Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 170

Yin Meng was sitting on the railing on the second floor, holding a bag of plums in her hand. She was keeping watch.

From time to time, she would look down at the boy sitting by the campfire in the yard below, thinking.

Every time Li Zhuiyuan reached out to pick up a piece of firewood and threw it into the campfire, Yin Meng would take out a piece of plum and throw it into his mouth.

As the firewood burned in the fire, making crackling sounds, she would smack her lips with a plum in her mouth.

The rest were sleeping.

The firelight shone on the boy's face, alternating between light and dark.

Xue Liangliang, wrapped in a blanket, walked over and sat down next to Li Zhuiyuan.

"Brother Liangliang, you should go to bed."

"I can't be of much use if I'm well-rested, so I might as well sit with you for a while."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

"Xiaoyuan, are you worried about the current situation?"

"Not really."

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, picked up the kettle on the campfire, and filled the two large bowls in front of him with brown sugar ginger tea.

Afterwards, two people, one big and one small, each picked up their bowls, blew on them, and then took small sips of the wine.

Drinking this in the mountains in winter can make people feel very comfortable.

Xue Liangliang looked at Yin Meng upstairs, then turned around to look at Runsheng, Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou who were sleeping side by side in the room.

"You can't tell anything on weekdays, but once you come out, the feeling you give people is completely different."

"As you go through more things, you will become more mature." Li Zhuiyuan looked at the cigarette Xue Liangliang took out, "Brother Liangliang, aren't you the same?"

"Yes, that's right, but I'm far inferior to you." Xue Liangliang bit the cigarette, lowered his head, lit it, and exhaled smoke rings with a puzzled look in his eyes, "When encountering such a thing, I find that I really can't help."

"You've been a great help in bringing us here."

"Isn't this a sarcastic remark?"

"No, it's the truth."

In the past, Li Zhuiyuan would choose test questions from A-li's dreams, but he went too far last time and scared those unpresentable things so much that they didn't even dare to show up.

This time, Xue Liangliang "helped" himself to draw the test questions.

Although the form is different, Li Zhuiyuan believes that he will always gain an advantage, although it is not clear where the advantage will appear.

The reason why Li Zhuiyuan stayed up so late was that he was trying to clear the fog on the chessboard as much as possible.

Then, he gradually realized that there was not much point in doing so.

Because it is very likely that the entire chessboard belongs to the old witch, and this is her home court.

She was different from any evil spirit he had faced before.

First, she is free.

Second, she has brains.

Finally, her condition was relatively stable.

She is not sealed, nor is she severely injured, nor is she just recovering. She has been active in this area for many years.

Strictly speaking, she is the first truly independent individual among all the opponents she has ever encountered.

Her sight covered the Miao village, the construction site, the village in front of her... and the surrounding area.

Xue Liangliang finished smoking the cigarette in his hand, threw it into the campfire, then took out a drawing from his arms and spread it on the ground.

"Xiao Yuan, I don't understand Feng Shui, and I don't understand those little flags you asked people to put up. I can only take a closer look at these drawings."

"Ok?"

"The construction of any water conservancy facility will have an impact on the original landform environment, and this impact is sometimes quite wide and will not be limited to the construction site."

"Brother Liangliang, please continue."

"You see, although this river is not very wide and the water flow is not large, it is indeed a mainstream among the many small water systems in the nearby area. When this hydropower station is built, the biggest impact will be here..."

Xue Liangliang took out a pen and drew a circle at a certain location.

"There is a lake here. We saw it when we entered the village on a tractor. It was a nice sight. After the hydropower station is built, the lake will lose its source of fresh water and will probably disappear gradually."

Li Zhuiyuan stared at the lake and asked, "Brother Liangliang, why did you think of paying attention to this?"

"Because you have a good brain, Xiaoyuan, you can see the obvious things that I can see, so I can only try to figure out some small corners that you may not consider."

Li Zhuiyuan's fingers gently stroked the drawing and he closed his eyes.

The memory in the brain was called out, and returned to the scene of sitting on Ran Dacheng's tractor driving on the bumpy mountain road.

The memory scene quickly went back, and finally returned to the time period when the lake appeared.

Tan Wenbin's voice at that time appeared beside my ears:

"Fuck, I've heard of regional discrimination, but this is the first time I've discovered there's terrain discrimination!"

I was sitting on a tractor at the time, and the lake just happened to appear in my sight. The lake was not big, only slightly larger than a pond.

The memory scenes kept fast-forwarding and rewinding, capturing perspectives from all angles, and finally pieced together the lake and its surrounding terrain in the most complete way possible.

Then, Li Zhuiyuan began to try to analyze the terrain and feng shui.

The result was... mediocre.

Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes. Yes, if there really was any special feng shui pattern, he would definitely notice it when passing by it.

Xue Liangliang lit up his second cigarette. He didn't notice Li Zhuiyuan's expression or movements, but continued with his analysis:
"In fact, although the project has not been completed, the effect of cutting off the flow of water has also appeared. The water level of this lake should be much lower than in normal years."

The water level is quite low?

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes again and recalled the scene in his mind.

He took the initiative to make the picture dynamic, as the water level rose and rose again.

Suddenly, Li Zhuiyuan was stunned.

Just by raising the water level and flooding parts of the surrounding areas and hills, the entire Feng Shui pattern suddenly became a standard [Park Moon Prosperity and Deficit].

At times of gain or loss, it gathers the essence of the mountains and forests, just like the human lungs, expelling the old and taking in the new.

This is an auspicious location. According to the description in "Liu's Wangqi Jue", it is the place where mountain spirits and wild ghosts like to reside the most, using the power of nature to nourish themselves.

I was just passing by, and it was impossible for me to have nothing to do and keep adding and subtracting the scenery in front of me, so I just ignored it.

If I had passed by before the construction started, I would have noticed at a glance that the lake was in a very good location.

It is not suitable for burying people, but it is suitable for raising people. If the elderly live here for a long time, they can live longer and healthier. It is the so-called holy place for retirement.

Such a beautiful place can only be found in the wild in the mountains.

If it were a place like Luoyang, any Feng Shui auspicious spot of a higher grade would have been squeezed into a shared rental house after digging with a shovel, with one layer of tombs, two layers of tombs, three layers of tombs...

Compared with the feng shui pattern of the lake, the feng shui particularity of the hydropower station construction site is nothing. It is even possible that the old witch deliberately made arrangements there to create a maze and divert attention.

Most likely, she buried an ancient corpse with the aura of a coffin beneath the construction site.

She is fishing in this way.

The Feng Shui masters hired by the construction company were all half-baked. They tried a lot of things but couldn't even find the fake fish bait.

The old man from the Miao village found it and sent his three disciples to deal with it, but they were defeated by the old witch.

She is really cautious.

Li Zhuiyuan was very curious about what she was afraid of.

Are you afraid of the way of heaven?

But judging from the logic of her behavior, it doesn't seem like that.

The evil spirit's fear of the way of heaven should be reflected in its "sense of existence", but her sense of existence is exceptionally strong, she just doesn't carry out mass killings.

It seemed that there was something so close at hand that she had to exercise restraint in this regard.

"Brother Liangliang, thank you. This point you made is very useful."

"Isn't this just a polite remark?"

"No, that lake is crucial."

"I think it would be more appropriate for you to tell me this after we go to the lake for a look at it after daybreak."

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and tapped his forehead: "No need, I remember everything here."

Xue Liangliang's mouth opened slightly, and finally turned into a wry smile: "Your memory is really enviable."

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and took another sip of brown sugar tea.

Everything has two sides. "Forgetting" is sometimes actually a self-protection mechanism.

If you have a very good memory, you will remember all the unhappy things you experienced in the past vividly.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly raised his head. He heard footsteps, cautiously.

"Snapped!"

Yin Meng on the second floor pulled out a whip and swung it in front of him, with a loud bang.

In the room on the first floor, Runsheng, Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou ran out immediately, all with weapons in their hands.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, looked towards the southwest earth wall, and waved his hand forward.

Yin Meng took the lead, hooked the railing with a whip, and swung over from the second floor.

Runsheng rushed forward and bent his knees under the earth wall. During his sprint, Lin Shuyou stepped on Runsheng's knees and jumped directly over the earth wall.

Then, Runsheng leaped up, grabbed the edge of the earth wall with his left hand, and then used his arm strength to pull his body over.

Although this earth building is old, it may have served as a semi-military site before liberation, so the earth walls are very high and slippery.

After Tan Wenbin rushed to the wall, he saw that Runsheng had already climbed over without waiting for him, so he continued to run, backing up and coming to the side of Li Zhuiyuan and Xue Liangliang.

Since the three of them have gone out, I will stay behind to protect the important people.

Xue Liangliang asked nervously, "She's here?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head: "It's not her."

Judging from the sound of the person, the footsteps sound more like a thief.

Not long after, the door of the earth building was pushed open, and Runsheng walked in carrying a man in dirty work clothes. The man looked terrified.

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to him and asked, "What's your name, Cui Hao or Li Ren?"

"My name is... Cui Hao." The man looked around. "You, are you from the construction team?"

"Ah."

"Then you...then you..."

Cui Hao really couldn't understand when the technicians of the construction team could suddenly drop from the sky.

He had just sneaked outside the earth wall when three figures suddenly appeared in front of him and surrounded him. Then one of them even picked him up like a chicken.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Tell me about your story. Is Li Ren still alive?"

"He's still alive, but he's injured."

"Tell me what happened to you."

Cui Hao was surprised and asked: "Since you are from the construction team, shouldn't you follow me to rescue people now?"

"Li Ren won't die for a while, right?"

"Can't die."

"Then there's no rush." ​​Li Zhuiyuan sat down and pressed his hand down.

Runsheng forced Cui Hao to sit down, and Tan Wenbin came over with a dagger in his hand. Before Cui Hao could react, he grabbed his hand and cut his finger.

"what!"

After dripping blood and doing an examination, Tan Wenbin nodded, indicating that it was a real person.

"What are you doing?"

Li Zhuiyuan reminded him, "Let's get down to business. Tell him about your experience with Li Ren staying behind. Bring him something to eat and let him talk while he eats."

Yin Meng handed half a bag of plums to Cui Hao.

Tan Wenbin used his arm to block Yin Meng's hand: "If you feed him this, he will get hungrier the more he eats."

Afterwards, Tan Wenbin threw a bag of compressed biscuits to Cui Hao and poured him a bowl of brown sugar tea.

Seeing that there was food, Cui Hao began to eat voraciously. After stuffing some food into his mouth, he breathed a sigh of relief and began to tell about what he and Li Ren had experienced during this period.

Their leader showed democratic style and asked everyone to vote anonymously to nominate two candidates to take charge of the task of staying behind.

This is almost the same as voting for "who do you dislike the most".

Cui Hao was elected with a high number of votes, followed by Li Ren. The votes for the two of them far outnumbered the third-to-last candidate.

Everyone else has gone back home to celebrate the New Year, and the two of us are left behind. It's impossible to say that we don't feel resentful.

However, the resentment in both of their hearts was soon swept away to make room for fear.

The night Cui Hao recorded that “they” came back was actually just the beginning.

Because then, everyone in the yard downstairs came upstairs, and their consciousness began to become blurred at that time.

It was like a dream. In a daze, I actually joined them and started a meeting.

At the meeting, leaders and colleagues repeatedly asked questions, and then Cui Hao and Li Ren began to answer them.

The meeting lasted for a long time, and when it ended, it was already dawn.

When Cui Hao and Li Ren woke up, they found themselves lying in the yard.

The two thought they had encountered a mountain ghost and immediately ran out to seek help, but every person they met in the village laughed grimly after listening to their story.

The whole village is full of fucking ghosts!

The two were so scared that they ran out of the village and hid directly in the forest.

From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, the two of them basically lived in a Zhaojun Temple in the mountains.

However, their ability to survive in the wild was too poor, and they did not have time to bring supplies when they escaped from the village. In the end, they could only sneak into the village under the cover of night to steal some things, and then hide in the Zhao Jun Temple in the mountains before dawn.

Originally, when they entered the village to steal things, they did not dare to get close to this earth building. After all, this was the starting point of the nightmare.

Unfortunately, Li Ren accidentally stepped on a trap set by a hunter in the mountains. Although he was able to break free from the trap, the wound began to become inflamed because it was not properly treated.

Cui Hao found some herbs, crushed them and applied them to Li Ren. The effect was obvious. Li Ren's wound swelled up and began to fester.

As a last resort, Cui Hao sneaked into the village tonight and headed towards the earth building because he knew there were medicines there.

Then, he was caught.

Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his brows while analyzing Cui Hao's words.

Cui Hao did not lie, but what he said might not be true.

The village was definitely not full of ghosts; they were just the focus of attention.

Li Zhuiyuan suspected that the scene that night might be because the old woman wanted to find out the real intention of the construction team and whether they would give up the construction of the hydropower station.

The villagers with sinister smiles that Cui Hao and Li Ren met in the village later were probably all fake.

There is just one thing that doesn't make sense. Either you stop asking questions or you silence them. What is your purpose in playing with people after asking questions? Is it so boring?

Li Zhuiyuan: "What is Zhaojun Temple?"

Cui Hao: "It is a dilapidated temple on the mountain. It is very old. We went there when we were doing surveying. Someone in the team said it was a temple of merit and virtue. He took a few of us to worship there. One of us took away a piece of tile as a talisman."

"Is that tile on you?"

"Always carry it with you."

"Show it to me."

Cui Hao reluctantly took out a tile from his pocket and handed it to Li Zhuiyuan.

The tile is very small, with three patterns engraved on the top and three vertical lines below, which means following the will of heaven and the will of the people, and having infinite merits.

It is indeed a meritorious tile, but it has no actual effect in warding off evil spirits.

There is indeed a tradition among the people to collect merit tiles or merit bricks. They do not collect them as antiques, but believe that taking them home and building them into their own houses can help to ward off evil spirits and bring peace to the home.

It is said that the real Leifeng Pagoda collapsed because nearby residents dug out too many bricks.

Li Zhuiyuan suspected that since the tiles had no effect, the thing that worked might be the temple behind the tiles.

Zhaojun Temple... Li Zhuiyuan had never heard of this kind of temple, but he knew about Zaojun Temple.

But this Mr. Zhao could make the old woman afraid. Even though she had a piece of tile from him in her pocket, she didn't dare to kill the two of them.

Li Zhuiyuan clapped his hands, stood up, and said to Cui Hao:
"Let's go rescue your colleague."

……

The Zhaojun Temple is in a semi-abandoned state, or rather, its original purpose of construction was not to pass on the incense, because its location is too remote and difficult to get to.

The temple has collapsed and is overgrown with weeds. Only the main temple building still has a broken roof that can barely keep out the wind and rain.

Over the past few days, Cui Hao and Li Ren have been hiding here in the wilderness to survive.

Li Ren's condition is not very good. His wound has become infected, he is running a fever, and his consciousness is in a confused state.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed at him, and Yin Meng immediately squatted down and began to help him treat his wounds.

The rest of the people began to inspect the Zhao Jun Temple.

There is a stone sculpture in the temple, but after being exposed to wind and sun for a long time, the stone sculpture has become very rough. Of course, the problem cannot be entirely blamed on wind and frost. The main reason is that the stone sculpture was carved rather roughly at the beginning and not with much care.

Behind the stone carving, there is a monument of merit.

The writing on it is mottled, but still vaguely recognizable.

It mainly tells the story of Zhao Jun's achievements. After he came here, he helped the mountain people control water and build canals, and also drove away the evil spirits that were wreaking havoc in the mountains.

Li Zhuiyuan frowned slightly. The content of this monument of merit was very vague. It didn't even clearly state Zhao Jun's name. Zhao Jun should be a respectful title.

Drive away evil spirits?
So, has this Mr. Zhao ever dealt with the old witch?

Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the dilapidated temple, looked back at the direction the stone sculpture was facing, turned sideways, and according to the map in his brain, this direction faced the lake.

The young man suddenly realized that this was a secondary temple, or a companion temple.

The real main temple of Zhaojun Temple is not here.

But judging from the location of the sub-temple, it should not be built here, but a little higher.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and looked towards the top of Zhao Jun Temple, where there were several large stones piled up.

"Brother Runsheng, try to pry open a stone."

"okay!"

Runsheng inserted the Yellow River shovel into the gap and began to pry it open.

Soon, the stones began to loosen and one of them was pried open.

A stone tablet was revealed inside, soaked in time, with blood writing on it, vigorous and powerful.

When Li Zhuiyuan saw the contents on the stone tablet, his gaze also focused.

"The Holy Maiden of Miaojiang has gone astray and fallen into depravity. She has killed infants from everywhere and stuffed them into her own belly, hoping to use herself as a cauldron to give birth to a Gu child.

God is angry and people resent it, and both humans and gods are outraged.

Now I am here to kill the poisonous boy and suppress the saint girl.

Time is long and human power is limited. If the suppression fails, this beast will reappear.

The day he starts killing again, that will be the day my descendants will carry out my will and return to this place to suppress the evil spirit again!

——Zhao Wuyang of Jiujiang."

Jiujiang Zhao family.

Ancestor of Zhao Yi.

Zhao Wuyang is Zhao Jun. Li Zhuiyuan speculates that this person is most likely the Dragon King in the history of Jiujiang Zhao, and the only Dragon King.

Logically speaking, this should be Zhao Yi's opportunity, as he is also traveling along the river.

This wave should be given to Zhao Yi.

In the end, he gave it to himself.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but look at Xue Liangliang who was standing in front of him and also looking at the words on the stone tablet.

The first thought in the boy's mind at this moment was: This is a good opportunity to kill Zhao Yi.

This is a knee-jerk reaction.

Because Zhao Yi deserves respect and deserves to be killed.

But soon, Li Zhuiyuan erased this thought from his mind, because it was quite boring to do so.

If the two sides met on ordinary days, they would each rely on their own abilities to dig holes for each other and bury the other side in advance, which would not matter.

But under the handwritten inscription of the Dragon King of the Zhao family, thinking about such things again, it feels like a child throwing a tantrum in front of adults, which seems boring and childish.

After all, no matter what, every generation of Dragon King is worthy of respect.

Li Zhuiyuan stretched out his hand, gently pushed Xue Liangliang away, walked to the stone tablet alone, stood calmly, and said:

"Unfortunately, your Jiujiang Zhao has only produced your generation of Dragon King so far."

He inherits the legacy of two Dragon King families. Even when facing other Dragon Kings, at least he cannot be timid in his first words, that is, he cannot be too polite.

Every family has its own pride and every leader in its time.

Afterwards, Li Zhuiyuan bowed down in front of the stone tablet, and then performed the greetings between the Qin and Liu families.

The one being worshipped is not the Zhao family of Jiujiang, but the predecessor who once suppressed the evil spirits in the martial arts world.

After the ceremony, Li Zhuiyuan stood up and said:

"I, Dragon King Qin and Dragon King Liu, will take over your Zhao family's Dragon King's job!"

"Crack!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the stone tablet cracked into two halves, with a rusty copper coin sword stuck in the middle.

Li Zhuiyuan blinked.

He didn't expect that the Dragon King of the Zhao family would be so generous.

The inscription reads that future generations will come to suppress it; but even if it is a descendant of another family, as long as they are willing to come here to suppress this beast, he will give them tools and help them.

This is probably the mind of the Dragon King.

Li Zhuiyuan stretched out his hand and grabbed the copper coin sword. The moment he touched it, a cool feeling went straight into his palm, making his brain clear.

What a good thing.

Li Zhuiyuan pulled out the copper coin sword, observing the precious copper rust on it while sighing in his heart:
"I'm sorry, Zhao Yi."

---

This is to make up for yesterday's word count, and there is more to come tonight.

(End of this chapter)