Chapter 63

After the chef meticulously prepares a dish, he slowly wipes his hands, stands at a distance, and quietly watches the diners savor it.

After committing the crime, the murderer hides back in the crowd, secretly returns to the crime scene, and touches the police cordon hanging before him.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan does not know which type he belongs to; perhaps, he is neither.

Because the current him is still far from the point where he can draw emotional value from others.

But vaguely, deep within his heart, he has already touched a faint flame—very weak, yet truly burning.

Just like the relaxation and immersion he can feel when painting for the dead at home, he is also full of enthusiasm right now.

He inherited Li Lan's illness and is an emotional desert, but cacti can grow in the desert too.

And his own barren emotions can also fluctuate under the influence of the dead.

This kind of discovery is hard to tell outsiders; not only would they find it difficult to understand, they would think he had gone mad.

That doesn't matter; A Li will understand anyway.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan decides that after meeting the girl in the mountain city, he will tell her about these feelings in detail, letting her share in the joy of his improving condition; these are whispers belonging only to the two of them.

At this moment, the gazes of the dead are all focused on Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan.

The boy knows they can see him.

But he feels no fear; the fact that the white frost under him and Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng previously receded indicates their attitude.

At least for now, they can still maintain a portion of clarity, knowing who is helping them take revenge.

As for what changes will occur to them after the revenge is over, and whether they can continue to keep things straight, honestly, even Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan himself holds no hope for that.

The Qi ancestors left behind countermeasures for their descendants, but they could never have anticipated that so many corpses of those who died violent deaths would remain beneath this village in the future.

Once the Feng Shui layout here is changed by him, the blessing turns into a curse, and echoing with this large group of the dead, more unpredictable changes will inevitably occur.

Traditional dead dissipate after completing their revenge, but here, the difficulty of dissipation will be greatly increased.

Fortunately, he has already had Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng destroy the exit here, so these dead will not come out to wreak havoc on the local area.

The only hidden danger is that if a practitioner with real skills comes along later, sees that the mountains and rivers here are beautiful and the momentum is excellent, and sits down cross-legged to perform a spirit walk for fun, then the outcome will inevitably be incomparably miserable.

Even Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan only dares to come and appreciate this feast of revenge at this moment today.

After today, he too would not dare to spirit walk into this place again.

The dead did not move; the previous "please enter" did not seem to move them.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan had no choice but to urge them again:

"Hurry up, the food is getting cold."

The restaurant opened for business, and it was a buffet.

Finally, the dead accepted Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan's invitation and filed in one after another.

Inside, harsh sounds of terror and screaming immediately erupted, mixed with the sound of a gunshot.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan straightened his clothes, a gesture that was superfluous in a spirit-walking state.

But just as Uncle Shan taught Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng not to eat the skin of a sweet potato, life itself requires a little sense of ritual.

Walking back to the ancestral hall was like stepping into a demon's den.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan walked calmly, passing through it.

He had been to this ancestral hall many times, both in reality and in this spatial interlayer, but every time he returned here, he had different feelings, like scenery with distinct seasons within a single scenic area.

"Squish..."

A splash of red and white splattered onto his shoe.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan stopped, instinctively wanting to bend down to clean it, but suddenly realized that this couldn't dirty him at all.

Lifting his foot, the shoe surface remained clean.

He walked into the hall, sat down on a bench, and faced the courtyard.

It wasn't over yet; it was still early.

The flames of revenge need to burn as long as possible so that the light emitted can barely bring a sliver of solace to the victims.

If these executioners with hands stained with blood died too cleanly, that would truly be letting them off too easily.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan rested his elbows on his thighs and his chin in his palms, watching quietly.

Desperate wails, shrill pleas for mercy, and broken cries were woven together, unexpectedly harmonious, like a symphony performed by a master.

Even though the scene was noisy, he was reluctant to make a sound, fearing he would disturb the performance taking place on the stage.

A smile hung on the boy's lips.

Unfortunately, there were no "outsiders" here.

Otherwise, if someone walked to the door of the ancestral hall and looked inside, against the bloody and twisted background, a smiling boy sitting in the center in the distance—that would truly be a beautiful compositional design.

Time passed second by second, without the clear rhythm of prelude, buildup, climax, and ending; it was just high-end from the start until it stopped abruptly.

At this moment, a person—or to be precise, half a person—crawled to the boy's feet; it was the village chief.

Behind him was a long trail of blood, and various entrails were scattered about.

Logically, he should have died long ago, but he was still "being alive," his hands still quite strong, constantly clawing at the floor tiles; he still had a will to live.

Such targets of revenge are often more fun; one is reluctant to let them die all at once, wanting to chew out all the juice section by section like sugarcane.

Beside him, driving the village chief like walking a dog, was Zhu Yang.

The village chief had already crawled past, but Zhu Yang still stopped in place, looking at the boy.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan pointed behind him with some confusion; Zhu Yang didn't move his feet, but instead placed both hands on his own stomach and slowly pulled it open.

Like a pair of double doors, his chest was unfolded just like that, and the books stuffed inside scattered all over the floor.

Some were still relatively intact, while others had long since shattered into a semi-paste.

The quality of these mimeographed pirated books was indeed very poor; after getting wet, the ink had stained Zhu Yang's abdominal cavity, pitch black, as if smeared with a layer of stove ash.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan looked at him with some confusion, but soon, the boy understood.

Inside Zhu Yang's chest, near the ribs, a book was still wedged.

This book was perfectly preserved; even though it had been soaked in water, it still exuded a comfortable luster and texture.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan was very familiar with this texture.

At home, he had books of the same material; it was what Wei Wei Wei Wei Wei Wei Wei Zhengdao liked to use... Buddha-skin paper.

Zhu Yang reached out and pulled the book out, and the two ribs shook a few times because of it.

He handed the book to the boy.

A line of text was written on the cover: "Qi Family Spring and Autumn."

At first glance, the title sounded very much like the famous "Lü Family Spring and Autumn" in history.

But Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan knew very well that the Qi ancestors, whether it was the family heritage of repairing imperial mausoleums or later living in seclusion here to focus on researching this interlayer space, had immense value in any part of their family experiences recorded.

It was just that he was currently in a spirit-walking state; he could touch things, but he couldn't change physical objects.

He had always been dissatisfied with the position of the bench he was sitting on, but he couldn't move it, and it was the only bench in the whole place still standing—the others had all fallen—so he had to make do.

In short, the boy couldn't even perform a simple action like turning a page right now.

He felt a bit of regret; it seemed he shouldn't have been so impatient to have Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng destroy the exit.

Of course, this regret was merely emotional; before the fact, he could never have taken the risk of releasing the dead.

Zhu Yang didn't go after the village chief again; perhaps the part that belonged to him was already finished, and the remaining parts should be relayed by other dead.

Everyone had a need for revenge, but the perpetrators were limited after all, so they could only wrong the perpetrators by letting them be like a long-legged centipede, providing for the masses to enjoy together.

Zhu Yang sat down in front of Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan and placed the book on his lap.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan was just able to lower his head and read it with him.

Zhu Yang was someone who liked to read; perhaps the lost location of this "Qi Family Spring and Autumn" was deep in the water pool, and it just happened to be retrieved by him after he became one of the dead.

If it weren't for this coincidence, this book would probably have had little chance to see the world again; in fact, being moved from the depths of the water pool to here was what truly sealed off the possibility of this book ever appearing again.

Zhu Yang turned to the first page, which was full of colorful dots of varying sizes.

He turned another page, and it was still densely packed with dots of various colors and sizes.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan widened his eyes; he knew this was his only chance to read this book, so he was trying hard to memorize the content of every page.

He knew his memory wasn't great, not as good as the two classmates in his previous class who could truly achieve photographic memory.

Therefore, he could only take a few extra glances in the gaps while Zhu Yang turned the pages to ensure he remembered.

As for deciphering the content like the pebbles on the ancestral hall wall, that wasn't urgent; there would be plenty of time later.

The process of turning the pages ended quickly; after turning to the last page, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan raised his head, closed his eyes, and quickly reviewed all the previous pages in his mind.

When he opened his eyes again, he found Zhu Yang's body beginning to tremble; the hand holding the book saw its nails begin to grow longer and turn black, and even the ribs he had exposed showed pitted, corroded indentations, with wisps of thick black pus dripping down like ink.

He was gradually undergoing changes, step by step losing his self.

In fact, when turning to the second half of the book earlier, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan had already noticed the other's hand trembling, as if trying hard to suppress something.

Now that the book was finished, Zhu Yang finally didn't have to suppress the ferocity within his body that he could no longer control.

And at this moment, the feast of revenge finally drew to a close.

But the dead were generally still unsatisfied.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan knew he couldn't continue to stay here; he estimated the time—it hadn't been half an hour, but it was close.

He wanted to do a death count to facilitate reporting the number of people who had fled to avoid punishment to the police.

But there was a piece here and a section there, filling the entire ancestral hall, with even several hanging from the rafters; it was impossible to take inventory.

Forget it, let's go.

Before leaving, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan said to Zhu Yang in front of him: "I will wire a book-reading fee to your home."

Zhu Yang's eyes, which had already turned crimson, suddenly cleared up after hearing this sentence; although it was very brief, he had indeed understood.

One thing is one thing; him giving the four of them a ride was also to find someone to press the car and boost his courage, and Brother Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang not only bought cigarettes and food but also paid for the meal;

The corpses spontaneously built a floating bridge underwater, guiding the four of them to leave the pitch-black pool, and he had also awakened them so they could take their own revenge.

All in all, they were now even; only for the book-flipping just now, he owed the other party this separate favor, which had to be repaid.

The surrounding dead ones silently gathered toward Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan, following some fierce instinct gradually awakening within their hearts.

"Roar!"

Zhu Yang let out a low roar, two rows of ribs piercing through his skin and flesh to frame his front, his cold gaze sweeping across the surroundings, causing these dead ones that had just approached to collectively retreat two steps.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan found it hard to imagine what this place would eventually develop into; if they were all trapped here, would it become a new Gu-raising ground?

In the end, what would be raised here?

Fortunately, they could no longer get out.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes, ending the Yin-walking. When he opened them again, he saw Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng preparing to pinch him.

"Brother, I'm awake."

"Wait a moment, let me wake up Marquis Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan first."

Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng pinched down.

"Hiss... Brother, I'm awake."

"Ah, oh, hehe." Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Brother Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng, let's go."

"Okay."

Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng bent down, signaling for the boy to climb onto his back.

"Brother, I can walk by myself."

"You're tired, and I'm full."

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan reached out to wipe the dried blood from the corner of his eye, but in the end, he still climbed onto Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng's back.

They didn't walk through the village, still circling around the mountain.

When they reached the mountaintop, it was already noon, the sun bright and sunny, dispelling the dampness between the mountains.

Descending the mountain and circling to the main road, police cars and trucks drove up rapidly one after another.

From the back seat of the second police car, the figures of Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin and Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang poked out, excitedly waving their hands.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan and Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng also got into a police car; the car didn't sound its siren, stopping in front of the village entrance as the police rushed into the village.

The fierce resistance and difficult arrests they had anticipated did not occur, because most of the young and middle-aged men and Wo Sect in the village seemed to have "fled in fear of punishment."

Many victims' corpses could not be found, but too much criminal evidence was left behind in the village, almost every household having some, which meant every household had participated.

There was also a mountain gully specifically used for burying and disposing of vehicles.

Zhu Yang's truck hadn't been dealt with yet; Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang and the others went up to retrieve their luggage, while Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan took a letter Zhu Yang had written to his wife and daughter, which had an address and the village's phone number on it.

Although the case handling process involved too many unbelievable elements, there was no doubt this was a major case; however, against the backdrop of the current crackdown on highway bandits, it was just a relatively large splash.

Perhaps many years later, when someone hears about "highway bandits" again, they will feel strange and doubtful, as if it is hard to believe such things actually happened in reality.

There might also be busybodies who specifically look for those dusty file folders, and when they flip to this case, they will develop many conspiracy theories about the various inexplicable details within it.

But those are things for the future.

As mere reporters of the crime, Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang and Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin were not kept for too long.

Perhaps it was because they knew Marquis Xiao Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan would do some special things, so they were careful when reporting the case, only saying that the four of them happened to go to the nearby woods to play at night and witnessed Zhu Yang being surrounded and killed on the large truck, omitting the fact that the four of them had entered the village.

Upon learning their destination, the police station originally wanted to send a car to take the four of them directly to Shancheng.

But Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang still refused, the reason being that he didn't want to add trouble to the police, only accepting being sent to the next city, from where they bought tickets to board the train again.

This time it was a hard seat, but fortunately, the time wasn't too long.

"Shancheng has arrived. Passengers to Shancheng, please check your belongings and prepare to get off. Wake up, Shancheng has arrived!"

The conductor's voice woke many people from their beautiful dreams; this wasn't the terminal station, so half the people wiped the corners of their mouths and stood up to get their luggage, while the other half changed to a slumped or leaning posture to continue sleeping.

The four walked out of the train station, everyone's expression somewhat listless; no matter who it was, having such a segment forcibly inserted into their journey would make it hard to be energetic.

Fortunately, although the matter was very big, everyone's mindset adjusted quickly; after all, they were all people who had "seen the world."

At the train station entrance, a large group of old ladies held signs to promote their own small inns and solicit customers, some even reaching out to grab your luggage directly.

Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang chose the only lady who wasn't shouting about having special service arrangements.

He chose correctly; although this inn wasn't big, it was very clean, and the boss opened a multi-person room for them, which had four small beds pushed together inside.

The four put down their luggage, took showers one by one, and then lay on the beds and fell into a deep sleep.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan was a light sleeper and woke up after three hours, and then couldn't sleep anymore, so he sat on the bed staring blankly at the curtains gradually being brightened by the sunlight.

After the others also woke up one after another, everyone checked out and went to the breakfast shop downstairs to eat.

The landlady and her husband initially asked what they wanted to eat in Chongqing dialect, but Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin and Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng, who were walking in front, didn't understand.

Seeing they were from out of town, the landlady slowed down her speech, speaking slowly word by word; although it was still Chongqing dialect, she probably felt this was extremely standard Mandarin.

Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang walked over and smiled, "Asking how much you want to eat. Boss, two bowls of three-liang wontons, clear soup."

"Sure, what about you guys?"

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin: "Red soup wontons, three jin."

Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng: "Chongqing small noodles, five jin."

Landlady: "..."

In the end, it was still made.

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin used the largest bowl in the shop, while as for Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng, a basin was used.

Touching the edge of the basin, Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng felt a sense of intimacy and familiarity like returning home.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan couldn't finish his three-liang wontons, so Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang shared a bit into his own bowl.

Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin and Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng were eating until they were sweating; in the end, Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng even drank the soup base.

It was just past breakfast time, so there weren't many people in the shop, otherwise, it would definitely have attracted onlookers.

After the meal, Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang hailed a taxi and took the four to a hotel in Guanyinqiao, which was a partner hotel of his new unit and could be considered a guesthouse.

They arrived at night yesterday and went to sleep upon entering the inn, so only now could everyone finally appreciate the scenery of Shancheng.

This was a city with great charm; it had both modern architecture and facilities, and traces left over from the previous era. Multiple histories blended harmoniously here, and combined with its high and low terrain features, it formed a unique charm belonging to Shancheng.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan felt that there was no need to deliberately go to tourist attractions; even just sitting in a car and traveling through this city was a kind of beautiful enjoyment.

The new hotel's specifications were much higher. Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang took out his credentials and introduction letter to register; he paid for one room with public funds and opened another at his own expense.

The hotel was on the eighth floor, and there was an elevator to go up. It was Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng's first time taking an elevator; as a large man, he felt a bit constrained standing inside.

After entering the room, Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Xue Liangliang said he needed to go to his new unit to report and go through the procedures first, and would take everyone to visit specific attractions to play thoroughly tomorrow. Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Tan Wenbin and Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Lu Runsheng planned to stroll around the hotel first.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan dialed the number Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei had given him in the hotel. A male voice on the other end asked for his hotel address and then asked Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan to go downstairs, as the car was already waiting below.

This made Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan feel very surprised; was it this fast?

Arriving at the hotel lobby, he indeed saw a brand-new black sedan parked there. The driver, wearing white gloves, got out of the car and walked over to ask:

"Excuse me, are you Young Master Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan?"

"My name is Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan, but I am not a young master."

"Please get in the car."

The driver took the initiative to help open the car door. After Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan sat in, he turned his head and saw a woman dressed fashionably with orange wavy curls, carrying a bag, running out in a hurry, her high heels making rapid "click-clack" sounds on the ground.

"What are you doing, why the rush? Isn't it only at dinner time? Why did you suddenly have to call me down?"

Immediately, the woman saw the boy sitting in the back seat and asked again with displeasure:

"Also, who is he? Why is he sitting in my car?"

The driver said neither humbly nor arrogantly: "Young Master Li is the Master's honored guest. Madam, the Master ordered to depart for Chun Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan now. If you don't want to go, that's fine too."

"You..."

The woman was very angry but still endured it.

The driver opened the front passenger door for her. Seeing this, the woman pouted with resentment, but in the end, she still sat in.

Only then did Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan realize that this car was prepared for this woman, but because of his phone call, it was temporarily changed to pick him up.

Chun Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Brother Yuan was on a mountain, but Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan didn't know which one, because Shancheng was full of mountains.

After passing the security booth and driving in, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan observed the environment here; it should be a private high-end club in Chinese style, generally only used by the owner's family or when entertaining honored guests, and not open to the public for business.

After getting off the car, a middle-aged woman dressed elegantly came to lead the way.

The woman in the passenger seat got off first, nervously tidying her hair and collar, concealing all her previous arrogance, and called out very cautiously:

"Sister-in-law."

The middle-aged woman ignored her, and only after seeing Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan get off did she reveal a smile, walk over, and take the initiative to hold Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan's hand:

"Young Master Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan, please come with me."

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan nodded; he couldn't be bothered to correct the form of address again.

The woman followed along for a few steps, and the middle-aged woman turned her head and glared at her.

"Ah, sister-in-law, I, can I not go?" the woman asked, pointing to her own Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Human Face.

The middle-aged woman shook her head, then continued to hold the boy's hand with a pleasant expression and walk inside.

Leaving only the young woman stamping her feet in anger on the spot.

After passing through a corridor and walking through a lotus pond, finally, in a pavilion in the deepest part, Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan saw an acquaintance.

Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei was sitting on a stone stool, with an old man with white hair standing beside her brewing tea.

In the other corner of the pavilion, the girl he hadn't seen for many days was sitting there alone, looking at the lotus flowers.

Then, amidst the lotus flowers, she saw the person she had been missing.

The girl took the initiative to walk over. The noble lady seemed to know the girl's habits; after letting go of the boy's hand, she retreated silently.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan took A Li's hand; A Li looked at the boy, frowned, and pouted.

Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei, who had been calm and composed, merely glanced at the boy before her expression immediately turned solemn, and she raised her voice:

"You brat, you've gone and ruined your body again; do you want to go blind again!"

The white-haired old man to the side sat down after finishing his tea, looking on in great wonder that the girl could actually be so close to someone and even show emotion.

"Clap!"

Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei splashed the freshly poured tea from her cup onto the ground.

The old man understood, immediately stood up, nodded respectfully, and then walked out of the pavilion.

Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei glared at the boy again and asked: "Speak, what did you go and do this time? Look at how hollowed out your body is now, making our A Li worry again."

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan replied: "I had bad luck on the road and ran into some highwaymen from a village."

"And then?"

"I called the police."

Liu Liu Liu Liu Liu Yumei frowned slightly; she knew the boy had omitted the key parts, but she really couldn't continue to ask. After all, she would still be returning to Li Sanjiang's house to continue living there, and the boy would also return. As long as the two of them had to return to that place, the verbal sparring would have to continue.

Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Li Zhuiyuan leaned in close to A Li's ear and whispered: "That gang of bandits wanted to harm us, so I went and took care of them all that very night."

The girl grabbed the boy's hand and shook it happily, her smile revealing two dimples.

———

I started writing this chapter at noon. I wrote for a long time and deleted and revised several versions. The main reason is that if I didn't handle it this way, the chapter might not be released. My subject matter is prone to triggering sensitive keywords. Everyone often finds that the release time is before midnight, but when you see the chapter, it's already 12:30 AM. This is because after I post it, the chapter gets blocked and put into review, and it can only be released after modification. After all, plots involving reality are more sensitive; please forgive me.

(End of this chapter)