My 1995 Small Farm.

Chen Ling was quite surprised to see these people.

These people were actually the same ones who had ulterior motives and followed Leung Yuet-man's car after the instant noodles sold like hotcakes following Hong Kong's return to China.

After explaining his purpose, Chen Ling was even more surprised.

Yu Qi'an and He Jiawen looked utterly bewildered.

They actually came to find a tiger to exorcise evil spirits.

Chen Guoping explained that these people were being haunted by evil spirits, and praying to the Turtle King would be useless, as the Turtle King doesn't care about such matters. They had to find a tiger, who is the king of the mountain and the ruler of the mountain, to keep them in check.

This must have sounded utterly absurd to a group of zoology and botany experts.

But before Chen Ling could say anything, Chen Guoping pulled him aside and told him that these people were willing to spend money, and that they were tired of being pestered lately and were not afraid to spend money.

Sister-in-law Xiufen never charges money for medical treatment or consultations, and she never mentions money in her conversations.

But Chen Guoping is different.

That old man is pretty shrewd, and pretty damn cunning.

He knew that Chen Ling could handle these people from out of town.

It's also clear that these people's attire doesn't seem to be of a respectable character.

This can be seen from some of the things his grandmother said.

The old lady didn't say it outright, but after living together for so many years, how could she not know that these people weren't good people?

Of course, we'll rip them off whenever we can.

Moreover, while others may not know Chen Ling's situation, everyone in his own village knows it perfectly well.

This kid was able to turn his life around in just two or three years. Saying that his family has auspicious purple energy to protect the house is a bit of a stretch, but his strange abilities are real.

Erzhu, who used to be a tyrant in the village and county, was sent to solitary confinement by him.

Leading someone to him is the right thing to do.

Chen Ling understood Chen Guoping's meaning, and at first he was reluctant to deal with the matter.

But seeing those people whispering and secretly discussing Ah Fu and Ah Shou playing in the haystacks on the slope, they realized they were talking about him.

When these people saw him, their eyes showed a hint of evasion and fear.

Chen Ling was immediately puzzled.

Now that they know I'm from this village, and that I scared them so badly last time that they haven't recovered yet, why would they make a special trip to find me again?

His curiosity was piqued, but he was also worried that these people were up to no good and might be using this as an excuse to inquire about something.

Anyway, he wasn't afraid of anything, so he waved to the hillside and said, "A-Fu and A-Shou, come here."

The two frightening tigers suddenly darted over to him like kittens, tilting their heads back to look at him.

This sight brightened the eyes of the men, and their previous fear and hesitation vanished.

"Mr. Chen, you're so young! You're truly a promising young man."

A slightly pointed-mouthed, monkey-faced, rather tall and thin man walked over and excitedly shook hands with Chen Ling, unable to speak coherently.

He grasped Chen Ling's hand and felt its warmth, much warmer than most people's hands, which immediately made him even more excited.

Her face looked like she was about to cry.

Chen Ling shook off his hand, her head full of questions: "What's wrong with you? If you're sick, go see a doctor. My family doesn't treat patients anymore."

Upon hearing Chen Ling's tone, Afu and Ashou immediately dropped their naive demeanor and slowly walked to the outside of the group, one on each side, their faces nonchalant and their eyes narrowed.

Upon seeing this situation, He Jiawen and the others were immediately startled.

He opened his mouth, but before he could say anything...

Then another person from that group stepped forward: "Mr. Chen, this is your first time here. Let's get acquainted."

He immediately came up and shook hands with Chen Ling.

Feeling the warmth of Chen Ling's hand, he was just as excited as the weasel-faced guy from before, and his expression changed instantly.

But he was a little better than that weasel-faced guy; when he shook hands, he quickly slipped an envelope into Chen Ling's pocket.

The envelope contained a thick stack of money.

Then he took the opportunity to pull Chen Ling aside to talk.

Afu and Ashou silently stuck out their tongues and licked their front paws, remaining still, but their hind legs were already tense, and their waists and abdomens were pressed tightly to the ground.

It appears to be resting on the ground, licking its paws, but in reality, it is secretly exerting its full strength.

"Mr. Chen, this is just a small token of our appreciation. We need your help with something. To be honest, we haven't had a decent day in the last two months..."

"Yes, yes, Mr. Chen, do you know Shixiazigou? That place is also called Shixiazi Town. People say it's not a stone box, it's a stone coffin!"

"Yes, yes, that place is eerie and attracts ghosts."

"We've heard that you, Tiger, often see blood in the mountains. Please help us!"

Chen Ling: "..."

I understand now, I get it all, and I've actually come to him for an exorcism.

After National Day, he went to the city. Liang Yuemin's business was booming at that time, and his recipe for braised beef noodles was being eyed by too many people.

Liang Yuemin then told him to secretly drive his Beijing-registered car back home.

Unexpectedly, someone outside was watching them so closely.

He had just driven away when someone followed him.

These were the people who were being followed at the time.

In order to shake them off, when Chen Ling arrived at Shixiazigou, he drove into the orchard outside the village and suddenly entered a hidden paradise.

These people watched the car drive into the orchard, but couldn't find it no matter what they did.

There is a cemetery not far away.

Moreover, Er Tuzi was also pleasantly surprised when his claws left several bloody marks.

It's like they've been attacked by a ghost.

After they returned home, they were all terrified and fell ill for a long time.

One of them was the brother of the owner of an instant noodle factory, which has now also gone bankrupt and closed down.

Although in reality, it was because Liang Yuemin's side developed too quickly that it was squeezed out.

But considering they encountered this situation, it's no wonder they're overthinking things.

They all felt they had been possessed by an evil spirit, haunted by misfortune, and were constantly plagued by bad luck.

Once a person has made up their mind about something, all sorts of bad things will happen in that direction.

Gradually, I came to believe it myself.

Moreover, when one is mentally confused or suspicious, it is easier for other things to happen.

Coupled with poor sleep, and the change of seasons in autumn and winter, it's inevitable to catch a fever or a cold.

When someone gets sick, it's usually several people at once.

Originally, only a few people with strong constitutions and high immunity were fine.

Seeing that my companions were all sick was unbearable; I felt as if I were sick too. Gradually, I also fell ill and went to bed.

Okay, this must be some kind of supernatural encounter.

So these people lay in bed for more than half a month, and then had intermittent illnesses for more than half a month. During this time, their families went to Shixiazigou to burn paper money for them, and they also went to burn paper money later, but it had no effect.

After making inquiries from various sources, and seeing that the name Chenwangzhuang was being reported on television and in newspapers every day recently, some people started talking about a capable old lady in the area.

That's how this whole thing happened.

Of course, they also knew that Chen Ling was from this side.

I was a little hesitant to come at first, but my family persuaded me to bring more money and to be sincere, and that would be fine.

Tell them not to overthink it. Chen Ling is on TV every day; he doesn't seem like a bad person.

That's when they came over.

Chen Ling hadn't expected that his action would frighten these people so much.

While I was taken aback, I also felt a little smug.

Damn, those guys were really vicious back then, and they all had weapons in their cars.

Someone even fired a gun.

At that time, there were two children in the car, Little Fatty and Little Chestnut.

Thinking of this, his attitude turned noticeably colder, and he took out the envelope from his pocket: "I can't help you with this."

The group froze on the spot.

"Wealth and prosperity..."

Chen Guoping was taken aback when he saw this, then smiled helplessly and said to the group, "We told them when we came that the Fu Gui family has a young child. If they are unwilling to help, there's nothing we can do. You can't talk about these kinds of things anywhere."

"Mr. Chen, we..."

They also wanted to offer to pay more money as a gesture of goodwill.

Chen Ling waved his hand, looking as if he didn't want to get involved in such unlucky things.

Then he sat back down and continued eating, drinking, and fishing.

Erhei arrived with his pack of dogs at this moment.

They watched the group of people from a distance on the opposite bank of the river.

The scene remained tense for two minutes.

The man who slipped money to Chen Ling was the more shrewd one.

He pulled a few people down to their knees with a thud, kowtowing to Afu and Ashou while muttering incantations, saying things like "Grandpa Mountain Lord" and "Lord Mountain Lord".

Ah Fu and Ah Shou are secretly working hard, and they will pounce on these people as soon as they realize that something is wrong.

Who would have thought this would happen?

The two tigers' eyes widened in an instant, and then they quickly stood up, turning their heads to look at Chen Ling with a bewildered expression.

Afu and Ashou were stunned, and Chen Ling was also confused.

Erhei and the others all looked over.

Yu Qi'an and He Jiawen were even more dumbfounded.

Goodness, how come everything becomes so surreal here?

How did they end up kowtowing to a tiger without a word?

And a group of people like that are so excited and devout...

They treated the two tigers like real gods.

They couldn't understand it, but they were deeply moved.

No wonder so many villagers here think outsiders are fools. If everyone did things like these guys, they would eventually start to think that way too.

After a while, these people kowtowed nine times before they finally stood up.

Chen Ling remained silent and did not utter a sound.

It's not for any other reason, these people just suddenly did this, and he was caught off guard.

Yu Qi'an, Zhao Yubao, and the others also fell silent, staring blankly, unsure of what to say.

I really don't know what to say.

They just looked at each other, exchanging glances, or scratching their heads, all looking utterly shocked.

Later, Chen Guoping came over and said that they should go back and have Sister Xiufen take a look at it for them.

It means to see if kowtowing to a tiger will have any effect.

If it doesn't work, don't do it again.

Those people happily followed Chen Guoping.

"Fugui, who was that just now? Why did they suddenly kneel down and kowtow to Afu and Ashou?"

"It's for exorcising evil spirits. Didn't I say that when I came over?"

"Is this how you exorcise evil spirits? You just kowtow and that's it? Are you asking a tiger for protection?"

Everyone was puzzled.

Does kowtowing to a tiger with loud banging really ward off evil spirits?

Didn't you see that Afu and Ashou both looked completely bewildered?

Zhao Yubao and Yu Qi'an, in particular, had both heard of exorcisms.

Yu Qi'an had also met him.

Exorcising evil spirits requires cooperation and physical contact.

Take tigers for example. Some people use tiger urine, some use tiger tears, some use tiger claws, and some simply cut a few tiger hairs and burn them...

Some people also use the remains of recently deceased elders to exorcise evil spirits from sick descendants in their families, as this illness often leads to serious and difficult-to-cure diseases.

Let the deceased elders touch the top of their heads.

Some people touch the back of their hand.

Of course, the red cloth needs to be covered during this process.

Many of these kinds of things require contact and cooperation, and it turns out that in most cases, these miraculous methods of healing and exorcising evil spirits are actually effective.

Then, the next day, Chen Guoping ran to the outside of the village to tell Chen Ling that those people's illnesses had really improved.

After the news came out, many people didn't understand.

Only Wang Lihua and his brother, along with Wang Laochou, quickly gathered together after hearing the news, confirming that the story of them encountering the tiger demon was indeed true.

Now it seems that tiger was no ordinary tiger; it could scare away even little devils.

Don't go around provoking that rich kid unless it's absolutely necessary.

Don't speak ill of him behind his back.

If disaster strikes, there's nowhere to seek justice. (End of Chapter)