Grandpa Train asked Li Banfeng if he still wanted to go out.
Zhao Dajun was still earnestly admiring the peach he had meticulously calculated, when Grandpa Train coughed.
WHOOSH.
A cloud of steam instantly dispersed. Teacher Lisa, who had been poised before Zhao Dajun, suddenly aged fifty years.
The peach was overripe.
Seeing the once smooth and firm peach suddenly sag, Zhao Dajun was aghast and cried out.
Amidst his cries, Teacher Lisa vanished, and the entire villa shattered.
The garden also disintegrated, and even the lake outside the villa disappeared.
All that remained was an expanse of wild grass. Li Banfeng said, "Zhao Dajun’s painstakingly constructed dreamscape... just gone like that?"
Grandpa Train nodded. "He woke up."
After a moment of silence, Grandpa Train asked, "Was I too cruel?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "A little, yes."
A light breeze wafted past, and the two men shared a wicked smile.
"HAHAHA! Being a bit cruel is just right."
"HEHEHEHE! Such a fine peach, and he still wanted to ’tinker’ with it. Don’t you think he had it coming?"
As the two were laughing merrily, the wild grass suddenly receded, and a new villa materialized before them.
Zhao Dajun had rebuilt the dreamscape.
He was scrawling calculations on the wall, still somewhat dissatisfied with the bedroom’s design.
Before long, the garden returned, the lake reappeared, and all the teachers were back as well.
Grandpa Train took Li Banfeng and departed from Zhao Dajun Station.
"See that? He woke up, but then he fell asleep again in the blink of an eye."
Li Banfeng glanced back at the dream world, which was slowly reverting to its original state. He could imagine Zhao Dajun’s condition in the real world.
He’d open his eyes, only to roll over and fall asleep again.
"Senior, I don’t possess the methods of a Dream Cultivator. Why am I able to enter another’s dream?"
Grandpa Train turned his head. "Because I have the means."
"What did you bring me here for?"
Grandpa Train shook his head. "You still don’t understand. I didn’t bring you in."
As he spoke, Grandpa Train stopped once more.
Before them stood a quaint, two-story building, its style typical of Puluo State architecture.
A girl of about thirteen or fourteen was staring blankly from the second-floor balcony, while shouts, curses, and cries echoed from the first floor.
Her eyes were bloodshot, her fists clenched tightly.
Her father was beating her mother.
The girl gritted her teeth, snatched a wooden stick from beside the bed, and headed downstairs.
The father, still beating her mother, flashed a hideous smile. He struck with increasing force, as if he might kill the mother at any moment.
The girl swung the stick.
When the first blow landed on his head, he was shocked and terrified.
With the second blow, he saw blood.
After the third, he began to wail and beg for mercy.
Gripping the stick with both hands, the girl gritted her teeth and swung relentlessly.
She wasn’t tall enough. Logically, with her clumsy movements, she shouldn’t have been able to reach her father’s head. In fact, she could barely hit anyone.
But in the Dream Tugging Tower, there were no nightmares; every blow she landed was precise.
Grandpa Train sounded his whistle. "She can’t leave either," he told Li Banfeng.
At the next stop, a woman had won at mahjong twenty times in a row.
At the next, a man in a room had slept with twenty people.
At yet another stop, a man knelt on the ground, kowtowing to another person twenty consecutive times.
Li Banfeng frowned. "Kowtowing? That counts as a good dream?"
Grandpa Train said, "I’ve been to this dream. This person always dreamed of going to Cheap Person Ridge but never managed it. In his dream, he finally made it and was overjoyed. See, their hearts are all trapped in their dreams, so they can never leave. Do you understand what I’m saying?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "I understand."
"And you still don’t want to stay here?"
"I don’t."
Grandpa Train set Li Banfeng down by the roadside. Slowly swinging his arms, he asked, "If you don’t want to stay here, why did you come to the Dream Tugging Tower?"
Li Banfeng didn’t know how to explain to this mad old man. "You’re the one who carried me here! I never wanted to come in the first place."
Grandpa Train paused for a moment. The chuffing sound from his mouth gradually subsided, like a train powering down.
He looked at Li Banfeng intently. "I carried you to the Dream Tugging Tower because I saw your dream. You had already entered a dream state before you even saw me. I merely guided you to where you needed to go."
Li Banfeng couldn’t comprehend the process.
Grandpa Train asked, "Do you remember what was happening then?"
Li Banfeng recounted the circumstances to Grandpa Train.
Grandpa Train looked at Li Banfeng. "So, you were at Black Stone Slope looking for New Land. A crane operator gave you wrong directions, and you just stumbled into Inner State?"
Li Banfeng nodded.
It sounded absurd, but that was indeed what had happened.
Grandpa Train’s eyes locked onto Li Banfeng, his intense gaze seemingly capable of piercing right through him at any moment.
Under such pressure, if Grandpa Train were to suddenly accelerate, vanishing from Li Banfeng’s sight at an incomprehensible speed, Li Banfeng would be reduced to a pile of pulp.
The immense pressure made Li Banfeng shudder involuntarily.
Grandpa Train suddenly moved close to Li Banfeng. "You want my train, don’t you?"
Li Banfeng was still considering how to respond when Grandpa Train suddenly grinned ferociously. "Your master wants me to build him another train, doesn’t he?"
Li Banfeng shook his head and answered honestly, "I don’t have a master."
"They still haven’t given up? They want my train that badly?" His chuffing breath grew more rapid.
Li Banfeng gleaned some information. "Are you saying the people from Inner State want your train?"
Grandpa Train didn’t answer, continuing to mutter to himself, "They sent so many people, all to try and steal my dreamscape. Did they think I’d be so easy to fool just because I was asleep?"
"Senior, I think there might be some misunderstanding between us."
Steam puffed from Grandpa Train’s ears. "They sent so many before, and not one succeeded. What makes them think you can? Is it because you’re a Traveling Cultivator, one of our Taoist Sect, and you seem to have some talent? Did they think you could just cozy up to me?"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "We’re not that close yet."
"That’s right, not close! I don’t even know your name, and you expect me to teach you how to make trains?" HUFF! HUFF! HUFF! Grandpa Train looked ready to charge.
"I don’t want to learn how to make trains; I’m not a Craftsman Cultivator." Li Banfeng readied himself to flee, seeing no better option when faced with such a madman.
"We’re complete strangers, and you want me to teach you how to *ride* a train? Utterly delusional!" Grandpa Train roared with laughter.
Li Banfeng shook his head. "I haven’t been."
After laughing, Grandpa Train produced a toy train about a foot long. "Many people think," he said to Li Banfeng, "that when making trains, you should start with the body. But my approach is different. I start with the wheels!"
Li Banfeng’s eyes widened. "So that’s it!"
Grandpa Train immediately snatched back the train model and bellowed, "You really are here to steal my secrets! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you!"
Li Banfeng was seething. He yelled back at Grandpa Train, "Old man, I have something to say to you, and you’d better listen carefully!"
Fire practically billowed from Grandpa Train’s head. "Go on then! Let’s hear what you have to say!"
Li Banfeng looked Grandpa Train straight in the eye. "Are we brothers, or not?"
"Are we?" Grandpa Train looked bewildered.
Li Banfeng said, "I’ll concede the point. You can be the elder brother."
Grandpa Train blinked. "Am I really getting the better end of this deal?"
"Whether it’s a loss or a gain, brothers don’t fuss over such things," Li Banfeng said with utmost sincerity. "For the sake of our brotherhood, from this moment on, let’s not speak of trains. How does that sound?"
Grandpa Train was silent for a moment, then asked Li Banfeng, "Is this some kind of Foolish Cultivation Technique?"
"Is it?" Li Banfeng felt a chill.
Grandpa Train muttered to himself, "So Foolish Cultivation hasn’t died out after all?"
Li Banfeng nodded gravely. "I heard it had become extinct."
Grandpa Train looked at Li Banfeng. "So, if that wasn’t a Foolish Cultivation Technique, were you speaking sincerely just now?"
"Absolutely sincere!"
"Good! Then I’ll listen to you. Since we’re brothers, we won’t talk about trains." Grandpa Train nodded vigorously. "Let’s start by discussing rails! The reason I make the train wheels first is to select the type of rail. There are many types of rails, the most common being..."
"Elder Brother!" Li Banfeng cut in.
This old man was erratic and prone to mood swings, truly difficult to fathom.
But Li Banfeng could understand him, in a way.
He just wanted someone to talk to.
"Elder Brother, let’s not talk about trains or rails. I don’t want to learn, and I wouldn’t be able to even if I tried. But there are others who can learn. And there are people watching."
Grandpa Train paused, taken aback for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "I know they’re watching. They knew from the moment I first drove my train into Inner State. They don’t like people running wild in their territory, but they couldn’t catch me. So, they tried to bribe me. They offered me Elixirs, territory, and a rather high status. By the old ways of reckoning, I’d have been considered a Feudal Lord. I wasn’t interested. We Traveling Cultivators just cherish our freedom—to go wherever we please. Why should we be bound by them? Later, they set their sights on my train. I sold the train, but they still kept watching me. I really wanted to play along with them for a while, but unfortunately, I messed up this time and got trapped by them."
Li Banfeng grew tense. "Can they see your train?"
"They can’t. Most of the time, even I can’t see the train myself."
Li Banfeng relaxed slightly.
"But I can see the key... HEHEHE..." Grandpa Train suddenly flashed a sinister smile.
If not for his top hat holding them down, Li Banfeng’s hairs would have stood on end.
The surroundings transformed. The dense forest vanished, leaving only a stark expanse of bare rock.
Grandpa Train glanced at Li Banfeng’s hand. "Why are you always touching your pants pocket? Is there something in there?"
Li Banfeng didn’t answer. He didn’t know what to say at that moment.
The scenery grew even more desolate. Not even a pebble was in sight, only pure, barren emptiness, offering no chance to hide, even temporarily.
Grandpa Train lowered his voice. "Don’t be afraid. They can’t see us now; no one can. I’ll ask you one more time, and you must tell the truth: do you really not want to stay here?"
Li Banfeng nodded. "I really don’t."
Grandpa Train sighed. "Your cultivation level is too low. Leaving Inner State will be incredibly difficult. But... we can take a gamble."
"What kind of gamble?"
Grandpa Train said, "If your entire self has entered Inner State, then forget about escaping. You’ll just have to stay here and keep me company. But if only your dreamscape has entered Inner State, then I still have a way to get you out."
Li Banfeng asked, "Why would you help me? Just because I’m a Traveling Cultivator?"
Grandpa Train chuckled. "That’s certainly what *they* think. They assume that by capturing a Traveling Cultivator, they can win my trust. But that’s not how I see things."
"Then how do you see it?"
"You’ll find out once you get out."
PS: Grandpa Train is a bit mad, but he’s not muddled.