Eating for Free

Li Banfeng returned to Chu Er's residence and saw that Chu Er was still fast asleep. He quietly entered Portable Abode.

The Wife exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, my husband, how did you get hurt like this?"

Li Banfeng was indeed seriously injured; his face was covered in bruises and swelling, making him almost unrecognizable.

"My Wife, I have something to ask you. Do you know Bitter Granny?"

"The Bitter Granny? Which Bitter Granny?"

"Bitter Granny in the Bitter Vegetable Manor".

Li Banfeng had asked the Wine Gourd, the Tang Blade, and even the Judge's Brush's pen about this matter, but none of the magical artifacts around him recognized Bitter Granny.

Some memories may have faded with their souls, or perhaps they never knew anything about the Bitter Vegetable Manor to begin with.

It seems that only the Wife knows about this.

Ta-da-ta-ta~ Hey!

"The Bitter Granny of the Bitter Vegetable Manor!"

"Yes," Li Banfeng nodded, "Is she the Local Earth God of the Bitter Vegetable Manor?"

Ta-da-ta-ta~ Hey!

"Hey, hey, she's not Local Earth God."

The Wife recognized the Bitter Granny, but her tone was a little strange.

"Hey, hey, what else could she be but Local Earth God?"

Why is my Wife asking me that question?

Li Banfeng followed the needle holder and touched his Wife's armpit. "Wife, are you alright?"

The Wife didn't laugh. Why wasn't she ticklish anymore?

Huff~ Huff~ Huff~

Steam spewed out rapidly, gears whirred quickly, and flames leaped high from the fuel tank.

Li Banfeng quickly added water to the water tank, afraid that his Wife would burn the pot dry.

What's wrong, my Wife?

"Hey, hey, if she's not Local Earth God, then what is she? What could she be? Hahahaha~"

The Wife suddenly burst into wild laughter, filling the entire main room with steam.

"Wife, what's wrong?" Li Banfeng asked anxiously.

"Who are you?" The record player's voice became flat and the singing style became unusually cold.

Li Banfeng replied, "I am your husband."

"Hey, my husband, you're back from grocery shopping?" His Wife's tone softened again.

"I didn't buy groceries today."

"Since you didn't buy groceries, then you're not my husband. My husband never lets me go hungry. Who are you, then?"

Li Banfeng didn't know how to answer. Suddenly, a whirlwind blew in from the outer room, Red Lotus swept Li Banfeng into the room and closed the door tightly.

A loud cracking sound came from outside the door, and Li Banfeng worried that something might have happened to his Wife.

Once the noise subsided, Li Banfeng immediately went out of the room and found that the record player was unharmed, but the room was unusually stuffy.

"Wife?" Li Banfeng called out.

Huff~ Huff~

After emitting steam a few times, the record player responded, "Hey, my love."

Thankfully, they still recognized me.

Li Banfeng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Huff~ Huff~

"Husband, are you back from grocery shopping?"

Li Banfeng didn't know how to answer.

He saw the Singer Flower standing by the wall; if all else fails, he'll feed her to his Wife.

But she only has her spirit left; her soul has been devoured. Would her Wife still want her?

In his predicament, he suddenly heard his Wife ask, "Husband, who hurt you like this?"

This is the same question again.

Has the Wife lost her memory?

Have you forgotten what just happened?

This time, I can't just answer casually.

If I tell my Wife that I was injured by a ruthless person, she might ask who that person is, and then she might think of my Bitter Granny again and go crazy.

We must try to distract the Wife and prevent her from associating the situation with the Bitter Granny.

"They were just a few petty thieves. There were too many of them, and I was outnumbered and injured."

"What kind of petty thieves?" the Wife asked angrily. "Are they Travel Cultivator? If they are, bring them home, and I'll kill them! Hahaha, kill them!"

Li Banfeng shook his head and said, "Not Travel Cultivator."

"Not only did they bring the Travel Cultivator home, but they also injured my husband, so they deserve to die! This Little Slave will kill them all! Hahahaha!"

My Wife is still not quite right.

Li Banfeng agreed, "Yes, kill them all. Is my Wife tired? If you are, take a rest."

Huff~

The record player yawned.

"I must say, I am a little tired. Husband, you will go find those Little Slave thieves later. Let me rest for a while."

Before his Wife fell asleep, Li Banfeng took out the Old Teapot and said to Wife, "Now that I'm a fourth-level House Cultivator, the seal on this magic weapon should be able to be broken."

"Hey~ This teapot is too sophisticated. If I untie it now, it might be bad for my husband."

"My Wife is too cautious. Back then, Zhong Desong was only at level two, and he still used it all this time."

"He is Sufferance Cultivator and can withstand the torment of this teapot. Very well, Little Slave, please bring the teapot over. I'll say a few words to him first."

Li Banfeng brought the teapot closer to the record player. Although he had the skill to Discern Spiritual Sounds, the two spoke too fast for Li Banfeng to hear clearly. He only saw the record spinning continuously on the tray, and the loudspeaker was filled with the sound of gongs and drums.

The Wife was threatening the teapot; the two were probably discussing capital.

After waiting for more than five minutes, the Wife exhaled a puff of steam. "The matter has been settled. Ultimately, we still need the resources for the magic weapon."

Before, his assets were too large; every time he used them, he had to scald his master. Now, his assets have changed; he only needs his husband to take a hot bath.

Li Banfeng glanced at the teapot. "Aren't they all the same?"

"Don't worry, my husband, the bath water won't be too hot, and he won't hurt you."

Using this magic item once and getting a free bath? Is there really such a cheap deal?

Li Banfeng was very suspicious of the teapot's motives. His Wife yawned and said, "Little Slave, I'm really tired. I'm going to sleep now."

With his Wife asleep, Li Banfeng took the teapot and went to the Fifth Chamber.

Fifth Chamber is at the far end of Room 3, and it's the room furthest from the record player.

The room was empty. The Fifth Chamber had only recently been opened, and Li Banfeng hadn't bought any belongings yet. He held the teapot in his hands and asked, "Do you know Bitter Vegetable Manor?"

The teapot replied, "I know, all the Sufferance Cultivator in the world originate from the Bitter Vegetable Manor."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "Aren't all cultivators in this world made from Peddler's medicine powder?"

"Hehe, that's not necessarily true. Besides Peddler, there are many other sources of medicinal powder. Wealthy families keep a lot of medicinal powder for both literary and martial arts practitioners. They don't buy it from Peddler."

Ma Wu did say that the Lineage had medicine powder stored in their home, but it wasn't bought from the Peddler, so where did it come from?

"I know nothing about the affairs of wealthy families, but the medicinal powder Sufferance Cultivator all comes from the Bitter Vegetable Manor."

Bitter Vegetable Manor has no borders, bordering various parts of Pro State. Anyone who wants to come can come and stay for three days at the Bitter Vegetable Manor White Food Hall. If they can endure the hardship, Bitter Granny will give them medicinal powder, and from then on, they are considered to have entered the Daoist path.

"Just anyone comes along and gets the medicine powder? Don't they need to accumulate Dao Affinity?"

"Bitter Vegetable Manor is a special place. Staying here for three days will accumulate enough Dao Affinity."

"Similar to Three Heads Junction?"

"Far from it. You can't go to Three Heads Junction. What you accumulate there might not be the Dao Affinity."

Young man, you just asked about Bitter Granny; have you already arrived at the Bitter Vegetable Manor?

Li Banfeng did not deny it. "I'm in the Bitter Vegetable Manor now, and I can't get out. Bitter Granny won't let me leave, saying she wants to toughen me up."

"Since she won't let you leave, you can stay on the estate for a while. We don't even have a calendar here, so I don't know what month it is. Anyway, she only stays for a maximum of three months a year. You can leave after she leaves."

Don't argue with her, and definitely don't fight her. You're no match for her. Even a thousand of you, ten thousand of you, wouldn't be a match for her.

One thousand, ten thousand...

Isn't that an exaggeration?

What level of person is she?

Can the Local Earth God keep her in check?

"My Wife said she's not the Local Earth God of the Bitter Vegetable Manor, then who is the Local Earth God of the Bitter Vegetable Manor?"

"Bitter Vegetable Manor used to have Local Earth God, but that's gone now."

Furthermore, don't compare the Local Earth God to the Bitter Granny; they are not worthy of comparison.

Not even worthy of being called Local Earth God?

"What level of cultivation does Bitter Granny possess?"

The teapot coughed twice and said, "Young man, I am your treasure, and I am valiant in battle, but I have my own principles. I do not wish to be someone else's servant."

If you think highly of me, let's consider ourselves friends despite our age difference. You can call me "older brother," and I'll call you "younger brother."

If you look down on me, just call me an old man, and I won't fail in my duty.

I don't remember much, but I'll tell you everything I can.

I've mostly forgotten about Bitter Granny's affairs, so please don't ask about what I've forgotten.

Although Li Banfeng still doesn't trust the teapot, Li Banfeng agrees with the attitude of treating each other as equals.

"Brother, I won't ask any more questions about Bitter Granny's matter. But please tell me more about the Bitter Vegetable Manor. I'll be staying here for another two months. What should I be careful about during these two months?"

"Remember three rules. The first rule is hardship. In the Bitter Vegetable Manor, you must be able to endure hardship. Don't even think about enjoying yourself here."

Don't drink alcohol, don't smoke, don't think about eating well, and don't think about sleeping with girls.

Your room is a bit special. It's fine for you and your Wife to have some fun here, but once you leave this room, you must follow the rules within the estate.

Once you leave Bitter Vegetable Manor, plenty of fun awaits you. Don't let momentary pleasure ruin your important plans.

"What would happen if we messed up something important?"

"If I remember correctly, those who break the rules in the Bitter Vegetable Manor only have two fates: those whom Bitter Granny doesn't want to stay will be driven out of the village, and those whom Bitter Granny wants to stay will be sent to a new place."

Brother, I don't know much about what you've been doing out there, but I guess you must have been to New Territories and know how dangerous it is.

The new land in the Bitter Vegetable Manor is exceptionally dangerous. If Bitter Granny sends you there, she won't allow you to return to the Bitter Vegetable Manor. You'll likely have to stay there for the rest of your life. You should weigh the pros and cons carefully.

Let's go to New Land!

Going to New Town is great!

That way I can walk back to Blue Poplar Village.

Just as I was pondering this, the teapot suddenly spoke again, "The second rule is not to ask about origins. In the village, don't ask anyone's origins, not even their name. This is a customary rule."

What will happen if I break this rule?

"It won't cause any major problems, but you'll just be disliked. Everyone who comes to the Bitter Vegetable Manor suffers; your status outside the village has nothing to do with what happens inside."

The third rule is that no one can kill. In the Bitter Vegetable Manor, even Bitter Granny herself doesn't kill.

This rule must never be broken. The first time I went to the Bitter Vegetable Manor, two people got into a fight over grain; one died, and the other disappeared that very night.

No one knows where he went, no one knows if he's alive or dead; murder in the Bitter Vegetable Manor always ends in the same way.

No wonder Li Banfeng sensed great danger when he wanted to kill Chu Er.

This also served as a reminder to Li Banfeng: he wanted to cause trouble in the Bitter Vegetable Manor, but he absolutely could not cause any deaths.

However, this is also a good thing, because if Li Banfeng causes trouble here, Bitter Granny won't kill him.

The Old Teapot continued, "As long as these three rules aren't broken, Bitter Granny generally doesn't care about anything else."

Li Banfeng asked the teapot, "It's a rare opportunity to revisit this place. Would you like to go back and take a look?"

"Brother, I'll say it again: if you want to fight in the Bitter Vegetable Manor, I won't hesitate to take action when the time comes."

If you don't want war, it's best not to send me to the Bitter Vegetable Manor, and never let me set foot there again.

He harbored deep resentment towards the Bitter Vegetable Manor.

Li Banfeng put away the teapot and went to sleep in the main room.

The teapot is quite different from other magical artifacts.

It seems to have something more than other magical artifacts.

The next morning, Li Banfeng came out of Portable Abode, put away his key, and saw Chu Er peering around from the wall.

Li Banfeng stepped behind him and demanded, "What are you looking at?!"

Chu Er shuddered and fell heavily off the wall. "What are you doing? Trying to scare me to death?"

Li Banfeng questioned, "What are you doing, sneaking around on the wall?"

"If I hadn't looked for you, who would have known where you'd run off to this morning? Tomorrow's your day to freeload, so hurry up and come with me, or you'll be waiting for that Bitter Granny to come and beat you again."

As they walked out the door, Li Banfeng asked, "What does 'eating for free' mean?"

"It means the whole village will go to the White Food Hall tomorrow and eat for free all day."

Is there really such a good thing?

"Are we still eating cornbread?"

Chu Er gave a wry smile, "It would be nice to have cornbread. At the White Food Hall, we have to eat rice."

"Isn't rice better than cornbread?"

You'll see when you get there.

"We're leaving today because dinner's tomorrow? Isn't that too early?"

"There's only one White Food Hall in the entire Bitter Vegetable Manor. I live relatively close by; those who live far away need to set off three days in advance."

The entire Bitter Vegetable Manor went to eat at one place; how big must that restaurant be?

Li Banfeng followed Chu Er for a day and a night. In fact, White Food Hall was not far away, only about 80 li away.

But Chu Er wasn't Travel Cultivator, so he couldn't walk as fast as Li Banfeng. Besides, the road was difficult to travel, and the wind and sand were particularly strong. By the time they reached White Food Hall, it was almost dawn.

Everyone in the entire Bitter Vegetable Manor gathered in front of the White Food Hall, waiting for their meal to begin.

The so-called "White Food Hall" was not a large restaurant, but just a large earthen house that could barely fit seven or eight large tables.

Is this big enough to hold everyone in the entire Bitter Vegetable Manor?

It can actually hold a lot.

Li Banfeng roughly counted that there were only about sixty people in front of the White Food Hall.

"Aren't there quite a few who haven't arrived yet?"

Chu Er looked around and said, "They're almost all here."

"Is this all the people in the Bitter Vegetable Manor?"

"There are quite a few. There aren't many people who practice Sufferance Cultivator to begin with, and even fewer who are willing to return to the Bitter Vegetable Manor to cultivate. Anyone with a certain level of cultivation wouldn't come here for no reason."

At seven o'clock in the morning, the White Food Hall opened for breakfast. The uncle serving the food gave each person a bowl of rice, with bitter vegetables from the Bitter Vegetable Manor farm as a side dish.

Li Banfeng took a bite of white rice, chewed it a couple of times, and carefully savored the ratio of sand to rice.

Half sand, half rice?

No, it seems like there's more sand.

Li Banfeng felt like vomiting, Chu Er quickly stopped him. "You can't vomit, or you'll get beaten."

Li Banfeng swallowed his food and put the bowl on the ground. "I'm full."

Chu Er shook his head and said, "We can't leave any leftovers, or we'll get beaten up!"

The uncle serving the food was looking this way, his eyes filled with anger.

Li Banfeng put the bowl down.

Chu Er was terrified. "Don't cause trouble, the food server is coming."

"So he wants to hit me, huh?" Li Banfeng stood up. "Fine, I'll fight him!"

It's not that I can't endure the hardship, it's that I can't stand the humiliation.

Why did you mix sand into perfectly good rice?

There was a lot of grain piled up in the open space behind the White Food Hall. There weren't many people in the Bitter Vegetable Manor, and there was clearly enough grain to eat, so why was the people being wasted like this?

The cafeteria worker stormed over, but after a couple of steps, he stormed back.

Li Banfeng was all ready to start eating when he wondered why the person serving the food wasn't coming over.

Chu Er lowered his head and ate his rice, not daring to utter a sound.

It seems like there's someone else around.

Li Banfeng glanced back and saw Bitter Granny standing behind him.

Inside the White Food Hall, everyone lowered their heads and dared not move.

They knew who was coming, and they knew Li Banfeng was in trouble.

The Bitter Granny looked at Li Banfeng and said calmly, "You're not eating even when there's food to eat. I think you haven't trained enough."

Looks like I'm going to get a beating again.

Even if he gets beaten up, Li Banfeng won't take this job.

Mixing sand into perfectly good rice is just deliberately disgusting!

Seeing how stubborn Li Banfeng, Bitter Granny didn't hit him.

She took a bitter vegetable out of her pocket. "In the end, she can't endure hardship. If she won't eat rice, she'll eat a vegetable instead."

Chu Er squatted down and tugged at Li Banfeng's trouser leg.

Seventh Master, I beg you to eat it, please don't do anything reckless.

P. S.: Why do we have to force him to eat vegetables?