Chapter 50 The Isolation Grand Array

"Then what do you want?" Lin Shaowen curled his lip and asked.

"First, you must compensate Mrs. Jia..."

Yi Zhonghai was about to continue when he noticed Mrs. Jia frantically making facial gestures and winking at him.

"Fifty."

"Right, you must pay Mrs. Jia fifty yuan for medical expenses," Yi Zhonghai said with a righteous expression.

"And?" Lin Shaowen asked again.

"Second, you must clear away all the Boston ivy on the courtyard wall."

"Anything else?"

Lin Shaowen pulled out a cigarette and tossed one to Xu Damao.

"Third, to give you a chance to redeem yourself, you must open up your private restroom for the elderly and children to use."

Hearing Yi Zhonghai's third condition, many people's eyes lit up.

They had heard that Lin Shaowen even had a private bathhouse in his home. When the time came, they could go take baths there and save a considerable amount of money.

"Agreed."

Lin Shaowen accepted the terms on the spot, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

"You... you agreed?" Yi Zhonghai could hardly believe his own ears.

"I agree," Lin Shaowen nodded, looking around the courtyard. "This is everyone's consensus... right?"

"No, not my consensus," Xu Damao was the first to shake his head.

"Nor mine," Qin Huairu chimed in right after.

"And the rest of you? Is this everyone's consensus?" Lin Shaowen asked again, but the rest remained silent.

However, a creeping sense of ominous foreboding welled up in everyone's hearts.

"Brother, do me a favor and fetch the neighborhood security office. Tell them people are conspiring together to extort and murder," Lin Shaowen said to Xu Damao.

"You got it!" Xu Damao immediately made to dash outside.

"Wait..."

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly shouted to stop Xu Damao, while several others quickly blocked the doorway, preventing him from leaving.

"Brother, add another charge: obstructing a victim from reporting a crime," Lin Shaowen called out loudly, startling everyone present.

"Lin Shaowen, how on earth are we conspiring to extort and murder?!" Yi Zhonghai roared in anger.

"First, my Boston ivy is planted on my own courtyard wall—listen carefully, it is *my* courtyard," Lin Shaowen said sternly. "You claimed it would harm people inside the courtyard, which implies someone was planning to scale my wall and break in..."

"Nonsense! Who would want to break into your courtyard?" Liu Haicheng's face turned livid.

"Then what was that on her hand?" Lin Shaowen pointed at Mrs. Jia. "Mrs. Jia, I now suspect you are colluding with Yi Zhonghai in a plot to extort and murder..."

"You're talking nonsense! I did no such thing!"

Mrs. Jia scrambled up in a panic, rushed back to her house, and slammed the door shut without another word.

"What kind of unreasonable fuss are you kicking up? What property of yours am I after, and whose life am I plotting against?" Yi Zhonghai glared furiously.

"You united the entire courtyard with designs on my restroom, and this isn't even the first time," Lin Shaowen remarked casually, a single sentence that startled Yi Zhonghai into a cold sweat.

Last time they kicked up a fuss over this, the neighborhood committee had already caught wind of it.

If they caused another uproar now, the security office might genuinely believe Lin Shaowen's accusations.

"We were just discussing it—discussing it," Yi Zhonghai said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

"Right, we were merely discussing it with you..." Liu Haicheng hastily chimed in to smooth things over.

Yan Bugui let out a sigh and remained silent.

"I refused, and then what?" Lin Shaowen looked directly at Yi Zhonghai.

"If you don't agree, then forget it. Let's just drop it," Yi Zhonghai said awkwardly.

"Furthermore... Mrs. Jia destroyed my Boston ivy. How are we going to settle that?" Lin Shaowen raised his voice abruptly.

"You damned little beast! I haven't even made you pay my medical expenses yet..."

Hearing that Lin Shaowen was demanding money, Mrs. Jia immediately burst back out of her house.

"Are you implying that you destroyed my property, and yet *I* still have to pay you?" Lin Shaowen sneered. "If I were to haul you over and dump you onto Yi Zhonghai's bed, would I be justified in demanding a prostitute's fee from him?"

Pfft!

Xu Damao couldn't help bursting into laughter.

Seeing him laugh, Qin Huairu couldn't hold it in either and snickered.

"Lin Shaowen, what kind of utter nonsense are you spouting?!" Yi Zhonghai slammed his hand down on the table in a fury, roaring at the top of his lungs.

First Aunt's face turned livid with rage.

"My apologies, I misspoke... Let's take it from the top," Lin Shaowen made a timeout gesture with his hand. "Mrs. Jia, if Jia Dongxuhu were to dump you onto Yi Zhonghai's bed, would *he* be justified in demanding a prostitute's fee from Yi Zhonghai?"

"Hahahaha!"

Howls of laughter filled the entire courtyard.

Even Yan Bugui and Liu Haicheng couldn't suppress their chuckles, their eyes gleaming with schadenfreude.

"Lin Shaowen, how dare you humiliate my mother! I'll fight you to the death..."

Jia Dongxu grabbed a wooden club, his eyes bloodshot as he lunged forward blindly.

Lin Shaowen snatched the club out of his grip with a single swift motion and brought it down, knocking Jia Dongxu flat onto the ground with one strike.

"Mrs. Jia, you damaged Lin Shaowen's property. Why don't you just compensate him ten yuan," Yi Zhonghai said wearily, knowing he couldn't let Lin Shaowen drag this farce out any longer.

"What? Ten yuan?!"

Mrs. Jia instantly sprang back to her feet like a coiled spring. "I don't have money, but you can take my life instead!"

"Brother, call the security office," Lin Shaowen instructed Xu Damao.

"Wait—"

Panic instantly gripped Mrs. Jia. She collapsed onto the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing dramatically, "L-Dr. Lin, I really don't have any money left! An old woman without a job like me, where on earth am I supposed to find cash?"

"If you don't want to pay cash, that's fine too," Lin Shaowen said leisurely.

"Really?" Mrs. Jia stopped crying on the spot.

Qin Huairu pressed a hand to her forehead; her young man was definitely cooking up another malicious scheme.

"Go chant and summon spirits outside Liu Haicheng's front door. Ten yuan's worth... three days should suffice," Lin Shaowen added before clarifying, "And you are not allowed to mention my name. Don't think I didn't know that when you were cursing outside Old Yan's door last time, you were actually aiming it at me."

"I won't mention you, I won't mention you," Mrs. Jia chuckled ingratiatingly.

"Why me?!" Liu Haicheng cried out in grievance and indignation.

Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui exchanged glances, feeling an overwhelming sense of fortunate relief in their hearts.

"I don't know, I just randomly picked a name."

Shaowen shrugged and turned to walk back toward his quarters.

Seeing this, the surrounding onlookers didn't disperse.

They were all eagerly waiting to watch Mrs. Jia perform her spirit-summoning routine.

"Oh, right," Lin Shaowen turned back around midway, eyeing Mrs. Jia. "I don't quite trust your word alone. Swear an oath... Since your household registration booklet is already useless, use Jia Dongxu's family registry this time."

"Ha..."

Silly Zhu, who was watching the spectacle, couldn't help letting out a bark of laughter.

"Lin Shaowen, you're going too far!" Jia Dongxu roared.

"If you won't swear, pay up." Lin Shaowen held out his hand toward Mrs. Jia.

Mrs. Jia looked as though she wanted to tear him to pieces with her bare teeth, but her body complied with brutal efficiency. "I swear! I'll go wail and summon spirits outside Liu Haicheng's house for three full days! If I fail to do so... may Jia Dongxu's entire household registry be wiped out! Are you satisfied now?!"

Qin Huairu was utterly stunned.

What kind of bizarre specimens made up this family, actually using their own children and descendants to swear toxic oaths?

"Splendid. Please begin your performance; I'm going inside to eat dinner."

With that, Lin Shaowen turned on his heel and walked away.

Mrs. Jia marched straight over to Liu Haicheng's doorstep, planted herself firmly on the ground, and began slapping her thighs again. "Oh, Old Jia..."

Liu Haicheng turned pale with fury and slammed his doors and windows shut.

The rest of the spectators grinned from ear to ear, unable to suppress their amusement—especially Yan Bugui, whose exposed gums showed he was laughing with utter delight.

Though Yi Zhonghai tried hard to maintain his composure, his shoulders shook rhythmically, betraying the immense effort it took to hold back his laughter.

In the western courtyard.

Qin Huairu was busy cooking dinner, while Lin Shaowen retrieved the "Seclusion Grand Array" talisman he had won in the lottery earlier that day. After a momentary hesitation, he tossed it upward into the air.

"Array activation."

An ancient, resonant voice echoed softly within his mind.

A moment later.

Lin Shaowen found that he could clearly perceive every single object within the boundaries of his courtyard—he could even sense a bird perched quietly atop his perimeter wall.

"Engage."

Lin Shaowen murmured a low command.

Every sound and every scent within his courtyard was instantly sealed off and isolated from the outside world.

Even if someone were to stand on tiptoe atop the wall and peer inside right now, all they would see was a thick, misty haze.

"Huh? How come I can't smell any meat cooking today?"

Quite a few residents muttered in quiet bewilderment. Could it be that Lin Shaowen had actually become thrifty and frugal after receiving his promotion?