Siheyuan: Buyers get rich from hunting

Time passed by like a white horse, but for Liu Haizhong's family, this period was full of weirdness and horror. The strange things they encountered became more and more frequent, and each one was more bizarre and absurd than the previous one.

Whenever night falls and everything is quiet, the originally peaceful and peaceful courtyard will be broken by a sudden strange sound. Sometimes, the sound is like someone knocking gently on the courtyard door; sometimes, it seems that an invisible hand is fiddling with the doors and windows in the house, making them open or close without warning; even worse, some well-placed items will move inexplicably, as if controlled by some mysterious force. The most creepy thing is the low sigh that occasionally comes from a corner. It is like the whisper of a ghost, echoing in the silent night, making people stand on end and trembling with fear.

The other neighbors in the courtyard naturally noticed the unusual situation of Liu Haizhong's family. Everyone's eyes were cast on this once ordinary family. Some of them were concerned about it, and some were curious. One afternoon, the sun shone in the courtyard, warm and gentle. Aunt Li sat in front of her house, skillfully knitting a sweater in her hands, and chatting with Uncle Wang beside her. She frowned and said with a puzzled look on her face: "Hey, Lao Wang, tell me what's going on with Liu Haizhong's family? There have been some strange things happening recently, which is really scary!"

After hearing this, Uncle Wang shook his head, sighed helplessly and replied: "Who said it wasn't? I've heard about it too. But every time we asked Liu Haizhong about the truth, he always smiled bitterly and waved his hands, refusing to say a word, as if he was afraid to implicate us in these troubles." After saying that, the two looked at each other and couldn't help but fall into deep thought, secretly guessing the truth hidden behind this series of strange events.

Second Aunt usually believed in the gods. Whenever there was a little disturbance at home, she would immediately run to the temple to burn incense and pray. Especially in recent days, some strange things happened one after another at home, which made her worried and uneasy. So Second Aunt privately went to the temple frequently, burning incense and worshiping Buddha devoutly all day long, hoping that the gods would show mercy and protect her family and other family members from being troubled by those mysterious and creepy phenomena.

Every time, Second Aunt would kneel respectfully on the cushion in front of the Buddhist temple, with her hands clasped together, eyes slightly closed, and she would mutter to herself: "Almighty Buddha, please protect my family in Haizhong and keep them safe! Don't let those strange and scary things happen again! I beg you..." However, despite Second Aunt's sincere prayers, those strange events showed no signs of stopping. Instead, they became more rampant, as if they were stimulated by something.

This made the two young men of the Liu family, Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu, very anxious. They saw all this and were extremely anxious. After some discussion, the two decided to step forward and take the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of protecting their home. From that day on, every night when the night fell, the two brothers would each hold a wooden stick and take turns patrolling the backyard and surrounding areas, keeping their eyes wide open to watch for any suspicious places, and they were determined to find the "mastermind" hiding in the dark to stir up trouble and play pranks.

On a dark and windy night, it was Liu Guangqi's turn to go out on patrol. He carefully shuttled between the courtyards, listening to the movements around him with his ears erect. Suddenly, a very subtle sound of footsteps came into his ears. Liu Guangqi's heart tightened suddenly, and he instantly became more vigilant. He tiptoed slowly towards the direction where the sound came from, for fear of alerting the enemy. However, when he finally got to the source of the sound, he was surprised to find that there was no one there! The footsteps that were clearly audible before also stopped abruptly at this moment, as if they had never appeared. And those traces of trouble that should have been left behind also disappeared without a trace, and there was no trace at all.

"Oh no! Why am I one step late again!" Liu Guangqi was so angry that he couldn't help but raise his hand and slap his head hard a few times, his regret was beyond words.

The next morning, the sun shone through the thin clouds and fell on the bluestone road of the courtyard. Liu Guangfu dressed up and took over the patrol task in high spirits. However, fate always likes to play tricks on people. During his patrol, he encountered a strange situation similar to yesterday.

As night fell and the lights came on, Liu Guangfu walked back home with heavy steps. As soon as he entered the house, he couldn't wait to find his brother Liu Guangqi and said worriedly: "Brother, the mastermind behind this is too cunning! We have encountered such things for two consecutive days, but we still have no clue. This is not a solution!" As he said, he sighed heavily and looked worried.

At this time, Liu Hai, who was sitting at the side, silently watched the exhausted figures of his two sons, and an indescribable feeling of heartache surged in his heart. He stood up, walked to the brothers, patted their shoulders gently, and comforted them: "Children, don't worry too much. Although the current situation seems a bit tricky, I believe that as long as we work together and think calmly, we will definitely be able to find a solution to the problem." After that, he gave the two a firm look.

At the same time, Yan Bugui and Xu Damao were secretly laughing. On the surface, they still pretended to be ignorant, and even occasionally when they met Liu Haizhong's family on the road, they would go up to them hypocritically to ask about their well-being. That afternoon, Yan Bugui happened to meet Liu Haizhong who was returning from outside. He hurriedly went up to him and asked with pretended concern: "Haizhong, you look so sad these days. Has your family encountered any troubles recently? If you have any difficulties and need help, please don't hesitate to ask me!"

Liu Haizhong pulled himself together, managed to squeeze out a smile, and replied, "Thank you for your concern, Old Yan. It's nothing serious, it's just that the house is a little messy, and it takes a lot of time to clean it up." After that, he nodded to Yan Bugui, then turned around and left in a hurry. Looking at Liu Haizhong's back, Yan Bugui's mouth corners slightly raised, revealing a barely noticeable cunning smile...

Xu Damao stood nearby, a fake smile on his face, and echoed, "That's right! We're all neighbors, and if you encounter any problems, don't handle it alone, just ask us. As long as it's within our ability, we will lend a helping hand without hesitation." Having said that, the complacency and gloating hidden behind the false smile could not be concealed.

In fact, the two men's secret moves became more frequent. They often met secretly and exchanged the latest progress of the ulterior plan.

Once, Yan Bugui pretended to be calm and walked to the small teahouse at the entrance of the alley. After a while, Xu Damao also arrived as expected. After the two looked at each other tacitly, they quickly found a secluded corner to sit down. Yan Bugui looked around vigilantly, and after confirming that no one noticed them, he lowered his voice and asked, "How is the plan we discussed before going now?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a smug smile, and replied softly: "Don't worry, old man! So far, everything is still under my control. Don't you know that Liu Haizhong's family is almost in chaos now!"

Yan Bugui nodded with satisfaction, a sly light flashed in his eyes, and then he reminded: "Well, not bad! But we can't let our guard down, we must continue to work harder. Let them have a good taste of our power, and see who dares to look down on us in the future!"

Strangely enough, every time the two of them met, the weird things happening in Liu Haizhong's family would continue to escalate. Late one night, a chilly and biting wind suddenly blew in the originally peaceful yard without any warning. The wind whistled and swept through, rustling the trees in the yard and making branches and leaves flutter. At the same time, the doors and windows of Liu Haizhong's house began to shake wildly, making a creepy "creaking" sound, as if they were controlled by a mysterious and powerful force. This sudden change scared Liu Haizhong's family out of their wits and made them tremble with fear. Faced with such a weird and terrifying scene, they were at a loss and could only watch it all unfold before their eyes, but they could not think of any way to deal with it.

Finally, after experiencing a series of strange events, Liu Haizhong decided not to remain silent any longer. He took a deep breath, and as if he had made up his mind, he began to knock on the doors of his neighbors in the courtyard one by one, inviting them to gather in the middle of the courtyard.

Soon, all the men, women, old and young in the courtyard gathered together. Liu Haizhong stood in the middle of the crowd, with a trace of anxiety and uneasiness on his face. He cleared his throat and slowly said, "Dear neighbors! I believe you have noticed that some strange things have been happening in our family recently. I called everyone here today just to talk to you about these things and ask you to help me come up with some ideas." Then, he told the whole story of all the strange phenomena that had happened in his family during this period of time, from beginning to end.

When Liu Haizhong finished speaking, all the neighbors present were surprised. Some of them started to whisper to each other, while others looked at Liu Haizhong's family with worry. At this time, an elder with high moral character came forward, patted Liu Haizhong on the shoulder and comforted him: "Haizhong, don't worry too much. With so many of us working together to think of a solution, we will definitely be able to solve the problem." Other neighbors also echoed and expressed their full support to help Liu Haizhong overcome the difficulties.

While everyone was talking about this, one evening, Liu Guangqi finished his patrol and returned home exhausted. However, his face was extremely solemn, and he shouted before he even entered the house: "Brother! It's not good! I felt that eerie cold wind again tonight, as if someone was blowing cold air on my back. I quickly chased out to check, but I still found nothing! This matter is really getting weirder and weirder!"

At this time, Liu Guangfu, who was squatting in the house sorting out the sundries, heard his brother's shout, stood up suddenly, and the things in his hands fell to the ground. He walked quickly to the door, grabbed Liu Guangqi and asked: "What's going on? Is there really something unclean that is entangled with us?" Liu Guangqi shook his head and replied: "I don't know, brother, anyway, this feeling is very bad. And every time it flashes by, I can't catch its trace at all." Liu Guangfu frowned and thought for a moment and said: "No, this is not a solution. We must come up with a more comprehensive response strategy."

At this moment, Liu Haizhong slowly walked out of the room. His face, which was already a little sallow, looked even paler than paper, but surprisingly, despite his panic, he still tried to pretend to be calm.

"Children, don't worry too much! Dad and I have asked many acquaintances to inquire about methods that can exorcise evil spirits. Tomorrow, we will try these methods to see if they work." Although Liu Haizhong's voice sounded relatively steady, there was a slight tremor in it that was difficult to completely conceal.

After hearing this, the second aunt, who was busy preparing lunch in the kitchen, quickly stuck her head out of the window, holding the spatula tightly in her hand, and asked anxiously with a worried look on her face: "Haizhong, we burned incense and worshiped Buddha before, and kowtowed and bowed, but there was no effect at all! Can these methods you found really work?"

Faced with his wife's doubts, Liu Haizhong could only smile bitterly and shook his head, sighing: "Alas... no matter whether it works or not, we have to give it a try! We can't just watch this strange thing go on endlessly, otherwise how are we going to live in the future!" After that, he sighed heavily, his eyes full of fatigue and confusion.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was the next morning. As soon as the sky was light, Liu Haizhong's family got up early and started to get busy. According to the method they learned yesterday, they carefully arranged various items for exorcism in their yard. Red cloth, talismans, incense and candles, etc. were all available and placed in a staggered manner. Not only that, in order to ensure that everything was foolproof, Liu Haizhong even spent a lot of money to invite an old man who was said to be quite knowledgeable to preside over the ritual.