A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

"Let's bury him here!"

Li Jitong had spent most of his life drifting on the Haihe River, and he knew it as well as his own home. Soon, they found an island in the middle of the lake in the lower reaches of the Haihe River.

Calling it an island in the middle of the lake is a bit of an exaggeration. The total area of ​​this so-called island is no more than 20 square meters. It is more like a depression exposed in the Haihe River.

And the area around it was covered with reeds.

Li Jitong said that very few people know about this place; only a few old boatmen know about it, and even ordinary corpse retrievers don't know about it.

The group dug a deep pit in the depression and buried Erdan's body there.

Moreover, according to Li Jitong, this depression is only exposed at low tide and is submerged at high tide, so burying the body here is foolproof.

Seeing that Li Jitong had said so, Zheng Xuan also thought this place was quite nice. At this moment, Zheng Xuan flicked his finger, using his ability [Soul Control] to contact Erdan: "How is this place?"

Erdan said, "That's good."

Zheng Xuan said, "Then you should follow me from now on. Accumulate more merits, and maybe you can be reincarnated sooner."

Erdan nodded, and so Zheng Xuan and Li Ji left by boat. When they reached the shore, Zheng Xuan told Erdan to wait there and that he would come to pick him up later.

Erdan agreed, and the three of them went home.

Everyone should rest, needless to say.

In the middle of the night, Zheng Xuan took a water gourd and came to the riverbank. According to the description of the [Drowning Soul] skill, the Soul Master can usually carry the Drowning Soul with him and nurture it with his own aura. This can help the Drowning Soul consolidate its soul body, and at the same time, the power emitted by the soul body can also help the ability user improve their abilities.

Zheng Xuan opened the water gourd, placed the mouth of the gourd by the river, and then gently touched the surface of the river. He saw Erdan's soul float out and enter the gourd.

After sealing the gourd with the stopper and hanging it on his waist, Zheng Xuan went home.

Nothing happened that night. The next morning, Zheng Xuan got up very early and ate the fisherwoman's breakfast. The fisherwoman told Zheng Xuan some news. After they left yesterday, she met a woman named Feng Nianjiao, who was the daughter of a fisherman in the village.

Zheng Xuan was stunned when he heard this. Wasn't Feng Nianjiao Zhou Xun's childhood sweetheart?

"What does she want from you?"

When Zheng Xuan asked casually, the fisherwoman replied, "She wants to learn how to make steamed buns."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan paused slightly, thinking to himself that Senior Brother Zhou was truly blessed. He had just mentioned that Yu Niang's steamed buns were delicious, almost as good as Goubuli, and then his girlfriend came to learn how to make them.

Thinking this, Zheng Xuan said, "Well, then teach him well, and it'll be good for him to visit more often."

The fisherwoman nodded, a little happy. Feng Nianjiao was probably her first friend.

After finishing his meal, Zheng Xuan hurriedly rushed to his master's house. Once there, he began tidying up the ancestral hall and practiced visualization techniques while standing upside down.

Li Jitong usually leaves around 7:00 AM, and Zheng Xuan can usually meditate here for an hour. Although getting up early is hard work, his daily progress is real.

Around 7 a.m., Zhou Xun and Li Ji finished breakfast and then called Zheng Xuan. The three of them went to the corpse retrieval team. Zheng Xuan was a regular employee of the corpse retrieval team, earning five silver dollars a month, so he couldn't easily skip work.

But as soon as the three of them arrived at the body retrieval team, they sensed that something was off about the atmosphere.

"Hey Li, why are you so late? Hurry up, to the conference room, the chief commander has a mission to assign."

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong frowned slightly but remained silent. He led Zheng Xuan and the other person to the large conference room of the corpse retrieval team. As soon as they entered the room, they saw the captain, Zhao Zhen, gesturing on a wooden board with a charcoal pencil. At this time, there were two black and white photos hanging on the blackboard.

"Soul-capturing Mirror!"

Upon seeing the black and white photograph, Zhou Xun was startled. Zheng Xuan looked at him, and Zhou Xun said, "Xuan, be careful. That thing is a soul captured by a soul-capturing mirror. If those foreign devils take this and snap a picture of you, your soul will be sealed onto the paper!"

Zheng Xuan listened to Zhou Xun's words but did not laugh. This was a common idea among ordinary people in this era. They believed that cameras were like foreigners' soul-capturing mirrors; as long as they pointed a camera at someone, their soul would be gone.

Zheng Xuan had read about this in an old book called "Tianjin Jianwenlu": The Japanese devils with golden hair held a piece of glass with lead ink on it. They would shine the glass on whatever they wanted to see. The people called it a "soul-capturing mirror"!

It can only be said that the Great Jing missed the Industrial Revolution, and coupled with its policy of keeping the people ignorant, it resulted in the people's knowledge being extremely low, causing them to become out of touch with the world.

However, as a time traveler, Zheng Xuan had seen a lot of advanced technology in the future, let alone this outdated camera. He only felt that this thing had a retro aesthetic.

He looked at the photos on the blackboard again. There were two people in the photos. Zheng Xuan didn't recognize the middle-aged man, but he recognized the other child at a glance. Wasn't that Erdan?

At this moment, Zhao Zhen said, "Remember these two faces. The yamen's order is that these two people must be found alive or dead. You've all worked hard these past few days, so keep sailing. If you find these two people, you'll be rewarded with five hundred silver dollars each."

"Alright, everyone, go ahead and get back to work."

As Zhao Zhen spoke, the captains of the corpse retrieval team all got up and walked out. At this moment, Zhao Zhen said to Li Jitong, "Senior brother, come here for a moment."

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong led Zheng Xuan and Zhou Xun over. When they arrived, Zhao Zhen said to Li Jitong, "Senior brother, you're late. Let me tell you again, did you see the two people in this picture? The county magistrate has personally ordered that they be found alive or dead within three days."

"Senior brother, you are most familiar with the Haihe River, so please put in some effort. There's a reward of five hundred silver dollars for finding someone. It's a lucrative job."

Zhao Zhen said in a low voice.

Li Jitong also saw Erdan in the photo, and said calmly, "What crime did these two commit that warrants such a search? Look, this one is just a child."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhen said, "Senior brother, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask; that's the rule."

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong said, "Senior brother, you can't even reveal this to me?"

Zhao Zhen then glanced at Zhou Xun and Zheng Xuan and said, "You two, get out."

Zhou Xun and Zheng Xuan glanced at Li Jitong, who nodded slightly. The two left, and then Zhao Zhen said to Li Jitong, "Senior brother, it's not the imperial court that's looking for these two people, it's the foreign dignitaries in the foreign concessions."

"Foreigners?"

Li Jitong frowned slightly.

Zhao Zhen then said with a stern face, "Senior brother, don't be so resistant to the mention of foreigners. If you do this well, you'll not only get a bonus, but you'll also gain the favor of the county magistrate. This is a matter of your future, so you have to treat it seriously."

Upon hearing this, Li Jitong looked at Zhao Zhen and said, "These foreigners are no good. Don't get too involved with them."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhen said, "I know, I know all that, but what can we do? Even those princes and nobles in the imperial court are currying favor with foreigners. We're just insignificant nobodys, yet we dare to cause trouble with foreigners. Senior brother, when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head!"

"You agree, right?"

Zhao Zhen looked at Li Jitong and said.