Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 70

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin immediately looked at Li Zhuiyuan with burning eyes. Silence was more powerful than words at this moment.

Since I left home, I have experienced a lot of strange things and witnessed many deaths, but after eating too much meat and fish, I started to miss light food to nourish my stomach.

For them, retrieving a corpse is just a normal way to cultivate their sentiments.

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

The two immediately smiled at each other, Runsheng lit a "cigar", and Tan Wenbin kept rubbing his hands excitedly.

Yin Meng entered the inner room. She first pushed open the coffin lid, then went outside to bring in the warmed ceramic pot. She poured the liquid into a bowl and fed it to the old man little by little with a spoon.

This is not medicine, but more like a thick sugar water, which is used to keep the old man alive.

After feeding, Yin Meng opened a basin of hot water, changed the old man's diaper, wiped his body carefully, and finally changed him into clean clothes.

After doing this, she wiped the sweat off her face with the back of her hand.

The old man opened his eyes.

Yin Meng was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud:

"Grandpa, you can actually open your eyes, and you look much better. It looks like you're getting better."

Li Zhuiyuan had been standing by and watching. He knew that the old man could open his eyes. He was paralyzed due to cerebral infarction, not a vegetative state. Besides, many vegetative patients could also open their eyes and look around.

The old man had deliberately not responded before, in order to discourage his granddaughter. It would be best if she just treated him like a mule and took care of him. He knew his own physical condition and didn't want his granddaughter to have any hope.

He opened his eyes today on his own initiative, probably because he wanted to take one last look at his granddaughter.

As for the good complexion on his face, it was actually a standard last gasp of life.

Yin Meng happily talked to the old man and then picked up the basin of dirty clothes and went out to wash them.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the coffin, looked at the old man, and saw relief in his eyes.

Last night, the old man did not ask me to tell Yin Meng the truth. I guess he didn't want his granddaughter to suffer new scars after being "abandoned by her parents" in her childhood.

I just saw Yin Meng's attitude towards his two half-brothers. Haha, old man, don't give your granddaughter two burdens.

But on second thought, Li Zhuiyuan felt that the old man would not make such a mistake.

To put it bluntly, there are no real good men and women among those who live in Jianghu.

It's so easy to kill someone on the river. Just tie a stone to him and sink him.

This group of people have both the means and the abilities. Normally, they are restrained by the laws of nature, kindness, and secular rules. But what if one day they simply don't care?

So, don’t push the “honest people” into a corner.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the door of the inner room and happened to see Yin Meng wiping her tears while hanging clothes.

Well, after all, he is a corpse-salvator with an orthodox heritage, how could he not see the last bit of life?

It's nothing more than them both acting out a play and hoping for a decent ending.

Yin Meng thanked Tan Wenbin for his offer of help and agreed. After tidying up the house, she set off with everyone.

Along the way, the two boys seemed to want to talk to Li Zhuiyuan, a boy of the same age, but Li Zhuiyuan was carried on Runsheng's back and ignored them, insisting on not contacting, not understanding, and not being responsible.

The journey was not far, it was in a village adjacent to the county town, and there were many villagers watching the fun around the river pond.

The bodies of a man and a woman were still floating on the water, the man lying face down and the woman lying face up, yet they were tightly attached to each other, as if they were unwilling to separate until death.

If these two people hadn't fought every few days in the village, people would have probably spread the rumor that they had agreed to commit suicide together.

Li Zhuiyuan got off Runsheng's back, stood by the river and took a quick look. He knew that the two people were not inseparable until death, but their bodies were stuck together.

Unlike the ordinary drifting girl Bai Ying, their bodies were black, like two pieces of spoiled black pig skin jelly.

Two middle-aged men were arguing with a one-eyed old woman. Judging from the tools they were carrying, they should be local corpse retrievers.

There are two floating bodies here, both of them are black and look strange, so the price for recovering the bodies will have to be calculated separately.

Apparently, the two sides could not reach an agreement on the price, and the one-eyed woman would rather her son and daughter-in-law continue to soak in the water than "suffer this loss."

Seeing Yin Meng coming, the one-eyed woman pointed at him and said with a smile: "Okay, there's no need for you two to do these black-hearted things. My eldest granddaughter is here."

As she spoke, the one-eyed woman came over enthusiastically. She was smiling at the beginning, but started crying when she was halfway there. When she got to me, she was crying and laughing at the same time with great precision. Then she wiped away her tears and grabbed my hand, as if she had finally found her backbone.

"Granddaughter, you are finally here. Hurry up and rescue your parents. They are so pitiful~so pitiful~"

Tan Wenbin couldn't help rolling his eyes, thinking that there were such shameless people in the world.

When Yin Meng was young, she was ignorant and would cry and go looking for her mother. Her mother would deliberately avoid her. Every time, the one-eyed woman would come out and scold the girl with the most vicious words.

Once in the cold winter, the one-eyed woman brought a basin of water and poured it out, causing Yin Meng to walk home crying and wet.

The girl was also stupid. After returning home, she told her grandfather that she fell into the ditch because she was playing too much.

The old man was so stupid that he actually believed it.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that the old man loved his granddaughter, but he was also careless, otherwise he would not have truly believed the "letter" left by his son.

Yin Meng didn't get too excited with the one-eyed woman, she just said calmly: "I'll get the person out."

"Hey, hey, okay, okay."

Yin Meng looked at the two local colleagues. They both looked unhappy, but they didn't know what to say. They could only light a cigarette and carry their stuff back in silence.

They are saving her own mother, it can't be considered breaking the rules or stealing business.

Even though I feel a little uncomfortable, I'm just trying to play around with it, so I'll just do it.

Tan Wenbin set up the altar and lit the candles. Runsheng moved the small fishing boat over and placed it beside the pond.

Yin Meng stood in front of the altar and began to perform rituals.

Li Zhuiyuan stood beside her and watched with interest.

Compared to his own grandfather's casualness in rituals, Yin Meng was obviously much more professional and standardized. Although many of the ceremonies were not standard, they still showed ancient customs.

Li Zhuiyuan was particularly interested in the obscure syllables that came from the throat and trembled through the lips and teeth.

Last night, when the old man was doing business, he was communicating with the ghost in the same way.

Sometimes, "nonsense" can be a compliment to some special ability.

After the ritual was over, Yin Meng began to prepare to retrieve the body, but before she could leave the altar, she saw Runsheng and Tan Wenbin rowing out in a boat, using Yin Meng's own boat.

Yin Meng put her hands on her hips and looked at Li Zhuiyuan helplessly: "How can this be so embarrassing."

"It's okay, they're itchy."

Yin Meng smiled and said, "My hands are itching too."

Because of the high price, she only gets a few corpse-recovery orders throughout the year, so she is eager to give it a try this time.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin worked very well together. The two bodies were stuck together and couldn't be separated, so they simply carried one on their shoulders, and then:

"one two Three!"

They all jumped off the boat and landed on the ground.

Yin Meng watched the whole process and said with some surprise: "The rules for recovering corpses in Nantong are similar to ours."

Li Zhuiyuan did not comment. If his grandfather came, Yin Meng would probably not have this feeling.

Run Sheng's set of procedures was corrected by himself according to the records in Wei Zhengdao's book, including the moves to deal with the dead fall in "The Righteous Way to Subdue Demons", which he also taught to Run Sheng, and Tan Wenbin learned it from Run Sheng.

It can be said that what Runsheng and his team just demonstrated was a textbook template, the most professional and standardized movements.

Too lazy to unload and roll up again, the two men carried the body straight into the one-eyed woman's house. They placed the body on a large mat spread on a row of benches.

The one-eyed woman found a white sheet and covered her son and daughter-in-law. Then her nose felt sore and she was about to start crying when two women next to her came up to her, one poked her waist and the other whispered something in her ear.

The one-eyed woman immediately became alert and first dispersed the villagers who came into the house to see the corpse, and only let her own relatives in. Then she stepped forward, took Yin Meng's hand, pulled her into the house, and then closed the door of the living room.

Outside the house, the villagers were whispering to each other.

Seeing Li Zhuiyuan sitting on a small stool, Tan Wenbin squatted over and asked curiously, "Brother Xiaoyuan, why are they not arranging the funeral quickly?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Trust me."

Tan Wenbin: "How can you be so shameless?"

Li Zhuiyuan did not answer. He looked down at an earthworm that was drilling out of the soil at his feet, with half of its body outside and half inside.

Tan Wenbin asked again: "Brother Xiaoyuan, what should we do then?"

"How to do?"

"I mean, do you want to help her?"

"What does it have to do with us?"

"At least, we can be considered friends, right?"

"Then respect your friend's choice."

"Uh..." Tan Wenbin scratched his hair hard, "But this is not a good idea. What if she really gets carried away and agrees?"

"Then respect her fate."

house.

Yin Meng stood in the middle, surrounded by a group of people, including the two boys.

The one-eyed woman pointed at the group of adults and introduced them, "Granddaughter, they are all your relatives. This is your eldest uncle, this is your second uncle, this is your eldest aunt, your second aunt..."

The one-eyed woman had three sons and one daughter, and Yin Meng's mother married her youngest son.

Yin Meng glanced at this group of "relatives" who had no blood relationship with her.

At this time, they all had smiling faces.

The one-eyed woman continued, "Granddaughter, your parents are gone, and I am devastated. I am an old woman, and my body is not strong enough, but these two grandchildren cannot be left without anyone to take care of them.

They still have to study, eat, and wear clothes, I really can't handle it~"

The one-eyed woman started singing again.

The "uncles and aunts" nearby immediately followed suit:

"Yeah yeah."

"It's difficult. It's really difficult."

Yin Meng didn't say anything.

Seeing that the girl didn't respond, the one-eyed woman didn't get discouraged. She took Yin Meng's hand and called her two grandsons over:
"Come here, Niu Wa'er and Ma Wa'er, from now on, you will follow me. I will provide you with food and drink, and send you to school. Come on, thank me."

"Thank you sister."

"Thank you sister."

The one-eyed woman turned her head and looked at Yin Meng again, saying lovingly:

"This arrangement is for your own good. You are single at home. If you get married in the future, you won't even have your own family to support you, and you will be bullied.

Niu Waer and Ma Waer are your biological brothers, born from the same mother. If you raise them, they will be able to help you in the future and will be your backbone and confidence.

This matter has been settled.”

The one-eyed woman was about to open the door with a smile on her face. She would first close the door and talk about the matter in the room, and then open the door to announce it to the villagers. Even if there was no written agreement or anything, with this procedure, the matter was settled.

Yin Meng finally asked, "You want me to support them both?"

"Ah, yes, don't you like your two brothers? Look, they are so well-behaved."

Every time the two children went to the county town and visited the coffin shop, Yin Meng would either invite them to have a meal or give them some pocket money. The one-eyed woman knew that the girl was kind-hearted.

Yin Meng asked again: "You want me to support them both?"

"Of course, that's great. When you get married, with your two younger brothers around, your in-laws won't dare bully you. Even if you don't plan to get married, your two younger brothers and their children can help you with your old age."

"Oh."

Yin Meng nodded.

Seeing this, everyone around breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and gave the girl all kinds of compliments.

The one-eyed woman was even happier, and the wrinkles on her face bloomed like daisies.

The two boys must have received instructions from their relatives and elders, and they also grabbed the girl's legs and said, "Sister."

Yin Meng raised her hand and waved it heavily at the two boys:

"Crack! Crack!"

Both boys were knocked to the ground, covering their swollen right cheeks. The corners of their mouths were broken and bleeding.

At this moment, the house was dead silent.

What broke the silence was the crying of the two boys after they recovered from being stunned.

The one-eyed woman slapped her thighs with both hands and wailed, "Oh my God, this is such a heartless person!"

She rushed towards Yin Meng while crying and shouting.

Yin Meng raised her foot and kicked her directly in the heart.

"boom!"

After the one-eyed woman was kicked to the ground, she rolled several times.

When the two "uncles" saw the fight started, they immediately rushed up angrily. Yin Meng not only did not dodge but took the initiative to step forward, threw one of them to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw, then grabbed the other one's hand and kicked him in the back.

She has the ability to fight against the dead, and it is really easy for her to deal with ordinary people.

"Why are you still hitting people?"

"Don't you have any manners at all!"

The "aunts" and "sisters-in-law" were still chattering on the side. Yin Meng walked up, grabbed one of them by the hair, and slapped her twice.

"Crack! Crack!"

The others wanted to hide, but Yin Meng chased them. He grabbed two people's hair with both hands, pulled them back, and forced them in front of the two corpses on the mat, making their faces press against the corpses.

Yin Meng pressed their heads and rolled them back and forth, which was equivalent to giving them a beauty treatment. It was hard to tell whether it was water or oil on their faces.

"what!!!!!"

Screams came and went.

After beating up everyone in the house, Yin Meng saw someone getting up and kicked him down again.

She looked very calm, she didn't cry, shout, make a fuss, or even curse, but her fists and feet were very hard.

The two boys were left there at first and no one cared about them, but they came over on their own initiative and asked "sister, please stop hitting me." Yin Meng slapped them both in the face again to make it symmetrical.

It is wrong to beat a child, but she is also a child, and most importantly, beating a child makes you feel better.

After finishing the cooking, Yin Meng walked to the door of the living room.

"boom!"

The door panel was kicked off and Yin Meng walked out.

The villagers looked into the house and found a group of people lying inside.

Tan Wenbin stood up, walked to Yin Meng and clapped his hands vigorously: "Okay, okay, I was really worried that you would agree."

Yin Meng rolled her eyes at her and said, "I'm not stupid."

Runsheng looked inside for a moment, shook his head, and said, "Not even all the teeth have been knocked out."

At this time, someone among the villagers shouted: "The village chief is coming, the village chief is coming!"

A burly middle-aged man wearing a hat and holding a cigarette between his ears walked over. He swept his eyes across the room and the scene immediately became quiet. It seemed that this village chief was very prestigious in the village.

"Someone's being beaten to death. Go to the police station! Go to the police station!"

The people in the house crawled out, their faces were swollen like pigs, their hair was disheveled, and they looked like evil spirits released from their cages.

The village chief looked at Tan Wenbin and Runsheng who were standing next to Yin Meng. Just as he was about to speak, Li Zhuiyuan's voice came first: "Runsheng, Binbin, step back."

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin retreated immediately.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed at Yin Meng and said, "Everyone saw it just now. She went in alone. No one else followed her."

The surrounding villagers nodded.

The village chief was shocked. How could this girl be so capable that she could defeat a whole room of people by herself?

He looked at the girl and asked, "Tell me, why did you hit someone?"

Yin Meng: "They want to..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "They want to tie her up and marry her off to another family for a dowry. This is human trafficking!"

The village chief was stunned for a moment. Regardless of whether it was true or not, once this reason was given, coupled with the fact that the girl was fighting alone, even if the case was brought to the police station, it would be a waste of time and there would be no follow-up, let alone any accountability.

"You're talking nonsense!" The one-eyed woman shouted hoarsely, blood all over her teeth, "Who wants to sell her? Who wants to sell her?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then why did you call her in? What kind of blood relationship do you have with her? How can she be considered a relative?"

After saying this, without waiting for anyone in the room to respond, Li Zhuiyuan waved his hand and said, "Let's go home."

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin each carried their things, then cleared the way on the left and right, and walked out with Yin Meng through the crowd.

The villagers came to watch the fun, and when they saw two men, one holding a shovel and the other holding a hook, they took the initiative to make way.

Several young men from the village wanted to see the village chief's signal to see whether they should stop the people. This was based on the traditional territorial disputes among fellow villagers, but the village chief didn't even signal.

The one-eyed woman said in disbelief: "We just let them go like this. They almost beat me to death!"

The village chief glared at her and asked, "What are you doing calling the girl in?"

The one-eyed woman said as a matter of course: "Let her take care of the two brothers!"

Hearing this, all the villagers looked at each other, and the village chief held his breath in his chest.

"Deserve it!"

After spitting heavily on the ground, the village chief left.

It was already dusk when the four of them returned to the county. Yin Meng didn't rush back to the coffin shop, but pointed to a hot pot restaurant and said:

"Let's have hotpot. It's my treat!"

We entered the store and ordered a nine-square grid. We hadn't eaten much at noon and rushed over. After walking and collecting corpses in the afternoon, we were all hungry, so we quickly started to eat tripe and duck intestines.

Yin Meng ordered some wine, stood up and poured some for Runsheng, Binbin and herself, and then poured some soy milk for Li Zhuiyuan.

Raise your glass.

"Thanks!"

After saying that, Yin Meng swallowed it, then choked and coughed violently.

Tan Wenbin said with a bit of a smile: "Forget it, forget it. If you can't drink it, then don't drink it. You can drink milk with my brother Yuanzi."

Yin Meng wiped her mouth and said, "We have to follow the procedure!"

"I'm done, I'm done. Come, the tripe is ready. Eat it quickly, or you'll get old."

The busiest person when facing death may be Runsheng or Xiaoyuan, but the busiest person at the dinner table is always Zhuangzhuang.

While eating hotpot, everyone tacitly agreed not to talk about what happened today.

Tan Wenbin asked Yin Meng what she wanted to do if she stopped running the coffin shop. Yin Meng said she didn’t know. She said that maybe not wanting to change was also a kind of liking the status quo.

Yin Meng asked the three what they wanted to do in the future. Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin replied that they wanted to go to college, and Runsheng replied that he wanted to ride a tricycle to take them to college.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Yin Meng went to pay the bill.

The four of them walked back to the coffin shop side by side. While washing up, Tan Wenbin said with a smile:

"I found that sleeping in a coffin is really comfortable. When I get back, I have to persuade Mr. Li to buy some funeral supplies in advance, so that I don't have to sleep on the round table in the future. Runsheng, what do you think?"

"If you dare to tell me, Master Li will beat you to death and bury you in that coffin."

"Just kidding, I'm telling you, I've made some new breakthroughs in my studies recently."

"what?"

"It's not convenient to talk about it now. I'll talk to you in detail when we leave on the boat tomorrow. If you want to learn, I can teach you, but you have to beg me."

"Can't I find Xiaoyuan?"

"You know what, I really can't teach Xiaoyuan this."

Yesterday, Xiaoyuan taught me how to end the Yin walking technique, which was to find the feeling of floating up.

It's like telling a student who has just started playing the piano: As long as you feel it with your heart, you can play beautiful melodies.

But the problem is that I don’t even know the key positions and can’t read the music score.

After washing up, everyone lay in their own coffin.

After Li Zhuiyuan slept for a while, he vaguely heard a cough. He turned his head to the side and died.

When I walked into the inner room, I saw the old man crawling out of the coffin. A rustling sound came from the coffin of Tan Wenbin next to him.

"He was like this last night. I could sense that he was about to go to the underworld. When I pulled him out, he was scared to death when he saw me."

Li Zhuiyuan's eyes fixed, and a shadow fell on the coffin where Tan Wenbin was, and it became quiet immediately.

The old man was frightened by this scene and said hurriedly: "You can't use this trick if you want to interrupt his Yin movement. If you don't control the degree well, it will cause damage to his brain."

After saying that, the old man seemed to realize something, and hurriedly smiled and shook his head, saying: "Forget it, I was overthinking it, you are more accurate than me."

He had witnessed the boy's terrifying learning ability with his own eyes last night. His current attainments in the Yin family's Twelve Methods were much higher than those of him, the orthodox successor.

Frequent Yin movements can easily cause loss of consciousness, so Li Zhuiyuan is now controlling Binbin's frequency.

However, what made Li Zhuiyuan even more puzzled at the moment was the old man's current condition.

"Why do you seem to be feeling better?"

"Ah, I wonder too. Logically, I shouldn't even have the energy to walk in the underworld today."

"Yang Shou is back?"

"Is someone dead?"

"Both are dead."

"That shouldn't be the case. The deal is done, so why would there be a refund?"

Logically speaking, this should have been a good thing, but the old man was not happy at all. Instead, he cursed,
"Isn't this just a waste of time?"

It was clear that he was in his last moments of life, and there were only two days left before his death and funeral. He was about to be freed from himself and his granddaughter, but he chose to continue living.

The old man walked to the wall, reached out and pressed the mirror, and the door panel immediately became transparent.

The Ghost Festival is over and the temple fair is over, but there are still "people" on the roads, there are still some people walking around here and there.

Li Zhuiyuan suspected that Fengdu must have its own unique mystery. The boy had never seen so many ghosts in other places.

Perhaps, the legend that Yin Changsheng ascended to heaven in broad daylight here is not groundless, but the "ascending to heaven in broad daylight" here may be quite different from what normal people understand.

Although there were fewer people outside today, the store entry rate increased. As soon as the door opened, a black shadow floated in impatiently.

These black shadows were almost the same, as if they were wearing a black robe. Their faces could not be seen at all, and it was even impossible to tell their gender.

But it feels like I "saw" it yesterday.

The old man and the black shadow began to communicate in an obscure buzzing voice.

After the conversation, the old man sighed, sat back in his chair, covered his face, and looked a little amused.

The black shadow did not leave and still stood there.

The old man waved his hand: "You better go."

The shadow still didn't move.

The old man said angrily: "Why, do you still want to stick around?"

The black shadow turned and floated towards Li Zhuiyuan.

Far from being afraid, the boy was secretly delighted, and his eyes revealed a hint of eagerness to try.

The old man opened his mouth to remind him, "He is from the Dragon King's family."

The black shadow stopped, and without hesitation, backed out of the coffin shop and blended into the darkness.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the old man and said, "Why do you have to say it out loud?"

"This is Ghost Street, at the feet of Emperor Fengdu. Don't get into conflict with these things unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Your Yin family has been developing and inheriting here for a long time, right? Have you ever conducted any research on the special conditions here?"

"Our surname is Yin, the same as Emperor Fengdu. We... are his descendants."

"Is there a family tree?"

"Yes, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, our family was once a royal family."

Li Zhuiyuan looked around the coffin shop and said, "It really doesn't look like a royal family now."

The old man said disapprovingly: "This is normal. Pick any surname from the Hundred Family Names and count upwards. Which family didn't have ancestors who were nobles?"

"Has it been investigated?" Li Zhuiyuan continued to ask the previous question.

“Yes.” The old man nodded vigorously. “The ancestor practiced Taoism, but the reason he was able to ascend to heaven was because he ate an elixir.”

"I remember it was recorded in Baopuzi that your ancestor also got a copy of Danjuan."

"This is fake. There is a record of it in the family tree. If this thing really existed and one could make elixirs by himself, then there would be countless ancestors who would have become immortals.

In fact, according to the research of several generations of ancestors, what our ancestors ate might not be elixir.”

"what is that?"

"Corpse Pill."

"It seems that your family has really put a lot of effort into research in the past."

If there isn't enough evidence, who would say that their ancestor ate immortality pills but instead ate corpse pills? Who would have nothing better to do than insult their own ancestors?
It is recorded in relevant Taoist scriptures that after Yin Changsheng attained enlightenment and became an immortal, he played around in the human world for a long time before finally ascending to heaven... Then can the ascension here also be understood as disappearance?
Is it possible that Yin Changsheng did not fly up, but drilled down?

Combined with the words engraved on the stone at the door of the store:

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

Yin Changsheng said that it was only after he became an immortal that he realized how many people had successfully attained enlightenment since the beginning of this dynasty. He said that many immortals did not like to disturb the human world and only liked to live in seclusion.

If Yin Changsheng ate corpse pills, then those hermit immortal friends he mentioned were...

The old man said, "Our ancestors used to be very keen on studying this, and even went crazy about it, but later, firstly, our family declined, and secondly, they kept studying but didn't come up with anything useful, so our ancestors became quiet.

These things are all recorded in the family tree. You can ask Meng Meng to bring the family tree out to you during the day, and you can just copy a copy... or just borrow it to read."

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the place where the black shadow had stood before, looked at the old man across the counter, and asked:
"You want to do business with me?"

He really told me the secrets of his ancestors and was even willing to lend me the family tree.

How can you listen to or borrow these things for free?

The old man waved his hands and said, "I am too lazy to find a son-in-law for Mengmeng to inherit the family name. Although this family tree contains many secrets, what use is it to Mengmeng and me?

If you like it, just take it, that's the best use of it."

"Old man, I'll give you one more chance to make an offer."

"Take Mengmeng away and let her follow you."

"She's not a commodity. She's a person. Can you just take her away?"

The old man's expression relaxed and he didn't refuse outright. Instead, he talked about the price, which proved that the other party was still willing to make the deal.

"Mengmeng is a kind-hearted child. I believe that with your intelligence, you can take her away. Ah, I'm not saying that you have impure intentions."

"You're still alive, she won't leave."

"I will die."

"So what did you just say? How did your life come back?"

"It didn't get the job done, the deal wasn't done, so it was returned."

"But the man is dead."

"It wasn't it. It said that the two boys in the house were playing around and poured pesticides into the rice jar. The one-eyed woman didn't want to throw the rice away, so she washed it and cooked it. She herself was too old to eat it, but she felt sorry for her two grandchildren and didn't want to give it to the children, so she gave it to the two adults. They ate it and died of poisoning that night.

The one-eyed woman was afraid that she would be held responsible, so she tied the two dead bodies on the bed together, dragged them into the river, and pretended that they had drowned.

"Can she have so much strength alone?"

"She told her eldest son that he was here to help her, on the condition that he would give her the younger son's house and land to him, and that she could also live in his home and have him take care of her in her old age."

"She is sober. No wonder she wanted to leave the two boys to Yin Meng during the day. She wanted to live out her retirement debt-free."

"Meng Meng is not stupid, she won't agree to it."

"Do you really think so?"

"What else?" The old man asked as a matter of course, "I won't do anything to those two boys. They are innocent."

"Ah."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't believe it.

It was true that he didn't understand the nonsense, but if it was just a normal business failure, the black shadow would not have stood here for so long.

Most likely, it’s because the big project was not completed, so they want to discuss doing a small project in exchange for some compensation.

It goes without saying who that small project refers to.

It was simply that things had changed and the old man felt that there was no need to do the small project. This made the black shadow, who had worked in vain, very angry.

"I will die, and I will let Mengmeng leave here without any worries. The world is good now, and she should go out and see the outside world. If she doesn't like it and comes back here, at least she won't have any regrets in her heart."

"Tell me how you died."

"It's easy to die. I can just do another deal and let the customer kill me."

“It’s simple indeed.”

"You don't know that I am suffering even though I am alive now. I also want to be free."

"Hold on tight then, I won't be here long."

"Okay, don't worry, as long as you agree, I will arrange my own death immediately."

“I can agree to this, but there is one thing I must explain first. I am considered a registered disciple of the Liu family, but I have not yet officially entered the family. Therefore, my relationship with the Liu family is not what you imagine.

Don't think that I can definitely bring Yin Meng into the Liu family."

"The ability you demonstrated yesterday, to me, it doesn't matter whether you are a member of the Liu family or not."

"Okay, I agree."

"Thank you."

"Didn't you say yesterday that you didn't want her to go down this path?"

"I had a brief moment of life during the day. Although I didn't die, it made me see things more clearly. Mengmeng, she can choose her own path. If she really doesn't like this path, I believe you will arrange it for her, because you are the smartest person I have ever met in my life."

So smart, he hardly looks like a human.

"Sleep."

"Rest in peace."

The next morning, Li Zhuiyuan woke up and sat up from his coffin.

Yin Meng and Run Sheng were removing the door panels together, preparing to open a business that was destined to have few customers.

"You're awake. I've cooked some preserved egg and lean meat porridge in the pot. Would you like some?"

Li Zhuiyuan's eyes passed over the enthusiastic Yin Meng and looked at Runsheng behind her.

Runsheng shook his head seriously.

This couldn't help but arouse Li Zhuiyuan's curiosity. How strange could the food be that even Runsheng found unpalatable?
But he still didn't want to test the poison himself, and shook his head and said, "I want to eat buns."

Runsheng immediately responded and walked out of the store: "I'll go buy it."

Yin Meng said a little disappointedly: "But, I still have a lot of porridge left in the pot. I cooked too much."

Li Zhuiyuan comforted him: "It's okay, wait until Binbin wakes up and leave it all to him, he loves to drink porridge."

Open the coffin and wash up.

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Yin Meng again and said frankly, "I want to see your family tree."

Yin Meng didn't hesitate: "Okay, I'll get it for you."

She was not a shady person, so naturally she had never communicated with the old man. She simply felt that there was nothing that could not be shown to others, especially to friends.

The family tree is very thick and large, so for ease of reading, it can only be placed on the ground.

The Yin family does have a history, because the beginning of his family tree looks like a myth, and it goes on for several pages, all of which tell the story of a daughter-in-law or daughter of the Yin family who either took a nap by the river or dreamed of some strange sight, and then got pregnant and gave birth to some noble person.

It seemed that in that era, the women of the Yin family were only busy with one thing, and that was getting pregnant inexplicably.

The middle section is like a historical narrative, which is relatively rigorous and consistent with official history.

Behind it are the dense textual research and scientific research of the Yin family’s ancestors.

This reminded Li Zhuiyuan of the original owner of Luba Village, the ancestor of the Qi family.

They are all a group of crazy people obsessed with research, but the ancestors of the Qi family studied the space mezzanines, while the ancestors of the Yin family studied the most famous ancestors in their own history.

The content is so detailed, and there are long travel notes and arguments in it. In fact, it is no longer a family tree, but more like a summary of the family's research over the generations.

He counted what he already had on hand: the notes of Qi's ancestors, the bamboo slips on the masked man, and the Yin family tree.

Qi's ancestors' notes have always been kept in his mind, but due to health reasons, he has not had time to decipher them, and the bamboo slips have not been restored yet.

However, these three books are all extremely worth reading.

Only those who love reading know how happy it is to be able to read with great interest and then consider the thick subsequent content.

At noon, when Yin Meng was changing his grandfather's diaper, the old man opened his eyes again.

This time, he spoke. His facial paralysis caused by the cerebral infarction was severe, his facial muscles were weak, he couldn't lift his lips, and his voice was extremely weak.

It was Li Zhuiyuan who heard the noise and came in to translate.

There is not much new content, just instructions and blessings from the elders to the younger ones, which are clichéd but express the true feelings.

The old man seemed to be very confident in Li Zhuiyuan's ability. He didn't even mention letting his granddaughter follow the boy, and Li Zhuiyuan didn't prepare himself for it.

It’s best to let everything take its course.

Yin Meng must have sensed something. After finishing the conversation, she called Runsheng to accompany her to the clothing store on the street to buy white cloth and black gauze, and also went to the funeral shop to buy funeral supplies.

The reason why Tan Wenbin was not invited to go together was that Binbin had food poisoning from the porridge he drank in the morning and was suffering from vomiting and diarrhea.

This surprised Li Zhuiyuan greatly. You know, Binbin had eaten the food of the Sidao family several times and had even eaten dirty bacon. Yet, he couldn't resist the porridge cooked by Yin Meng.

When everything is ready, everyone is actually very quiet and peaceful. The funeral is foreseeable to be very simple, because whether it is the coffin shop or the corpse retriever... they are destined to have few relatives and friends.

Perhaps, Li Zhuiyuan and four others will be the only guests at the upcoming funeral.

That night, Li Zhuiyuan heard gusts of cold wind outside the coffin. He turned over and did not die.

The next morning, everyone got up and ate soy milk and fried dough sticks bought from outside for breakfast.

After dinner, Yin Meng, as usual, did not look at the funeral clothes that had been prepared, but went to bring over the clean washed clothes and diapers.

I opened the coffin and wanted to help grandpa wipe and replace it.

Inside the coffin, the old man had his eyes closed and was no longer breathing. He passed away steadily and peacefully.

Yin Meng cried, tears welling up in her eyes, but after wiping them away vigorously twice, she smiled and turned to the three people behind her and said:

"It's great that my grandpa is gone."

(End of this chapter)