chapter 11
“What are you doing?” The man shouted in anger.
“Just pretend you didn’t hear anything,” I said to Driver Zhang and Uncle Yang. “All four of them are short-lived wretches about to die. The two of you have weak yang energy-don’t talk to them, and don’t get close.”
Driver Zhang and Uncle Yang were both shocked, and instinctively looked over at the four men.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
The four men shouted angrily in unison and surrounded us, looking ready to fight.
“How unlucky,” I frowned, looking them over. “Wearing such thick clothes-what’s the point?”
“You… what did you say?” The four men’s expressions changed drastically at my words.
“You’re all bundled up in cotton-padded jackets, but you’re still shivering, aren’t you?” I said nonchalantly.
“You… how did you know? What… what’s going on here?” The leader asked in surprise.
I clicked my tongue. “I already said you’re short-lived wretches about to die. Can’t you understand human speech or what?”
“Nonsense…” The man started to retort angrily, but choked halfway, and after a while, he adjusted his tone, forcing a smile. “You… who are you?”
“Go home and get ready for your funeral,” I shook my head and signaled to Driver Zhang and Uncle Yang to follow me inside.
The four men tried to block us, but as soon as they took a step, they hesitated and didn’t dare.
While they hesitated, we had already walked past them and entered the door.
“Boss Xiaolin really has a way with people-scared those four men speechless,” Driver Zhang said with a low chuckle.
“I wasn’t bluffing them,” I said, glancing around at the layout of the courtyard.
The house looked ordinary from the outside, but inside it was extraordinary-a typical Chinese classical style, with a lotus pond, rockeries, long corridors, everything you’d expect.
If it were just this, it wouldn’t be worth mentioning.
What surprised me more was that this house paid meticulous attention to feng shui; every detail was clearly arranged by a master of the art.
“Ah?” Driver Zhang and Uncle Yang were both shocked. “So those four really are about to die!”
They were so stunned, they didn’t even bother to lower their voices.
“Wait!”
We heard someone calling from behind. The man from earlier hurried over.
“What do you want?” Driver Zhang and Uncle Yang were startled.
The man only glanced at them, then ran straight up to me. Hesitating, he asked, “You… you just said we’re about to die-what’s going on?”
I turned to leave, and Driver Zhang and Uncle Yang quickly followed.
“Please wait!”
The man chased after us, forced a smile, and led the way with a slight bow. “Something happened in the house today. We were called by Mr. Liu to help keep things under control. No outsiders are allowed inside-it wasn’t our intention to offend you.”
He kept apologizing and bowing as he spoke.
“What happened?” I asked with a nod.
“We’re not really sure, but… but word is, there’s been some unrest in the house lately,” the man whispered.
“What do you mean, unrest?” Driver Zhang asked, startled. “Is there something unclean?”
The man pulled a bitter face. “I guess so. Mr. Liu even invited a master to come and set up a ritual in the Inner Courtyard. He told us to guard the gate.”
“But this is the Cao Family’s house. How could there be something evil going on? That can’t be right,” Driver Zhang said in surprise.
“That’s what I said,” the man scratched his head, “but we’re just doing our jobs for the money. We really don’t know the details. Mr. Liu specifically told us not to let this get out.”
“That’s true,” Driver Zhang nodded. “After all, this is the Cao Family’s residence. If word gets out, it won’t look good for the Cao Family either.”
I chuckled and asked, “Why can’t the Cao Family have something supernatural going on?”
“That’s true, that’s true. After all, in a big forest, you’ll find all kinds of birds,” Driver Zhang agreed.
The man was so anxious that sweat was pouring down his forehead. “So, what you said earlier about the four of us being short-lived-is it because… because there’s something supernatural in this house?”
He slapped his thigh and said, “This place really is damn weird! The four of us are all trained fighters, full of heat. Even in the dead of winter, going bare-chested is nothing to us. But after sitting here for just half a day, we’re freezing, shivering all over!”
“Shivering is nothing. Soon you won’t need to shiver anymore.” I stopped by the Lotus Pond, picked up a stone from the ground, and tossed it in.
With a splash, the dark water rippled outward, sending waves in all directions.
“What… what do you mean we won’t shiver anymore? Does that mean it’s fine now?” the man asked hesitantly.
I glanced at him. “What do the dead have to shiver about?”
“Please… don’t scare me!” The man’s voice was almost crying.
“Why would I scare you?” I stared at the surface of the pond. “Didn’t you say there’s something supernatural here? The Ghost Qi at the front gate is surging straight up. You four stood there for half a day and haven’t started bleeding from your seven orifices yet-I’m actually surprised.”
“One… one of my brothers just started… started bleeding from his nose,” the man’s voice trembled.
“Oh, then it’s about to start. Just wait a bit longer.”
I tossed a few more stones into the pond, slowly circled the Lotus Pond, watching the ripples spread across the water.
“We can’t just wait! We don’t want to die. Please, show us a way out!” the man pleaded desperately. “If we leave right now, can we save ourselves?”
“You can.”
“Really?” The man was overjoyed and immediately turned to run toward the front gate. “I’ll go get my brothers and leave right now!”
“Go ahead. You’ll live a couple days longer,” I replied.
With a thud, the man tripped and fell to the ground, scrambled up, and ran back, crying and begging, “Please, have mercy and help the four of us. We’re just trying to make a living.”
I called Driver Zhang and Uncle Yang to continue walking inside.
“I’ll lead the way! I’ll lead the way!” The man hurried ahead of us.
We hadn’t gone far when a group of people hurried toward us.
“Uncle Yang, it’s your in-laws!” Driver Zhang reminded, then pointed to the Old Lady at the front and introduced her to me. “That’s Liu Hao’s mother.”
That group was originally rushing out, but when Driver Zhang said that, Liu’s Mother glanced over at us.
“Who are you people?” Liu’s Mother stopped and frowned.
“Mother-in-law, it’s me,” Uncle Yang quickly stepped forward to greet her.
Liu’s Mother stared at him for a moment, apparently recognizing him, and frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to see Xiuyu. Her mother is ill…” Uncle Yang explained.
Liu’s Mother had no intention of listening to his explanation. She glared at the man, “My son told you to guard the gate. What are you doing?”
“Damn it, if you want to guard, you guard it yourself. We’re done!” The man furrowed his brow and shouted suddenly.