First Chapter 26: Chess Game
Liu Quezi's proposal is really worth a try, but I still feel unsure. If something goes wrong, our lives will be in danger. I thought, since he will be the one to execute it, let him try. I actually had selfish motives for thinking this way. If he succeeds, I can easily take over the house; if he fails, it won't be me who will be in trouble, so I hesitated and agreed. We told the old lady about our idea, and she was quite supportive. Liu Quezi and I made an appointment with her to come back in the evening, and then we got up and said goodbye.
Going back to the hotel was nothing but a waste of time, and there was nothing to prepare. We just had some food and went back when it was almost time. Liu Quezi told the old lady in advance that no matter what happened in the house, she should not come in, fearing that if the old man's spirit appeared, she would rush in by mistake and confuse the old man, which would easily cause trouble.
After waiting for a while and settling the old lady down, Liu Quezi and I closed the bedroom door and put out the chess set. To be honest, I didn't want to get involved in this mess. Although Liu Quezi wanted to satisfy his curiosity, he was doing things for me after all, so I had to accompany him out of emotion and reason.
After nightfall, time passed quickly, but we waited for a long time without any movement in the house. At first, I was still a little scared, but after wasting a while, I finally got some peace. Liu Quezi saw that it was no use waiting like this, so he asked me if I had anything to ward off evil spirits, so as to flush out the negative energy in the house and prevent the old man from showing up.
I looked around but didn't find anything. Liu Quezi was very surprised and asked me if the yang energy of the two of us was too strong. Otherwise, why don't you go out and hide for a while?
I was hoping he would suggest this, so I could get away from this troubled place. Just as I was about to leave, Liu Quezi said, forget it, if something goes wrong, there won't be anyone to help. After we thought about it again and again, Liu Quezi actually suggested that I hide under the bed.
The bed in the bedroom was a high bed with a lot of space under it. If someone hid there, it would be no problem to turn over. But there was a lot of dust. I squatted down and took a look. I felt that his suggestion was not reliable at all. But if I said I would not go in, we couldn't keep waiting like this. I thought I would go in and pretend to go in, so that I would have the confidence to persuade him to give up.
So, I picked up a few newspapers from the room, spread them out, and crawled in. As soon as I lay down, my vision immediately became narrow because of the bed. I could only see Liu Quezi's two legs walking around in the room, and I didn't know what he was looking for.
After a while, I heard some strange noises coming from the room. I listened carefully but couldn't tell what was coming from it. I just saw Liu Guizi still walking around in the room.
Then, I inexplicably began to get nervous. After watching for a while, I suddenly felt that something seemed to be wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I could only concentrate on watching Liu Quezi's legs walking faster and faster in the room. Suddenly, I discovered a problem - Liu Quezi's feet didn't seem to be lame at all!
My scalp was numb instantly, but I couldn't show it, so I could only tense my body and try to breathe slowly. When I came here with Liu Quezi before, even if I didn't pay attention, I saw that he was limping. How come his leg was healed suddenly? Was he pretending all along? But if he was pretending, why didn't he continue to act when I was still in this room?
I tried to calm down for a moment, but suddenly a thought came to my mind, which scared me. The old lady mentioned before that her old man would pace back and forth in the bedroom in the middle of the night. Could it be that Liu Guizi was possessed by him when he was not paying attention?
Now I was even more at a loss. I wanted to go out to save him, but I didn't have the ability and was afraid I would die in vain. But if I didn't go out, not only would he be dead, but I was going to stay under the bed with this evil creature all night?
While I was hesitating, Liu Quezi suddenly stopped. However, to say he stopped only confirmed that his steps had stopped. I had no idea what he was doing with his hands. Liu Quezi stood in front of the bed, as if he was thinking about something, and then I saw his body slowly squatting down.
I was so nervous that I almost suffocated. If I saw a face that wasn't his, I would be scared to death. Fortunately, he just bent down and seemed to pick up something from the floor. The thing was very small, and I couldn't see it clearly. Then, Liu Quezi walked to the chessboard. Because the room was extremely quiet, I could hear him slowly put down the chess piece. Was he playing chess? In order to see the situation on his side clearly, I turned my body to the side, but my vision was still extremely limited.
Liu Quezi seemed to be leisurely, but I was still sweating profusely, resting my head on my arm, feeling my heart beating to my ears. I immediately changed my position, because Qin Yiheng had said before that if you hear the heartbeat appearing in other parts of your body, such as your fingers, ears, arms, etc., that is when your soul is most unstable and it is easy to be seduced.
Ten minutes passed like this, and Liu Quezi got up, turned on the light, and called me out. His voice was normal, but I saw it clearly under the bed just now, and there was nothing wrong with his feet, so I still had to be careful. But then I thought, even if I don't go out, if he wants to hurt me, I basically can't escape, so I might as well go out and see what's going on.
So I crawled out and saw that nothing had changed in the room, except that the chess pieces on the chessboard had been moved. I didn't know if Liu Quezi had just played chess with the old man, but his expression didn't seem like he was plotting something, so I tried to ask him what was going on.
Liu Quezi spread his hands and said that he had been looking around for a long time but didn't see the old man come out. He thought that if he moved the chess piece, the other party would show up. As a result, he finished all the chess games by himself, and the room was still safe. In the end, he had to give up. After listening to him, I went to look at the chess again. Not only were the red pieces eaten up, but the situation was already a dead end. I couldn't help but become more suspicious, but I didn't dare to confront Liu Quezi immediately. I could only think about going back first and making plans after seeing Qin Yiheng.
I suggested that we tell the old lady and go back to the hotel. Liu Quezi nodded and said that this was the only way, and he opened the door and went out. I was about to leave when I suddenly heard something fall on the floor. I looked down and saw that it was a chess piece. Surprisingly, I was not scared at this time, but picked up the chess piece out of curiosity. Before I could take a closer look, there was a sudden noise outside the house, and the old lady's scream was so crisp. I put the chess piece in my pocket and ran out quickly.
It was only a few steps from my bedroom door to the living room, but because of the layout of the house, I couldn't see the situation in the living room directly from the bedroom door. When I ran out, the old lady was the only one left in the living room. I hurriedly asked the old lady what happened, and I guess she was also scared to death, and wanted to speak but couldn't. The more she was like this, the more anxious I became. I simply didn't wait and chased after him directly, thinking that Liu Quezi must be outside.
However, when I chased him outside, I couldn't see Liu Guizi. Instead, I saw Qin Yiheng holding something like a flag with his back to me, hunched over and breathing heavily. I went over to ask him what was wrong, but he didn't answer. Instead, he ran straight to the old man's bedroom. With the help of the light, I could see that he was holding a soul-calling banner. This kind of banner is usually held high by the eldest son in front of the funeral procession. On the one hand, it can let the deceased relatives remember way from home to the burial place; on the other hand, it is also a warning to the passing ghosts, telling them that the relatives of this family are deceased and not to embarrass the family on the road. However, Qin Yiheng is holding this thing now, and I can't figure out what it means. Since we met, I have never heard him talk about his family. Could it be that he didn't meet me on time this time because something happened at home?
When I thought about it, I wanted to go up to him and comfort him, but he ignored me and just walked around the room. Suddenly he turned back and said to me, "Damn it, he really took it away!"
