Chapter 71: Suspended Sac Beneath the Tree

Li Banfeng practiced with the iron ruler for two hours, feeling he’d gained some insights.

The phonograph offered further encouragement: "Husband, a true man of valor sets his sights on distant horizons! What good is it to remain at home? Hurry out to buy groceries!"

So, buying groceries is what makes a man of valor?

Li Banfeng checked his pocket watch; it was already ten o’clock. Time to head out.

Returning to Yu Family Village, Li Banfeng first grabbed lunch with Old Zhu before deciding to take a stroll through the New Land.

A Travel Cultivator had to walk fifty li (approximately 25 kilometers) each day. Although he’d covered a long distance yesterday, exceeding the quota and, in cultivators’ terms, "saving Guangyin (time)," he still shouldn’t waste that surplus on daily training.

Old Zhu couldn’t dissuade Li Banfeng, so he could only warn him of the New Land’s taboos: "Boss Li, don’t cut down trees, don’t pull up grass, don’t harm the flying birds and beasts in the woods.

Don’t eat the fruits from the woods, and don’t drink the water either. If you encounter anything you don’t understand or can’t figure out, come back immediately.

You walked this way once when you came to the New Land; try to follow the same path as much as possible. Be extremely careful."

He would heed the warnings, but couldn’t follow the same route. Always traveling the same path wasn’t conducive to accumulating cultivation.

Relying on the Travel Cultivator’s technique to seek good fortune and avoid disaster, Li Banfeng tried to walk in areas that weren’t too dangerous.

But in the New Land, safe places were few and far between.

Within three li of Yu Family Village, the walk was relatively smooth.

Beyond that range, Li Banfeng constantly sensed danger approaching. Goosebumps erupted one layer after another, and he couldn’t help but shiver every few steps. The Travel Cultivator’s technique to avoid disaster kept warning him.

After walking nearly ten li, Li Banfeng realized he’d already fulfilled his basic cultivation quota for the day.

Should he head back now?

Yes, he would head back, take a walk in the afternoon, and then go back to take a nap. A very reasonable plan.

Li Banfeng turned around, preparing to return the way he came, when he suddenly heard someone speaking from a tree:

"Brother, is that you!"

Whose voice was that?

He Jiaqing?

Li Banfeng silently looked up.

He saw a thread, as thick as a finger and almost transparent, hanging from the tree.

Following the thread upward, Li Banfeng saw a large "bamboo basket" slowly sliding down the thread.

Was that a bamboo basket?

Pitch black and airtight, it seemed to be woven from branches and covered with leaves, blocking every crevice.

The opening of the basket faced directly downward, right above Li Banfeng’s head.

The thread entered the basket through the opening and exited from the bottom, hanging from the tree.

A man’s voice came from inside the basket: "Brother, you’ve finally arrived."

The first time he heard the voice, Li Banfeng was moved; he thought he’d found He Jiaqing.

Hearing the words again, Li Banfeng realized the voice was very different from He Jiaqing’s. It was just that the person was inside the "bamboo basket," making the voice muffled, and slightly similar to He Jiaqing’s low, hoarse tone.

Li Banfeng looked at the basket, sensing no danger. He calmly asked, "Why are you calling me brother? Have you mistaken me for someone else?"

The basket paused in mid-air, and after a moment, another voice came from inside: "Child, is that you?"

The voice was hoarse and gentle, like a white-haired old woman.

Li Banfeng was skilled at imitating female voices, but this time, he couldn’t detect any trace of imitation.

Was there another person inside the basket?

Although he still sensed no danger, Li Banfeng decided to leave immediately.

He hadn’t forgotten the rickshaw driver‘s warnings.

If the other party’s cultivation was higher than his, he might not be able to sense their malice.

Li Banfeng had just taken a step forward when the thread suddenly shot out of the basket and wrapped around Li Banfeng’s legs.

Li Banfeng was tripped by the thread and fell flat on his back.

He tried to struggle a couple of times, but the thread was extremely strong, and he couldn’t free his legs.

Li Banfeng didn’t rashly try to pull the thread with his hands; if his hands were also trapped, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

He stuck both hands into his pockets, first taking out a pair of Mandarin Duck Axes with his right hand.

The strange weapon formed by the intersection of two crescent moons had extremely sharp blades.

But Li Banfeng tried several times, and the Mandarin Duck Axes couldn’t cut the thread.

The huge basket slowly descended, gently shaking.

Another voice came from inside the "basket," gentle and delicate: "Husband, have you come?"

This was a young woman’s voice, again without any trace of imitation.

"You’ve really mistaken me for someone else," Li Banfeng replied calmly, immediately putting away the Mandarin Duck Axes and taking out the iron ruler.

The iron ruler had no blade, but its spikes were extremely sharp.

The basket continued to descend, shaking even more violently.

A human face slowly emerged from the basket’s opening, the face of a young woman, with very delicate features. A thread, as thick as a finger, emerged from her lips, extending downward.

So, the thread came from her mouth.

This reminded Li Banfeng of a special kind of worm that hung itself from trees using thread.

What was that worm called?

It seemed to be a bagworm.

Was this woman a bagworm?

A thread ran through her body, one exit being her mouth, but where was the other exit?

And what was this basket?

A bagworm‘s cocoon!

The cocoon continued to approach, the human face slowly emerging from it as it wriggled.

Long, black hair fell onto Li Banfeng’s face, and the woman, with her delicate features, looked down at Li Banfeng, her voice muffled by the thread: "Have I guessed wrong all three times?"

"Yes, all wrong," Li Banfeng replied, his eyebrows relaxing into a slight smile. He tightened his grip on the iron ruler and stabbed it toward the human face.

A Travel Cultivator was fast, and Li Banfeng, having just left his house, was at his peak physical condition.

The stab was fast and accurate, and the iron ruler‘s spikes were about to pierce the woman’s forehead when another silk thread suddenly shot out from the cocoon and wrapped around Li Banfeng’s arm.

More silk thread?

Where did this thread come from?

The cocoon swung back and forth, with increasing force. A head with short hair struggled to emerge from the cocoon’s opening.

Thick eyebrows, large eyes, thick lips, this was a man with sharp features. He had silk thread in his mouth and looked down at Li Banfeng, asking, "Have I really guessed wrong all along?"

"I’m not lying, all wrong," Li Banfeng said, taking his left hand out of his pocket.

Before Li Banfeng could open his palm, another thread tightly wrapped around his entire left arm.

From within the cocoon, a white-haired head, squeezing against the other two heads, biting a thread, struggled to emerge.

It was an Old Lady with a face full of wrinkles.

Were these three worms squeezed into one cocoon?

Or was it one worm with three heads?

The Old Lady had no teeth, and with the thread in her mouth, she smiled at Li Banfeng and said, "I guessed wrong, now it’s your turn. Guess who I am?"

Li Banfeng blinked and asked, "What if I guess wrong?"

The woman answered, "Then we’ll eat you."

Li Banfeng asked again, "What if I guess right?"

The man answered, "Then you’ll live with us."

Damn it, they weren’t giving him a way out!

Li Banfeng put all his strength into his left hand, struggling with all his might.

The Old Lady bit down on the thread, tightening it further.

"What are you holding in your hand? It must be something fun, let me see, let me see! Hehehe~" The Old Lady said with a strange laugh while biting the thread.

Pulled by the threads, Li Banfeng’s left hand slowly opened.

In his hand wasn’t the key to his Mobile Home; it was a glove, with a Rust Pill on top of it.

The Old Lady wanted to use the thread to roll up the elixir, but as soon as the thread touched the Rust Pill, rust quickly spread across the thread.

The speed of the spread surprised even Li Banfeng; it was faster than the Rust Pill corroding the iron cigarette case.

The Rust Pill countered the thread so effectively?

This was a pleasant surprise.

The thread on his left arm quickly rusted through, and Li Banfeng quickly rolled around, holding the Rust Pill.

Rust spread across all the threads, and the strong threads quickly became brittle, and Li Banfeng quickly broke free.

The three heads in the cocoon also bit through the threads.

They had no choice; the rust climbed onto the threads and almost entered their mouths.

The three heads spat out the threads and pounced on Li Banfeng.

This time, Li Banfeng was prepared. He rolled away on the ground, avoiding the threads, and stabbed the iron ruler into the man’s temple.

The man wailed loudly, and the other two heads also sensed the pain, wailing along with the man.

Li Banfeng raised his hand again and threw the Rust Pill into the cocoon.

The expressions on the three heads twisted simultaneously as they sensed unbearable pain, and they all retreated back into the cocoon.

Before long, the young wife’s head emerged from the cocoon, her beautiful face covered in rust.

For a moment, Li Banfeng really wanted to take the cocoon into his Mobile Home, feed the soul to his Wife, and see what the bronze lotus could refine from the Corpse.

But after hesitating for a moment, Li Banfeng left.

He still didn’t know what the situation was with these three worms. If the Rust Pill couldn’t subdue them, Li Banfeng might have to stay here and accompany them.

This was the New Land.

Li Banfeng finally understood why five out of six people had died after only three days of reclaiming wasteland!

Li Banfeng didn’t think much more about it and ran back to Yu Family Village with all his might.

Reaching a large banyan tree, he suddenly saw the canopy shake, and another mass of threads fell before his eyes.

Li Banfeng retreated quickly, dodging the threads, and broke out in a cold sweat.

Were those three worms chasing him?

Was the Rust Pill no longer effective?

A woman’s voice came from the canopy, not the Old Lady, nor the young wife.

"My children only wanted to play with you for a while, why did you hurt them?"

A middle-aged woman’s face emerged from the canopy.

Was this the mother of those three worms?

Rustle! Rustle! Rustle!

The dense leaves rustled as a huge body moved among them.

Li Banfeng changed direction, wanting to get around the tree.

Boom!

With a muffled sound, the woman fell from the tree.

She had a human face and a human head.

But she had no neck. Behind her head was a fat, bloated, emerald green body.

It was a green worm, lying on the ground, much taller than Li Banfeng.

"Don’t go, stay and be my child."

Ripples spread across the worm’s body as it crawled toward Li Banfeng.

End of Chapter