Chapter 80

The most direct threat is Chen Shu.

At this moment, even Seeing Yin Meng, who was standing to the side, was already considering where in the school would be suitable for burying a person.

Seeing Yin Meng's true nature would not lead her to have such a ruthless style of conduct.

But as long as the young man patted his leg and said, "Bury him," she would absolutely pick up a shovel and go dig a hole immediately.

Because she knew clearly that while the young man could tolerate Runsheng's stupidity, he would never grant himself a second chance.

By the same token, if even the companions felt it was real, then for the "threatened party," it was naturally impossible for any lingering delusions of luck to remain.

Sun Hongxia even couldn't help but suspect that the young man before her would rather bury her alive than find the truth.

"I say..."

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to the side, looking at the shop door that was still open.

Seeing Yin Meng walked over, closed the shop door, and locked it.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Have you been to her room?"

"No."

"Take her to her room."

"Alright."

Seeing Yin Meng hoisted Sun Hongxia up, wrapping one hand around the other's arm; this was a technique to lock a dead-fall.

Before going downstairs, Li Zhuiyuan took a can of soda from the beverage rack, opened it, and took two sips, then took another can.

Arriving at the basement, the door to Sun Hongxia's room was open. The space inside was quite large. Just as Xue Liangliang had said earlier, the only drawback to the rooms down here was that the lighting wasn't that good; everything else was quite nice.

It was just that in Sun Hongxia's room, there were two offering tables set up, creating a very oppressive atmosphere inside.

One offering table was large and one was small; the large one was about the same as a dining table in a normal household, while the small one was comparable to a stool.

On the large offering table sat a girl's memorial portrait, and on the small offering table sat a boy's memorial portrait.

The two offering tables were placed facing each other, one high and one low. Beside the boy's memorial portrait on the small table, there was also a kneeling cushion made from strips of old clothing.

The candles and incense burner on the offering tables showed no signs of having been used in the last two days.

Sun Hongxia leaned against the bed, half-sitting and half-kneeling.

When Li Zhuiyuan walked in, he took a sip of soda, his other hand still holding the second can.

Seeing Yin Meng instinctively raised her hand, wanting to take it.

But she saw the young man sit down by the bed, the other bottle placed under his own feet.

Oh, so it wasn't for her.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't like drinking sweet things, but his head felt a bit dizzy now; he needed to replenish his sugar.

Sun Hongxia prepared to speak several times, but each time she stopped herself.

The biggest taboo in interrogation is being interrupted halfway; this easily allows the interrogated to reorganize their psychological defenses and stir up hope of continuing to play games with you.

However, Li Zhuiyuan didn't care. "The Essence of Yin-Yang Physiognomy" allowed him to distinguish whether most normal people were lying, and at the same time, he preferred to hold the initiative himself.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed at the boy's memorial portrait on the small stool and asked, "What is your son's name?"

Seeing Yin Meng felt slightly surprised. She had originally thought the girl's portrait on the high table was Sun Hongxia's daughter, and it might also be related to that long-haired faceless person. She hadn't expected that the one in Sun Hongxia's family was a son.

Sun Hongxia: "His name is Zhao Junfeng."

"And this girl?"

"Her surname is Qiu, her name is Qiu Minmin."

Li Zhuiyuan finished the first can of soda and opened the second: "What bad thing did Zhao Junfeng do to Qiu Minmin?"

Sun Hongxia: "Fengfeng insulted Minmin in the restroom, and then he killed her."

"A student at this school?"

"Yes, that's right."

"How many years ago did this happen?"

"Seven years ago."

"Qiu Minmin's family is also at the school, right?"

Sun Hongxia mumbled with her lips; she seemed not to want to say, but the boy just glanced at her, and her whole body shuddered. In the end, she said it as if resigning herself to fate:

"Yes, her mother is here."

"My patience is limited."

"Qiu Minmin's mother, her surname is Ran, she is the dormitory manager for your building."

Seeing Yin Meng, who was also in the room, felt that her brain wasn't enough to keep up.

Rather than saying the young man was asking questions step by step, it was more like the young man was looking for Sun Hongxia to verify things. But the problem was, how did the young man know these things?

Could it be that he knew about it beforehand?

That was also impossible; if he had known beforehand, things wouldn't have developed to this point.

Actually, it was quite simple to figure these things out. The layout of the large and small offering tables allowed one to mentally reconstruct the image of Sun Hongxia often kneeling on the cushion, bringing her son along to apologize to the girl.

The ages of the boy and girl in the memorial portraits matched those of college students, and Sun Hongxia considered herself a local in her speech, but in reality, she had an accent from a certain other province.

It wasn't easy to get a formal staff position in school logistics, but it was easy to work as a temporary worker. The salary and benefits were better than working diligently as a handyman in Xue Liangliang's shop all the time. The subsequent deduction explained that she was deliberately hiding her identity, and she wasn't just working to earn money.

Harboring intense guilt, staying at the school was most likely to seek redemption. Qiu Minmin was already dead, so the object of redemption should be her family.

Li Zhuiyuan was just using the most normal logic to reverse-deduce, and then finding Sun Hongxia to check the answers. It was just a matter of luck that they happened to match up.

"You know Qiu Minmin is still at the school, and she is right here."

Sun Hongxia nodded: "Yes, she often dances upstairs at night when there is no one around. She used to attend various school evening parties, and she danced very well."

"Why doesn't she take revenge on you?"

"At first, when I 'saw' her, I was also afraid. But I thought, this is the sin created by the mistake my son made, so even if she is a fierce ghost, it is only right for her to kill me to vent her anger. During that time, I often knelt in the dance practice room upstairs, begging her to kill me.

But... she didn't.

Later, as so many years passed, I just got used to it.

Perhaps, she feels that letting me die so easily is letting me off too lightly, so she wants to keep appearing by my side to torture me and take revenge on me. I accept it."

"Perhaps?"

"That is my guess."

"No, this is not your guess; you don't have the brains for that."

Sun Hongxia: "..."

"Was it Qiu Minmin's mother, that Auntie Ran in our building, who told you?"

Li Zhuiyuan remembered that the name written on the work badge on her desk was: Ran Qiuping.

"Yes, that's right, she said these things to me, and I am very grateful to her."

"Think carefully before you speak next time. I don't want to correct you a second time, otherwise, I will still bury you alive, plus that Ran Qiuping."

Runsheng had made a mistake in professional conduct this time, but it should have been understandable.

But the problem now was that the person he was concerned about and wanted to protect wasn't that simple, and it was very likely that she was actively targeting himself and the others in league with the dead-fall.

People were already planning to take your life, so why be wishy-washy here?

"I, I understand."

"How does Ran Qiuping view the matter of Qiu Minmin still being at the school?"

"What she told me was that her daughter's resentment hasn't dissipated, and she wants me to wait with her for the day when Minmin thinks it through and dissipates, and then my sin will be redeemed."

Seeing Yin Meng thought to herself: Is the dormitory manager auntie raising a corpse?

Li Zhuiyuan took another sip of soda; he felt it didn't seem like it.

Qiu Minmin was being controlled, and the existence controlling her was very terrifying. This didn't seem like something Ran Qiuping could do, unless she had been consciously acting during her first meeting with him.

Besides that, the most fundamental contradiction was, as Qiu Minmin's biological mother... what was she doing controlling her own daughter who died a tragic death?

Unfortunately, no more useful clues could be obtained from Sun Hongxia here. He could continue to ask, but he wouldn't be able to ask for much value.

Because she had already been brainwashed by Ran Qiuping into a devout redeemer.

Whether the family of a murderer should be condemned by social public opinion was not a question Li Zhuiyuan needed to ponder now.

He only knew that if Ran Qiuping could really "cultivate" and "manipulate" a dead-fall of this level to be her own vengeful ghost, then she had no need at all to have Sun Hongxia do things for her and pray for repentance to her.

In this, there must still be a secret, because it didn't make sense.

"How did Zhao Junfeng die?"

"When he was running away, he took a classmate hostage and was shot dead by the police at Mount General." Sun Hongxia looked at her son's memorial portrait. "He didn't know how to repent until he died, and he died so cleanly. If he had gone to accept the judgment of the law and accept the punishment of the law, I could have felt better. This is my fault; I gave birth to him, and I didn't teach him well, letting him become a beast and harm people."

"Who was the classmate he took hostage?"

"I don't know."

"How were his remains handled?"

"They are here." Sun Hongxia bent down and took out an urn from under the bed. "Do you want to see?"

"Open it."

Sun Hongxia opened the lid, and Li Zhuiyuan reached in and grabbed a small pinch; it was indeed ashes.

"Do you have any other relatives?" Li Zhuiyuan asked.

"His father died early, I am here, I have no relatives."

"Tie her up, control her first."

"Alright." Seeing Yin Meng picked up the net for trapping dead-falls and controlled Sun Hongxia. Before taking something to block her mouth, Seeing Yin Meng stood up, walked to the young man's side, and asked in a low voice, "It seems we haven't asked why Qiu Minmin wanted to attack us?"

"You ask."

Seeing Yin Meng turned her head to look at Sun Hongxia: "Speak, why did Qiu Minmin want to attack us?"

Sun Hongxia said blankly: "I don't know."

Seeing Yin Meng: "You don't know?"

Sun Hongxia looked at the offering table: "Could it be because you came and also lived next door to me, making it impossible for me to light incense and burn paper for her these past two days?"

Seeing Yin Meng blocked Sun Hongxia's mouth.

Obviously, she didn't believe this reason either.

Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the room, and Seeing Yin Meng locked the door from the outside and immediately followed, asking, "Why did she want to attack us?"

"If you want to think in a complex direction, it should be that our arrival, or specifically some actions of you and Runsheng including Xiao Hei, offended her."

"And if it's the simple direction?"

"You are a hidden criminal, and suddenly one day you discover that the rooms to your left and right have all been moved into by police. Would you think they are here to catch you?"

"It's that simple?"

"The reason why she attacked us is not important; what is important is that she has already attacked. If we hadn't arrived in time, Runsheng might have died at her hands.

What we need to do now is fight back."

Seeing Yin Meng's expression changed, and she said, "Then we should hurry up and go catch that dormitory manager auntie now."

"Qiu Minmin has already run away. Do you guess Ran Qiuping knows now? Even if we hurry, it's too late."

Seeing Yin Meng suddenly felt that she shouldn't have said so much in front of the young man; besides proving again and again that she was stupid, it had no other effect.

The two returned to Building Nine, and the dormitory manager's office was still dark. Seeing Yin Meng tried to pry open the window.

"Snap!"

The light inside turned on.

Seeing Yin Meng, who had just pried the window open, watched Li Zhuiyuan walk in from the office door; the door wasn't locked.

The young man glanced at her and said, "Install the window back."

"Oh, alright."

The area of the office wasn't large: a desk, a bed, a cabinet, a wardrobe, and cloth bags hanging on the wall. Below the bags were written dormitory numbers, and keys were placed inside.

The only clue with any value was that in a large tea mug at the foot of the desk, there were signs of being burned black.

Li Zhuiyuan lifted the tea mug and sniffed it closely; there was a smell of paper ash.

Seeing Yin Meng walked in after installing the window, looked around, and said, "She ran away?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I was really afraid she would stay here waiting for us."

If that were the case, it would mean Ran Qiuping had a lot to rely on.

And their own team had suffered heavy losses after losing Runsheng and Tan Wenbin.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the cloth bags and felt under his own dormitory number; there was no key.

It seemed he would have to change the lock.

"Seeing Yin Meng."

"Yes!" Seeing Yin Meng puffed out her chest, waiting for instructions.

"You go back to the shop now, watch over Sun Hongxia, and then tomorrow morning, go to the infirmary and swap Tan Wenbin back."

Relatively speaking, when it came to the ability to investigate things, Zhuangzhuang was much more capable than Mengmeng.

"And you?" Seeing Yin Meng explained, "There is no one by your side, I am worried about your safety."

Li Zhuiyuan pointed upstairs: "It's not early, I'm going up to sleep."

"Sleep?"

"Yes, my head is a bit uncomfortable, I need to rest."

"Then if by any chance..."

"There is no 'by any chance'. Qiu Minmin has already been beaten until she is almost falling apart. If Ran Qiuping had any other means, she wouldn't have run away. We are very safe now."

When Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the dormitory manager's office, he added a reminder: "Remember to turn off the light."

Returning to his dormitory, Li Zhuiyuan picked up a washbasin, placed the whip at the bottom of the basin, and walked toward the washbasin. There was no reason to guard against thieves for a thousand days; one should rest when it's time to rest, and bathe when it's time to bathe.

Just as it was written in Wei Zhengdao's book: We represent the righteous path.

Which righteous path makes itself nervous and timid every day?

Just as he had drawn the first basin of water, poured it down, and was applying shampoo to himself, footsteps came from behind.

Li Zhuiyuan washed his hair as usual; his ears were sharp, and he could remember the footsteps of some people even if he only heard them once.

"Oh my god, Brother Shentong, what a coincidence!"

Lu Yi, 1.85 meters tall, a standard Northern man.

"Hello."

"Brother Shentong is also taking a bath? Uh no, what a coincidence, Brother Shentong is also taking a bath."

"Yes."

"Why did Brother Shentong come to school to report so early?"

"Catching ghosts."

"Hehehe, Brother Shentong, you are really humorous."

Li Zhuiyuan applied soap to himself.

"Splash!"

Lu Yi also poured a basin of water over himself.

"Phew, refreshing!"

Immediately, Lu Yi looked at Li Zhuiyuan and rolled his towel very tightly onto his hand:

"Brother Shentong, let me scrub your back."

"No need."

"It's okay, in our bathhouse, everyone scrubs each other's dirt like this."

Saying that, Lu Yi prepared to start.

"Brother, really no need."

"Snap!"

Just at this moment, the whip that Li Zhuiyuan had originally placed by the washbasin slid down.

Lu Yi widened his eyes and looked, wondering: "Brother Shentong, do you Nantong people use this thing to bathe? How do you use it? Is it easy to use?"

"Brother, I'm done washing."

"Oh, alright, want a late-night snack? I'm boiling dumplings in the dormitory, want a bowl?"

"Won't it trip the power?"

"What a coincidence, buddy, my major is relevant; our dormitory's electricity won't trip the breaker."

"Not eating, thank you, Brother."

"Then want to come to my dormitory to hang out tonight? I can play the guitar."

"Don't you have tutoring tomorrow?"

"No class tomorrow, resting."

"Then rest early."

"Hey, Brother Shentong, you still haven't said where you are catching ghosts?"

"There are some in the dormitory."

Li Zhuiyuan carried the basin and left.

"Hehe, Brother Shentong really knows how to joke." Lu Yi picked up the washbasin, and before he even poured it, he shivered, then finished rinsing quickly and immediately ran back to his dormitory.

After returning to the dormitory, Li Zhuiyuan first pushed two chairs behind the door to brace it, then opened the dormitory window, and finally lay on the bed.

Closed his eyes, sleep.

Slept until dawn, the discomfort in his head was significantly relieved.

Got out of bed, got dressed, moved the chairs away to wash up, and after returning, sat at the desk and started writing an investigation plan.

Just finished writing, footsteps of Tan Wenbin came from outside.

The dormitory door was pushed open, and Tan Wenbin poked his head out: "Brother Xiaoyuan, I brought you breakfast."

Steamed buns, fried dough sticks, and soy milk.

While eating breakfast together, Li Zhuiyuan handed the plan to Tan Wenbin. Tan Wenbin picked it up, scanned it, and after confirming there were no questions, folded it up and put it in his pocket.

There were only two things on the list: one was the investigation into the Zhao Junfeng and Qiu Minmin case from that year, and the other was the investigation into Ran Qiuping.

The latter only required visiting, while the former required finding the case files, and it would be best to be able to contact the police who participated in investigating this case that year.

"Brother Binbin, does your father have connections?"

"He should have. My father was transferred to Shigang later; his former classmates and colleagues have a large network. Besides, if my father isn't useful, there's still my grandfather and my maternal grandfather; they are both old policemen. But I need some time, Brother Yuanzi."

"No rush. That dead-fall from yesterday won't recover in a short time. We have plenty of time; we should be able to wait for Brother Runsheng to recover."

"Runsheng is recovering well. When the doctor came to check the wound this morning, he said his body is sturdier than an ox. And when Seeing Yin Meng came to swap me, she also brought ointment, which was left by Auntie Liu."

"Hmm."

"Do we need to contact Brother Liang?"

"It doesn't have much to do with Brother Liangliang."

"No, I mean, such a fun thing, why not call Brother Liang to participate together?"

"Forget it, I'm afraid he'll find an excuse to go back to Nantong to investigate again."

"Pfft... Hahaha!"

After Tan Wenbin finished laughing, he suddenly remembered something else and asked: "Brother Xiaoyuan, then don't you have no one by your side?"

"There is someone."

After Tan Wenbin left, Li Zhuiyuan put some things into his schoolbag, then carried the schoolbag to the door of a dormitory, and knocked on the door.

Soon, the door was opened; Lu Yi seemed to have just woken up.

"Yo, Brother Shentong."

"Brother, you name a price, I'll hire you for a day, you come with me."

"Ha!" Lu Yi bent down slightly and hugged Li Zhuiyuan: "What kind of talk is this? Between buddies, if there's something, just say it; why talk about money? You wait, I'll brush my teeth."

After Lu Yi washed up quickly, he locked the dormitory door: "Let's go, Brother Shentong, where are we going?"

"Mount General."

Mount General was originally named Mount Guanyin, but later because Yue Fei once resisted the Jin here, it was renamed Mount General.

This wasn't a very famous scenic spot, but it had mountains and water, and the scenery was beautiful; it was a very good vacation resort around the city.

Arriving here, Li Zhuiyuan didn't have any specific purpose. Mainly, Tan Wenbin could handle the matter on his side alone, so he just came here to try his luck.

If he had really foreseen danger, he wouldn't have called Lu Yi to join the team temporarily.

Li Zhuiyuan climbed up a mountain peak, took out a compass, and began to observe the Feng Shui here.

Lu Yi on the side originally thought Brother Shentong had called him here for an outing. When he saw the young man even take out a compass and was observing it seriously, he suddenly remembered that sentence the young man said last night again.

Damn, could there really be ghosts in the dormitory?

Li Zhuiyuan changed three mountain peak positions to observe, but besides observing several auspicious spots, there was nothing unusual.

But when he walked to the fourth mountain peak position to observe, he discovered that there was an area that was very peculiar.

Nine bends leading to seclusion, a hidden dragon in the abyss, worshiping the main city, borrowing the king's Qi.

This could almost be called a standard water burial site.

But also because it was too standard, it was normal for a geomancer to take a fancy to it or for a water monkey to take a fancy to it.

Therefore, there was a temple there.

The ancients had a habit: wherever problems easily arose, such as haunted places, mass graves, or ancient tombs, they would build a temple on top.

Now, they could build a school.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the temple gate; the temple was very small, and the plaque read: General Temple.

Inside, there were Buddhist things and also Daoist things, but there were no monks or Daoist priests, only a few management personnel, and they didn't charge for admission.

It was just that, not long after walking in, Li Zhuiyuan noticed something wrong. Although this temple was a bit of a hodgepodge, no matter what kind of temple it was, there should be no lack of a sense of uprightness and auspiciousness inside; there were only differences in strength.

But in this temple, it gave people a feeling of being greasy and sticky, and vaguely, Li Zhuiyuan also smelled a faint smell of water corpse.

His nose wasn't as sensitive as Runsheng's, but since he smelled it, it probably wouldn't be wrong.

However, what kind of dead-fall would actually hide in a temple?

Li Zhuiyuan hesitated. If it wasn't Lu Yi but Runsheng following him, he could have continued to investigate openly.

But, after all, he was here to try his luck. Since he had encountered some special things, to avoid and retreat directly would be a pure waste of effort.

Still, let's take a look. Just look, don't take action; I am a tourist.

Li Zhuiyuan followed the concentration of the water corpse smell and gradually walked to the main temple hall.

Lu Yi also smelled the odor at this moment and even sneezed. He pointed around and said: "There are so many ginkgo trees planted in this temple. I always thought this thing was very fragrant before."

Li Zhuiyuan ignored him and stepped into the hall. Inside, there was a mighty statue of a general, and below it hung a metal plate with the words "Great General" written on it.

This wasn't Yue Fei, because this was clearly Mo Liqing, one of the Four Heavenly Kings in "Investiture of the Gods" who held a sword.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the kneeling cushion and knelt down.

Lu Yi on the side saw this and also knelt down.

In his eyes, Brother Shentong, who was holding a compass, had already been stained with a bit of mysterious color.

Li Zhuiyuan sniffed carefully; he had already confirmed that the source of the water corpse smell was at the base of this general statue.

The general statue stood on a stone platform, and there was a seam right in front of the stone platform, proving that there was very likely an interlayer inside that could be pushed and pulled out.

At this time, the normal procedure should be to go into the Yin to continue the investigation.

But Li Zhuiyuan held back.

This water corpse smell was emitted very evenly, proving that even if there was a dead-fall lying inside, it was also sleeping.

It might be just like that peach forest in front of the bearded man's old home; it was a suppression layout made by predecessors here.

Li Zhuiyuan straightened up and suddenly heard Lu Yi on the side already kowtowing and begging the general to protect his parents' health.

Li Zhuiyuan could only interrupt him: "Don't worship."

"Ah?" Lu Yi was stunned for a moment, "Then..."

"Do as I do." Li Zhuiyuan performed a set of gift-receiving actions; it was a bit complicated, and he did it very slowly.

Lu Yi watched and learned, finished it, and then followed the young man to stand up and leave the kneeling cushion.

In ordinary temples and Daoist temples, worshiping to seek emotional value is no problem, but things like dead-falls carry evil spirits themselves. Even if it doesn't actively harm you, just being relatively close to you, you might get stained with bad luck, unless you yourself have deep good fortune, which allows you not to care.

As for worshiping a dead-fall to seek protection, that belongs to actively seeking karmic entanglement; it's too unlucky.

Li Zhuiyuan began to observe around the general statue, and Lu Yi followed behind the young man.

The young man was not old, but he had a special temperament, making people unconsciously want to listen to his words, feeling that what he said was right.

After observing for a circle, Li Zhuiyuan discovered something wrong.

The layout here should have been a very standard 【Breaking Evil】, but now it had been changed by someone.

Li Zhuiyuan touched a crack in the ground with the tip of his shoe; this was chiseled out artificially later.

This couldn't help but give the young man a sense of familiarity, because he liked to borrow original Feng Shui layouts to make modifications.

It was just that the person who modified this place later didn't have enough skill.

He only broke the 【Breaking Evil】 effect. If he were to operate it, he could directly change it to 【Gathering Yin】.

However, now he could only draw a circle on the map first. Currently, he didn't know if the thing inside was related to Qiu Minmin. At this time, it was not appropriate to cause extra trouble.

Everything still had to wait until Tan Wenbin got specific case news there before making the next decision.

"Let's go, Brother Lu."

"Hey, alright."

The two were preparing to walk out of the hall when two people happened to walk past under the corridor opposite outside. Both were men, one old and one young, both wearing work badges on their chests; they should be the staff here.

The old one had gray hair and walked with his hands behind his back, but his overlapping hands were turned inward and upside down, while his shoulders sank and his shoulder blades protruded.

This was the posture of carrying a corpse.

And it was a kind of movement inertia practiced from carrying corpses all year round; even in daily life, he would naturally maintain this body posture.

When Uncle Qin taught him the basics before, he said that he didn't need to specifically set aside time to practice; he could practice while working normally.

That old man belonged to the kind whose skill had been practiced to perfection.

The young man also had a bit of this trend, but it wasn't obvious yet. It was very clear that he should be the old man's successor.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't expect that he could actually meet fellow corpse-salvagers here.

However, he had no intention of going up to say hello, because it was possible that the gap in the layout here was made by them.

After the old man and the young man walked to the distance, they separated. The young man continued forward, stopped at the door of a place similar to an office, and knocked on the door.

The door was opened, and a woman stood at the door talking to the young man very excitedly. The young man seemed to be comforting her, but the hand he had behind his back was already clenched; obviously, he felt very impatient dealing with this woman in front of him.

It was just that the two sides of the conversation didn't know that this scene had already fallen into the sight of others.

Li Zhuiyuan pulled Lu Yi's clothes, signaling him to follow himself out through the back door of the hall.

After the two walked out of the hall, they walked quickly out of General Temple. After arriving outside, Lu Yi finally couldn't help but ask:

"Brother Shentong, wasn't that woman just now our dormitory manager auntie?"

(End of chapter)