The Overlord of Puluo

Li Banfeng had no idea why Little Gen came here. In fact, even Little Gen himself had no idea.

The old man stared at the Greenwater Beggar with the bucket in his hand.

Greenwater Beggar gave a faint smile. Hundreds of festering sores swelled across his body, bulging until his skin could no longer hold them. One by one, the sores split open, and tiny emerald figures crawled out from within. Each was only the size of a fingertip, with wings fluttering on its back like some little angel as it flew toward the old man.

”You rotten Greenwater Beggar. Going straight for the kill, are you?” The old man cursed. Yet he did not panic. He even took his time to teach Little Gen.

”Gen, watch closely. These little things look slow, but do not be fooled. The moment you try to dodge, they will speed up and stick to you. Unless you have the footwork of a Wanderlust Cultivator or a Thievery Cultivator, you won’t be able to dodge them. So when you cannot dodge, you block. This move is called the Golden Light Cascade!”

As the tiny creatures closed in, the old man pulled out a ladle, scooped up a small spoonful from the bucket, and gave it an easy flick. At once, a glittering golden waterfall came pouring down from above, cutting off the swarm and keeping every last one of the little creatures outside it.

The Greenwater Beggar froze for a moment. The old man really knew what he was doing.

He had not been wrong. Those little creatures looked slow, but they were intelligent. If their target tried to dodge or flee, they would suddenly burst forward and chase after them. Now that the golden waterfall blocked the path ahead, the Greenwater Beggar guided the swarm to circle around it and strike from the sides instead.

The old man dipped the ladle into the bucket again and flung out another spoonful, this time with a broad sweep of his arm. The liquid scattered into countless golden droplets.

He went on teaching Little Gen as he fought. ”Watch closely, Gen. This ability is called Specks of Golden Light!”

Each drop of golden sludge seemed alive, flying at top speed as it chased after Greenwater Beggar’s tiny creatures.

Li Banfeng clapped a hand over his nose and sighed in awe. Now this was flying shit in the truest sense!

The ”golden juice” splattered onto the tiny creatures. They shrieked in agony as green pus seeped from their bodies. As the golden juice and green pus mixed together, the tiny creatures and the golden juice dissolved into a cloud of thick smoke.

Greenwater Beggar was secretly shocked. These tiny figures of pus were the very essence he had refined through his ability. Surely whatever was in that old man’s bucket could not be essence too, could it? How did the two cancel each other out just like that?

Greenwater Beggar had got it quite wrong. The two sides did not simply cancel each other out. There was more golden sludge than there were tiny figures, and the remaining specks of gold shot straight toward Greenwater Beggar’s face like a volley of arrows.

Greenwater Beggar showed no fear. He grabbed Lin Dexing beside him and used him as a shield, raising and lowering him to block the attack.

And, to be perfectly fair, Greenwater Beggar’s footwork was good. With all those golden specks flying about, not a single one touched him. Lin Dexing took every hit.

The golden sludge was not only stinky. The moment it touched skin, it ate down through flesh and kept going until it reached bone. Lin Dexing’s face was soon pocked with holes. His clothes were burned to rags as well.

Greenwater Beggar tore open the skin on his own face. Blood and pus seeped out together, mixing into a foul mess.

Greenwater Beggar was just about to use his ability again, but the old man did not give him the chance.

The golden waterfall still hung in the air, shining so brightly that it was almost hard to look at. Then it moved sideways and swept toward Greenwater Beggar.

Now Greenwater Beggar was in trouble. There was nowhere for him to run, and it would not be easy to block the waterfall either.

And so, Greenwater Beggar grabbed Lin Dexing again. This time, he did not use Lin Dexing as a shield. He used him like a spear instead, sweeping him left and right through the golden waterfall until he forced open a path. Then he rushed out.

The old man nodded. ”Good spearwork. Little Gen, watch carefully. This man has trained in the Martial Cultivator path before.”

The waterfall kept moving. It was about to crash into Old Mister Yao’s house.

Pan Dehai was so nervous that he hurried into the house to hide. Li Banfeng was feeling nervous too as this house had only just been rebuilt.

The old man waved his ladle, and the waterfall disappeared. In its place, a great golden dragon came rushing out and charged at Greenwater Beggar.

”Gen, this move is called Golden Dragon Emerges from the Mountain!”

The golden dragon came roaring toward him, its whole body flowing with golden light. Even the smallest touch from it could leave a deadly wound.

Greenwater Beggar really did know martial arts. With Lin Dexing in his hands, he fought as though he were wielding a strange, twisting python, sending it whipping through the air as he battled the golden dragon.

The old man held his ladle and scraped up some of the drier stuff from the bottom of the bucket.

This time, he was going to use something strong. The veins on his arms stood out as he put real strength into it.

”Gen, this one is called Flooding Golden Mountain[1]

Little Gen had been watching carefully the whole time, but he never saw the old man throw the ladleful out.

The ladle stayed inside the bucket, working its power in secret. At the same time, the ground began to tremble.

Beneath Greenwater Beggar’s feet, the earth cracked open. Golden light burst through the gaps, and a mountain slowly rose from the ground.

Now this was not easy to deal with.

Greenwater Beggar tried to leap away, but he could not get any strength through his feet. The mountain beneath him was soft, and it was sticky too. If he took one wrong step and sank into it, he would be finished.

Li Banfeng was amazed.

He suddenly realized there was a serious gap in his learning. All this time, he had thought the important part of Flooding Golden Mountain was the ”flooding.”

How had he never considered that the important part could also be the ”golden mountain”?

The Greenwater Beggar couldn’t escape the golden mountain. The pus all over his body hardened and shaped itself into a pair of green wings.

As the wings flapped, Greenwater Beggar started flying. But each time he rose an inch, the golden mountain rose an inch as well. After he had flown more than eight feet up, he could go no higher as there was still a golden dragon attacking him from above.

Greenwater Beggar was busy fighting the golden dragon when the old man suddenly shouted and pulled the ladle out of the bucket.

This ability was called Flooding Golden Mountain. The Golden Mountain was present, but what about the flood?

Indeed! The flood was coming!

The top of the golden mountain suddenly sank a little, and an opening the size of a fist appeared. A stream of golden liquid burst out from the hole.

The Greenwater Beggar dodged, but the stream of golden liquid chased after him. While he was trying to block it with Lin Dexing, the golden dragon would continue attacking from above.

Suddenly, the Greenwater Beggar sneezed.

”Achoo!”

A gust of wind swept through, scattering the golden dragon and blowing the golden stream off course.

The old man shouted, ”What a good sneeze!”

Li Banfeng froze and muttered inwardly, Why is that a good sneeze?

There did not seem to be anything wrong with how Greenwater Beggar handled it.

The golden stream soon found its direction again, and the golden dragon gathered back into its original shape.

Greenwater Beggar tried to sneeze again, hoping to scatter both the golden stream and the golden dragon completely.

However, he couldn’t sneeze. Only then did he realize he had been tricked.

The golden liquid had scattered into countless tiny droplets in the air, so fine they could not be seen. Under normal circumstances, the Greenwater Beggar would not even have sensed them. Yet he sensed it this time.

A person had to breathe in before sneezing, and not just a little. They had to take a deep breath.

When Greenwater Beggar sneezed earlier, he had taken in a large amount of the golden liquid with that breath.

The first breath did not feel like much. But when he tried to inhale a second time, he felt something burning inside him, scorching his organs with a mad, searing heat.

How vicious!

Greenwater Beggar was furious. With a loud wail, he spewed out a mass of pale, ghastly vomit. The steaming vomit quickly evaporated, turning into a white mist that spread through the air.

The old man said to Little Gen. ”He is trying to spread disease.”

Little Gen could not help scolding Greenwater Beggar. ”This man is disgusting!”

Little Gen was not afraid. After following the old man for so long, he knew the old man would have a way to handle it.

The old man lit a whole pipeful of tobacco and drew it all in with one bubbling breath. Then he tipped the glowing red ash into the bucket.

The golden liquid inside the bucket began to boil, and thick golden vapor rose from it in clouds.

The golden vapor curled through the air and blended with the white mist. Soon, the two turned into a smoky haze and scattered with the wind.

Greenwater Beggar coughed twice.

This time, he was not trying to release another source of disease. The golden liquid in his lungs was burning him from within.

Could he still fight? Yes, he could. He could use the disease in his lungs to dissolve the golden liquid, but he no longer wanted to keep fighting. His opponent was too strong. If this went on, he might end up badly wounded.

He wanted to leave, but the golden dragon and the golden stream blocked his way and would not let him go.

Greenwater Beggar had survived countless battles. Even in this danger, he did not panic at all.

He first elevated his body temperature until his whole body flushed a fierce red. Any golden liquid that came near him hissed away into vapor before it could touch his skin.

With that layer of protection around him, Greenwater Beggar swung Lin Dexing and forced the golden dragon back. Then he rushed onto the golden mountain and shoved Lin Dexing’s head into the opening, blocking the golden stream at once.

The opening was only the size of a fist, so it was a very tight fit. Fortunately, the mountain itself was not very hard.

Greenwater Beggar seized this chance and disappeared in a flash.

Meanwhile, the little opening at the top of the golden mountain was still plugged with Lin Dexing’s head. That caused a most unpleasant problem inside the mountain. The pressure grew and grew until, with a tremendous bang, Lin Dexing was shot out like a cork from a bottle.

Up he went, higher and higher, until he vanished into the sky.

Little Gen looked at the old man. ”Founding cultivator, are we not going after him?”

The old man sighed. ”Greenwater Beggar has real skill. If we push him into a desperate spot, he will not be easy to deal with.”

”What about the other one?”

The old man glanced outside the courtyard and smiled. ”No need to worry about him. The one who should worry is the person inside the house.”

Inside Old Mister Yao’s house, Pan Dehai was already standing beside the bed. His face had twisted into a nasty, fierce look. ”Don’t blame me for not warning you. I am digging out your contract now.”

Old Mister Yao lay on the bed and gave no answer.

Pan Dehai leaned closer. ”I am not joking with you. I really am going to dig your contract out. Medicine King Gully is a nice place, and I wouldn’t mind having one more piece of territory. You cannot use it anymore anyway, so you might as well give it to me.”

Old Mister Yao still did not move.

Pan Dehai fell silent for a while, then sat down by the bed. He rummaged around inside his clothes for a long time before finally pulling out a thin little stick.

”I bought a sugar figurine on the way here.”

He searched inside his clothes again, patting here and there, and managed to find a few broken bits of candy.

”It was a very nice sugar figurine, but that bastard Lin Dexing smashed it to pieces. If we piece it together, it should still be edible. It is very sweet. Do you want some?

”You are still not getting up, are you? You are not eating either? If you don’t want it, I will eat it. I am not joking with you. I will really eat it.”

Little Gen stood in the courtyard and asked the old man, ”Founding Cultivator, who is he?”

”He is Pan Dehai,” the old man said. ”The land deity of the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs.”

”What about the one lying down?”

”That is Yao Xin, the land deity of Medicine King Gully.”

”Are they friends or foe?”

”Hard to say.” The old man said as he shook his head. ”Do you still remember the disaster at the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs?”

”I do.”

”Pan Dehai was really not a virtuous guy. He tried to spread the mosquito plague from the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs into other people’s territories. Because of that, he fought several battles with the land deities nearby. However, he never once done anything to the Medicine King Gully.

”When the disaster struck, Yao Xin was the only land deity who helped him. He sent insect-killing medicine to the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs. But those two have too much history between them. Whether it is kindness, resentment, friendship, or enmity, even I cannot say for sure.”

***

Lin Dexing staggered down the mountain.

All the skin on his body had fallen away, and more than half his flesh was gone. His brain sloshed inside his hole-riddled skull. Every now and then, a piece of his organs dropped out, and every bone in his body seemed to have shifted out of place.

Halfway down the mountain, Lin Dexing stumbled over something. He lost his balance and fell flat on the ground.

His eyes were badly damaged, and his vision was poor. He couldn’t even see what had tripped him.

He struggled as he tried to get up. In the end, he failed as he was trapped in a net.

It was Tu Yinghong’s net, the very net she had once meant to use on Li Banfeng. Glove had stolen it from her back then.

Lin Dexing tried to struggle, but he was hurt too badly. The more he moved, the tighter the net wrapped around him.

Li Banfeng took out Prince Chun’s Horsewhip and struck him again and again.

Lin Dexing cried out in pain. Smoke rose from his body as the whip fell. Li Banfeng did not stop until Lin Dexing lay completely still.

Glove stood on the ground with its thumb and middle finger, then lifted its index finger proudly. It swayed from side to side as it spoke, ”Master, the things I bring back are not bad at all, are they?”

Li Banfeng nodded. ”You did well. You have earned the greatest merit in this battle, and you deserve a fine reward.”

”Thank you, Master. Then about that...” Glove stopped mid-sentence when it saw Li Banfeng take out the key and open the Pocket Dwelling.

”Master, you are not thinking of taking this thing home, are you?

”Master, why not deal with him right here and be done with it?

”What are you doing? Do you really have to bring him home? No, no, that will not do! He stinks far too much! If I had known this would happen, I would never have given you the net!”

Author’s Note:

PS: Who’s gonna get to eat this?

1. 水漫金山 (Shui Man Jin Shan) literally means ”water floods golden mountain” or ”flooding golden mountain.”

It originates from Legend of the White Snake. In that story, Bai Suzhen floods Golden Mountain Temple while fighting Fahai in order to save her husband Xu Xian. The phrase later became used more generally to describe a great flood or water spreading everywhere. ☜