Chapter 69: New Land

Before discussing business, the private investigator, Dabo Ensi, asked a question, "Madam, with your status and influence, you have plenty of capable people to handle these matters for you. Why seek me out for these three things?"

Zhuo Yuling paused for a moment before answering, "I don’t want others to know about the latter two, especially not the Lu Family."

Dabo Ensi chuckled. "The land reclamation is for the Lu Family, but that’s just a pretext, isn’t it? The saving and the killing are for you."

Zhuo Yuling frowned slightly. "I don’t remember you being so talkative. Just name your price."

Dabo Ensi considered her request for a moment and named his price for the three tasks Zhuo Yuling had presented:

"First, the land reclamation. There’s a standard rate for that. The piece of land you want will cost three thousand silver dollars. No need to haggle."

Zhuo Yuling nodded, agreeing to the price.

Dabo Ensi continued, "Second, finding someone. That’s difficult. It’s like searching for a needle in a haystack.

But unlike a needle, which stays still, your daughter is actively evading the He Family’s pursuit. Finding her won’t be easy."

Upon hearing this, Zhuo Yuling felt displeasure rise within her, but she kept her expression neutral. "Who told you the He Family wants to kill my daughter? What has my daughter done to offend them?"

Dabo Ensi smiled. "Madam, walls have ears. This information didn’t come from me, and there’s no need to take your anger out on me. I’m simply telling you that this task is difficult."

Zhuo Yuling extinguished her cigarette, not wanting to dwell on the topic. "Just name your price, and spare me the unnecessary chatter."

Dabo Ensi raised a finger. "Ten thousand silver dollars."

Zhuo Yuling asked, "Do you guarantee success?"

Dabo Ensi shook his head. "No guarantees. But if I can’t find her, I won’t take your money."

Zhuo Yuling nodded. "Very well, I agree to your price."

"Third, the killing of Li Banfeng, and preferably alive…" Dabo Ensi pondered for a moment. "Alive, twenty thousand silver dollars. Dead, ten thousand."

Zhuo Yuling picked up her teacup, took a sip, and remained silent for a moment before asking, "Killing a bastard like him warrants ten thousand silver dollars? Do you think that’s reasonable?"

She wanted to say that Li Banfeng’s cheap life couldn’t compare to Lu Xiaolan’s.

But she didn’t voice those words.

She wouldn’t compare Li Banfeng to her daughter.

In fact, according to Dabo Ensi’s price for capturing him alive, Li Banfeng was worth more than her daughter.

Dabo Ensi looked through the information about Li Banfeng and said to Zhuo Yuling, "I don’t know the full extent of Li Banfeng’s capabilities, and your information is inaccurate. That means I’m taking on a significant risk."

"Why do you say the information is inaccurate?" Zhuo Yuling frowned slightly.

Dabo Ensi was patient. "Madam, your information states that Li Banfeng has no cultivation, but as far as I know, he’s a Cultivator who has attained a certain level."

"A Cultivator?" Zhuo Yuling didn’t believe him. "How do you know he’s a Cultivator?"

Dabo Ensi smiled. "Would you believe me if I said I just saw him?"

"You saw him?" Zhuo Yuling chuckled and shook her head.

She naturally wouldn’t believe such a thing.

Dabo Ensi didn’t even know Li Banfeng, let alone have any dealings with him.

But Dabo Ensi believed that the flamboyant man he had encountered on the road was Li Banfeng.

"Your price is too high," Zhuo Yuling lit another cigarette and shook her head. "Li Banfeng isn’t worth that much."

"I don’t care how much he’s worth, but I’m worth this price," Dabo Ensi adjusted his sunglasses.

Zhuo Yuling tried her best to control her emotions, maintaining a gentle, languid smile. "Da Binzi, I called you here because I value our past acquaintance. Don’t overstep your bounds."

"Thank you for your consideration, Madam," Dabo Ensi took off his top hat and bowed again, then lowered his voice. "I call you Madam out of respect, Xiao Lingzi. You’ve become a wealthy lady, why are you still so petty?"

Zhuo Yuling’s eyes twitched, and a cold glint appeared in her eyes. "Spider Bin, watch your words."

Dabo Ensi smiled. "Wall Gecko Ling, you should also watch your propriety. If you can afford the price, I’ll help you with your business. If you can’t, then find someone else."

Zhuo Yuling’s expression changed. The languidness and indifference vanished, replaced by barely concealed anger.

Dabo Ensi put on his top hat, his face still sporting a very gentlemanly smile.

Li Banfeng was sitting in the gatehouse of Yu Family Village, chatting with Old Zhu, the gatekeeper.

Li Banfeng told him that he was a friend of Yu Nan, and Old Zhu believed him without suspicion.

"Boss Li, you look like a friend of our Young Shopkeeper. She likes to wear men’s clothes just like you."

Wear men’s clothes?

I am a man!

What is this old man…?

Li Banfeng touched his face and felt a smooth sensation.

What’s this?

Blush?

Li Banfeng suddenly understood. No wonder the spider in the canyon called him "lady," and that bitch Han Xue had given him a full face of heavy makeup.

When did she do it? How did I not notice?

"Old Zhu, could you please bring me a basin of water? I want to wash my face."

Old Zhu was a farmhand for the Yu family. He joined the Yu family at the age of seventeen and had worked there ever since.

Now that he was old, he couldn’t work as a farmhand anymore, but Yu Nan didn’t fire him. She gave him two rooms in New Land and asked him to help guard Yu Family Village.

The so-called Yu Family Village consisted of two rows of wooden houses, each row having about seven or eight rooms.

These two rows of wooden houses were very special. Surrounded by a boundless forest, everything was pitch black except for the area where the wooden houses were located, which was brightly lit.

Li Banfeng looked up at the sky and saw a halo of Heavenly Light in the night sky, shining directly onto the Yu family’s residence.

Where did this light source come from?

It didn’t spread excessively when it hit the ground. In Li Banfeng’s understanding, there must be a light source with extremely high precision in the sky above.

But Old Zhu didn’t see it that way.

"New Land originally had no Heavenly Light. Only after the wasteland was reclaimed did the Heavenly Light shine down."

"Heavenly Light!" Li Banfeng became nervous. He remembered the Heavenly Light he had seen before.

Old Zhu waved his hand repeatedly. "Not that Heavenly Light. This is the light that should be here during the day."

Li Banfeng asked, "Was it pitch black here before?"

"Of course," Old Zhu sighed softly. "The Young Shopkeeper had a hard time running the cloth shop. She saved up over a thousand silver dollars and spent it all on this New Land."

Li Banfeng understood even less. "This land was bought?"

"Bought? Where would we buy it from?" Old Zhu gave a bitter smile. "The Young Shopkeeper hired six people to reclaim the wasteland, paying them two hundred silver dollars each. Five of them died before the land was reclaimed."

"Five out of six people died? Can farming kill people?" Li Banfeng was stunned.

Old Zhu explained, "Reclaiming wasteland isn’t farming. It’s staying in the wilderness for three days and three nights. The owner first makes offerings and establishes a covenant, then sends people in to reclaim the wasteland.

Whenever the reclamation workers enter the land, they must leave three days later. As long as the land is lit up with Heavenly Light, the owner leaves a blood mark, and the land is reclaimed."

What kind of process is that?

Li Banfeng was completely bewildered.

After Old Zhu explained it carefully, Li Banfeng had a vague understanding of the process.

Yu Nan reclaimed this piece of wasteland in three steps.

First, Yu Nan brought offerings to sacrifice to the gods of the wilderness and made a covenant with them. Which god was sacrificed to was unknown.

Second, on the day the covenant was made, Yu Nan sent reclamation workers to guard the offering table and stay in the wasteland for three days and three nights. As long as one reclamation worker survived, the reclamation was considered a success.

Third, Yu Nan returned to the wasteland and left her blood as a mark on the ground, and the land became Yu Nan’s.

Li Banfeng understood the general process.

But this process didn’t make sense.

"Yu Nan hired six people, and five of them died. The last survivor dripped blood on the wasteland, wouldn’t the wasteland become his?"

Old Zhu shook his head. "No, he didn’t make a covenant with the spirits of this land."

"Isn’t making a covenant simple? Just set out an offering, right?"

"Still no good. Our Young Shopkeeper has already made a covenant with the spirits of this land. The spirits won’t accept tribute from anyone else for three days.

If he makes a covenant in another place, that’s his own land. He’d have to pay for the reclamation workers himself. Spending a thousand silver dollars to buy such a wasteland… let’s see if he’s willing to."

Li Banfeng still didn’t understand. "Since the reclamation workers aren’t willing to buy it themselves, why does Yu Nan have to spend so much money to buy this land?"

Old Zhu sighed. "The Young Shopkeeper wants to leave herself a backup plan. None of us can dissuade her."

Li Banfeng didn’t ask further. He was more concerned about Yu Nan’s whereabouts than the wasteland reclamation.

"Old Zhu, when will your Young Shopkeeper arrive?"

Old Zhu thought for a moment. "You said they set off last night, so I reckon they’ll arrive tomorrow night at the earliest."

"Two days and two nights of travel?"

Old Zhu nodded. "Two days and two nights is considered fast."

Li Banfeng had arrived early.

As a Travel Cultivator, he had spent seven hours traveling to New Land.

But Yu Nan didn’t have that ability. She was also carrying a group of subordinates without cultivation and a pile of heavy belongings. Arriving in two days was indeed considered fast.

Old Zhu got up. "Boss Li, I’ve prepared a room for you. Take a bath, rest for a while, and I’ll prepare dinner."

When they first met, Li Banfeng had only briefly introduced himself, but Old Zhu hadn’t suspected him at all.

"Aren’t you afraid that I’m a bad person?" Li Banfeng asked casually.

Old Zhu shook his head. "This is Yu Family Village, this is the Young Shopkeeper’s territory. The spirits are protecting the Young Shopkeeper. Bad people wouldn’t dare to come here. As long as the Young Shopkeeper drips her blood on Yu Family Village, anyone who dares to break in will be crushed to pieces."

Li Banfeng was stunned. "Is that so?"

Yu Nan and her subordinates were still trekking on the road.

The journey was slower than expected because there were too many wounded subordinates and Little Fatty Qin, who was asleep most of the time.

A hundred miles from Jiangyue Mountain, Yu Nan received news that the Yu family’s old residence had been burned down.

Although it was expected, everyone’s eyes were still red with anger. Wang Xuejiao cursed, "That bastard Geng Zhiwei! We have to cut him into pieces and feed him to the dogs! Shopkeeper, let’s not go any further, let’s go fight him!"

A group of people echoed, "Let’s go fight them!"

"We can’t spare that bastard Geng Zhiwei!"

Yu Nan bit her pipe fiercely, remaining silent.

The old storekeeper Zhang Shiquan advised, "A gentleman takes revenge, even if it’s ten years later. Let’s listen to the Shopkeeper and keep quiet."

After traveling another thirty miles, the group rested on the roadside. A shop assistant ran over to deliver a message, panting for a long time. "Shopkeeper, the Geng Family Pharmacy was burned down in a fire! Geng Zhiwei is missing, he should be dead!"

Yu Nan was shocked and speechless.

The Geng Family Pharmacy was burned down?

Who did it?

End of Chapter