Closing the Net

In a vast pine forest, Li Banfeng sat on the back of a woodlice, slowly making his way through the forest.

Woodlice, also known as Watermelon Bug or rice water bugs, are a type of multi-legged insect commonly found in damp places.

This woodlice is huge, with a back that is over two meters long and over one meter wide. It can carry people and luggage.

Not only was it large, but it also possessed a spirit. This woodlice could talk and was a very honest old man. He carried Li Banfeng through this Red Pine Forest and only charged Li Banfeng fifty yuan of Huan Country Notes.

Li Banfeng was a straightforward person and gave the woodlice a hundred yuan directly.

He was just curious: where would this woodlice spend the money it made?

"Young man, you don't understand. We have our own village, where we have food and lodging, and even a market. There are many places where we need money, cough cough cough..."

It was very cold and the wind was strong, making the old man with the woodlice cough.

The person was so old, and Li Banfeng felt bad about sitting on their back.

It wasn't that he was too lazy to walk those few steps; it was that Grandpa Woodcutter had said that he could carry Li Banfeng on his back without any problems, but it would be a big problem for Li Banfeng to walk on his own.

The Wine Gourd confirmed the woodlice's statement. "This is Iron Skin Pill Bug. I saw it once elsewhere when I was young. In the new land, the Iron Skin Pill Bug is a rare benevolent creature. Near its dwelling, all kinds of creatures give it some respect."

"Sister, aren't you still young?" Li Banfeng touched the Wine Gourd.

"Your mouth is sweeter than honey." The Wine Gourd sprayed out a mouthful of wine mist.

Li Banfeng was chatting idly with his Wine Gourd when the old woman asked, "Young man, who were you talking to just now?"

The woodlice couldn't hear the sound of the Wine Gourd, so Li Banfeng casually explained, "I'm the kind of person who likes to talk to myself."

"I have a daughter who has the same problem. The village doctor said she had hysteria, and she recovered after taking three doses of medicine. You should go see our doctor sometime. This disease needs to be treated early; it can be cured."

"Does your village have a doctor?"

"Of course! She's a skilled doctor, beautiful, and a truly wonderful young lady!"

What type of girl is this?

After walking for a full eight hours, the woodlice crossed the Red Pine Forest, and as it had said, they encountered no trouble along the way.

After jumping off the woodlice's back, Li Banfeng gave the woodlice an extra fifty yuan, bringing the total to one hundred and fifty yuan.

The old man felt bad and declined several times, but Li Banfeng insisted on giving it to him.

The old man sighed and said, "Young man, you're a good person. There's Golden Shrimp Pond up ahead; you're here to catch shrimp, aren't you?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "What's so good about those shrimp?"

"The shrimp are alive in the pond, but they become dead when they're taken out. After they've been dead for two hours, they turn into gold."

Many people used to come here to catch shrimp, but then Blood Tooth Mountain suddenly appeared, and not many people dared to come anymore.

"If you're going to catch shrimp, don't be greedy. Release the small shrimp you encounter. You can only catch a dozen or so at most. Whatever you do, don't anger the Shrimp King. That Shrimp King is over a hundred feet long. It can drag a person into the pond with a single hook and chew up even the bone fragments."

Li Banfeng thanked him and turned to leave.

The old man, the woodlice, continued to wait for business at the edge of the woods.

A centipede crawled onto the woodlice's back, wrapped a large dollar in its antennae, and handed it to her.

The old man tested the silver dollar's purity with his tentacles and said to the centipede, "Brother, I can't make change for all this money."

The centipede laughed and said, "Keep it for now. This isn't the first time I've done business with you. I'll save it and give it to you every day from now on."

The woodlice carried the centipede into the Red Pine Forest, chatting and laughing along the way.

Li Banfeng brushed the snow off his clothes and came to the edge of the cliff.

This cliff is riddled with caves, even more numerous than the insect holes on Li Banfeng's body.

According to the markings on the map, the seventh cave from the bottom and the sixth cave from the left is the one he went to.

The cliff was difficult to climb, Li Banfeng decided to rest for a day and drill the cave again tomorrow.

He took out a Golden Essence Pill, swallowed it along with a Blue Leaf Pill, and sat quietly at the foot of the cliff.

After more than ten minutes, Li Banfeng's body went numb.

Numbness is not a problem; the Tang Blade, pendulum, Wine Gourd, and Thread-Pulling Earring are all around me.

But he dared not return to his Portable Abode to take his medicine.

My Wife's breathing wasn't very even last night; judging from normal sleep patterns, she seems to be waking up soon.

According to Li Banfeng's calculations, after consuming this pill, he will advance to the third level of the Travel Cultivator.

Next, he will face a challenge: he must learn the third level of Travel Cultivator Third Layer Technique and Trample Ten Thousand Rivers.

In Sea Eat Ridge and First Ridge, every household in the city is cleaning with brooms, mops, and rags.

Wiping away dust and emptying the trash are secondary tasks; the main focus this time is cleaning up the dead mosquitoes.

The entire First Ridge area was littered with dead mosquitoes. Even after cleaning it up at night, another layer piled up the next morning.

Lu Dongjun once said that you don't need to worry about the dead mosquitoes.

But the people of First Ridge were happy to do this. They would collect the dead mosquitoes they saw, pile them up, and then burn them, believing that this would eliminate the problem forever.

Moreover, this process was quite cathartic.

As for what Lu Dongjun said otherwise, we should naturally listen to him.

Lu Dongjun told them to go to the Train Station to line up for food. They all went to the Train Station obediently and lined up without anyone scrambling.

Lu Dongjun told them to make a nice outfit for the New Year. Anyone who had some spare money went to the Lu Family's fabric shop to buy fabric, and they managed to buy out the largest fabric shop in Sea Eat Ridge.

Lu Dongjun is preparing to open a factory. Someone has prepared the land for him, someone has arranged the equipment, and many people are waiting to work in the factory.

Lu Dongjun wanted to do more business, so all the local gangs, big and small, gathered up all the businesses that had failed during the Insect Plague and sold them to Lu Dongjun at low prices.

This is a pledge of allegiance to Lu Dongjun.

The local gangs all wanted to pledge allegiance to Lu Dongjun.

Lu Dongjun is now the god of Sea Eat Ridge.

Because he wiped out all the mosquitoes in First Ridge!

Ever since he sprinkled the medicated rice at the Food is Heaven Restaurant, the mosquitoes in First Ridge were extinct in no time!

Late at night, Lu Dongjun, reeking of alcohol, returned to the mansion. After drinking a cup of tea, he asked Wan Jinxian, "Old Wan, when are we going to make our move at Second Ridge?"

Wan Jinxian handed a list to Lu Dongjun:

"Sir, there's no rush. We haven't even started managing the business at First Ridge yet."

I've selected these dozen or so shops for you; please take a look.

Lu Dongjun pushed the list aside. "Don't bother me with these trivial matters. I've already spoken to the accountant; all business matters are to be handled by you."

"Listen to me, you need to pay close attention to the situation at Second Ridge. I've already discussed it with the Outer State tonight, and the mosquitoes at Second Ridge will be eradicated within five days!"

Wan Jinxian nodded and said, "Don't worry about that. But I heard that the He Family and the Ma family have both sent people to Sea Eat Ridge. I'm worried that they'll come and steal the limelight."

"Let them come," Lu Dongjun sneered. "Let's see if anyone pays them any attention at Sea Eat Ridge!"

"Many people from the Three Heroes Gate and the Azure Cloud Society have also arrived."

Lu Dongjun spat. "Let them come, all of them come! I'll wait for them one by one!"

"The eldest son of the Chu family is here. He's not here to cause trouble; he's here to discuss business with you. We've secured quite a bit of business, and he wants to get a share of it too."

Lu Dongjun laughed, "Want to get rich with us? Sure, we'll take him along. Boss Chu has always been a sensible person, it's just his sister who's too reckless!"

"The Hundred Flowers Gate and the Jiang Xiang Gang also want to discuss business with you..."

"We can talk, we can talk. As long as someone is sensible, they'll get something from me."

But there's one thing: I buy into a business, then sell them shares at three times the price. I only sell shares, and at least three times the price. If they don't want to buy, fine!

"They want to open a new business in Sea Eat Ridge, fine, but they have to give me half the shares. If they don't want to, we'll open today and smash up the shop tomorrow. Anyone who disagrees can try us."

Wan Jinxian bowed his head and said, "Master, I will do whatever you say."

Lu Dongjun shook his head and said, "Don't come to me for everything. I'm already too busy dealing with those reporters every day. Lao Wan, I'll leave these matters to you!"

Outside the courtyard, He Haisheng bought an evening newspaper from a newsboy.

The local newspapers in Sea Eat Ridge devoted the entire front page to Lu Dongjun, and the second and third pages also featured a large amount of news about him.

He Haisheng glanced at the layout of the house, pulled up the collar of his wool coat, and disappeared silently into the night.

At the Lu Family, Monkey Qiu was reading the newspaper. News of Sea Eat Ridge had already reached Green Water Bay.

Lu Yuanshan, the First Young Master of the Lu Family, said, "Uncle Qiu, shall we go to Sea Eat Ridge?"

Qiu Zhiheng shook his head and said, "We can't go. It's not the right time yet."

Lu Yuanhai, "If we don't go now, we'll lose all our business in Sea Eat Ridge."

Qiu Zhiheng put down his newspaper and said, "The business is already lost. The managers of Sea Eat Ridge have handed over their account books to Lu Dongjun."

Lu Yuanshan glanced at Lu Yuanhai, it seemed that Qiu Zhiheng also had quite a few informants in Sea Eat Ridge.

But Qiu Zhiheng is not worried about the current situation. "It's not just our family that has lost business. The He Family, the Ma family, and the Chu family have all suffered great losses. Let's see who can't hold back first."

Lu Yuanshan brought up another matter. "The First Boss of the Three Heroes Gate has sent me another invitation. Should I go or not?"

Qiu Zhiheng nodded and said, "Go, but don't agree to anything he says. Talk to him slowly and wait until there's a result regarding Sea Eat Ridge."

At Yuezhou Third Hospital, He Jiaqing sat up in his hospital bed.

A man's voice whispered in his ear, "Lu Dongjun is very successful now. He has completely taken over First Ridge. He buys low and sells high in both big and small businesses, making a fortune."

He Jiaqing remained calm and then asked, "What about Second Ridge?"

"Many Lineage in Second Ridge have also come to pay their respects to Lu Dongjun."

"What's the point of paying homage to them? What about their Lineage's assets?"

"They haven't even handed over the industry."

He Jiaqing frowned and said, "If you don't bring out your own assets and just make empty promises to pay homage to the powerful, it's all nonsense. These people are always playing these tricks and are a scourge on Pro State!"

Can Second Ridge still be taken?

"It's going to be tough. Let alone Second Ridge, it won't even hold out at Yiling."

"If you can't hold on, then stop," He Jiaqing ordered. "Tell Lao Wan to close the net."

PS: How long can Lu Dongjun's glory last?