Chapter 282

Above her head was a huge face, so big that it covered everything above.

This face could be seen everywhere in Fengdou, carved into god statues, hung on offering tables, and painted on rock walls everywhere.

When she was little, grandfather would stroke Yin Meng's head while pointing at "it" and saying:

"Mengmeng, remember, this is our first ancestor."

After father went missing, mother remarried, and grandfather lay sick in the coffin, Yin Meng, who guarded the cold coffin shop alone, often stood behind the counter, her hands supporting the counter, watching the bustling streets during temple fairs.

The first ancestor seemed to be everywhere here, but would never appear in the lives of their descendants; no matter how miserable she was, she had to pick up tools with her tender hands at a young age to build coffins, and for that little labor fee, she had to support a boat in the scorching sun to help others salvage bloated corpses.

That's why she was dark, that's why her skin was rough; when she followed Little Yuan Ge back to Nantong, she couldn't see the fairness of Sichuan-Chongqing girls on her body at all.

At this moment, the first ancestor appeared in front of her so abruptly.

She didn't feel surprise, didn't feel moved; what she had... was trembling and fear from the soul.

This huge face began to change; it was no longer so rigid and lifeless, it gradually became vivid, as if it had substantial flesh and blood.

At the edges all around, coffins floated out of the water.

It could be seen that the older the coffin, the more luxurious and grand it was, and conversely, the simpler and rougher it was; this was because the situation of the Yin family was getting worse with each generation.

"Creak... creak..."

The sound came from below.

Yin Meng didn't dare to lower her head to look right now, but the coffin under her body was grandfather, and this sound seemed to be the already dead grandfather scratching the coffin wall with his nails.

Above, the first ancestor's face moved after becoming vivid.

Like a lake, it was hung upside down above her head, ripples rippling.

The next moment, it poured down like a waterfall, hitting Yin Meng fiercely.

"Ah!!"

Scalding, corrosive, piercing... all kinds of terrible feelings struck in the most intuitive way.

Yin Meng's flesh and skin began to fade, her bones began to melt; the pain here was like ice and snow placed under the summer sun, a burning torture.

In the back of the truck in reality, Yin Meng, lying at the tail baffle of the truck, convulsed, and fresh blood constantly overflowed from her eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and all pores of her body, turning into a bloody person in an instant.

In the room on the second floor, Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes; he felt a faint palpitation, but he hadn't fully recovered yet, and his perception was still relatively dull.

The youth sat up from the bed and looked out the window; the rain was pouring, the truck was parked quietly there, and there was nothing unusual.

Tan Wenbin on the bed next door had fallen into a deep sleep after eating his fill; he had just woken up himself, but those four spirit beasts were still sleeping.

Li Zhuiyuan got out of bed and walked to the door; even if the feeling was faint, he had to go out and take a look.

Just as he opened the door, a figure wearing a raincoat slid down from the roof; it was Zhao Yi.

He first looked at the back of the truck, then immediately beckoned to Li Zhuiyuan on the second floor; something happened.

Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs, picked up an umbrella at the door, opened it, and walked out.

When passing in front of the police car, he deliberately revealed his figure.

There were two police officers in the police car, one sleeping and one smoking; seeing Li Zhuiyuan come out, he moved his body—not because he was suspicious, but because he was wondering if the youth needed help coming out so late.

Li Zhuiyuan ran quickly toward the truck.

Seeing this, the police didn't get down, yawned, and spat out a puff of smoke outside the car window.

When Li Zhuiyuan arrived at the back of the truck, Zhao Yi had already inserted silver needles into Yin Meng's acupoints; the body's convulsions decreased, and the speed of fresh blood overflowing had also slowed down, but it was still continuing to flow out.

"Strange, I've been guarding on the roof, and didn't notice anything coming in."

Zhao Yi didn't think his vigilance could be without any leaks, but even if something could sneak onto the car under his nose, it shouldn't have targeted Yin Meng alone; couldn't it have just killed the others while it was at it?

And attacking Yin Meng, was it worth the trouble to make such a scene?

Li Zhuiyuan: "It shouldn't be that someone sneaked in, at least not a traditional sense of infiltration."

Zhao Yi flipped Yin Meng's eyelids and said: "One surnamed Li, can you suppress it? If she continues to bleed like this, she will die."

Li Zhuiyuan condensed blood mist in his right palm, then his palm shook gently and constantly, and the blood mist in his palm was also adjusting.

Immediately, the youth's palm slapped on Yin Meng's sternum, and the blood mist dispersed immediately, covering Yin Meng's whole body, equivalent to forming a blood film with the youth's fresh blood, forcibly suppressing Yin Meng's blood loss process.

After covering, the youth habitually prepared to draw a mantra to consolidate it with a suppression move, but Yin Meng's whole body was covered with his own blood, so using his own blood as pigment to draw a mantra was equivalent to writing with a red pen on red paper, which was somewhat inappropriate.

Ink paste couldn't be used either, because black dog blood itself would cause damage to this layer of membrane.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Zhao Yi: "Borrow some blood."

"Easy."

Saying that, Zhao Yi reached out and slapped his chest, as skillfully as an old farmer digging a well after waking up every morning.

"Ordinary blood is fine, no need for heart blood."

"Too lazy to open a new hole, afraid of pain."

Clothes opened, heart blood splashed out; Li Zhuiyuan waved his palm, caught them, and by the way, glanced at Zhao Yi's heart; the tiny stamen had reopened a circle.

All of this came from the tomb owner's final blessing before being sealed.

The original tomb owner certainly didn't have this ability, but at that time, there were three such existences in its body, plus the Bodhisattva's Buddha power blessing; giving someone a blessing was indeed not difficult.

After completing the mantra with Zhao Yi's blood, Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "Really easy to use."

Zhao Yi: "That's for sure."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Take time to fill a vat for me for backup."

Zhao Yi: "Do you treat me as a water pump?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Tea vat."

Zhao Yi: "That's fine."

The two's attention focused on Yin Meng again.

Li Zhuiyuan's seal treated the symptoms but not the root cause; even if the youth could spare no cost to suppress it again and again, Yin Meng's body couldn't bear this kind of blockage for a long time; in fact, now, it was already visibly presenting swelling.

Zhao Yi: "If we think about it simply, since it's fresh blood that has a problem... does it mean the bloodline has a problem?"

Although not yet in the Fengdou region, it was not far away.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Why did you suddenly want to do this?"

Zhao Yi: "Could it be that the Great Emperor saw we were really dawdling and couldn't help it?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then he should have taken action against you first, then against me, instead of directly against Mengmeng."

Zhao Yi: "Then is it possible that Mengmeng herself reacted? The Yin family has been declining for a long time; with Mengmeng's aptitude, she originally had no future, but because she followed you, under the infusion of merit, she actually underwent great changes.

When you went to Dujiangyan last time, you must have deliberately avoided Fengdou; this time, the distance is close, so she might have reacted herself."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yin family members who become stronger must die suddenly when returning to Fengdou? This doesn't make sense."

"This can't be discussed to a result for the time being; right now, let's deal with her first." Zhao Yi brushed Yin Meng's arm gently with his fingertips, confirming her current state, "Can't just continue to suppress purely like this."

"She is now having Qi and blood overflowing, her body is not solid, existing in name only; she needs to connect to the earth's Qi, using the method of nourishing with the earth to build a cycle."

Zhao Yi: "Meaning, bury her?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm."

Couldn't find a coffin nearby for the time being, so could only use the plastic shed cloth on the car as a substitute.

The "burial" site was chosen in the middle of a steep slope; this place wasn't farmed, and usually, no one dared to approach for fear of slipping down.

Zhao Yi held the Yellow River shovel to dig a pit, and Li Zhuiyuan arranged the formation beside him.

After the pit was dug, Zhao Yi carefully packed Yin Meng with the shed cloth in three layers and put her in; immediately after, he started filling it with soil.

Filling with soil also had its requirements; this was a living grave, not a dead grave; the soil layer had to be loose, and it had to be like a rat or rabbit hole, opening an air hole, otherwise it would really suffocate the person.

Li Zhuiyuan's formation was arranged, and he stood there watching Zhao Yi's movements.

"Have you buried yourself before?"

"Buried, in order to solve the problem of the Life and Death Gate seam, I tried every trick; this medical skill of mine was obtained from long illness."

"Alright, my work is done; you come to finish it."

Li Zhuiyuan installed the last missing piece of the formation; this formation didn't have a large area of effect, but it contained mysteries inside, divided into upper and lower parts; the part above the ground was responsible for isolation—whether people or animals approached, they would be hit by ghost-beating-the-wall; the lower part was to accumulate the earth's Yin Qi all around.

The youth's palm patted the soil layer lightly, the blood mist in his palm fleeting to respond; the seal on Yin Meng below dissipated accordingly, and her Qi and blood started overflowing again, but after circulating, they flowed back into her body, which meant the cycle was completed, equivalent to putting a ventilator on Yin Meng who was about to suffocate to death, successfully continuing her life.

Zhao Yi supported himself with the shovel and said: "There, just about to enter Fengdou, the Yin family member fell down first."

Li Zhuiyuan: "After we detached from the three sticks of incense that night, it was equivalent to returning to the normal River Walking scope; some things seem accidental, but in reality, they are a kind of inevitability."

Zhao Yi: "So, this might instead be a kind of protection?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "The word protection has an emotional tendency; I prefer to think of it as a kind of rational utilization."

Zhao Yi: "Some things can't be understood; what kind of play is being sung above this time?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "They sing theirs, we act ours."

Zhao Yi: "One surnamed Li, are you hiding something from me?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "No."

Zhao Yi: "But I feel that the feeling you give people is that you have something to rely on."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm."

Zhao Yi: "Then you still say you aren't hiding anything from me?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's you who didn't ask."

Zhao Yi shouldered the shovel and looked back at Yin Meng's burial place.

"One surnamed Li, I always feel there's a problem here."

"This is inevitable."

"After Liang Yan and Liang Li wake up, leave them here to guard Mengmeng's grave."

"Can."

The two sisters, besides being seriously injured, also overdrawn their lifespan; this wasn't a matter of recuperating from injuries, but had to rely on the merit after this wave was over to compensate.

That is to say, in the following journey, Yin Meng, Liang Yan, and Liang Li would all be unable to keep up with the team.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Give you a suggestion, you have to teach them well."

Their combat power shouldn't have been damaged so seriously; the youth at that time didn't need them to "drop in the bucket."

Zhao Yi pointed at his forehead: "Brain is stupid, what can be done? Unlike your people..."

Halfway through, Zhao Yi got stuck; he had cooperated with the one surnamed Li's team many times, so he was very familiar and understood the style within this team.

If the Liang sisters were just not smart enough, then most of the people in the one surnamed Li's team had no brains.

Runsheng and Yin Meng had long given up, and Lin Shu You would perform thinking.

But unexpectedly, this group of people under the one surnamed Li gave him a feeling of being very smart very early on; when commanding and cooperating, it was truly clear and smooth.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed out the key problem for Zhao Yi: "It's your reason, because you have always treated your partners as accessories and consumables."

Zhao Yi nodded thoughtfully: "You're right."

Changing the subject, Zhao Yi said again: "I'm not afraid of you laughing at me; the two sisters are stupid, but I really find now that they seem to really have me in their hearts."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Because it's hard for you to care about others, so naturally you don't dare to easily believe that others will really care about you. People who are too smart are often indifferent by nature."

Zhao Yi: "When you are present, this sentence used to describe me seems somewhat inappropriate; I have a kind of fear of overstepping."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I've also been said that."

Liu Blind, Grandma Cui's grandmother, had evaluated himself like this more than once; her eyes hadn't had cataract surgery then, and she didn't see clearly that he hadn't walked far when she said it.

Zhao Yi: "This kind of feeling is actually quite good; the two silly girls are really willing to die for me, and, they not only look quite good, they are also twins." Li Zhuiyuan looked at Zhao Yi; the current Zhao Yi had a feeling of forcing himself to eat grass by holding his own head.

Zhao Yi: "One surnamed Li, hurry up and ask me which one I choose."

Li Zhuiyuan: "So, which one are you going to choose?"

Zhao Yi: "Only children make choices; I want them all!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Planning to marry into the family?"

Zhao Yi: "Wait until I reveal some of the things I want to do in the future to the head of the Liang family; the Liang family wouldn't dare to mention marrying into the family to me."

Zhao Dashao intended to clear up the source of the Zhao family in Jiujiang; if he married into the Liang family, he would have to become a surgeon for the Liang family.

The two talked, braving the rain, and walked back.

Knowing there was a police car in the courtyard, but before entering the courtyard, they saw Zhai Lao's figure on the second-floor balcony, and Zhai Lao also saw them.

Zhao Yi whispered: "When I was guarding at night, I heard the old man lecturing in the room for a long time, listening until I was sleepy."

Li Zhuiyuan reminded: "During the day, you help me guide my identity back into reality, do more paving, so that when we arrive in Fengdou, I can 'meet' him more naturally and reduce awkwardness."

Zhao Yi: "You value him so much?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm, his status is equivalent to my teacher, both are figures of the Taishan and Beidou level in the industry."

Zhao Yi said dismissively: "Taishan and Beidou? Can they suppress Fengdou?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm, they can flood Fengdou."

Zhao Yi: "..."

After stopping for a few seconds, Zhao Yi chased up quickly and asked hurriedly: "So, this is your confidence and reliance?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hmm."

Zhao Yi: "When did you know about this?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I knew a long time ago; it was Liangliang Ge who told me; he advised me that if I want to go to Fengdou in the future, go early; if you go late, Fengdou will no longer be its original appearance."

Zhao Yi: "Damn it, after River Walking ends, I also want to apply for the Water Conservancy University."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Okay, junior."

After the two went upstairs, Zhai Lao took the initiative to walk over and asked: "It's raining, why go out so early?"

Zhao Yi: "My younger brother said he wanted to see the water rise after the heavy rain and the mountain over there; I wasn't at ease with him going alone, so I had to accompany him."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Zhai Lao was very surprised, immediately bending down, looking at Li Zhuiyuan:

"Child, why do you like watching these?"

Zhao Yi took the initiative to answer: "My younger brother likes water conservancy; when he was very young, he said he wanted to go to university in the future, learn to build dams, and can prevent floods and generate electricity."

These words, Zhao Yi said most appropriately; when they arrived in Fengdou, it could be described as a beautiful misunderstanding; if Li Zhuiyuan opened his mouth himself, it would appear very deliberate and untenable.

A gratified smile appeared on Zhai Lao's face, reaching out to pat Li Zhuiyuan's shoulder, his eyes revealing kindness and gratification.

Zhao Yi was very familiar with this look; when the old things in the family saw juniors with talent, they would reveal such an expression.

"Child, youth has aspirations, the future is promising."

Seeing that the two were wet, Zhai Lao didn't say too much and urged the two to return to the room to change clothes to avoid catching a cold.

The movement of entering the room woke Tan Wenbin up; he looked at the two and asked:

"Little Yuan Ge, did you go out?"

Zhao Yi: "Hmm, Mengmeng had an accident."

Tan Wenbin: "Then how is Mengmeng now?"

Zhao Yi: "Already buried."

Tan Wenbin: "..."

Zhao Yi cherished the opportunity to tease Tan Wenbin.

However, he immediately told the whole story.

Tan Wenbin exhaled and said: "After this wave of ours ends, Mengmeng should be able to recover; this is also quite good, saving her from taking risks in Fengdou."

Zhao Yi shook his head: "I don't think so."

Li Zhuiyuan finished washing and came out in changed clothes, saying: "There's no water in the thermos; need to go down and change it."

There was a shower room in the room, with equipment the same as Great-Grandfather's house—a bucket hanging high and a rubber tube extending down.

Zhao Yi: "I don't need to wash; it's all dry; I practice martial arts, not so easy to catch a cold."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Tan Wenbin: "Binbin Ge, no one here has seen you; pay attention after dawn."

Tan Wenbin: "Understood, Zhao Shao reminded me already."

Li Zhuiyuan lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and fell asleep again; the most important thing for him now was to rest.

The next morning, the sky cleared for a while, but by noon, it rained heavily again.

News from the provincial road ahead said that the original landslide section had just been cleared, but two more landslides occurred; it definitely wouldn't be passable today.

Li Zhuiyuan slept until the afternoon; after waking up and opening his eyes, the world turned colorful, and his vision returned to normal.

Only after waking up did he learn that Runsheng and Lin Shu You had woken up.

When Runsheng asked where Yin Meng was, Zhao Yi didn't joke like he did to Tan Wenbin in the early morning, directly telling the whole story.

At this moment, Zhao Yi took Runsheng to "sweep the grave" for Yin Meng.

Lin Shu You took his luggage to find a place to stay nearby; he and Tan Wenbin were also "student" identities, not convenient to show up right now.

When treating Zhai Lao and people like Luo Gong and Xue Liangliang who were going to Fengdou, Li Zhuiyuan was very cautious, not wanting to affect certain running causes because of his own reckless actions.

Li Zhuiyuan, who had recovered his spirit, went downstairs to eat; it was past mealtime, and everyone else had finished.

As soon as he entered, he saw three chessboards set up on an empty table in the restaurant, with Zhai Lao playing against three people alone.

Although it wasn't blind chess, the difficulty was much lower, and the disciples playing against him were very ordinary, but to handle three games simultaneously at such an age was truly remarkable.

Li Zhuiyuan finished eating, and the chess games also ended one after another; they were played very fast.

The youth was preparing to go to the truck to see the situation of the Liang sisters, but was stopped by Zhai Lao, who asked: "Child, come over, accompany Grandpa to play chess."

If Li Zhuiyuan said he didn't know how to play, it would turn into: It's okay, Grandpa will teach you.

Mainly, Zhai Lao's impression of the youth was too good, so he wanted to take the initiative to get closer to this child.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't refuse and had to sit down, with two others sitting beside him, still three against one.

While playing, Zhai Lao noticed something wrong; this child's chess skill was really good, so he immediately waved his hand, signaling the other two bad chess players to remove the chess, focusing on playing against the youth.

"Child, where is your hometown again? Sigh, look at my memory..."

"Nantong."

"Right, Nantong, this name is really hard to remember, and it's not as good as Jinghai. Now, many place names have been changed, losing the original flavor."

"Where is your hometown, Grandpa?"

When eating together yesterday, basically it was Zhai Lao asking a few polite greetings, and Zhao Yi answering a few simply, without deep communication.

"Me, Nanyang person, know where that is?"

"Henan."

"Right, hehe."

However, Li Zhuiyuan remembered that he had seen the introduction about Zhai Lao, and it said he was from Xi'an; then either the report was wrong, or Zhai Lao reported his ancestral home.

"Quite good, you still have an older brother to protect you; when I was little, I also had an older sister to protect me."

When Zhai Lao said this sentence, a look of nostalgia appeared in his eyes; thinking about it, the older sister should not be around anymore.

This game of chess, Li Zhuiyuan won.

Actually, the youth could feel that Zhai Lao's chess skill was above his own, but he was old, and had played three games just now, and they were fast games, so when it came to the end, his energy was clearly insufficient.

"Old, can't help but admit it." Zhai Lao took the water cup from the disciple beside him and drank a few mouthfuls, "Child, brain is good, really smart."

Subsequently, Zhai Lao scanned the surroundings and asked: "Qian Ying and Wu Lan, haven't returned yet?"

The one beside him who looked older responded: "Not yet; they said they went to the temple on the mountain to burn marriage incense; who knows where they went to be lovey-dovey."

As soon as this was said, everyone laughed.

Qian Ying and Wu Lan were the two youngest people in this team, and the two were a couple.

Zhai Lao: "What's so funny? Didn't you also come from being young?"

"Teacher, I'm in my middle years, and I'm not married yet."

"Teacher, my hairline has receded, and I don't have a partner yet."

Zhai Lao scanned them and said: "When the organization arranges social gatherings, why don't you participate actively?"

"Teacher, we participated; we could only sit there and clap."

"Last time a few of us went, we ate too many snacks and were even mocked by the organizers."

Zhai Lao waved his hand, signaling the end of this topic; their line of work was hard, running all over the country, and marriage was indeed a big problem, not only difficult to marry but also difficult to maintain after marriage.

It was hard to recruit a female disciple, only to be taken down by a young male disciple who entered in the same batch; it was estimated that he saw the senior brothers were single at their age and was afraid.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't participate in their internal topic; after getting off the table, he went to the truck outside to check the situation of the Liang sisters.

Although the Liang sisters hadn't woken up yet, their breath was much stronger than before, and they should wake up in another day.

After getting off the truck, the youth prepared to return to the room, but suddenly stopped his steps and looked toward the mountain.

On the same side, separated by a few residential houses, there was a small two-story building; Lin Shu You was staying here; he originally wanted to pay the room fee, but the host was hospitable and insisted on not accepting it.

Lin Shu You washed his dirty clothes and carried them to the second floor to dry, only remembering that it was raining heavily right now.

Helplessly sighing, he prepared to find a rack to put them in the room to blow-dry, but caught a glimpse of two people coming down from the mountain road.

A man and a woman, both relatively young; the man had his arm around the woman's waist, and the woman leaned in the man's arms, sharing an umbrella.

Water mist rose from the mountain ridge in the rain, just diffusing out, as if deliberately following behind the two of them.

This scene really had a unique aesthetic.

If the two didn't walk so shakily, the effect would be even better; no way, who told the wind and rain to be so big now.

Lin Shu You smiled, turned his head, prepared to dry the clothes, and then stopped his steps suddenly, turning his head to look back, and after several efforts of the vertical pupil, finally managed to open it successfully.

Only then did he see clearly that behind those two young lovers who were honey-sweet, there were two figures invisible to the naked eye stuck tightly, and the soles of the two young people's feet were stepping on the feet of the two figures behind them!

Lin Shu You immediately chanted in a deep voice:

"Evil ghost, only kill, cough..."

"Evil ghost, cough cough cough..."

After trying several times, this entrance line still couldn't be recited completely; not only that, even the vertical pupil dissipated.

A-You's situation now was a bit like Tan Wenbin's; after serious injury and overdraft, the person woke up, but the things in his body hadn't fully woken up.

Lin Shu You didn't give up, continuing to try hard to call the boy.

"Evil ghost, only..."

"Evil ghost..."

A man and a woman stopped at the door of the house where Lin Shu You lived; the two turned around on the spot, facing the courtyard, and raised their heads again, looking at Lin Shu You standing on the balcony.

Lin Shu You scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly:

"That, I wasn't calling you."

(End of chapter)