Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'-Chapter 676 - 464 Holding the Tally and Controlling the Calculations_2
Li Banfeng suspected the twenty cars of coal were likely to be stolen. He decided to follow them to see exactly who the thief was and where they would take the coal.
Now that the Old Man had mentioned their arrival, Li Banfeng immediately stepped out of the Portable Residence and, with a PLOP, fell into the water.
"That old rascal tricked me again!"
Li Banfeng poked his head out of the river. At first, he thought the Portable Residence was playing another prank. But then, he discovered a key in the water and realized the Old Man hadn’t been mistaken; he had indeed arrived at the location.
This was the Meisha River.
Li Banfeng had remained inside the Portable Residence and was unaware of the specifics. However, one thing was certain: the coal had been stolen. All twenty cars of it had been taken and thrown into the Meisha River.
This river, filled with mud and coal slag, had become their dumping ground for the stolen goods.
After securing the key and wiping his face, Li Banfeng swam from the bone-chilling water to the shore.
He took off his top hat, wrung out the muddy water, put it back on, patted his Tang Sword, and said with a smile, "Brother, I understand your difficulties now."
The Tang Sword shared the sentiment. "My Lord, they don’t dare to confront us directly, which proves they can’t defeat us. But right now, we don’t know who to fight."
Li Banfeng was quite confident. "We’ll find them soon. Once we do, we must act quickly. They’re too cunning; we can’t give them time to prepare."
Entering the Portable Residence and changing his clothes, Li Banfeng asked the Old Man, "Who just stole the coal?"
"Ah Qi, I have my rules. Inside the train is inside, and outside is outside. Have you ever heard of a train telling passengers what’s happening outside?"
Li Banfeng retorted, "Then isn’t this your fault?"
"Why should it be my fault?"
"If you had windows, I wouldn’t need to ask. I could see everything myself."
"If you can get your hands on windows, now that would be something!"
There are actually windows?
"Where could I get something like that?"
The Old Man snorted. "I go where you go. I see what you encounter."
"The point is, you need to give me some clues so I know where to look."
"Clues?" The Old Man gave a wry smile. "If only I remembered any clues. I’ve even forgotten what windows look like."
Li Banfeng lay on the bed to rest for a moment when the Projector approached him. "Seventh Guide, I have something to show you."
"What is it?"
The Projector mysteriously went to Bafang, with Li Banfeng following.
"Aren’t you usually in the Fifth Room? Why come to Bafang?"
The Projector said, "It’s best not to view this footage in the Fifth Room."
Li Banfeng laughed. "What secretive thing have you filmed now?"
Lights flickered behind the lens, and an image was projected onto the wall.
It was a pile of coal.
The pile of coal moved forward on the Little Train. From its perspective, the scenery on both sides of the railroad slowly receded.
Upon reaching the town, the Little Train began to slow down, stopping and starting intermittently, as if it were malfunctioning.
During one stop, a figure appeared by the roadside. They were of medium stature with a long hem on their clothing and were circling the train car.
This person looks familiar.
Li Banfeng watched carefully for a moment before the image suddenly plunged into darkness.
After a little over a minute, the image reappeared. Waves of light rushed towards the screen as the viewpoint plunged into the river.
The image froze, and the recording ended.
Li Banfeng looked at the Projector. "Is this a scene from outside the Portable Residence?"
"It should be."
"How could you possibly record something outside the Portable Residence?"
After careful consideration, the Projector replied, "Seventh Guide, you’ve always said that the lady wasn’t a figment of my imagination. I think you’re right."
Li Banfeng’s cheek twitched. "That lady... she let you see outside the Portable Residence?"
"I can’t clearly explain what happened. At the time, I was filming a beautiful love story with her. I was capturing her close-up, and in the reflection of her pupils, I discovered this scene.
"I’ve always believed this lady was a figure of my imagination. I thought it was a burst of artistic inspiration in my mind, reflected in her eyes.
"Yet, this scene is so clear and realistic, and completely unrelated to my own thoughts. I realized it might be a real event.
"I secretly recorded this scene. No one knows about this, not even her—the possibly real Lady of the Fifth Room."
Lady of the Fifth Room...
Who exactly is she?
Why can she see outside the Portable Residence?
If this footage was real, the key clue was the man who had appeared beside the train car—the one with the long hem.
He must have used some Magical Treasure or Spiritual Object to send the train car, along with the coal, into the Meisha River.
Li Banfeng left the Portable Residence and followed the railway tracks to where the incident occurred.
After searching near the railway for a long time, he found nothing unusual.
Just as he was about to leave, a scratch on the rail caught his attention.
Was this scratch left by a train malfunction?
No.
This scratch was clear and straight; it definitely wasn’t made by a wheel.
Someone had made this mark deliberately.
This was the spot the culprit had chosen beforehand. They had already prepared a Magical Treasure nearby.
A Steam Train, due to inertia, requires some time to stop.
What Taoist Sect does this man belong to, that he could calculate the exact spot to act so precisely?
...
Li Banfeng returned to the mine and saw Ma Wu sitting in the workshed, drinking sullenly.
Seeing Li Banfeng, Ma Wu recounted what had happened.
