novelraw Chapter 410 - 285: Wait for Me to Save You
Chapter 410 - 285: Wait for Me to Save You
Li Banfeng returned to the newspaper office, and Bai Qiusheng was frantically worried.
"Seventh Master, this isn’t how we play things! When you left, you said you’d try to come back the same day, or the next day at the latest, but you’ve been gone for three days without a single peep!"
Li Banfeng said, "I ran into some unexpected trouble on the road, which delayed me by two days. I have something to ask you: what’s the name of our newspaper again?"
Bai Qiusheng was stunned. "The ’Night-blooming Jasmine’!"
Why did he ask about this?
Li Banfeng continued to inquire, "This is your first day publishing newspapers, right?"
Bai Qiusheng was again taken aback. "No, I’ve been in this business before."
"Where did Yu Wenqi go?"
"He went to take pictures, to put out a magazine."
"Take me to see him immediately."
Li Banfeng suspected he was still in a dream. One of the best ways to verify a dream was to urgently search for a particular person or place and see if they could be found. Dreams are constructed by oneself. The process of construction takes time, and some people and scenes are not so easy to create.
Bai Qiusheng brought Li Banfeng straight into the workshop. Their sudden arrival startled the girls, who scrambled to cover themselves, not knowing what to hide first.
Yu Wenqi frowned and said, "What are you afraid of? This is our Boss Ye. If you could really get on Boss Ye’s good side, it would be your good fortune."
This time, the girls stopped covering themselves.
Some, whose waists were a bit sore, deliberately twisted them.
Some, unsteady on their feet, deliberately hopped about.
Some noticed something had fallen and hurriedly bent down to pick it up.
After watching for a long while, Li Banfeng gave no response.
What was the reason for not responding? Was it caused by the dream?
Li Banfeng observed for a moment but still couldn’t put his mind at ease. He returned to his room, locked the door, and performed some further verifications.
He read the newspaper; the words didn’t change.
He wrote down a series of numbers and checked them again; they also didn’t change.
He had some pastries and made a cup of fruit tea, which tasted quite good...
Li Banfeng wanted to continue verifying, but he couldn’t hold out any longer. He hadn’t been home for three days, and his Home Cultivation level was putting a strain on his body. Strength surged up from his legs as his Traveling Cultivator level was rapidly improving. He needed to rest.
Li Banfeng took out his key and hesitated for a moment before opening the Portable Residence.
He was very worried that the Portable Residence would be exposed, but he had to return now. After returning, he was still very anxious because he didn’t know what kind of reception awaited him inside. It wasn’t just his wife’s attitude, but also the house’s.
As soon as he entered the main room, his wife exploded, "HUMPH~ You crazy man! Not coming home for three days and nights without a word in advance! Who do you take me for?"
"Wife, please, let me explain..."
"Explain what? Get over here right now!"
His wife’s tone didn’t sound quite right. More than resentment, there was worry in her voice. She wasn’t just worried about Li Banfeng not returning home; she seemed more concerned about his current predicament.
"What are you dawdling for? Come over to Little Servant here!" the Phonograph urged repeatedly. Li Banfeng stood beside it.
A cloud of Steam enveloped Li Banfeng. "So you won’t come home, eh? I’ll scald you to death! Let’s see if you dare do this again!"
Although she spoke fiercely, the Steam wasn’t very hot; it was actually quite suitable for a hot bath.
His wife was putting on an act, but who was she performing for? For Hong Ying? But Hong Ying couldn’t see.
The Phonograph asked, "Do you admit you were wrong?"
Li Banfeng hurriedly responded, "I admit I was wrong."
The Phonograph’s horn swiveled in all directions, as if observing the situation. After a moment, seeing nothing unusual, it let out a puff of Steam.
Just as the Phonograph breathed a sigh of relief, the entire Portable Residence suddenly began to shake violently.
His wife was easy to deal with; the house was the difficult one. The house was furious.
The Wife shouted, "Husband, do you really admit you were wrong?"
Li Banfeng shouted, "I really was wrong!"
The shaking of the Portable Residence intensified, and various small ornaments in the room tumbled to the floor. The house didn’t accept Li Banfeng’s apology.
The Wife shouted, "Husband, tell me in detail! What exactly kept you from coming home?"
Li Banfeng explained, "I ran into some villains and couldn’t get away for a while."
"What kind of villains?"
"It was—"
Before Li Banfeng could finish speaking, the Portable Residence shook violently, throwing him to the ground.
The Phonograph shielded Li Banfeng, then suddenly sensed a formidable power approaching from behind.
Hong Ying couldn’t hold back anymore. Li Banfeng had been away for three days, and the Portable Residence had already thrown two tantrums, leaving the battle-hardened Hong Ying in a state of constant alarm.
"Better to fight it than be scared to death by it!" Hong Ying prepared to fight the Portable Residence to the death.
The Phonograph shouted angrily, "Stop! If you want to die, go do it yourself! Don’t drag Husband down with you!"
Provoked by Hong Ying’s imposing aura, the Portable Residence trembled even more fiercely.
As Hong Ying prepared to risk her life and the Phonograph desperately tried to stop her, the other Magical Treasures were too scared to make a sound. Suddenly, Li Banfeng began to sing a ballad:
"Running on flatlands, crossing mountains and rivers, CHUFF CHUFF, it puffs out smoke,
Adding coal and water, let’s hit the road, the train departs with boundless power,
Crossing bridges, tunneling through, steel wheels tumbling over dangerous passes,
Countless hardships we don’t fear, through wind and rain, we travel Wan Chuan without fail."
After Li Banfeng sang the first verse, the shaking of the Portable Residence significantly subsided.
When Li Banfeng finished the second verse, the Portable Residence calmed down and stopped shaking.
The Phonograph and Hong Ying were both stunned; they didn’t understand how Li Banfeng had managed to pacify the Portable Residence.
Li Banfeng turned his head and glanced at the Phonograph. "Wife, are you convinced now?"
"Uh..." The Phonograph spouted two puffs of Steam. "Little Servant is convinced."
"Good that you’re convinced. Time for some oil." Li Banfeng came over with the Oil Pot.
The Phonograph said in a panic, "Hey, Husband! What does being convinced have to do with getting oiled? Little Servant was protecting you just now! That wretched Hong Ying almost caused a disaster. Husband, you should be punishing her! This is unfair! Little Servant is not convinced! Little Servant... no, no... not convinced..."
Li Banfeng’s hands caressed the Phonograph’s platter as he applied the oil.
After a while of intimacy with the Phonograph, Li Banfeng ate something, then hung the Month Plate in the Third Room. He said to the Phonograph, "I’m going to recuperate in the Third Room for a few days. Wife, if anything unusual happens to me, lock me in the Third Room first, then figure out how to deal with it."
The Phonograph tensed up once again. "Husband, what actually happened?"
Li Banfeng replied, "Didn’t I just tell you? I encountered a tough opponent and fought a fierce battle."
"What kind of tough opponent?"
"Someone from Inner State by the name of Meng Qian. Have you heard of her?"
At the mention of Inner State, the Wife shuddered. Upon hearing the name Meng Qian, the water in her tank immediately began to boil.
Hong Ying, however, remained calm. "Meng Qian? Isn’t she just a Dream Cultivator?"
She recognized this person.
The Phonograph said, "You blind old crone, you’ve been deaf and blind for so many years, there are some things you don’t know. Meng Qian has already become the Chief Leader among Dream Cultivators and holds some status in Inner State."
"Chief Leader?" Hong Ying murmured to herself. If he encountered the Chief Leader, how could this madman possibly have come back alive?
While they were talking, Li Banfeng had entered the Third Room.
The Third Room was the most unique; its location differed from the other rooms. The main room was connected to the second son, the second son to the Fourth Room, and so on, all the way to Liu Fang, looking like the compartments of a train. But the Third Room was directly connected to the main room. This was very similar to what Grandpa Train had said about a special carriage, one supposedly designed for laying railroad tracks.
Since it’s the smartest carriage, it must have some special features. If something went wrong with Li Banfeng during this time, the Third Room should have a way to respond.
Seeing Li Banfeng close the door, Hong Ying suddenly laughed.
The Phonograph was startled. "You wench, what are you laughing at?"
Hong Ying replied, "Listening to that sound just now, did that madman enter the wrong place?"
"Enter the wrong place? Which place?"
"The place for oiling up!"
"What right or wrong? It’s just a bit of oiling; there’s no right or wrong to it..." The Wife’s voice was somewhat faint.
Hong Ying sneered, "You harlot, does it hurt?"
"Hurt? What’s there to hurt? You don’t have gears, you’ve never been oiled up, what would you know?"
"HAHAHA!" Hong Ying burst into laughter. "Harlot, you claim to be the number one beauty in the world, yet you let that madman toss you about like this!"
HMPH! HMPH!
The Wife was furious. "Laugh! Go on, laugh yourself to death! You wretched thing, even if you were sticking your rear out invitingly, no one would bother with you!"
「Later, in his room」
Li Banfeng lay in bed, starting to review the events that had transpired.
When I woke up, I was on a train. This proves I entered the dream while on the train. Everything that followed—getting off the train, asking for directions—all happened within the dream. Meng Qian targeted me on the train. My current guess is she knew I was a Traveling Cultivator. She wanted to use my status to make me invade Grandpa Train’s dream and trick him into revealing the train’s Craftsmanship Method. She definitely doesn’t know the train is *on* me; otherwise, someone much stronger would have come after me. She could only pull my consciousness into the dream, not my physical body into Inner State. This shows that there are restrictions on Inner State’s ability to exert power over Puluo State.
Grandpa Train rescued me. What consequences will he face? His true self must be hidden somewhere in Inner State. The people there probably can’t find him. They definitely can’t. He must have a way to deal with this...
Li Banfeng closed his eyes and couldn’t help but grit his teeth.
Brother, I’m not skilled enough. I can’t help you this time. You have to survive. I swear I’ll rescue you, no matter what!
「Meanwhile, in Medicine King Valley」
Inside a farmhouse, Elder Yao returned the medicine bottle to Monkey Qiu.
"Xiao Qiu, I can’t help you with this. The Lu Family’s second son has been afflicted by Green Flower’s methods."
Qiu Zhiheng was stunned for a long moment. He truly couldn’t understand why. According to his deduction, He Haiqin should have been the one to target the Lu brothers. How could He Haiqin possibly ally with Green Flower? Who connected them?
"Medicine King, please take another look. With Greenwater Beggar’s status, he shouldn’t have made a move against Lu Yuanhai."
"He might not have acted personally, but what you brought over in this bottle indeed contains his affliction. I can’t resolve his affliction. Unless you can find a greater master, the Lu Family’s second son will remain a fool for life."
Qiu Zhiheng appeared somewhat dazed.
How could things have turned out this way? The Lu Family was just starting to see some improvement; how did it come to this? Who else could he turn to? In Puluo State, whose medical skills could surpass the Medicine King’s?
Elder Yao sighed and said, "I don’t like to meddle in worldly affairs. Xiao Qiu, you’re a good kid, heed my advice. The Lu Family’s eldest son is dead, their second son is crippled. The Lu Family’s fortune has run out. All your effort will be in vain. Leave now while you still can. Don’t get yourself ruined too."
PS: Is there really no hope for the Lu Family?