Old Train said Little Train didn't know Dwelling Cultivation techniques.
The lady of the house said her Dwelling Cultivation techniques all came from the dwelling.
Had the lady not told the truth, or was Old Train probing on purpose?
Or had Little Train evolved new capabilities during the time Old Train was trapped?
Or was there another unknown presence inside the companion dwelling?
Goosebumps broke out all over Li Banfeng. Suddenly, Old Train said, "Which means Little Train can't serve as a dwelling for a Dwelling Cultivator!"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Yeah! Definitely can't!"
Old Train asked again, "So tell me, are you a Dwelling Cultivator or not?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "Certainly not. I'm an authentic Travel Cultivator!"
"That's more like it! Dwelling Cultivators are all bad news! Heheheh~" Old Train chuckled, and Li Banfeng laughed along with him.
After laughing, Li Banfeng immediately steered the conversation away. "Brother, I've been looking for Lai Wuju's whereabouts lately. If this person is still alive, he poses a great threat to Puluo Province."
Old Train pondered carefully. "Back then, Lai Wuju followed Cong Shixiang. After the imperial court was defeated, Cong Shixiang went to Scoundrel Ridge. I've been to Scoundrel Ridge many times, and I never once saw Lai Wuju. If they truly had a talent like Lai Wuju, that Sage wouldn't have stayed so docile. So I think Lai Wuju is no longer in this world, or perhaps, as the rumors say, he went to Wansheng Province."
"Just what kind of place is Wansheng Province?"
Old Train shook his head. "I've never been there. There are many places in this world similar to Puluo Province; I couldn't possibly travel through them all. Besides, the road through Fangsheng Province is far too difficult to traverse. Lai Wuju has vanished without a trace for so many years; he probably won't show his face again. You don't need to worry too much about this. I'm planning to stay in the Suihuang Plains for a while. I have a feeling something is going to happen here. I feel danger in the Suihuang Plains."
As they spoke, a chill ran down Li Banfeng's spine. "Yeah, there is danger. And it arrived quite suddenly."
"Not that suddenly!" Old Train looked at Li Banfeng. "Yao Xin didn't just arrive yesterday. He's been here for quite some time, and I don't trust him."
Li Banfeng said, "Are you worried Old Yao won't be able to train the Suihuang Iron Cavalry?"
Old Train shook his head. "I'm worried he'll let the people from the Inner States in."
Li Banfeng frowned slightly. "What makes you say that?"
Old Train laughed repeatedly. "Because he was originally one of the imperial court's men! Why should I trust him? Heheheh!"
That laughter sounded somewhat alien to Li Banfeng.
Wearing a secretive expression, Old Train said to Li Banfeng, "Not just Yao Xin, but Zhao Xiaowan as well—I don't trust her either. Back then, under the alias Huang Yuxian, she came to the Suihuang Plains and fought a battle. Even though she drove off the Inner States, I still don't trust her. Do you know where Zhao Xiaowan is?"
Li Banfeng stared at Old Train in silence.
The companion dwelling whispered in Li Banfeng's ear, "Ah Qi, stay away from him!"
Li Banfeng asked Old Train, "Brother, did something happen to you?"
Old Train's eyes darted left, then right, a hint of fear on his face. "Do you think I've changed? I knew it would be like this once I took it back."
Li Banfeng asked, "What did you take back?"
"I took back my other half!"
Li Banfeng's brow and ears twitched violently—so hard the fedora on his head nearly fell off.
Little Train said, "Ah Qi, get further away from him!"
"Don't worry, you two!" Seeing Li Banfeng back away, Old Train waved his hand. "I didn't take all of it back, just a portion."
He said "you two."
Could he see Little Train?
"Brother, didn't you say you weren't in a hurry to retrieve the other half?"
Old Train explained, "Earlier, A'yi was chasing me so hard I had nowhere to run. Out of desperation, I fled to the Outer States. When I reached the Outer States, she kept chasing me, so I took flight. When I fly, she can't catch up. But unlike you, I can't fly for very long. I don't know the Ride the Wind and Drive the Clouds technique."
Li Banfeng asked, "If you don't know that technique, how did you take flight?"
At this, Old Train looked somewhat smug and laughed again. "I know an artisan technique—one very similar to Riding the Wind and Driving the Clouds. It's called Wooden Kite Ascending the Sky, and it flies very fast. It's just that I don't have an artisan cultivator's physique, so flying takes quite a bit of effort. You saw when my shadow took flight—it really wasn't easy. So I thought, if I take back a bit more of my physique, I'll be able to fly for much longer, even longer than a Travel Cultivator! And then I went and retrieved part of myself."
Li Banfeng asked, "Where did you go to retrieve it?"
"I went to—heheheh!" Old Train laughed. "Trying to coax it out of me? You protect Sun Tiecheng so much, you must've learned plenty of techniques from him, right? You want to know where the other half of my body is, and then stab me in the back, don't you?"
Following Little Train's advice, Li Banfeng continued to put distance between them.
Old Train lowered his head, his body trembling for a moment. "The Suihuang Plains... there's danger."
Li Banfeng nodded. "Yes, there is danger. Ever since you arrived, there has been danger."
"The danger is me? Is it really me?" Terror filled Old Train's face. His upper and lower teeth clattered against each other, and he stammered as he spoke. "It seems... it really is me... Old Seven, don't blame me. I didn't want this either. I had to take back my other half sooner or later, but I didn't dare take it all, so I only took a piece. My soul is intact. I can suppress this body. If I take it back bit by bit, I'll definitely be able to suppress it slowly."
"I certainly don't blame you!" Li Banfeng shook his head. "Brother, leave the Suihuang Plains first. Find a safe, stable place to rest and recuperate for a while."
"I'll listen to you, I'll listen to you..." Old Train turned and vanished into the night.
Where had he retrieved his other half?
Needless to say, it had to be the Dark Star Bureau!
Li Banfeng squeezed the gold bar, trying to get in touch with A'yu, but there was no response from her side.
Piecing things together, Li Banfeng quickly arrived at a clear deduction.
Hounded by A'yi with nowhere to run, Old Train had gone to the Outer States, to the Dark Star Bureau, and reclaimed a portion of his body.
That part of his body had been binding A'yu and the Heavenly Maiden in Cell No. 6.
Now that the power binding A'yu had weakened, A'yu and the Heavenly Maiden had very likely broken out of the Dark Star Bureau!
A'yi, acting blindly, had inadvertently triggered this whole mess. She actually...
Wait!
Had A'yi acted blindly?
Old Train had so many paths to choose from; why did he have to head to the Outer States?
Did he want to go to the Outer States himself, or had A'yi forced him there?
Had he underestimated A'yi at times?
Could she have wanted to rescue A'yu?
He needed to rush back to the Dark Star Bureau and see for himself.
Li Banfeng prepared to head to Tiemen Fort, traverse the newland, and go to Yuezhou.
He hadn't walked far before he came to a stop.
Tiemen Fort was impassable.
To prevent an Inner States invasion through the newland, A'yu had erected a Boundary over the newland entrance at Tiemen Fort—an exceptionally formidable Boundary that even a Dark Bridge Cannon might not be able to cross.
What should he do now?
Take the train back?
The train was too slow. Li Banfeng thought of a faster way.
He ran back to Green Water City and stepped directly onto the peddler's cloud.
Reaching the white house on the cloud, Li Banfeng knocked straight on the door. "Sister-in-law, I'm here."
From inside the room came the familiar woman's voice. "What are you here for? Your senior brother isn't at this house!"
"It doesn't matter if Senior Brother isn't home. I came specifically to see you, Sister-in-law. I want to visit the Dark Star Bureau—specifically the stairwell area. Just send me straight to A'yu's door. I promised to bring her delicious food."
The woman said angrily, "If you want to go to the Dark Star Bureau, why did you come looking for me? What kind of person do you take me for? What kind of place do you think this is?"
If Cell No. 6 held A'yu and the Heavenly Maiden, what was the identity of the woman in this house?
If A'yu and the Heavenly Maiden had already escaped, would this woman still send him to the Dark Star Bureau?
"Sister-in-law, you're in the master bedroom, right? I really have an urgent matter. I'm coming in. I have everything ready. Just give me a lift."
Li Banfeng pushed open the door to the master bedroom and took a step inside, arriving straight in the stairwell.
The glove pushed open the heavy iron door of the stairwell, and Li Banfeng saw Cell No. 6. First, he called out, "Sister, are you there?"
There was no reply from inside the cell.
Had A'yu really escaped?
Just as Li Banfeng turned to leave, a voice came from within the cell: "You came to see me? Did you bring me delicious food?"
A'yu was still here?
Why hadn't she answered just now?
Li Banfeng had brought plenty of tasty dishes: cured meat from Desheng Cured Meats, roast chicken from Zuixian Restaurant, vegetarian dishes from Pure Heart Vegetarian House, and mutton noodles from Lanyang Village.
A hand reached out through the cell door and pulled all the food and drink inside. First came the sound of ravenous chewing and gnawing, followed by A'yu's deep sighs of satisfaction. "The flavors of Puluo Province really are unforgettable. I'm full. What brings you to see me?"
"I wanted to ask if you've seen any acquaintances over the past couple of days."
A'yu chuckled. "I see acquaintances every day. I'm quite familiar with the folks at the Dark Star Bureau. They bring me food."
"Are you hurting for their food?"
"Yes. Not just me, but her as well. Other things won't do; we have to eat the Dark Star Bureau's food. If we didn't, the two of us would starve to death."
The Dark Star Bureau's food had such an effect?
"Besides the Dark Star Bureau people, have you seen any other acquaintances?"
"You're not asking about acquaintances; you're asking about a specific person!" A'yu's tone suddenly turned sinister. "Let me listen in... who exactly are you asking about?"
A'yu could read minds. Before Li Banfeng could shield his thoughts, it was already too late.
"Oh, so you want to ask about Old Train! I'm very familiar with him too. He's right in this building; I see him all the time. Every day I want to get out, but with him here, I can't. Are you worried he'll harm me, or worried I'll harm him?"
Li Banfeng smiled. "We're all old friends; saying that makes us sound like strangers. I just randomly thought of Old Train a moment ago."
He quickly shifted his train of thought, repeating one name over and over in his mind: Lai Wuju.
A'yu soon caught the name. "You're saying Lai Wuju came looking for me? You know about this?"
What was going on?
Li Banfeng was stunned. He had only wanted to change the subject, never expecting to stumble upon such a major secret.
"Sister A'yu, Lai Wuju really came looking for you?"
A'yu said, "That is a confidential matter between Lai Wuju and me; I can't tell anyone else. First, tell me: how did you find out about it?"
Li Banfeng said, "I just took a wild guess."
"You can guess that accurately?" A'yu chuckled. "Little brother, don't lie to me. Someone definitely leaked word to you. Was it Old Train?"
"It wasn't Old Train, just a casual guess," Li Banfeng shook his head repeatedly. "Lai Wuju is still alive?"
"Of course he is! Who told you Lai Wuju was dead?"
Li Banfeng asked again, "When did he come looking for you?"
"Didn't I tell you? It's confidential. I can't tell you. Stop trying to pry information out of me. Playing along won't work, and claiming ironclad proof won't help either. I'm not falling for your tricks!"
Whether she fell for it or not, the conversational bridge had to be built.
"Sister, how has Old Train been doing lately? He set up layer upon layer of mechanisms here. I'm really worried he might hurt you two."
"You care so much about your sister?" A'yu said with playful affection. "Old Train really is unreasonable, keeping us trapped like this without end. Who knows how long he plans to keep us locked up? Why don't you go over and talk some sense into him?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "Alright, I'll go look for him right away."
A'yu laughed. "Silly boy, this building has thirty-six floors. Are you going to search floor by floor? Let me do some scouting first to see where he is. Once I find out, I'll let you know."
Li Banfeng stood waiting at the door when A'yu suddenly snapped impatiently, "What are you doing? Pressing me like you're collecting a life debt? Didn't I tell you? I have to scout around, and scouting takes time."
"Sister, if I want to contact you, how should I reach you?"
"Didn't I give you a piece of gold?"
"That gold piece doesn't work. When I tried to contact you earlier, I couldn't get through at all. It seems Sister doesn't care much about me!"
"Oh, you ungrateful little brat!" A'yu grew annoyed. "Is that any way to speak to your sister? Never mind calling on your sister—even if you went to a high-class parlor house to see a courtesan, you'd still have to check if she was available, wouldn't you? If she's sleeping, you can't just drag her out from under the covers! Don't I have other things to do? Don't I eat and sleep? Don't I still have to look after her? If I had to come running the moment you called, what would that make me?"
Li Banfeng hurriedly cupped his hands. "Sister's reprimand is entirely just. This little brother will await your news and take his leave for now."
"Next time you come, bring more cured meat, and another bowl of noodles. I quite like that taste."
Li Banfeng chuckled. "Sister, you asked the right person. If anyone else went to buy them, they'd be charging by the individual noodle!"
A'yu laughed. "I've eaten those noodles too. The customs of Puluo Province are as simple and upright as ever!"
Li Banfeng left the stairwell and returned to his office. The room was spotless; Chen Changrui had clearly put considerable effort into this.
A'yu was still in the Dark Star Bureau. Did that prove that artisan Old Train's strength hadn't been compromised and could still keep her trapped?
Yet if artisan Old Train was unharmed, how could travel Old Train have reclaimed part of the artisan body? It didn't make logical sense.
Or perhaps travel Old Train had indeed come, severely weakening artisan Old Train's body, only A'yu was still unaware of it.
Could A'yu really not know?
Inside the Dark Star Bureau, especially around the stairwell, was there anything that could be hidden from her?
Or perhaps the portion of power Old Train took back was rather limited, so artisan Old Train hadn't been weakened too drastically and could still barely keep A'yu contained.
That was the most plausible explanation, but the trend was hard to predict.
How much longer could Old Train hold out? What if A'yu broke free?
Once A'yu escaped, she would also bring out the dweller from above. For Puluo Province, would that outcome be good or bad?
As Li Banfeng was contemplating this question, an argument suddenly broke out outside his door: "How long has it been since this air conditioner was cleaned? Didn't I tell you internal affairs needed a thorough overhaul? Did you just treat my words as hot air?"
"But I don't think the air conditioner needs cleaning—"
"You don't think it needs cleaning? Take off the filter and look for yourself! See how bad the dust buildup is, and what a terrible impact it has on the bureau's working environment!"
The logistics director was scolding a newcomer.
Old Sun had retired, and a young woman named Lu Jinglei had recently arrived to manage logistics.
The logistics director seemed to be talking about the air conditioner, but Li Banfeng knew that the real reason had little to do with it; Lu Jinglei had almost certainly offended the director elsewhere.
Unexpectedly, the young woman had quite a temper. She fetched a ladder right there in front of the logistics director, dismantled the office air conditioner, and took down the filter. "Director, take a look. Is it clean or not?"
The air conditioner filter was completely spotless.
The logistics director's face darkened. "I'm not just talking about the air conditioner; I'm talking about your attitude! Can't I say a couple of words of criticism to you?"
"You can criticize me however you like, but back then, you told me to use our limited budget to focus on handling pressing logistics issues."
The logistics director asked, "Is cleaning the air conditioner not a logistics issue?"
"It is a logistics issue, but it's not pressing. I ran spot checks yesterday, and the office air conditioners are all very clean. Do you really think it's appropriate to spend limited funds on trivial matters?"
Rebuffed like that, the logistics director reached his limit. Just as he was about to blow his top at Lu Jinglei, he suddenly saw Li Banfeng pushing open his door and stepping out with a smile.
The logistics director immediately switched expressions. "Bureau Chief Li, you're back! I'll arrange for someone to clean your office right away."
"No need. Mine is spotless. I was just about to commend you."
The logistics director glanced at Lu Jinglei, feeling suspicious.
Daily cleaning was also Lu Jinglei's responsibility. Bureau Chief Li's office hadn't been cleaned in days; why had it suddenly been made immaculate today?
Could Lu Jinglei have known Bureau Chief Li was returning today?
That shouldn't be possible—not even Director Chen knew Bureau Chief Li's whereabouts.
Lu Jinglei held her head high and curled her lips, remaining silent.
The logistics director felt uneasy. For this young woman to act so defiantly, her background was surely no simple matter.
When had she cleaned all the air conditioner filters anyway? Where had that money come from?
Li Banfeng asked Chen Changrui to fetch some records—not regarding the stairwell, as Chen Changrui couldn't produce any decent materials on that anyway.
What he wanted were records on Dwelling Cultivators, including recluses in the Outer States.
A Dwelling Cultivator's techniques came from the dwelling spirit, and the dwelling spirit's techniques came from the dwelling itself. Li Banfeng needed to clarify one thing: where did the dwelling's techniques come from?
The materials Chen Changrui provided were sparse, leaving Li Banfeng somewhat dissatisfied, suspecting that Old Chen was playing games with him again.
In truth, Old Chen couldn't be blamed. Because Li Banfeng was a Dwelling Cultivator himself, he had overlooked the fact that Dwelling Cultivation was an exceptionally obscure lineage.
The number of Dwelling Cultivators and recluses was extremely small, and all of them hid away inside their dwellings, unwilling to come out. Places like Tiemen Fort maintained intense vigilance against outsiders, making investigation very difficult for the Outer States. Due to a combination of factors, the Dark Star Bureau possessed very little information on Dwelling Cultivators.
Scarce as it was, Li Banfeng still uncovered some useful details from the files.
Regarding the residence of a Dwelling Cultivator—namely, the source of a dwelling's dark ability—the Dark Star Bureau had conducted a certain degree of analysis and research.
A dwelling's dark ability stemmed from two indispensable elements:
First, the Dwelling Cultivator.
A Dwelling Cultivator could awaken the dwelling's capacity to collect dark energy, allowing the dwelling to evolve in a fixed direction. Put simply, along the path of cultivation, the dwelling and the Dwelling Cultivator leveled up together.
Because the evolutionary direction was fixed, the Dwelling Cultivator acquired fixed abilities from dark energy during the advancement process.
The dwelling could not use these abilities independently; instead, through a dark energy transmission medium, it achieved energy conversion between a non-living vessel and a living vessel, ultimately realizing shared possession of the abilities.
Translated into Puluo Province terms, this meant that the dwelling taught a portion of its techniques to the Dwelling Cultivator through the dwelling spirit, and by cooperating together, the dwelling and Dwelling Cultivator unleashed the techniques' power.
The Dark Star Bureau's summary of recluses was "the dark-energy users with the most complex dark-energy mechanics." Now, even Li Banfeng found it deeply complex upon studying it himself.
The second factor was a guidance environment.
For a dwelling to achieve evolution in a fixed direction, it required a special guidance environment. This concept was even more intricate.
According to the Outer States' research on recluses, after consuming a guide agent, a recluse might cause their dwelling to undergo disordered evolution. This produced a special type of recluse: they possessed tiers and combat power, but their techniques were utterly chaotic.
The fundamental reason for the emergence of disordered recluses was that their dwellings existed in unguided environments.
In contrast, truly successful recluses had dwellings situated in special geographical locations—places possessing a guidance environment.
Were Li Banfeng's techniques chaotic?
Certainly not.
His lady had seen powerful Dwelling Cultivators, and the techniques Li Banfeng learned aligned completely with her understanding of Dwelling Cultivation.
Which raised the question:
Did the companion dwelling exist in a guidance environment?
Evidently not.
The companion dwelling had traveled everywhere with Li Banfeng, never residing in a fixed environment.
So where did the companion dwelling's techniques come from?
And where did Li Banfeng's techniques come from?
He pondered deep into the night without finding a plausible explanation.
Leaving his office, Li Banfeng saw Mijian still busy at work.
She wasn't working on her duties; she was busy cleaning. After tidying her own workstation, she went over to clean Zhong'er's desk.
Li Banfeng asked, "It's so late. Why haven't you gone home yet?"
"Bureau Chief Li, I'll leave as soon as I finish tidying up."
"The cleaners can handle it first thing tomorrow morning."
"It's no trouble, just doing it in passing."
Seeing her clean so earnestly, she was probably missing Zhong'er. Li Banfeng decided to send Mijian on a business trip to Puluo Province for a few days so the two could see each other.
It had been a long time since he returned to his apartment. The moment Li Banfeng pushed open the door, he faintly caught the scent of dust.
He summoned all the ghost servants residing in the home. "I usually tell you to keep things clean. Look at the state of this place—the smell alone is suffocating!"
The ghost servants exchanged glances and hurriedly picked up their cleaning tools to tidy the apartment.
In reality, they cleaned frequently. But when an apartment was unoccupied for long stretches, a bit of dusty scent was completely normal. Li Qi had never been fastidious in the past; they didn't know what had gotten into him today that made him so suddenly obsessed with cleanliness.
Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling, feeling much better because it was immaculate inside.
On second thought, dwelling spirits loved cleanliness, and he had two of them; the outside environment naturally couldn't compare to the companion dwelling.
Yet why had he been so repulsed by the apartment's hygiene today?
Was the apartment really that dirty?
The next day, Li Banfeng returned to the Dark Star Bureau and continued studying the files on Dwelling Cultivators. He discovered a few exceptions—dwellings that had undergone guided evolution despite not being in guidance environments.
Li Banfeng singled out these exceptions and spent the entire day analyzing them. By the time it was time to clock out in the evening, his head was spinning, and he wanted to go out for some fresh air. Suddenly, he noticed staff members from various departments all carrying plastic bags and heading out of the building.
"What are you carrying those bags for?"
Crabapple answered, "Bureau Chief Li, we must consciously maintain the bureau's environmental hygiene. We take our own trash with us when we leave work."
"Isn't that the cleaners' job?"
Clam replied, "The cleaners do their work every morning, but the trash generated in the afternoon would sit in the bureau overnight, severely affecting the office environment."
Li Banfeng frowned. "How severe could it be?"
Orange said very seriously, "Very severe. A good environment is a crucial factor in improving work efficiency, while a messy, dirty environment is a latent hazard that leads to errors."
Everyone voiced agreement with Orange's statement. Even Chen Changrui carried a trash bag out of the office building.
Li Banfeng looked back into his office. Shouldn't he properly organize the scattered documents on his desk?
After organizing the documents, Li Banfeng went downstairs. Seeing the spotless lobby, he felt that the Dark Star Bureau's hygiene was hardly inferior to that of the companion dwelling.
Which made the apartment's environment seem rather dismal by comparison.
"A cleaner environment in the bureau is a good thing, really quite nice..." Murmuring to himself all the way out the main doors, Li Banfeng spotted Wotou standing by the entrance, covered in mud.
Wotou was a key operative on the security squad. Li Banfeng hurried over and asked, "What happened to you?"
"I went out on a mission and ran into a Silt User—what they call a Mud Cultivator over in Puluo Province. I've already uncovered some leads, but my clothes—"
"Hold it!" Li Banfeng's brow furrowed. "Is this the kind of thing you discuss outside?"
Wotou knew it was improper as well. "I wanted to go back inside to report, but I'm too dirty. I'm afraid of spoiling the bureau's environment."
A jolt went through Li Banfeng's brain, snapping him instantly to full alertness.
He stepped back into the lobby and waved at Wotou. "Come inside and speak."
"I... it wouldn't be right—"
"I told you to come inside!"
Wotou knew Bureau Chief Li was angry, but after taking a couple of steps forward, he still didn't dare cross the threshold.
Something was wrong!
Li Banfeng returned to his office and gripped the gold bar tightly. After waiting for quite a while, he finally heard A'yu's voice:
"Little brother, what do you need me for?"
Li Banfeng asked, "Sister, where exactly are you?"
"I'm still in the old place, heheheh!"
Chapter 750