Chapter 64: Wulin Rules: Give and Take

Li Banfeng found a few more watermelon seeds on the other weapons, "Shopkeeper Yu, I wasn’t wrong, you really were hacking watermelons all day long."

Yu Nan carefully recalled the scenes from the battle. Whether they were shot with guns or slashed with knives, the Geng Family Pharmacy’s henchmen would bleed, but they just wouldn’t fall.

Furthermore, throughout the entire process, Yu Nan hadn’t heard a single word from the pharmacy’s men, not even a cry.

Could they all be watermelons?

Could it be that they were bleeding watermelon juice?

Why would watermelons grow into human form? And why could they fight?

Zhang Shiquan, the oldest warehouse keeper in the cloth shop, took a puff of his dry tobacco pipe and speculated, "Till Cultivators endure hardship to become established. Those on the Fifth Level become heroes and lords. We’ve probably encountered an established Till Cultivator!"

Till Cultivators?

Li Banfeng had no other concept of this Sect besides that it was arduous.

"What do you mean by ‘established’?" Li Banfeng asked directly.

The old warehouse keeper said, "It’s a common saying in the Wulin world. Till Cultivation is hard, and few people practice it. But if you can persist and cultivate to the Fifth Level, you’re considered ‘established.’ The things you can grow are bizarre and varied.

I’ve never seen a fighting watermelon like this in all my years. I’m guessing it’s a seed concocted by the Till Cultivator, grown specially for this purpose."

Yu Nan thought for a moment and shook her head slightly. "What is the Geng Family anyway? Why would they be able to hire a Fifth Level Till Cultivator? Besides, I’ve never heard of any Fifth Level Till Cultivators in Yaowang Gulch!"

The old warehouse keeper packed his tobacco pipe again. "Shopkeeper, Till Cultivators live a hard life. They’ll do anything for money. He’s not exactly out fighting a war; he’s just selling a few watermelons.

And once Till Cultivators lose their land, they’ll definitely come out to reclaim wasteland. There’s plenty of New Land in Yaowang Gulch, maybe Geng Family just happened to run into one."

What was this New Land he was talking about?

Every time, he heard new terms.

Li Banfeng didn’t interject; he didn’t want to interrupt their train of thought.

But their train of thought had already derailed. Fifth Level cultivators were opponents Yu Nan didn’t dare to look up to, especially if she’d encountered an established Till Cultivator. Nobody knew how to deal with that.

Yu Nan turned her gaze to Li Banfeng.

Everyone looked at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng blinked. "What are you looking at me for? I’ve never even met a Till Cultivator."

The old warehouse keeper took a puff of his tobacco pipe and sighed. "An expert speaks only three parts of what he knows, leaving seven parts for us to figure out ourselves."

Upon hearing this, everyone continued to look at Li Banfeng with earnest expectation.

Li Banfeng said nothing.

He knew they were watermelons, thanks to the unique taste left on the weapons. As for how to deal with Till Cultivators, Li Banfeng had no similar experience, nor any mature countermeasures.

But he had experience dealing with powerful enemies that couldn’t be defeated in the short term. As an orphan raised in a welfare home, he’d seen too many similar enemies.

"Besides Baixiang Village, do you have any other places to live?" Li Banfeng’s suggestion was for them to flee immediately.

Yu Nan had just suffered a defeat, and was burdened with a bunch of wounded soldiers. She knew nothing about Geng Zhiwei’s methods. Staying here was like handing themselves over to be killed.

What was even worse was that, to this day, she and her Yu Family Gang were still clinging to Wulin Rules.

With this group’s mindset and understanding, meeting someone ruthless like Geng Zhiwei, not running meant waiting for death.

"Run?" Wang Xuejiao, Eighth Lao’s sister, stood up. "We’ve already reached this point, where can we run to? Are we going to throw away all our face?"

Li Banfeng found Yu Nan’s thinking to be contradictory. "When you ran from Ligou to Baixiang Village, you didn’t seem to care so much about face?"

Yu Nan shook her head. "That’s different. Back then, we were defending against their sneak attacks. Now they’re coming openly, with blades drawn."

"Can’t you defend against blades drawn in the open?" Li Banfeng still couldn’t understand.

"Boss Li, you don’t understand the Wulin world," Wang Xuejiao sneered,

"If your rival comes openly, with blades drawn, you can prepare in advance and fight them. But if you run, the Yu Family’s banner will be completely toppled!"

Li Banfeng scanned the crowd. "If you all die here, wouldn’t the Yu Family’s banner be toppled?"

Wang Xuejiao puffed out her ample chest. "Of course not! We’ll use our lives to uphold the Yu Family’s banner!"

Li Banfeng said, "If Geng Zhiwei presses the Yu Family’s banner into the ground, and then takes a piss on it, what can you do?"

Wang Xuejiao was enraged. "He wouldn’t dare!"

"What if he dares to do that, what can you do? You’re already dead, are you going to jump up and beat him?" Li Banfeng continued to scan everyone.

The principles in this world are all very simple, but there are always people who can’t understand them.

Wang Xuejiao lowered her head and said softly, "That’s just the rule of the Wulin world…"

"Can dead people reason with him about the rules?" Li Banfeng asked again. Wang Xuejiao was unconvinced, and the others were also unconvinced, but they couldn’t answer.

The old warehouse keeper knocked his tobacco pipe and looked at Yu Nan.

He understood Li Banfeng’s words, he understood the principle behind them. "Shopkeeper, let’s go. Let’s go hide in the Jiangyue Mountain New Land for a while."

Yu Nan nodded slightly upon hearing this, and the others didn’t say much either.

Everyone went back to pack their bags, and Yu Nan asked Li Banfeng, "Seventh Master, come with us. The New Land is a bit harsh, but Geng Zhiwei wouldn’t dare to chase us there."

"What exactly is this New Land?" If he didn’t understand, he would just ask. Li Banfeng wasn’t afraid of exposing his ignorance.

Yu Nan was also used to it; she didn’t know if Li Banfeng really didn’t understand, or if he was deliberately testing her.

"New Land is a place of new life. Yaowang Gulch will have three to five pieces of New Land every year, and each piece of land is about the size of two or three villages."

New Land every year?

Li Banfeng shook his head, he still couldn’t understand.

Yu Nan continued to explain, "It’s like two mountains that were originally close together. After a year, the two mountains suddenly become distant, and a large open space appears in the middle. This is New Land.

Most New Land is flat, but there are exceptions. Some are hills, some are canyons, some are swamps, and some are even a lake…"

Li Banfeng widened his eyes. "Yaowang Gulch, grows its own land?"

Yu Nan nodded. "It’s not just Yaowang Gulch, it’s everywhere. Every year."

Li Banfeng pulled up a chair, sat down, drank some water, and calmed his repeatedly challenged understanding.

Yu Nan reminded him, "Seventh Master, pack your things first. We should be setting off."

"No hurry," Li Banfeng waved his hand. "You go first, take Little Fatty with you. I still have some things to take care of here."

At two in the morning, Yu Nan led everyone out of Baixiang Village.

By three thirty, Geng Zhiwei led a hundred or so men into Yu Nan’s residence.

These people were divided into two teams. One team consisted of living people, some of whom stood behind Geng Zhiwei, yelling and screaming, with ferocious expressions. The other part was outside the house, surrounding it completely.

The other team was very quiet. They didn’t speak, and their expressions were wooden. They were the "Watermelon People" that Geng Zhiwei had bought from the Till Cultivator.

These Watermelon People were also holding knives, axes, and other weapons, but at the moment, their function was limited to walking.

A servant took out a cloth bag, grabbed a handful of brownish granules, and stuffed them into the Watermelon People’s mouths.

These granules had a pungent, fishy smell, and were the Watermelon People’s fertilizer.

After eating the fertilizer, the Watermelon People raised their knives and prepared to fight.

Before long, more than twenty Watermelon People had eaten their fertilizer.

Two servants cut open a dozen watermelons and walked over.

These watermelons were very special, they tasted very sweet, very fishy, and seemed different from ordinary watermelons.

Geng Zhiwei picked up two slices of watermelon and crunched them down.

Before long, his face turned red, and he broke out in a sweat.

Jia Quansheng and a group of servants were also eating watermelons.

Li Banfeng hid in the house, watching everything clearly through the cracks in the window.

What were they doing eating watermelons?

Li Banfeng didn’t understand.

But he soon understood.

Geng Zhiwei shouted, "Kill!"

The Watermelon People didn’t have much intelligence. When Geng Zhiwei ordered them to move, they would follow him. When Geng Zhiwei ordered them to kill, it meant killing anyone they saw.

But Watermelon People only killed people, they didn’t harm watermelons. Geng Zhiwei and his subordinates ate watermelons, and emitted the watermelon scent from the inside out. The Watermelon People wouldn’t hurt them, and would obey their orders.

This was how they distinguished friend from foe.

Li Banfeng utilized his Home Cultivation advantages, silently jumped into the backyard, and hid in the woodshed.

A man opened the door and walked into the woodshed. Li Banfeng sniffed and smelled the unique sweetness of watermelons.

This was a Watermelon Person.

The front and back yards were full of Watermelon People.

The Watermelon People were doing all the dangerous work.

If Yu Nan hadn’t left, no matter how many ambushes she’d laid, she would have ultimately had to fight it out with these Watermelon People. She wouldn’t have been able to harm even a single hair on Geng Zhiwei’s head.

Once Yu Nan’s side had suffered heavy casualties, Geng Zhiwei would order the people surrounding the outside to close the net. Yu Nan’s group wouldn’t be able to escape a single one.

Geng Zhiwei was planning to wipe them out.

He couldn’t let Yu Nan go, and he couldn’t let Li Banfeng go either. This was the only thing Yu Nan had said right.

This was why Li Banfeng had stayed behind.

Yu Nan had been defeated by Geng Zhiwei, and it would soon be Li Banfeng’s turn.

What should Li Banfeng do?

The principle was very simple: if you can win, fight; if you can’t win, run.

Could Li Banfeng beat Geng Zhiwei?

He couldn’t before, but it was hard to say now.

Li Banfeng had seen the characteristics of the Watermelon People, and already knew Geng Zhiwei’s methods.

He had a chance to win, the key was how to fight.

Eat a watermelon every day, and then be on guard against Geng Zhiwei every day?

Would that work?

No, it wouldn’t.

There were three reasons.

First, Li Banfeng wasn’t sure if Geng Zhiwei was eating ordinary watermelons.

Second, Li Banfeng didn’t know when Geng Zhiwei would strike. He couldn’t eat watermelons all the time.

Third, Geng Zhiwei knew Fifth Level Till Cultivators. What if he changed to a Carrot Person tomorrow? What should Li Banfeng do then?

So relying solely on eating watermelons couldn’t solve the problem fundamentally.

Should he start a war directly with Geng Zhiwei here?

The difficulty was too great. Geng Zhiwei was too well prepared. Relying solely on catching him off guard, the chances of winning were quite slim.

Matters of the Wulin world had to be resolved using Wulin Rules.

Wulin Rules stressed give and take.

I came to his house to be a guest first, even though I wasn’t invited. That’s still coming.

Then I’ll send him to a good place, even though there’s no return. That’s still going.

Isn’t that give and take?

Isn’t that exactly Wulin Rules?

As for the rules about open attacks and sneak attacks, Li Banfeng didn’t understand them for the time being.

The Watermelon Person who entered the woodshed saw Li Banfeng and slashed at him with his knife.

Li Banfeng picked up his shovel, cut a hole in the Watermelon Person’s stomach, reached into the Watermelon Person’s wound, and grabbed a handful of watermelon pulp.

That’s right, it was watermelon pulp, red and fresh, with watermelon seeds.

The Watermelon Person didn’t feel pain, and continued to slash.

Li Banfeng smeared the watermelon pulp on his face, emitting the watermelon scent.

The Watermelon Person raised his knife and continued to slash.

It didn’t work!

It really didn’t work. During the day, when Yu Nan led people to fight the Watermelon People, they also got a lot of watermelon juice on their bodies, but the Watermelon People didn’t show them any mercy.

Smearing it on his face was useless, he had to eat the watermelon pulp, the watermelon scent had to be emitted from the inside out.

Fortunately, this Watermelon Person could take a beating, but wasn’t very strong. With Li Banfeng’s skills, it was enough to keep him busy.

During the fight, Li Banfeng grabbed another handful of watermelon pulp and swallowed it.

This watermelon was very sweet, but also very astringent. Li Banfeng barely swallowed it down.

The Watermelon Person slashed again, and Li Banfeng was shocked. He’d already eaten the watermelon, why didn’t it work yet?

Wasn’t he eating enough?

Li Banfeng dodged the Watermelon Person’s knife, and grabbed another large handful of watermelon pulp from the Watermelon Person’s wound, and stuffed it into his mouth.

It was too disgusting, why was it so astringent? The astringency made Li Banfeng sweat profusely.

The Watermelon Person sniffed, smelled the watermelon scent on Li Banfeng, a watermelon scent from the inside out. His knife, which had been raised in mid-air, stopped moving.

"Watermelon People" don’t harm watermelons.

Li Banfeng opened his Mobile Home, turned around and shoved the key deep into the Watermelon Person’s stomach, very deep.

Li Banfeng disappeared, and the Watermelon Person silently left the woodshed, carrying his machete.

End of Chapter