Chapter 7

Separated by a wall, two beds.

On the bed to the west, Li Sanjiang's brows were tightly furrowed; he muttered in his sleep from time to time, his hands and feet flailing irregularly.

Yet despite such a violent reaction, he was still unable to wake from the nightmare.

In the dark, it felt as if an invisible person was pressing down on him.

The other party was very heavy, pressing down until his chest felt tight, almost unable to breathe.

Yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not push it away.

Li Sanjiang had never expected that he, who had carried corpses his entire life, would one day suffer from sleep paralysis.

Yet even in such a flustered and agitated state, he could still find a shred of comfort for himself:

"Looking at it this way, the baleful energy of Little Brother Yuan Hou has been passed to me; the formation is a success!"

At this moment, on the bed to the east, Li Zhuiyuan lay quietly.

There was not a hint of pain on his face, and his breathing was steady, as if he were still sleeping soundly.

However, in his dream, Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes.

He sat up from the bed, initially thinking he had woken up, but when he glanced outside, it was pitch black.

He understood: he was still in a dream, because the screen window in the bedroom could let in moonlight; it couldn't possibly be this thoroughly dark.

Looking around, Li Zhuiyuan discovered that the range he could see was limited to the bed he was lying on.

This was an old wooden bed with some age to it; many details had been worn away by time, but with careful exploration, one could still find exquisite and thoughtful carvings.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed aside the quilt, knelt and moved to the edge of the bed, and tried to reach out his hand, wanting to touch the outside.

After all, this was a dream.

During the day, Liu Manting had asked him if he was bored in the countryside.

He had replied that there were many fun things here.

Yes, indeed, there were many.

A few years ago, he had never understood why the word "study" was often prefixed with "diligent."

Wasn't studying just reading through concepts, theories, and formulas, and then solving those simple problems?

Later, he realized that there were truly people who could feel pain during the process of learning.

He envied them.

At his young age, without much life or social experience, the place he stayed the longest was the classroom, as a student:

You cannot feel frustrated or tormented by difficult problems, cannot feel joy or excitement after solving them; without a sense of repression, without a sense of effort, naturally, there is no sense of harvest.

The sea of problems before you is like doing an extremely dull square-grid doodle.

Especially when he, like other classmates, reported his grades to his parents in hopes of praise, his mother would always look at him with an increasingly cold gaze.

As if he had done something wrong, and was getting it more and more wrong.

Therefore, he could not derive any emotion from studying, only... numbness.

The change,

came from that moment he fell into the water and saw Xiao Huang Ying.

He felt repression, felt pain, and even more so, upon witnessing the bearded father and son sink into the fishpond and Xiao Huang Ying's final dance on the water's surface, he experienced a sense of harvest.

Great-grandfather had seen him staring blankly there and advised him to think of happy things, like attending a feast.

He didn't tell Great-grandfather,

that his heart at that moment... was exhilarated.

A brand-new door had opened a crack before him.

He grew to like this unknown and eerie feeling,

he finally experienced ignorance and hesitation; that sense of powerlessness and lack of control made his heart produce a hint of pleasure.

He thought his grandmother's behavior of using needles to call back souls and then putting them in a water bowl was amazing.

He watched Liu Jinxia, watched Li Sanjiang, and found them even more amazing.

They understood so many concepts, remembered so many formulas, they could solve problems,

while he,

was just a poor student.

Li Zhuiyuan's hand reached out past the edge of the bed; he seemed to feel a breeze, very slight, very slight, and even doubted if it was just his own imagination.

Moreover, he could no longer see his hand that had reached past the edge of the bed.

He pulled his hand back and placed it in front of him; well, the hand was still there.

Immediately, he reached his hand out again, this time, downward.

He seemed to feel a hint of chill, still very slight, but at least he could be sure there was a difference in tactile sensation.

At the height level with his bed, in the invisible outside, there were two different types of medium textures.

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes; he began to concentrate his attention to perceive as much as possible; the hand reaching downward also began to sway slowly back and forth, and his fingers were also making irregular movements.

More real, more delicate, continue.

In the first two dreams, the first time he dreamed of Xiao Huang Ying coming to the house, the second time he dreamed of the hunchbacked grandfather carrying the old lady.

Then this dream shouldn't just be simple darkness.

Finally, he felt it; just now, something slender seemed to brush past his fingertips.

He immediately lay flat on the bed, allowing his arm to reach downward as much as possible.

Before long, that previous feeling appeared again, and the frequency began to accelerate.

It seemed... like water grass?

Li Zhuiyuan immediately thought of the black water grass he had seen last time; could it be hair?

Constantly brushing, constantly weaving, brushing past his fingertips and forearm; his fingers pinched, and he could even feel a fine, hard texture.

It seemed it really was hair.

"Slap."

Li Zhuiyuan's eyes brightened; just now something seemed to have lightly patted his palm; it wasn't the softness of hair, it was something else.

Wait, wait, wait...

"Slap."

It came a second time.

Like what, what was it like?

Li Zhuiyuan began to ponder, comparing it with images in his memory where similar tactile collisions might occur.

"Slap."

This time the force was greater, but still not enough!

Li Zhuiyuan began to increase the amplitude of his arm's swaying, swaying, swaying...

Finally,

"Slap!"

With a clear vibration, he seemed to hear a crisp sound by his ear.

It was like you standing in place holding up your arm, and someone just walked over and high-fived you.

As Li Zhuiyuan kept discovering things, the thick blackness outside the bed also silently began to fade.

At the same time, the perception coming from below began to become clearer.

Li Zhuiyuan could even actively reach out to entangle those hairs, and could also complete the subsequent high-fives while waving.

He realized that those high-fives didn't seem to be intentional on the other party's part, but rather his hand just happened to meet the other party's palm, because he also perceived that he had patted the back of a hand, and the sound wasn't as crisp.

Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan felt his arm reaching down get bumped by something; he felt a sudden pain and subconsciously pulled his arm upward.

This retraction seemed to allow something that had been stuck or blocked to continue its progress.

And Li Zhuiyuan's fingertips touched a hard circular arc, followed by a slippery depression, then an upward movement with clear knuckles, bumping along bone by bone, and then, touched a rounded, towering elasticity.

Then, his fingers lost contact; he immediately reached his entire arm down, and at the very end, he grabbed five short, clustered knuckles.

"Hoo..."

Li Zhuiyuan immediately pulled back his hand, a look of shock appearing on his face.

That was a complete person; he had just touched from her occiput to her toes.

Under the bed, there was someone!

And not just one, or a few, but many, many, a whole group of people!

At this time, Li Zhuiyuan discovered that the thin quilt that had been beside him was gone.

He looked up toward the diagonal corner of the bed, where a child had the quilt tightly wrapped around his body, curled up there, shivering, his eyes full of terror.

This child looked... exactly like him.

"I'm so scared, I'm so scared, I'm really so scared... Wu Wu Wu Wu... Mom, come pick me up and take me away."

Li Zhuiyuan just looked at that "himself" shivering from fear and asked:

"Why are you still here?"

"Comrade, we have already tested and examined your son; he has no psychological problems whatsoever. He is very healthy, very sunny, and very cheerful."

The female doctor in the white coat spoke with a smile, and at the same time, she couldn't help but reach out and gently touch the face of the little boy in front of her.

The little boy also revealed a smile.

Hmm, what a cute child.

The female doctor looked up again, looking at the mother standing beside the boy; she was somewhat puzzled as to why, when she had reached a "healthy" diagnosis, there was not a hint of joy on this mother's face, but rather only coldness.

Nowadays, psychology and psychological medical treatment in the country were not yet popularized, and the public's understanding of this aspect was not deep, but one could still find psychological clinics in the capital.

"Mom, I don't have an illness." The eight-year-old Li Zhuiyuan took the initiative to hold his mother's hand and looked up at her, "Mom, the doctor said it; I'm very healthy."

Li Lan looked down at her son, then looked at the doctor and said:

"You have been deceived by him."

The female doctor spread her hands, controlling her emotions as much as possible, and explained:

"Comrade, since you brought your son here, I think you should have a certain understanding of psychology, so you should trust our diagnosis and trust our professionalism."

Li Lan: "It was I who overestimated your professionalism."

"As the child's mother, how can you be like this?" The female doctor could no longer hold back, "This is the first time I've seen a mother who can feel dissatisfied upon learning her son is healthy; I really cannot understand what you are thinking in your heart!"

Li Lan: "You just said you were professional."

Female doctor: "..."

Li Lan held Li Zhuiyuan's hand and turned to leave the clinic; Li Zhuiyuan followed his mother's pace, his head hanging low, like a child who had done something wrong.

They didn't go home, but instead came to another psychological clinic affiliated with a foreign-related hospital.

Li Zhuiyuan was taken in by a new doctor for an examination.

Forty minutes later, the door opened, and Li Zhuiyuan was brought out.

The doctor said with a serious expression:

"Madam, we now preliminarily suspect that your son has signs of rather severe schizophrenia and autism; in our consultation, this should be related to his family emotional life.

He is very eager for care and companionship from his mother.

Therefore, I hope that in the subsequent treatment, as the child's mother, you will cooperate with us as much as possible, so that your son can return to health."

After hearing the doctor's words, Li Lan looked down at Li Zhuiyuan standing in front of her and asked:

"Is it fun?"

"Mom, I..."

The doctor couldn't watch anymore; he reached out his hand to block Li Lan: "Madam, you shouldn't be so harsh toward your son; his problem is already very severe now, you must pay enough attention, otherwise in the future..."

Li Lan didn't continue listening and turned to leave.

"Madam, Madam!" No matter how the doctor shouted, she didn't look back.

Li Zhuiyuan trotted to keep up.

Li Lan stopped in front of the restroom, and Li Zhuiyuan also stopped; there happened to be a large mirror here, reflecting the mother and son.

Li Zhuiyuan saw his mother in the mirror; she was staring at herself in the mirror, a trace of disgust revealing itself in her eyes.

Even when she shifted her gaze downward, landing on Li Zhuiyuan in the mirror, the disgust in her eyes still didn't disappear.

"Mom..."

Li Zhuiyuan carefully tugged at Li Lan's sleeve; he really wanted to ask his mother what he could do to make her like him as she did before, instead of becoming increasingly indifferent over the past few years.

He believed that as long as he knew, he could correct it quickly, because he learned things quickly.

"A-Lan, A-Lan, A-Lan!"

Outside, his father's shouting voice came; he ran over, drenched in sweat, and without time to catch his breath, asked nervously: "A-Lan, how is Xiao Yuan, is there a problem?"

"Dad."

"Hey, son."

Li Zhuiyuan was pulled into his father's embrace.

Li Lan looked at this pair of father and son embracing; she seemed to be trying hard to restrain herself, but the muscles at the corners of her mouth still curled slightly, revealing a mocking smile.

The man looked up and saw it.

At this moment, the various emotions that had been constantly accumulating in his heart in the past could finally no longer be suppressed; he let out a low roar with an almost trembling voice:

"A-Lan, what exactly do you want, what exactly do you want to be satisfied, do you really have to use this method to torture us?"

After roaring, he sat on the ground and cried.

"Dad, don't cry." Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward, wanting to help his father wipe away his tears.

But he happened to meet his mother's gaze, and he immediately stopped all movement.

Li Lan closed her eyes, and after a while, opened them again, then turned and walked outward, leaving the father and son where they were.

Li Zhuiyuan looked ahead; on the gleaming ceramic tiles, the reflection of his mother's back gradually drifted away.

"Why are you still here?"

On the bed, facing "himself" shivering while wrapped in the quilt, Li Zhuiyuan asked for the second time.

But the other party still didn't give an answer.

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "Thank you for helping me deceive the doctor during that examination, but you don't exist."

He himself did not have schizophrenia.

As soon as the words fell, the thin quilt dropped onto the bed.

The "himself" who had previously been shivering while wrapped in it and calling for Mom was gone.

"Rushing water... rushing water... rushing water..."

All around, a clear sound of flowing water suddenly came.

The dense darkness finally faded, turning into a gray color like spilled light ink.

But at least, the visibility had improved.

Li Zhuiyuan slowly stood up and looked around again.

He was standing on the bed, yet it was as if he were standing on a boat.

Because all around, there were pitch-black rolling river waves, and in the river water, corpses were floating, corpses densely packed, like an endless rice paddy. "Great-grandfather said, after the fast, I would be able to return to normal.

But why, did I still have a dream?

And,

it was such a dream..."

At this time, it seemed like the wind had picked up on the river surface.

The wind passed through those corpses, bringing the unique corpse stench of the dead.

Countless times richer than the scent of rice.

Li Zhuiyuan stood and watched for a long time; he even walked to the head of the bed and leaned on the bed railing to watch.

He didn't know how long this dream would last, and he didn't seem to have a way to wake up on his own.

However...

Li Zhuiyuan sat down on the bed, tidied the messy thin quilt, folded it neatly, lay down, and covered his stomach with the quilt.

Hmm,

he was preparing to sleep.

"Hmm..."

Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes; it was already dawn outside.

He knew he had truly woken up.

This sleep was very comfortable; his whole person felt refreshed and full of spirit.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but wonder, could it be that sleeping in a dream was true deep sleep?

If that were really the case, then he wouldn't mind dreams like last night; instead, he would feel a bit of nostalgia.

After all, no matter how terrifying a nightmare was, once he experienced it enough, he could get used to it.

Looking down, he discovered that the black thread circles on his neck, wrists, and ankles had actually broken on their own.

Great-grandfather said they could be cut off in the morning, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?

After getting out of bed and walking to the door, before pushing it open, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes and began to take deep breaths.

This was a habit he had learned from his mother; his mother would often stand in front of the mirror in the restroom after getting up and try very hard to take deep breaths.

Although even now, Li Zhuiyuan didn't know what the meaning of doing this was.

However, after pushing open the door and having the warm sunlight cover his body, a smile appeared at the corners of Li Zhuiyuan's mouth, as if all the haze of last night had vanished into thin air at this moment.

Picking up the washbasin and toothbrush cup, Li Zhuiyuan came to the side of the terrace to get water and began to wash up.

"Xiao Yuan, wash up and come down for breakfast." Liu Yi shouted to him from the dam.

"Okay, Liu Yi."

Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs; the small wooden stool wasn't placed in the room this time, but on the dam.

On the wooden stool, a bowl of white porridge, a salted duck egg, a dish of pickled eggplant, and a dish of pickled ginger had already been placed.

"There is still porridge in the pot; how about I get you another duck egg?"

"It's enough, Liu Yi, thank you, Liu Yi."

"What are you thanking me for? This is Liu Yi's job."

Li Zhuiyuan was somewhat curious about how much salary Great-grandfather paid Liu Yi.

However, thinking about it, Great-grandfather's money was enough; although he lived quite "luxuriously," his income was also high, and most importantly, he had no children and didn't save money; he spent whatever he earned.

"Liu Yi, did my Great-grandfather go out?"

"No, he hasn't gotten up yet, I guess."

"Oh."

Li Zhuiyuan began to eat breakfast; he first knocked the duck egg against the wooden stool, then peeled open a hole along the crack, then held it in his hand and used the tip of his chopsticks to pick it out to eat.

When he was almost finished eating, he saw that at the east end of the dam, twenty meters away from him, a square wooden stool and a small bench had also been set out, and white porridge and salted vegetables had also been placed on them.

The little girl he had seen yesterday was led out by her grandmother, and they sat down.

She was wearing a purple cheongsam today, much more conservative than Xiao Huang Ying's, and the embroidery on her cheongsam was also more delicate and rich.

In addition, she had changed her hairstyle today, and a wooden hairpin was inserted into it.

This kind of attention to clothing was rarely seen in the countryside, especially since it was still summer; one had to know that most boys ran around the village wearing only a pair of briefs.

Liu Yi brought over another set of square wooden stool and small bench; this time a tea set was placed on the wooden stool; she lowered her head and said something to that old grandmother; the grandmother waved her hand, and Liu Yi left.

And the grandmother was squatting in front of the girl, speaking to her in a soft and gentle voice.

The girl sat there, her gaze looking straight ahead; just like yesterday, it seemed there were no other people in her eyes.

But the grandmother's persuasion ultimately had an effect; the girl silently lowered her head, picked up her chopsticks, and began to eat.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that she would pick up a chopstick of salted vegetables, take two mouthfuls of porridge, then pick up another chopstick of salted vegetables, and take two mouthfuls of porridge; the frequency never changed.

The grandmother peeled a salted duck egg for her, and when she wanted to hand it to her, she stopped; her body also seemed to begin to tremble slightly.

The grandmother immediately apologized and took the salted duck egg away.

Only then did the girl continue her meal, still one chopstick of salted vegetables and two mouthfuls of porridge.

Li Zhuiyuan, who witnessed this scene, had a person appear in his mind; that was his deskmate in the gifted class; he also ate like this, planning the vegetables and rice on his tray in advance, how much vegetable to go with how much rice; by the time he finished, he would definitely have finished all the vegetables and rice.

Not only that, when he walked out of the classroom, he had to step on the corners of the floor tiles; if he stepped wrong one day, he would run back to the classroom and walk out again, even if he had previously needed to go to the restroom, he would hold it in.

The girl ate very quickly; after finishing, she put down her chopsticks.

The grandmother took out a handkerchief and helped her carefully wipe the corners of her mouth and her fingers.

Then, she stood up, picked up the bench, and walked back to the east room.

In the same position, she put down the bench, sat down, stepped on the threshold with her feet, and looked straight ahead.

The grandmother looked at her with some helplessness, then stood up and sat on a chair.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that the other party's gaze had fallen on him again, but unlike yesterday, this time she took the initiative to wave and called to him:

"Come, come over, let me see."

Li Zhuiyuan walked over; after getting closer, he seemed to be able to smell the incense fragrance emanating from the other party.

"Hello, Grandma."

"Your name is Xiao Yuan, right?"

"Hmm, Li Zhuiyuan."

"Grandma, my surname is Liu."

"Grandma Liu."

"Good boy. Since living here, this is the first time I've seen other children, hehe." Liu Yumei raised her wrist and glanced at that bracelet, hesitated, seemed to feel it wasn't appropriate, and finally took off a jade thumb ring from her ring finger and handed it to Li Zhuiyuan, "Come, a greeting gift from Grandma to you."

Li Zhuiyuan waved his hand: "I can't take it, Grandma Liu, it's too expensive."

"It's fake, glass, just treat it as a toy to play with."

"No, I can't take it."

Liu Yumei handed it forward again and urged: "A gift from an elder should not be refused; refusing is disrespectful."

Li Zhuiyuan took half a step back, didn't reach out to take it, but replied: "I have to ask my Great-grandfather."

Liu Yumei nodded, put the jade thumb ring back into her pocket, and didn't put it back on her finger.

"Xiao Yuan, what grade are you in?"

"Third grade."

"How are your grades?"

"Pretty good."

"How old are you this year?"

"Ten years old."

"What month were you born?"

"August."

"Then you're a month older than our A-Li." Saying this, Liu Yumei looked at the girl sitting behind the threshold, "Originally, our A-Li should also be in third grade now."

Immediately, Liu Yumei's expression became somewhat dimmed; yes, originally her granddaughter should also be like the little boy in front of her, cheerful and healthy, attending school.

"Oh, right, Xiao Yuan, when you live here, you can go anywhere else, just don't go to the east room, hmm, don't get close to A-Li; our A-Li doesn't like outsiders getting close, she's shy, she's wary of strangers."

Grandma Liu gave the same warning that Great-grandfather had given him last night.

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "Grandma, does A-Li have autism?"

Liu Yumei looked at the little boy in front of her with great surprise: "You even know this?"

In this day and age, most people hadn't even heard of this word.

"Hmm."

Liu Yumei blinked, reached out and held Li Zhuiyuan's hand,

and asked:

"Why, do you have adults in your family who study this?"

Hmm, they study me.

"I saw it in the newspaper."

"Oh." Liu Yumei sighed with some disappointment.

"Grandma Liu, there are places in the big city that can treat this illness."

Li Zhuiyuan was very curious; her family didn't look like they were short of money; why didn't they take Qin Li to the big city for treatment, but instead lived here?

"Our A-Li doesn't have ordinary autism; going to the hospital to see a doctor is useless."

Li Zhuiyuan was somewhat puzzled; going to the hospital was useless, could living at Great-grandfather's place be useful?

Liu Yumei turned to the side, looked at the tea set on the wooden stool, and asked: "Do you drink tea?"

"Thank you, Grandma."

Seeing Liu Yumei preparing to bend down to get the thermos, Li Zhuiyuan picked it up first: "Let me do it."

"Hmm? Okay, you do it."

Li Zhuiyuan opened the tea cake, put in the tea, waited for the water, poured the tea, rinsed the pot, scalded the cups, poured out the tea...

When the elderly in the family compound held tea parties, they would call him over to be responsible for making tea, and he had to go, because he still had to mooch meals at their houses.

Liu Yumei kept watching Li Zhuiyuan's movements; she suddenly felt that this child was very interesting.

"Grandma, drink tea."

"Hmm." Sipping a mouthful of tea, Liu Yumei said, "From now on, the job of making tea will be left to you; Grandma here has quite a few snacks."

"Okay."

At this time, movement came from the terrace on the second floor; soon, Li Sanjiang walked downstairs; he looked weary, his spirit listless.

Liu Yumei tilted her head slightly and smiled: "What, didn't sleep last night and went out to be a thief?"

Li Sanjiang sighed; it was more uncomfortable than being a thief; he had been chased by a group of Manchu zombies in his dream all night long!

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, how did you sleep last night?"

"Great-grandfather, I slept very well."

"That's good, that's good..."

Li Sanjiang let out a long sigh of relief; it seemed the formation was indeed a success; suffering a bit was worth it.

Liu Yi brought breakfast to Li Sanjiang; while Li Sanjiang was eating, the figures of Li Weihan and Cui Guiying appeared in the distance; they were carrying Li Zhuiyuan's change of clothes and snacks.

Previously, when they were at home, the children were all there, and these snacks could only be shared among all the children each time; now that Li Zhuiyuan lived outside, the rest were all brought over.

"Little Brother Yuan Hou, when living here, you must listen to your Great-grandfather, don't cause trouble for your Great-grandfather, understand?"

"Grandma will come to see you, child, be good; when you want to come back, run home and take a look, you know?"

"Slap, slap, slap!"

Li Sanjiang angrily knocked on the wooden stool with his chopsticks and scolded:

"Han Hou, you brat, coming over early in the morning to deliver things, is it because you're afraid that if you come later, your uncle here will keep you for a meal?

Heh, now you're something else; you don't even want to sit down and have a drink with your uncle; you're being distant, you're being cold, you don't treat your uncle as family anymore, right?"

Li Weihan and Cui Guiying saw this and immediately stepped forward to appease him and apologize.

After appeasing Li Sanjiang, they left.

Li Sanjiang scraped the last bit of porridge in the bowl into his mouth, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and said to Li Zhuiyuan standing beside him: "Your grandfather, this person, is just sour; he has that dead look where he feels he can't sleep at night if he takes advantage of others even a little bit; I hate this about him the most."

His field was originally meant for Li Weihan to farm; who knew that this old brat would actually terminate the lease later.

"That's why Great-grandfather, you are willing to let Grandfather provide for your old age."

Li Sanjiang smacked his lips; these words really hit home.

He knew that when he was truly crooked-mouthed and unable to take care of himself, Li Weihan would not only take care of him, but most importantly... he wouldn't give him a cold shoulder.

He, Li Sanjiang, had lived a carefree life; even for the final leg of his later years, he didn't want to suffer even a bit of grievance.

But in front of a child, Li Sanjiang still had to put on an act: "What's wrong, is it a loss for him to provide for my old age? The land belongs to the village collective, but this house of mine, this business, the things I've saved, don't they all end up going to him? Hmph, he won't lose out."

Immediately after, Li Sanjiang touched Li Zhuiyuan's chin and continued: "But I don't want my things to end up being divided among that bunch of ungrateful wolves, your uncles; Little Brother Yuan Hou, be good, try to please your Great-grandfather here more; Great-grandfather will write a note, and in the future, all these family assets will go directly to you, how about that?"

"Okay, when I grow up, I'll provide for your old age, Great-grandfather."

"Hahahaha, when you grow up, I reckon your Great-grandfather will be long gone."

But these words were truly pleasant to hear, filled with a sense of auspiciousness.

Li Zhuiyuan remembered the basement from yesterday, and then remembered the copy of "Jin Sha Luo Wen Sutra" he had seen on the floor in Li Sanjiang's room last night, and said:

"Great-grandfather, what is in your basement?"

"The valuable things are displayed on the first floor; the things in the basement aren't worth anything; they are all just junk your Great-grandfather picked up in the past, plus a dozen boxes of useless books that others stored here with your Great-grandfather, things like ghost-drawn talismans, I can't even read them."

Books?

Light shone in Li Zhuiyuan's eyes; those weren't useless books, those were his study aids.

He urgently wanted to improve his academic performance.

"Great-grandfather, can I go inside and take a look?"

"What?" Li Sanjiang was somewhat surprised, "What's there to look at in those things."

"You said the family assets would be left to me in the future; you're going back on your word."

"Fine, fine, fine, if you want to rummage through them, then go ahead; the key is in the cloth shoe beside that door; be careful, there's a lot of dust, it's dirty inside; I haven't been in there for several years."

"Thank you, Great-grandfather."

Just as Li Zhuiyuan was preparing to go to the basement to explore, on the small path outside, another hunchbacked figure walked out; it was Niu Fu.

"Uncle Sanjiang, Uncle Sanjiang, I've come to beg you!"

Almost subconsciously, Li Zhuiyuan's gaze immediately fell on Niu Fu's hunchback, and then he immediately remembered Liu Jinxia's warning and immediately turned to the side and turned his head away so as not to look at him.

But precisely because of this, Li Zhuiyuan saw Qin Li, who had been sitting motionless in the east room like a sculpture, actually move her neck, her gaze looking at Niu Fu's back.

She could see!

(End of Chapter)