a day’s worth of cultivation. If the sprinter Qiao Yuesheng had possessed enough of them, he likely wouldn’t have met such a miserable end.

Having made up his mind, Li Banfeng asked, ”Aren’t you coming with me?”

Chubby Qin shook his head. ”I’m not in a rush to sell. These pills are too valuable to let go cheaply. I was planning to bargain with you, but the last time I went to buy weapons from him, I spoke too rashly and ruined my relationship with Shopkeeper Feng. I won’t cause trouble for you this time. Once you’re finished, I’ll wait at the bun shop on the street corner.”

Chubby Qin spoke as if it were some great secret, yet the place he chose turned out to be none other than Feng’s General Store.

That said, without Chubby Qin’s guidance, Li Banfeng never would have guessed that a general store would actually take in pills.

When he entered the store, Shopkeeper Feng greeted him with a bright smile. ”Trader Li, you’re back. How was the harvest this time?”

Li Banfeng smiled in return. ”Not bad. I’ve come to sell the harvest.”

Shopkeeper Feng blinked in surprise. ”Trader Li, we don’t take speckled-snake chrysanthemums. I don’t have any pill recipes.”

”It’s not speckled-snake chrysanthemums. Let’s talk somewhere private.”

Shopkeeper Feng led Li Banfeng into the back room, where Li Banfeng first took out one thousand three hundred yuan. ”I’ll clear the debt first! Five hundred for the sickle and eight hundred for the trowel!”

Shopkeeper Feng accepted the money with a smile. ”Trader Li, how generous of you! So then, what goods have you brought me?”

Li Banfeng took out a Speckled-Snake Pill and handed it to Shopkeeper Feng.

Shopkeeper Feng put on his reading glasses and studied the pill for a long while before finally nodding. ”Good quality. Better than what you’d get from the medicinal trading houses.”

Li Banfeng took a sip of tea and smiled. ”Shopkeeper Feng, you truly know your stuff.”

Shopkeeper Feng also smiled, then handed the pill back to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng was taken aback. ”What do you mean? You won’t take it?”

Shopkeeper Feng shook his head. ”It’s not that I won’t take it. I just need to make the rules clear first. This isn’t a medicinal trading house, but a general store. I can do the deal, but it’s not my trade. If you sold it to a trading house, you could get twelve thousand. I can’t offer you that price here.

”I can’t refine pills myself, and when it comes to buying and selling, I have to leave room for profit. If I keep them in stock, who knows when they’ll sell? So the price will have to be lower, and you might not be happy with it.”

Li Banfeng nodded. Complaints and excuses were only natural, and he had already prepared himself for them. Still, no matter what was said, he would never sell for less than five thousand.

”Name your price,” Li Banfeng said.

Shopkeeper Feng raised five fingers. Li Banfeng first thought he meant exactly five thousand, but then heard him say, ”Fifty percent! At most, I can offer you half their value, which is at six thousand yuan per pill.”

Shopkeeper Feng was being honest. This was the rock-bottom price and the highest price he could offer. Since the pills were of unknown origin, he would be taking on great risk. Even so, there was another reason he had not pushed the price lower. He had a request for Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng nodded. Six thousand per pill was a price he found satisfying, yet he kept a straight face. ”Six thousand is a bit low, but it depends on how many you’re willing to buy.”

Shopkeeper Feng stroked his mustache. ”That depends on how many Trader Li wants to sell.”

”Sixty-five pills. Can you handle that much?”

Shopkeeper Feng nodded. ”I can take them all.”

”Deal! Shopkeeper Feng, you’re a straightforward guy!” Li Banfeng pulled out a bag and poured out the pills.

Shopkeeper Feng counted the pills, nodded, and said, ”Trader Li, you’re just as straightforward. With a deal this large, most people would ask to run a tab and settle later, but I’ll give you the cash now.

Shopkeeper Feng beckoned to his clerk. The store only had one, a young man named Sheng. After receiving a few whispered instructions, Sheng slipped behind the shelves, passed through a small door, and soon returned carrying a leather suitcase.

Shopkeeper Feng set it down and opened it right in front of Li Banfeng. Inside were thirty-nine neat bundles of banknotes, each worth ten thousand. For a shop that looked modest on the surface, its resources clearly ran deep.

”Three hundred ninety thousand. Please, check it.”

Li Banfeng chuckled. ”Would I ever doubt you, Shopkeeper Feng?”

Even so, he carefully counted the money three times before closing the suitcase and putting it away.

Shopkeeper Feng accepted the pills with a smile. ”Trader Li, thank you for doing business with me. The deal is complete, but let’s be clear about the rules. I won’t ask where your pills came from, and in return, you must not ask whom I sell them to or for how much.”

”Don’t worry! I won’t break your rules.”

Li Banfeng was in no mood to ask about these things. All he cared about was taking the money and getting out. He would head straight for the train station, buy a ticket, and be on his way back to Yuezhou as quickly as possible.

First, he needed to gauge the situation and see whether the people from the Dark Star Bureau would let him go. If he learned it was nothing serious, he would head straight to the hospital to find out what was truly up with He Jiaqing.

Just as Li Banfeng was about to leave with the case of money, Shopkeeper Feng called out, ”Trader Li, wait a moment. I have been holding onto the item you wanted all this time.”

With that, Shopkeeper Feng pulled down the curtain, and the gramophone appeared once more before Li Banfeng. It sat in an antique rosewood cabinet, fitted with three brass horns, one large and two small. The elegant design caught his eyes at once and made it impossible to look away.

”Trader Li, do you still want this gramophone?” Shopkeeper Feng observed him carefully, planning his next tactic in conversation.

Li Banfeng forced himself to look away from the gramophone. ”I do want it, but I’ll be traveling far. Carrying it along would be inconvenient.”

Shopkeeper Feng looked confused. ”You don’t have to take it with you. Just leave it at home.”

Li Banfeng lifted his tea bowl and took a slow sip. ”But wouldn’t it be a shame for such a fine piece to sit at home with no one to care for it?”

At those words, the clerk began signaling frantically to Shopkeeper Feng.

Shopkeeper Feng sighed softly. ”Trader Li, you’re a straightforward guy. Since you’ve taken a liking to this gramophone, I was planning to give you a discount and sell it to you for one hundred eighty thousand.”

Li Banfeng drew in a deep breath. ”Wait. Just wait a little longer.”

Shopkeeper Feng picked up a record, set it on the gramophone, poured two fresh cups of water, and lit the wick beneath the machine.

Pop... crackle... pop...

The small horn on the right let out rhythmic bursts of sound. As the record spun, faint static spread through the air.

「Butterflies have flown~

Hearts are left alone...

In this cold and endless night~ Who will wipe the tears on my cheeks? 」

It’s this same song again. Wild Grass and Blossoms Bloom Again in Spring.[1]

Li Banfeng was finding it hard to control himself.

Shopkeeper Feng sighed softly. ”Yesterday, a customer took a liking to this gramophone. I told him it was already reserved for another guest, so I didn’t sell it.

”Trader Li, if you delay any longer, I may not be able to hold it for you. I was waiting for your return so you could enjoy this tune, but the next time you come back, I’m afraid you won’t hear it again, no matter how much you long for it.”

Come back? Will I ever come back? Li Banfeng thought. Once he returned to Yuezhou, he planned to take any job he could find. He would settle into his Pocket Dwelling, free from mortgage and commuting pressure, and live a simple, happy life.

I don’t think I will ever come back to Puluo Province...

With that thought, he suddenly rose to his feet, grabbed the money case, and walked out of the general store.

The sorrowful melody lingered in the shop. The clerk stamped his foot and muttered to Shopkeeper Feng, ”Boss, I think he really wanted to buy it. We set the price too high.”

Shopkeeper Feng let out several long sighs. ”There’s nothing I can do. If we try to sell it too cheaply, this thing just won’t leave.”

The clerk wore a bitter look. ”What should we do, then? When will this thing ever be sold?”

Helplessness filled Shopkeeper Feng, and the little shop echoed with his sighs.

When the song ended and the needle clicked to a stop, Shopkeeper Feng extinguished the flame, released the steam, and was just about to cover the gramophone when Li Banfeng suddenly walked back in.

”One hundred sixty thousand. Do you sell or not?”

The clerk glanced at Shopkeeper Feng with eager anticipation.

Shopkeeper Feng paused in thought, then answered calmly, ”Sold.”

A few beads of sweat formed on his forehead, but he wiped them away with practiced ease, revealing nothing before Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng immediately counted out one hundred sixty thousand and slapped it onto the table.

Shopkeeper Feng didn’t even bother counting the money. He accepted it and told his clerk, ”Sheng, prepare a cart and deliver the goods to Trader Li.”

The clerk was about to prepare the cart when Li Banfeng suddenly said, ”Wait a moment!”

The clerk was stunned and turned to look at Shopkeeper Feng. However, Shopkeeper Feng remained composed. ”Trader Li, the deal is already done. It wouldn’t be right to haggle further.”

Li Banfeng shook his head. ”I’m not bargaining. I want to buy something else.”

He wanted to buy a bed. Since he planned to live long-term in his Pocket Dwelling, sleeping on the ground was out of the question.

Online shopping was cheaper and offered more styles, and he had originally intended to wait until he returned to Yuezhou. But after considering what the trip back would be like, he decided it would be better to buy one directly from the general store

He no longer wanted to sleep on the train. He didn’t want to face the three-headed monster at the Three-Headed Fork again, nor did he want to struggle against the unbearable temptations at Girdle-Slipping Hollow.

He could simply live in his Pocket Dwelling. As long as he kept the key well hidden, he could avoid all the dangers of the train. With a bed, along with food and drink, even a breakdown would not disturb Li Banfeng’s peaceful life.

”A bed...” Shopkeeper Feng was about to say there were none for sale. However, it just so happened that there was a four-poster wooden bed standing by the shelves in the back room.

The so-called four-poster meant a bed with four upright posts, a frame at the top, and railing in the middle. It measured at 1.5 meters wide and at 1.2 meters high. The structure resembled a small house, and lying on the bed gave an added sense of security.

Li Banfeng had already taken a liking to the bed. ”Shopkeeper Feng, give me a price.”

Yet Shopkeeper Feng didn’t look at the bed. His eyes stayed locked on the gramophone. For a moment, it seemed to tremble ever so slightly, though perhaps it was only an illusion.

Oh no... this thing might not want to leave.

Shopkeeper Feng clenched his jaw, then spoke with forced cheer. ”Trader Li, I admire your straightforwardness, and you’ve given me such good business today. Take this bed as my gift to you!”

Shopkeeper Feng didn’t want to waste even another moment.

Li Banfeng quickly waved his hands. ”How could I possibly accept that...”

”Trader Li, if you refuse, you’ll be looking down on me!”

”That’s not right. I can’t just take such a fine bed for free. Name a price, and I’ll also look at some bedding.”

”Bedding is no problem. Sheng, bring out two sets of satin bedding for Trader Li.”

Li Banfeng was completely baffled. ”No, wait, Shopkeeper Feng. I came here to buy, not to take freebies. I was even planning to buy a couple of outfits...”

”Sheng, fetch the measuring tape and take Trader Li’s measurements!”

Sheng stepped forward and silently measured Li Banfeng from head to toe. Soon after, he returned with a pure white suit.

”Trader Li, I’ve decided you’re my friend. The suit is my gift to you as well.”

”No, I don’t usually wear white. It’s too hard to take care of...”

”Then bring out the black one!”

”Black gets dirty easily too...”

”Then fetch the beige checkered shirt!”

Li Banfeng was left utterly bewildered by Shopkeeper Feng. ”Forget it. I won’t buy clothes. I’ll just take two candles.”

”Sheng, bring a bundle of candles and send Trader Li off with the candleholder from Ingris.”

”No, wait—forget it, I won’t buy anything else. I’ll just take two records.”

Shopkeeper Feng went to the shelves, gathered a dozen records in his arms, and laid them on the counter. ”Take these, and I will also include two barrels of fuel, one barrel of engine oil, a kettle, two cups, a bucket, and a bundle of candle wicks. I also have a tool set with pliers and wrenches. If the gramophone ever has a small issue, you can repair it yourself.”

”No, I... I mean...”

Before Li Banfeng could finish, Shopkeeper Feng placed a feather duster in his hands. ”The gramophone cannot stand dust. Clean it regularly. Trader Li, I am straightforward by nature. If you do not accept these, I will get mad!”

Li Banfeng said nothing as there was nothing more he could say.

The clerk hired a carriage and began loading it piece by piece: first the bed, then the gramophone, followed by the bedding, clothes, fuel, candles, and bucket. Everything was piled onto the cart.

With a feather duster in hand, Li Banfeng stood in the doorway, appearing very much dazed. The clerk helped him onto the cart while Shopkeeper Feng called out, ”Trader Li, safe travels! I hope we can do business again next time!”

With that, Sheng urged the driver, and the carriage rolled away.

Shopkeeper Feng and his clerk stood silently outside the shop, watching the carriage until it vanished from sight.

”Boss!” Chun Sheng’s voice trembled slightly.

”Sheng!” Shopkeeper Feng’s throat tightened with emotion.

”Boss!” Chun Sheng’s eyes turned red.

”Sheng!” Shopkeeper Feng wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

”Boss, did we really sell it?” Chun Sheng asked, still feeling dubious.

Shopkeeper Feng, still being cautious, said, ”Sheng, check the back room. I feel like we let it go too cheaply. Check carefully and make sure that thing hasn’t returned.”

Chun Sheng ran into the back and returned within the blink of an eye. ”It didn’t come back. It’s really gone this time.”

”Sheng!” Shopkeeper Feng was wailing out loud.

”Boss!” Chun Sheng exclaimed as tears streamed down his face.

”Sheng!”

”Boss!”

The two of them sat on the ground, wailing loudly.

At last, the clerk wiped his face and said, ”Finally, we can do business in peace.”

Shopkeeper Feng jumped to his feet, straightened his clothes, and declared, ”To hell with business! Today we close the shop, head to the Descending Phoenix Hall, order a table of fine wine, call for two girls to keep us company, and enjoy ourselves for a few days first!”

1. Mentioned in Chapter 27 ☜