It was a bronze lotus. Lotus leaves formed the base, roughly ten centimeters across, supporting an unopened flower bud directly above them. The blossom had not opened, but the seams between its petals could be felt.
So it was such a large chunk of bronze—no wonder it was so heavy!
Though Li Banfeng knew little about antiques, he could tell this was an exceptionally exquisite display piece.
Yet was this ornament truly that important?
What did He Jiaqing mean by insisting that he bring it to his family home?
And that Captain Xiao had wanted to shoot him dead over this thing?
Just what secret was hidden inside this lotus?
Li Banfeng slid a fingernail into the seam of the lotus, attempting to pry open one of the petals.
He tried twice, nearly snapping his nail, but the petals did not budge in the slightest.
Having slept too much over the past few days, and with nothing else to do anyway, Li Banfeng spent his time studying the bronze lotus.
From daybreak until two in the afternoon, the bronze lotus remained firmly shut.
*Screeech—*
The train announcer called out: "The train will soon arrive at Yaowanggou Station. Passengers arriving at this station, please gather your luggage and belongings and prepare to disembark."
They had arrived!
They had reached Yaowanggou!
Li Banfeng quickly picked up the silk cloth, yellow paper, and other wrappings, bundled the bronze lotus back up, and stowed it into his backpack. He packed his remaining three bowls of instant noodles, one canister of potato chips, and one and a half packs of spicy strips, then pushed open his compartment door and stepped out.
Since boarding the train, this was the first time Li Banfeng had stepped out of his compartment, and also the first time he saw the other passengers aboard the train.
At first, Li Banfeng had felt somewhat apprehensive, dreading an encounter with some unknown creature like a three-headed person.
Quite a few people stood waiting by the exit doors to disembark, yet they were all normal—or at least looked normal.
Some of them weren't supposed to get off at this station, but they had to leave early because they were on the verge of starving to death.
A man in a suit stood beside Li Banfeng, his left hand in his pocket and his right hand carrying a suitcase. Li Banfeng glanced at him; the man stood at least one meter ninety tall, but couldn't weigh more than a hundred jin.
With a frame so bone-dry and emaciated, a gust of wind out on the street might truly blow him away.
Behind him followed a woman whose build was the exact opposite: by Li Banfeng's estimate, she stood less than one meter forty tall, yet her weight easily cleared one hundred forty jin.
As the train jolted, the man quickly steadied the woman beside him. From their distance and body language, the two appeared to be husband and wife.
The woman cradled a child in her arms, about one or two years old, though one couldn't tell who the child took after.
*Hiss!*
*Woooo!*
With a long wail of the whistle, the train pulled into Yaowanggou Station.
The conductor lowered the car ladder, and Li Banfeng followed the crowd down from the train.
The instant he stepped out of the carriage, the fresh air left Li Banfeng almost intoxicated. Even tainted with traces of coal dust and engine oil, it was far better than the air aboard the train.
The sky was somewhat overcast, but still vastly preferable to the dim, yellowish lighting inside the carriage—not to mention that over the past few days, even that dim light had been gone.
After getting off, Li Banfeng noticed the clothing of the people around him.
Their attire differed greatly from his own.
Many wore suits—black, white, striped, plaid, in every conceivable style.
Quite a few wore Zhongshan suits, some with standing collars, others folded down.
Some wore vests over shirts with bow ties at the collar.
Others wore long gowns, resembling the robes of traditional performers.
Many wore hats of varied styles, mostly fedoras, with plenty of flat caps as well.
There was also another group of hats similar to flat caps, but with slightly narrower brims and a button on the brim.
What kind of hat was that?
It seemed to be called a peaked cap.
Li Banfeng thought to himself: *Since they're all wearing hats, should I pull out my hiking hat too?*
*The problem is, the style of my hiking hat is quite different from theirs.*
And it wasn't just a matter of hats.
After boarding the train, Li Banfeng had taken off his dress shirt and trousers, changing into a T-shirt and sweatpants. Standing here now, he looked entirely out of place with everyone else.
*Should I change back into my shirt and trousers right now? After all, I'm someone who can change clothes on a subway car—doing it on a platform is nothing.*
*Forget it, better not. Why do I have to dress like them anyway? What's wrong with having my own style?*
Li Banfeng felt like the most dazzling man on the entire platform.
Truly dazzling. He even had a strange illusion that his body was glowing.
"Mama, that man is glowing!" a child behind him piped up, staring at Li Banfeng.
*See? Even a kid says I'm glowing. That proves...*
*That proves it's not an illusion!*
Li Banfeng held out his right hand. Under the dim sky, his right arm was indeed radiating a ghastly white, blinding halo of light.
Not just his right arm—his entire body was glowing.
Yet after inspecting himself closely for a moment, Li Banfeng realized the light wasn't coming from him. A beam of light was shining directly down upon him, just like a spotlight on a stage.
Where was this beam of light coming from?
Li Banfeng raised his head toward the sky. The radiance beaming down from above was so piercing that he couldn't keep his eyes open.
Was this a helicopter searchlight?
Was a helicopter tracking him?
Suddenly, the light shining down on him snapped off. Startled, Li Banfeng bolted toward the ticket exit.
A crowd had gathered near the ticket gate, all looking back at Li Banfeng just moments ago.
Li Banfeng was in a hurry to leave the station, but unexpectedly, the crowd parted on their own to make way for him.
"Stay back, everyone stay back! He's been shined upon by heavenly light!"
"Could he be a white lamb?"
"Keep away from him! Don't let his blood splatter on you!"
What did that mean?
Did they know about the helicopter above too?
Li Banfeng grew even more nervous. He pulled out his ticket and handed it to the ticket collector.
The ticket collector produced a puncher, clipped another notch into the ticket, and returned the stub to Li Banfeng.
Leaving no time to worry about the stub, Li Banfeng went straight out of the station. Outside the entrance, he saw quite a few people approaching.
They wore vests without shirts—nothing underneath the vests at all.
They also wore hats made of an indistinguishable material, but in style, they looked remarkably similar to Li Banfeng's hiking hat.
Was this their uniform?
Were they dressed like this to arrest him?
One of them stepped forward and spoke up: "Mister, need a ride?"
With his spicy strips at the ready, Li Banfeng replied on high alert, "A ride to where?"
"Wherever you like, sir! Just name the place!"
Turns out he was a taxi driver.
Since Li Banfeng happened to be in a rush, he said to the driver, "I'm going to Yaowanggou."
The driver chuckled. "Mister, this is Yaowanggou. This whole territory is called Yaowanggou. Where in Yaowanggou are you headed? Ligou or Waigou?"
Ligou or Waigou?
Li Banfeng recalled the message He Jiaqing had sent him.
He Jiaqing had sent him the address before, and those words stirred a bit of memory.
"Ligou. A place called Paifang... something Street."
"Paifang Street, right?" The driver smiled. "No problem. That'll be eight yuan!"
"Eight yuan works!"
The driver grinned even wider. This customer was quite straightforward—no haggling at all.
Li Banfeng genuinely had no desire to haggle. Eight yuan wasn't expensive! It was just the base fare for a cab ride.
The driver led Li Banfeng down from the station square to his vehicle.
Li Banfeng looked at the vehicle.
It had two wheels, a single seat, and two shafts connected by a wooden crossbar in the middle.
"Is this thing fast?"
"Fast!" The driver tossed a towel over his shoulder, gesturing at the cart. "Ask around about the rickshaws in front of the station—whose cart can outrun mine?"
This driver was a rickshaw puller.
In this day and age, there were actually still people pulling rickshaws!
Then again, he had already ridden a steam locomotive and seen a three-headed person; riding a rickshaw was hardly anything shocking.
Only, Li Banfeng was worried it would be too slow.
"Do you have anything faster?"
"You want a horse carriage?" The rickshaw puller waved his hand. "Horse carriages aren't allowed to park in front of the station—they're filthy. Unless someone's unloading cargo. Besides, with your status, riding in one wouldn't be proper."
Li Banfeng had meant whether they had any motorized vehicles. Just as he was about to speak, however, he found his jaw refusing to work; he couldn't get his mouth open at all.
Not only was his mouth paralyzed, but his hands and feet couldn't move either. His body felt as if it had been set in a cart of solidifying concrete.
Seeing Li Banfeng frozen stiff in place, the puller asked, "Mister, what's wrong? Mister, mister... don't tell me you've been shined upon by heavenly light?!"
Chapter 14