Chapter 24: Going to the Toilet Together

He Jiaqing asked in surprise, "Why did you leave your things at the station?"

Li Banfeng sighed, "It's a long story."

Li Banfeng stood at the doorway, hesitating whether to enter. He Jiaqing had already closed the main door. If he didn't go in now, it would be like falling out with the other person face-to-face. And if he fell out with them, would he even survive?

"Come in, we can talk inside," He Jiaqing said, leading Li Banfeng into the entryway. Li Banfeng had trekked all day, and his leather shoes were covered in mud. After two steps in the entryway, he left two muddy footprints on the carpet. He Jiaqing glanced at the carpet. Li Banfeng offered an embarrassed smile and quickly took off his shoes.

In truth, his socks were not much better than his shoes. When he was dealing with the black bear, mud and water had seeped into his shoes, and by now, after drying along the way, they had solidified.

Li Banfeng put on the slippers and handed the feather duster to He Jiaqing. He Jiaqing took the duster, not understanding its significance. "It's a small token of my appreciation," Li Banfeng said. Holding the feather duster, He Jiaqing shook his head and sighed, "Banfeng, you're always so frivolous." Li Banfeng replied with a straight face, "Bringing a gift when visiting someone—how is that frivolous?" He Jiaqing shook his head helplessly and casually placed the feather duster in a corner of the living room. This reminded Li Banfeng of something old Mrs. Wu at the welfare home once said: "Proper families never keep feather dusters in the living room; it invites trivial matters." But now was not the time to be thinking about feather dusters.

He Jiaqing led Li Banfeng into the living room, where Li Banfeng sat on the sofa. Although the mansion was magnificent, it had no electricity. He Jiaqing lit the candles on the coffee table and asked Li Banfeng about his journey.

"Banfeng, I've been sending you messages the whole way. Why haven't you replied?" He Jiaqing poured Li Banfeng a cup of tea. "My phone died at Kudaikan, and the train broke down, so I couldn't charge it. I couldn't see any of your messages at all." Li Banfeng lifted the teacup to his lips, about to take a sip, but as it neared his nose, he smelled a fishy odor. "This isn't water from a goldfish bowl, is it?" Li Banfeng frowned. "Nonsense! What do you mean 'goldfish water'? This is top-grade tea! I wouldn't even offer it to just anyone!" "Ah, good tea then," Li Banfeng said. He raised the cup and made a gesture as if drinking, but the tea level didn't decrease because he hadn't actually drunk any.

He Jiaqing said, "I heard about the train accident. I've been so worried these past few days, thinking you might not have had anything to eat on the train." Li Banfeng chuckled, "I did have food, but the things I saw along the way were just too strange. Jiaqing, you still haven't told me what happened? What kind of place is this? And who is that person lying in the hospital?"

He Jiaqing chuckled, "There's so much to tell here, it would take three days and three nights to explain it all. I heard the train arrived yesterday, so why are you only coming to find me today?" "Well, I was just..." Mid-sentence, Li Banfeng suddenly heard a sound from the entryway.

He Jiaqing also looked toward the entryway. There were indeed rustling footsteps. The two of them went to the entryway, one after the other. After looking around for a moment, they saw no one, but they did see a tabby cat, curled up under the shoe rack, diligently eating from its food bowl.

Li Banfeng asked, "I saw a black cat just now, and now there's a tabby cat? Why?" He Jiaqing chuckled, "They're all stray cats from the neighborhood. They used to live in the old house, but then I moved back in and took over their home. I felt bad, so I prepare food for them every day. Anyway, it's a huge house, and I'm living alone, so it's nice to have their company."

Li Banfeng looked at the cat's food bowl. Inside was an indistinguishable paste, certainly not fish, yet it also had a fishy smell. Why did everything smell fishy today? Was something wrong with his nose?

Li Banfeng scanned the entryway again and suddenly noticed the very bright feather duster he had brought. That feather duster, which He Jiaqing had originally placed in a corner of the living room, was now next to the shoe rack. Looking from the duster to the shoe rack, he saw that his muddy leather shoes were now very clean, not only free of mud but also shined to a gleam. Looking from the shoe rack to the carpet, the carpet was also spotless. The two muddy footprints he had left when he entered were gone.

"Banfeng, what are you staring at?" Li Banfeng smiled, "I'm just watching the cat." "Why watch it? You must be hungry too!" He Jiaqing chuckled, "You sit tight, I'll go make you some meat broth."

Li Banfeng returned to the sofa, picked up the teacup, and poured the tea onto the carpet. He wanted to see what would happen to the carpet. In less than two minutes, the tea on the carpet dried, leaving no trace.

He Jiaqing was busy in the kitchen. Under the cabinet, a white cat lay sound asleep. On the cutting board lay a skinned animal, about a foot long. He Jiaqing sliced off a few pieces of meat from the animal and put them into the pot. The meat was sliced very thinly, and He Jiaqing seemed a little reluctant. But after a moment's hesitation, He Jiaqing smiled. He silently mumbled to himself: "By tomorrow, I won't have to eat this anymore." "By tomorrow, I won't have to stay here anymore." He Jiaqing smiled more and more broadly. He stripped off more than half of the cat meat from the cutting board and added it to the pot.

"Banfeng, have some soup." He Jiaqing placed the bowl of soup in front of Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng looked at the meat broth and smiled, "It's too hot; let it cool down first." He Jiaqing saw the empty teacup and asked, "Are you really thirsty? Shall I brew you another cup?" Li Banfeng shook his head, "No need. I'm not used to such fine tea."

After a few casual remarks, He Jiaqing brought up the main topic: "Why did you leave your things at the station?" Li Banfeng gave a wry smile, "You should be asking me that! What exactly was that thing? It caused people to follow me the whole way! If I hadn't left it at the station, I never would have made it to your house!" He Jiaqing was startled. "Even in Yaowanggou, someone was still tracking you?" "Yes, right after I left the train station, two people said they were going to kill me. It scared me so much that I just ran wildly until I found a rickshaw driver who helped me get away. Guess how much he charged me?" He Jiaqing pondered for a moment. "That depends on whether it had fiery wheels." "You know about fiery wheels too!" Li Banfeng exclaimed, surprised. "He said his rickshaw had fiery wheels, and it cost five hundred for one ride." He Jiaqing nodded, "Five hundred isn't expensive. People with fiery wheels aren't ordinary. That price is quite reasonable." "Reasonable?!" Li Banfeng looked pained. "You have no idea how much it hurt to pay that money." "Don't worry, I wouldn't let you lose out. I'll pay for it." He Jiaqing immediately pulled out three thousand yuan and pressed it into Li Banfeng's hand. Li Banfeng didn't hesitate, taking the money directly into his wallet.

"Jiaqing, if you're in a hurry, we can go to the station now and get your things back," Li Banfeng said, eager to leave the house as soon as possible. "No need. We can talk about it tomorrow morning. Banfeng, drink your soup!" He Jiaqing didn't seem to be in any rush.

Li Banfeng picked up the soup bowl and again smelled a pungent, fishy odor. The tabby cat, having finished its food, walked to the living room window and yawned. Li Banfeng put down his soup bowl and also yawned. The tabby cat curled up under the window and fell asleep. Li Banfeng rubbed his eyes, feeling as though he was about to fall asleep himself.

"Banfeng, are you sleepy?" "A little..." Li Banfeng rubbed his eyes. He Jiaqing stood up and said, "I've prepared your room. Come upstairs with me."

Li Banfeng followed He Jiaqing upstairs. The second room on the left of the staircase was Li Banfeng's bedroom. The bedroom was spacious. The windows were closed, and vines hanging from the roof swayed back and forth in front of the window with the night breeze. "This room is a bit stuffy and warm. Can we open the window?" Li Banfeng asked casually. "The window sashes are rusted shut; they won't open. If you feel hot, you can take a shower. There's a bathroom on the second floor, at the end of the corridor." "No, I'm too tired to wash," Li Banfeng said, and without even taking off his clothes, he plunged onto the large bed. The bed was over two meters wide. Li Banfeng had never slept on such a big bed since he came into this world.

He Jiaqing frowned, "I prepared pajamas for you. Your clothes are..." Li Banfeng's clothes were covered in mud. Seeing He Jiaqing's displeasure, he quickly took off his clothes and changed into the pajamas. He Jiaqing took the clothes from him. "I'll wash them for you." "Oh, you shouldn't trouble yourself." "What are brothers for?" He Jiaqing picked up Li Banfeng's clothes. *Darn it, he took all my clothes. Good thing the keys aren't in them.*

"Jiaqing, with all that's happened, you still haven't explained anything clearly," Li Banfeng said with a yawn. "You should get some good rest first. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow." Li Banfeng lay in bed, squinting at He Jiaqing, and suddenly asked, "Teacher Song has a birthmark on her peach. Have you ever seen it?" He Jiaqing chuckled, "Of course I have. Do you want to see it?" Li Banfeng smiled, "I do, but I'm afraid Teacher Song won't let me." "You pervert!" He Jiaqing, holding Li Banfeng's dirty clothes, left the bedroom and closed the door. From Li Banfeng's pocket, he pulled out his wallet. The wallet contained Li Banfeng's identification, which he could use to retrieve the stored items from the train station.

Downstairs, He Jiaqing went to the kitchen and poured Li Banfeng's untouched meat broth into the slop bucket. The soup was undrinkable because it contained a certain ingredient. He grabbed the cat carcass from the cutting board and gnawed directly on the raw meat attached to the bones, blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. *I won't have to eat this anymore. By tomorrow morning, I won't have to eat this anymore.*

Li Banfeng's sudden mention of the birthmark had almost stumped him. *That vulgar scoundrel! If I hadn't reacted quickly, I would have been exposed just now.*

In reality, he had already been exposed; he just hadn't realized it. He Jiaqing knew that Li Banfeng had seen Teacher Song's birthmark. This was Li Banfeng's final verification.

From the moment he stepped inside, Li Banfeng had spotted the flaw. The person living in the mansion wasn't He Jiaqing; he didn't even recognize Li Banfeng's backpack. That backpack was a gift from the real He Jiaqing, bought from a street vendor. *Who exactly is he? Where is the real He Jiaqing?*

Now was not the time to think about such things. The immediate question was whether he could get out alive! Li Banfeng opened his eyes and looked at the candlesticks on the table. The house had no electricity. How did he charge his phone? If his phone was dead, how had he sent him messages?

Li Banfeng sat up and looked at the slippers on the floor. His dirty socks had left a lot of mud on the slippers, but now the mud was gone. He recalled something Ma Wu had said: "House spirits love cleanliness. When they encounter something unclean, they'll find a way to clean it." There was a house spirit in this room.

He also remembered the peddler's words: "If a house spirit is abandoned, it becomes a vengeful spirit. It will lure others to live in the house. Anyone who stays there for a night will become the house spirit's prisoner. Unless someone comes to replace the imprisoned person, the house spirit will keep them captive until death." And another part: "'Peeping cultivators' like to attach hooks to phones..." This person was a peeping cultivator. He knew about Li Banfeng's situation and could keep sending him messages because he was a peeping cultivator, using their magic to track his phone—this was what the peddler called a 'telepathic ear'. He had tricked him, luring him all the way to Purozhou. He was trapped by the house spirit, a prisoner, and had tricked Li Banfeng into coming here to be his replacement!

Li Banfeng got out of bed and reached for the window, carefully trying to move it a few times. The window wouldn't open. Li Banfeng had already begun his cultivation in 'house cultivation' and 'travel cultivation', making him much stronger than an ordinary person. But he could clearly sense that he couldn't open this window; there was a house spirit's power on it.

If he couldn't get out through the window, then through the door? The person impersonating He Jiaqing wouldn't let him leave. Even if he fought for his life, he wouldn't be allowed to go. *Could I beat him?* That was hard to say. He probably couldn't beat him, but the imposter likely wasn't confident he could subdue him either. Although he was a Dark Ability user and his cultivation was undoubtedly higher than Li Banfeng's, he was probably restricted by the house spirit's control. Otherwise, he could have just tied him up and left him in the mansion until dawn. *But even if I could beat him, would I definitely be able to get out?* He couldn't open the window, and he probably couldn't open the door either. If this fake He Jiaqing and the house spirit conspired against him, he'd be trapped with no way out.

As he pondered, Li Banfeng heard a rustling, scurrying sound. Stepping out of the bedroom, Li Banfeng realized the sound was coming from the bathroom. It was the sound of cat paw steps; Li Banfeng recognized it. *He had an idea.*

Li Banfeng walked to the bathroom door, a barely perceptible smile on his face, when suddenly He Jiaqing appeared beside him. "Banfeng, aren't you asleep?" Li Banfeng chuckled, "I was, but I woke up needing to go to the bathroom. Want to come along?"

PS: Dear readers, for such a great work, please vote for Salad and leave comments for Salad.Two updates today, each chapter is four thousand characters.