Tan Jinxiao led everyone to Chen Yongnian's eatery, where he was still lodging.
"This old pal of mine serves delicious food, and the rooms are clean. Staying with him, we can eat and sleep with peace of mind."
Once they settled into their accommodations, Li Banfeng offered to help Tan Jinxiao remove his mark. Tan Jinxiao waved his hand dismissively. "Don't mind me for now. I've got my own ways. Settle Juanzi's business first. Once the fighting starts, if she has cultivation on her, she'll at least be able to protect herself."
Li Banfeng had agreed to help Juanzi initiate into a cultivation path, and Juanzi was ready.
Come evening, Li Banfeng went to Juanzi's room, and the others followed along to lend a hand.
Liang Wucai and Xiao Yeci were deeply curious about what method Li Banfeng would use to initiate Juanzi.
The most legitimate source of initiation powder was the peddler. Liang Wucai had heard that Li Qi had a good relationship with the peddler, so she guessed the peddler had gifted him some powder.
Xiao Yeci, on the other hand, doubted it came from the peddler. The peddler kept tight control over initiation powders; no matter how good the relationship, he wouldn't easily hand them over.
However, Xiao Yeci knew the Lu Family kept some medicinal powder. For prominent clans in Puluo Province, storing powder wasn't rare. Since Li Qi was now the foremost powerhouse in Puluo Province, having some powder in hand was only reasonable.
Only Tan Jinxiao knew for sure that Li Qi wasn't using powder. The peddler's powder was useless on three-headed people.
When Li Qi saved the young man in the alley who was about to mutate into a three-headed person, Tan Jinxiao had already suspected Li Qi had used a guiding reagent from the Outer States.
Guiding reagents were effective on three-headed people—Tan Jinxiao knew this well.
"Seventh Master, go ahead. I'm ready." Juanzi looked at Mengzi, then glanced at Xiaoshan.
Mengzi gritted his teeth and shut his eyes.
Xiaoshan burst into tears and squeezed his eyes shut too.
Li Banfeng frowned. "What are you doing? It's just entering a path, not asking you to climb a mountain of blades. The medicine I use doesn't hurt like the peddler's powder. You don't need to worry. First, tell me: which path do you want to take?"
Juanzi said, "I want to enter the Martial Cultivator path."
Li Banfeng gave a slight nod. He had the Brawler guiding reagent.
Seeing Li Banfeng agree, Juanzi looked at Mengzi. "Brother, Seventh Master agreed to let us take the Martial Cultivator path. Martial cultivation suits you best. You stay."
Mengzi turned to Juanzi. "Sister, what do you mean by that? Didn't we agree that you'd stay, and the two of us brothers would go?"
Juanzi shook her head. "If Seventh Master let us become Travel Cultivators, I would stay. If Seventh Master let us become Food Cultivators, Xiaoshan would stay. But now Seventh Master has settled on Martial Cultivator, so you're the one who should stay."
"No, Sister!" Tears streamed down Mengzi's face. "Without you two, I don't want to live in this world alone. How about this: let's leave Xiaoshan behind. He's the youngest..."
Xiaoshan wept even harder. "Sister, Brother, if you're gone, I don't want to live either!"
Mengzi looked at Xiaoshan and said, "Even if the two of us shrink back, we'll still be by your side. We can still talk to you in the future, just like when we were alive."
Xiaoshan sobbed, "Can't we just not enter a path? Can't we just live our lives properly?"
Juanzi gritted her teeth. "We owe Seventh Master our lives! We can't let Seventh Master look after us forever! We need real ability—we have to repay him!"
Li Banfeng grew annoyed. "I find a way to get you initiated, and somehow it turns into repaying my favor? Initiate if you want; if not, forget it! Did I beg you or something?"
Juanzi hastily wiped her tears. "Seventh Master, we spoke out of turn. Please don't hold it against us. We'll enter the path. Let Xiaoshan become the Martial Cultivator."
Li Banfeng asked, "And then?"
"And then..." Juanzi couldn't hold back, her eyes reddening again. "Seventh Master, we only beg you to look after Xiaoshan. As long as he lives well, we ask for nothing else!"
Li Banfeng was thoroughly confused.
Tan Jinxiao, however, understood. "Hey, you three, do you think only one of you can enter a path?"
All three heads nodded together.
"Do you think that once you enter a path, three heads become one?"
The three heads exchanged glances. Juanzi asked, "Didn't the young man Seventh Master saved lose his other two heads?"
Tan Jinxiao waved his hand. "He hadn't fully formed yet, so that doesn't count. You're three-headed people; you ought to know how this works."
Juanzi truly didn't understand. "Back then, you were the one who said those two heads were held back in."
"I was just cracking a joke! How did you take it seriously? Have you heard of the Sinless Army?"
"Yes, we have!"
"The Sinless Army are three-headed people too, and they all safely enter cultivation paths. What are you afraid of?"
Mengzi shook his head. "We can't compare to them. We saw the Sinless Army in the City of Sinners. Those who can join the Sinless Army endured countless trials and screenings. They're uniquely gifted, whereas our bloodline falls far short."
Tan Jinxiao scoffed. "Uniquely gifted? Why not uniquely double-decked? That's just bullshit the Garrison Office feeds you. They're ordinary three-headed people too. They entered their paths simply because they were utterly loyal to the Garrison Office. Are you loyal to Seventh Master?"
Juanzi patted her chest. "Without a doubt!"
"Then that's that! Utterly loyal, so you can enter the path. Mengzi, you're picking Martial Cultivator, right? What does Juanzi want?"
Juanzi froze. "I can choose too?"
"What kind of talk is that? The Sinless Army is fierce precisely because all three heads have cultivation paths!"
Juanzi had thought today would be a parting of life and death, never expecting such a tremendous stroke of good fortune. She hurriedly said, "I want to choose Travel Cultivator."
Xiaoshan shouted, "I want to choose Food Cultivator!"
Li Banfeng remained silent for a moment, sensing something was off about this selection, though he couldn't put his finger on what.
Tan Jinxiao shook his head repeatedly. "Martial Cultivators fight, Travel Cultivators run, Food Cultivators eat. At the end of the day, all of them rely on the body to fight. Those are physical paths. Between your three heads, only one can command the body. When it comes down to a fight, whose orders does it follow?"
Mengzi thought for a moment. "Whichever head has higher cultivation!"
Tan Jinxiao looked at him with utter disdain. "Isn't that pure nonsense? Why cultivate three paths, then? To hold a contest against yourself? You'd be better off dedicating all your focus to mastering a single path!"
Mengzi retorted, "Three people, three paths. Switching techniques back and forth gives us more options to respond."
Tan Jinxiao found that laughable. "Why would the enemy let you switch? When you're fighting for your life, before you can even switch bodies, you'll be dead! You can't pick paths like that. The Sinless Army's example is right there: one martial, one scholar, one mind. One strikes, one binds, one disrupts. Relying on that tactic, ordinary fighters are no match for you."
Juanzi looked toward Li Banfeng, and Li Banfeng gave a slight nod.
Old Tan was right. Scholar, martial, and mind—these three paths were the standard configuration of the Sinless Army. The Martial Cultivator fought, the Scholar Cultivator restrained, and the Mind Cultivator disrupted opponents. That tactical combination was remarkably effective; both Li Banfeng and Lu Qianjiao had suffered against it before.
With that settled: Mengzi would take Martial Cultivator, Juanzi would take Mind Cultivator, and Xiaoshan would take Scholar Cultivator.
Xiaoshan lifted his head, his wide, innocent eyes gazing at everyone. "I don't really know how to read. Can I still study to be a scholar?"
The boy's question was simple and direct.
Tan Jinxiao blinked. "Then being a Scholar Cultivator will be tough. Mengzi, can you read?"
Mengzi raised his head and offered a calm smile. "Sister Xiao taught us yesterday. I can write my own name."
He felt rather proud, since Juanzi and Xiaoshan still couldn't write their names.
Li Banfeng said, "In that case, he can't cultivate the scholar path. Think of another path for Xiaoshan."
Finding one wasn't easy. The three of them shared a single body; they had to avoid fighting over control while ensuring mutual coordination.
Tan Jinxiao suggested, "Martial Cultivator, Contrarian Cultivator, and Mind Cultivator—that's another combination fairly common in the Sinless Army. How about that?"
Xiaoshan agreed, but Li Banfeng hesitated. "I don't have medicine for the Contrarian Cultivator path."
His wife hadn't concocted the Bully reagent yet.
Liang Wucai suggested, "Let Xiaoshan cultivate Poison Cultivator. I think that suits him."
Tan Jinxiao disagreed. "Poison Cultivators have to consume poison during training. That wrecks the physical body, which is terrible for the Martial Cultivator. That path isn't right for you."
Juanzi pondered. "Our Xiaoshan loves to sing, and he sings quite well, though he rarely dares to sing aloud. Would making him a Sound Cultivator work?"
Tan Jinxiao still shook his head. "A Sound Cultivator isn't suitable either. At low tiers, Sound Cultivators have poor control over their techniques, which will interfere with the Mind Cultivator. When a fight breaks out, he might end up screwing you over. If you ask me, let Xiaoshan learn from me. The Phlegm Cultivator path doesn't require using the body. No matter how the fight goes, it won't stop you from spitting phlegm!"
Xiaoshan lowered his head, forcing out two words through his teeth: "That's disgusting."
"How can you say that, kid!" Tan Jinxiao snapped in annoyance. "Fine, see if I bother helping you!"
Xiaoshan had his own ambition: "Seventh Master, I actually want to learn the Joy Cultivator path!"
Juanzi slapped Xiaoshan across the face, and Xiaoshan abandoned his dream.
After repeated deliberation, Li Banfeng settled on a path for Xiaoshan.
He would have Xiaoshan learn Nightmare Cultivator.
Tan Jinxiao also thought it was a great idea. "Nightmare Cultivator is an external path. Its methods rely entirely on ghost servants, which won't interfere with anything else."
With everything decided, Li Banfeng returned to the companion dwelling to fetch the reagent.
"Wife, where did you put the Spirit Medium reagent?"
The gramophone brought the Spirit Medium reagent over to Li Banfeng. "Darling husband, your accent has been sounding rather strange lately."
Li Banfeng realized it too. "I made a new friend recently. His accent is thick, and he led me astray!"
"What kind of friend?"
"His name is Tan Jinxiao. He's opened three gates above the clouds: Gold Cultivator, Phlegm Cultivator, and Smile Cultivator!"
Hong Ying set down her powder puff, suddenly feeling that the scented powder in her box didn't smell fragrant anymore. "There's someone that disgusting in this world?"
The gramophone said, "You shouldn't put it that way. Every path has its merits, and every family has its heroes. The three paths he cultivates are all uncommon. Having him stay by my husband's side should make him a fine helper."
Li Banfeng nodded. "He really is a fine helper. I rather admire the man."
Leaving the companion dwelling, Li Banfeng handed the guiding reagents to Juanzi.
Tan Jinxiao reminded them, "Don't swallow. Hold it in your mouths. Once the liquid reaches the stomach, there's no telling who absorbs what. If three bottles of medicine get mixed together, it could cost your lives."
The three followed Tan Jinxiao's advice, holding the liquid under their tongues for over two hours. Once the medicine fully dissolved, all three drifted into slumber, one after another.
This was normal. Xiao Yeci spread a blanket over Juanzi, taking turns with Liang Wucai to look after them.
That night, Xiaoshan was the first to wake. The moment he opened his eyes, he wailed, "Sister, there's a ghost in this room!"
Liang Wucai smiled. "Seeing ghosts proves his Nightmare Cultivator initiation succeeded."
***
Inside the room, Li Banfeng and Tan Jinxiao were discussing their strategy. According to Tan Jinxiao's estimate, the Boss would definitely come to the Human Market within two days.
"Earlier you said you had a way to deal with the mark. What way is that?"
Tan Jinxiao waved his hand. "I never said that! I can't remove this mark, but I have a way to counter it."
"How?"
"Wait here a moment. I'll fetch something for you to see." Tan Jinxiao stepped out, returning shortly with a stone slab in his arms.
Two lines of characters were etched into the stone.
The first line: *Tan Jinxiao.*
The second line: *This man never chickened out.*
Li Banfeng inspected the slab's shape. "Is this a tombstone?"
Tan Jinxiao nodded. "Good material, isn't it?"
"Why make something like this? It's bad luck!" Li Banfeng felt like smashing the tombstone.
Tan Jinxiao shielded the tombstone behind his back. "Don't do that, Seventh Master! Didn't we talk about this? I prepared this long ago. Earlier, when I wanted Xiaoshan to learn Phlegm Cultivator, I just wanted to find myself an apprentice and put my mind at ease, but the kid looked down on me!
"If he looks down on me, so be it. But Seventh Master, you have to promise me one thing: you must help me erect this monument. My tombstone must bear these words: *This man never chickened out.* When I went to the eatery to make trouble for Zuo Wugang and got suppressed by that brother named Tang, I count that fight as a loss, but you wouldn't think I actually chickened out, would you?"
Having spent time with him, Li Banfeng knew Tan Jinxiao's strength. "If you had truly fought to kill, Tang Changfa wouldn't even have had the chance to arrive. The moment you met, Zuo Wugang would have been dead."
Hearing this, Tan Jinxiao chuckled, though his smile carried a hint of bitterness. "Hearing you hold me in high regard brightens my spirits considerably. After being a street thug for so many years, barely anyone looks me in the eye anymore.
"I didn't want it to be like this either. Back on the battlefield, I was a man of status too, having earned plenty of military honors.
"I fought in a lot of battles and took a head wound, so I don't remember everything from decades ago clearly. But this underground city—I've never forgotten it. It was won by my brothers, fought for with their blood.
"After winning the war, I moved elsewhere to enjoy life. I had my own territory, and my cultivation climbed steadily.
"Yet I never imagined some Boss would pop out of nowhere and seize the underground city. When I heard my old brothers were suffering here, I couldn't stomach it. I rushed back, wanting to save them.
"I gathered several hundred brothers, first negotiating with the Boss, then fighting him. We fought just one battle, and more than half of my brothers died. If we had fallen fighting on a real battlefield, we would have accepted it. But can you guess how my brothers died?"
Li Banfeng pondered for a moment. "Because of the mark?"
"Exactly—the mark! I truly never expected that a single negotiation in the Green Garden would leave all of us branded with it." Tan Jinxiao held out his right hand and clenched it into a fist. "The Boss and a few of his lackeys stood before us, clenched their fists just like this, and my brothers dropped in swathes. That mark is utterly vicious!
"I was brought down too. One of the Boss's subordinates is Guan Huodong, an above-the-clouds Scrutiny Cultivator who's now the head of the Sea Market. Another is an above-the-clouds Farming Cultivator named Bai Miaosheng, who runs the Earth Market. Those two just twitched their fingers at me, and the pain nearly killed me.
"Death would have been fine; death brings peace. But the Boss wouldn't kill me. Instead, he insisted I stay in the underground city. He said if I left, he would execute all my surviving brothers.
"I don't know what he was thinking, but all these years, I've been waiting. Waiting for another chance to avenge my brothers!
"Now that chance is here. Seventh Master, I'm counting entirely on you!
"Back then, I warned you not to go to the Green Garden because I feared you'd get marked. Now that you've been marked too, we have to find another way.
"Over the years, I've developed a trump card specifically to counter their mark. It's a Phlegm Cultivator technique called Sticking to Skin and Clinging to Bone.
"Once the Boss arrives, I'll spit three mouthfuls of old phlegm in succession, gluing him fast. I can glue down those bastards Guan Huodong and Bai Miaosheng too. I've calculated carefully: I can pin them down for a little over a minute.
"During that minute, they'll certainly find a way to kill me. Don't worry about me then. As long as you seize that chance to slaughter them, my life will have been well worth it! I'll kowtow to you on the road to the Yellow Springs, Seventh Master! In fact, I'll kowtow right now as a down payment!"
Tan Jinxiao moved to kneel, but Li Banfeng gripped him firmly and hauled him up. "Stand straight and talk. First, tell me: is this Boss Mister Kongfang from Xuehuapu?"
Tan Jinxiao nodded. "I suspect it's him, but I doubt this underground city business has anything to do with the peddler."
"It truly has nothing to do with the peddler. Keep this firmly in mind: all of Xuehuapu has nothing to do with the peddler."
Tan Jinxiao asked, "Wasn't Xuehuapu established by the peddler?"
"It really wasn't. I'll explain that to you later. Do you know what the mark looks like?"
Tan Jinxiao shook his head. "All these years, I've wanted to extract the mark. I consulted numerous masters and paid hefty sums, yet not one could help me remove it.
"There's a He Jiaqing in Green Water City you might know. He's an expert Thief Cultivator, remarkably adept at extracting marks. I went to him for help recently, and though he could tell a mark was there, he couldn't pinpoint where it was hidden! How bizarre is that?"
*Even He Jiaqing couldn't find it?*
He had managed to extract Boss Lu's mark.
Then again, Boss Lu had likely planted that mark on Du Wenming casually.
The mark Mister Kongfang left in the underground city, on the other hand, had required an unimaginable amount of effort.
*Then how did I manage to purge the mark?*
Li Banfeng recalled his previous experience carefully. Aided by the Rest Easy technique, he had simply felt himself vomiting out a foreign object. Though the process was grueling and his memory vivid, Li Banfeng genuinely had no idea where the copper coin had been hidden.
Li Banfeng asked Tan Jinxiao again, "Can every subordinate of this Boss attack you using the mark?"
"Of course not. I looked into that specifically. Only someone holding the Boss's token can manipulate the marks. The bosses of the Human Market, Earth Market, and Sea Market each carry a token on them."
Li Banfeng rose. "Why didn't you mention this earlier? I'll go seize Zhu Yugui, find the token on him, and then can't we turn the tables on them?"
"You can't find it," Tan Jinxiao said, waving his hand. "Like the mark, that token was implanted using special methods. What it actually is and where it's hidden—even Zhu Yugui himself doesn't know.
"The Human Market has gone through several ringleaders. I sliced open the belly of the previous one and searched for over a month without finding the token. Seventh Master, that path won't work!"
"Maybe I can find it. Perhaps you just didn't look carefully enough."
***
Li Banfeng went to the street and seized Zhu Yugui.
Over the past two days, Zhu Yugui had been posting notices about rent waivers all over the streets. The news had already spread throughout the Human Market, so the man was of no further use.
Li Banfeng brought him back into the companion dwelling. The gramophone instantly grew furious: "Husband, why bring this filthy thing back? Who could possibly stomach this stench?"
"Don't fret, wife. I need to find something on him. Once I do, I'll toss him out."
Hong Ying didn't even grab her rouge, fleeing straight into the Tenth Chamber using Unimpeded Passage.
Everyone in the household took cover outside. Mengde scrambled down from the calendar poster and tried to slip into the Third Chamber, only for the gramophone to snag him and haul him back. "Stay put and lend my husband a hand."
The gramophone knew very well that if she didn't leave Mengde behind, she would have to assist Li Banfeng herself, and she had no desire to touch Zhu Yugui.
"Mistress!" Choking back tears from the stench, Mengde pleaded, "I can't help! I—I'm not good at searching for things!"
The gramophone asked, "Then tell me, who is good at searching for things?"
Mengde thought for a moment. "That depends on what the Master wants to find."
The gramophone turned her horn toward Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng said, "That Boss left a mark on him, as well as a token. The mark is a copper coin, like the ones I purged earlier. As for the token, I suspect it's kept alongside the copper coin."
The gramophone asked, "Who in our house is best at finding money?"
The glove shuddered inside the Third Chamber.
"Hoh-hahaha!" the companion dwelling laughed. A gust of gale-force wind kicked up, flinging open the Third Chamber's door and blowing the glove right in front of Li Banfeng.
The glove stood upright on its thumb and pinky, its remaining three fingers trembling together so erratically that none seemed dominant.
Li Banfeng asked, "What's with the bizarre posture?"
The glove answered, "I stayed in Santoucha for too long. I think I've turned into a three-headed person."
The gramophone couldn't help but chuckle.
The glove spoke with utmost earnestness: "Boss, I'm not lying to you! I've really turned into a three-headed person! All my techniques are gone! I can't find the copper coins..."
Li Banfeng glared at the glove. "Look at that pathetic act. You just need to tell me where the coin is; I'll handle the dirty work."
The glove calmed down slightly. It circled Zhu Yugui several times, keeping as much distance from him as possible. After searching for more than two hours, the glove finally spoke.
"Boss, there's a copper coin inside this man's body, very similar to those marks from before. But there's more than one."
Li Banfeng was startled. "How many, then?"
The glove wagged its index finger. "I can't say for sure. I don't know where the coin is, but I can gauge value. What's hidden inside him is worth far more than a single copper coin."
Even the glove didn't know where the mark was concealed. It seemed this thing was truly impossible to locate.
The gramophone speculated, "Husband, there might be an unnameable place inside his body."
"An unnameable place inside his body?" Li Banfeng was astonished. "Could it be a dark-dimension space?"
Li Banfeng took out the alms bowl Lühuazi had given him and tested it across Zhu Yugui's body for over half an hour. Finally, the yellow spoon inside the bowl rotated slightly.
The handle pointed directly toward Zhu Yugui's heart.
This opened Li Banfeng's eyes. The yellow spoon indicated direction; its movement proved there was indeed a dark-dimension space near Zhu Yugui's heart.
Li Banfeng gently turned the blue spoon, unlocking the dark-dimension space.
The glove instantly sensed the coins' location. Disregarding the filth, its index and middle fingers plunged into Zhu Yugui's body, crossing and snapping shut like tweezers to pluck the coins out of the dark-dimension space.
"Two coins! Just two... wait!" The glove cried out in surprise. "My eyes deceived me! One of them isn't a copper coin!"
Separated by a layer of dark-dimension space, the glove's senses had indeed slipped. Of the two coins, one was copper, and the other was gold.
Li Banfeng held the gold coin and copper coin, examining them for a long time.
The gold coin was the token; the copper coin was the mark.
Inside their own residence, a House Cultivator's perception far surpassed other cultivators of the same tier.
A subtle resonance hummed between the two coins, though determining the nature of that resonance was impossible for now.
Li Banfeng's gaze locked, sinking into deep contemplation.
At his side, the gramophone comforted him, "Husband, don't rush. Give your humble servant a few days to study them."
Li Banfeng shook his head. "This won't be easy to decipher. These are the mark and token the Boss uses to control the underground city. The methods involved are bound to be exceedingly intricate, impossible to crack overnight. If this drags on and the Boss comes knocking, things will get thorny."
Li Banfeng had already purged his own mark, so he could likely escape disaster. But Tan Jinxiao and the others bearing the mark would almost certainly perish.
For a moment, the gramophone couldn't think of an alternative either. Then she saw Li Banfeng place both coins in his palm, gently caressing them.
The glove was dumbfounded. "Boss, why do you love money even more than I do?"
Li Banfeng kept his eyes glued to the coins. "These are our family's treasures. How could I not love them?"
The gramophone paused, realizing Li Banfeng's intention. "Husband, are you planning to use a technique? The gold coin just arrived in our home; it might not count as a family treasure yet."
"I am the master of this house. If I say it counts, it counts."
The words sounded arrogant, yet they sounded sweet to the gramophone's ears.
The gold coin hopped ceaselessly upon Li Banfeng's fingertips. It was indeed extraordinary, fighting desperately against Li Banfeng's technique!
Li Banfeng gritted his teeth. "This is my home, and I am the master. Once you enter my doors, you obey my word!"
He first invoked Enumerating Family Treasures, followed by Rest Easy. The immense drain from these techniques caused sweat to pour down his face, yet the gold coin continued to jump on his fingertips, refusing to be subdued.
Steam billowed outward as the gramophone whispered into Li Banfeng's ear, "Husband, do you still have strength to spare? Only when zither and lute play in harmony does our bond as husband and wife truly shine!"
"Good wife!" Veins bulging on his forehead, Li Banfeng unleashed Sprawling Compound.
The gramophone's power and Li Banfeng's power fused together, surging in waves that caused the companion dwelling to tremble slightly.
*Hum!*
The companion dwelling released a low drone, its shaking intensifying.
House Cultivator, house spirit, and the dwelling itself—the triad's power stacked together, forming a resonant harmony.
The resonance escalated continuously, drawing the power from every room in the companion dwelling and channeling it into Li Banfeng.
Hong Lian opened her door slightly, peering through the crack.
She saw Li Banfeng wrapped in boundless power, and the coin shifting restlessly on his fingertips.
Hong Lian murmured, "Of all the hundred paths under heaven, the higher you go, the narrower they become. Only the House Cultivator's road broadens the further they travel. That saying truly holds true."
Hong Ying protested, "The Travel Cultivator's road broadens too!"
Hong Lian scoffed, seemingly contemptuous of Travel Cultivators.
Hong Ying had no mood to argue with Hong Lian; she could sense the tremendous toll Li Qi and Xiaowan were enduring.
She wanted to step forward and help—she was Li Banfeng's house spirit too.
Lady Nine entered the Second Chamber and held Hong Ying back. "They are using finesse, not brute force. Don't interfere."
"What do you mean, interfere? I can use finesse too!"
"Just a little more!" Hong Lian murmured. "To think this gold coin could hold out until now."
Lady Nine looked at the gold coin and spoke softly: "The master of the house cradles you, and the entire family gathers around you. You are unquestionably one of us."
As her words fell, the gold coin, down to its final thread of resistance, settled slowly into Li Banfeng's hand, resting obediently against his palm.
Li Banfeng lightly tapped the gold coin, and beside it, the copper coin moved in response.
Chapter 647