Siheyuan: The romantic and suave Xu Damao

After leaving the city, the road became increasingly rugged and difficult to travel on. It was completely silent all around, with only the occasional cries of unknown animals.

Xu Damao and others continued to ride slowly. Time passed by minute by minute. After nearly two hours, they were finally about to reach their destination - a dilapidated land temple near a small road.

At this time, in the land temple, two burly men were sitting on small stools, chatting around the fire.

One of them held a red-hot firewood in his hand, and carefully lit the cigarette in his mouth. Then he took a deep breath, slowly exhaled the smoke, and said, "Second brother, do you think that man will come tonight? The leader asked us two brothers to keep watch here. What if the man on the other side doesn't come at all? Wouldn't we have stayed here all night for nothing?"

"Just shut up! Stop making so much noise here! What we do is a shady business. Usually, we do it in the dead of night. Now that we're resting here for a while, you're complaining?"

The man called Brother Zhang glared at his companion with an angry look on his face, and his eyes seemed to be able to spit fire. The companion he was talking about scratched his head with a smile, and a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face.

"Hey, Brother Zhang, don't be angry. I'm also a little nervous. Just think about it, if a large group of people really come over there, how can we cope with it?" As he spoke, the man's face looked more and more uneasy.

"Hmph! What are you afraid of? As the saying goes, 'When the enemy comes, we fight him with the army; when the water comes, we block it with the earth.' Normally, in that gloomy tomb, facing those white skeletons, you don't even blink an eye. Now you are scared?" Brother Zhang curled his lips in disdain, despising his companion's cowardice.

"Oh, Brother Zhang, that's not the way to say it. After all, those dead people and skeletons can't move, and they don't pose any substantial threat to us. But living people are different. Who knows if they have any weapons in their hands? If a conflict breaks out, we will suffer a great loss!"

The companion seemed to be getting more and more frightened the more he thought about it, and even a layer of fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

While the two were arguing, suddenly, Brother Zhang's ears moved, as if he had noticed something unusual. His face tensed, and he quickly made a gesture to his companion to keep quiet, then listened attentively.

"Shh... there seems to be some movement outside, I'm going to go out and take a look!"

Before he finished his words, Brother Zhang nimbly reached behind his waist and grasped the sharp knife handle hidden there.

Then, he walked quickly to the temple door with brisk but vigilant steps, gently pushed open half of the door, and stuck half of his head out to look out.

After a while, a series of "creaking" sounds of wheels were heard coming from far away. Zhang took a closer look and immediately showed joy on his face. He turned around and shouted to his companions behind him: "Hey, brother, there's work! Judging from the sound, there must be at least several bicycles! It's the middle of the night, most likely they are here to discuss business with us!"

After saying that, he no longer hesitated, suddenly opened the temple door, strode out, and stood steadily beside the winding path, quietly waiting for the person to approach.

Xu Damao stood far away, his eyes rolling around, staring at the temple.

Just then, he saw the temple door slowly open and two figures walked out one after another.

However, Xu Damao did not say anything, thinking to himself: The middleman this time is Yan Bugui, I will let him come forward to negotiate with these people later.

Yan Bugui got off the bicycle swiftly and walked towards the two strong men on the roadside with a smile on his face.

As he walked, he took out two cigarettes from his pocket and handed them to the two men attentively, and asked, "Two brothers, are you sent by Zhang Batou?"

After hearing this, the two men looked at each other and nodded.

One of them pointed at Xu Damao and the other two in the back and asked, "Those people in the back are here to discuss business, right?"

Yan Bugui quickly responded, "Yes, yes, it's them. It's getting late, let's go and pay our respects to the boss and see how the goods are."

"Okay, then please follow me. But I have to warn you that the road ahead is rough and difficult to navigate. You have to be careful even when walking, not to mention riding a bicycle. So, it's safer for you to push the bike up."

The leading man kindly reminded Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui hurriedly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you brother for the reminder, thank you so much!" After that, he turned around and waved to Xu Damao, motioning him to push the bicycle, and then the group followed closely behind the man, heading towards the unknown road ahead.

The distance was actually not far, but it still took them more than ten minutes to reach the yard.

From a distance, the yard looked quite strange. It stood alone, surrounded by vast farmland, without any other houses nearby.

I really don't know why they chose to build it in such a remote place.

When I got closer, I saw two burly men shouting at the top of their lungs, asking the people inside to come quickly and open the door.

After the door opened, the two men stood obediently on both sides of the door and respectfully made a gesture to invite Yan Bugui, Xu Damao and the other four people to come in.

At this moment, a hearty laugh was heard: "Hahaha, Teacher Yan, it's already this time and I still have to trouble you to take the trouble to make such a trip. I really feel guilty!"

Before he finished speaking, a smiling, sturdy man came out. This man was the owner of this place, Zhang Baotou.

He first exchanged a few enthusiastic words with Yan Bugui, and then turned his gaze to Xu Damao.

Seeing Xu Damao's tall and mighty figure, Zhang Baotou's eyes lit up and he exclaimed in admiration: "Oh! This must be the hero that Teacher Yan mentioned to me, right? He is really handsome and majestic! Come on, come on, please come in and have a seat. It's warmer inside! Li San, go and prepare some good tea for the distinguished guests!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao hurriedly bowed in return and said politely, "No, no, thank you for the compliment, Zhang Baotou!"

After saying that, he stopped his bicycle swiftly, carefully took out a wooden box from the basket behind the bicycle, then held it steadily in his arms with just one hand, and then stepped into the house.