Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1251 601: The Road to Fool's City (Part 2)

Before long, Ah Mu carried two buckets of fish, leaving two for Ami and sending the rest to other families.

The more Ah Yi watched, the angrier she became: "Buwu Village is so useless, relying entirely on others for support. They can't let go of their inner issues, yet they talk about cultivation? We should never have kept them in Gourd Village! Our Taoist Sect has no place for such worthless people!"

Li Banfeng thought that everyone who entered the gourd belly had already embarked on Crazy Cultivation, but the reality was not so.

Buwu Village had over five hundred villagers, some just arrived, while others had been there for over a decade. They were not qualified to receive the Crazy Cultivation Medicinal Powder because they had inner issues they couldn't let go of.

Walking along the village roads of Buwu Village, Li Banfeng often heard crying. What color these cries were, whether of guilt or helplessness, perhaps not even the projector could describe.

Seeing the village chief walk away, Ami sat in the courtyard and secretly cried again.

Suddenly, Li Banfeng appeared at the courtyard gate, and Ami quickly got up and wiped her tears.

She heard the village chief call this man brother and knew he was no simple person, but holding back tears wasn't easy. Ami took a breath, her whole body shivering.

Li Banfeng asked, "Do you miss your brother and grandfather?"

Ami nodded.

"Were they doing well when you were with them?"

Hearing this, Ami felt even more distressed. With tears in her eyes, she softly said, "No."

Li Banfeng nodded, directly stating, "Because you were with them, that's why they weren't doing well."

Ami was taken aback; Li Banfeng's words were somewhat infuriating.

Li Banfeng continued, "Now that you're not with them, they'll be doing well."

Ami's face turned pale; these words were even more infuriating.

She wanted to argue with Li Banfeng but was too tongue-tied to know what to say.

By the time she figured out what to say, Li Banfeng was already far away.

Ami was so angry she wanted to cry, but after exerting all her effort, she couldn't.

Why cry? Aren't they all doing well?

Ami drew a basin of water, washed her face; her eyes were swollen, looking rather unsightly.

Unsightly is unsightly; today eating someone else's sweet potato, tomorrow someone else's salted fish, it's all begging by now, who cares about looks?

The more Ami thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. She remembered the village chief gave her a box of powder the last month, so she took it out and applied some on her face.

It seemed she applied too much powder, making her face a bit too white.

White is white; as long as it looks pleasing.

Ami shouldered her hoe and went to work in the fields.

Doing farm work while wearing powder, would others think I've gone mad?

Mad is mad; as long as my heart feels at ease!

...

The next day at dawn, Li Banfeng went to the second village—Enlightenment Village, where two men at the village entrance were playing chess.

One man, lacking chess skills, lost a game and pestered his opponent for another game.

The opposite man smiled and said, "I'm not taking advantage of you; when I used to pester my dad for chess, I was just like you are now."

"Do you still think of your dad?"

"I think of him, sometimes he still comes to mind."

"Do you want to see him?"

"No, in this life, I'll never see him again."

The two continued playing chess. In Enlightenment Village, there were over two hundred villagers, originally all from Buwu Village. They had let go of their inner issues, gained certain comprehension, received the Medicinal Powder, and began true cultivation. However, the degree of their cultivation varied.

Each person's cultivation level could be judged by the crops in their fields. Some families had plenty of surplus, while others barely had enough but needed no assistance.

Li Banfeng walked around the fields, confirming a fact: the state of the crops was indeed related to the Crazy Cultivation level.

But there was one thing Li Banfeng hadn't found the reason for. In Dunwu Village, he only saw young and middle-aged people; the oldest were around fifty, and he hadn't seen any elderly people.

Buwu Village had many elderly; could it be that these elders hadn't entered Dunwu Village?

Or perhaps, after enlightenment, those elders became young?

"Sister, does our Taoist Sect have the technique to change age?"

Ah Yi smiled, "Our Taoist Sect has all kinds of techniques."

Li Banfeng bowed deeply, "Sister, I want to learn it."

Ah Yi's smile disappeared, her expression very serious, "Brother, this is one of our Taoist Sect's three strongest techniques. Are you sincere about learning it?"

"I'm sincerely willing to learn!"

"Have you let go of everything in your heart?"

"I've let go of everything."

"Brother, your cultivation is still shallow; I'm afraid you won't learn it!"

Is this another excuse to put me off?

"Sister, first teach me the essentials, and I will cultivate slowly afterward." Li Banfeng was determined to learn.

Ah Yi first taught Li Banfeng to meditate: "I'll now impart the essentials to you; listen carefully. First, put aside all matters at hand, then unload all burdens from your heart. Amidst ethereal spirits, perceive the passage of years, and when the mental state is clear, comprehend the changes of time and tide."

Li Banfeng meditated for over an hour, letting his thoughts completely calm down: "Sister, I've let go of the trivial matters and comprehended the changes of time and tide."

"Good, I knew you had this comprehension! Our Taoist Skill demands a high mental state. Now recite the name of the technique loudly with me, Crazy Cultivation Skill, I want immortality!"

"I want..." Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, turned his face to Ah Yi, and said, "Sister, did you just make up this technique?"

"Nonsense! With your mental state, how could you possibly learn a technique?" Ah Yi was very angry, "I told you, this is one of our Taoist Sect's three main techniques. Is this your attitude? And you're saying I made it up on the spot; I had it ready since last night!"