The Overlord of Puluo

At three in the afternoon, Li Banfeng woke groggily and heard a voice in his ear.

”Over the vast desert, a single plume of smoke rises straight,

”Along the long river, the sun sets round and full.”

“What do you mean, round and full?” Li Banfeng muttered. When he opened his eyes, he saw the Tang saber standing upright in midair before him.

Li Banfeng stood frozen for a long moment, then heard the Tang saber say slowly, “The time for the decisive battle has come.”

Li Banfeng had almost forgotten. Last night, he and the Tang saber had agreed to settle their duel today.

Flames leapt from the gramophone’s oil tank, and through bursts of steam came a lilting voice singing, “Husband dear~ this little wifey told you so~ this saber cannot stay~ oh no~ it cannot be kept~!”

The Tang saber turned toward the gramophone, looking somewhat wary. “This duel is one of honor between us. None other shall intrude.”

Hiss~

The gramophone sneered, “Why bother talking about rules with a woman like me?”

The Tang saber stepped back two paces and said to Li Banfeng, ”You outnumber me, yet call this a fair fight? Even if I am defeated, I will not gladly admit defeat.”

Whoosh!

Steam hissed from the gramophone.

The gramophone sang slowly, “Is it many bullying few? Without him lifting a hand, I can make your soul disperse into nothing.”

”You are... This is...”

While the Tang saber was still searching for an excuse, Li Banfeng got up, scooped some water from a bucket to drink, stretched his limbs, and said to the gramophone, “Wifey, I promised him a fair duel today. It’s a one-on-one duel. Can’t go breaking my word now.”

“Husband dear~ This is not a game. Be careful. One wrong move and this blade shall carry your soul away.”

”Wifey, don’t worry. I’m confident I can beat him.”

The Tang saber snorted. “Good! Those are words worthy of a true man. Say then, shall we cross blades beneath heaven’s vault, or settle it here?”

Li Banfeng glanced around. “If we fight here, my things will get destroyed.”

The gramophone cried out, “Husband dear~ if you step outside this house, I won’t be able to protect you!”

The Tang saber, too, wished to fight outside. It was worried that the gramophone would interfere, but it did not dare to say so outright.

Li Banfeng thought for a moment and said, ”Let’s fight in the third room!”

The gramophone paused. ”What is the third room?”[1]

“The third room is just what I call it,” Li Banfeng replied. He had named the new chamber that the gramophone had created the third room.

The Tang saber agreed as well. It was naturally better to be away from the gramophone. ”You are not bringing a weapon? I don’t kill those without one.”

Li Banfeng casually picked up two daggers from the floor. They were the standard weapons of ordinary Jiangxiang Gang members, crude in both material and craftsmanship.

The Tang saber eyed the daggers with clear disdain. “You plan to fight me with such crude blades? You’re underestimating me.”

Li Banfeng gave a cold laugh. ”You’ll see once we fight.”

The two entered the third room. It was newly carved out, about the same size as the main room and fairly spacious. Li Banfeng and the Tang saber each took a side, standing against opposite walls.

With a sharp clang, the Tang saber unsheathed itself, its cold gleam flashing across Li Banfeng’s face. “You may attack! I will let you strike three times first!”

Li Banfeng took a Corrosion Pill from his pocket.

The Tang saber sneered. “Thinking of taking a pill now? I’m afraid it’s too late.”

Li Banfeng placed the Corrosion Pill on one of the daggers. Within moments, the ten-centimeter blade corroded into a pile of rust.

The Tang saber was taken aback. It circled along the wall as it remarked, “What a potent pill! You plan to use that against me? I’ll tell you this. You may not even touch me, let alone harm me.”

Li Banfeng tossed the other dagger into the air and flicked the Corrosion Pill straight at its edge.

When the dagger hit the ground, it had already turned rusty.

The Tang saber panicked slightly as it hadn’t expected Li Banfeng’s aim to be so steady and precise. But when it noticed that the Corrosion Pill had already fallen to the ground, it said, “A true hero shows no fear in the face of danger, and a real man would rather break than bend. You think your petty tricks can scare me?”

With that, the Tang saber moved to the center of the room, blocking Li Banfeng’s path to the Corrosion Pill.

Since Li Banfeng had already hurled the Corrosion Pill, the Tang saber had no intention of letting him retrieve it.

Li Banfeng reached into his pocket and pulled out another Corrosion Pill. Staring coldly at the saber, he said, “You’ve got some nerve.”

The Tang saber backed up toward the wall and trembled slightly.

Why does he still have another pill?

”Make yourself clear. Are you really letting me strike first?” Li Banfeng warned.

At this moment, Li Banfeng and the Tang saber were less than five meters apart and Li Banfeng could throw the pill at any moment.

Clang!

“When one’s victories are complete, one presents the spoils of triumph before the wise ruler. To have one’s portrait painted in cinnabar and blue upon the qilin platform is the highest honor.[2] Having wandered all my life and now found my true lord, I am willing to serve with the devotion of a hound or a horse.”

As the Tang saber finished speaking, it slid back into its sheath and lay flat on the ground.

Hiss~

From the main room, the gramophone let out a mocking hiss. It clearly despised the Tang saber.

Li Banfeng asked, “What’s your name?”

“This humble one bears neither a name nor surname. My lord may address me as he sees fit,” the Tang saber said as he continued lying flat on the floor.

Hiss~

No name or surname? The gramophone felt a bit wary.

Li Banfeng said to the Tang saber, “It is unbefitting for you to be nameless. As an enchanted artifact, you deserve a name that stands out! Let me bestow you one!”

“It would be my greatest honor to receive a name from my lord!”

Li Banfeng thought for a while before saying, “From now on, you will be called Second Saber.”

The Tang saber found the name crude and lifted itself slightly. “Why not call me Great Saber instead?”

Li Banfeng drew out the sickle and said, “He was the first to follow me, and so the title of Great Saber belongs to him.”

The Tang saber was unwilling to accept this, but it didn’t say anything.

Li Banfeng hung the Tang saber at his waist, but soon felt it stood out too much. The blade was too long to keep anywhere else.

“Guess the sickle’s still the handier one,” Li Banfeng muttered to himself and let out a sigh. Just as he did that, the Tang saber shrank and turned into a dagger less than ten centimeters long.

What an excellent enchanted weapon! Not only can it change its size, it even understands what I want, Li Banfeng thought as he put the saber away. When he returned to the main room, a wave of steam rolled toward him, brushing back and forth against him.

Li Banfeng was taken aback and asked, “Wifey, what are you doing?”

The gramophone sang softly, “Husband dear~ triumphant in your return~ oh, wait~ One should never say ‘triumphant return on your comeback.’ That’s like saying ‘come back’ twice. This little wife celebrates your victory.”

Li Banfeng drew in a sharp breath. “Stop celebrating, or I won’t be able to hold myself back.[3]”

The steam gradually dispersed, though the record continued to spin on the turntable.

While the record spun, the gramophone thought to itself, The saber doesn’t seem to be an ordinary enchanted artifact.

***

When it was dusk, Li Banfeng walked out of his Pocket Dwelling and stepped into Chubby Qin’s courtyard. It just so happened that Chubby Qin was hanging up laundry.

“Big Bro Qi, what brings you here?” Chubby Qin said cheerfully, hurrying to invite him inside.

“Big Bro Qi, have you heard? The branch master of the second branch under the Medicine King Hall of the Jiangxiang Gang went missing right inside their branch hall. A dozen people who were with him disappeared too. If they are alive, no one knows where they went. If they’re dead, not a single body has been found!”

“Alas, if such is the case, then the Jiangxiang Gang’s losses must be grievous indeed,” Li Banfeng replied. Still influenced by the Tang saber, he hadn’t quite gone back to his usual way of talking.

Chubby Qin scratched his head. “Big Bro Qi, why are you talking so fancy? Of course the gang took a hit. Not only is the branch master gone, but that Virtuous Adept Zhong Desong from the second branch is missing too. You remember him, right? He came to the bun shop for the celebratory dinner just last night.”

Li Banfeng shook his head. “Can’t say I remember him. But with something this serious, the Jiangxiang Gang must be searching high and low for the culprit, right?”

Chubby Qin shook his head. “Haven’t heard anything like that. Xiang Guicheng just went and made himself the new head of the second branch. Didn’t see him looking for any killer either. He did ask Brother Liuze a few questions earlier, but Brother Liuze[4] ignored him.”

When Li Banfeng blew up the Elysian Melody Dancehall, the Jiangxiang Gang had handled the matter quietly. Yet now, he had wiped out everyone in the second branch hall and thrown the entire second branch into chaos, and they were still keeping silent?

The more Li Banfeng thought about it, the stranger it all seemed.

***

At ten that night, Li Banfeng took a stroll around the Outer Gully before returning to the Inner Gully and heading toward Feng’s General Store.

A record rack stood in front of the shop. This was the signal he and Shopkeeper Feng had agreed upon. If the rack was out, it meant Shopkeeper Feng had new information.

Could it be news about the travel permit? Li Banfeng wondered. He was eager to return to Yuezhou, but he still hadn’t gathered the twenty million he needed. The main reason was that his gains from the battle at the branch hall had been limited.

When he entered the shop, he learned that there was still no news about the travel permit, but the Red Pill had already been sold.

Shopkeeper Feng had managed to sell the pill for a good price. It was sold for two hundred thousand, and after Feng took his twenty percent cut, Li Banfeng received one hundred and sixty thousand.

Li Banfeng was very pleased. He left five more Mystic Blazing Pills with Shopkeeper Feng to sell. At that moment, the goal of two million no longer felt so far away.

There were few pedestrians on Memorial Arch Street that night. With the Jiangxiang Gang facing one incident after another, the residents of the Inner Gully hardly dared to go out after dark. Li Banfeng wanted to buy a newspaper and had to walk quite a distance before finding a paperboy.

The evening paper was filled with reports about the second branch hall of Jiangxiang Gang being attacked. The headline stated that both the branch master and the Virtuous Adept had vanished without a trace.

The attack on the branch hall was a major incident. However, the news shouldn’t have spread so quickly, since it was different from what had happened at the Elysian Melody Dancehall. That time, Li Banfeng had used explosives that shook the entire Inner Gully.

When he attacked the second branch hall, he had used teawater. And so, if the Jiangxiang Gang wanted to keep things quiet, they could easily have concealed it.

Why does it look like they are spreading the news on purpose? Why is the Jiangxiang Gang doing this? Li Banfeng pondered this for a moment, then glanced at the second page.

There, he saw another report stating that the Lu Family had successfully activated a new land on Mount Jiangyue, taking exclusive control of more than two hundred acres of land.

In the photo, Li Banfeng saw the Lu Family’s head, Lu Dongliang, standing beside another familiar face.

It was Private Investigator Daboinsky!

He’s helping the Lu Family activate the new land at Mount Jiangyue? He works for the Lu Family? I thought he was hired by the Jiangxiang Gang? Is the Lu Family looking for me?

Why are they looking for me? Did Lu Xiaolan escape the house already?

These thoughts ran through Li Banfeng’s head as he felt a chill down his spine. He folded the newspaper and got ready to head to the He Family’s old residence to ask around for information.

As Li Banfeng stepped into String-Bead Alley, he suddenly heard a familiar voice in the distance.

“Steward Qiu, I’m telling you again! We really don’t know if that was the Lu Family’s eldest daughter! We’ve never even seen her before, eh!”

Her habit of adding “eh” at the end of every sentence made her easy to recognize.

Xiao Yeci? Li Banfeng thought. Why is she here? Is she looking for the Lu Family’s eldest daughter?

Realizing something was wrong, Li Banfeng quickly took out his key and slipped into his Pocket Dwelling.

A moment later, Xiao Yeci, Lu Chunying, and the Lu Family’s chief steward, Qiu Zhiheng, walked together into the alley.

Xiao Yeci repeated nervously, “We really haven’t seen the young lady before! If we’ve mistaken someone else for her, please don’t take offense, eh!”

Qiu Zhiheng smiled gently. “Madam, young miss, there’s no need to worry. I’m only here to take a look.”

Once the three had gone farther down the alley, Li Banfeng quietly stepped out of his Pocket Dwelling.

In the dim light of night, he could just barely make out their silhouettes.

He recognized Xiao Yeci. He recognized Lu Chunying.

The last person seemed to be someone he knew too. The figure over one meter eighty tall and weighing around forty kilograms was too special to forget.

It was Monkey Qiu, the same Monkey Qiu who had saved his life.

A message from our author Salagus (沙拉古斯):

Readers! Steward Qiu has appeared! An even more marvelous show is about to start!

1. It sounds like third concubine ☜

2. From the poem Song of General Sima ☜

3. This kinda has a sexual connotation. Eg. what happens when a guy reaches climax and he can’t hold back whatever anymore. ☜

4. The raw wrote 张六哥 (Zhang Liu Ge), which means Brother Zhang Liu. His real name is Zhang Liuze. It’s odd because the word elder brother usually wouldn’t be paired up with the surname and one character from the name. In this scenario, we will use ”Brother Liuze.” ☜