Chapter 424: Neverbury

Qiu Luoye and the burly man clearly had nothing more to say to each other, so Qiu Luoye suddenly lashed out with a kick and sent him flying.

The burly man shot off the ground, smashed through the front gate of the residence, and flew straight out the back. He hit the ground and skidded for over a hundred meters, gouging a deep trench behind him.

The man was remarkably tough and had barely been hurt. Before he could even get back to his feet, Qiu Luoye was already in front of him and was about to stomp on him.

If Elephant Qiu actually landed that stomp, the man's thick hide would not save him. In fact, he would have a hard time getting back up.

Unexpectedly, the burly man was quite nimble. He rolled aside, dodging Qiu Luoye's foot, then tipped his head back and spat a mouthful of thick phlegm straight at his face.

Back when Qiu Luoye's cultivation was still at the Terranean Layer, he had ventured the jianghu and seen plenty of street brawls. Spitting in someone's face was actually a rather effective trick.

Anyone skilled enough could spit straight at the other person's face. Those who lacked the skill could spit into their palm first, then smear it across their opponent's face. Either way, it blocked their vision and took some of the fight out of them.

Normally, a trick like that would never have worked on Qiu Luoye. Unfortunately, this man's spit was unbelievably sticky. It plastered itself across Qiu Luoye's face so thoroughly that he could not even open his eyes.

Seeing his chance, the burly man sprang up and pressed himself against Qiu Luoye before attacking at close quarters.

Qiu Luoye hated this kind of fighting more than anything. If they were going to fight, then they should throw punches and kicks properly. Why did this fellow insist on clinging to him?

Qiu Luoye tried several times to shove him away and put plenty of strength into it, but the man would not budge. Instead, the two of them somehow became more tightly stuck together with every attempt.

Shui Yongquan finally realized what was happening. He had misjudged the burly man's cultivation path.

For someone this big and with two tusks, he looked like he should be a Physique Cultivator or perhaps a Martial Cultivator. If he was older, he could be a Strength Cultivator.

However, judging by his abilities, he was actually an Adhesion Cultivator. The defining trait of this cultivation path was simple. Everything about them stuck.

Their sweat was sticky, their saliva was sticky, and even their tears were sticky. Once they latched onto someone, breaking free was extremely difficult.

Qiu Luoye finally lost his patience. With a burst of brute strength, he tore the burly man off and flung him away. He got the man off, but a large patch of skin and flesh came away from Qiu Luoye's arm with him.

Qiu Luoye was not scared at all. He wasn't scared of pain.

The burly man scrambled back to his feet and spat at him again. Qiu Luoye slipped aside to dodge it, only for the bastard to close in and stick himself to him once more.

Qiu Luoye was about to rip him off again when Shui Yongquan could no longer stand by and watch.

An Adhesion Cultivator should not have been able to attack this quickly as it would take time to produce that kind of adhesive. However, this burly guy was attacking fast. He could stick to someone the instant he wanted to, which meant his cultivation had already reached the Cloudborne Layer. As for whether he or Qiu Luoye was stronger, that was hard to say.

Cultivation paths like Physique Cultivation, Martial Cultivation, and Strength Cultivation were clearly at a disadvantage against an Adhesion Cultivator. If Qiu Luoye kept fighting this way, the burly man would not even need to hurt him. Qiu Luoye would end up tearing the skin from his own body piece by piece.

Whoosh!

A surge of water swept over them, weakening the burly man's stickiness.

Qiu Luoye seized the chance to break free, then raised his fists and hammered the man with a furious barrage of blows. It did not take long before the burly man surrendered.

"I give up! Two against one? You two have no sense of honor!"

Qiu Luoye turned to Shui Yongquan. "I didn't need your help!"

The burly man roared, "If you have got the guts, wait until I dry off and fight me one-on-one!"

Seeing that the two were about to start fighting again, Shui Yongquan hurried forward to smooth things over. "Friend, you were a little harsh with your words earlier, and my brother here has a bit of a temper himself. One thing led to another, and we ended up fighting when there was no need. We only came here to ask for directions. We didn't mean anything else by it. We are going to be neighbors from now on, so we should get along."

The burly man snapped, "If you are really my neighbors, why do you need to ask for directions?"

Shui Yongquan smiled. "We just moved here."

"You just moved here?" The burly man paused, then looked at Qiu Luoye. "You are the new land deity up north?"

There was nothing wrong with putting it that way. Qiu Luoye was still wiping the stick saliva from his eyes. "Yeah. So what?"

The burly man's face lit up. "Is that old hag up north dead or did she run away?"

"What old hag?"

"Neverbury!" the burly guy laughed. "If you are the new land deity now, you must have taken her territory. That means I won't have to live next to her anymore. That old woman was absolutely unbearable."

There was a misunderstanding here, but it was not an easy one to explain.

The burly man assumed Qiu Luoye had seized the territory to the north and become its local land deity. If Qiu Luoye told him that he had brought his own territory here with him, however, the man probably would not understand that either, at least not anytime soon.

They decided to leave the misunderstanding alone for now. Shui Yongquan asked, "What did that old woman do to make you hate her so much?"

The burly man stared at them in disbelief. "You don't think she's awful? Whenever she needs a favor from you, suddenly you are her brother, her relative, her dear old friend. Even if there's barely any connection between you, she will find some way to talk up the relationship.

"But the moment you need something from her, it's all, 'We are neither kin nor friends, with no ties between us,' and she sends you packing. That old hag has no shame, and neither do the people under her. They are the sort no one would even bother burying when they die. Just looking at them makes me sick."

From the burly man's description, Shui Yongquan finally realized what place he meant. "Brother, are you talking about Kinless Township?"

"That's right!" The burly man nodded. "You two are already land deities, and you don't even know what this place is called?"

Qiu Luoye shook his head. "My territory is different from hers."

The burly man sneered. "The land shapes the people who live on it. Now that you are the land deity here, you will sooner or later turn into the same sort of person. You are all the kind who ends up never buried[1]"

Qiu Luoye got to his feet. "So you still want to fight?"

The burly man did not back down. "Fine by me. If you have got the guts, fight me without bringing your helpers into it."

Shui Yongquan tried to calm them down. "Alright! Both of you. This was a misunderstanding. We can sort out the rest another time."

He turned to Qiu Luoye. "Elephant Qiu, now that we know what happened, we should get going."

Then he addressed the burly man. "Brother, we still have not asked your name."

"My surname is Wan," the burly man said. "Wan Nianlao[2]."

Qiu Luoye still could not open his right eye. "Is this why your name is Wan Nianlao?"

The burly man waved a hand and dispelled his technique, allowing Qiu Luoye to open his eye again.

Not bad. At least this fellow was straightforward about things.

Wan Nianlao addressed Qiu Luoye. "We had our fight today. You gave me a beating, and I tore off a layer of your skin. That makes us even. I don't care what sort of grudge you have with that old woman. From now on, you stay out of my way, and I will stay out of yours. Neither of us goes looking for trouble with the other!"

Qiu Luoye grinned. "Hard to say. The next time I am in a bad mood, I might come over and beat you up to cheer myself up."

Wan Nianlao did not hesitate. "If you dare come, I will take you on!"

Shui Yongquan asked, "Mister Wan, you must be the land deity here, right?"

Wan Nianlao nodded. "So what if I am?"

"May I ask whether your territory is New Land or Old Land?"

"New Land, of course! Just think what kind of godforsaken place the Old Land must be. And look at my land. It's practically overflowing with spirit essence!"

Shui Yongquan smiled. "To be honest, I hardly saw any living spirits at all on my way here."

Wan Nianlao snorted. "That is because I am keeping out of the way of those little shits with Neverbury. Some things are impossible to guard against. You will understand soon enough."

Shui Yongquan cupped his fists in farewell. Even after they had left, Qiu Luoye was still annoyed. "Old Shui, tell me something. When you run into an irritating Daoist path like that, what's the best way to fight them?"

"There is no good way to fight them." Shui Yongquan shook his head. "Elephant Qiu, take my advice and stay on good terms with Wan Nianlao. He is not a bad person. Adhesion Cultivators counter close-combat paths. As far as I know, among all the close-combat Daoist paths, only one can counter Adhesion Cultivators. Every other close-combat path is at a disadvantage against them."

"Only one..." Qiu Luoye thought for a moment. "You mean Oil Cultivators?"

Shui Yongquan nodded. "Unfortunately, that Daoist path is nearly extinct."

Qiu Luoye said, "I will have Old Qi ask around Greenwater City sometime and see if there are any Oil Cultivators left. Even if there aren't, it doesn't matter. I will have him bring back some good oil, smear it all over myself, then come back and give Wan Nianlao another beating."

"Greenwater City?" Shui Yongquan gave a cold laugh. "You think Greenwater City is that easy to get to?"

Qiu Luoye replied, "We know where we are now. This used to be Kinless Township's territory. Once you know the place, how hard can it be to find the way there?"

"How are you supposed to find a way out? Your territory is sealed off on all sides by boundary lines, and you already offended the Border Controller. How are you going to leave now? Wait for the Border Controller to open a checkpoint for you? Or build you a railway?"

Qiu Luoye finally realized how serious the situation was. "Wan Nianlao's patch of New Land is the only place left that still connects to the outside. Looks like I will be dealing with him a lot from now on."

"Which is exactly why you can't fall out with him!" Shui Yongquan said and sighed. "Even if he's willing to let you pass through, traveling across New Land isn't easy. Elephant Qiu, I really shouldn't have come to your territory just to watch the excitement. Now even I don't know how I am supposed to get back."

Qiu Luoye was getting worried too. He headed back, wanting to discuss the problem with Li Qi, but Li Qi was nowhere to be found.

Li Qi was inside the Pocket Dwelling, listening to the old man's latest findings.

"When Qiu Luoye's territory moved closer, I remembered a few things. Back when I traveled with Old Train, I think I saw something similar happen before. However, my memory is still too hazy for me to make much of it. Qi, find a chance to cross one of the boundary lines. I want to take another careful look at how it changes when you pass through."

"Tonight would be a good opportunity," Li Qi said. He had been wanting to investigate the neighboring territory for some time, but he just needed to know what sort of people lived around them, and more importantly, find some way to open a route out of Qiu Luoye's territory.

Late that night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Li Banfeng took the device and headed to the boundary line in the west.

When Qiu Luoye's territory had first moved here, Li Banfeng had seen villagers watching from the other side. As long as there was a village nearby, it should not take him long to find out where they were.

He pulled the lever and sent muskmelon Hong Ying across the boundary line first. When the muskmelon Hong Ying made it through unharmed, Li Banfeng went through it.

The device could only be used once a day. If the Pocket Dwelling failed to notice anything this time, they would have to wait until tomorrow to try again.

Li Banfeng followed the village road for a while before spotting an old man farther ahead, struggling to pull a cart of coal up a long slope.

The old man had not even made it halfway before his strength gave out. No matter how hard he pulled, the cart kept dragging him backward one step at a time.

The old man waved to Li Banfeng. "Young man, give me a hand! I really can't pull this thing any farther. I still have some money on me. Once we get to the top, it's all yours. I have got some dry rations too. You can have those as well!"

Li Banfeng gave the back of the cart a light push. The burden instantly became easier, and the old man pulled it all the way to the top of the slope.

Once they arrived, the old man let go of the cart and sat down by the roadside. He wiped the sweat from his brow, lit his pipe, and did not spare Li Banfeng another glance.

Li Banfeng asked, "What is this place?"

The old man did not answer.

Thinking that the old man had not heard him, Li Banfeng asked again, "Sir, I am asking for directions. What place is this?"

The old man answered expressionlessly, "We are neither kin nor friends. I don't know where you came from, and at this hour of the night, I don't know what you are after either. Go ask someone else."

"True," Li Banfeng answered with a nod. He picked up the cart shaft and gave it a casual shove. With a loud clatter, the cart rolled all the way back down the slope.

The old man stared in disbelief. "You... What kind of young man does something like that?"

"We are neither kin nor friends. What kind of young man did you expect me to be?" Li Banfeng said and lowered the brim of his hat before turning around and walking away.

Author's Note:

PS: He Jiaqing is well established in Kinless Township. See Chapter 238 for details.

The Overlord of Puluo has earned its first Honor Star! Salagus does not know the first thing about promoting a novel, so this was entirely thanks to all you wonderful readers. You carried Salagus all the way to that first star, and Salagus cannot thank you enough for your support.

1. Wordplay on neverbury. Also the reason why I did not transliterate this name. ☜

2. It means "Locked up for ten thousand years. ☜