Li Banfeng suspected that Luo Yuni was sitting right next to him, perhaps even closer, possibly even on top of him.
In such a situation, for Luo Yuni to reach out was an extremely dangerous move for Li Banfeng.
What was more dangerous was that Li Banfeng didn’t feel the danger.
If this House Spirit bore no ill will, everything could be negotiable.
If this House Spirit did harbor ill will and Li Banfeng couldn’t sense it, it would prove that the House Spirit’s cultivation level was above his, and by at least two layers.
Seeing Li Banfeng jump far away, Luo Yuni was clearly disappointed. "What are you hesitating for? Don’t you really want me?"
"Like I said, it’s not that I don’t want you," Li Banfeng shook his head again. "I just don’t want this house."
Although his time in Puluo State wasn’t long, after hearing the descriptions from Ma Wu, the Peddler, and Xiao Yeci, and witnessing the old lady’s experience in fostering a House Spirit, Li Banfeng had managed to figure out some rules.
In this set of rules, there were three important roles: the Home Cultivator, the House Spirit, and the house itself.
The Home Cultivator could control the house, the house could control the House Spirit; through this chain of command, the Home Cultivator could subdue the House Spirit.
The key to subduing the House Spirit lay in the attunement between the Home Cultivator and the house.
The old lady’s talent was indeed not great, and it took her a long time to achieve attunement with this house.
Li Banfeng hadn’t achieved attunement with this house, or at least he hadn’t sensed it. In this situation, he didn’t believe he could subdue such a powerful House Spirit.
If he couldn’t subdue it, the situation would be very dangerous.
He hadn’t forgotten Lu Xiaolan, who was trapped by the House Spirit in the He Family Old House.
Luo Yuni’s frown smoothed out, and a charming smile returned to her face.
"You don’t want this house, and frankly, neither do I. I’ve been trapped here for decades, and I’m sick of it.
"You want your special house, and I like that house too. Take me with you; I’ll go with you.
"Once we’re in your house, I’ll be yours—my abilities, my body, everything."
Li Banfeng took a deep breath, first removed the Short Knife, and set it aside.
Li Banfeng couldn’t control this strange weapon himself, but Luo Yuni could. If he brought it into the Portable Residence and Luo Yuni suddenly turned against him, it would pose a fatal threat.
Besides this, Li Banfeng made other preparations. He touched the remaining Rust Pill.
Luo Yuni was a Lost Soul, and Li Banfeng didn’t know how to deal with Lost Souls. If things went south, Li Banfeng could only target her physical form, the old mantel clock.
The Rust Pill couldn’t harm the wooden exterior of the old mantel clock, but it would be very effective against the clock’s pendulum, the face, and the internal mainspring and gears.
Apart from the Rust Pill, there were also a Sickle and a shovel, which Li Banfeng hung at his waist, adjusting them to the most suitable positions for quick action.
Luo Yuni’s figure vanished from the clock pendulum; her Soul had returned to the old mantel clock.
With everything ready, Li Banfeng took out his key, hoisted the old mantel clock with one hand, and entered the Portable Residence as quickly as possible.
He temporarily placed the old mantel clock on the ground and turned to look for a candle.
Li Banfeng hurriedly searched for the candles. He needed light; without it, he couldn’t see the mantel clock, let alone gaze intently at it.
On the clock pendulum of the old mantel clock, Luo Yuni’s face emerged once again.
This time it wasn’t a reflection. Luo Yuni was inside the old mantel clock, and behind her, the gears and mainspring were clear.
The charming smile gradually faded, her arched eyebrows slowly rose, and her almond-shaped eyes tilted upward.
With the corners of her mouth slightly upturned, Luo Yuni licked her lips. The color drained from her face, leaving her skin a ghastly, menacing white.
Li Banfeng’s thinking wasn’t wrong, and neither was his method; under normal circumstances, he could indeed subdue the House Spirit.
But he underestimated one thing: the power disparity between them, a gap that, even on Li Banfeng’s home turf, was insurmountable.
According to common sense, a First Layer Home Cultivator should correspond to a House Spirit of a similarly low cultivation level—First Layer, or Second Layer at most.
But Li Banfeng was wrong; Luo Yuni’s talent was astonishingly good.
Before becoming a House Spirit, her powerful resentment had already transformed her into a formidable Evil Spirit.
After becoming a House Spirit, through thirty years of cultivation, her strength had reached the Sixth Layer.
The power of the Sixth Layer was an existence Li Banfeng couldn’t even fathom.
But a House Spirit is, after all, a House Spirit. Luo Yuni was bound by the mansion. Furthermore, this mansion had a deep pact with the old lady, so Luo Yuni couldn’t use much of her power.
Luo Yuni noticed that Li Banfeng didn’t know much about Home Cultivation; she wanted to use him to kill the old lady and then help her break free from her restraints.
Why didn’t she kill the old lady herself? Aren’t there precedents for House Spirits killing their masters?
Li Banfeng had also considered this question and surmised from it that Luo Yuni hadn’t told the whole truth about many things.
To gain Li Banfeng’s trust, most of what Luo Yuni said was true, but this matter was her critical vulnerability, so naturally, she wouldn’t divulge the truth.
In fact, the answer to this question could already be found in the descriptions provided by Ma Wu, the Peddler, and Xiao Yeci. Through analysis, Li Banfeng also had a rough conclusion.
For a House Spirit to kill its master, there are prerequisites, one of which is a problem with the attunement between the Home Cultivator and the mansion.
If the Home Cultivator doesn’t care for the house, the house will indulge the House Spirit’s rebellion, giving the House Spirit a chance to kill its master, just like that extremely slovenly Home Cultivator Ma Wu mentioned.
If the Home Cultivator abandons the house, the house will lift some of the restraints, allowing the House Spirit to transform into an Evil Spirit and harm people within the house at will.
The old lady and Luo Yuni didn’t get along well, but the old lady had deep feelings for this house, and her attunement with the house was excellent.
Bound by the house, Luo Yuni was under the constraint of the pact with the Home Cultivator; she could suppress the old lady’s cultivation level, but she couldn’t kill her.
Moreover, even if the old lady died, as long as the house still existed, the House Spirit couldn’t break free from its restraints, because the pact between the Home Cultivator and the House Spirit hadn’t been invalidated—unless another Home Cultivator took over.
The house is the House Spirit’s shackles. To break free from its restraints, a House Spirit has only three options.
One is to be powerful enough on its own.
A sufficiently powerful House Spirit can forcibly break free from the house’s restraints. Ma Wu had heard of similar precedents.
Luo Yuni’s cultivation level had reached the Sixth Layer; could she break free from the house’s restraints?
No, it was nowhere near enough.
Two is for someone to take the House Spirit out of the house.
A House Spirit that leaves the house becomes an Evil Spirit, and few dare to do such a thing.
Three is to destroy the pact.
This is quite simple. Another Home Cultivator gazes at the House Spirit and calls out its name. If the original Home Cultivator doesn’t object, the pact between them and the House Spirit can be broken. As long as the House Spirit agrees, this is how a House Spirit is transferred.
Luo Yuni chose the third option: to destroy the pact.
In the old lady’s mansion courtyard, if Li Banfeng gazed at the mantel clock and called out Luo Yuni’s name, the old lady certainly wouldn’t object, because the old lady was already dead.
The pact between Luo Yuni and the old lady would be broken, and Luo Yuni would be freed from her restraints.
But Li Banfeng had not attuned with the mansion courtyard, so Luo Yuni would not become his House Spirit; she would immediately kill Li Banfeng.
Luo Yuni had been sitting behind Li Banfeng the whole time. Although her power was limited, she only needed to grab Li Banfeng’s vital points to force him to call out her name.
However, she hadn’t expected that just as she reached out, Li Banfeng ran away.
When force didn’t work, she switched to seduction, repeatedly tempting Li Banfeng to speak her name. She’d thought this would be easy, but Li Banfeng was extremely cautious and refused to say her name.
If one path was blocked, she would take another.
Luo Yuni asked Li Banfeng to take her into his Portable Residence.
This time, she succeeded.
Having left her original mansion courtyard, she was free.
But now the Portable Residence was highly attuned to Li Banfeng. What would happen if Li Banfeng gazed at the clock pendulum within the Portable Residence and uttered Luo Yuni’s name?
All he needed to do was gaze at the House Spirit, feel his attunement with the house, then say the House Spirit’s name, and the House Spirit would belong to Li Banfeng.
The idea was correct, but in practice, Li Banfeng would never succeed.
Because Luo Yuni would no longer give Li Banfeng the chance to say her name; she wanted to kill him immediately and take over the Portable Residence entirely.
As a Sixth Layer House Spirit with no limits on her powers, there was no chance for Li Banfeng to survive.
The clock pendulum swung rapidly.
The minute hand on the clock face drove the hour hand to revolve quickly, approaching the twelve o’clock position.
Once the clock struck twelve times, she could cut Li Banfeng into thirteen pieces!
GRIND... The gears of the mantel clock rubbed together.
The minute hand was about to overlap with the hour hand, and the clock was about to chime. Li Banfeng was still searching for a candle, while Luo Yuni’s laughter grew more sinister.
HISS-HISS-HISS. A burst of firelight flared, and the sound of hissing Steam was heard first.
Li Banfeng was startled. The Phonograph had started.
Luo Yuni paid no attention to the Phonograph at all.
CLANG!
A chime from the mantel clock!
An invisible blade rushed towards Li Banfeng’s back.
Li Banfeng felt a chill and, acting on instinct, tried desperately to dodge. It was futile; he couldn’t avoid it. Such speed was beyond his comprehension.
HISS!
A jet of white Steam burst from the Phonograph, easily dispersing the invisible blade!
Luo Yuni’s eyes turned blood red as she stared at the Phonograph.
CLANG!
The second clock chime!
An enraged Luo Yuni launched a second attack, aiming not just at Li Banfeng but also the Phonograph. She was determined to shred the Phonograph to pieces as well.
WHOOSH.
The Steam rushed swiftly, engulfing the old mantel clock. The invisible blades couldn’t be fired, dissolving directly within the old mantel clock’s body.
GRIND... GRIND... GRIND... Luo Yuni was somewhat surprised but, still unwilling to give up, tried to strike again.
The gears strained, attempting to release the third chime.
The third chime failed to sound, as the mainspring in the old mantel clock was jammed by an invisible force in the Steam.
Luo Yuni roared furiously as she continued to exert her strength desperately.
CREAK... CREAK... CREAK... The mainspring soon reached its limit.
HISS.
The Phonograph let out a mocking hiss.
SNAP!
The mantel clock’s mainspring snapped in the Steam.
"AHH~~"
Luo Yuni cried out in horror, then screamed miserably as if her own bones had broken.
WHOOSH!
Another cloud of Steam surged forward.
The glass cover of the old mantel clock shattered, and the pendulum broke!
The dial was ripped off, and the hands bent and melted under the high temperature.
The copper framework inside collapsed, and gears large and small scattered everywhere.
CRACK! CRACK!
The wooden exterior of the mantel clock turned to splinters in a matter of seconds.
Everything happened too quickly for Li Banfeng to react.
Luo Yuni’s screams lingered for a long time, as if she were enduring unimaginable pain.
From within the mantel clock, a red dust rose, swept up with the Steam into the horn of the Phonograph.
By the light of the Phonograph, looking at the remains of the old mantel clock, Li Banfeng was covered in sweat, shocked and speechless.
WHIRR...
The needle of the Phonograph automatically positioned itself on the record.
First came the cheerful sound of gongs and drums.
Then followed the merry sound of a flute.
And then the Phonograph began to play a sweet song:
"I escort you to the edge of the village,
And I have a message to relay.
Though all the flowers are in bloom,
Loong-geh-lee-geh-lee-geh-loong~
Loong-geh-lee-geh-loong~
Wildflowers by the roadside~~~
You must not pick!"