CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 44 BORROW IT TO ME

Li Banfeng was chained hand and foot and locked up in the Seedling Room.

The so-called Seedling Room was essentially a hostage room; this mother and her two sons made their living by poisoning people.

Just today, before Li Banfeng fell victim, a mother and daughter had also fallen into their hands.

The mother, Xiao Yeci, was in her late twenties. She wore a long gown with a mandarin collar, and her face, though covered in mud and scratches, could not hide the distinctiveness and beauty of her features. Her eyes and brows, in particular, exuded an intelligence and dignity unique to scholars.

Her daughter, Lu Chunying, looked to be about twelve or thirteen years old. She dressed similarly to her mother but lacked that scholarly air.

Seeing Li Banfeng thrown into the Seedling Room, the daughter, Lu Chunying, grew curious and poked him.

Xiao Yeci quickly pulled her daughter back, repeatedly whispering in her ear, "Nannan, don’t touch anything, okay? Listen to Mama. Don’t touch anything at all, okay?"

The Seedling Room wasn’t large, only about seven or eight square meters, with a pile of firewood in the center. Li Banfeng had been thrown to the left of the pile, while Xiao Yeci held her daughter and huddled on the right, trying to keep as much distance from him as possible.

Nearly an hour passed. The night grew deeper. Her daughter fell asleep in Xiao Yeci’s arms, while Xiao Yeci’s own eyelids grew heavy, and she occasionally dozed off.

Li Banfeng, however, had managed to conserve some strength. While the mother and daughter slept, he bit down on the key and slowly began to rotate it.

CLICK. CLICK.

The key met with resistance, indicating it had begun to interface with the Portable Residence.

However, the range of motion in Li Banfeng’s neck was limited, making the task of rotating the key three times far from easy.

His arms immobilized by chains, Li Banfeng could only use his teeth and tongue to manipulate the key, slowly turning it.

His teeth clinked against the key’s handle, making a faint noise.

The young girl, Lu Chunying, opened her eyes and glanced surreptitiously at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng quickly pulled the key back into his mouth and glared fiercely at Lu Chunying.

Lu Chunying, startled, quickly looked away.

This girl is so nosy! What the hell is she looking at?

Her glance had undone all his previous efforts.

The poison still coursed through his body, leaving Li Banfeng with little strength. Just as he was about to spit out the key, the young girl turned her head to peek again.

Still looking!

Li Banfeng’s gaze grew even more vicious, as if he were about to devour her at any moment.

Lu Chunying quickly turned her head, waited a moment, then, unable to resist, took another look.

The man had disappeared!

He was just here. How could he suddenly be gone?

"Mom, that man, he..."

"Don’t fidget, Nannan, and don’t talk nonsense," mumbled Xiao Yeci, half-asleep. "Listen to Mama. We’ll definitely be safe, okay?"

Li Banfeng had returned to his Portable Residence. Before entering, he had spat the key into the woodpile.

After lying down in the Portable Residence for a moment, Li Banfeng began to vomit profusely, expelling his dinner along with bitter bile.

After vomiting, Li Banfeng’s body convulsed, and he broke into a profuse sweat.

The sweat carried a bitter stench, and smelling it made Li Banfeng want to vomit again.

This sweat, like the vomit, was toxin being expelled from his body.

He was rapidly detoxifying—a trait of Home Cultivation. But this time, unlike the poisoning on Kuwu Mountain, he was expelling toxins not just through vomiting but also through sweating.

Why is the detoxification process different?

Is it because the poison is different, or have my detoxification techniques improved?

Li Banfeng wanted to wipe the sweat from his face, but his hands and feet were bound by chains, and he couldn’t move.

Beads of sweat trickled into his eyes, causing an intense, stinging pain in the corners.

No, I have to break these chains quickly! I have to wipe off this sweat to avoid being poisoned again.

But how can I break these chains?

Li Banfeng had regained some strength, but trying to break free from iron chains thicker than rope by brute force was simply wishful thinking.

Are there any tools in the Portable Residence?

Yes, pliers and wrenches for repairing the Phonograph.

The tools were in the bottom cabinet of the Phonograph. Li Banfeng crawled over. His arms and wrists were immobile, but his palms could move. He laboriously retrieved the toolbox. After struggling with the pliers for a long while, the chains showed no sign of yielding.

The Phonograph’s repair tools were too delicate, unsuitable for such rough work.

The more he sweated, the harder it became for Li Banfeng to open his eyes. The pain intensified, and his eyes began to swell.

Am I going to go blind?

During the alchemy, Chu Yunlong’s clothes had been reduced to tatters on the floor, which Li Banfeng hadn’t bothered to clear away. He now wanted to use the scraps to wipe his eyes, but after searching the floor for some time, he couldn’t find a single piece.

He crawled to the bed and used the bedsheet to wipe his eyes. It didn’t help; instead, more sweat was smeared onto his eyelids, making the burning pain even worse.

Water! I need water!

I have to wash my eyes quickly!

Li Banfeng had a water bucket, usually kept by the bed and filled whenever he had the chance.

The water in the bucket was clean, usually for drinking. If he didn’t finish it one day, he would use it for washing the next.

Where’s the bucket?

Li Banfeng found the water bucket beside the bed and plunged his head into it. But even as his forehead hit the bottom, he felt no water.

The bucket is empty?

Impossible! The bucket was full when I left!

Evaporated?

How could it have happened so fast?

Li Banfeng grew anxious, and the more anxious he became, the more he sweated.

Is there still a way?

Is there?

Yes!

As long as I can break free from these iron chains, there’s a way.

Li Banfeng thought of something.

Like an earthworm, he wriggled on the ground, relying on memory, slowly making his way to a corner of the room.

He twisted his body and touched the glasses case in the corner.

Good, it’s still here.

Li Banfeng exerted all his strength, opened the glasses case, and took out a Rust Pill.

A stabbing pain shot through his palm, but Li Banfeng had no time to care. He placed the Rust Pill on the iron chain.

The iron chain corroded rapidly.

After about ten seconds, Li Banfeng suddenly exerted his strength, and the iron chain on his hand snapped.

Li Banfeng smeared the Rust Pill back and forth. In no time, he had broken all the chains on his body.

Free from the chains, his palms split open, oozing rust-tinged blood—Li Banfeng was detoxifying.

His eyes still burning fiercely, Li Banfeng put away the Rust Pill. Ignoring his bleeding hands, he quickly left the Portable Residence.

No sooner had he stepped out than the Phonograph went HISS! HISS! HISS! as it puffed out steam.

The record spun, and a song began to play.

The Phonograph played "Wanderer Songstress," but the lyrics had been changed:

"At the ends of the earth, oh sea and shore,

Drenched in sweat, my lad, fear not.

Into your eyes, it’ll pain just a bit,

My lad, your eyes surely won’t go blind, ah ah~"

Li Banfeng returned to the Seedling Room.

He moved softly, without a sound. Enduring the intense pain, he opened his eyes and first retrieved the key from the firewood pile.

Looking around, Li Banfeng observed the Seedling Room’s layout.

There was one door, locked.

There was a small, barred window. Outside was the backyard.

The sound of water came from outside the window.

There’s water!

Excited, Li Banfeng opened the Portable Residence once more. Before entering, he threw the key out the window.

When Li Banfeng emerged from the Portable Residence again, he was outside the Seedling Room.

This was the backyard. In it stood a well, where the old lady’s second son was sharpening a knife.

The knife was almost sharp. The second son intended to fetch another bucket of water to rinse it. Just as he pulled a bucket of water to the well’s edge, Li Banfeng snatched it away.

"I’ll borrow this water, thanks." Li Banfeng thanked him politely, even bowing, then grabbed the second son’s knees and flipped him into the well.

Li Banfeng plunged his face into the bucket of cool water, the chill immediately relieving the intense pain in his eyes.

In reality, Li Banfeng had been overly tense; sweat was not as harmful to the eyes as he had imagined.

After washing, most of the pain subsided. Li Banfeng poured the rest of the bucket over himself, rinsing the sweat from his body.

While Li Banfeng washed his face, the second son climbed out of the well, gripping its edge and silently watching Li Banfeng’s back.

The second son was a Martial Cultivator and a competitive person. He had been in this business with his mother and older brother for over a decade and had never been outwitted by a hostage.

Why was I so unguarded just now?

Didn’t even hear his footsteps?

He didn’t plan to call his mother or brother. He would take advantage of Li Banfeng’s apparent lack of alertness and kill this hostage himself.

Li Banfeng set down the water bucket. The second son tensed his arms, preparing to leap out of the well.

Li Banfeng saw the knife on the ground—the one the second son had nearly finished sharpening.

He picked the knife up from the sharpening stone, turned to the second son, and said, "I’ll borrow this knife too."

Then, Li Banfeng slit the second son’s throat and pushed him back into the well.

The second son, falling into the well water, stared up at the sky through the well’s mouth, not understanding what had just happened.

He hadn’t expected a Traveling Cultivator to move so fast!

He hadn’t expected Li Banfeng to attack without any warning!

He hadn’t realized that Li Banfeng, while seemingly focused on washing his face, had been watching the well mouth the entire time!

He wanted to call for his mother, to call for his brother.

But his mouth filled with blood, his nostrils with water, and he couldn’t make a sound.

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