Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 224

"Fortunately, the wind and waves died down after daybreak, otherwise I wouldn't dare to go out on the boat at this time. You guys are really lucky."

"That's that."

Lin Shuyou imitated Brother Bin's behavior in the past, walked up to the old boatman, took out a cigarette box, and put a cigarette into the mouth of the old boatman who was driving the boat.

When taking out the lighter, Lin Shuyou wanted to be cool, so he threw the lighter in his hand. When he was about to catch it with his other hand, a wave hit him, the boat shook, and the lighter hit the side of the boat and fell into the sea.

The old boatman was amused and couldn't help grinning. He took out a match and lit it himself, and also helped Lin Shuyou light one.

"I say, what are you doing on that island at this time? It's not the season yet."

“Go sightseeing and sketch.”

"Oh, I'm just bored."

Lin Shuyou: "It's both life and work."

Since Brother Bin was not around, this kind of social work naturally fell on him.

In fact, Yin Meng is also okay, but Yin Meng is a woman after all, and now she is white and beautiful. When dealing with all kinds of people, it is inevitable that she will encounter those with evil eyes and dirty mouths.

Old boatman: "When will you come back?"

Lin Shuyou: "Oh, I don't know."

The old boatman said: "On weekdays, there are not many boats going to that island. When you want to come back, just call my village from the island and I will bring a boat to pick you up."

Lin Shuyou: "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

The old boatman: "Then the price for this trip will be doubled. You have to pay in advance."

Lin Shuyou: "I can only give you half as a deposit."

The old boatman nodded: "Okay."

Lin Shuyou felt that he had negotiated very securely. The old boatman just smiled in his heart. He was going to go fishing secretly next. He didn't have time to wait at home to pick them up. The more fish he could catch, the better.

At this time, the old boatman saw that the smoke rings from Lin Shuyou's mouth were thick when he smoked, and he smacked his lips and said:
"Tsk, you always breathe in the cigarette and then exhale it? I say, if you don't know how to smoke, don't force yourself to smoke. It's a waste of food."

As he spoke, the old boatman took the initiative to ask Lin Shuyou for the box of cigarettes he had just opened in his pocket, saying that he wanted to smoke them on the way back.

Lin Shuyou dealt with it somewhat awkwardly, secretly glancing at his companions out of the corner of his eye. Seeing that no one noticed him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

In the past, every time he went out, Brother Bin could arrange everything properly, and every passerby who lent a hand was very knowledgeable. But this time, when it was his turn to make arrangements, something seemed a little strange.

The old boatman said: "See? It's right in front of us. We're almost there."

Ahead, the shadow of an island appeared.

Standing at the bow, Li Zhuiyuan looked down at the wordless book in his hand. The direction the monkey in the second painting was sitting was also facing the island.

But this island is only where Tan Wenbin is, not Wuxin Island where Qiu Zhuang is.

Does this mean that my current location, the island in front of me, and Wuxin Island are in a straight line?

Or maybe, the "target" that the monkey is looking at is not on Wuxin Island at this moment, but on the island in front of him?
The boat was docked at the pier, where there was a larger fishing boat. The owner of the boat was squatting at the bow, eating with a bowl and chopsticks in his hands.

The old boatman took the initiative to wave his hand to greet him, but the other party looked at him, ignored him, and lowered his head to continue eating.

Lin Shuyou: "Do you know him?"

The old boatman: "I have seen him, but I am not familiar with him. He always takes this route, and he is also the one who delivers supplies to this island."

After everyone landed, the old boatman turned the boat around and headed back.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the wordless book in his hand again. The monkey lowered its head and hugged its knees, curling itself up into a ball, with no obvious direction to guide its sitting position.

Lin Shuyou kept his current responsibilities in mind and took the initiative to go forward and talk to the owner of the opposite ship.

The other party first asked about their boat fare, and Lin Shuyou told them.

The captain said: "This is a scam."

Lin Shuyou had never heard of this proverb, but he understood that he was being ripped off.

After hearing that he had prepaid half of the return fare, the captain wiped his mouth with his palm and rinsed the dishes in water:

"You can follow my boat back and I won't charge you for the boat fare."

After saying that, he stood up and was about to go into the cabin. Lin Shuyou hurriedly asked about Tan Wenbin again.

The captain stopped and replied, "Ask that young man, is he your friend? He's a nice guy, and we got along well. He should still be on the island. Go look for him in the village."

While Lin Shuyou was chatting with the captain of the ship, Li Zhuiyuan was observing him.

There was no special aura about the other person, and his every move revealed the habits of the people on the boat.

But Tan Wenbin’s safety pager was interrupted, which meant that something must have happened on the island.

Lin Shuyou ran back: "Brother Xiaoyuan, shall we go to the village to meet up with Brother Bin?"

"Yeah." Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

The crowd walked along the road towards the village.

The captain walked out of the cabin, first glanced at the four people who were leaving, then turned around, facing the sea, his eyes showing deep and melancholy.

Li Zhuiyuan, who was originally moving forward, stopped and looked back at the ship and the people on it.

At this moment, based on this picture alone, Li Zhuiyuan was certain that there was something wrong with this person.

On an island where something is certain to have happened, any style of painting that is inconsistent with the original picture should not be taken lightly.

On the way to the village, we passed a lighthouse.

Under the lighthouse, an old man was sitting there fishing.

From the perspective of literary sketching, this is indeed a very good framing picture, which interprets tranquility and remoteness.

There was a bottle of wine next to the old man. He picked up the bottle, took a sip, then took off his straw hat and looked at the four people opposite him.

He didn't wave or say anything, just watched quietly for a while, then turned around and continued to take care of his fishing rod.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head slightly, looked at the sky, then looked at the sea, and began to analyze the location of the fish in this area based on the principles of Feng Shui and meteorology.

The old man was sitting at the slanted corner of the lighthouse, where the reef beach was raised and the water level was relatively shallow. Normally, one should sit directly in front of the lighthouse, where the water is deep and it is easier to catch fish.

It is normal for ordinary fishing enthusiasts not to know this, but it is a bit strange that an old man who has been guarding the tower all year round does not know where is the best place to cast the hook.

The biggest convenience of choosing this location is that it faces the direction of the pier and can watch the people coming ashore to the island.

The village doesn't look small at first glance, but if you exclude the houses that are obviously abandoned and don't even have New Year's couplets posted on them, there are indeed very few people still living on this island.

After entering the village, there was no one on the road, and it was difficult to find someone to ask about Tan Wenbin.

Fortunately, the supply and marketing cooperative was still open, and there was an old lady sitting inside knitting a sweater.

Lin Shuyou walked up the steps and came to the counter, wanting to chat with the old lady.

However, Lin Shuyou called out to him softly several times, but the old woman seemed to be hard of hearing and did not hear him at all. She continued to concentrate on knitting the sweater in her hands.

Lin Shuyou had no choice but to raise his voice, but the old woman remained unmoved.

At this time, Lin Shuyou saw the rusty ashtray in front of the old lady, with a few cigarette butts in it.

He touched the outside pocket of his backpack and took out another pack of cigarettes.

For a while, he liked to have a cigarette in his mouth whenever he had nothing to do. Later, Brother Bin saw him and photographed him every time, and he stopped being addicted. This time when he went out, he knew that he would have to temporarily take over Brother Bin's role, so he prepared a lot of cigarettes.

He opened the cigarette box and took out two cigarettes: "Grandma, can I borrow a light?"

The sound was not loud, but the old woman immediately stopped what she was doing, turned her head, stood up and walked over, took out a matchbox from her pocket, took the cigarette, and lit it, all in one go.

"Grandma, let me ask you something. Do you know where Tan Wenbin lives? We are his friends."

"Over there on the mountain, he likes to set up a tent there, saying it allows him to get closer to nature."

"Oh, ok, thanks, grandma."

Lin Shuyou waved his hand and walked down the stairs: "Brother Xiaoyuan, Brother Bin might be there, shall we go look for him?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Go make a phone call to Aunt Zhang's store and let Grandpa know that he is safe."

"okay."

Lin Shuyou turned back and said, "Grandma, make a phone call."

The old woman bent down, opened the wooden box under the cabinet, took out the telephone, and placed it on the cabinet.

"let's hit."

Lin Shuyou picked up the phone and dialed the number. Soon, Aunt Zhang answered the call.

"Hello, who are you looking for?"

Lin Shuyou responded in the Nanchang dialect he had learned, changing the tone of his voice: "Looking for Li Sanjiang's house."

Aunt Zhang: "Oh, you're from Fujian."

Lin Shuyou was stunned for a moment. It turned out that his accent was so strong that people could tell that he was from Fujian when he spoke Nantong dialect?
Aunt Zhang: "Shall I ask your Grandpa Sanjiang to answer the phone?"

"No, Aunt Zhang, please tell Uncle Sanjiang that we are doing well outside."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later." "Thank you, Aunt Zhang."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Shuyou paid the phone bill and walked down the stairs: "Brother Xiaoyuan, the call is done."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded and took another look at the supply and marketing cooperative and the old lady who sat back down inside and started knitting a sweater.

The phone call was allowed, but Tan Wenbin still didn't contact me.

Either Tan Wenbin had met with an accident, or Tan Wenbin didn't dare to come to this supply and marketing cooperative to make phone calls anymore.

Everyone left the village and headed for the mountains.

When I saw this island from the sea, it didn't seem very big, but when I was actually on the island, I realized how much area was hidden in the gullies and ravines on the island.

After searching for a long time, Tan Wenbin was still not found.

According to what Tan Wenbin reported on the phone before, there should be many people coming to this island to deliver goods, but no trace of them was seen.

During the period, they did find several marks left by Tan Wenbin, but when they followed the marks, they still found nothing.

The mark should be real. The reason why the person was not found should be that Tan Wenbin kept changing his hiding place, that is, he was hiding from place to place.

Li Zhuiyuan sat on the ground, took out a few small formation flags from his bag, set up a reception formation, and lit a stick of incense in it.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan placed the compass in his palm and began to sense.

Sometimes, it's easier to find a ghost than a person.

The two resentful babies on Tan Wenbin's shoulders were sealed by him personally, so the young man was naturally extremely sensitive to the breath of the two resentful babies.

The cigarette began to float against the wind.

Li Zhuiyuan placed the compass above, pointed his finger at the smoke, and guided it onto the compass. Then, the needle on the compass began to show a specific direction.

This method has strong limitations on distance and direction, but with luck, it succeeded on the first try without having to change position and set up the formation again.

"Walk."

Since the two resentful babies are still there, Tan Wenbin must still be alive.

Li Zhuiyuan believed in their father-son relationship, and the two resentful babies would not watch Tan Wenbin die while they themselves lived.

After going down the slope, we came to the shady side of the island. The ravines here are deeper and few people would come here on weekdays.

Following the guidance of the compass, the four people came to the shore and saw a cave hidden among the reefs.

The seawater poured into the cave, leaving only the upper half.

I waded into the water and hadn't gone far when a duster swept over.

Runsheng, who was walking in front, was very familiar with this duster. He once pressed the owner of this duster under him.

This time, the power of the duster was even weaker than last time. Runsheng didn't even need to take out his Yellow River shovel. He just grabbed it with his bare hands, and then without giving the other party time to react, he pulled it behind him.

A figure was pulled out, it was Xin Jiyue.

Runsheng leaned over with his shoulder and pressed Xin Jiyue against the wet rock wall, while his other hand grabbed the woman's neck.

Now he only needs to exert a little force to kill the woman.

The subdued Xin Jiyue stared at Runsheng with wide eyes.

She was originally unwilling to give up, thinking that if she had not been injured and was not in a weak state, she would never have been subdued by the other party so easily. But after seeing clearly that the person coming was Run Sheng, her unwillingness disappeared, because she knew that even at her best, she would never be his opponent.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Where is Tan Wenbin?"

Runsheng slightly relaxed his grip on the woman's neck.

Xin Jiyue: "You actually know Brother Bin?"

There was a strange emotion in the word "Brother Bin".

Lin Shuyou had never met Xin Jiyue. When the funeral was held in Xigou Village, he was still in Fujian and had not returned. But this did not prevent him from thinking that the woman's calling him "Brother Bin" was strange.

It seems that there is something going on between Brother Bin and her!
Li Zhuiyuan looked down at the compass in his hand, the needle pointed deeper into the cave, and said:

"Tan Wenbin is our man, and we are here to rescue him."

Xin Jiyue: "Why should I believe what you say?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Do we need your trust?"

Xin Jiyue was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that this explanation made sense.

"Brother Bin is inside, but he..."

At this moment, special ripples appeared on the water surface in the cave.

This is the aura of the formation, and it perfectly matches the space inside the cave.

A wave rose up from the cave and rushed towards the people here.

Runsheng let go of Xin Jiyue's hand and let her fall into the water. He then pulled out the Yellow River shovel, opened the valve, and slapped the waves in front of him hard!

Lin Shuyou held up an umbrella and stood in front of Brother Xiaoyuan.

As long as the force is strong enough, it can suppress all the nonsense.

With a loud bang, the wave was broken into pieces and turned into a splashing torrent.

At this moment, something dived into the water, picked up Xin Jiyue, and retreated.

This is a combination of fighting and rescuing, which is quite meticulous.

Runsheng pressed his hands into the water, the valve started to operate, and the water level in front of him dropped rapidly.

Yin Meng took advantage of the situation and swung out the exorcism whip. There was a crisp sound, and then the arm of a middle-aged bearded man was encircled by the exorcism whip.

He subconsciously wanted to pull the whip.

Yin Meng rolled up the whip with one hand, and barbs stood up on it, warning: "If you don't want to die, don't touch it."

Wu Qinhai stopped immediately.

Xin Jiyue said, "They are Brother Bin's people."

Wu Qinhai asked in confusion: "What?"

Although he didn't understand, Wu Qinhai still gave up resistance.

Yin Meng took back the exorcist whip, poked Lin Shuyou gently with his elbow, and whispered, "Listen, we are Brother Bin's people."

Wu Qinhai: "Brother Bin is in there. He is in a very bad condition. I hope you can find a way to save him."

After saying that, he and Xin Jiyue led the way.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Are you being hunted down?"

Xin Jiyue: "Yes, Brother Bin paid a great price to keep us alive on this island."

There is a dry area at the deepest part of the cave, which is not reach by sea water. There is a pile of grass on the stone platform above, and Tan Wenbin is lying on it.

His face was pale, his breath was weak, and he looked extremely weak.

This was clearly a state of extreme overdraft after using the Ghost Controlling Technique, but if that were the case, the two resentful babies would also have fallen into a deep sleep, and it would have been impossible for him to locate them.

Therefore, Tan Wenbin did not use the ghost-controlling technique. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he would not allow himself to fall into a coma and paralysis here, and... he still took the two of them to hide together.

"Tan Wenbin?"

Li Zhuiyuan gently pushed Runsheng aside and walked forward.

Runsheng naturally stepped sideways to block Wu Qinhai. Seeing this, Yin Meng immediately followed and stopped Xin Jiyue to ensure that there were no outsiders near Xiaoyuan and Tan Wenbin.

Lin Shuyou stood on tiptoe, anxiously trying to check how serious Brother Bin's injury was.

Then, as if he had thought of something, he took out a can of tiger whip wine from his bag, which he had brought back from his hometown specially for Brother Bin.

Tan Wenbin opened his eyes weakly and looked at Li Zhuiyuan:
"Brother Xiaoyuan..."

Li Zhuiyuan placed one hand on Tan Wenbin's wrist, and his pulse was weak.

The boy's other hand seemed to be tidying up the haystack under Tan Wenbin's head, but in fact he was patting him on both shoulders.

The two resentful babies were most afraid of me. As soon as I made contact with them, they immediately started to tremble violently with fear.

The two resentful babies are in good condition, so Tan Wenbin shouldn't be so weak, so this is a deliberate disguise.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, I finally waited for you. I thought I would never see you again in this life..."

Tan Wenbin's voice revealed the joy of surviving the disaster, and he struggled to grab Li Zhuiyuan's hand with both hands.

Li Zhuiyuan sensed that Tan Wenbin clenched his index finger and ring finger together and squeezed them hard.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, there are three people on this island. It's very dangerous..."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded and said, "Don't worry, I understand."

He knew what Tan Wenbin wanted to convey:
One of Xin Jiyue and Wu Qinhai is a traitor.

(End of this chapter)