Chapter 282: They Want My Train

Grandpa Train asked Li Banfeng if he still wanted to leave.

Li Banfeng, of course, wanted to leave.

Zhao Dajun was still diligently admiring his meticulously calculated peaches when Grandpa Train cleared his throat. A puff of steam instantly dispersed, and Teacher Lisha, who had been primly standing before Zhao Dajun, suddenly aged fifty years. The peaches were overripe. Seeing his originally smooth and firm peaches suddenly sag and slacken, Zhao Dajun was greatly alarmed and cried out. As he cried out, Teacher Lisha vanished, and the entire villa shattered. The garden shattered too, and even the lake outside the villa vanished.

Only a stretch of wild grass remained. Li Banfeng said, "Zhao Dajun's painstakingly constructed dream, just gone like that?"

Grandpa Train nodded. "He woke up."

After a moment of silence, Grandpa Train said, "Was I too cruel?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "Just a little."

A gentle breeze blew past, and the two of them smiled wickedly.

"Hahahaha, a little cruelty is just right."

"Hehehehe, such perfect peaches, and he still needed to adjust them. Don't you think he deserved it?"

As they laughed happily, the wild grass suddenly receded, and a new villa appeared before them. Zhao Dajun had reconstructed the dream. He was listing equations on the wall, still somewhat unsatisfied with the bedroom design. Before long, the garden, the lake, and the teachers all returned.

Grandpa Train took Li Banfeng and left Zhao Dajun Station.

"See?" Grandpa Train said. "He woke up, but in a blink of an eye, he was asleep again."

Li Banfeng looked back at the dream world slowly returning to its original state. He could imagine Zhao Dajun's state in the real world. The moment he opened his eyes, he rolled over and fell back asleep.

"Senior," Li Banfeng asked, "I don't have dream cultivation abilities, so why can I enter others' dreams?"

Grandpa Train turned his head. "Because I have the means."

"Why did you bring me here?"

Grandpa Train shook his head. "You still don't understand. I didn't bring you in."

As they spoke, Grandpa Train stopped again. Ahead was an old-fashioned two-story building, its style typical of Proland architecture. A girl of thirteen or fourteen was staring blankly from the second-floor balcony. From the first floor came sounds of shouting, cursing, and crying. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her fists were tightly clenched. Her father was beating her mother.

The girl gritted her teeth, picked up a wooden stick from beside the bed, and went downstairs. The father, who was beating the mother, revealed a ferocious smile. His blows became heavier and heavier; he could kill the mother at any moment. The girl swung the wooden stick down. When he took the first blow to his head, he was shocked and terrified. When he took the second blow, he saw blood. After the third blow, he began to wail and beg for mercy. The girl held the stick with both hands, gritting her teeth, swinging it down blow after blow. She wasn't tall enough; normally, she shouldn't have been able to reach her father's head, and with her clumsy movements, she shouldn't have been able to hit anyone at all. But in Dream Weaver Tower, there were no nightmares, and every one of her blows was accurate.

Grandpa Train blew his whistle and said to Li Banfeng, "She can't get out either."

Next was the following stop, where a woman had won twenty consecutive rounds at the mahjong table. At the next stop, a man had slept with twenty people consecutively in a room. At the stop after that, a man knelt on the ground and kowtowed twenty times consecutively to another person.

Li Banfeng frowned. "Kowtowing, that counts as a good dream?"

Grandpa Train said, "I've been to this dream before. This person desperately wanted to go to Jianren Gang, but he never made it. In his dream, he finally did, and he was delighted. These people's hearts are all stuck in their dreams, so they can never leave. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "I understand."

"You still don't want to stay here?"

"No."

Grandpa Train placed Li Banfeng by the roadside, slowly swaying his arms. "If you don't want to stay here, why did you come to Dream Weaver Tower?"

Li Banfeng didn't know how to explain to this crazy old man. "You carried me here! I didn't want to come at all."

Grandpa Train paused for a moment, the huffing sounds from his mouth gradually ceased, as if a train had stalled. He looked at Li Banfeng very seriously. "I carried you to Dream Weaver Tower because I saw your dream. You had already entered a dream before you saw me; I merely sent you to where you were supposed to go."

"I had already entered a dream before I saw you?" Li Banfeng couldn't understand how that happened.

Grandpa Train asked, "Do you still remember the situation at that time?"

Li Banfeng described the scene to Grandpa Train.

Grandpa Train looked at Li Banfeng. "You were looking for new territory at Black Stone Slope, and a crane operator pointed the wrong way, so you stumbled into Inner State?"

Li Banfeng nodded. It sounded a bit absurd, but that was the actual situation.

Grandpa Train's eyes stared intently at Li Banfeng, his powerful gaze seemingly capable of piercing through Li Banfeng's body at any moment. In this situation, if Grandpa Train suddenly accelerated, vanishing from Li Banfeng's sight at an incomprehensible speed, Li Banfeng would be crushed into a pulp. Under immense pressure, Li Banfeng couldn't help but shiver.

Grandpa Train suddenly came close to Li Banfeng. "You want my train, don't you?"

Where did that come from? "Isn't your train already in my hand?"

Li Banfeng was still thinking about how to answer when Grandpa Train suddenly grinned ferociously and laughed. "Your master wants me to build another train for him, doesn't he?"

Li Banfeng shook his head and answered honestly, "I have no master."

"They still haven't given up?" Grandpa Train said, his breathing accelerating, "They want my train that badly?"

Li Banfeng gleaned some information. "Are you saying people from Inner State want your train?"

Grandpa Train didn't answer, continuing to speak to himself. "They sent so many people just to extract my dream, thinking I'd be easy to trick because I was asleep?"

"Senior, there might be some misunderstanding between us."

Two puffs of steam emerged from Grandpa Train's ears. "They sent so many people before, and not one of them succeeded. What makes them think you can succeed? Because you're a Traveler Cultivator, one of my Daoist kind, and you seem to have some talent, do they think you can get close to me?"

Li Banfeng shook his head. "We're not very familiar with each other yet."

"Indeed, not familiar," Grandpa Train scoffed. "I don't even know your name, and you want me to teach you how to build a train?" Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Grandpa Train looked ready to charge at any moment.

"I don't want to learn how to build a train; I'm not an Artisan Cultivator." Li Banfeng prepared to run, unable to think of a better option when facing such a madman.

"We're complete strangers, and you want me to teach you to ride a train? That's utterly delusional!" Grandpa Train burst into laughter.

Li Banfeng shook his head. "I'm not delusional."

After laughing, Grandpa Train took out a toy train about a foot long and said to Li Banfeng, "Many people think that when building a train, you should start with the body, but my approach is different. I start with the wheels!"

Li Banfeng's eyes widened. "I see!"

Grandpa Train immediately put away the train model and exclaimed loudly, "You truly are here to steal my craft! I truly didn't accuse you wrongly!"

Li Banfeng flared up in anger and yelled at Grandpa Train, "Old man, I'm going to tell you something, so listen carefully!"

Fire was already fuming from Grandpa Train's head. "Speak! Let's see what you have to say."

Li Banfeng looked Grandpa Train directly in the eye. "Are we brothers?"

"Are we?" Grandpa Train looked a bit bewildered.

Li Banfeng said, "I'll take the slight disadvantage and let you be the elder brother."

Grandpa Train blinked. "Am I truly gaining an advantage?"

"Whether it's a disadvantage or an advantage, we brothers don't dwell on such things," Li Banfeng said with a sincere expression. "For the sake of our brotherhood, from now on, neither of us will talk about trains. What do you say?"

Grandpa Train fell silent for a moment, then asked Li Banfeng, "This is a Foolish Cultivator technique, isn't it?"

"Is it?" Li Banfeng shivered.

Grandpa Train mumbled softly, "Are Foolish Cultivators not extinct yet?"

Li Banfeng nodded very seriously. "I heard they were already extinct."

Grandpa Train looked at Li Banfeng. "Then since it's not a Foolish Cultivator technique, was what you just said sincere?"

"It was sincere!"

"Good! Then I'll listen to you. Since we're brothers, we won't talk about trains," Grandpa Train said, nodding vigorously. "Let's talk about railway tracks first. The reason I start with train wheels is to determine the type of tracks. There are many types of tracks; the most common are..."

"Elder Brother!" Li Banfeng interrupted Grandpa Train.

The old man was incoherent and temperamental, truly unpredictable. But Li Banfeng could understand him. He wanted someone to talk to.

"Elder Brother, let's not talk about trains or tracks. I don't want to learn, and I wouldn't be able to, but someone *can* learn, and someone is watching."

Grandpa Train paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "I know they're watching. They knew when I first drove my train to Inner State. They don't like people wandering around their territory, but they couldn't catch me, so they tried to buy me off. They gave me elixirs, gave me territory, and even a high status. By ancient standards, I would have been considered a regional lord. I wasn't interested. We Traveler Cultivators just seek the freedom to go wherever we please. Why should we be restrained by them? Later, they set their sights on my train. I sold the train, but they still kept an eye on me. I really wanted to have some fun with them, but alas, this time I slipped up, and they trapped me."

Li Banfeng became tense. "Can they see your train?"

"They can't see it. Most of the time, even I can't see the train."

Li Banfeng felt relieved.

"But I can see the key, hehehe..." Grandpa Train suddenly revealed a sinister smile. If it weren't for his top hat, Li Banfeng's hair would have stood on end.

The surroundings changed. The dense forest that had been there vanished, leaving only a stretch of bare rock. Whose dream was this? Grandpa Train's? Did he see the key I have? Not necessarily. This is a dream. His dream and mine are intertwined, but our physical bodies should be far apart. The key is in my physical body; he shouldn't be able to see it.

Grandpa Train looked at Li Banfeng's hand and asked, "Why do you always like to touch your pants pocket? Is there something inside?"

Li Banfeng didn't answer; he didn't know what to say now.

The surrounding landscape became even more desolate. There wasn't even a single grain of sand or rock; only pure emptiness remained, offering no chance to temporarily hide.

Grandpa Train lowered his voice. "Don't be afraid. Now they can't see us; no one can see us. I'll ask you one more time, and you must tell the truth: you really don't want to stay here?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "No."

Grandpa Train sighed. "Your cultivation level is too low; it's truly too difficult to leave Inner State. But we can make a bet."

"How do we bet?"

Grandpa Train said, "If your entire self has entered Inner State, then don't even think about escaping; stay here and keep me company. If only your dream has entered Inner State, I still have a way to get you out."

Li Banfeng asked, "Why are you helping me? Just because I'm a Traveler Cultivator?"

Grandpa Train smiled. "They certainly think that. They thought that by capturing a Traveler Cultivator, they could gain my trust, but that's not how I think."

"Then what do you think?"

"When you get out, you'll know what I think."

(End of chapter)