After passing through several villages in succession, Li Banfeng never once used the insecticide.

The insecticide or medicine that Old Mister Yao gave him was meant to save lives. However, these villages no longer had lives to save. They were either completely deserted, or inhabited only by people who survived by eating others.

An empty village needed no saving. As for those who lived on human flesh, Li Banfeng made a distinction. If they merely scavenged corpses, he could spare them. But if they hunted the innocent, he would choose another way to “save” them.

He would sever their arms and legs, then send them into the Pocket Dwelling, leaving his wife to “save” their souls.

As for whether the remaining pieces were fit for food, that depended entirely on Crimson Lotus’s mood.

The Crimson Lotus had little interest in corpses without cultivation. Although the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs was known as a gathering place for Gourmandism Cultivators, there were far fewer cultivators here than one might expect.

Still, this place was indeed peculiar. Every two hours, Li Banfeng had to return to the Pocket Dwelling to eat something. He had no idea what force governed this land, but one grew hungry very easily here.

He had arrived at the Third Ridge, the most isolated part of the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs, and the area most ravaged by the insect disaster. It had been almost entirely forgotten. For the first time in his life, Li Banfeng saw what it meant for nine out of ten homes to stand empty, and what it meant for starved corpses to litter the land.

This was completely different from the disasters depicted in films and television dramas. There was no spectacle, only a suffocating weight of oppression and fear.

“Good thing I’m mentally ill,” Li Banfeng said lightly, “or you might have scared me into insanity.”

He patted the man on the head, then asked in a perfectly serious tone, “When you were boiling your wife, weren’t you afraid?”

The man had tied his wife up and was about to boil her alive. Li Banfeng had arrived just in time to see it.

Li Banfeng let the woman go, then turned to educate the man in earnest.

The man broke down, crying, “I had no choice. I was truly too hungry…”

“Boil her alive?” Li Banfeng said coldly. “You could bring yourself to do that? If you had at least stabbed her first, I would have let you die a quick death!”

Li Banfeng tossed the man into the Pocket Dwelling and continued searching the village. By nightfall, he found nothing. He returned inside and ate a full six cans of food.

At this rate of consumption, even his own food reserves might not be enough.

His wife had already eaten her fill that day. When she saw Li Banfeng return with the liquor gourd, she greeted him warmly. “Hey, little sister, our whole family ate well today. Are you hungry? I saved two fresh souls for you.”

The liquor gourd hopped to her side and replied politely, “Thank you for your kindness, elder sister. I don’t eat souls.”

“What about flesh?” the gramophone wifey said. “That bitch Crimson Lotus is picky. She left behind a whole pile of good stuff she wouldn’t touch. Why don’t you have a taste?”

“I can eat some flesh,” the liquor gourd said, “but I followed little bro today and saw quite a bit of blood. It made me a little nauseous. I’ll eat another day.”

“Hey, little sister,” the gramophone wifey said, “you follow my husband out there, risking your life, yet you won’t even take a bite or a sip. I truly don’t know what you like. Since you’re an enchanted artifact, you must need some upkeep, right?”

Hearing this, Li Banfeng’s cheek twitched. Only then did he realize this was something he had completely overlooked.

All enchanted artifacts in this world required upkeep. Yet ever since the liquor gourd had come into his possession, Li Banfeng had never once given it any thought. If his wife had not brought it up, he had no idea how long it would have taken him to notice.

The gourd replied, “Upkeep is naturally required. I’m just afraid you’ll laugh at me if I say it. I’m fond of liquor and can never get enough of it. I’m also afraid of my body growing cold.

“But I can only produce half a kilogram of liquor a day, and that half a kilogram must be saved for little bro. When I have no liquor to drink, I need to find somewhere warm.

“If there’s nowhere to keep warm, then I can only warm myself by sticking closely to little brother. If that’s inconvenient for him, then I’ll warm myself by sticking close to you. That is the price you will have to pay.”

Hearing this, Li Banfeng suddenly understood. Aside from the one night it had drunk with his wife, the liquor gourd stayed with him at all other times, clinging to him closely.

This price was not high at all.

Li Banfeng was quite satisfied.

However, his wife snorted. “Bah! Aren’t you embarrassed of yourself?! My husband and I are sharing a bed and doing the deed tonight. Are you planning to come warm yourself too?”

“I’ll just rub up beside you a little,” the liquor gourd replied meekly. “I won’t get in the way.”

“Bah! The more you speak, the more shameless you become!”

Li Banfeng was embarrassed as well. He leaned closer to the gramophone and asked, “Wifey, are we truly sharing a bed tonight?”

“Heyaaa! Husband dear~ I was only joking just now. It’s not physically convenient for me today, so why don’t you rest in the outer room.”

Not physically convenient? How? And in what way would it be inconvenient? Li Banfeng thought.

“Wife, do you need me to oil you?”

“Heyaaaaa! Husband dear~ I don’t need oil. Not at all. Husband dear~ You should rest early. Hurry and go to sleep~ Husband dear~ Husband~”

Li Banfeng felt that his wife’s voice was far too syrupy sweet. That night, he slept in the third room. At dawn the next day, he continued his search through the Third Ridge.

Only the gramophone and Crimson Lotus remained in the Pocket Dwelling. From the outer room, Crimson Lotus asked, “Can you tell what’s going on with her?”

Pop… crackle… pop…

“I saw it,” the gramophone replied. “Not only did I tell what price we truly have to pay to keep her around, but I could tell what Daoist path she cultivated.”

“Tell me.”

The gramophone gave a cold snort. “Why ask me when you already know? That madman is skeptical by nature, yet he harbors not the slightest doubt toward that gourd. That is her upkeep. She can stir others’ thoughts and make them believe her. When she was alive, she was likely a Mentalism Cultivator.”

The Crimson Lotus fell silent for a long while, sensing something wrong. “That madman’s mind is strange. He is naturally resistant to Mentalism Cultivators. If the gourd truly were one, she shouldn’t be able to control his thoughts.”

Pop… crackle… pop…

“She isn’t controlling him,” the gramophone said. “She’s just triggering these thoughts. This liquor gourd is different from ordinary Mentalism Cultivators. She doesn’t control others with forceful methods. Instead, she plays the submissive role and serves that madman until he is satisfied. Because of that, the madman never doubts her.”

The Crimson Lotus felt uneasy. “This won’t be easy to deal with. Why didn’t you expose her in front of that madman?”

“What’s the rush?” the gramophone replied. “If she were exposed, how would we probe her true intentions?

“Besides, you and I aren’t the only ones wary of her. There’s one more. Her fellow disciple. They’ll help that madman stay on guard.”

The Crimson Lotus let out a cold laugh. “Whether I’m worried or not makes no difference. I don’t want to be his wife.”

Pop… crackle… pop…

“Say what you want. You are still living under the same roof as him.”

Before long, the sound of a door opening came from outside. Li Banfeng returned, rummaging for canned food.

“Heyaaa! Husband dear~” his wife called, “have you reached the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs? At your rate of eating, we will run out of food.”

It was true. They were running out of food. Li Banfeng had to finish dealing with matters in the Ridge of Bottomless Stomachs as soon as possible.

From morning until dusk, he still hadn’t come across a single decent village. When he reached a crossroads, a pungent, bloody stench drifted into his nostrils.

Someone’s releasing poison.

Li Banfeng retreated at once, moving cautiously as he scanned his surroundings.

Danger struck from behind. Li Banfeng didn’t turn at once. He drew the Tang saber and thrust it backward.

A cry of pain rang out. Li Banfeng spun around and stomped down hard.

Bam!

He tried to use the Treading Through Ten Thousand Rivers technique, but it failed.

The pebbles beneath his foot didn’t shatter. He didn’t succeed in using the technique.

It failed more often than not. Since learning it, Li Banfeng had only succeeded twice in the new land, and both times had been when his legs were unimaginably heavy.

A middle-aged man stood behind him, looking to be in his fifties. He gripped a spiked mace and shouted, “Who are you?”

Li Banfeng called the Tang saber back and looked over at the man in his fifties. “I should be asking you that. Who are you? Another one trying to eat human flesh? Do you want an arm or a leg?”

“Eat human flesh?” The man flew into a rage. “You are one of those inhuman bastards who eat people!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the man charged forward with his spiked mace raised.

Just from the sound of it tearing through the air, the weapon had to weigh close to fifty kilograms. The man had already been slashed by the Tang saber on the shoulder, yet it didn’t slow him in the slightest. Each swing came faster than the last, forcing Li Banfeng to retreat step by step.

After circling briefly, Li Banfeng seized an opening and stepped in close. He pressed the sickle against the man’s chest and shouted, “Who exactly are you?”

The man neither dodged nor retreated. Instead, he rammed himself straight into the blade while swinging the mace toward Li Banfeng’s head.

With such a tough physique and such a reckless fighting style, it was clear he was a Gourmand Cultivator.

Judging from his combat strength, he was no lower than level three.

Li Banfeng withdrew the sickle. He hadn’t gone for the kill. From their brief exchange, he could tell there had been a misunderstanding.

“I’m here to deliver insecticide.”

That short sentence made the middle-aged man stop.

He froze for a moment, then looked at Li Banfeng with sudden excitement. “Did the Second Master send you?”

“Which Second Master?” Li Banfeng asked, genuinely baffled.

“The Lu family’s Second Master!”

Lu Dongjun?

Li Banfeng recalled what he had read in the papers.

Lu Dongjun came to the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs to deal with the insect disaster, and he seems to have already achieved some results. Then what am I even doing here? Li Banfeng thought.

Li Banfeng shook his head. “I wasn’t sent by the Lu family’s Second Master. Another expert sent me, but their identity can’t be disclosed.”

The middle-aged man looked visibly disappointed. “If it’s not insecticide from the Lu family’s Second Master, it probably won’t be of much use.”

“Whether it works or not, you can at least give it a try,” Li Banfeng said. He had endured countless hardships to reach the Ridge of Bottomless Stomachs, only to be met with indifference. The situation made him feel faintly awkward.

“Trying it is fine.” The middle-aged man studied Li Banfeng for a moment, then agreed just like that.

Just like that. He really did agree just like that. Li Banfeng felt that this man was genuinely simple. So simple that it made him suspicious.

“Come with me.” The middle-aged man led Li Banfeng into a village.

At the entrance, three men stood guard. One held a hammer, another carried a Guan saber[1], and the third wielded an axe. Every weapon looked heavy.

“Put your weapons down,” the man with the spiked mace said. “He’s here to deliver insecticide.”

“Second Master’s insecticide?” All three of them perked up at once.

Li Banfeng frowned. “Not Second Master. Master Qi. Clear the way.”

The three exchanged glances.

The man with the spiked mace said, “He really is here to deliver insecticide.”

“Oh…He’s here to deliver insecticide… Alright then.” The three men stepped aside.

Are they all this naive? Li Banfeng wondered as he entered the village. Then he saw cooking smoke rising in the distance, something he hadn’t seen in a long time.

There were still people cooking in this village. Li Banfeng caught the fragrance of rice.

The middle-aged man asked, “Have you eaten? Have a bite first.”

Li Banfeng truly was hungry. He followed the man inside and saw a burly middle-aged man carry over a basin of rice and set it down in front of him.

“Is this your younger brother?” Li Banfeng asked casually.

The man was not happy at all about the question he just heard. “What nonsense is that? This is my wife!”

Li Banfeng took another look at the middle-aged man. The woman shot Li Banfeng a glare and went back into the inner room.

No wonder they say that women are not suited to be Gourmandism Cultivators. The madam of this house even has a beard! Li Banfeng thought.

The man introduced himself. “My name’s Niu Fuzhi. It means fortune and ambition. What should I call you?”

“My name is Li Qi.”

Niu Fuzhi curled his lip in disdain. “Who gave you your name? That sounds so lame. Whoever named you must not be cultured. I bet your insecticide won’t work either.”

If I said my name was Li Furong, would that be a more cultured name? Li Banfeng thought.

However, there was no point arguing over something like that. The basin was covered with a mesh lid. When Li Banfeng saw the bright white rice inside, his appetite stirred. He leaned in and sniffed. Aside from the clean fragrance of rice, there was no strange smell at all.

He used Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity to sense it for a moment and detected no danger.

Lifting the mesh cover, Li Banfeng began eating without concern. He had to be quick. Some mosquitoes would not even spare cooked rice.

After eating two and half bowls of rice, knowing how hard it was to come by, Li Banfeng did not have the heart to eat any more.

He set down his bowl and chopsticks and asked, “Where did this rice come from?”

“We planted and harvested it.”

Planted and harvested?

“At this time of year, you can still grow rice?”

Niu Fuzhi replied, “We have an Agrarian Cultivator with us. Even at this time of year, we can still grow grain. We just can’t keep the mosquitoes out. You full yet? Take out the insecticide and give it a try.”

“Where should I test this insecticide?”

“In the fields. We’re about to harvest the rice.”

Li Banfeng thought for a moment, then said, “The poison released in the fields earlier, that was you?”

Niu Fuzhi waved it off. “We were not releasing poison! That was chemicals to smoke the mosquitos out. We ourselves have tried lots of different chemicals already.”

Author’s Note:PS: Why are the people of this village this simple, honest, and naive?

1. The raw really wrote 关王刀 (Guanwang dao), which means “King Guan’s Saber or Lord Guan’s Saber.” It is a heavy polearm associated with Guan Yu, a legendary Chinese general from the late Eastern Han dynasty. This is a long pole weapon with a large, curved blade mounted on top. It is very heavy. According to legend, Guan Yu’s saber weighed 40 kilograms and it is used with sweeping and chopping motions. ☜

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep