Chapter 218: Poisonous Plot Beneath the Incense

Lin Xueqing's pregnancy's undercurrent hasn't settled, and a more rotten, chilling current has silently spread over the Siheyuan's threshold. This time it's not the enemy's radio code, but a poisonous fog cloaked in feudal superstition—those feudal remnants that should have been swept into the trash of history are, surprisingly, reigniting quietly through people's confused hearts.

Li Ping'an quickly launched the deployment against the "feudal remnants" activity. Wang Dahu, with several elite team members, changed into civilian clothes, like water droplets merging into the sea, silently infiltrating the mixed slum of Nan Cheng.

They disguised themselves as itinerant peddlers and visiting relatives, but their ears were like the most sensitive radar, catching any whisper about "immortal maiden", "disaster avoidance", "offering merit".

After a few days, the fragmentary information gradually pieced together. The activity indeed existed, the organizers were very cunning, core members were deeply hidden, only contacted and recruited believers through a few peripheral "referrers".

Meeting locations were fickle, sometimes in the ruined city god temple, sometimes in an apparently ordinary household, usually late at night.

"Director, they're very vigilant; strangers find it hard to approach the core," Wang Dahu reported to Li Ping'an at night, his brows tightly knit, "Moreover, the doctrine they propagate is highly beguiling—things like 'Third Term Calamity', 'Entering the Dao for Safety', many ordinary folk whose lives are off or who have hidden anxieties have been duped, obediently handing over money and supplies, calling it 'offering the heart', 'accumulating merit'."

Li Ping'an's gaze was cold and stern. He knew well that this spiritual opium was more terrifying than real knives and guns; it corrodes the heart, shatters morale, and must be eradicated completely before it breeds disaster.

"Keep watching, focus on uncovering the details and patterns of those 'referrers', locate their stash of extorted goods. When the time is ripe, pull them out by the roots."

"Yes!"

This evil wind ultimately could not completely avoid the Siheyuan.

The first to be affected was Jia Zhangshi. Since she got the grandson Bang Geng, although proud, deep inside her lingering fear of "destiny" and dread of "financial loss" had not lessened, but grew stronger because she had to "raise the grandson".

That day, she was holding Bang Geng at Hu Tong Kou sunbathing, when an apparently kind‑faced but actually flickering‑eyed old lady struck up conversation.

"Old sister, what good fortune, this plump grandson!" the old lady flattered, then subtly shifted, "But these times are uneasy, I hear another disaster is coming. If you happen to meet the immortal maiden under the 'Wu Wei Old Mother', she can point the way and protect the household's peace and the descendants' health…"

Normally, Jia Zhangshi might not have fallen for it immediately. But now, after the Deaf Old Lady incident in the courtyard, her mind was already unsettled, and thinking how to make herself and the grandson more 'secure', she was taken in by the spiel.

Driven by a strange compulsion, Jia Zhangshi followed the old lady to meet the so‑called "immortal maiden". In a dim room, listening to the woman's pseudo‑spiritual ramblings—talk of "ancestral debts", "the child's fate has a kink"—she was terrified, and finally handed over the two eggs and a small bag of white flour she had secretly set aside for personal savings, sent by Yi Zhonghai, as "merit" offerings.

Back in the courtyard, Jia Zhangshi still felt uneasy, muttering to Qin Huairu, "…must be sincere, the immortal maiden said, sincerity makes it effective, can avoid disaster…"

Qin Huairu looked at her dazed state, then at her crying hungry son in her arms, feeling bitter and urgent, yet dared not say another word.

This crooked wind also whispered into others' ears in the courtyard. Yan Bu Gui, upon hearing, his calculating mind immediately thought "another scam for money", and he warned the family, "Stay away from those mystics! It's all money‑grabbing nonsense!" Yet he himself couldn't help wondering, in these times, could there truly be something inexplicable?

Liu Haizhong again assumed a leadership stance, delivering a speech at home: "We must resolutely resist feudal superstition! These are poisonous weeds of the old society! We, the workers of the new era, must trust science!" Unfortunately, his hollow preaching couldn't even reach his own son.

Yi Zhonghai also caught wind of rumors; now his own safety is precarious, so he treads carefully, only reminding an aunt to keep the doors locked and avoid dealings with unknown persons.

For a moment, the courtyard seemed to be suffused with a faint, lingering tension scented with incense and rot.

In the western courtyard, Lin Xueqing's pregnancy symptoms became obvious, often feeling nauseous and weak.

When Li Ping'an was at home, he tried to shield the outside storms, caring attentively. Yet the lingering heaviness in his brows still let Lin Xueqing notice something amiss.

"Is it… those… feudal remnants?" she leaned against the headboard, her face a bit pale, asking softly.

Li Ping'an did not deny, adjusting her blanket corner, "Hmm, some scoundrels are using superstition to swindle money and confuse people, right over near Nan Cheng, not far."

Lin Xueqing fell silent. She recalled hearing similar rumors at the Yi Yuan, some patients even delayed treatment because of superstitious folk remedies. "When people's hearts are restless, these things surface easily. You… must be careful."

"Rest assured." Li Ping'an grasped her hand, his voice steady and strong, "Demons and specters cannot stand the light."

His certainty, like a rock, gave Lin Xueqing a slight sense of peace.

A few days later, late at night, Wang Dahu finally transmitted crucial news—had identified a "referrer"'s residence and confirmed that that night a gathering would be held in an abandoned brick kiln on the edge of the slum, with an "important figure" expected to appear!

"Close the net!" Li Ping'an said into the telephone in the Security Department office, his eyes sharp as knives, uttering only two words.

The night was deep, yet inside and outside the abandoned brick kiln shadows swirled, incense coiled, mixed with murmured chants and ignorant prayers. When Wang Dahu, with security officers and police, descended like divine troops and burst in, chaos erupted. Smoke, talisman papers, scattered grain and a few coins littered the ground; the believers who had just moments before wore devout faces now wore panic and bewilderment.

The operation was clean and swift; the main organizer and several core cadres were captured in one go, and many items used for superstitious propaganda and some extorted wealth were seized on the spot.

When the news reached the Siheyuan the next morning, Jia Zhangshi, hearing that the "immortal maiden" had been caught, first startled, then pained over her two eggs and a small bag of white flour, pounding her chest and stomping, cursing, "Damn it! They swindled me! My eggs…"

Others clapped with delight, especially Yan Bu Gui, exclaiming, "Well caught! Should have been caught long ago!"

Yi Zhonghai also sighed in relief, feeling the courtyard could finally settle for a few days.

Li Ping'an stood at the western courtyard window, listening to the various discussions coming from the central courtyard. He knew that eliminating this nest only cut off one vine, its deep‑buried roots might not be fully eradicated. The struggle against these corrosive feudal tumors will be long and complex.

He turned back, looking at his wife sleeping on the bed, her face still a bit pale. Sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting soft shadows on her face.

A new life was gestating, while the old poisonous weed still tried to fight for soil. Guarding the cleanliness and peace beneath this roof cannot tolerate any slack. He gently brushed Lin Xueqing's forehead hair, his gaze firm yet tender.

The road ahead still required him to forge ahead. For home, for the future.