Gateway

The Bitter Granny picked a bitter vegetable and handed it to Li Banfeng, saying, "Eat this."

The vegetable leaves were at least clean, Li Banfeng ate them.

The Bitter Granny was satisfied and didn't force Li Banfeng to eat anymore before disappearing from sight.

The White Food Hall returned to calm.

Li Banfeng sat down next to Chu Er and asked, "After this meal, can we go back?"

Chu Er shook his head. "It's still early. We get to eat for free once every ten days, and each time it lasts for three days."

"Eating this for three days straight? You guys can really put up with that?"

"You have to endure it, even if you can't. You have to eat for free, otherwise you won't get any food next month."

"If we don't give you food, can't you grow your own? Why do you have to rely on handouts?"

Chu Er was truly terrified of Li Banfeng: "Seventh Master, don't cause trouble. I don't have your backbone. I'm really afraid of being beaten to death!"

Li Banfeng wanted to get some fresh air outside and take a nap at Portable Abode, but the cafeteria worker wouldn't allow it.

"No one is allowed to go out before noon; that's the rule."

"What if you need to relieve yourself?"

"Hold it in! Rules are rules, why are you making such a fuss!"

Chu Er stepped forward and pulled Li Banfeng back, telling him to stop arguing.

Li Banfeng looked at Chu Er in front of him.

The Chu Er in the Bitter Vegetable Manor and the Chu Er in Green Water City are completely different people.

"When did you become such a coward?"

"Isn't this for the sake of spiritual practice?"

"You're a rich young lady, why did you choose this Daoist sect? Why must you suffer like this?"

A shadow of gloom crossed Chu Er's face. He turned his head, rolled his eyes, and looked at Li Banfeng: "Why are you asking this?"

Li Banfeng pushed Chu Er's face aside. "If I'm asking you a question, just speak properly. Why are you putting on that face? It won't work on me. Save it to scare others later."

Chu Er lowered his head, lowered his voice to a whisper, and said, "I originally Calculation Cultivator literature. The year my father died, I hadn't yet entered the Daoist sect. After he passed away, my mother followed him."

In the struggle for the position of family head, the entire family fought to the death; both younger brothers died at the hands of their own brother.

What does it mean to be brothers and sisters? Even the most irreconcilable enemies are no more than this. I'm tough; I've lived to this day. There are more people in this world who wish for my death than for my life.

Aren't we born into this world to suffer? To live a lifetime of suffering, and to cultivate oneself amidst suffering—isn't that the strongest path? Don't you agree?

"What kind of logic is that?"

"That's the truth," Chu Er insisted. "You'll understand this truth when no one in this world cares about you anymore."

Li Banfeng smiled.

For most of his more than twenty years of life, no one paid him any attention.

"Others may not care, but don't you care yourself?"

Chu Er gave a bitter laugh, "What's the use of me caring about myself?"

"It's extremely useful; this is the most useful one."

The two were arguing when they suddenly saw three more people enter the White Food Hall.

Are these three people late?

"Do they still have food to eat?"

Chu Er nodded and said, "Yes, they are people who are preparing to join the sect. The White Food Hall always leaves them some food, but not much."

A man and a woman, the woman holding a child's hand.

Are they a family?

Is the whole family going to undergo Sufferance Cultivator?

The cafeteria worker gave them three bowls of rice, but each bowl was only half full and had no vegetables in it.

The man was starving, and he ate half a bowl of rice in no time.

The woman, worried that her child wasn't eating enough, set aside some of her own food and gave it to the child.

There was too much sand in the rice, and the child couldn't swallow it.

The woman gently comforted the child, "Chew slowly, eat slowly, don't waste food."

The man, growing impatient, snatched the child's bowl of rice, saying, "If you don't want to eat, then don't! You can't even endure this little bit of hardship, what kind of Sufferance Cultivator is this?"

The woman watched from the side with tears in her eyes, wanting to stop the man but not daring to.

Chu Er gritted her teeth; she couldn't stand people like that the most.

She was about to help the child get the food back when she discovered that Li Banfeng was gone.

The man picked up his chopsticks, about to eat, when Li Banfeng stepped forward and kicked him in the face.

The man fell backward, his rice bowl shattering, and clutching his face, he looked at Li Banfeng and said, "What right do you have to hit me?"

Li Banfeng coldly looked at the man and said, "If you can't take a beating, then get lost! If you can't even endure this little bit of suffering, what kind of Sufferance Cultivator are you?"

The man, with tears in his eyes, looked at the man serving food and asked, "He hit someone, and you're not doing anything about it?"

The cafeteria worker, spoon in hand, asked, "What exactly do you want?"

Li Banfeng turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "Weren't you the one who mixed sand into the rice?"

"It's me!" the uncle admitted. "It's the rule at the Bitter Vegetable Manor; we're meant to endure this hardship!"

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "Alright, I'll make you suffer even more!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Banfeng suddenly appeared in front of the uncle and punched him in the stomach.

The uncle gritted his teeth, glared, and focused his gaze on Li Banfeng.

Chu Er shouted, "Be careful! Shared Suffering!"

Sufferance Cultivator the second level of the technique, this uncle intended to share the pain equally with Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng's figure suddenly disappeared, and he launched the Step again.

The uncle's gaze fell on nothing; he couldn't find Li Banfeng anywhere.

Li Banfeng reappeared, raised his hand and punched the uncle, knocking him to the ground.

This uncle serving food is at the third level of Sufferance Cultivator, so in theory he should be able to hold his own against someone at the third level of Travel Cultivator.

However, Li Banfeng was still a fourth-floor House Cultivator. With his talent of "seeing without seeing," he made his move without leaving a trace, leaving the old man powerless to fight back.

This is the power of dual cultivation. Li Banfeng easily crushed the three levels of Sufferance Cultivator, but Li Banfeng did not intend to kill anyone. He did not forget the Old Teapot's instructions.

The old man lay on the ground wailing, "This man has broken the rules; the village cannot keep him."

Li Banfeng kicked the middle-aged man. "You think I want to stay here!"

Several Sufferance Cultivator rushed up to attack Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng stomped his foot, crushing a pebble on the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust. Taking advantage of the fact that everyone's eyes were blocked, Li Banfeng unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, knocking down all the attackers.

As more Sufferance Cultivator rushed forward, Li Banfeng pulled out Feather Duster and greeted them one by one.

The entire White Food Hall was thrown into chaos.

Chu Er was speechless, not knowing what to say.

She never imagined that Li Banfeng, who had just encountered the Bitter Granny and was almost tempered, would cause such a scene at the White Food Hall in the blink of an eye.

Which hospital did he go to? Which doctor would dare say he's not crazy?

Isn't Li Banfeng afraid of encountering high-level Sufferance Cultivator?

Besides Bitter Granny, are there any other high-level cultivators in the Bitter Vegetable Manor?

According to Li Banfeng's estimate, among the Sufferance Cultivator present, the highest level of cultivation would not exceed the fourth level.

Bitter Vegetable Manor is indeed beneficial for Sufferance Cultivator practitioners, but no one is a pushover. Once you reach the fourth level or higher, you will definitely have other cultivation methods. There's no reason to come to this place to torture yourself.

Li Banfeng was confident he could handle cultivators below the fourth level, but now he was struggling to keep up because there were too many of them.

After a fierce battle, Li Banfeng shouted, "Those who want to fight me, stay! Those who don't, get out! Don't regret it if you're too slow!"

"Run!" Chu Er grabbed the woman who had just arrived, and ran off with the child in his arms.

This is a smart move; if one person takes the lead in running, it can attract many others who want to run away.

The man who had been beaten quickly ran after them, and soon most of the people had run out.

The remaining half were still entangled in a fight with Li Banfeng when Li Banfeng suddenly jumped onto the roof beam and pulled out the teapot.

Since these people don't want to leave, we'll just have to let them take a bath here.

Li Banfeng stroked the teapot, and the teapot sighed, "I didn't want to come here, but I did anyway. In the end, we still have to fight."

I told you, this isn't a place for killing. How do you plan to fight?

"Just teach them a lesson."

The teapot seemed to understand, and poured tea up to everyone's waists.

There were walls all around, so there was no way to get out.

The water temperature was acceptable, not enough to scald them to death, but they were bound to get blisters all over their bodies.

They tried to focus their attention on Li Banfeng to distract him from their pain, but Li Banfeng jumped back and forth on the roof beams, and they couldn't find him.

They could endure the Sufferance Cultivator, but they also felt the pain. As everyone jumped around in the water, some tried to climb onto the roof beams, Li Banfeng kicked them all down one by one.

The cafeteria worker yelled hoarsely, "Just you wait until Bitter Granny comes, she'll kill you!"

Li Banfeng laughed and said, "Don't you all want to suffer? Letting you suffer more is to help you cultivate. Bitter Granny won't blame me."

This was a joke; Li Banfeng knew he was causing trouble.

But he didn't cause any deaths, and Bitter Granny wouldn't make him pay with his life for it. At most, she would send him out of the Bitter Vegetable Manor, which was exactly what Li Banfeng wanted.

We can send Li Banfeng anywhere, he just doesn't want to stay here.

But after waiting for a long time, the Bitter Granny didn't make a move.

She watched from outside the White Food Hall, without even going inside.

"This Old Teapot is still alive," Bitter Granny chuckled. "What he said makes sense; it really does help them with their spiritual practice."

The Bitter Granny has passed away.

After being scalded for more than two hours, all the Sufferance Cultivator practices subsided.

Seeing that they had stopped fighting, Li Banfeng put away the teapot and jumped down from the roof beam.

He walked up to the cafeteria worker and ordered, "Go make lunch, and don't add any more sand. If I find a single grain of sand in your food, I'll beat you up."

The uncle didn't dare say much, and with blisters all over his body, he shakily went to the kitchen.

Li Banfeng walked outside the house, looked at the family of three preparing to enter, and asked, "Why are you entering through this door?"

The man kept his head down and remained silent.

The woman bit her lip and said, "My daughter and I really can't afford to eat anymore. We heard that if we join this Daoist sect, the Bitter Vegetable Manor will provide food. At least we can survive here."

Li Banfeng looked at the man. "Was this the idea you came up with for them?"

"It wasn't me!" the man hurriedly shook his head. "I didn't know them before; we were just going the same way."

Li Banfeng misunderstood; it turned out they weren't family.

"You're not even family, yet you're stealing other people's food. And you're eating so heartily. You're really good at suffering. You can stay."

"I'm not staying. I don't want to repair this door anymore!" The man got up and tried to run away.

"Is that up to you?"

Li Banfeng kicked the man to the ground, took two silver dollars and gave them to the woman. "Once you enter this sect, all you'll ever suffer is hardship! Not only will you suffer, but your child will have no future either!"

Try to reason with the Bitter Granny and see if she's willing to let you go. You haven't entered the Daoist path yet, so she won't force you to stay.

After you leave, never come back. No matter how hard life gets, you must strive to live a life of happiness.

No matter how tough life gets, we must strive to live a life of happiness.

Chu Er looked at Li Banfeng and stared at him silently for a long time.

Li Banfeng straightened his clothes, pulled his hat brim down, and walked away into the distance.

He had to go back to his Portable Abode and take a hot bath.

Late at night, the cafeteria worker, along with a group of Sufferance Cultivator, found Chu Er.

"Was that bearded man from earlier in the day with you?"

Chu Er nodded. "Yes, what's wrong?"

"Who is he?"

Chu Er shook his head and said, "I don't know, I met them on the way."

The cafeteria worker's face twitched, and he asked in a low voice, "And who are you?"

"Those who suffer."

This is the standard answer from the Bitter Vegetable Manor. Chu Er has never revealed her identity in the Bitter Vegetable Manor, and according to the rules of the Bitter Vegetable Manor, others should not ask about her background.

The cafeteria worker didn't press the matter further; asking any further would indeed break the rules.

"I've come to see you today because I need your help with something. Could you please find that bearded man? We need to discuss something with him."

Chu Er lowered his head, rolled his eyes, and scanned the crowd. "Trying to pull off a smuggling operation? Look at your pathetic attempts."

The cafeteria worker gritted his teeth and said, "It's just this little thing, are you going to help or not?"

"I won't help! What can you do about it?" Chu Er glared at the person serving the food with a ferocious expression.

The person serving the food took a half step back; he was a little scared.

He turned to the crowd and said, "Make your move!"

Chu Er pulled a dagger from his sleeve and began fighting with the crowd.

Late at night, Chu Er was beaten half to death and hung from a wooden stake in front of the White Food Hall.

The cafeteria worker looked up at her and asked, "I'll ask you one more time, who is that bearded man?"

"I'm not telling you," Chu Er said with a smile, looking at the crowd. "Come on, kill me if you dare!"

The mad Chu Er, still the Chu Er from Green Water City, terrified everyone, making them tremble.

A female Sufferance Cultivator, frightened, whispered to the person serving food, "Won't Bitter Granny get angry if we do this?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Bitter Granny won't help with things that cause suffering. It was that bearded man who broke the rules first. Bitter Granny won't help him, and she certainly won't help me," the food vendor said confidently, picking up a red-hot iron skewer and pointing it at Chu Er.

"This is for tidying up the gate. You know where the gate is. I'll ask you one last time, who is that bearded man? He's not Sufferance Cultivator at all. Why did he come to the Bitter Vegetable Manor?"

PS: What did he mean by "portal"?