Li Banfeng stepped into the abandoned manor and surveyed his surroundings.
What a massive compound!
Seven courtyards deep from north to south, five rows wide from east to west, with courtyards large and small nesting within one another.
After pacing back and forth twice, Li Banfeng sensed no danger and saw not a single soul. Returning to the main entrance, he beckoned everyone inside.
Not a single person among them, including Xiao Yeci, had ever seen such an enormous estate. Stepping into the first courtyard, the group looked around curiously, and someone headed toward the festooned gate.
Behind the festooned gate lay the second courtyard. Li Banfeng blocked the doorway and instructed everyone, "Find shelter from the rain immediately. Stay only in this first courtyard. Once the rain stops tomorrow, we leave right away."
Compared to the other courtyards, the first wasn't very large, but it had the most rooms. The rooms here were called gatehouses; because they were all on the shaded side, they were also called reverse-facing rooms. Stretching from east to west, there were more than thirty rooms in total, quarters for servants.
Xiao Yeci was delighted. "There are so many rooms! There's plenty for everyone to have their own!"
Li Banfeng shook his head. "No one stays alone. At least three to a room, and the rooms must be adjacent so you can watch out for each other. I'm going to scout the surroundings. Stay on your guard."
Though he claimed to be scouting, Li Banfeng actually returned to the Portable Abode.
"Wife, I think I've made it out of Jianrengang, but I stumbled upon an abandoned manor out in the wilderness."
After listening to Li Banfeng's description of the estate, his wife sang softly, "Seven courtyards deep and five wide... that sounds like the residence of an imperial prince. Left abandoned and unattended for so long... Husband, could it be you have arrived in an oldland?"
Arrived in an oldland?
Was that possible?
It actually was.
Based on his experience traveling to the City of Fools, the condition for entering an oldland was traveling along a specific route at a particular speed.
After days of grueling trek compounded by the pouring rain, the group had moved exceptionally slowly today.
Slow was also a particular speed.
Furthermore, both Xiao Yeci and Lu Chunying believed they hadn't taken a wrong turn, yet an abandoned manor had suddenly appeared along the path to Lüshuiwan—just like how Li Banfeng had entered an oldland without realizing it back then.
Li Banfeng nodded. "I'm worried about that too. Earlier there was still the change between day and night, but by the time we reached this manor, it had turned pitch-black night. It's hard to tell what territory this is."
"Oldlands are far more perilous than newlands, Husband. Do not step outside lightly tonight."
Li Banfeng pondered for a long time. "I've traveled through an oldland before; I know at least a bit more than they do. I was the one who brought them out of Jianrengang. If I don't help them through this hurdle, wouldn't that be as good as killing them?"
The gramophone sang, "Husband speaks with reason. Our house has always treated Husband gently, so there is no harm in Husband going out to watch over them for the night. But you must take utmost care, Husband. When circumstances force your hand, you must hurry back home; never let your temper rule you."
Li Banfeng agreed, gathered his dharma treasures, and stepped out of the Portable Abode.
Hong Ying murmured, "To think an imperial prince's manor could still survive in this world to this day..."
The gramophone sneered, "Wretched hussy, dreaming of becoming a prince's consort again? Was it for this that you betrayed me back then?"
Hong Ying fell silent for a long time before replying, "Vicious woman, do not interrogate me about matters I refuse to mention. Keep your word."
***
In the dead of night, within a small room, soaked clothes dried over a small fire while Xiao Yeci slept leaning against the bedside.
The bed was unusable; the wood was rotten through, and what bedding remained had crumbled into dust the moment someone pulled at it.
Fortunately, the roof didn't leak. After slogging through torrential rain all day, having a dry shelter to sleep in was more than enough to satisfy Xiao Yeci.
Yet after sleeping for less than two hours, Xiao Yeci was shaken awake by Lu Chunying. "Mom, come with me to the outhouse."
Xiao Yeci didn't even open her eyes. "There's a bucket in the room, just make do with that."
Had it been only the mother and daughter, Lu Chunying would have made do. But Li Banfeng had insisted on at least three people per room, and another young girl was sleeping there with them.
Though born into poverty, Lu Chunying had received a proper education from Xiao Yeci, making her naturally bashful around outsiders. She had no choice but to brace herself and step outside.
The rain was still pouring heavily. Unsure where the latrine was, she looked around when a sudden clap of thunder startled her.
It wasn't the thunder that frightened her, but the lightning.
In that flash of light, Lu Chunying thought she caught sight of a figure in the courtyard.
"Who's there?" she called out, summoning her courage.
No one answered, nor was anyone visible moving in the darkness.
*Did I see things?*
Her skill of seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity didn't sense any danger, yet she felt she shouldn't linger in the courtyard.
Unable to find a latrine either way, Lu Chunying relieved herself in a corner by the wall.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."
While relieving herself, she seemed to hear someone smacking their lips.
*I must have misheard. It was probably just the rain.*
Lu Chunying pulled up her trousers and bolted back toward the room. Just two steps in, she suddenly heard a burst of laughter.
"Heh, heh, heh..."
Lu Chunying glanced around, not daring to tarry, and dashed onward. Reaching the door, she pushed it open, only to find that neither Xiao Yeci nor the young girl sleeping with them was inside.
Where had they gone?
A woman in green robes sat inside, dressing her hair before a bronze mirror. With her back to Lu Chunying, she sang out, "Aiya, little sister! A maid like you, pissing in someone's courtyard—have you truly no shame?"
Lu Chunying trembled all over, retreating several steps.
She had no idea where this woman had come from, and in the pitch dark, she couldn't make out her features.
*Crack!*
Another roll of thunder exploded!
In the bronze mirror, Lu Chunying saw the woman's face clearly.
Had she not just relieved herself, Lu Chunying would have wet her pants right then and there.
The woman's complexion was pure white, whiter than snow.
Her eyebrows were stark black, the corners of her eyes vivid crimson—it was a face painted with opera makeup.
*An opera performer?*
Without a second thought, Lu Chunying stepped back and bolted from the room.
The moment she reached the courtyard, the green-robed woman came pursuing her outside.
Lu Chunying skirted left, but the woman blocked her left. She darted right, but after a few steps, the woman was already before her.
The other was faster than she was!
Not losing her head, Lu Chunying stood in the courtyard and cried at the top of her lungs, "Benefactor! Mom! There's an intruder in the courtyard!"
She shouted repeatedly, but no one responded.
Because those inside the rooms couldn't hear her voice at all.
Fluttering her water sleeves, the woman in green approached and sang word for word, "As a woman myself, I must give you a scolding:
First, you know no shame; second, you know no manners. You have soiled my courtyard, and this very day, you shall pay with your life as punishment."
Lu Chunying stammered, shaking, "It was just a puddle of pee—does that really call for a life?"
"Heh heh~ Little girl, on my turf you must obey my rules! If you don't pay with your life, what else could you possibly pay with?"
*Clatter!*
As the words fell, three silver dollars were tossed down at the green-robed woman's feet.
"How about paying you some coin?" Li Banfeng sang as he strode forward:
"This ingot of silver weighs three liang three,
Take it, sister-in-law, to keep your purity;
Buy silks and satins to make clothes anew,
Fashion jewelry and hairpins too,
And let us live as a young couple for a year or two!"
The green-robed woman froze. Glancing at the silver dollars on the ground as though mortified by a vile insult, she sang back toward Li Banfeng:
"This ingot of silver your servant disdains;
Take it to cover your mother's remains!
Buy funeral vaults and grave clothes to wear,
Buy white paper and paste funeral banners there,
And win the name of a filial son known everywhere!"
Peking Opera, *Wu Family Slope*.
Li Banfeng had learned quite a few verses from his wife lately, which allowed him to match the green-robed woman couplet for couplet.
While others couldn't hear a sound, how did Li Banfeng know something was happening in the courtyard?
This was the gap born of cultivation. Li Banfeng was a fifth-tier journey cultivator; he had sensed danger while inside his room, and the moment he stepped out, he saw Lu Chunying heading toward the opposite side of the courtyard.
Her eyes had been veiled by a ghost. What she pushed open hadn't been a room door, but the festooned gate leading to the second courtyard.
Once she entered the second courtyard, no matter how loudly she shouted, nobody outside would hear.
It was fortunate that Li Banfeng had followed her in.
He cast Lu Chunying a glance. Without a word needed, Lu Chunying understood immediately and ducked into a corner.
Gongs and drums began clashing within the second courtyard. Just as the actor was about to sing another aria, Li Banfeng lunged forward and planted a kick right into the actor.
The actor flew into a rage. "Why are you hitting me?"
Li Banfeng said, "That was the civil scene; now it's time for the martial scene."
The actor shouted furiously, "Does a martial scene involve real fighting?!"
Li Banfeng chuckled. "Listen to yourself. When you demanded that girl pay with her life just now, weren't you fixing to actually murder someone?"
"Fine! Then let us show our chops and test our foundations!" From who knew where, the actor produced a tasseled spear and lunged straight at Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng could dodge, parry with his scythe, or rely on his swift footwork to close in for a counterattack.
Yet no matter what he chose, he would end up on the losing end.
For he had already looked with Golden Eyes Discerning the Minutest Detail: this actor before him flickered with green light. She wasn't human at all.
A seasoned specter like this could shift at will between substance and intangibility; no matter how Li Banfeng attacked, he would be at a disadvantage.
In that case, fighting was pointless. Li Banfeng tuned his vocal cords and roared at the actor, "Waa-ya-ya-ya! Evil creature, meet your doom!"
That roar sent numbness coursing through the actor, nearly blasting the spirit apart.
This was another technique of Sprawling Compound, a copper-hammer painted face vocal style with heavy resonant tones that Li Banfeng had learned from his wife; woven into the singing was a method to intimidate and subdue dead souls.
Taking advantage of the actor's weakness, Hanxue shot forward. Able to harm spirits, the clock pendulum cut an opening across the actor first.
Furious, the actor flung the pendulum aside and charged at Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng backed away step by step, circling behind an artificial rockery.
Familiar with the terrain, the actor slipped through the rockery and caught up with Li Banfeng.
By now, however, Li Banfeng had already unlocked the Portable Abode with his key.
Seeing Li Banfeng standing motionless on the spot, the actor shouted angrily, "Neither fleeing nor hiding—are you just waiting to die?"
Li Banfeng smiled. "You're reluctant to strike; could it be you've taken a fancy to me?"
As long as the actor charged, Li Banfeng was confident he could fling them right into the Portable Abode.
The actor flourished the spear and spoke in their true voice: "Hmph! You're a man—what could I possibly see in you?"
Uh...
The voice had suddenly turned gruff and deep.
This actor was a man?
With the door to the Portable Abode open, Hong Ying lowered her voice. "Listen... was that the voice of Prince Chun just now?"
The gramophone sneered coldly. "Wretched hussy, you really still dream of becoming a prince's consort?"
"I couldn't mistake it," Hong Ying said, her frame trembling uncontrollably. "It is him."
P.S. Back then, Hong Ying had almost become a prince's consort.
Chapter 251