Chapter 25: It Was You All Along

Li Banfeng thought the man pretending to be He Jiaqing would go to the bathroom with him.

But “He Jiaqing” didn’t go—he didn’t want further contact with Li Banfeng, having noticed his behavior was odd.

Even if it was odd, there was no need to worry: since Li Banfeng entered this mansion, the outcome was already sealed—he was destined to replace him and become the mansion’s prisoner.

For safety, “He Jiaqing” made Li Banfeng drink tea laced with “ingredients,” hoping to put him into a deep sleep.

Worried Li Banfeng wouldn’t sleep soundly, he considered giving him a bowl of soup—but Li Banfeng refused to drink it.

Now it seemed Li Banfeng hadn’t slept soundly at all; perhaps the ingredients weren’t strong enough, or perhaps his body was too strong—just one cup of tea hadn’t fully knocked him out.

It didn’t matter.

What mattered was that Li Banfeng couldn’t leave.

He would never find the exit.

“He Jiaqing” had searched for days in this place and still hadn’t found the exit.

When morning comes, I’ll be free.

Li Banfeng, you fool, I wonder how long you can last in this mansion.

“He Jiaqing” descended the stairs and slept in a room on the first floor near the entrance.

Li Banfeng entered the bathroom and saw a yellow cat and a white cat searching for food beside the sink.

There was no faucet on the sink—in its place was a hand pump; the white cat jumped onto the pump’s handle, while the yellow cat squatted by the spout, watching to see if water would come out.

The rustling sounds came from them—how had these two cats even gotten in?

There were many cats in the mansion—how had the others gotten in?

Through the windows?

The bathroom did have a small porthole—very small.

The porthole was tightly shut; Li Banfeng pushed it several times, just as solid as the bedroom windows—no chance of opening it.

Li Banfeng hissed softly at the two cats; the white cat, already wary of him, immediately fluffed up its fur and bolted into a small hole beneath the sink.

The yellow cat tried to follow, but Li Banfeng grabbed it.

He stared at the hole beside the drain.

This must be a ventilation shaft—no wider than an adult’s fist.

Cats are truly strange creatures—how did it squeeze through such a tiny hole?

Meow~

A cat’s cry came from outside the window.

Through the frosted glass, Li Banfeng faintly saw a white shape calling to its companion outside.

The white cat had run outside the mansion!

It had crawled out through the ventilation shaft.

Humans can’t get out—but cats can!

Click!

The bathroom door handle turned; “He Jiaqing” pushed the door open and walked in.

He had just heard the cat’s cry.

“Banfeng, what are you doing?”

“I’m sitting on the toilet,” Li Banfeng said, sitting 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 is suitable to pet a cat in the bathroom?”

“He Jiaqing” closed the bathroom door—he couldn’t judge Li Banfeng’s behavior.

Li Banfeng’s actions were completely irrational, yet he always found rational explanations for them.

Why bother with whether he was rational or not?

As long as tomorrow morning comes, I’ll never see him again.

Li Banfeng reached his hand into the ventilation shaft beneath the sink.

The shaft didn’t lead directly outside the mansion—he didn’t know its internal structure or how many turns it took.

Although a cool night breeze flowed in from the shaft, Li Banfeng couldn’t simply throw the key out through it.

If he couldn’t throw it directly, he’d have to take a gamble.

The yellow cat clearly had little courage; to win this bet, he needed to give it some incentive.

Li Banfeng pulled from his pajama pants the new hat he’d bought—inside were two items.

After changing into his pajamas, his wallet and other belongings had been taken by He Jiaqing.

But two things Li Banfeng never left behind: a key, and a spicy strip—both now tucked inside the hat.

He first took out the key, entered his “Personal Dwelling,” and retrieved his phone charger from his backpack.

Back in the bathroom, he tied the key to the cat’s body with the charger cord.

He carried the yellow cat to the ventilation shaft, then held the key and reopened the door to his Personal Dwelling.

Just before stepping through, Li Banfeng pulled out a spicy strip and shoved it into the cat’s fur.

With a shrill scream, the yellow cat bolted into the ventilation shaft.

Li Banfeng immediately stepped into his Personal Dwelling.

Cat, if you run straight out of the mansion, I’ve won the bet.

If you stay curled up inside the shaft, I’ve lost.

If I lose, your days won’t be pleasant—this spicy strip will burn you alive!

“He Jiaqing” heard the noise and rushed back into the bathroom—only to find Li Banfeng gone.

Where did he go?!

“He Jiaqing” felt his brain buzz violently!

Footsteps sounded outside the window; “He Jiaqing” dashed to the first-floor parlor and rushed to the floor-to-ceiling window—there stood Li Banfeng in the garden.

Beside Li Banfeng was the yellow cat, now bathing in a puddle in the garden.

“He Jiaqing” was stunned; Li Banfeng was calm.

Just seconds ago, “He Jiaqing” had been certain he was free—he was certain Li Banfeng could never escape He Family Manor.

Just seconds ago, Li Banfeng hadn’t known whether the yellow cat would emerge from the shaft—now the cat sat in the garden’s puddle, softly whimpering.

Li Banfeng entered his Personal Dwelling in the bathroom; the cat, carrying the key, crawled through the ventilation shaft, escaped the mansion, and brought the key outside with it.

The Personal Dwelling followed the key—the key left the mansion, and the Personal Dwelling carried Li Banfeng out with it.

Now, “He Jiaqing” stood in the parlor, pounding desperately on the floor-to-ceiling window, as if calling out to Li Banfeng—but Li Banfeng couldn’t hear him.

“He Jiaqing” dug his fingers into the window frame; with a piercing screech, the window cracked open a narrow slit.

The slit widened—when it reached over ten centimeters, “He Jiaqing” squeezed his head through.

“Banfeng, you’re the only brother I’ve got—just like this? You’re leaving me behind? Banfeng, weren’t you here to save me?”

Li Banfeng stepped back a few paces; this fake He Jiaqing was clearly stronger than him—he couldn’t open the window, but this man could.

“Who are you?” Li Banfeng gripped the key, already preparing his next escape.

“He Jiaqing” tried to push his body through the window—but he couldn’t; the frame jammed tightly against his shoulders.

“Li Banfeng, come closer—I’ll tell you who I am, right now!”

This fake He Jiaqing refused to reveal his identity, so Li Banfeng prepared to leave the garden—until someone answered for him.

More precisely, not a person—but the mansion spirit.

The mansion spirit forbade “He Jiaqing” from leaving the estate.

Even if he opened the window, he couldn’t escape; even if he opened the door and let Li Banfeng in, he still couldn’t leave.

“He Jiaqing”’s head stuck out the window, struggling desperately—when suddenly, vines hanging from above wrapped around his face and began tearing.

A layer of fine skin peeled away—He Jiaqing’s face vanished from hers.

Li Banfeng saw her true face.

It was Lu Xiaolan!

He Jiaqing’s girlfriend.

Why was she in He Family Manor?

No wonder she’d mentioned so many private details between me and He Jiaqing in her messages.

When He Jiaqing ate with her, I went with her—she knew.

When He Jiaqing slept with her, I called him away—she knew.

Did she know about He Jiaqing sending me exam answers? Did she know he worked at a construction site to pay my medical bills?

Did He Jiaqing tell her?

How did she manage to plant a hook on my phone?

Was it because of that call He Jiaqing made me place?

Was He Jiaqing her accomplice?

Did He Jiaqing betray me?

Wait—if He Jiaqing was her accomplice, why didn’t he come himself to trick me?

If it had been He Jiaqing himself, he’d never have left so many flaws!

She’s a spy cultivator—there are many things He Jiaqing never told her, but she can uncover them.

In the matter of the messages, she was always the one in control—she lured me into her trap.

When they finally met, certain flaws could no longer be avoided, for she could not observe every single detail.

He Jiaqing probably wasn’t her accomplice, but why had she been trapped by the mansion spirit?

In a flash of thought, Lu Xiaolan rasped out to Li Banfeng: “Li Banfeng! Do you want to save He Jiaqing? If you want to save him, come find me—I’m the only one who knows where he is!”

“Li Banfeng, I love Jiaqing. I’ve truly been good to him. In this world, besides you, only I have ever cared for him sincerely!”

Upon hearing this, Li Banfeng turned and walked away.

That’s not how things stand between me and He Jiaqing.

“Li Banfeng! Don’t leave! You’ll regret it 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! I’ll give you anything you ask for! Whatever you want—I’ll give it all! I have so many valuable things!”

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

She had no choice but to pull back—the vines had already torn off her false face, and now they were coming for her real one.

Over the past few days, she’d been torn apart many times—each time bringing unbearable agony and wounds that refused to heal.

She sat beneath the window, wailing in anguish.

She didn’t understand why Li Banfeng hadn’t fallen for it.

She had successfully lured Li Banfeng to Pulu Province, drawn him into the mansion—so why had he still escaped?

Shortly after the train derailed, He Jiaqing received a call from Li Banfeng.

That call saved He Jiaqing’s life.

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

He Jiaqing counterattacked, but failed to kill Lu Xiaolan.

Using the call from Li Banfeng as his guide, He Jiaqing escaped back to Yuezhou and sent Lu Xiaolan back to the He family manor.

Precisely because of Li Banfeng’s call, Lu Xiaolan used her Spirit-Listening technique to attach a hook to his phone.

Later, when she reached the He family manor, that hook became her lifeline.

On the train, Li Banfeng’s phone died.

The hook broke. Lu Xiaolan grew terrified, anxious, even despairing.

She suspected Li Banfeng might have met with an accident.

Yet, somehow, Li Banfeng still came.

Bound by the mansion spirit’s restrictions, Lu Xiaolan had no intention of using force or revealing her true nature before Li Banfeng discovered the truth.

To ensure Li Banfeng stayed in the mansion safely for one night, she rehearsed every single detail of their meeting countless times.

She held back enough not to rush mentioning the Xuan Sheng Lotus—even when he left it at the station, she didn’t lose her temper.

She mimicked He Jiaqing’s speech patterns as closely as possible, down to every nuance. When Li Banfeng entered, she even imitated He Jiaqing’s tone to mock his backpack.

As long as she could wait until tomorrow morning, she could leave this mansion.

Why?

She simply couldn’t understand why Li Banfeng had fled.

Which word did I say wrong? What did I do wrong?

Why did Li Banfeng run away?

Lu Xiaolan clawed at her hair, screaming in anguish.

For the first time, she realized she might die here—starving to death, rotting into a stinking corpse.

After sobbing for a long while, her voice grew faint, and the tears on her face slowly dried.

She went to the kitchen, chopped up cat skins and bones into tiny pieces, then ground them to pulp and tossed them into a pot.

Then she pulled a small porcelain bottle from her pocket, poured out just a pinch of powder, and sprinkled it over the cat remains.

This medicine powder was precious—she had only this one small bottle left.

Smoke rose from the pot, like the greasy fumes from stir-frying food.

Beneath the smoke, the cat skins and bones slowly melted into an indescribable paste, emitting a faint fishy odor.

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

One bowl by the Xuanguan, one in the living room, one in the kitchen, one in the bathroom, and one on the second-floor corridor.

This faint fishy scent could drift far.

With just this scent, she could lure stray cats—or possibly weasels—that knew how to enter and exit the mansion.

Once they ate the food in the bowls, they would fall into a deep sleep, just like the tabby cat sleeping soundly in the kitchen.

Lu Xiaolan picked up the tabby cat and tore open its fur with her teeth, gnawing fiercely at its flesh.

She wanted cooked food too, but she couldn’t—firewood was too precious, and she needed to save it to trick the next person who entered the mansion.

Lu Xiaolan chewed the raw meat voraciously, murmuring to herself as she ate.

I can’t die. Absolutely not.

I must live.

I can still get out.

…

After leaving the He family manor, Li Banfeng ran through several alleys until he reached a narrow lane, entered the Suishenju, and hid the key beneath the windowsill of a household.

Sitting silently inside the Suishenju, Li Banfeng fell into deep thought.

Where had the real He Jiaqing gone?

Was the He Jiaqing lying in the hospital truly him?

PS: Li Banfeng did not retrieve the spicy strip he slipped into the yellow cat’s mouth. He hoped the yellow cat was all right.

(End of Chapter)