After some small talk, He Jiaqing brought up business. "Why did you leave the item at the station?"
Li Banfeng gave a bitter smile. "That's on you, isn't it? What exactly is that thing? It got me tailed all the way! If I hadn't left it at the station, I would never have made it to your place!"
He Jiaqing was astonished. "You were followed even to Medicine King Valley?"
"Yes, as soon as I left the railway station, these two guys said they wanted to kill me. Scared out of my wits, I ran everywhere in panic until I found a rickshaw puller, and only then did I manage to get away. Guess how much he charged me?"
He Jiaqing pondered for a moment before saying, "That depends on whether his cart had a Fire Wheel or not."
"You know about Fire Wheels!" Li Banfeng said with delight. "He claimed his cart had a Fire Wheel, and the fare was five hundred."
He Jiaqing nodded. "Five hundred is not expensive. Those with Fire Wheels are not ordinary, and the price is quite fair."
"That price is fair?" Li Banfeng said, his face filled with distress. "You have no idea how much that hurt when I paid."
"Don't worry, would I let you suffer a loss? I'll cover this expense." He Jiaqing immediately took out three thousand dollars and handed it to Li Banfeng.
Li Banfeng unceremoniously accepted the money and put it into his wallet.
"Jiaqing, if you're in a hurry, we can go to the station now and collect the item." Li Banfeng wanted to leave the house as soon as possible.
"No need, we'll talk about it tomorrow morning. Banfeng, have some soup!" He Jiaqing didn't seem to be in much of a hurry.
Li Banfeng picked up the soup and again smelled the strong, fishy odor.
The tabby cat finished its meal, went to the living room window, and yawned.
Li Banfeng put down his soup bowl and also yawned.
The tabby cat lay down by the window and fell asleep. Li Banfeng rubbed his eyes, seemingly on the verge of sleep as well.
"Banfeng, are you tired?"
"Yeah, a little..." Li Banfeng rubbed his eyes.
He Jiaqing stood up. "I've prepared your room. Follow me upstairs."
Li Banfeng followed He Jiaqing upstairs. The second room on the left side of the staircase was his bedroom.
The bedroom was spacious. The windows were shut, and vines hanging from the ceiling swayed back and forth by the window in the night breeze.
"This room feels a bit stuffy. Can I open the window?" Li Banfeng asked casually.
"The window's hinges are rusted shut; you can't open them. If you feel hot, you can take a shower. The bathroom is at the end of the hallway on the second floor."
"No need, I'm tired." Li Banfeng, without even taking off his clothes, plunged into the big bed.
The bed was more than two meters wide. Li Banfeng had never slept in such a large bed since coming into this world.
He Jiaqing frowned. "I've prepared pajamas for you, but your clothes..."
Li Banfeng's clothes were covered in mud. Seeing He Jiaqing was displeased, he quickly took them off and changed into the pajamas.
He Jiaqing casually took the clothes. "I'll wash them for you."
"Oh, that's too kind."
"What's there to mind between brothers?" He Jiaqing picked up Li Banfeng's clothes.
Damn, he's taken away all my clothes. Luckily, my keys aren't in my clothes.
"Jiaqing, after all this trouble, you still haven't clarified things for me?" Li Banfeng yawned.
"You should get a good sleep first. I'll explain it all to you tomorrow."
Li Banfeng lay in bed, squinting at He Jiaqing, and suddenly asked, "Teacher Song's Peach has a birthmark. Have you seen it?"
He Jiaqing smiled. "Of course, I have. Do you want to see it?"
Li Banfeng laughed. "I would like to, but I'm afraid Teacher Song won't let me."
"You lecher!" Holding Li Banfeng's dirty clothes, He Jiaqing left the bedroom, closed the door, and took Li Banfeng's wallet from his pocket.
Inside the wallet were Li Banfeng's IDs, which would allow him to retrieve the item stored at the railway station.
After going downstairs, He Jiaqing went to the kitchen and poured Li Banfeng's uneaten meat soup into the slop bucket.
The soup wasn't drinkable because it contained drugged ingredients.
He picked up the cat's remains from the chopping board and gnawed the raw meat directly from the bones, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth.
No need to eat this anymore. By morning, there will be no more need for this.
Just now, Li Banfeng suddenly mentioned the birthmark, almost catching me off guard.
That despicable wretch! If it weren't for my quick reflexes, I would have given myself away. He actually gave himself away a long time ago; he just hasn't realized it yet.
Li Banfeng saw Teacher Song's birthmark. I knew about that.
This was my final verification.
From the moment I entered, I had spotted the flaw.
The person living in this house is not He Jiaqing; he couldn't even recognize my backpack.
It was a backpack He Jiaqing gave me, bought from a street stall.
Who on earth is he? Where is the real He Jiaqing? Now is not the time to think about these things. Now I have to consider whether I can still get out alive!
Li Banfeng opened his eyes and glanced at the candlestick on the table.
His home isn't wired for electricity, so what has he been using to charge his cell phone? With no power in his phone, how has he been sending me messages?
Li Banfeng sat up and looked at the slippers on the floor.
My dirty socks had left quite a bit of mud on the slippers, but now all that mud has disappeared.
He recalled what Ma Wu had once said:
"House Spirits like cleanliness. Confronted with something dirty, they will find a way to clean it up."
There's a House Spirit in this house.
He also remembered what the Peddler had said:
"If a House Spirit is abandoned, it will become a Resentful Spirit. It'll lure others to live in the house, and anyone who stays a night will become the House Spirit's prisoner unless someone else comes to replace the person who has been trapped. Otherwise, the House Spirit will imprison that person until they die."
He also remembered the Peddler saying something else: "Peeping Cultivators like to put hooks on cell phones..."
This person is a Peeping Cultivator. He knows what's going on around me, and he can keep sending me messages because he's a Peeping Cultivator. He tracked my phone using the Spells of Peeping Cultivation—that's what the Peddler referred to as Favorable Wind Ear! He deceived me, leading me all the way to Puluo State. He's trapped by the House Spirit and has become its prisoner, luring me here as his replacement!
Li Banfeng got out of bed and reached towards the window, cautiously trying to move it. The window wouldn't open.
I've already started Home Cultivation and Traveling Cultivation, making me much stronger than the average person, but I can clearly sense that I can't open this window. The House Spirit's power is on it.
There's no way to get out through the window, so what about the door? The person impersonating He Jiaqing isn't going to let me leave, even if it costs him his life. Can I defeat him? It's hard to say. I most likely can't beat him, but he probably isn't sure he can subdue me either.
Even though he's a Dark Energy User, and his cultivation level is definitely above mine, under the control of the House Spirit, he's probably somewhat restricted. Otherwise, he could have just tied me up and tossed me in the house to wait until daylight.
But even if I could beat him, could I definitely get out? I can't open the window, and I might not be able to open the door either. If this fake He Jiaqing and the House Spirit team up against me then, I'll be unable to escape even if I grow wings.
Amidst these thoughts, Li Banfeng heard a rustling, scratching sound.
Stepping out of the bedroom, Li Banfeng found the noise was coming from the bathroom.
It's the sound of a cat's footsteps. I hear it. There's a way out!
Li Banfeng walked up to the bathroom door, a faint, hard-to-detect smile on his face, when He Jiaqing suddenly appeared by his side.
"Banfeng, you're not asleep?"
Li Banfeng replied with a smile, "I was asleep, but I woke up needing to go. I'm heading to the bathroom. Wanna come with?"