Chapter 50

Li Banfeng suspected that Luo Yuni was sitting right beside him, perhaps even closer, or even sitting on Li Banfeng himself.

Under these circumstances, for Luo Yuni to reach out was a very dangerous move for Li Banfeng.

What was even more dangerous was that Li Banfeng could not sense any danger.

If this house spirit had no malicious intent, then everything could be discussed.

If this house spirit did have malicious intent and Li Banfeng still couldn't perceive it, then it proved that the house spirit's cultivation was above his, and by more than two layers.

Seeing Li Banfeng retreat to a distance, Luo Yuni was very disappointed: "What are you still hesitating for? Do you really not want me?"

"I said, it's not that I don't want you," Li Banfeng shook his head again, "I don't want this house."

This was the truth.

Li Banfeng really wanted a house spirit, but in this house, he would absolutely not recite Luo Yuni's name.

Although he hadn't been in Puluo Continent for long, after listening to the descriptions from Ma Wu, the peddler, and Xiao Yeci, and seeing the old lady's experience in cultivating a house spirit, Li Banfeng had more or less figured out some patterns.

In this set of patterns, there were three important roles: the residential cultivator, the house spirit, and the house.

A residential cultivator can master a house, and a house can control a house spirit; only by passing through this chain can a residential cultivator subdue a house spirit.

The key to subduing a house spirit lies in the compatibility between the residential cultivator and the house.

The old lady's talent was indeed poor; it took her a very long time to form a compatibility with this house.

Li Banfeng had not formed a compatibility with this house, at least he himself hadn't sensed it; under these circumstances, he didn't believe he could subdue this powerful house spirit.

If the subduing failed, the situation would be very dangerous.

He hadn't forgotten Lu Xiaolan, who had been trapped by a house spirit at the He family's old residence.

Luo Yuni's brows relaxed, and a charming smile returned to her face.

"You don't want this house, and actually, I don't want it either. I've been trapped here for decades and have long since grown weary of it.

You want that special house of yours, and I also like that house very much. Take me with you; I will go with you.

Once I arrive at your house, I will be yours. My abilities will be yours, and my body will also be yours."

Take her to the Leaving Suishenju?

Would it work?

Li Banfeng decided to take a gamble!

The Leaving Suishenju is my territory, and my compatibility with it is extremely high. Following the old lady's method—lighting a candle, staring at the grandfather clock, sensing the compatibility, and reciting her name—I should be able to successfully subdue her.

Moreover, I can enter and exit the Leaving Suishenju whenever I want.

If she dares to play any tricks, I will trap her in the Leaving Suishenju!

After locking her up for a period of time, I will be able to successfully tame her.

Li Banfeng took a deep breath, first unhooking the short blade and placing it to one side.

This blade cannot be brought into the Leaving Suishenju for the time being; it is too dangerous.

Li Banfeng himself cannot master this strange weapon, but Luo Yuni can. Once brought into the Leaving Suishenju, if Luo Yuni suddenly turns hostile, it will pose a fatal threat to Li Banfeng.

Besides this, Li Banfeng also made some preparations; he touched the remaining piece of rust pellet.

Luo Yuni is a wandering soul, and Li Banfeng does not know the method to deal with wandering souls. If any unexpected turn of events occurs, Li Banfeng can only strike at her physical body—the old grandfather clock.

The rust pellet cannot damage the grandfather clock's wooden exterior, but it has excellent lethality against the clock's pendulum, dial, and internal springs and gears.

In addition to the rust pellet, there were also the sickle and the shovel; Li Banfeng hung them at his waist, adjusting them to the most suitable position for drawing them.

Luo Yuni's figure disappeared from the pendulum; her soul had returned to the old grandfather clock.

With everything prepared, Li Banfeng took out the key, lifted the old grandfather clock with one hand, and entered the Leaving Suishenju at the fastest possible speed.

He temporarily placed the old grandfather clock on the ground and turned back to look for a candle.

Strange, the candle is not in its original place, and the matches are also nowhere to be found.

Am I becoming forgetful, or has someone entered the Leaving Suishenju?

Li Banfeng was in a hurry to rummage for a candle; he needed light. Without light, he couldn't see the grandfather clock, let alone stare at it.

On the pendulum of the old grandfather clock, Luo Yuni's face appeared once again.

This time it was not a reflection; Luo Yuni was currently inside the old grandfather clock. Behind Luo Yuni were the clear gears and springs.

The charming smile gradually faded, a pair of moth-like brows gradually stood up, and two almond-shaped eyes tilted upward accordingly.

The corners of her mouth curled slightly; Luo Yuni licked her lips. The blood color faded from her face, and her skin was filled with a hideous, deathly pallor.

Li Banfeng's idea was not wrong, and the method was not wrong either. Under normal circumstances, he would indeed be able to subdue the house spirit.

But he underestimated one thing: the gap in strength between the two sides, a gap that could not be overcome even when arriving at Li Banfeng's home turf.

According to common reasoning, the strength of a house spirit corresponding to a first-layer residential cultivator would not be too high; it should also be first-layer, or at most second-layer.

But Li Banfeng thought wrong; Luo Yuni's talent was shockingly good.

Before becoming a house spirit, relying on her powerful resentment, she had already become a powerful evil spirit.

After becoming a house spirit, having undergone thirty years of cultivation, her strength had reached the sixth layer.

Sixth-layer strength is an existence Li Banfeng could not imagine.

But a house spirit is, after all, a house spirit. Luo Yuni was restricted by the house, and this house had formed a very deep compatibility with the old lady, so Luo Yuni had many powers she could not use.

Luo Yuni saw that Li Banfeng did not know much about residential cultivation; she wanted to use Li Banfeng to kill the old lady and then help her break free from the restrictions.

Why didn't she kill the old lady herself?

Doesn't a house spirit have precedents for killing its master?

Li Banfeng had also thought about this question, and based on this, he speculated that Luo Yuni had not told the truth about many things.

To gain Li Banfeng's trust, most of what Luo Yuni said was true, but this matter was Luo Yuni's vital point; naturally, she would not reveal the truth.

Actually, there was already an answer to this matter in the descriptions from Ma Wu, the peddler, and Xiao Yeci; through analysis, Li Banfeng also had a rough conclusion.

For a house spirit to kill its master, there is a prerequisite: the compatibility between the residential cultivator and the house must have developed a problem.

If a residential cultivator does not cherish the house, the house will indulge the house spirit in resisting, which gives the house spirit a chance to kill the master, just like the extremely slovenly residential cultivator Ma Wu mentioned.

If a residential cultivator abandons the house, the house will lift some of the restrictions, allowing the house spirit to become an evil spirit and harm people wantonly in the house.

The old lady and Luo Yuni did not get along well, but the old lady had deep feelings for this house and had excellent compatibility with it.

And Luo Yuni was restricted by the house; there is a contract between the residential cultivator and the house spirit. She could suppress the old lady's cultivation, but she could not kill the old lady.

Moreover, even if the old lady died, as long as the house still existed, the house spirit would still be unable to break free from the restrictions because the contract between the residential cultivator and the house spirit had not expired, unless another residential cultivator took over.

The house is the house spirit's shackles; for the house spirit to break free from the restrictions, there are only three paths to take.

The first is to be sufficiently powerful oneself.

A sufficiently powerful house spirit can forcibly break free from the house's restrictions; Ma Wu had heard of similar precedents.

Had Luo Yuni's cultivation reached the sixth layer, could she break free from the house's restrictions?

No, it was far from enough.

The second is for someone to take the house spirit away from the house.

A house spirit that leaves the house will become an evil spirit; very few people dare to do this.

The third is to destroy the contract.

This is very simple: another residential cultivator stares at the house spirit and calls out the house spirit's name. If the original residential cultivator does not object, the contract between the residential cultivator and the house spirit can be destroyed. As long as the house spirit agrees, this is the method for transferring a house spirit.

Luo Yuni chose the third method: destroying the contract.

In the old lady's house, if Li Banfeng stared at the grandfather clock and called out Luo Yuni's name, the old lady certainly would not object because the old lady was already dead.

The contract between Luo Yuni and the old lady would be destroyed, and Luo Yuni would be freed from the restrictions.

And since Li Banfeng had not formed a compatibility with the house, Luo Yuni would not become his house spirit; she would immediately kill Li Banfeng.

Luo Yuni had been sitting behind Li Banfeng; although her power was limited, as long as she could seize Li Banfeng's vital point, she could force Li Banfeng to call out her name.

But she didn't expect that as soon as she reached out, Li Banfeng ran away.

Since the hard approach didn't work, she tried the soft one. She repeatedly seduced Li Banfeng into calling out her name, thinking she could succeed smoothly, but she didn't expect Li Banfeng to be extremely cautious and refuse to call out her name.

Since one path didn't work, she would take another.

Luo Yuni demanded that Li Banfeng bring her into the Leaving Suishenju.

This time, she succeeded.

Having left the original house, she was free.

But the Leaving Suishenju is now highly compatible with Li Banfeng. If Li Banfeng stares at the grandfather clock in the Leaving Suishenju and recites Luo Yuni's name, what will happen?

As long as one stares at the house spirit, senses one's own compatibility with the house, and recites the house spirit's name, the house spirit will belong to Li Banfeng.

The line of thought was correct, but in reality, Li Banfeng could not succeed.

Because Luo Yuni would not give Li Banfeng another chance to recite her name; she now wanted to immediately kill Li Banfeng and monopolize the Leaving Suishenju.

With a sixth-layer house spirit attacking without restrictions, Li Banfeng had no possibility of survival.

The pendulum swung rapidly.

The minute hand on the dial drove the hour hand to rotate, quickly reaching the twelve o'clock position.

As long as the clock chimed twelve times, she would be able to cut Li Banfeng into thirteen pieces!

Cackle, cackle, cackle~

The grandfather clock's gears ground together.

The minute hand was about to overlap with the hour hand, and the clock was about to chime. Li Banfeng was still looking for a candle, and Luo Yuni's smile grew increasingly sinister.

Sss, sss, sss~

A beam of firelight lit up, and the sound of steam spraying out rang out a step earlier.

Li Banfeng was startled; the phonograph had started.

How could the phonograph start on its own?

Luo Yuni completely ignored the phonograph.

Bang!

A chime rang out!

An invisible sharp blade rushed toward Li Banfeng's spine.

Li Banfeng felt a chill and instinctively tried to dodge, but it was futile; he couldn't dodge it at all. This was a speed he couldn't comprehend.

Sss!

A beam of white steam sprayed out from the phonograph, easily dispersing the invisible sharp blade!

Luo Yuni looked at the phonograph with blood-red eyes.

What is this thing?

Does this thing have a spirit?

A thing with a spirit dares to stop me?

Who gave it the guts?

Bang!

The second chime rang out!

An enraged Luo Yuni launched a second attack. She aimed not only at Li Banfeng but also at the phonograph; she wanted to cut the phonograph into pieces as well.

Whoosh~

Steam rushed over rapidly, surrounding the old grandfather clock. The invisible blade failed to launch and dissipated directly inside the old grandfather clock's body.

Cackle, cackle, cackle~

Luo Yuni was somewhat surprised, but she was not reconciled and attacked again.

The gears twisted with effort, still wanting to emit the third chime.

The third chime failed to appear; the old grandfather clock's spring was jammed by an invisible force within the steam.

Luo Yuni roared repeatedly; she was still exerting force desperately.

Cackle, cackle, cackle~

The spring soon reached its limit.

Sss~

The phonograph emitted a sneer, a sneer filled with mockery.

Snap!

The grandfather clock's spring snapped within the steam.

"Ah~~"

Luo Yuni was terrified, and immediately let out a shrill scream, as if it were her own bones that had snapped.

Whoosh!

Another burst of steam rushed over.

The old grandfather clock's glass cover shattered, and the pendulum snapped!

The dial was torn off, and the minute and hour hands bent and melted under the high temperature.

The copper internal frame collapsed, and gears of all sizes scattered in all directions.

Crack! Crack!

The grandfather clock's wooden exterior turned into a pile of broken wood in a matter of seconds.

Everything happened too fast; Li Banfeng didn't react at all.

Luo Yuni's screams lingered for a long time, as if she had endured unimaginable pain.

Inside the grandfather clock, a trail of red dust was sucked into the phonograph's horn along with the steam.

Borrowing the firelight from the phonograph, looking at the wreckage of the old grandfather clock, Li Banfeng was covered in sweat, terrified and speechless.

Sss, sss, sss~

The phonograph's needle automatically placed itself onto the record.

First came the cheerful gongs and drums.

Next came the cheerful sound of a flute.

Then the phonograph began to sing a sweet song:

"Sending you, sending you to the edge of the small village,

There is a word I must entrust to you,

Although the hundred flowers are already in bloom,

Long-ge-li-ge-li-ge-long~ Long-ge-li-ge-long~

The wild flowers by the roadside~~~

You must not pick them!"

PS: Come on, get high with the phonograph!

(End of chapter)