Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo'
Chapter 60 - 48 House Spirit_2

Chapter 60: Chapter 48 House Spirit_2

This traditional old clock chimes once at the half hour and rings out the corresponding number of times at the hour.

For example, when it reaches nine o’clock, it will DONG, chiming nine times.

At nine-thirty, it will only DONG! once!

The sound that had just rung out interrupted Li Banfeng’s train of thought as he searched for the House Spirit, which annoyed him greatly.

He glared at the old clock and continued to scan the other items in the room.

Eventually, his gaze settled on a chicken feather duster, which he felt had the most Spirit Attribute.

Firstly, its color was fairly vibrant, and secondly, the feathers were quite soft.

Li Banfeng picked up the chicken feather duster, ready to use his Home Cultivation talent to have a deep conversation, when suddenly the old clock went DONG, DONG, DONG... tolling ten times in a row—and loudly at that—thoroughly capturing Li Banfeng’s attention.

It rang ten times?

Li Banfeng looked at the clock face—the hour and minute hands pointed to ten o’clock.

It was just nine-thirty a moment ago, and now it has suddenly become ten?

Could it be...

This old clock is broken?

Just a moment ago, I was wondering if my Portable Residence needed a timepiece and if I should move this old clock there.

Looking at it now, this clock is definitely not suitable.

After communicating with the chicken feather duster for some time, Li Banfeng discovered that it did not respond.

Next to the duster was an iron mooncake box. Its paint was heavily flaked and peeling, showing its age, but it was dust-free and exceptionally clean.

House Spirits love cleanliness—could it be inside this box?

Li Banfeng forcefully lifted the lid and found that the only thing inside was a stack of old newspapers, so aged and yellowed they seemed as if they could crumble at any moment.

A House Spirit wouldn’t live in a newspaper, would it?

Li Banfeng picked up a newspaper, and before he could unfold it, this time he truly sensed something.

He felt the text on the newspaper touching him.

The tiny words seemed to turn into little worms, trying to burrow into Li Banfeng’s fingertips.

Is it really in the newspaper?

CLICK! CLICK!

The sound of the Clock Pendulum became even clearer, each strike resonating to the core.

Li Banfeng put down the newspaper, looking at the golden pendulum. Reflected in the candlelight, it cast some blurry images.

At first, the images were unclear, but they gradually sharpened over time.

Li Banfeng seemed to see an old movie with a yellowish background reflected on the pendulum.

A stunning woman in a cheongsam was drawing her eyebrows in front of a mirror.

A man appeared behind her, took the eyebrow pencil from the woman’s hand, and gently sketched on her eyebrows, stroke by stroke.

After the eyebrows, he drew the lips.

After the lips, he bit the lips.

Having bitten the lips, he could bite something else.

The two faced each other, biting for a long time, until the man moved behind the woman.

The swinging of the pendulum grew louder and more piercing.

The man initially had his hands on the woman’s shoulders. As they grappled, his left hand wrapped around her neck while his right hand locked onto his left.

His face pressed against hers. He used his left shoulder to push down on the back of her head, forcing her head to bend forward.

A rear naked choke! Not some harmless ’sing-along’ version; this was a menacing, ’eye-gouging’ one!

Li Banfeng was still analyzing the technical difficulty, but the woman in the scene didn’t move anymore.

She had been strangled to death.

The man extracted himself, dressed, and quickly disappeared from the scene.

The woman’s corpse was left in the room. The scene seemed to freeze, even as light and shadow shifted around her.

Dawn turned to dusk, day to night. The woman’s corpse gradually decomposed, overrun with maggots.

Until one day, her corpse was discovered and removed from the center of the scene.

People came and went—many figures whose origins were unknown. They cleared everything from the scene, including heaps of jewelry and stacks of banknotes.

Not until the scene was left empty did the story seem to end.

But what does this story tell?

Why did this old clock show me this story?

As Li Banfeng pondered, he realized the story wasn’t over!

In the empty room, a woman appeared—the very woman who had died before.

The woman was applying her makeup, smiling as she did so.

In the house, the woman who had been strangled to death reappeared.

She was applying her makeup.

There was no mirror in the room. She was facing Li Banfeng as she applied her makeup, her charming smile making Li Banfeng feel a surprising warmth.

This must be the House Spirit, right?

The woman suddenly disappeared.

A man appeared in the scene.

Although he had changed his clothes, Li Banfeng still recognized him. He was the man who had murdered the woman.

He seemed to be searching for something. He carefully felt around on the floor until he found a secret compartment and retrieved a knife from within.

Li Banfeng recognized this knife. It was the one highly valued by the old lady; the Short Knife was now tucked into his own belt.

The man was thrilled, for he had found the very knife he was looking for.

He ran his finger gently over the blade. Unexpectedly, the handle trembled violently and broke free from his palm.

The Short Knife levitated, hovering in front of the man.

The man was shocked. Bracing his body with his hands, he swiftly scrambled backward.

But he was too slow.

The Short Knife charged at the man, slashing his throat. Blood gushed forth.

The man clutched his throat, struggling desperately. His actions were reminiscent of how the woman had struggled before her death.

The woman’s form slowly emerged in the scene. She continued applying her makeup with a soft, seductive smile.

She paid no attention to the man struggling on the ground. Her eyes were fixed on Li Banfeng, carrying a sense of chilling sweetness.

If you’re going to apply your makeup, why keep staring at me?

Every grievance has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. It’s not like I’m the one who killed you!

Li Banfeng tried to look away, but he saw the woman put down her comb. She picked up something that looked like a key and reached out towards him with it.

What are you doing? Are you going to attack me?

If this woman is the House Spirit, do I have to defeat her to subdue her?

Li Banfeng was on high alert, but he saw the woman open a glass cover and then slowly turn the key-like object.

Li Banfeng looked carefully for a long time. He realized it wasn’t a real key at all; it was a key for winding the old clock.

The woman wasn’t applying her makeup for me; she was doing it facing the clock.

The woman’s room hadn’t been completely emptied. One thing had been left behind—this old clock.

I wasn’t watching this movie from an audience’s perspective; I was seeing everything from the clock’s perspective!

After the woman drew her eyebrows and applied lipstick, she looked up, opened her vermilion lips slightly, and asked softly, "Am I beautiful?"

It was the first time Li Banfeng heard the woman’s voice.

Is she asking the clock, or is she asking me?

The look in the woman’s eyes was filled with eager anticipation.

After a moment’s thought, Li Banfeng replied, "Beautiful."

The woman smiled, pleased with the answer.

Then she asked another question, "Do you know my name?"

Li Banfeng pondered for a moment and looked down at the iron mooncake box.

He took out an old newspaper from the box.

On the second page of this newspaper was a news article, and every letter in it trembled incessantly.

The headline read: Famous Courtesan Luo Yuni Tragically Murdered in her Villa.

The woman asked again, "Do you know my name?"

Li Banfeng nodded, "It seems I do."

"Look at me, keep looking at me, call my name, and I will be yours," the woman said with an even sweeter smile.

PS: Today’s two Chapters added together are as long as four Chapters; Shala is exhausted. Dear readers, please leave a comment, cast a vote, give Shala a smile.