Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 36

"Marquis Runsheng, stop at the opening ahead."

Runsheng stopped the tricycle, bent down and lifted the brake handle.

Li Sanjiang took out some money from his pocket, without counting it, and handed it to Runsheng: "Go buy some buns over there, and then go to the store next door to buy me a bottle of wine."

"What, drinking so early in the morning?"

"Just go when I tell you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"

"okay."

Runsheng bought the buns and wine.

Li Sanjiang bit open the bottle cap with his teeth, spit out the liquid while shaking his head, then picked up the bottle and took a big gulp.

“Uh…uh…huh…”

The aftertaste of the bun he had taken so early in the morning was so strong that he had to take several bites of the bun before he could suppress it.

"Why don't you eat?"

"Uncle, I left in a hurry this morning and I didn't bring any incense with me."

"Why did you buy so many buns? They'll be cold by the time you bring them back."

"It's delicious even when it's cold. It's a meat bun!"

"Go, go, go, go home, go home."

"Then please sit still and don't fall down when you get too drunk."

Li Sanjiang rolled his eyes at him, then raised the bottle and took a sip.

When he wanted to take another bite of the bun, he burped. Then he suddenly looked lonely and tears welled up in his eyes. He had to turn his head away, reach out and pull Runsheng's vest to wipe it.

Runsheng looked back and asked, "Uncle, shouldn't you be happy? Why are you crying again?"

"Happy, I'm not happy at all."

"Xiaoyuan is no longer registered in your household registration, isn't that a sign of happiness?"

"My household registration is useless. Can it compare to the household registration in the city or the household registration in Beijing?"

"What happened to your Beijing hukou?"

"What happened? It's like a carp that finally made it to the top of the dragon gate, but ended up jumping down from the dragon gate and turning back into a carp."

"It's also good to be a carp, so Xiaoyuan doesn't have to leave."

Li Sanjiang sighed, raised his hand, and slapped himself twice.

I was called to the Civil Affairs Bureau by the village chief early in the morning. As soon as I entered, I was surrounded by several staff members. Documents were placed in front of me, saying that it was Xiao Yuanhou's mother who requested that the child's household registration be transferred to them.

I just felt confused at the time. Although he really liked this child, it was absolutely impossible for him to do something that would ruin the child's future!
But what he meant was that something seemed to have happened to Xiao Yuanhou's mother, and the child's household registration problem must be resolved. If he didn't sign today and the document was returned, Xiao Yuanhou would become an illegal resident and would not be able to go to school in the future.

Under the pressure of the red-coated and white-coated men, Li Sanjiang signed the document in a daze.

Although he had drunk some wine, his brain became clearer after the wind had blown through it. Even if Grandpa Bei didn't want the child, the child would have to go to Li Weihan's place. What was the point of him going to him?

Although the child lives with me now, what does it have to do with me?
But now it matters.

Li Sanjiang looked down at the bag at his feet, which contained household registration books and other documents.

"Damn it, why is the work efficiency of public institutions so high today?"

I took out my household registration booklet, opened it, and looked at the extra name under my account.

Li Sanjiang felt mixed emotions. The Li family finally had a golden phoenix, which flew to Beijing and laid an egg, but now the egg has returned to its hometown:

"Alas, after decades of hard work, we are back to the days before liberation overnight."

……

"Well, it's only been one night, why are you all going back?"

Liu Yumei was holding a teacup in her hand, but the tea had gone cold and she didn't drink it.

Looking at her granddaughter sitting motionless behind the doorstep, she felt a bitter taste in her mouth, and the tea tasted even more bitter when she drank it.

She was crying with joy last night. She should have held back some tears. Now she can't even cry when she wants to.

Looking up at the terrace on the second floor, the boy was sitting on a rattan chair, reading a book seriously, only occasionally looking down at A-li when turning the pages.

Liu Yumei really wanted to curse in her heart: Don’t just look at it, boy!

If ordinary children had a fight, they would shout to each other: "Humph, I will never play with you again!"

Then they just ignore each other out of spite. This is quite common and normal.

But Liu Yumei knew that such a thing would never happen to her granddaughter, let alone the boy. The child was smart and calm and would not do such a childish thing.

So, what happened to the two of them?
After hesitating for a long time, Liu Yumei stood up and walked into the main house.

Normally, she would not come in here, let alone go to the second floor, but today, she had to make an exception.

Seeing that Ah Li was getting steadily better, and then suddenly returned to the original state, her heart felt like a stone that had been burned hot and then doused with a basin of water, and it was about to break with pain.

She had to find out what had happened. It wasn't that she was partial, but if something happened she had to ask the boy. If she could get the answer from A'li, why would she have to stay here?
As she approached, the boy also stood up with his book.

"Xiaoyuan, grandma is here to talk to you."

"Grandma, please sit down."

Liu Yumei sat down on the rattan chair that used to be A-li's. She glanced at the book in the boy's hand and thought it was a mess and she couldn't understand what was written there at all.

"Reading a book?"

"Ah."

Li Zhuiyuan politely placed the book beside him, half turned towards Liu Yumei and pretended to listen attentively. Well, what he just read was "Liu's Qi-Watching Secrets".

"What happened between you and Ari?"

"Grandma, it's my fault."

He was hit hard last night because of what Li Lan said on the phone.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and looked at the palm of his hand that had been bandaged.

She was Ari's balcony. She mustered up the courage to walk out of the darkness, came to the balcony, and began to carefully observe and contact the world.

Just yesterday, Ali discovered bricks on the balcony, which meant that the balcony might have to be sealed.

It is hard to imagine how desperate the girl felt when she saw the self-inflicted wounds on her palms last night.

She had imprisoned herself in a dark dry well. One day, a rope was lowered from above, and a man kept talking to her at the mouth of the well. Just as she was about to climb up along the rope, she found that the person who had been encouraging her was coming down from above her head, holding the rope.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that because the girl had only had eyes for him, his downfall would cause her even greater harm.

No, she came last night. She wanted to accompany me. It wasn’t because she was afraid that I would become depressed. It was because she couldn’t accept giving up.

Like Li Lan, give up struggling and give up on yourself.

The light in her eyes was me, but I extinguished it last night.

"Well, why bother to argue about who is right and who is wrong now? Grandma wants to ask you, Xiaoyuan, do you have any other way to make Ah Li return to the way she was a few days ago, is that okay?"

"some."

Liu Yumei was excited: "Really? What should we do?"

"I can't do it now, grandma. I need some time."

"You need time... Well, what exactly do you want to do?"

"Read a book."

"Reading a book?"

Liu Yumei frowned slightly. She suspected that the boy in front of her was making fun of her, but on second thought, she suddenly felt that it made sense. In her memory, it seemed that the boy was reading a book on the second floor before, and as he was reading, A'li took the initiative to walk towards him.

Could it be that my granddaughter likes the atmosphere of scholars?
Liu Yumei thought about it, was it because she liked to let A'li wear ancient costumes and she also liked to read novels like "The West Chamber"?
"Grandma, A-Li has already returned to the house."

"What?" Liu Yumei looked down and found that Ah Li was still sitting behind the door, not moving at all. "Isn't he still there?"

"I have to find a way to call Ah Li out again so that I can apologize to her in person."

Liu Yumei was a little confused, but seeing that the boy spoke very logically, she felt inexplicably at ease.

"Then you, read the book carefully."

"Okay, grandma."

Liu Yumei went downstairs.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up "Liu's Qi-Watching Secrets" again. The handwriting was so scribble-like that if he looked away for a while, he would have to start over again to get the feel of it, otherwise he would not be able to understand it at all.

He read another page and as he turned the page, Li Zhuiyuan looked at the girl downstairs.

He was not at all dissatisfied with the girl's sudden "departure". He really liked the feeling of being needed.

I finally have a mask that I can't take off.

Li Lan, I found what you failed to find.

After returning downstairs, Liu Yumei looked a little more relaxed and made herself another pot of tea.

Just at this time, Runsheng rode his tricycle onto the dam.

"Uncle, we are home, we are home, uncle, wake up, wake up."

Liu Yumei stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Grandpa is drunk."

"Oh, are you going out for a morning drink?"

"I got drunk while drinking." Runsheng took out the empty wine bottle from the car, with the mouth of the bottle facing down, there was really not a drop of wine in it.

"You carry him up."

"Hey."

Runsheng grabbed Li Sanjiang's shoulder with his left hand, and with his right hand, his whole body was shaken, and Li Sanjiang climbed on his back.

Liu Yumei asked: "Who taught you to recite like this?"

"Ah, no one taught you? You'll get used to it after carrying so many corpses."

"Remember not to carry it like this next time. It's unlucky."

"Hey, I got it."

Liu Yumei waved her hand to dispel the smell of alcohol in front of her, and at the same time signaled Runsheng to carry the person away quickly.

Runsheng ran into the house and went up to the second floor in one breath.

Liu Yumei walked back to her coffee table and habitually picked up the teacup with her index and ring fingers.

When it was lifted into the air, the cup shook a little, but the tea inside did not spill out at all.

Liu Yumei was surprised:

"Is this filled up again?"

……

"Xiaoyuan, help me open the door. Your grandfather is drunk."

Li Zhuiyuan opened the screen door and accompanied Runsheng to put Li Sanjiang on the bed. Li Sanjiang's face was flushed and he looked like he was drunk and unconscious.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng walked out of the room.

"what happened?"

My grandfather loves to drink, but he doesn't drink in the morning.

Runsheng scratched his head and said, "Xiaoyuan, your household registration has been transferred to my place. It seems that your school registration has also been transferred here."

Li Zhuiyuan was stunned for a moment. Is it so fast?
Last night on the phone, when Li Lan said she wanted to transfer his household registration, he said he was now living in Li Sanjiang's house and deliberately hinted at it. Obviously, Li Lan understood.

Of course, it would be strange if she didn't understand, because both mother and son recognized each other's brains.

However, this time not only was the efficiency high, but the student status could also be transferred. It seemed that the project that Li Lan was going to participate in this time was indeed very important, and special arrangements were made for the placement of her family members, and even those old professors could not stop it.

"Xiaoyuan, I'm going to go downstairs to eat buns first."

"Well, go ahead, Brother Runsheng."

After Runsheng went down, Li Zhuiyuan took the washbasin and washed a towel, then opened Li Sanjiang's door again and walked in.

Li Sanjiang was lying on the bed with his left arm across his forehead and his legs apart.

Li Zhuiyuan squeezed the towel dry and handed it to Li Sanjiang.

"Grandpa, wipe your face."

Li Sanjiang didn't move.

"Grandpa has a good alcohol tolerance. He is not drunk. Even if he fell asleep, he would snore."

"Ahem..." Li Sanjiang opened his eyes and looked at Li Zhuiyuan beside the bed, "Little Marquis Yuan, Grandpa did something wrong."

"No, it was Grandpa who took me in."

"You are still young, and you may not know what a Beijing hukou means."

"Grandpa, that's not that important."

"What do you know, little kid? When you grow up, you will be angry and regret it. Listen to your grandfather and find a way to find your grandfather Bei and ask them to bring it back to you."

"Grandpa, my last name is Li now."

"Hey, tell me, what kind of thing did your mother do? You don't feel bad, but I do. I feel sorry for you. I'm really sorry for you. My little boy's future has been ruined just like that."

"Grandpa, it's okay. At worst, Li and I can just...be like my mom and get admitted to a university in a big city."

"Oh, by the way, I almost forgot about school!"

Li Sanjiang jumped off the bed, then quickly ran to the stool and opened the bag containing the household registration book file bag and other things.

"Grandpa has to ask someone to find a school for you. Is Shinan Primary School okay? Forget it, Shigang is bigger. Let's go to Shigang to attend primary school."

"primary school……"

"I'm telling you, Xiao Yuanhou, you can have fun as much as you want during the summer vacation, but when school starts, you must not fall behind and must focus on your studies."

"Grandpa, do you know anyone in school?"

"Can't I find someone I don't know? Even if I can't find someone directly, I can find someone indirectly who I can safely give money to.

I heard that the school also has good classes and bad classes. We will try our best to get you into a good class.

By the way, Xiaoyuan, what grade are you in?"

"Grandpa, the uncle Tan we met last time was quite nice."

"Uncle Tan, which Uncle Tan?"

"That's Captain Tan from the police station."

"I've only met him twice. I'm not familiar with him. Besides, he's not from the same school."

"Shigang Town is so small, it would be more convenient for him to come forward. He invited me to his home last time. I will bring the file over and ask him later."

"Okay, then I'll go with you then, Master."

"No, if he can't do it, it would be so embarrassing for you to go there. It's better for a kid like me to speak up."

"Then let's do this for now. Ask him when you go to his house, and I'll look for him here as well."

Seeing that Li Sanjiang agreed, Li Zhuiyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

He is reluctant to leave here now, but he also doesn't want to be sent to primary school by his grandfather.

Although I haven't had much contact with Captain Tan, he owes me a favor last time, so he should help me. His main goal is to help me skip a grade, preferably to the third year of high school.

In this way, one year later, I will be able to take the college entrance examination.

If you want to shorten the time, you can also participate in the National Mathematical Olympiad held every winter to get a guaranteed admission spot.

But where should I go to college?
Since Li Lan doesn't want to see me, I won't go to where she is.

Li Zhuiyuan suddenly thought of a school, which, from its name to its major, was very suitable for his current self... Haihe University.

Thinking of this, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but laugh in his heart:

Brother Liangliang, it seems like we are really going to be alumni in the future.

The grandfather was scratching his head, thinking about his network of relationships, while Li Zhuiyuan walked out and continued reading.

It was not until Aunt Liu called for dinner at noon that I put down my book and went downstairs to eat.

Sitting on my own little stool, looking at the empty space beside me and the table without the girl's small plate, I felt really empty inside.

Turning her head, she found that A'li's small dining table had been brought to the east room. Liu Yumei was sorting out the dishes for her while persuading her.

Finally, Ali picked up the chopsticks and started eating.

Liu Yumei nodded with relief. When she stood up again, she felt a little sore in her waist. In the past, Ah Li would eat as long as the boy said something. There was no need for her to persuade him for so long.

For a moment, she suddenly felt a sense of urgency in her heart. She was getting older and older. If A'li's illness was not cured by the time she was gone, who would take care of A'li?

Li Sanjiang also came down to eat. After he sat down, he saw Li Zhuiyuan sitting there alone. He looked around and found that the girl had gone into the house. He immediately threw down his chopsticks and said in dissatisfaction:

"I say, are you really that realistic? Didn't our little Marquis Yuan no longer have a Beijing hukou? He doesn't want to eat at the same table with me now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Pan Zi and Lei Zi running towards him, sweating profusely.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, it's bad. Something happened in Sihaizi's fish pond. When they were just starting to dig the pond, a lot of red water suddenly came out of it, just like blood. Sihaizi and the people who were setting up the nets in the pond are all rotten!"

"Master, someone over there asked us to come over and ask you to take a look."

"What?" Li Sanjiang stood up and said, "Runsheng, let's go and take a look!"

After hearing the description, Li Zhuiyuan thought to himself: Is this the Diyin Red Evil?
Liu Yumei stroked her temples and was also confused. How could there be the Red Evil in this world?

Runsheng reluctantly put down his rice bowl and followed Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't go. He wouldn't go to the water's edge until he was sure that the problem of his fortune had been solved.

Returning to the second floor, Li Zhuiyuan opened the book again and continued reading.

If it's just the Red Evil of the Earth, there shouldn't be any danger on Grandpa's side, because this kind of pattern of the Red Evil of the Earth will only appear at the bait hole location.

Throughout the ages, things can be buried not only in famous mountains and rivers, but in fact many ancient people would choose to bury things in rivers, such as tombs, temples, treasures and the like.

Silt accumulation and river channel changes can easily and rapidly cause dramatic changes, making it more difficult to find.

The Diyin Red Evil is a relatively traditional Feng Shui mechanism layout. Once it is broken, the things inside will quickly scatter with the rolling water, causing harm to the peepers.

But they are basically used in bait holes, which are traps deliberately set up to catch water monkeys.

However, this also shows that there is probably a main cave nearby, but we don’t know what is buried inside.

Li Zhuiyuan had no interest in looking for it, because those who had the conditions to arrange the Diyin Hongsha must have "buried alive" when they built it. It did not mean burying living people, but that the underwater buildings they built could move with the changes in the hydrological pattern.

Therefore, perhaps when it was built, the distance between the several bait holes and the main hole was standard, but now, it has become a mess. Even if you know a bait hole, you cannot calculate the location of the main hole.

Sihai's family was also unlucky. It was not known whether his fish pond was dug right above the bait hole, or the bait hole moved itself to the bottom of his fish pond.

Of course, if it were not for the above two situations, the nature of the matter might have changed, and it might be that a water monkey had really been hooked.

Li Zhuiyuan read the whole afternoon, and Taiye and Runsheng did not come back until dinner time.

During the meal, Li Sanjiang talked about what happened in Sihai's family.

Two outsiders wanted to lease Sihai's fish pond for raising soft-shelled turtles at a high price, so even though it was not time to dredge the pond yet, Sihai decided to clear it out so he could rent it out.

As a result, at noon, when Sihai and his son went down to the pond to set the net, an accident happened. Also in the accident were two outsiders who were helping in the pond. The four of them had a large area of ​​their bodies burned as if they had been rolled in lime water. Although they were not dead and were sent to the hospital, their appearance was really scary.

The nearby villagers were all scared, so Li Sanjiang performed a ritual there in the afternoon. As soon as the ritual was finished, the red water in the pond disappeared. The villagers said that it was Uncle Sanjiang who subdued the evil spirit.

When he said this, Li Sanjiang touched his chin feeling good about himself and took a sip of wine.

Li Zhuiyuan guessed that it was because the Earth Yin Red Evil was touched and released, the bait hole opened, and the water in the pond finally flowed back into the bait hole.

In addition, the two outsiders were really kind-hearted. Not only did they contract the fish pond at a high price, they also helped clean the pond.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan was about to go upstairs to do horse stance, but was stopped by Runsheng in a mysterious manner.

"Xiaoyuan, come here for a moment."

Li Zhuiyuan followed Runsheng to the tricycle. Runsheng lifted the white plastic sheet on it, and inside lay an old shovel.

"Xiaoyuan, look, isn't this shovel a bit similar to our Yellow River shovel? But it's only a bit similar, and it's not as good as ours."

Li Zhuiyuan took the shovel and tried to fold and deform it several times. The core structure was indeed the same as the Yellow River shovel, but the detailed design was very different.

But this thing is indeed old and has many signs of repairs, so it can be considered an old item.

"Brother Runsheng, did you pick this up by the fish pond today?"

"Well, I didn't dare tell you that I picked it up secretly because I smelled a stench of corpse on it."

Li Zhuiyuan went over to smell it, but he couldn't smell it. However, he believed in Runsheng's judgment, because professional corpse retrievers are often sensitive to the stench of corpses in the water in a way that ordinary people can hardly understand. "Is it those two outsiders?"

"I don't know. All four of them were badly injured when we went there, and this thing was left by the pond."

"You did a great job, Runsheng."

"Ah... I thought Xiaoyuan you would blame me for stealing."

“This is not ordinary stuff.”

This is an old imitation of the Yellow River shovel, and it still has the stench of water corpses on it, which almost makes it clear that it must have been used by those water monkeys.

Water monkeys refer to underwater thieves. When they are stealing and are discovered by people on the shore, they will often drag the people into the water and kill them to silence them. Therefore, there are rumors circulating everywhere that water monkeys are looking for scapegoats.

"Xiaoyuan, is it useful?"

"It's useful, Brother Runsheng. If you smell something like this next time, remember to remind me in time."

"Okay, no problem."

"Oh, by the way, Brother Runsheng, play cards with me for a while."

"What, play cards with you?" Runsheng thought of the scene in the hall that day when Xiaoyuan was killing everyone. In his eyes, Xiaoyuan was simply another gambling god Gao Jin.

"Play a few rounds, but it doesn't make any money."

There were already opened playing cards in the drawer. Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng sat opposite each other, and Runsheng shuffled the cards and dealt them. It was very simple, all three cards were golden flowers, and after the cards were dealt, they opened the cards directly to compare the size.

Twenty hands were dealt, Runsheng won eight and I won twelve.

Li Zhuiyuan shuffled and dealt the cards himself. After twenty rounds, he won nine and Runsheng won eleven.

It seems that the special good fortune in me has disappeared?

But what price did he pay?
Li Zhuiyuan sat there, continuing to play with the playing cards in his hands. He was waiting for a big one, but that big one never came.

Forget it, I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’ll go play cards with Runsheng tomorrow morning to see if the odds are good or bad. If the win-loss ratio is still normal, then I can go out.

East room.

Aunt Liu was combing Liu Yumei's hair and sighed, "Xiaoyuan's household registration is here. This child is really unlucky. He has suffered such a big setback."

"He fell flat on his face? Maybe the boy himself didn't feel anything."

"That's because he's still young, so he doesn't understand, right?"

"A Ting, it's not like you haven't come into contact with him before. Do you really think he's just a child?"

"Not like."

"For ordinary people, encountering such a thing would probably ruin their luck for the rest of their lives, and they would never be able to recover.

But this ladder of rules is only built for ordinary people. For true geniuses, it is nothing at all.

In a peaceful world, they can get up there if they want, and they have many ways to do it, which ordinary people cannot envy.”

"You are right, that is indeed the case."

"But this is good too. I was worried that he would leave after the summer vacation, but now it seems that he will continue to live here for a while."

"Does Xiaoyuan have any comment on Ah Li's illness?"

"He said there was a way, but he had to read a book."

"What method is this?"

"Let's wait and see. We are old and can't understand what young people are doing."

……

The next morning, when Li Zhuiyuan woke up, he turned his head and looked sideways as usual, but there was still no one sitting on the chair at the door.

"Ugh……"

After Li Zhuiyuan got up and washed, he read a book outside for a while. When he went downstairs to have breakfast, A'li was still not around.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan pulled Runsheng aside and continued playing cards like they did last night, with a healthy win-loss ratio.

Now, I can finally relax and go out.

……

"Captain Tan, good morning."

"Good morning, Captain Tan."

"Well, good morning."

Tan Yunlong rode a motorcycle into the institute in casual clothes and greeted colleagues passing by.

It's actually not early now, it's already morning, and he asked for leave and was late because he went to his son's school to meet the teacher early in the morning.

The student who was originally in the second year of high school and was going to be promoted to the third year in high school during the summer vacation had a very short vacation and had already returned to school to start classes. His son had a fight outside the school last night, which made quite a noise and almost caused a group fight.

But he didn't blame his son because his son was trying to protect a classmate who was being bullied.

Tan Yunlong has always been very open-minded about his son's studies. If his grades are not outstanding, then it doesn't matter. If he can't get into a good university in the college entrance examination, then it doesn't matter. As long as he has good character and positive values, it's fine.

This was also the reason why he was willing to quarrel with his wife and transfer his son to a school near his workplace when he was transferred to another job. He had to keep an eye on this kid.

Having been a policeman for a long time, he has seen too many evils of all kinds. He knows that if he doesn't control the character of a child, it will be meaningless to educate him in any way.

As he walked into the office building, colleagues he met along the way continued to greet him enthusiastically. Although a serious case had occurred in his jurisdiction, it was solved quickly, for which he was commended.

Even the director hinted to him that he should take this opportunity to move around more. After all, his old connections were still there, and he could be transferred back if he made a contribution. However, Tan Yunlong did nothing. He felt that he was doing well in the township police station.

After pushing open the office door, Tan Yunlong was stunned for a moment, then a smile appeared on his face and he closed the door.

He picked up the kettle, made a cup of tea and handed it to the boy.

The boy pulled something wrapped in newspaper from under his feet and opened it in front of him. It was a shovel.

The cultural relics unearthed from the ground all belong to the country. Stealing them privately is illegal, and their channels for selling the stolen goods are often abroad, so you should call the police in time.

After listening to the boy's concise narration, Tan Yunlong first stood up and walked out of the office, and arranged for people to go to the ward of the health center to set up control. Then he closed the door and sat back. He saw Li Zhuiyuan holding the teacup and taking several sips of hot tea without putting it down.

"It seems that this time you want to ask me for help."

"Well, Uncle Tan, I would like you to help me arrange admission. Here is my file."

Tan Yunlong looked through the documents and then couldn't understand, "What is this operation?"

“I want to go to school.”

"Okay, I'll help you contact the town primary school. What grade were you in?" Tan Yunlong took the student certificate and looked at it carefully again and again. "Is the junior class an elementary school? The name of this university, wow, did you go to the elementary school affiliated to this university?"

"I want to skip a grade."

"Skip to the sixth grade? I know that Beijing has good educational resources, but the competition among students here is also very fierce. If we only talk about test-taking ability, students in Beijing are not necessarily better than those here."

"Senior year of high school."

"Um, senior year... what?" Tan Yunlong raised his head and stared at the boy. "Are you sure you are not kidding?"

"Uncle Tan, you can just help me arrange the process of skipping grades. I've done the exams and tests myself."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that there were policies for skipping grades in various places, and many of his classmates at that time had skipped grades in this way.

"Is it true?" Tan Yunlong became interested. "From your tone, it seems that the college entrance examination is over now. Otherwise, you would have prepared for it directly."

"No, I want to stay here for a while. I don't want to leave."

"Well, I can help you, but in order to avoid embarrassing myself, you have to go to my house for dinner tonight. My son will soon be a senior in high school."

"Not tonight, but tomorrow or the day after tomorrow will be fine."

Seeing the boy so calm and composed, Tan Yunlong couldn't help but believe it and asked, "Are you that kind of genius child?"

Li Zhuiyuan hesitated for a moment and felt that a more appropriate description for himself would be a sick child.

"Then why did you go and do that?" Tan Yunlong waved his hand, referring to the corpse recovery.

This time Li Zhuiyuan's answer was firm:
“Fun and interesting.”

"If you are really that kind of person, you should study hard and serve your country."

"I'm not doing it."

"That's not what I meant. Okay, then I'll pick you up at your house tomorrow night. I remember where you live."

"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan stood up and bowed to Tan Yunlong, "Thank you, uncle."

Tan Yunlong also stood up, walked sideways to the boy, and touched his head: "It's uncle who should thank you."

Before noon, Li Zhuiyuan returned home on Runsheng's tricycle.

A few bricklayers came to the house and were building a house in the back room.

Aunt Liu came over with a smile and said to Li Zhuiyuan:

"Your great grandfather just asked what happened, and I said it was you who asked me to build a workshop for myself. He just nodded without asking any more questions. He went into the house and offered me money, but I pushed him back and said I had enough money.

He asked me where the money came from, and I said it was won by Runsheng playing cards. "

"hey-hey."

Runsheng, who parked his car nearby, had a silly smile on his face.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and reminded: "Brother Runsheng, hurry up and run."

"What?"

A figure suddenly rushed out from the main house, holding a rattan stick for paper tying, and ran straight towards Runsheng:

"I told you not to learn good things, so why not learn from someone else like that country boy in your family who plays cards and gambles? I will beat you to death, I will beat you to death!"

Runsheng ran and Taiye chased him.

The two of them walked around the fields in front of the dam.

Li Zhuiyuan sighed in his heart, saying that his grandfather was in good health.

The cold has healed completely, and I haven't been catching bird droppings recently. It seems that after my fortune problem has been solved, my grandfather has also returned to normal.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan looked towards the east room. A'li was still sitting behind the threshold, motionless, like an exquisite sculpture.

These days, without the company of the girl, reading is really just reading.

Liu Yumei winked at Li Zhuiyuan, signaling him to go forward and try to touch A'li again.

Li Zhuiyuan did not go, but walked straight into the house and went up to the second floor. He was almost done reading "Liu's Qi-Watching Secret".

He has been staying up late every day to read it recently and forced himself to speed up his progress.

Liu Yumei sat on the chair, looking at the second floor, feeling annoyed uncontrollably in her heart. In the past, she felt jealous because her granddaughter was close to the boy, but now she wished her granddaughter could play with the boy like she did in the past.

But this boy is just reading books every day. Why don't you come and try it? How do you know if it works if you don't try? Girls need to be coaxed.

This was the only playmate A'li had since she was little. Liu Yumei didn't believe that her granddaughter had no feelings for the boy at all.

After lunch, Li Zhuiyuan continued reading. In the afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan finally finished reading the book.

He leaned back in the rattan chair, seizing the time to organize and sublimate the contents of the book.

Although his eyes were closed, the weather and pictures recorded in the book emerged in his mind. His left and right hands kept gesturing irregularly. To outsiders, it seemed that the boy closed his eyes and imagined himself as a music conductor, but in Li Zhuiyuan's perception, he was fiddling with different water environments.

For this type of book, rote memorization is of limited effect. One must achieve a profound understanding, similar to the level of art appreciation, on the basis of deep understanding, in order to truly master it.

Fine beads of sweat oozed out of his face, and his brows were sometimes tight and sometimes loose.

After everything was completely tidied up, the boy opened his eyes, his eyes full of fatigue.

When I sat up, I found that my face was sticky. It turned out that I had a nosebleed. A lot of blood had been bled, and my clothes were soaked in a large red area.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that this was a warning from the body due to overusing the brain.

In just a few days, he mastered the "Liu's Qi-Watching Art", which was a huge challenge even for him. Fortunately, he completed it. However, he can't do this kind of thing again in the future.

Otherwise he would be very worried that his physical problems would arise before his mental ones.

After taking a shower, changing clothes, and washing the bloody clothes himself, Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs and told Aunt Liu that he was sleepy and would not eat dinner, then went to the back of the house.

Li Sanjiang and Runsheng were helping the bricklayers. The workshop was built against the back wall of the main house and would be completed before nightfall.

Li Zhuiyuan told Li Sanjiang that he would not eat dinner because he had been reading and studying too late last night and could not stay up any longer and wanted to go to bed first.

Originally, I was just afraid that Grandpa would worry and even more afraid that he would come to check on me at night and disturb my rest, so I came here to tell him specifically.

But after hearing what he said, Li Sanjiang's eyes immediately turned red, and he quickly waved his hand to signal Li Zhuiyuan to go back and sleep and rest.

After Li Zhuiyuan left, Li Sanjiang wiped his eyes with the back of his hand:

"He said he didn't care just to make me feel better, but Xiao Yuanhou was also worried. Listen, he was never focused on studying before. When did he ever study hard late at night?"

When returning to the front of the house from the back, passing the door of the east room, Li Zhuiyuan could only walk close to the wall and keep a sufficient distance, otherwise A'li would get stressed.

At a safe distance, Li Zhuiyuan stood there and looked at the girl for a long time.

He had worried before that if he returned to Beijing and couldn't see A'li anymore, would he feel uncomfortable?

There is no need to worry now, he knows that he can't adapt at all.

Just as A'li was already accustomed to the darkness, I, too, was already accustomed to various masks.

If I had not experienced it, then everything would have remained the same, but because I had experienced it...there is no going back.

"Xiaoyuan, come and have tea with grandma."

"No, grandma, I'm tired. I'm going back to my room to sleep."

Back in the room, Li Zhuiyuan lay down on the bed and began to sleep. He was really tired.

He slept until late at night. After waking up, he got out of bed and went to his grandfather's room to get some things. His grandfather was sleeping so soundly that he could not be awakened even by thunder.

Then I went downstairs and the TV was on with a fixed color screen.

Runsheng was lying on the floor made of a table, sleeping soundly with the little black dog in his arms.

The little black dog is now being raised by Runsheng. Of course, there is no need to raise it because it sleeps in its own doghouse most of the time. It took the grandfather several days to notice that there was a new dog in the house.

"Brother Runsheng, wake up."

"Um...what's wrong, Xiaoyuan?"

"Brother Runsheng, come with me and put on all the equipment."

"it is good!"

Li Zhuiyuan went to get some more incense and candles, and also went to the kitchen to get some ingredients. When he came out, he saw Runsheng preparing to push the tricycle:
"Brother Runsheng, it's not far, let's walk over."

"Okay." Runsheng followed with a large sack on his back and asked in a low voice, "Xiaoyuan, are we going to kill them?"

"Who?"

"The guys who contracted the fish pond."

“They have police.”

"So what are we going to do?"

"Please ask for help."

Runsheng turned his head to look at the sack on his back, and then looked at the incense and candles and offerings in Li Zhuiyuan's hand:
"I need to bring this with me if I need help?"

Li Zhuiyuan led Runsheng to a fish pond. Opposite the pond was the house of Big Beard.

The bearded wife has already been there with her eldest son. They are currently planning to sell the house, but firstly, it is not easy to sell the homestead to outsiders, and secondly, someone had just drowned in front of the house, and the story spread very strangely. Even if the price is very low, no one dares to take over for the time being.

So, this is currently one of the most secluded places in the village.

Li Zhuiyuan stood in front of the fish pond, closed his eyes, then slowly opened them, and the contents of "Liu's Qi-Watching Secret" emerged in his mind.

It was he who brought the little yellow warbler here. Now, he had to make sure whether the little yellow warbler was still there.

The color of the water ripples, the state of the aquatic plants, the shore, and even the wind blowing across it, all these tiny details make up the scene in Li Zhuiyuan's mind.

Li Zhuiyuan walked slowly along the edge of the fish pond and observed carefully. Finally, he was sure that there was a dead body hiding in the fish pond.

Little yellow warbler, still here.

"Brother Runsheng, dig a small hole here, here, and there, and then put incense in it."

"Yeah." Runsheng picked up the Yellow River shovel and started working.

Li Zhuiyuan threw the offerings he brought into a specific location in the pond, then placed two candles at the receiving position on the southwest side of the pond and lit them.

After doing all this, Li Zhuiyuan picked up a stack of yellow paper and lit it with a candle.

"Brother Runsheng, don't do anything unless I tell you to. Stay away now and follow us later."

Runsheng stood further away obediently, then asked doubtfully: "Come with us?"

Li Zhuiyuan waved the burning yellow paper and chanted:
"Young man Li Zhuiyuan, please come out of the water and perform three sacrifices in return afterwards."

"Snapped!"

The yellow paper slapped into the mud and went out.

Li Zhuiyuan turned around, with his back to the pond, holding the incense burner in his left hand and the bell in his right hand.

Although Runsheng was standing far away, he could see clearly that ripples suddenly appeared on the surface of the pond behind Li Zhuiyuan, and then the figure of a long-haired woman slowly came ashore.

Die!
Runsheng's breathing immediately became rapid. He wanted to shout to Xiaoyuan that he was in danger, but then he changed his mind and realized that it was Xiaoyuan who brought this death upon himself.

Then, his brain turned again: Oh my God, Xiaoyuan can actually attract death!
He had followed his grandfather to retrieve corpses since he was a child, and he had always responded passively. However, he had never seen or imagined that there could be such a proactive way!
How did Xiaoyuan do it?
Two cold hands fell on his shoulders. Li Zhuiyuan felt his body sink, and then wet stains soaked his clothes.

This familiar feeling is back again.

However, this time, he was not really scared, but to be on the safe side, he still called Runsheng.

“Ding ding ding… ding ding ding… ding ding ding…”

The clear sound of bells rang out, and Li Zhuiyuan began to move forward, and the figure behind him also followed him.

under the moonlight,
Casting two figures, one tall and one short.

……

East room bedroom.

Liu Yumei was fanning A'li with a palm-leaf fan. A'li had his eyes open and had not fallen asleep yet.

In the past, after coaxing the boy to sleep every night, Ali would go back to her room and close her eyes obediently, trying to make herself fall asleep so that she could get up early, dress up and go see him.

Suddenly, Liu Yumei seemed to sense something. She stood up and walked to the window to look outside. Then, she looked at A'li on the bed, only to see that A'li's eyes, which were originally open, slowly closed at this moment.

“This… this is… this is…”

Even though Liu Yumei had seen many storms, she was speechless at this moment because of shock. After a long time, she thought of what the boy said to her the day before yesterday:

"Grandma, A-li has gone back to her room. I have to find a way to call A-li out again so I can apologize to her in person."

Liu Yumei showed a smile that didn't know whether to laugh or cry:

"No, now young people are starting to use this method when they meet up at night, right?"

……

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the dam, shaking the bell and carrying the incense burner, and then stopped.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes.

Although he was wet, cold and uncomfortable, he still forced himself to sleep.

In fact, you don’t have to really sleep. As long as you can reach a trance state of being half asleep and half awake, you can practice Yin Walking successfully.

When he slowly opened his eyes, he first looked behind him. The figure with long hair and cheongsam was still there. He looked further away, but could not see Runsheng.

Well, this is a successful dream.

"Please wait a moment. I will take you back in a while."

After saying this, Li Zhuiyuan put down the bell and incense burner in his hands, and walked forward by himself.

He broke free from the restraints of those hands, but the cheongsam figure still kept his hands raised, motionless.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the east room and stopped.

quickly,

The girl's figure appeared.

This time, she finally stopped completely ignoring him like she did during the day, and instead focused her gaze on him.

Midnight,

Dark,

On the dam, there stood a boy, a girl, and a dead body.

The boy looked at the girl and said sincerely:
"Ari, can you please forgive me?"

(End of this chapter)