Chapter 52: The Millionaire

Li Banfeng had completely forgotten about the short knife; he was now sitting at the front door, muttering to himself.

“The phonograph didn’t kill me—she still has a soft spot for me.”

“But when she suddenly started singing, it was terrifying.”

“What’s terrifying? She sings beautifully.”

“No matter how beautiful she sings, one day she’ll eat you and not even spit out your bones.”

“If she wanted to eat me, she would’ve already. She probably doesn’t like eating the living.”

“What if she changes her taste one day? Gets angry and roasts you until the outside is charred and the inside tender—body and soul, not even a speck left!”

“You have no conscience at all. The phonograph has protected you from the start—how can you slander a young girl like this?”

“How do you know she’s a girl? Maybe she’s a grotesque, singing demon!”

Li Banfeng waved his hand at his own forehead—arguing with himself was utterly pointless.

Focus your thoughts—think about how to deal with this phonograph.

Throw it away?

Never mind that such a good household spirit is too precious to discard.

The key point is Li Banfeng dared not throw it away!

He feared that the moment he entertained the thought, the phonograph would scald him to death.

She obliterated Luo Yujun in an instant—what about someone like me? One burp would roast me alive.

The ideal outcome would be to successfully subdue the household spirit—but only if I knew its true name.

Where could I find out?

The only channel I can think of right now is Feng the Shopkeeper.

I need to return to Ligou.

But before going back, I must clean out this courtyard.

The master of the house and the household spirit are both gone—Li Banfeng felt deeply sorrowful and wanted to gather their belongings.

Li Banfeng didn’t care about the money—he did it out of respect for them.

Li Banfeng first went to the cellar. Xiao Ye Ci said there were many things there.

She wasn’t lying—the old lady had stored most of her stolen goods in the cellar, and some in the cabinets of the main house. Li Banfeng gathered everything; the cash alone totaled 763,236 yuan.

In addition, Li Banfeng found numerous gold and silver ornaments and other valuable personal items. Since he didn’t know their true value, he estimated them at 200,000 yuan.

He had previously sold elixirs and bought the phonograph, leaving him with 230,000 yuan.

Excluding petty daily expenses, Li Banfeng now had 1,180,000 yuan in assets.

Is this real?

I have 1,180,000 yuan!

From birth until now, Li Banfeng had never possessed more than 10,000 yuan.

Now he had 1,180,000 yuan!

Of course, this sum wouldn’t even cover a down payment in Yuezhou.

But for Li Banfeng, this was his second peak of wealth.

His first peak was when he sold the Snake-Spot Elixir.

There were other miscellaneous items in the house that Li Banfeng could use.

The second son, De Mao, was a Wu Xiu—his room held many martial cultivation texts. Li Banfeng picked out a few and took them.

In the old lady’s room, a table and two chairs looked decent, so Li Banfeng took them; the sewing board was also good, so he took that too.

There was also a pocket watch—likely stolen from a passerby. It was gold-plated and looked stylish, but its craftsmanship was inferior to the one Feng the Shopkeeper had recommended.

Li Banfeng had always wanted a timekeeping tool—he took it too.

De Mao had a bathtub; Li Banfeng took that as well. In his Portable Dwelling, he could only fetch water in a wooden bucket to wipe himself down—he hadn’t had a proper bath in ages.

After gathering the useful items, he also took some things that seemed useless for now.

De Cai’s collection of bottles, jars, and special herbs used for poison-making—Li Banfeng took them. Who knew what use they might serve?

In De Mao’s room was a long spear. Li Banfeng didn’t know how to use such a long weapon, but De Mao had related texts—he could learn slowly later.

In De Cai’s room were many dart-like hidden weapons, smelling of fishy rot—likely soaked in poison. Li Banfeng didn’t know how to use hidden weapons, but he took them anyway.

After gathering everything, Li Banfeng found De Cai and De Mao’s corpses.

These two bodies were originally meant to be taken to the Portable Dwelling for alchemy.

But now, Li Banfeng was hesitant to return.

Still, after careful thought, fear was useless—he had to spend at least two hours daily in the Portable Dwelling; it was the foundation of a Household Cultivator’s practice.

Gathering courage, Li Banfeng opened the door and dragged everything inside—the cash, valuables, furniture, corpses… a mountain of items.

The phonograph made no sound—perhaps it had fallen asleep.

The bronze lotus made no sound either.

That shouldn’t be.

Such fine corpses right before it—didn’t it want them?

Li Banfeng studied it closely and noticed a faint aura on the bronze lotus.

It was refining an elixir.

What elixir was it refining?

Dammit—that knife! The blood-sucking short knife!

Was that supreme weapon being refined away?

Li Banfeng was heartbroken—he wanted to pry open the lotus petals and snatch the blade back.

The room was cluttered. As Li Banfeng stepped toward the lotus, he tripped over the bathtub, nearly fell, and his satchel slipped from his waist.

Clang!

The pendulum inside the satchel slid out.

Whoosh!

The phonograph’s flames flared.

Hssssss~

Steam billowed out.

Had the phonograph been awakened?

Clang clang clang clang~

“Wei ya~ my husband!” the phonograph began singing.

“Wei ya~ my wife!” Li Banfeng sang back.

The phonograph was a being capable of communication—she wasn’t scary at all.

“Wei ya, my husband—where did you acquire all this wealth?”

The phonograph’s voice was gentle, utterly unthreatening.

“Wei ya, my wife—I picked it up along the way.”

Li Banfeng wiped his sweat and slowly walked toward the door.

“My husband, you’ve worked so hard~” Her voice was tender and warm—she wasn’t scary at all!

“My wife, you’ve worked hard too~” Li Banfeng ran outside and shut the door.

The phonograph exhaled a puff of steam, floating a set of table and chairs to the wall, then stood the bathtub upright in the corner.

Beside the bathtub, the phonograph spotted the broken pendulum—Luo Yujun’s only remaining relic.

Hssss~

The phonograph was displeased—it disliked this object.

“That madman really is ridiculous—why bring back this broken trash again?”

Sssss~

The bronze lotus petals opened, drawing in the corpses and the broken pendulum into its heart.

Hssss~

The phonograph laughed scornfully: “Wei ya~ you didn’t want this pendulum before, yet now you scavenge it to eat? Clearly, hunger has stripped you of all dignity.

You wretched creature—once you ruled with power and majesty, now reduced to gorging on garbage. How pitiful, how laughable! Hahahaha~”

Puff!

A clear dewdrop spewed from the lotus heart, landing precisely on the phonograph’s loudspeaker.

The laughter stopped instantly.

“How dare you spit on me?” The phonograph flew into a rage—its three speakers smoked, and a cloud of steam engulfed the bronze lotus. “How dare you defy me! Today I’ll show you the family law!”

The lotus remained unmoved—the dewdrops danced through the steam.

…

Li Banfeng returned to the courtyard and looked around—the familiar walls were gone; before him stretched a dense forest.

The old lady was dead, Luo Yujun was gone, and all ghosts had been devoured by the phonograph—all illusions vanished.

After wandering through the forest for a while, Li Banfeng spotted Xiao Ye Ci and Lu Chunying.

The two women were covered in wounds, huddled together, trembling and motionless.

Seeing Li Banfeng approach, Xiao Ye Ci trembled and cried: “Master, you’ve finally come! We’re trapped in a ghost maze!”

Without asking, Li Banfeng could see what they’d endured.

“You want to go to Li Gou, right?”

“Yes, sir!” Xiao Ye and Lu Chunying nodded vigorously.

“If I take you to Li Gou, how much will you pay me?”

“Name your price, sir!”

“A thousand!”

“Done, sir!” Xiao Ye was pleasantly surprised—it was less than she’d expected.

Li Ban didn’t ask for more. He remembered how the pharmacy at the foot of Kuwu Mountain had slashed the price of Snake-Spot Chrysanthemum to twenty-five coins.

A thousand coins could buy forty stalks of Snake-Spot Chrysanthemum—enough to make many risk their lives. It was indeed a substantial sum.

But some conditions needed to be made clear.

“A thousand coins covers only the basic escort fee. If you encounter bandits, the price may rise depending on the situation. If I suffer losses, you must compensate me at market value.”

The terms were fair. Xiao Ye nodded repeatedly.

Li Ban led Xiao Ye and Lu Chunying toward the edge of the forest.

Along the way, Xiao Ye trembled with fear, while Lu Chunying clung tightly behind her.

They had been terrified of branches striking them, yet as they walked with Li Ban, not a single blow fell upon them.

The ghosts in the trees were gone—they wouldn’t be struck, though they didn’t know why.

“What kind of man is this…?” Xiao Ye was astonished. “He’s so strong, and he even knows magic—he can subdue ghosts too.”

Lu Chunying tugged at Xiao Ye’s sleeve. “Mom, use your mouth skills and subdue him.”

Xiao Ye shook her head. “I don’t have that ability. If you can, go ahead.”

As they stepped out of the forest, Li Ban saw a stone stele.

On the stele were three characters: Changliu Village.

When he entered the village, Li Ban had seen this stele—and he’d truly believed such a village existed.

Now he saw: Changliu Village was an illusion created by the old woman and her household spirit, Luo Yujun. This place held only forest and a mansion. No wonder, when Li Ban entered the village, only one house had its lantern lit.

Yet this stele looked ancient—not like a fake.

Perhaps Changliu Village once truly existed here. Perhaps the old woman and Luo Yujun had killed everyone in it.

A whole village vanished—and no one cared?

When Li Ban argued with the ticket seller at the station, someone had cared.

What kind of order was there in Puluo Province?

PS: Dear readers, the Lord of Puluo is pushing for Level 2. The out-of-circle index is sufficient, fan count is nearly there—only interaction remains. Leave a comment, just one word, one sentence—I’ll thank Li Ban on your behalf.

(End of Chapter)