Li Banfeng knew his wife’s singing could summon Ghosts; Shopkeeper Feng had mentioned it to him.
He had intended to bring his wife out to deal with the situation directly, but she said that a House Spirit could not leave its home.
That was secondary, however. The main point his wife made was that a married woman should not always be out and about, and that Li Banfeng himself still had to do the grocery shopping.
His wife carved a record for Li Banfeng; the song on it was "I Have an Affair."
All the Ghost Servants listened as if enthralled, almost as if they were ignoring Li Banfeng’s existence.
In fact, they weren’t ignoring him. When Li Banfeng cranked the hand-cranked phonograph a little too fast, the Ghost Servants immediately became angry and glared at him several times.
Operating the hand-cranked phonograph was truly a skillful task. With one hand, Li Banfeng controlled the crank while his other hand used a key to open the Portable Residence.
All the Ghost Servants turned their heads almost simultaneously to look at the main door of the Portable Residence.
"I have an affair, oh,
Sing it to the spring breeze.
Spring breeze, ask for me,
Why he cut off all news."
The Ghost Servants immediately followed Li Banfeng into the Portable Residence without the slightest hesitation.
Through the main door, they heard an even more beautiful singing voice, far more beautiful than that of the hand-cranked phonograph.
「...」
Zhou Yujuan suddenly woke from her sleep and vigorously shook Du Hongxi, the Second Helmsman Xun Feng of the Medicine King Hall of the Jiang Xiang Gang, who was beside her.
"Sir, sir, wake up! There’s a noise downstairs. I hear the Phonograph playing."
Du Hongxi rubbed his eyes and turned over, saying, "Let it play then. Doesn’t that thing play every day?"
"Sir, don’t sleep anymore, I really hear something!"
"Just let me rest for a bit!" Du Hongxi pushed Zhou Yujuan away. "I don’t have anything left! Stop bothering me!"
Zhou Yujuan listened carefully for a while, and it seemed that the singing downstairs had disappeared.
Zhou Yujuan cleaned her ears, which felt as if something was blocking them, probably left by Du Hongxi earlier.
Confirming she no longer heard the sound, Zhou Yujuan went back to sleep, but Du Hongxi suddenly sat up.
"Sir, what’s wrong?" Zhou Yujuan asked with concern.
"Nothing much, just need to pee." Du Hongxi got out of bed.
Zhou Yujuan said, "Sir, there’s a chamber pot under the bed."
"Don’t need that, it’s not convenient!" Du Hongxi quietly left the bedroom. Zhou Yujuan wanted to follow but was glared back by Du Hongxi.
He wasn’t intending to urinate. He had lost his connection with his Ghost Servants.
Du Hongxi had temporarily lost his connection with one or two Ghost Servants before, either due to combat or other matters. But losing connection with all Ghost Servants at once was a first.
Very nervous and even somewhat panicky, Du Hongxi didn’t tell Zhou Yujuan or anyone about it.
Without his Ghost Servants, Du Hongxi was almost completely combat-ineffective. He trusted no one at the moment.
He headed toward the end of the hallway. There, he had two subordinates with cultivation levels. These men had some ability, although they hadn’t been called upon to use their skills in years.
Just as he was about to reach the end of the hallway, an Iron Ruler suddenly pressed against Du Hongxi’s bald head.
"Who’s inside this room?" Li Banfeng asked softly.
"Inside..."
"Keep your voice down." Li Banfeng then drilled a hole in the back of Du Hongxi’s head with the Iron Ruler, causing Du Hongxi’s body to convulse.
Ever since Du Hongxi had reached the Second Layer as a Nightmare Cultivator, his life had never been threatened to this extent.
Du Hongxi concentrated his mind, summoning Lost Souls with all his might.
Li Banfeng pushed the Iron Ruler a little deeper into Du Hongxi’s skull. "I asked you, who are the people inside?"
Du Hongxi shuddered, not expecting this bastard to be so ruthless. "They are two of my subordinates."
Li Banfeng gently rotated the Iron Ruler. "What kind of subordinates?"
"Subordinates who’ve been with me for over a decade, true tough guys who kill without blinking an eye!" Though he seemed to be talking tough, he was just trying to buy time.
The Lost Souls sensed the summons and flew toward the Song and Dance Workshop.
The Iron Ruler moved up and down inside the back of Du Hongxi’s head, and Li Banfeng said, "I asked you, what Taoist Sect do these two subordinates belong to, and what is their cultivation level?"
"Both are practitioners of Body Cultivation, at the First Layer."
"What kind of Body Cultivation? Birds? Beasts? Or insects?"
"They’re not birds, nor beasts; they should be considered insects." The two Lost Souls were already near the Song and Dance Workshop.
"What kind of insects?" Li Banfeng’s Iron Ruler probed deeper.
"One is a centipede, and the other is a long worm."
The two Evil Spirits had already arrived outside the Western-style building and were slowly burrowing into the walls.
Du Hongxi was preparing to control the Evil Spirits to ambush Li Banfeng. But before he could act, Li Banfeng drove the Iron Ruler two inches into the back of his head, paralyzing him and robbing him of any ability to resist. With his left hand, Li Banfeng turned the key, opened the Portable Residence, and dragged Du Hongxi inside.
He didn’t rush to close the door; two Evil Spirits were still following him.
These two Evil Spirits indeed possessed some combat strength, but they couldn’t be said to have any cultivation level. Their malicious intent couldn’t possibly escape Li Banfeng’s notice.
He had brought them into the Portable Residence to add a couple of dishes for his lady.
RUMBLE RUMBLE.
The fifteen Ghost Servants hadn’t finished their meal yet. The Phonograph was full, belching contentedly.
"My dear," Li Banfeng said, "save those old dried preserved vegetables for later. Eat this fresh Soul while it’s hot."
With the back of his head damaged, Du Hongxi could not move his body. In the pitch-black room, he saw the remaining six Ghost Servants.
Du Hongxi focused his will, attempting to control them to attack Li Banfeng.
The Ghost Servants remained motionless, as if they had been petrified by a Spell.
Unable to command the Ghost Servants, Du Hongxi turned to controlling the Evil Spirits to launch themselves at Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng, with his Yin-Yang Eyes, saw everything clearly. He dodged the Evil Spirits, and after a puff of Steam, the Evil Spirits turned into dust and entered the horn of the Phonograph.
"CLANG CLANG! Oh, my dear husband, these two dried preserved vegetables are a bit spicy!"
Powerless to struggle, tears streamed down from the corners of Du Hongxi’s eyes.
"My dear," Li Banfeng urged, "hurry and eat this fresh one while it’s hot. I still have use for his corpse."
GASP... GASP...
Unable to speak, Du Hongxi’s throat issued heavy, labored breaths.
Enveloped in a watery mist, intense burning pain made Du Hongxi vomit white foam.
He felt his body being sliced into thin strips, each one sucked into the Phonograph.
In truth, his body hadn’t changed much. What was being torn to shreds was his Soul.
The Phonograph consumed Du Hongxi’s Soul and, incidentally, tidied up his corpse, erasing bloodstains and smoothing over wounds, making it appear as good as new.
Du Hongxi’s corpse was still useful. This was part of Li Banfeng’s strategy.
Li Banfeng, carrying Du Hongxi’s corpse, left the Portable Residence and arrived before the door to his two subordinates’ room.
Du Hongxi had said they were Body Cultivators, one a centipede and the other a long worm.
He propped up Du Hongxi’s corpse, trying to make it stand in front of the door, then knocked.
After a long while, the door finally opened.
One subordinate was bare-chested, and the other draped in a short coat, both of them still drowsy from sleep.
Seeing how slow they were, they didn’t seem as agile as a centipede and a long worm.
These two subordinates had indeed followed Du Hongxi for a long time. However, Du Hongxi always had Ghost Servants for protection and rarely needed them to take action.
Seeing Du Hongxi standing in front of the door, they didn’t realize at first that it was a corpse.
A stranger stood behind Du Hongxi. The bare-chested subordinate, not paying attention to the young man, directly asked Du Hongxi, "Boss, what’s up?"
When Du Hongxi didn’t answer, the young man behind him spoke.
"Nothing much, your boss just missed you guys." Li Banfeng swung his blade, slicing the bare-chested man’s neck.
The man in the coat was shocked, gasping in horror. Li Banfeng took the opportunity to force a green Poison Pill into his mouth.
The man was quick-witted enough to spit out the Poison Pill and parried a few moves with Li Banfeng.
But it was useless. The poison had already spread to his throat, causing severe swelling that left the man instantly suffocating.
Both subordinates stood at the door, clutching their throats.
Using the Poison Pill for the first time, Li Banfeng wasn’t entirely confident in its potency.
But seeing the man lose the ability to resist within about ten seconds of being poisoned gave Li Banfeng a high regard for the Poison Pill.
Not only was it powerful, but its effect was also excellent. It didn’t necessarily have to be ingested; just a touch could poison the opponent.
Seeing that the two were in bad shape, Li Banfeng didn’t dare delay. He quickly opened the Portable Residence, turned, and asked,
"Forgot to ask, what Taoist Sect do you two belong to?
Why so silent?
Don’t want to talk?
All right, forget it then. But next time, you must tell me.
Don’t hurry to die just yet. Bite the bullet and hang in there; someone at my house is still waiting for dinner."