Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

"Then do you know what exactly happened in my family?" Li Xiangqian's tone became heavier, with a hint of desire in his eyes. He longed for an answer, longed for a clear explanation for all this.

The man looked at him deeply, then slowly said: "Everything in your home is no longer what you think it is. What you see is just the appearance. And everything in your eyes is quietly changing, but you have not noticed it."

This sentence was like a cold needle piercing Li Xiangqian's heart. His hands trembled slightly and his heart beat more and more violently. Appearance? Change? He couldn't understand the deep meaning behind these words. He originally thought that he was just facing some ordinary difficulties, but at this moment, he began to doubt whether he was involved in a vortex that was far more complicated than he imagined.

"I...I really don't understand." Li Xiangqian's voice was almost clenched. He felt that he was about to lose control. The words of the man in front of him made him more and more frightened and confused. He began to doubt whether he had made the wrong choice, whether he really should know these things, and whether he should continue to go on.

The man's eyes remained calm. He was in no hurry to answer, as if he was waiting for Li Xiangqian's inner struggle to be over before continuing to uncover the truth that he had not yet understood.

Li Xiangqian kept echoing his wife's words in his mind. Her words were gentle and firm, which made him believe that he was just too nervous and overly suspicious. But at this moment, he found himself surrounded by more and more uncertainties and doubts. The long-lost feeling of loneliness quietly emerged, and he suddenly realized that perhaps he had been moving further and further away from the home and people he once knew.

"I really shouldn't have come here." Li Xiangqian whispered to himself, his eyes blankly sweeping across the darkness around him. The fear in his heart became more and more clear, as if an invisible hand was pulling him into the abyss.

The man did not respond, but just stood there quietly, waiting for Li Xiangqian to make his own choice.

Li Xiangqian's heart seemed to have two voices in fierce conflict. One voice made him feel that he could no longer escape, while the other voice kept reminding him that the truth might not be worth pursuing. His heart was in a mess, and his thoughts were in chaos.

Finally, he took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and whispered, "I want to know what to do next."

The man nodded, seemingly not surprised at all by Li Xiangqian's decision. He turned around gently and motioned Li Xiangqian to follow.

When Li Xiangqian reached the door of his house, he still felt uneasy, as if the heavy stone pressing on his heart was getting heavier and heavier. The house was strangely quiet. He pushed open the door and saw nothing unusual in the empty house. Only the cat was lying on the windowsill, looking at him curiously with its eyes slightly wide open.

"Why is it so quiet?" he muttered to himself, with a helpless smile on his lips.

He walked into the house, put his shoes away, rubbed his face, and thought to himself that it was time to tell his family everything, especially about He Yuzhu. He didn't dare to take it lightly. After all, this matter had already stirred up waves in his heart, and it was not just waves, but more of a sense of oppression. Li Xiangqian knew that he could no longer remain calm.

"Is everyone at home here?" Li Xiangqian walked towards the kitchen and glanced at the corner. The door on the side was still closed. His wife Lin Xue was standing in front of the window, looking out.

Lin Xue turned around and saw Li Xiangqian, with a trace of worry in her eyes: "You came back so late, where did you go?"

Li Xiangqian stood still, frowning slightly, with complicated eyes. Standing in front of her, all his emotions seemed to be tangled together. He had a lot to say, but he didn't know where to start.

"I went to He Yuzhu's place." He paused and said softly, "There are some things I feel I must tell you."

A trace of doubt flashed across Lin Xue's eyes, and then it was replaced by a hint of alertness. She walked closer to Li Xiangqian, her eyes seemed to be looking at him, but also seemed to be looking at the unspeakable thing behind him.

"You went to his place?" Lin Xue frowned, her voice carrying a hint of imperceptible urgency, "Why did you go to his place? What happened?"

Li Xiangqian took a deep breath and fixed his eyes on his wife's face, his eyes showing helplessness and pain. "Things are more complicated than I thought. There seems to be something hidden in He Yuzhu's place that we don't know about. You know, I always thought he was just an ordinary neighbor, but today, what I saw told me that He Yuzhu is not as simple as we thought."

Lin Xue was obviously stunned for a moment. After a moment, a complicated expression appeared on her face: "What did you say? What did you see?"

Li Xiangqian's eyes flickered. He did not rush to answer, but walked to the table step by step. On the table was a pack of freshly bought biscuits. He picked up a piece and took a bite. The taste in his mouth was a bit bitter. He knew that he could not delay any longer and could not continue to hesitate.

"Today, he brought back a chicken." Li Xiangqian finally spoke, his voice low, as if he was stating a heavy fact, "But the chicken looked wrong, like... unnatural."

"Why is it unnatural?" Lin Xue was stunned, and the uneasiness in her heart gradually spread.

Li Xiangqian stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "The look in its eyes is really weird. There is no life in its eyes at all. It doesn't look like a normal chicken at all. And... there are other things that are wrong. I was wondering why it was in such a hurry to hide the chicken and even acted so unnaturally."

Lin Xue's heartbeat quickened, as if she had a bad premonition. She took a step back and said in a low voice, "Are you sure? That chicken... do you think there's something wrong with it?"

Li Xiangqian sighed, "Not only that, I also saw some strange things. It seems that there are always some things hidden in his house that we can't understand, especially the food, which is simply beyond the understanding of ordinary people like us. When I asked him, he always avoided answering and his attitude became unusually alert."

Lin Xue's eyes began to become a little flustered, as if she also began to think of some bad possibilities. "Then have you ever thought about whether he is doing something he shouldn't be doing?"

Li Xiangqian suddenly thought of He Yuzhu. The face that seemed ordinary and calm at first suddenly became a little strange, as if hiding some unknown secret. He couldn't help but shudder.