Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

Inside the courtyard, it was bitterly cold in Sha Zhu's room.

He was wrapped in that tattered quilt, curled up on the hard bed, his face flushed red from the fever.

"Water...the water Sister Qin gave me...it's so sweet..."

He mumbled incoherently, still clutching the chipped porcelain bowl in his hand.

In that brain that had been burned to mush, Qin Huairu's disgusted hand-wiping gesture was forcibly filtered by him into "being afraid of getting my bowl dirty."

"Hehe... Sister Qin still cares about me... This courtyard can't function without me..."

In the backyard, Zhou Jianguo was leaning against the window watching a play.

He held the miniature test tube between his fingers; the purple powder seemed to breathe under the moonlight, slowly wriggling.

"High-level hallucinogenic fungus, fast-acting, with no side effects."

Zhou Jianguo smiled kindly, his gaze piercing through the layers of courtyard walls, precisely locking onto the ventilation opening of the Jia family's vegetable cellar.

"Go ahead and add some exciting stuff to this dull courtyard."

He flicked his fingertips slightly.

Purple smoke, like a nimble serpent, moved against the wind, skimming the ground, and silently slipped into the central courtyard.

At this moment, there was also a strange smell in the Jia family's house.

Jia Zhangshi lay slumped on the kang (a heated brick bed), her triangular eyes fixed on the lard and flour on the table.

"Mom, stop looking. If you keep looking, this meat won't fly away."

Qin Huairu rubbed her lower back, looking extremely agitated.

"You don't know anything!"

Jia Zhangshi sat up, her stomach churning again, the pain making her wince.

"This lard may have a strong smell, but it's real fat! Add plenty of chili and it'll still be a rare treat!"

A sinister glint flashed across the old woman's face. "There are too many beasts in this yard. The aroma of meat has spread out today. Yan Lao Kou and his gang might come to steal it in the middle of the night."

Qin Huairu frowned: "Mom, is it really necessary to do this in the middle of the night?"

"Just in case! Come on, move all this stuff to the cellar and lock it up!"

Despite her illness, Jia Zhangshi, along with Banggeng and Qin Huairu, slipped out of the house like thieves.

"Be quiet! Don't disturb the childless neighbor!"

The three climbed down the ladder into the cellar, and Jia Zhangshi even closed the lid so that there was only a crack.

Sealed, in a cool, dark place.

The wisp of dark purple smoke seeped in quietly through the crack.

"Huh, why is this cellar so warm today?"

Jia Zhangshi sniffed and noticed a charming sweet fragrance in the air.

"Mom...look at that corner of the wall..."

Qin Huairu's voice suddenly became ethereal, filled with barely suppressed excitement.

In Jia Zhangshi's view, that pile of frost-resistant yellow soil began to twist and turn wildly, turning into golden, heavy bricks!

"Gold? Heaven has smiled upon us!"

With a howl, Jia Zhangshi pounced forward, scratching wildly with her ten fingers in the hard, frozen ground, not even feeling the pain when her nails broke.

She picked up a clod of mud and kissed the toothless mouth.

"Gold! Pure gold! This tooth mark...it's soft!"

Her mouth was full of mud and sand, but she was laughing so hard that her face was covered in wrinkles.

Qin Huairu, standing next to her, was even more outrageous.

In her eyes, those bundles of rotten cabbages had all turned into a vibrant green "Great Unity".

"Money...it's all money..."

Qin Huairu's eyes revealed a greed and arrogance that she would never normally show.

She frantically unbuttoned her cotton-padded coat, grabbed the wet, rotten vegetable leaves that were oozing black liquid, and stuffed them one by one into the red bellyband inside her belly.

"With this money...who would still serve that old hag? Who would still bother with that good-for-nothing Sha Zhu?"

As she stuffed the food in her mouth, she struck a flirtatious pose against the wall: "Jianguo...look, I'm rich now. Why don't you come live with me? I'll take care of you...hahaha!"

Meanwhile, Banggeng had already plunged headfirst into the cinder pile.

In his eyes, it was a table full of braised pork and chicken legs.

"Meat! It's all mine!"

He grabbed a black coal briquette and started gnawing on it.

"collapse--"

His teeth were about to break, but he chewed until his face was covered in black soot, looking completely absorbed in the experience.

This scene of "cellar carnival" was loudly and mournfully heard throughout the courtyard.

"What's that noise? Is it haunted?"

Uncle Yan Bugui jumped out of bed.

An elderly man named Yi Zhonghai also put on his clothes, his face grim: "What kind of trouble is the Jia family up to now?"

The one who reacted the most strongly was Sha Zhu.

The high fever caused a strange distortion in his hearing; the maniacal laughter in the cellar sounded like Sister Qin's cries for help to him.

"Sister Qin! Don't be afraid! I'm here!"

He didn't even bother to put on his shoes; he grabbed the door-blocking stick and rushed out.

"You little brat! You dare touch my Sister Qin? I'll cripple you!"

Sha Zhu rushed to the cellar entrance and lifted the heavy wooden lid!

"Whoosh—"

Uncle Liu Haizhong arrived just in time, holding a flashlight, and the beam of light shone into the cellar.

The entire room fell silent.

All the neighbors who rushed over were dumbfounded.

Inside the cellar, Jia Zhangshi was lying on the ground, gnawing on clods of mud, her face covered in blood as she grinned strangely; Bang Geng was puffing out black smoke as he stuffed coal balls down his throat.

The most shocking was Qin Huairu.

The pretty widow had disheveled hair, her bodice was half-exposed, and her arms were full of rotten vegetable leaves. Vegetable juice dripped down her trouser legs, but she was holding a piece of vegetable core and kissing it with great affection.

"The money...it's all my money...that good-for-nothing Sha Zhu, let him eat shit..."

"Ugh..." The second uncle immediately gagged.

Yi Zhonghai was so frightened that he dropped his teacup, and his voice trembled as he said, "This...this is a collective possession?"

Sha Zhu looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

"Qin... Sister Qin? What are you doing?"

Under the influence of hallucinogens, Sha Zhu, standing against the light, appeared to Qin Huairu as a wicked ghost trying to steal her money.

"ah!!!"

Qin Huairu let out a sharp roar and scrambled out of the cellar in a few quick movements.

"You damned beggar! How dare you steal my money!"

"Smack!!!"

With a sharp crack, Sha Zhu was spun halfway around by the slap.

"Sister Qin, it's me..."

"Go to hell! You unwanted, childless heir! Don't you even look at yourself in the mirror? You think you're worthy to touch my money?"

Qin Huairu grabbed Sha Zhu by the collar, her eyes filled with a venom colder than a poisonous snake.

She pulled a handful of rotten, dripping vegetable leaves from her bosom and smeared them directly on Sha Zhu's face.

"Pah! Go eat shit! You poor wretch, stay away from me!"

The cold vegetable juice dripped down Sha Zhu's forehead.

Shazhu's CPU completely burned out.

"Without offspring", "poor wretch", "unwanted".

So... this was her true feeling?

The neighbors were all dumbfounded. This wasn't watching a show; it was like ripping open someone's skull and dumping excrement inside.

Yi Zhonghai muttered to himself, "They've gone mad...this compound has completely gone mad..."

Just then, a faint chuckle came from the backyard.

As fresh air rushed in, the drug's effects were rapidly diluted.

Qin Huairu froze, and the banknotes in front of her turned back into rotten vegetable leaves.

She looked at the silly Zhu in front of her, and then touched the hand she had just used to slap someone.

My memory is intact.

"A pillar... a pillar?"

Qin Huairu's pupils shrank to pinpoints, and she trembled like a leaf.

It’s over.

It's completely dead.

In the cellar, Jia Zhangshi also woke up, her mouth full of mud and sand, causing her to vomit violently.

Seeing the disdainful and mocking looks from her neighbors throughout the yard, the old woman rolled her eyes and pretended to be dead on the spot.

Banggeng looked at the coal briquette in his hand, then at the soot filling his mouth, and broke down in tears: "Waaah—my flesh! My flesh is gone!"

Biting cold.

Qin Huairu stood in the center, trying to explain, but found that she couldn't make a sound no matter what she did.

This is the ultimate form of public execution.

Zhou Jianguo stood on the periphery of the crowd, hands in his pockets, looking quite pleased with himself.

[Ding! Detected that the host has orchestrated a "drama of human nature," causing all the birds in the courtyard to collectively break down, resulting in a 2000-point increase in satisfaction!]

[Reward: Bad Luck Aura (Basic), lasts 24 hours.]

Zhou Jianguo's gaze shifted to Yi Zhonghai, who looked conflicted.

"Uncle, since you're so fond of worrying, here's a chance for you to try out this halo."