Chapter 307

A large truck's speed is definitely not as fast as a small car, but it can linger more on the scenery along the way.

Tan Wenbin brought a cigarette to Zhao Yi's mouth, who was driving, lit it, and asked with a smile:

"Going home, how is the mood of the team leader?"

Zhao Yi honked the horn twice and replied:

"Anxious to return."

The cab had double rows of seats; Li Zhuiyuan sat in the passenger seat, and Tan Wenbin and Lin Shu You sat in the back.

Runsheng didn't want to squeeze in here; he chose to sit alone in the empty rear cargo bed.

Zhao Yi: "By the way, how did you explain to Grandpa Li that you had to leave so hastily? Said you were going back to school for final exams?"

Tan Wenbin: "No, told Grandpa Li there was an internship project in Jiujiang."

Zhao Yi: "Oh, I see, it's also right to tell him where you're going."

Tan Wenbin: "It's not like that; when you're out, you don't have to tell your elders what you're doing, but at least let them know exactly where you are on the map."

In old terms, it's so that if something happens outside, the relatives at home at least know which direction to face the fire basin when burning paper.

Zhao Yi: "Then I was being utilitarian, cough... I even specifically said goodbye to Grandpa Li before I left, saying I had an emergency and had to rush back to my hometown immediately."

Lin Shu You pointed to the two large bags at his feet; one bag contained candles, and the other contained yellow paper and gold and silver ingots.

"Three-Eyes, is this the Nantong specialty Grandpa Li asked you to bring home?"

Zhao Yi: "Mm, yeah, I told Grandpa Li my mom died."

Lin Shu You: "..."

Tan Wenbin: "Then it seems your father's love is heavier in your childhood?"

Zhao Yi: "Not really, it's mainly because Grandpa Li is a good person and treats me well; I was afraid that if I said my parents both died in a car accident, Grandpa Li would say he wanted to follow me back to Jiujiang to help me perform the funeral rites."

Lin Shu You forcibly pursed his lips.

Zhao Yi: "Laugh, I don't mind, what are you minding, don't hold it in and make yourself sick."

Lin Shu You shook his head, still trying to hold it in, and incidentally bent down to tie a knot on the two red bags.

The first time he returned to his hometown in Fujian from Nantong, he brought back many Nantong specialties.

Nantong people have a fixed set of answers for their specialties, just like taking a test; when he asked Grandpa Li and Brother Bin, they both started with: Xiting crispy cakes, Baipu tea dried tofu...

Although Lin Shu You hadn't seen them eat these things often, it was as if they only had a set of local specialties because they were supposed to.

Anyway, the second time he returned to his hometown, he found that the specialties he brought back last time were still in the cabinet at home, and his family hadn't touched them much.

To tell the truth, it was really better to bring back some candles and ingots; they could be burned at the temple.

At this time, Zhao Yi's brick-sized mobile phone rang.

Tan Wenbin helped him pick it up and answered.

The anxious voice of Old Man Tian came from the other end:

"Young Master, how could you just leave like that? If Big Brother Li hadn't told me at lunch, I wouldn't have known you had already left!"

"Mm, already left."

"Young Master, why didn't you take me this time? My legs and feet are better now; Young Master, I'm useful."

"Old Tian, I'm going back to handle family matters this time."

"Then isn't that perfect? I'm also a Zhao of Jiujiang, Young Master!"

"What kind of Zhao family member are you? You don't even have the surname Zhao."

The other side of the phone was silent for a while, and Old Man Tian's aggrieved voice sounded:

"Young Master, you can't use the same excuse twice to not take me."

"Old Tian, your task is to watch over the three women in Liu Jinxia's family at home; if there is anything abnormal, notify me in time; this is very important, do you know?"

"Understood, Young Master, I understand."

"Mm, hanging up."

The car drove along the river, heading toward the ferry crossing.

One could see many engineering ships on the river, and many construction workers on the shore.

Zhao Yi asked: "What are they doing?"

Lin Shu You: "Construction."

Zhao Yi looked back at Lin Shu You and said nothing.

Tan Wenbin: "Dredging, I suppose."

Zhao Yi: "Dredging? Is it blocked?"

Tan Wenbin licked his lips, not knowing how to answer.

Li Zhuiyuan in the passenger seat spoke: "Dredging to dig deeper. There is a saying in the shipping industry: 'An inch of water depth is an inch of gold.' The deeper the water, the larger the tonnage of ships that can pass."

Zhao Yi: "So for this, they have to dig the river? What a huge project that must be."

Li Zhuiyuan: "This has been done for decades, and in the next few years, the intensity of dredging and management will be further increased. Shipping costs are very low; as long as it is managed well, ocean-going ships can sail directly in, which is equivalent to creating a total of nearly 800 kilometers of coastline on both sides of the JS province, turning inland river ports into seaports."

Zhao Yi: "Zhuangzhuang, A You, did you and Li go to the same university?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Some things, they just don't have the energy to look at."

Zhao Yi: "I can see that; they even have to sneakily read books to prepare for final exams."

After crossing the river by ferry, they continued driving, and Tan Wenbin took over driving for a while in the middle.

The others rested and recharged.

Finally, accompanied by Zhao Yi's prompt: "Everyone, we've arrived in Jiujiang."

Lin Shu You opened his eyes and looked out the window.

It seemed like a late mist had risen, and the distant mountain scenery was shrouded in white smoke, giving a sense of being ethereal and detached from the world.

Lin Shu You let out a sigh: "Better scenery than Nantong."

Zhao Yi nodded in deep agreement: "That ghost place Nantong, before, if I wanted to go out for a late-night snack at night, I had to go to the school gate."

Last night, he could be considered to have eaten the most delicious late-night snack since coming to Nantong.

Only, the cook wasn't a Nantong person, um, not even a person.

"Three-Eyes, are there any fun places in your hometown?"

"There are plenty of fun places; once I clean up my house, I'll take you all to have a good time. Let's get a boat, drift on the river, and listen to some pipa music."

"Listen to pipa?"

"Haven't read 'Song of the Pipa Player'?"

"It's in the language textbook; I've memorized it."

"The first line."

"Seeing off a guest at night at Xunyang River."

"The Xunyang here is Jiujiang."

Zhao Yi parked the car beside an old-fashioned three-story building.

"Everyone, get out of the car."

Lin Shu You carried his bag, looked up at the rusty iron railing above his head stained with generations of bird droppings, then looked down at the dilapidated, paint-peeling gate.

This was at the edge of the urban area, like a forgotten corner.

"Three-Eyes, is this the condition?"

A You didn't mind the conditions, but he liked to mind Zhao Yi.

He was a young master, after all, yet when his friends came, he arranged for them to stay here.

"Sorry, conditions are limited, hospitality is poor."

Zhao Yi took out the key, opened the door, and inside was pitch black, with a decaying aura flowing out.

Everyone walked in.

The decaying aura remained, but it had turned into another form of "decay."

The spatial layout inside suddenly became several times larger, definitely not something that the building seen from the outside could contain, and it was decorated in a magnificent, antique, and very imposing manner.

Lin Shu You: "Wow."

At this moment, Lin Shu You felt the gap between the Guan Jiang Shou temple and an old-school river family.

One had to know that Zhao Yi had already split from the Zhao family of Jiujiang; this should be the extra bit he got when splitting the family.

Zhao Yi patted Lin Shu You on the shoulder: "Stop 'wowing'; your Brother Xiaoyuan's family fortune is much more exaggerated than mine. Later, if there's a chance, let your Brother Xiaoyuan take you to visit the ancestral homes of the Qin and Liu families; even I would have to 'wow'!"

Immediately after, Zhao Yi guided everyone upstairs.

"Come, the bedroom is on the third floor; this is a villa under my name, but I dismissed the people here long ago."

Entering the bedroom and pushing open the window, the scenery outside was open, with river and lake shadows overlapping, and mountains and rivers reflecting each other.

After arranging everything for everyone, Zhao Yi said to Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm going to meet my people and listen to the family intelligence I had them investigate; there might be nothing tonight, or there might be something."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Your cousin?"

Zhao Yi: "That guy has a special hobby; I've already set the bait; he'll come out either tonight or tomorrow night, don't worry, he can't hold it in."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Once he takes the bait, you can notify us to observe the ceremony."

Zhao Yi laughed: "Observe what ceremony, my Zhao family dogs biting dogs?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

Zhao Yi: "Fine, as the first program for coming to Jiujiang, I guarantee everyone will be satisfied."

After greeting the others, Zhao Yi left.

Next, everyone lived in this magnificent inn with a first-line river view, eating compressed biscuits with pure water.

Li Zhuiyuan took a shower and lay on the bed.

The windows in front were all open, and the night wind kept blowing in, bringing coolness and stickiness.

Even though he had already slept in the car, the young man still planned to continue resting.

But before closing his eyes to sleep, Li Zhuiyuan snapped his fingers, breaking the soundproofing formation between each room on this floor.

At one o'clock in the morning, the sound of a mobile phone came from Tan Wenbin's room.

Before long, they got up.

Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes, sat up, got dressed, and walked to the door.

Tan Wenbin stood at the door: "Brother Xiaoyuan, Zhao Yi called, asking us to go sing a play."

Everyone went downstairs, and when they pushed the door open, they saw a jeep parked outside, driven by Liang Yan.

"Brother Xiaoyuan."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded at her and got into the car.

During the drive, Liang Yan gave a simple introduction.

Zhao Yi's cousin was named Zhao Xu.

During this period, to cover up the scandal, he had been arranged by Zhao Yi's second uncle to live in an outer residence.

Originally, Zhao Yi had planned to rush directly to the outer residence to take him down, but after discovering that his Zhao family was being watched by so many eyes, he had to change his strategy and become more cautious.

After all, the two terrifying existences, the Great Emperor of Fengdu and the Bodhisattva, were only the known ones; could you ensure there were only these two?

The straightforward approach was temporarily abandoned; he had to find a way to lure the person out.

Fortunately, a dog can't change its habit of eating feces; tonight, Zhao Xu was lured out.

Lin Shu You asked curiously: "What exactly is Zhao Xu's hobby?"

Liang Yan glanced at the rearview mirror and replied: "Women."

Hearing this answer, Lin Shu You blinked, sat back, not quite understanding.

For a man, liking women... is that considered a special hobby now?

Runsheng sat quietly.

Tan Wenbin guessed something, so he didn't ask.

Li Zhuiyuan spoke: "The bait is Liang Li?"

Liang Yan: "Yes."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Is Zhao Xu that stupid?"

Liang Yan: "In our boss's words, as long as he takes the bait, the rest is nothing more than tying a few more knots."

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes.

Tan Wenbin asked: "What about Xu Ming and Chen Jing?"

Liang Yan: "According to the new formula given by the young master, Chen Jing is soaking in new medicinal water and cannot come out of seclusion; Xu Ming is responsible for staying by his side to take care of him."

Chen Jing, that little Daoist who was half-demon and half-human, was the trump card Zhao Yi specifically kept to deal with the Yu family.

Therefore, the little Daoist, who was still in the growth stage, wouldn't be used at this time and still had to be carefully protected.

The car drove to the mountainside and stopped; there was no road ahead.

Liang Yan: "Next, we have to run for a bit."

Runsheng bent down.

Li Zhuiyuan climbed up, one hand hugging Runsheng's neck, the other hand's fingertips rubbing lightly, and said:

"It's going to rain."

Runsheng took out a Luo Sheng umbrella from his backpack.

Liang Yan led the way in front, and the others followed, running behind.

Everyone's speed was very fast, not simply taking the mountain road, but climbing where they could and jumping where they could.

A bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky, followed by a loud "rumble" of thunder, and the heavy rain poured down.

Runsheng opened the Luo Sheng umbrella, spinning the canopy while running to block the rain.

The destination had finally arrived.

Zhao Yi had very thoughtfully prepared an observation deck in advance, setting up a formation on a hillside.

Walking into the formation and activating it, the large trees above swayed, blocking the wind and rain.

Diagonally in front, six people stood.

Four stood on the perimeter to keep watch, and two stood in the inner circle.

There was a young man whose face had not yet completely shed its immaturity, and his figure looked somewhat similar to Zhao Yi at first glance; this should be that Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu squatted in front of a pit, his face full of anticipation, constantly licking his lips with his tongue.

Water droplets flowed on his face, and for a moment, it was impossible to tell whether it was rainwater or drool.

The person standing beside Zhao Xu wore a hat, obscuring his face; one could only sense that he was a middle-aged man.

"Tsk tsk tsk, really can't wait anymore; didn't expect that near our family's territory, there would be such an overlooked place; if I had known, I wouldn't have personally gone to roast anything.

Wild game must be countless times more fragrant than what's raised at home!"

In the pit lay two old coffins.

This was a husband-and-wife tomb; the specifications of the tomb were not high, but the burial spot was chosen extremely well, which could ensure the bodies remained as undecayed as possible.

Between the two coffins, three concentric locks were hung with red rope, signifying that it was a husband-and-wife martyr tomb.

It refers to one following the other after one has passed away.

For Zhao Xu, it didn't matter who followed whom in martyrdom and burial; he only needed the dead husband to be watching from the side while he acted upon the woman, which was enough to greatly stimulate his interest.

Lin Shu You frowned, feeling a sense of psychological nausea; so, this is the way he likes it?

Tan Wenbin: "Are the young masters of big families all this anthropomorphic in their tastes?"

Lin Shu You: "Then Three-Eyes..."

Liang Yan: "The boss is very normal."

Lin Shu You nodded: "Right, for Three-Eyes, I still have this much confidence."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Those four on the perimeter, are they Zhao family retainers?"

Liang Yan: "Same nature as Old Man Tian."

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze swept over the feet of those four retainers one by one.

In the distance.

Zhao Xu's palm slapped onto the coffin lid.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

Coffin nails, each one rusty, flew out.

"Rise for your master!"

Zhao Xu flipped his palm, and the coffin lid rolled and fell.

The woman lying inside had exquisite features, heavy powder, and was wearing white silk; she was very young when she died.

Zhao Xu let out a laugh: "Hahaha, this time I've earned it, earned it."

"Young Master, here."

The person wearing the hat beside him handed over a candle; with a flick of his sleeve, the candle ignited on its own, and even in this thunderstorm, there was not the slightest sign of it going out.

Zhao Xu took the candle, placed it at the head of the coffin, and then took out two talisman papers, one yellow and one pink.

First, he suppressed the corpse's forehead with the yellow talisman paper, then covered it with the pink one.

Both talisman papers ignited rapidly, turning into fly ash, which did not dissipate outward but instead darted into the female corpse's nostrils.

Before the fly ash entered, the female corpse opened her eyes.

Zhao Xu was stunned for a moment; this process wasn't right!

"Female corpse" Liang Li revealed a cold sneer at the corner of her mouth, her figure took to the air, and she held daggers in both hands, sliding toward Zhao Xu's neck.

She wanted to keep a complete face, so this area was the most suitable for cutting.

Everything happened in an instant; Zhao Xu didn't have time to react at all.

In fact, Zhao Xu was indeed stunned there, just waiting for the dagger to harvest his head.

But the person wearing the hat beside Zhao Xu moved; one hand first accurately grabbed one of Liang Li's daggers, and then flicked it outward; the powerful force compelled Liang Li to use her own dagger to parry the other dagger.

The killing move was broken in an instant, and the opponent still appeared to have plenty of energy to spare.

The person wearing the hat took a step forward, and the surrounding wind and rain stagnated, then squeezed toward Liang Li with fierce momentum.

Liang Li tapped her toes and retreated rapidly, successfully avoiding it, but the coffin she had originally been lying in was blown to pieces.

Just as she landed, the four retainers around her immediately attacked Liang Li.

Liang Li crossed her hands, releasing both daggers, and just then a bolt of lightning appeared above her head, covering the two cold glints below.

The four retainers hadn't even run to Liang Li's side before they collectively stopped, and then blood spurted from their necks, their bodies spinning before falling to the ground.

This should have been an overwhelming assassination, as simple as a chick pecking at rice, but who knew there was an extra variable beside the opponent.

Zhao Xu, who had just walked through the gates of the underworld, immediately circled behind the person wearing the hat, his eyes revealing resentment.

There was only the anger of almost being killed, but no feeling of being deceived; clearly, he had long known that tonight's feast had problems.

The person wearing the hat protected Zhao Xu behind him while speaking:

"The young lady has quite a handsome skill; this footwork is vaguely familiar, as if it belongs to the reclusive Liang family... don't know if they still go by the name Liang now."