Finally Found You

How did the key end up on the bear's back?

Thinking about this for a moment, the answer becomes clear.

Before Li Banfeng entered the door, he had thrown the key into the tangled weeds.

This bear rubbed itself in the tangled weeds to scratch an itch, and happened to rub the key away, carrying it all the way back to its cave.

The Portable Abode followed the key, and Li Banfeng and the Portable Abode together followed the black bear to the cave.

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

Seeing the black bear about to return to the cave, Li Banfeng quickly caught up, picked up a stone, and threw it at the bear's back.

He couldn't let the black bear enter the cave. If the key fell into the dark cave, it would be too difficult to find it again.

Li Banfeng wanted to use this stone to knock the key off.

Unfortunately, this wasn't within five meters. He was dozens of meters away from the black bear, and it was already difficult enough to hit the black bear.

The stone didn't hit the key, but landed on the back of the black bear's head.

The black bear, having taken a heavy blow, roared and turned around to chase Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng also ran. The black bear chased for a while, realizing it still couldn't catch up. It stood up on its hind legs, its front paws hanging in front of its chest, and roared angrily at Li Banfeng repeatedly.

This was a stern warning from a ursine animal: approach it again, and it would surely make you pay with your life.

After the warning, the black bear lowered its front limbs and lay down on the ground again. Just as it turned to walk towards the cave, the back of its head was hit by another stone.

Li Banfeng wanted to hit the key, but he couldn't control the force in his hand and kept hitting the back of the black bear's head.

The enraged black bear mustered its strength, knocked down a tree next to the cave, and displayed its power to Li Banfeng.

Li Banfeng took advantage of the black bear turning around and threw another stone at the black bear, hitting the back of its head again.

The black bear shook its head, looking somewhat bewildered.

Li Banfeng looked at the key on the bear's back, feeling a bit anxious.

The black bear charged over, and Li Banfeng immediately ran away. As soon as the black bear turned around, Li Banfeng threw a stone.

After throwing sixteen stones in a row, the black bear stopped chasing and didn't return to the cave. It lay on the ground motionless.

Li Banfeng walked closer and found that the black bear wasn't dead or unconscious. Its eyes were open, and it was still breathing, with a patch of blood red on the back of its head.

Was it giving up on itself?

Li Banfeng picked up a stone.

The black bear roared and immediately got up.

Li Banfeng put the stone down.

The black bear lay down on the ground again, motionless.

According to Li Banfeng's understanding, this meant: don't throw stones, let's talk things over.

Li Banfeng mustered his courage, went behind the black bear, grabbed the key, and turned to run.

It wasn't until Li Banfeng's figure completely disappeared that the black bear climbed up from the ground and slowly crawled back into the cave.

Li Banfeng, clutching the key and covered in dust and mud, walked out of the jungle and down the mountainside.

At the foot of the mountain, Li Banfeng picked up two stones and put them in his backpack, weighing them. They were about the same weight as the bronze lotus.

The bait had to be realistic. Although it was heavy, a Travel Cultivator had good physical condition and could handle it.

Having arrived at such a strange place, Li Banfeng should, in theory, have no way to tell directions.

But Li Banfeng could not only accurately tell directions, but also found a main road based on the position of the sun and the footprints on the ground.

This was the talent of a traveler.

Li Banfeng could run faster than a black bear in complex and harsh terrain, which was also the talent of a traveler.

Hitting stones accurately and fiercely, was this the talent of a traveler or a Shut-in Cultivator?

These needed to be verified later. The urgent matter at hand was to find He Jiaqing as soon as possible.

This so-called main road was a relatively flat and wide dirt road. From its width, two ox carts could walk side by side.

Why measure the width of the road with ox carts?

Because there really was an ox cart on the road.

Li Banfeng met an old man driving an ox cart and went up to ask where he could charge his phone.

"Electricity? That's hard to find! Not even the village chief's house has it! Go to Inner Valley and see!"

According to the old man's introduction, Li Banfeng gained some understanding of Medicine King Gully.

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

Outer Valley was very large, including all the villages under Medicine King Gully.

Inner Valley was the central area of the town. Li Banfeng gave the old man thirty Ocean, and the old man drove the ox cart, taking Li Banfeng to Inner Valley.

The ox cart traveled from morning until dusk. Upon reaching Inner Valley, night was approaching. Standing on Pailou Street, paved with gravel, Li Banfeng wondered where to go next.

Although He Jiaqing had sent the address, Li Banfeng only remembered Pailou Street. To know the specific location, he had to find a place to charge his phone.

There was a small shop on the street. The sign read Feng's General Store. It was lit, so there should be electricity.

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

The general store owner, wearing a diagonally buttoned long gown, stood behind the counter with a welcoming smile: "What would you like?"

Behind the counter was a shelf, densely stacked with various goods.

Li Banfeng asked, "Is there a place to charge?"

"Charge?" The owner seemed to have heard a very 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 really didn't want to walk anymore.

"Do you know someone named He Jiaqing who lives on Pailou Street?" Although he knew there wasn't much hope, Li Banfeng still asked.

The boss thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "I don't know He Jiaqing, but I do know the He Family Old House. You go east along the main street, turn south at the second intersection, and walk to Line Skewer Alley. There's a house with its own entrance and courtyard, that's the He Family Old House."

He Family Old House?

Could it be He Jiaqing's home?

Very likely!

This boss was a good person. To express his gratitude, Li Banfeng decided to buy something from their store.

What would be suitable to buy?

Li Banfeng looked for a moment and took a fancy to a feather duster.

The handle of this feather duster was very straight, it had a lot of feathers, and they were colorful, giving it a grand appearance.

It wouldn't do to visit empty-handed for the first time. This feather duster was very suitable as a gift for He Jiaqing.

Li Banfeng also chose a top hat.

The top hat from the general store wasn't made of the best material, but the style was decent. Li Banfeng picked a black top hat and put it on immediately.

His hiking hat was a bit similar to those worn by rickshaw pullers. After putting on the top hat, his demeanor instantly improved by a level.

"Boss, how much are these two items?"

The boss looked at Li Banfeng's attire and asked with a smile, "Are you using Huan Country Notes or Ocean currency? If you have banknotes from other countries, I can exchange them here too."

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

Li Banfeng didn't have Ocean currency or banknotes from other countries, so he naturally chose Huan Country Notes.

The top hat was thirty-one yuan and six jiao, and the feather duster was seven yuan and eight jiao.

Li Banfeng lowered the brim of his hat, held the feather duster, and walked from the main street into the alley like a mysterious gentleman moving through the night.

The He Family Old House was easy to find. In this narrow alley, houses were built one after another with almost no gaps between the walls, and there was only one house with its own entrance and courtyard.

Four sides of bluestone walls enclosed a courtyard with a flower garden. Behind the flower garden was a two-story Western-style building with blue bricks and red tiles, and vines hanging down the walls, exuding a luxurious and unique charm everywhere.

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

Is this really He Jiaqing's home?

Jiaqing's family background is quite good!

Then why did he move stones back then?

It's just that there was a faint fishy smell from this house, which made Li Banfeng slightly uncomfortable.

He didn't like eating fish. Even if he didn't eat meat for a month in the welfare home, he wouldn't eat fish.

There were no fish vendors nearby, so where did the fishy smell come from?

Li Banfeng came to the iron gate and didn't know how to knock on such a gate.

Such a large mansion should at least have a doorman, right?

After watching for a moment, Li Banfeng didn't see a doorman. He pushed the iron gate, and with a creak~, the hinge made a harsh friction sound, and the gate opened just like that.

Is it appropriate to just go in like this?

Jiaqing definitely won't mind. If it's not Jiaqing's home, I'll just say I went to the wrong place, and I guess no one will mind either.

Li Banfeng walked through the courtyard and went directly to the front door of the Western-style building.

By the floor-to-ceiling window on the first floor, a figure suddenly appeared and then disappeared.

The other person only flashed by the window for a moment. If it were the previous Li Banfeng, he wouldn't have noticed the figure that flashed by in that instant at all.

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

There was someone in this house. Judging from their speed of movement, they were definitely not an ordinary person.

Li Banfeng held the feather duster in his right hand and gently knocked on the door with his left hand.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The knocking sound was soft and slow, very graceful.

Meow!

A black cat suddenly jumped from the second floor to the door, glanced at Li Banfeng, wagged its tail, and stepped back two steps.

Li Banfeng was startled, and then heard a familiar voice from inside the door: "Is that Banfeng?"

It was He Jiaqing's voice!

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

After waiting for nearly half a minute, the door opened.

Li Banfeng frowned and said, "Why did you wait so long?"

He Jiaqing stood at the door, staring at Li Banfeng for a long time: "Brother, you're finally here."

"I'm here," Li Banfeng took off his backpack and smiled bitterly, "It wasn't easy getting here."

He Jiaqing casually took the backpack: "Why are you carrying such a broken bag?"

Li Banfeng was stunned: "Is this bag broken?"

He Jiaqing smiled: "Why isn't it broken? The seams are open. Where did you buy this broken bag?"

"Where did I buy it?" Li Banfeng's brows relaxed, the corners of his mouth turned up, and he smiled: "I forgot, I think it was given as a gift for topping up my phone bill."

He Jiaqing weighed the bag and asked, "Are the things in the bag?"

Li Banfeng shook his head: "They're not in the bag, I left them at the train station."

ps: Thank you to all the readers, thank you for every reader's message and reply. Every word, every character, makes Salar incredibly happy.

(End of this chapter)