Courtyard House: Starting with handing over the keys, the state helps me abuse birds.

Special care ward in a hospital in Beijing.

The deaf old woman lay in the hospital bed, her body covered in tubes.

The electrocardiogram monitor beeped regularly, and an oxygen mask covered half of her bluish-purple face. Her eyes were half-open, and her cloudy pupils occasionally moved, proving that she was still alive.

The ward door opened, and a doctor in a white coat walked in, followed by two nurses.

The doctor picked up the medical record from the bedside table, flipped through it, and shook his head.

"Where are the family members?"

The nurse whispered, "There are no family members. They were sent from over there, and they said they'll follow the organization's arrangements."

The doctor was silent for a few seconds, then looked at the elderly man on the hospital bed.

"Fractured spine, multiple organ failure, unstoppable internal bleeding." He closed the medical record, his tone as calm as if he were stating the weather. "Prepare for the worst. He won't make it past tonight at the latest."

The nurse nodded and went out to make a phone call.

The deaf old woman's eyes moved; she had heard it. She heard the doctor say she wouldn't make it through the night.

She wanted to shout, to move, to beg the doctor to think of another way. But her body wouldn't obey her commands; only tears slid from the corners of her eyes, flowing into her ears, where they felt cold.

She doesn't want to die.

She's only in her eighties; she can live for several more years. She wants to see Zhuzi get married and hold her great-grandson.

She hadn't spent all the money she'd saved her whole life, and she hadn't yet seen that beast Xie Weihong get her comeuppance. She couldn't die.

But the increasingly cold feeling inside her body told her that what the doctor said was true.

She is going to die.

---

As evening fell, a military jeep parked at the entrance of the courtyard house.

Two plainclothes officers carried a stretcher down, on which lay a deaf old woman who was on the verge of death.

She was wrapped in a thin blanket, her face was ashen, her eyes were half closed, her lips were dry and cracked, and her breathing was so weak that it seemed she might stop breathing at any moment.

"Be careful, carry it to the east wing." Duan Chengyi stood at the door and directed.

The east wing had been prepared, furnished with a medical bed and several pieces of basic medical equipment. Infusion bottles hung on the wall, an oxygen cylinder sat in the corner, and an electrocardiogram monitor sat on the bedside table; it looked like a simple ward.

The deaf old woman was placed on the bed. Her eyes darted around as she looked at her surroundings, a hint of confusion flashing in her cloudy eyes.

This is not a hospital.

This is a traditional courtyard house.

They brought her back.

Why?

A terrible thought flashed through her mind, her heart skipped a beat, and the monitor's display began to fluctuate violently.

"Don't get agitated." Duan Chengyi walked over, looked down at her, and said, "Grandma, your injuries are too severe; even the hospital can't save you. But someone wants to try and see if they can help you again."

The deaf old woman opened her mouth as if to say something, but could only make a "ho ho" sound.

Duan Chengyi didn't say anything more, turned around and left.

The room fell silent, with only the beeping of the monitor remaining.

The deaf old woman stared at the ceiling, her doubts growing ever stronger.

Is someone willing to help her?

Who?

Xie Weihong?

Impossible. That beast wishes she were dead, how could he possibly help her?

But if it wasn't him, who else could it be?

She couldn't understand it, and she didn't have the strength to think about it anymore. The chill in her body grew stronger, her consciousness began to blur, and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, as if they were weighed down by a thousand pounds.

After an unknown amount of time, the door was pushed open.

"Squeak—"

The old door hinges made a grating sound.

A person walked in.

He was wearing a white lab coat, a mask, and a hat, revealing only his eyes. He carried a metal box, which gleamed eerily in the dim light.

The deaf old woman turned her eyes to him, a glimmer of hope rising in her heart.

He is a doctor.

It must be the doctor Director Duan invited to save her.

The woman walked to the bedside, placed the metal box on the bedside table, and opened it with a click. Inside were rows of gleaming instruments—scalpels, forceps, syringes, electroconvulsive therapy pads, and several other items she couldn't name, all gleaming with a cold light.

The deaf old woman's pupils contracted, but she quickly calmed down.

That's how doctors are.

The man turned around and looked down at her.

"Grandma," he said, his voice as calm as still water, "I'll treat you."

Upon hearing this voice, the deaf old woman suddenly felt a stirring in her heart.

That sound...

It sounds familiar.

But she couldn't remember where she'd heard it before. Her mind was in turmoil, her body ached terribly, and all she wanted was to live.

She opened her mouth and, with the last of her strength, let out a hoarse, breathy sound.

"Doctor...save me...I don't want to die..."

The man nodded and took out a thick syringe from the box; the needle gleamed blindingly under the light.

"Yes," he said, his tone devoid of any emotion. "I will treat you properly."

The deaf old woman stared at the syringe, her sense of unease growing stronger.

She tried to open her eyes wide and look into the man's eyes.

Those eyes were calm, as calm as a stagnant pool, without any ripples.

She suddenly remembered where she had seen that look before.

Under the wall.

That day, she straddled the wall and cursed at him, and he looked at her with that same gaze, like he was looking at a trapped beast, like he was watching a play. There was no anger, no disdain, nothing at all; he just stared.

It's him!

It's Xie Weihong!

The deaf old woman's eyes widened suddenly, her pupils contracting violently. Her body began to tremble, her mouth opened wide, and she made a terrified "hoarse" sound.

"You...you..."

Xie Weihong took off her mask, revealing her young face.

"You recognized her?" He smiled, a smile that looked particularly eerie in the dim light. "Old lady, you have good eyesight."

The deaf old woman struggled frantically. With the last of her strength, she tried to roll off the bed, to get away from him, to escape the room. But her body wouldn't obey her commands; only her fingers weakly scratched at the sheets, her nails scraping against the rough fabric with a faint ripping sound.

"No...I don't want you...Go away...Go away..."

Xie Weihong did not leave.

He put down the syringe and took something else out of the box—an electric shock defibrillator with two large electrode plates, like two huge eyes, gleaming coldly under the light.

"Old lady, didn't you ask me to save you?" he said. "Isn't this why I'm here to save you?"

He held the electrode plate and slowly approached.

step.

Two steps.

Each step was taken slowly and steadily, like taking a stroll.

But every step he took was a blow to the deaf old woman's heart.

Her eyes widened, the pupils almost filling her entire eyeballs. Her lips trembled violently, and a broken scream escaped her throat.

"No...don't come any closer...you're a demon...you're a demon..."

Xie Weihong stopped beside her bed and looked down at her.

"A demon?" He thought for a moment, then nodded. "Perhaps."

He placed the electrode plates on her chest.

The cold touch made the deaf old woman shudder, and then—

[Ding! The fear level of the ninth-tier demon "Hypocritical Elder" has exceeded its limit!]

[Target state: Near-death state, extreme psychological fear, and physiological functions on the verge of collapse]

[Judgment: The host has successfully delivered the ultimate psychological blow to the "hypocritical elder"—the fear of death.]

[Damage level assessment in progress...]

[Assessment complete: SSS rank! Beyond the limit of strike capability!]

[Reward calculation in progress...]

[Received: 2000 Corrosion Crystals]

[Received: Special Reward - Upgrade Core Material "Source of Breakthrough" x1]

[Obtained: Special Reward - Illusion Skill "Mirror Flower, Water Moon" (Complete Inheritance)]

[Source of Breakthrough Description: The core material for breaking through from the fourth to the fifth rank. Fusing it can greatly increase the success rate of the breakthrough and unlock new divine sense functions.]

[Mirror Flower, Water Moon Description: An illusion skill that creates illusions indistinguishable from the real person. Up to three illusions can be created simultaneously, each lasting for 15 minutes. Illusions can mimic the original's aura, perform simple actions, and receive simple commands, but cannot attack. The skill strengthens with increased cultivation level.]

Xie Weihong's lips curled up slightly.

He looked down at the bed.

The deaf old woman's eyes were still open, staring intently at him. But her gaze was now empty, her pupils were dilating, and she had lost focus.

The ripples on the monitor grew weaker and weaker, and the ticking sound became slower and slower.

"Beep—"

With a long thud, it turned into a straight line.

The deaf old lady died.

His eyes were still open, his mouth was still agape, and his face was frozen in extreme terror. That expression was frozen in the last moment, like a distorted wax figure.

Xie Weihong put away the electrode plates and returned them to the box. He put his mask back on, picked up the box, and turned to walk out of the room.

Outside the door, Duan Chengyi stood there and nodded when he saw him come out.

"Gone?"

"I'm gone."

Duan Chengyi sighed, glanced into the room, and then looked away.

"I'll have someone handle the aftermath."

Xie Weihong nodded and walked towards the backyard.

Behind him, medical staff went in and began to clean up. A white sheet was placed over his face, covering the distorted features.

The moonlight shone in the courtyard and onto the window of the temporary ward where the deaf old lady was staying.

Another one, gone.

---

Backyard, main house.

Xie Weihong sat cross-legged on the bed, holding a crystal the size of a fist in her hand.

The crystal is deep purple and completely transparent, with faint, shimmering light flowing within, as if it were alive and slowly moving. Holding it in your hand, you can feel a warm energy slowly flowing into your body, resonating with the true qi in your dantian. That energy is gentle yet powerful, like a bottomless undercurrent.

The source of breaking through boundaries.

The system says this is the core material for breaking through from the fourth to the fifth tier.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and placed the crystal on his dantian.

The breath began to circulate.

The energy within the crystal surged into his body like an awakened tide. That energy intertwined with his true qi, circulating rapidly along his meridians. With each rotation, the meridians widened and the true qi solidified.

pain.

Every cell in my body ached. It was the tearing sensation of my meridians being forcibly widened, the crushing sensation of my bones being tempered, and the burning sensation of my internal organs being warmed. My muscles spasmed, my blood vessels dilated, and every pore was oozing sweat, which instantly soaked through my clothes.

He gritted his teeth and remained silent.

The breath circulated faster and faster, and the energy surged more and more.

The energy in his dantian began to spin, faster and faster, forming a vortex. At the center of the vortex, something was condensing, like a new star being born.

Time passed little by little.

After an unknown amount of time, a muffled sound suddenly came from the dantian.

It looks like something is broken.

"boom--"

The vortex exploded instantly, turning into countless starlight points, which then quickly converged. After converging, it was no longer a gas, but a liquid, silvery-white substance that flowed like mercury.

Fifth order.

Dantian liquefies.

Xie Weihong opened her eyes.

The world before my eyes is different.

It wasn't that the shapes and colors had changed, but rather—it was more transparent. He could "see" the faint glow emanating from every object in the room, he could "see" the trajectory of the moonlight flowing outside the window, and he could "see" the direction of the sap flowing in the old locust tree outside the wall. He could even "see" the blurry figures huddled in the house in the distant courtyard—Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Xu Damao, shrouded in a gray-black mist, an aura of fear and despair.

His divine sense had been enhanced more than doubled. It had expanded from fifty meters to nearly one hundred meters. Moreover, it was no longer a blurry perception, but a clear image almost like vision.

With a thought, his internal energy moved at will, circulating several times faster than when he was at the fourth level. The density and purity of the liquid internal energy far exceeded that of the gaseous state, and every drop contained explosive power.

Mid-stage of the fifth rank.

He looked down at his hands and gently clenched them.

The air exploded in his palm with a muffled thud. A faint fluorescent light flickered on the skin of his palm—a sign of his inner energy overflowing.

This is the power of the fifth rank.

He closed his eyes and began to examine the new skills the system had given him.

A mirage.

A flood of information rushed into my mind: a complete inheritance of illusion techniques. How to condense true energy to create illusions, how to simulate auras, how to control the actions of illusions, how to maintain multiple illusions simultaneously, and even how to use illusions to confuse the enemy's spiritual senses.

He opened his eyes, and a thought flashed through his mind.

True energy surged from the dantian, circulating according to the methods passed down through generations, and condensed in front of the body.

Suddenly, there was another person in the room.

Another "Xie Weihong" was standing by the bed, looking at him.

Exactly the same. Height, build, clothes, eyes—completely identical. Even the aura they exuded was seven or eight parts similar. If one didn't know them very well, it would be impossible to tell the difference.

Xie Weihong nodded to him, walked to the window, pushed open the door, and went out.

He saw through the window that the illusion passed through the courtyard, entered the moon gate, and disappeared into the central courtyard.

Inside the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai was sitting on the threshold, lost in thought. When he saw "Xie Weihong" approaching, he trembled violently and collapsed to the ground, his face deathly pale, his lips trembling as if he wanted to shout something but couldn't utter a sound.

The illusion paused in front of him for two seconds, then turned and disappeared around the corner in the backyard.

Yi Zhonghai stared blankly in that direction, panting heavily. It took him a while to recover before he scrambled into the house.

Xie Weihong withdrew her senses, a slight smile playing on her lips.

A quarter of an hour later, the illusion vanished. He could sense that it wasn't dispelled, but rather that the time had come.

enough.

He tried a few more times and quickly mastered the technique. He could create two illusions at the same time, one inside the house and the other walking in the yard, without interfering with each other, and each one was incredibly lifelike.

When the third illusion appeared, his true energy was consumed at a significantly faster pace. With his current cultivation level, he could only maintain three illusions simultaneously for a maximum of ten minutes.

But that's enough.

He withdrew all illusions and closed his eyes again.

The body's internal energy circulated slowly, and the silvery-white liquid true energy flowed in the dantian, warm yet powerful.

Mid-stage of the fifth rank.

The deaf old woman's final value allowed him to leap two minor realms, directly reaching the mid-stage of the fifth rank.

He remembered those wide-open eyes, and that face frozen with fear.

A slight smile played at the corners of his lips.

Outside the window, the moon was hidden behind the clouds, and the courtyard was pitch black.

Tomorrow will be another new day.

---

Early the next morning.

Duan Chengyi pushed open the door and came in, holding a folder in his hand.

"Wei Hong, the funeral arrangements for the deaf old lady are complete. Do Yi Zhonghai and the others want to continue training today?"

Xie Weihong opened her eyes, and those eyes were even deeper than yesterday, as if they contained an endless abyss.

"continue."

Duan Chengyi nodded, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Yi Zhonghai didn't sleep a wink last night and was trembling the whole time. Liu Haizhong still hasn't woken up; the doctor said he might have developed a mental illness from the shock. Xu Damao cried all night, and when he woke up this morning, his eyes were so swollen he couldn't open them. Jia Zhangshi and Banggeng are hiding in their room and haven't come out yet."

Xie Weihong remained silent.

Duan Chengyi sighed and closed the folder.

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

He turned to leave, but Xie Weihong suddenly spoke up.

"Has the second batch of trainees arrived?"

"You'll be there tomorrow." Duan Chengyi turned around, a smile on his face. "Three hundred men have already assembled and are just waiting for you. They're all top-notch men selected from the entire army, even better than the first batch."

Xie Weihong nodded.

"Bring back those twelve from the first batch and make them instructors. I'll go over there in a couple of days."

"it is good."

Duan Chengyi pushed open the door and went out.

The room fell silent again.

Xie Weihong stood up, walked to the window, and looked out at the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai and the others were already standing in the central courtyard, their faces deathly pale and their eyes vacant. Xu Damao's eyes were indeed swollen like walnuts, and he swayed unsteadily in the line. Liu Zhonghai was being supported by two plainclothes officers, barely able to stand, his face devoid of color. Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng stood at the end of the line, heads bowed, not daring to look in their direction.

He looked at them, his gaze calm.

How much more value can be extracted from these people?

he does not know.

But he will try them one by one.

Until the day they, like the deaf old lady, close their eyes.

He raised his hand, and his inner energy circulated. An illusion walked out of the house, passed through the moon gate, and stood under the moon gate in the middle courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai looked up and saw the hallucination; he was struck dumb as if by lightning and collapsed to the ground. Liu Zhonghai's eyes rolled back, and he fainted again. Xu Damao covered his eyes and let out a pig-like scream.

The illusion stood there, motionless, simply watching them.