Three Strokes of Good Fortune

The train halted at Kudaikan for half an hour. One after another, seven people—five women and two men—pitched their business to Li Banfeng from outside the window. Li Banfeng was a man of steadfast willpower; no business was done. Yet they weren't the only ones he had to deal with; there were also the surrounding passengers. Some among them had already struck a deal, some invited their partners into the carriage, and others simply carried out their business right against the window. Li Banfeng could hear their voices. Throughout this agonizingly long half hour, Li Banfeng bit his finger until it bled, yet he never once opened the window. Endure it. I have to endure it. By tomorrow morning, I'll reach He Jiaqing's home. Once I get to his place, he has to find someone to service me. If he can't find anyone who satisfies me, I'll make him service me himself. The moment the whistle blew, Li Banfeng let out a long breath, silently cheering his own willpower. But before the train had traveled very far, it suddenly ground to a halt. Arrived at a station? The ticket clearly stated an arrival time of seven o'clock tomorrow morning. A steam train's schedule might not be strictly punctual, but it couldn't possibly be this early. Screeech— A harsh crackle of static sounded, and the announcer's voice came through once more: "Due to a mechanical failure, the train has made an unscheduled stop. All passengers, please remain in your compartments and refrain from moving about freely. On behalf of the entire train crew, I offer our deepest apologies for the inconvenience caused." A steam train breakdown. Broken down out in the middle of nowhere. The lights suddenly went out, plunging the carriage into total pitch-black darkness. Li Banfeng tried to use his phone for light, only to find that the flashlight function wouldn't turn on. His phone was almost dead. The battery hadn't had much charge to begin with, and Li Banfeng had been too lazy to recharge it; now it had less than five percent left, on the verge of shutting down. Li Banfeng hurried to plug in the charger, but the phone didn't show the response it should when charging. The lights were off, and the socket was dead too. The train had cut all electrical power. Li Banfeng stared at his phone. Before long, it displayed a shutdown prompt. Dead? What do I do now? How am I going to find He Jiaqing's house! In truth, what he should have been worrying about wasn't the phone. What he should have been most concerned about was when the train would be fixed. On this railway, when a train broke down, repairs might take three to five hours—or three to five days. Actually, Li Banfeng didn't need to worry; his situation was quite decent, as he had instant noodles. Meanwhile, most of the other passengers hadn't brought any spare food. A wave of panic gradually began to spread through the train. *** At the Dark Star Bureau, Public Security Squad Captain Chen Changrui wore oversized headphones, his eyes closed as he reclined in his office chair. Over an hour later, two bright silver centipedes about ten centimeters long crawled out from the casing of the headphones, their bodies lying stiffly on the desk. The two centipedes were exhausted, and Captain Chen was equally weary. Captain Chen took off the headphones, opened his eyes, pulled a cigarette from his pack, took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke over the centipedes. Having finished the cigarette, Captain Chen regained a bit of energy, and the two centipedes also regained some vigor. Secretary You Xuehan waited for Captain Chen's orders. Two hours ago, the Information Department had lost Li Banfeng's signal. Left with no alternative, the Public Security Squad had been forced to rely on the captain's special ability. Chen Changrui pulled out another cigarette and said to You Xuehan, "Tangyuan, tell the Information Department folks it's not a problem with their equipment. Li Banfeng's phone is completely dead." "Tangyuan" You Xuehan asked, "Captain Chen, isn't there any other way to track him?" "What other way could there be?" Old Chen shook his head. "Train 1160 can't be tracked." You Xuehan considered this. "We could track the people riding the same train with him." "No need for that." Old Chen collected the two silver centipedes and stood up. "We don't know when he'll get off either. Maybe by tomorrow morning, he won't even be on the train anymore." "Captain Chen, the higher-ups place great importance on the item in Li Banfeng's hands," You Xuehan reminded him. Old Chen gave a low chuckle and lit another cigarette. "Li Banfeng took something of Lucky Star's, so he's fated to have three strokes of good luck. Now that his phone has run out of battery, that's good fortune arriving. Knowing full well this is Lucky Star's doing, if we insist on tracking Li Banfeng, aren't we openly defying Lucky Star? Why bother?" "A dead phone battery counts as good luck?" You Xuehan was thoroughly perplexed. "With a dead phone, anyone trying to locate him can't find him anymore. We aren't the only ones looking for him—plenty of people want not just his item, but his life." You Xuehan startled. "Who wants his life?" Old Chen smiled meaningfully without answering. Putting on his coat, Old Chen walked to the office door, turned back to You Xuehan, and said, "Tangyuan, go home and get a good two days of rest. Tell the boys to take two days off too. Especially Lightbulb. Everyone slips up on missions now and then; tell him to let it go." "What about Vice Captain Xiao?" You Xuehan asked carefully. "Leave him be." Captain Chen said nothing more, walking out of the office with the cigarette dangling from his lips. *** In a villa in Yuezhou South District, Xiao Zhenggong pushed away the blonde, blue-eyed woman in his arms and picked up the phone. "Sect Master, the kid's signal cut out. Why don't we just have our men make a move on the train?" "You cannot make a move on Train 1160!" Xiao Zhenggong furrowed his brows. "Wait until he gets off!" "The train broke down. There's no telling when it'll be fixed." "I told you to wait, so wait! If anyone dares make a move on that train, don't blame the sect rules for being merciless!" The call ended. On the other end of the line, there was no telephone—only a man with an antenna plugged into his head. The man yanked the antenna out from his skull, wiped the blood from it, and put it away in a box, before launching into a string of curses: "Fuck you! What the hell are you acting so arrogant for? You spent half your damn life fooling around outside the province, what the fuck do you know? If not for your old man, what kind of Sect Master would you even be?!" Beside him, a man wearing a flat cap stepped forward and asked, "Hall Master, what do we do about this?" "What else can we do? Find a few sharp brothers and head to the station to intercept him. Remember: get the goods first, then take his life." There was a hole in the Hall Master's cranium, specifically made for inserting the antenna. Now that the antenna was pulled out, the hole remained, ready for next use. The Hall Master grabbed a plug, plugged the hole first, then found two pieces of tape, crossed them into an X, and slapped them over the plug. *** Xiao Zhenggong walked over to the wine cabinet and poured himself a glass of red wine. He had only taken a sip before crushing the wine glass to pieces. Li Banfeng, you sure have good luck. Buying Lucky Star's instant noodles earned you three strokes of good fortune. The train broke down, and while everyone else starves, you have instant noodles to eat. That counts as your first stroke of good luck. Your phone ran out of battery, letting you dodge our tracking. That's your second stroke of good luck. Where is the third stroke of good luck? Could it be the Peddler? You shouldn't be able to run into the Peddler—he's still in Lüshuiwan. Then again, when will the train actually be fixed? You wouldn't actually run into him, would you? At that thought, Xiao Zhenggong took another glass and poured himself a shot of hard liquor. The blonde woman emerged from the bedroom, rested her hand on Xiao Zhenggong's shoulder, and said slowly in Mandarin tinged with a Yuedong accent, "Sect Master Xiao, ran into trouble?" "A bit of trouble," Xiao Zhenggong sighed. "The item I want has been taken into Puluo Province." The blonde woman kissed Xiao Zhenggong on the cheek. "Big things are about to happen in Puluo Province. I heard the head of the He family, He Haiqin, is about to give out." Xiao Zhenggong deliberated for a while, then said to the blonde woman, "Have your brother step in and save He Haiqin first." The blonde woman smiled. "You know his price isn't cheap." Xiao Zhenggong sipped his drink and pinched her cheek. "Price is no issue." The blonde woman reminded him, "You'd better think it through. Doing this will offend the Lu family!" "There's no other way! Everything was going fine until that bastard Li Banfeng went and ruined it all!" Xiao Zhenggong gritted his teeth and downed the liquor in his glass. *** Puluo Province, Lüshuiwan, the He family manor. The head of the He family, He Haiqin, lay on a sickbed. Relying on his cultivation as a Food Cultivator, he forced down a bowl of rice, struggling to hang on to his final breath. All over his body grew pea-sized, deep-green pustules, each one translucent and glistening, looking as though the slightest breath or touch would burst it. He Haiqin's wife, Yan Yulin, was attentively caring for him by his side. His elder sister, He Yuxiu, pushed open the door and stepped in, bringing with her a slight draft of wind. Truly "delicate enough to burst at a breath"—that mere wisp of wind popped a pustule on He Haiqin's face, and green fluid oozed out. Pain flickered across He Haiqin's face. His wife, Yan Yulin, chided He Yuxiu, "Sister, be gentler!" He Yuxiu sat down before the sickbed and said to Yan Yulin, "Sister-in-law, Doctor Chu ran into an unforeseen complication on the road. I'm afraid she won't make it today." "What kind of complication?" Yan Yulin gasped in alarm. He Yuxiu's expression was grave. "I hear she was intercepted by the Lu family!" Yan Yulin's voice trembled. "What do we do now? Jiaqing hasn't returned yet. Sister, please, think of something!" He Haiqin had been tormented by these strange pustules for two whole years, hanging on entirely through the support of the Medicine Cultivator Chu Peiying. He Haiqin's condition had flared up suddenly today, and Chu Peiying was detained on the road; this time, He Haiqin was likely not going to hold out. He Yuxiu said to Yan Yulin, "Sister-in-law, the Jiangxiang Gang sent over a physician. Word is he has some real skill. He's waiting right outside the door. Let him give it a try." "Which physician?" Yan Yulin caught a glimmer of hope. He Yuxiu lowered her voice. "He isn't widely known, but he has true ability. His name is Critick." "What name?" He Haiqin suddenly spoke up. "Critick," He Yuxiu answered carefully. "A foreigner?" He Haiqin was deeply displeased. "I won't see him!"