"Go and eat!"
"Okay!" Gloves replied and went back to the main room.
Portable Residence asked Li Banfeng, "What’s wrong with that kid?"
Li Banfeng said, "He didn’t find anything good in the main hall of the Jiang Xiang Gang, and there’s nothing good from the Gang Leader here either, so he’s a bit down."
Portable Residence snorted coldly. "I’ve always looked down on these thieves. They don’t care about missing a meal, but if they miss out on one item, it’s like they can’t go on living."
Li Qi smiled. "Let’s talk about the rails first."
Portable Residence shielded its conversation from the others inside it and said to Li Banfeng, "With eight rails, I should be able to break through a Boundary."
"What Boundary?"
"The Boundary leading to Inner State."
Li Banfeng was surprised, then overjoyed. "If we can go to Inner State, does that mean we can rescue the Old Train?"
Portable Residence was silent for a long moment, then asked, "You want to rescue the Old Train?"
"I do," Li Banfeng didn’t hide his intentions. "He saved my life. I must rescue him."
Portable Residence sighed deeply. "I want to rescue him too, but now is not the time."
"But we can go to Inner State, can’t we? Why is it still not the time?"
"It’s not the right time for you, nor for me. Your cultivation level is insufficient; you’re not yet Above the Clouds, so I daren’t let you go to Inner State. Besides, I only have eight rails here, and that number isn’t enough."
"Eight isn’t enough? How many do we need in total?"
Portable Residence calculated. "The total number of rails is twelve. It’s best to find them all; otherwise, once we enter Inner State, it will be very difficult to get out."
"My wife’s cultivation level has already reached Above the Clouds, and she’s not just ordinarily Above the Clouds. With her help, we should have a better chance of success."
Portable Residence laughed. "Ah Qi, don’t talk to me about true feelings or husband and wife sharing one heart. I don’t believe in any of that.
"Even if you two are truly a couple, even if your affection is genuine, I still wouldn’t believe it.
"It’s too difficult for me to trust anyone. As long as she remains here as the House Spirit, I simply cannot let her leave easily.
"This is for the sake of the rules, and also for you.
"Getting these two rails made me recall some things. After recalling them, I trust such sentiments even less.
"Also, tell Ah Ji to stop provoking the one in the Fifth Room."
This was the first time Portable Residence had proactively mentioned the Fifth Room.
Li Banfeng asked, "Who exactly is the Lady of the Fifth Room?"
"I have a vague impression," Portable Residence said. "She seems to have been a passenger. I can’t recall her exact status, only that she was on the train for a very long time. I don’t know what she has become now.
"There are some things you don’t need to worry about. As long as she’s on the train, she can’t cause trouble.
"But Ah Ji had best not provoke her. His cultivation level isn’t high enough, and there are some things he can’t handle with the right discretion."
Li Banfeng asked, "Am I considered a passenger too?"
"Hmph," Portable Residence chuckled. "You’re not a passenger. You never were."
Li Qi left the Third Room and saw the ’family’ eating. Only Gloves was staring blankly at Xiao Zhenggong’s clothes, truly shaken and unable to eat.
In the Fifth Room, the Projector was casting an image onto the wall. On the screen, a beautiful woman in a white gauze dress played a piano by the sea.
Although the film was silent, Li Banfeng felt as if he could hear beautiful music, even the sound of waves washing back and forth on the beach.
Neatly stacked beside the Projector were dozens of oiled papers, the kind used to wrap candles.
In one corner of the room, film canisters were piled up against the wall. The Projector had used nearly all the film in the residence.
"Brother, time to eat," Li Banfeng said, sitting down beside the Projector.
The Projector replied, "Seventh Guide, I’m not hungry. I’d like to polish the script with you."
Li Banfeng nodded. "This room is a bit messy. I’d like to find another room to go over the script."
"Then let’s go to the eighth room," the Projector said to the woman in the image. "That’s all for today."
The woman turned her face to the camera, smiled, nodded, and closed the piano lid.
The Projector capped his lens, plunging the image into darkness. He then floated into the air and followed Li Qi to the eighth room.
Once the door was closed, the Projector suddenly trembled. "Seventh Guide, I’m scared! This might not be art. I might have touched a Devil!"
"Easy, Brother, take your time," Li Banfeng said, lighting a cigarette and sticking it into the Projector’s film reel slot.
A puff of smoke rose, and the Projector calmed down a little. "Seventh Guide, during the last battle, I seized a Beaded Flower from an enemy. It wasn’t entirely my own achievement; the Tang Sword deserves most of the credit.
"I kept that Beaded Flower. It’s a Magical Treasure of a reasonably high level, with a strong consciousness of its own. I presented it as a gift to the Lady of the Fifth Room.
"That was wrong of me. It was a valuable spoil of war and should have been handed over to you, Seventh Guide, for you to deal with. But I did it truly for..."
The Projector’s agitation began to rise again. Li Banfeng soothed him, "It’s fine. Our ’family’ isn’t short of Magical Treasures. Don’t dwell on it."
The Projector continued, "The Lady of the Fifth Room really liked the gift. She told me many things about herself, including her name and her background.
"She said her name is Su Lijun. She was originally quite a wealthy woman, but she was murdered by a heartless man. Her resentful Soul then wandered among deserted old houses in the Wilderness."
Hearing this, Li Banfeng’s brow furrowed. The story sounded somewhat familiar.
The Projector continued, "Later, due to a series of unforeseen events, she came to this residence and has been trapped here ever since, unable to leave."