At the mere mention of trains, Grandpa Train grew exceptionally excited.
"My train was wonderful! It could haul so much cargo and carry so many people! Wherever I went, the train followed right behind me!"
Li Banfeng chuckled. "Aren't you talking nonsense? Didn't you say before that people follow trains? Where in the world does a train follow a person?"
Grandpa Train shook his head. "My train was different. It had spirit. It could follow me!"
"A train needs tracks to run, though. Once you reach a place without any rails, how does it follow you?"
"It lays its own tracks! Now tell me, isn't that incredible?"
Li Banfeng was even more astonished. "A train that can lay its own tracks? Wherever it goes, it lays them as it moves?"
"That's right! Wherever it goes, it lays them down!" Grandpa Train grew more animated the more he spoke.
"Then it must carry a great deal of rails on board."
"It doesn't need that many—ten or twenty sections are plenty! My train can lay them down and pick them back up. The rails it finishes using get dismantled right away and swapped around!"
Li Banfeng pondered this for a long time, but still couldn't comprehend how such a train was supposed to work.
Grandpa Train continued doing his best to explain: "My train had a dedicated car whose sole job was laying tracks. That car was the cleverest of all. It usually went back and forth alongside the other cars, and it never laid a single piece of track wrong."
Describing a train car as clever was certainly a first!
Li Banfeng could hardly begin to picture the train's design, yet seeing Grandpa Train speak of it with such rapt adoration, it seemed as if such a train truly existed.
Li Banfeng smiled and said, "If a train followed behind you everywhere you went, wouldn't that scare everyone half to death?"
Grandpa Train answered with utter seriousness, "Other people couldn't see my train. My train could turn invisible. Sometimes even I couldn't see it."
Li Banfeng stopped smiling.
A memory surfaced in his mind.
Back when he had first learned the technique of Perceiving Spiritual Voices, Li Banfeng had listened to the sounds coming from the walls—and he had heard the chuffing release of steam.
Li Banfeng asked cautiously, "Senior, if you couldn't see that train, how did you usually board it?"
"I had a key!" Grandpa Train's eyes widened. "A car key—have you ever heard of that? It can unlock doors, and it can start up the train!"
Li Banfeng exerted every ounce of his self-control to avoid showing the slightest hint of an unusual reaction.
The train Grandpa Train described bore an uncanny resemblance to an item of immense importance to him.
He recalled the words the peddler had spoken when gifting him the Portable Abode:
*"This was a shelter built by a Grandmaster journey cultivator. Later, as his cultivation grew ever deeper, that Grandmaster no longer needed it, so he sold it to me."*
Li Banfeng looked at the senior journey cultivator before him and asked, "Where did that train come from?"
"I made it myself!" Grandpa Train replied proudly.
"Why make a train?"
"We journey cultivators spend our days rushing from place to place. We need somewhere to shelter from the wind and rain!"
"Since you're a journey cultivator, how were you able to build a train?"
Grandpa Train gave a cold snort. "Can someone just go around telling you things like that? Can you just casually interrogate people about their cultivation?"
Li Banfeng didn't dare offend this Grandmaster and quickly apologized. "It was my breach of etiquette. Pretend I never asked."
Grandpa Train snorted once more. "Normally, I certainly wouldn't tell you. But right now we're in a dream, so it doesn't matter if I tell you. Once I wake up, I'll forget all about it anyway."
Li Banfeng showered him with praise. "Senior speaks with great reason!"
Grandpa Train said, "I'm a journey cultivator, but I'm also a Craft Cultivator."
"A journey cultivator can dual-cultivate as a Craft Cultivator?"
"Why couldn't they?" At the mention of journey cultivators, Grandpa Train beamed with pride. "Except for Dwelling Cultivators, journey cultivators can dual-cultivate alongside any pathway!"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Indeed, they can dual-cultivate with anything!"
Grandpa Train added, "Our journey cultivator pathway is the best pathway in the world!"
Li Banfeng chimed in loudly, "Yes! Journey cultivators are the best pathway!"
Grandpa Train added, "Dwelling Cultivators are the lowest pieces of filth—every damn one of them is a bastard!"
Li Banfeng remained silent.
Grandpa Train glanced back over his shoulder at him. "Tell me, aren't they bastards?"
"Mm." Li Banfeng gave a slight nod.
Grandpa Train blew two blasts of his steam whistle and continued sprinting forward.
Li Banfeng asked, "If it was such a wonderful train, why did you sell it to someone else?"
*Huff—puff—*
Grandpa Train's steps slowed. "Because I wanted to buy something even better."
"Did you manage to buy it?"
"I did. But I still miss that train. There are countless fine things in this world, but there was only one thing that fun."
Li Banfeng asked, "Then why didn't you build another train?"
*Huff—puff—*
Grandpa Train slowed down even more.
"Trains can be built, but the materials are hard to find. You have to go to the Inner States to find them. I tracked down more than ninety percent of the materials in the Inner States, only to be ambushed by that flock of birdbrains there. I've been asleep ever since."
Li Banfeng was stunned. "You've been sleeping in the Inner States?"
"Yes! Why do you ask? Are you planning to harm me?" Grandpa Train grew suddenly alert.
"Not at all," Li Banfeng said, shaking his head repeatedly. "There's no grudge between us, so I have no reason to harm you."
A trace of murderous intent radiated from Grandpa Train. "Why should I believe you?"
Did he even need to ask?
"I'm in Puluo Province, while you're asleep in the Inner States. We're separated by tens of thousands of li. I can't even touch you, so how could I possibly harm you?"
That answer was completely flawless.
Yet unexpectedly, after hearing it, Grandpa Train's suspicion only deepened.
"Who told you that you were in Puluo Province?"
Li Banfeng replied, "I've been in Puluo Province all along! Wasn't the station where we met Heishipo?"
*Chuff-chuff—chuff-chuff—*
Grandpa Train's pace abruptly dropped.
His cadence also slowed to a crawl. "This isn't Puluo Province. This is the Inner States."
*Uh...*
Was this old man going mad again?
*Chuff-chuff—chuff-chuff—*
Grandpa Train went on, "The place where we met wasn't Heishipo, either. That was the border between the Inner States and Puluo Province."
*I came to the Inner States?*
A wave of daze swept over Li Banfeng.
"Senior, could you be mistaken?"
"I can't be mistaken. Heishipo used to be my territory. The people there were wild and untamed, refusing to submit to discipline—a bit like me."
Li Banfeng said, "I'm not talking about Heishipo. I'm talking about the Inner States and Puluo Province..."
*Hiss—*
With a long screech of brakes, Grandpa Train came to a halt.
"We have arrived at Zhao Dajun Station. Passengers arriving at this station, please gather your luggage and prepare to alight."
Grandpa Train's tone sounded quite like a train conductor's.
Li Banfeng climbed down from Grandpa Train's back and looked around in all directions.
Zhao Dajun, that software developer.
Why was this place called Zhao Dajun Station? Was it because this was his dream?
Grandpa Train looked at Li Banfeng. "If you alight here, the fare is one hundred and fifty yuan. If you don't alight, we'll keep going."
Li Banfeng looked at Grandpa Train, feeling somewhat hesitant.
He could still obtain a wealth of crucial information from this senior.
Yet if he kept running along with him like this, there was no telling where they might end up. Grandpa Train was mentally unstable, and one had to stay on guard against a madman.
Li Banfeng considered it for a moment, then asked, "Can I look around this area?"
Grandpa Train paused. "You mean you want me to wait for a bit?"
Li Banfeng nodded.
"That works!" Grandpa Train agreed readily. "Half an hour, three hundred yuan."
Li Banfeng handed over three hundred in Huan Country notes, then asked, "Senior, can you accompany me as I look around?"
"You mean you want me to act as your tour guide?"
"Mm."
Grandpa Train thought about it. "Half an hour, three hundred."
Li Banfeng handed over another three hundred.
He didn't know whether he had genuinely given him money, nor did he know what state he was currently in.
Grandpa Train, however, was thoroughly satisfied and led Li Banfeng deep into the wilderness.
There was no road ahead, but that did nothing to impede the footsteps of two journey cultivators.
At first, they were surrounded by tall, robust wild grass reaching as high as a man. After walking several dozen li, the grass grew shorter and shorter, giving way to a gravel path devoid of vegetation.
The gravel path became increasingly smooth. After another dozen-odd li, it turned into a flagstone road.
The flagstone road led toward a lake, where Li Banfeng spotted Zhao Dajun along the shore.
Holding a small twig, Zhao Dajun was calculating intensely on the lakeside ground.
Li Banfeng was curious about what he was working out. Drawing closer, he saw a matrix drawn on the left and integral equations on the right.
He seemed to have been calculating for quite some time.
Just as Li Banfeng was about to look elsewhere, Zhao Dajun suddenly stood up and looked toward him. "Friend, you've come!"
*He can see me?*
Grandpa Train raised his eyebrows. "This is his dream. Of course he can see you."
Yet Zhao Dajun appeared completely oblivious to Grandpa Train. He said excitedly to Li Banfeng, "I've calculated it!"
"What did you calculate?"
Bursting with excitement, Zhao Dajun took a ruler, measured a circle along the edge of the lake, selected a spot, made a mark, pulled up a chair, sat down, and began to fish.
Li Banfeng said, "You went to all that effort and calculated for so long just to find a spot to fish?"
Zhao Dajun nodded. "I calculated it! I performed an in-depth analysis on more than five hundred sets of historical data, and the conclusion I reached was that this is the fastest spot to hook a fish!"
As he spoke, Zhao Dajun reeled in a sucker catfish.
He pursed his lips. "Only the quality of the fish is a bit lacking."
Li Banfeng couldn't fathom Zhao Dajun's train of thought. Grandpa Train gave a cold snort. "That's just the nature of calculation cultivators!"
Li Banfeng looked at Zhao Dajun. "Brother, don't you have any other pleasures?"
"Of course I do!" Zhao Dajun looked at Li Banfeng with an earnest, offended expression, clearly resenting Li Banfeng's skepticism.
He led Li Banfeng to a three-story villa.
In the ground-floor garden, Teacher Anxi and Teacher Mikami were tending to the flowers and shrubs. Seeing Zhao Dajun return, both bowed respectfully in greeting.
Entering the main hall, dozens of teachers greeted him in unison: "Welcome home, Master!"
Zhao Dajun acknowledged them with a perfunctory nod. After inspecting the room, he finally chose Teacher Risa.
He gave Teacher Risa's peach a fierce slap that rang out with a sharp, crisp crack.
Teacher Risa turned around and looked at Zhao Dajun with a hint of petulant reproach, looking as if the blow had stung, yet also as if it hadn't been enough.
A sinister smile spread across Zhao Dajun's face.
Teacher Risa appeared slightly frightened, yet full of anticipation.
Next, Zhao Dajun produced a pen. He drew a matrix across Teacher Risa's left peach and sketched quadrants on the right. After a round of meticulous calculations, he determined the optimal proportions and made several adjustments to Teacher Risa's peaches.
Once the adjustments were made, he began to admire his handiwork in silence.
Li Banfeng drew a deep breath. "Even that has to be calculated..."
Beside him, Grandpa Train sneered in disdain. "See that? That's the pitiful extent of a calculation cultivator's ambitions!"
Li Banfeng voiced his agreement: "Truly pathetic!"
Grandpa Train said, "Aside from Dwelling Cultivators, they have the least ambition of anyone. Wouldn't you say so?"
"Mm," Li Banfeng replied softly.
Grandpa Train looked at Zhao Dajun, his tone turning solemn. "He can no longer get out. Do you still want to?"
Chapter 281