Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 124

There is a large stone table at the entrance of Shizhuo Village. There is a chessboard carved on the tabletop and six stone pillars underneath.

According to legend, during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, two Taoists came here as wanderers and suddenly became interested in playing chess. They carved rocks into tables and chairs and invited little ghosts from all over the place to sit and watch the game.

The game of chess lasted for three days and three nights.

After the game, the two Taoists disappeared, and the little ghosts from all directions no longer harassed the villagers, and the place became peaceful.

Today, the four corners of the stone table are cracked, the texture of the table top has long been blurred by wind erosion, and only two of the six stone piers remain. A locust tree has grown next to the original stone table, and its roots are becoming increasingly thick and twisted, causing the stone table to tilt.

A group of old men and women were sitting under a locust tree. Some were knitting clothes, some were sewing shoe soles, and some were smoking and coughing. They occasionally talked a few words, but they were not in the mood to chat.

Looking from a distance, you can hardly see them clearly because the old man's skin and the bark of the old locust tree are almost the same tone.

Even if you get closer, if you don't look closely, you would mistake them for just a circle of old tree roots.

Zhao Mengyao walked by here wearing long sleeves, a hat, and a silk scarf, dragging a suitcase.

The old people under the locust tree stood up one after another. Although the newcomer was wrapped up from head to toe and her face was not visible, one could tell which family she was from just by looking at her clothes and body shape.

"Zhao's girl, are you home?"

"Why don't you ask your grandfather to pick it up?"

"Didn't your grandfather just leave the village the day before yesterday? Why didn't he come back with us?"

"But have you eaten yet?"

Different from the greetings and care shown by the elderly in other villages to the younger generations, the elderly here showed a touch of caution and flattery towards Zhao Mengyao.

There is only one family with the surname Zhao in Shizhuo Village, and they live in the east end of the village.

Nowadays, people who have made money in the village can't wait to build two-story or even three-story houses, but the Zhao family did not build upwards but expanded around, adding circle after circle, and the former brick and tile bungalow was turned into a large courtyard with several entrances.

It is generally against the rules to occupy such land and build a house, but the Zhao family, on the one hand, supports the elderly and widowed people in the village, and on the other hand, adopts abandoned children from the neighborhood. If they really want to show off, they can open a nursing home and an orphanage in their own home, so there is nothing wrong with expanding the house.

In a few years, these old people living under the locust tree will probably have to shamelessly go to Old Zhao's house to beg for three meals a day.

Old Zhao's family is not prosperous. Counting back four generations, there was an ancestor who is the oldest person in the village today. He married a son-in-law who gave birth to a son. The son gave birth to a daughter. Then he married another son-in-law who gave birth to twin brother and sister, one of whom is Zhao Mengyao.

Now, the only ones left in the Zhao family are the old ancestor, his son Old Zhaotou, and the twin brother and sister.

There are clearly four generations, but there are only four people left.

The Zhao family was wealthy. According to legend, during the Republic of China, the ancestor of the Zhao family was invited by a certain marshal to tell fortunes. Later, before the marshal retreated to Tianjin to live as a retired official, he specially arranged for someone to send the ancestor back to Shizhuo Village, and brought back several boxes of gold and silver.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Zhao family did give up some things, but people in the village spread the word that the real family wealth had been buried underground long ago. Now, as the situation changed, the Zhao family started to shake up again.

But even if there was no story about hidden gold and silver, the ancestor of the Zhao family and his son, Old Zhaotou, were well-known fortune tellers in the surrounding area. On weekdays, the mother and son never accepted ordinary customers. Every few months, either a man in gangster clothes would come to ask for favors, or a car or jeep would drive straight into the village. How could this amount of money be missed?

Zhao Mengyao pushed open the door and walked through the yard. Under the long corridor of the east wing, there was a row of old people sitting. All of them had pale faces, and they didn't make any noise. They just stayed there quietly.

In the west wing was the orphanage, where a few children with obvious intellectual disabilities, crooked mouths and squinting eyes were playing, adding some movement to the room, making it no longer so dead.

There was a strong smell of boiled medicine coming from the east and west wing rooms. If you walked in at this time, no matter whether they were old or young, you would be sure that many of them would be lying in bed suffering from illness.

It is normal for elderly people to get sick as they get older. There are many abandoned boys, many of whom have congenital diseases, and the chances of premature death are even greater.

Therefore, the Zhao family often held funerals to make room for the deceased, but it did not arouse suspicion from outsiders. After all, no one would really care about lonely elderly people and abandoned babies.

Zhao Mengyao didn't like the smell of home since she was a child. The stinky and rotten smell often drove her crazy, and she wanted to set fire to the east wing and burn it down.

Even when I grew up and understood the purpose of these people, I still despised them in my heart.

Fortunately, her great-grandmother was very open-minded. She not only allowed her to study, but also allowed her to take exams in other places. She only hoped that she could bring home a boy with a handsome appearance and good fortune in the future.

"Mengyao, why are you back?"

The one asking the questions was her brother. They were obviously twins, born one after the other, but brother Zhao Xilu looked like a man in his thirties.

At this time, Zhao Xilu was decocting medicine. There were a total of eight small stoves in front of him. He held a fan in each hand and was busy as a bee.

At the corner behind Zhaoxi Road, there was a dirty woman with chains tied around her body. She was a lunatic and she spent the whole day holding a rag doll and feeding it milk.

To outsiders, it seemed that the Zhao family was kind-hearted and adopted her.

But in fact, Zhao Mengyao knew clearly that when she just entered high school, this woman had been pregnant twice for her brother Zhao Xilu, giving birth to a boy and a girl respectively. However, the first one died before the 100th day, and the second one did not even live to the full month.

The woman went crazy and was locked here.

When Zhao Xilu got up in the morning, he would take her to the yard to bask in the sun, and when he returned home at night, he would take her back inside.

Zhao Mengyao doesn't like her brother. Although he has always been nice to her, she just feels that he is hypocritical and heartless, and not as straightforward and kind as herself.

Even though there were people hired to help at home, his brother still had to do everything himself every day.

It would be fine if she didn't know what those things were used for, but her brother knew them very well, and his talent in casting spells was much higher than hers.

But now, she could only cry in grievance to her brother:
"Brother, I've been cursed."

As he spoke, Zhao Mengyao took off his hat, rolled up his sleeves, and revealed the area of ​​skin that was festering.

Zhao Xilu was shocked when he saw this and hurried forward to check.

"How did you do this?"

"I've been cursed."

"Where's Grandpa? Didn't Grandpa go to find you?"

"Isn't Grandpa back yet?"

"No, you didn't see Grandpa?"

"I saw it, but I thought Grandpa asked me to sign the two alimony agreements and then go home."

"You..." Zhao Xilu frowned, "Mengyao, please go inside and sit down first."

"Where's my great-grandmother? I want to see her."

"My great-grandmother is meeting guests and is busy now."

"I'm already like this, what other guest could be more important than me?"

"Someone from our family is here."

"My family?"

Zhao Mengyao was stunned. She had heard about her family's ancestral hall. The offerings were divided into two rows. One row was empty, and the other row contained her parents and grandmother, which could only be placed in the corner at the bottom.

The empty seat in the center is reserved for the family members. Even if the family tablets cannot be placed there, space must be reserved for them.

When she was little, Zhao Mengyao asked, "Why can't we put the tablets of our family members there?"

Great-grandmother smiled grimly and replied, "Because our family thinks we are unlucky."

The original family is in Jiujiang. Unlike the small families like Shizhuo Zhao, the Jiujiang Zhao family is a real wandering family. During the Qing Dynasty, a Dragon King was born in them.

However, according to the rules of the martial arts world, if a member of the clan successfully escapes to the river or there is no successor within a hundred years, the Dragon King family still has no right to hang up the plaque.

Therefore, the family only calls itself the Jiujiang Zhao family, but never calls itself the Dragon King Zhao.

Sometimes, if a family does not have enough strength and forcibly displays the Dragon King plaque, it may cause trouble.

"Then I...then what should I do..."

"Mengyao, I told you to go to my room and wait. I'll be there soon."

"it is good."

Zhao Mengyao had no choice but to go into the yard, walk through the corridor, go through the small door, and come to her brother's room in the backyard.

The furnishings inside are very simple, with a study on the north side, a living room in the middle, and a bedroom on the south side.

There is a nest under an old wooden bed in the bedroom, and in front of the nest are a food bowl and a water basin.

Not long after, the door was pushed open again, and Zhao Xilu came in leading the woman.

"Mengyao, take off your clothes."

Zhao Mengyao was a little hesitant.

Zhao Xilu took a deep breath and said, "Then I won't care about you, brother."

"No, brother, you have to help me."

Zhao Mengyao took off her clothes. The corners of her mouth twitched from time to time as she took off her clothes, because many of the festering areas were stuck to the clothes, and taking off her clothes was like tearing off a layer of skin.

"Mengyao, come into my study."

Zhao Mengyao walked into her brother's study.

In the study, the altar, incense burner and candles have been set up.

Zhao Xilu repeatedly heated a black needle in candlelight, then inserted it into the ashes of the incense burner and stirred it. Finally, he took it out, walked in front of Zhao Mengyao, and stabbed it directly into her forehead.

"pain……"

"Bear it."

After the needle was inserted, Zhao Xilu waved to the woman on the ground.

The woman crawled over, came to Zhao Mengyao's feet, opened her mouth, and bit Zhao Mengyao's ankle.

"what……"

"Hold it, sister."

Zhao Mengyao lowered her head and looked at the woman, with resentment and hatred in her eyes.

The woman was sucking.

Gradually, the ulcerated areas on Zhao Mengyao's body began to shrink and the dead skin appeared, showing obvious improvement, while multiple ulcerated areas appeared on the woman's body.

Zhao Mengyao felt even more disgusted with her brother. He actually cultivated the woman who had given birth to two children for him into a container for the cursed object.

The function of this container is to transfer the curse imposed on others to oneself. In addition, it can also transfer toxins.

The woman opened her mouth, crawled on the ground, gasping for breath, and blood kept flowing out of her mouth.

Zhao Xilu kicked the woman and cursed, "Go out and cough up blood. Don't dirty this place."

The woman climbed out immediately.

"Mengyao, are you okay?"

"Brother, I'm much better."

"Well, you rest here for a while. I'll go check on your great-grandmother to see if she's feeling better."

Zhao Xilu left the room and came to the main house in the backyard. The door of the main house was already open, indicating that the meeting was over.

As soon as he entered the main room, Zhao Xilu saw a gloomy young man about his age sitting there. There was a cracked wound between his eyebrows, which seemed to be an old wound, but also looked like a scab that had just formed.

Behind the young man, an old man was drinking tea with his great-grandmother.

My great-grandmother is very old, but she still looks energetic, with a lot of black hair mixed in with her white hair.

"Xilu, come and meet Master Yi of our family, and Uncle Tian of our family."

"Yes, great-grandmother."

Zhao Xilu first bowed to the gloomy young man: "Greetings, Master Yi."

Just after finishing the ceremony, Zhao Xilu saw the other party slowly turn his head and look at him.

The wound between the gloomy young man's eyebrows seemed to be wriggling.

The young man showed a sarcastic smile:

"You are so pure and dirty."

Although Zhao Xilu was unhappy, he did not show it on his face. He turned to the old man and saluted: "Hello, Uncle Tian."

Young Master Yi’s surname must be Zhao, and this uncle must be a son of our family.

The old man smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Okay, I'm done with my bother. It's time for me to leave."

"Why are you bothering me? We are a family and we should spend more time together. I'll take you there."

"No, stay. If you want to move more, don't be shackled by red tape."

The old man walked up to the young man, first wrapped a strip of cloth around his forehead, then bent down, picked up the young man, and walked out of the main house.

After they left, Zhao Xilu couldn't help but ask curiously, "Great-grandmother, why did someone from our family suddenly come?"

"That Young Master Yi is ill. His third eye opened between his eyebrows, like a crack in the gate of life and death. He is neither yin nor yang, neither human nor ghost. He was born in the womb, unable to leave the mother's womb, but he was born and lives to this day.

Our family wants to find a way to suppress the Gate of Life and Death and make it fully active. We have tried many methods in recent years, but none of them worked well. That’s why we thought of our poor relative from the branch family and wanted to find a way to break the impasse with magic.”

"Then great-grandmother, do you have any solution?"

"Of course there is a way. We can just block the door anyway. Why bother with whether to use living or dead energy? We can just cast a substitute death curse and use someone else's life to press on it. Then the door of life and death will be closed, right?"

“That’s a really good idea.”

“But they disagreed.”

"why?"

"She said she didn't want to use such a hurtful method, fearing that she would be implicated in the future."

"Why can't we get out of this? Doesn't our family have a way to get out of this?"

"I see that our family intends to let that Young Master Yi light a lantern and walk across the river."

"Walk the river?"

"Since we are crossing the river, we must not get involved in these things, for fear of problems along the way. Oh, by the way, why did you come to see me?"

"Mengyao is back. She seems to be under a curse. I just helped her get rid of it."

"Didn't your grandfather help her solve it?"

"That's the weird part. Grandpa didn't come back with her."

"What?" Great-grandmother looked puzzled. "Call Mengyao in. I want to ask her in detail."

"I'll go right away."

After a while, Zhao Mengyao was brought in by Zhao Xilu.

"great grandmother……"

Zhao Mengyao started crying as soon as she entered the house, and knelt down under her great-grandmother and hugged her legs.

She didn't like the smell of her great-grandmother. She didn't look very old, but she smelled like rotting flesh, which was especially disgusting when she was close to her and her makeup was gone.

But she knew very well that she could live happily in this family and could take a human skin cursed object to go to college at will, all thanks to the support of her great-grandmother.

"Get up and tell me what happened."

"Yes, great-grandmother."

Zhao Mengyao narrated the whole story.

She spent a great deal of space describing how Zhou Yunyun bullied her and her classmates, and described her curse on Zhou Yunyun as a counterattack out of unbearable pain.

My great-grandmother listened to the nonsense at the beginning patiently, but when she heard the end, her eyes immediately turned fierce.

"Snapped!"

A slap hit Zhao Mengyao hard on the face.

"great grandmother!"

Zhao Mengyao looked at the old woman in front of her in disbelief, and her voice became louder.

"Snapped."

Another slap, this time harder, caused Zhao Mengyao to fall to the ground.

"Idiot, idiot, idiot!!!"

My great-grandmother cursed him three times, "Since your grandfather didn't come back, he must have received the blood ship you burned. According to the temperament of my family, I'm afraid he has already made an explanation.

But since you went to the hospital during the day and saw that Zhou Yunyun was not dead but was lying on the hospital bed recovering, you should know that something happened to your grandfather!

Since even your grandfather couldn't stop the opponent's attack, what qualifications do you have to survive?
What kind of curse is this?
They are just teasing you, waiting for you, a fool, to take them home!"

Great-grandmother immediately looked at Zhao Xilu: "Quick, go and invite your Uncle Tian and Master Yi back!"

"Yes, great-grandmother."

Zhao Xilu ran out immediately, and soon he came back in a panic, "Great-grandmother, Master Yi and Uncle Tian are nowhere to be seen. I'm afraid they have left the village and walked far away."

Upon hearing this, my great-grandmother Zhao Juanhua leaned back in the armchair.

Zhao Mengyao was still sitting on the ground with her face covered. This was the first time her great-grandmother had hit her as far as she could remember. When she was a child, no matter how naughty and troublesome she was, her great-grandmother rarely spoke harshly to her and showed her preference for her over her brother.

Zhao Xilu comforted her, "Great-grandmother, Grandpa may not have really had an accident. He may have been delayed by other things. Look, Grandpa hasn't been away from home for a long time. People say that things have changed a lot outside. I'm afraid Grandpa has lost his sight.

Even if the worst happens and someone comes to our door, this is Shizhuo Village and our family is Shizhuo Zhao. We will not allow outsiders to have unbridled access to our house. "

Zhao Juanhua covered her forehead with her left hand and waved her right hand:

"The person who was cursed by this idiot, Zhou Yunyun, is from Nantong. Since someone sent a message to this idiot about the corpse recovery in Nantong, it means that people have already found out that it was this idiot who did it.

People made an appointment to meet with this idiot to get an explanation, but this idiot didn't go. But do you think he really planned to go?

I'm afraid that people have already seen through what a fool she is and are thinking of using this fool to fish.

It was just a coincidence that your grandfather had already left because of this idiot's misuse of human skin as a curse, and the person was right next to them and was actually caught.

After catching the fish, the man was still not satisfied, so he continued to use this idiot to make connections and even marked the meeting time and place.

Ah,
Time and again, your behavior is so standardized, are you really doing it for this idiot to see?

People take every step uprightly, just for the sake of heaven.

Tell me, what kind of person would use this kind of 'walking method'?"

Zhao Xilu was unable to respond.

"Go prepare the wine and the banquet. Since he has the guts to come here like this, I will... kneel down for the sake of gesture."

……

Old man Tian first carried his young master out of the Zhao family's house, and as soon as he walked out of the Zhao family's door, he started running wildly.

After running out of the village, he deliberately did not take the main road, but ran towards the stream in the fields.

He ran until he began to sweat, then he slowed down. He could still run, but the young master on his back could not stand the shaking any more.

"Master, are you okay?"

"I'm okay……"

"Master, that place is dirty and smells terrible. No wonder you don't like it there. I don't like it either. I feel suffocated."

"It is dirty, using living people to make cursed objects; relying on supporting orphans and adopting children as a medium to divert the backlash.

All these tricks have been figured out by this branch family."

“So, our family separated this branch back then. This was a decision made by our Zhao family’s Dragon King when he was alive. He also set a family motto that the descendants of our family are not allowed to practice spells.

If it wasn't for the need to find a solution to your health problem, the master wouldn't have let me carry you around to try my luck here.

It is strange, however, that this branch family has been separated for so many years. When I first got the location of Shizhuo Village, I thought it would be a Zhaojia Village, but after arriving here, I found that there was only one Zhao family, and the population was so sparse. "

Zhao Yi: "That old woman is using her descendants' blood relatives to support her. How can her family not be sparse?"

"This..." Old Man Tian was shocked, "She actually did this!"

"Grandpa Tian, ​​we must not get involved with this branch family anymore."

"I understand, Master. Don't worry. I will report to the head of the family after I return. If we do not sever our ties with this branch family, I am afraid that it will become a major disadvantage for you when you leave Jiang in the future.

In order for you to succeed in crossing the river, maybe you will have to ask the head of the family for help..."

“No need for that. We saw Zhao Xilu when we came in earlier. Zhao Xilu and the old woman are of the same type. They are completely dirty without even a speck of white left.

But when I saw him the second time, his face was filled with the aura of sudden death, and that aura was also transferred to the old woman.

This division of the family may bring disaster."

"So, Master, you told me to run away quickly?" "Well, if I don't run away, do I have to stay and help them ward off disaster?"

"They are worthy? Bah!"

"But I'm afraid it's hard to find a suitable treatment for my illness. I also want to go to the river for my family. Alas."

"Master, don't worry. If we can't find a way down there, the head of the family will go up there to look for it. Although our Jiujiang Zhao family is a famous family in the martial arts world, this river is surging and there are hidden dragons and crouching dragons.

If it doesn't work, then go to the Dragon King's house. That family has a deep heritage and should have a way to help you cure your illness."

"Grandpa Tian, ​​it's not so easy to get close to the real Dragon King family. Besides, how could they use their wealth to treat my illness so that I can travel across the Yangtze River in the future?

I have read the notes left by my ancestor, the Dragon King. Walking along the river road, it is not just the evil spirits that are suppressed. Sometimes, the number of people suppressed is not necessarily less than the evil spirits. "

"Master, other dragon kings won't do that, but there is one... no, there are two, it is possible."

"Oh?"

“The two families were very powerful after the marriage, but it was suddenly interrupted. Although their status is still high now, in essence, they are only relying on orphans and widows to keep their reputation afloat.

Young master, you have a disease, but it is also a chance. If the head of the family brings you to his house, he can ask for a godparent or even a marriage, or even let you marry into the family.

Given the old lady's personality, I'm afraid she will put all her resources on you, young master, to help you make it big and rise to prominence."

"Hehe...hehe..."

"Master, what are you laughing at?"

"You want to eat the extinct family, or the extinct family of two generations of Dragon Kings? You really dare to think so. Aren't you afraid of being stuffed to death?"

"Master, everything depends on human effort. Opportunities can only be gained through hard work."

"Well, generally people who are looking for death are the ones who run very fast."

"Master, your mentality..."

"If you really want to make such a plan, then go ahead and make it. I don't think I need to cross the river. I can just stay at home, eat, drink and have fun, and wait for my family to be wiped out. It will not be in vain to come to this world in vain."

"Young Master..." Old Man Tian wanted to say something else, but he saw a puff of smoke rising in front of him. Upon closer inspection, he saw that someone had made a fire by the river and was having a picnic.

"Grandpa Tian, ​​I'm hungry. Let's go buy something to eat. I smell the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes."

……

"The sweet potatoes are ready."

Li Zhuiyuan took a wooden stick and pulled out the sweet potatoes.

Runsheng came over, took a few, and squatted back down.

Seeing this, Lin Shuyou also came over, took a few, and squatted back.

They each took a position and squatted on a small slope to observe and guard the surroundings.

Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng have already entered the village to investigate the Zhao family in the village.

Leaving behind a guy who is not good at talking and a guy who is careless with his mouth to accompany Li Zhuiyuan.

In fact, everyone has dry food in their bags, such as compressed biscuits and dehydrated vegetables. After each operation, if there is any consumption, they will be replenished as soon as they come back.

The main thing is, this thing really doesn't taste good.

Besides, there was really nothing to do at the moment, so I bought some sweet potatoes from a nearby farmer, roasted them, and enjoyed them while killing time.

Some things are only suitable to be done at night when the sky is dark and windy.

Runsheng: "Someone is coming."

Li Zhuiyuan blew gently on the sweet potato in his hand, stood up and looked over there.

I saw an old man carrying a young man on his back, walking towards this side along the ridge of the field.

The young man had a piece of cloth wrapped around his head, which looked like the attire that rural women wore during confinement after childbirth.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his eyes and watched the old man's steps.

It had just rained here last night, and I had spent some effort looking for dry firewood, so the ground was naturally muddy. But the old man was carrying the weight of an adult on his back, and the cloth shoes on his feet could not leave any footprints every time they touched the ground.

This means that the other party is practicing serious internal martial arts and has reached the right level.

Runsheng also practices internal martial arts, but the "inner" in Runsheng's words is a fabricated one.

Li Zhuiyuan took a bite of the sweet potato and said, "Get ready."

Since they were here to seek revenge and they were in the other party's territory, and they met a martial artist, if it was during the day, they would have seen each other from a distance. If it was at night, they would probably have knocked the other person down first and then determined his identity.

Runsheng picked up the Yellow River shovel and stood in front of Li Zhuiyuan.

Lin Shuyou picked up the trident and did not compete with Runsheng for the position in front of him. Instead, he stood diagonally to the side of Li Zhuiyuan.

Across the street, Old Man Tian saw this and couldn't help but stop and asked in confusion: "Hey, what's going on? Does it look like they are going to fight?"

Zhao Yi: “Yeah.”

"What's so serious? Just a baked sweet potato."

"Grandpa Tian, ​​next time you walk, don't be afraid of getting your shoes dirty."

When Old Man Tian heard this, his face turned slightly red.

"That man is holding a Yellow River shovel." Zhao Yi patted Old Man Tian on the shoulder, "Grandpa Tian, ​​put me down."

"Master, I think it's better not to contact."

"Even if they turn around and leave now, I'm afraid they won't be willing to let us go."

"Master, please have some confidence in me."

"Grandpa Tian, ​​I have confidence in you, but don't you see that the young man opposite is much younger than me?"

"Hmm?" Old Man Tian was puzzled. "What does this mean?"

"When traveling in the martial arts world, the younger the person, the less likely you are to offend him."

Zhao Yi got off Old Man Tian. There wasn't much problem with his body, but he lacked a sense of balance when walking and needed someone to support him.

After closing the distance, Zhao Yi gently pushed Old Man Tian away and began to salute.

He clapped his hands to his chest, then pointed his thumbs at his brows, and finally crossed his hands in front of his chest:
"My heart is as great as Jiujiang, my courage is as great as Xunyang, my spirit is as great as Mount Lushan, and my mind is as great as Poyang. The Zhao family of Jiujiang would like to greet my colleagues here!"

After completing the ceremony and saying a few words, the young man felt dizzy and his body swayed. The old man behind him wanted to help him but didn't dare to. He could only worry in secret. Fortunately, after the young man swayed a circle, he managed to stabilize his body.

Your surname is Zhao?

The clothes on Runsheng's body suddenly bulged, then stuck to his body, and then bulged again, with a faint sound of whistling wind.

Lin Shuyou widened his eyes, slowly raised his head, clenched his left fist, held the trident in his right hand, and made an obscure sound in his throat. He was forcing himself to become a spirit without even opening his face to warm up.

Old man Tian immediately walked around to Zhao Yi, swung his arms backwards, and two daggers flew out, which he held in his hands.

His gaze first lingered on Runsheng, and then stopped on Lin Shuyou.

"What is this person...going to do?"

"He is preparing to descend from the sky. I don't know if it's the Eight Generals or the Chief of the Officials, who are the inheritors of the southern coastal area."

"Master, since it is a spell to summon spirits, it will pass in a short time. But that strong man has too strong aura. I am old and lack of energy and blood. I am afraid I cannot outlast him."

"Grandpa Tian, ​​didn't you just ask me to give you more confidence?"

"How could I have known that when I went out and met someone roasting sweet potatoes by the river, I would run into these two freaks?

Young Master, if a fight really breaks out, my only chance is for me to go around and hold the boy hostage. The other party may also come to catch you, and then we can hold each other hostage and force a change of people.

This is the only way.”

Zhao Yi sighed: "The only way is gone."

Old man Tian was stunned, because the young man opposite was constantly retreating, keeping a long enough safe distance, and the guy who was preparing to descend was also retreating with the young man, guarding him on both sides.

While he was judging other people's lineup, others also judged his own lineup, which was an old man leading a sickly person.

Leaving the most energetic one to consume this old man, the sickly young master can't even run away.

"This……"

Zhao Yi: "Grandpa Tian, ​​don't be so explicit about your plan next time."

"Master, I have already spoken very quietly."

“But I have good hearing.”

"Oh, these sweet potatoes are so expensive."

Zhao Yi raised his hands, moved forward again, and walked around Old Man Tian. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly slipped.

"Come on!"

He fell face down into the field.

Lin Shuyou tilted his head, as if he had finally seen a guy who was even dumber and funnier than himself, and immediately seized the opportunity to say, "Hey, is he kidding me?"

Beside him, Li Zhuiyuan said, "He fell down on purpose to ruin the solemn atmosphere."

Lin Shuyou shut his mouth silently. Well, he was stupid again.

Old Man Tian put away the dagger and helped Zhao Yi, who was covered in mud, up.

"Master, if I had known you were going out this time, I should have brought a few more people with me."

Zhao Yi wiped the mud off his face and shook his head, saying, "Sometimes it's fate. It has nothing to do with how many people you bring with you."

After standing up again, Zhao Yi smiled awkwardly and said:

"This Zhao is not that Zhao. Please don't misunderstand me. I am from Jiujiang Zhao. Although my ancestors were once the same family as the Zhao family here, we have been separated for two hundred years. We are not from the same family at all."

After hearing his introduction, the other party became more cautious and showed more signs of wanting to take action. Zhao Yi saw something and continued:
"My family's head heard that the Zhao family here was doing something against the right path, so he specially ordered the two of us to investigate. Now that we have investigated clearly, we find that there are now four people in the Zhao family here.

An old great-grandmother, she has a son and two twin great-grandchildren.

This family not only used living people to make cursed objects, but also used widows and widowers to support and adopt orphans to divert the backlash of the curse, but the old woman also used her blood relatives to lend her life.

Each and every one of these crimes is extremely heinous and outrageous, and all righteous people in the world should come together to punish them!

I was just about to go back and report to the head of the family, asking him to order the extermination of this scum in order to clear the reputation of our Zhao family.

I guess, my friend, you are here for the right path, right? "

The other party spoke sincerely and with reason and evidence, and also revealed Shizhuo Zhao's past, which seemed to be true.

However, Li Zhuiyuan did not need to distinguish whether what the other party said was true or false, nor did he need to spend so much time on it.

The young man raised his hand, pointed at the young man opposite him, and said:
"Come over here by yourself, and I'll treat you to sweet potatoes."

"Young master, you can't do that!" Old Man Tian immediately persuaded.

"Grandpa Tian, ​​who told you that you can only deal with one?"

"Master, even if I risk my life, I will..."

"And I want you to be buried with me in this field?"

Old Man Tian: “…”

"It's okay. At most, I'll have to trouble you, Grandpa Tian. I'll just have to help make knives for others for a while."

Zhao Yi staggered towards Runsheng.

Runsheng didn't look at him.

Zhao Yi passed by Runsheng, walked for a distance, and finally came in front of Lin Shuyou.

Then, he finally couldn't maintain his balance, and fell to his knees with a plop.

This time he was not pretending, he really couldn't walk anymore. Every step he took made him dizzy.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down and threw him a piece of roasted sweet potato.

"Hehe, I'm craving this." Zhao Yi peeled the skin and took a bite. "It's sweet and delicious."

Li Zhuiyuan threw two more roasted sweet potatoes to Lin Shuyou: "Give it to that old man."

In the distance, Old Man Tian saw that his young master had been taken in as a hostage, so he simply stopped confronting Runsheng and squatted in the field, sulking.

Lin Shuyou held the sweet potato and shook his head.

He was worried that the sick person would suddenly freak out and that would be bad for Brother Xiaoyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan knew what he was worried about and said, "His gate of life and death is broken, he is a waste."

“Puff…cough cough cough…cough cough cough!”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yi started coughing violently and kept beating his chest with his hands.

Old man Tian, ​​who was squatting in the distance, stood up immediately, but saw that his young master was beating his chest while raising his right hand and swinging it downwards. Old man Tian had to squat again.

Zhao Yi said helplessly: "Everyone says that the one who has a crack in the gate of life and death is a genius, but why is it that you are a waste?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "A genius who can't even take care of himself?"

Zhao Yi corrected him: "That's also a genius!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Is genius valuable?"

Zhao Yi frowned, took another bite of the sweet potato, and said, "You can't really think of yourself as a cripple. At least the title of genius allows me to keep living."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "That makes sense."

Seeing that Brother Xiaoyuan was certain that the other party was harmless, Lin Shuyou took the sweet potato and left, giving it to the old man.

"Thank you." The old man took the sweet potato and thanked him. He also asked, "Are you one of the Eight Generals or the Chief of the Officials?"

"Official commander."

After answering, Lin Shuyou went back again.

Runsheng walked to the old man and squatted down with him.

His task is to accompany the old man at all times and exchange pieces with him.

The old man asked while chewing on a sweet potato: "It's incredible that you have cultivated your internal martial arts to such a level and you are still so young."

Runsheng was not like Lin Shuyou who was talkative. He did not respond but just quietly took out his cigar box.

Old Man Tian continued to ask: "Who is your master?"

Runsheng shook his head and said, "I don't have a master."

It used to exist, but the name was changed as we traveled along the river.

"My young master is in your hands now. What's wrong with telling me the truth? You can also ask me."

"I'm not interested in you."

"Heh, okay."

Runsheng lit the incense, took a long puff, and then exhaled slowly.

Old Man Tian said in shock: "You are fucking dead..."

Runsheng turned his head and looked at him.

Old Man Tian immediately filled his mouth with sweet potatoes.

Runsheng stopped looking at him and continued smoking his cigar.

On the other side, Zhao Yi moved closer to Li Zhuiyuan and asked curiously, "How could you tell at a glance that I was the one who opened the crack in the Gate of Life and Death?"

“Cracked.”

"Cracked doesn't sound nice. I have a crack between my eyebrows, not underneath."

“I saw it in a book.”

"What kind of book can record this?"

“The useless books in the basement of my old home.”

Zhao Yi smiled awkwardly, thinking that his method of testing the other party's identity had been discovered, and the other party was deliberately retorting.

After eating the sweet potato in his hand, Zhao Yi seemed to have made up his mind and asked frankly: "Do you have any treatment methods?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's the same method as the treatment below."

"Ah? This can be common to both above and below?"

"Just cut it off."

Zhao Yi swallowed his saliva and murmured, "If you dig it out, I will no longer be a genius."

"You are not."

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a wooden stick and picked some sweet potatoes to roast, waiting for Binbin and Mengmeng to come back and eat.

Zhao Yi asked quietly, "If it were you, would you be willing to give it up, even if it burdened you or even harmed you?"

Li Zhuiyuan moved the burning stick in front of him, blew out the flames on it with one breath, and said:
"I can."

When Zhao Yi heard this, he buried his head deeply.

Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng came back. They first saw the old man squatting there with Runsheng, and then saw Zhao Yi sitting with Li Zhuiyuan.

The two of them knew who to ask about the situation, so they chose Lin Shuyou, who then recounted what had happened before.

Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng sat over.

Binbin put his arm around Zhao Yi's shoulders and said, "Hello, hostage brother."

Zhao Yi: "I've heard a lot about you."

Tan Wenbin picked up a sweet potato and blew on it while saying, "Brother...it looks like we made a wasted trip."

Li Zhuiyuan: “Tell me about it.”

"This Shizhuo Zhao runs a nursing home and an orphanage in the village, and he also donates money to build roads. He has a very good reputation, and I was almost moved by his family tradition.

Until I happened to catch the funeral of an elderly person in their family, I joined the crowd and used the talisman paper to measure it.

Hey, guess what, this talisman paper is extremely black.

Damn, this is an absolute beast's den."

Zhao Yi clenched his fists and echoed, "Yes, heaven and earth will punish him together!"

"Hahaha, hostage brother, you surrendered really quickly."

"My position is very firm, because I will follow Jiang in the future."

Tan Wenbin asked in confusion: "Zoujiang, that sounds really strange, what is Zoujiang, it sounds so cool."

Zhao Yi: "If you succeed in crossing the river, you will be able to transform into a dragon, and that is the Dragon King."

Tan Wenbin: "Wow, there is such a saying, sure."

Then, Tan Wenbin looked at Li Zhuiyuan and said, "Brother, what should we do?"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi said, "When it gets dark, I will break the restrictions of her ancestral hall, first enter the hall to destroy those cursed objects, and then clean up this nest of beasts.

But be careful because they carry personal spells.

In addition, before I start, I need to set up a formation to separate her backyard and front house. There are many elderly people and children living in the east and west wing rooms of the front house. I don't want to involve them. It's not worth it to get involved in karma for nothing."

Tan Wenbin asked: "Hey, you also know how to use formations?"

Zhao Yi nodded: "I can do it. Why, you can do it too?"

Tan Wenbin waved his hand and said, "I can't say I know it all, but I just...know a little bit."

Li Zhuiyuan threw the stick in his hand into the fire, clapped his hands, and said:
"Just wait until dark."

(End of this chapter)