Chapter 391

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan had accompanied his great-grandfather to sit through many funeral rites, so he was naturally very clear about the funeral process and arrangements.

Coupled with the fact that the family had all the necessary materials for the funeral on hand, managing it was even simpler and smoother.

Very quickly, the mourning hall was set up.

The offerings consisted mainly of local everyday foods, which were essentially snacks in the eyes of the older generation.

Based on his own tastes, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan placed an unopened case of Jianlibao on the offering table.

The only slightly more extravagant touch was that Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan lit eight thick white candles, four on each side.

This was in consideration of the potential power outages as the typhoon drew closer and the winds grew stronger.

There was no funeral portrait; although it was easy to take photos at home, one could just pull Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin over and have him make a cross-eyed Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face.

But doing that in advance would be going too far.

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin had a high level of acting skill, but he was better at the route of exchanging sincerity for sincerity; simple deceptive effects could not fool truly wise eyes.

Furthermore, Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin's side also involved the chain reactions of Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You and Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng; no matter how hard those two tried to disguise themselves, in the eyes of those at a higher level, they were all playing with their cards Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face up.

However, the lack of a portrait on the offering table was truly a shortcoming.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan took paper and a pen and drew a sketch of himself; he didn't draw it while looking in a mirror, but after darkening the edges and shadows, he tucked it into a ready-made frame, and if one didn't look closely from up close, it was actually no different in effect from a taken funeral portrait.

He searched for a long time for funeral couplets but couldn't find any suitable ones.

Because his great-grandfather's client base was generally older, using those for Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan would be inappropriate.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan wrote a pair himself with a brush and hung them up:

First line: The fledgling phoenix turns to rain before it sings.

Second line: The epiphyllum leaves fragrance even in its fleeting bloom.

Horizontal scroll: Universal celebration.

He had originally intended to follow the crowd and write "Heaven and Earth mourn together" for the horizontal scroll.

After hesitating for a moment, the youth felt this did not match the literal facts.

After all, he knew very well who the true buried-line layer of this wave was.

The mourning hall is the skeleton of a funeral, and all rituals and processes basically revolve around it.

But for Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan, this skeleton was secondary.

There was only one person and one dog here, which was too desolate; at this time, he needed to gather some human presence, and if there weren't enough living people, then paper figures would have to fill in.

There was a large stock of ready-made paper figures at home, but that wasn't what Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan wanted.

He intended to make them himself; to describe it in the Nantong dialect, he was personally "binding the treasury."

With the advantage of being high-quality and inexpensive, the paper effigies from his great-grandfather's house basically monopolized the surrounding market.

Liu Liu Jinxia was an expert at making paper effigies; the painting skills she inherited from the old lady, when applied to drawing on paper figures, interpreted what it meant to use a cannon to kill a mosquito.

The paper effigies made by Huang Ying were also of extremely high quality; she followed an authentic route, and no one understood the aesthetic of the "dead" better than she did.

In fact, no matter who they were, everyone in the family had some skill in making paper effigies; after Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin and Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You had been here for a while, they naturally picked it up.

When they were idle and watching TV, if their hands were free, they would pull some bamboo strips to work on them, much like rural old ladies sitting on the dam shelling edamame.

However, the person in the family most skilled at making paper effigies was actually Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan.

Because the youth's Nu opera puppetry had long reached an extremely high realm.

Xiao Hei stared with its dog eyes, watching this scene in astonishment.

The youth sat on a small stool, and just by rotating and kneading his palms through the air, those bamboo strips seemed to have gained life, actively assembling into a precise and standard skeleton in front of the youth.

There was one thing that even Xiao Hei's dog eyes could not discern.

That was that during this step of the production process, a blood line in the youth's palm was continuously flowing in, as if adding blood vessels to the "skeleton."

It was just that only Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan himself could "see" this blood line; in the past, even though Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin and the others had been connected many times, they only had the sensation but could not touch its form.

After each "skeleton" was completed, paper of various colors immediately drifted over to cover it, and the pigments were also gathered to color themselves.

Accustomed to creating puppets using corpses—and powerful ones at that—as carriers, the difficulty of simply making paper figures now was like doing kindergarten arithmetic.

Very quickly, paper figures of Qin Li, Liu Liu Jinxia, Grandma Liu, Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin, Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng, and Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You, with heights and temperaments almost identical to them, were produced.

Next, when making the paper figure for A Li, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan spent a bit more effort.

For some people, in terms of both emotion and reason, you should make some distinctions.

When A Li's paper figure was finished, it clearly possessed a touch of vivid vitality compared to the others.

Special treatment to this degree was enough; after all, this stuff wasn't exactly auspicious, and making it too over-the-top wasn't appropriate.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan made a paper figure of Zhao Yi.

Since he had Zhao Yi, he then conveniently made one of Chen Jing.

He had intended to stop there,

but after hesitating again, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan still made one of Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Xiyuan.

Job done.

Next was a bit of arrangement.

Two round tables were opened by Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan and placed on both sides of the mourning hall in the living room; stools were arranged, plastic tablecloths were spread, and bowls, plates, chopsticks, and spoons were set out, along with a small vinegar dish for two people to share.

Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei's paper figure was arranged to sit at a small round table, with a teapot in front of her, and a pen and a new gift-record book on the small table.

Liu Liu Jinxia's paper figure already had a paper tray in its hand, with paper dishes on it, as if serving food.

Qin Li was just placed in a random spot, as if waiting to be commanded, or as if about to be scolded.

Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng's paper figure sat in front of the fire basin, burning paper;

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin stood by the side of the offering table, directing the rite;

Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Lin Shu You stood in the center, holding a golden mace made of golden ingot paper, his image itself carrying the characteristics of a True Lord, performing in front of the mourning hall.

Zhao Yi and Chen Jing were placed at the entrance; fearing they would be drenched by the wind and rain, he had their backs against the wall, as if they were guests coming to pay their respects.

Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Xiyuan's paper figure was at a safe distance, facing the wind and rain outside, playing a flute.

The three coffins were three beds.

The inside of Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng's coffin had a bit of patina.

The inside of Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Binbin's coffin was pickled with the smell of smoke.

Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng slept in the one belonging to the old man, who wouldn't mind Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng's smell; Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Binbin slept in the one belonging to the great-grandfather, who was a heavy smoker himself.

But Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't really want to choose either of these; within the scope of what conditions allowed, he wanted to lie in one that was slightly cleaner.

Fortunately, there was the coffin that A You slept in.

A You bathed diligently, didn't smoke, and would tidy and wipe his bed morning and night; he could be considered a qualified coffin-warmer.

The coffin was very heavy, but the family had a small wheel-cart for transporting coffins, and Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan's strength was decent; after inserting the cart into the four corners of the coffin, one person could easily push it to the back of the mourning hall, and after determining the position, remove the cart.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan lay inside first to try it out; compared to his stature, this coffin was simply a large-sized unit.

After leaving the coffin, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan placed A Li's paper figure at the head of the coffin.

The girl's two hands gripped the edge of the coffin, her gaze looking into it.

The funeral was completely set up.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan was covered in sweat from the exertion.

However, he didn't go upstairs to take a shower; after all, the wind and rain outside were growing fierce, and showering was meaningless.

Xiao Hei patrolled around the mourning hall; as a five-black dog, it had an instinctive resistance and repulsion toward the "evil" side, and the current environment here already made it feel very uncomfortable.

But looking at the youth... it didn't dare to act out.

Because the doghouse had been demolished to make room for the mourning hall.

Xiao Hei found a new corner, lay down, closed its dog eyes, and decided to ignore it.

As a result, before it could even find any sleepiness, a leash was thrown in front of it.

Xiao Hei licked its mouth with its tongue, not daring to resist; it put its neck into it itself, and then used its paws to adjust the tightness to its own comfort.

At present, even in the city, the trend of keeping pets had only just begun to show signs, and Xiao Hei, as a rural dog, had already learned to skillfully use a leash.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan led Xiao Hei out of the living room and pushed out the family's oldest small tricycle.

The youth tied the other end of Xiao Hei's leash to the handlebar, then pushed the tricycle with the dog to the rice fields behind the house.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan walked into the training ground and began to move things out.

The things in his training ground were very complete, and for those with whom he had deep ties, he had set up offering tables for them here.

The first thing moved out was the offering for the Great Emperor of Emperor Emperor Fengdu.

After placing it on the tricycle, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan put many new formation flags made of mechanical materials into the cart.

The youth rode the tricycle, carrying the items, onto the village road.

The wind was strong and the rain was not light; the youth rode slowly, and Xiao Hei followed easily behind, occasionally taking the time to shake the water droplets off its body.

Farming was too hard these days, and one had to pay grain taxes, so renting fields in the village was very convenient; the fields belonging to the great-grandfather's house were constantly expanding due to Qin Li, the great laborer.

There were two fields located on both sides of the village road, visible as soon as one turned in from the road.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan got off the cart and pushed the tricycle along the ridge of the field.

The wind and rain were fierce, and there were few villagers on the road, but if you were using someone else's field, you would immediately be "reported by hearsay."

The offerings were unloaded from the cart and arranged in the field.

The formation flags were inserted into the surroundings, immediately forming a formation that isolated the wind and rain.

And the greatest characteristic of this formation was that it could amplify the power of Feng Shui.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan stood in front of the offering table, his hands constantly grabbing at the surroundings; the invisible power of Feng Shui was pulled over by him and temporarily bound here, as if gathering strength.

After the arrangements were proper, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan hung up the portrait of the Great Emperor of Emperor Emperor Fengdu he had just drawn.

The Great Emperor with the fair Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face, though lacking a bit of majesty, added a touch of unique gentleness.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan pushed the tricycle with Xiao Hei and went back again; it wasn't over yet, so he moved the Bodhisattva's offering table from the ritual site onto the cart, and then arrived opposite the village road by the farmland where the Great Emperor was located.

Following the established pattern, he first set up the formation, then connected the Feng Shui.

While he was busy, Li Li Weihan, wearing a raincoat and riding his "Twenty-Eight" bicycle, happened to pass by on the village road.

He rode past first, then turned around and rode back.

He peered carefully through the heavy rain before confirming that the person busy in the field at this moment was his own grandson.

He hurriedly propped up his bicycle and trotted over.

"Little Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan Hou, what are you doing here?"

"Grandpa, I'm setting things up."

"Setting up what?"

"The Bodhisattva."

Li Li Weihan looked closely and discovered that it was indeed the Bodhisattva being set up.

"Did your Great-Grandfather tell you to set this up here?"

"Yes."

"With such strong wind and heavy rain..."

"Great-Grandfather said this is to pray for blessings for me. I have a hurdle to cross this year; as long as I can pass this hurdle, everything will be smooth sailing until I reach adulthood.

Grandpa, look, today's wind and rain are just right."

Li Li Weihan felt heartache for his grandson being exposed to the wind and rain, but he was also somewhat superstitious, and besides, strange things had indeed happened to his grandson before, which were resolved by Uncle Sanjiang.

"Then Grandpa will come help you set it up."

"No need, Grandpa. Great-Grandfather said I have to do this myself and cannot let others help, otherwise it won't be effective."

"You're blowing in the wind and getting soaked in the rain; I'm afraid you'll catch a cold. I'll go back and have Grandma boil some ginger soup for you."

"The hot water at home is already boiled, and the ginger soup is prepared too. I'll be able to have it as soon as I go back. Grandpa, don't worry, Great-Grandfather has arranged everything. My health is fine, it's nothing."

"Then put on my raincoat."

"I have to be in the rain and wind; I can't block it. Blocking it will affect my future."

Li Li Weihan had nothing more to say and could only stand by, watching his grandson busy himself, to prevent anything from happening to him.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't avoid Li Li Weihan; he set things up just as he intended, as his grandfather wouldn't understand it anyway.

When Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan finished setting up and was ready to leave, Li Li Weihan subconsciously wanted to bow to the Bodhisattva, but then realized this Bodhisattva was protecting Little Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan Hou, so he hurriedly withdrew his gesture, fearing he might take away his grandson's protection.

"Finished?"

"Yes, finished, Grandpa."

"Come, I'll push the cart for you."

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan did not object.

Li Li Weihan first pushed the tricycle from the field onto the village road, then placed his "Twenty-Eight" bicycle horizontally on top of it, and then pushed the tricycle forward.

The wind was getting stronger and stronger, to the point where it was no longer safe to ride a bike, and there was a concrete bridge ahead without railings; falling into the fields on either side wouldn't be a big deal, but falling under the bridge could easily lead to major problems.

"Little Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan Hou, has your mother told you again when exactly she will be back?"

"Soon, Grandpa."

"Hmm, your Grandma misses your mother dearly."

In fact, he felt the same way himself.

Anyway, ever since Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan arrived in Nantong, the thing he heard others say the most was how Li Li Weihan used to dote on his "little girl" (his daughter).

Li Li Weihan pushed the cart to the terrace below Great-Grandfather's house.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan: "Grandpa, you've also been soaked in the rain. Look, everyone is eating inside the house right now, why don't you come in too?"

Li Li Weihan could see shadows moving about in the living room.

But he had always been someone who didn't like to take advantage of others, not even his own son's.

"No, no, you go up quickly, take a hot shower and drink some ginger soup to ward off the cold; your health is what's important."

"Yes, I know."

Li Li Weihan took down his "Twenty-Eight" bicycle and pushed it away.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan pushed the tricycle onto the terrace and didn't go to the main house, but instead went to the east room.

Grandma Liu had been angered into leaving by him, and she hadn't even closed the door when she left.

After Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan entered the east room, he bowed to the offering table once more.

Afterwards, the youth took down all the spirit tablets from the offering table and placed them on the tricycle outside the door, not missing a single one.

The distance this time wasn't far; it was just the field in front of the house.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan transported the spirit tablets first, then came back to transport the offering table, which was equivalent to shifting all the offerings from the east room to a new location.

Physical fatigue wasn't much of a problem for the youth now; it was mainly the setting up of the formation and the channeling of Feng Shui that were truly a hard drain on his spirit.

However, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan kept the "Jianlibao" specially made by A Li on his person, and whenever he felt slightly mentally exhausted, the youth would tear off the seal and drink half a can.

His energy would be replenished very quickly, even with a bit to spare, leaving him in a state of high excitement.

Any medicine of this kind has side effects, and if A Li crafted it meticulously, she could minimize these side effects.

But for Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan at present, this was meaningless; you cannot expect someone who, in all likelihood, will not survive the night to worry about the harm of energy overdraw two days later.

Moreover, this kind of specially made Jianlibao was only a primary-stage supply.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan had even prepared the talisman needles inside his own coffin.

"Hoo..."

Letting out a long breath, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan returned home.

In the kitchen, the dishes Liu Yi had prepared for lunch today were still there.

Beside them was a separate small table, on which were placed carefully selected eggs and brown sugar with an enticing color.

Clearly, this was A Li's dedicated small kitchen table.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan made himself a bowl of poached eggs with brown sugar—half a spoonful of brown sugar and one egg, just for the sake of it.

Then, the youth stir-fried two dishes as toppings and boiled some dried noodles.

He served a bowl for himself and also served a bowl for Xiao Hei.

The man and the dog ate Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face-to-Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face just like that.

After eating, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan washed the bowls and scrubbed the pot.

As for the bowl Xiao Hei had used, it was specifically placed on the ground by the door, kept for its future exclusive use.

After setting up a simple formation on the tricycle to allow it to offset the blowing of the wind and rain as much as possible and maintain balance, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan rode it again, taking Xiao Hei with him, and arrived at Grandpa Grandpa Hu Zi's house.

The once brilliant and beautiful peach forest now only had a patch of desolate, withered branches and fallen leaves remaining.

The wooden house was gone, Qing An was gone, and even Xiao Huang Ying was gone.

Here, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan could not perceive the slightest aura regarding them.

But he knew the location where Grandpa Grandpa Hu Zi's fishpond used to be and was clear about where Qing An had sunk.

The youth's gaze fell upon that area within the peach forest.

After standing and watching for quite a while, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan withdrew his attention and walked to a dirt pit.

This dirt pit was the original location of the water pool; yesterday, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan had sucked the resentment inside it clean, which led to the withering of this peach forest.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan squatted down and reached his palm downward.

In the fishpond deep within the youth's consciousness, the fish that had just been fed fat for a day were drawn out from within and flew toward the sky.

In reality, the resentment followed the youth's palm and poured back into this dirt pit.

It was the spring eye here; once it possessed "water flow" again, the peach trees all around gradually regained their vitality.

The peach blossoms bloomed once more, and the ground became covered in greenery again.

However, this peach forest was still "thinner" than it had been at its peak.

It wasn't because Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan was holding back, but because in this process of taking in and letting out, there would inevitably be some loss.