Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 68

“Ha, haha, hahahahahahaha…”

At first, Tan Wenbin just laughed simply, and then he couldn't help laughing more and more exaggeratedly, gradually leading Runsheng and Xue Liangliang to laugh as well.

Li Zhuiyuan did not try to be sociable this time, and he did not laugh out loud, but the corners of his mouth were slightly raised.

After experiencing danger, seeing the mystery, and going through many hardships, he finally escaped from death.

Normal people have the talent to forget the pain once the wound has healed. No matter how hard or difficult the task is, once you get through it, your brain will help you deliberately dilute the negative perceptions. It may even allow you to taste the slight sweetness of flower buds on the roadside when you recall it. This is similar to the way you sip on the pistil on your way to and from school.

Tan Wenbin now feels a sense of satisfaction from top to bottom.

Taking risks is indeed addictive.

But as he laughed, the surroundings began to tremble.

Tan Wenbin was startled: "Did you laugh out loud?"

It certainly wasn't a laugh, but it was definitely a shock, and the rocks above began to roll down.

The four of them immediately stood up and headed for the flat area below.

After a while, the shaking disappeared and calm returned. However, the place where the four people were previously located had become dented, and the crack in the rock where they had climbed out also disappeared.

In fact, there is no point in finding it even if it can be found, because the passage below must have been blocked.

Xue Liangliang: "It should be a chain reaction caused by the collapse of the underground palace."

Tan Wenbin was puzzled and asked, "Is that big thing so cruel that it will go back to destroy the house and bury itself?"

Xue Liangliang shook his head: "I don't know, maybe he wants to go back to find his mother?"

Hearing this, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but think of the snake-faced woman sitting on the bed.

Xue Liangliang found a high point to observe and determine the direction, and then led everyone towards the camp.

The distance was actually not too far, but the road was difficult to travel on, so it took quite a while.

Fortunately, we saw people in the afternoon. They were a militia group, carrying guns and explosives.

They should be the first group of people transferred from the rear to provide support after the attack.

After learning that the four were the "missing persons" of the expedition team, the other side immediately arranged for people to send the four back. During the trip, they met some explorers who were still there to assist in the work. They were all very enthusiastic and came up to thank them.

This thank you was a bit puzzling. After chatting, I learned that somehow, the incident that night spread into the story that Xue Liangliang brought a few people to lure the big thing into the cave and saved everyone.

Xue Liangliang hurriedly explained that it was the big creature that ran into the cave on its own initiative, and they were forced to flee for their lives.

But it was obvious that those colleagues just nodded and said they understood, but their expressions did not show any belief.

This made Xue Liangliang a little anxious, as he didn't want to claim this honor unauthorizedly.

Tan Wenbin muttered to Li Zhuiyuan: "Will this honor give me extra points in the college entrance examination?"

The four were first sent out of the mountainous area, then got on a car, and after returning to the town, they were arranged to go to a hospital in Wanzhou city for a detailed examination. After the examination, they went to a guesthouse to rest.

During this period, many relevant personnel came to visit, and some even came to take statements.

Xue Liangliang was responsible for handling all these matters. According to what had been agreed beforehand, the underground palace below would be kept secret for the time being.

It was not that they wanted to conceal the information deliberately, but they had already been informed that Luo Tingrui was coming. Xue Liangliang and Li Zhuiyuan planned to report the matter to Luo after he arrived, and he would decide how to report it.

It is not like in the past when there was a death in the village, people would conceal it after the matter was resolved in order not to affect their lives. But now it involves a national project, so they must confess.

The team leader Ma Yiming came before Luo Tingrui. He had a scruffy beard and looked visibly distracted and tired. After seeing Xue Liangliang, he shook his hand tightly, then went to the room to see Li Zhuiyuan and others, repeating, "Thank you, thank you."

Thank you for coming back alive.

After the incident, he hasn't slept a wink and has been under tremendous mental pressure. If temporary workers and non-staff members are included, he has lost eight people at once.

Now that four people have returned alive, he can finally feel a little better.

As soon as Ma Yiming left, Luo Tingrui came with two people. They must have avoided each other on purpose.

Xue Liangliang went into a room with the two accompanying personnel alone and told them everything about the underground palace. Of course, he concealed the special role played by Li Zhuiyuan during this period.

After finishing the questioning of Xue Liangliang, the two men entered the room again, asked Li Zhuiyuan, Runsheng and Tan Wenbin a few questions each, and then left.

There were five people left in the room.

Luo Tingrui grabbed Xue Liangliang's shoulders and shook them back and forth several times: "You worried me to death."

At his age and position in the industry, it is no exaggeration to say that the status of an heir is often more important than that of a biological son, especially since he has no son and his only daughter is not studying this major.

Then he walked up to Li Zhuiyuan, bent down and hugged the boy tightly.

The top people in the industry can basically see that the country will launch many large-scale construction projects in the future, but such projects will take a lot of time from design to completion. If Luo Tingrui wants to realize his ideals and ambitions, he really needs inheritance and relay between master and apprentice.

Luo Tingrui smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Let's go, I'll take you guys out for a midnight snack."

The night snack stall is not far from the guesthouse and it is a Wanzhou grilled fish stall.

Luo Tingrui looked at Xue Liangliang and the other two and asked, "Do you want to drink? I can drink with you."

Tan Wenbin immediately waved his hand and said, "We don't drink."

In fact, Binbin would occasionally have a drink with his grandfather at home, but he would not be tactless if the person with the highest status at the table did not want to drink.

"Then get some drinks."

"okay."

Tan Wenbin stood up and went inside to bring out a basket of soy milk: "Hey, this is the only thing they sell in this store."

As he spoke, he took the bottle opener and opened the bottles for everyone one by one and placed them in front of everyone.

Luo Tingrui said to Xue Liangliang: "Don't let it get cold, eat while talking."

Everyone picked up their chopsticks and started eating the fish.

Xue Liangliang then told Luo Tingrui the story about the underground palace again.

After listening, Luo Tingrui just nodded and smiled.

Tan Wenbin immediately said, "Look, the teacher is a man who has seen the world."

Luo Tingrui drank some soy milk and said, "Don't tell anyone about this matter unless someone from the relevant department asks."

The four of them nodded immediately.

Then, Luo Tingrui smiled again:

"Indeed, I have seen this happen several times before. We modern people, just walking on this land, can never imagine how much history and mystery are buried in the land under our feet."

There is never a shortage of mysterious events on construction sites, especially on large projects, where people tend to dig wider and deeper, and it is easy to encounter bizarre things.

Many strange rumors in society began with the story that my father, a relative, or a friend of mine once dug up something at a construction site of a certain project that night...

For Luo Gong, the protagonist is himself.

He told the four people about an experience he had that year.

That happened many years ago. He had just started working and was temporarily assigned to Jilin to participate in a project. He found it very strange at the time. Although the whole country was like a chessboard, the Northeast, as the eldest son, was exporting talents and industries to the inland areas. When did the inland areas need to send engineering teams there?
Although the place is in the mountains, it is not remote and is close to Ji'an.

After arriving there, we were assigned the corresponding task, which was not planning and design nor construction, but a review of an existing underground building.

This was supposed to be a secret project, most likely a personal air defense project, and it was quite large in scale, but for some unknown reason, there was severe water leakage.

They also divided into many teams to check various nodes. Some key areas were marked at the time, and they were not allowed to approach, so other people would be responsible for it.

During work one day, Luo Tingrui and his companions found a dry water outlet. The opening was large enough for a cow to pass through.

Logically speaking, given the quality of the project at the time, even if it was damaged by natural causes, there would not be such a big hole. The most important thing is that when they inspected this section yesterday, this hole did not appear.

Leaving one companion to guard the cave entrance, Luo Tingrui and another companion went straight in to check.

When he said this, Luo Tingrui smiled:

"We were young at that time and didn't know what fear was. Anyway, looking at the slogans painted on the walls of the engineering passage, everyone was very motivated and courageous. The one who stayed behind at the cave entrance lost the rock-paper-scissors game and felt very wronged."

The gap was very deep, and the narrowest part was only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways, but it seemed like no matter how hard you walked, you would never reach the end.

Logically speaking, we have long passed the construction scope, but the situation around us does not seem to be caused by mountain cracks or geological movements. On the contrary, some corners can be seen with obvious traces of excavation with tools.

The two young men were extremely excited at the time, thinking that this was sabotage from enemy spies.

But the further we walked in, the more we felt something was wrong. Not only were there many primitive tools on the ground, but there was also some bloodstains. When we went deeper, we even heard voices coming from deeper inside.

Then, the people over there seemed to have heard the sound of someone approaching. There was clearly a group of footsteps running towards this side, and they could vaguely see the dynamic light of fire. They were lighting torches.

Although the two were not afraid, they thought that they had to pass on the message, so Luo Tingrui asked his companion to run first, and he jogged while keeping an eye on the back to cover their retreat. Anyway, the road here was very narrow, and even if he left the body here, it would block the road.

At that time, the two young men still believed that there were enemy spies deliberately sabotaging this place.

But gradually, the voice and footsteps from the other end disappeared without a trace.

Anyway, his companions had already run very far away, and might have even gone out of the cave to report the news. Knowing that reinforcements would arrive soon, Luo Tingrui simply stopped going out and took the initiative to move inside.

As he walked, he began to feel dizzy, his steps became weak, and his vision became blurred.

"I thought it was because of the lack of oxygen at first, but thinking back, I should have been..."

Luo Tingrui paused and looked at the four people sitting in front of him.

Tan Wenbin and Runsheng were engrossed in listening to the story. Xue Liangliang asked, "Poisoned?"

Luo Tingrui turned to look at Li Zhuiyuan and motioned for him to guess.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled shyly and asked, "Are you asleep?"

Hearing this answer, Luo Tingrui opened his mouth slightly, seeming a little surprised.

"Xiao Yuan, how could you guess this?"

“Because that’s what happens when I’m sleepy.”

Luo Tingrui nodded without comment and continued: "Looking back, I should have fallen asleep, because my companion who rescued me told me that I was unconscious in the crack at that time.

But I feel like this is not a dream because everything is too real.

I stumbled to the deepest part, and I saw a magnificent hall, I saw singing girls and dancers performing, and I saw people drinking and having fun.

I was also invited to join, they asked me a lot of questions and I asked them some too.

I can't remember exactly what we asked and answered. I just remember that we talked for a long time and drank a lot. In the end, I was drunk and passed out.

When I woke up, I found myself lying in a tent in the camp.

Does it look like "Peach Blossom Spring"? "

Tan Wenbin nodded: "Indeed, they are similar. They are both very narrow-minded at first, and then suddenly become clear. The subsequent developments are also very similar. After chatting and asking questions, they are treated to wine and meat."

Xue Liangliang asked: "Teacher, have you reported it?"

"Of course they did report it, but there were quite a few people reporting it during those two days. Some people saw soldiers wearing ancient armor and strange women wearing ancient costumes in the passage."

"What about the subsequent investigation, that crack?"

"Then the water level rose and the project was flooded. It seemed that something went wrong in several key areas and some people were unable to come out. I don't know any more specific details.

Our mission was stopped midway, and there was no follow-up feedback on my report. "

Xue Liangliang: "Don't the higher-ups believe it?"

Luo Tingrui shook his head: "It is very likely that he believed it, but he still felt it didn't matter."

Tan Wenbin said: "That's not like The Peach Blossom Spring. Your story sounds a bit eerie. The Peach Blossom Spring is a beautiful story."

Li Zhuiyuan said, "Perhaps the place recorded in Peach Blossom Spring was not a village of living people."

"Xiaoyuan, why do you say that?" Luo Tingrui looked at the boy curiously again.

"I just spoke from my heart, teacher, can you give me some more details?"

"Details? Sure, do you have a pen and paper? I'll draw it."

"I have it!" Tan Wenbin immediately took out the notebook and pen he carried with him and handed it over.

Luo Tingrui began to paint. He was very good at brushwork and paid great attention to details. He first painted a piece of clothing, then a knife, and finally a set of armor.

Obviously, although this incident happened many years ago, it has always lingered in Luo Gong's mind and he ruminated on it from time to time, otherwise he would not have remembered it so clearly until now.

The four of them leaned over to look together, but the other three could only tell that it was something from ancient times, and they couldn't make out anything more.

Li Zhuiyuan took a look and said, "Goguryeo?"

Luo Tingrui crossed his arms and asked seriously, "Xiaoyuan, are you really not considering changing your major?"

The boy immediately shook his head.

"I'm just afraid that your talent will be buried." Luo Tingrui reached out and touched the boy's head. "How much is packed into this little head?"

Tan Wenbin asked in confusion: "What is a Gaogouli?"

Xue Liangliang reminded: "The wrong pronunciation is Gao Juli."

Tan Wenbin suddenly realized: "Oh, I understand this. Fortunately, there is no pinyin test in history."

Luo Tingrui continued: "Later, I drew some of the things I saw in my dream, and interviewed many people before I finally got some clues."

The Goguryeo separatist regime in the northeast existed for a long time and is well-known in history, but its fame lies mainly in serving as the background for Emperor Yang of Sui, Emperor Taizong of Tang and Emperor Gaozong of Tang. Chinese people are generally not very interested in its culture. On the contrary, people in South Korea like to steal it and claim it as their own ancestor.

This is also why Luo Tingrui was so surprised when Li Zhuiyuan recognized this thing.

"After that, I went to Ji'an many times for work and personal reasons. The last two times, I went to see experts who specialize in excavating and studying Goguryeo culture there, and I also went to the museum there. This confirmed that what I dreamed about that night was not false, because before that night, I had never come into contact with anything specific about Goguryeo culture. I had never seen it in real life, so how could I imagine it?"

Xue Liangliang asked: "Teacher, what about that project?"

Luo Tingrui lit up a cigarette and took a puff. "I checked it back two years ago. I only know that the incident in that project was much more serious than I knew. However, the relevant information and files of the project have been sealed and cannot be accessed."

Tan Wenbin smiled and said, "You really can't forget it, just like treating Bai Yueguang."

Luo Tingrui was also amused by this analogy: "Indeed, after all, I was young at that time, and I started working earlier, not much older than you are now.

In fact, I encountered several more serious and bizarre incidents in my later work.”

Tan Wenbin said expectantly, "Please tell me more."

"I can't tell you. I have no right to access the files on the Goguryeo incident. As for the following incidents, I am part of the files that should be kept safe and sealed."

"Oh, what a pity." Tan Wenbin sighed in disappointment.

“You will encounter this kind of thing in the future, and you will be asked to keep it secret.

Well, let's talk about the current situation. Let's not talk about the underground palace or anything like that. Just the underground river you found is enough to kill the plan advocated by Ma Yiming."

Xue Liangliang said: "Actually, this matter has nothing to do with Team Leader Ma..."

"The higher-ups are aware of what happened, but if something goes wrong, someone has to take responsibility. Of course, they won't really punish him severely. It all depends on whether he can get over it.

I didn't want to see him crying, and I was too lazy to comfort him. Since the founding of the country, many martyrs' monuments have been erected beside roads and bridges. I have witnessed many of them myself. The best way to comfort them is to continue to build their homeland. "

As he spoke, Luo Tingrui raised the cup of soy milk in his hand, and everyone also raised their cups and clinked them together.

Tan Wenbin drank the soy milk in one gulp and couldn't help but sigh in his heart: He is a big leader after all, and he is much more natural when it comes to value than his own father.

"Liangliang, you will come with me to another group in two days. We need to focus on tackling that plan and strive to complete it as soon as possible."

"Okay, teacher."

"Xiaoyuan, what about you?"

"Ah?" Li Zhuiyuan pointed at himself, "Can I still go?"

"I want to ask you, after going through this, do you need to take a break?"

"Okay, let's take a rest." Li Zhuiyuan nodded. He also felt tired, and he had to go to Fengdu.

"Well, you are still young. You should pay attention to combining work and rest, and you should also actively exercise. I heard that child prodigies generally do not have good health."

"It's not that exaggerated, teacher, but I will remember your words."

Xue Liangliang took the initiative to bring up one thing: "Teacher, we didn't take the initiative to attract that thing to save people."

"I know, didn't you just tell me that?"

"I don't want to take the honor for granted."

"Liangliang... and you all, listen, sometimes we all dream of being absolutely pure and flawless, but there is inevitably dust in this world, and sometimes even wind and sand."

"I understand this principle, but teacher..."

"After this kind of thing happened, if there was an advanced model that could be established, Ma Yiming and his team would have a much better life."

"I understand."

After the midnight snack, Luo Tingrui left first, and the four returned to the guesthouse.

Tan Wenbin said with some reluctance: "Wanzhou grilled fish tastes really good. I think if I learn the skills here and open a branch in another place, I will definitely make money."

Xue Liangliang: "If you have this idea, I can invest in you."

"No, no, no, I just mentioned it. Making money is not as important as studying."

Then, Tan Wenbin asked in a low voice: "Can I get extra points for honor?"

"It's not difficult to get into Haihe University, and this matter will be kept secret from the public."

"Oh." Tan Wenbin dropped his shoulders.

Runsheng asked: "Can't you think of other ways to get extra points?"

Tan Wenbin shrugged: "The other way is that my father is glorious in his post."

Runsheng was choked.

The large bunch of rotten straw-like stuff that Tan Wenbin brought out was put into a bag. Li Zhuiyuan handed the bag and a piece of paper to Xue Liangliang.

"Brother Liangliang, the restoration method is written on the paper."

"Don't worry, I will join the group and the teacher in two days. I will drive back to Shancheng in the next two days and ask the unit to help you deal with this matter first." Xue Liangliang glanced at the things needed on the paper. "The materials are not difficult to get. Most of them are ready-made. But if you want to keep it secret, you definitely can't go to the cultural relics unit. My friend can do it, but it will take him a long time."

"It's okay. Let's take it and slowly process and restore it. The main thing is that this thing can't be left in the outside environment for too long, and I don't have good storage conditions here."

"Okay, leave it to me. So you're going to Fengdu next?"

"Brother Runsheng will have to change the medicine again tomorrow, so we will go the day after tomorrow."

"Be careful on the road, and contact me when you want to go back, and I'll book tickets for you."

"I'll tell you when I leave."

Early in the morning of the third day, Li Zhuiyuan went to Fengdu with Runsheng and Tan Wenbin. They first took a car and then changed to a boat and got off directly at the Fengdu County Pier.

In fact, the easiest way is to call the Ding family and ask them to help him find out whether the people from the Fengdu Yin family are still there. But that is related to Grandma Liu after all, and Li Zhuiyuan doesn't want to do that. He might as well try to find them himself first.

It has been very noisy since the dock. The streets going up are crowded with people and vendors. This happened to be the Fengdu Ghost Festival temple fair.

Tan Wenbin was very excited, looking here and there: "Hey, don't tell me, the temple fair here is indeed more lively and fun than the one in Nantong. No, the one in our temple can't compare to them at all."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Brother Binbin, traveling is about going from a place you are tired of to a place others are tired of."

"Oh, yes, I almost forgot that your return to Nantong is also equivalent to traveling."

"Well, almost."

"But Xiaoyuan, I really think that people in Sichuan and Chongqing love and understand life better. In our place, it's hard to even find a night snack stand after evening self-study.

Ha, I want to eat that, do you want some? "

There were a variety of local specialties, one could hardly take their eyes off and the prices were all very cheap. Even Runsheng, who had always been frugal and didn't like eating out, didn't feel bad about spending money this time.

The three of them tasted the food here and there, just as they had their lunch. Moreover, in this kind of atmosphere and environment, Runsheng's behavior of eating delicious food was not really noticeable.

Tan Wenbin came to a stall that was making ghost face masks. Two masters were making them. He stood by and watched for a while, then asked the masters to draw a Monkey King mask for him.

He didn't dare buy the ghost face mask and take it away, otherwise when he got up to urinate at night and took a look at it, he would be scared into a cold sweat.

After the painting was completed and the money was paid, Tan Wenbin put the mask on his face and made a monkey gesture:
"Hey, monster, hand over my Xiaoyuan!"

Next, we came to a tea stall. Nowadays, covered bowl tea is very popular in temple fairs all over the country. Sugar or various fruit crystals are often put in it. It is very pleasant to buy a cup when you are tired of shopping.

However, the gaiwan tea here is obviously different from that in other places. It is brewed on the spot, and you can’t smell what kind of tea it is, but it smells very strong. On the horizontal sail is written "Mihun Tea" on the left and "Meng Po Soup" on the right.

Tan Wenbin bought three cups, and the three of them sat on small stools and drank slowly. The taste was okay, strong but not bitter.

The temple fair is mostly populated by locals, but there are also many tourists attracted by the Ghost Festival, and you can also see some foreigners.

"Xiaoyuan, is this really the Palace of Hell?" Runsheng asked, pointing at the buildings above.

"He is the Great Emperor of Fengdu, in charge of the underworld, and the ancestor of the returning souls of the world."

"That sounds amazing." Tan Wenbin took a sip of tea. "Is he a local?" "It is said that the Emperor of Fengdu is Yin Changsheng, the younger brother of Yin Lihua, the Empress of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was not greedy for his family's wealth and devoted himself to cultivating Taoism. In the end, he got the Dharma and ascended to heaven in broad daylight in Fengdu."

"The Queen's brother?" Tan Wenbin smacked his lips. "Why would you practice Taoism if you don't want to enjoy wealth and glory?"

"Everyone has different pursuits. Didn't you refuse Brother Liangliang's investment in you to open a Wanzhou Grilled Fish branch the day before yesterday?"

"It turns out that I am also able to stay clean even in the mud."

Runsheng asked, "Xiaoyuan, why is there a small water tank in front of every store here?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It should be some kind of custom."

After drinking tea, the three of them continued to walk upwards. Next, Li Zhuiyuan planned to find a funeral shop to ask about the local corpse retriever. If the person's surname was Yin, he would send some money to the other party's family to settle the cause and effect in the underground palace.

After passing the big memorial archway of "Fengdu Ghost City", I saw a stone tablet behind me. On the stone tablet was written a passage:

"If you don't walk at night, how do you know there are people walking at night?"

This passage comes from Baopuzi by Ge Hong of the Jin Dynasty. It talks about what Yin Changsheng once said. The general meaning is that it was only after he became an immortal that he realized how many immortals there were in the world, just like if you don’t go out at night, you won’t know that there are people walking on the same road at night.

These words have a different kind of feeling for Li Zhuiyuan now. Before he came into contact with corpse lifters, he didn't know that there were such things as corpse lifters in the world. After he came into contact with them and learned about them, he found that there were really quite a lot of them, and that there were many colleagues like him.

Looking inside along the stone tablet, there is a shop opposite, with a sign that reads: "Yin Jun Coffin Shop."

There are two signs hanging vertically at the door of the shop, with the words "Prosperity and Wealth" and "Good Luck and Fortune Come" written on them.

Yin Jun is a respectful title for Yin Changsheng, so the owner’s surname may not be Yin. But since it is a coffin shop, he should have some relationship with corpse lifters.

For example, my great-grandfather used to have a very good relationship with the upstream and downstream funeral industry chain, until he started to develop the industry chain himself.

When I walked into the shop, it was rather deserted. There were two coffins, one red and one black, placed deep inside. On the counter, there were various small coffins, like toy figures.

There are also patterns in different styles, including Ultraman, Astro Boy and Transformers.

Tan Wenbin picked up a coffin, opened it, and then closed it again, praising it: "It's really ingenious, and the boss has a good business sense, but if the route is chosen wrong, no matter how hard you work, it will be meaningless."

It happened to be a temple fair, and while other shops were crowded with customers, this place was deserted. Apparently, few people, whether locals or tourists, were willing to buy a coffin or a small coffin toy while visiting the temple fair.

Tan Wenbin opened and closed it several times in succession, then asked with a smile, "Xiaoyuan, how about we buy two and take them back as pencil cases?"

"Hi, which one do you like? It's cheaper to buy two together."

The curtain of the inner room was lifted, and a girl about the same age as Tan Wenbin came out holding a bowl of noodles. Her skin was a little dark, but she was tall among the locals, and she exuded a cheerful energy.

"Here, I want these two."

"Yes."

Tan Wenbin knew that Li Zhuiyuan wanted to ask something, so he bought something first.

Runsheng asked, "Buy another one for Zhou Yunyun?"

Tan Wenbin was not angry after hearing this. Instead, he was moved and said, "Well, don't mention it, it's really romantic."

The girl boss smiled and said, "Or, there are couple's styles."

"Get a set."

"Okay, I'll get them for you." The girl took out two small coffins from below, one black and one red. They were delicately made and had grooved buckles so the two coffins could be spliced ​​together.

Tan Wenbin laughed and said, "It's really fun."

The girl boss responded: "That's right. If I were a girl, I would be so happy if a boy I liked gave me this."

Li Zhuiyuan asked in confusion: "Aren't you a girl?"

"Oh, I am." The girl boss laughed, "I got off topic."

Seeing that Tan Wenbin had really paid and wrapped up the four small coffins, Li Zhuiyuan asked out of friendship, "Brother Binbin, do you really want to give this to squad leader Zhou?"

"I just thought it was fun." Tan Wenbin rolled his eyes. "Really? I'm not stupid."

The girl's boss was dissatisfied and said, "Why can't you really give it to her? It means that the girl doesn't understand the connotation. This is the romance in our traditional culture."

Tan Wenbin nodded: "Although I still won't send it, but I think you are right."

"From your accent, you are tourists from other places. Where are you from?"

Tan Wenbin: “Nantong.”

The girl boss asked in confusion: "Where is Nantong from? Anhui or Jiangxi?"

Tan Wenbin: “From Jiangsu.”

"Oh, I know Jiangsu. Jinling, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Huai'an, Xuzhou, etc. are all very famous. Nantong... is also famous."

Tan Wenbin deliberately asked mischievously: "For example?"

“For example…” The girl boss was stuck.

Li Zhuiyuan was ready to ask the real question: "Boss, do you know the corpse retrievers nearby? They are the ones in the village who are responsible for retrieving floating bodies."

"Corpse fisherman?" the girl boss asked in confusion, "Who are you going to fish out?"

"I'm not trying to find out who you are. I'm just asking if you know anyone. To be more specific, do you know a corpse retriever named Yin?"

The girl boss walked quickly into the inner room. Soon, the curtain was opened again, and she came out holding a Yellow River shovel in her left hand: "My last name is Yin, and my name is Yin Meng."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't expect that it would be so easy to find, but he still continued to ask: "Does your family have a family tree?"

"Why do you want to ask so much details?"

“Send money.”

"some."

"Would you mind taking it out so I can have a look?"

"Do you pay me after I see it?"

"It should have Yin Zhiwang's name on it."

"Yin Zhiwang, yes. That was almost two hundred years ago. I remember it very clearly."

"Ok?"

"It's recorded in the family tree that there was a man-eating snake in Wanxian. He took people to catch the snake, but he never came back. I'll go and show it to you."

"No need." Li Zhuiyuan looked at Tan Wenbin, "Give me the money."

Tan Wenbin took out the money and put it on the counter. The money was tied with a red rope.

Yin Meng picked up the money first, then asked in disbelief, "What happened? Where did you see him collapse?"

"Ah."

"Ah?" Yin Meng waved her hands and said, "Don't scare me, I was just kidding."

The fact that he can hold the Yellow River shovel and say "die down" proves that he is indeed a man of the trade, and is much more pure than those of my grandfather.

In this case, there is no need to hide it too much.

"I owe him a favor, so I came here to pay him back. Please accept the money, and our matter will be settled."

“Hehehe…” Yin Meng laughed and said while counting the money, “Oh, this really is the spirit of the ancestors coming to give me money. I was just worrying about how to pay the rent next month.”

Tan Wenbin suggested: "It's really hard to get the rent if you do business like this."

"So what can I do?"

“You can sell Wanzhou grilled fish.”

Yin Meng blinked.

Tan Wenbin added: "Yangzhou fried rice is also OK."

Yin Meng pushed the half-full bowl of noodles in front of her. It was dried noodles with no toppings, just soy sauce.

Tan Wenbin nodded, "Understood."

"Have you eaten yet? Should I make you some noodles? Or should I go buy some dishes from the store across the street and treat you to some drinks?"

Li Zhuiyuan: “We’ve eaten.”

"Then stay for dinner. You've come all the way here to give me money, so I should at least let you stay for dinner. Anyway, I don't think my ancestors could have helped you in any way."

“It helped.”

"I don't believe it. If he could help you, he wouldn't have died there and couldn't go home."

"And this jade pendant." Li Zhuiyuan took it out and placed it on the counter. "I'll give it to you as well."

Yin Meng looked down for a few seconds, then pushed the jade pendant back: "Let's put it this way. I'll take the money, and this jade pendant is yours."

"Okay." Li Zhuiyuan did not refuse and took back the jade pendant. "Then let's go."

"Hey, why don't you go up there and play for a while? The attractions are up there."

"Going."

"The boat stops here early. Since you are out here to have fun, don't rush. Take your time and stay here at night in my shop. This will save you the money of a hotel."

They were just out for fun, and the other party had repeatedly invited them to stay, so Li Zhuiyuan did not refuse any more: "Sorry to trouble you."

"Hey, are you really not some dead person who just woke up from a water burial?"

"Me?"

"Yes, come on, let me try." Yin Meng took out a piece of talisman paper from her pocket and stuck it on Li Zhuiyuan's body. Seeing that Li Zhuiyuan didn't react, she pretended to be surprised and said, "Oh my God, so scary, are you so fierce!"

Everyone knew she was joking.

"It's rude not to reciprocate. Hey, you devil, I'll give you one too!"

Tan Wenbin took out a "Secret Scroll of Remembrance" talisman and stuck it on Yin Meng's forehead.

The next moment, the talisman paper turned purple.

Tan Wenbin jumped up in fear and screamed, "Oh my god!"

Yin Meng was a little confused.

Li Zhuiyuan stood on tiptoe, reached out to peel off the talisman paper, and said, "Brother Binbin, the talisman paper has been soaked in water, and it will turn purple when it comes into contact with grease."

"Oh...oh!" Tan Wenbin scratched his head embarrassedly.

Runsheng leaned over and said, "I'll tell you if there's a smell of a water corpse."

Yin Meng laughed so hard that she doubled over: "I almost thought I was really dead, hahahahaha!"

When the three of them walked out of the coffin shop and came to the door, Li Zhuiyuan pointed at the small water tank at the door and asked, "Why do every store have this at the door?"

Yin Meng: "This is Fengdu Ghost City, this street is called Ghost Street, and it's not just the living who like to go shopping, they come out when night falls.

In the past, there were no light bulbs, and candles were not enough to illuminate the sky at night. When merchants counted copper coins behind closed doors, they often counted paper coins.

Later, a custom gradually formed: a water tank was placed at the door of the store, and the copper coins received were placed in it. If the coins floated, they were fake, and the store would not do business with the customer. "

Tan Wenbin asked: "Now that all the money is paper money and it's floating up, doesn't it mean that every household needs to have a money detector?"

Yin Meng: "That thing is expensive, I can't afford it."

Tan Wenbin was stunned for a moment: "No, can you still receive it now?"

Yin Meng reached out and pulled out a drawer under the counter, and took out a small stack of banknotes from the Tiandi Bank:
"Here, this is what I have received from the beginning of this month until now. It was supposed to be enough to pay the rent for next month, but who knew it wasn't a business deal."

Tan Wenbin carefully touched the paper money with his fingertips: "Are you kidding? To make our visit more immersive?"

"That's right. It's a different era now. There are no ghosts anymore. There are hardly any drifters anymore. I haven't been doing corpse recovery for a long time."

"There's no floating fish? That shouldn't be the case. You have so many water systems here, it's not impossible that someone will fall into the water and drown, right?"

"They all go to the village to find the food, and rarely come to my place because they think the shops on the street are expensive."

“Are you actually cheap?”

"It is indeed expensive." Yin Meng said as a matter of course, "If the price is cheap, it will be a loss of face for me. After all, I am a legitimate corpse retriever."

Tan Wenbin pouted and said, "You deserve it for not being able to pay the rent."

"Let's go, Brother Binbin."

"Hey, here I come, wait for me, Xiaoyuan."

For the rest of the afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan took Runsheng and Tan Wenbin to tour Fengdu Ghost City very carefully. There were many sculptures and temples here, so it didn't feel scary to visit during the day.

On the way, we met two performance teams. The three of us watched the performances, which were full of traditional folk flavor.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin looked very seriously, wishing they could read the explanation signs under each sculpture. Ordinary tourists just took a quick look, but they were reviewing their extracurricular knowledge.

Li Zhuiyuan walked slowly, admiring some old-style buildings and sculptures. As for the explanation signs, he didn't need to look at them because he had a lot of knowledge stored in his mind.

When I was a child, when Li Lan didn't hate me so much, I could still stay in her study when she was working. Li Lan would either give me drawings to play with, or throw a pile of books in front of me and let me flip through them.

When it was getting dark, the three of them went down the mountain and returned to Ghost Street.

There are still a lot of people on the street at this moment. Many residents nearby have things to do during the day, so many people can only come to the temple fair at night.

Furthermore, the atmosphere of the ghost town is more interesting at night, especially with so many red and white lanterns lit up at night, which is absolutely appropriate.

There were still few people at the door of the coffin shop, and Yin Meng was even too lazy to stay behind the counter again.

"We're back." Tan Wenbin greeted loudly.

Yin Meng opened the curtain and stuck her head out: "I stewed some pig's trotters. Let's have a good meal tonight. It'll be great!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yes."

Seven o'clock, it's night.

Yin Meng brought out a large bowl of pig's trotters and everyone sat around the small table.

The pig's feet melt in your mouth and are stewed to perfection.

The premise is that you have to ignore the tingling sensation in your mouth because Yin Meng forgot to deal with the pig hair.

She is indeed a lively and cheerful person. It seems that because the business is not so good, she seldom has people to chat with. But tonight she was very happy to start a conversation during dinner.

Runsheng was only focused on eating, Li Zhuiyuan occasionally said a few words, and the main force on their side was Tan Wenbin, who was on par with Yin Meng.

Moreover, Binbin deliberately chatted in the Sichuan and Chongqing dialect that he had just learned. His pronunciation was not accurate, but he had learned the tune. As the two talked, the tune became higher and higher, and the speed of speech became faster and faster, as if they were singing a folk song together.

However, they didn't talk much about corpse recovery, because Yin Meng had not practiced it many times. He had recovered floating bodies, but had never seen a real dead body.

She learned the knowledge and skills of corpse recovery from her grandfather. Her parents divorced when she was very young. Her father went to the south to make a living and never heard from him again. Her mother married a family in the town below and gave birth to two boys. When she was young and ignorant, Yin Meng went to look for her mother, but when she grew up, she realized that her mother didn't want to pay attention to her.

When they said this, Li Zhuiyuan and Yin Meng raised their glasses of soda and clinked them together.

She lived with her grandfather most of the time, who ran the shop and was an orthodox corpse lifter. Later, her grandfather passed the shop to her as an inheritance.

She was actually quite smart and thought she could make money by changing her business, but she didn't want to change the nature of the shop because she knew her grandfather would not agree.

Li Zhuiyuan had seen the calluses on her palms and the changes in her toes every time she stood up and sat down, and knew that she had some kung fu skills.

This is also the reason why she, a young girl, can run a store by herself; most of the thugs on the street have been beaten up by her.

She laughed and said that if she wanted to, she could become the boss of Ghost Street and collect protection fees here.

Runsheng, who was addicted to chewing pig's trotters, took the initiative to raise his glass and drank with her.

Li Zhuiyuan once asked her whether her grandfather had left behind any books or something like that. She asked back in confusion: Don’t corpse lifters rely on word of mouth and practice from generation to generation? What can you learn from reading books?
This made Li Zhuiyuan a little disappointed. He wanted to see the collections of his peers, but unfortunately there were none. At the same time, he was also a little envious. Judging from the various details of Yin Meng's performance, her grandfather's level should be very high, and she received a very complete "education".

However, Li Zhuiyuan did not think that his great-grandfather was bad because of this. After all, his great-grandfather could "gulp down" good fortune, and if he followed his great-grandfather, at least he could eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks every day.

In short, tonight is the most relaxing and pleasant night since leaving Nantong, and everyone is happy and relaxed.

This feeling of relaxation lasts until it is time to go to sleep.

"What, you want us to sleep in coffins?"

Tan Wenbin held his head, looking incredulous.

Yin Meng was covering the coffin with a quilt.

"What's wrong? Sleeping in a coffin is so comfortable."

"Can I sleep on the floor outside?"

"This is in the mountains, it's cold at night, and I don't have enough bedding here. It's still warm in the coffin."

Tan Wenbin muttered, "This is the first time I heard that warmth can be used on a coffin."

The inner room is a storehouse and kitchen with three coffins inside, and two in the shop outside.

Now that you are here, you might as well follow the local customs.

In the end, Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng slept in the two coffins outside, while Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng slept inside.

The coffin is like stinky tofu, which looks disgusting, but after lying in it, it is actually quite comfortable. There is a sense of security of being wrapped.

Of course, the coffin lid had to be opened a little to allow for ventilation.

Tired from traveling and sightseeing during the day, Tan Wenbin quickly fell asleep. Then he heard someone scratching the lid of his coffin with fingernails.

"Shasha... Shasha..."

Tan Wenbin was so frightened that cold sweat broke out. He lifted the quilt up to his face and only dared to look upwards with his eyes squinted.

Then, Runsheng's face appeared on it: "Hehe."

"What are you doing!"

"Pee."

The toilet is behind the inner room. Runsheng sleeps outside, so he has to pass through the inner room to go to the toilet.

Tan Wenbin was so angry that he covered his face with the quilt and ignored him.

After a while, he heard the rustling sound coming from the coffin lid again.

Tan Wenbin began to get scared. He felt that this time it wouldn’t be Runsheng again. Who could it be?

The next moment, Runsheng's face appeared again.

"What on earth are you going to do!"

"I'm done peeing. I'm going back to sleep. I'll tell you."

Tan Wenbin was so angry that his teeth were itching.

Finally, I felt a little sleepy again.

"Shasha... Shasha..."

Tan Wenbin opened his eyes and pounded the coffin lid with his hand.

The sound disappeared.

Tan Wenbin turned sideways and continued to look for sleepiness.

"Shasha... Shasha..."

Tan Wenbin lifted the quilt, grabbed the edge of the coffin with both hands, and sat up from the coffin.

He found that there was no one around his coffin.

Runsheng runs so fast?

Tan Wenbin swallowed his saliva and felt a little scared again. He didn't dare to go out, but curled up in the coffin again.

"Shasha... Shasha..."

The sound appeared again. Tan Wenbin covered his head with the quilt, pretending not to hear it, and at the same time put his feet into the quilt.

Then the sound disappeared again.

Tan Wenbin continued to keep his face buried in the quilt. This time he stayed there long enough that sweat appeared on his face. He thought that Runsheng must be asleep and no longer teasing him.

He wanted to take a breath, so he grabbed the quilt with both hands and planned to quickly lift and cover it.

one two Three……

The quilt was lifted from my face, but I couldn't cover it back as I had originally planned.

because,

An old face had already poked its head into the coffin at some point and was facing him.

(End of this chapter)