Li Banfeng called out loudly, “Old Pan.”

Niu Fuzhi did not know who he was calling. He peeked toward the kitchen, where his wife stood frozen in place, still feeling sad about the marinated pork.

“Well, um, Benefactor,” Niu Fuzhi began, twisting his hands together. “You were saying..?”

Before Li Banfeng could answer, Niu Fuzhi stopped himself. He felt he should not ask. He absolutely could not ask. Asking questions at a moment like this would be horribly rude.

After all, Li Qi was not just his benefactor. He was the benefactor of the entire village. And here he was, asking for nothing more than a quiet place to exchange a few words.

Yet, here he was, asking this and that. Would this be acceptable?

Niu Fuzhi was not the only one drowning in guilt. His wife was sinking right beside him.

When the benefactor wanted to eat, she could not bring herself to add rice. When he wanted a dish, she couldn’t bear to slice a piece of meat for him. She longed for the floor to split open so she could tumble inside and vanish.

They simply could not remain in the house. The couple shuffled backward together, inch by inch, until they reached the doorway. Then, without a word, they slipped out of the courtyard and fled.

This was the technique and power of a Moralism Cultivator.

Li Banfeng sat silently inside the room as he watched an elderly man take a seat across from him.

The old man wore a round cap and round-rimmed glasses. He was dressed in a long changshan and leaned on a walking stick, looking like a remnant of a bygone dynasty.

Li Banfeng had guessed correctly. This was Pan Dehai, the local land deity of the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs.

Pan Dehai smiled at Li Banfeng and said, “Young man, you can actually see me.”

Li Banfeng did not smile. He looked at the old man calmly and replied, “What’s so strange about that?”

The truth was that it was rather strange.

Pan Dehai was not alive. He was a ghost, and not the sort that appeared for just anyone. Most people could not see spirits at all. Even very high-level cultivators often had to rely on spirit-bound trinkets and clever tools to be able to see spirits.

Pan Dehai also possessed special methods that allowed him to conceal himself completely. When he ambushed Feng Daiku, Feng Daiku had not sensed him at all.

And so, the fact that this young man had noticed him left Pan Dehai mildly surprised. What he did not know was that Li Banfeng possessed Keen-Eyed Perception, a peculiar technique bestowed upon him by the gramophone.

“Young man, what artifact did you use?” Pan Dehai continued to probe.

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, “I didn’t use an artifact. This is my technique.”

Pan Dehai’s eyes dimmed, and the warmth in his voice vanished. “You better not lie in front of me.”

Li Banfeng gave a short, cold laugh. “If you can’t even tell the truth from lies, what use is all that cultivation?”

Pan Dehai grew even more surprised. Moralism Cultivators were experts at discerning lies and he could tell that Li Banfeng was speaking the truth. He had indeed used a technique, but Pan Dehai still felt puzzled as to how this young man knew such a powerful technique.

Actually, what puzzled Pan Dehai even more was Li Banfeng’s attitude.

How could this young man show not the slightest trace of reverence in front of him?

Under normal circumstances, Li Banfeng was respectful toward his seniors, such as Mister Yao and the carriage driver. However, he was somewhat annoyed and angry about the situation today.

Pan Dehai had taken advantage of Niu Fuzhi’s family, exploiting their sincerity and simple-heartedness to make Li Banfeng feel guilty and force him to hand over the formula. This kind of behavior filled Li Banfeng with intense disgust.

Pan Dehai then looked him up and down, slow and careful, and asked in an interrogative tone, “Did Old Yao send you?”

Li Banfeng lifted the liquor bowl and took a sip. “You were the one who went to Old Yao to ask for insecticide. I brought it to you.”

Pan Dehai’s tone turned stern. “You youngsters are truly impressive. Since you have earned Old Yao’s favor, you are clearly no ordinary person. Which is your cultivation path and what level are you at?”

Without any expressions, Li Banfeng asked back, “Why should I tell you?”

Pan Dehai paused, momentarily at a loss. Li Banfeng was neither humble nor arrogant, and he showed no sign of backing down under the intimidation and pressure.

Pan Dehai then changed his attitude, and a faint smile appeared on his face. “I’m a few years older than you and have cultivated longer. Asking a few trivial questions shouldn’t be taken as an insult, right?

“So here’s the question. When you first arrived at Flatbread Village, did you see me?”

Pan Dehai was testing Li Banfeng.

“No,” Li Banfeng answered truthfully.

At the time, he really had not seen Pan Dehai. Pan Dehai had not been in Flatbread Village at all.

So when had Pan Dehai entered the village? It was when Li Banfeng said, “I’m here to deliver insecticide.”

The words “deliver insecticide” were a mark. Pan Dehai had carved them deep into the minds of those in the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs.

He knew Old Yao would send insecticide, so he planted those two words into everyone’s minds. As long as someone in the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs heard them, Pan Dehai would sense it.

That was why he rushed to Flatbread Village and quietly bent the entire village to his will.

Pan Dehai continued, “Then when did you realize I was in Flatbread Village?”

Li Banfeng said, “I felt that you were present the moment I stepped into the village.”

Pan Dehai frowned deeply as he realized that Li Banfeng was still telling the truth.

This young man sensed me the moment he entered the village? I had only just arrived then. Did he see every move I made?

What is his cultivation level? What kind of person had Old Yao sent?

The truth was that Li Banfeng had not sensed Pan Dehai’s presence at the time. Although he practiced the Wanderlust Cultivator’s technique of Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity, his cultivation was not high enough to perceive someone at Pan Dehai’s level.

However, what he said was also the truth. From the moment he entered the village, something had felt off.

Niu Fuzhi had decent cultivation and was responsible for keeping watch at the village entrance. The two started fighting because of a misunderstanding.

Yet, when Li Banfeng told Niu Fuzhi that he was here to deliver insecticide, Niu Fuzhi let him in right away just like that.

Would someone this naive and simple really be suitable to stand guard outside?

At first, Li Banfeng tried to understand Niu Fuzhi’s reasoning. He wondered whether Flatbread Village was so desperate for insecticide that the moment Niu Fuzhi heard he had come to deliver it, he lowered his guard.

After finishing his meal, Li Banfeng realized something was off. According to Niu Fuzhi, Flatbread Village was not in need of insecticide. The Peddler had brought in plenty before, and many of those insecticides no longer worked on the mosquitoes.

After meeting the Agrarian Cultivator Niu Jingchuan and hearing Niu Fuzhi recount some past events, Li Banfeng found the situation even more suspicious.

Flatbread Village had just suffered a theft by a Thievery Cultivator, which led to devastating losses. Under such circumstances, they should not have accepted an outsider so easily.

Yet the villagers showed no wariness toward Li Banfeng at all.

If the people of Flatbread Village were truly this reckless, they would never have survived until now.

From that moment on, Li Banfeng suspected that some force was influencing these simple villagers.

Li Banfeng immediately thought of Pan Dehai as the source of that force.

He said nothing to the villagers, as one naturally would. Yet that silence caused Pan Dehai to misjudge him completely.

Pan Dehai could not determine Li Banfeng’s true cultivation level, so he began to speak more politely. “You call yourself Li Qi, so I’ll address you as Old Qi. Since you came at Old Yao’s request, shouldn’t you hand the formula over to me now?”

Li Banfeng nodded. “The matter of the formula is easy enough to discuss. But you have questioned me for quite some time now. There’s a saying that it’s rude to take without giving. Shouldn’t I be allowed to ask you a few questions as well?”

Pan Dehai nodded. “Go ahead.”

Li Banfeng asked, “Were you trying to divert the mosquito plague to Medicine King Gully?”

Pan Dehai fell silent for a long moment before saying, “Yes.”

To Li Banfeng’s surprise, Pan Dehai did not deny it. He was stunned for a while before he asked, “You fought with Feng Daiku of Girdle-Slipping Hollow. Was that also because of the mosquito plague?”

“Yes!” Pan Dehai did not bother to deny it. “I wanted to lure the mosquitoes to Girdle-Slipping Hollow, but Feng Daiku found out. That vicious woman insisted on fighting me.”

He admitted it just like that. Openly. Cheerfully, even. Not a shred of hesitation. He even had the nerve to curse Feng Daiku while he was at it.

The man truly had no shame at all.

Li Banfeng squeezed out a thin smile. “Could you tell me why you did this?”

Pan Dehai answered calmly, as though he were stating an obvious fact. “I did it for the sake of the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs.”

Li Banfeng did not understand. “If you divert the insects elsewhere, will the mosquitos in the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs simply disappear?”

Pan Dehai shook his head. “My purpose is to rally everyone’s efforts.”

Rally everyone’s efforts? Li Banfeng repeated the words to himself, but he still did not understand.

Pan Dehai let out a sigh. “You have seen the disaster in the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs for yourself. People devour one another. The starved collapse, and their corpses are left strewn across the ground.

“Within my domain, tragedies unfold every single day. I see it all with my own eyes. Each time, my heart aches, as though knives were twisting inside.”

As Pan Dehai spoke, he coughed twice. His heart truly was in pain. Feng Daiku had carved an actual chunk of flesh from it, and the wound had yet to heal.

After coughing, Pan Dehai wiped his tears and continued, “The Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs is not a large place. There aren’t many capable people here, and our financial resources are lacking.

“If you talk about capable people, Medicine King Gully has them. Skilled Medicine Cultivators are everywhere. If you talk about wealth, Greenwater Bay has it. Their gold and silver are piled up like mountains.

“But have they ever truly cared about the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs? They deliver some food and a few insecticide formulas. But can that really save the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs? Can that really save the people who are suffering?

“If they do not know pain, then I must make them feel it. Only when they understand how terrifying the insect plague truly is will they devote themselves to finding a way to deal with it. Only then can the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs be saved.

“All of my painstaking efforts have earned me nothing but endless curses. Who truly understands this pain?”

As Pan Dehai spoke, he clutched his chest again.

Li Banfeng had meant to take a sip of liquor and listen patiently. The liquor never went down. The bowl nearly slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground.

“So what you’re saying,” Li Banfeng said, “is that if you drag everyone down with you, the Ridges of Bottomless Stomachs will be saved?”

Pan Dehai shook his head. “This is not dragging people down. This is uniting the entire Puluo Province against a common enemy. This is great virtue[1].”

This was truly a damnable lack of virtue.

Li Banfeng felt his horizons genuinely broaden!

“I have one more question,” he said. “You just mentioned that Greenwater Bay has the greatest wealth. Why didn’t you divert the mosquitos there instead?”

Pan Dehai tilted his head back and let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with helplessness. “Because Greenwater Beggar is too powerful. I cannot defeat him.”

Pan Dehai did not dare to divert the mosquitos there because he wouldn’t win against the Greenwater Beggar in a fight.

Pan Dehai admitted it. He admitted it just like that.

There was not the slightest trace of embarrassment on his face! How did someone like this ever become a Moralism Cultivator?

Author’s Note: P.S. Dear readers, isn’t Salagus pretty awesome?

With the New Year here, I wish all our readers good health and smooth sailing in all things.

1. The word virtue 德 (de) is the same character used in Moralism Cultivator (德修). So the double meaning is that he would be a cultivator of good morals and great virtue. ☜

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep