It Was You

Li Banfeng had thought the person impersonating He Jiaqing would go to the restroom with him.

But "He Jiaqing" did not go. He did not want any further contact with Li Banfeng, having noticed that Li Banfeng's behavior was somewhat unusual.

There was no need to worry about anything unusual. From the moment Li Banfeng entered this Western-style house, he believed the outcome had already been decided. Li Banfeng was destined to take his place and become a prisoner of the house.

To be safe, "He Jiaqing" had given Li Banfeng some tea laced with "special ingredients," intending to make him sleep soundly.

Afraid Li Banfeng would not sleep deeply enough, he had also wanted to force a bowl of soup down him, but Li Banfeng had not drunk it.

Now it seemed Li Banfeng truly had not slept soundly. Perhaps there had not been enough of the special ingredient, or perhaps Li Banfeng was simply too healthy for that cup of tea to knock him out completely.

None of that mattered.

What mattered was that Li Banfeng could not get out.

He could not possibly find the exit.

"He Jiaqing" had searched this place for several days and still had not found an exit.

Once dawn came, I'll be free.

Li Banfeng, you fool. I wonder how long you can hold out in this house.

"He Jiaqing" went downstairs and slept in a room on the first floor near the entrance.

Li Banfeng entered the restroom and saw a Yellow Cat and a white cat searching for food beside the washbasin.

There was no faucet over the washbasin. In its place stood a hand pump. The white cat jumped onto the pump handle while the Yellow Cat crouched at the outlet, watching to see whether water would come out.

The rustling sounds had come from them. How had these two cats gotten in?

There were quite a few cats in the Western-style house. How had the other cats gotten in?

Through the windows?

There was indeed a small porthole window in the restroom, very small.

The porthole was shut tight. Li Banfeng pushed it several times, but it was as sturdy as the bedroom windows, with no possibility of opening it.

Li Banfeng made a few low "psst, psst" sounds at the two cats. The white cat had already been wary of him, and upon hearing those sounds, it instantly puffed up its fur in fright and darted into a small hole beneath the washbasin.

The Yellow Cat followed, intending to squeeze in as well, but Li Banfeng grabbed it.

He looked at the hole beside the floor drain.

It should have been a vent, its diameter only slightly larger than an adult's fist.

Cats truly were miraculous creatures. How could one squeeze through such a tiny hole?

Meow~

A cat's cry came from outside the window.

Through the frosted glass, Li Banfeng vaguely saw a white figure calling for its companion outside.

The white cat had run outside the house!

It had crawled out through the vent.

People could not get out, but cats could!

Click!

The restroom doorknob turned, and "He Jiaqing" pushed the door open and walked in.

He had heard the cat cry just now.

"Ban Feng, what are you doing?"

"I'm sitting on the toilet." Li Banfeng sat on the toilet with the Yellow Cat in his arms.

"You're petting a cat while sitting on the toilet?"

Li Banfeng nodded. "Where else would it be appropriate to pet a restroom cat if not on the toilet?"

"He Jiaqing" shut the restroom door. He had no way to comment on Li Banfeng's behavior.

Li Banfeng's behavior was entirely unreasonable, yet he could always find a reasonable explanation for himself.

Why bother agonizing over whether he was reasonable?

Once tomorrow morning passed, I'll never see him again.

Li Banfeng reached his hand into the vent beneath the washbasin.

This vent did not lead directly outside the Western-style house. Li Banfeng did not know what its internal structure was like or how many turns it took.

Though a slightly cool night breeze poured in through the vent, Li Banfeng had no way to directly throw the key outside through it.

If he could not throw it directly, then he could only gamble.

This Yellow Cat was clearly not very brave. To win the gamble, he needed to give it some incentive.

Li Banfeng pulled out the new top hat he had bought from his pajama pants. Two items were stored inside the hat.

He had changed into pajamas earlier, and He Jiaqing had taken away his wallet and some personal belongings.

But there were two things Li Banfeng never let leave his side. One was his key, and the other was a spicy strip. Both were now in the top hat.

He first took out the key, entered his Portable Abode, and retrieved his phone charging cable from his backpack.

Returning to the restroom, he used the charging cable to tie the key onto the cat.

He first carried the Yellow Cat to the vent, then gripped the key and opened the door to the Portable Abode again.

At the very instant before entering, Li Banfeng took out a spicy strip and shoved it into the Yellow Cat's asshole.

With a shrill, miserable cry, the Yellow Cat bolted like lightning into the vent.

Li Banfeng immediately entered the Portable Abode.

Cat, if you charge straight outside the Western-style house, then I win the gamble.

If you choose to squat in the vent and refuse to come out, then I lose!

If I lose, your days won't be easy either. That spicy strip will definitely burn you to death!

"He Jiaqing" heard the sound and rushed into the restroom again, only to find that Li Banfeng was not there.

Where did he go?!

"He Jiaqing's" brain buzzed loudly!

A series of footsteps came from outside the window. "He Jiaqing" rushed into the first-floor living room and came before the floor-to-ceiling window, where he saw Li Banfeng standing in the garden.

A Yellow Cat stood beside Li Banfeng, presently soaking its rear in a puddle in the garden.

"He Jiaqing" was horrified, while Li Banfeng remained calm.

Only seconds ago, "He Jiaqing" had firmly believed he was already free. He had believed Li Banfeng would never be able to leave the He Family Old House.

Only seconds ago, Li Banfeng had not been sure whether the Yellow Cat would rush out through the vent. Now, that Yellow Cat was softly whimpering in a puddle in the courtyard.

Li Banfeng had entered the Portable Abode in the restroom. The Yellow Cat had carried the key through the restroom vent and run outside the house, bringing the key out with it.

The Portable Abode followed the key. Once the key left the house, the Portable Abode took Li Banfeng out with it.

At that moment, "He Jiaqing," standing in the living room, pounded desperately on the floor-to-ceiling window as though calling to Li Banfeng, but Li Banfeng could not hear him.

"He Jiaqing" dug both hands into the floor-to-ceiling window. Amid a piercing screech, the window opened a crack.

The gap widened and widened. When it reached more than ten centimeters, "He Jiaqing" squeezed his head into the crack and stretched it outside.

"Ban Feng, you're my only brother. Are you just leaving like this? Are you just throwing me away? Ban Feng, weren't you here to save me?"

Li Banfeng took several steps back. This fake He Jiaqing was clearly stronger than he was. Li Banfeng could not open the floor-to-ceiling window, but this person could.

"Who exactly are you?" Li Banfeng clenched the key in his hand, already prepared to flee again.

"He Jiaqing" wanted to force his body out through the floor-to-ceiling window, but he could not. The window was clamped tightly around his shoulders.

"Li Banfeng, come here. Come closer, and I'll tell you. I'll let you know immediately who I am!"

This fake He Jiaqing seemed unwilling to reveal his identity. Li Banfeng was about to leave the courtyard when someone unexpectedly answered the question for him.

More precisely, it was not a person, but the Home Spirit.

The Home Spirit would not allow "He Jiaqing" to leave the house.

Even if he opened the window, he could not get out. Even if he could open the door and let Li Banfeng come inside, he still could not get out.

"He Jiaqing's" head remained outside the window as he struggled desperately. Vines dangling from upstairs suddenly wrapped around his face and began tearing at it without end.

A delicate layer of facial skin was ripped away, and He Jiaqing's face vanished from her face.

Li Banfeng saw her true appearance.

It was Lu Xiaolan!

He Jiaqing's girlfriend.

Why was she at the He Family Old House?

No wonder she had mentioned so many private matters between He Jiaqing and me in her text messages.

When He Jiaqing ate with her, I had gone with them. She knew about that.

When He Jiaqing slept with her, I had called him out halfway through. She knew about that too.

Did she know that He Jiaqing had sent me answers? Did she know that He Jiaqing had worked at construction sites to pay my medical bills?

Could He Jiaqing have told her?

How could she hang a hook on my phone?

Could it have been because of that call He Jiaqing had me make?

Was He Jiaqing her accomplice?

Did He Jiaqing sell me out?

Wait. If He Jiaqing was her accomplice, why did He Jiaqing himself not trick me?

If it had been He Jiaqing himself, he definitely would not have exposed so many flaws!

She was a Peeping Cultivator. There were many things He Jiaqing had never told her, yet she could spy them out.

Regarding the text messages, she had been in control all along and had led me into her trap.

Once we met face-to-face, however, some flaws could no longer be avoided, because she could not peer into every detail.

He Jiaqing probably was not her accomplice, but why had the Home Spirit trapped her?

As his thoughts spun like lightning, Lu Xiaolan shouted hoarsely at Li Banfeng, "Li Banfeng! Do you want to save He Jiaqing? If you want to save him, come find me. Only I know where he is!

"Li Banfeng, I love Jiaqing. I've truly treated Jiaqing well. In this world, aside from you, only I have sincerely treated him well!"

Upon hearing this, Li Banfeng turned and left.

The way she said that made it sound like He Jiaqing and I had that kind of relationship.

"Li Banfeng! Don't go! You'll regret this for the rest of your life! You've become a Dark Energy User, haven't you? You're a Body Cultivator, right? You can turn invisible, can't you?

"Teach me how to leave this place! Ask me for anything, and I'll give it to you! Whatever you want, I'll give it to you! I have many good things!"

Li Banfeng's figure vanished into the night. With tears streaming down her face, Lu Xiaolan pulled her head back through the floor-to-ceiling window.

She had no choice but to pull back. The vines had already torn off her fake face; next, they would tear apart her real one.

Over the past several days, her real face had been torn apart many times. It brought heart-rending agony and scars that were difficult to heal.

She sat beneath the floor-to-ceiling window and wept aloud.

She did not understand. Why had Li Banfeng not fallen for it?

She had successfully tricked Li Banfeng into Pro State and into the house, so why had he still escaped?

Not long after the train derailed, He Jiaqing received a call from Li Banfeng.

That call saved He Jiaqing's life.

Lu Xiaolan had struck He Jiaqing, but she had failed to kill him.

He Jiaqing counterattacked, but he had also failed to kill Lu Xiaolan.

With the phone call from Li Banfeng, He Jiaqing escaped back to Yuezhou and sent Lu Xiaolan back to the He Family Old House.

It was also because of that phone call from Li Banfeng that Lu Xiaolan used the Wind-Following Ears skill of Peeping Cultivation to hang a hook on Li Banfeng's phone.

When she later arrived at the He Family Old House, that hook became Lu Xiaolan's lifeline.

On the train, Li Banfeng's phone ran out of battery.

The hook broke. Lu Xiaolan was terrified, worried, and had even fallen into despair.

She suspected that Li Banfeng might have met with an accident.

Yet unexpectedly, Li Banfeng still came.

Restricted by the Home Spirit, Lu Xiaolan did not intend to use force, nor did she intend to tear off the mask before Li Banfeng discovered the truth.

To ensure that Li Banfeng spent one full night in the house safe and sound, she had rehearsed every detail after their meeting countless times.

She exercised enough restraint and did not hastily mention the Profound Life Lotus before Li Banfeng. Even when Li Banfeng left the lotus at the station, she did not get angry over it.

She tried her best to imitate He Jiaqing's manner of speaking. Every detail had been very similar. When Li Banfeng entered, she had even deliberately copied He Jiaqing and mocked Li Banfeng's backpack.

As long as she waited until tomorrow morning, she could leave this residence.

Why?

She truly could not understand why Li Banfeng had escaped.

What exactly had I said wrong? What exactly had I done wrong?

Why did Li Banfeng run away?

Lu Xiaolan clutched her hair and wailed herself hoarse.

For the first time, she realized she might die here—die from hunger, until she became a rotting, stinking corpse.

After crying for a long while, Lu Xiaolan's voice gradually weakened, and the tears on her face gradually dried.

She went to the kitchen and chopped up some cat skins and cat bones, chopping them into tiny pieces before pouring them into a pot.

Then she took a small porcelain bottle from her pocket and poured out a little powder from it—just a little—and sprinkled it over the cat skins and bones.

The medicinal powder was precious. She had only this small bottle left.

Smoke rose from the pot, like the oily fumes rising from stir-frying some ingredient over high heat.

Beneath the oily smoke, the cat skins and bones slowly turned into an indescribable paste, giving off a faint fishy smell.

She divided the paste in the pot among five cat food bowls and placed them in different corners of the house.

One bowl in the entryway, one in the living room, one in the kitchen, one in the restroom, and one in the second-floor corridor.

That faint fishy smell could drift a great distance.

With just that faint fishy smell, she could lure in stray cats, perhaps even weasels. They had ways to enter and leave the house.

As long as they ate the food in the cat bowls, they would fall into a deep sleep, just like the calico cat sleeping soundly in the kitchen.

Lu Xiaolan picked up the calico cat and directly tore open its fur with her teeth, gnawing fiercely on its flesh and blood.

She wanted to eat cooked food too, but she could not, because firewood was precious and had to be saved for deceiving the next person who entered the house.

Lu Xiaolan chewed huge mouthfuls of raw meat, muttering to herself as she chewed.

I can't die. I absolutely can't die.

I want to live.

I can still get out.

After leaving the He Family Old House, Li Banfeng ran through several alleys, reached a narrow lane, entered the Portable Abode, and hid the key beneath the base of a household's window.

Sitting silently in the Portable Abode, Li Banfeng sank into thought.

Where had the real He Jiaqing gone?

Could the He Jiaqing lying in the hospital be the real one?

PS:

Li Banfeng had not taken out the spicy strip he had stuffed into Yellow Cat's mouth. He hoped that Yellow Cat would be all right.

(End of chapter)