Who Stole the Popular Aura?

Big Head returned home, lay down in his bedroom, and lit a cigarette. Smoke drifted through the room, shrouding the cell phone and satellite phone resting beside him. Big Head fidgeted with a button on his shirt, connecting with He Jiaqing. "I found the address of Healing Cultivator Kang Zhenchang. He's right here in Yuezhou. I can head over to him now." He Jiaqing said, "Brother, you can't go. You've already helped me too much; I can't let you take any more risks. Hand the address over to Zhu Junlong, the general manager of the Chashan Hotel, and let him handle the rest. He has some things to give you as well. Take them to the newland at Huahu Park and leave them in the cave where you usually cultivate. I'll pick them up in a couple of days." Big Head agreed. He went downstairs to a florist, bought a bouquet of roses, and drove straight to the Chashan Hotel. His wife was the hotel's lobby manager. Spotting Big Head, she hurried over to greet him. "What brought you here?" Big Head handed the roses to her. "After work, I couldn't fall asleep at home. I got to thinking about how I've never given you flowers all these years, and... I just suddenly felt like I owe you so much..." Her face flushed crimson, her eyes turning even redder than her cheeks. Her lips trembled slightly, but for a long moment, she couldn't utter a word. How had this blockhead suddenly learned romance? General Manager Zhu Junlong stepped into the lobby, startling Big Head's wife into hastily tucking the roses behind her back. Zhu Junlong came forward with a greeting. "And this is...?" She hurriedly made the introduction. "This is my husband." Zhu Junlong stepped up to shake his hand. "A pleasure, a pleasure! Dropping by to visit your wife?" Big Head nodded. "She's worked here so long, but this is actually my first time visiting." The two had met before, yet acted as though meeting for the first time. With that handshake, Kang Zhenchang's address slipped from Big Head's palm into Zhu Junlong's hand. Zhu Junlong instructed someone to fetch two boxes of tea leaves from his office. "Since you're here, we can't let you leave empty-handed. Just a small token—please don't refuse it." Big Head politely demurred before accepting. Leaving the hotel, Big Head drove to Huahu Park. Walking behind the Western-style house, he saw the woman sobbing with her back turned to him. She was neither a living person nor a departed soul. She was a marker—a sign left by He Jiaqing using special methods. Only Big Head could see this marker. Once he saw this woman, Big Head found the entrance to the newland. Taking advantage of the empty surroundings, Big Head took two steps forward and vanished in the blink of an eye. *** Li Banfeng stood beside the Western-style house, quietly watching the scene. Ever since Big Head left the Dark Star Bureau, Li Banfeng had been tailing him, because the glove caught a distinctive scent on him. Now that Big Head had sunk into the ground, he had most likely entered the newland. Li Banfeng hesitated over whether to follow. It was broad daylight. Everything else was manageable, but lying prone on the ground to poke around with a voltage tester would draw a bit too much attention. How had Big Head gotten in? Just now, Li Banfeng had heard weeping again—clear crying sounds, yet he couldn't pinpoint the source. The weeping might be close by, disguised by some special technique that prevented anyone from accurately judging its location. Li Banfeng activated Golden Eyes Discerning the Minutest Detail. Sweeping his gaze around, he caught sight of a hazy figure. Pushing the technique harder, Li Banfeng saw clearly this time: behind the Western-style house stood a woman, her back facing him. She wore jeans and a white top, both completely soaked and plastered with mud. She was sobbing. Keeping his expression calm, Li Banfeng walked toward her. Barely two steps in, Li Banfeng felt the ground give way beneath his feet, and he plunged into the lake. What was this? Seeing this woman was the key to finding the entrance to the newland. No wonder Luo Zhengnan had called it a mechanism for a gatekeeper. This entrance differed slightly from the route Luo Zhengnan had developed. According to Luo's route, one had to use the voltage tester again upon reaching the bottom of the lake. This path didn't require using the tester a second time; it led straight into the newland. Big Head had come ashore first and headed to the cave where he frequently cultivated. The cave was kept sealed under normal circumstances, its stone door fitting seamlessly into the mountainside so that an ordinary person wouldn't even detect the entrance. Big Head produced a key, located a keyhole behind a bunch of green vines, and turned the key. A boulder slowly swiveled open, revealing an entrance just wide enough for a single person to pass through. Inside the cave lay Big Head's cultivation sanctuary. Cultivation, for him, essentially meant consuming medicinal pills. The cave harbored some daily necessities and medicines to purge pill poison. Every time, Big Head consumed his pills here and then used these medicines to neutralize the pill poison, preventing anyone at the Dark Star Bureau from noticing anything amiss. One area of the cave was designated for storing drinking water, packed with over a dozen water buckets. Big Head placed the tea boxes Zhu Junlong gave him on top of the buckets. Worrying He Jiaqing might miss them, he found a blanket and draped it over the boxes. Once everything was properly arranged, Big Head left the cave, sealed the stone door, and returned to Huahu Park the way he came. Li Banfeng didn't head back. Using Sever the Path to Forge a Way, he stepped right into the cave. A blanket draped over water buckets made for an unmistakable marker. Li Banfeng quickly found the tea boxes. Tearing off the wrapping and opening the boxes, he found a motley assortment inside. There were magnets, antennas, earphones, nails, circuit boards of various sizes, and fox tails in diverse styles. What on earth were these? Why hide such junk in a cave? Li Banfeng frowned, looking at the two boxes of odds and ends with distaste as he analyzed Big Head's peculiar tastes. In the middle of his analysis, he caught a scent—a very distinctive scent. Popular aura? Li Banfeng picked up a magnet and activated Exquisite Hundred Flavors. Within the magnet, he indeed detected the scent of popular aura. Big Head was gathering popular aura? What was he gathering it for? Could his cultivation have reached above the clouds? In the Security Brigade, an acknowledged saying held that among all members, Big Head possessed the highest combat strength. Was he the strongest member because he was above the clouds? That didn't quite make sense. Why would an above-the-clouds cultivator serve as an ordinary brigade member? Didn't he have far better places to be? Was this truly popular aura? He couldn't rely solely on scent; he had to test it carefully using above-the-clouds methods. Li Banfeng set the magnet on top of his head. After a brief tremor, Li Banfeng lifted the magnet away. It really was popular aura! An immense and extraordinarily pure quantity of it! One truly couldn't underestimate Big Head! The crucial question was: how could a magnet store popular aura? Could Luo Zhengnan figure out the underlying principle? The other items looked even stranger than the magnets. Of course, just because the magnet held popular aura didn't mean the rest did too. Take this circuit board, for instance—could this thing really hold popular aura? Again, he couldn't judge purely by smell. He had to test this one too. *** "Over there too! We have to try that spot!" Xiao Zhenggong pointed at a rock amidst the bushes, telling Daboynes to dig it up. Daboynes frowned. "Do you think this is funny?" Xiao Zhenggong chuckled. "What? Tired already? I'm not even complaining about being tired! I only have a few places where I usually stash things, and now I've told you all of them. Shouldn't you put in a little elbow grease, kid?" This was an unnamed mountain in the Yaowanggou newland, where Daboynes had been digging up stones for two full days. Daboynes had resurrected Xiao Zhenggong using a corpse, but upon reviving, Xiao Zhenggong had lost two months of crucial memories. Those two months of memories were impossible to recover, but Xiao Zhenggong had a habit of hiding things in a few set locations. This unnamed mountain was one of them, and it might hold vital clues. Presently, Xiao Zhenggong possessed virtually no cultivation, his physique merely a notch above an ordinary mortal's. If they still couldn't dig up anything worthwhile today, Daboynes would be furious—and if Daboynes decided to do something to him, Xiao Zhenggong had zero power to resist. Fortunately, their luck turned today. Daboynes unearthed a ziplock bag—a type rarely seen in Puluo Province, clearly brought back by Xiao Zhenggong from the Outer States. Opening the bag revealed more than a dozen notebooks, each filled with copious columns of numbers. Daboynes stared at them for a long time without discerning their meaning. "What is the point of this?" Xiao Zhenggong took the notebooks and flipped through them briefly. "These are of tremendous use. But as for how to use them specifically, I still have to think about it." Daboynes tossed aside the shovel and seized Xiao Zhenggong by the collar. "Need me to help you think?" Though stripped of combat strength, Xiao Zhenggong showed no cowardice whatsoever. "What, want to kill me? Go ahead!" Daboynes flicked a spiderweb out of his sleeve, strung it between two trees, and flung Xiao Zhenggong onto it. "I didn't say I'd kill you. But I can make you wish you were dead." Xiao Zhenggong laughed. "And what good does making me wish I were dead do for you?" Daboynes bared his fangs. "Let's try it and see if it does any good!" Xiao Zhenggong remained utterly fearless. "I could swallow my pride and cower before you, and then we'd just go back to scheming against each other. In the end, neither of us gains a thing. Why bother?" Daboynes shook his head. "I never wanted to scheme against you. I have cooperated with you in complete sincerity from the start." "What do you call sincerity?" "I brought you back to life! I gave you a second chance at living! That is sincerity!" "You call that sincerity?" Xiao Zhenggong gave a bitter chuckle. "I used to have cultivation nearing above the clouds. And now? I'm practically a blank slate, having to speak submissively in front of you. Do you really think you're treating me with sincerity?" "I already told you about your cultivation. Residues still linger in your blood, but full recovery won't happen overnight." Xiao Zhenggong said, "I'm not asking to jump straight back to above the clouds. But at least restore me by a layer or two! At least let me pick up a tool and use it as a weapon, so when the day comes that you slaughter the donkey after the grinding is done, I won't be entirely defenseless! Does that make sense to you?" After reflecting for a moment, Daboynes lowered Xiao Zhenggong from the web. "Tomorrow I will contact the Inner States to procure some reagents for you. Aside from that, I'm running low on funds; I need working capital." "That's easy. I've got plenty of cash right on this mountain. Take the money first, then get me my cultivation. Once my cultivation is in place, we'll talk real business. How about it?" Daboynes set Xiao Zhenggong down from the spiderweb, rested a bit, and went back to digging. *** Li Banfeng returned to the Dark Star Bureau, where Zhong'er reported the findings of the first stage of the investigation. The main objective of this first stage was a tactical recap of the engagement. Zhong'er brought over a map of the textile factory, covered with dense markings. "According to the accounts of those present, four groups entered Ruirong Textile Factory that night: unidentified individuals wearing gas masks, whom we temporarily designate as the Masked Men; an unidentified person wearing a conical bamboo hat, designated as the Douli Wearer; Director Li and his associates, whose identities are known; and members of the Security Brigade, whose identities are also known. "The first to arrive were the Masked Men, who entered Workshop Six. Although Director Li did not visit Workshop Six and never encountered the Masked Men, surveillance footage from the scene shows that after entering Workshop Six, they never appeared on any camera feed again. The subsequent search by the Security Brigade also turned up no trace of them. This strongly suggests the Masked Men entered a stealth space." As he spoke, Zhong'er drew a circle around Workshop Six and labeled it 'Stealth.' Li Banfeng said, "The spot where I fought the Douli Wearer wasn't in Workshop Six." Zhong'er marked the perimeter wall as well. "The point where Director Li and Tangyuan breached the wall is here; the point where Tangyuan exited the grounds is also here; and the location where Director Li clashed with the Douli Wearer is right here. There ought to be a stealth space here as well. "This particular stealth space is highly unusual. Based on Tangyuan's description of the scene, this stealth space corresponds to an actual physical archetype in history." "What do you mean by physical archetype?" Zhong'er produced a photograph. "This photo was taken at the beginning of the last century, right when Ruirong Textile Factory was completed. At the time, it had only a single workshop. Director Li, please take a look at the layout of the courtyard. Does it bear any resemblance to the place where you fought?" Li Banfeng examined the photograph, and the scene of his clash with the 'Centipede Workshop' resurfaced in his mind. The layout of the courtyard and the placement of the workshop indeed looked similar, though one couldn't confirm it was the identical location based on a single photograph alone. Zhong'er didn't make absolute claims either. "I've only made a rough inference. This is the only photograph of the factory courtyard, but there are several photos of the workshop interior. Please see if they offer any reference value." Looking at the interior photos, Li Banfeng was essentially certain that this was the Centipede Workshop. The positions and layout of the main steam pipes, cylinders, pistons, and machine tools were completely identical to what he had seen. Li Banfeng gave a slight nod. "This is the place." Zhong'er then presented numerous documents. "After entering production, Ruirong Textile Factory quickly became a flagship enterprise of Yuezhou. Its business grew steadily, and the plant continuously expanded. "When this workshop was decommissioned, it wasn't demolished; instead, an exhibition hall was built around it, reflecting its status in Yuezhou's industrial history. "Later, the exhibition hall was torn down, and its equipment sent to be melted into scrap iron. From that point on, numerous incidents began occurring at Ruirong Textile Factory. "Early incidents weren't recorded in detail, most merely mentioned in passing. By the 1980s, however, a flood of reports on similar events appeared in newspapers and magazines." Zhong'er had clipped and pasted the relevant reports into a binder. Li Banfeng skimmed through them; the headlines were striking. 'Ceaseless Weeping Late at Night in Textile Factory: Lingering Resentment in Abandoned Workshop.' 'Two Workers Lost on Factory Grounds: What Did They Truly Encounter?' 'Phantom Apparition in the Plant: A Night of Terror for Security Guard.' ... Looking at these news clippings, Li Banfeng couldn't help recalling his days of scrolling on his phone in the past. It seemed the craft of clickbait headlines had never died out. "Are these reports credible?" "Most are unreliable, but some have a factual basis. For example, this one: late at night, a textile worker spotted a hundred-meter-long behemoth on the grounds. "Looking at the data, a length of a hundred meters is clearly exaggerated. But cross-referenced with other reports, there have been six separate accounts of late-night monster sightings at Ruirong Textile Factory. Witnesses claimed to have seen snakes or giant insects; while the descriptions varied slightly, they all depicted elongated anomalous creatures." Li Banfeng checked the dates on the articles. If the monster they described was the Centipede Workshop, then the history of Inner State visitors coming to the Outer States was by no means short. Zhong'er brought out another file. "Twenty-two years ago, Ruirong Textile Factory was officially shuttered. Two years later, the first thoroughly documented incident occurred." Li Banfeng read the report: twenty years ago, a giant spider had appeared at the factory, resulting in a tragedy of three deaths and eleven injuries. "Ever since, incidents of various kinds at Ruirong Textile Factory have never ceased. News of some incidents leaked out, turning the factory into a hotspot of urban legends." "That makes it hard to understand," Li Banfeng said, shaking his head slightly over the documents. "Why hasn't this factory been demolished?" Zhong'er had found no answer to that either. "This question has troubled me for a long time as well. Currently, there are only two reasonable explanations: first, Ruirong Textile Factory possesses high research value; second, it may harbor a potent source of dark energy that current technology cannot effectively contain once dismantled. "From the founding of the Dark Star Bureau to the present, within the scope of records accessible to me, a total of thirty-five incidents have occurred at Ruirong Textile Factory. Twenty-three were disappearances, none of which have been solved, and twelve involved anomalous entities. "Among the incidents involving anomalous entities, Workshop Six and the perimeter wall section where you entered are high-frequency hotspots. In several disappearance cases, personal belongings of the missing were found in these two areas. "Extrapolating from the available data, both Workshop Six and the perimeter wall contain entrances to stealth spaces. Whether they lead to the same space remains to be verified. "In this recent incident, neither Director Li nor Tangyuan encountered the Masked Men within the stealth space. A relatively reasonable inference is that there are two separate stealth spaces in Workshop Six, with Workshop Six and the perimeter wall corresponding to two different entrances." Li Banfeng gazed at the stack of documents, silent for a long time. He had merely asked Zhong'er to review that day's battle, never expecting Zhong'er to piece together the entire history of the textile factory with such thoroughness. Zhong'er was an outstanding brigade member—the finest among all those Li Banfeng had encountered. Yet this highlighted a troubling issue: all this information had been pieced together by Zhong'er little by little. "For a place as peculiar as Ruirong Textile Factory, does the Dark Star Bureau have no dedicated dossier?" Zhong'er shook his head. "I investigated the factory once before. The bureau genuinely has no dedicated dossier on it—or perhaps my security clearance simply isn't high enough to access it." The Security Brigade was the front-line arm of the Dark Star Bureau. If such an important dossier wasn't made available to front-line operatives, who was it being kept for? Did it truly not exist? The bureau's inner workings struck Li Banfeng as increasingly baffling. *** At Qishuiyao, inside a private residence, Xiao Zhenggong was studying the notebooks unearthed from the mountain. These were notebooks he had kept himself—seventeen volumes in all, of which only one was useful. Xiao Zhenggong knew which one it was; he knew his own habits. However, Daboynes could not be allowed to realize this. Daboynes had resurrected him and kept him alive to this day only because he still held utility. His value resided in these notebooks, which recorded the secrets he had uncovered during his investigations at the Dark Star Bureau—secrets concerning the Boundary. At dusk, Daboynes returned to the residence and sat on the edge of the bed, panting heavily. Xiao Zhenggong put down the notebook in his hand and asked with apparent concern, "How did it go?" Daboynes glanced at the notebook cover and shook his head. "Not good." "You didn't find the Inner State person?" "I found him, but something seems off about him." "What changed?" "Hard to say. I know there's an entrance to the Inner States here; I've been there once before. But I hadn't seen the gatekeeper from the Inner States back then. Today I met him, and his condition was nothing like what I imagined." Xiao Zhenggong said, "I've seen quite a few Inner State people. Describe what he looks like." "A skeleton. A fish skeleton." "Even I haven't seen an Inner State person who's a pure skeleton, though they come in all shapes and sizes. If you trust me, why not take me to see him? I've had considerable contact with the Inner States; maybe I can talk to them." Daboynes shook his head. "I advise you not to see him." Xiao Zhenggong gave a cold sneer. "Even now, we're still second-guessing each other. If we keep doubting like this, nothing will ever get done! If the Inner State people don't supply you with medicine, you won't be able to help me get my cultivation back. And if I can't regain my cultivation, don't expect me to remember those things." "This has nothing to do with suspicion. I'm keeping you away for your own good." Daboynes unbuttoned his clothes. Across his body were over a dozen wounds; some exposed bone, others laid bare internal organs. Daboynes produced some medicine for wounds. As he applied it, he said, "That fish skeleton bit me all over. Fortunately, I anchored a strand of spider silk on the bank beforehand, which was the only reason I escaped with my life." Xiao Zhenggong was stunned. "Why did he bite you?" Daboynes shook his head. "I don't know either. Perhaps there's been some misunderstanding between us and the Inner States." *** Late at night, Li Banfeng remained in his office. The glove recalled something. "Master, I remember where I smelled that scent before. Actually, it wasn't me who smelled it—it must have been that black glove. He's been to that place, right on the twelfth floor." The twelfth floor was the archive. Big Head must have looked up critical files there. What kind of good stuff had he dug up? Li Banfeng originally intended to check out the twelfth floor, but the glove stopped him. "Master, that little room that moves up and down by itself—it's called an elevator, right?" "Yes." "Taking that thing won't work. You have to walk up the stairs to find that place." Walking the stairs was different from taking the elevator. There was an unnamable space. Li Banfeng prepared to take the stairs. He brought out the projector to let it cultivate some rapport with the surveillance cameras near the stairwell first. A few minutes later, the projector reported back: "Director Seven, return to your office first." Back in the office, the projector said, "The cameras in the stairwell are somewhat peculiar. They are rather suspicious and aren't ready to become my friends just yet." Li Banfeng found it hard to comprehend how the projector made friends. "How do you communicate with them? Do they count as spirit items?" "Director Seven, an object doesn't need to be a spirit item to have life. In my understanding, everything in the world has life. They need validation, respect, sincere care, and tangible help." This time, Li Banfeng understood the projector's drift. "Trading sincerity for sincerity!" "Precisely! That is also why I devote all my loyalty and intellect to following Director Seven." The glove spat from the side. "Sucking up every chance you get!" The projector continued, "The cameras at your residence are young and innocent. Spending time talking with them, chatting, and wiping the dust off their lenses easily moved them. But the cameras in the stairwell are weathered and scheming; their demands are much more practical. They asked me for maintenance supplies." "What maintenance supplies?" "Grease—a special grease used to maintain lenses. I gave some grease to the camera at the stairwell entrance. He loved it, and now he has become my friend. However, he told me there are many other cameras in the stairwell, and they all fancy this kind of grease. I calculated our existing stock, and it's a drop in the bucket—nowhere near enough to satisfy their demands." Li Banfeng knew what grease the projector meant. It was bought from Ling Miaosheng's gramophone shop. Could anything similar be bought in the Outer States? Unlikely. Ling Miaosheng's specialty goods came from very unusual sources. Have Ma the Fifth mail some over from the gramophone shop? Goods could be mailed from Puluo Province to the Outer States, but the process was agonizingly slow. If Ma the Fifth sent it, a month would likely pass before Li Banfeng received it. Moreover, it would have to undergo rigorous inspections. The Dark Star Bureau would definitely learn that Li Banfeng received grease from Puluo Province, and might even deduce his intentions. Have Luo Zhengnan make a trip? Luo Zhengnan already had more than enough on his plate. Li Banfeng decided to make the trip himself. That night, he went to Huahu Park, walked behind the Western-style house, and activated Golden Eyes Discerning the Minutest Detail. After spotting the weeping woman, Li Banfeng plunged into the lake. Once he swam to the surface, he didn't rush toward Tiemenbao. Instead, he looked off into the distance. He wanted to inspect Big Head's secret cave. Last time, he had harvested a large quantity of popular aura there; going back now, there might be more good things. *** Creeeeak—the cave's stone door swung open. He Jiaqing entered the cave and twisted the mechanism, sealing the door behind him. He walked deeper into the cave and soon found the tea boxes Big Head had left atop the water buckets. The wrapping around the boxes was torn open, giving He Jiaqing an ominous foreboding. Opening the boxes and taking inventory, two magnets were missing, two circuit boards were missing, and some earphones, antennas, and nails were gone too. Only the fox tails remained untouched. Who touched these things? He Jiaqing placed a magnet on his head. It was completely empty—devoid of popular aura. He tested one, then another. Still empty. He tested an antenna, then a nail. Empty as well! Ever since He Jiaqing went to Puluo Province, these contraptions had been siphoning popular aura for him in the Outer States, amassing a considerable amount! Who stole it? Who?! This is my popular aura! All of it is mine! Just who stole it?! He Jiaqing clenched his fists, grinding his teeth in fury. Suddenly, he heard footsteps outside the cave. He quietly stood up and peered toward the entrance. At the cave mouth, Li Banfeng halted. There was fresh dust on the ground, likely dislodged when the stone door moved. The fallen dust was distinct; the stone door had just been opened. A chill swept over him as Li Banfeng sensed a pulse of malice. He Jiaqing charged toward the cave mouth, but just as he was about to open the stone door, a searing agony stabbed through his leg. From his right foot all the way to his knee, a layer of skin had been flayed clean off, exposing raw flesh and blood. There was something beneath his feet—a halo of light. Where did this halo come from? A Boundary? How could there be a Boundary here? Did the other party use Close the Doors and Bar the Gates? Who was outside the cave? Could it be a local spirit?!