Making a Living by One's Craft

Xiao Yeci?

Having not seen her for so long, Li Banfeng could hardly remember what Xiao Yeci looked like, but Li Banfeng certainly hadn't forgotten her mouth sounds.

"My Benefactor, come with me quickly! Don't stay in this village. If the sage finds you, it will be disastrous!"

Xiao Yeci pulled Li Banfeng into the mountain valley. In a cave, Li Banfeng saw Xiao Yeci's daughter, Lu Chunying.

Besides Lu Chunying, he also saw several children, ranging in age from four or five to twelve or thirteen.

"My Benefactor, how did you come to this place?"

How come?

This is something that can't be explained.

Li Banfeng said, "Don't ask me how you and your daughter got here."

Xiao Yeci lowered her head and blushed, saying, "I'm not afraid of being laughed at by my Benefactor, but I brought my NanNan here to study."

Li Banfeng laughed, "Studying in a place like this? When we first met, I remembered you were quite knowledgeable. How could you do something so absurd?"

Before Xiao Yeci could speak, Lu Chunying interjected, "Isn't that why they say she's Mouth Cultivator? In the end, all she's good at is talking!"

Xiao Yeci said angrily, "You brat, how dare you speak so disrespectfully! My Benefactor, I came to this place to teach my NanNan some real skills. Since we parted ways at Medicine King Gully, my daughter and I have been through a lot, and there are some things that are inconvenient to mention to you..."

"If it's inconvenient, don't bring it up. Get to the point: how did you get here?"

"My daughter and I wandered around for a while to escape our enemies. We lived in constant fear during that time. In the end, it was all because our cultivation was too weak. No matter where we went, we were just pitiful creatures who could be trampled to death with a single step."

Later, I learned that there was a place that was an excellent place for cultivation, where people of all schools of Daoism could rapidly improve their cultivation.

I got this information from a friend, who was originally quite reliable..."

Lu Chunying snorted and picked up the thread, "Yes, it's quite reliable. My mother's friend is Jiang Xiang Gang. He swindled us out of two hundred yuan and lured us to this place."

Li Banfeng was taken aback. "You have dealings with Jiang Xiang Gang?"

From the very first day he arrived in Pro State, Li Banfeng had an extremely bad impression of Jiang Xiang Gang.

Xiao Yeci glared at Lu Chunying: "Don't talk nonsense! My Benefactor, I really didn't know she was from Jiang Xiang Gang at the time, otherwise I would never have fallen for her trick!"

After she lured me here and I heard so many tales of saints, I initially thought I'd come to the right place. But my NanNan learned nothing here and even got beaten a lot. Realizing things were going badly, I took NanNan and we escaped the village.

Lu Chunying looked at Xiao Yeci and said, "Mom, stop trying to make yourself look good, okay? Did you get beaten less than me? If I hadn't been quick, you might not have been able to escape."

"You brat, stop talking back to me!"

Li Banfeng looked at the other children and asked, "Did these children escape with you?"

Xiao Yeci nodded and said, "Some of them, like us, were abducted here, while others were sent here by their parents."

But they weren't locals. Local children don't run away; they're afraid to run, and they don't want to run.

Li Banfeng was confused; the composition of the people in this place was quite complicated.

"Tell me first, what's the name of this place?"

"My Benefactor, don't you know? This village is called Jingde Village."

"I'm not talking about this village, I'm talking about this place!" Li Banfeng said, finding it difficult to speak.

"Which place?" Xiao Yeci was a little confused.

"What's the name of this area, from that highest mountain called Sage Peak all the way to this village?"

Xiao Yeci shook her head and said, "These are not the same place. Jingde Village is Jingde Village, and Sage Peak is Sage Peak."

She answered very seriously, but this was not the result Li Banfeng wanted.

"Isn't Sage Peak related to Jingde Village?"

"There is a connection. The sage of Sage Peak sent dozens of disciples to lecture in dozens of surrounding villages. These villages are grateful for the sage's kindness day and night."

But we're not from these villages, and after staying there for a while, we started to feel something was off.

Li Banfeng asked, "What can one learn from these Sage Disciples?"

Xiao Yeci shook her head and said, "You won't learn anything useful. At first, they teach you to recognize characters, NanNan already knows how to read, so she doesn't need to learn that."

Later, they taught me some Sage Precepts, but after listening to them, they were all just empty and meaningless stuff.

NanNan didn't understand some parts and asked them a few questions. They raised their hands and hit her, saying that NanNan wasn't sincere and would never become Sage Disciple.

After studying for several months without being taught anything substantial, Li Banfeng asked, "To what extent must one learn to become Sage Disciple?"

"That's hard to say. Nine out of ten ordinary people will never become Sage Disciple in their lifetime. They say that becoming Sage Disciple depends on fate, sincerity, and perseverance. Waiting for ten or eight years is not a problem."

"You realized they were frauds, so you took these kids and ran away?"

Xiao Yeci lowered her head and said, "I wouldn't dare say they are liars, but I don't think they are good people. These kids all wanted to escape, and they had the guts to do so, so I brought them along."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "This place isn't far from the village, so why didn't anyone from the village come looking for you?"

Xiao Yeci shook her head and said, "We weren't originally from the village, and they didn't want to bother with us. We couldn't find anything to eat these past two days, so I thought I'd go to the village to get some, and that's when I met you, my Benefactor."

"Want some?"

Xiao Yeci blushed and said, "I... I stole it. The children need to eat, and I... I really couldn't think of any other way."

Lu Chunying snorted and said, "I'm fast on my feet, so I might as well go. If we wait for you to make food, we'll all starve to death."

Looking at the group of emaciated children, Li Banfeng asked, "How long have you been out of here?"

"It's been a month."

"It's been a month, and you're still stuck here. Haven't you thought about leaving?"

"My Benefactor, I can't get out! I remember the way I came, but I can't find my way back!"

For over a month, we've tried many routes, but none of them lead us out. We're just winding our way through these mountains! We're afraid we'll never get out!

"We can go out." Li Banfeng went into the mountains and forests, hunted a deer, and gave it to Xiao Yeci so that she could feed the children a full meal first.

After everyone had fallen asleep, Li Banfeng returned to his Portable Abode and asked the record player, "Wife, what kind of place is Sage Peak?"

Sizzle~

After thinking for a long time, the Wife said, "I've never heard of this place."

Hong Ying sneered, "You're ignorant. I know about Sage Peak."

The Wife exhaled a puff of steam and said, "Tell me about it?"

Why should I tell you? Only if you let me out!

Clang~

The Wife, beating a gong and drum, sang. "You shameless hussy, trying to play these tricks on me! Aren't you ashamed?"

Hong Ying remained silent.

The record player snorted and said, "Husband, don't believe him. She doesn't even know about Sage Peak."

Li Banfeng said helplessly, "I've been stuck here for a whole day and I still can't get out."

The Wife said, "My dear husband, Sage Peak probably isn't its real name. You should find out the origin of this place."

"My lord has gotten lost here. Either the place is unusual, or he has fallen victim to a villain's scheme. Only by finding out the reason can we deal with it."

The methods of a villain.

Li Banfeng had really overlooked this matter.

He always thought that the special nature of the area prevented him from leaving.

Looking back now, it's possible that the saint didn't want him to leave.

What was his purpose in keeping me here?

Li Banfeng slept at Portable Abode Shen Ju for one night. The next morning, he searched for a way around, but he was still going in circles until late at night.

This is even more frustrating than getting lost in Fool's City; this place is even more repulsive than Fool's City.

During this day, Li Banfeng saw groups of children being tortured by so-called Sage Disciple, and he saw groups of poor farmers bringing their most precious harvests to Sage Peak.

Back in the cave, Li Banfeng saw Xiao Yeci sitting by the fire with a bruised and swollen face.

Lu Chunying complained from the side, "I told you to go, but you just wouldn't listen to me?"

Xiao Yeci shook her head and said, "I can't let you do this. You're too young. I can't let you get your hands on these unclean things."

Li Banfeng asked, "What happened? Has someone come looking for you?"

Xiao Yeci shook her head and said, "The deer that my Benefactor hunted yesterday is almost gone. I went to the village to look for food last night, but someone saw me and beat me up..."

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "You got caught stealing? Aren't you ashamed? You call yourself a scholar!"

Xiao Yeci's voice trembled slightly. "What other way is there?"

"Why can't we do it?" Li Banfeng took out a short knife and handed it to Xiao Yeci. "Get a good night's sleep. Come with me to rob a place tomorrow."

Holding the knife, Xiao Yeci looked blankly at Li Banfeng: "My Benefactor, isn't robbing someone shameful?"

"What's shameful about robbing? We earn our living with our skills, and we make money honestly."

"What kind of skill is involved in making this?"

"There are plenty of other skills out there!" Li Banfeng asked very seriously, "Can you recite folk songs?"

The next day at dawn, several farmers pushed carts to deliver grain to Sage Peak.

Xiao Yeci lay trembling in the weeds.

Lu Chunying said from the side, "Mom, if you can't do it, let me do it."

"Who says I can't do it? You're too young, you can't do this."

Li Banfeng chimed in from the side, "Stop rambling, have you memorized all the lines?"

Xiao Yeci nodded and said, "I've got it!"

"Then hurry up and get on it!"

Xiao Yeci jumped out from the weeds, stopped several farmers delivering grain, and shouted:

Oh dear!

This mountain is mine, these trees are mine, if you want to pass, leave some money behind.

Who dares to utter a single word of dissent? One stab, one kill; we'll kill them, we won't bury them!

Li Banfeng and Lu Chunying shook their heads at the same time.

They were doing quite well before!

This is really demoralizing!

Several farmers shouted angrily, "Where did this wild woman come from? This is grain delivered to the sage, how dare you steal it?"

Li Banfeng emerged from the weeds and said to the group of farmers, "I am the father of a saint. This is what he should give me. It's not robbery, it's filial piety. Consider this gift as your way of fulfilling your filial duty to him."

What a madman!

"How dare you say such things in the land of saints? You must have a death wish!"

Lu Chunying jumped out of the weeds, brandishing a knife, and pointed it at a farmer, saying, "Are you going to give it to me or not?"

This girl is promising.

A group of children were throwing sand and shaking leaves in the weeds, making a show of it.

These kids are promising too!

While the farmers hesitated, Li Banfeng, holding a short knife, walked around the crowd, leaving a cut on each person's face.

The farmers were terrified and ran away as fast as they could.

Li Banfeng had Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying take a group of children and push the grain back, while he continued to rob the grain by the roadside.

If they don't let me leave, I really won't leave.

From now on, I will accept all the gifts the villagers give you.

I want to see what kind of saint you really are!

PS: Is this saint about to make a move?