Chapter 36

"Runsheng, stop at the opening ahead."

Runsheng stopped the tricycle, bent down, and reached out to pull up the brake lever.

Li Sanjiang took money from his pocket, didn't even count it, and handed it to Runsheng: "Go over there and buy some steamed buns, then go to the shop next door and buy me a bottle of liquor."

"What, drinking liquor first thing in the morning?"

"I told you to go, so go. Where do you get so much nonsense?"

"Alright then."

Runsheng bought the buns and the liquor and returned.

Li Sanjiang bit the cap off with his teeth, spat it out while tossing his head, then picked up the bottle and took a large gulp.

"Ugh... ugh... huff..."

The kick of this morning gulp was too strong; he had to take several bites of the bun to suppress it.

"Why aren't you eating?"

"Master, I left in such a rush this morning, I didn't bring any incense."

"Then why did you buy so many buns? They'll be cold by the time we get back."

"They're good even when cold; these are meat buns!"

"Let's go, let's go. Heading home, heading home."

"Then sit tight, don't get too excited and fall off while drinking."

Li Sanjiang rolled his eyes at him and raised the bottle for another gulp.

When he went to take another bite of the bun, he let out a hiccup, and suddenly, his whole demeanor turned desolate. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he had to turn his head, reach out, and grab Runsheng's vest to wipe them away.

Runsheng looked back and asked, "Master, shouldn't you be happy? Why are you crying again?"

"Happy? Happy my ass."

"Didn't Xiaoyuan get registered under your household, Master? Isn't that something to be happy about?"

"What use is my household registration? Can it compare to a city registration? Can it compare to a Jingcheng registration?"

"What's wrong with a Jingcheng registration?"

"What's wrong? It's like finally managing to leap over the dragon gate like a carp, only to have the damn thing jump back down and turn into a carp again."

"Being a carp is fine too; that way Xiaoyuan won't have to leave."

Li Sanjiang sighed, raised his hand, and slapped himself twice.

He had been called to the Civil Affairs Bureau by the village chief early in the morning. As soon as he walked in, he was surrounded by several staff members, documents placed before him, saying it was requested by Xiaoyuan's mother to transfer the child's registration to him.

At the time, he just felt it was inexplicable. Although he genuinely liked the child, he absolutely could not do something that would ruin the child's future!

But their meaning was that something had happened to Xiaoyuan's mother, and the child's registration issue had to be resolved. If he didn't sign the papers today and they were returned, Xiaoyuan would become an unregistered person and wouldn't even be able to attend school in the future.

Between the good cop/bad cop routine and the urgency, Li Sanjiang signed the papers in a daze.

Now, even though he had been drinking, his mind cleared up a bit in the wind. Even if the child's grandfather on the north side didn't want him, if he had to be registered somewhere, it should have been with Li Weihan. What kind of business was it to register him here?

Although the child was living with him now, what did that have to do with him?

However, now it did have something to do with him.

Li Sanjiang looked down at the bag at his feet, which contained the household register and other documents.

"Damn it, why is the efficiency of public units so high today?"

He pulled out the household register, opened it, and looked at the extra name added under his household.

Li Sanjiang felt a complex mix of emotions. The old Li family had finally produced a golden phoenix that flew to Jingcheng and even laid an egg, only for that egg to be dumped back in the hometown:

"Sigh, decades of hard work, back to square one overnight."

"Well, just one night, and how did everything go back?"

Liu Yumei held a teacup in her hand; the tea had gone cold, but she hadn't drunk it.

Watching her granddaughter sitting motionless behind the threshold, she only felt bitterness in her mouth; the tea tasted even more bitter.

Last night she had been crying tears of joy; if she had known, she would have saved some tears. Now, she couldn't cry even if she wanted to.

She looked up at the second-floor terrace. The boy was sitting in a rattan chair, reading a book seriously, only occasionally looking down at A Li when turning a page.

Liu Yumei really wanted to scold someone: You brat, don't just sit there looking!

If it were ordinary children having a fight, they might shout at each other: "Hmph, I'm never playing with you again!"

Then they would ignore each other out of spite; that would be quite common and normal.

But Liu Yumei knew that such things wouldn't happen with her granddaughter, and even less so with that boy. That child was both smart and steady; he wouldn't do something so childish.

So, what exactly happened between the two of them?

After hesitating for a long time, Liu Yumei stood up and walked into the main house.

Usually, she wouldn't enter here, let alone go to the second floor, but today, she had to make an exception.

Seeing A Li's steady progress suddenly revert to her initial state, her heart felt like a stone that had been scorched red-hot and then doused with a basin of water; it was about to break from the pain.

She had to ask what had happened. It wasn't that she was biased and had to ask the boy whenever something went wrong; if she could get a word out of A Li, would she need to be living here?

As she approached, the boy also stood up with the book.

"Xiaoyuan, Grandma came to have a chat with you."

"Grandma, please sit."

Liu Yumei sat down in the rattan chair A Li used to use. Her peripheral vision swept over the book in the boy's hand, and it just looked like a mess of ghost-drawn symbols; she couldn't understand what it was at all.

"Reading?"

"Yes."

Li Zhuiyuan politely placed the book beside him, turned slightly to face Liu Yumei, and looked like he was listening intently. Well, he had just been reading the "Liu Family Qi-Gazing Art."

"What happened between you and A Li?"

"Grandma, it's my fault."

He had been hit hard last night because of the words in Li Lan's phone call.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head, looking at the palm he had bandaged himself.

He was A Li's balcony. She had gathered the courage to walk out of the darkness, come onto the balcony, and start cautiously observing and contacting this world.

Just yesterday, A Li discovered bricks appearing on the balcony, meaning this balcony might be sealed off.

It was hard to imagine how desperate the girl must have been last night when she saw the self-inflicted wound on his palm.

She had already imprisoned herself in a pitch-black dry well. One day, a rope was lowered from above, and someone at the wellhead kept talking and chatting with her. Just as she was preparing to climb up the rope, she discovered that the person above, who had been encouraging her, had grabbed the rope and come down.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that because the girl's eyes had once been full of him, his own sinking had caused her even greater harm and impact.

No, she had come up last night; she wanted to accompany him. She wasn't afraid of him being depressed; she couldn't accept him giving up.

Like Li Lan, giving up the struggle, wallowing in despair.

The light in her eyes was him, but last night, he had extinguished it.

"Sigh, what's the point of arguing about who's right or wrong now? Grandma wants to ask you, Xiaoyuan, do you have any way to make A Li go back to how she was a few days ago? Can you?"

"I do."

Liu Yumei's face showed excitement: "Really? What do I need to do?"

"I can't do it right now, Grandma. I need some time."

"You need time... well, what exactly are you doing?"

"Reading."

"Reading?"

Liu Yumei frowned slightly. She suspected the boy in front of her was toying with her, but on second thought, she suddenly felt it made sense. In her impression, it seemed that before, the boy was reading on this second floor, and as he read, A Li would take the initiative to walk toward him.

Could it be that her granddaughter liked the scholarly aura?

Liu Yumei pondered. Was it because she liked having A Li wear ancient costumes and she herself liked reading scripts like "The Western Chamber"?

"Grandma, A Li has already gone back to her room."

"What?" Liu Yumei looked down and found A Li still sitting behind the threshold, not moving at all. "Isn't she still there?"

"I need to find a way to call A Li out again so I can apologize to her face-to-face."

Liu Yumei couldn't quite understand, but seeing the boy speak so logically, she inexplicably felt at ease.

"Then, you read your book well."

"Alright, Grandma."

Liu Yumei went down.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the "Liu Family Qi-Gazing Art" again. These ghost-drawn characters... once his gaze moved away for a moment, he had to find the feeling from the beginning, otherwise, he couldn't understand them at all.

After reading another page, while turning it, Li Zhuiyuan looked at the girl downstairs.

He felt no dissatisfaction at all regarding the girl's sudden "departure"; he liked this feeling of being needed.

He finally had a mask that he couldn't take off.

Li Lan, what you failed to find, I have found.

Liu Yumei, who had returned downstairs, also felt a bit more relaxed and brewed a pot of tea for herself again.

Just then, Runsheng rode the tricycle onto the dam.

"Master, we're home, we're home. Master, wake up, wake up."

Liu Yumei stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Great-grandfather is drunk."

"Oh, did he go out for morning liquor?"

"He got drunk while drinking." Runsheng took out the empty liquor bottle from the cart, turned the mouth downward; there really wasn't a drop left.

"Carry him up."

"Okay."

Runsheng grabbed Li Sanjiang's shoulder with his left hand, followed through with his right, and with a jolt, Li Sanjiang was on his back.

Liu Yumei asked, "Who taught you to carry someone like that?"

"Ah, nobody taught me? I got used to it after carrying so many corpses."

"Remember not to carry someone like that next time; it's bad luck."

"Okay, I got it."

Liu Yumei waved her hand to disperse the smell of liquor in front of her, while also signaling Runsheng to carry the person away quickly.

Runsheng ran into the house and went up to the second floor in one breath.

Liu Yumei walked back to her tea table and habitually picked up the teacup with her index and ring fingers.

As she lifted it halfway, the cup swayed, but not a drop of tea spilled out.

Liu Yumei said in surprise:

"This... was it filled up again?"

"Xiaoyuan, help me open the door, your great-grandfather is passed out drunk."

Li Zhuiyuan opened the screen door and accompanied Runsheng to settle Li Sanjiang on the bed. Li Sanjiang's face was flushed red, looking completely unconscious.

Immediately after, Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng walked out of the room.

"What exactly happened?"

Great-grandfather loved liquor, but not to the point of drinking first thing in the morning.

Runsheng scratched his head and said, "Xiaoyuan, your household registration was moved to Great-grandfather's place, and it seems your school records and such were transferred too."

Li Zhuiyuan was stunned for a moment. Was it that fast?

Last night on the phone, when Li Lan said she wanted to transfer his registration, he had intentionally hinted that he was living at Li Sanjiang's house. Clearly, Li Lan had understood.

Of course, it would be strange if she didn't understand; the mother and son both recognized each other's intelligence.

However, this time not only was the efficiency high, but the school records could also be transferred. It seemed the project Li Lan was participating in this time was indeed very important; the family placement was handled as a special case, and even those old professors couldn't stop it.

"Xiaoyuan, I'm going down to eat my buns."

"Okay, go ahead, Brother Runsheng."

After Runsheng went down, Li Zhuiyuan washed a towel in a basin, then pushed open Li Sanjiang's room door again and walked in.

Li Sanjiang was lying on the bed, his left arm across his forehead, his legs spread apart.

Li Zhuiyuan wrung out the towel and handed it to Li Sanjiang.

"Great-grandfather, wipe your face."

Li Sanjiang didn't move.

"Great-grandfather has a high tolerance for liquor, you aren't drunk. If you were really asleep, you'd be snoring."

"Cough, cough..." Li Sanjiang opened his eyes and looked at Li Zhuiyuan by the bed. "Xiaoyuan, Great-grandfather did something wrong."

"No, it was Great-grandfather who took me in."

"You're still young, you probably don't know what a Jingcheng household registration means."

"Great-grandfather, that's not that important."

"What do you know, you little brat? When you grow up, you'll definitely regret it and be furious. Listen to Great-grandfather, find a way to contact your grandfather on the north side and have them get it back for you."

"Great-grandfather, I'm surnamed Li now."

"Sigh, tell me, what is this thing your mother did? You don't feel bad, but I do. Great-grandfather feels sorry for you, really sorry. My little brat's future has been ruined just like that."

"Great-grandfather, it's okay. At worst, I'll be like Li... like my mother, and just get into a university in a big city."

"Right, school, I almost forgot!"

Li Sanjiang did a carp-leap from the bed, then quickly ran to the stool and opened the bag containing the household register and file folder.

"Great-grandfather still has to ask someone to find you a school. Is Shinan Elementary okay? Forget it, Shigang's is bigger, let's go to Shigang for elementary school."

"Elementary school..."

"Let me tell you, Xiaoyuan, play however you want during summer vacation, but when school officially starts, you absolutely cannot fall behind. You must put your heart into your studies."

"Great-grandfather, do you know anyone at the school?"

"Can't I find someone even if I don't know them? Even if I can't find someone directly, finding someone indirect who can safely deliver money will do.

I heard schools divide students into good classes and bad classes. We'll put in some effort; no matter what, we have to get you into a good class.

Right, Xiaoyuan, what grade are you in?"

"Great-grandfather, that Uncle Tan from last time was quite nice."

"Uncle Tan? Which Uncle Tan?"

"The Tan Dui from the police station."

"We've only met twice, we aren't close. Besides, he's not from the school."

"Shigang Town is only so big, him coming forward would definitely be more convenient. He even invited me to his house to play last time. I'll take the files to him in a while and ask."

"Alright, then Great-grandfather will go with you when the time comes."

"No need. If he can't handle it and you go, it'll be so awkward. It's better for a child like me to speak up."

"Then let's do that for now. Ask him when you go to his house, and I'll find someone here too."

Seeing Li Sanjiang agree, Li Zhuiyuan felt relieved.

He didn't want to leave here right now, but he also didn't want to be sent to elementary school by his great-grandfather just like that.

Although he hadn't had much contact with Tan Dui, he owed him a favor last time, so he should be able to help. The main thing was to help him skip grades, preferably to the third year of high school.

That way, in a year, he could take the college entrance exam.

If he wanted to shorten the time, he could also participate in the national math competition held every winter to get a recommendation spot.

However, where should he go to college?

Since Li Lan didn't want to see him, he wouldn't go where she was.

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly thought of a school. From the name to the major, it was very suitable for his current self... Haihe University.

Thinking of this, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but smile in his heart:

Brother Liangliang, it seems we really will be alumni in the future.

Great-grandfather was racking his brains thinking about his interpersonal network, while Li Zhuiyuan walked out to continue reading.

When Liu Yi called for dinner at noon, he finally put down the book and went downstairs to eat.

Sitting on his small stool, looking at the empty space beside him, and seeing that the girl's small dish hadn't been placed on the table, he really felt empty inside.

Turning his head, he discovered A Li's small dining table had been moved into the east room, and Liu Yumei was sorting out the portions of food for her while trying to persuade her.

Finally, A Li picked up her chopsticks and started to eat.

Liu Yumei nodded with relief. When she stood up, she felt some soreness in her waist. Before, A Li would eat after just one word from the boy; why did she need to persuade her for so long now?

For a moment, a sense of urgency suddenly arose in her heart. She was getting older and older. If she passed away and A Li's illness still wasn't cured, who would take care of A Li?

Li Sanjiang also came down to eat. After sitting down, he noticed Li Zhuiyuan sitting there alone. He looked around and found the girl sitting inside the room, and immediately slammed his chopsticks down, dissatisfied:

"I'm telling you, do we have to be this realistic? Just because our Xiaoyuan lost his Jingcheng household registration, good heavens, you're not willing to eat at the same table anymore?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Pan Zi and Lei Zi running over, covered in sweat.

"Master, Master, it's bad. Something happened at Sihai's fish pond. When they started harvesting the pond, a lot of red water suddenly turned up, just like blood. Sihai and those few who went into the pond to set the nets all have rotting skin!"

"Master, the people over there asked us to come and invite you to take a look."

"What?" Li Sanjiang stood up with a start. "Runsheng, let's go, let's take a look!"

After hearing the description, Li Zhuiyuan silently recited: Earth Yin Red Sha?

Liu Yumei brushed her temple, also puzzled. In this region, how could there be Earth Yin Red Sha?

Runsheng reluctantly put down his rice bowl and followed Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't go. Before confirming that his own fortune issue was resolved, he wouldn't go near the water.

Returning to the second floor, Li Zhuiyuan reopened his book and continued reading.

If it was just Earth Yin Red Sha, there shouldn't be any danger for Great-grandfather, because this kind of pattern only appears at the bait-hole location.

Throughout history, it wasn't just famous mountains and great rivers with auspicious veins where things were buried. In fact, many ancient people chose to bury things in riverbeds, such as tombs, temples, treasures, and the like.

Silt accumulation and riverbed changes made it easier to form "sea changes into mulberry fields" quickly, making it harder for people to find them.

Earth Yin Red Sha was a relatively traditional Feng Shui mechanism layout. Once broken, the things inside could quickly disperse with the rolling water, causing harm to the intruders.

But they were basically all used in bait-holes, which were traps intentionally laid out specifically to fish for water monkeys.

However, this could also explain that there was likely a main hole nearby, but he didn't know what was buried inside.

Li Zhuiyuan had no interest in looking for it, because those who had the conditions to lay out Earth Yin Red Sha back then must have also built "living burials"—not referring to burying living people, but referring to the underwater structures they built that could move with the changes in the hydrological pattern.

Therefore, it was possible that when they were built, the relationship between the several bait-holes and the main hole was standard, but now, who knew where they had gotten messed up. Even if you knew one bait-hole, you couldn't calculate the location of the main hole.

Sihai's family was also unlucky. He didn't know if their fish pond happened to be dug on a spirit-trap, or if the spirit-trap had moved under their fish pond itself.

Of course, if it wasn't one of the two situations above, then the nature of the matter might have changed, and it might really be that a water monkey had been hooked.

The whole afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan was reading. Great-grandfather and Runsheng didn't return until dinner time.

During dinner, Li Sanjiang talked about what happened at Sihai's house.

Two outsiders wanted to contract Sihai's fish pond at a high price to raise soft-shelled turtles, so although it wasn't time to harvest the pond yet, Sihai decided to clear the pond so he could rent it out.

As a result, when Sihai and his son went into the pond to set nets at noon, the accident happened. Also involved were the two outsiders who were helping in the pond at the time. All four of them had bodies that looked like they had been scalded by lime water, with large areas rotting. Although they hadn't died yet and had been sent to the hospital, the sight was truly terrifying.

The nearby villagers were all scared out of their wits. Li Sanjiang performed a ritual there in the afternoon. As soon as the ritual was finished, the red water in the pond went down. The villagers all said that Master Sanjiang had suppressed the evil spirits.

When talking about this, Li Sanjiang felt quite good about himself, touching his chin while taking a sip of liquor.

Li Zhuiyuan guessed that it should be that after the Earth Yin Red Sha was touched and released, the bait-hole opened, and the water in the pond finally poured back into the bait-hole.

Besides, those two outsiders were really warm-hearted, not only contracting the fish pond at a high price but also helping to clear the fish pond.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan prepared to go upstairs to practice his horse stance, but was mysteriously stopped by Runsheng.

"Xiaoyuan, come here for a second."

Li Zhuiyuan followed Runsheng to the tricycle. Runsheng lifted the white plastic sheet on top, and inside lay a shovel with some age to it.

"Xiaoyuan, look, doesn't this shovel look a bit like our Yellow River shovel? But it only looks a bit like it, and it's not as good as ours."

Li Zhuiyuan took the shovel and tried folding and deforming it a few times. The core structure was indeed the same as the Yellow River shovel, but the detail design was far inferior.

However, this thing was indeed old, with many traces of repairs; it counted as an old object.

"Brother Runsheng, did you pick this up by the fish pond today?"

"Yes, I didn't dare tell Master, I picked it up secretly because I smelled a corpse stench on it."

Li Zhuiyuan leaned over and smelled it. He didn't smell it, but he trusted Runsheng's judgment, because professional corpse-salvagers often had a sensitivity to the stench of water corpses that ordinary people couldn't understand. "Is it from those two outsiders?"

"I don't know, when I went there, all four were badly injured, and this thing was just thrown by the side of the pond."

"You did very well, Brother Runsheng."

"Ah... I thought you would blame me for stealing things, Xiaoyuan."

"This is no ordinary thing."

An old imitation Yellow River shovel, still carrying the stench of a water corpse, almost explicitly indicated that it was definitely something used by that gang of water monkeys.

Water monkeys referred to underwater thieves. When they were digging, if they were discovered by people on the shore, they would often drag people into the water to kill them and silence them. Therefore, rumors and stories about water monkeys specifically looking for scapegoats were spread everywhere.

"Xiaoyuan, is it useful?"

"It's useful, Brother Runsheng. In the future, if you smell this kind of scent again, remember to remind me in time."

"Alright, no problem."

"Oh, right, Brother Runsheng, accompany me to play some cards."

"What, accompany you to play cards?" Runsheng thought of the scene where Xiaoyuan slaughtered everyone at the hall that day. In his eyes, Xiaoyuan was simply another God of Gamblers, Gao Jin.

"Play a few rounds, no money involved."

There was already an opened deck of cards in the drawer. Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng sat opposite each other, with Runsheng shuffling and dealing. It was very simple, all three-card fried golden flowers; after dealing, they would immediately open the cards to compare sizes.

After twenty rounds, Runsheng won eight, and he won twelve.

Li Zhuiyuan changed to shuffling and dealing himself. After twenty rounds, he won nine, and Runsheng won eleven.

It seemed the special fortune on him had disappeared?

But what price had he paid?

Li Zhuiyuan sat there, continuing to play with the cards in his hand. He had been waiting for a big one, but that big one never came.

Forget it, don't think about it. Play cards with Runsheng tomorrow morning to compare sizes again. If it's still this normal win-loss ratio, then he can go out.

East room.

Liu Yi was combing Liu Yumei's hair and sighed: "Xiaoyuan's household registration was moved here. This child really has bad luck, taking such a big fall."

"Took a big fall? Maybe that brat himself doesn't feel anything."

"That's because he's still young and doesn't understand, right?"

"Ating, it's not like you haven't had contact with him. Do you really think he's just a child?"

"Doesn't seem like it."

"For ordinary people, encountering this kind of thing, their luck for a lifetime might be broken, and they would never recover.

But this rule ladder was only built for ordinary people; for the true ones, it doesn't count for anything at all.

In a peaceful world, if they want to go up, they can go up, and there are plenty of ways; ordinary people can't envy them."

"You're right, that's indeed the logic."

"But this is also quite good. Before, I was worried he would leave after summer vacation ended. Currently, it looks like he will continue to live here for a while."

"Does Xiaoyuan have any way to deal with A Li's illness?"

"He said he has a way, but he needs to read."

"What kind of method is this?"

"Let's wait and see. We're old, we can't understand the affairs of young people anymore."

The next morning, when Li Zhuiyuan woke up, he habitually turned his head to look. There was still no one on the chair at the door.

"Sigh..."

After Li Zhuiyuan got up and washed, he read for a while outside. When he went down for breakfast, A Li still wasn't beside him.

After breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan pulled Runsheng to continue playing cards to compare sizes, just like last night. The win-loss ratio was very healthy.

Finally, he felt relieved. He could go out.

"Tan Dui, morning."

"Morning, Tan Dui."

"Hmm, morning to you all."

Tan Yunlong, wearing casual clothes, rode his motorcycle into the station, greeting colleagues he passed.

It was actually not early now; it was already morning. He had also asked for leave to arrive late, because early in the morning, he had gone to his son's school to see the teacher.

Students who were originally in the second semester of the second year of high school and were about to enter the third year had a very short vacation and had already returned to school to start classes. His son had fought outside the school last night, causing quite a stir and almost triggering a group fight.

However, he didn't blame his son, because his son was protecting a classmate who was being bullied.

Tan Yunlong had always been very open-minded about his son's studies. If his grades weren't top-notch, so be it. If he couldn't get into a good university, so be it. As long as his character and values were correct, that was enough.

This was also the reason why, when he was transferred, he didn't hesitate to quarrel with his wife to transfer his son to a school near his workplace. He had to keep an eye on this brat.

Having been a policeman for a long time and seeing too much of all kinds of evil, he knew that if he didn't control his child's character well, no matter how he cultivated him, it would be meaningless.

Walking into the office building, the colleagues he met along the way continued to greet him very enthusiastically. Although there had been a vicious case in the jurisdiction, it was solved quickly, for which he had also received a commendation.

Even the station chief hinted that he should take this opportunity to move around more; after all, his old connections were still there, and having made a contribution, he could logically be transferred back. But Tan Yunlong didn't make any moves; he felt it was quite good at the township police station.

Pushing open the office door, Tan Yunlong was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he closed the door.

He picked up the thermos, brewed a cup of tea, and handed it to the boy.

The boy took something wrapped in newspaper from his feet and opened it in front of him; it was a shovel.

Cultural relics unearthed underground belonged to the state. Stealing them privately was against the law, and their channels for selling stolen goods were often abroad, so they should report it to the police in time.

After listening to the boy's concise account, Tan Yunlong first stood up and walked out of the office to arrange for people to set up surveillance in the hospital ward. Then he closed the door and sat back down, seeing Li Zhuiyuan holding the teacup, taking several sips of hot tea without putting it down.

"It seems you have something you need my help with this time."

"Yes, Uncle Tan, I want to ask you to help me arrange enrollment. This is my file."

Tan Yunlong flipped through these documents and then couldn't understand: "What kind of operation is this?"

"I want to go to school."

"Alright, I'll help you contact the town elementary school. What grade were you in before?" Tan Yunlong held the school record certificate and looked at it carefully again and again. "Is the juvenile class elementary school? This university name, tsk tsk, were you attending the affiliated elementary school of this university before?"

"I want to skip grades."

"Skip to the sixth grade? I know Jingcheng has good educational resources, but the competition among students here is also quite fierce. If we only talk about test-taking ability, those in Jingcheng might not necessarily be better than those here."

"Third year of high school."

"Hmm, third year of high school... what?" Tan Yunlong raised his head and stared at the boy. "Are you sure you aren't joking?"

"Uncle Tan, you just help me arrange the grade-skipping process. I'll handle the exams and tests myself."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that every place had a grade-skipping policy. Many of his classmates at that time had skipped grades like that.

"Really?" Tan Yunlong became interested. "Listening to your tone, it's just that the college entrance exam is over now, otherwise, you could directly prepare for it."

"No, I still want to stay here for a while. I don't want to leave."

"How about this, I can help you, but to avoid me making a big fool of myself, you have to go to my house for dinner tonight. My son is also about to enter the third year of high school."

"Tonight won't work, tomorrow or the day after is fine."

Seeing the boy so calm and composed, Tan Yunlong couldn't help but believe him and asked, "Are you that kind of genius child?"

Li Zhuiyuan hesitated for a moment. A more appropriate description for himself seemed to be a sick child.

"Then why did you go do that?" Tan Yunlong waved his hand, referring to corpse-salvaging.

This time Li Zhuiyuan's answer was very firm:

"It's fun, interesting."

"If you really are this kind of person, you should study hard and serve the country."

"Isn't that what I'm doing?"

"That's not what I meant. Alright, then tomorrow night, I'll go to your house to pick you up. I remember where you live."

"Alright." Li Zhuiyuan stood up and bowed to Tan Yunlong. "Thank you, Uncle."

Tan Yunlong also stood up, walked to the boy's side, and touched his head: "It's Uncle who should thank you."

Before noon, Li Zhuiyuan returned home in Runsheng's tricycle.

Several masons had come to the house and were building a house in the back room.

Liu Yi walked over with a smile and said to Li Zhuiyuan:

"Your great-grandfather just asked what was going on. I said it was you requesting to build a workshop for yourself. Your great-grandfather actually nodded, didn't ask any more, turned around, went into the room, and took money for me, which I pushed back, saying the money was enough.

He asked me where the money came from, and I said it was won by Runsheng playing cards."

"Hehe."

Runsheng, who was parking the cart nearby, had a silly smile on his face.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and reminded: "Brother Runsheng, why don't you run yet?"

"What?"

Inside the main house, a figure suddenly darted out, holding the rattan used for paper-crafting, heading straight for Runsheng:

"I told you not to learn bad habits, and you learn from that mountain bumpkin in your family playing cards and gambling. See if I don't beat you to death, beat you to death!"

Runsheng ran, Great-grandfather chased.

The two of them circled around the field in front of the dam.

Li Zhuiyuan sighed in his heart that Great-grandfather's body was really good.

His cold was also better, and he hadn't been hit by bird droppings recently. It seemed that after his own fortune issue was resolved, Great-grandfather had also returned to normal.

Immediately after, Li Zhuiyuan looked toward the east room. A Li was still sitting behind the threshold, motionless, like an exquisite sculpture.

These past few days, without the girl's company, reading really was just reading.

Liu Yumei gave Li Zhuiyuan a look, signaling him to go up and try to contact A Li again.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't go, but walked straight into the house and went to the second floor. The "Liu Family Qi-Gazing Art" was just a little bit away from being finished.

He had been staying up late reading it every day during this period, forcibly increasing his progress.

Liu Yumei sat in the chair, looking at the second floor, feeling a sense of annoyance she couldn't control. Before, she was jealous because her granddaughter was close to the boy; now, she wished her granddaughter could be as sticky and playful with the boy as before.

But this boy really just read books every day. Why don't you come over and try? If you don't try, how do you know if it'll work? Girls need to be coaxed.

Since she was small, A Li had only this one playmate. Liu Yumei didn't believe her granddaughter had completely lost her feelings for the boy.

After lunch, Li Zhuiyuan continued reading. In the afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan finally finished the book.

He leaned back, lying in the rattan chair, seizing the time to organize and sublimate the content of the whole book.

Although his eyes were closed, scenes and images of the weather and atmosphere recorded by the words in the book appeared in his mind. His left and right hands kept gesturing irregularly. To outsiders, this was the boy closing his eyes and imagining himself as a music conductor, but in Li Zhuiyuan's perception, he was manipulating various different water environments.

For this kind of book, rote memorization had limited effect; one must reach a mysterious state similar to art appreciation on the basis of deep understanding to be considered truly initiated and mastered.

Fine beads of sweat seeped out on his face, his brows sometimes tight, sometimes loose.

After thoroughly organizing it, the boy opened his eyes, his eyes full of exhaustion.

Sitting up, he realized his face was sticky; it turned out he had had a nosebleed. He had bled quite a bit, and a large area of his clothes was soaked red.

Li Zhuiyuan knew this was a warning from his body due to overusing his brain.

In just a few days, he had thoroughly understood the "Liu Family Qi-Gazing Art." Even for him, it was a challenge with a huge burden. Fortunately, he had completed it, but this kind of thing couldn't be done like this again in the future.

Otherwise, he was very worried that before any mental problems came, his body would have problems first.

Bathing, changing clothes, and washing the blood-stained clothes himself, Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs and told Liu Yi that he was sleepy and wouldn't eat dinner, then walked to the back of the house again.

Li Sanjiang was helping the masons with Runsheng. The workshop was built against the back wall of the main house and would be finished before nightfall.

Li Zhuiyuan told Li Sanjiang that he wouldn't eat dinner; he had been studying too late last night and couldn't hold on, so he wanted to sleep first.

Originally, he was just afraid that Great-grandfather would worry, and even more afraid that Great-grandfather would come to check on his situation at night and disturb his rest, so he came to tell him specifically.

But after hearing his words, Li Sanjiang's eyes immediately turned red, and he hurriedly waved his hand to signal Li Zhuiyuan to go back to sleep and rest.

After Li Zhuiyuan left, Li Sanjiang wiped his eyes with the back of his hand:

"Saying he doesn't care is just to make me feel better, but Xiaoyuan is also anxious inside. Listen, his mind wasn't on his studies at all before; when has he ever studied hard late at night?"

When returning from the back of the house to the front, passing the entrance of the east room, Li Zhuiyuan could only walk against the wall, keeping a sufficient distance, otherwise A Li would have a stress reaction.

At a safe distance, Li Zhuiyuan stood there and looked at the girl for a long time.

He had worried before: would he be uncomfortable if he couldn't see A Li after returning to Jingcheng in the future?

Now he didn't need to worry; he knew he couldn't adapt at all.

Just as A Li had already become accustomed to the darkness, he had also already become accustomed to various masks.

If he hadn't experienced it, he could have kept everything as it was, but precisely because he had experienced it... so, he couldn't go back.

"Xiaoyuan, come, accompany Grandma for tea."

"No, Grandma, I'm tired, I'm going back to my room to sleep."

Returning to his room, Li Zhuiyuan lay on the bed and started to sleep. He was really tired.

He slept until late at night. After waking up, he got out of bed and first went to Great-grandfather's room to take some things. Great-grandfather was sleeping soundly; he wouldn't wake up even if there was thunder.

Then he went downstairs. The TV was on, showing a fixed color screen.

Runsheng was lying on a floor mat on the table, holding a small black puppy, sleeping soundly.

This small black puppy was now being raised by Runsheng. Of course, it didn't need raising, because it slept in its own doghouse most of the time. Great-grandfather had also taken several days to discover that there was an extra dog in the house.

"Brother Runsheng, wake up."

"Hmm... what's wrong, Xiaoyuan?"

"Brother Runsheng, come out with me, and bring all the equipment."

"Okay!"

Li Zhuiyuan went to take some incense and candles, and also went to the kitchen to get some ingredients. When he came out, he saw Runsheng preparing to push the tricycle:

"Brother Runsheng, it's not far, let's walk."

"Okay." Runsheng followed with a large sack on his back and asked in a lowered voice, "Xiaoyuan, are we going to deal with them?"

"Deal with who?"

"That gang that contracted the fish pond."

"The police will handle them."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"Ask someone for help."

Runsheng turned his head to look at the sack on his back, then looked at the incense, candles, and offerings in Li Zhuiyuan's hand:

"Ask someone for help, and we need to bring this?"

Li Zhuiyuan led Runsheng to a fish pond. Directly opposite the fish pond was the bearded man's house.

The bearded man's wife had already gone with their eldest son. The house was currently intended to be sold, but firstly, the homestead wasn't easy to sell to outsiders, and secondly, someone had just drowned in front of the door, and the matter was spread very eerily. Even if the price was set very low, no one dared to take it over for the time being.

Therefore, this place was currently one of the most secluded places in the village.

Li Zhuiyuan stood in front of the fish pond, first closed his eyes, then slowly opened them. The content of the "Liu Family Qi-Gazing Art" appeared in his mind.

Back then, he was the one who led Little Huang Ying here. Now, he had to confirm whether Little Huang Ying was still there.

The color and luster of the water patterns, the state of the water plants, the shore, and the wind blowing over it—all these tiny details made up the weather and atmosphere in Li Zhuiyuan's mind.

Li Zhuiyuan walked slowly along the edge of the fish pond, observing carefully. Finally, he confirmed that there was a corpse hiding in this fish pond.

Little Huang Ying was still here.

"Brother Runsheng, here, here, and over there, dig a small pit, then insert the incense."

"Okay." Runsheng picked up the Yellow River shovel and got busy.

Li Zhuiyuan threw the offerings he brought to specific positions in the pond, then placed two candles at the guiding position on the southwest side of the pond and lit them.

After doing these, Li Zhuiyuan picked up a stack of yellow paper and lit it with the candle.

"Brother Runsheng, unless I call you later, don't move. Stay far away for now and follow us when the time comes."

Runsheng stood far away obediently, then asked in confusion, "Follow us?"

Li Zhuiyuan waved the burning yellow paper and chanted:

"I, Li Zhuiyuan, ask you to come out of the water. I will offer three sacrifices as a return gift afterward."

"Slap!"

The yellow paper was slapped into the mud and extinguished.

Li Zhuiyuan turned around, with his back to the pond, holding the incense burner in his left hand and the bell in his right.

Although Runsheng stood far away, he saw it clearly. He saw ripples suddenly appearing on the pond surface behind Li Zhuiyuan, and then a long-haired woman's figure slowly came ashore.

A corpse!

Runsheng's breathing immediately became rapid. He wanted to shout that Xiaoyuan was in danger, but on second thought, this corpse was clearly summoned by Xiaoyuan himself.

Immediately after, his brain took another turn: Heavens, Xiaoyuan could actually summon a corpse!

He had followed his grandfather to salvage corpses since he was a child, and every time it was a passive response, but he had never seen, let alone thought, that there could be such an active way!

Xiaoyuan, how on earth did he do it?

Two cold hands landed on his shoulders. Li Zhuiyuan felt his body sink, and then wet water stains soaked his clothes.

This familiar feeling was back.

But this time, he wasn't very afraid in his heart, but to be safe, he still called Runsheng.

"Ding ding ding... ding ding ding... ding ding ding..."

The crisp bell sound rang out, and Li Zhuiyuan started to move forward, with the figure behind him also following him forward.

Under the moonlight,

One tall and one short figure were cast.

East room bedroom.

Liu Yumei was holding a cattail fan, fanning A Li. A Li's eyes were open; she hadn't slept yet.

In the past, that little boy would coax her to sleep every night; once A Li returned to her room, she would obediently close her eyes, striving to fall asleep so she could wake up early to dress and style herself to see him.

Suddenly, Liu Yumei seemed to sense something, got up, walked to the window, and looked out. Immediately after, she looked at A Li on the bed, only to see A Li's eyes, which had been open, slowly close at this moment.

"This... this is... this is..."

Even Liu Yumei, who had seen big storms and waves, was speechless with shock at this time. For a long time, she thought of what the boy had said to her the day before yesterday:

"Grandma, A Li has gone back to her room. I need to find a way to call A Li out again so I can apologize to her face-to-face."

A smile that was between crying and laughing appeared on Liu Yumei's face:

"No, do young people now start using this method when they want to meet at night?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook the bell, carried the incense burner, walked to the dam, and then stopped.

Immediately after, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes.

Although his body was wet and cold and very uncomfortable, he was still forcing himself into a sleep state.

Actually, he didn't need real sleep; as long as he reached a semi-dreaming, semi-awake trance state, he could succeed in walking in the underworld.

When he slowly opened his eyes, he first looked behind him; the long-haired cheongsam figure was still there. Looking further away, he couldn't see Runsheng's figure.

Hmm, this meant the dream-entry was successful.

"Please wait a moment, I will send you back in a while."

After speaking, Li Zhuiyuan put down the bell and incense burner in his hand, and then walked forward himself.

He broke free from the restraint of those hands, while the cheongsam figure still maintained the posture of raising both hands, motionless.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the front of the east room and stopped.

Soon,

The girl's figure appeared.

This time, she finally didn't ignore him completely like she did during the day, but cast her gaze upon him.

Late at night,

Pitch black,

On the dam, stood a boy, a girl, and a corpse.

The boy looked at the girl and said very sincerely:

"A Li, will you forgive me?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 37 =====