Chapter 72: The Bagworm Matron

A little after nine o’clock, Yu Nan led her group to Yu Family Village.

Old Zhu hurried out to greet them. Once everyone was inside the village, Old Zhu began to speak of Li Qi.

"Seventh Master is here?" Yu Nan exclaimed, overjoyed. "Where is he?"

"He said he was going for a walk in the woods. He’s been gone for seven or eight hours now."

A worried expression crossed Yu Nan’s face. She couldn’t understand why Li Banfeng would dare wander alone in the New Land.

Wang Xuejiao said, "Shopkeeper, if you’re worried, we can go into the woods and look for him."

Yu Nan shook her head. "The New Land is too dangerous. To go rushing in like that, forget about finding someone, we might not even come back alive. Li Qi is a Travel Cultivator; he knows the way back. Let’s wait and see."

They waited another two hours. The group had been traveling for two days straight and were overcome with fatigue. One by one, they fell asleep.

Yu Nan couldn’t sleep. She paced back and forth outside the wooden house when she saw a middle-aged man in a tailcoat approach her. He removed his top hat and bowed to Yu Nan.

"Might I inquire, are you Shopkeeper Yu of Yu Family Cloth Shop?"

Yu Nan was taken aback. She didn’t recognize this man.

The man smiled. "This humble one is Da Bo Ensi, a private detective."

He was clearly a local, so why did he have a foreign name?

"Detective?" Yu Nan sized him up. "What brings you to my Yu Family Village?"

"I’m looking for someone. His name is Li Banfeng."

"I don’t know anyone by that name. Ask somewhere else," Yu Nan said, issuing an eviction order.

Da Bo Ensi had no intention of leaving. "I’ve asked everywhere else. There aren’t many villages in this New Land, only yours. And you had a visitor yesterday."

Yu Nan kept her smile plastered on her face, but her heart rate suddenly increased.

From the private detective’s words, Yu Nan gleaned two crucial pieces of information.

The first: the Li Banfeng he was looking for was very likely Li Qi.

The second: he could tell that Yu Family Village had a visitor yesterday, meaning he possessed some special technique.

He’d come here already convinced that Li Banfeng was here.

Yu Nan didn’t plan to waste any more time talking to him. "Detective Da Bo-whatchamacallit, we really don’t know anyone named Li Banfeng here. It’s getting late. If you have nothing else, we won’t keep you any longer."

Da Bo Ensi smiled. "Since Shopkeeper Yu brought it up, I do have something else.

I’m a bit of a coward and I’m not comfortable traveling at night. If Shopkeeper Yu doesn’t mind, could I impose on your place for a night?"

Yu Nan’s smile vanished. "I do mind. Yu Family Village never puts up outsiders."

Da Bo Ensi’s smile didn’t waver. "If you won’t let me stay, that’s fine. Could you at least offer me a cup of tea?"

Yu Nan gripped her smoking pipe. "The well’s dry today. No water, no tea."

Da Bo Ensi still refused to leave. "Then can I at least bum a smoke from Shopkeeper Yu?"

Yu Nan exhaled a puff of smoke. "Detective, is this puff enough for you?"

The smoke swirled around Da Bo Ensi a few times.

It was a warning from a Smoke Cultivator.

Da Bo Ensi put on his top hat and raised his eyebrows. "Shopkeeper Yu, are you trying to get violent?"

"Yes!" The lady’s cigarette stuck in the smoking pipe glowed brighter, and scattered ashes landed on Da Bo Ensi.

Da Bo Ensi brushed the ashes off, looking somewhat helpless. "Shopkeeper Yu, that’s not a very wise thing to do."

The ashes were brushed away just like that.

The private detective’s cultivation was clearly above Yu Nan’s.

Yu Nan drew a dagger and aimed it at her palm. "This is Yu Family Village, and I am the master of this place!"

She wasn’t drawing the dagger to fight the private detective, but to draw her own blood.

She was the master of this land, and that wasn’t just a simple warning.

Her blood could awaken certain creatures of this land, and those creatures could take Da Bo Ensi’s life.

Da Bo Ensi had been reclaiming wasteland in the New Land for years, and he naturally understood the mystery of it. In this situation, he clearly couldn’t continue to pester her.

He raised both hands, palms facing down. "Shopkeeper Yu, don’t be angry. This humble one takes his leave."

With that, Da Bo Ensi retreated outside the boundaries of Yu Family Village.

But he didn’t go far. He walked around the two rows of wooden houses of Yu Family Village dozens of times, leaving spider webs on the surrounding trees.

Yu Nan knew these spider webs were meant to deal with Li Banfeng.

But knowing didn’t help. Da Bo Ensi’s area of activity wasn’t inside Yu Family Village. Outside the village, Yu Nan was no match for him at all.

Yu Nan looked anxiously into the depths of the jungle. She didn’t know when Li Banfeng would return.

Before, she couldn’t wait to see Li Banfeng.

Now, she hoped more than anything that Li Banfeng wouldn’t appear.

Da Bo Ensi sat beneath a tree, pulled out a harmonica, and said to Yu Nan, "Li Banfeng and I share a special fate. I believe that fate hasn’t been severed. I believe he’ll return tonight."

Yu Nan sneered, saying mockingly, "You aren’t a foreigner, so why do you have to use a foreigner’s tone when you speak?"

Da Bo Ensi smiled faintly. "A gentleman is not defined by bloodline, and composure knows no borders. Don’t think you can anger me with your bitter words. It won’t work.

I’ll also remind you, Li Banfeng will definitely appear tonight. If he’s your sweetheart, you should wait for him here. It might be the last time you ever see him."

With that, Da Bo Ensi put the harmonica to his lips and began to play.

The music had a unique, leisurely air, but all Yu Nan could hear was the killing intent contained within.

After playing two tunes, Da Bo Ensi put away the harmonica, stood up, gazed into the distant night, and straightened his top hat and tailcoat.

He felt the trembling of the spider silk. He knew someone was approaching.

Yu Nan immediately exhaled a puff of smoke. She wanted to find Li Banfeng’s location and send out a warning with her smoke.

This would depend on their respective cultivations.

Da Bo Ensi was clearly confident in his own cultivation. "Shopkeeper Yu, don’t make futile attempts. By the time your smoke reaches Li Banfeng’s face, his head will probably already be in my hands."

Yu Nan looked at the iron bell in front of the village gate. She wanted to ring the bell and summon her subordinates.

Da Bo Ensi saw through her plan and shook his head at her. "Don’t do anything foolish. As long as you leave your village, you and your subordinates are as worthless as ants.

Isn’t being alive good? You haven’t known him for that long, so just watch quietly and send him off on his final journey. Isn’t that better?"

Yu Nan was filled with anger, but what Da Bo Ensi said was indeed the truth.

A moment later, Li Banfeng’s figure appeared in the night. Yu Nan shouted, "Seventh Master, don’t come over here!"

Da Bo Ensi shook his head and smiled. "Too late. It’s already too late."

As long as Li Banfeng appeared in Da Bo Ensi’s sight, there were only two possibilities left.

First, Li Banfeng charged towards Yu Family Village, and then got caught in the spider webs, waiting to be killed by Da Bo Ensi.

Second, Li Banfeng listened to Yu Nan’s advice and didn’t approach Yu Family Village, and then was directly killed by Da Bo Ensi.

The current Li Banfeng didn’t seem to hear Yu Nan’s warning as he charged straight towards Yu Family Village.

Da Bo Ensi stepped forward and greeted him. "From the moment we parted, I sensed that we would meet again. I didn’t expect that moment to come so quickly, my friend."

Li Banfeng replied loudly, "Yes, we are friends!"

Da Bo Ensi sighed. "I’ve always felt that my connection with you is very deep, that it goes beyond this. I sincerely hope that you’ll still remember me in the next world, my friend."

Li Banfeng shouted loudly, "Did you hear that? He’s my friend!"

Da Bo Ensi was stunned. Who was he talking to?

To Yu Nan?

Da Bo Ensi looked at Yu Nan, but Yu Nan also looked confused. She didn’t understand what Li Banfeng meant.

In his bewilderment, Da Bo Ensi sensed another presence around Li Banfeng.

The location of this presence was very erratic, sometimes in the trees, sometimes on the ground, and sometimes wandering in mid-air.

It was very strong. Some of the spider webs Da Bo Ensi had set up were broken.

What was this thing?

In his surprise, a huge figure curled down from a tree, blocking Li Banfeng’s path toward Yu Family Village.

Yu Nan and Da Bo Ensi’s line of sight was also blocked.

They couldn’t see Li Banfeng. They only saw a massive emerald green worm.

Da Bo Ensi blinked and muttered, "The Bagworm Matron… This is troublesome."

Li Banfeng ran east and west, maneuvering around the worm for an entire night, and finally ran back to Yu Family Village.

He shouted, "You all heard it, that person is my friend!"

The human face on the worm turned back to look at Da Bo Ensi. "You are friends?"

Da Bo Ensi licked his lips. "I, uh, no, we’re not…"

The Bagworm Matron turned her face back and looked at Li Banfeng. "He says you’re not…"

Li Banfeng had already taken out the Blood-Soaked Pendulum. He twisted the screw beneath the pendulum, and a spray of blood shot onto the Bagworm Matron’s eyes.

It was Happy Cultivator’s blood, from Geng Zhiwei, and it had been stored in the pendulum all along.

The Bagworm Matron roared and frantically wiped her eyes with her slender tentacles.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Banfeng entered the Mobile Home. He used all his strength to throw the key two hundred meters away, onto the roof of one of the wooden houses in Yu Family Village.

Old Zhu had said that this was Yu Nan’s territory. As long as Yu Nan dripped her blood on Yu Family Village, anyone who dared to trespass would be crushed to pieces.

Humans couldn’t get in, and this worm certainly couldn’t get in either!

When the Bagworm Matron opened her eyes, she found that Li Banfeng had disappeared.

She turned her face again and looked at Da Bo Ensi. "Where did he go?"

Da Bo Ensi couldn’t answer. His sight was blocked by the Bagworm Matron. He hadn’t even seen Li Banfeng’s figure.

The Bagworm Matron looked tenderly at Da Bo Ensi. "He killed my child. You can be my child, okay?"

Da Bo Ensi took two steps back, looking nervous. "He and I, we’re not really friends, we don’t even really know each other…"

He’d worked as a wasteland reclaimer in the New Land several times. He knew what level this Bagworm Matron was. He knew this kind of creature wasn’t something you wanted to mess with.

"If you don’t want to be my child, you can also have a child with me." The Bagworm Matron’s cheeks were somewhat flushed, and the layers of fat on her body rippled.

Driven by the Happy Cultivator’s blood, she had fallen in love with Da Bo Ensi.

"We might not be suitable." Da Bo Ensi stepped on his spider silk and quickened his pace.

End of Chapter