Shine Heaven Light

Shine Heaven Light

This was a lotus made of copper, with lotus leaves as its base, roughly ten centimeters in diameter. The flower bud rested directly atop the leaves. It had not bloomed, but he could feel the seams between its petals.

So it had been such a large chunk of copper. No wonder this thing was so heavy!

Though Li Banfeng knew little about antiques, he could tell this was an exquisitely crafted ornament.

But was this ornament really that important?

Why had He Jiaqing insisted that he bring it back to his hometown?

Why had Team Leader Xiao wanted to shoot him over this thing?

What secret was hidden inside this lotus?

He had slept plenty over the past few days, and with nothing else to do, Li Banfeng kept studying the Copper Lotus.

He studied it from dawn until two in the afternoon, but still could not open it.

Screech~

The announcer reported, "The train is about to arrive at Medicine King Gully Station. Passengers disembarking here, please gather your luggage and prepare to leave the train."

They had arrived!

They had reached Medicine King Gully!

Li Banfeng hurriedly picked up the silk, yellow paper, and the other items, wrapped up the Copper Lotus, stuffed it into his backpack along with the remaining three boxes of instant noodles, one bag of chips, and a bag and a half of spicy strips, then pushed open the door and left his carriage.

Since boarding the train, this was the first time Li Banfeng had stepped out of his own carriage. It was also the first time he had seen other passengers on the same train.

At first, Li Banfeng felt somewhat uneasy, afraid he might run into some unknown creature with three heads.

Quite a few people stood by the door waiting to get off, but they all seemed normal. At least, they looked normal.

Some of them should not have gotten off at this station, but they had to leave early because they were about to starve to death.

A man in a suit stood beside Li Banfeng, his left hand tucked in his pocket and his right carrying a suitcase. Li Banfeng glanced at him. The man had to be at least one meter ninety tall, yet he probably weighed no more than fifty kilos.

With a body that skinny, he could easily be blown away by the wind when he went outside.

A woman followed behind him, the complete opposite of the man. She looked under one meter forty tall, yet surely weighed over seventy kilos.

The train jolted, and the man hurriedly steadied the woman beside him. Judging from their distance and body language, they were a married couple.

The woman held a child in her arms, one or two years old. It was impossible to tell whom the child resembled.

Hiss!

Wooooo!

With a long whistle, the train arrived at Medicine King Gully Station.

The Train Conductor lowered the steps, and Li Banfeng followed the crowd off the train.

The instant he stepped out of the carriage, the fresh air left Li Banfeng slightly intoxicated. Even mixed with traces of coal dust and Machine Oil, it was far better than the air on the train.

The weather was somewhat gloomy, but it was still better than the dim yellow carriage lights. Besides, in the last few days, even those dim yellow lights had been gone.

After getting off the train, Li Banfeng noticed the clothes people around him wore.

Their attire differed greatly from Li Banfeng's.

Many wore suits: black, white, striped, plaid, every style imaginable.

Quite a few wore Zhongshan suits, some with standing collars and others with turned-down collars.

Some wore vests over dress shirts, with bow ties at their collars.

Others wore long gowns, somewhat similar to the robes worn by traditional performers.

Many wore hats of various styles, mostly fedoras, though there were plenty of flat caps as well.

There was also a kind of cap similar to a flat cap, except its brim was slightly narrower and had a button on it.

What kind of hat was that?

It seemed to be called a Forward Hat.

They all wear hats. Should I take out my hiking hat too?

The problem was that his hiking hat looked rather different from theirs.

And it was not only a matter of hats.

After boarding the train, Li Banfeng had taken off his dress shirt and trousers, changing into a T-shirt and track pants. Now, he looked utterly out of place among the people around him.

Should I change back into my shirt and trousers? After all, I'm someone who can change clothes on the subway. Changing on a platform should be no trouble at all.

Forget it. Why did I have to dress like them? Wasn't it good to have my own style?

Li Banfeng felt that he was the most eye-catching man on the entire platform.

He really was bright. He even developed a strange illusion, feeling as though light shone from his body.

"Mom, that person is glowing!" A child behind him stared at Li Banfeng.

See? Even the child said he was glowing. That proved...

That proved it was not an illusion!

Li Banfeng stretched out his right hand. Beneath the dim sky, his right arm gave off a ghastly white, dazzling halo.

It was not only his right arm. His entire body was glowing.

But after looking closely for a while, Li Banfeng discovered that he himself was not glowing. A beam of light had been shining on him the whole time, like a spotlight following someone on a stage.

Where had this beam come from?

Li Banfeng raised his head and looked toward the sky. The light pouring down from above was so piercing that he could not open his eyes.

Was it a helicopter searchlight?

Was a helicopter tracking me?

The light shining on him suddenly went out. Li Banfeng was shocked and rushed toward the ticket gate.

Many people had originally stood at the ticket gate, and all of them had just turned to look at Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng was anxious to leave the station, but to his surprise, those people voluntarily made way for him.

"Move aside, all of you! He's been touched by Shine Heaven Light."

"Could he be a White Lamb?"

"Stay away from him. Don't get splattered with blood!"

What did that mean?

Did they know there was a helicopter overhead too?

Li Banfeng grew even more nervous. He pulled out his ticket and immediately handed it to the ticket inspector.

The ticket inspector took out a pair of clippers, punched another notch in the ticket, and returned the stub to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng had no time to care about the stub. He walked straight out of the station and saw quite a few people approaching him at the entrance.

They wore vests, but no shirts beneath them. There was nothing else under their vests.

They wore hats too. He could not tell what material they were made of, but in style, they looked very much like Li Banfeng's hiking hat.

Were these their uniforms?

Were they going to wear those while arresting him?

One person walked over and struck up a conversation. "Sir, need a ride?"

Li Banfeng had his spicy strips at the ready and answered with extreme vigilance, "Where does it go?"

"Anywhere you want. Just name the place!"

So he was a taxi driver.

Li Banfeng happened to be in a hurry, so he told the driver, "I'm going to Medicine King Gully."

The driver smiled. "Sir, this is Medicine King Gully. This whole area is called Medicine King Gully. Where in Medicine King Gully are you headed, Inner Gully or Outer Valley?"

Inner Gully or Outer Valley?

Li Banfeng recalled the message He Jiaqing had sent him.

He Jiaqing had once sent Li Banfeng the address, and those words stirred up some memories.

"Inner Gully, somewhere called Pailou... something Street."

"Pailou Street, right?" The driver smiled. "Easy enough. Eight dollars!"

"Eight dollars? Fine!"

The driver smiled even more happily. This customer was quite straightforward and did not haggle.

Li Banfeng truly did not want to haggle either. Eight dollars was not expensive! It was only the starting fare for a taxi.

The driver led Li Banfeng down from the station square and over to his vehicle.

Li Banfeng looked at it.

The vehicle had two wheels and one seat, with two shafts connected by a crossbar in the middle.

"Is this vehicle fast?"

"Fast!" The driver draped a towel over his shoulder and pointed at the vehicle. "Ask around about the rickshaws outside the station. Whose ride is faster than mine?"

This driver pulled a rickshaw.

There were actually still rickshaws in this era!

Still, he had already ridden a steam train and seen people with three heads. Riding a rickshaw was nothing too strange.

Li Banfeng simply thought it was too slow.

"Do you have anything faster?"

"You want to take a carriage?" The Carriage Driver waved his hand. "Carriages aren't allowed to stop outside the station. Those things are unclean. Unless someone's here to unload cargo, it wouldn't suit someone of your status to ride one."

What Li Banfeng meant was whether they had a motor vehicle. Just as he was about to speak, he found that his jaw would not move. No matter what he did, he could not open his mouth.

It was not just his mouth. His hands and feet could not move either, as though his body had been set in a truckload of cement.

Seeing Li Banfeng standing there stiffly, the Carriage Driver asked, "Sir, what's wrong? Sir, sir... you haven't been touched by Shine Heaven Light, have you?"

P.S.: More at five tonight.

(End of this chapter)