The Mad Craftsman

Three days later, Liao Zihui's secretary, Ling Sujun, arrived at Xiaoyaowu holding an official document. The Garrison Office had responded to Li Qi's demand: effective immediately, freight charges for Li Qi's businesses would be cut in half. Ma the Fifth was so thrilled he didn't even have the heart to flirt with Ling Sujun, rushing straight to Li Banfeng instead. Li Banfeng was quite calm. "I expect the major families will be knocking on our door soon." Of course they would come. Li Qi had secured half price, while they couldn't even get the standard rate; they were bound to look for ways to ship their goods through him. Ma the Fifth had prepared for this long ago. "For those close to us, we can help move their goods and make a cut off the difference. Sister Xiu will probably be here today. As for how much of a margin we take, we can discuss that when the time comes." Li Banfeng shook his head. "We won't take a markup from He Yuxiu. Just charge her a bit for labor costs." Ma the Fifth was taken aback. "Why is that?" "He Yuxiu earned her share of the credit. Things worked out this time, and she played no small part in it." Her contribution had indeed been considerable. Not only had she served as a main force in the battle against the Sanying Gate, but more importantly, she had drawn a great deal of the Garrison Commissioner's fire away from Li Banfeng. "What about the other families?" "Rewards according to merit. The greater the merit, the smaller the margin." Ma the Fifth rubbed his brow. It sounded like a headache, though if one thought it through carefully, each family's contributions could indeed be tracked. Yet he still had some worries. "If we do this, the Garrison Commissioner is going to take a heavy hit. Won't they come looking for trouble later?" With all the major families shipping their goods through Li Qi— "There will be plenty of trouble," Li Banfeng said. "As long as the Boundary remains in their grip, this matter isn't over." As he spoke, Li Banfeng looked toward the sweeper at the doorway. The sweeper had his head down, broom in hand, conscientiously cleaning the corner of the corridor. "What is that?" Li Banfeng asked. The sweeper clutched his broom nervously, sweat beading across his face. He looked up and asked, "Seventh Master, you mean...?" Li Banfeng tapped the small wooden puppet hanging at the cleaner's waist. "Quite unique." "You mean this?" The cleaner untied the puppet. "There's a peddler selling sundries downstairs. I thought it looked nice and was pretty cheap, so I bought it to take home for my kid." "You mean downstairs?" "Right by the roadside, just a little stall. He should still be there right now." Li Banfeng went downstairs and indeed spotted a sundries stall. Most of the items were toys. Li Banfeng's eyes caught a wooden train. "How much for this?" "Five dollars, no bargaining." It really wasn't expensive. Li Banfeng bought the wooden train, as well as a jar of glass marbles and two tin frogs. Returning to Xiaoyaowu, Li Banfeng entered the Portable Abode and headed straight for Room Three. "Old Master, I brought you something," Li Banfeng said, pulling out the wooden train and rolling it back and forth on the floor. The Portable Abode made no response. "There are glass marbles too. Last time, you said you'd use them to pass the time. These really are quite fun." Still no response from the Portable Abode. Li Banfeng took out a tin frog, wound it up, and let it click-clack and hop across the floor. "Do you like this one?" "Say what you have to say!" the Portable Abode finally spoke. "I wanted to ask about something: what exactly is the principle behind the boundaries between regions?" After a long pause, the Portable Abode answered, "I studied them once, but never fully got to the bottom of it. There are things I still remember, but most of it I've forgotten." "That can't be." Li Banfeng produced the switch that controlled the Boundary. "Didn't you make this?" "I didn't make this thing; I altered it. Some things can be repaired when broken, and some can be modified when unwieldy, but making a brand-new one isn't nearly so easy." This was the truth. Creating something from scratch was far more difficult than repairing or modifying it. The Portable Abode continued, "Furthermore, you must be prudent in using this mechanism. It worked once before, but there's no telling if it will work next time. People from the Outer States love playing petty tricks like this." Li Banfeng could understand that; it was just like different devices having different passwords. Yet Li Banfeng was determined to break free of the Boundary's constraints. Even if he had to learn from scratch, he was willing to accept it. "Can you teach me some craftsman techniques?" "Why learn craftsman techniques? You're already open for business across two pathways—is that still not enough for you?" "I want to build a railway—a railway uncontrolled by boundaries. Do you have a way?" "Heh heh..." The Portable Abode chuckled. "Old Train spent all those years just trying to build a railway like that, and even he couldn't manage it. Do you think you can?" "Old Train?" Li Banfeng smiled. "You mean Grandpa Train? You call him that too? Then what did he call you?" "He called me Little Train." "Bwahahaha!" the glove burst out laughing from the side. "Old Master, at your ripe old age, you're called Little Train? Have you no shame at all?" A pot came flying over. The glove darted aside to dodge it. "Old Master, that trick won't work anymore! Bwahaha—" A vase fell from the table, smashing squarely onto the glove. The Portable Abode sighed. "Ah-Qi, building a railway isn't something you can do. Craftsman techniques can't be learned overnight. Nor can I do it; I've forgotten too much. See if your wife has the knack for it. She learns everything quickly. But she still needs a hand. There's another clever one in the house, though she might not be willing to help." Which clever one? Li Banfeng pondered for a moment, then thought of Room Nine. "Old Master, you mean Red Lotus? I'm afraid she's still hung up on that old friend of mine." The Portable Abode laughed. "Ah-Qi, you've spent too little time around Red Lotus. You really don't understand her nature. I haven't seen that friend of yours, but I know there's no room in Red Lotus's heart for him. Her heart holds only that person in the sky. Other than that person, there's room for no one else." The one in the sky? Li Banfeng had heard his wife mention it before. "The one who shone the Heavenly Light upon me?" "Precisely. In Puluo Province, whenever someone touches Red Lotus, she sends a message up to the sky, and Heavenly Light shines down from above. But here in my abode, she can't send messages to the sky. She's beside herself with frustration, and watching her get so frantic brings me more joy than words can say." Li Banfeng fell silent for a long moment, then shared a knowing smile with the Portable Abode. Once their laughter faded, Li Banfeng thought back to Grandpa Train. "Where on earth is Old Train right now?" The Portable Abode said, "Don't think about his business for now. You can't go where he's gone." "Who trapped him?" The Portable Abode sighed. "I've forgotten. It's not that I don't want to tell you—I truly have forgotten. Back then, following Old Train, we fought that battle against them. Most of my combat strength was beaten right out of me, and most of my memories were beaten away along with it. If we run into them again, I'm not confident I could get you out alive." "Then what should we do? You've forgotten the craftsman techniques for the boundaries, and we can't find Old Train. If we just rely on my wife figuring it out on her own, how many years will that take?" The Portable Abode fell silent; it couldn't think of a good solution either. Li Banfeng looked up and asked, "I have an idea. I've already set it in motion, though I don't know if it'll work. If I can show you a newly formed boundary, could that help you recover part of your memory?" After a long silence, the Portable Abode said, "Might as well try." Li Banfeng returned to the Main Room and was intimate with his wife twice. Gritting her teeth, sweat beading across her skin, the wife said, "As long as you don't take joy soil, this slave can still hold up." The glove crawled out from beneath the vase, only to discover that the wooden train, the glass marbles, and the tin frogs on the floor had all vanished. ... Li Banfeng left the Portable Abode. In the Main Room, Hong Ying hadn't been able to hear the Portable Abode earlier, but she had heard Li Banfeng and the glove. With Li Banfeng away, Hong Ying whispered to the gramophone, "You vicious hag, I heard that madman and that wretched hand talking about 'Old Train' and 'Little Train.' They wouldn't be talking about that mad craftsman and his train, would they?" The gramophone sneered. "What 'mad craftsman'? Have you no manners at all? That is an elder of your pathway." Hong Ying gasped in horror. "I should have realized long ago—we've fallen inside that madman's train! Zhao Xiaowan, why aren't you afraid at all?" "Afraid of what? Hasn't this senior treated us quite well?" "Have you forgotten what they were like on the battlefield? Aside from that peddler, the old craftsman and his train struck with the utmost brutality!" Ch-ch— The gramophone kept a slow tempo as she sang, "Oh, wretched wench, deaf and blind all these years, the times have long since shifted. Stop raking up that ancient history." Hong Ying sneered coldly. "If we don't rake up ancient history, does that mean the grudge between us is over too?" "Oh, wretched wench, you really are dreaming. Even if you descend into the eighteen levels of hell, our grudge will never be over." ... He Jiaqing sat in a small tavern, sipping beer and reading the newspaper alongside skewers of mutton. The little tavern didn't have much of a crowd; He Jiaqing came here purely to eat. However, the news in the paper spoiled his appetite. It was a newspaper from Puluo Province with news from three days ago, and the front-page headline read: *Septuagenarian Ghost Hand Sect Master Sprints Naked in the Streets: What Is the Secret Behind It?* He Jiaqing did his best to stay calm as he read through the entire article. He gained a whole new understanding of Xie Juncong. After finishing his meal, He Jiaqing walked toward the stadium. On the way, Shen Rongqing delivered a message. "Jiaqing, the Garrison Commissioner gave Li Qi a fifty-percent cut on freight. Li Qi doesn't need us to move his goods anymore." He Jiaqing chuckled. "Then we can have him move goods for us. It's business—whatever makes money is the way to go!" Shen Rongqing sighed. "I went to talk to Ma the Fifth, but he wasn't very eager to see me. He said this isn't about personal ties, that rewards are based on merit. At most, he'd give us a twenty-percent discount on freight." "Twenty percent isn't bad either. Li Qi has to make a margin, after all. Keep the business going for now." Shen Rongqing was still somewhat indignant. "Jiaqing, He Yuxiu's business got a fifty-percent freight cut from Li Qi, and he only took a bit for labor. Li Qi didn't take any markup from her." "Why is that?" He Jiaqing froze for a second, then suddenly asked, "What's the relationship between Li Qi and my aunt?" "Rumor has it they've been getting quite close. And you know your aunt's temperament. When she sees a man she takes a fancy to, she..." "He wouldn't dare!" He Jiaqing snapped, agitated. "If Li Qi dares to sleep with my aunt, I'll tear him—" What could he even do to him? He Jiaqing was at a critical juncture and couldn't return to Puluo Province right now. Shen Rongqing asked, "Jiaqing, do we still do business with Li Qi?" "Of course we do! Didn't he say rewards according to merit? If there's money for us to make, why wouldn't we take it? Besides, this business won't last long. The Garrison Commissioner agrees to fifty percent of the freight today, but tomorrow he might jack it up to five times as much. Move quickly and ship as much as we can. Every bit extra we earn counts." ... Ma the Fifth recruited nearly a thousand land reclaimers across all of Lüshuiwan and gathered them in Lanyang Village. Li Banfeng held a land reclamation assembly, laying the rewards right out before the reclaimers: "You know the rules of land reclamation, and you know my rules as well. The shining silver dollars are laid out right here. Collect your reward according to the size of the plot. The carriages and horses are already prepared. Pack your things and hit the road."