Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 471

"Wow, you're quite strong, kid."

The old man, with a pipe dangling from his mouth, watched with a smile as Li Zhuiyuan carried in two buckets of water.

Li Zhuiyuan poured water into the pot and was about to add firewood when the old man stopped him.

"Sit further away, Grandpa will burn it. Don't let it burn you, baby, your skin is delicate."

Li Zhuiyuan sat down next to him.

After tidying up for a while, the old man put down the tongs, took a puff of his pipe, and asked:

Are you scared?

"Don't be afraid."

"Well, it's all good that you're alright now. It's all over, as long as everyone's okay. When I went to carry them away, I was horrified to see them all like that. You two kids are lucky; you weren't seriously injured, and you're not disfigured. That's good, cough cough cough..."

"Grandpa, you'd better smoke less; it's bad for your health."

"I can't quit, haha, this is the only source of fun I can live on for the rest of my life."

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, walked behind the old man, and placed his hands on the old man's shoulders.

"Hey, hey, hey, no need, no need, baby, no need for that... Oh, oh, cough! Cough! Cough!"

At first, the old man thought the child was massaging his shoulders, but the force suddenly changed. The child pushed and pounded his back, and after coughing several times, he coughed up a large amount of thick black liquid. He didn't know if it was blood or phlegm, but his chest felt much better, and even the air he breathed in felt much cooler.

"You little rascal, you actually have this skill?"

"Yes, I learned it from my family."

"Hehe, Grandpa feels much better now."

Li Zhuiyuan sat back down. After the water boiled, the boy used a ladle to scoop the hot water into a bucket, carried it back to his bedroom, and just then the old woman came out of the bedroom.

She quickly walked to the old man's side, patted his arm swiftly, and smiled:
"Let me tell you, I've never seen such a beautiful girl in my entire life. I was standing at the door when I saw her sitting on the bed, and I was completely mesmerized."

Li Zhuiyuan put his hand into the basin, tested the water temperature, and said, "It's ready. Wipe yourself down."

Ah Li walked over.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his back, moved the candles outwards, took out a notebook and pen, and began to record this wave.

Behind me, first I heard the sound of a girl taking off her clothes, then the sound of water droplets as she wiped herself.

After the girl finished wiping herself and getting dressed, Li Zhuiyuan put down his pen and stood up.

Ah Li sat down in the spot where the boy had been sitting, took out a carving knife and a piece of memorial tablet material she had brought from home from her backpack, and began carving a candlestick.

Behind him, Li Zhuiyuan used the water the girl had just used to wash himself to wipe his body as well.

Boiling water late at night is troublesome, and I don't want to bother others anymore. When I lived with my grandparents in Nantong, there were many children in the family, and the bath water in the wooden tub was taken turns by the children. There was no time to change the water after each bath.

After Li Zhuiyuan finished washing, he picked up the basin, poured out the water, and returned to find that the candlestick in A Li's hand had been carved. He put the candle in it, and the room became much brighter.

There was only one bed, which the old lady had made very soft. Ah Li pointed to the headboard, where there were many biscuits and candies. The old lady had brought them in earlier, probably because she couldn't bear to eat them normally and was saving them for her grandchildren during the New Year.

Li Zhuiyuan put these things away and put them away properly. For dinner, the old man washed a pig's head.

I cooked a pot of meat in my own house and also sent a lot to other people's homes. I ate my fill and I'm not hungry now.

Ah Li lay inside, and Li Zhuiyuan lay outside.

There are three blankets, one for each person, and the third blanket is placed on top of both of them.

The boy's fingertips emerged from under the covers, and the evil dragon flew out, circled the candle once, and then extinguished the light.

I was camping in the mountains a while ago, and after sleeping in my sleeping bag for so long, it was so comfortable to go back to my warm bed inside.

But as he slept, Li Zhuiyuan sensed something and opened his eyes again.

Ah Li opened her eyes as well.

Both of them were proficient in the "Liu Family's Method of Observing Qi" and were very sensitive to changes in the Qi of their surroundings.

This is the cascading of wisps of celestial energy, representing the lighting of lamps. Gathering into a bundle, it signifies that many lamps are about to be lit.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at A Li.
He opened his mouth and said:

"Let's see them off, whether they stay or leave."

……

"Master?"

Xia He's gaze kept sweeping over the young master's crotch, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Xu Mofan: "I'm fine. He was implying something, but you didn't understand."

Xia He wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes and nodded vigorously to show that she believed.

Xu Mofan struggled to get out of bed.

"Young Master, what are you doing?"

"Help me to sit by the door."

With Xia He's help, Xu Mofan sat down on the wooden steps at the entrance.

Just then, a group of people passed by the door, the one in the middle holding a lamp.

They didn't look at Xu Mofan, and Xu Mofan didn't scrutinize them closely either.

At this moment, the two sides seemed to have a special tacit understanding of not disturbing each other.

Xia He asked with suspicion, "Young Master, their injuries are so severe, why aren't they resting and recovering? What are they going to do? Are they going to...?"

Xu Mofan: "Yeah, go and light the lamps a second time. They're about to admit defeat."

Xia He: "My young master is still the most determined."

Xu Mofan: "I was convinced."

Xia He stuck out her tongue and stopped talking.

That day, under the old locust tree, she witnessed the young master rush out with a gun, and then he knelt down.

She knew that the young master had suffered a great blow to his spirit that time. In the days that followed, he became lazy and decadent, and couldn't muster any energy for anything.

However, out of admiration for her young master, she originally thought he could pull himself together and get back on his feet, but it seems that he hasn't.

Under the cover of night, a boy and a girl walked towards each other hand in hand.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped and looked at Xu Mofan sitting on the steps, nodding to him.

Xu Mofan nodded in response.

Without exchanging words, the boy and girl continued walking towards the center of the village.

After the two left, Xia He asked softly:

"Young Master, is that person there specifically to attend the ceremony?"

Xu Mofan: "He's not as boring as you think."

"That is……"

"They were probably going to persuade some people not to light the lamps again."

Why would he do that? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for him to force his competitors out of the market?

Xu Mofan looked up at the figure carrying two maces standing on the chimney of the opposite roof.

"He has his own plans and arrangements. Besides, can we even be considered his competitors?"

“Young master, have you forgotten what Uncle said before? As long as the gun is there, the man is there; as long as the man has a breath, the gun will have a will.”

"Yes, that's what my uncle taught me, but he deliberately kept it from me and secretly enjoyed it all along."

Xu Mofan recalled his time in Luoyang, when the man who delivered wine and peanuts to his uncle stayed behind to help with his uncle's funeral arrangements.

Given that person's true identity, to go to such lengths is truly a great honor and respect for both the uncle and the Xu family's spear.

Gunners may have pride, but true pride lies in being neither arrogant nor humble, not in being unable to accept defeat or let go.

"Xiahe, do you have any peanuts?"

“There are no roasted peanuts left, but…” Xia He took out a handful of peanuts in their shells from her pocket.

Xu Mofan: "What a pity, it's not..."

Xia He quietly took out a small bottle: "The family we're staying at brewed their own wine. I secretly took some. Young master, you're seriously injured right now, so I'll only allow you to drink a little."

Xu Mofan smiled.

The peanuts were given to him at the dinner table, and the alcohol was stolen by himself, since normal families wouldn't give alcohol to someone injured in a car accident.

However, while they might deceive and cheat among themselves, they are all very law-abiding in the secular world.

Each family that offered them lodging would either leave them several times more money or contribute to the merit; in short, they would never let anyone suffer a loss.

Many ancient tales of the strange and folk legends often feature stories of ordinary people encountering immortals and receiving blessings for their good deeds. Upon closer examination, these stories are actually just like what they are doing now: after a period of great change, they return to the common people to rest and recuperate, like the monk Daoji who travels the world with a lamp lit at Lingyin Temple.

Xia He peeled the peanuts, blew away the peanut skins, handed them to Xu Mofan, and then took charge herself, pouring some wine into the young master's mouth.

Xu Mofan turned to his side, comfortably reclining, and sighed:
"Wanting to light the lamp a second time is already admitting defeat; being persuaded not to light it is equivalent to lighting it a third time, which does add another variable to the river, but this variable applies to others, not to him."

"As long as he doesn't die young, even if they stand facing each other on the waves in the future, do you think those he previously advised against lighting lamps will still have the courage to confront him?"

……

"My dear brother, what can I say to you? Think it over, please think it over carefully."

Tao Zhuming sat in the chair, looking at Ling Wuxing, who was standing in front of him with a cane and a lamp in his hand.

Ling Wuxing: "I've gone down to the Yangtze River. Isn't that a good thing for Brother Tao?"

Tao Zhuming: "In the past, if you had said you were admitting defeat, I would have set off firecrackers for three days and three nights. Now that you've admitted defeat, aren't you just leaving me to roast over the fire?"

Ling Wuxing said, "I wish Brother Tao a bright future and that he will soon ascend to the throne of the Dragon King."

Tao Zhuming: "If you want to give blessings, you should wait until you leave here. If you're giving me blessings here, I suspect you're cursing me to die and reminding people to get rid of me as soon as possible."

Ling Wuxing: "It's unlikely. He won't kill anyone here. If he were to kill someone, he would wait until the next wave."

Tao Zhuming: "Heh, you saw the scene over there at the wellhead too. How many of us will be left in the next wave?"

Ling Wuxing: "There are still some."

Tao Zhuming: "Some of them, I'm afraid, will stab me first if they see me. I'm talking about that gun. Look, that guy has been looking disheartened for a long time. He didn't even come to the wellhead to queue up tonight."

Tao Zhuming and Ling Wuxing were staying at a two-story wooden house. They were at the window of their second-floor room, facing the well in the center of the village, and could see everything clearly.

Ling Wuxing fiddled with the rusty lamp in his palm.

Tao Zhuming took out a square seal from his bosom. The seal emitted light and released a protective barrier.
“Brother, the martial arts world is never short of geniuses. Falling behind for a time does not mean falling behind forever. The one who laughs last laughs best.”

I admit, he was indeed a source of despair at that moment, but the world is vast, and this isn't just a small river. He has many more hurdles to overcome, and whether he can truly get through them remains to be seen.

Ling Wuxing said, “Brother Tao, the reason I want to light the lamp is that I’m afraid if I don’t light it, I’ll become an obstacle to him.”

Tao Zhuming: "Putting morality aside and disregarding right and wrong, are you really just going to offer your neck for execution, brother?"

Ling Wuxing: "I don't want to deceive myself anymore. He's different. You and I have both heard about what happened in the previous generation, but I don't think the same tricks will work on him."

He is neither surnamed Qin nor Liu, yet he combines the strengths of both families while discarding their burdens. He has no rules; he prefers to establish his own.

The incident at Lujiazhuang was something he deliberately used to announce to the forces of the previous generation who were involved in that matter that the Ming family had been reduced to such a wretched state, yet they hadn't yet broken ties.

You tell me, in the next wave, which family will be the one mistakenly accused of "sorry"?

Tao Zhuming: "I believe that the old folks still have some things they can reveal."

The previous generation suppressed it, and this generation will only suppress it more, even if it comes at a greater cost.

The more powerful this person is, the faster the older generation will reach an internal consensus and agree on the terms.

Even if it's just to stay on the river and watch the fireworks, I don't want to go down now.

Ling Wuxing: "Brother Tao, aren't you afraid of becoming one of those fireworks set off into the sky?"

Tao Zhuming: "My Tao family... is clean!"

He ordered the Five Elements to stop speaking, turned around, picked up his cane, took the lamp, and went downstairs.

After going down the stairs, I arrived at the door.

The Five Elements saw that the people who were waiting for them at the door were not standing facing inwards, but facing outwards.

Outside on the road, the boy turned sideways and looked into the house.

Ling Wuxing swallowed hard and walked to the door.

Li Zhuiyuan: "With such serious injuries, don't move around. Just lie down and rest."

Upon hearing this, Ling Wuxing gripped the lamp in his hand tightly, causing his wound to reopen and blood to flow out.

He thought it through very clearly. His decision to continue was not only to admit defeat, but also to express his attitude.

When Li Zhuiyuan established rules for the wolf pack in this wave, the wolf pack was actually trying to figure out the wolf king's temperament through these rules.

What the Five Elements need is this safety net.

First, protect yourself, then try to preserve some of the family line.

But clearly, that person didn't want to give themselves this safety net so easily.

Ling Wuxing glanced at his new tattoo out of the corner of his eye.

It turns out that the other party had already discounted the price, clearly separating each item.

If you want the other party to show some mercy when they seek revenge in the future, then you must stay on the river to pave the way for them, protect them, and eliminate other competitors.

In the end, looking around the river, there were no competitors left, only his people.

This might be a good thing for others, but for him, he might never get what he wants because of the other party's terrifying talent in quickly improving his family's secret techniques. The other party will always be able to pay him overtime and won't ask for favors without giving him a credit.

But what he wants most right now is to be promised a pie in the sky!

"Senior, I'm not afraid of being laughed at, but I trust Ling Wuxing, though I don't trust myself."

Continuing to stay on the river made Wu Xing fear that he would be drawn into future schemes targeting this person.

Li Zhuiyuan: "That's what I'd be most happy to see."

Ling Wuxing looked up, blinked hard, nodded, turned around, and went back upstairs.

He won't turn on the lamp anymore.

Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand and continued walking towards the well.

Back in his room on the second floor, Ling Wuxing turned off the light, looking as if all his energy had been drained.

Tao Zhuming, having overheard the conversation below, said to Ling Wuxing:
"Next wave, should I worry that your brother might stab me in the back?"

……

Surrounded by several of his men, Zhu Yiwen hopped and skipped out from around the corner.

He is now conscious, but because Runsheng has not rested well and has not yet extracted the corpse poison from him, he is still stiff.

Zhu Yiwen held a lamp between his long, black fingernails.

He had just hopped and skipped onto the village road when he stopped.

"call!"

He blew on it, lifting the talisman that was stuck to his forehead, and saw the boy walking past him.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't look at him or stop; he simply waved to him.

"okay!"

Zhu Yiwen jumped up on the spot, turned around, and led his people back, hopping and skipping along.

Inside the slanted side room.

Luo Xiaoyu is applying medicine to Sister Hua.

Sister Hua is a half-warrior and half-assassin, and she was seriously injured in the battle in Little Hell.

"Xiaoyu, I'm sorry to have troubled you."

"Don't be tired, sis. You have short legs, no butt, and no breasts, so you'll be done wiping in no time."

"Thank you, sister."

"Haha."

Sister Hua is not an older sister; according to seniority, she is Luo Xiaoyu's elder.

When Luo Xiaoyu was very young, the sect's patriarch noticed his talent and emphasized the rules, forbidding him from showing off.

The ancestor was well aware that his own sect, especially its lower-level members, could not possibly be truly gentle, kind, respectful, frugal, and modest. He deliberately used this method to temper Luo Xiaoyu's character.

Even when it came to lighting lamps to travel the world, they would openly compete to select one person, but secretly have Luo Xiaoyu light the lamps for them.

According to the rules of the river, lamplighters from the same lineage would soon meet and fight to the death to determine a victor. The monk Yayoi killed the current lamplighter of Qinglong Temple and seized his robe and staff.

Luo Xiaoyu was lucky; he didn't encounter any infighting among his fellow disciples. The guy who was openly the leader of the sect was unlucky; he met a ruthless character early on and was killed.

Upon hearing the news, the ancestor was so angry that he vomited blood three times.

The others in the sect thought that the patriarch was worried about the development of the sect in this generation. In fact, the chessboard that the lamplighter carried when he traveled the world was the sect's real treasure. The patriarch originally intended to "hand it over" to Luo Xiaoyu through that person, but that person died suddenly, and both the person and the treasure were gone.

The ancestors were doing this for the sake of the sect's development, which was not wrong, but Luo Xiaoyu, a genius in array formations, was forced to experience the coldness and warmth of human relationships.

Hua Jie was the one who gave him warmth back then. Hua Jie was unaware that her kindness was directed towards a genius that the sect was grooming. Later, Luo Xiaoyu insisted that he only wanted Hua Jie to worship him, rejecting another candidate arranged by the ancestor. Logically speaking, Hua Jie was not qualified.

After applying the medicine, Luo Xiaoyu got up, walked to the wooden table, and set up the chessboard.

Sister Hua asked, "Have you made your decision?"

Luo Xiaoyu: "Mm."

Sister Hua: "That's great. Even if you don't make it to the end, you can return to the sect with dignity. You'll get everything you wanted before, and the position of sect leader in the future will probably be yours. No one in this generation can compete with you."

Luo Xiaoyu began setting up the chess pieces.

Seeing his low spirits, Sister Hua continued, "Think about your beloved senior sister and junior sister..."

Luo Xiaoyu stopped placing a piece and began to daydream.

Sister Hua laughed and said, "When we get back to the sect, we'll slap them in the face and make them regret it."

It's cliché, yet it's something many people yearn for.

Luo Xiaoyu rested his chin on his left hand, continued placing pieces with his right, and smiled to himself as he thought about it.

Sister Hua: "Xiaoyu, admitting defeat by lighting the lamp is nothing. Your future life will still be wonderful and exciting."

Luo Xiaoyu: "The senior and junior sisters all have their own places to belong, so it's okay to just think about it, there's no need to actually do it."

Sister Hua, what people want most is often what they can't get.

When I went back, I was still the same person I always was. It wasn't that I wanted everyone to get used to me; it's that I was already used to it.

Sister Hua: "Xiaoyu, you don't need to keep making yourself suffer."

Luo Xiaoyu: "I'm not wronged. When Sister Hua stood in front of me and taught those senior brothers who teased and bullied me in the forest a lesson, I was very happy."

The Tao follows nature, and so do formations.

Luo Xiaoyu placed a black piece, and the broken chessboard released a smooth luster, like his broken youth, receiving another kind of self-healing.

At that moment, a ray of light shone from the bright moon outside the window, and the feng shui energy condensed into a white piece, which fell onto the chessboard.

The chessboard trembled, and the pieces became active, like a self-healing youth bursting forth with new restlessness.

Luo Xiaoyu glanced out the window, then turned to the person lying on the bed and said:
"Sister Hua, I'm not in a hurry to light the lamp. Let's wait a bit longer and play a little more."

……

Feng Xionglin and his two companions stood in line on the outside.

The crowd over the wellhead was discussing whether to come one by one or all at once.

Everyone has a very high sense of ritual about this nighttime peeing.

Feng Xionglin turned around and looked at Li Zhuiyuan and the girl who were walking over. "Oh, senior, you've come."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I need three new sets."

Feng Xionglin: "New rubber bands... three sets?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Three complete sets, the Feng family, with skin of copper and bones of iron."

Feng Xionglin anxiously scratched his head: "It's okay to dig up one ancestral grave, but if I dig up three ancestral graves and get caught, my family will skin me alive."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I saw what your uncle looked like before he died."

Feng Xionglin: "Being able to demonstrate my Feng family's unique skills in front of you, senior, has made my life worthwhile."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I have also studied your uncle's rubber band. I found that the body-refining path of your Feng family is ostensibly about strength and power, but in reality it is a combination of strength and gentleness. However, in order to pursue combat power that can be achieved in the short term, it has become unbalanced."

If this formula can be combined with a suitable Feng Shui Qi-cultivation method, the Feng family will be able to move forward faster and more steadily in the future.

Feng Xionglin: "Three complete sets. I wonder if you have any requirements regarding gender and age?"

If others said this, Feng Xionglin would think they were talking nonsense, but in the art of body refinement, the Qin family was second to none in the martial arts world; as for the art of feng shui, the Liu family held the pinnacle.

This is an incredibly good deal. Feng Xionglin thinks that if the elders in his family's ancestral graves knew about it, they would probably be so eager that they would turn into zombies or jump out of the dead.

Li Zhuiyuan: "The transaction took place on the river."

Feng Xionglin: "Understood."

With a wave of his hand, Feng Xionglin signaled his two men to come back with him.

Li Zhuiyuan continued walking forward, and the people gathered around the well had already noticed his presence.

Everyone consciously made way.

Those who didn't plan to light the lamps simply didn't come.

For example, the Luo siblings, the monk Yayoi, and Wang Lin.

Li Zhuiyuan dissuaded some of the people he had selected.

They are good enough and have enough potential.

They themselves would also calculate and analyze their reasons for not letting them rush to light the lights again, but there was one thing they could never have imagined.

That means Li Zhuiyuan can now walk on his own river even while he's on the shore.

Sending out Zhao Yi and Chen Xiyuan like last time, while splitting his own team in two, is an extremely extreme approach.

Not to mention that during the next break, Zhao Yi and Chen Xiyuan might be out of sync with him. Furthermore, apart from Zhao Yi being an all-rounder who can handle all kinds of situations, Chen Xiyuan and Tan Wenbin are not suitable for all kinds of "playing the field".

To maximize the benefits of the "Secret Scroll of Recalling the Past," Li Zhuiyuan needed to establish a talent pool that he could draw upon.

These people must be on the river. Firstly, they can use the power of the river to help them nurture and cultivate others. Secondly, the people on the river are intertwined with cause and effect, making it easier for them to influence the "waves" on the shore.

If Heaven withholds a huge amount of my merit, then I must find a way to cash it out.

In addition, he is good at increasing his income without relying on merit, and he can afford to pay a high price.

In this way, not only can he accelerate his own progress and rise to the top, but the people he recruits will also be able to cross a river more easily than their contemporaries, making faster progress and further squeezing the living space of other competitors, thus snowballing his advantage bigger and bigger.

Wei Zhengdao had it too easy back then, able to develop quietly and without making a sound. Li Zhuiyuan couldn't follow that path, so he had to do the opposite.

However, not everyone is suitable for retention. There are only so many candidates, and the amount of pie you can offer is limited. Most people will have to face the choice of elimination.

Moreover, some people's strength and potential, once they lose their fighting spirit, may be lost on the river after one or two waves.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the well and patted the edge of the well with his palm. The evil dragon flew into the well, and a roar that could not be heard by ordinary people came from inside the well.

The boy flicked his finger upwards, and the evil dragon leaped out, stirring up the well water and spreading it in all directions. The water droplets floated, reflecting the moonlight, making the dragon's shadow appear even larger, fiercer, and more majestic.

Li Zhuiyuan stood beneath the dragon, slowly surveying the crowd.

The first reaction of the crowd was that this person was attending the ceremony with a victor's mentality, hoping to gain even greater pleasure.

But soon, considering his identity and his performance in this wave, everyone realized that he wouldn't be so low-class and boring.

When people are close together, jealousy and suspicion are easy to arise, but when the other party has completely overwhelmed you and you know you can't catch up, you don't have as many thoughts about it.

Previously, persuading people to stay was for their own benefit; but now, Li Zhuiyuan's farewell is out of respect for the Dragon King's faction's own stance and character.

Despite their decline over the years, Dragon King Qin and Dragon King Liu still enjoy such a good reputation in the martial arts world. Li Zhuiyuan often benefits from these old acquaintances, and even receives endorsement from the Heavenly Dao. This is inseparable from the Qin and Liu families' adherence to the principles of justice and morality in the martial arts world.

Li Zhuiyuan never engages in internal strife, questioning whether he is kind or evil, a defender or a destroyer of the rules.

The young man only knew that if there were more people like Grandpa Xu Fengzhi in this martial arts world, things would be much more peaceful.

Li Zhuiyuan began:

"The river has flowed for thousands of years, with generations vying for supremacy, fighting and competing, life and death determined by fate. The world is vast, and the rivers and lakes are far more than just this one; Heaven has eyes, but it cannot cover the entire human world."

Tonight, we both let go and pick up again.

If we meet again on the shore someday, we will still be kindred spirits.

Li Zhuiyuan is deeply grateful for everyone's humble and courteous remarks.

This is a farewell dinner for you all!

Li Zhuiyuan began to perform the rites of the Qin and Liu families.

"Roar!"

The evil dragon let out a series of hisses, its body swaying, exuding a powerful aura.

Because they had fought together against this wave, even if they lost and could not become the Dragon King, they were sent off with the ceremony of transforming into a dragon, receiving the highest honors and recognition.

The second lighting of the lamp was already a low point in his life, yet he received such a generous gift from the leaders of the Qin and Liu families. The emotional value of this gift was simply overflowing.

Each generation holds their own Dragon King in high esteem, considering him the strongest among all Dragon Kings in history. Because of this, even as the loser, they feel a sense of pride.

It can be said that everyone present at this moment is the one in the entire martial arts world who most hopes that Li Zhuiyuan can become the Dragon King of this generation.

Many people even imagine that when they are old and enjoying their grandchildren's company, they will tell their children about their past adventures in the martial arts world, and that these failures will become the most glorious moments of their lives.

Everyone stepped back a few paces and stood in their positions. Each group of lamp holders lit their lamps, proclaiming to Heaven that they were offering their lamps to the worthy.

Immediately, everyone present bowed down and worshipped the boy.

"We await the Dragon King's command!"

……

In the village, those who hadn't lit the lamps all heard this solemn sound.

Sister Hua: "This is the Dragon King's demeanor!"

Luo Xiaoyu: "Sister Hua, the future Dragon King has granted me permission to visit his home."

Sister Hua: "Really? When!"

Luo Xiaoyu: "I don't know. It looks like we'll have to take a number and wait in line."

Sister Hua: "Even if he is the future Dragon King, the place where he lives should be the current residence of both families, so we should prepare some gifts for his visit."

Luo Xiaoyu: "Sister Hua, there's no need to go through that trouble."

Sister Hua: "You should know how to behave properly."

Luo Xiaoyu shrugged: "I think I am the gift."

On a rooftop.

Wang Lin sat there, and on the roof opposite him, a figure carrying two maces on his back was watching him closely.

The chubby boy didn't care. Before, he was staring at the scene by the well. Now, he was scanning the houses one by one. The people who were supposed to come out and light the lamps earlier had been persuaded to go back.

Wang Lin muttered to himself silently:

"A true dragon nurtures a dragon."

……

Starting from the second day, people began to leave the village one after another.

For them, as long as they can get out of bed and walk normally, that's enough; as for recuperation, they can do it anywhere.

Before each group left, they would make a point of bowing and saying goodbye at the door of the house where Li Zhuiyuan was staying.

The slight trouble this caused was that the first group of people who left left money too obviously, and the owner found them no sooner than they left, and chased after them in an oxcart.

The group of people were injured and walking slowly. They had just lit the lanterns for the second time and were in a relaxed mood, so they were still enjoying the scenery and were overtaken.

The money was returned.

The old man who was staying at the house where Li Zhuiyuan was staying was the most senior and respected person in the village. After learning about this, he went from house to house and told the villagers not to accept money from them.

When someone is in trouble, it's a good deed for the village to help them; don't taint it with money.

Money can be tempting, and while the villagers are kind, they are not saints. This has drawn some criticism from others, but they only talk about it in private and still listen to the old man's advice.

If someone leaves a house, don't rush to let them go. First, search the house yourself to make sure nothing is left behind.

This means that... everyone has to wave their hand and pay the price with their merits.

"Come on, baby, eat."

The old man killed a chicken today, and Li Zhuiyuan and A Li each got a big chicken leg.

While they were eating, Lin Shuyou returned. Since there was no signal in the village, Li Zhuiyuan told Ayou to run outside to find a signal and make a phone call.

He made several phone calls to the Lin Family Temple, asking Ayou's master and grandfather to go to the Guanjiang Ancestral Temple to retrieve the spirit tablets of the Zengsun and Erjiang, and then personally escort them to Yuxi.

Just as Lin Shuyou had previously guessed about Tongzi, Li Zhuiyuan was indeed going to start improving the combat power of the two generals, Zengsun and Yi. If these two continued to fall behind, they would barely be able to serve as cheerleaders.

The three sets of Feng family members' remains that the boy asked Feng Xionglin for were used to rebuild the bodies of the two generals who had been killed, in order to increase their sacrificial capacity.

I made several phone calls to Mr. Zhai and Xue Liangliang to let them know that I was doing well and to discuss the upcoming work matters.

The last phone call was to his family to say hello to his great-grandfather and let him know he was safe. He didn't say when he would be home, because Li Zhuiyuan still had to work on the construction project for a while.

The old man called Ayou to sit down and eat, but Ayou said he would eat at home. He was staying at the house next door, and that family had also left him some good food.

After the meal, Ayou still had to go check and repair the village's electrical circuits.

In recent years, Yuxi has been implementing a project to bring electricity to every village. Although this mountain village is remote and has a small population, it still has electricity. However, apart from light bulbs, not many villagers' homes currently have access to electricity. The side room that Li Zhuiyuan and A Li live in, which was specially vacated, doesn't even have light bulbs installed.

The old man has two sons who, after settling down here, both took their wives and children to the city to make a living. His grandchildren are also studying in the city.

For some, life's migration means moving from a small city to a nearby big city, but for those living in remote mountainous areas, settling down in a nearby small city is a major hurdle.

Li Zhuiyuan discussed the future relocation and resettlement arrangements with the elderly man.

The old man was completely confused.

However, the old man also remembered the boy's words. Fearing he would forget, he asked the boy to write them down with paper and pen. The gist of it was that when the demolition was carried out, one should not focus on money, but rather on housing security. This security would continue to future generations, and even the children born to the old man's grandchildren would be able to receive housing.

After the meal, Li Zhuiyuan went to where Zhu Yiwen was staying.

Zhu Yiwen has been eating normally these past few days, but the food he's been eating has made his face even more stiff.

When Li Zhuiyuan came in, Zhu Yiwen was standing at the window, drooling over the livestock in the pen outside.

That can be considered sticking to the bottom line; normally, zombies crave fresh human blood.

After Runsheng entered, Zhu Yiwen's two men left the room.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to the chair next to him.

"sit."

Zhu Yiwen hopped over, wanting to sit down, but because his knees were stiff, he couldn't bend them.

Runsheng picked up the Yellow River shovel.

Startled, Zhu Yiwen jumped back a step, braced himself on the chair with his arms, and slid his legs backward, thus managing to "sit" down.

Li Zhuiyuan nodded to Runsheng.

Runsheng took out a cosmetic bottle, opened it, and the Gu worm flew out and slowly flew into Zhu Yiwen's mouth.

After a while, the Gu worms flew out, pulling out a long wisp of black mist, which was corpse poison.

Runsheng used the edge of the shovel to cut his finger and probed it. Corpse poison gushed out and seeped into Runsheng's wound.

The deathly aura on Zhu Yiwen's face gradually faded, while Runsheng's face became increasingly rosy.

Finally, the last trace of corpse energy was drained away. Zhu Yiwen collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, and laughed:
"That's great. From now on, I can eat whatever I want without worrying about side effects."

Li Zhuiyuan: "The method of contaminating the forbidden with corpse poison that you have come to understand does not require you to cultivate the corpse poison in your own body. You can go to Miao territory to find a high-quality corpse worm gu to use instead."

Zhu Yiwen looked at the Gu worm on Runsheng's fingertip and asked:
"Runsheng, are you selling this?"

Runsheng responded with a look that said he wanted to devour him.

Zhu Yiwen immediately waved his hand and said, "Haha, just kidding, just kidding."

Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng walked out of the room.

"Runsheng, you can pack your things and head to Fengdu now."

"Xiao Yuan, I'm going to stay and protect you."

“Brother Runsheng, I still have to work here for a while. After I finish here, we will go to Fengdu to meet up with you and then go back to Nantong together.”

Runsheng knew that he wouldn't be of much help with the engineering surveying if he stayed behind, so he replied:

"Okay, I'll go first."

"Remember to burn paper money for Yin Meng and tell her the exact time you arrive so she can come up and pick you up."

"Well, I will."

Tan Wenbin, who has made some progress in his recovery, stood at the entrance of the village smoking, while Lin Shuyou was climbing a pole and pulling electrical wires by hand above him.

"Brother Bin, Brother Yuan's identity as the Young Master of Fengdu has been made public to them. It's not a secret among the top forces in the martial arts world. I'm a little worried..."

"Worried about other teams?"

Lin Shuyou scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, making his already spiky hair look like a hedgehog's quills.
"Three-Eyed previously boasted to the martial arts world that he was the adopted son of the Fengdu Emperor. Now, how is he going to explain himself?"

Tan Wenbin flicked the ash from his cigarette.

laughed:

"Hehe, in this kind of thing, you can always trust the level of other teams."

……

Inside the main hall of the highest level of Fengdu Underworld.

Yin Meng sat behind the desk, flipping through the book in her hand. She already had difficulty reading, but now she had no desire to read at all. Her mind was filled with thoughts of returning to the world to visit her relatives.

Beside him, a large bag made from repurposed clothing was stuffed full.

"Gudong!"

"Ok?"

Yin Meng put the book down, wondering what the sound was.

"Gudong!"

Yin Meng stood up and began searching for the source of the sound.

"Gudong!"

Yin Meng's gaze fell on the offering table directly in front of the statue of the Great Emperor.

Those two lazy dogs were rolling and bumping into each other.

……

"Bang!"

The pawnshop door was pushed open.

A man wearing long boots, a black robe, and an official's hat walked in.

The guests and staff inside were all surprised to see this person, wondering if he was an actor from some theatrical troupe who had just finished performing and hadn't had time to remove his makeup before coming over.

The old accountant, who had been dozing in the corner of the pawnshop, opened his eyes, saw Zhao Yi, and immediately fiddled with the abacus in front of him.

The layout of the shop immediately changed, and irrelevant people were kept out. Customers and service staff only felt a blur before their eyes and thought that the strong wind outside had blown the door open.

The old accountant stood up, cupped his hands in greeting to the man before him, and said:
"I do not know where you come from..."

"This is the Ming family's shop, isn't it?"

The old accountant's gaze turned slightly cold, and he said arrogantly, "Yes."

Zhao Yi reached out, picked up the teapot from the old accountant's table, and poured himself a cup of tea:

"I know you are of low status, probably just a very remote outer sect disciple, and you may not even be surnamed Ming."

Here's what I'll say: I'll tell you something, and you can report it up the chain of command until someone truly influential in the Ming family comes out to see me.

The old accountant suppressed his arrogance, picked up his brush, and said, "Please speak."

Zhao Yi sat down in the chair, crossed his legs, and scraped the surface of the tea with the lid of his cup:
"Just say:"
That man surnamed Li, relying on a stroke of luck, used despicable means to seize the position of the young ruler while the Great Emperor was battling the Bodhisattva.

They were even less bothered by the outsider selling off their ancestral land, using the hidden resources of the Qin and Liu families as gifts, and going to great lengths to secure a promise from the Emperor to intervene.

The old accountant broke out in a cold sweat and asked cautiously, "I've made a note of it. Please take a look. If there are no problems, I'll present it to you right now."

Zhao Yi: "No rush, there's one more thing you haven't remembered. Come, prepare the offerings for the altar!"

The old accountant immediately went to make arrangements, and soon an offering table was set up, with abundant offerings and numerous candlesticks.

"As you instructed, everything has been arranged."

"Ah."

Zhao Yi stood up, walked to the offering table, and took out a portrait from his sleeve and hung it on the table. It was the Fengdu Emperor.

With a wave of his hand, the candle was lit; with another wave, the yellow paper spontaneously combusted.

The sacrificial ceremony begins.

Zhao Yi looked at the portrait and said with a smile:

"Godfather, Godfather, were you satisfied with the tribute your son gave you last time?"

The voice just fell,

The flames on all the candlesticks on the offering table turned a ghostly color, and ghostly wails and howls came from the burning brazier of yellow paper. The portrait of the Great Emperor floated up, and the terrifying pressure of the Great Emperor descended!

Zhao Yi forced himself to stay upright and stop himself from trembling. Just now, he had really risked his life.

After a while, seeing that the emperor was all talk and no action, Zhao Yi breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

call……

I knew it. Given your current state and the situation in the underworld, you can only help that guy surnamed Li once. You can't even reach out and crush me from a distance.

Beside him, the old accountant had collapsed to his knees.

Zhao Yi: "Hehe, it seems you're very satisfied, godfather. I knew you liked this kind of thing. Just you wait, I'll be serving it to you every few days from now on!"

"Buzz!"

The offering table trembled violently, and an even more immense pressure poured out.

The old accountant's trousers were soaked and smelled strongly of urine.

Here, constrained by the formation, the Emperor's oppressive aura lingers for a long time, long enough for someone of importance from the Ming family to personally experience it and feel the Emperor's special regard for them.

Zhao Yi chuckled and sat back down in his chair, crossed his legs again, picked up his teacup, and slowly said:

"Get up and continue writing."

The guy surnamed Li is just using a big name to put on a show and bluff. The one my godfather really loves is me, his godson.

We, the Zhao family, have connections and influence throughout the underworld of Fengdu.

I, Zhao Yi of Jiujiang, am the one truly favored by the Emperor!

(End of this chapter)