Li Banfeng suspected Luo Yuni was sitting right beside him, perhaps even closer—perhaps sitting on top of him.
Under these circumstances, Luo Yuni reaching out was an extremely dangerous move for Li Banfeng.
Even more dangerous was the fact that Li Banfeng could not sense any danger.
If this Home Spirit bore no ill will, then everything could be discussed.
But if this Home Spirit harbored ill intent and Li Banfeng still could not detect it, that proved her cultivation surpassed his by more than two levels.
Seeing Li Banfeng retreat into the distance, Luo Yuni looked deeply disappointed. "What are you still hesitating for? Do you really not want me?"
"I told you, it's not that I don't want you." Li Banfeng shook his head again. "I just don't want this house."
That was the truth.
Li Banfeng very much wanted a Home Spirit, but inside this house, he would never speak Luo Yuni's name.
Though he had not been in Pro State for long, after hearing Ma Wu, the Peddler, and Xiao Yeci's descriptions, and seeing the Old Woman's experience raising a Home Spirit, Li Banfeng had more or less worked out certain patterns.
Within this pattern, there were three crucial roles: House Cultivators, Home Spirits, and houses.
A House Cultivator could control a house, and a house could control a Home Spirit. Through this chain, the House Cultivator could subdue the Home Spirit.
The key to subduing a Home Spirit was the compatibility between the House Cultivator and the house.
The Old Woman's talent truly was poor. It had taken her a very long time to achieve compatibility with this house.
Li Banfeng had not achieved compatibility with this house—at least, he had not sensed any himself. Under such circumstances, he did not believe he could subdue this powerful Home Spirit.
If he failed to subdue her, the situation would become extremely dangerous.
He had not forgotten Lu Xiaolan, who had been trapped by a Home Spirit in the He Family Old House.
Luo Yuni's brows relaxed, and her seductive smile returned.
"You don't want this house. To be honest, neither do I. I've been trapped here for decades, and I grew sick of it long ago.
"You want that special house of yours. I like it too. Take me there. I'll go with you.
"Once we get to your house, I'll be yours. My abilities will be yours, and so will my body."
Take her into the Portable Abode?
Would that work?
Li Banfeng decided to gamble on it!
The Portable Abode was his territory, and its compatibility with him was extremely high. According to the Old Woman's method, he only needed to light a candle, stare at the clock, sense the compatibility, and speak her name to successfully subdue her.
Besides, he could enter and leave the Portable Abode whenever he wished.
If she dared play tricks, he would trap her inside the Portable Abode!
Keep her shut in for a while, and he would be able to tame her.
Li Banfeng took a deep breath, removed the short knife first, and set it aside.
For the time being, he could not bring this knife into the Portable Abode. It was too dangerous.
Li Banfeng himself could not control this strange weapon, but Luo Yuni could. If he brought it into the Portable Abode and Luo Yuni suddenly turned hostile, it would pose a fatal threat to him.
Beyond that, Li Banfeng made further preparations. He touched the remaining Rust Pill.
Luo Yuni was a departed soul. Li Banfeng did not know how to deal with departed souls. If anything went wrong, he could only strike at her true body—the Old Grandfather Clock.
The Rust Pill could not damage the Old Grandfather Clock's wooden casing, but it was highly destructive against its pendulum, clock face, mainspring, and internal gears.
Besides the Rust Pill, there were also a sickle and a shovel. Li Banfeng hung them at his waist, positioning them where they would be easiest to draw.
Luo Yuni's figure vanished from the pendulum, and her soul returned to the Old Grandfather Clock.
Once everything was ready, Li Banfeng took out the key, lifted the Old Grandfather Clock with one hand, and entered the Portable Abode at top speed.
He temporarily set the Old Grandfather Clock on the floor, then turned back to look for candles.
Strange. The candles were no longer where they had been, and he could not find the matches either.
Had I been forgetful, or had someone entered the Portable Abode?
Li Banfeng hurriedly searched for candles. He needed light. Without light, he could not see the clock, much less stare at it.
Luo Yuni's face appeared once more on the Old Grandfather Clock's pendulum.
This time, it was not a reflection. Luo Yuni was inside the Old Grandfather Clock, and behind her, gears and mainsprings stood clearly visible.
Her seductive smile gradually faded. Her delicate brows slowly rose, and her almond eyes tilted upward.
The corners of her lips curled slightly as Luo Yuni licked them. The color drained from her face, leaving her skin covered in a savage, ghastly pallor.
Li Banfeng's thinking had not been wrong, nor had his method. Under normal circumstances, he truly could have subdued a Home Spirit.
But he had underestimated one thing: the gap in strength between them—a gap that could not be crossed even after reaching Li Banfeng's home ground.
By ordinary reasoning, a first-level House Cultivator should correspond to a Home Spirit that was not very strong, likely first level as well, at most second level.
But Li Banfeng had been wrong. Luo Yuni's talent was astonishingly good.
Before becoming a Home Spirit, she had already become a powerful Evil Spirit through the strength of her resentment.
After becoming a Home Spirit, she cultivated for thirty years, and her strength reached the sixth level.
The strength of the sixth level was something Li Banfeng could not imagine.
Yet a Home Spirit was still a Home Spirit. Luo Yuni was bound by the house, and this house had formed a deep compatibility with the Old Woman, leaving Luo Yuni unable to use much of her power.
Luo Yuni saw that Li Banfeng knew little about House Cultivators. She wanted to use him to kill the Old Woman, then have him help her break free of her restraints.
Why had she not killed the Old Woman herself?
Had Home Spirits not set precedents for killing their masters?
Li Banfeng had considered this question too, and based on it, he had inferred that Luo Yuni had not told the truth in many places.
To gain Li Banfeng's trust, most of what Luo Yuni said had been true. But this matter was her Achilles' heel, so naturally she would not reveal the truth.
In fact, Ma Wu, the Peddler, and Xiao Yeci's accounts already contained the answer. Through analysis, Li Banfeng had reached a rough conclusion as well.
For a Home Spirit to kill its master, there was a prerequisite: something had to go wrong with the compatibility between the House Cultivator and the house.
If a House Cultivator did not cherish the house, the house would indulge the Home Spirit's rebellion, giving the Home Spirit an opportunity to kill its master—just like the exceptionally filthy House Cultivator Ma Wu had mentioned.
If a House Cultivator abandoned the house, the house would release part of its restraints, allowing the Home Spirit to become an Evil Spirit and harm people freely inside the house.
The old woman did not get along with Luo Yuni, but she had deep feelings for this house, and her compatibility with it was excellent.
And Luo Yuni was constrained by the house. A contract existed between House Cultivator and Home Spirit. She could suppress the Old Woman's cultivation, but she could not kill her.
Besides, even if the old woman died, as long as the house remained, the Home Spirit still could not break free of her restraints, because the contract between House Cultivator and Home Spirit would not lapse unless another House Cultivator took over.
The house was a Home Spirit's shackles. If a Home Spirit wanted to break free, there were only three paths to take.
First, become powerful enough.
A sufficiently powerful Home Spirit could forcibly break free from a house's restraints. Ma Wu had heard of similar precedents.
Luo Yuni's cultivation had reached the sixth level. Could she break free from the house's restraints?
No. It was nowhere near enough.
Second, someone could take the Home Spirit away from the house.
A Home Spirit that left its house would become an Evil Spirit. Very few people dared do such a thing.
Third, destroy the contract.
This was simple. Another House Cultivator only needed to stare at the Home Spirit and speak the Home Spirit's name. If the original House Cultivator did not object, the contract between House Cultivator and Home Spirit could be destroyed. So long as the Home Spirit agreed, this was how a Home Spirit could be transferred to another owner.
Luo Yuni had chosen the third method: destroying the contract.
Inside the Old Woman's courtyard, if Li Banfeng stared at the clock and spoke Luo Yuni's name, the Old Woman certainly would not object, because she was already dead.
The contract between Luo Yuni and the Old Woman would be destroyed, and Luo Yuni would be released from her restraints.
But Li Banfeng had not achieved compatibility with the courtyard. Luo Yuni would not become his Home Spirit. She would kill Li Banfeng immediately.
Luo Yuni had been sitting behind Li Banfeng all along. Though her power was restricted, as long as she could seize Li Banfeng's vital point, she could force him to speak her name.
But she had not expected Li Banfeng to run the moment she reached out.
When force would not work, she tried softness. Again and again, she seduced Li Banfeng into speaking her name. She had thought she would succeed easily, but Li Banfeng was extremely wary and refused to say it.
When one road was blocked, she would take another.
Luo Yuni demanded that Li Banfeng take her into the Portable Abode.
This time, she had succeeded.
Having left the original courtyard, she was free.
But the Portable Abode was now highly compatible with Li Banfeng. What would happen if Li Banfeng stared at the clock inside the Portable Abode and spoke Luo Yuni's name?
As long as he stared at the Home Spirit, sensed his compatibility with the house, and spoke the Home Spirit's name, the Home Spirit would belong to Li Banfeng.
The reasoning was correct, but in reality, Li Banfeng could not possibly succeed.
Because Luo Yuni would no longer give Li Banfeng the chance to speak her name. She would kill him immediately and claim the Portable Abode for herself.
A sixth-level Home Spirit, striking without restrictions—Li Banfeng had no chance of surviving.
The pendulum swung rapidly.
The minute hand drove the hour hand around, swiftly reaching twelve o'clock.
As long as the clock chimed twelve times in succession, she could slice Li Banfeng into thirteen pieces!
Clack, clack, clack~
The clock's gears ground together.
The minute hand and hour hand were about to overlap. The chimes were about to ring. Li Banfeng was still searching for candles, and Luo Yuni's smile grew ever more sinister.
Hiss, hiss, hiss~
A burst of firelight flared, and the sound of steam venting rang out first.
Li Banfeng jolted. The phonograph had started.
Why had the phonograph started by itself?
Luo Yuni paid the phonograph no attention at all.
Bong!
A clock chime rang out!
An invisible blade shot toward Li Banfeng's back.
Li Banfeng felt a chill and dodged desperately on instinct. It was futile. He could not evade it; this was a speed beyond his comprehension.
Hiss!
A stream of white steam burst from the phonograph, effortlessly scattering the invisible blade!
Luo Yuni stared at the phonograph with blood-red eyes.
What was that thing?
That thing had spirituality?
Something with spirituality dared stop her?
Who had given it the nerve?
Bong!
The second clock chime rang out!
Furious, Luo Yuni launched a second attack. She targeted not only Li Banfeng, but the phonograph as well. She wanted to slice the phonograph into pieces along with him.
Whoosh~
Steam rushed forth, surrounding the Old Grandfather Clock. The invisible blade failed to fire and dissipated directly within the Old Grandfather Clock's body.
Clack, clack, clack~
Luo Yuni was somewhat startled, but unwilling to accept it, she struck again.
The gears twisted with all their might, trying to produce a third clock chime.
The third chime never came. The Old Grandfather Clock's mainspring was caught by an invisible force within the steam.
Luo Yuni roared again and again, still straining desperately.
Clack, clack, clack~
The mainspring quickly reached its limit.
Hiss~
The phonograph let out a hiss of laughter, a mocking hiss.
Snap!
The clock's mainspring snapped inside the steam.
"Ahhh~~"
Luo Yuni was horrified, then let out a shrill scream, as though it had been her bones that broke.
Whoosh!
Another cloud of steam rushed over.
The Old Grandfather Clock's glass cover shattered, and its pendulum snapped!
The clock face was torn away. The minute hand and hour hand bent and melted beneath the heat.
The internal copper framework collapsed, and gears large and small exploded in every direction.
Crack! Crack!
Within seconds, the clock's wooden casing became a pile of splintered wood.
Everything happened too quickly. Li Banfeng did not react at all.
Luo Yuni's screams lingered for a long time, as if she were enduring unimaginable agony.
From within the clock, a cloud of red dust was drawn together with the steam into the phonograph's horn.
By the phonograph's firelight, Li Banfeng looked at the Old Grandfather Clock's wreckage. Sweat covered his face, and he was too shocked to speak.
Hiss, hiss, hiss~
The phonograph's needle automatically settled onto the record.
First came cheerful gongs and drums.
Then came cheerful flute music.
Then the phonograph began to sing a sweet song:
"Seeing you off beyond the little village,
There are words I must entrust to you,
Though a hundred flowers have already bloomed,"
Longgeli-geli-gelong~ Longgeli-gelong~
Wildflowers by the roadside~~~
Don't pick them!"
PS: Come on, get hyped with the record player!
(End of chapter)
Before you continue