Finally Found You

How had the key ended up on the bear's back?

The answer came with only a little thought.

Before entering, Li Banfeng had thrown the key into the wild grass.

The bear had gone into the grass to scratch an itch and happened to rub the key away, carrying it all the way back to its cave.

The Portable Abode had followed the key, and Li Banfeng had followed the black bear to its cave along with the Portable Abode.

The crucial question now was how to get the key off the bear's back.

Seeing the black bear about to return to its cave, Li Banfeng hurried after it, picked up a stone, and hurled it at the bear's back.

He could not let the black bear enter the cave. If the key fell into that pitch-black cave, finding it again would be far too difficult.

Li Banfeng had wanted to knock the key down with that stone.

Unfortunately, this was not a distance of less than five meters. He was dozens of meters away from the black bear; hitting the bear at all was already no easy feat.

The stone missed the key and struck the back of the black bear's head.

After taking the heavy blow, the black bear roared and turned around to chase Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng ran too. After chasing for a while and realizing it still could not catch him, the black bear stood up on its hind legs, its forelegs hanging before its chest, and roared angrily at Li Banfeng again and again.

This was a stern warning from a member of the bear family. If he came near it again, it would surely make him pay with his life.

After the warning, the black bear lowered its forelimbs and lay back down. The instant it turned toward the cave again, another stone struck the back of its head.

Li Banfeng had been aiming for the key, but he could never quite control his strength, and kept hitting the back of the black bear's head.

The enraged black bear threw all its strength into knocking down a tree beside the cave, displaying its power to Li Banfeng.

While the black bear turned around, Li Banfeng threw another stone at it, once again hitting the back of its head.

The black bear shook its head, looking somewhat bewildered.

Li Banfeng looked at the key on its back and grew anxious.

When the black bear charged, Li Banfeng immediately fled. Whenever the bear turned around, Li Banfeng threw a stone.

After throwing sixteen stones in succession, the black bear stopped chasing. It did not return to the cave either, but lay on the ground without moving.

Li Banfeng walked closer and found that the black bear was neither dead nor unconscious. Its eyes were open, it was still breathing, and the back of its head was a sheet of blood-red.

Had it given up on itself?

Li Banfeng picked up a stone.

The black bear roared and immediately scrambled to its feet.

Li Banfeng put the stone down.

The black bear lay back down and did not move.

In Li Banfeng's understanding, this meant: don't throw stones, everything could be discussed.

Li Banfeng gathered his courage, came behind the black bear, snatched the key off its back, and turned to run.

Only after Li Banfeng's figure had completely disappeared did the black bear get up from the ground and slowly crawl back into its cave.

With the key tucked away and his body covered in dust and mud, Li Banfeng left the forest and descended halfway down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, Li Banfeng picked up two stones and put them into his backpack. Judging by their weight, they were about the same as the Copper Lotus.

The bait had to look convincing. Though it was heavy, a Travel Cultivator had good physical conditioning and could still bear it.

Having come to such an unfamiliar place, Li Banfeng should not have been able to tell directions.

Yet Li Banfeng could not only identify directions accurately, but also found a main road based on the sun's position and the footprints on the ground.

This was a traveler's talent.

Li Banfeng could run faster than a black bear through complicated, harsh terrain. That too was a traveler's talent.

His stones flew true and hit hard—was that a traveler's talent, or a House Cultivator's talent?

That would need to be tested later. The urgent matter at hand was finding He Jiaqing as quickly as possible.

This so-called main road was merely a fairly level, broad dirt road. Judging by its width, two ox carts could pass side by side.

Why measure the road's width in ox carts?

Because there really was an ox cart on the road.

Li Banfeng came across an old man driving an ox cart and went up to ask where he could charge something.

"Electricity? That's hard to find. Even the Village Chief's house doesn't have it! Go take a look in Inner Gully!"

From the old man's introduction, Li Banfeng gained a rough understanding of Medicine King Gully.

Medicine King Gully was a town, a very large town, divided into Inner Gully and Outer Valley.

Outer Valley was very large and included all the villages under Medicine King Gully's jurisdiction.

Inner Gully was the central area of the town. Li Banfeng gave the old man thirty Huan Country Notes, and the old man drove his ox cart to take Li Banfeng to Inner Gully.

The ox cart traveled from morning until dusk. By the time they reached Inner Gully, night was approaching. Standing on Pailou Street, paved with crushed stone, Li Banfeng wondered where to go next.

Although He Jiaqing had sent him an address, Li Banfeng had only remembered Pailou Street. To learn the exact location, he had to find somewhere to charge his phone.

There was a small shop by the street, its sign reading Feng's General Store. There were lights on inside, so it should have electricity.

Li Banfeng entered the general store and saw two candles burning on the counter. Only then did he realize that what he had seen earlier was not electric light, but candlelight.

The general store owner wore a Slanting Placket Changshan and stood behind the counter with a welcoming smile. "What would you like?"

Behind the counter stood a shelf densely piled with all kinds of sundries.

Li Banfeng asked, "Is there anywhere to charge something?"

"Charge?" The owner seemed to have heard an exceedingly strange word. "We don't have electricity here. Why don't you ask at Old Xu's place on Yuanzheng Street?"

Yuanzheng Street?

What kind of place was that?

Li Banfeng truly did not want to walk any farther.

"Do you know someone named He Jiaqing who lives on Pailou Street?" Though he knew there was little hope, Li Banfeng still asked.

The owner thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know He Jiaqing, but I do know the He Family Old House.

Walk east along the main street, turn south at the second intersection, and go to Line Skewer Alley. There's a detached house with its own courtyard there—that's the He Family Old House."

The He Family Old House?

Could it be He Jiaqing's home?

Very likely!

This owner was a good man. To show his gratitude, Li Banfeng decided to buy something from his shop.

What would be suitable?

Li Banfeng looked around for a while and took a liking to a Feather Duster.

The Feather Duster had a very straight handle and lots of feathers in every color, making it look quite impressive.

He could not arrive at someone's door empty-handed for the first visit. This Feather Duster was perfect as a gift for He Jiaqing.

Li Banfeng also chose a top hat.

The general store's top hats were not made of particularly good material, but their styles were passable. Li Banfeng picked a black one and put it on at once.

His mountaineering cap looked a little too much like the kind worn by rickshaw pullers. Once he put on the top hat, his bearing immediately rose by a level.

"Boss, how much are these two items?"

The owner looked at Li Banfeng's clothing and asked with a smile, "Will you be using Huan Country Notes or silver dollars? If you have banknotes from another country, I can exchange them too."

In this place, one always had to confirm the type of currency before doing business.

Li Banfeng had neither silver dollars nor banknotes from another country, so naturally he chose Huan Country Notes.

The top hat cost thirty-one sixty, and the Feather Duster cost seven eighty.

Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat and carried the Feather Duster. Like a mysterious gentleman moving through the night, he left the main street and entered the alley.

The He Family Old House was easy to find. In this narrow alley, private homes stood one after another, with barely any gap between the walls of neighboring houses. There was only one detached house with its own courtyard.

Four walls of blue stone enclosed a courtyard with a flowerbed. Behind the flowerbed stood a two-story Western-Style House, with gray bricks and red tiles, vines hanging in strands from the walls, every corner exuding lavish refinement.

In this small town, such a residence was truly eye-catching.

Was this really He Jiaqing's home?

Jiaqing's family was doing quite well!

Then why had he moved stones in the first place?

It was just that the house carried a faint fishy smell, making Li Banfeng slightly uncomfortable.

He did not like fish. Even if he went a month without meat at the Welfare Institute, he still would not eat fish.

There were no fish sellers nearby either. Where was the fishy smell coming from?

Li Banfeng came to the iron gate, but had no idea how he was supposed to knock on such a gate.

For such a large residence, there should at least have been a gatekeeper, right?

After looking for a while, Li Banfeng saw no gatekeeper. He gave the iron gate a push. With a creak, the hinges let out a piercing scrape, and the gate simply opened.

Was it appropriate to just go in like this?

Jiaqing definitely would not mind. If this was not Jiaqing's house, I would just say I came to the wrong place. Probably no one would mind either.

Li Banfeng crossed the courtyard and went straight to the Western-Style House's front door.

A figure suddenly appeared beside a floor-to-ceiling window on the first floor, then vanished at once.

The other party had only flashed past the window for an instant. The old Li Banfeng would never have noticed such a fleeting figure.

But today, Li Banfeng saw it very clearly. His eyesight was vastly different from before.

There was someone in this house. Judging by that movement speed, they were definitely no ordinary person.

Li Banfeng gripped the Feather Duster in his right hand and lightly knocked on the door with his left.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The knocking was soft and slow, very gentlemanly.

Meow!

A black cat suddenly leaped down from the second floor to the doorway. It glanced at Li Banfeng, flicked its tail, and backed away two steps.

Li Banfeng froze, then suddenly heard a familiar voice from inside the door. "Is that Ban Feng?"

It was He Jiaqing's voice!

Li Banfeng let out a long breath and called loudly, "It's me. Open the door."

After waiting nearly half a minute, the door opened.

Li Banfeng frowned. "Why did you make me wait so long?"

He Jiaqing stood at the door, staring at Li Banfeng for a long while. "Brother, you finally made it."

"I made it." Li Banfeng took off his backpack and gave a bitter smile. "Getting here was not easy."

He Jiaqing casually took the backpack from him. "Why are you carrying such a shabby bag?"

Li Banfeng was taken aback. "This bag is shabby?"

He Jiaqing laughed. "How is it not shabby? The seams are coming apart. Where did you buy this shabby bag?"

"Where did I buy it?" Li Banfeng's brows relaxed, and the corners of his lips curled up. Smiling, he said, "I forgot too. I think it came free with a phone bill recharge."

He Jiaqing weighed the bag in his hand and asked, "The item is in the bag?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "Not in the bag. I left it at the Train Station."

Thank you, dear readers. Thank you to every reader for your comments and replies. Every sentence, every word, makes Salad incomparably happy.

(End of this chapter)