Unparalleled Double Harmony

Chapter 465: Three Souls Complain

Dugu Yong and his son were blown away by the cold wind and immediately stumbled forward, almost tripping over the threshold with their shoulders together, and then half fell and half rolled into the yard together.

Before they could react, the door behind them closed by itself with a bang.

Fortunately, after the two fell, their minds suddenly became clear. The previous feeling of dizziness, staggering and sleepwalking caused by the music suddenly disappeared, and the sound of the piano in their ears also stopped abruptly.

"Dad, are you okay?" Dugu Yong was young after all, and he stood up faster.

"It's okay." Dugu Sheng was not far behind. When he turned over, he was already kneeling on one knee, in a state of alert.

"The wall of the courtyard is not high, let's just jump out." The next second, Dugu Yong came up with a very constructive idea.

Although in most horror games or movies with haunted house themes, a few locked doors and windows, or the height difference of two or three floors are enough to prevent the protagonists from escaping.

But the two people in our story are both martial arts masters. When they use their lightness skills, the two or three-meter-high courtyard wall will look fake.

"It's possible..." Dugu Sheng thought for a moment and replied, "But if we go out and are mesmerized by the music again like before, and are pushed in again..."

"Then let's give it a try first." Dugu Yongyan said, "What if the action just now can only be performed once?"

"Hmm... that makes sense." Dugu Sheng pondered for a moment, then said, "Let's go!"

As soon as the voice fell, the father and son raised their heads in tacit understanding and looked up.

Then the two of them roughly estimated the distance and height, then they took a step and jumped onto the top of the wall one after another.

But when they really got up, they found that the outside of the wall had turned into a pitch-black abyss and there was no place to stand.

The father and son looked at each other, and both realized that they could not leave, so they could only turn around and jump back into the yard together.

"Son... Has Nephew Huang ever taught you what an ordinary person should do when faced with such a situation?" Dugu Sheng didn't bother to talk nonsense with his son and asked as soon as he landed.

"Boy's urine... seems to be of some use." Dugu Yong did not beat around the bush with his father, and he dared to answer every question he asked.

Of course, what he said was true. For ordinary people who have not learned Taoism, the only thing they can carry with them that actually has some effect is urine.

"Are you still a virgin?" Dugu Sheng seized this opportunity. Before today, he was not sure whether his son had lost his virginity after so many years of wandering around the world. Now he took this opportunity to ask.

"Yes." Dugu Yong had nothing to lie about, "and I have to pee now."

"Then try to control it again, uh... maybe it will be useful later." Dugu Sheng felt a little annoyed after saying this. After all, the last time he said the word "control it again" to his son was probably thirty years ago.

Just as they were talking, they heard a "creak" and the door of the main room opposite the yard opened.

Immediately afterwards, a person walked out of the room.

That was a young man, about fourteen or fifteen years old, with a delicate appearance and a thin body.

The boy was wearing a plain cloth shirt and dark brown cloth shoes. At first glance, he looked quite gentle and simple. However, he had a large red silk belt tied around his waist, which was particularly eye-catching and out of tune with his overall look.

"My two heroes, I am sorry for my rudeness. If I have offended you, please forgive me." The young man walked out of the house, bowed deeply and apologized to Dugu and his son without saying a word. From his voice, it seemed that he was still in the voice change period, and his voice was a bit childish.

"Who are you?" Dugu Sheng asked directly at this moment, "Are you a human or a ghost?"

"My name is Peng Ying, and my courtesy name is Yuhua." The young man hesitated for a moment before sighing, "Alas... To be honest, I am no longer alive. I have no choice but to bother you two today." He paused, "I wonder if you two warriors are willing to come into the house and talk. I will tell you everything slowly."

Hearing this, Dugu and his son immediately exchanged glances, and instantly read the same opinion from each other's eyes - it's not enough to lead us into this house, and you also want us to go into that hall? No way!

In those days, there were more legends about demons and monsters than there are today's celebrity gossips. The father and son are both in their forties and must have heard at least eighty of these stories. They know all the tricks very well.

Not to mention whether the young man in front of him who claims to be a ghost is pretending to be polite or telling the truth... Even if he is telling the truth, it is not ruled out that he will become hostile after entering the house because his demands are not met?

Furthermore, in stories like this where gods, ghosts, or foxes invite people into their houses to "entertain" them, nine out of ten will include eating and drinking, and eight out of nine will end with "it turns out the delicious food served to entertain people was actually grass, rocks, and soil conjured up by the goblins using a trick"... Dugu and his son hadn't been hungry for days, so why would they try eating dirt?

However, since the other party's words were quite polite and his attitude was quite sincere at the beginning, it would not be convenient to turn hostile on the spot.

"Go inside... that's not necessary." Dugu Sheng's tone of voice in the second sentence was also somewhat relaxed. "Both father and son are people who travel the world. We can go out in wind and rain. It's okay to stand in this yard for a while. Young Master, you can talk here if you have anything to say."

"This..." Peng Ying looked a little embarrassed, but after thinking about it, he agreed. Then he sighed again, "Oh... okay." After that, he turned around and raised his voice a little, "Dad, sister, come out, the two warriors want to talk in the yard."

When they heard that there were not one but three opponents, Dugu and his son felt even more uneasy.

"Son...you...is this enough?" Dugu Sheng quietly confirmed with his son before the other two showed up.

"See..." Dugu Yong didn't know how to answer.

It's not really a question of whether it's enough for him now, but he is worried that something might happen later that would scare him to death.

On the other side, in a moment, another shadow appeared behind Peng Ying.

Some people may ask, isn't it one "father" and one "sister"? There should be two of them, so why is there only one shadow?

It’s actually very simple - Peng Ying’s sister was carried out by his father.

"My two brave men, this is my father and sister." Peng Ying introduced.

"I'm Peng Lu, nice to meet you two heroes." Peng Lu is actually not older than Dugu Sheng, only in his early fifties, but he does look much older than Dugu Sheng, and at this age he could indeed be considered old back then.

"I'm Peng, nice to meet you two brave men." Peng, who was lying on her father's back, also said.

At this time, the Dugu father and son looked carefully and saw that the two newcomers were also dressed simply, and their demeanor and temperament showed that they were honest people. Moreover, from the looks of these three, they could indeed be seen as a family, which meant that Peng Ying should not have lied about this matter at least.

As a result, Dugu and his son let down their guard a little.

Then, they began to listen to what the three ghosts had to say.

The story has to start from Cangzhou...

Peng Lu was an ordinary craftsman in Cangzhou City, making and selling lanterns for a living. Because of his good skills and his conscience in doing business, his life became better and better. He achieved his life goal of "a wife, children and a warm bed" before he was thirty.

But not long after, Peng Lu's first child died young; and his second child, Mrs. Peng, also suffered a serious illness when she was a child, which is now called polio, which caused her legs to become deformed. When she grew up, she could only walk with the help of crutches.

As for Peng Ying, he was Peng Lu's third child. He didn't have any serious problems, he was just a little thin. But a few years after he was born, Peng Lu's wife died of illness.

From then on, Peng Lu raised her two children alone.

In the early years, there were matchmakers who came to Peng's house to propose marriage, but given Peng's situation, the people introduced by the matchmakers were not from good families, so Peng Lu rejected them all.

Later, when Peng Lu was old, he simply taught all his skills to Mrs. Peng, thinking that he could take care of his daughter for one day longer. In case he was gone one day, his daughter would at least have a skill to make a living.

Peng Ying was a very competitive child. Although he came from a poor family and had to help out a lot at home, he still passed the examination to become a student at the age of thirteen. He was also very talented in music and was appreciated by many local literati and scholars at a young age.

The Peng siblings are not only very sensible, but also have a very good relationship with each other. They both lost their mother when they were young and were not in good health, so they have always taken care of each other to reduce the burden on their father. The year he passed the imperial examination, Peng took out her savings of many years, bought a piece of good material, and weaved a plain silk belt for her brother. Peng Ying was reluctant to wear it unless it was a festival.

They are such a kind and harmonious family. Although their life is not always smooth sailing, they still have hope in their days.

However, two years ago, something unexpected happened...that broke everything.

The beginning of the incident originated from a "rent collection" visit.

The Peng family's residence is located on a street in the southwest of Cangzhou City. There is a shop in the front and several bungalows with courtyards in the back. They rent a house like this and have to pay rent to the landlord every month.

Who is their landlord? You should all be familiar with him. He is a powerful sect in Cangzhou - Xingyi Sect.

Although the leader Shao Dejin is a narrow-minded person, the Xingyi Sect is at least a famous and upright sect ranked among the four sects and three gangs, so their business operations are relatively standardized and the rent is fair.

For many years, Peng Lu's family has rented there and lived in peace.

Speaking of which, when Lin Yuancheng was still in Xingyi Gate, he also did the job of collecting rent door-to-door, and he did deal with this family before, and everyone was polite to each other.

However, in the summer two years ago, because Shao Dejin took a large number of disciples to Dengzhou to participate in the "Seven Heroes Meeting", Xingyimen was indeed short of staff during that period and the management was rather chaotic.

Therefore, Shao Dejin's son Shao Shanhu took on part of the task of "collecting rent at home".

This Shao Shanhu is almost the same as his father... narrow-minded, poorly qualified, obviously without any talent, but thinks highly of himself, and likes to show off everywhere.

What's even more outrageous is that Shao Dejin is only good at martial arts, while Shao Shanhu thinks he is good at both civil and military affairs, and the same is true in culture.

Normally when Shao Dejin was around, he would not let Shao Shanhu do any real work. After all, no one knows his son better than his father. He also understood that his son was incapable of doing anything, so as long as he did not cause any serious trouble, he would let him eat, drink and have fun.

But this time, Shao Dejin was not there, and most of the people in the sect had also left. The day to collect rent was approaching, and he had to go... Therefore, Shao Shanhu "reluctantly" took over the command of rent collection.

In less than half a day, he had distributed all the rent that was difficult to collect, far away, and prone to overdue rent. As for himself, he picked a few families who paid rent most punctually and were the most talkative to collect rent from, so in a way he did contribute.

That afternoon, after Shao Shanhu had his fill, he took a walk to Peng Lu's house.

He felt that there were too many people in the shop in front and someone of his status didn't want to squeeze in, so he went straight to the back door, which was the door on the side of the Peng family's house.

clap clap-

Shao Shanhu knocked on the door several times before a young man came hurriedly to answer the door.

During the day, Peng Lu was busy in the shop, and Mrs. Peng had difficulty walking, so naturally it was Peng Ying who was reading in the study who came to open the door.

"Tsk, why does it take you so long to open the door? You made me wait for so long?" Shao Shanhu was not polite at all when he saw Peng Ying. He pouted and spoke in a fatherly manner. In fact, he was only eighteen or nineteen, not much older than Peng Ying.

Of course, he is a second-generation martial artist after all. In terms of physique alone, the difference between Shao Shanhu and Peng Ying is indeed like that between a strong adult and a stunted teenager.

"Oh, it's Mr. Shao. What a rare guest, but I didn't know..." Peng Ying once went with his father to Xingyi Gate to celebrate Shao Dejin's birthday. He had also met Shao Shanhu several times. Knowing that he was the landlord's son, he did not dare to offend him and spoke to him politely.

"Stop talking nonsense. It's time to pay this month's rent. Give it to me and I'm leaving." Up to this point, Shao Shanhu actually didn't have any bad intentions. He even disdained to step into the other party's door.

Of course...

"What's the matter?" At this moment, Mrs. Peng opened the window of her room and asked because she heard the person talking to her brother had a very loud voice and an unfriendly tone.

Shao Shanhu looked over Peng Ying's shoulder and across the yard. He just happened to see Peng's head sticking out of the window. He immediately thought, "Hey! This Peng family is amazing. A phoenix has emerged from a pheasant's nest!"

Shao Shanhu was usually arrogant. The Peng family was just one of the many tenants in their Xingyi Gate. Naturally, he didn't know the specific situation of the other party's family. So when he looked at her from a distance, he couldn't tell that Peng had difficulty walking. He just thought that the girl had a pretty face and her skin was so white, as if she hadn't seen the sun for many years... At first glance.

"Haha... kind of interesting." Two seconds later, Shao Shanhu smiled and pushed Peng Ying aside, then walked into the other side's yard. Then he stared at Peng and asked without turning his head, "Who is this?"

It seemed as if this was his own house and Peng Ying was his servant.

As for Peng Ying, although he staggered and was a little stunned by the push, he immediately realized what Shao Shanhu meant by his words and actions, so he immediately walked in front of Shao Shanhu and said, "Mr. Shao, my sister is ill and has been bedridden for many years. It is inconvenient for her to meet guests. I hope you can forgive me for my impoliteness."

Although Peng Ying is young and weak, he is not a coward. Even when facing someone like Shao Shanhu who is much stronger than him, he will still stop him when necessary.

"Since you are here to collect rent, please come in and sit down. I will go and get the silver." Peng Ying said, and pointed to another room, motioning Shao Shanhu to go there.

When her brother said these words, Mrs. Peng had already closed the window.

"Ah... Oh, okay, okay..." But Shao Shanhu's eyes were still on the window, and he kept looking at it as he moved.

Of course, he was the young master of a prestigious and upright sect after all, so he wouldn't just knock Peng Ying down with one punch and then go into the house to pick flowers or something like that... Even the great official Ximen wouldn't do that in broad daylight.

However, Shao Shanhu started thinking about Peng from then on.

After collecting the rent that day, he went back and asked people what was going on with the girl from the Peng family.

This was not a secret, and he soon found out that...she had been ill as a child, and her legs and feet were not very strong, so she had never married.

But knowing this did not stop him from thinking about Peng.

People are like this. First impressions have a great influence on us. If Shao Shanhu saw Peng for the first time, he might not have thought much of her because she was walking on crutches and dragging two deformed legs. But he only saw her face through the window at first sight, and he liked her immediately. Later, he found out that she had a problem with her legs, and then he had to go through a process of acceptance...

But if you ask him to come and propose marriage in a formal way, that would be impossible because he doesn't want to marry a cripple.

Shao Shanhu just wanted to be able to get along with the other person without having to marry her. If one day he didn't want to be with the other person anymore, he could just leave and never have any contact with her again.

And the more he thought about it, the more he thought it was feasible... Because he felt that a man of his caliber, even healthy girls would be eager to pay him homage, not to mention a disabled "old girl"? If I was good to her, she wouldn't suffer any loss.

Besides, Mrs. Peng never leaves her house and has been locked up in her room for more than 20 years. How could I have seen her by such a coincidence? Maybe she was hoping that I would get along with her, so she opened the window on purpose for me to see her?
Anyway, this kind of train of thought makes you want to slap them in the face, but Shao Shanhu agrees with it.

From then on, this kid came to other people's houses every now and then, and Peng Ying couldn't stop him; there was no way to stop him, the landlord's son came and said he wanted to chat with you, and you chased him away?
But Shao Shanhu said he was looking for Peng Ying to chat, but in fact he was always looking for opportunities to contact Peng.

Peng Ying was not stupid. How could he not see what the other party was up to after doing this a few times? So he told his sister and father about it.

But after the family discussed it, they really felt that there was nothing they could do. After all, Shao Shanhu had not done anything really evil so far, and he was the landlord's son. They could not afford to offend him, so they could only endure it. As long as they behaved properly and dealt with things carefully, maybe after a while he would feel that there was no opportunity for them to take advantage of him and would not come again.

Unfortunately, they were the only ones who thought so. Shao Shanhu thought: They didn’t have any complaints about my moving around like this, maybe it meant they were welcoming me?

So he became more and more demanding and came more frequently.

And every time Shao Shanhu, the uninvited guest, came, Peng Ying had to accompany him, keep an eye on him, and be on guard against him...she had no time to study properly.

Finally, one time, Shao Shanhu took advantage of the time when Peng Ying walked away to get tea and ran straight to Peng's room. When Peng saw him come in, she sternly told him to get out, but Shao Shanhu smiled playfully, teased him, and moved closer and closer.

Mrs. Peng screamed in desperation. Shao Shanhu panicked and ran out of the house, just running into Peng Ying again.

Peng Ying thought her sister was being bullied, so she grabbed Shao Shanhu and tried to argue with him. Shao Shanhu was guilty and anxious, so he raised his palm and knocked Peng Ying to the ground, then ran away in a panic.

Shao Shanhu was a martial artist, and he attacked without knowing how much strength he had in a panic. Peng Ying was already weak, and after being hit like that, he vomited blood on the spot. He then had to stay in bed for half a month and couldn't get up.

Rumors about Shao Shanhu also spread among the people, saying that he failed to tease someone and then hurt someone and fled.

Can he bear it?
Shao Shanhu still felt that he was being cheated. With his talent, that bitch from the Peng family was so ungrateful that she pretended to be a chaste and heroic woman. And her younger brother was like a piece of tofu, who fell down at the slightest touch. She also gossiped about me everywhere. I was afraid she was trying to blackmail me, right?
No, we have to take revenge. The Peng family is too unreasonable. We have to teach them a lesson!

Thinking of this, the indignant Shao Shanhu began to go to Peng's lantern shop to cause trouble every few days.

Peng Lu was already overwhelmed with his business because his daughter and son needed care and he had to hire a doctor. Now, after Shao Shanhu's fuss, his business was completely over.

Moreover, the Peng family had no way to deal with this. They would definitely not be able to defeat Shao Shanhu. Even if they went to sue the officials, the officials would most likely stand on the side of the wealthy and powerful Xingyi Sect.

Let's take a step back. What if you win the lawsuit? It's nothing more than paying for medical expenses. What happens after that? It will be easy for Shao Shanhu to retaliate against you later. If he finds a random reason and says he doesn't want to rent the house anymore, what will you do? Will other landlords in the city still dare to rent to you? Will they offend Xingyimen for your family?
The three members of the Peng family thought about it again and again, and finally decided... forget it, let's just go on our own. After all, we have the skills, and we can live the same no matter where we go.

Half a month later, Peng Lu went to find Xingyimen and said that he no longer wanted to rent the house and wanted to get the deposit back. His family was going to leave Cangzhou and go to the south to live with relatives.

Shao Shanhu took a look and thought, that's great, if you three get out of here, the neighbors won't be gossiping about you for a few days, so he returned the money to them.

Peng Lu got back the deposit, bought a carriage, took his family and luggage, and headed south.

One day, while they were walking on the road, the weather suddenly changed, and the three of them accidentally entered Zhimaling, and they were unable to get out until dark.

As a result, that night, they encountered a pack of wolves. The horses pulling the cart were frightened and ran away on their own, leaving the family of three... Mrs. Peng had difficulty walking, Peng Ying's injury had not healed yet, and it was impossible for Peng Lu to abandon his two children and escape alone.

Therefore, Peng Lu had no choice but to pick up torches and sticks and fight the wolves to the death. Peng Shi and Peng Ying also tried their best to help, but although they succeeded in killing several wolves, they were eventually exhausted. The remaining wolves bit his father and sister to death in front of Peng Ying and dragged them away.

Peng Ying cried all night, and the next day she hanged herself with the blood-stained belt made by her sister.

Just like that, a family that had originally lived a happy life died in this desolate mountain and wilderness, and turned into a family of wandering ghosts, full of resentment.

Tonight they went to find Dugu father and son, not for any other reason, just to ask these two heroes to help them find Shao Shanhu... to avenge their grievances!
Of course, don’t get me wrong, the three ghosts from the Peng family didn’t want Dugu and his son to kill Shao Shanhu directly, but they wanted Dugu and his son to “take them back to Cangzhou” so that they could settle accounts with Shao Shanhu themselves.

Dugu Yong hated evil and was filled with rage after listening to Peng Ying and the others' story.

He immediately spread the word that this Shao was too much of a bully, forcing a family to have nowhere to go and die in the mountains. How could I just ignore this? I will take care of the three of you. If you can't get your life back, I can do it for you.

Dugu Sheng was calmer and after thinking about it, he told his son not to speak so confidently. After all, Xingyi Sect was not a small sect. Besides, Shao Shanhu did not directly kill anyone in this matter. If you want to be the judge of Yin and Yang without any evidence, how will you explain it to the world afterwards?

However, Dugu Sheng did not say that he would ignore it. He just said that he would take the three members of the Peng family to Cangzhou City first and then make some plans.

Seeing that Dugu father and son agreed, the three people from the Peng family were also grateful. Before they knew it, Dugu Yong and Dugu Sheng had woken up from where they had slept before.

Everything that happened just now seemed like a fleeting dream.

However, at this moment, on the open space beside them, there was suddenly a broken musical instrument, a red belt, and a lantern with the word "Peng" written on it.

(End of this chapter)