CHAPTER 481: 337

Grieving Cultivator? I have never heard of this Taoist Sect.

Li Banfeng wanted to take a closer look at the man’s appearance, but Qiu Zhiheng immediately covered the window board. "Brother, the less you look, the less misfortune you’ll encounter."

"What kind of nefarious sect is this? I’ve never even heard of it."

"It’s normal for you not to have heard of it. I’ve lived in Puluo State for over forty years, and including this time, I’ve seen Grieving Cultivators only three times. The cultivators of this sect don’t normally roam around; they have their own fixed abodes. Only when they can find no way to live or to advance their cultivation in their original places do Grieving Cultivators change locations."

Li Banfeng didn’t quite understand. "What do you mean by ’no way to live’?"

"It means the people in his original dwelling can no longer tolerate him and will fight him to the death. That’s when he has no way to live."

"And what does ’no way out for cultivation’ mean?"

"It means he has driven all his neighbors insane, forced them away, or even hounded them to death. Then it’s time for him to change locations and continue to bring calamity to others."

While they were talking, Cao Ye was crying uncontrollably nearby. The Sister-in-Law comforted her, "Don’t cry, don’t cry. That old coot is tolling his own funeral bell; you don’t need to pay him any mind!"

The Sister-in-Law knew perfectly well this comfort wasn’t much use.

Qiu Zhiheng said to Li Banfeng, "This girl has been struck by the Grieving Cultivator’s Grieving Bell Tolling technique. Every word that old man uttered is like a knife stabbing into the most painful part of her heart, capable of making people lose their will. It might take months for her to recover."

After crying for a while, Cao Ye looked at Li Banfeng and stammered, "You... you are... Brother Bai Sha?"

She had thought he looked familiar for some time, but since they had been apart for over a year, Cao Ye hadn’t dared to confirm it.

The Sister-in-Law was startled. "You two know each other?"

Li Banfeng nodded slightly, smiling.

Li Banfeng had thought seeing an acquaintance would make Cao Ye feel a bit better. To his surprise, after looking at him for a moment, she began to cry even harder.

"I’m just a useless person, a complete waste. Brother Bai Sha, you shouldn’t have saved me back then. It would have been a relief if you’d just let me die."

Before Li Banfeng could speak, the old Grieving Cultivator, who had somehow maneuvered himself from the doorway to just outside the courtyard wall, overheard Cao Ye’s words and interjected pointedly:

"You say dying would be a relief? I think that’s quite sensible. What’s the point of living, anyway? It’s about accomplishing something significant. And what can someone like you accomplish? Transporting medicinal herbs from Sanpu Village to Li Gou and then driving the empty cart back? Does that even require a person? If you trained those two donkeys of yours properly, they’d do a better job than you! What’s the point of you being alive?"

The Sister-in-Law could no longer contain her anger and shouted, "You shameless old dog! Stop spouting your vile nonsense!"

Qiu Zhiheng pulled the Sister-in-Law back, signaling her not to act rashly. But she had already cursed, and it was too late; the damage was done.

TSK! TSK! TSK! A series of loud lip-smacking sounds came from outside the gate.

These three smacks were the precursor to the Grieving Cultivator using his techniques.

The old man began, "Listen, everyone, listen! Let all the neighbors and passersby hear this! This Medicine Shop dares to insult people while conducting business! Did you hear how vile her words were just now?"

The Sister-in-Law retorted, "And why don’t you mention how disgusting your own words are?"

"What did I say? What did I say?" From his tone to his demeanor, the old man feigned utter innocence. "I said nothing at all! I merely agreed that the young lady made a fair point, and this woman started yelling at me! You all heard it. I came to the Medicine Shop to buy medicine, and they shut the door in my face. Before I could even utter a word, this woman from their family started cursing!"

Now what? Continue to argue with him? Of course not. For one thing, ordinary people can’t out-argue them.

Qiu Zhiheng understood Grieving Cultivators. "This is one of their techniques called ’The Disgrace of Grieving.’ To master this technique, all Grieving Cultivators undergo special tempering. No matter how you argue, a Grieving Cultivator can always make his case, and the longer the dispute, the more he gains the upper hand."

If the Swearing Woman were here, I wonder if she could out-shout this old coot, Li Banfeng thought.

Monkey Qiu continued, "Moreover, there’s no advantage in quarreling with a Grieving Cultivator, whether you win or lose. He’s just passing by, making a scene in front of our door. This ruins our reputation and business, at no loss to him. The longer you argue with him, the greater our loss. This isn’t just about reputation, but also our feng shui. Under the scrutiny of onlookers, even the feng shui of our Medicine Shop is damaged by him."

The Sister-in-Law sighed. "Zhiheng, this is all your fault. If we had just listened to Shopkeeper Feng, we could have avoided this disaster."

With tears in her eyes, Cao Ye said, "Big Brother Qiu, Sister-in-Law, that old man is targeting me. I’ll just leave. I absolutely can’t drag you both down with me."

"Silly girl, where could you go? Being targeted by a Grieving Cultivator means your life is at risk." The Sister-in-Law took Cao Ye into the house.

The old Grieving Cultivator continued to rant and rave outside the courtyard wall.

Truth be told, Li Banfeng still didn’t understand precisely what was so fearsome about this Grieving Cultivator.

Qiu Zhiheng was usually a serious person; otherwise, Li Banfeng would have thought he was joking.

If you don’t understand, just ask, Li Banfeng thought, then asked, "Big Brother Qiu, is this Grieving Cultivator actually strong in combat?"

Why keep such a shameless old creep around?

Li Banfeng was about to step outside when Qiu Zhiheng moved to block him. "Brother, you can’t!"

If that would have actually worked, Qiu Zhiheng would have done it long ago.

Li Banfeng said, "Is it because they’re backed by a Gang? Are you worried about retaliation? Don’t worry, I’ll handle it cleanly."

Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. "If it were Gang-related, I really wouldn’t fear him. After all, I’ve stumbled through the underworld for many years myself."

The Sister-in-Law said, "Brother Li Qi, you don’t understand. There’s an old saying: ’Better to drink a bowl of soup from a Gold Cultivation than to leave even a slight wound on a Grieving Cultivator.’"

Gold Cultivation soup? Li Banfeng was taken aback for a moment. "Sister-in-Law, when you say ’a bowl of soup from a Gold Cultivation,’ you can’t mean that..."

"Yes, yes, the stuff in that bucket! Drink one bowl of that, and at most, you’ll feel ill for two days."

Li Banfeng waved his hand. "Two days isn’t enough. That stuff would make you ill for many more days."

The Sister-in-Law said, "But if we injure a Grieving Cultivator, we’ll suffer for a lifetime. They will haunt us relentlessly."

"Then just kill him."

"If you kill him, his Soul will still haunt us."

"Then let’s capture his Soul as well."

"If we capture his Soul, other Grieving Cultivators will sense it and continue to haunt us."

"Then kill them all! Kill them until this Taoist Sect is wiped out!" Li Banfeng’s irritation grew with the cursing coming from outside.

Qiu Zhiheng shook his head. "Grieving Cultivators bring misfortune. If we were to fight with them for a lifetime, how could we live our lives? Let me think of a solution."

Li Banfeng looked past the wall, grinding his teeth slightly. "If only I had my Root here," he muttered, "I’d feed that old scoundrel a few spoonfuls. Then we’d see how long he could run wild."

...

Ma Wu got off the train at Pants Belt Pit and was greeted by two women in their twenties, dressed flamboyantly.

"Sir, have you found a place to stay yet? Our hotel is the most affordable."

"A single room is one hundred and fifty, or just fifty for a bunk in a shared room."

"Honestly, you have no discernment! Can’t you tell by the gentleman’s attire he’s not the type to stay in a shared room? Our hotel has suites for three hundred a night, and we sisters will warm your bed together."

Ma Wu politely refused the two young women. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to conduct his actual business. There had been instances where people loitered around the Pants Belt Pit train station for a month and never managed to leave.

Outside the station, Ma Wu hailed a rickshaw. The Coachman asked, "Guest Master, would you like to find a place to rest before... partaking again, or would you prefer to partake once before resting?"

Ma Wu smiled. "Is there a place where I can... partake while resting?"

The Coachman nodded. "Yes, plenty of those."

Ma Wu was fond of this very ambiance in Pants Belt Pit; he felt he could visit a hundred times and it still wouldn’t be enough.

"Take me to a movie theater first."

The Coachman was surprised; it wasn’t common for guests to want to watch a movie right after getting off the train.

"Which movie theater would you like to go to?"

"You recommend one."

"Do you want to watch lying down or sitting up?"

This was a unique custom in Pants Belt Pit. Watching a movie "lying down" meant reclining on a large bed in a private booth, with someone to accompany you.

Since Ma Wu was here on business, he naturally couldn’t watch "lying down." He had the Coachman take him on a tour around the town first, and then chose a theater where he could watch while "sitting up."

Soon, Ma Wu arrived at the theater, bought a ticket for *Blood Blade Detective*, and settled into his seat.

Then, a young woman came and sat on Ma Wu’s lap. This was what "sitting up" to watch a movie entailed here.

In Pants Belt Pit, *Blood Blade Detective* had mediocre attendance. There were fewer than ten people in the theater, which made it convenient for the young woman to make her move.

On the other hand, *Blood Gun Detective* was selling extremely well. Tickets for the afternoon and evening shows were sold out, and anyone wanting to buy them now had to wait for the midnight screening.

Halfway through the movie, Ma Wu occasionally glanced into the young woman’s eyes but didn’t see any Emotional Root.

This was somewhat different from the situation at Black Stone Slope. There, once inside the movie theater, an Emotional Root would invariably appear in a person’s eyes. However, if one left the theater, this Emotional Root would slowly vanish within three to five hours.

In other words, the movie *Blood Blade Detective* was only making a quick buck from one wave of viewers. Influenced by the Emotional Root, they would watch one show after another, non-stop, while in the theater.

However, once they left the theater, they would find the movie lackluster—much like Ah Qin and Huoling, who had no desire to return to the theater the next day.

But what was the purpose of this? Was it just to earn money from a couple more tickets?

When carefully calculated, it actually amounted to a significant sum. At Black Stone Slope, according to the information Ma Wu had gathered, *Blood Blade Detective* had sold three times as many tickets as the previous film in its series.

According to his deductions, *Blood Blade Divine Detective VI* must have been their first attempt at adding an Emotional Root to a film.

Who were ’they’? How great a risk were they taking? If it was discovered they were tampering with the movies, could they even continue their business? Was there a way to counteract this?

As Ma Wu pondered, the young woman on his lap wiped her lips and suddenly stood up to leave.

Her departure was just as well; Ma Wu was starting to get tired of her antics and decided to focus on watching the movie.

After a moment, another woman sat on Ma Wu’s lap, smiling. "Wulang, you came to my territory for some fun and didn’t even bother to inform me?"

Ma Wu smiled. "Actually, I took a tour around town specifically to notify you."

He handed a blood-stained handkerchief to Feng Daiku, who was now before him, and said in a low voice, "Take a look at this. Do you recognize it?"

Feng Daiku smiled, still assuming the bloodstain was from some amorous encounter. "Which unfortunate girl did you defile this time?"

But upon sniffing the handkerchief, Feng Daiku’s smile vanished instantly.

"Wulang, this is a False Emotional Root! Where did you get such a thing?"