Chapter 75

Li Lan hoped that by having a normal son, she could form her own emotional anchor. Unfortunately, the son she gave birth to suffered from the same illness as her.

She fell into despair.

Yet Li Zhuiyuan did not feel he had done anything wrong.

No matter how powerful a church is, it cannot manage to sell indulgences to someone who has not yet been born.

When the boy changed the address of "Mom" to "Li Lan" in the depths of his heart, it meant he had already severed this relationship.

Continue struggling in pain if you wish; I can't be bothered to watch.

Rather than consuming oneself from within, it is better to consume others from without.

Li Zhuiyuan set down his cup; he intended to leave.

"Snap!"

Like the light cord in his great-grandfather's house being suddenly pulled, Li Lan, as a whole, was extinguished.

She became very cold and indifferent; deep within her eyes, it was as if something was rapidly peeling away.

She lifted her head again and looked at the boy standing before her.

The moment their gazes met, Li Zhuiyuan felt his heart beating violently—it was painful, so painful, as if it might leap out of his throat at any moment.

In his mind, the scene of himself looking in the mirror surfaced rapidly.

It was her, and it was also him.

He recognized this "person" before him, because inside his own body, one also resided. Moreover, after that fortune-shifting ritual, it seemed to have appeared once, changing the name "Wei Zhengdao" to "Pseudo-Zhengdao."

In truth, Li Lan had lost long ago.

Whoever speaks first loses.

The phone call made to Auntie Zhang's small shop half a year ago was Li Lan's final hysteria.

She had transformed from a normal person who occasionally had episodes into a patient who was occasionally normal.

This was the destination she feared most, and very likely, it was his own destination as well.

"Eeriness and stimulation easily raise one's threshold. When your threshold is raised and can no longer be satisfied, you will actively choose to become like her."

It was still Li Lan's voice, the tone even softer, yet it sounded as if she were evaluating a machine with a design flaw.

She even regarded herself as a piece of machinery.

Li Zhuiyuan gritted his teeth, his hands bracing against the tabletop, his expression constantly shifting, his body beginning to tremble.

"You must have also chosen an anchor.

She is a sustenance,

What are you?

Support, symbiosis?"

Li Lan leaned her face toward Li Zhuiyuan, staring closely at the boy's face: "You should be able to hold on longer than she did."

Li Zhuiyuan did not speak; his fingernails had already gouged out the red paint from the tabletop.

Li Lan reached out and gently stroked the boy's head:

"Continue playing; when you are tired of playing, when you can no longer play, my real son will come to find me."

Li Zhuiyuan pushed the table with all his might, stumbling back several steps, his back hitting the cupboard before he avoided falling.

He stared at the woman before him in terror.

Li Lan no longer looked at the boy, instead rising and walking to the sink, carefully and earnestly washing her hands:

"You two really are a mother and son. You are just like she was before, always wanting to leave some filth on yourself. Isn't being clean better? Being human is so dirty."

After washing her hands, she organized the documents and report papers on the table and put them into her briefcase.

Then, she left.

Two consecutive "click" sounds—the opening and closing of the door.

Li Zhuiyuan leaned against the cupboard, slowly sitting on the floor, his hands clutching his head.

Just now, Li Lan had shown him what it looked like after the illness had completely erupted.

An intense feeling of suffocation assailed him; he felt as if he had been thrown into a sealed glass bottle, no matter how he pounded, it remained silent and stifling.

He felt he was going crazy; the sense of oppression was almost about to crush him to pieces.

The boy's gaze fell upon the thermos on the dining table. He stood up and walked toward the table, grabbing the thermos with his left hand. While tilting the spout downward, he spread his right palm underneath to catch it.

Inside was freshly boiled water.

The spout continued to tilt, and white steam fell along with the scalding hot water.

"Drip, drip, drip..."

The boiling water landed on the floor.

The boy withdrew his hand just in time.

"Can't do that, A Li will be angry."

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

For a moment, in the space that was almost suffocating, a bit of fresh air seeped in, and the boy breathed greedily.

He walked out of the house and closed the door.

"Click!"

Li Zhuiyuan raised his hands, touching his own face. The sound of the door closing just now was like a stapler, nailing the human skin on his face back into place.

Immediately after, the boy opened and closed the door, then opened and closed it again.

"Click! Click! Click!"

Yes, nail it a few more times.

Seeing that Li Zhuiyuan had come out, Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan said goodbye to the old professors. They exchanged contact information, thinking they might invite them to the school for lectures or something in the future.

Next was eating roast duck.

Originally, they had only ordered one set of duck and two dishes, which should have been enough.

But every time Li Zhuiyuan thought of Li Lan saying "Being human is so dirty," he couldn't help but stuff his mouth with flour wraps filled with duck meat.

This forced Wu Xinhan to order another half-set of duck.

The next morning, Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan woke up early. They had intended not to disturb Xiao Yuan and let the boy sleep a bit longer, but to their surprise, as soon as they opened their door, Xiao Yuan across the hall also opened his door.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan was taken by them to eat stewed tripe and bought some local specialties.

By the time they rushed to the airport and boarded the plane, Wu Xinhan and Teacher Yan had both fallen asleep.

Li Zhuiyuan looked through the porthole at the blue sky outside and the thick white clouds below.

Last night, he hadn't slept at all.

The plane landed, and a school car came to pick them up. Before dark, Li Zhuiyuan returned to his great-grandfather's house.

There was a celebration in the west of the village; Great-grandfather had taken Runsheng and Yinmeng to the banquet, while Tan Wenbin had gone home.

He walked straight to the second floor and entered his room. A Li was holding a small plane, carving a memorial tablet.

On the floor beside her lay a leather whip, half of which had already been wrapped with the skin of a memorial tablet.

When the boy was not home, the girl would either draw or help the boy with these handicrafts.

When Li Zhuiyuan appeared at the doorway, the girl looked up, a curve appearing at the corners of her mouth, and her eyes lit up.

But soon, the girl seemed to perceive something, and her expression became dejected.

"Look, there isn't any."

Li Zhuiyuan spread his hands out to the girl; there were no wounds on his palms.

"There isn't any on my body either. I held back. Really, I did it."

The boy tried his best to prove himself, as if boasting about his "exam results."

By comparison, the so-called Math Olympiad competition was not worth mentioning at this moment.

The curve at the girl's mouth, which had disappeared, reappeared.

Upon seeing the girl, the string that had been taut on Li Zhuiyuan's body finally relaxed.

He walked to the bed, lay down, blinked twice, and fell into a deep sleep.

In this sleep, he had many dreams. In the dreams, one moment it was himself, the next it was Li Lan; one moment he was being led by Li Lan, the next he was standing side-by-side with Li Lan, watching a pair of mother and son walking in the distance holding hands.

Dawn broke, and the boy woke up.

The girl was sitting by the bed, looking at him.

Just like the last time he was exhausted, last night, she had kept watch for him again.

Liu Yumei felt that being able to meet the boy at Li Sanjiang's house was A Li's good fortune.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that being able to meet A Li at his great-grandfather's house was his own good fortune.

The two doors that should have slowly closed, after meeting, jammed against each other and were also striving to support each other.

Liu Yi's voice came from downstairs, like the tolling of a bell from a temple, cleansing the soul, and also putting a complete period to his trip to the capital this time:

"Breakfast is ready!"

The students were on winter break, which meant the New Year was approaching.

Auntie Zhang's small shop had stocked up on many new snacks, and at the shop entrance, a wide variety of small firecrackers were displayed.

Once a year, it was only at this time that children had relatively strong spending power. From morning till night, children kept coming in groups of three or five to buy things.

Li Zhuiyuan also walked over to buy things.

"Brother Yuanzi!"

"Brother Yuanzi!"

Hu Zi and Shitou and the others waved enthusiastically at Li Zhuiyuan.

They had actually received their New Year's money, but they were usually tight on cash, and as soon as they got money, it would come and go quickly, so they had already spent it all.

At this moment, the two of them were accompanying children who still had money in their pockets, actively introducing which firecrackers were fun to play with, hoping that after they bought them, they could steal a few to play with and satisfy their cravings.

Seeing that Brother Yuanzi was also here to buy firecrackers, the two of them immediately stood enthusiastically by Li Zhuiyuan's side, acting as consultants.

Li Zhuiyuan took a few boxes of firecrackers and sparklers, then asked: "What do you want? Take them yourselves."

The eyes of the two lit up immediately, but each only took one box of the cheapest ones.

"Pick a few more boxes."

Seeing Brother Yuanzi was so generous, the two didn't act coy anymore and picked a few boxes they liked.

Li Zhuiyuan paid the bill and left.

Hu Zi and Shitou, clutching their firecrackers, ran in front of the other children and showed off quite arrogantly.

Returning home, Li Zhuiyuan walked to Runsheng, who was weaving a paper person:

"Brother Runsheng, give me two incense sticks."

"Okay."

Runsheng lit two thin incense sticks and handed them to the boy.

The boy took the incense, walked to A Li, and handed one lit incense stick to A Li.

Then, the boy and girl began to place firecrackers in various places, and the two of them used the incense to light them together.

On the terrace and in the vegetable fields below, firecracker sounds could be heard from time to time.

Yinmeng walked out of the house holding an ink marker. While gently twisting her neck, she looked at the two playing below, feeling a bit dazed for a moment:

"They are really interesting."

Runsheng responded and asked: "Do you want to set off firecrackers too?"

Yinmeng nodded: "Okay, it's almost New Year's, after all."

"You wait."

Runsheng put down the rattan in his hand, went into the inner room, and then came out holding eight double-kick firecrackers:

"Come on, set them off."

"Set off these?"

"Yeah, if we don't set them off, they'll expire. They should still make a sound now."

"My dad paged me, my dad paged me!"

Tan Wenbin had a pager tied to his waist. While pointing his finger there, he thrust his hips and walked out. This posture looked like a pelvic dislocation. Because his final exam results were good, Tan Yunlong had bought him a pager. Since then, he had kept it clipped to his waist. To match it, he had specifically gone to town to pick out a pair of jeans and a belt.

Runsheng: "Did your dad page your face?"

"Heh, I know you're just jealous."

Tan Wenbin continued to thrust his hips, walking down the terrace like a crab.

This action made Yinmeng behind him and Liu Yumei, who was sitting on the terrace drinking tea, smile.

Tan Wenbin trotted to Auntie Zhang's small shop to return the call, and then he ran back, shouting to Li Zhuiyuan, who was still playing with firecrackers in the field with A Li:

"Brother Xiao Yuan, my dad said that in a while, the police station will send someone to pick you and Grandpa Li up, saying they've sent a strange corpse to the station and want you to go take a look."

"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan nodded, left the field with A Li, and came to the terrace by the well to wash his hands.

Tan Wenbin asked: "Do you want me to go call Grandpa Li back?"

Liu Jinxia had taken a job and invited Li Sanjiang over to discuss it; he hadn't returned yet.

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "No need, we'll just go."

"Okay." Tan Wenbin felt the same; whether Great-grandfather went or not made no difference.

Runsheng asked: "Xiao Yuan, do we need to go?"

"Brother Runsheng, if needed, I'll call you."

"Hmm." Runsheng walked below the terrace, tore open the packaging of the double-kick firecrackers, and pulled out the fuse inside.

Before long, a police three-wheeled motorcycle drove over. Tan Wenbin, shouting "Uncle Liu," led Li Zhuiyuan onto the motorcycle.

After they left, Yinmeng took an incense stick and lit a double-kick firecracker:

"Bang... pop!"

After setting one off, Yinmeng looked at Runsheng and said:

"I say, how come it's so peaceful here?"

Runsheng pointed toward the direction of the bearded man's house in the distance: "Xiao Yuan said that because there's a big guy lying there, and it's not dead yet."

"When will it die?"

"Don't know, and it doesn't matter. In another semester, Xiao Yuan will go to college. You just endure a bit longer."

At the same moment, Tan Wenbin, sitting on the motorcycle, was also constantly rubbing his fingers. After experiencing great stimulation, a long, dull life seemed a bit hard to bear.

Arriving at the station, Tan Yunlong came out personally to receive them.

Tan Wenbin pulled out two cigarettes, first handed them to Uncle Liu who was driving the motorcycle, and then handed them to Tan Yunlong:

"Come, Tan Dui, have a smoke."

Tan Yunlong took the cigarette and asked: "Smoking again?"

Tan Wenbin stuffed the cigarette pack back into his pocket and laughed: "How could that be? It's almost New Year's, after all. Grandpa Li gave them to me."

"Xiao Yuan, come with me."

"Okay, Uncle Tan."

Tan Yunlong took Li Zhuiyuan to the forensic room, and Tan Wenbin naturally followed.

"Tan Dui, this is..." A young female forensic doctor was startled to see two young people arrive.

She still remembered chatting with an old folk corpse-salvager last time, who had provided many ideas and insights.

Shouldn't that old man have been invited this time? Why didn't he come?

"Forensic Doctor Wang, let's begin." Tan Yunlong did not offer any extra explanation.

Forensic Doctor Wang led everyone to a stretcher. After reaching out to grab the edge of the white cloth, she still asked with some concern:

"Tan Dui, is this really okay? I'm afraid of scaring them."

Tan Wenbin shrugged: "Don't worry, isn't it just a giant corpse? What's the big deal?"

Although the corpse was covered with a white cloth, the exposed feet were highly swollen, proving it had been soaked for a long time.

"It's not just a giant corpse." Forensic Doctor Wang uncovered the white cloth, revealing a swollen corpse, and the chest area of the corpse was empty, like pigskin jelly that had been scooped out.

Originally, Forensic Doctor Wang thought it would scare the two, but to her surprise, the two boys went one to the left and one to the right, looking at it with great interest.

"Hey, this is interesting, Brother Yuanzi."

"Hmm."

"What's going on with this piece in the middle? It's even circular. How was this done? It wouldn't be that, would it?"

"No."

"Then is it that?"

"Neither."

Forensic Doctor Wang stood by, listening, completely confused.

Tan Yunlong couldn't help but glare at his son: "Speak human language."

Tan Wenbin said dissatisfiedly: "Told you not to read books properly."

Tan Yunlong: "..."

Seeing his father seemed truly about to get angry, Tan Wenbin hurriedly explained: "Dad, this is professional terminology I learned from Grandpa Li."

He had read "Jianghu Records of Strange Tales," and what he had thought of successively just now were "Mother-Child Dead-Fall" and "Parasitic Dead-Fall," but both had been denied by Xiao Yuan.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and pointed to a green thing in the hollowed-out part of the corpse.

Forensic Doctor Wang said: "Is it water grass?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "Not water grass, it's animal hair."

Tan Yunlong: "Xiao Wang, haven't you tested it?"

"I..." Forensic Doctor Wang said with some embarrassment, "It was my work negligence; I didn't notice it."

"Uncle Tan, where was this corpse found?"

"In the Tongxing River. We have already sent people upstream to investigate middle-aged men who have gone missing recently."

"Is upstream closer to us or is downstream closer to us?"

"What does this mean?" Tan Yunlong didn't quite understand.

Tan Wenbin spoke up: "Xiao Yuan, I know this river. It passes us first, then goes to the neighboring town."

Li Zhuiyuan said: "Uncle Tan, then go downstream to investigate. Don't go upstream."

"Can a corpse go against the current?"

"Hmm, what if it was carried along by a boat? That's possible."

"Alright, I understand." Although Tan Yunlong still didn't understand, he intended to try following the suggestion.

Whether it was mystification or atmosphere, in short, Forensic Doctor Wang now somewhat recognized the two. She pointed to the corpse and said: "Another thing is, the water seepage volume of this corpse is a bit strange."

As soon as Tan Wenbin heard this, he became excited: "That's good. I'll bring my gear when I go back later."

Li Zhuiyuan said: "It's fine, this is considered normal."

Forensic Doctor Wang asked again with some doubt: "This is considered normal?"

"Hmm, don't worry."

Walking out of the forensic room, Tan Yunlong called Xiao Liu again to send the two back.

After getting off the car on the village road in front of the house, Tan Wenbin finally couldn't help asking: "Xiao Yuan, what exactly is that thing?"

"Corpse Demon."

An existence similar to the cat-faced old lady from before, an animal corpse that has accumulated resentment meeting and merging with a human corpse.

"Oh?" Tan Wenbin made a circle with his hands, "That missing part, is that the demon's true body?"

"Hmm."

"The corpse is here, so where did it go?"

"It was scared away."

"Scared away?" Tan Wenbin turned his head to look in the direction of the bearded man's house, "It came to our territory, and the Corpse Demon was scared away? No wonder you asked my dad to investigate downstream. That's right, since this Corpse Demon was scared away, its original direction should have been toward us."

A normal corpse certainly could only flow downstream, but for a Corpse Demon to go against the current was not strange at all.

"So, that seeping corpse won't turn into a Dead-Fall either?"

"Hmm, it can't turn into one."

Tan Wenbin laughed helplessly: "I think we really should tear down the bearded man's house and build a temple instead. It really is protecting the realm and the people."

"Brother Binbin."

"Hmm?"

"Study hard."

"Otherwise what? Sigh, besides studying hard every day, it seems there's nothing else to do."

Returning home, Li Zhuiyuan saw that Li Weihan had come, bringing many things.

They were sent by Li Lan from the capital.

Every holiday, Li Lan would send things back, including monthly remittances, which had never stopped.

The New Year's gifts sent this year were exceptionally numerous, mainly because there was an extra portion for her "son."

New clothes, new shoes, new stationery, and various snacks—two large burlap sacks full.

Li Weihan said to Li Zhuiyuan with a smile: "Little Yuan Hou, look, your mother is always thinking of you."

Li Zhuiyuan could only respond with an equally happy expression, performing a bit in front of his grandfather.

Yes, he knew she was using this method to remind herself that she was still thinking of him.

On New Year's Eve, at noon, Li Zhuiyuan followed Li Sanjiang to Li Weihan's place to have the reunion dinner first.

Originally, Li Sanjiang had intended to call Li Weihan and Cui Guiying to his house for the New Year's Eve dinner, but winter break had arrived, and Li Zhuiyuan's uncles had dumped their cubs at their parents' house again, so the school had opened up at home.

Li Weihan was embarrassed to bring all the children at home to Li Sanjiang's house to eat, so he could only choose this compromise.

When he led Li Zhuiyuan out after eating, Li Sanjiang kept cursing those ungrateful wretches.

They didn't go straight home but detoured to the bearded man's house, because this place was also under Li Sanjiang's name. Logically speaking, they had to do some cleaning before the New Year.

Runsheng and Yinmeng had come early to clean for a while. Li Sanjiang picked up a broom and joined in, and even Li Zhuiyuan picked up a rag to help wipe the tables, chairs, and benches.

When they finished working, it was already dusk.

Li Sanjiang put his hands on his hips, laughing and complaining: "Oh my, having a big family and a big business isn't such a good thing. Cleaning up is really exhausting, haha."

Finally, Li Sanjiang stood two pagoda incense sticks on the terrace.

These were made by Liu Yi herself. If he really had to go out and buy them, Li Sanjiang really wouldn't be willing to light them.

With incense smoke curling, Runsheng took several deep breaths nearby.

Li Sanjiang waved his hand at him: "Go, go, go, this is to pay respects to the Bodhisattva, so it can continue to protect you all in the coming year."

Hearing this, Li Zhuiyuan, Runsheng, and Yinmeng couldn't help but look together toward the peach tree forest in front.

Indeed, it was really thanks to its protection, protection that left everyone collectively with nothing to do.

But this bit of belly-aching could only be kept in the heart; at most, one could complain a few words orally. One couldn't over-extrapolate; after all, no matter what, having no Dead-Falls appearing was always a good thing.

At the New Year's Eve dinner, Li Sanjiang gave out red envelopes. Everyone except Liu Yumei got one; after all, they were either his juniors or his workers. As for Zhuangzhuang's share, it had already been given this morning before he went home for the New Year.

Liu Yumei also gave out New Year's money.

Then, A Li handed the two red envelopes she received to Xiao Yuan.

The girl still remembered what the boy looked like when he was short of money.

Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand, entered the east room, opened her collection box, and put all four red envelopes inside.

In the evening, everyone gathered around the television to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

When the countdown to midnight ended, celebratory sounds came from the television, and outside, timed firecracker sounds also arrived.

Local people generally didn't have the habit of calculating specific months; they all calculated age generally according to the "New Year."

Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand, standing by the edge of the terrace, looking at the fireworks in the distance that were only faintly visible.

"A Li, we are both a year older."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 76 =====