Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

"Master Yan, the compass is feudal dross. Please put it away quickly, and I can pretend I didn't see it. Otherwise, what if someone reports you for promoting feudal superstition?"

Waste?

Master Yan's face stiffened for a moment, then he spoke nonsense with a straight face: "Is this a compass? Comrade Qin, your thinking is still outdated."

This is clearly a compass, used to determine direction. How can a compass be considered feudal superstition? Our country's warships still need them for navigation on the high seas.

You've read quite a few books, so you should know what papermaking and printing represent among China's Four Great Inventions.

I don't need to emphasize the importance of gunpowder; it is the very truth of nuclear peace.

The compass, also one of the Four Great Inventions, is being presented to me as feudal superstition? What are you thinking?

Qin Ming was speechless for a moment, and apologized, "Master Yan, I was narrow-minded, I was wrong."

Master Yan then said with satisfaction, "Learn more, observe more, and speak less; discard the dross, select the essence, and learn new ideas—this is the right path."

"Master, I understand now."

Qin Ming looked at the compass needle that had suddenly started spinning wildly, and an ominous premonition welled up in his heart.

"Masters, in your opinion, who will be this evil spirit's next target?"

"The person on the other end of the phone."

Master Yan said, "That person who heard the voice of evil spirits."

Xiao Wang ran over and said, "Team Leader Qin, the last person to make that call was Director Yang's private phone number."

Qin Ming's heart sank to the bottom.

Factory Director Yang.

Sure enough it was him.

"So... what should we do now?" Director Li asked. "Go find Director Yang? Protect him?"

"It's too late."

Master Wang shook his head. "Evil spirits can kill in an instant. If it has already targeted Director Yang, then going now might be too late..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear.

I'm afraid all we can do is collect the body.

The office was deathly silent.

Only the wall clock was still ticking away, and the compass needle was still making a buzzing sound as it rotated.

Qin Ming looked at Secretary Wang's corpse, at the blood all over the ground, and at the blood-stained phone, and suddenly felt a chill run through his body.

This Lin Tian...

No, this evil spirit...

How many people does it actually want to kill?

How much blood must be shed to quell its resentment?

he does not know.

All he knew was that this revenge was not over yet.

"Old Li," Qin Ming suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse, "notify Director Zhao and request reinforcements. We're going to Director Yang's house..."

He paused, then looked at Master Yan and Master Wang: "Masters, we will prepare the glutinous rice and black dog you need immediately. Please... do your best to stop it."

Master Yan stroked his beard and nodded: "Don't worry, as long as the materials are ready, we will definitely consecrate more bullets. Not to mention exorcising evil spirits, we can even kill Japanese devils."

Qin Ming? "..."

Why do I feel like these two masters are unreliable?

To kill Japanese soldiers, bullets don't even need to be consecrated.

These two masters make me feel quite uncertain.

My gaze inadvertently fell upon the photo of Factory Director Yang on the table, and only one thought crossed my mind:

Director Yang, are you still alive?

If I were alive...

How much longer do you have to live?

Can you hold out until we arrive?

……

"Comrades who frequently commit murder know this."

"Killing someone is easy, but disposing of the body is difficult."

"But in their eyes, I am an evil spirit..."

"They kill but don't bury..."

"With such a perfect opportunity, wouldn't it be a waste of my kind axe not to send Director Yang and his family to their deaths?"

Lin Tian's ghostly figure stood outside Director Yang's house, grinning as he patted the bloodstained axe in his hand.

The blood of Secretary Wang that had just been stained on it hadn't dried yet.

inside the house.

Factory Director Yang was frantically stuffing things into his suitcase, haphazardly tossing bundles of large black items into it.

There were also some documents, notebooks, and a small metal box containing various tickets and certificates.

"Old Yang, what's going on?"

His wife, Bi Chi, stood at the bedroom door, wrapped in a bath towel, her hair disheveled, clearly having just taken a shower.

Her husband finally managed to get a day off, so she wanted to reward herself.

Factory Director Yang did not answer or turn around.

Seeing her husband's flustered appearance, Bi Chi frowned. "Are you packing your things and running away? Did you do something wrong? Are you being investigated by the higher-ups?"

Factory Director Yang didn't even look up, continuing to stuff things into the box: "If you want to die, just wait here. I'll pack my things and leave."

These words were spoken hastily and impulsively, startling Bi Chi.

They had been married for twenty years and had never seen their husbands look like this.

"Old Yang!"

Bi Chi stepped forward and grabbed his arm, his tone urgent and angry, "Explain yourself! What do you mean by 'waiting to die'? What exactly happened?"

Factory Director Yang flung her hand away with such force that Bi Chi staggered, and her large white bath towel almost fell to the ground.

"I can't be bothered to explain!"

He slammed his suitcase shut, zipped it up, and picked it up to leave.

The suitcase was heavy. Inside, besides money and documents, there were a few changes of clothes and some other important items.

As Bi Chi watched his resolute back, a sudden sense of panic welled up inside him.

wrong.

That's not right.

Although my husband usually has a bad temper, he would never do this.

They would never say something like, "If you want to die, just wait here."

She is not a fool.

She has her own wisdom to have been able to hold the position of the steel mill director's wife for more than ten years.

Judging from my husband's attitude today, he's probably not joking.

I'm afraid I've offended someone really powerful. If I don't run now, I might not even have a chance to escape.

"Old Yang! Wait for me!"

Bi Chi rushed up and hugged him from behind. "Let's go together. Wait for me. I'll get some small yellow croakers."

Factory Director Yang's body stiffened for a moment.

He turned around, looked at his wife's terrified face, and saw the pleading in her eyes. A complex emotion welled up in his heart.

One day husband and one hundred days of grace.

He is not a heartless person.

Moreover, Bi Chi had been with him for twenty years, managing his household affairs, handling social interactions, and even helping him with his "private matters."

Once, I even helped him push it.

With such a wife, what more could a husband ask for?

"hurry up!"

Factory Director Yang finally relented, but his tone remained impatient: "If we don't hurry, the evil spirits will come!"

Evil?

Bi Chi froze for a second, then his expression changed drastically.

She has read the Nanluoguxiang murder case, which was recently featured in the daily newspaper, several times.

More than twenty people were brutally murdered, each death more gruesome than the last, and the killer has yet to be caught.

She had heard a lot of rumors circulating in the neighborhood.

The most chilling explanation is that "evil spirits kill people."

It is said that Lin Jianguo and his wife from Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill have returned as vengeful ghosts.

At the time, she scoffed at it, thinking it was just superstition by ignorant people and women.

But now, her husband has uttered the word "evil spirit" himself...

"You...you mean..." Bi Chi's voice began to tremble, "Those rumors...are they true?"

"nonsense!"

Factory Director Yang stamped his feet in panic, "Section Chief Liu is dead, Secretary Wang is dead, they both died right before my eyes... no, right beside my ear, I'm next, hurry up!"

Bi Chi was now completely panicked.

She didn't ask any more questions, turned around and rushed back to the bedroom, opened the hidden compartment of the bedside table, and took out a small cloth bag from it.

The cloth bag was heavy, containing ten small yellow croakers, her secret stash of money saved up over the years.

She grabbed a few more clothes haphazardly, stuffed them into a smaller suitcase, changed her clothes, and rushed out of the room.

"Okay! Okay! I'm all packed!" she said, panting, carrying her small suitcase. "How do we get there? By car?"

"Nonsense!" Factory Director Yang shook his head. "If we don't drive, you'll probably get caught on the street. Let's hurry to the train station, buy the nearest ticket, and leave Beijing, the farther the better."

"Then...where are we going?"

"Leave first!" Factory Director Yang was already impatient and picked up his large box, heading towards the door.

Bi Chi quickly followed.

The two hurried downstairs, one after the other.

……