Chapter 142

This book, it caught fire.

Li Zhuiyuan did not go to put it out; his first reaction was to ponder: Was the evil book trying to deceive him?

Then, the young man immediately thought of the answer: No, it was not.

Because he was only using it as an experiment—or more vividly put, a form of divination—but since the arrow was already on the bowstring, regardless of the result, he would continue to walk down this path according to his own intentions.

Therefore, if it burned, it proved that the heavenly secrets were in his hands;

If it did not burn and showed no reaction at all, then it was just feudal superstition, and he would simply shout "Man can conquer nature" once more and continue on.

Either way, it would not affect his choice, so its current reaction actually tended to be more authentic.

That meant it truly involved heavenly secrets.

The fire continued to burn; Li Zhuiyuan picked up the cup on his desk, but instead of splashing it on the book, he took a sip himself.

He knew the value of this evil book, but he felt no heartache; if it really burned away, then so be it.

As it burned, the flames finally began to die out.

Half of the pages were burned black, and the cover and back had become very wrinkled, but overall, it had been preserved.

As expected of something filled with evil, this life was truly tough.

The young man thought of a new way to open this book.

He could use it to inversely probe heavenly secrets.

The game of chess between himself and the question-setter would not be limited to the fourth wave; it would likely continue from here on out. So, whenever he had any ideas in the future, he could use this book to continue divining and see if it burned.

He reached out and flipped through the pages; half were charred black, but many of the remaining pages were only smoked yellow.

Well, even if it could never be restored, at the very least, it could still be burned one more time.

As for helping it recover?

That was impossible, absolutely impossible.

With such an evil object, it was best to squeeze out its value; one must never make a deal with it, because every time you feel smug, you might be falling into the book's calculations.

When conversing with the devil, one cannot hold a balance scale; one can only hold a whip.

After wrapping it up again with the seal, he stuffed it under the bed.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a rag, wiped the desk, and refilled his cup with hot water.

After thinking for a moment, he opened the drawer, took out the empty soda can, and placed it on the desk.

He hesitated about whether to stick a piece of paper on the can to label it, but thought it inappropriate, so he simply tore off two pieces of paper, folded them into a square recessed box, placed it in a corner of the desk, put the soda can inside, and then took a fountain pen from the pen holder and placed it inside as well.

This way, there was no need to explain, and Tan Wenbin and Lin Shu would not mistake it for trash and throw it away.

He reached out and touched his face.

The reason he didn't want to explain was that he felt a bit embarrassed to explain this matter.

Did he already have this kind of emotion now?

If it were the former him, he would probably think this kind of thought... no, this behavior of collecting soda cans, was really childish and stupid.

Unfortunately, this matter was still entangled with A Li; he had long been clear that when he was with A Li, his condition would improve and his human skin would grow.

It was just that he didn't know when this emotion could break away from A Li's scope and spread to others, or expand with himself as the center.

This did not mean the young man wanted to separate from A Li, but rather that only by walking outward more boldly could he hold the girl's hand and lead her to move forward better.

Putting away his thoughts, Li Zhuiyuan began to make a more detailed plan for the future based on the implementation suggestions Tan Wenbin had previously given.

Plans indeed cannot keep up with changes, but this does not mean plans are useless; at the very least, through them, he could let his companions clearly know what the goal was, and incidentally use the plan to tell them the direction of their thinking, so that even if changes came and the plan was scrapped, the companions would know in which direction to exert their subjective initiative and not end up like headless flies.

Li Zhuiyuan wrote like this until dusk; he anticipated many possible accidents and added many of his own thoughts.

Lin Shu returned from class, opened the dormitory door, and seeing Brother Xiaoyuan writing something, he didn't dare to disturb him, silently sitting down at Tan Wenbin's desk to start reciting and studying his own things.

It was just that having Brother Xiaoyuan sitting next to him was equivalent to a proctor standing next to you staring at you during an exam.

Seeing that the time was about right, Lin Shu simply picked up his things and fled to the evening self-study classroom to study.

In the evening, Tan Wenbin returned; Li Zhuiyuan was still writing. After Tan Wenbin stood by and watched for a while, he sat on his own bed.

He was holding a large document bag in his hand, which contained three arrest warrants.

Besides that, there were three investigation files.

The former were obtained from his father's bureau, and the latter were made by himself, done somewhat sloppily, providing only a general idea.

By late night, Li Zhuiyuan finally finished writing, put down his pen, and had written a thick stack.

For him, his writing speed severely shackled his brain speed.

Handing these things to Tan Wenbin, Tan Wenbin began to look through them.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the document bag Tan Wenbin brought back; there were three arrest warrants, with two male suspects and one female.

The most recent one was issued half a year ago, involving a man who, while working away from home, used violent means to insult a shop owner and her daughter, then fled.

The oldest was from four years ago, involving a robbery gang targeting taxi drivers; the gang leader, who was also the bait, was a woman who not only robbed taxi drivers, injuring several, but also caused one driver to be so severely injured that he died.

This was also the reason why taxis nowadays generally install transparent partitions between the driver's seat and the back row to separate the driver from the passengers.

It was truly because the current social security was not very good, and taxi drivers were considered a high-income profession at the time, and their working state was solitary, making them easy targets.

The two males of the gang were caught, but the woman fled, and the gang confessed the woman's ancestral home.

The one in the middle happened two years ago and was a fraudster who swindled many elderly people out of their coffin money and pension savings.

For these three cases, the suspects' ancestral homes were all in Zhangjiajie, and the police suspected that the suspects had likely fled back to their hometowns.

Zhangjiajie was already a well-known tourist destination in the country, with beautiful scenery, pleasant views, simple folk customs, and enthusiastic and hospitable people, making it an excellent place for vacation and sightseeing.

However, in any place, when the population reaches a certain level, it is normal for some bad birds to appear periodically.

His side was specifically looking for them, and even if they changed to other regions, they could find a whole bunch.

But this also gave Li Zhuiyuan a reminder: this method is good, after all, the destination is a city, but next time if they go to sparsely populated areas or simply no-man's lands, such as glaciers or deserts... where would you find wanted criminals?

Moreover, for the "fishing enforcement" of the second line, it is also very difficult for you to find criminal gangs that dare to go to no-man's land to dig for gold.

Therefore, use it this time if you can; if it can succeed, then next time the method will have to be upgraded.

For example, if going to no-man's land, then you have to find the criminals in advance, and use charlatan methods or side-stepping, similar to herding cattle and sheep, to guide them toward the no-man's land destination.

As for ordinary criminal gangs digging for gold, then they have to be upgraded to grave robbers, tell them the clues, and let them go to the destination you set up to dig ancient tombs and dig for dried corpses.

"Let's choose this one." Li Zhuiyuan pulled out the arrest warrant for the female suspect. "She is from a long time ago and still has human lives on her hands."

"Okay, good." Tan Wenbin nodded and separated this arrest warrant.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the three investigation reports Tan Wenbin made himself; actually, they were just thugs in three areas, most suitable for fishing.

One was a gang of thugs watching over an underground casino, one was a gang involved in usury and organized crime, and one was a gang of thugs bullying students near a school.

They were all frequent visitors to the police station and social tumors; every time the police cracked down, they scattered like birds and beasts, but soon they would rise from the ashes.

"Let's choose this one." Li Zhuiyuan chose the third one. "Thugs who bully students are generally younger, have worse economic conditions, and are more prone to daydreaming."

"Hey, Brother Xiaoyuan, I thought so too."

"Then why didn't you bring this one back directly?"

Tan Wenbin: "Make it a three, it's luckier."

Immediately after, Tan Wenbin stood up and said: "Brother Xiaoyuan, I'll take these to the photo studio and have Deng Chen print them."

"Can't you photocopy them in the shop?"

"How can photocopying in the shop have the quality of Deng Chen rolling his eyeballs?

Besides, giving him something to do makes him feel more at ease."

"You decide."

"Oh, by the way, Runsheng is being discharged tomorrow afternoon."

"So fast?"

"He mainly had severe external burns, which is different from ordinary people; he doesn't need to worry about the risk of infection, so he can be discharged earlier. After all, he eats a lot of incense usually, it's a blessing."

"That's good, let's have a gathering tomorrow night."

When Runsheng hadn't returned to the team, it wasn't easy for the team to really take action and set off.

Summarizing the pig-head incident last time, although Runsheng was the most severely injured, the strength he displayed was actually what the pig feared the most.

Including Runsheng's final intention to open all his qi gates and fight for his life, it made that pig feel a real crisis.

It wasn't that the pig hadn't thought about cutting off the Long Wang's wings, but Runsheng was the first tough nut, and it didn't dare to go up to collect the head.

When the pig wanted to go for Yin Meng, the Fourth Uncle at Tan Wenbin's place was committing suicide, forcing the pig to quickly transfer to get the White Centipede Spirit.

When the pig was preparing to attack Tan Wenbin, Tan Wenbin was not yet proficient in using the Ghost Control Art for the first time, causing his body to look like it was inflated, looking very similar to the state when Runsheng was preparing to fight for his life.

Only then did Tan Wenbin report the Black Python's address, making the pig choose to cast him aside and head straight to the photo studio.

And the failure to smoothly and completely solve his three companions, making himself "have reinforcements," was also a factor that forced the pig to choose the smartest way to obtain the "Black Python."

In short, the team's role cannot be ignored; historically, there should be no lack of Dragon Kings walking the river alone, but it is not suitable for the current Li Zhuiyuan, because the river water did not give him a chance to grow up.

Tan Wenbin drove to the Pingju Photo Studio to find Deng Chen to photocopy the stack of text.

Don't say, the human-flesh... no, the snake-flesh printer is very easy to use; Deng Chen can even help you typeset, proofread, and enlarge the font.

Tan Wenbin left satisfied with the things; after Deng Chen "read" the content of the text, he only felt his back was soaked.

If he could, he really wanted to forget the content of those words, because he could see that this future Long Wang's true ambition was no longer satisfied with simple passive river walking.

After Tan Wenbin returned to the dormitory, when passing by the dormitory aunt's office window, he went in and had a late-night snack.

After returning to the dormitory, he continued to read and study; he had long since developed the good study habit of studying at night and going to the classroom to sleep in the morning.

The next morning, after Li Zhuiyuan got up, he went to find A Li as usual, took a walk with her on the playground, then had breakfast at Liu Yi's, and carried his schoolbag to attend "elective courses."

It was very nice that there was Professor Zhu's class at eight in the morning.

A sunny morning, combined with Professor Zhu's warm and steady voice, was indeed a perfect match.

It was just that some things always come so unexpectedly.

When the bell rang, the students in the classroom could not wait for Professor Zhu; in the past, he always arrived early and watched the students enter the classroom with a smile.

A new teacher walked in, called the class monitors of the several classes attending the lecture, and said some words to them simply.

Subsequently, the monitors announced to their respective classmates that today's ideological and political class was canceled, and everyone could return to the dormitory or find other empty classrooms to sit in and wait for the third or fourth period.

Although Li Zhuiyuan was sitting in the corner of the last row, his hearing was good, and he heard what the teacher said to the monitors: someone in Professor Zhu's family had passed away.

Even though he had only met her once and had been mentally prepared for a long time, the sudden departure of a person made Li Zhuiyuan lower his eyes slightly; he still had that set of hardcover books Grandma Zhu gave him in his dormitory.

Li Zhuiyuan carried his schoolbag, headed to the teaching building opposite, and arrived at a classroom.

The teacher who was giving the lecture looked at the young man and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Actually, the young man should have been attending class in this classroom right now.

Tan Wenbin was sleeping soundly; fortunately, Lin Shu was studying seriously. Seeing Brother Xiaoyuan coming, he immediately pushed Brother Bin awake.

"Hmm?"

Tan Wenbin raised his head with sleepy eyes. After seeing Li Zhuiyuan, he immediately stood up and asked the teacher for leave: "Teacher, the student union has a rehearsal, I'll go first."

The teacher frowned but didn't say anything.

Lin Shu shrank his head and followed Brother Bin quickly.

Li Zhuiyuan led Tan Wenbin and Lin Shu to the family building outside the school. Professor Zhu was sitting alone on the sofa in the living room, with his head lowered.

"Professor Zhu, please accept my condolences."

Professor Zhu raised his head, looked at Li Zhuiyuan, squeezed out a smile at him, and then looked at the tightly closed bedroom door: "She kept mentioning you a few days ago and kept looking at the painting you drew."

Grandma Zhu was a woman full of literary atmosphere, and her life of holding hands with Professor Zhu for a lifetime allowed her to immerse her feelings in it for most of her life, so she truly loved a young prodigy like Li Zhuiyuan who was both talented and capable.

When Professor Zhu invited Li Zhuiyuan to be a guest at his home before, he said his wife had a strange illness, and it was indeed a strange illness, because a person's time was running out, no specific illness could be detected, and there was no way to treat it, so he could only watch his wife's condition get worse day by day.

"Professor Zhu, how will the funeral be handled?"

"I have notified the school, and the school will send people to help me."

Tan Wenbin naturally understood the intention of Brother Xiaoyuan bringing him here and took the initiative to say: "Professor Zhu, let us help you handle it; my family has been doing this for three generations."

"No need to trouble, the school will..."

Tan Wenbin: "We are also from the school."

Professor Zhu was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Then, thank you for your hard work."

Saying this, Professor Zhu stood up and bowed to Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin accepted this courtesy; he was definitely talking nonsense when he said his family had been doing this for three generations, but he had followed Li Sanjiang to many funerals, and he knew the procedures inside like the back of his hand.

"Professor Zhu, do you plan to rent a mourning hall at the funeral home or hold it in the residential area?"

"Let's hold it in the residential area; these flowers outside were all planted by her, and she should also want to say goodbye to everyone here. It's just... it would be best to be quiet and not disturb the neighbors."

"Don't worry, I understand."

Tan Wenbin began to handle it item by item. Later, the people sent by the school to help arrived, but instead became Tan Wenbin's subordinates.

Under his operation and management, the entire funeral was in good order, and Professor Zhu, who had lost his beloved, was able to sit beside the rented crystal coffin at this time, quietly accompanying his wife on her final journey.

For the relatives of the deceased, this can be considered a great stroke of luck.

Colleagues and students of the two elderly people all rushed to mourn.

Lin Shu was arranged by Tan Wenbin to write the gift list; according to Professor Zhu's wishes, whether it was from colleagues or students, they would all be returned after the funeral.

It was impossible to accept the funeral money from the students, and even if colleagues had had human relations in the past, at his age, he was afraid it would be difficult to have a chance to repay them in the future, so he simply didn't accept any of it.

Originally, the most suitable person for this errand was Li Zhuiyuan, but Li Zhuiyuan had the experience of writing a funeral couplet for Liu Jinxia before, so he was really not suitable to handle this specifically, fearing it would add variables to the funeral.

Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan was responsible for sitting next to Professor Zhu, listening to him constantly recount the stories of their past as a couple.

During this period, Li Zhuiyuan heard that Grandma Zhu's hometown was in Zhangjiajie, but there were no relatives left in her hometown.

This seemed like a coincidence, but it also carried a sense of deliberation.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't answer and continued to listen quietly.

When night fell, Runsheng and Yin Meng, who had just been discharged from the hospital, also came; Runsheng was still wrapped in many bandages, but it didn't affect him helping to do some things.

Since no banquet was held, everyone just ate something casually in the evening; Professor Zhu's mentality was still peaceful, and he followed everyone and ate a little.

In the evening, everyone kept vigil with Professor Zhu for the night.

Originally, Tan Wenbin said that he and A You could stay, but Li Zhuiyuan didn't return to the dormitory and chose to stay here.

The next morning, Grandma Zhu was picked up by the crematorium car, sent for cremation, and then buried in a nearby cemetery.

In the afternoon, Professor Zhu returned with his wife's black-and-white portrait and placed the portrait frame on the pre-arranged offering table.

Tan Wenbin helped light incense and candles, and after the final ritual process was completed, this funeral process was considered over.

Overall, this funeral was held relatively simply, and many places did not conform to the rules, but Li Sanjiang once told Zhuangzhuang that for the work of the dead, it specifically depends on the needs of the living.

For Professor Zhu, what he wanted was to go through a process as simple as a light breeze, without the need for a grand and lively event, so that he could keep the feeling of his wife at home and continue to live his life with "her."

Finally, Professor Zhu grabbed the arms of everyone who helped one by one and knelt down to them.

It was just a gesture; the old professor just bent his knees and was lifted up by everyone, not letting him really kneel down.

One red envelope each, the old professor insisted that they take them, so everyone took them.

After it ended, Li Zhuiyuan and the others returned to the school.

In the past at this time, everyone should go to Old Sichuan for a meal, but having just experienced a peaceful funeral, they temporarily had no appetite for these fishy, spicy, and greasy foods.

The five people cooked a few pots of noodles in the shop, paired with sausages and pickles brought from home, and had a simple meal.

After everyone finished eating, Li Zhuiyuan said:

"The action can begin."

Tan Wenbin is responsible for the arrest warrant line, can play freely, find out the degree of involvement, and make the cause and effect of this line richer.

Lin Shu and Yin Meng are responsible for the line of thugs near the school; they have to put more money in their pockets or bags, show off their wealth in front of that group of thugs, and then deliberately go to small alleys to give the other party a chance to rob, and incidentally give them the gold bar clue.

Yin Meng is the only girl in the team, and Lin Shu, when he doesn't open his face, gives people a timid look that is easy to bully.

It is most suitable for the two of them to be bait.

Runsheng is not suitable to appear in such a scene, especially since he is still wrapped in bandages; a big guy with bandages looks like he is not to be trifled with at first glance. Even if he hangs a big gold chain around his neck and swings it around, that group of thugs whose level is so low that they only bully students would not dare to provoke him.

Li Zhuiyuan asked everyone to prepare the script today first; after the script is written, submit it to him for review.

The purpose of doing this is also to decentralize thinking training.

In the evening, Tan Wenbin first showed his script to Li Zhuiyuan; he should have been pondering for a long time, and it was done in one go.

"Okay, very good, let's go this way."

In the evening, Yin Meng and Lin Shu also submitted their scripts. After Li Zhuiyuan read them, he said:

"There is no need to play 'lovers', the drama is added too much." Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "You make a deletion; you can amplify the conflict characteristics of your daily interaction mode, don't leave too many pain points in the plot."

Yin Meng and Lin Shu looked at each other, obviously not yet understanding deeply.

"Come, come, come, I'll help you change it together." Tan Wenbin hugged the shoulders of the two and began to help them plan.

By late night, the second version of the script was changed.

Li Zhuiyuan took it and read it, saying somewhat worriedly:

"No problem, but I hope you don't affect future unity after acting."

In the third and fourth period of the next day, Li Zhuiyuan went to Professor Zhu's class to wait as usual.

He originally thought Professor Zhu would not come to class, but he came.

For him, maintaining the original rhythm of life helps to create a feeling that the life mode is still the same.

Professor Zhu first smiled at Li Zhuiyuan sitting in the corner of the classroom, and then began to lecture.

His voice was a bit hoarse and tired, but the content of his lecture was still full of logic and rationality.

After the lecture, Professor Zhu walked to Li Zhuiyuan's side and chatted with the young man for a while.

After chatting, he left.

Li Zhuiyuan sat there, watching his back disappear outside the classroom door.

Not long after, Runsheng came in, carrying a lunch box in his hand.

Li Zhuiyuan opened the lunch box; inside were two dishes Runsheng made himself, covered on the rice.

"Brother Runsheng, have you eaten?"

"Definitely ate first, otherwise I'd have to carry a bucket over, it doesn't look good."

"Have they all left?"

"Hmm, Binbin went out, Mengmeng and A You also went out."

"Then after I finish eating, I should also go find my third line."

"Third line, where is it going?" Although Runsheng had no part this time, he had also read the plan and script.

"Go find Professor Zhu."

"Wasn't this Professor Zhu's class just now?"

"It is his class, I deliberately waited until now; him coming to talk to me and me taking the initiative to talk to him, the nature is different."

On the first day of the funeral, sitting beside the crystal coffin, when Professor Zhu mentioned Grandma Zhu's hometown, Li Zhuiyuan felt a little nervous; he didn't want Professor Zhu to mention any last wishes Grandma Zhu had in her hometown next.

Because what he wanted was not the push of the river water, but his own initiative.

On the second day of the funeral, Li Zhuiyuan also didn't mention Grandma Zhu's hometown to Professor Zhu; the class this morning, including the chat between the two after class, Li Zhuiyuan also didn't mention it, of course, Professor Zhu also didn't mention it.

This was to confirm that there was no river water involved this time.

Now that the confirmation is complete, it's time for him to take the initiative to dig.

Li Zhuiyuan finished his meal, covered the lunch box, and said: "Brother Runsheng, let's go."

Runsheng smiled; he knew that Xiaoyuan deliberately called him to come, fearing that he had just returned from injury and had nothing to do this time, which would make him feel depressed, so he deliberately called him to bring food over in the morning, saying they were going to act together.

But if it was just going to Professor Zhu's house, where would he need to follow?

Xiaoyuan is indeed different from before.

The Xiaoyuan of the past, when he was in front of you, he would be very enthusiastic, considerate, and pay attention to every detail, but if you were not by his side, in his world, it seemed as if you were completely gone all of a sudden.

Runsheng had seen the scene of the young man clutching burning incense by the creek after receiving his mother's call that night.

He was like climbing up from the mud little by little, and he himself had already become accustomed to standing in front of him.

When Li Zhuiyuan arrived at Professor Zhu's house, Professor Zhu was eating.

He only cooked one dish, held his rice bowl, sat in front of his wife's portrait, and chatted while eating.

Li Zhuiyuan's arrival surprised Professor Zhu somewhat, because if there was anything, why not say it in the classroom?

"Xiaoyuan, have you eaten?"

"I've eaten, Professor Zhu."

Li Zhuiyuan sat down on the chair beside him and began to chat with Professor Zhu slowly.

As they chatted, the young man took the initiative to turn the topic: "Zhangjiajie is such a beautiful place, didn't Grandma Zhu ever think about going back to her hometown to take a look?"

"She thought about it, but firstly, there was no one left in her hometown long ago, and secondly, we were busy with work before. After retirement, her health gradually got worse."

"Then Grandma Zhu should have regrets in her heart, right? I heard that after a person passes away, their soul will drift back to their hometown to take a look."

Hearing this, Professor Zhu was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously.

Fearing that Professor Zhu would decide to go himself, Li Zhuiyuan hurriedly spoke again:

"Professor Zhu, I have a relative who is working in Grandma Zhu's hometown recently; he just called and asked me to go see him. I have prepared to ask the school for leave to go there.

I plan to bring a painting of the hometown village that Grandma Zhu drew in her study, and another photo of Grandma Zhu, to go to her hometown and help her fulfill her wish."

"Your relative?" Professor Zhu asked with a worried face. "What kind of relative? Xiaoyuan, you are still young, and these days, besides immediate family members, some relatives also have to..."

Li Zhuiyuan spat out two words with difficulty: "My mother."

"Oh, that's good, that's good." Professor Zhu breathed a sigh of relief; he was worried that the young man had been deceived. If such a child were abducted, the loss to society would be great.

"Professor Zhu, shall I go to the study to get the painting?"

"Then, thank you, Xiaoyuan. Actually, I just listened to your words and was planning to make a trip myself."

"You are old, and so many students are looking forward to your lectures."

"Indeed, then I can only trouble you."

"This is what I should do, please don't be polite."

Grandma Zhu's relics were also packed up with Li Zhuiyuan's help; he knew where the painting was. Professor Zhu got another photo of Grandma Zhu for Li Zhuiyuan; the photo was also black and white, but the Grandma Zhu inside was younger.

"She should like to be younger when returning to her hometown, right?" The last question, Professor Zhu said to the portrait.

Li Zhuiyuan first organized the things, and then offered three sticks of incense to Grandma Zhu again.

The old lady might not have such a big obsession with her hometown in her heart; it was he who added this wish to her.

She had already left, and the cause and effect could not involve her, but to a certain extent, he could also be considered to have utilized her.

Li Zhuiyuan handed the note with Tan Wenbin's pager number and the shop's phone number to Professor Zhu.

The person in the team most sensitive to the pager sound was Tan Wenbin, and someone could answer the shop's phone 24 hours a day.

"This is?"

"Professor, if you have anything or have a headache or fever and need to go to the hospital in the future, call this number, and we will arrive immediately."

"No need for this, I am in good health, and besides, how can I keep troubling you."

"This is a token of our heart as students, please accept it."

"Good, good, good, I accept it, thank you, child, I will go and press it under the glass of my desk."

Professor Zhu went into the inner room with the note.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at Grandma Zhu's portrait; the blue smoke from the three burning incenses curled up, and Deng Chen's photography technique was truly too delicate.

In the portrait, Grandma Zhu, in the white smoke, looked at the young man and burst into a smile.

Tan Wenbin walked out of the school gate; next, he was going to the bureau to find his father.

However, he didn't go out driving the shop's small pickup truck as usual, but hailed a taxi at the school gate.

Following the script, he had to add drama to himself now. As soon as he got in the car, the driver laughed: "Yo, it's you, haha."

"Master, is it such a coincidence?"

"Yeah, it's really a coincidence."

This taxi driver was the driver who took Tan Wenbin from Pingju Photo Studio to the Eighth Hospital last time. The other party told him that a turtle-grandson had a car accident, and because he also wanted to go to the Eighth Hospital to visit an old brother, he even waived his fare.

Jin Ling is very big, and there are many taxis. This was the second time they met, so Tan Wenbin incidentally looked at the work permit the other party placed in front: Liu Changping.

Liu Changping said while driving: "I'm going to watch a movie with someone tonight."

"Have a partner?"

"Just a hair's breadth away."

"Congratulations, congratulations."

"It's really thanks to you; if it weren't for you taking my car to the hospital that day, I wouldn't have met her."

"Oh?"

Please... you... collect_ (!)

"She is an intern nurse in the hospital; I happened to meet her when I parked the car, and just as she fell, I went to help her up, and that's how we met."

"That's your own blessing."

"Hehe."

Tan Wenbin knew that it was because Liu Changping didn't take his money that day.

He had just accompanied the Long Wang to finish the first wave and returned, and he gave him a free ride, which could be considered as sharing a little bit of merit in this wave.

This little bit of merit, falling on Liu Changping, bestowed him a line of marriage.

This is not an exaggeration... because relying on this merit, he directly increased his lifespan. Looking at that White Crane Boy, if the merit was not abundant enough, how could he "endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens" to eat alone?

Besides that, after Tan Wenbin read the records in Brother Xiaoyuan's "Zhuiyuan Secret Scroll" about the third wave, he noticed that Brother Xiaoyuan also wrote about being "blacked" when taking a car back to school.

Although not verified, Tan Wenbin suspected that the one who blacked Brother Xiaoyuan's fare was the "turtle-grandson peer" in Liu Changping's mouth.

This guy is really something; who to black is not good, but to black the fare of the Long Wang who just stepped back from the wave.

Directly linking his own cause and effect with "evil spirits," if he doesn't have bad luck, who will?

Thanks to Brother Xiaoyuan breaking down the cause and effect of river walking and feeding it to him, Tan Wenbin now has his own understanding of this. In this world, there really exists a kind of "noble person"; meeting a noble person can start one's luck.

But the premise is that you yourself must be upright; those who are upright borrow good luck, and those who are not upright encounter backlash.

After the opening remarks were laid out, Tan Wenbin chatted with Liu Changping.

As they chatted, he introduced the topic into the robbery cases targeting taxi drivers.

"Isn't it, especially when picking up passengers at night, you have to be extra careful. Some remote places, no matter how far the road is and how high the fare is, I dare not go."

"And those nights when several men take a taxi together, I have to have some doubts in my heart."

"I don't want to have money to earn but no life to spend."

"Then can't they arrange for a woman to take a taxi to lower your vigilance? I heard that there was such a case four years ago, and one person died."

"Yes, yes, yes, I remember that incident; that group of people just let a woman take a taxi at night, and after arriving at the place, two men rushed up to the car to rob."

"Sigh, at that time I had just entered this line, and knowing this incident scared me, oh. Later, the gang was caught by the police, but it seems that the woman escaped."

Next, Tan Wenbin deliberately guided Liu Changping to criticize the female suspect together.

Liu Changping scolded with great satisfaction. After arriving at the destination, he was still not satisfied, picked up the cup, and drank a whole cup of water in one breath.

Tan Wenbin paid the fare, and Liu Changping generously rounded it off for him.

"Yo, how can I be embarrassed, isn't it usually the passenger who gives the driver a tip?"

"Seriously, little brother, if you open a shop one day, specifically to accompany people to chat, I think some people are willing to spend money to find you just to chat."

"Hahaha." Tan Wenbin laughed and got out of the car, walked into the police station, came to the door of his own father's office, and knocked.

"Enter."

Tan Wenbin tidied up his clothes. Thinking of the previous Liu Changping, he suddenly realized that, in fact, his own father had always been the one who shared the most.

I haven't even started to sponge off my parents yet, so it turns out you, old man, have always been taking advantage of your son? It's simply turning the world upside down!

Tan Wenbin pushed open the office door and went in, deliberately not closing the door, and said very loudly:

"Dad, when I just took a taxi here, I heard a taxi driver tell a story, saying that four years ago there was a gang..."

"In this world, there is actually such an arrogant criminal gang. The taxi drivers, in order to serve the citizens, in order to create a good city business card, work early and late, forget to eat and sleep, and have put in so much effort..."

"In broad daylight, under the bright sky..."

"It is simply unbearable..."

"As an outstanding youth commended by the police station, if I have a chance, I must..."

"... bring them to justice!"

Tan Wenbin's voice attracted many police officers outside. Some old police officers were also popularizing this case to young police officers. In order to catch this gang, the bureau had put in a lot of effort, and even let police officers pretend to be taxi drivers.

Tan Long sat behind the office desk. At first, he was wondering what kind of illness his son was having again?

But listening, his complexion gradually became a bit strange. He had a premonition that he... was going to make a contribution again.

It was really because every time before making a contribution, his son would perform such an inexplicable scene.

Finally, Tan Wenbin finished speaking.

Tan Long opened the lid of the teacup on his desk and pushed it toward the front of the desk.

Tan Wenbin was not polite either, walked up, and drank the tea in the cup in one gulp.

"Hoo... hiccup."

"What's the matter?"

Tan Wenbin went to close the office door, walked to the desk, and whispered: "Dad, the arrest warrant I photocopied at your place yesterday..."

"Isn't what you just said one of them?"

"Hmm, I think the case I just mentioned can be investigated again."

"Do you have any clues?"

"Not yet, but human effort can achieve anything."

"Then what ideas do you have?"

"Not yet, but heaven has eyes."

Tan Long pulled out a cigarette and bit it in his mouth.

To tell the truth, as a police officer, he was unwilling to substitute his own thinking mode into this kind of situation.

But the problem is, sometimes he can't help himself. Ever since that boy pushed open his office door at the Shigang Police Station and walked in to tell him where the corpse was buried under the water tank in the pond, his worldview had produced some deviations.

He could only comfort himself over and over again that everything was for solving the case and bringing the criminals to justice.

Tan Wenbin took a cigarette from his father's cigarette case. After his father lit the cigarette, he leaned his mouth over.

Tan Long helped him light the cigarette and asked: "Didn't you quit?"

"Hmm, I've quit for many days."

"That's a pity, just endure it a bit more."

"It's okay, not a pity, quitting every day."

Tan Long sighed helplessly: "Smoke less, it's not good for your health."

Tan Wenbin exhaled a smoke ring and waved his hand. This is even more okay; your son can now actively do addition and subtraction on his lifespan.

Tan Long said: "The nature of this case was very bad at the time. As a citizen, one has the responsibility and obligation to cooperate with the police to jointly create a harmonious and safe social security environment..."

Tan Wenbin nodded continuously; he is worthy of being his own father, he is just like him, smart.

Tan Long: "... If you can find her, discover her, you must report it to the police in time."

"Understood!"

Tan Wenbin pinched out the cigarette butt and waved his hand: "Dad, I'm leaving. I might have to go on a long trip recently. You should go home more to accompany my mom."

"You don't need to teach me this."

"The problem is that you are busy with work and don't accompany your wife, so your wife wants to find my partner to accompany her. If my partner goes, I have to drive her, and I am also very busy, okay?"

"Get out!"

Tan Wenbin left the police station. When he walked to the door, he looked at the majestic and tall signs on both sides.

He remembered Brother Xiaoyuan saying before that when Grandpa Li encountered dirty things, he would take the initiative to hug the police station's sign.

At that time, Brother Xiaoyuan and Runsheng also treated him as a temporary sign and hugged him.

So, does his trip today count as coming to "hug the sign" too?

Anyway, since he's already here.

Tan Wenbin walked to the plaque, spread his arms, and gave it a warm hug.

"Yo, Binbin?" Police Officer Zhou happened to walk in from outside, saw this scene, and laughed, "If I had known, it would have been great if you had applied for the police academy!"

"Ha?" Tan Wenbin laughed while patting the dust on his chest, "The division of labor in the revolution is different."

"It's okay, after graduation in the future, it's not like there's no chance."

"I still prefer dealing with water."

"That's also fine, water conservancy projects are conducive to national development!"

At dusk, outside the middle school after school.

"Remember, you have to hand over this much money tomorrow, did you hear?"

"I... I don't have any more."

"Don't have any more? Hehe, just like today, wouldn't it be fine if you secretly took the money from home?"

"If I take it again, my parents will find out, really."

"I don't care if your parents find out or not. Remember, if you can't come up with the money tomorrow, think about your end."

"I..."

"Slap!"

A slap went over, the male student fell to the ground, a thug stepped on the boy's chest with his shoe, and spat heavily on the boy's face.

"This is just an appetizer. If you can't hand over the money tomorrow, I'll invite you to eat a good feast in the toilet, hahaha!"

"I'll hand it over... I'll hand it over..."

"Bang!"

The thug kicked the boy again: "Get out, see you tomorrow, don't think about hiding from us, we have plenty of ways to find you."

The boy climbed up very embarrassedly, crying while running away.

The three thugs gathered together, counting the money, and divided it in time.

Just at this time, a female student walked past, and a thug went up and gave the female student a heavy slap on the butt.

"Ah!"

The female student screamed and ran away.

The thug put his palm in front of his nose and sniffed, making a proud and harsh laugh.

At this time, another thug poked him and pointed to another place. At a small stall across the road, a young man who looked like a bookworm was paying money. He was holding a stack of Great Unities and was counting the change to give to the stall owner.

Next to the young man was a young woman, the woman was carrying a bag, wearing a skirt, and the two were arguing.

"Brother Hu, that girl is so fair."

"Yeah, really fair, really damn tender."

"Isn't she from the middle school, but from a nearby university?"

"Should be."

The eyes of the three thugs were immediately attracted by Yin Meng.

Yin Meng was not bad-looking to begin with, and had been whitened by Liu Yi using a special method. Coupled with the fact that she had deliberately dressed up today, she looked even more youthful and beautiful.

The three thugs unconsciously moved toward that side, wanting to join in the fun, either to play the hero to save the beauty or to take advantage of the situation, anyway, they wouldn't lose.

However, before they could cross the road, the two people finished buying things and took the initiative to walk here.

The man even took the initiative to hand the money to the woman and stuffed it into the girl's bag.

Lin Shu: "This is all the living expenses my family gave me this semester, you can keep it for me."

Yin Meng put the money into the bag while mocking: "Why are you giving me this money? Heh, I really look down on the face of an upstart family like yours."

Lin Shu: "You can say whatever you want about me, but you can't talk about my family!"

"I said it, I just said it, so what? Isn't your family just an upstart family, what are you being arrogant about."

"That's still better than your family; your family used to be rich, but now isn't it still just a chicken feather!"

"Even if it's a chicken feather, it's a phoenix feather; is it something a small character like your family can compare to?"

"Hey, a hero doesn't mention his past bravery; you don't even look at who is left in your family now!"

Next, both sides carried out high-frequency insults about "upstarts" and "fallen families."

The three thugs could hear that the man was originally trying to please the woman, but the woman didn't appreciate it. The woman's family conditions were very good before, but now they were not, but the man's family was very rich now.

The two clearly quarreled until they were angry, almost tearing their faces apart, scolding each other until their faces were red, not at all like acting.

Moreover, these two people spoke too densely, making the three thugs not know how to interject even after getting close.

Lin Shu: "You don't even look at the poor and sour look of your family now!"

Yin Meng: "What poor and sour look, my grandfather buried treasures in the backyard of the old house when he was alive. As long as I need it, I can go back to my hometown and dig it out at any time!"

According to local customs, Yin Meng's grandfather buried two jars of wine for Yin Meng not long after she was born, to be opened when Yin Meng got married.

"If you do this again, I won't pay attention to you!"

"Don't pay attention then, who cares about you, get out of here, don't follow me!"

"Fine, I'm leaving!"

Lin Shu separated.

Yin Meng walked into the small alley ahead alone.

The three thugs looked at each other, then followed. They had just seen with their own eyes that the man stuffed a stack of money into the woman's bag.

"Ah, what are you doing, what are you doing!"

Yin Meng heard the footsteps coming from behind, used the bag in her hand to swing at them, but soon because the girl was weak, even the bag was snatched away.

"Get away, don't come over, don't come over!" Yin Meng hugged her arms in horror, retreating into the corner of the wall.

The three thugs swallowed their saliva and were just about to take advantage of her when they suddenly heard a sharp whistle coming from nearby.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The three thugs only knew how to bully middle school students and squeeze their money. As soon as they heard this sound, they panicked and immediately dropped Yin Meng and ran away quickly.

Lin Shu landed with a whistle in his mouth.

Yin Meng also returned to normal and said: "You were too fast, I haven't rendered the foreshadowing yet."

Lin Shu said: "I was worried you couldn't help it."

If these three really moved their hands and feet on Yin Meng, Lin Shu was afraid that Yin Meng would get angry and directly poison the three to death.

Yin Meng said: "You go chase quickly, follow them, see if they will take the bait."

"Understood!"

Lin Shu climbed over the wall to chase.

The three thugs ran back to one of their homes. After closing the door, they immediately began to rummage through the snatched bag in the room.

First was that stack of money, a genuine stack of Great Unities.

Immediately after, inside were some loose money and some cosmetics used by girls.

"Eh, what is this?"

One of the cosmetic boxes cracked, and a yellowed piece of paper was hidden inside.

Brother Hu took this piece of paper out and spread it out. A map was drawn on it, marked with traditional characters, with a specific location. Next was Zhangjiajie, Shazi Town, Bai Chi Village, Xie Residence Backyard...

Finally, there was a small illustration, drawing a jar buried in a courtyard, with pieces of things in the jar, and a note next to it saying "Gold." Even without looking at the note, one could actually tell.

"Is this the treasure map of that woman's family? She said her grandfather buried treasures for her."

"Is this true?" one of the thugs asked.

"Brother Hu, I think it should be true."

Brother Hu: "I think so too."

At the edge of the roof, Lin Shu hung there, listening to the conversation inside through the window.

After discussion, the three thugs gradually reached a consensus, believing that this treasure map was true.

This scam was not clever, but it was impeccable.

Because the three thugs couldn't think of the possibility of being deceived, because they didn't have anything to be deceived of in the first place.

Of course, the most important thing was that this stack of money was genuinely in their hands.

It was the weight of this stack of money that set off the treasure map to be as true as it could be.

If any scammer smashed a stack of money directly on your face when scamming, then in this world, there is a high probability that not many people can hold on without being deceived.

"Does that woman know the treasure map is in here?"

Brother Hu: "Regardless of whether she knows or not, we must hurry up and go, dig out the gold, and in this life, we won't have to worry about anything!

"Even if we don't find the gold, this money is enough for the three of us to travel back and forth freely, anyway, we won't lose!"

Brother Hu gave him a slap on the head: "Fart, don't say unlucky words, there must be gold! Go, you two go home first, hurry up and pack your things, we'll go to the train station tonight!"

Lin Shu smiled, retracted his body, and just jumped down, preparing to find a small shop to make a pager call, when he met Yin Meng who was also searching.

Yin Meng threw a bag of clothes to Lin Shu, which contained a set of new clothes, a hat, a silk scarf, sunglasses, and money. She asked:

"How is it?"

"Go notify Brother Xiaoyuan, we can eat the fish."

Brother Hu and the two brothers each had a luggage bag and entered the train station.

They first came to the ticket window to buy tickets. Fortunately, there was a train to that destination in the evening.

"Are there any soft sleepers?"

Brother Hu asked pretentiously. He actually saw it written on the sign that there were no soft sleeper tickets for this train, but it didn't prevent him from deliberately asking now that he had money.

If there were really soft sleeper tickets, he wouldn't ask. Before getting the gold, he didn't dare to spend too lavishly.

"No soft sleepers, there are hard sleepers, are you buying?"

"Buying, three tickets."

Brother Hu took the tickets and turned to leave.

Behind, Lin Shu, who had changed his outfit, walked up. He had rich makeup and acting experience, and following Brother Hu and them at close range without being discovered was simply too simple.

After Brother Hu and them walked a little further, Lin Shu said: "On the same train as them, five hard sleepers."

The wind at the station at night was very strong, blowing the chill of late autumn.

The train finally entered the station, and the railway staff began to guide and arrange, and the passengers got off and on the train one after another.

Brother Hu and the three walked into a hard sleeper car, with three berths on each side, a total of six berths.

"We only have one lower berth."

Brother Hu: "Damn, I forgot to say it when buying the ticket."

The tickets opened were consecutive numbers, and the brothers on the left side just happened to cover the upper, middle, and lower berths.

But the middle and upper berths in the hard sleeper car were really cramped and very uncomfortable.

Brother Hu: "Like this, A Xing, you sleep on the opposite lower berth, and take turns sleeping with A Wen. If anyone comes, we'll just change berths with him, what a big deal."

A Xing nodded and directly occupied a lower berth on the opposite side.

Soon, a big guy still wrapped in bandages walked in.

He stood beside A Xing and said in a low voice: "This is my berth."

A Xing looked up at the big guy, and then looked at Brother Hu sleeping on the opposite lower berth.

Brother Hu saw Runsheng, but he pretended not to see him.

"Get out!"

Runsheng's voice amplified.

A Xing had no choice but to leave the lower berth and climb to the upper berth on the opposite side.

Next, Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin came in.

The young man had Grandma Zhu's painting and photo in his bag, and Tan Wenbin had the arrest warrant in his bag.

Li Zhuiyuan climbed to the upper berth on this side, and Tan Wenbin came to the middle berth.

Yin Meng and Lin Shu were in the next compartment.

The train began to start.

Tan Wenbin took the lead in opening the conversation, asking Brother Hu: "Where are you going?"

Brother Hu: "Zhangjiajie."

"What a coincidence, I'm going there too."

"Are you from there?"

"Consider it half, I went to school there when I was young."

"Then do you know where Shazi Town and Bai Chi Village are?"

"Fool Town and Idiot Village?"

"Right, do you know where they are?"

"Hey, I really don't know. In recent years, place names in various places have changed drastically. Didn't Zhangjiajie not have this name before? Are you going there?"

"Hmm."

"It's okay, when we arrive at the place, I'll help you ask, we'll definitely be able to ask."

"Good."

"By the way, what are you going there for?"

"Something." Brother Hu didn't want to talk more.

Tan Wenbin didn't speak anymore. It was late at night when they got on the train, and everyone gradually began to fall asleep.

At first, the snoring of Brother Hu and the three was very loud, but soon, it was completely suppressed by the symphony of Runsheng and Tan Wenbin.

Li Zhuiyuan lay on the upper berth, opened his eyes, and looked obliquely out of the train window.

Outside it was pitch black, with only occasional sparse lights.

If it were a pessimist, he would probably be sad at the sight, feeling that the road ahead was bleak and blurred.

But in the young man's eyes, there was vivid luster flowing; he was very excited.

Walking the river, walking the river,

Perhaps it shouldn't be squatting there, trembling and waiting for one wave after another of river water to slap on oneself.

But should,

Take the initiative to walk toward the river water!

(End of chapter)