Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 20

After begging for mercy, the two old men gradually calmed down.

They are dead.

His eyes were wide open, cracked at the corners, staring straight at the ceiling;
The veins in the neck are exposed, and the blood vessels under the skin appear black;
His hands and feet were curled under his body, as if tied with invisible ropes, and his cries before death were like the wails before execution.

The doctors and nurses came in. They came quickly, leaving them little time.

Regardless of the horrific amount of bleeding or the physical condition of the two elderly people at this time, there was no point in taking any further rescue measures.

The next step was to disperse the crowd outside the ward and ask the nurse to come and clean the room.

Relatives were called to the office for follow-up processing.

Li Sanjiang saw his great-grandson. He pulled Li Zhuiyuan out in confusion and asked, "Aren't you supposed to go with your grandfather to fetch water? Why did you find yourself here?"

Xue Liangliang took out his student ID and handed it over, saying, "Uncle, I'm a student at Haihe University, originally from the Hegong Institute. I'm sending a sick classmate to the hospital. Xiaoyuan knows the way, so I asked him to take him. I've already told Xiaoyuan's grandfather and the others."

"He knows the way?" Li Sanjiang pointed at Li Zhuiyuan and looked at Xue Liangliang at the same time. "He has only been back to his hometown for a short time and has never been to the city. How can he know the way?"

Xue Liangliang: "Actually, I like this kid very much, so I thought of taking him out to play."

Li Sanjiang took Xue Liangliang's student ID, looked at it carefully, and then gave it back to him, believing this reason. After all, at the moment, the value of college students is still very high.

At this time, the middle-aged man and woman who were previously in the ward walked out of the doctor's office and came straight to Li Sanjiang.

Li Sanjiang sighed to them and said, "Please accept my condolences."

Li Zhuiyuan guessed that they should be Sister Yingzi's uncle and aunt.

However, the couple seemed to have no reaction to the grief of losing their loved one, or perhaps something more urgent was pressing on them. They each grabbed one of Li Sanjiang's hands and whispered excitedly:

"Uncle Sanjiang, please, save me, save me."

"Yes, sir, please help us, it's really terrible."

Li Sanjiang glanced at Li Zhuiyuan beside him and motioned them to walk with him to the terrace on each floor before talking.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't insist on following. Third Aunt was still going through the procedures in the doctor's office, and Sister Yingzi was sitting on the bench alone, absent-minded.

Having just witnessed such a horrifying scene and experienced the death of a pair of loved ones, it was naturally a huge blow.

Li Zhuiyuan sat over and started talking to comfort him. During this process, he also asked about what happened.

Yingzi's grandparents work in a private aquaculture farm. Half a month ago, when they were dredging the paddock, they unexpectedly dug up a small coffin.

The coffin was red all over. No one knew how long it had been soaked in the water, but it had not rotted at all. Instead, it had become an even brighter red.

The old couple called the boss over and said that according to local customs, the small coffin had to be burned with incense and offered sacrifices before being pushed into the river.

But the boss was from another place and didn't believe it, so he called two workers to take tools and pry open the coffin.

Inside the coffin was the body of a little girl, about eight years old, wearing a black cotton-padded jacket and embroidered shoes. She must have been buried in winter. When the coffin was first opened, she looked quite fresh and not rotten at all.

Everyone almost thought this was someone's newly buried baby!
But who would have thought that after just a few puffs of the cigarette, the originally tender corpse suddenly began to turn gray, the flesh quickly dissolved, and in the end only a skeleton wrapped in a black cotton jacket was left.

The female corpse had a set of jewelry on her body, including a jade hairpin in her hair, rings on her fingers, and a gold ring around her neck.

In addition, there is a porcelain bottle covered with talisman paper and a black wood carving in the coffin.

The first line of characters on the carving is:
"The corpse suppresses evil spirits, and the merits help one ascend to heaven."

There is another line of small characters below with a signature:
“Those who see the words must not desecrate the body or touch its belongings. They must quickly seal the coffin and throw it into a river to avoid disaster.

——Lady Bai

Yingzi's grandparents began to beg the boss to quickly seal the coffin lid and push it back into the river as instructed above, but the boss insisted on his own way. He thought that the several pieces of jewelry in the coffin must be valuable items, and the porcelain vase might be a treasure, so he took everything away. As for the coffin and the bones inside, he dug a hole in a nearby river and buried them.

Then, scary things started happening.

First, the boss disappeared mysteriously, and then Yingzi's grandparents began to have nightmares, in which they saw the girl coming to take revenge. Soon after, both of them became unwell and were admitted to the town's clinic. Later, they even developed a tendency to self-harm.

That day, the two old people took advantage of the fact that Third Aunt went home to get food and told Yingzi that they wanted to eat orange crystals soaked in water and asked Yingzi to send them away. Then they secretly ran to the roof and wanted to jump off the building. Fortunately, the great grandfather happened to arrive and saw them and stopped them.

But after this incident, the town health center was unwilling to let them stay any longer. After all, if the two elderly people really committed suicide in the health center, it would be a big trouble for the hospital, so they had to be transferred to the Municipal People's Hospital.

However, the symptoms of the two elderly people became more and more serious. The sedatives given by the doctor and the strict care of their family members prevented them from continuing to commit suicide.

But who would have known that they could end their lives at the same time in such an unimaginable and horrible way.

After listening to Yingzi's story, Li Zhuiyuan asked:
"Where are the two workers who followed the boss to open the coffin?"

"That... I don't know. I haven't heard them talk about it."

"Sister, your Grandpa Nan and Grandma Nan were relatively clear-headed at first, right?"

"Except when they were having an attack, they were normal. Just a quarter of an hour before they vomited blood, they were still chatting with me, talking about finding a partner after I got into college."

At this time, Aunt San poked her head out of the doctor's office and waved over here:
"Yinghou, come and help mom fill out the form."

"Coming, Mom."

After Yingzi left, Li Zhuiyuan realized that Xue Liangliang had been sitting so close to him and was deliberately eavesdropping.

Facing Li Zhuiyuan's gaze, Xue Liangliang did not blush, but said excitedly: "I can hear that you are deliberately trying to trick me."

"I'm comforting my sister."

"Phew... I got scared. You don't know, when I heard those two old people yelling 'Mrs. Bai' at the door of the ward, my heart jumped into my throat. I thought it was because I smashed the statue that someone got hurt again, or maybe I just happened to send Zhao Hequan, who was still being harmed, to this hospital today, which triggered something and hurt them. Sigh."

Li Zhuiyuan realized that Xue Liangliang had also noticed the inscription on the base of the statue.

"Brother Liangliang, don't worry, the time doesn't match, and the age doesn't match either."

The coffin was dug out from the aquaculture farm half a month ago, and Xue Liangliang and Zhao Hequan smashed the statue yesterday. The two events are not connected.

"Age, this is uncertain, right?" Xue Liangliang asked doubtfully, "In the past, transportation and communication were not convenient, so the statues might not be so accurate. Maybe the statue we dug out on the river is actually a little girl?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "Not the same one."

"you sure?"

"Ah."

Because he saw that woman. Although her physical condition was very similar to the statue, perhaps amplified, there was no way she could be an eight-year-old girl.

"But, everyone calls her Lady Bai." Xue Liangliang pondered, "Could Lady Bai be a collective name, for example, a professional group? Just like those from some Taoist sects are all collectively called the Heavenly Master of a certain mountain?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded and added: "It could also be a surname."

Somehow, Li Zhuiyuan's mind emerged with the east room where Liu Yumei lived, and the mourning hall filled with tablets from the Qin and Liu families.

"Are they both surnamed Bai?" Xue Liangliang crossed his fingers. "It's very possible. Lady Bai, according to the local dialect, can indeed be understood as the woman of the Bai family. It's a respectful title for people with ability."

Li Zhuiyuan responded and looked towards the terrace. Grandpa and Yingzi's uncle and aunt had not yet come out after their discussion.

Xue Liangliang reached out and gently pushed Li Zhuiyuan's arm, then asked cautiously, "Well, do you have any other thoughts about what your sister said?"

"There was a lot of concealment and fabrication."

"Yes, that's right." Xue Liangliang became alert again. "You really heard it. The boss disappeared, and her grandparents had nightmares and their bodies became abnormal. But what happened to the two workers who helped the boss pry open the coffin? Why didn't they know? Unless..."

"Unless, the two who helped the boss to pry open the coffin were these two old men."

"Your sister was just an obedient person. What she heard and what she just told you were all said by the adults in the family. The two elderly people who just passed away embellished themselves too much in their narration.

After all, if it was true as they said, why would they shout for mercy before they died? It clearly means they knew they had done something wrong, otherwise, they would cry out that they were innocent.

So, to change the statement, it would be that the two old men fished out the coffin, and then called the boss to come over and open it.

It might even be that the boss fished out the coffin, and he didn't intend to pry it open, but the two old men urged him to open it.

At least, they are definitely deeply involved and are not that sensible and innocent.”

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Xue Liangliang and blinked.

Xue Liangliang waved his hands in shame: "I didn't say I was innocent, but no matter what, I smashed the statue for the sake of project progress, not for personal gain. Engineer Luo has made it clear to my wife from the Bai family."

"Brother Liangliang, there is actually one most important point."

"Xiaoyuan, tell me quickly, what is it?"

“Sister Yingzi could actually say what was engraved on that sign, so at least she must have seen the handwritten version.

But how could the two old men not only understand the words on the coffin right after it was opened, but also memorize them word for word, and then read them out loud and have someone copy them down on paper?"

"what do you mean……"

"Well, the two old people should have gotten something. At least, the wood carving is in their home."

After hearing this, Xue Liangliang nodded heavily, then looked at Li Zhuiyuan carefully and asked, "Xiaoyuan, are you really an elementary school student?"

"Actually, I'm a college student at Weiming Lakeside."

“Hehehe… cough cough!” Xue Liangliang was so amused that he started coughing. He reached out and stroked Li Zhuiyuan’s back, encouraging him, “Good, it’s great to have such ambition!”

Li Zhuiyuan could only smile.

"But, Xiaoyuan, have you heard of the Bai family's queen?"

"Brother Liangliang, I probably spent much less time in Nantong than you did."

"Oh, that's right. Then I'll go to the downtown museum to look up information and see if there's any record of it in the local annals."

"Brother Liangliang, you are fine now. Why are you so concerned about this matter? Is it because of your classmates?"

"Uh, shouldn't it be?"

"I thought you disliked him very much."

"It has nothing to do with whether you like him or not. Everyone has their own choice of life path. I can only follow my own judgment and walk the path I choose. In the end, who is right and who is wrong can only be proven by history.

Okay, the doctors should be at work. I'll go get the report. If there's no problem with the report, I won't come to see you. I'll go to the Museum of Literature and History to check the information first.

You live in Heath Village, right? "

"Ah."

"Where do you want to get off? Since your grandfather is here, I won't take you back. I'll come to see you in the evening."

"After passing Shijia Bridge, get off at the second exit and walk inside, then ask for Li Sanjiang's home."

"Are you sure you can find out?"

"Well, the old man is very famous in the village."

"Okay, if there's no car at night, I'll take a taxi."

Li Zhuiyuan asked curiously, "Brother Liangliang?"

"What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

"You seem to be quite rich."

He said he came from a rural area in Anhui Province, but his clothing and lifestyle habits did not seem awkward at all.

"Oh, I contracted two canteens and a stationery store in school. In addition, I also gathered a group of classmates to form a team, and we would take on some design projects from professors or outside the school.

There are more opportunities in big cities and universities, and it is easy to make money. It was not possible in my hometown because I did not have these objective conditions. Now I send money to my parents in my hometown every month.

In fact, I could have chosen not to attend this internship class, but I didn’t want to give up this frontline training opportunity.”

"Brother Liangliang, you are amazing."

"You too, a smart kid." Xue Liangliang gently touched his forehead with Li Zhuiyuan's. Seeing Li Sanjiang and the others coming back, he stood up and left.

"Master."

"Where's the college student? Is he gone?"

"He went to see his classmates."

"Yes." Li Sanjiang nodded, "Let's go."

"Where are you going, Master?"

"Go get something."

Yingzi and her third aunt stayed in the hospital to deal with the following matters. Her uncle Zhou Hai and aunt Chen Xiaoling took Li Sanjiang and Li Zhuiyuan back home. In order to save time, they called a motorcycle that was waiting for work at the hospital gate.

The rural bungalow is very spacious. The dam faces an artificial river, and the river surface can be seen some distance to the south.

After entering the house, Chen Xiaoling went to pour water, while Zhou Hai took out a cloth bag and opened it, revealing a hairpin and a wooden sculpture inside.

Li Sanjiang picked up the wood carving and frowned slightly as he looked at the words on it.

Li Zhuiyuan came over and read it again.

It was exactly the same as Yingzi's story.

"I'm so confused... I'm so confused..." Li Sanjiang put down the wood carving and patted his legs. "Life isn't that hard now, right? We don't have to worry about food and drink, so why did you suddenly become so careless?"

"Plop!" "Plop!"

Without the concerns about being in the hospital, Zhou Hai and Chen Xiaoling knelt down in front of Li Sanjiang, almost kowtowing, begging him to save them.

It turned out that they also started to have that dream.

After witnessing what happened to the old couple today, they were so scared that they almost collapsed.

"Let's go to the farm first. Do you remember where the bodies were buried?"

"I remember, I remember." Zhou Hai nodded immediately, "We dug the pit and buried it ourselves."

"Heh." Li Sanjiang sneered.

The breeding farm is not far from Zhou’s home. It is just a quarter of an hour’s walk from the village along the river.

The place is very small. Apart from the boss, there are only two employees, Zhou Hai's parents.

Therefore, in the initial narration, they not only beautified and concealed themselves to Aunt San and Yingzi, but also did not tell the truth to Li Sanjiang.

"Let's dig." Li Sanjiang said.

"Don't wait until tonight?" Zhou Hai asked.

It's daytime now, and although there are few people passing by here, there is still the risk of being seen.

Li Sanjiang nodded: "Then I will go back to the village to sleep first, and come back tomorrow. You can secretly dig out the bones at night."

"No, no, sir, I'm afraid. I don't dare."

"You're afraid too!" Li Sanjiang almost yelled, "If you don't dig in broad daylight, when else can you dig? You have to wait until dark to find something to do, right?"

"Okay, okay, let's dig. Let's dig."

Zhou Hai and Chen Xiaoling each took a shovel and started digging.

During this time, Li Sanjiang asked, "The boss is missing. Have you called the police?"

"No." Zhou Hai answered after lifting a shovel of dirt. "We didn't dare to call the police. We were greedy at the time and were afraid that we would not be able to conceal the truth and would have to hand over the things."

"Where are the boss's family members?"

"His hometown is in the south. He came here alone to rent the place. He didn't bring his family with him."

Li Sanjiang suddenly asked in a low voice, "Did you kill the boss and take his share?"

Zhou Hai immediately cried, "Master, I don't have the guts to do such a thing!"

Chen Xiaoling immediately agreed and nodded: "We dare not kill people, we dare not."

"Yeah." Li Sanjiang didn't ask any more questions. He believed that these two people would not be so outrageous. He then stood up and silently prepared his own altar.

Li Zhuiyuan was helping on the side.

Soon, the coffin was dug out.

Li Sanjiang took a look and felt relieved. The coffin was buried closed. After it was opened, the bones inside were still intact and had not been disturbed or damaged.

This is... a blessing in disguise.

Li Zhuiyuan approached the coffin and looked at the bones inside. It was indeed a girl.

Li Sanjiang performed a ritual and then burned some paper.

After the process was completed, Li Sanjiang asked, "Where are the other things, especially the bottle?"

“Those were taken by the boss.”

"Where does he live?"

"He lived in that house in the field. We went to look for him after he disappeared. Later, my parents had health problems, and we realized that it was the things in the coffin that caused the trouble. We also went to his house to search, but we didn't find those things, let alone the bottle."

Li Sanjiang frowned. According to his original plan, he would put all the things back, hold a sacrifice, and then close and seal the coffin and push it into the river, and the matter would be over.

After all, the requirements on the wooden sculpture were clearly stated. Now that at least two lives have been lost, or even three, and blood has been seen, no matter how resentful the creature is, it should vent it.

But the prerequisite is that all the things must be put back, or, if it's jewelry, then forget it, but the bottle with the talisman paper on it must not be left behind.

The word "人" is written clearly on the body, which means he is using his own body to suppress the evil spirit!

Li Zhuiyuan then asked, "Uncle and aunt, does the boss have any other connections here?"

Li Sanjiang immediately came to his senses and asked, "Yes, yes, yes, do you know anyone else? I heard that those bosses from the south always like to keep mistresses."

Chen Xiaoling shook her head and said, "I've never heard of it."

Zhou Hai scratched his head. "It seems there are two. One is a widow living in Jiuxugang Town, and the other is a woman in a karaoke room in the city."

"Can we find them?" Li Sanjiang asked.

Zhou Hai shook his head: "I just heard my parents talking about it during dinner, but I don't know where those two people live, and I can't find them."

Li Sanjiang took out a cigarette box, pulled out two cigarettes, threw one to Zhou Hai, and said:

"Call the police and let them find it."

"What?" "What?"

Zhou Hai and Chen Xiaoling were both stunned.

"I said call the police and report the disappearance and the incident." Li Sanjiang pointed at the coffin, "Let the police go and find out if the things are with them. I guess the boss is gone too."

"But we..."

"Sir, if you call the police..."

"You didn't kill anyone, so why should you be afraid? Oh, even if everything in the coffin is intact and I successfully return the coffin to the river today, I will still ask you to report the incident.

It would be much better if the government intervened in matters like this, and you would be much safer.

If you don't want to call the police, that's up to you, as long as you're not afraid of ending up like your parents today."

"Let's report it to the police!" Zhou Hai made up his mind.

"Well, that's enough. Move the coffin and the altar into the house first. Before the government takes over, don't put out the candles or the paper ashes. Make up as much as you can.

Assign the tasks among yourselves.”

"Got it, uncle. Xiaoling, go call the police. I'll stay here to watch over the altar."

"okay."

Next, Li Sanjiang took Li Zhuiyuan and sat on the steps at the door, where he kept smoking.

"Grandpa, aren't we going home?" Li Zhuiyuan asked.

Li Sanjiang pointed to the room behind him and said, "I'm leaving now. Zhou Hai is alone with the coffin inside. I'm afraid he'll urinate out of fear."

After a pause, Li Sanjiang continued, "Last night, your great grandfather also had a dream."

"Hmm?" Li Zhuiyuan finally realized the seriousness of the situation. "Grandpa, are you dreaming too?"

"I dreamed that I was on the rooftop of the town hospital. The little girl stood in front of me and asked me why I helped them and what I had the right to help them. She also told me that since I had intervened, I should die with her."

Li Sanjiang took a deep puff of his cigarette and slowly exhaled through his nose:
"Damn it, I was also scared by today's scene."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded in understanding. The scene today was indeed scary.

Moreover, he felt that the statue of the Bai family goddess dug out from the river and this female Bai family goddess, although they might be from the same family, had obviously different temperaments.

The lady from the Bai family who worked on the river was willing to listen to his apology, accept his sacrifice, and was even more willing to listen to what Engineer Luo was saying.

It can be said that it makes a lot of sense.

But the Queen Mother of the Bai family here is much more ruthless. Killing people is as easy as drinking water.

"Actually, what does it have to do with me? She was blaming me for coming to the clinic that day and saving those two old people, but I couldn't just stand by and watch them die, right?

Forget it, I haven’t been contaminated much, when the police arrive, I will make a statement, and get a taste of public affairs, and I guess that person won’t touch me again.”

Li Zhuiyuan understood that this was what his great grandfather was planning.

This is no wonder. Both the little yellow warbler and the cat-faced old lady encountered before were within the controllable range. But they were far less ferocious than the lady of the Bai family. The grandfather could no longer control them.

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly frowned. He recalled the contents of Jianghu Zhiguai Lu and found an example that was very similar to the one of Lady Bai.

That is the Xuanmen people, who use themselves as a carrier and seal themselves, in order to seek another way to achieve immortality.

This kind of dead thing possesses some of the Taoist magical powers it had in life. Although it is not as domineering and terrifying as a general, it is the most difficult to deal with because it can understand what methods the living have used to deal with it.

Then I think of the words on the carving: The corpse can suppress evil spirits, and the merits and virtues can help you ascend to heaven.

Now, they were completely faced off. Even if she had no form, she would still die. And without a form... there was no way to deal with her.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that his grandfather did the right thing and decided to call the police.

The police came, and there were a lot of them, because this incident had apparently resulted in two deaths and one missing person. Although the cause of death of the two elderly people was not homicide, the situation was different after all.

The police took control of the scene and Zhou Hai was temporarily detained as a criminal suspect.

Li Zhuiyuan followed his great grandfather to the police station to take a statement. It was dusk when they came out.

Li Sanjiang even hugged the gate of the police station on purpose, as if he was worried that it was not enough and wanted to give himself a little more public air. He even kissed the police station sign.

This action shocked everyone in the guard room.

But seeing that the old man was not here to cause trouble, he could only open the window and ask:

"Old comrade, what are you doing?"

Li Sanjiang continued to kiss her and shouted back:

"To show respect and love."

After doing all this, Li Sanjiang was too lazy to go back to the hospital to find Yingzi and her mother, and he also refused Chen Xiaoling's invitation to stay at her house tonight.

Now, Li Sanjiang just wants to go home.

It's too expensive to take a taxi back because at this time, taxi drivers are unwilling to take you to the countryside unless you pay more.

Li Sanjiang stopped a tractor on the road and asked them where they were going.

Li Zhuiyuan originally thought that this kind of luck-taking was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and was just about to sit down and wait, but unexpectedly, the second tractor that the grandfather stopped was the one that delivered stone piers to Shigang Town.

This is great, it's so convenient and direct.

The old man gave everyone a cigarette and waved to Xiao Yuanhou to get in the car.

The tractor moved forward with a "clattering" sound. Li Zhuiyuan and his grandfather sat at the back, enjoying the evening breeze.

When passing through the city, I also witnessed the hustle and bustle of the city.

During the trip, Li Sanjiang took a short nap and then woke up. He was very happy and took the initiative to say to Li Zhuiyuan:

"Little Marquis Yuan, your great grandfather just had another dream. In the dream, I saw the little girl again, but I couldn't see her clearly. She was talking, but I couldn't hear her clearly.

It seems that she is moving away from me. I am almost fine. I will go back tonight and burn some incense and worship the Buddha statues at home to completely break off ties with her."

"Grandpa, you are amazing."

Li Zhuiyuan once doubted Li Sanjiang's ability, but his doubts were dispelled after the cat-faced old lady said, "Your grandfather has already helped."

Moreover, it seems that no matter what happens, the old man always has a way to solve it, and his methods always work.

"What's so great about that? If it weren't for your grandfather, Marquis of Han, I wouldn't have come here. I'm embarrassed to take the money, and I've put myself in danger for nothing.

What a pity! I went to my grandma's house. "

"Next time, tell me not to..."

"No, it's not like I encounter such bad luck every time. I, your great grandfather, am the one who makes the meal. I can't eat meat every meal. Occasionally, I have to get my teeth knocked by stones in the rice.

Alas, I was thinking that after I returned this time, I would continue to bring good luck to you, but now I don’t dare to do so. She is not gone yet, and I don’t want to implicate you.”

As he spoke, Li Sanjiang knocked on the iron sheet at the back and shouted to the driver driving the tractor;

"Brother, let's find a small restaurant up ahead. I'll treat you to a bite."

"Why is this so embarrassing?"

"Well, why are you being so polite? Let's stop somewhere and have a meal before we go on."

"okay."

The tractor stopped in front of a small restaurant. After getting off the car and going in, Li Sanjiang first ordered a pound of rice wine, two cold dishes and two hot dishes, and also asked for a separate portion of egg fried rice for Li Zhuiyuan.

After Li Zhuiyuan finished his meal, he sat aside and waited, while his grandfather and the master chatted with great interest.

Li Sanjiang asked the store owner to heat up a pound of wine and asked for a can of Jianlibao for Li Zhuiyuan.

"Snapped!"

Open, steaming sound.

Li Zhuiyuan took a sip and Li Sanjiang asked, "Is it delicious?"

"Well, it's delicious."

"Then let's buy a box and take it back later?"

The master smiled and said, "Brother, you are really kind to me."

Nowadays, the bottles of drinks like citric acid in beer bottles need to be recycled, so ordinary people can afford them, but canned drinks are still too expensive in the eyes of most parents.

"Hey." Li Sanjiang touched Li Zhuiyuan's head, "Isn't the money I earn to spend on the kids? Do you want me to take it with me into the coffin in the future?"

He didn't tell his master that this was his great-grandson.

"That's right. My grandson is in high school now, and I have to keep driving to earn money for his college tuition. As long as he can pass the exam, we will grit our teeth and support him no matter what."

"Ah." Li Sanjiang sighed helplessly and touched the back of Li Zhuiyuan's head. "What a pity! My grandson is smart, but he doesn't like to focus on studying."

Li Zhuiyuan silently took another sip of soda.

It was almost eight o'clock in the evening when dinner ended. There was no drunk driving check these days. The master, with a red face, took out the crank and inserted it into the tractor engine, then turned it quickly and the tractor started again.

"Come on, get in the car, let's go home!"

After getting back on the car and heading home, Li Zhuiyuan looked at the starry sky above his head and began to wonder whether Xue Liangliang had already arrived at Siyuan Village.

He felt that he should ask more about the statue on the river. Since the person lying in the coffin in Jiuxu Port was dead, the statue... was also dead.

After all, although the river channel was excavated now, it seems to have been a waterway in the past.

Li Zhuiyuan vaguely felt that the Bai family seemed to specialize in this kind of thing.

……

When Li Zhuiyuan was not at home, Qin Li returned to his old seat, sat on the bench inside the door, with his feet on the threshold and his eyes looking straight ahead.

Next to her, Liu Yumei was spreading out a piece of paper and drawing a clothing pattern with a pen.

Her paintings are very good and lifelike. Although they seem unprofessional according to the current garment-making process, the experienced tailors in small garment-making workshops can understand them.

My granddaughter is still growing up, so her clothes need to be replaced every season. The happiest thing for Liu Yumei is to dress her granddaughter up beautifully every morning, so that she can be in a good mood all day long.

At this time, Liu Yumei noticed Qin Li behind her, and moved her head to look at the path between the wheat fields.

Liu Yumei put down the brush and stood up straight.

I saw a young man in a blue shirt walking onto the dam with a stack of books in his hands.

After looking at him for a while, Qin Li withdrew his gaze and continued to look straight ahead.

It seems that this young man is dirty, but not obviously dirty.

"Excuse me, is this Li Sanjiang's home?" Xue Liangliang asked.

"Yes, that's right. He's not at home now, and I don't know if he will come back tonight. Are you looking for him?"

"I'm looking for Xiaoyuan, Li Zhuiyuan. Does he live here too?"

Hearing Li Zhuiyuan's name, Qin Li looked at him again.

"He's not at home either." Liu Yumei replied.

"He should be back tonight. I'll wait for him. Excuse me, where is the toilet? I need to relieve myself."

"Behind the house."

"OK, thanks."

Xue Liangliang put the book in his hand on the table and trotted to the toilet.

These books were all borrowed by him from the Museum of Literature and History. At present, they are not kept properly.

Liu Yumei flipped open a volume and saw the passage marked with a bookmark. She frowned, her eyes fixed slightly, and murmured:

"The Bai family?"

Then, she covered the file again, picked up the brush again and continued to draw the clothing pattern, but as she was drawing, she felt uneasy, so she stopped writing again, and recalled that the young man was looking for Xiaoyuan, and said to herself:
"How is this Xiaoyuan related to the Bai family?"

Coincidentally, the sound of a tractor was heard in the distance.

The driver did not drop the passenger off at the road entrance to the village, but drove straight in and dropped the passenger off at the doorstep.

After they parted, Li Sanjiang took Li Zhuiyuan to the dam.

Just at this time, Xue Liangliang came back from going to the bathroom.

"Hey, why are you home?" Li Sanjiang was very surprised.

"Master, Brother Liangliang is here to tutor me."

"Oh, okay, that's good. Then let him sleep in the same room with you tonight. Young man, have you eaten?"

"I ate it, I ate it." Xue Liangliang replied quickly.

"That's fine."

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Qin Li, and Qin Li stood up, stretched out his hand, and took the initiative to grab Li Zhuiyuan's hand.

Then, her eyelashes began to flutter and her body began to tremble slightly.

Li Zhuiyuan was surprised. Why did she still...

"Ari, let go!"

Liu Yumei's stern voice came. Seeing that Ah Li didn't listen to her, she could only shout to Li Zhuiyuan:
"Xiaoyuan, let go!"

Li Zhuiyuan pulled his hand away.

A'li pretended to move forward and wanted to continue to catch Li Zhuiyuan.

"Xiaoyuan, say goodnight to A-li. I'm going to take A-li to rest."

"Okay, Grandma Liu." Li Zhuiyuan looked at Ah Li, "It's too late, let's go to bed. We'll read together tomorrow morning. Good night."

Xue Liangliang picked up the files, took Li Zhuiyuan's hand and said, "Let's go back to your room and tell them. I found something incredible."

Watching Li Zhui's figure walking away, Qin Li slowly put down his raised hand.

Liu Yumei sighed and coaxed her granddaughter:
"Good boy, he's fine now. He's better than that guy."

……

"Wow, what kind of books are on your desk?"

As soon as he came in, Xue Liangliang saw several piles of ancient books on Li Zhuiyuan's desk.

"This is my hobby."

"Is this true?" Xue Liangliang flipped through the pages of the book. "Xiaoyuan, if you have this hobby, you can take liberal arts exams or go into archaeology in the future."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "I don't want to."

He doesn't want to be alumni with his mother.

"So what major do you want to study? Are you going to choose water conservancy like me and apply to Haihe University?"

Li Zhuiyuan thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible."

Related to water.

This university seems to be in line with my major.

"Then you have to study hard. It's not easy to get into Haihe University."

"Ah."

It’s indeed not easy to do. I’m afraid the old professors won’t be willing to let me transfer to another school.

"Come and see what I found. You won't know until you check it out. Once you check it out, you'll be shocked." Xue Liangliang spread out the file. "This Bai family is really a surname. There are many records about the Bai family in the local chronicles during the Ming and Qing dynasties. They are all related to eliminating monsters and suppressing rebellions, but they are all about the Bai family's mother, not the Bai family's grandfather."

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Is it passed down only to females?"

"I guess so. It should be that the family only passes on the throne to daughters and then recruits sons-in-law. However, this custom is quite rare in this area."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the file and said, "Brother Liangliang, please continue."

"The Bai family's activities should not be limited to the current Nantong area. I suspect that there are traces of their presence throughout northern Jiangsu. However, one thing is certain, the Bai family's main base is in Nantong.

Look at this paragraph in this article. It records a place called Baijia Town, which should be the location of the Bai family's main home. It is probably located west of Yingzhou in the East China Sea."

"East Sea Yingzhou?"

“It’s Chongming Island.”

"Oh, so is this Baijia Town in Shanghai or Nantong?"

Chongming Island is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River and can be called the gateway to the Yangtze River. Most of the island belongs to Shanghai and part of it belongs to Nantong.

Xue Liangliang hesitated and said, "The location description is very strange. It seems that someone has studied it specially, but something may have gone wrong when it was written down. I followed the direction recorded and actually looked for it on the old map. I found... found that it should be in the river."

"In the river?"

"Yes, we should be in the Yangtze River now."

"This...is the record wrong?"

“But this is the only place I can find that records the address of Baijia Town.

And then, I discovered something very strange.

After the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, there was no record of Lady Bai in local chronicles.

white house,

Bai Family,
Baijia Town,
In historical records, it seems as if overnight...

Disappeared. "

(End of this chapter)