Chapter 173

Through the handwriting, Li Zhuiyuan could grope the emotions of the diary owner when writing these words.

The youth raised his head and looked at the window in front of him.

Old-fashioned wooden window, somewhat dilapidated, the gaps were obvious.

The diary owner should have been crouching behind this window at that time, carefully peering downward through the cracks.

The earthen building courtyard was very large, with a bonfire trough in the middle; when having a meeting, a group of people should have been sitting around there.

In that group of people, the diary owner saw himself.

Thinking about it, at that moment he should have been incomparably terrified.

Li Zhuiyuan flipped through the previous diary content; the diary was not a workbook, many people wouldn't write their names on the opening page, and the diary content was basically described from the perspective of the first person "I".

However, Li Zhuiyuan's luck was relatively good; he quickly found the diary owner's name information.

【When Zhao Gong called out "Cui Hao" and "Li Ren" in his mouth, I turned my head and took a look at Li Ren; in his eyes, I saw helplessness and dissatisfaction; thinking about it, my eyes at that time should also have had the same emotions.

This is probably the price for us not giving a gift when Zhao Gong announced that his son was born and invited everyone to a meal.

Sigh, I really don't understand, his son was born in his hometown, and he could actually hold a banquet on the construction site remotely, and was even embarrassed to collect gifts.

If I had known, I should have given it.

Now it's messed up, being arranged to stay behind, can't even go home for the New Year.】

The diary owner was named Cui Hao, and the person who stayed behind with him was named Li Ren.

Ran Dacheng originally wanted to invite them both to his house for the New Year, but found that these two people had disappeared before the New Year.

He suspected that these two had gone AWOL.

Every festive season makes one miss their family more; the local conditions were hard, and secretly dropping the burden to go home for the New Year reunion was not incomprehensible.

But according to the diary content now, things were not that simple.

The problem now is:

Cui Hao and Li Ren, where are they now?

Even if they were scared into going home, it shouldn't be without any news; at least Xue Liangliang should have received a greeting in advance.

The people staying here are not ordinary workers; they are technicians or managers. Going AWOL is one thing, but could they really just hide their names and not even want their unit status?

This is a construction team, not the army.

Therefore, these two people are likely truly lost.

Li Zhuiyuan quickly flipped through the diary content during the period before the New Year.

In Cui Hao's diary, it was filled with all kinds of dissatisfaction with leaders and colleagues; there were more than a dozen named and shamed.

However, among the large amount of complaints and belly-aching, there was also a lot of work content.

One of the big reasons why the construction progress was dragged down was that accidents occurred frequently on the construction site.

Today one broke a leg, tomorrow another had a hand amputated, and some fell into the mixer, directly losing their lives.

Looking at it broadly, more than a dozen were seriously injured in accidents, and three lost their lives.

Combined with the scale of this project, it was already quite exaggerated.

Under this background, if the construction progress could still be guaranteed, that would really be called seeing a ghost.

And, Cui Hao's diary also recorded another thing.

That was that the construction team absorbed a lot of local young and strong labor; many people from a nearby Miao village also came to the construction site to work and earn money; in an accident, one from the Miao village was seriously injured, and two died.

Later, the Miao village side came over collectively to ask for an explanation, making the project stop for a full half month.

This is a labor protection dispute, temporarily not the focus of Li Zhuiyuan's attention.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed the description in Cui Hao's diary:

Today heavy rain, construction stopped; don't know why, at night that group of Miao people came to the construction site, holding torches, singing and dancing, making quite a commotion, and then fell from the construction scaffolding, causing a two-dead, one-injured accident.

Cui Hao said they should have been drunk that night.

No wonder both sides would pull and push for this for so long; the Miao village side felt their people had an accident on the construction site, and the construction unit also felt they were wronged.

And, this matter hadn't been completely resolved before the New Year; both sides would still confront each other from time to time.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but suspect that this application was not for technical support, but the construction unit wanted to find someone to dump the burden; maybe they didn't count on Xue Liangliang to solve it, but hoped that after Xue Liangliang couldn't solve it, they would continue to call people to come forward.

As for the reason for frequent accidents, because he hadn't had time to go to the construction site to see, he didn't know whether it was caused by objective construction conditions or non-standard construction.

Of course, it is also possible that neither is the case, but another kind of special trouble.

Li Zhuiyuan took the diary, called everyone downstairs, and handed the diary to Xue Liangliang and Tan Wenbin to read together, while he also made a brief oral introduction.

Everyone sat in the courtyard on the first floor, with a fire raised in the middle, and food cooking in the pot.

Ran Dacheng sent some cured pork ribs and fruits and vegetables; rice and flour were already in the house, so Runsheng simply processed them and cooked a pot of soup rice.

Xue Liangliang picked up the key points in the diary and read them, handed the diary to Tan Wenbin, picked up a spoon, and while serving rice to everyone, said to Li Zhuiyuan:

"Xiaoyuan, if this kind of thing really happened, then I can only listen to your command."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Cui Hao and Li Ren, need to be searched for; we must figure out what happened before the New Year.

Besides, the Miao village line, we also have to touch it; I suspect that on the night the accident occurred, those three Miao people were not drunk and had an accident.

We haven't been to the construction site yet, so we must also conduct an on-site inspection.

However, what must be done first is to ensure the safety of this 'nest'."

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, first walked into an office on the first floor, took out paper and pen, and drew a formation layout diagram on the desk.

Formation is something that must be adapted to local conditions, especially now that Li Zhuiyuan's understanding level of formations has deepened again; he wants to incorporate the feng shui pattern into it, so that the formation can exert a higher effect.

After designing, it also had to undergo fool-proof step decomposition, simplifying complex things, and then handing them over to the next-level "contractor".

When he drew the diagram and came out, Tan Wenbin and the others had just finished eating.

Li Zhuiyuan handed the formation diagram to Tan Wenbin; Tan Wenbin flipped through it page by page, then subcontracted it to his next level.

This kind of process, everyone in the team was familiar with.

Soon, Tan Wenbin, Runsheng, Yin Meng, and Lin Shu You all took formation flags and other materials to set up according to the diagram's markings.

In the earthen building at night, crisp sounds similar to multiplication tables kept coming out.

If an old man from the village passed by and heard this movement, he would be afraid that it would evoke memories of attending literacy classes in the past.

Xue Liangliang felt that sitting still was not appropriate, so he leaned toward the youth.

"Xiaoyuan, find me some work too."

Li Zhuiyuan took out a stack of "test paper talismans" he drew from his pocket and handed them to Xue Liangliang:

"Brother Liangliang, you go stick these talismans on the ground."

"Where specifically to stick?"

"As you wish."

"Good, then you eat slowly."

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his lunch box; the soup rice was already cold, so he added some hot water to it, then ate it with the pickles and sausages brought from home.

Everyone kept busy until late at night, and the formation was considered set up; at the formation eye position, Li Zhuiyuan lit three candles, then signaled everyone to rest.

A newly arrived, unfamiliar environment, don't run around blindly at night; it's better to recuperate and wait for dawn.

Six people, all sleeping on floor mats in an office on the first floor; even if there were ready-made bunks on the second floor, no one went to sleep.

The first-floor office door was open, facing the courtyard, with a large space; no matter what happened, there was always some room for maneuver.

Tan Wenbin arranged the night watch rotation, and next was sleeping.

A night of peace, dawn and rooster crowing.

Everyone washed up, ate something simple, and then Li Zhuiyuan assigned the tasks for the day.

Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng stayed in the village to inquire.

Ran Dacheng had a tractor, wouldn't stay in the village all the time on weekdays; Cui Hao and Li Ren might have had contact with others in the village, and this part of the clues needed to be collected.

Furthermore, since the diary recorded such a weird scene, a basic understanding of local customs, backgrounds, and legends was also needed.

Anyway, Tan Wenbin doing this kind of thing, Li Zhuiyuan was very at ease, no need for himself to say more.

Xue Liangliang and Lin Shu You went to the construction site for inspection together.

Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng went to explore that Miao village.

Through inquiries in the village, they found Ran Dacheng's house.

On his dam, a lot of cured meat was drying, and the living conditions were clearly a large cut above other villagers' homes.

Ran Dacheng was eating breakfast, didn't expect Xue Liangliang and the others to come over so early; after quickly shoveling a few mouthfuls, he hurriedly drove out his tractor, carrying the four to the construction site.

The road to the construction site had been simply renovated, better to walk than the road into the village, but it was also bumpy.

On the way, Li Zhuiyuan asked Ran Dacheng about the location of the Miao village.

Ran Dacheng said the road to there was even harder to walk, he could take them there tomorrow, but was refused by Li Zhuiyuan.

Acting separately meant increasing risk; since this decision had already been made, efficiency must be maximized.

Almost at the construction site, Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng got off the tractor; from here there was a fork road, climbing over the mountain, they could reach that Miao village.

Ran Dacheng said he would wait here on the return trip to pick them up and return together, then continued to drive the tractor carrying Xue Liangliang and Lin Shu You toward the construction site.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't rush to the fork road, but stood in place, looking out from a high vantage point at the hydroelectric station construction site diagonally below, while taking out his compass.

That place was a standard yin-gathering and sha-gathering pattern; generally speaking, hydroelectric stations are really suitable for this kind of terrain construction, although not standard, but many times water power belongs to yin.

But what made Li Zhuiyuan a bit strange was that under the yin-gathering and sha-gathering bureau, there should have been signs of yin dampness and accumulation, but the mountains on both sides of the hydroelectric station were barren.

Either the dam construction broke the feng shui pattern here, or the yin dampness that should have gathered was neutralized... or absorbed by other things.

If it were the latter, it would mean there was something special at the construction site; if it wasn't leveled, accidents would easily occur during construction.

Fortunately, Xue Liangliang had Lin Shu You to protect him, and when assigning tasks in the morning, Li Zhuiyuan also explained to only observe and not take specific measures, meaning to run if seeing bad things.

"Brother Runsheng, let's go."

"Alright."

Runsheng bent down, Li Zhuiyuan got on his back, and Runsheng started running.

The mountain road was rugged, but Runsheng was still moving as if on flat ground.

In the eyes of people in the plains, climbing mountains and crossing ridges is a description of difficulty, but in the eyes of people in mountainous areas, this is their daily life.

The mountain Ran Dacheng said to climb over was not a hillside; this mountain had several continuous stretches.

With Runsheng's speed, he still ran for nearly an hour before seeing the Miao village buildings on the opposite slope.

This was a Miao village that, although already in contact with the outside world, hadn't really been developed; the closer one got to it, the more one could feel a simple and ancient aura.

Brother Liangliang once said that such places would be tourist attractions in the future.

But that is the future; at least now, when an outsider suddenly enters their world, besides curiosity and exploration, there is still a sense of vigilance left between each other.

Before reaching the village gate, someone came to ask Li Zhuiyuan and the two about their purpose in coming here; the other party's Mandarin accent was very heavy.

However, Li Zhuiyuan could understand it; after all, it was tempered by the Nantong dialect.

Li Zhuiyuan told them that he was a new investigator from the construction site, coming to inquire and understand the situation of the accident last year.

Hearing this self-introduction, clear hostility appeared in the eyes of the people around, but an elder drove the young people away and signaled to follow him up.

Young people are easily guided by emotions in their behavioral logic, but elders can understand that fighting is not the true way to solve problems.

The environment inside the Miao village was filled with a wild beauty.

However, it was not that primitive; things of modern life, what is outside is also here.

Especially when seeing a family in the courtyard, two children sitting on small stools holding pencils doing homework, the wind in the village blowing over the illustrations in their language books, it all became a bit light.

The middle-aged man led Li Zhuiyuan and the two into an old house; inside sat an old man, the old man was bowing his head smoking a bamboo pipe.

After a simple exchange, the old man nodded to indicate he knew, and the middle-aged man retreated.

The old man let out a long breath, raised his head, and when he saw Li Zhuiyuan, there was a slight surprise in his eyes, and he asked:

"How come a doll came?"

The old man's Mandarin was very standard and fluent.

Li Zhuiyuan took out his documents, inside were his student ID and the internship certificate issued by the unit.

The old man took it and looked at it carefully, and while handing the documents back to Li Zhuiyuan, he turned his head and shouted into the room:

"A Mei, bring some food."

A pleasant response came from inside: "An outsider came?"

Generally, only when an outsider comes will Grandpa speak Mandarin.

"Mm, outsider, extraordinary, smart doll."

A Mei brought food out; she was the same age as Yin Meng, her eyes were very bright, and she smiled like a crescent moon.

Seeing Li Zhuiyuan, A Mei couldn't help but reach out and want to touch the youth's face:

"So handsome."

"Cough..." The old man coughed, interrupting his granddaughter's action, reminding: "Although the doll is small, he is also a public person now."

"Oh, this is really scary." A Mei retracted her hand, covering her mouth, expressing surprise.

The old man handed the bamboo pipe to Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head, indicating he didn't smoke.

Beside him, Runsheng's eyes brightened.

Runsheng hugged the bamboo pipe over; the old man taught him how to smoke, and after Runsheng took a puff, still feeling it wasn't enough, he took out an iron box from his bag, opened it, and took out a thick incense from inside, lit it, and put it into the bamboo pipe.

Then he took a hard puff, and Runsheng's face showed a comfortable and pleasant expression.

The old man was very curious.

Runsheng took out a thick incense and handed it to him.

The old man didn't try to light it and take a puff, but smelled it in front of his nose, then stood up abruptly, and looked at Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng with a more relaxed gaze:

"Two, who exactly are you!"

Being able to see another layer of identity from an incense proved that the old man was not an ordinary person either.

A Mei showed nervousness, walking to her grandfather's side.

The old man reached out and patted his granddaughter's hand, and asked with a more gentle tone:

"Two, are you here to solve that thing?"

Li Zhuiyuan said: "Grandpa, can we sit down and chat properly?"

"Please sit."

After breaking away from the category of ordinary people, chatting became easier and simpler; this was a situation Li Zhuiyuan was happy to see unfold.

Traditional Miao people generally have two surnames, one is Miao surname, one is Han surname; the old man's Han surname is Wen, and his Han name is Wen Xiushan.

Just hearing this name, one knew that the old man's family background was very good back then; of course, his status in the Miao village now was also very high, a bit similar to the clan head in the southern region, not only managing clan affairs but also managing sacrifices.

This sacrifice clearly had something to it; Master Wen was not curious about Runsheng eating incense, but saw the subtlety in this incense.

Back then in the General's tomb, Tan Wenbin took these incense to pull relationships and walk through the back door with those ghosts.

Li Zhuiyuan's self-introduction was relatively simple, saying that someone in his family studied the Xuanmen, and he was influenced by what he saw and heard, so he knew some.

To this set of words, the old man clearly didn't believe it, but going out, not overly exposing one's family background is common sense, so he didn't feel strange.

Both sides soon chatted about the construction site.

The old man said that it was only after people from the village went to work there that he noticed that the construction site had problems.

The three people who had the accident were also his disciples in the village; his intention was to help, letting them go and solve the problem, so as not to affect the construction.

After all, he could distinguish good from bad, knowing the benefits to the local area after the hydroelectric station

The three people who met with the accident were also his apprentices in the village; his original intention was to help by letting them go and solve the problem so it wouldn't affect the construction.

After all, he can distinguish good from bad and knows the benefits to the local area once the hydroelectric station is built.

But who would have thought that the problem wasn't solved, and instead, they were "solved" by the problem.

When he reached this point, a look of helplessness and depression appeared on the old man's face.

Without waiting for Li Zhuiyuan to speak, the old man asked first: "You tell me, should we ask for this compensation or not?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "You should."

It's just that the way of asking for it is a bit wrong; it's not rare for construction sites to hire "capable people and strange scholars" to perform rituals to drive away evil and ensure safety, but you really can't write this kind of expenditure down in black and white, and no one dares to write it.

Moreover, if such things are not made clear beforehand, it is even harder to sort out afterwards.

The old man had underestimated the enemy at the beginning.

Li Zhuiyuan: "If what you said is true, then regarding the compensation, I will go and help you fight for it."

The old man waved his hand: "It's not just about the compensation money; there is a problem in that place. If the problem isn't solved and construction continues, more things will only happen. Even if the hydroelectric station is finally built, it will instead trigger an even greater disaster."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Is this also the reason why you went to stop the construction?"

The old man: "Half and half, I suppose. The compensation money is needed, but I am also afraid that this problem will grow. You build the hydroelectric station and can just walk away, but if any further disasters occur here because of it, we locals will be the ones who have to bear it.

I am not inflexible, nor am I unreasonable, but if some things are not solved well, people really will continue to die."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Can you describe that problem more specifically?"

The old man stood up: "I'll take you to see someone."

Led by Master Wen, Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng walked into the home of another family in the village.

At the entrance sat an old couple; when the old couple saw the outsiders, their eyes immediately widened, filled with anger.

Master Wen scolded them a few times in the Miao language, and only then did the old couple turn their heads away and stop blocking them.

Walking into the house and pushing open a room, the room appeared somewhat small, and the wooden walls seemed to have been newly installed.

Inside sat a water vat, and a young man was soaking in it.

The young man's expression was listless; he opened his eyes when he heard movement, but his pupils were clouded white, and it was clear that not much of his self-awareness remained.

What he was soaking in was medicinal herbs, and there were a few snakes swimming inside.

However, dense gray fungal fuzz had already grown on the outer wall of the vat.

"I only had three apprentices; he is the only one who survived that night. Now, he can only barely be maintained in this state."

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "Can he speak now?"

"He is occasionally clear-headed and says some delirious things." The old man reached his hand into the water vat, grabbed a snake from inside, and then pressed and kneaded the snake's belly with his thumb.

The cloudiness in the young man's eyes receded slightly; his body began to thrash in the vat, and while he kept shouting, his expression alternated between terror and obsequiousness.

Li Zhuiyuan could not understand what he was saying, but there was one pronunciation that kept repeating—"Old Bian Po."

The old man translated: "He is begging for mercy, begging her not to eat him; he also says that his brother has been washed clean, and since she ate his brother, she shouldn't eat him."

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "That 'Old...' he called out..."

The young man noticed the old man's expression change and immediately changed his words to ask: "Can't even say the name?"

The old man nodded: "If you say it, she will be able to hear it and will come looking for you."

Having said this, the old man reached out and grabbed one side of the wall, dismantling it.

It turned out that the reason the room had seemed smaller when they opened the door earlier was that a layer of wooden boards had been newly added to all sides of the room, including the floor and the ceiling.

When these new wooden boards were removed, claw marks were everywhere on the original walls of the room.

She had come here more than once to look at this prey.

She had deliberately not killed him, deliberately let him live a life worse than death, and even deliberately left traces of her presence.

Ordinary evil spirits do not have such an arrogant style of conduct; they rarely appear in places where people live, especially when there are clearly capable people in the village.

The old man led Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng out of the house.

There was a sentence Li Zhuiyuan knew would be useless to say, but he still had to say it:

"I might have a way to make him return to normal."

"Thank you." The old man nodded, "But can you save our entire village?"

Li Zhuiyuan knew the answer would be like this.

The old man sighed and said: "This is her warning; the night he was saved, she left traces in the house."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I will try to deal with her."

The old man: "I will not help you."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Understood, but can you give me a little more information?"

The old man hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

He led Li Zhuiyuan back to his own house and sat down where they had been chatting earlier.

The old man had his granddaughter take out paper and pen and wrote down a few lines of characters, which were:

Ya Bian Po.

Xiong Ga Po.

Lao Bian Po.

The old man covered the characters with his hand, pushed them to the young man just to let him take a look, and then immediately folded the paper and burned it.

"Different places have different names for her; her story circulates throughout the entire Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan regions.

When I was very young, my grandfather told me her story, and when my granddaughter was young, I told it to her too.

But I really didn't expect that she would actually appear near my home."

When he reached this point, the old man gave a bitter smile.

This was originally a horror story that elders used to coax children into being good and going to sleep early.

Just like "if you don't behave, I'll call Uncle Policeman to come and catch you."

Seeing the children's frightened appearance, adults would only find it fun and interesting.

However, when they discovered that the background of this horror story was truly at their own doorstep, they could no longer laugh.

The expression on Li Zhuiyuan's face was also slightly solemn.

An evil spirit that can become a story circulating in a large area implies two characteristics: first, it has existed for a long time; second, it was once very active.

And this can all be understood as... difficult to deal with.

"When I was young, I traveled abroad, and I heard many versions of stories about her; she might be one, or she might be a category.

Some say she was a woman who suffered grievances while alive, and after death, her resentment gathered to give birth to a corpse demon; this category is collectively referred to as her.

Some say she was a noblewoman while alive, and after her family was destroyed and her village wiped out, she became a slave, suffered constant torture, and was finally taken to be buried alive with the dead; in the end, she used her own hands to dig out of the grave, becoming neither human nor ghost.

Some say she was originally a saintess who walked the evil path, attempting to gestate a ghost-fetus gu within herself, and was finally consumed by the gu's backlash; mother and child became one, born with resentment and addicted to blood.

There are simply too many stories about her, and I don't know which one is correct.

However, there is one point in common.

She,

likes to eat children."

While saying this, the old man looked at Li Zhuiyuan with a flickering gaze.

"Especially children like you, who look clean and refined; that is her favorite."

Li Zhuiyuan smiled politely.

The old man pursed his lips; this young man's spirit and courage truly made him look at him with new respect.

But soon, the young man's next words raised the old man's evaluation of him another level:

"That's quite good; I was afraid she wouldn't come."

The old man nodded somewhat stiffly.

Next, the old man mentioned a few more things.

One was that when his three apprentices prepared to deal with her, they brought along several artifacts that had been worshipped by the village for generations, but the result was not only heavy casualties, but even those artifacts were all destroyed.

Ordinary mountain spirits and ghosts couldn't even get close to those artifacts, but for her, they seemed to have no effect at all.

The second was that one night after the accident, the old man had personally sat in the injured apprentice's house, attempting to wait for her arrival.

She came, arriving silently, and left traces inside the house.

And throughout the whole process, the old man was completely unaware, which meant that if she had wanted to kill him, it would have been easy.

The third was that when a tribesman went down the mountain to the town to shop, he returned at night and caught a ride on a tractor belonging to a nearby villager.

An old woman on the road waved her hand wanting a ride too, so the villager let her get on as well.

The old woman was disheveled, her clothes were tattered, and after getting on the car, she looked very hungry, gnawing on something and eating with great relish.

When asked what she was eating, she said she was eating chicken feet and even gave two to that tribesman; the tribesman ate one first and felt the taste was good, so he put the other in his pocket, wanting to bring it back for his children to eat. As a result, after getting off the tractor and walking the mountain road back to the village, he looked under the light and saw that they were not chicken feet at all, but clearly bloody fingers joined together.

Li Zhuiyuan asked how that tribesman who ate the "chicken feet" was doing now.

The old man replied: He died after a serious illness; the funeral was just held before the New Year.

Li Zhuiyuan asked again who that villager driving the tractor was.

The old man said his surname was "Ran"; every once in a while, he would drive the tractor to bring some goods to sell in the Miao village, and he would also collect some mountain products to sell in town.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that the one driving the tractor was very likely Ran Dacheng.

However, from his contact with him, Li Zhuiyuan hadn't noticed anything wrong with him, and he had been to his home, which was also quite normal.

Generally, those who have been in contact with evil spirits for a long time will leave some traces on themselves or their residences.

But he had none at all.

Therefore, it is not necessarily the case that Ran Dacheng and that Old Bian Po are in cahoots; it is highly probable that he was just lucky, and although he had contact with Old Bian Po, he wasn't greedy enough to ask her for things to eat.

By the end of the chat, the old man really had no more clues to provide.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, preparing to take his leave.

The old man said: "I'm sorry, child."

In order to preserve the village, he chose to bow his head and avoid direct conflict, which was understandable.

Because Old Bian Po clearly had the ability to destroy this village.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled slightly and said: "You have already tried your best; leave the rest for me to solve."

The old man: "If it can be solved, after the matter is done, my Miao village will surely have..."

Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand, interrupting the old man's words.

"I am not doing this for that."

The old man: "I know, but this is a little token of our village's heart."

"I am not doing this for you all either."

The old man was silent.

The granddaughter asked: "Young lad from out of town, then what are you doing it for?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I am doing it for myself."

The granddaughter asked in confusion: "But you are not from here."

The old man reached out and gently pulled his granddaughter, saying:

"When I was young, I came into contact with some people; they liked to say one sentence, and every time they said that sentence, their expressions were very solemn.

Sir,

is it for the righteous path?"

This time it was Li Zhuiyuan's turn to be silent; he hadn't said any such thing.

The old man let out a sigh: "Sir, you are welcome to visit my village often in the future; not for thanks, but just to ask for the honor of your presence."

"Okay."

Li Zhuiyuan turned around, and Runsheng beside him squatted down, carried the young man on his back, and walked out of the Miao village.

The old man stood where he was, watching their backs disappear.

"Grandpa, they've all left, you're still looking."

The old man sat back down and took the bamboo pipe to himself.

The granddaughter laughed: "Grandma often said when she was alive that Grandpa was very handsome when he was young, and Grandma fell for you at first sight; was it just like that young man earlier?"

The old man smiled, then shook his head, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said slowly:

"I was far from being as good as him when I was young."

Li Zhuiyuan lay on Runsheng's broad back.

When Runsheng ran, he would deliberately maintain the balance of his upper body to reduce the jolting for the young man; Li Zhuiyuan could even take a nap on Runsheng's back during this time.

He had indeed fallen asleep.

Because he had a premonition that this Old Bian Po would be very difficult to deal with, and he had to ensure he was in a good state at all times.

To a certain extent, evil spirits that only know how to slaughter are actually easier to deal with.

But those that have power and know how to exercise restraint are actually more dangerous.

Because this means she has a brain.

"Xiaoyuan, look quickly."

Runsheng's voice woke Li Zhuiyuan, and the young man opened his eyes.

The two of them were standing on a hilltop, and further down was the fork where they had separated from Brother Liangliang and Ran Dacheng earlier.

It had been agreed that whoever finished first would wait here, and then they would take the tractor back to the village together.

Now, standing on the hillside, they could see a tractor already driving along the road in the distance below.

The one driving the tractor was Ran Dacheng.

Carrying four people in the back, namely Xue Liangliang, Lin Shu You...

As well as Runsheng and himself.

(End of chapter)