When Grandpa Train started talking about trains, he became very excited.

"That train of mine is really good! It can carry so many things and so many people! The train follows me everywhere."

Li Banfeng laughed. "Now you are just making things up. Didn't you say earlier that people go wherever the train goes? There's no way the train would follow a person around."

Grandpa Train shook his head and said, "My train is different. It has spirit essence and it can follow me wherever I go."

"But trains must move on railway tracks. How can I follow you to places without railway tracks?"

"It lays its own tracks wherever it goes. Tell me, isn't that impressive?"

Li Banfeng is even more surprised. "A train that can lay its own tracks wherever it goes?"

"Yes! It's lay its own tracks wherever it goes!" The more Grandpa Train spoke, the more excited he seemed.

"Then the train must carry a lot of tracks, right?"

"It doesn't need that many. A dozen or so will do. My train can both lay tracks and remove them. Once it's done using a section, it pulls the rails back up and uses them again."

After spending almost half a day thinking about this, Li Banfeng still didn't understand how this train worked.

Grandpa Train was still trying his best to explain. "There's a special carriage on my train that handles the tracks. It's the smartest carriage on the whole train. It moves around beside the other carriages all day and has never messed up when laying tracks."

It was the first time Li Banfeng had ever heard anyone use the word smart to describe a train carriage!

The more Li Banfeng thought about it, the more confused he was about the structure and design of the train. Yet Grandpa Train spoke with such obsession that it almost sounded as though the train truly existed.

Li Banfeng chuckled and said, " if a train were to follow you wherever you go, wouldn't people be scared by it?"

Grandpa Train answered with such seriousness, "Others cannot see my train. My train is invisible and sometimes I can't even see it.

Li Banfeng stopped laughing. He remembered something.

Back when Li Banfeng first learned Perceiving the Spirit's Melody, he had once heard steam hissing and huffing through the walls.

Li Banfeng asked carefully, "Senior, if you can't see that train, how do you normally get on that train?"

"I have got a key, of course!" Grandpa Train widened his eyes dramatically. "A train key! It opens doors and starts trains too! Haven't you heard of keys like this?"

Li Banfeng did his best to keep his expression under control, not letting the slightest hint of abnormality show.

This train that Grandpa Train was describing resembled something that was very important to him.

Li Banfeng suddenly remembered something the Peddler had told him when he gifted him the Pocket Dwelling:

"This shelter was crafted by a Grandmaster Wanderlust Cultivator. When his cultivation reached greater heights, he no longer needed it, so he sold it to me.[1]

Li Banfeng looked at the Wanderlust Cultivator before him and asked, "Where did this train of yours come from?"

"I built it myself!" Grandpa Train replied proudly.

"Why would you build a train?"

"We Wanderlust Cultivators spend our lives on the road. We need a place to shelter from the wind and rain."

"But if you are a Wanderlust Cultivator, how did you manage to build a train?"

Grandpa Train let out a cold snort. "You think I can casually tell you something like that? Would you go around asking people about their cultivation?"

Not daring to offend this grandmaster, Li Banfeng quickly apologized. "My apologies, Senior. That was indeed rude of me. Pretend I never asked."

Grandpa Train snorted again. "Normally, I definitely wouldn't tell you. But this is a dream, so it doesn't matter. Once I wake up, I'll forget all about it anyway."

Li Banfeng quickly praised, "Senior, what you said makes sense!"

Grandpa Train said, "I am a Wanderlust Cultivator, but I am also an Artificer Cultivator."

"You can be both a Wanderlust Cultivator and an Artificer Cultivator?"

"Why not?" Grandpa Train said, clearly pleased. "Aside from Homebound Cultivation, a Wanderlust Cultivator can take on any other cultivation path."

He sounded very proud as he spoke of Wanderlust Cultivation.

Li Banfeng nodded and said, "Yes! It's a path that is compatible with any other paths!"

Grandpa Train said, "Our Wanderlust Cultivation is the best cultivation path in the world!"

"Yeah, Wanderlust Cultivation is the best cultivation path!" Li Banfeng echoed loudly.

Grandpa Train snorted. "Homebound Cultivators are the worst. A bunch of damn bastards!"

Li Banfeng said nothing.

Grandpa looked back and cast a glance at Li Banfeng. "Don't you think they are a bunch of scumbags too?"

"Mm." Li Banfeng gave a slight nod.

Grandpa Train let out two sharp blasts of the whistle and kept racing forward.

Li Banfeng asked, "Why did you sell such a nice train to someone else?"

"Huff, huff~"

Grandpa Train slowed down and said, "To buy something even better."

"Did you manage to buy that thing?"

"I did. But I still miss that train. There are many good things in this world, but only one can give you that kind of joy."

Li Banfeng said, "Why don't you make another train then?"

"Huff, huff~"

Grandpa Train slowed down even more. "I can build another train, but the materials are hard to come by. I can only find them in the Inner Provinces. I have gathered ninety percent of what I need, but those birdbrains from the Inner Provinces ambushed me. That is why I have been asleep all this time."

Li Banfeng was shocked. "You are sleeping in the Inner Provinces?"

"Yeah! Why are you asking that? Are you trying to harm me?" Grandpa Train suddenly grew wary.

"Of course not." Li Banfeng shook his head quickly. "We have no grudge between us. There's no reason for me to harm you."

A trace of killing intent flared from Grandpa Train. "Why should I believe you?"

Isn't it obvious? Do you still have to ask? Li Banfeng thought.

"I am in Puluo Province, and you are in the Inner Provinces. We are separated by such a great distance. I can't even reach you. How could I possibly harm you?"

There was nothing wrong with that answer.

However, to his surprise, Grandpa Train became even more suspicious of him.

"Who told you are in Puluo Province?" Grandpa Train asked.

Li Banfeng answered, "I have always been in the Puluo Province. Wasn't the station where we met at Blackstone Slope?"

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Grandpa Train slowed, slower, and slower still, until even his voice began to drag along like a tired carriage.

"This isn't Puluo Province," he said at last. "We are in the Inner Provinces."

Uh... Is this old man having an episode again?

Huff, huff~ Huff, huff, huff~

Grandpa Train went on, "The place where you met me wasn't Blackstone Slope either. That's the border between the Inner Provinces and Puluo Province."

For a brief moment, Li Banfeng looked dazed as he thought, I came to the Inner Provinces?

"Senior, did you remember wrongly?"

"It can't be wrong. Blackstone Slope used to be my territory. The people there are wild. They refuse to be controlled or restrained. In that regard, they're a lot like me."

Li Banfeng said, "I am not talking about the Blackstone Slope. I am talking about the Inner Province and Puluo Province..."

Sizzle~~~

With a long whistle, Grandpa Train came to a stop.

"We have arrived at Zhao Dajun Station. For passengers getting off at this station, please gather your belongings and prepare to disembark[2]."

He really sounds like a real train conductor, Li Banfeng thought.

He climbed down and looked around. Zhao Dajun is that programmer. Why is this place called Zhao Dajun station? Is it because this is his dream?

Grandpa Train stared at Li Banfeng and said, "If you want to get off here, you have to pay me one hundred and fifty yuan. If not, we can continue on."

Li Banfeng hesitated as he looked at him.

Hmm... I can still get a lot of important information from this senior. But if I continue following him like this, who knows where we will end up? This Grandpa Train is not right in the head. You have to stay on guard when you are dealing with those mentally insane people.

After thinking for a while, Li Banfeng said, "Can I take a look around here for a bit?"

Grandpa Train paused. "You mean you want me to wait?"

Li Banfeng nodded.

"I mean that's not a no!" Grandpa Train agreed readily. "Half an hour. Three hundred."

Li Banfeng handed over three hundred Huan notes, then asked, "Senior, can you come with me while I look around?"

"You mean...you want me to be your guide?"

"Mhm."

Grandpa Train thought for a moment. "Half an hour. Three hundred."

Li Banfeng paid another three hundred. He wasn't even sure if he had really handed over the money. He wasn't sure what state he was in right now.

However, Grandpa Train was very satisfied. Immediately, he led Li Banfeng deeper into the wilderness.

There was no road ahead, but that didn't slow the two Wanderlust Cultivators in the slightest.

At first, the land was packed with wild grass, thick and sturdy, as tall as a man. It brushed against them as they passed.

Then, after walking for around ten kilometers, the grass began to shrink. Shorter. Thinner. Until it vanished completely, leaving behind a stretch of loose gravel.

The gravel path slowly smoothed out beneath their feet. After another ten kilometers, it turned into a neatly laid stone road.

The road led to a lake, where Li Banfeng spotted Zhao Dajun by the shore.

He was crouched at the edge, clutching a small twig, scratching lines into the ground with intense focus.

He was doing calculations.

Li Banfeng was very curious as to what he was calculating. He stepped closer to take a look. On the left, Zhao Dajun had drawn out matrices. On the right, he was working through integral equations.

It seemed like he had been calculating for a long time.

Li Banfeng was about to head somewhere else when Zhao Dajun suddenly stood up and looked at Li Banfeng. "Hey friend! You are here!"

He can see me? Li Banfeng thought.

Grandpa Train lifted a brow. "This is his dream. Of course he can see you."

Zhao Dajun excitedly said to Li Banfeng, "I have finally figured it out!"

It seemed like Zhao Dajun could not see Grandpa Train.

"Figured out what?"

Zhao Dajun excitedly grabbed a ruler and began measuring around the lake. After a while, he stopped and marked a spot on the ground. Then he dragged over a chair, sat down, and cast a fishing line.

Li Banfeng said, "You did all that and spent such a long time calculating just to find a spot to fish?"

Zhao Dajun nodded seriously. "I ran deep analysis on over five hundred sets of historical data and the conclusion was that this is the fastest spot to get a bite."

Right as he said that, the line jerked and he reeled in a suckerfish.

He pressed his lips together. "It's just that the quality of the fish is a bit lacking."

Li Banfeng couldn't make sense of Zhao Dajun at all. Grandpa Train gave a cold snort. "That's what Calculation Cultivator are like."

Li Banfeng looked at Zhao Dajun. "Brother, don't you have any other hobbies?"

"I do!" Zhao Dajun shot him a serious look, clearly displeased at being questioned.

He led Li Banfeng into a three-story villa.

In the garden on the first floor, Teacher Anzai and Teacher Mikami were tending to the plants. When they saw Zhao Dajun return, they immediately bowed respectfully.

When they stepped into the hall, the dozen or so teachers greeted in unison, "Master, welcome back!"

Zhao Dajun gave a perfunctory nod. After looking them over one by one, he finally settled on Teacher Risa.

Then, he gave Teacher Risa a sharp smack on the butt. The sound rang out crisp and clear through the hall.

Teacher Risa turned around and gave Zhao Dajun a faintly annoyed look, like the slap had stung a little... but maybe not enough.

A sinister smile spread across Zhao Dajun's face.

Teacher Risa looked a little scared... and a little like she was looking forward to what came next.

Then Zhao Dajun picked up a pen and started drawing on Teacher Risa's butt. Zhao Dajun first drew a matrix on the left cheek and then a quadrant on the right cheek. After a long stretch of careful calculations, he finally found what he considered the perfect proportions and made a few adjustments.

Once he finished, he quietly stood there admiring his work.

Li Banfeng took a deep breath and muttered, "Is this calculation even necessary..."

Grandpa Train looked on with utter disdain. "See that? That's all Calculation Cultivators amount to!"

Li Banfeng agreed. "They are really good for nothing!"

Grandpa Train snorted. "Other than Homebound Cultivators, they are the most hopeless bunch around. Don't you think so?"

"Mm," Li Banfeng replied quietly.

Grandpa Train looked toward Zhao Dajun and said in a serious tone, "He's trapped here for good. Do you still want to get out?"

Author's Note:

PS: The train carriage that is in charge of laying the tracks sounds so special...

1. Reference Chapter 21. ☜

2. Referencing train conductor's lines in chapter 14 ☜