The peddler was about to leave when Li Banfeng quickly called out, "When will you be back next time?"
"Once every three months. Same day, same place. Nothing else, right?"
Once every three months.
Three months from now, who knew if he would even be in this place?
Opportunities like this were rare; he had to buy something no matter what.
"I'll buy two candles!"
The little room was too dark; candles were an absolute necessity.
The peddler handed two candles to Li Banfeng. "Want matches?"
*Yanghuo* was just an old term for matches.
Li Banfeng had brought a lighter, but it had been jostled loose and lost along the way.
"Give me a box."
"Two candles and a box of matches. Are you paying with Huan Country notes or silver dollars?"
Li Banfeng gave an honest, disarming smile. "You charge money too?"
The peddler's brow shot up. "Why wouldn't I?!"
A candle was twenty cents, and a box of matches was five cents. Having no loose change, Li Banfeng handed over a hundred-yuan bill.
The peddler actually managed to break it, handing over a large handful of assorted change—even including cent coins that had been out of circulation for years.
Both paid and settled, the peddler left.
Li Banfeng was in a bind.
Without a phone, in an unfamiliar place among strangers, where was he supposed to find He Jiaqing?
Too much had happened today. Even though he had blacked out twice, he still felt thoroughly exhausted.
On top of that, he had barely eaten anything all day.
He unlocked the "residence" with the brass key. Before stepping through the door, he tossed the key into the wild grass—hidden enough, yet easy to retrieve; within five meters, he never missed his mark.
Entering the pitch-black room, Li Banfeng lit one of the candles he had bought, took off his backpack, and rubbed his aching shoulders.
From the moment he stepped off the train until now, he had been carrying the backpack non-stop. Everything else was fine, but the bronze lotus was simply too heavy.
He opened the backpack, opened a pack of instant noodles, and crunched through them dry.
He had no water on him, but fortunately he had drunk two bowls of fruit nectar earlier, so he wasn't terribly parched.
As he ate, he went over everything that had happened today, feeling that his mental illness was showing signs of recovery.
*After getting off the train, I was bathed in the Heavenly Light—in other words, hit by a stream of dark-matter rays, the exact reason unknown.*
*The moment I stepped out of the station, I couldn't move, and then I was chased by two men in flat caps.*
*Somehow I became a cultivator of two incompatible pathways, and even gained a mobile house.*
*Who would dare call me crazy after this? Could there be an experience crazier than this?*
*If I can't find He Jiaqing, what should I do?*
*Go back to the train station, buy a ticket, and head straight back to Yuezhou?*
*What am I thinking? I've already made it to Yaowanggou; how could I just turn around and go back? If I find a place to charge my phone, won't everything be sorted out?*
Li Banfeng pillowed his head on his backpack and lay down on the cold floor.
This room was a bit dark and a bit small, but it was actually pretty good.
From now on, he would call it the "Portable Abode."
This was his house.
He had a home now.
His brow smoothed out, a faint smile gracing his lips.
Though he had no idea how He Jiaqing was doing right now.
Though he didn't even know where on earth he was.
Li Banfeng was in high spirits.
He fell into a deep sleep inside the Portable Abode. When he woke, he had no idea what time it was. Without a watch, with a dead phone, and without a speck of daylight entering the room, he seemed to have lost all concept of time.
Sleeping on the cold, hard floor had left his whole body aching. He rubbed his neck and stretched his limbs.
*Crack!* His bones popped with a sharp pang.
Suddenly, Li Banfeng realized his strength was much greater than usual.
Was there strength surging through his body?
Was this what the peddler called acknowledging the dwelling?
A wave of delight washed over Li Banfeng. He paced around the Portable Abode a few times, and indeed, his body felt significantly lighter, his steps much nimbler.
He changed into a dress shirt and trousers.
Compared to a T-shirt, a dress shirt looked far less out of place.
He still had to wear the backpack, but without anything inside.
Why carry an empty bag if nothing was in it?
Li Banfeng had his own plan.
The two flat-capped men he had run into at the station had clearly been after him, but no matter how hard he wracked his brain, Li Banfeng couldn't fathom what dispute he could possibly have with them.
This was his first time setting foot in Puluo Province; the only possible connection was the bronze lotus.
The bronze lotus was He Jiaqing's treasure. He Jiaqing hailed from Puluo Province, so someone here must know about it.
Someone wanted to seize this treasure, and thus set their sights on him.
If that crowd targeted him again, the best way to escape would be to throw them the backpack as bait and take the chance to bolt.
The backpack was torn. When it got stuck under the sleeper berth, Li Banfeng had yanked it hard, ripping the seams in several places.
A few tears didn't matter; it wouldn't interfere with business.
Leaving the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng didn't forget the peddler's warning: the first order of business was to retrieve the key.
Just as he lowered his head to pick it up, he discovered he was not in yesterday's wilderness.
Before him was still pitch-black, showing neither the night sky nor the light of day.
*Did I fail to step out of the Portable Abode?*
Li Banfeng startled, thinking he was trapped inside the residence, but quickly calmed down.
This wasn't the Portable Abode. Although he couldn't see anything here either, the smell was completely different from inside the residence.
The Portable Abode had gone uninhabited for too long and smelled only of dust.
The air here seemed fresher, carrying the scent of nature—especially a fresh, musky, rank stench.
Moreover, it wasn't completely devoid of light, just very dim.
After sleeping a whole night in the pitch-dark house, his vision was keenly sensitive. By the faint light, he caught sight of faint outlines.
Rocks.
Stone walls.
This seemed to be a cave.
Could it be some wild beast's lair...?
Li Banfeng's guess was right. Beside him, two eerie green eyes slowly opened.
The instant he saw those eyes, Li Banfeng turned on his heels and bolted.
*Rrrroaaar!*
A low, muffled roar came from behind him, followed immediately by heavy panting and thudding footsteps.
What kind of animal was that?
Judging by the footsteps, it had to be massive.
Where was he running?
Was he heading toward the cave entrance?
What if he ran into a dead end?
Why had he ended up in this cave?
Was this beast ambushing him on purpose?
Had someone schemed against him again?
A barrage of questions churned in his mind, and as he ran, the answers revealed themselves one by one.
First, Li Banfeng hadn't run the wrong way. He spotted a patch of light ahead—he was indeed fleeing toward the mouth of the cave.
As for why he had picked the right direction, he had no time to ponder it.
That gleam of light was tiny, which meant the entrance was far away.
In a slick, wet cave, Li Banfeng didn't think he could outrun a beast.
Yet the facts proved that he could!
The cave was indeed slippery, but his footing was remarkably steady and fast. Right up until he burst out of the entrance, the beast never managed to catch up.
Only after he had cleared the cave and sprinted several dozen meters did the beast lumber out after him.
Li Banfeng glanced back. It was a bear—a massive black bear whose shoulder height reached Li Banfeng's own shoulders even while on all fours.
Li Banfeng had seen plenty of bears in zoos, but never one of such exaggerated proportions. He ran for his life, wanting nothing more than to shake the creature off.
Yet doing so didn't seem that difficult.
Along the rugged mountain trail, Li Banfeng ran like the wind. The black bear gave chase for a moment before gradually slowing down.
It stopped chasing because it couldn't keep up.
The black bear was bitter about losing its prey, but it wasn't stubborn. It roared twice at Li Banfeng's retreating back, turned around, and lumbered back into the cave.
It wasn't chasing anymore!
I made it!
Having survived the ordeal, Li Banfeng was thrilled!
I made it!
Did he really?
If keeping his life was the measure, then it certainly counted as a success.
But what about the key?
Li Banfeng turned his head and looked at the black bear's receding silhouette.
Though the distance was great, his vision was far sharper than before.
On the bear's back, he saw a faint golden glint.
The key was stuck to the black bear's back.
Chapter 22