Siheyuan: Tathagata's Palm suppresses the entire courtyard!

This nonchalant attitude quickly spread in the courtyard, and everyone who heard it showed a complicated expression. Xu Mingjie saw it and was secretly satisfied in his heart, knowing that his strategy was starting to work.

In the evening, he noticed that some old residents in the yard began to whisper to each other from time to time, with tension and uneasiness in their eyes. This was exactly the reaction he wanted to see - he wanted to force them to reveal their true colors and find more crucial clues.

Finally, on the third night, Xu Mingjie's strategy seemed to work. When he returned home and was about to rest, he suddenly heard a slight sound of footsteps coming from the yard. The footsteps were deliberately made very light, but they were particularly clear in the quiet night.

Xu Mingjie's heart moved, knowing that the opportunity had come. He quickly put on his clothes, gently opened the window, and peeked out through the gap in the window. He saw several old residents gathered together, seemingly discussing something, and then they quickly walked out of the yard.

"They finally couldn't help it." Xu Mingjie was secretly delighted and quickly decided to follow them. He followed them quietly, trying to keep a distance to avoid being discovered.

After several old residents met outside the courtyard, they quickly walked into the depths of the quadrangle. Xu Mingjie followed carefully, trying not to make any noise. They finally stopped in a remote corner, gathered in a circle, and talked in a low voice.

Xu Mingjie lay in the shadows not far away, pricked up his ears and listened carefully, and finally heard their conversation.

"We have to find a way to stop him and not let him continue investigating." An old resident said in a low voice, his tone full of anxiety.

“But he already knows too much. Should we…” The other person hesitated, his voice trembling, as if he was worried about what to say next.

"Don't talk nonsense! We can't go back to the way we were before." A middle-aged woman's voice rang out, with an undisguised panic and determination in her tone. "This matter must be ended as soon as possible, otherwise everyone will be implicated."

Xu Mingjie followed the footsteps of the old residents, his heart tense like a fully drawn bowstring. He carefully hid in the shadows, keeping a close eye on their every move, afraid of missing any details. Although he couldn't hear the conversation just now clearly, he realized that there seemed to be some unspeakable secrets between these old residents, and they were trying their best to hide something.

As he continued to follow these people, he suddenly heard a faint conversation from not far away. The sound was different from the whispers of the old residents, but it was more hurried and secretive, as if two people were having some kind of private conversation.

Xu Mingjie suddenly decided to temporarily stop following the old residents and go to investigate the situation over there. He quietly walked around a bush and approached the direction where the sound came from. He approached carefully and finally saw the figures of the two people clearly.

Under the dim light, he recognized one of them as Xu Damao at a glance, but the other figure made him slightly stunned - it was Qin Huairu, a rather mysterious woman in the courtyard. She usually kept to herself and rarely talked with her neighbors, especially in the dead of night, when she almost never showed up. But now, she was standing with Xu Damao, talking nervously.

"Are you sure no one else knows?" Qin Huairu asked in a low voice, with a hint of uneasiness in her voice.

"Don't worry. Are you still not confident in my work? Mingjie has been a little too curious recently, but I have already told other people, and they won't let him continue investigating." Xu Damao's voice was a little hurried, but obviously with a certain confidence, as if he was trying to comfort Qin Huairu.

Xu Mingjie was shocked. It turned out that Xu Damao had long been aware of his investigation and had taken action to stop him. No wonder the people in the yard seemed so strange these days. It turned out that Xu Damao was secretly controlling them.

"I heard that he has been very close to Old Liu recently. Are you sure Old Liu didn't reveal anything?" Qin Huairu was obviously not completely reassured by Xu Damao's words and continued to ask.

"Old Liu is a tight-lipped old man. He won't say anything easily. Besides, even if Mingjie knows something, he won't dare to act rashly." Xu Damao seemed a little impatient, but still responded in a low voice.

Xu Mingjie couldn't help but feel angry when he heard this. He thought that although Xu Damao was a smooth person, he was at least a reliable companion. He didn't expect that he was plotting against him behind his back and conspiring with Qin Huairu to stop him from finding out the truth.

"That's good." Qin Huairu breathed a sigh of relief, with a hint of coldness in her tone, "However, we must make sure that nothing goes wrong. If this matter is really exposed, we will all be finished."

"I understand. Don't worry." Xu Damao nodded, obviously aware of the seriousness of the situation. He looked around, as if to confirm that no one was following him, and then continued, "You know, we are all deeply involved in this matter. The only way now is to plug all possible loopholes. As long as Mingjie stops investigating, we will be safe."

Qin Huairu nodded gently, with a complex emotion flashing in her eyes, as if she was weighing something. Then, she whispered, "Then I'll go first. Let's act separately so as not to arouse other people's suspicion."

Xu Damao nodded in agreement, and the two quickly separated and walked in different directions.

Xu Mingjie hid in the shadows and watched them leave, his heart in turmoil. Everything that happened before his eyes made him realize that things were much more complicated than he had imagined. Xu Damao and Qin Huairu were obviously inextricably linked to this secret, and they were trying to exclude him from it, even conspiring to plot against him.

"So that's it..." Xu Mingjie gritted his teeth, his mind racing. He knew that he could no longer trust anyone and had to rely on his own strength to uncover the mystery.

He decided not to pursue Xu Damao and Qin Huairu for the time being, but returned home to calmly think about the next plan. He realized that it might be difficult to defeat these people who secretly obstructed him by his own strength, but he would never give in easily. He would look for every subtle clue, take advantage of their loopholes, and gradually approach the truth.

After returning home, Xu Mingjie sat under the dim light, thinking about everything that had just happened. Xu Damao's hypocritical face made him feel sick, and Qin Huairu's calmness and calculation made him more alert. He knew that he had to be more cautious and not be led by these people.