Chapter 419: Home

"What exactly did the convicts in Convict City do to end up there?" Li Banfeng was still unfamiliar with all these terms.

Qiu Luoye shook his head. "It's hard to get a straight answer. All I know is that this bunch is bad news. I have even heard they have ties to the Outer Provinces."

Li Banfeng immediately grew wary. "What kind of ties? Were they sent here by the Outer Provinces?"

If the Outer Provinces were behind this, then there was no way he could let these people enter his territory.

Qiu Luoye explained, "The Border Controllers in the Outer Provinces have already put out word that no one is allowed to shelter anyone who escaped from Convict City. Take them in, and you will be making an enemy of the Border Controllers. I don't care about that. I am not afraid of them. The real problem is that these three-headed monsters are dangerous, so I would rather strike first. For now, tell everyone working on the land activation to be careful. Those three-headed freaks are all east of our territory, so have our people stay away from that area."

Qiu Luoye turned to leave again, but Li Banfeng stopped him. "Big Bro Qiu, let's switch. You stay here and keep an eye on the land activation while I go take a look at those people. We are at a critical point right now. As long as they weren't sent by the Outer Provinces or the Inner Provinces to cause trouble, let's avoid fighting if we can."

Qiu Luoye waved dismissively. "I say they have come here precisely to cause trouble! Killing every last one of them right here would be the safest option!"

There was no talking Qiu Luoye out of it the usual way, so Li Banfeng tried a different approach.

"Big Bro Qiu, there are hundreds of people activating land every day. How am I supposed to keep an eye on all of them? Can I accept their offerings? Can I send people out to conduct the trials?"

The truth was that Li Banfeng could do all of those things and Qiu Luoye just had no idea.

"Brother, I am not trying to make things difficult for you..."

Li Banfeng interrupted. "I don't know how to handle all this land deity business. But I can go talk to those outsiders and find out what's going on first. That's something I do know how to deal with."

Qiu Luoye was still worried. "Those monsters from Convict City can all fight. I am worried something might happen to you. Have them send someone into our territory to talk instead."

"No, that won't do either." Li Banfeng had his own worries. "If only one of them comes in, that's fine. But what if a whole crowd comes charging in? I will go by myself. Even if something goes wrong, I will have a way to get out."

Qiu Luoye gave it some thought. "Old Qi, how about we do this the civilized way?"

His idea of "the civilized way" was to write a letter for Li Banfeng to take along, something stern enough to put a little fear into the other side.

Li Banfeng thought of the contracts Qiu Luoye had written for the aberrant creatures. Considering the man's literary talents, perhaps it was best not to let him write any letters for the time being.

So Li Banfeng simply headed east across the domain. Long before he reached the boundary, he spotted Juan waiting beside the road.

She had a pleasant, proper-looking face.

After living in Puluo Province for a year and a half, Li Banfeng had seen far too many strange things to find three-headed people particularly difficult to accept.

One of Qiu Luoye's tigers was negotiating with Juan by the roadside. "I'm warning you! You better know your place. Master Qiu told you lot to get lost, so get lost. Keep hanging around and I will stop being polite."

Juan remained perfectly courteous. "It's all right if you won't take us in. Could you at least spare us something to eat?"

"Where am I supposed to find enough food for all of you? Get moving! Don't make me use violence!"

Meng was so angry. "Use violence, then! You think I am afraid of you?"

The two sides were just about to fight when Li Banfeng arrived. The tiger quickly backed off to one side.

Li Banfeng looked at Juan, then Meng, then Little Shan. "Which one of you is in charge?"

"I am," Juan said.

Juan stood over two meters tall, and Li Banfeng soon got tired of craning his neck to look up at her. He pointed to a rock beside the road. "Can we sit down and talk?"

Juan nodded and sat down, only to jerk upright again almost at once. Something had poked her.

Then the rock spoke in an elderly man's voice. "Master Qi, Master Qiu sent me over to discuss things with them. I have been here all this time without getting a word in, and now this young lady goes and sits right on my face.

"If I were younger, I wouldn't have minded her sitting on me. But I am getting on in years, and this young lady is rather heavy. I am not sure I can take it."

Li Banfeng nodded and sat down on the ground facing Juan. He came straight to the point. "What are you people doing here?"

"We are looking for somewhere to settle down," Juan replied. "We wanted to ask whether the land deity here would be willing to take us in."

"If you want to settle in New Land, why not just activate some land for yourselves? What is there to ask?"

The three heads exchanged puzzled looks. It seemed the man sitting in front of them did not understand much about people like them.

Juan had heard the rock address him as Master Qi, so she followed suit. "Master Qi, we can't activate land. No local land deity would accept us."

"Why not?"

"Because we're convicts. Convicts from Convict City."

Juan said it calmly and without the slightest attempt to hide the truth. There was little point in hiding it anyway. The marks they carried made what they were far too obvious.

Li Banfeng asked, "What did you do?"

Meng could not help asking, "You don't know about Convict City?"

Juan shot him a glare. "Don't interrupt!"

Li Banfeng looked at Juan. "You might be the one in charge, but you have to give the others a chance to speak. Around me, everyone gets a say."

Juan did not quite understand what he meant by that. Around me, everyone gets a say?

More importantly, there was something strange about his attitude. He knew next to nothing about Convict City, yet when he looked at the three-headed people, there was none of the revulsion one might expect from someone staring at monsters.

For the first time, Juan began to see a little hope in Li Qi. "Master Qi, everyone who comes out of Convict City is a criminal. If the local land deity is willing to give us so much as a mouthful of food, we'll work ourselves to the bone in return. As for activating land of our own, we wouldn't even dare dream of it."

Li Banfeng asked again, "But what exactly are you guilty of?"

Juan explained, "There are two kinds of people in Convict City. The first are outsiders who came to the Three-Headed Fork and failed when they tried to enter the cultivation path. They failed to become Physique Cultivators and instead turned into monsters with three heads. People like that are considered guilty, so they are sent to Convict City.

"The second kind are people born inside Convict City. By its rules, three-headed monsters aren't allowed to marry or have children, but some people still had children anyway.

"Those children were born with only one head. Even so, they were considered guilty from the moment they were born, so they had to stay in Convict City. As they grew older, they gradually grew another two heads as well, and eventually they became monsters too..."

Li Banfeng frowned slightly. "Stop calling yourselves monsters. It's unpleasant to hear."

Juan studied Li Banfeng for a moment. They had gone days without food, but his words gave her a little more confidence, and when she spoke again, her voice was stronger.

"Bursts of Heavenly Light keep striking Convict City. It's been especially bad this year. Even when it's less frequent, it comes at least once every three days. At its worst, it comes two or three times in a single day.

"When Heavenly Light hits someone, it only takes a few hours before they explode. You probably haven't seen what that looks like, Master Qi. I don't even know how to describe it."

Li Banfeng nodded. "I understand. I very nearly saw it for myself."

Juan continued, "We have no idea how many people have died in the city, and none of us knew how much longer we would survive. Convict City is surrounded by boundary lines, so we couldn't leave either. Then a benefactor came and showed us a way out."

"Who was this benefactor?"

"He wouldn't let us reveal who he was. He gave us a map and told us to follow it. He said that if we did, we would definitely find someone willing to take us in," Juan said as she looked at Li Banfeng earnestly. "Master Qi, we only made it this far by bleeding every step of the way. Please pass a message to Master Qiu for us. If he's willing to take us in, we'll never forget his kindness. If he isn't, we won't hold it against him. We only ask that he give us something to eat. Even a single meal would be enough."

Li Banfeng was silent for a moment. "There's one thing I don't quite understand. When you say you want him to take you in, do you mean you expect him to feed and support you every day?"

Juan shook her head again and again. "No. We only want somewhere to live. We will find our own way to make a living. And if there's ever anything you need us for, we will do whatever you ask."

Li Banfeng turned to Meng. "What do you say?"

Meng lowered his head. "What my sister said goes for me too."

Li Banfeng looked at Little Shan next. "And you?"

Little Shan answered in a tiny voice, "I will do whatever my sister says."

The three of them had spoken one after another, and somehow the exchange felt strangely familiar to Li Banfeng.

"Words alone aren't enough. You'll have to do some work."

Hearing this, Meng's guard went up at once. They had just been taken advantage of.

"What do you want us to do?"

Li Banfeng pointed toward a forest in the distance. "Start by cutting down some trees and building houses."

Meng gave a cold laugh. "Same old trick."

Li Banfeng frowned. "What trick?"

Juan bit her lip, then raised her head. "We'll do it."

They had already been cheated once. Why agree again? Because they had no choice. They had not eaten in days. If hard labor could buy them even one proper meal, then hard labor it was.

"Houses won't be enough," Li Banfeng continued. "You will need to farm too. Do you know how to work the land?"

Meng almost laughed. So this was exactly the same trick after all.

Juan nodded. "We can do farm work."

"Then from now on, you are people of this territory. If trouble comes, you will have to step up and help defend it."

"Whatever you ask us to do, Master Qi, we will do it."

"Good. Then it's settled. I will draw up a contract, and every one of you will put your thumbprint on it."

With that, Li Banfeng left.

Meng gnashed his teeth. "Why bother with making a contract? He's really making the whole pack of lies sound official."

Juan tried to quiet him. "If we can get something to eat, that's enough. Stop complaining."

"We should have listened to Aunt Fang. We should have just taken what we needed by force."

"Stop shouting nonsense. Our benefactor told us we mustn't do that sort of thing!"

***

Li Banfeng went back into the Pocket Dwelling, pulled out an enormous sheet of paper, and began writing up a contract.

The Gramophone watched from beside him. "Husband dear, does a contract really need such a huge piece of paper?"

"Wifey, if I used small pieces of paper, I would have to write three thousand copies."

"Three thousand?" Hong Ying stared in astonishment. "Husband dearrr, what sort of deed needs three thousand copies?"

A burst of steam scalded Hong Ying and made her shudder.

Li Banfeng did not explain at all. Once he was done writing the contract, he left the Pocket Dwelling.

The Gramophone saw what he had written. "Husband dear has found three thousand people willing to settle here for good. Is he really planning to turn New Land into Proper Land?"

Hong Ying sighed admiringly. "Husband dear is capable!"

The Gramophone snatched up a board. "If I don't tear that mouth of yours apart today, then I haven't been strict enough with the house rules!"

Hong Ying hurriedly covered her bottom. "If you want to tear my mouth, then tear my mouth! Why do you always hit me on the butt?"

"You wretched woman! Do you even have a mouth?"

***

Li Banfeng laid the contract in front of Juan and watched her press her thumbprint onto it. "Have everyone else put theirs on too."

Juan said, "They all listen to me..."

"That won't do. Every single one of them has to agree and put down a thumbprint. Not one can be missing. And all three heads have to talk it over first. If even one head says no, that person doesn't enter the territory."

So Li Banfeng sat right there and watched more than three thousand people come forward one by one to leave their thumbprints. By the time they were done, the enormous sheet of paper was packed with prints from edge to edge.

More than three thousand three-headed people stood before him. Even the tiger Qiu Luoye had sent over was trembling and muttering to himself, "Master Qi really is something else. How can he not be scared of them?"

Li Banfeng really wasn't afraid at all. So what if they had three heads? They could discuss things among themselves, bounce ideas off one another, have a chat, even play cards together. Wouldn't this all sound marvelous?

Aunt Fang looked at the contract and sighed. "Juan, how many times do you have to be fooled before you learn?"

Juan lowered her head. "Aunt Fang, say a little less for now. Let's get everyone something to eat first."

Li Banfeng already had the food waiting for them. He had bought two thousand oranges from the Orange Grove.

"These are good stuff. One of these is enough to fill two people. I will put the cost of your meals for the next few days on my tab, but mind you, you will have to pay me back later!"

Aunt Fang sneered. "So he tricks us into doing hard labor, then charges us for the food as well. He's even worse than Liang Zhenjiao!"

Though she said that, she had been hungry for many days. Everyone had gone days without a proper meal, and before long, all two thousand oranges were gone.

"Now that you all are full, it's time to work!"

Li Banfeng marked out a section of his domain and told the three-headed people to build their homes and farm there.

Qiu Luoye felt really nervous. "Brother, you have brought all of them into my territory. Are you sure this is all right?"

"Big Bro Qiu, don't you worry,." Li Banfeng said, appearing perfectly pleased with himself. "Didn't we need more human auras on our plots? Well, there it is."

One of the Support Hooks muttered under his breath, "Those monsters count as people too?"

Zuo Wugang shot him a glare. "Don't ever call them monsters again. Master Qi doesn't like hearing it!"

***

Li Banfeng took the station back to his own territory, found Zhang Wanlong, and bought several sacks of quick-sprout seeds. Then he brought them back and handed them to Juan.

"Once you sow these, you will have a harvest in three days. But you can only use them once. If you plant them again, you will hurt the soil. Use these to get through the rest of the year. When spring comes, you will have to plant proper seeds."

Then Li Banfeng left. A few of the three-headed people laughed bitterly. "Spring? Once we finish growing this crop, they will probably tell us to pack up and leave."

Juan did not say much. She led the others in sowing the seeds, watering the fields, and spreading fertilizer. Three days later, the crop was ready. They gathered the grain, packed it carefully into sacks, and went to find Li Banfeng. "Master Qi, how much of this can we take with us?"

All of the three-headed people were mentally prepared to be kicked out.

Li Banfeng looked at the sacks of grain. "It's all yours. Take it home and eat."

"Take it home..." Juan stared at him, not quite understanding.

Li Banfeng pointed toward the wooden houses. "That's your home. Go home and have a meal."

Home. The word felt almost foreign.

The three-headed people stood there in a daze, staring at Li Banfeng.

Meng looked at Aunt Fang, but for a long moment, even Aunt Fang could not find a word to say.

Juan still could not quite believe that this was happening. "Master Qi, is there any more work you need us to do?"

Li Banfeng pointed toward the people busy activating land nearby. "Go ask around. See if anyone needs help and earn yourselves some money. And remember, you still owe me for the seeds and oranges."

With that, Li Banfeng pulled the brim of his hat lower and walked away.

The three-headed people kept watching his back as he went, following him with their eyes until he had walked a very long way.

This New Land was different. There was plenty of Heavenly Light here, bright enough for them to see far into the distance.

Author's Note:

PS: Salagus just likes having other Salagus around to talk and chat with. What a lively thing that is!