Master of the House

Inside Yucui Tower, Li Banfeng held Luo Shaojun in his arms, while behind him crouched the woman in blue. "It's her!" The blue-robed woman reached out, pointing straight at Luo Shaojun. Li Banfeng lowered his head and said to Luo Shaojun, "Run!" Shaojun scrambled out of his embrace and edged slowly toward the doorway. Taking advantage of the blue-robed woman not having moved yet, Li Banfeng shouted, "Run faster!" Shaojun forced herself into a sprint, darting toward her snail shell. The woman in blue flickered, appearing behind her in the blink of an eye. Shaojun didn't dare look back. Just as the blue-robed woman was about to strike, the floor suddenly shuddered. *Creeeak!* A row of floorboards surged up from the ground, blocking the blue-robed woman. Li Banfeng had used Sever Path to Open a Road. These planks were borrowed from the floor itself. The blue-robed woman hesitated for a moment, then waved her sleeve. The planks shattered into splinters, leaving a gaping hole in the floor that revealed the first level below. Shaojun took the chance to duck into her snail shell. Her shell was cracked and had yet to heal. Even if it hadn't cracked, Li Banfeng could sense that the shell wouldn't stop the woman in blue. Just as Li Banfeng was about to grab Shaojun and flee, the blue-robed woman turned back, looking at him. "Travel Cultivator?" "Yes," Li Banfeng nodded. "You broke my house?" The woman stared fixedly at him. Li Banfeng glanced at the hole in the floor. "Actually, you're the one who broke it. If you hadn't smashed those planks just now, the floor could have been restored. How about I find someone to fix it for you in a bit—" With another wave of her sleeve, the scattered woodchips gathered together and sealed the hole. The color matched seamlessly, the grain blended perfectly, and not a single crack remained, as if it had never sustained any damage at all. She turned back toward Shaojun by the door. Li Banfeng pulled the silk handkerchief from his robes, gripped it in his hand, and called out, "Jiang Ling'er!" The woman in blue turned around. "Yes!" Li Banfeng said to Luo Shaojun, "Get out of here!" This time, Li Banfeng didn't dare call Shaojun by name. Shaojun hoisted her shell onto her shoulders and ran out of Yucui Tower. Along the way, she met no barrier. Standing beneath the tower, Shaojun was at a loss until Li Banfeng called out again, "Get further away!" Snapped back to her senses, Shaojun carried her shell and hurried off to call for help. The blue-robed woman looked at Li Banfeng and asked, "Which one do you mean?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "Neither one. It's just you and me here." The woman pondered for a moment. "Then it can only be you." The moment the words left her mouth, she vanished. Shivering at the sudden surge of danger, Li Banfeng bolted from the spot without a second thought. He moved fast, but the blue-robed woman struck first. Across his thighs, behind his knees, on his shoulders, and along his back, over a dozen lacerations opened, gushing crimson blood. Whether it was Li Banfeng's sheer luck or the woman holding back, none of the dozen-plus wounds struck a vital point. Even so, with over a dozen cuts bleeding simultaneously, he wouldn't last long. Worse still, he couldn't see the woman anymore. Sensing danger closing in again, Li Banfeng used Unimpeded Passage to pass straight through the floor from the second level down to the first. In between, he caught sight of that flash of blue light once more, and another dozen cuts opened across his body. These cuts were far from shallow; in several places, bone showed through. At this rate, wouldn't he be flayed alive? The main doors were right in front of him, yet he couldn't break through. He tried passing through the wall, but while Unimpeded Passage could breach the floorboards, it couldn't penetrate the walls. There were mechanisms in this house—extraordinarily formidable mechanisms. A streak of blue light flickered. Li Banfeng knew Jiang Ling'er was coming again. With deadly danger bearing down on him, he didn't know if he could survive this time. Desperate, Li Banfeng clutched the handkerchief and called out once more, "Jiang Ling'er!" "Yes!" Jiang Ling'er answered, then glared sullenly at him. Li Banfeng panted for breath, his consciousness growing hazy, perhaps from severe blood loss. "Which one do you mean?" Jiang Ling'er repeated her earlier words. *Did she reboot?* Although it was clear she was thoroughly annoyed, her operating procedure seemed largely unchanged. Li Banfeng had roughly figured out the routine. As long as he didn't name anyone else, he should be able to leave the tower safely. He activated Unimpeded Passage, but he still couldn't pass through. Why couldn't he get out? The first time he had summoned Jiang Ling'er, Li Banfeng had been able to leave the tower. Why not this time? "Say which one, now!" Jiang Ling'er's tone had changed. "If you don't give a name this time, you won't walk out of this tower." His deduction had been flawed. Jiang Ling'er had been provoked and had slightly adjusted her programming. If he named someone, she would kill them. Li Banfeng thought for a moment and said, "The Sage!" "Who is the Sage?" Jiang Ling'er countered. "The emperor of Great Shang." "Where is he?" "He's in Chaoge, not here." She shook her head. "He's not here. I can't kill him." Li Banfeng said, "Then there's nothing to be done. It's not that I won't name someone, but it's just you and me here. Naming him is useless." Jiang Ling'er found his logic sound. "There is only you and me here. It cannot be me, so it can only be—" *Not good!* After being jerked around a few times, her thought process had shifted—her logic was closing in on a loop! Li Banfeng swiftly pulled out a shadow. "It's him!" "Who is he?" Jiang Ling'er looked at the shadow, waiting for a name. Li Banfeng yelled, "Banfengzi!" Banfengzi looked at Jiang Ling'er and began, "Of all the vital breaths between Heaven and Earth, none surpasses harmony. Harmony balances Yin and Yang, divides day and night, and gives birth to all things. Thus did the sages say: harmony generates wealth. Young lady, we ought to conduct ourselves with harmony and—" *Snap!* Banfengzi split into two and fell to the ground. Jiang Ling'er looked at Li Banfeng. "Who else?" Li Banfeng shook his head. "No one." Having fulfilled her task, Jiang Ling'er vanished. Li Banfeng let out a long breath, picked up the two halves of the shadow, and walked toward the door. "As the sages say, what an insolent shrew!" Banfengzi spoke up again. The two severed halves of the shadow turned into two separate shadows. "Not dead?" Jiang Ling'er's voice drifted down from upstairs. Li Banfeng froze in shock. A barrier materialized at the entrance; he was trapped. Jiang Ling'er reappeared abruptly and hacked Banfengzi in two once more. This time, she didn't leave, lingering on the spot to watch. Li Banfeng muttered under his breath, "Don't get back up. Just lie there and behave." Muttering like that was futile. Banfengzi was Li Banfeng too; as long as he felt wronged, he would undoubtedly stand right back up. Sure enough, Banfengzi stood up. "As the sages say, a host treats a guest not with empty courtesies, but with genuine sincerity!" *Crack.* Jiang Ling'er cut him down again. "As the sages say, today I see neither courtesy nor sincerity. What reason is there in this?" Banfengzi stood up once more. Jiang Ling'er flicked her sleeve, cutting him down yet again. "As the sages say, treat others with propriety and pass down virtues through generations. I entered your home without breach of etiquette; why must you wound me time and time again?" Jiang Ling'er cared for nothing else, mindlessly hacking away. Yet today she had met her match. Of all the shadows, Banfengzi possessed the sturdiest physique; every time he was struck down, he scrambled right back up. The scene was utterly absurd, like a robot clashing with an archaic scholar. After a long bout of slashing, the room was filled with shadows. Jiang Ling'er acted as if blind to them, slashing relentlessly, while Banfengzi refused to back down, stubbornly reasoning with her every step of the way. Li Banfeng yelled at Banfengzi, "Just die properly for once!" Banfengzi looked back at him. "As the sages say, I refuse to die!" The two of them were locked in a war of attrition. If Li Banfeng had been in peak condition, letting them grind it out would have been fine, buying him plenty of time. But right now, his condition was terrible. Covered in lacerations, he was bleeding profusely, blood pooling across the floor, and then— And then, the bleeding seemed to stop. There was indeed plenty of blood on the ground, yet the cuts all over his body had stopped bleeding and begun to scab over. What was going on? This sensation wasn't unfamiliar. Whenever he was inside his companion dwelling, his wounds healed rapidly, especially with the Rest Easy technique. Whether healing injuries or purging toxins, it took only an instant. But this wasn't his own home. Why was he recovering so quickly here? A breakthrough! This had to be the power of the third layer above the clouds! A homestead cultivator's innate talent could take effect even outside one's own dwelling! Could homestead cultivation techniques work as well? Li Banfeng tested Rest Easy. Sure enough, most of the scabs sloughed off, and his clouded consciousness cleared considerably. Madam was really something, always claiming that homestead cultivators couldn't leave their dwellings. Yet here he was, far away from home, and the techniques worked just fine, didn't they? Now that his body had mostly recovered, he ought to seize the chance to ambush her; he couldn't just stand by and watch Banfengzi get hacked to pieces. Li Banfeng charged forward. Within two exchanges, another dozen slashes opened across his body. Jiang Ling'er struck with such blinding speed and vicious ferocity that he didn't even have a chance to swap places with a shadow before the blades bit into his flesh. These cuts still missed his vitals. It was obvious Jiang Ling'er hadn't held back, but Li Banfeng's luck was simply too extraordinary. Jiang Ling'er looked toward Li Banfeng. After careful deliberation, Li Banfeng pointed at Banfengzi. "You go ahead and keep slashing him." It really was bizarre. Today Banfengzi was remarkably durable; cleaved in two, he reconstituted immediately, and his color didn't noticeably fade. Outside the dwelling, shadows shouldn't possess such strength. Banfengzi paid no attention to Li Banfeng, nor did he notice his own anomaly. He continued shouting at Jiang Ling'er, "As the sages say, a shrew like you deserves to be slain most of all!" Jiang Ling'er didn't bother arguing with him. Waving her sleeve, she was about to strike when she heard Li Banfeng roar, "Stop!" With that roar, the entire Yucui Tower trembled. Jiang Ling'er and Banfengzi both shuddered simultaneously. Li Banfeng wondered if he had somehow borrowed Madam's Sound Cultivator technique. Could Sprawling Compound be used away from the dwelling as well? Never mind whether it worked; scaring them was the priority. Li Banfeng glared at Jiang Ling'er. "Have you slashed enough?" Banfengzi said indignantly, "This woman is too—" Li Banfeng snapped at him, "Have you talked enough?" Banfengzi grumbled, deeply aggrieved, "She's hacking at me, and you won't even let me reason with her?" "She slashes you, so go slash her back! What's the point of yammering on like this?" Banfengzi fell silent. Jiang Ling'er looked at Li Banfeng. "You said that person was him!" "So what if I said so?" Li Banfeng retorted. "What if I say it's not him now? Is that not allowed?" For a moment, Jiang Ling'er didn't know how to respond. "Those are my rules—" "What rules of yours? You hacked me up like this—is that following rules?" Jiang Ling'er wanted to argue, but Li Banfeng's imposing aura was so intimidating that she could barely open her mouth. Li Banfeng pointed at the floor. "Look at all this blood on the ground! Every drop is mine, all from you slashing me! I scold you a little, and you still dare talk back?" Looking at the blood on the floor, Jiang Ling'er felt a wave of dizziness. She had killed countless people, yet for some reason, she was suddenly repulsed and frightened by blood today. Li Banfeng pointed toward the stairs. "Go upstairs and stay there!" Jiang Ling'er had no desire to heed him, yet for reasons unknown, her feet carried her up the stairs of their own accord. "Hold on!" Li Banfeng called out. "Turn around and push your hair back!" *Make me push my hair back? Is this man insane?* Jiang Ling'er turned around and brushed her hair aside. Li Banfeng nodded. "Quite pretty, actually. Go on up and stay there." Jiang Ling'er reached the upper floor and sat on the bed, unable to wrap her head around it for the longest time. Why push my hair back? He tells you to push it back and you just do it? Why be afraid of him? Just because he's holding the handkerchief? There was no need to fear him even if he held the handkerchief! It wasn't as if she hadn't killed handkerchief holders before. Not understanding didn't matter. The dwelling had a barrier; none of them could escape anyway. She would just kill them once she figured it out. *Squeeeak!* Li Banfeng recalled the crowd of shadows, pushed open the door, and walked right out of the tower. Jiang Ling'er stared dumbfounded, her voice raspy and hoarse as she asked, "Why let him leave?" *Creeeak-clatter~* The beams and pillars of the tower emitted a series of sharp groans. Jiang Ling'er stood in stunned disbelief. "You fear him too? Why do you fear him?" Li Banfeng was pondering the same question: why had Jiang Ling'er backed down just now? Considering his own state at the time, however, he began to understand. Drenched in blood and roaring intimidation at Jiang Ling'er, the scene bore a striking resemblance to Tang Changfa's Inviting a Strike, Calling the Challenge. Fool cultivator techniques disregarded cultivation tiers, so scaring Jiang Ling'er into submission was within reason. The key question, however, was: do I even know Inviting a Strike, Calling the Challenge? Senior Brother Sun certainly never taught me, though I saw Tang Changfa use it twice. Could I have mastered it on my own without a teacher? Was that really a Fool cultivator technique just now? Lost in thought, Li Banfeng left bloody footprints with every step as he walked out of the tower. Luo Shaojun was the first to rush forward. "Seventh Brother, you scared me to death! What happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?" A crowd stood outside the tower, but none dared approach. Li Banfeng asked, "What is going on with this tower?" Luo Shaojun replied, "I asked the people in the residence. Yucui Tower was modified by Bao Yingjun. Let's go to my place to discuss the details." Li Banfeng shook his head. "Not at your place. I won't be staying in the Marquis Residence anymore; I'm moving to Hu Chihong's manor." Luo Shaojun pouted. "What's so great about Hu Chihong?" Li Banfeng offered no explanation. "Have people cordon off this entire area. No one is permitted inside. Anyone who trespasses is to be killed without mercy!" Leaving the Marquis Residence, they arrived at Hu Chihong's estate. Hu Chihong hurried to arrange rooms for both of them. Luo Shaojun produced an iron tally inscribed with a passage of text. Judging solely by the shape of the iron tally, Li Banfeng had initially assumed it was a local spirit's covenant deed. But upon reading the contents, he realized it wasn't a covenant deed at all—it was an instruction manual. Inscribed upon it were the instructions for operating the first-class weapon, Jiang Ling'er: *The weapon hath form, yet cannot be seen; the weapon hath voice, yet cannot be heard.* *The weapon hath a chamber and must not depart; herein lies the slaughter ground of foes.* *Lure the foe into her chamber, grasp her token, invoke her name, and then invoke the foe's name. The foe shall perish, with no escape.* *When one foe falleth, invoke another. Thus repeated, all foes who enter the chamber—though they number ten thousand strong—shall perish.* *Once Jiang Ling'er emergeth, she must slay at least one. If none remaineth to be slain, the bearer of the token cannot escape death.* Now Li Banfeng finally understood. Jiang Ling'er was a weapon that could neither be seen nor heard. It was only Li Banfeng's Golden Eyes Autumn Down and Discerning Spiritual Sound techniques that had allowed him to perceive her. Both techniques were bestowed by Madam; why they proved effective against a first-class weapon of the Inner States was something that could not yet be explained. The handkerchief Li Banfeng had picked up was Jiang Ling'er's covenant deed. Holding her deed and calling her name was equivalent to summoning Jiang Ling'er. Once summoned, she had to kill someone; if there was no one to kill, she would slay whoever held the deed. This first-class weapon was exceptionally powerful, but using it carried immense risk. For someone like Bao Yingjun, of course, it posed little difficulty: if there were no enemies to kill, he could simply summon any random bondservant for Jiang Ling'er to slaughter. Recalling the ordeal inside the tower, Luo Shaojun still felt a chill run down her spine. "Seventh Brother, if your hands hadn't been so quick, all of us would have perished in Yucui Tower." Li Banfeng said, "It will take three more days to reach Chaoge, and on our way back we still have to pass through Wubian City. Guard Yucui Tower closely over these coming days. Not just the tower itself, but keep a tight lid on all information—this place might prove immensely useful in the future!" Luo Shaojun nodded. "Rest assured, Seventh Brother. I'll have the back courtyard cleared and placed under heavy guard. I guarantee not even a mosquito will fly in!" Li Banfeng paused in surprise. "There are mosquitoes in Great Shang too?" "There are!" Shaojun nodded repeatedly. "Of all the creatures in the world, those are the most wretched!" Late that night, Li Banfeng sat by the window on the second floor of Yucui Tower, pushing it open to look out. Shaojun stood below, tears welling in her eyes. "Seventh Brother, your little sister truly ordered a heavy guard. I never expected Seventh Brother to sneak back in anyway. It's all my fault; I am willing to take whatever punishment you give." Li Banfeng shook his head. "No need for punishment. Go get some rest. I'm going to have a good chat with her." Shaojun stood bewildered below, having no idea who Li Banfeng was supposed to chat with. Closing the window, Li Banfeng looked at Jiang Ling'er beside the bed. "What exactly do you want?" Jiang Ling'er looked back at him. "You crawl into my bed in the middle of the night, and you dare ask what I want?" Li Banfeng snapped, "Who crawled into your bed? Shameless!" Banfengzi popped out from behind him. "As the sages say, this woman is indeed shameless." Jiang Ling'er stared at Li Banfeng for a long while before asking expressionlessly, "Are you bullying me?" Li Banfeng conferred with Banfengzi, "She slashed us so many times. It's only right that we bully her back." Banfengzi nodded. "As the sages say, quite so." Jiang Ling'er knit her brows, pulled the corners of her eyes downward, and twitched her lips, trying her best to muster an aggrieved expression. Failing to do so, Li Banfeng didn't press her. "Close enough." Banfengzi chimed in, "As the sages say, if she doesn't feel aggrieved, we should keep bullying her." Jiang Ling'er asked, "Are you two people, or one person?" Li Banfeng said, "One person." Banfengzi disagreed, but said nothing. Li Banfeng continued, "I answered one of your questions. Now it's your turn to answer mine. What cultivation pathway do you belong to?" "I don't know." Jiang Ling'er shook her head blankly. "What techniques do you know?" "No techniques." "What methods do you use to kill?" "Killing is just killing. I don't use methods." She was likely telling the truth. After being turned into a weapon, over ninety percent of her memories had probably been lost; she fought entirely on instinct. Possessing such terrifying power purely through instinct, without even fearing ten thousand troops? This had to stem from some special property. Li Banfeng looked around the room. "Is this your house?" Jiang Ling'er nodded vigorously. This mattered a great deal to her. From this, Li Banfeng inferred, "Are you a homestead cultivator?" This wasn't a wild guess on his part. Jiang Ling'er had a deep identification with the house, and she possessed subtle qualities that were hard to detect. "Homestead cultivator..." Jiang Ling'er seemed sensitive to those words. She struggled to think, but came up empty. Naturally, another possibility couldn't be ruled out. "Are you a dwelling spirit?" "Dwelling spirit..." This time, Jiang Ling'er's reaction was even more pronounced. Some buried memories seemed on the verge of being stirred. "Are you afraid of me?" Li Banfeng activated the Rest Easy technique once again, staring down at Jiang Ling'er with an icy gaze. Jiang Ling'er averted her eyes, looking down. "No." "Truly not afraid?" Li Banfeng continued watching her eyes. Jiang Ling'er did her best to dodge his gaze. "I only asked you one question. Why do you get to ask me so many?" Li Banfeng said, "Because I'm bullying you." Jiang Ling'er trembled, uncertain whether from anger or fear. Li Banfeng was certain it was fear. Another name for the Rest Easy technique was Master of the House. Several questions now had their answers. The reason Li Banfeng had intimidated Jiang Ling'er wasn't that he had used a Fool cultivator technique—it was because of the Rest Easy technique. Without a dwelling, using Rest Easy was impossible. The reason the technique had activated was that Li Banfeng had called Jiang Ling'er's name inside the house and she had responded, which matched the procedure for a homestead cultivator claiming a dwelling spirit. Furthermore, Li Banfeng had slept in Yucui Tower twice in succession and lingered for quite some time, not only establishing an affinity with the building but also triggering the homestead cultivation technique Live and Work in Peace. This had boosted his fortune, preventing him from suffering fatal injuries throughout his clash with Jiang Ling'er. At first, the house still favored its dwelling spirit, obeying Jiang Ling'er's commands most of the time by raising barriers to block Li Banfeng. Yet once Li Banfeng unleashed the Rest Easy technique, under the commanding aura of the Master of the House, the dwelling's affinity with Li Banfeng deepened, allowing him to exit without hindrance. The crux of the matter now was why Li Banfeng always ended up returning to Yucui Tower to sleep. Li Banfeng asked Jiang Ling'er, "Tonight, when I ended up back in this tower in the middle of the night—was that truly not your doing?" Jiang Ling'er replied, "At first, you didn't state an enemy's name, so of course I had to drag you back. Today, you already gave an enemy's name. I had no intention of looking for you; you came back on your own." Li Banfeng sighed. "Well, since I'm already here, I might as well sleep." He lay down on the bed, leaving no space for Jiang Ling'er. Jiang Ling'er stood beside the bed, shifting her brows and eyes in an attempt to pull a resentful face, but failed. Three days later, Luo Lijun sent word: Wubian City had arrived at the entrance to Chaoge. Li Banfeng had Luo Lijun and Luo Shaojun accompany him into the city, while Yanjun, Yujun, and Xiujun stayed behind in Wubian City to secure their retreat. Reaching the entrance of Wubian City, two mountain ranges parted slowly. Li Banfeng led Lijun and Shaojun out of the city. To Wubian City, it was merely opening its mouth; to Li Banfeng and the others, it was akin to scaling a mountain. When they reached the foot of the mountain, a brilliant blaze reflected before their eyes, giving Li Banfeng the brief illusion that he had encountered a fire dragon. Drawing closer, he saw two rows of white horses stretching far ahead, each bearing two enormous torches upon its back. Bai Liangchen, who accompanied them, was quite proud; these white horses were all his clansmen. He even took care to emphasize to Li Banfeng, "Your Highness, a lane lined with white horses is the highest etiquette of Great Shang." Li Banfeng held these white horses in high regard, particularly admiring their robust bodies. He asked Bai Liangchen, "Can these horses run?" Bai Liangchen raised his horse head. "Covering a thousand li a day is no trouble at all." Li Banfeng then asked Luo Lijun and Luo Shaojun, "Can the two of you outrun horses?" While Luo Shaojun was still calculating their relative speeds, beads of sweat condensed across Luo Lijun's snail shell. With Chaoge looming faintly against the night sky, Luo Shaojun lowered her voice: "Sister, Chaoge has nine gates, and you once reached the Sixth Gate. You've explained the routes through the first five gates to Seventh Brother, right?" Luo Lijun nodded. "Hand in hand, point by point, I guided him and had him draw it several times. I just don't know whether Chaoge still looks the way it used to." The dark, greenish-black city walls were mottled with rust, while rugged, meandering pipes crisscrossed the fortifications, some of them still writhing sluggishly. Zuo Anna cupped her hands in greeting to a three-headed man. "I leave this in the hands of the three generals." The three-headed man returned the courtesy. "It is I who should say that. My entire family has been entrusted to Lady Zuo." Before parting, Zuo Anna warned He Jiaqing, "I will only wait one day for you. By this time tomorrow, whether you've returned or not, I will order Sui'an Town to depart." He Jiaqing smiled. "You wouldn't have the heart to abandon me." Zuo Anna sneered, "You think I've taken a liking to you?" He Jiaqing shook his head and laughed. "You haven't taken a liking to me, but you can't bear to let go of Critick. Don't worry, I'll bring back Rong Sijiao's covenant deed. Just make sure you have answers ready for the questions I asked you." Zuo Anna nodded. "Fine, I will wait for you. The place you're headed is at the Fifth Gate. It's not your first time here, so you know the way well enough without my reminders. But if you fail to bring back the covenant deed, don't ever ask me another question again." He Jiaqing nodded. "It's a deal." Dozens of three-headed people picked up their luggage and followed Zuo Anna toward Sui'an Town. He Jiaqing followed the three-headed general through the first city wall. PS: Chaoge, here he comes.