Chapter 20

After begging for mercy, the two old people gradually calmed down.

They were dead.

Their eyes were wide open, the corners of their eyes split, staring straight at the ceiling;

the veins on their necks were bulging, and the blood vessels beneath their skin appeared black;

their hands and feet were curled beneath them, as if bound by invisible ropes, their final cries before death sounding like the wails of those facing execution.

The doctors and nurses arrived; they came quickly, but they left them with no time.

Whether it was the alarming amount of blood loss or the physical state of the two old people at that moment, there was no point in taking further rescue measures.

Next, it was time to disperse the crowd of onlookers outside the ward and have the orderlies come quickly to clean the room.

The relatives were called to the office to handle the follow-up procedures.

Li Sanjiang saw his great-grandson; he pulled Li Zhuiyuan out in confusion and asked, "Aren't you supposed to be out picking river silt with your grandfather? How did you find your way here?"

Xue Liangliang took out his student ID and handed it over, saying, "Grandpa, I'm a student at Haihe University. I was originally working on the river project, and I brought a sick classmate to the hospital. Xiao Yuan knows the way, so I had him lead me. I've already told Xiao Yuan's grandfather and the others."

"He knows the way?" Li Sanjiang pointed at Li Zhuiyuan while looking at Xue Liangliang. "He hasn't been back in his hometown long, and he's never been to the city. What kind of way does he know?"

Xue Liangliang: "Actually, I quite like this child, so I thought I'd bring him out for some fun while I was at it."

Li Sanjiang took Xue Liangliang's student ID, looked at it carefully, and then returned it to him, accepting this reason. After all, at this time, the value of a university student was still very high.

Just then, the middle-aged couple who had been in the ward earlier walked out of the doctor's office and came straight to Li Sanjiang.

Li Sanjiang sighed at them and said, "My condolences."

Li Zhuiyuan guessed that they must be Yingzi's uncle and aunt.

However, this couple seemed to have no reaction to the pain of losing their relatives, or rather, they had something more urgent weighing on them. They each grabbed one of Li Sanjiang's hands and whispered excitedly:

"Grandpa Sanjiang, please, save me, save me."

"That's right, Grandpa, help us, it's really too terrifying."

Li Sanjiang glanced at Li Zhuiyuan beside him, signaling for them to walk with him to the balcony on each floor before talking.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't pester them to follow; Third Aunt was still walking through the procedures in the doctor's office, and Yingzi was sitting on a bench alone, looking distraught.

Having just witnessed such a terrifying scene and experienced the passing of two relatives, the blow was naturally very heavy.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down and began to comfort her, and in the process, he also managed to ask about what had happened.

Yingzi's maternal grandparents worked at a private aquaculture farm. Half a month ago, when they were clearing silt from the enclosure, they actually dug up a small coffin.

This coffin was entirely red, and no one knew how long it had been soaking down there, yet it hadn't rotted at all; instead, it had been soaked into an even more vibrant red.

The old couple called the boss over and said that according to local customs, this small coffin had to be burned with incense and offered sacrifices before being pushed into the river.

But the boss was from out of town and didn't believe in this, so he called two workers to take tools and pry the coffin open together.

Inside the coffin was the corpse of a young girl, about eight years old, wearing a black cotton-padded jacket and embroidered shoes. She must have been buried in the winter. When it was first opened, she actually looked quite fresh, without a hint of decay.

It made everyone almost think it was someone who had just been buried!

But who would have thought that within the time it took to smoke a few cigarettes, the once-fresh corpse suddenly began to wither, the flesh and skin rapidly dissolving, until only a skeleton wrapped in the black cotton-padded jacket remained.

On the female corpse was a set of jewelry: a jade hairpin in her hair, rings on her fingers, and a gold ring around her neck.

Besides that, there was a porcelain bottle in the coffin covered with talisman paper, plus a black wooden carving.

On the carving was a line of large characters:

"The corpse suppresses evil spirits, merit aids in ascension."

Below that was another line of small characters and a signature:

"Those who see these words must not desecrate the body, must not touch its objects, quickly seal the coffin, and cast it into the river to avoid great disaster.

——Lady Bai"

Yingzi's grandparents began to beg the boss to quickly seal the coffin lid as stated above and push it back into the river, but the boss was stubborn, thinking that the few pieces of jewelry in the coffin must all be valuable items, and that the porcelain bottle was even more likely to be a treasure, so he took everything away. As for the coffin and the bones inside, he found a spot near the riverbank and dug a pit to bury them.

Then, the terrifying things began to happen.

First, the boss went missing mysteriously, and then Yingzi's grandparents began to have constant nightmares, dreaming that the young girl had come for revenge. Immediately after, both of them began to feel unwell and were admitted to the town's health center, and later, they even developed tendencies toward self-harm.

That day, the two old people took advantage of Auntie San going home to get food and told Yingzi they wanted to drink water with orange crystals, tricking Yingzi into sending her away, and then secretly ran to the roof, wanting to jump off. Fortunately, Great-Grandpa happened to arrive just then and bumped into them, stopping them.

But after this incident, the town health center was unwilling to let them stay any longer. After all, if the two old people really committed suicide in the health center, the trouble for the center would be huge, so they had to be transferred to the city people's hospital.

However, the symptoms of the two old people became increasingly severe. With the sedatives administered by the doctors and the strict care of their family, they were prevented from continuing to commit suicide.

But who would have thought that they could end their lives in such an inconceivable and terrifying way at the same time.

After listening to Yingzi's account, Li Zhuiyuan asked:

"What about the two workers who followed the boss to open the coffin?"

"That... I don't know, I haven't heard them mention it."

"Sister, your Grandpa Nan and Grandma Nan, were they relatively clear-headed at first?"

"Except when they were having episodes, they were normal. Just fifteen minutes before they vomited blood, they were still chatting with me about finding a partner after I get into university."

At this moment, Auntie San poked her head out of the doctor's office and waved at them:

"Ying Hou, come help Mom fill out the form."

"Coming, Mom."

After Yingzi left, Li Zhuiyuan realized that he didn't know when, but Xue Liangliang had actually sat so close; he had been eavesdropping on purpose.

Facing Li Zhuiyuan's gaze, Xue Liangliang didn't blush; instead, he said somewhat excitedly: "I heard it, you were fishing for information on purpose."

"I was comforting my sister."

"Phew... you scared me. You don't know, when I heard those two old people shouting 'Lady Bai' at the ward door, my heart jumped into my throat. I thought it was because I smashed the statue that I harmed people, or that I just happened to send Zhao Hequan, who was still being harmed, to this hospital today, triggering something that harmed them, sigh."

Li Zhuiyuan realized that Xue Liangliang had also noticed the inscription on the base of the statue.

"Brother Liangliang, don't worry, the timing doesn't match, and the age doesn't match either."

Digging up the coffin at the aquaculture farm was half a month ago; Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan smashing the statue was yesterday. The two events had no connection.

"The age, that's not certain, right?" Xue Liangliang asked in confusion. "In the past, transportation and communication were inconvenient; when sculpting, it might not have been that precise. Maybe the statue we dug up at the river project was a little girl herself?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "They aren't the same one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Because he had seen that woman; although her physical state was very similar to the statue, perhaps amplified and increased, there was no way she could be an eight-year-old girl.

"But, they are both called Lady Bai." Xue Liangliang pondered, "Could Lady Bai be a collective title, like a professional group? Like how those who come out of Daoist sects are all uniformly called the Celestial Master of such-and-such mountain?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded and added: "It could also be a surname."

Somehow, in Li Zhuiyuan's mind, the memorial tablets of the Qin and Liu families displayed in the mourning hall in the east room where Liu Yumei lived appeared.

"Are they all surnamed Bai?" Xue Liangliang crossed his fingers. "That's very possible. Lady Bai, according to the local dialect, can indeed be understood as the woman of that family surnamed Bai, a respectful title of awe for people with ability."

Li Zhuiyuan responded, his gaze looking toward the balcony; Great-Grandpa and Yingzi's uncle and aunt hadn't finished talking and come out yet.

Xue Liangliang reached out, gently pushed Li Zhuiyuan's arm, and asked cautiously: "That, what your sister said, do you have any other thoughts?"

"There is quite a bit of concealment and fabrication."

"Right, exactly." Xue Liangliang regained his spirit. "You really heard it. The boss went missing, her grandparents had nightmares and their bodies had abnormalities, but how could she not know what happened to the two workers who helped the boss pry open the coffin? Unless..."

"Unless, those two who helped the boss pry open the coffin were these two old people."

"That sister of yours is just an obedient one; what she heard and what she just told you is all what the adults in the family said. Those two old people who just left beautified and covered up too much for themselves in the account.

After all, if it were really as they said, why would they be begging for mercy before they died? This clearly shows they knew they had done something wrong. Otherwise, they would have shouted that they were wronged.

So, if we change the statement, it's probably that those two old people found the coffin and then called the boss over to open it.

Or even, it might have been the boss who found the coffin, and he didn't intend to pry it open, but was instigated by these two old people to open it.

At the very least, they were definitely people deeply involved in it; they weren't that sensible and innocent."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Xue Liangliang and blinked.

Xue Liangliang waved his hand somewhat shamefully: "I didn't say I was innocent either, but no matter what, I smashed the statue for the sake of the project's progress, not for private gain. Master Luo has already made it clear to my Lady Bai."

"Brother Liangliang, actually there is one most important point."

"Xiao Yuan, tell me quickly, which point?"

"Sister Yingzi was actually able to say the words carved on that tablet, so at the very least, she should have seen a handwritten copy.

But, how could the two old people, in the time it took to open the coffin, not only understand the words on it but also memorize them word for word, and then recite them for someone to transcribe onto paper?"

"You mean..."

"Yeah, the two old people should have gotten some things. At the very least, that wooden carving is in their house."

After hearing this, Xue Liangliang nodded heavily, then looked Li Zhuiyuan up and down and asked: "Xiao Yuan, are you really an elementary school student?"

"Actually, I'm a university student by Weiming Lake."

"Hehehehe... cough cough!" Xue Liangliang was amused to the point of coughing. He reached out and patted Li Zhuiyuan's back, encouraging him: "Good, having this ambition is already very remarkable!"

Li Zhuiyuan could only smile.

"However, Xiao Yuan, have you heard of Lady Bai?"

"Brother Liangliang, the time I've spent in Nantong should be much less than yours."

"Oh, that's right. Then I'll go to the city's literature and history museum to check the materials and see if there are any records in the local chronicles."

"Brother Liangliang, you're already fine, why are you so concerned about this matter? Is it for your classmate?"

"Uh, shouldn't I be?"

"I thought you didn't like him very much."

"This has nothing to do with liking him or not. Everyone has their own choice of life path, and I can only walk the path I chose according to my own judgment. In the end, who is right and who is wrong can only be proven by history.

Alright, the doctors should be at work. I'm going to get the report. If there's no problem with the report, I won't come to find you. I'll go to the literature and history museum to check the materials first.

You live in Siyuan Village, Shinan, right?"

"Yeah."

"Where do you get off the bus? Since your Great-Grandpa is here, I won't send you back. I'll come find you tonight."

"After passing Shijia Bridge, get off at the second turn and walk in, then ask for Li Sanjiang's house."

"Are you sure I'll be able to ask for it?"

"Yeah, Great-Grandpa is very famous in the village."

"Okay, if there's no bus tonight, I'll take a taxi."

Li Zhuiyuan asked curiously: "Brother Liangliang?"

"What's wrong, anything else?"

"You seem to be quite wealthy."

He said he was from the countryside in Anhui, but in his clothing and some living habits, he wasn't constrained at all.

"Oh, I contracted two small shops and a stationery store at school. Besides that, I also pulled together a team of classmates, and we take on some design projects from professors or outside the school to do.

Opportunities in big cities and universities are really plentiful, and making money is easy. It really doesn't work back in the hometown; there are no such objective conditions. Now I still send money to my parents back home every month.

Actually, logically speaking, I could choose not to come to this internship class, but I don't want to give up this frontline training opportunity."

"Brother Liangliang, you are very impressive."

"You too, smart little kid." Xue Liangliang let his forehead touch Li Zhuiyuan's forehead gently. Seeing Li Sanjiang and the others returning, he stood up and left.

"Great-Grandpa."

"Where is that university student? Did he leave?"

"He went to see his classmate."

"Yeah." Li Sanjiang nodded. "Let's go."

"Where are we going, Great-Grandpa?"

"To get something."

Yingzi and Auntie San stayed at the hospital to continue handling the subsequent matters. Her uncle Zhou Hai and aunt Chen Xiaoling led Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan home. To save time, they called a motorcycle that was waiting for business at the hospital entrance.

The rural bungalow was very spacious, with the threshing floor facing an artificial river, and after a distance further south, one could see the river surface.

After entering the house, Chen Xiaoling went to pour water, while Zhou Hai took out a cloth bag and opened it. Inside were a hairpin and a wooden carving.

Li Sanjiang picked up the wooden carving and frowned slightly as he looked at the words on it.

Li Zhuiyuan leaned over and read it once.

It was word for word the same as in Yingzi's account.

"Foolish... truly foolish..." Li Sanjiang put down the wooden carving and patted his leg. "Life isn't that difficult now, right? There's plenty to eat and drink, so why did you suddenly get pig lard covering your hearts?"

"Thump!" "Thump!"

Without the constraints of the hospital, Zhou Hai and Chen Xiaoling knelt directly in front of Li Sanjiang, almost kowtowing, shouting and begging Li Sanjiang to save them.

It turned out that they had also begun to have that dream.

After witnessing the fate of the old couple today, they were almost on the verge of collapse from fear.

"Let's go, let's go to the aquaculture farm first. Do you remember where the bones were buried?"

"I remember, I remember." Zhou Hai nodded immediately. "We were the ones who dug the pit and buried them ourselves."

"Heh." Li Sanjiang sneered.

The aquaculture farm was not far from the Zhou family. After leaving the village and walking along the riverbank for fifteen minutes, they arrived.

The scale of the farm was very small; besides the boss, there were only two employees, who were Zhou Hai's parents.

Therefore, in the initial account, they not only beautified and concealed themselves from Auntie San and Yingzi, but they also didn't tell Li Sanjiang the truth.

"Dig." Li Sanjiang said.

"Shouldn't we wait until night?" Zhou Hai asked.

It was daytime now, and very few people passed by here, but there was still the risk of being seen.

Li Sanjiang nodded: "Then I'll go back to the village to sleep first and come back tomorrow. You secretly dig up the bones at night."

"That won't do, that won't do, Grandpa, I'm scared, I don't dare."

"You also know how to be scared!" Li Sanjiang almost roared. "If you don't dig in broad daylight, when are you going to dig? You want to wait until dark to find trouble, right!"

"Alright, alright, alright, we'll dig, we'll dig."

Zhou Hai and Chen Xiaoling each took a shovel and began to dig.

During this period, Li Sanjiang asked: "That boss went missing, did you call the police?"

"No." Zhou Hai answered after lifting a shovel of dirt. "We didn't dare to call the police. We were greedy at the time, afraid that if we called the police, the matter couldn't be hidden, and the things would have to be handed over."

"What about that boss's family?"

"His hometown is in the south. He came here alone to contract the farm and didn't bring his family."

Li Sanjiang suddenly asked gloomily: "Don't tell me you killed the boss and swallowed his share?"

Zhou Hai immediately said with a crying voice: "Grandpa, I don't have the guts to do that kind of thing!"

Chen Xiaoling immediately nodded in agreement: "We wouldn't dare to commit murder, we wouldn't dare."

"Yeah." Li Sanjiang didn't ask anything else. He believed that these two people wouldn't be that outrageous. He then stood up and silently prepared his offering table.

Li Zhuiyuan helped out on the side.

Soon, the coffin was dug out.

Li Sanjiang took a look and felt relieved in his heart. The coffin was closed when buried, and after opening it, the bones inside were still complete and hadn't been messed up or ruined.

This could be considered... a stroke of luck in misfortune.

Li Zhuiyuan approached the coffin and looked at the bones inside; it was indeed a young girl.

Li Sanjiang performed the funeral rites and then burned paper.

After the whole process was completed, Li Sanjiang asked: "Where are the other things, especially that bottle?"

"Those were taken by the boss."

"Where did he live?"

"He lived on the farm, in that room. After he went missing, we went to look for him, and later when Dad and Mom's bodies had problems, we also realized it was caused by the things in the coffin, so we went to search his room, but we didn't find those things, and we didn't see that bottle either."

Li Sanjiang frowned. Originally, according to his plan, putting everything back, performing a sacrifice, and then closing and sealing the coffin before pushing it into the river would have ended the matter.

After all, the requirements on the wooden carving were also stated clearly. Now that at least two lives, and possibly three, had been sacrificed, it could be considered that blood had been seen, so no matter how much resentment the thing had, it should have been vented.

But the premise was that everything had to be put back, or, if jewelry and such were lost, so be it, but that bottle with the talisman paper absolutely could not be left out.

The words written on it were clear; it was using its own corpse to suppress that evil spirit!

Li Zhuiyuan then asked: "Uncle, Aunt, did the boss have any other relationships here?"

Li Sanjiang immediately realized and followed up: "Right, right, right, are there any other people he knew? I heard those bosses from the south love to keep mistresses."

Chen Xiaoling shook her head: "I haven't heard of any."

Zhou Hai scratched his head: "It seems there are, there are two. One is a widow living in Jiuweigang Town, and one is a woman in a karaoke room in the city."

"Can you find them?" Li Sanjiang asked.

Zhou Hai shook his head: "I only heard my Dad and Mom chatting about it while eating, but I don't know where those two people live specifically, and I can't find them."

Li Sanjiang took out his cigarette case, pulled out two, threw one to Zhou Hai, and said:

"Call the police, let the police find them."

"What?" "What?"

Zhou Hai and Chen Xiaoling were both stunned.

"I said call the police, report the missing person and report this matter." Li Sanjiang pointed to the coffin. "Let the police find them and ask if the things are with them. I suspect that the boss is probably no longer around either."

"But we..."

"Grandpa, if we call the police..."

"You didn't commit murder, what are you afraid of! Heh, even if not a single thing in this coffin is missing, and I successfully send the coffin back into the river today, I would still tell you to call the police.

For this kind of thing, it's much better for the authorities to come forward, and you will be much safer.

If you don't want to call the police, that's up to you, as long as you aren't afraid of ending up with the same fate as your Dad and Mom today."

"We'll call, we'll call the police!" Zhou Hai made up his mind.

"Yeah, alright, move the coffin and the offering table into the house first. Before the authorities take over, don't let the candles go out, and don't extinguish the paper ash. Make up for as much as you can.

You assign the tasks yourselves."

"Understood, Grandpa, Xiao Ling, you go call the police, I'll watch the offering table here."

"Yeah, okay."

Next, Li Sanjiang took Li Zhuiyuan and sat on the steps at the entrance, smoking continuously.

"Great-Grandpa, aren't we going home?" Li Zhuiyuan asked.

Li Sanjiang pointed to the house behind him: "If I leave now, Zhou Hai will be alone with that coffin inside. I'm afraid he'll pee his pants from fear."

After a pause, Li Sanjiang continued: "Last night, your Great-Grandpa, I, also had a dream."

"Yeah?" Li Zhuiyuan finally realized the seriousness of the matter. "Great-Grandpa, you also had a dream?"

"I dreamed that on the roof of the town health center, that little girl stood in front of me and asked me why I wanted to help them, and by what right I helped them. She also told me that since I intervened, she would make me die with them."

Li Sanjiang took a hard drag on his cigarette and slowly exhaled through his nose:

"Damn it, I was also scared by today's scene."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded in understanding; that scene today was indeed terrifying.

Moreover, he felt that the Lady Bai dug up at the river project and this young girl Lady Bai, although they might both come from the same family, their temperaments were clearly different.

That Lady Bai at the river project could listen to his apology, could accept his sacrifice, and could even listen to Master Luo's nagging.

It could be said that she was very reasonable.

But this Lady Bai here, her methods were much more ruthless; killing people was like drinking water.

"Actually, what does it have to do with me? She's blaming me for coming to the health center that day and saving those two old people, but I couldn't just stand by and watch them die, right?

Forget it, I'm not deeply tainted. When the police arrive, I'll give a statement and get some of the authorities' aura; I reckon she won't touch me anymore."

Li Zhuiyuan understood; it turned out this was Great-Grandpa's plan.

This was also understandable. Previously, whether it was Xiao Huang Ying or the Cat-Faced Old Lady, they were all within a controllable range, but they were far from being as fierce as this Lady Bai, and Great-Grandpa couldn't handle it either.

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly frowned. He remembered the content in "Records of Jianghu Monsters" and found a case that was very similar to this Lady Bai.

That was people from the Profound Sect, using their own bodies as carriers to seal and raise themselves, seeking to attain immortality through another way of shedding their mortal bodies.

This kind of 'dead-turned' being possesses some of the Daoist supernatural powers from when they were alive. Although it's not as domineering and terrifying as the 'General-turned' being, it is the most difficult to deal with because it understands what methods living people have to deal with it.

Thinking back to the line on the carving: The corpse suppresses evil spirits, merit aids in ascension.

Now, it completely matched. Even if she didn't have a physical form, she was still a 'dead-turned' being, and one without a physical form... was even more unknown how to deal with.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that Great-Grandpa did the right thing; calling the police was better.

The police came, and many came, because this incident had already led to two deaths and one disappearance on the surface. Although the cause of death of the two old people wasn't homicide, the situation was different after all.

The police controlled the scene, and Zhou Hai was temporarily controlled as a criminal suspect.

Li Zhuiyuan followed Great-Grandpa to the police station to give a statement. When they came out after finishing, it was already dusk.

Li Sanjiang even specially hugged the police station's gate, as if he was worried it wasn't enough, and wanted to gather some more of the authorities' aura for himself. He even kissed the police station's sign.

This series of actions shocked everyone in the guard room.

But seeing that this old man wasn't here to cause trouble, they could only open the window and ask:

"Old comrade, what are you doing?"

Li Sanjiang continued kissing while shouting back:

"Expressing respect and love."

After doing all this, Li Sanjiang was too lazy to go back to the hospital to find Yingzi and her mother, and he also refused Chen Xiaoling's invitation for him to stay at their house tonight.

Li Sanjiang now just wanted to go home.

Taking a taxi back was too expensive because at this hour, taxi drivers wouldn't be willing to take you to the countryside unless you paid more money.

Li Sanjiang just stopped tractors on the road and asked where they were going.

Li Zhuiyuan originally thought this kind of luck-based behavior was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack and was just about to sit down and wait slowly, but who would have thought that the second tractor Great-Grandpa stopped was delivering stone piers to Shigang Town.

This was perfect, it was directly on the way.

Great-Grandpa gave the man a cigarette and then waved for Xiao Yuan Hou to get on the car.

The tractor "da-da-da" moved forward, Li Zhuiyuan and Great-Grandpa sat in the back, blowing the evening breeze.

When passing through the city, they also witnessed the hustle and bustle of the city.

Midway, Li Sanjiang took a very short nap, and then woke up. He was very happy and took the initiative to say to Li Zhuiyuan:

"Xiao Yuan Hou, your Great-Grandpa, I just had another dream while dazed. In the dream, I saw that little girl again, but I couldn't see her clearly, she was very blurry. She was also talking, but I couldn't hear clearly either.

It seems she is further away from me. Your Great-Grandpa, I am almost fine. Tonight when I go back, I'll burn incense properly, worship all the Bodhisattvas in the house, and completely break ties with her."

"Great-Grandpa, you are truly impressive."

Li Zhuiyuan had once doubted Li Sanjiang's ability, but after the Cat-Faced Old Lady's words "Your Great-Grandpa has already lifted a hand," his doubts were dispelled.

Moreover, no matter what happened, Great-Grandpa seemed to have a way, and his methods were all effective.

"Impressive what? If it weren't for the sake of your grandfather Han Hou, I wouldn't have run here. I'm even embarrassed to take this money, and I even risked my own danger.

A loss, a loss to the grandmother's house."

"Next time tell Grandpa not to..."

"Don't, it's not like I encounter such unlucky and dangerous things every time. Your Great-Grandpa, I eat this bowl of rice, and it's impossible to eat big meat every meal. Occasionally, I have to have a tooth chipped by a stone in the rice.

Sigh, it's just that I originally thought that after going back this time, I would continue to change your luck, but now I don't dare. She hasn't left completely, and your Great-Grandpa, I don't want to implicate you."

Saying this, Li Sanjiang knocked on the iron sheet behind and shouted to the master driving the tractor;

"Little brother, find a small restaurant ahead, brother, I'll treat you to two bites?"

"How can I be embarrassed?"

"Hey, what's there to be polite about? Find a place to stop ahead, let's eat before leaving."

"Alright."

The tractor stopped in front of a small restaurant. After getting off and entering, Li Sanjiang first ordered a jin of yellow wine, ordered two cold and two hot dishes, and ordered a separate egg fried rice for Li Zhuiyuan.

After Li Zhuiyuan finished his rice, he sat on the side waiting, while Great-Grandpa and the master started chatting with interest.

Li Sanjiang ordered the shopkeeper to heat another half-kilogram of wine and at the same time ordered a can of Jianlibao for Li Zhuiyuan.

"Pop!"

The sound of opening and gas coming out.

Li Zhuiyuan took a sip, and Li Sanjiang asked: "Is it good?"

"Yeah, it's good."

"Then shall we buy a case to take back later?"

The master laughed: "Old brother, you are really willing to spend on the kid."

In this day and age, the lemon acid drink in beer bottles requires the bottles to be recycled. Ordinary people can afford to consume it, but canned drinks are still too expensive in the eyes of most parents.

"Hey." Li Sanjiang touched Li Zhuiyuan's head. "Isn't making money for the kids to spend? Do you want me to take it into the coffin later?"

He didn't tell the master that this was his great-grandson.

"That's the logic. My grandson is just in high school. I still have to continue driving to earn his university tuition. As long as he can get in, no matter what, I have to grit my teeth and support him."

"Sigh." Li Sanjiang sighed helplessly and touched the back of Li Zhuiyuan's head. "It's a pity, my grandson has a smart brain, but he just doesn't like to put his mind on studying."

Li Zhuiyuan silently took another sip of soda.

By the time it was almost eight o'clock in the evening, the dinner had ended. In this day and age, there was no drunk driving check. The master, with a flushed face, took out the rocker and inserted it into the tractor engine, then turned it quickly, and the tractor started again.

"Come, get on the car, let's go home!"

Getting back on the car to go home, Li Zhuiyuan looked at the starry sky above his head, and his heart began to ponder whether Xue Liangliang had already arrived at Siyuan Village.

He felt that he should ask more carefully about the statue at the river project. Since the one lying in that coffin at Jiuweigang was a 'dead-turned' being, don't let that statue... also be one.

After all, although that river channel was dug now, in the past, it seemed to be a waterway too.

Li Zhuiyuan vaguely felt that this Bai family seemed to specialize in doing this kind of thing.

When Li Zhuiyuan was not at home, Qin Li returned to her old position, sitting on the bench inside the door, her feet stepping on the threshold, looking forward.

Beside her, Liu Yumei was spreading out a piece of paper, holding a pen and drawing clothing patterns.

She drew very well, very vividly. Although from the perspective of the current clothing manufacturing process, it seemed very unprofessional, however, those old tailors in the small clothing workshops could understand it.

Her granddaughter was still at the age of growing, so clothes had to be replaced every season. Liu Yumei's happiest thing was to dress her granddaughter beautifully every morning, so that her mood could also be beautiful all day long.

At this moment, Liu Yumei noticed Qin Li behind her, her head moved, looking at the small path between the wheat fields.

Liu Yumei put down the brush and stood up straight.

Only to see a young man wearing a blue shirt, holding a stack of books, walking onto the threshing floor.

After looking at him for a while, Qin Li withdrew her gaze and continued to look straight ahead.

It seems this young man is dirty, but not obviously dirty.

"Excuse me, is this Li Sanjiang's house?" Xue Liangliang asked.

"Yes, it is. He is not at home right now, and I don't know if he will be back tonight. Are you looking for him?"

"I'm looking for Xiao Yuan, Li Zhuiyuan. Does he live here too?"

Hearing Li Zhuiyuan's name, Qin Li's gaze looked at him again.

"He is not at home either." Liu Yumei answered.

"He should be back tonight. I'll wait for him. That, excuse me, may I ask where the restroom is? I want to relieve myself."

"Behind the house."

"Okay, thank you."

Xue Liangliang placed the books in his hand on the table, then trotted to the restroom.

These books were all borrowed by him from the literature and history museum. Currently, these things were not strictly kept.

Liu Yumei flipped through a volume and saw the recorded paragraph marked with a bookmark paper. Her brows frowned, her gaze narrowed slightly, and she muttered:

"Bai family?"

Immediately, she covered the volume again, picked up the brush again, and continued to draw the clothing patterns, but as she drew, she felt somewhat restless, so she stopped the brush again, recalled that the young man said he was looking for Xiao Yuan, and said to herself:

"This Xiao Yuan, how could he be related to the Bai family?"

It was also a coincidence; the sound of a tractor came from afar.

The master didn't drop the person off at the side of the road at the village entrance, but drove directly in and sent him to the door of the house.

After saying goodbye, Li Sanjiang brought Li Zhuiyuan onto the threshing floor.

It just so happened that Xue Liangliang came back after relieving himself.

"Eh, why did you come to the house?" Li Sanjiang was very surprised.

"Grandpa, Brother Liangliang came to tutor me on my schoolwork."

"Oh, good, this is good. Then let him sleep in the same room as you tonight. Young man, have you eaten?"

"Eaten, eaten." Xue Liangliang answered hurriedly.

"That's fine."

Li Zhuiyuan walked to Qin Li. Qin Li stood up, reached out, and took the initiative to grab Li Zhuiyuan's hand.

Immediately, her eyelashes began to jump, and her body also began to tremble slightly.

Li Zhuiyuan was surprised, why is she still... after holding hands this time?

"A Li, let go!"

Liu Yumei's stern voice came. Seeing A Li not listening to her, she could only shout to Li Zhuiyuan:

"Xiao Yuan, let go!"

Li Zhuiyuan pulled his hand out.

A Li made a gesture to come forward again, wanting to continue grabbing Li Zhuiyuan.

"Xiao Yuan, say goodnight to A Li. I'm going to take A Li to rest."

"Okay, Grandma Liu." Li Zhuiyuan looked at A Li. "It's too late, rest. We'll read together tomorrow morning. Goodnight."

Xue Liangliang picked up those books, grabbed Li Zhuiyuan's hand, and said: "Let's go, go back to your room and talk. I found something incredible."

Watching Li Zhuiyuan's departing figure, Qin Li slowly put down the hand she had raised.

Liu Yumei sighed and coaxed her granddaughter:

"Good, he is already fine, even better than that young man."

"Whoa, what kind of books are these on your desk?"

As soon as he entered, Xue Liangliang saw several stacks of ancient books on Li Zhuiyuan's desk.

"These are my hobbies."

"Really or fake?" Xue Liangliang flipped through the pages. "Xiao Yuan, if you have this hobby, you can take the liberal arts exam in the future, you can go into archaeology."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "I don't want to."

He didn't want to be a fellow alumnus with his mother.

"Then what major do you want to take? Don't tell me you want to choose water conservancy and take the Haihe University exam like me?"

Li Zhuiyuan pondered for a moment and said: "It's not impossible."

Related to water.

This university seems to be a match for his major.

"Then you have to study hard. Haihe University is not easy to get into."

"Yeah."

It is indeed not easy to handle. The old professors are probably not willing to let him transfer schools.

"Come, look at what I found. I didn't know until I checked, and I was shocked." Xue Liangliang spread out the volume. "This Bai family is really a surname. In the local chronicles of the Ming and Qing dynasties, there are many records about the deeds of the Bai family, all related to eliminating monsters and suppressing chaos, but they are all Lady Bai, no Grandpa Bai."

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "Is it only passed down to women?"

"I guess so too. It should be that the family only passes it down to women, and then recruits a son-in-law. However, this kind of trend is quite rare in this area."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the volume while saying: "Brother Liangliang, continue."

"The activity area of this Bai family should not just be the current Nantong range. I suspect that the entire northern Jiangsu has traces of their appearance. However, one point can be confirmed: the main family of the Bai family is in Nantong.

Look at this paragraph in this article. It records a place called Baijia Town, which should be where the main family of the Bai family is located, roughly located west of Yingzhou in the East China Sea."

"Yingzhou in the East China Sea?"

"That is Chongming Island."

"Oh, then is this Baijia Town in Shanghai or Nantong?"

Chongming Island is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River and can be called the gateway to the Yangtze River. Most of the island belongs to Shanghai, and a part belongs to Nantong.

Xue Liangliang said somewhat hesitantly: "The location description on this is very strange. It seems someone has specifically studied it, but when it was written down, there might have been a problem. I followed the direction it recorded and really looked it up on an old map, and found... found that it should be in the river."

"In the river?"

"That's right, it should be in the Yangtze River now."

"This... the record is wrong, right?"

"But this is the only place I can find so far that records the address of Baijia Town.

And next, I discovered a very strange thing.

After the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, there was no longer any record of Lady Bai in the local chronicles.

The Bai family,

The people of the Bai family,

Baijia Town,

In historical records, it's as if overnight...

Disappeared."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 21 =====