Chapter 55: Xu Damao Sows Discord, Silly Zhu Falls into Another Trap

"Hey! What are you doing! Seductive Pillar! Are you trying to pick a fight?"

Seeing the murderous look on Seductive Pillar's face, Xu Damao shrank his neck in fright and hurriedly hid behind his bicycle.

He was just running his mouth; when it came to a real physical fight, ten of him wouldn't be a match for Seductive Pillar.

"Beat you? God damn it, I'm going to kill you today, you dog!" Seductive Pillar's eyes were bloodshot, the smell of alcohol mingling with his burning rage, making him look like a powder keg about to explode.

He hated Xu Damao!

If it weren't for this bastard, how could Qin Huairu have made such a public spectacle of herself? And how could he have witnessed that most humiliating scene?

And now, this guy had run out flapping his gums again, dragging Qin Jingru into it too!

"What right do you have to curse at people? Did I say anything wrong?" Relying on the bicycle to block the way, Xu Damao's courage grew a bit. "Just look at yourselves! Qin Huairu barely left through the front door, and her younger sister stepped right into your room through the back! Who in this courtyard is blind and can't see that? If you did it, why won't you let people talk about it?"

"I'll teach you to talk! I'll teach you to talk!" Seductive Pillar bypassed the bicycle and grabbed Xu Damao by the collar.

"Aiyo! Help! Seductive Pillar is beating someone!" Xu Damao wailed like a slaughtered pig.

The people in the courtyard rushed over in a swarm.

"Zhuzi! Let go quickly! Let's talk things out!"

"Xu Damao, you talk too much too! Why are you so foul-mouthed?"

"Pull them apart! Quick, pull them apart!"

Second Uncle Liu Haizhong and several other neighbors hurriedly stepped forward to break up the fight.

Just at that moment, calculating the precise timing, Qin Huairu "happened" to rush out from her room.

With a look of anxiety and grievance on her face, she threw herself in front of Qin Jingru to shield her, crying out to the crowd, "Brother Zhuzi! Don't be impulsive! Xu Damao, do you have any conscience left? Our Jingru saw that Brother Zhuzi was having a hard time on his own and kindly came to help him tidy up his room. Why on earth would you make up such a filthy mind!"

Her words were extremely well-crafted.

They pointed out Qin Jingru's "virtue," shifted all the blame onto Xu Damao, and conveniently expressed her own "concern" for Seductive Pillar.

Jia Zhang also rushed out from the room right after, slapping her thighs and beginning her classic performance.

"Aiyo! You thousand-slash Xu Damao! You godforsaken wretch who will die without an heir! Did our family offend you in any way? My daughter-in-law kindly asked her sister to help out a neighbor, and here you are spewing filth! Do you think our family of orphans and widows is easy to bully?"

With her making a scene, the sentiment in the courtyard shifted instantly.

Some people who had originally thought Xu Damao was telling the truth now saw Jia Zhang throwing a tantrum and Qin Huairu weeping, and began to feel that Xu Damao had gone a bit too far.

"That's right, Xu Damao, you're a grown man, why are you bickering with a young girl?"

"This Qin Jingru child seems honest enough; she probably just meant well."

Held back by the crowd, Seductive Pillar listened to Qin Huairu and Jia Zhang, and instead of fading, the fire in his heart burned even brighter.

He felt aggrieved!

He felt disgusted!

Looking at Qin Huairu's facade of "righteous understanding," he felt like vomiting.

Act! Keep right on acting!

If it weren't for you, would Qin Jingru have come to my house? If it weren't for you, would Xu Damao be running his mouth here?

The root of all trouble was you, this woman!

***

Yet, he couldn't voice these words aloud.

If he spoke them, it would be equivalent to admitting to that ambiguous relationship between himself and Qin Huairu, and further substantiating Xu Damao's claims.

He could only vent all his fury onto Xu Damao.

"I'm going to rip that mouth of yours to shreds today!" Seductive Pillar broke free from the crowd and lunged forward again.

Xu Damao turned pale with fright, hiding behind Second Uncle Liu Haizhong and shouting incessantly, "Second Uncle! Look at this! He's trying to commit murder! Is there any law left in this place?"

Caught right in the middle between the two of them, Liu Haizhong felt like his head was swelling to twice its size. He didn't dare to truly take charge now and could only try to smooth things over.

"Enough, enough! Both of you say less! Seductive Pillar, let go! Xu Damao, shut your mouth!"

The entire courtyard descended into utter chaos.

Weeping, cursing, and pleas to stop the fight merged together into a bustling uproar.

Right in the midst of this disorder, a flat voice, not loud, clearly reached everyone's ears.

"What a lively scene."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Chen默 standing by the moon gate of the middle courtyard, not knowing when he had arrived.

He was wearing a clean white shirt and black trousers, carrying a medicine kit in his hand, as if he had just returned from outside.

There was no expression on his face as he quietly watched the farce unfolding before him.

The moment Chen默 appeared, the clamor in the courtyard instantly subsided.

All eyes focused on him.

An invisible pressure blanketed the entire courtyard.

Xu Damao, who had been howling just a moment ago, immediately withered, shrinking his neck and not daring to speak again.

Jia Zhang, still in the middle of her tantrum, stopped abruptly as if someone had choked her by the throat.

Qin Huairu's complexion turned deathly pale in a flash. She looked at Chen默 with eyes full of terror, like a mouse seeing a cat.

Only Seductive Pillar, eyes still bloodshot, stared viciously at Xu Damao.

Chen默's gaze swept past Qin Huairu's pale face, glanced at the panicked Qin Jingru standing behind her, and finally landed on Seductive Pillar.

He took a step and walked over at a leisurely, unhurried pace.

With every step he took, the people in the courtyard felt their hearts skip a beat in unison.

He walked all the way until he stopped right in front of Seductive Pillar.

"He Yuzhu."

He spoke, his voice remaining utterly flat.

"Haven't you figured things out even now?"

Seductive Pillar's body stiffened, and his hand gripping Xu Damao's collar involuntarily loosened by half.

Chen默 didn't look at Xu Damao; his eyes remained fixed on Seductive Pillar.

"Some people are just like leeches that grow on human bodies. When they're hungry, they burrow desperately into your skin, sucking your blood and eating your flesh. Once they're stuffed, or when they find a fatter host, they will leave you without the slightest hesitation."

Chen默's voice was like a small hammer, tapping against Seductive Pillar's heart with every word.

***

Everyone in the courtyard could hear the hidden meaning in his words, and not a single one dared to draw a deep breath.

Qin Huairu's body had already begun to tremble uncontrollably.

"The terrifying thing isn't the leech," Chen默 continued. "The terrifying thing is that once this leech leaves, its brothers and sisters are sent right back onto your body."

He paused, casting a subtle glance toward Qin Jingru.

"They'll use the exact same methods, pretending to be good to you, caring for you, and then continue to cling to your body and suck your blood."

"He Yuzhu, you're a cook with plenty of vitality. But no matter how sturdy an ox is, it can't withstand a whole flock of leeches taking turns to suck it dry."

"Take care of yourself."

With those words, Chen默 stopped looking at him. Carrying his medicine kit, he walked straight through the crowd toward the back courtyard and his own empty room.

Today, he had merely "returned" to fetch some things he had previously forgotten.

Chen默 was gone, but the words he left behind exploded like a bomb inside Seductive Pillar's mind.

Leeches?

Sucking blood?

One leaves, and another arrives?

He abruptly turned his head, his gaze shooting toward Qin Jingru like a knife.

Startled by his look, Qin Jingru instinctively scrambled to hide behind Qin Huairu.

Seductive Pillar's gaze was far too terrifying!

There was no longer any trace of the fleeting warmth and complexity from earlier; it held only cold, naked—suspicion!

Right!

Why didn't she come sooner or later, but instead showed up right after Qin Huairu's scandal broke?

Why was she so good to him the moment she arrived?

She kept claiming her older sister told her to come.

Could all of this be... could this be another trap?

A terrifying thought grew wildly in Seductive Pillar's heart.

He let go of Xu Damao and staggered back two steps.

He looked at Qin Huairu, then at Qin Jingru, and finally at all those faces in the courtyard watching the spectacle.

He suddenly felt like a clown stripped of his clothes, standing in the center of a stage for everyone to watch and ridicule.

"Ah—!"

Seductive Pillar let out a beast-like roar. Ignoring everyone else, he turned around, dashed into his dark room like a wounded, trapped animal, and slammed the door shut with a fierce bang!