Rain drifted down in thin, cold threads.
By the time Wang Zheng's carriage finally rolled into Gao Family Village, it was already noon on the second day.
The drizzle had eased, but the chill lingered, soaking into clothes and bones alike.
Song Yingxing and Wang Zheng had transferred to the electric mini-train in Chengcheng County, so they disembarked straight at the station—stepping directly into the most bustling stretch beside Gao Family Village.
Naturally, the mini-train itself had left Wang Zheng shaken with awe. But after careful consideration, he classified it as yet another product of "half divine art, half physics."
Something extraordinary, yes—but fundamentally impossible for mortals to reproduce.
Which meant: not worth chasing for now.
He stretched his stiff shoulders and lifted his gaze toward Gao Family Village. The streets bustled, people moved with purpose, machines hummed quietly in the background. The whole place felt unreal, like a scene pulled straight out of a dream.
"This place," Wang Zheng muttered, unable to stop himself, "is unlike anywhere I have ever seen."
Song Yingxing smiled faintly. "Come. Let's go to the school. What you've seen so far is only the surface."
"Hm."
Wang Zheng took a few steps forward—
then suddenly froze.
A sharp "woo—" cut through the drizzle from up ahead.
It sounded like a whistle. Similar to a train's, yet softer… stranger.
He stopped. "What's that sound?"
Song Yingxing halted as well. A moment later, realization dawned, and he chuckled.
"Ah. It seems Young Master Bai has made progress again."
Wang Zheng's interest flared instantly.
"You mean the young genius you mentioned? The one trying to solve the solar divine carriage's inability to run in the rain?"
"Precisely."
Even as the words left his mouth, something emerged from the road ahead.
It was… strange.
A three-wheeled contraption, its frame entirely wooden, crude and boxy—looking for all the world like a battered old pushcart rescued from a junk heap. Yet at the front sat a bulging boiler, from which steam hissed and water audibly boiled.
The earlier whistle had come from it.
The vehicle rushed toward them at alarming speed.
At its helm stood a young man dressed in dazzling white robes, sashes fluttering wildly behind him. His features were strikingly handsome, almost unreal, and with the steam and rain swirling around him, he truly looked like an immortal descending upon the mortal world.
Song Yingxing opened his mouth.
"This is Young Master Bai—"
Before he could finish—
The vehicle blasted past them.
A voice echoed back in panic.
"AH—! I FORGOT TO INSTALL THE BRAKES AGAIN—!"
Song Yingxing sucked in a breath.
The bystanders lining the road gasped in perfect unison.
Young Master Bai shouted at the top of his lungs, "EVERYONE MOVE! MOVE! THE EXPERIMENTAL CAR HAS NO BRAKES! I CAN'T TURN—!"
People scattered like startled birds.
The strange vehicle hurtled forward, faster and faster, until—inevitably—it flew straight off the road and plunged into the fields ahead.
Crash!
The cart flipped.
Young Master Bai tumbled several times through the mud.
His pristine white robes were instantly transformed into something closer to a rag.
Then—he stood up.
Covered in dirt. Hair disheveled.
Grinning from ear to ear.
"It worked!" he shouted joyously. "I succeeded! Hahahaha!"
Only now did Wang Zheng fully understand.
"This vehicle… it uses the same power source as the textile machines."
Young Master Bai laughed loudly, mud dripping from his sleeves.
"That's right! A steam-powered vehicle! I've named it—the automobile!"
Wang Zheng stared at the overturned machine, its wheels still spinning uselessly in the air. His heart stirred with admiration.
"As long as there is boiling water," he murmured, "it can move on its own…"
But Song Yingxing frowned.
"Bai," he said slowly, "I see several serious flaws."
Young Master Bai's eyes lit up.
"Oh? You noticed too?"
Song Yingxing nodded. "The boiler is far too small. Its output is weak, which is why you dared only use wood for the frame and avoided iron entirely."
Young Master Bai sighed. "Exactly. I was afraid it wouldn't move at all if it were heavier."
"And because the power is weak," Song Yingxing continued, "it can't carry much coal. Which means its range is extremely limited."
Young Master Bai spread his hands helplessly.
"That's the biggest problem. It won't make it beyond the village."
At that moment, hurried footsteps thundered down the road.
A large group rushed over—Young Master Bai's graduate students, both assistants and disciples. Once they graduated, they would become elite engineers of Gao Family Village, each earning a staggering fifty taels of silver a month.
They worked like a well-drilled unit.
Some lifted the overturned automobile back onto the road.
Others hauled over a sack of coal and fed the boiler.
Young Master Bai leapt back onto the vehicle in one smooth motion.
"Continue testing!"
"Be careful, Teacher Bai!" the students shouted.
Laughing wildly, Bai waved at Song Yingxing.
"Song! Help me think—how do we improve the power? Increase load capacity? I can't think of everything alone—ah—!"
The automobile suddenly surged forward again.
"Oh NO—!"
"I FORGOT THE BRAKES AGAIN—!"
Once more, chaos erupted.
The automobile charged down the road, veered violently at a bend, and—
Splash!
It flipped into the fields again.
The students chased after it in horror.
"Teacher Bai! Are you hurt?"
Young Master Bai climbed up, coughing mud.
"I'm fine… but my automobile—!"
The wooden frame had finally given up. It lay shattered into splinters.
Young Master Bai collapsed onto the embankment, clutching his chest in agony.
"It's ruined… it's ruined…!"
The students hurried to console him.
"We'll build another one!"
"Find a carpenter!"
"Wood isn't strong enough!"
Young Master Bai snapped upright.
"Yes! We need lighter, stronger materials!"
"Aluminum?" someone suggested.
"Too soft!"
"Mix aluminum with iron?"
"Will it explode?"
"It shouldn't! Neither explodes!"
"…It really won't, right?"
"No! Definitely not!"
Young Master Bai groaned.
"My back… I think I hurt it…"
The students gasped.
"Quick! Take him to the doctor!"
They carried him off toward the hospital in the Merchant Village district, arguing animatedly about materials the entire way.
Wang Zheng stood rooted in place, mouth hanging open.
"Your village," he finally said, "is overflowing with vitality."
Song Yingxing smiled calmly.
"This is what we call an academic atmosphere. And we're still building it."
Wang Zheng nodded slowly.
"You truly are… far ahead."