Withering

Is the Demon Land the same as Pro State?

This conclusion was somewhat incomprehensible to Li Banfeng.

Is there something wrong with me, or is there something wrong with the Peddler?

Things can be thought about slowly, but the immediate problem must be solved as soon as possible.

He Caiyuan is still alive, although his body has been twisted into a pretzel shape, some of his joints are twitching.

He wasn't dead, so this was easy to handle. Li Banfeng picked him up and took him directly to Portable Abode.

But the giant clam was also alive, though it showed no signs of life, it was indeed alive.

This clam is so big, it can't fit in the entire room of the Portable Abode, let alone the door. How are we going to get it in?

We can't not send them in; these are purebred Inner State people. Even if they don't eat them, we can't let them attract unwanted attention.

Try squeezing it in.

Li Banfeng first opened the Portable Abode), then grabbed the clam by the head and dragged it inside.

The clam head alone filled the door frame, and Li Banfeng was about to force it in when he suddenly heard Portable Abode shout, "Wait!"

Li Banfeng asked, "What happened? Did you break the door?"

Portable Abode Shenju chuckled dismissively, "Such fine ingredients shouldn't be wasted like this. You should step aside."

Ingredients?

When has the old man ever cared about this?

The glove chuckled and said, "When he finds something good, our old man gets all excited!"

The door frame of Portable Abode changed from straight to curved, and the entire door began to twist.

Ge Jun's body also began to twist, first being flattened, then stretched, and finally turning into a ball before entering the room.

This little bundle of flesh took up most of the space in the main room, and Li Banfeng's bed was moved to the second room by Portable Abode.

Even though it had been compressed into a ball, Li Banfeng still felt that the clam's body had become much smaller.

"Isn't the size of this clam a bit off?" Li Banfeng asked in a low voice.

Gloves laughed and said, "If it's been through our old man's hands, how could it be right? Why don't we go to the third house and take a look?"

Li Banfeng entered the third room and saw that all the oil drums on the floor were filled.

"Grandpa, where did this oil come from?"

Portable Abode chuckled, "Clam oil can be burned too!"

It can even be used as fuel! Inner State residents have so many uses for it!

The record player called out from the main room, "Sisters, our man has brought back some delicious food! These clams are something else; you won't regret eating them even once in your life!"

Tang Blade rushed forward. "Madam, don't just think about your sisters, you can't forget your brothers!"

The sickle followed closely behind. "I am the First Blade, I will stand in front, you stand in the back."

Dream Virtue emerged from the calendar poster and waited quietly next to the meatballs.

Earring was still recovering from a serious injury and her steps were not very agile. The pendulum helped her to the meatball.

The teapot cried out, "Who will help this old man? I was injured in the fierce battle just now."

The Wine Gourd sneered, "If you're injured, then stop eating and go find a place to rest."

Li Banfeng asked the gloves, "Aren't you in a hurry?"

Gloves chuckled, "What's the rush? The First Madam hasn't finished eating, who dares to touch their chopsticks? I'll start eating after she's done, I guarantee I'll be faster than them."

"Hmph!" Judge's Brush woke up at some point, and without caring whether the record player allowed it or not, it plunged headfirst into the meatballs.

The Music Box waited patiently by the side, while the little bronze figure on the turntable looked at the meatballs with anticipation.

After taking a bite of the clam's soul, the record player, disregarding its matriarchal dignity, exclaimed, "This clam is so delicious!"

Hong Ying frowned and said, "Hurry up and eat! You're so fussy, insisting on eating it alive!"

Red Lotus watched Li Banfeng from the Ninth Room, gently unfolding her lotus leaves.

It's impossible to eat now; we can only hope that these hungry ghosts will leave a little bit.

After the Wife finished eating the spirit, everyone started eating together. Seeing the peaceful atmosphere of the family, Li Banfeng left Portable Abode Ju with a smile.

He was exhausted. His Portable Abode was too noisy, and he wanted to go back to his study to take a nap.

When Li Banfeng reached the entrance of the park, he saw the couple still lying in the snowdrift.

Sleeping so soundly?

That won't do. If they don't have any cultivation, they'll freeze to death here.

Li Banfeng wanted to wake them up, but suddenly heard two people talking quietly.

Why am I in your arms?

"I have no idea."

"Let me go, let me leave."

"I won't let go."

The woman said, "If you don't let go of me, I won't let go of you either."

The man said, "I will never let you go, even if you let me go."

Li Banfeng said, "I'll count to three, and you two let go at the same time!"

The two closed their eyes, embraced tightly, and pretended to be asleep.

You might say they're annoying, but sometimes they're quite likable.

Li Banfeng hailed a horse-drawn carriage, gave the Carriage Driver some money, and asked Carriage Driver to take them to the inn.

Back at Yan Sha Study, Li Banfeng lay on the bed, his whole body numb and limp.

Too tired?

It wasn't just fatigue; it felt like there was a surge of energy coursing through my body.

Is a promotion on the way?

Possibly!

After tonight's fierce battle, amidst the danger, Travel Cultivator's cultivation has improved considerably; he should have reached the eighth level by now.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier; Li Banfeng was about to drift off to sleep.

Did you forget something?

Never mind, too many things happened tonight, I'll think about it tomorrow.

The next morning, Li Banfeng ran to Willow Garden as fast as he could.

He realized he had forgotten something: he had forgotten the projector.

Because of the unique combat method, the projector must be placed in a designated location in advance to be effective, which sometimes makes Li Banfeng forget to take it back.

The projector was still in the tree, with firelight flickering behind the lens.

"Seventh Director, you're back!"

Li Banfeng, holding the projector, said, "I'm back."

"Is the battle over?"

"It's over."

"Did we win?"

"Brother, we won!"

"That's good." The projector's voice was weak, weary, but also filled with the pride of a victor.

Last night, the projector saw the giant clam's corpse and also saw the Peddler easily defeat He Caiyuan.

But as long as Li Banfeng didn't give the order, the projector wouldn't slacken in the slightest. He remained steadfastly in the tree, meticulously carrying out his cover mission.

Li Banfeng, carrying the projector, nervously opened the Portable Abode and found it to be very clean.

He tentatively asked, "Wife, have you finished eating?"

"Listen--...""

The Wife glanced at the firelight behind the camera and sang slowly, "Projector brother, why are you only coming back now? It must be cold outside, right?"

The projector replied, "Thank you for your concern, Madam. Am I late?"

"Is it too late?" The record player's voice carried a hint of guilt. "My dear husband, I'll take care of the matter of the soul. As for the rest, ask Yingying."

Li Banfeng looked at Hong Ying: "That was such a big clam, you ate it all?"

Sensing that Li Banfeng was angry, Hong Ying nervously replied, "I don't know. I didn't see how old he was at the time. Go ask Red Lotus; she's the one who took care of things."

Red Lotus has already taken everything, so what's there to ask?

"Where is the old man's body?"

"And an old man?" Hong Ying recalled what happened last night. "I remember now, everyone got tired of eating clams, so we changed our tastes, and then—that was it."

"Where is that poison cultivator?"

"That stuff was spicy and crispy, we used it as an appetizer, but it's all gone now."

The room was quiet for a while Portable Abode spoke up, "A'Tao, you always like to hide things. Don't think I don't know. Quickly take them out for A'Ji. A'Ji did a great job last night!"

The man in the gloves said, "Grandpa, I did hide a piece of meat, Tang Blade, being greedy, stole it and ate it!"

Tang Blade let out a loud burp and leaned against the wall without saying a word.

"A'Ji, try to think more positively—" Portable Abode sighed softly and fell silent.

Li Banfeng looked down at the projector, his voice trembling as he said, "Brother, I'm so sorry—"

"Art has withered." The fire behind the lens has gone out.

At Yellow Earth Bridge, Peddler pushes his cart through the street, calling out, "Imported Soap, Snow Cream, Snow Cream— "

The Peddler's calls were very weak.

There's no one on the street, who am I supposed to shout for?

The Peddler pushed his cart for two blocks, but didn't see a single beggar.

After passing through an alley, just as the Peddler was about to leave, a Carriage Driver approached and said, "Sir, would you like a ride?"

The Peddler chuckled, "Does it look like you're using a cart?"

"Sir, don't worry, I'm just going out today to familiarize myself with the roads. I won't charge you; I'll give you a free ride!"

The Peddler frowned and said, "You're giving me a ride for free, but I can't just sit on it. What am I going to do with my cart?"

"I'll help you pull this truck; please get on."

The Peddler stuck the Pellet Drum onto his cart, looked at the Carriage Driver, and frowned slightly, saying, "Stop joking around. If you have something to say, hurry up and say it, or I'm leaving!"

The Carriage Driver put down his cart. "Peddler, please help me out. This place is about to collapse. If this continues, it will turn into Old Land."

The Peddler chuckled, "No wonder you're being so polite today, you must have run into some trouble."

"It's good that it's turned into Old Land. It saves me the trouble of coming all this way. I can't sell anything here, and I'm just wasting my time."

The Carriage Driver said, "Peddler, you and my master are old friends, you can't just stand by and watch someone die!"

The Peddler frowned and said, "You still have the nerve to mention your master? Your master entrusted you with this perfectly good land, and look what you've ruined!"

"This isn't my fault! I haven't been in charge of Yellow Earth Bridge all these years; it's all been that Mourning Star bastard's fault!"

"Not your fault?" the Peddler laughed. "Instead of staying put in your place, you insisted on going out to pull your cart, letting this Mourning Star. Whose fault is that?"

The Carriage Driver lowered his head and said, "I was careless at the time. Didn't I take the land back?"

"Don't try to glorify yourself," the Peddler sneered. "The Mourning Star was killed by Yao Xin; you just picked up this place by chance. Do you think I don't know that?"

The Carriage Driver nodded repeatedly, saying, "We did find it, but it's back now. You can't just watch this Proper Land turn into Old Land, can you?"

The Peddler sighed and said, "You have no one here, what good ideas can I come up with? You should go find someone who can attract customers to help you out."

The Carriage Driver said, "I've actually found someone. I heard there's a guy named Li Qi in Green Water City. He's quite capable; he drove all the way out of Qiu Luoye's Territory by himself. You two are on good terms. Could you let him know?"

"Inform me? How should I inform you? I'm telling you, Li Qi, give me some face and say something like that for the rickshaw puller, okay?"

"Alright!" the Carriage Driver nodded. "In the entire Pro State, who has more influence than you!"

The Peddler laughed and said, "Even if I really had that kind of influence, why would I risk my reputation for you?"

The Carriage Driver lowered his head and said, "Then please give me directions. What should I do about this?"

"Go find Li Qi yourself."

I'm afraid he'll ignore me.

"Why should anyone listen to you if you just talk the talk? It's a matter of profit or loss, and we're even. If you hire someone to do something, you have to pay them."

The Carriage Driver nodded and said, "As long as you can act as a go-between, Li Qi can choose whatever he wants from my stall."

The Peddler looked around and said, "Give your rickshaw to Li Qi."

"No, this won't do!" the Carriage Driver exclaimed anxiously. "This was left to me by my master; I can't give it to anyone else!"

The Peddler said helplessly, "Then tell me yourself, what valuable things do you have in this wretched place?"

Early in the morning, Li Banfeng woke up and went to his study to read.

The family has been sleeping in lately because they ate too much, and they haven't made a sound.

Behind the projector lens, a cluster of lights appeared.

He hovered in mid-air and silently entered the Fifth Chamber.

There are nine rooms, Fifth Chamber are in the center, not adjacent to each other; this is the quietest part.

The room was sparsely furnished, containing only a leather sofa, a mahogany table, and a vase.

The projector was placed on the table, and the image of the vase appeared in the lens.

"Hehehehe~" the projector laughed.

A low, hoarse laugh startled Gloves, who followed the sound to the Fifth Chamber.

Once inside the room, the glove saw a projector on the table, its lens glowing and scanning back and forth across the sofa.

"Brother, what are you doing here?"

The projector said in a melancholy voice, "I am here, contemplating the philosophy of art."

Gloves sighed, "Don't overthink it. What happened before is in the past. If you follow our boss, you'll have plenty of good food and drink. Why are you worried about this meal?"

"Brother Tao is right. You should go and rest. I just hope that through this experience, I can gain a deeper understanding of the true meaning of art."

Gloves left the Fifth Chamber and walked to the fourth door. He looked back once.

It seems something was missing from the Fifth Chamber.

Where did the vase go?

P. S.: What's wrong with the projector?