No wonder this house, despite its age, exuded a unique grandeur; it turned out to be the private villa of a Famous Courtesan.
Luo Yuni.
This woman was Luo Yuni, the very same Famous Courtesan mentioned in the newspapers as having died tragically in her private villa.
Luo Yuni seemed to understand Li Banfeng’s hesitation to speak her name.
"Do you want to know what happened next?"
DONG! DONG! DONG! The grandfather clock struck eleven times. As its pendulum swayed, the scene shifted, and Luo Yuni continued her story.
Her murderer lay dead on the ground.
Luo Yuni sat beside the corpse, meticulously grooming herself.
The man’s body was taken away. But before long, he returned. He stood beside Luo Yuni, eyebrow pencil in hand, wanting to draw her eyebrows.
Luo Yuni didn’t spare him a glance. With a casual wave of her hand, she sent him flying out the window.
Outside the window stood a willow tree, and the man found himself hanging from its branches.
Luo Yuni continued her grooming, her smile remaining captivating as time passed.
Day after day, the man hanging from the tree gazed obsessively at Luo Yuni inside the house.
After some time, a young couple moved into the house.
The husband, dressed in a white shirt and black suspenders, left early and returned late, apparently holding a respectable job.
The wife busied herself with chores, seemingly never noticing the other woman in the house—the one always meticulously grooming herself before the old grandfather clock.
If Luo Yuni hadn’t revealed herself, Li Banfeng wouldn’t have seen her either.
Their days were peaceful, even sweet, until the husband saw Luo Yuni grooming herself. Suddenly, life didn’t feel so sweet anymore.
Luo Yuni looked at the man with pity, gently extending her arm to offer him the comb.
The man was overjoyed. He carefully took the comb from Luo Yuni, feeling that combing her hair, even just once, would be the most cherished achievement of his life.
The man combed Luo Yuni’s hair repeatedly, as if unwilling to miss a single strand.
Only when Luo Yuni grew weary and glanced at him did he reluctantly put the comb down.
Putting down the comb, the man picked up an eyebrow pencil, wanting to draw Luo Yuni’s eyebrows.
Luo Yuni shook her head, her figure gradually fading.
She vanished, leaving the man standing there with the eyebrow pencil, bewildered and lost.
He stared blankly at the grandfather clock all day, indifferent to his wife’s complaints and tears.
One day, he repeatedly stabbed himself in the temple with the eyebrow pencil, his face a twisted mask of agony and a smile.
Holding the bloodied eyebrow pencil, he wanted to draw Luo Yuni’s eyebrows.
His wife witnessed this horrific scene and fled the house in terror, but she couldn’t escape the courtyard.
The Lost Soul hanging from the tree brandished willow branches, ensnaring her and dragging her back into the house.
Her husband had stabbed himself to death with the eyebrow pencil.
She remained bound by the willow branches until late at night, when Luo Yuni slit her throat with a Short Knife.
The wife died. The blade, smeared with fresh blood, was clean again in an instant as the blood vanished.
The scene froze. Luo Yuni said softly to Li Banfeng, "This Short Knife enjoys drinking blood at midnight. The more blood it drinks, the sharper it becomes.
"It took me three years to understand this Short Knife’s secret, while that old woman spent thirty years and learned nothing.
"We’ve only just met, and I’ve already told you its secret. Isn’t that sincere enough?"
Luo Yuni’s smile grew even more captivating, but Li Banfeng wasn’t focused on it.
"You’re lying," Li Banfeng said, shaking his head. "The old lady knew this Short Knife’s secret. She didn’t kill me immediately but deliberately kept me until midnight so the Short Knife could drink my blood."
Luo Yuni laughed. "That’s because I told her the secret last night. Didn’t you notice? Her two sons also didn’t understand why you were kept until midnight. That was because the old lady hadn’t had time to tell them.
"That old woman is just that foolish. If I hadn’t told her, she likely would have never figured it out. Practicing Home Cultivation with her was an insult and a torment to me."
Li Banfeng asked, "Then why did you choose her?"
Luo Yuni shook her head. "It wasn’t I who chose her; she chose me. She was the only Home Cultivator I’d encountered, and she called out my name.
"Before meeting her, I was merely a Resentful Spirit. It was her summons that turned me into a House Spirit."
Li Banfeng’s eyes lit up. "How does one summon a House Spirit?"
Luo Yuni raised an eyebrow. "You don’t know? Aren’t you also a Home Cultivator?"
Li Banfeng raised his eyebrows too. "You could tell?"
Luo Yuni laughed heartily. "How could I not? Your every move in this house is clear to me.
"You possess a special residence, one invisible to ordinary people, even to ordinary House Spirits.
"But I am not ordinary. I can see it. I know you have a key to open this residence. It’s precisely because you returned to your residence that you were able to quickly neutralize the poison Decai gave you."