Fatal Game Syndrome

After finishing their meal, they followed the direction indicated by the servant and found the courtyard of the eldest son of the Li family. There was a winding corridor between the front yard and the eldest son's courtyard. At the end of the corridor, they could see a small courtyard with blue bricks and black tiles.

The yard was very big. After all, he was the eldest son of the Li family. But there were not many servants in it. Apart from a few guards guarding the gate of the yard, there were only a few servants responsible for cleaning.

"Is the young master here?"

Just as a few people were about to go in, they were stopped at the door by the guards. Ruan Lanzhu stepped down the steps and looked at the guards at the door with ferocious faces. They were burly and holding long sticks, and they had murderous auras. These people definitely had lives on their hands.

"The young master is making a kite. If you have anything to do, come back in the evening!"

After saying that, he slammed the door shut.

"How to do?"

Ling Jiushi blinked and stared at the closed courtyard gate. Didn’t Master Li say that we could go anywhere?

"What else can I do but try to sneak in?"

Li Dongyuan put his hands in his pockets and shrugged indifferently. Climbing over walls was a piece of cake for him, especially since these ancient walls were not very high, so climbing over them was a piece of cake for him.

Ruan Lanzhu did not refute. Since the gatekeeper would not let him in, he would have to find another way. Moreover, if he could sneak in without alerting anyone, any shameful things inside would not be hidden.

Ruan Lanzhu pointed to the corner of the corridor and said, "You two go squat there, and don't move around until we come out."

There was a rockery in front of the left side that Ruan Lanzhu pointed to, and behind the rockery was the wall of the courtyard of the eldest young master of the Li family. The front and back sides of the rockery were very narrow, and under normal circumstances no one would pass through there. Unless you go looking for it on purpose, no one would find it.

"Don't you want us to guard it for you?"

Tan Zaozao looked at both sides and asked.

"No need. There are people inside already. It's useless for you to guard it."

"Then be careful!"

Tan Zaozao grabbed Cheng Qianli's sleeve and turned away without hesitation. If the two of them could protect themselves and not let anyone rescue them, they would not be a burden.

Ruan Lanzhu and the other two first walked around the yard and finally stopped in a remote place.

This should be the place where the Li Mansion is close to the outer street, and it is also the rightmost place of the courtyard of the eldest young master of the Li family. The bluestone slabs here are covered with moss, and there are many rotten bamboo leaves on the slabs, but there are no footprints on them, so it is relatively safe.

"nobody!"

Ling Jiushi leaned over the courtyard wall and listened carefully for a while. The yard was quiet, with only the rustling sound of bamboo leaves caused by the wind.

Li Dongyuan rubbed his hands and took a few steps back. Then he exerted force on his feet and rushed towards the courtyard wall. He pushed his long legs against the wall and moved his body up, holding onto the edge of the wall with both hands.

"Come up, there's no one!"

Li Dongyuan looked back and indeed did not find anything unusual, so he whitewashed the two people under the courtyard wall.

“There are so many bamboo strips drying here!”

Ling Jiushi said in a low voice that there was a cluster of lush bamboo in the corner of the courtyard wall, and a row of neatly cut bamboo tubes were piled in the corner of the courtyard wall next to it. In the middle of the courtyard, a stall was supported by two long benches, and bamboo strips with flowers blooming were drying on the stall.

"Doesn't his eldest master like to make kites by himself? These should be what he uses to make kites."

Li Dongyuan picked up a bamboo stick and weighed it in his hand. It fit his hand well.

"So, the place the butler didn't let us go yesterday is here?"

There is only one house in this courtyard, and there is a door in the middle of the whole house. If I am not mistaken, this house should be the room where the eldest master of the Li family makes kites!

"Want to take a look?"

Ling Jiushi turned to look at Ruan Lanzhu.

"Do you feel it?"

Ruan Lanzhu did not answer him but asked a question. The two did not know what he was talking about, but after entering the small courtyard, they did feel uncomfortable all over, but they could not explain why.

"This small courtyard is too spooky. Bamboos are inherently yin. Look at the way they sway in the wind. Do they look like ghosts struggling to pounce on you?"

These words made Ling Jiushi shudder. He looked up and the light from the sun looked as bleak and weak as the cold light. The bamboo leaves looked black under such sunlight, and the swaying movements did seem like they were trying to break free from the roots and rush out, but they were not as scary as Ruan Lanzhu said.

Just when they breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their heads, they were shocked and almost jumped up. The shadow on the ground looked like a twisted and crawling creature from the underworld, struggling to crawl towards them. So this was what Ruan Lanzhu was talking about!

"What is this!"

Li Dongyuan, this foolish man, quickly took a few steps back, feeling that his foot was about to be bitten!

“The yard smells like decay.”

Ruan Lanzhu frowned, "This is definitely not the smell of rotting plants."

There was a thick layer of bamboo leaves piled up under the bamboo and had not been cleaned up, so it was not surprising that there was a rotten smell, but the rotten smell of the bamboo leaves was mixed with something else. The alert Ruan Lanzhu smelled a hint of difference.

"You mean..."

Ling Jiushi also frowned. If it was really as they guessed, how many corpses were hidden in this small courtyard? He simply didn't dare to think about it!

The three of them walked around the yard quietly. The yard was small and could be seen at a glance. In addition, there was a dry well in front of the right side of the house. Looking down, they saw many dry bamboo strips thrown into it. They should be the remaining parts when the flower strips were made.

"Go over and have a look!"

Ruan Lanzhu lowered his voice and pointed to the window in front.

This house has three large rooms on the left, middle and right. There is a double wooden door in the middle, and there is only a standard paper-pasted wooden window in the rooms on both sides. The windows on both sides are tightly closed.

The three of them stood on both sides of the window, hiding their figures with the wall, then gently lifted the window and carefully pried open a gap.

Looking through the gap, there was no one inside. Ruan Lanzhu looked at the whole room from a different angle. There was nothing inside, but three walls were hung with kites.

Without exception, these kites all have patterns of beautiful women and are extremely lifelike.

Ruan Lanzhu had an idea in mind, and he gently closed the window and pointed to the room on the other side. Here, the three saw a young man standing in front of the desk, writing and drawing. As expected, this was the eldest master of the Li family.

This room is about the same size as the one next to it. There is a desk in the middle of the room. There is nothing surprising about the desk, but the other things in the room are quite interesting!

There is a wooden bed on the far left of the room. The bed is neither wide nor long, with short leather ropes on all four corners. There is also a wooden rack at the end of the bed, on which are hung two rows of knives of various sizes.

These things look like they are used frequently, the wood is covered with patina, and the ground is all black.

There was a square table in the corner directly opposite the window. On the table was a row of bamboo strips and a wooden barrel filled with white paste.

An unpleasant smell came out from the gap. Ling Jiushi couldn't help but retched, but when he thought of the current situation, he covered his mouth and swallowed it back. His elbow hit the window frame with a muffled sound.

Oops!

Ruan Lanzhu didn't bother to handle it with care, and grabbed Ling Jiushi's hand and ran back where they came from. He leaped onto the top of the wall and turned back to pull Ling Jiushi. The three of them jumped off the wall and ran in the opposite direction.

The eldest son of the Li family naturally heard the noise and looked towards the window with lightning eyes, but the window was closed and he could not see what was happening outside. When he chased out, there was no sign of a ghost in the yard.

The eldest son of the Li family did not call any servants. He went out of the courtyard and looked around. Finally, he saw the footprints outside the courtyard wall.

But the footprints were in two different directions and were lost on the dry stone slabs.

The young master of the Li family frowned, his secret had been discovered!

This is not a good thing!

"so close!"

Ling Jiushi patted his chest, supported himself on his knees and looked back, panting. It seemed that the eldest young master of the Li family did not catch up with him.

"What a pervert!"

Li Dongyuan shrank his neck and rubbed his teeth. The wooden bed was obviously used to tie people to skinning. The knife at the end of the bed looked sharp and professional. The ground was black, obviously the result of accumulated blood.

The finished kites in the other room have smooth, delicate and lifelike skin. Lifeless skin would not be so beautiful, and we don’t know what kind of torture these skins suffered when they were alive.

"The door is inside!"

Ruan Lanzhu folded his arms and leaned against the corridor pillar and glanced in the direction of the small courtyard. The door was very eye-catching in the room where the young master of the Li family stayed. All the doors here were made of wood, only that one was a black iron door.

"Really?"

Ling Jiushi and Li Dongyuan stood up straight. They didn't look at it carefully because they were only focused on the evidence of murder. However, with Ruan Lanzhu's sharp eyesight, he would not be wrong.

I gained a lot today!

"Well!" Ruan Lanzhu's face was not very good, "Let's go back first!"

Just now, he and Ling Jiushi were both leaning against the window gap to look inside. The smell went straight to the top of his head, and now he feels a headache.

Thanks to Wency, Fuyaozhishangqiwanli, Jiaozi Guoba!!!, Yaofeng, Wutongxiao, Aihaiwu Apo and other cute people for their love. Love you~

Friends, it’s a bit tiring to work overtime, let’s take a day off (???)