The Overlord of Puluo-Chapter 71: A Basket Hanging From the Tree

Li Banfeng had practiced with the iron ruler for two hours and felt he had gotten a better grasp on how to use it.

The gramophone kept encouraging him. "My dear husband, a true man has ambitions that stretch for miles. Why are you staying at home all day? Hurry up and go buy groceries!"

Buying groceries will make me a true man?

Li Banfeng clicked open his pocket watch; it was already ten o'clock. It was indeed about time he headed out and took a look around.

He stepped out of the Pocket Dwelling and returned to the Yu Family Stockade. Li Banfeng first went to find Old Zhu for lunch. After lunch, he decided to take a walk through the new land.

As a Wanderlust Cultivator, Li Banfeng had to cover twenty-five kilometers a day. He had walked quite a long distance yesterday and exceeded the daily requirement, accumulating some extra time.

But just because he had extra time, it didn't mean he should waste it on ordinary training.

Unable to dissuade Li Banfeng from exploring the new land, Old Zhu settled for telling Li Banfeng about the taboo things he could not do on it. "Trader Li, don't chop down any trees, don't pull up any grass, and don't harm any birds or beasts in the forest. Don't eat the fruit or drink the water in the forest. If you meet people or see things that don't make sense, come back at once. Do your best to stick to the route you took when you first came to this new land. Most importantly, be extra careful."

Warnings were to be heeded, of course. However, Li Banfeng could not stick to the route he had already walked. Going back and forth along a single route wasn't conducive to accumulating progress in his cultivation as a Wanderlust Cultivator.

So, he instead relied on his ability Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity, and he did his best to steer toward the safer spots.

However, safe spots were scarce in the new land.

Within a kilometer and a half of the Yu Family Stockade, he traversed through the new land without much trouble.

Once he stepped beyond that distance, he repeatedly felt danger closing in. Goosebumps rose on his arms in waves, and he shivered in fear every couple of steps. His ability Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Calamity kept warning him.

After nearly five kilometers, he sensed he had completed the daily cultivation requirement.

Should I head back now?

He could head back to the stockade and enter the Pocket Dwelling once more. Then in the afternoon, he could emerge once more to take a stroll. After that, he could return to the Pocket Dwelling for a nap. It was a perfectly reasonable plan.

Li Banfeng turned around to head back the way he came. However, he suddenly heard someone speaking from a treetop above.

"Brother, is that you!"

Whose voice is that?

Jiaqing?

Li Banfeng looked up silently.

He saw a nearly transparent thread, about as thick as a finger, hanging down from a tree.

He followed the thread upward with his eyes and saw what appeared to be a massive basket sliding slowly downward along it.

Is that really a basket?

The basket appeared to have been woven from branches. The weave was so tight that there wasn't a single gap. The top of the basket was packed with leaves, covering it completely.

The basket's opening faced straight downward. It was right above Li Banfeng's head at this moment.

The thread entered the basket through the opening and went out the other end, hooking onto the tree.

A man's voice came from inside the basket. "Brother, you're finally here."

The first time Li Banfeng heard the voice, he had felt a stir of emotion, thinking he'd run into his best friend, He Jiaqing.

However, hearing the words again now, he realized the voice differed greatly from He Jiaqing's. He'd mistaken it for He Jiaqing's because the voice was muffled inside the basket, faintly resembling He Jiaqing's husky tone.

Li Banfeng stared at the basket for a moment. Sensing no danger, he asked calmly, "Why do you call me 'brother'? Did you mistake me for someone else?"

The basket remained suspended in midair. After a moment of silence, another voice rang from the basket. "Child, is that you?"

It was raspy yet gentle, like that of an elderly mother.

Li Banfeng was an expert at imitating women's voices. The voice he was hearing didn't seem like a mimicry in the slightest.

Could there be another person inside the basket?

Despite sensing no danger, Li Banfeng decided to leave at once.

He hadn't forgotten the rickshaw driver's warning.

If the other party's level surpassed his own, he might not be able to sense their malice.

Just as Li Banfeng took a step forward, the thread shot out from the basket and wrapped around his legs. He stumbled and fell onto his back.

Li Banfeng struggled against the thread coiled around his legs. He tried pulling his legs apart twice, but the thread was extremely tough, and it was bound too tightly around his legs. He just couldn't pull his legs loose.

However, he couldn't pull the thread away with his hands either; that would be a rash decision. If his hands were to get trapped too, it would be impossible for him to escape.

Li Banfeng slipped both hands into his pockets. He drew his right hand back out first, grasping one of the mandarin-duck battle axes.

It was an unusual weapon formed by two interlaced crescents, with razor-sharp edges.

Li Banfeng tried to sever the thread with the mandarin-duck battle axe, but even after several attempts, he still couldn't cut through it.

The massive basket shook as it continued to descend bit by bit.

Another voice drifted out from the basket. This one was tender and delicate. "My dear husband, you're here now?"

It was a young woman's voice, and again, it sounded real.

"You truly have the wrong person," Li Banfeng replied calmly. He put away the mandarin-duck battle axe and drew the iron ruler.

The iron ruler had no blade, but its spike was extremely sharp.

The basket kept descending, its swaying growing more violent.

At the mouth of the basket, a face slowly came into view. It was the face of a young woman with beautiful features. A finger-thick thread emerged from between her lips and trailed all the way down.

So the thread is coming from her mouth.

It made Li Banfeng think of a peculiar kind of worm that hung itself from a tree with a silk thread.

What was it called again?

Bagworm moth, I think.

Could this woman be a bagworm moth?

There should be a single thread running through her body. One opening is her mouth. Where's the other?

And what's with the basket?

Oh, it's the bagworm moth's cocoon!

The cocoon kept inching closer to Li Banfeng. The young woman's face slowly emerged from the basket.

The young woman had delicate features and long black hair. It hung down and brushed Li Banfeng's face as she looked at him. With the thread clamped between her lips, she asked muffledly, "Did I get all three guesses wrong?"

"Yes, all wrong," Li Banfeng replied.

The furrow in his brows eased, and his lips curved into a small smile. He clenched the iron ruler in his right hand and thrust it at her face.

As a Wanderlust Cultivator, Li Banfeng moved very quickly. Furthermore, it hadn't been long since he stepped out of the Pocket Dwelling, so his stamina was at its peak.

The thrust was swift and precise. However, just as the iron ruler's spike was about to pierce the woman's brow, another strand of silk thread shot from the basket and wrapped around Li Banfeng's arm.

Another strand?

Where did this one come from?

The cocoon, the basket, swung back and forth with a widening arc. Another human head appeared, pushed out through the opening of the cocoon with difficulty.

It was the head of a short-haired man with thick brows, big eyes, full lips, and angular cheeks and jaws. He, too, had a silk thread in his mouth. He looked down at Li Banfeng and asked, "All wrong? Really?"

"I'm not lying. They were all wrong." Li Banfeng pulled his left hand out of his pocket.

However, before he could open his hand, another silk thread bound his left arm tightly.

Inside the cocoon, a white-haired head wedged past the other two, biting on a silk thread as it forced its way out to the opening of the cocoon.

It belonged to a wrinkly-faced old woman.

There are three worms crammed into a single cocoon?

Or is it one worm with three heads?

The old woman showed Li Banfeng a toothless grin and said, "Since my guess was wrong, it's your turn now. Guess who I am."

Li Banfeng blinked and asked, "What if I guess wrong?"

The young woman answered, "Then we eat you."

Li Banfeng asked, "And if I guess right?"

The man replied, "Then you live with us."

Fucking hell. There's no way out!

Li Banfeng poured all his strength into his left arm and struggled against the silk thread binding with everything he had.

However, the old woman bit down harder on the silk thread, further tightening the binding around Li Banfeng's arm.

"What are you holding? It must be something fun. Show me, hurry and show me!" the old woman exclaimed. She let out a peculiar laugh, "Heheheh."

Under the pull of the silk thread, Li Banfeng's left hand was slowly forced open.

It wasn't the key to the Portable Dwelling but a glove, and on the glove lay a rust-red pill.

The old woman tried to grab the pill by rolling it up in her silk thread, but the instant it touched the Corrosion Pill, the silk thread was corroded. The corrosion raced along the silk thread at an astonishing speed.

Even Li Banfeng was shocked. The corrosion was spreading even faster than when the Corrosion Pill had eaten through the iron cigarette case.

The Corrosion Pill restrains the silk this well...?

This sure is an unexpected blessing.

The corrosion swiftly ate through the silk thread binding Li Banfeng's left arm. Holding the Corrosion Pill, Li Banfeng swiftly rolled it over the silk threads binding the rest of his limbs.

Corrosion ate through all the silk threads. The tough silk turned brittle in an instant, and Li Banfeng broke free.

The three heads in the cocoon bit down on their threads, severing them.

They had no choice; the corrosion had crawled up their threads and nearly gotten into their mouths.

All three heads spat out their severed silk threads and lunged at Li Banfeng together.

This time, Li Banfeng was ready. He rolled on the spot to evade the silk threads, then he struck back, driving the iron ruler into the man's temple.

The man howled, and the other two heads felt the pain as well, wailing in unison.

Then Li Banfeng raised his hand again and hurled the Corrosion Pill into the cocoon.

All three faces contorted in unbearable agony, and three heads withdrew into the cocoon.

Moments later, the young woman's head poked out again, her beautiful face mottled with marks of corrosion.

For an instant, Li Banfeng truly wanted to carry the cocoon into the Pocket Dwelling and feed the fresh souls to his wifey. Then he would see what pills the Arcane Crimson Lotus could make from the corpse.

Nevertheless, after a brief hesitation, Li Banfeng ultimately chose to leave.

Li Banfeng still didn't know what was going on with those three worms. If the Corrosion Pill failed to subdue them, he would likely have to stay there and become their new companion.

So this is what new lands are like.

He finally understood why five of the six people who had been sent in to activate the new land had died in just three days of activating it.

Li Banfeng stopped thinking about it and ran toward the Yu Family Stockade at full speed.

However, when he approached a massive banyan, the crown suddenly trembled, and another ball of silk thread descended before his eyes.

As Li Banfeng retreated quickly to avoid the silk thread, he broke out in cold sweat all over.

Did those three worms follow me?

Did the Corrosion Pill stop working?

A woman's voice drifted from the canopy above. It wasn't the old woman nor the young woman from earlier.

"My children only want to play with you for a while. Why did you hurt them?"

A middle-aged woman's face pushed out from the leaves.

Is this the mother of the three worms? Li Banfeng thought.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The dense leaves rustled as something massive moved through the foliage.

Li Banfeng changed course, wanting to skirt around the tree.

With a dull thud, the middle-aged woman dropped from the tree.

She had a human head and face, but she had no neck. Instead, a plump, bloated, emerald-green body stretched out behind her.

She was a worm. The green worm was sprawled on the ground. Despite that, she was still taller than Li Banfeng.

"Don't go. Stay and be my child," the woman-worm said.

Ripples rolled along the worm's body as she crawled toward Li Banfeng.