As they spoke, the Silk-pulling Earrings trembled. "Master, I hear footsteps."
Li Banfeng looked at ng Yuchun. "Does anyone else know where you live?"
"Three sisters I’m close with occasionally co over for drinks. They never enter my rooms. Besides them and you, no one else knows my place. Stay here and don’t move."
ng Yuchun flew down the stone cliff alone. After a mont, three won approached, carrying wine jars and various dishes.
One woman, dressed in red with a slender waist, curtsied to ng Yuchun and said with a smile, "This is newly brewed Hundred Flowers Wine, specially brought for you to taste, sister."
This woman was nad Red Butterfly.
Behind her was a woman in yellow, similar in appearance and figure to Red Butterfly, nad Yellow Butterfly.
Standing at the very back was a plump girl with a round face and full figure, wearing a green, shaggy cloak. Her na was Xiao Die.
It seed Xiao Die had not yet transford into a butterfly.
ng Yuchun said to the three, "Sisters, I have sothing to attend to today. Let’s get together another day."
The three won looked sowhat disappointed. ng Yuchun chatted with them briefly, saw them off, and then returned to the top of the cliff.
Li Banfeng watched their retreating figures and asked in a low voice, "Are those three always together?"
ng Yuchun nodded. "They’re almost inseparable."
Always inseparable? That seed unlikely. People say butterflies are attracted to flowers, but who has ever heard of caterpillars being attracted to flowers?
Li Banfeng asked, "Have you heard of the Playful Matron?"
"The playful what?" ng Yuchun was utterly confused.
Just as the Big Toad had described, ng Yuchun was purely a Ho Cultivator. She hadn’t frequented the New Land much before reaching the Tenth Layer, and her knowledge of Wandering Monsters was hardly better than Li Banfeng’s.
「...」
After lunch, Li Banfeng carried a man into the Portable Residence.
The man wore a long robe, the embroidery on it faded. It looked like an Official Robe, but from which dynasty was unclear.
He clutched a writing brush, its white tip stained with ink. Seeing this, the Phonograph exclaid joyfully, "That’s a Scrivener, a fine prize indeed! My Lord, you cherish these the most..."
The cheerful music of gongs and drums stopped abruptly, and its singing voice turned sorrowful. "Alas, My Lord, why have you brought back a corpse? Don’t you cherish this lowly one anymore?"
Hong Ying burst out laughing. "If you won’t eat it, I will! I’ll eat it and make you green with envy, you vile woman!"
A wave of power surged, and Hong Ying rushed forward to feast.
After finishing her al, Hong Ying returned to sit silently before the mirror. The changes in her body were becoming more apparent; her once gaunt fra now showed a hint of fullness.
The Phonograph murmured, "That wench is transforming into a human so quickly. Why is she so fortunate? I don’t even know if this is truly fortune..."
The other Magical Treasures scrambled to share the remains. Li Banfeng consoled the Phonograph, "Once this business is done, my lady, I’ll bring you back so live ones."
The Phonograph shook its horn-shaped mouthpiece and suddenly blasted steam, pushing back the crowd of Magical Treasures.
"That’s enough. Leave the rest for Red Lotus."
Most of the Scrivener was still left, and it was all to be reserved for Red Lotus? My lady was being very considerate of Red Lotus today.
Li Banfeng moved Red Lotus over. Its petals blood, revealing a fully ripe Lotus Seed at its heart.
He plucked the Lotus Seed. It burst open instantly, and a pair of Mandarin Duck Axes landed in his palm.
No wonder my lady was so thoughtful; Red Lotus had co with sincerity today. But these seed no different from the previous Mandarin Duck Axes.
Li Banfeng squatted beside Red Lotus. "Ah Lian, trying to trick again?"
SST...
"Alas, My Lord, you’ve wronged that wench," the Phonograph said. "These Mandarin Duck Axes have a sweet scent. My Lord, sniff them carefully."
Li Banfeng used the Hundred Flavors Delicate Skill to sniff for a mont. Indeed, there was a faint sweetness.
"Let sll too!" Hong Ying sniffed beside him for a long while. Though deaf and blind for many years, her nose was particularly sharp, yet she detected no sweetness.
Li Banfeng sniffed again. The Hundred Flavors Delicate Skill isn’t just about a keen sense of sll; it seems to have other functions too.
"My lady, how is this Magical Treasure used?"
"This thing lacks sufficient Spirit Attribute; it can’t be considered a Magical Treasure, a Spiritual Object at best. It’s a pair of Mandarin Duck Axes, one male and one female. My Lord, the one in your left hand is male, the one in your right is female. If the male axe strikes a woman, its wielder will beco infatuated with her. If she then appears within a mile, the male axe will sense her. The sa applies if the female axe strikes a man: its wielder will beco infatuated with him, and the female axe will sense him if he is nearby."
Li Banfeng nodded. "It’s a useful item. Let’s call them the Male-Female Axes!"
The Phonograph chirped, "My Lord, wouldn’t it be better to call them the Male-Female Halberd?"
"My lady has such literary grace!" Li Banfeng collected the Male-Female Halberd and, taking the Projector, left the Portable Residence.
「...」
At ten o’clock at night, Xiao Die, having eaten her fill of leaves, climbed down from the tree and strolled lazily through the deep forest.
Li Banfeng and ng Yuchun trailed not far behind. Relying on the easily overlooked nature of Ho Cultivation, Xiao Die never noticed them.
After walking for over an hour, Xiao Die seed hungry again and climbed another tree to gnaw on leaves.
Li Banfeng hid at the bottom of a slope and said to ng Yuchun, "Didn’t you say they’re inseparable? Why haven’t we seen the other two won?"
ng Yuchun replied, "Xiao Die’s habits are different from theirs; they can’t always be together. Yellow Butterfly and Red Butterfly both feed on nectar, so they rarely separate."
Li Banfeng’s assessnt was correct: Xiao Die had not yet transford into a butterfly.
After the battles with Shui Yongquan and Qiu Luoye, Li Banfeng had learned a crucial detail: a Local Deity’s residence was their lifeline, as it housed their Contract Book. If unearthed, this would pose a severe threat to the Local Deity. Thus, both Shui Yongquan and Qiu Luoye had defended their residences vigorously.
What exactly that threat entailed was still unknown, but Li Banfeng knew the best way to deal with a Local Deity was to target their residence.
Weng Fangqu, the Playful Matron, the Scrivener, the Love Sorrow Slug... these uncommon Wandering Monsters had consecutively arrived in ng Yuchun’s territory. They certainly weren’t here to confront ng Yuchun head-on; the Scrivener had already proven with his life that they couldn’t overco a Local Deity. Their purpose was to investigate ng Yuchun’s residence.
The Love Sorrow Slug had parasitized Cao Zhida. Cao Zhida’s relentless pursuit of ng Yuchun had offered a chance of finding her residence. But he failed and died at Li Banfeng’s hands.
The Scrivener successfully located ng Yuchun’s residence but failed to escape, dying at her hands.
Weng Fangqu and the Playful Matron, working together—one to fight, the other to deceive—had the highest chance of success.
Now Weng Fangqu was dead, but the Playful Matron probably didn’t know it yet and was unlikely to give up.
Apart from Li Banfeng, only three people knew of ng Yuchun’s residence: Red Butterfly, Yellow Butterfly, and Xiao Die. Because Xiao Die hadn’t transford into a butterfly, her habits differed from the other two, aning she spent more ti alone. This made her the most likely target for the Playful Matron to impersonate. Li Banfeng locked his sights on her.
ng Yuchun whispered, "It might not be one of my sisters. That Playful-whatever-her-na-is lady could also be one of your subordinates."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "If it truly is the Playful Matron, she definitely isn’t one of my people. All my subordinates are n."
"Can’t she disguise herself as a man?"
"No."
Li Banfeng took out the Projector and displayed an image of Weng Fangqu.
After about fifteen minutes, Xiao Die climbed down from the tree and slowly approached "Weng Fangqu," whispering, "I’ve succeeded."
PS: What should we do next? Capture the Playful Matron and torture her severely?
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