Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

Yi Zhonghai stopped at the entrance of the alley and said to Yan Bugui and Shazhu, "Zhuzi, Lao Yan, you two go back first. I'm going to the hospital to see Jia Zhangshi, you know that."

Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses and nodded: "Go ahead, Lao Yi. It's perfect timing... I'll go see Ruihua and the others and give them a few words of advice."

Sha Zhu scratched his head: "Then...then I'll go to the school and talk to Yu Shui. She doesn't know what's going on in the courtyard yet, so she might run into something if she suddenly comes back..."

"Okay." Yi Zhonghai nodded. "We'll split up and meet back at the compound before evening."

After the three parted ways, Yi Zhonghai walked alone towards the hospital.

His steps were heavy as he pondered his next move, needing to both appease Jia Zhangshi and prepare for the night's actions.

More importantly... he needed to confirm Jia Zhangshi's condition.

A human sacrifice requires a living person, but a severely injured, unconscious, or mentally unstable living person... might be even better.

In the hospital ward, Jia Zhangshi lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, muttering to herself:

"My son... my Dongxu... my Banggeng..."

Her face was wrapped in thick bandages, revealing only her eyes and mouth.

His nose had collapsed, he had lost several teeth, and his speech was slurred, but his resentment remained undiminished.

"The Jia family... the Jia family line has ended... only Xiao Dang is left, a money-loser... what will happen to him now..."

She kept repeating herself, her voice mournful like a wailing emoji: "And that evil spirit... that little bastard Lin Tian, ​​why doesn't he just die..."

A nurse nearby was changing her dressing. Hearing this, she couldn't help but advise, "Auntie, don't talk about evil spirits or anything like that. It's all feudal superstition. You need to take care of your health..."

The nurse was a young woman in her early twenties who had only recently started working.

She listened to Jia Zhangshi talk all day about "evil spirits," "her son died," and "her grandson died," and felt both sympathy and helplessness.

I wanted to persuade her not to promote feudal superstition, but seeing how pitiful she was, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Sister-in-law, I've come to see you."

Yi Zhonghai's voice came from the doorway.

Upon hearing this sound, Jia Zhangshi felt as if she had been pricked by a needle and struggled to sit up.

Despite the pain all over her body, she forced herself to sit up and stared intently at Yi Zhonghai.

"Yi Juehu, you owe me my son and my grandson."

Madam Jia screamed, "If you hadn't brought that little beast Lin Tian back... my son, my grandson, wouldn't be dead! Why don't you just die? Waaah..."

She cried her heart out, tears mingling with the blood streaming down her face: "Old Jia, look at your good brother! He's wiped out the Jia family line! Take him away quickly, take him away to join you..."

Yi Zhonghai's face was so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water.

He walked into the ward, closed the door, and looked coldly at Jia Zhangshi: "Sister-in-law, what are you saying? How is this my business? Why don't you say it's your retribution?"

He paused, his voice low but clear: "The one who truly killed your son and grandson... is yourself."

"No! It wasn't me! It was you! It was you!"

Jia Zhangshi went mad, grabbed a pillow and threw it at Yi Zhonghai, the pillow falling softly to the ground.

Yi Zhonghai bent down, picked it up, dusted it off, and put it back on the bed.

He turned to the nurse beside him, his face instantly switching to an expression of "grief" and "helplessness":

"Comrade, please excuse my poor appearance. Recently, for some reason, several people have died in our courtyard. My wife suffered a shock and her mental state... is not quite right."

Looking at Yi Zhonghai's "reasonable" demeanor and then at the crazed Jia Zhangshi, the nurse's heart naturally leaned towards Yi Zhonghai's side.

"Uncle, I know..."

The nurse whispered, "I heard about the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang. Several people died there in one day, and everyone around says it's... haunted. Uncle, is it true?"

When she asked this question, her eyes were filled with curiosity, but also with fear.

Yi Zhonghai sighed, putting on a "heartbroken" look: "Young comrade, don't promote feudal superstition."

This is a new society; we must trust science.

There's no such thing as evil or anything...it's all accidental, coincidence...

He spoke with righteous indignation, but the flicker in his eyes betrayed his true thoughts.

The nurse nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

But in her heart, she already believed it to some extent; otherwise, how could she explain so many people dying in one day?

"Your sister-in-law needs to rest."

Yi Zhonghai said to the nurse, "Comrade, could we have a few words alone? I want to try and comfort her..."

The nurse hesitated for a moment, glancing at Jia Zhangshi, then at Yi Zhonghai, before finally nodding.

"Well... alright then, but the old lady is badly injured, so don't upset her."

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," Yi Zhonghai nodded.

The nurse left, gently closing the door behind her.

Only Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi remained in the ward.

The air instantly became oppressive.

Madam Jia glared at Yi Zhonghai, her eyes filled with venomous hatred: "Yi Zhonghai, you'll die a horrible death!"

Yi Zhonghai walked to the bedside, pulled over a stool, and sat down.

He didn't speak immediately, but quietly looked at Madam Jia for a long while before slowly opening his mouth:

"Sister-in-law, tell me... how did Dongxu and Banggeng die?"

Madam Jia was stunned for a moment, then became agitated again: "It was you! You're the one who did it!"

"No," Yi Zhonghai shook his head, "They brought this upon themselves."

He leaned closer and lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear: "Dongxu was involved in killing Lin Tian, ​​Banggeng stole Xu Damao's chickens, you coveted the Lin family's house, and you insulted the Lin family's children... These were all things they did themselves."

Madam Jia's face turned deathly pale, and her lips trembled as she was unable to speak.

"Sister-in-law," Yi Zhonghai continued, "who do you think will be next?"

He paused, then said, slowly and deliberately, "Is it Qin Huairu? Or... Xiao Dang?"

These words were like a knife, piercing deep into Jia Zhangshi's heart.

She suddenly raised her head, her eyes wide: "You...you dare..."

"I wouldn't dare, but as for the evil spirits in the courtyard... I don't know."

Yi Zhonghai sneered, "Sister-in-law, you're lying in the hospital now, unable to move. Qin Huairu is a widow with a daughter... You know the situation in the hospital right now. What if... what if something happens..."

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

Madam Jia was trembling all over, whether from anger or fear, it was hard to tell.

"What...what do you want?" Her voice trembled.

"I don't want anything to happen."

……