Chapter 393

Li Zhuiyuan was waiting for its reaction.

The boy had once poured his own blood many times back and forth on that line at the village entrance; he was setting up the barrier at the greatest cost.

First, he stole its perspective, then introduced it with the barrier; the current situation was actually a two-way rush of "inviting the guest into the urn" and "throwing oneself into the net."

If it were any other opponent, Li Zhuiyuan would have the confidence to seal them here forever; one could even say that those so-called powerful evil spirits were not worthy of enjoying this treatment.

But facing it, Li Zhuiyuan did not have this extravagant hope.

It had just fallen into its own perspective and had temporarily bound itself.

And what the boy wanted was this short buffer; after all, guests rushing to his funeral also needed time.

As for taking the initiative to approach and integrate himself into the current environment, attempting to reconnect Li Lan's interrupted "home visit" from last time, it was Li Zhuiyuan's way of judging the fusion situation between Li Lan and the giant turtle.

If it showed great resistance to the current environmental scene, it meant that the fusion between Li Lan and the giant turtle was very high, truly "you are in me, and I am in you."

If it showed great composure and actively and naturally cut in, it meant that the fusion between Li Lan and the giant turtle was only superficial.

In the latter case, the giant turtle could cut its losses in time regarding Li Lan, treating Li Lan as a pawn to be discarded and destroyed after use.

Given Li Lan's intelligence, it was truly hard to understand why she would fall to this point for the sake of curing her illness.

But everything has two sides; this kind of fusion, which is not actively controlled and is relatively detached, can avoid the shared prosperity and destruction of Li Lan and the giant turtle.

Theoretically speaking, if the boy was not killed by the giant turtle this time and completed a counterattack while taking advantage of the situation, he could make Li Lan's situation "rise in the east and fall in the west," greatly enhancing her dominance over the giant turtle.

Li Lan had said that she had not entered the Profound Sect and intended to skip this stage.

If it really succeeded in the end, then she... had truly succeeded in skipping it.

As an ordinary person, directly seizing the fruits of an existence at the level of the giant turtle—this was simply a step to the sky never seen before in history!

At this time, facing Li Zhuiyuan's "enthusiasm and understanding," it had a soft expression, sat on the tricycle the boy had ridden over, and patted the boy's back, signaling him to ride faster, as it couldn't wait to go home and take a look.

The answer was out.

The expression on the boy's face remained the same.

Without expectation, there is no disappointment.

She indeed intended to skip it, and moreover, she had used her own son as a springboard.

Li Zhuiyuan even suspected that even if Li Lan had gone to the East Sea at that time, she would have had a way to escape the giant turtle's influence; the real reason that prompted her to take the initiative to become the giant turtle's eyes and undergo fusion was because she had seen those two paintings.

She recognized that the person in the paintings was her son after he had grown up.

Knowing that her son after growing up could kill the giant turtle, could her underage son help her injure the giant turtle?

This logical deduction seemed absurd, but Li Zhuiyuan could well empathize with that kind of thinking; driven by extreme self-interest, her own life and so-called "self"—this cost was so low it could almost be ignored.

She was a lunatic.

Facing the wind and rain, Li Zhuiyuan rode the tricycle.

Li Weihan held a large oiled-paper umbrella, standing on the path in front of the house, looking out constantly; Cui Guiying stood at the kitchen entrance, her feet on the threshold.

"Li Lan" had returned.

The characters here were all controlled by Li Zhuiyuan; he could perfectly simulate the scene of grandparents seeing their daughter.

Everything was proceeding according to the normal process.

Li Lan's brothers and sisters-in-law had all come; the brothers sat around Li Lan with Li Weihan, chatting; the sisters-in-law were busy preparing food in the kitchen with Cui Guiying.

The children of Li Zhuiyuan's generation had also come; there were not enough small stools at home, so children like Shitou and Hu Zi could only sit on the ground first.

This was a scene Li Weihan and Cui Guiying had looked forward to for many years in reality.

Unfortunately, its true realization was in another perspective unrelated to them.

A sumptuous dinner was served one after another, filling an entire table; Li Weihan invited everyone to sit down and eat; there wasn't enough room at the table, so a small table had to be set up at the stove.

Li Zhuiyuan sat beside Li Lan, in front of him were bowls covered with other bowls; this was a heat-preservation measure to prevent the dishes prepared earlier from getting cold after sitting for too long.

Cui Guiying took the bowl covers off one by one.

Li Zhuiyuan held chopsticks in his hand, looking at the small turtles still wriggling in the uncovered dish bowls.

It was polluting this place.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at Li Lan; Li Lan was also looking at him.

In her eyes, the red had changed from shallow to full coverage, and a dark red crack had also appeared in the center of her forehead.

Making an excuse to go out to relieve himself, Li Zhuiyuan came to the riverside behind the house.

The small boat tied to the tree by the river by his grandfather already had blue-black patterns emerging on it, like a giant turtle shell.

It had not completely awakened yet, but it was close; as this process was continuously pushed forward, this pure land belonging to the depths of the boy's consciousness would also be completely mastered by it.

An existence of this level, even if its strength had been shaved away layer by layer by himself, still possessed a heart-palpitating evil nature.

Li Zhuiyuan turned around, facing the inside of the house.

The little turtles in the bowls were picked up by the people sitting around the dining table with chopsticks and sent into their mouths.

They looked satisfied, as if they were eating a rare delicacy in the world.

From the stove, turtles crawled out one by one; they first scurried densely on the ground, then clung to the furniture, and finally climbed up the walls and beams.

The people inside were still talking and laughing; even the children were enjoying this luxurious feast that was hard to come by at home on weekdays, completely unaware that they had fallen into a tide of turtles.

Li Zhuiyuan did not walk in again, but came to his tricycle, got on, and after riding for a distance, across the farmland, he saw countless turtles surging out from the doors and windows of his grandparents' house, suddenly as if a flood were being released.

They began to expand in all directions, crossing rivers and pressing over farmland, like a small volcano erupting.

The final countdown had begun.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that he should hide at this moment; it was not suitable for him to be seen by the people "on the shore" after they came in.

At this moment, the tricycle suddenly sank.

The boy turned his head and saw "it" sitting on the tricycle.

It still maintained the posture of sitting in front of the dining table, its left hand holding a non-existent bowl, its right hand holding invisible chopsticks.

It was obsessed with him; it wanted to follow him.

This was a development Li Zhuiyuan had not anticipated.

Even though he had done his best and every step had been realized according to his vision, he had ultimately underestimated its lock on him.

Even if he didn't go to the village road to actively find it, it would soon appear by his side; even if it hadn't awakened yet, it still retained the instinct to follow its prey.

It couldn't go on like this.

After Grandma Liu and the others entered here, they would inevitably lock onto its position in the first instance.

If Grandma Liu and the others discovered his existence here, they would realize that he hadn't died yet.

Then his arrangements would only have served to weaken his strength, and the exemption from karma would be completely lost.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out, wanting to push it off the tricycle.

But it was very heavy; not only could he not push it, but it was as if it were welded to the car, without even a slight sway.

Li Zhuiyuan took a talisman paper out of his pocket; when he flicked it, the talisman paper didn't burn; he flicked it again, and it still had no effect.

The boy opened his palm again, attempting to summon the spirit of the flood dragon, but there was still no movement.

He had been completely drained.

He was now in a state of total overdraft; everything was being used to maintain the operation of this fake village.

But he couldn't steal a part of this operation process for himself, because the operation at this time was already at its limit; if there was even a tiny bit of cutting corners, this "world" would reveal flaws.

And any flaw would accelerate its awakening, and it might even wake up immediately.

The heavy rain kept beating down on Li Zhuiyuan.

He was really just an ordinary twelve-year-old boy at this moment; facing a giant evil spirit from the East Sea, what could he do?

Li Zhuiyuan attempted to abandon the tricycle and walk out by himself.

After walking twenty meters, he stopped, turned his head, and found that it had appeared behind him again; this time it was standing, holding a cup in its hand, probably proposing a toast to the family.

He couldn't shake it off; it would stick to him forever.

Unless an external force joined in, there would be no chance to break the situation.

Li Zhuiyuan returned to the tricycle and got on.

There was a sinking feeling behind him again; it was back on the car, sitting, its right hand making a stroking gesture, probably stroking the head of some nephew or niece.

Li Zhuiyuan started riding the bike; fortunately, the bike could still be ridden.

According to the time calculation, Runsheng, Tan Wenbin, and Lin Shu You were definitely the first batch to rush over to attend his funeral.

He had given them three candles, told them to light them in their respective rooms at eight o'clock, and rush back immediately when the candles went out.

They would not disobey his orders, no matter how absurd or negative the order was.

But in fact, Li Zhuiyuan had tampered with the candles in advance.

When the three of them thought he was deliberately sending them away, intending to sacrifice himself to save their lives, and, carrying helplessness and sorrow, lit the candles and waited quietly for the candles to burn slowly until they went out, they would find...

These candles would explode as soon as they were lit.

That is to say, at eight o'clock, the three of them would set off immediately; Runsheng would rush from Xiting, and Tan Wenbin and Lin Shu You would set out from Shigang Town.

The time they spent on the road would be enough for Li Zhuiyuan to finish this "staring game" with the giant turtle.

The three of them were his partners and were particularly familiar with the red lines; as the first batch to enter, they could set an example for subsequent mourners, and secondly, they could help him solve some sudden accidents.

Just like right now.

The statues of Runsheng and the others here were all at Great-Grandfather's house.

They were connected to the red lines, and after entering here, they would land on the statues.

So at this moment, Li Zhuiyuan was riding the tricycle, rushing toward Great-Grandfather's house.

In this way, he could meet up with them as quickly as possible, let them help him drag or drive away the thing on the car, so that he would have a chance to escape and hide.

Time was tight, because Li Zhuiyuan didn't know when Grandma Liu and the others would return.

Going from Li Weihan's house to Great-Grandfather's house, he would pass behind Big Beard's house halfway; Li Zhuiyuan heard the crisp sound of a flute, and this strong wind added a different flavor to it.

The peach forest in front of the house was bare; the giant turtle had already moved this peach forest out of its perspective before, and Li Zhuiyuan naturally made corresponding adjustments.

So at this moment, Chen Xiyuan's statue was facing a forest of withered branches and fallen leaves.

However, at this moment, the flute sound stopped.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head somewhat unexpectedly, looking toward the dam of Big Beard's house.

Under normal rhythm, every character here would "perform" according to the established logic.

Without external interference or interaction, Chen Xiyuan would keep playing this flute.

The stopping of the flute sound meant that Chen Xiyuan's statue had a problem and had deviated from its original trajectory.

Soon, Li Zhuiyuan looked at the eldest Miss Chen walking out from the front of Big Beard's house, holding a flute.

Her tears were like a bursting flood, presenting a near-uncontrollable hysteria.

Even the most beautiful girl, when her emotions truly collapse, cannot cry with pear blossoms in the rain.

Sister Chen looked really ugly right now.

Especially when she saw the little brother riding a tricycle carrying a woman appearing so abruptly in front of her, Chen Xiyuan's out-of-control expression immediately fell into a twist.

All kinds of emotions were blocked together, none of them could be expressed, and they were all blocked on her face.

The little brother she thought had died was actually still alive!

Although Li Zhuiyuan had made a paper person for Chen Xiyuan, he didn't hold much hope that Chen Xiyuan could return.

Because she was protected by too many things, which could help her turn danger into safety.

But Chen Xiyuan not only returned, but, surprisingly, was the first!

Even Runsheng and the others, who started on time at eight o'clock, couldn't catch up to her!

At this efficiency, I'm afraid she had already stepped back into Shinan Town as soon as he died.

Chen Xiyuan raised her arm and wiped her tears.

She didn't return because she sensed something.

When she was in the taxi, she found the money Grandpa Li had secretly stuffed into the side pocket of her backpack.

She recognized this money, because her money was all taken from the savings bank and was very new, while Grandpa Li's money was relatively old and curled at the edges.

Although she was very moved, it wasn't enough to make Chen Xiyuan turn back; mainly, when she was seriously counting these banknotes that represented care and love one by one, she found that Grandpa Li had accidentally clipped his ID card in here!

The current ID card, if the transparent plastic seal on the outside was removed, was actually a slightly harder piece of paper.

When Li Sanjiang stuffed the money, he did it behind people's backs and didn't want to be discovered; his hands were fast, and when he pulled the zipper, he stuffed the money in his pocket all at once, not noticing at all what else he had brought in.

Chen Xiyuan immediately ordered the driver to turn back to return it.

After entering the village and arriving at Grandpa Li's house, Chen Xiyuan saw the little brother's mourning hall in the living room.

Although she didn't look closely from a short distance, she could sense that the little brother's body in the coffin had no vitality at all.

Intense grief surged into her heart; she didn't know what the little brother had encountered, and even less could she understand why, if the little brother knew she was in danger, he didn't tell her in advance and let her stay to protect him.

Glancing at herself playing the flute in front of the mourning hall, Chen Xiyuan, in her anger, raised the flute and smashed her paper person.

Immediately, the red lines inside the paper person entangled toward the green flute and were grafted into Chen Xiyuan's hand by the green flute.

She was just crying, and as a result, while crying, she found herself standing in front of Big Beard's house dam playing the flute, and the peach forest was gone.

Even at that time, Chen Xiyuan didn't know she had deviated from reality and was still immersed in deep sorrow; when she saw the little brother again, she finally realized that something seemed wrong; finally, when she cast her gaze on the woman the little brother was carrying on the tricycle and made eye contact with that woman, a strong sense of horrific crisis instantly erupted!

"Little brother, who, who is she!"

Chen Xiyuan, let it be Chen Xiyuan, Li Zhuiyuan didn't explain, just turned his head and signaled:

"Smash her off the car for me!"

"Okay!"

Miss Chen had long been accustomed to doing things with a head full of confusion.

The flute was held horizontally, her figure lunged forward, the domain opened, and she struck it.

It wasn't knocked away, but it did indeed leave the tricycle and fell to the ground.

Li Zhuiyuan took the opportunity to ride the bicycle away.

But the next moment, it disappeared from the spot again.

Seeing this, Chen Xiyuan's figure also moved, and midway, she expanded her domain, and the flute struck out again.

However, this time, her domain appeared with a strange distortion, Chen Xiyuan only felt a surge of blood in her body; the flute that was struck out was slapped back by it with one hand.

"Bang!"

Chen Xiyuan spat out a mouthful of blood, and her figure flew backward like an arrow from a bow.

In reality, Chen Xiyuan, who was standing in the mourning hall with her eyes closed, had her chest heaving, and blood spilled from the corners of her mouth.

It hadn't fully awakened yet, so it didn't possess subjective aggression, but whoever tried to stop it from following the boy, it would instinctively feel disgusted.

Its figure disappeared again, appearing above the tricycle; just as it was about to fall back onto the tricycle, Chen Xiyuan, who had just flown out, appeared again.

The green flute in her hand smashed down again.

No sound was made, because the green flute was grabbed by it with one hand.

It grabbed the flute and flicked it; the terrifying inertia was like a giant wave, fiercely slapping Chen Xiyuan, sending her flying again, falling into the farmland on one side, carving out a ditch more than ten meters long.

This was the first time Li Zhuiyuan had seen Chen Xiyuan, who was always invincible in one-on-one fights, end up in such a sorry state.

It wasn't that she was weak, but that the opponent in front of her, even after being shaved an unknown number of times, was still seriously over-the-top!

But Chen Xiyuan would never admit defeat; every time it disappeared from the spot and appeared behind Li Zhuiyuan, Chen Xiyuan would always appear together; although the ending was always Chen Xiyuan being knocked flying, the next time, Sister Chen would never be absent.

In reality, in front of the mourning hall, injuries kept appearing on her body, and her clothes were being dyed red.

Li Zhuiyuan: "When you can't hold on anymore, disconnect yourself and leave here. Remember, don't tell anyone I'm not dead yet."

Chen Xiyuan: "I won't!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Be obedient."

Chen Xiyuan: "No, I won't!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You don't have to die here; it's not an existence we can deal with right now."

Chen Xiyuan: "I said I won't disconnect; how do I disconnect?"

Li Zhuiyuan bit his lip hard.

Judging from the current situation, even if it hadn't entered a specific killing state, relying on Chen Xiyuan alone couldn't stop it from following him.

"Ah!!!"

A wolf howl of extreme anger came from Big Beard's house.

Li Zhuiyuan could tell that this voice was Chen Jing's.

Since Chen Jing had arrived, Zhao Yi should have come too.

Li Zhuiyuan believed that his core partners would never delay in the slightest and would inevitably be the fastest in theoretical time.

But... both external teams had actually arrived faster than his core partners!

Zhao Yi was riding Chen Jing, rushing over with a fast wolf and whip.

Since he wanted to come and place a bet, it was better to come early than late; even if he came early and was scolded by the person surnamed Li and driven away, at worst he could just turn back after a while. This was a great opportunity to brush up on favors for free!

Who knew, as soon as he entered the village and then entered Old Li's house, he saw the mourning hall in the living room.

Chen Jing had a simple nature and was even more innocent than Chen Xiyuan.

As soon as he arrived, he smelled the scent of Brother Yuan in the coffin and the thick death aura mixed in through his nose.

His Brother Yuan was dead!

In an instant, his mental defense collapsed.

Perhaps because Li Zhuiyuan's paper person was made too realistically, Chen Xiyuan, who was standing there motionless and was clearly a living person, was also carelessly classified by Chen Jing as a paper person.

Zhao Yi glanced at Chen Jing; he believed that if he died one day, A-Jing wouldn't be as sad as he was now.

However, Zhao Yi didn't believe that the person surnamed Li was dead.

It wasn't that the person surnamed Li couldn't die, but he wouldn't have set up a mourning hall for himself before dying!

This guy wasn't that bored, and even less that sentimental; most of the time, he was as cold as a machine.