Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

The belt whistled through the air and lashed hard across Liu Guangtian's back.

"what!"

Liu Guangtian cried out in pain, turned and ran into the house, "Dad! I was wrong! I won't do it again!"

"Wrong? You realize you're wrong now? Too late!"

Liu Haizhong chased after him, whipping him with his belt again and again, "You stole eggs, you embarrassed me, you never learn!"

Liu Guangtian scurried around in the cramped room, but the room was so small, where could he run?

He rushed towards the door in a panic, trying to escape.

Just then, he suddenly felt his foot trip, as if something had pulled his ankle.

"what!"

Liu Guangtian lost his balance and fell straight forward, crashing heavily to the ground with a "bang".

The fall was solid, and a small, sharp piece of wood, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, quietly fell to the ground.

"Pfft..."

A slight, teeth-grinding sound.

Liu Haizhong caught up and, seeing his son had fallen, became even angrier: "You little brat, I told you not to run, and now you think you're so clever!"

He raised the belt and lashed it several more times.

"Dad...Dad..." Liu Guangtian's voice suddenly became weak.

Liu Haizhong didn't pay attention, thinking his son was faking it, and slapped him twice more: "Fake! Keep pretending!"

"Dad...it hurts..." Liu Guangtian's hand moved weakly.

Liu Guangfu, who had been hiding in a corner and dared not make a sound, suddenly rushed out and knelt in front of Liu Haizhong, hugging his legs when he saw his second brother like this:

"Dad! Stop hitting him! My second brother and I ate the eggs together. Hit me instead, don't hit my brother."

Liu Haizhong was taken aback, then looked down at his youngest son, his anger flaring even more: "You little brat, you got a share too?"

He tried to pull his leg back, but Liu Guangfu held on tightly.

Liu Haizhong subconsciously swung the belt in the opposite direction, trying to scare his youngest son into letting go.

"Snapped!"

The belt struck Liu Guangfu squarely on the back.

"Ah!" Liu Guangfu released his grip in pain, and tears streamed down his face.

The second aunt stood at the kitchen doorway, feeling sorry for what she saw, but that was all she felt for; she was used to it.

But she knew her husband's temper too well; when Liu Haizhong beat the children, he would beat anyone who tried to stop him.

Liu Haizhong, exhausted from the beating, threw down his belt, plopped down in a chair, and poured himself a cup of tea.

The tea was scalding hot, and he hissed, muttering under his breath, "Two good-for-nothings..."

Ignoring the pain in his back, Liu Guangfu crawled to Liu Guangtian's side and nudged him, asking, "Second brother, second brother, are you alright?"

Liu Guangtian lay motionless on the ground.

Liu Guangfu panicked and forcefully turned his second brother's body over.

As he turned the page, he saw a sight he would never forget—a sharp piece of wood, deeply embedded in Liu Guangtian's left chest.

Blood had already stained large areas of the clothes and was still seeping out.

Liu Guangtian's face was ashen, his lips were purple, his eyes were half-open, and his pupils were dilated.

"Second...Second Brother?"

Liu Guangfu reached out his hand, trembling, to check his second brother's breath.

No.

He wasn't breathing at all.

"Second brother, second brother, don't die!"

Liu Guangfu broke down, shaking Liu Guangtian's body violently, "Second brother, wake up, wake up!"

As he swayed, more blood flowed from the corner of Liu Guangtian's mouth and dripped onto the ground.

Hearing his youngest son's cries, Liu Haizhong assumed he was faking it and impatiently scolded, "What are you howling about! Want a beating again?"

But when he turned his head and saw the scene on the ground, the teacup in his hand fell to the ground with a "crash" and shattered into pieces.

"Light...light?"

Liu Haizhong suddenly stood up and rushed to his youngest son's side.

Liu Guangtian lay quietly in his younger brother's arms, his eyes half-open and his gaze empty, no longer showing his former stubbornness and rebelliousness.

"No...that's not how it is..."

Liu Haizhong reached out his trembling hand, wanting to touch his son, but hesitant. "Guangtian...Guangtian, wake up...Dad didn't mean it...Dad..."

His legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, staring blankly at his son's corpse.

I only whipped him a few times... how could he have died?

Where did that little sharp piece of wood come from?

Li Zhaodi ran out of the kitchen when she heard the noise.

She was holding a freshly boiled egg in her hand, which she was going to give to the Lin siblings as a gift.

But when she saw the scene on the ground, the egg in her hand fell to the ground with a "plop".

She froze for a few seconds, then let out a piercing scream: "Bright Sky!!!"

She threw herself on her son, cradling his head in her arms, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls.

"Guangtian! My son! Wake up! Look at your mother! Guangtian..."

She reached out to touch her son's face, and it was ice-cold to the touch.

"Ahhhhh—"

Li Zhaodi broke down, holding her son's body and wailing, "My Guangtian... what happened to you... I only went to boil an egg... how could you..."

The family's cries and screams quickly alerted the entire courtyard.

Yan Bugui came over at the sound: "What's wrong? What happened?"

When he saw the scene inside the Liu family's house, he gasped, "My God..."

Soon, the other people in the courtyard also gathered around.

Yi Zhonghai, Wang Cuilan, Sha Zhu, Xu Damao, Qin Huairu... even Jia Zhangshi came out wiping away tears.

When everyone saw Liu Guangtian lying in a pool of blood with a sharp wooden stick stuck in his chest, they were all shocked.

"What...what's going on?" Yi Zhonghai's voice trembled.

Sha Zhu's eyes widened: "Guang Tian... is dead?"

Xu Damao's eyes darted around, and he lowered his voice to the person next to him, saying, "I just heard Liu Haizhong beating his son... I didn't expect..."

The words were left unsaid, but everyone understood the meaning.

Liu Haizhong beat his son to death.

Liu Guangfu completely broke down at this moment.

In this family, only his second brother was kind to him.

The eldest brother, Liu Guangqi, had moved out and lived alone long ago. His father was strict, his mother was weak, and only his second brother would protect him.

If his father wanted to hit him, his second brother would stand in front of him.

He wanted to eat eggs, and his second brother would secretly scoop some out of the pot for him.

When he was bullied by people at school, his second brother would stand up for him.

Now, my second brother is gone.

They were beaten to death by their father.

Why...?

Liu Guangfu looked up at his father, his vision blurred with tears, "Dad...why did you kill my second brother?"

Liu Haizhong trembled violently: "I...I didn't..."

"You have!"

Liu Guangfu roared, "You're the one who killed him! All he did was steal an egg! Is your pride, a single egg, more important than my second brother's life?"

He pointed at the corpse on the ground, his voice ripping, "Look, look at my second brother! He's dead! You beat him to death! My good father, you're a murderer! I hate you! I hate you!"

Liu Guangfu threw himself onto his second brother's body, embracing the corpse and wailing, "Second brother... wake up, second brother... you promised to take me ice skating at Shichahai... you promised..."

The cries were heart-wrenching, bringing tears to the eyes of many people in the courtyard.

Li Zhaodi slumped to the ground, her eyes glazed over, muttering to herself, "My glorious future... my glorious future..."

She suddenly jumped up, lunged at Liu Haizhong, scratching and hitting him: "Liu Haizhong, give me back my son! Give me back my son!"

Liu Haizhong neither dodged nor flinched, letting his wife scratch him, his eyes vacant, repeatedly muttering, "I didn't mean to... I just wanted to teach him a lesson... How could this happen..."

Yi Zhonghai frowned as he looked at the scene.

He forced back the cramping pain in his abdomen and stepped forward to pull Li Zhaodi away: "Second Aunt, calm down...this isn't the time to make a scene..."

He then looked at Liu Haizhong: "Old Liu, what exactly happened?"

Liu Haizhong raised his head, his eyes unfocused: "I...I just hit him a few times...he fell down...and then...and then..."

He looked at the sharp piece of wood on the ground, and suddenly realized something: "Where did that piece of wood come from?"

Yan Bugui squatted down, examined it carefully, and pushed up his glasses: "This looks like... a tenon joint from furniture? How come you have this in your house?"

Liu Haizhong shook his head blankly: "I don't know... I don't know..."

In the corner, Lin Tian's ghostly figure coldly watched all of this.

That small, sharp piece of wood, of course, was placed there by him.

Before Liu Guangtian fell to the ground, Ghost Shadow had already placed the sharpened log in that spot.

The angle and force were calculated perfectly.

Liu Haizhong beat his own son to death.

What could be more despairing than this?

……