Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 334

The morning sun was gathering its strength, about to reveal its scorching fangs.

Lin Shuyou took out frozen ice cubes from the refrigerator and added them to the mung bean soup cooked by Aunt Liu. He first drank a large bowl of it in one go, feeling so comfortable that his body trembled. Then he ladled out a second bowl and slowly savored it in small sips under the sunlight on the threshing floor outside the hall.

After finishing his drink, Lin Shuyou turned his head and looked at Tan Wenbin, who was lying on the coffin lid with a pen and paper, looking at a book on formations. He felt a little regretful.

Back then, because of the resentment in his shoulders, Brother Bin exuded a chilling aura. Looking back now, he really didn't come at the right time.

How refreshing it would be if Brother Bin had a relapse during the summer months of July and August.

Imagine being able to wrap yourself in two layers of blankets and shiver in the sweltering summer heat – it sounds so pleasant!

Tan Wenbin: "Give me a bowl."

Lin Shuyou: "Oh, okay."

After taking the mung bean soup with ice, Tan Wenbin took a sip and suggested, "I feel that it would taste better if you replaced the ice with shaved ice."

Lin Shuyou: "It seems like this refrigerator of ours is a bit difficult to make."

Tan Wenbin: "You can take out the ice and have the boy use the trident to grind it."

Lin Shuyou: "Good idea."

The book on formations that Tan Wenbin was reading was his own copy. It was covered with densely packed numbers and various things that looked like mathematical formulas, written in different colored pens.

There was a thick booklet next to it, like a small dictionary, written by Li Zhuiyuan.

When Tan Wenbin was learning and understanding these basic formations, he had to look up words in the dictionary and make notes at the same time. Although the efficiency was slow, at least he developed the ability to learn on his own.

With Brother Yuan around, he doesn't need to strive to become a formation master. He knows that level isn't about hard work; what he needs to do is become familiar with most of the different types of low-level formations.

Tan Wenbin: "Send two bowls up to Brother Xiaoyuan too, no, a whole basin of them, are you planning to drink them all yourself?"

Lin Shuyou scratched his head: "I still don't think it's enough."

Tan Wenbin: "Now even Runsheng can't beat you."

Since the Lin family was able to summon the spirit medium, the medium has become very busy. After overcoming the initial period of fatigue, Lin Shuyou is no longer sleepy, but his already large appetite has increased dramatically again.

In Aunt Liu's words, if prices keep rising like this, she'll have to use a Yellow River shovel to cook in the future.

Lin Shuyou: "It's just that I get hungry quickly."

Tan Wenbin: "Are there any other reactions?"

Lin Shuyou: "Yes, but not obviously. I feel that I have more energy every day after waking up than the day before."

Tan Wenbin: "The despicable rentier class."

The gains of the spirit medium can be shared 100% with Lin Shuyou. When the Lin family summons the spirit medium, whether it is to slay demons or exorcise evil spirits and pray for blessings, half of the merit will fall on the spirit medium, which is Ayou.

When someone starts a business and opens a factory, they're afraid that too many relatives will come in and eat them out of business.

Lin Shuyou is the opposite; he's a relative who lives off the entire clan.

Although the growth was slight, it was an improvement that could be obtained by sitting at home and doing nothing, which was like getting something for free, making people extremely envious.

Lin Shuyou carried up two bowls of mung bean soup.

Just as she reached the door, the screen door opened, and Ah Li appeared in the doorway, took the mung bean soup from her, and turned to go inside.

Lin Shuyou glanced inside and saw that Brother Xiaoyuan was sitting attentively at his desk, with several stacks of books in front of him. The books looked quite familiar; he had read them before. They were called "Tales of the Strange and Unusual in the Martial World" and "The Righteous Path to Subdue Demons."

These are all basic reading materials. Lin Shuyou doesn't understand why Brother Xiaoyuan brought these books out again, and why he's reading them so seriously.

However, Ayou felt it was normal that he didn't understand.

As I went downstairs, I happened to see Li Sanjiang returning.

Li Sanjiang glanced around and saw Zhuangzhuang reading and studying, while Lin Shuyou came down the stairs looking quite relaxed.

"Friend Marquis".

"Hey!"

"The carpenter in Xicun is building a fishpond. Go help him out, and you can bring back a few fish tonight to make fish soup."

"okay."

Villagers help each other out without paying wages. For example, when it comes to the fishpond, if someone lends a hand, they can get a meal and a few fish in return for half a day's work.

"Youhou, go home for lunch, don't eat at their place."

"okay."

Lin Shuyou nodded and ran out.

Li Sanjiang made himself a bowl of mung bean soup, and after drinking half of it, he breathed a sigh of relief.

If we let Ah-you eat at someone's house, it's the same as letting a bandit into someone's house to eat. That's not doing a favor, it's making an enemy.

Li Sanjiang asked in surprise, "Could it be that Youhou's child is still growing?"

Tan Wenbin replied while flipping through the dictionary:

"It's a blessing to be able to eat."

"That's true. If you're only good at eating and not lazy, you won't go broke from eating too much."

Li Sanjiang's family is one of the few in the village that doesn't raise pigs, mainly because they find it too troublesome. The family members are all busy making paper offerings for religious ceremonies and don't have time to take care of the livestock.

Later, seeing that his family had grown, Li Sanjiang did consider building a pigsty to raise a few pigs. Logically speaking, feeding pigs with leftovers would be quite appropriate.

But after all this time, the mules at home not only didn't eat less, but their appetite kept increasing. This made Li Sanjiang feel that after he started raising pigs, it wasn't that the pigs didn't have any leftovers, but that when he woke up the next day, all the pigs had been eaten.

"Brother Li!"

Old Tian has arrived.

"Brother Li, the medicinal wine I brewed is ready to drink. I'll also prepare two Jiangxi dishes for lunch. Would you like to come over for a drink?"

"Okay, but put less chili in."

"Don't worry, I understand."

Li Sanjiang walked to the dam, intending to go to the kitchen to tell Tinghou that she didn't need to cook her lunch... He hesitated for a moment, then decided against it and said, "Never mind, I'll mention it again."

Liu Jinxia, ​​Granny Hua, and Wang Lian came to play cards.

When Old Tian saw Liu Jinxia, ​​he visibly tensed up.

Liu Jinxia smiled at Old Tian: "You're here too."

Old Tian: "Yes, I'm here."

Liu Jinxia: "You're really not going back to Jiujiang?"

Old Tian: "I'm not going back for now."

After exchanging greetings, Liu Jinxia prepared to sit down at the card table.

Old Tian: "I made some snacks, I'll take them to Xianghou later."

Liu Jinxia: "Okay, my Cui Cui loves the snacks you made. Have Xiang Hou get you some of my family's pickled garlic."

Old Tian: "Okay, I love garlic."

Wang Lian and Granny Hua sat at the table, secretly laughing.

Granny Hua added jokingly, "Do you like vinegar? My sister Xiahou can even make vinegar."

Old Tian: "I love to drink, I love to drink."

Li Sanjiang urged Lao Tiantou to leave so they could go for a drink together. He was afraid that if they didn't leave soon, Lao Tiantou would prepare a whole table of condiments for him to drink with.

Granny Hua sighed, "If only I could have stayed young."

Wang Lian: "Yes."

Liu Jinxia: "Open the cards, open the cards, I've been making you guys have fun every day, but you never even give me a little more money to lose."

As she played, Liu Jinxia realized that she was actually going to win a lot of money today.

The main problem was that Liu Yumei lost a lot, letting others win every hand.

Liu Jinxia leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Has Sister Liu had some good news?"

We're all old friends at the card table, how could we not see through some of the tricks of the trade? Even the most honest Wang Lian knows that she has always been taken care of.

With his grandchildren about to start school and his son needing a new dressing, whenever he was in a tight spot, he could always win some extra money from Liu Yumei to tide him over.

Sister Liu has a habit: she usually loses less, but when she's in a good mood, she loses more.

Liu Yumei: "I'm in a good mood today. The burden at home is lighter, and I have hope for the future when I get old, so I can afford to lose money even more."

Aunt Liu came over with tea and snacks and refilled their tea.

Ever since the old lady took Xiaoyuan to that meeting, her whole demeanor has changed.

She scolded Ali for being stupid, for tending the flowerbeds so poorly, and for not improving her own cooking skills over the years, complaining about what she was feeding her every day.

Last night, Ali even told himself that his mistress might have some health problems and that he should go see her more often and help with her treatment.

She glared at Ali, realizing that the old lady had clearly regained her confidence, reverted to her old ways, and started acting up again.

Upstairs in his room, Li Zhuiyuan sat at his desk, quickly flipping through the pages of the book in his hand, his eyes constantly scanning the contents that he had already memorized, reinforcing them once again.

After flipping through both sets of books on the desk again, the boy leaned back gently in his chair.

My mind is filled with the thought of "being destroyed by the righteous path".

When Wei Zhengdao suppressed the evil spirits, it was a one-time solution that left no future troubles.

The problem is... Li Zhuiyuan re-examined the contents of the book and tried to suppress evil spirits according to the methods written by Wei Zhengdao, but he still couldn't completely kill those that were difficult or special.

So either Wei Zhengdao was exaggerating, or he was hiding something.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't think Wei Zhengdao was bragging.

Because the boy himself was the first victim of Wei Zhengdao's style of doing things back then.

But the young man didn't realize that Wei Zhengdao was deliberately hiding his shortcomings when writing the book.

Firstly, Wei Zhengdao used precious Buddhist paper to write this book, and secondly, this was not in line with Wei Zhengdao's character.

Ah Li brought over the mung bean soup; the ice inside had melted, but the soup was still cold.

After Li Zhuiyuan finished drinking, he helped A Li tidy up the painting table.

Today, Ah Li is wearing a black and gold horse-face skirt, a white blouse, and her hair is styled in an updo with a wooden hairpin.

Ah Li had worn similar styles before, but as the girl got older, the way she wore them felt different.

Compared to her usual ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), this outfit makes her appear more aloof and unapproachable. Of course, when facing me, Ah Li immediately becomes very gentle.

Panzi and Leizi arrived on their bicycles before lunch.

"Young Marquis Yuan, Young Marquis Yuan!"

"coming."

After Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs, he saw Pan Zi and Lei Zi standing next to Tan Wenbin. Pan Zi offered Tan Wenbin a cigarette, and Lei Zi lit it for him.

The two were wearing dark blue work clothes, which were stained with oil but looked very new.

For them, the college entrance examination was just a formality; all they needed to do was get their high school diplomas, and they had already been looking for jobs to start working.

There were various rumors circulating before, with different companies saying they would go to different places. Now, the two have officially joined a state-owned enterprise called Longxing Tool Factory in Xingren Town.

The factory isn't big, but it's very profitable. Every day, there's a line of trucks waiting to pick up goods outside the factory gate. It's really difficult to get a job there now.

The two had just received their first month's wages, and compared to when they used to work at the brickyard during their holidays, it was like heaven and earth.

Panzi had injuries on his face; his father had hit him.

His father's idea was to save his salary for his future marriage.

Panzi refused, so his father scolded him, saying that he had worked hard to raise him with his own poop and pee... In response, Panzi replied: My grandparents washed my poop and pee.

When his father heard this, he got angry and slapped Panzi. Panzi didn't fight back, but just pushed his father. His father continued to hit him, and Panzi continued to push him.

Finally, Panzi's face was injured. His father lost his balance and hit his forehead on the table leg. He was not seriously injured, just bled. Then he kept cursing: "You little bitch, you've grown wings and I can't control you anymore!"

It's true that one's wings have hardened; the biggest change in a person's life often occurs when they can support themselves.

The first thing Panzi and Leizi did after receiving their salaries was to buy things for Li Weihan and Cui Guiying.

The two cousins ​​bought cigarettes and alcohol, and sat alone with Li Weihan on a small stool on the dam to eat dinner, drink, and smoke, deliberately distinguishing themselves from the other children.

I bought Cui Guiying a new outfit, but she was reluctant to wear it. However, she said it was already "old" after just a few days.

They each contributed half the money and gave it to Yingzi so she could buy some things she would take with her to university.

Yingzi refused, saying she had enough money. As a result, the two brothers scolded her, saying that city girls dressed so brightly and stylishly, while Yingzi looked like a rustic country girl. They warned her not to let any guy seduce her after she went to university.

These sarcastic remarks brought Yingzi to tears, and in the end, she had no choice but to accept the money with a mix of tears and laughter.

Actually, when the two brothers grew up with their grandparents, they were quite immature. Li Weihan and Cui Guiying did not discriminate against girls, otherwise they would not have supported Li Lan's education. However, girls in the countryside mature early, so Yingzi often helped with housework. Although the two brothers were older, they would eat when they were tired from playing and go out to have fun when they woke up.

I came to Li Sanjiang's house to find Xiao Yuan. I brought a big bag of snacks and dragged two large boxes of soda on the back of my bicycle.

The soda wasn't Jianlibao; it was bottled. After you finished drinking it, you had to take the empty bottle back to get your deposit back. The advantage was that it was cheap. If they really bought Jianlibao, their combined salaries wouldn't be enough to afford such a spree.

Regardless, it's a token of my appreciation.

Li Zhuiyuan remembered that when he first came to Nantong, the two of them took him around the village and had fun. Later, they even took him to the video arcade in town to watch porn.

The two of them even ended up at the police station because of this incident.

Looking at the two of them now, with cigarettes in their mouths, unshaven beards, and dressed in work clothes, they still look young, but they have the air of adults.

People often lament how fast time flies, but the changes in people often catch even time off guard.

It's only been two years. Maybe in another two years, they'll get married, and in another two years, their child will be born, and Li Zhuiyuan will have a nephew.

Having grown up together in their grandparents' home, their relationship will definitely become much more distant after they start their own families. But no matter how far apart they become, it shouldn't degenerate into the terrible relationship between the four uncles' families that exists today.

Tan Wenbin invited them to stay for lunch, but the two waved their hands and said they had already eaten, although it was obvious they hadn't.

After finishing their cigarettes, the two left their belongings and rode away on their bicycles.

The reason I made this special trip is because I used to eat a lot of snacks that Xiao Yuanhou's mother sent me, and I would also take Xiao Yuanhou to Aunt Zhang's convenience store without thinking, so that Xiao Yuanhou would take out his pocket money to buy things.

The two brothers still feel incredibly embarrassed when they think about it now.

Of course, what they didn't know was that the little brother they were fooling back then was actually treating them like children.

Granny Hua: "I must say, these two children are really different from their parents' generation."

Wang Lian: "The child has grown up and become sensible."

Granny Hua: "Xingren Town is quite far from here. I get up early every day to ride my bike to work, and then ride my bike back after work. It takes about three hours round trip."

Wang Lian: "I'm afraid it's more than that."

Old Woman Hua: "It's hard-earned money too."

Wang Lian: "But I'm willing to give it up."

Liu Jinxia: "Hanhou and Sister Guiying are finally able to enjoy their good fortune. The rice has been harvested one crop after another, and they're bound to have a bumper harvest eventually."

Liu Yumei played a card.

The old woman exclaimed with delight, "I won!"

Liu Yumei picked up her teacup, took a sip, ignored the card she had ordered, and continued Liu Jinxia's words:
"That's the truth."

In the afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan went through the two sets of books again.

After watching it, I sat in the chair, feeling as if a group of people were surrounding me, chattering away:

"Destroyed by the righteous path".

Li Zhuiyuan rarely confronts problems irrationally, but his current behavior indicates that he is no longer able to approach the issues at hand with a rational perspective.

The most absurd thing is that Li Zhuiyuan had a vague feeling that the answer might be right in front of him, but he just hadn't discovered it yet.

Two hands appeared on either side of my head and began to gently press.

At first, I wasn't used to it and didn't quite get the hang of the pressure, but I quickly got into the zone.

The buzzing in the boy's ears gradually subsided until it disappeared.

Ah Li had seen Aunt Liu massage her grandmother's head like this before.

Having just noticed the boy's intense emotional fluctuations, she naturally came over to help him calm down.

Li Zhuiyuan grabbed A Li's hand and said, "It's alright, I'm fine now."

People are often hesitant to indulge in things that are too wonderful; they instinctively cherish them and hope they will last.

Ah Li looked at the boy very seriously.

After his grandmother took the boy out that time, his grandmother changed, and the boy also changed.

Li Zhuiyuan leaned forward, bringing his forehead to touch the girl's.

"Okay, I'm fine."

The list of enemies has suddenly grown so much.

Li Zhuiyuan wasn't anxious about whether he would be able to successfully take revenge in the future; what he was anxious about was... how to prevent the flames from rising again after he had taken revenge.

What is difficult to suppress and kill is not just evil spirits.
Those righteous people are sometimes harder to wipe out completely.

If they want to survive, they have far more methods and means than traditional evil spirits, if they so choose.

In other words, when they are willing to do anything to survive... they become evil spirits.

From the dam downstairs, shouts for Li Sanjiang could be heard.

Someone came to invite Li Sanjiang to a vegetarian meal.

Grandpa went to Big Beard's house this morning and hasn't come back yet. If nothing unexpected happens, the two old men must be drunk.

After lunch, Tan Wenbin went to Shigang Town to visit his grandparents from the north and south. Runsheng was in the fields, and Ayou was catching fish.

Li Zhuiyuan went to the bearded man's house to find his great-grandfather, as he also wanted to go out for some fresh air.

When we arrived at Big Beard's house, Benben, a baby in a crib on the dam, was holding an empty plastic cup. He first offered it to Taolin, then tilted his head back and chugged it down, making a grand gesture of drinking.

Xiao Yingying stood to the side, hands on her hips, watching the child's actions, her resentment almost uncontrollable.

Smart kids learn things too early and too fast. The one in the peach grove was always drinking and clamoring for snacks to go with his drinks, and now those two old folks are drinking here too.

If the child is influenced by what he sees and hears, he might look for a wine vat as soon as he is old enough to get out of his crib and run around on his own.

Li Zhuiyuan's arrival caused Benben to fall backward onto the crib, completely "drunk" and unconscious.

Led by Xiao Yingying, Li Zhuiyuan saw two elderly people lying on a straw mat, fast asleep from drunkenness.

At this point, calling out to him definitely won't wake him up.

Xiao Yingying offered to make a hangover soup, but Li Zhuiyuan refused.

At this age, aside from the headache afterward, getting drunk once is actually a form of enjoyment.

Back on the dam, Benben, who had just sat up, suddenly "plop" lay back down.

Since he was already there, Li Zhuiyuan simply took the initiative to walk into the peach grove ahead.

Unlike in the past, when people would play the zither, sing, drink wine, and paint, the peach grove was unusually quiet today.

Su Luo leaned against the peach tree, dozing off. Qing An floated face up in the pool.

Both of them were drunk, but Su Luo was probably truly drunk, because his actions and feelings were entirely under Qing An's control. In fact, it could be said that Su Luo was just one of the countless faces on Qing An's face.

The one floating on the pool was pretending to be drunk; he couldn't possibly be drunk. The indescribable torment was constantly afflicting him.

Li Zhuiyuan's arrival shattered the tranquility of the place, interrupting Qing'an's performance and breaking the play.

He was angry.

Twisted faces emerged from the pool.

Men, women, young and old... and many of them don't even have human faces.

They are not individuals, but rather they have long been intertwined and integrated into Qing'an.

Li Zhuiyuan squatted down by the pool and asked:
"There's something I've always wondered about: why did you suppress yourself here back then?"

A woman's face rose, her neck, like a snake's, winding out of the water, and she appeared before the young man, speaking in a sinister, shrill voice:

"Because the underground in the Central Plains is too crowded."

Li Zhuiyuan: "But if you want a quiet place, there are plenty of options."

"Hee hee hee hee hee hee……"

A distorted face floated out, with only one eye, and the eyeball was constantly bulging, with wisps of pus constantly oozing out.

"If you want to ask something... you'll need to get some food and drinks first... hehehe!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I want to know why you chose Nantong as your place of suppression."

"Buzz!"

Countless faces emerged from the pool and surrounded the boy, their gazes and expressions shifting over him.

The surrounding peach branches pressed down, an invisible pressure falling on the boy.

The boy didn't resist; he simply changed from squatting to sitting.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Is it related to Wei Zhengdao?"

All the faces around were frozen in place.

Li Zhuiyuan asked this question because he knew that Qing'an was a follower of Wei Zhengdao.

Such a person would not choose a place randomly with his eyes closed when selecting his own place of suppression.

Moreover, when he was suppressing himself, Qing An should have been very clear about how long the process of self-destruction would be.

"Crash..."

All the faces disappeared.

Qing'an sat up from the pool, looked at the boy, and asked:
"What exactly do you want to know?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I've encountered a problem."

"I am not your teacher."

"But you are the person in this world who understands my 'teacher' the most."

"I'm not."

"When Wei Zhengdao traveled across the river, he did so quietly. He could defeat any competitor and overcome any evil spirit, but there are always some things that are not so easy or convenient to resolve quickly on the spot; they require time..."

"No."

"what?"

"No."

"Is there any evil spirit that can escape his suppression?"

"Ah."

"How did he do that?"

"Formation."

This was not the answer Li Zhuiyuan wanted. He knew perfectly well that if he wanted to use the power of time to wear down a troublesome evil spirit, an array was an essential tool.

But it's by no means 100%, otherwise so many evil spirits wouldn't have broken through the seal of the formation.

Li Zhuiyuan: "So, you mean that no matter how powerful or troublesome the evil spirits are, once they are defeated and suppressed by his formation, they will quickly perish, and completely disappear without leaving any future troubles?"

"Ah."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Qing'an, then at the peach grove.

The boy was asking a very taboo question; although he hadn't spoken, the question had already been posed.

"After learning that secret technique and using it more and more, I had a vague sense of foreboding. The question you want to ask now is one that I also asked him."

Clearly, Qing'an didn't get an answer, otherwise he wouldn't still be suffering here.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan was experiencing what it felt like to be an ordinary classmate.

He came looking for ways to improve his grades, but if the method is "study hard and work diligently," then it's practically meaningless.

However, the boy still wanted to try again.

"If I can learn his method, it can help you get out of this sooner."

"so?"

Tell me, why did you choose this place?

"hehe."

"You should know that the person in this world who is best at learning his things is me."

“When we were crossing the river, we encountered a very troublesome creature. Fortunately, we eventually managed to defeat it. I thought it would be difficult to wipe it out completely, but in fact, it was suppressed and killed very quickly.”

"It was suppressed in Nantong by Wei Zhengdao?"

"Ah."

Where in Nantong?

"You've never been to Wolf Mountain, have you?"

……

At night, everything is silent.

Runsheng pushed the tricycle out and sat on it to wait.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the door of the east room. With a creak, the door opened, and A Li changed into a red dress and wore a cloak.

The boy took the girl's hand and led her to the tricycle, where he helped her sit down.

Ah Li used to ride Runsheng's tricycle quite often, especially when Li Zhuiyuan was studying in Shigang.

After Li Zhuiyuan got on the car, Runsheng released the handbrake and rode down the dam.

Lin Shuyou sat up from inside the coffin, rubbed his eyes, and asked Tan Wenbin, who was still studying a book on formations by lamplight:

"Brother Bin, aren't we going with them?"

"You want to shine and generate heat?"

"Protect Brother Yuan..."

"This is Nantong. Is there anything I need your protection for?"

"Yes, that's right."

Lin Shuyou lay peacefully back in the coffin.

Runsheng rode very fast and very steadily.

Li Zhuiyuan and A Li lay side by side in the tricycle, raising their hands to play chess under the starry sky.

The mountains above ground and the tombs underground are distributed very unevenly, with some areas suffering from drought and others from floods.

In Sichuan, Langshan would be just an inconspicuous hill, but in Nantong, it is a top-notch tourist attraction, practically a city icon.

Li Zhuiyuan never went to Langshan, but Yin Meng had accompanied her great-grandfather to the mountain to burn incense during the Spring Festival. When she came back, Yin Meng said that she hadn't even warmed her feet before she reached the top of the mountain.

The closest the boy ever got to Langshan was when he met up with his great-grandfather and grandparents at the entrance of the scenic area, and then they went to have a meal.

The Black Book Secret Techniques were something Qing An wanted to learn, so Wei Zhengdao taught them to him.

Qing'an also wanted to learn the method of suppressing and killing, but Wei Zhengdao didn't teach him.

Because he had once suppressed a very troublesome evil spirit in Nantong with Wei Zhengdao, and that evil spirit died quickly, Qing An finally chose to seal himself, who was gradually losing control, in Nantong.

He may have felt that Nantong had a special place that could accelerate the demise of the suppressed objects, or he may simply have wanted good luck.

At present, neither of them seems to fit together.

Runsheng: "Xiaoyuan, we've arrived."

It was pitch black at the entrance of the scenic area.

Even outside of peak season, the scenic area is still crowded during the day, but once it closes at night, there's no one there except for a few staff members on duty.

Li Zhuiyuan took out some money and asked Runsheng to stuff it into the gap at the ticket booth as a ticket.

Runsheng took the money, ran over to stuff it into his pocket, and then ran back.

"Xiao Yuan, here you go."

"Runsheng, how come there's still so much left?"

"A notice posted at the ticket window states that children aged six to fourteen or those between one and one and a half meters tall can get a half-price ticket."

"That's not right either."

"You can buy half-price tickets with your university student ID, Xiao Yuan. I've seen it before. You have one."

According to Runsheng's calculation, he discounted his own ticket by 50% and then discounted it by another 50%.

"It shouldn't be calculated like that."

However, Li Zhuiyuan decided not to dwell on it anymore and put the money away. There probably weren't many people like him who were both "children" and "college students".

Runsheng took out the Yellow River shovel and had Ali stand on it. He raised the shovel with one hand and then used the other hand to climb over the wall, easily making his way over while Ali landed steadily.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't take a running start; he simply jumped, used his hands for leverage, flipped onto the ground, and then let go to land.

Ah Li watched the boy's movements, her eyes shining like stars in the sky.

To martial arts practitioners, such a wall is nothing to worry about. But Li Zhuiyuan did not practice martial arts, yet his physical fitness was indeed far beyond that of his peers, thanks to his daily high-standard foundation building.

When climbing the mountain, Runsheng walked behind.

Li Zhuiyuan and A Li walked up the steps hand in hand.

Midway through, Li Zhuiyuan also saw a small scenic spot: a hole had been made in the mountain, and inside were some statues of underworld gods and ghosts.

Normal people would find these images somewhat eerie during the day, and even more frightening at night, but to Li Zhuiyuan, they felt rather familiar.

Langshan Mountain isn't really that high.

Anyone with normal physical fitness can climb to the top of the mountain in one go.

Even so, the presence of overhead cables means that even on such a low mountain... there is still a cable car available.

Once you reach the top, the view opens up dramatically, revealing the breathtaking panorama of the Yangtze River estuary, resembling a hanging landscape painting.

Especially at night, thousands of lights shine below, rivers flow into the sea in the middle, and the Milky Way shines brightly above, each with its own unique characteristics while intertwining and blending together.

Although it is not a towering mountain range, it can still take you to appreciate the magnificent scenery.

The tickets aren't expensive, and it's not tiring.

Li Zhuiyuan took out Tan Wenbin's camera.

Ever since Tan Wenbin got the Snake Eye camera, this camera has been gathering dust at home.

Li Zhuiyuan first took the camera and helped A Li take pictures.

No need to find a good location or angle; the better-looking the person, the lower the professional requirements for the photographer.

After taking pictures of Ah Li, Li Zhuiyuan asked Runsheng to take some photos of himself and Ah Li together.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan took a few more pictures of Runsheng.

Ah Li dislikes meeting strangers. Even when accompanying her for a walk in the village, she has to try to walk on open, deserted field ridges.

Therefore, this should be Ah Li's first official trip since she can remember, and they paid for tickets.

After doing all this, A-Li stepped back, and Run-Sheng stood on the steps below. The young man climbed up the large incense burner platform in the middle of the mountaintop alone, using his feng shui and weather perception combined with the array formation to slowly shift his gaze and begin to look down.

In the past, this method was used to find tombs; now, the boy is looking for traces of the suppression formation from back then.

Although Qing'an didn't give a specific location, he provided directions, and Li Zhuiyuan found it. It was still a barren open space, near a small boat factory.

"Let's go down the mountain."

The descent was faster, and then, guided by Li Zhuiyuan, Runsheng took the three of them to their destination on a tricycle.

Wei Zhengdao's abilities are beyond doubt. Even though the formations he left behind have been corroded by time and are incomplete, they should not be underestimated.

Li Zhuiyuan left A Li by the tricycle, while he and Runsheng got off.

The soil here is a bit damp and soft, and walking on it will leave deep footprints.

Once he was in the correct position, the boy began to sense and observe again.

not right...

Li Zhuiyuan took out his small compass and made a final calibration to confirm that this was the correct location.

But the contemplation in the boy's eyes was even more intense.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan spoke:

"Brother Runsheng."

Runsheng squatted down, and Li Zhuiyuan climbed onto his back.

The boy spread out his right hand, his palm filled with blood mist that condensed into array flags, which he waved continuously in all directions.

As the number of times he waved his hand increased, Runsheng's expression grew more and more serious.

In the past, when Xiao Yuan controlled the formation, his movements were not so numerous or complicated.

This means that this place is extremely dangerous.

Runqi slightly opened its valve, preparing to deal with any unexpected events that might occur at any time.

Gradually, the soil on the ground began to tremble slightly, and honeycomb-like holes appeared below where the two were standing.

The surrounding mud and sand first accumulated in this area of ​​less than ten square meters, and then collapsed.

Runsheng instinctively wanted to jump out, but the boy patted his shoulder, so he stood still.

The depression continued, and after reaching a critical point, it seemed as if the space below suddenly became empty, and Runsheng fell down.

"boom!"

It is deep, but not extremely deep.

While Runsheng was still gathering strength and adjusting his landing posture, his feet touched the ground first.

This height is nothing to Runsheng now.

Li Zhuiyuan waved his hand, and a few lights lit up sparsely in front of him, but soon half of them went out.

"Runsheng, turn on the flashlight."

"it is good."

Runsheng turned on his flashlight, and the scene in front of him became clear: a downward slope, not too steep, and not deep at all.

Because the light from the flashlight has already shone into the main seat.

If we use the tomb chamber as an analogy for the formation, it means that the main tomb chamber has already been exposed.

"Runsheng, let's go!"

"it is good."

Runsheng's initial tension gradually eased.

Throughout the entire process, Xiao Yuan always called himself "Brother Runsheng." He would only use his full name, along with Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou's, without any suffixes, during battles or in dangerous situations.

Conversely, when "Xiaoyuan" is followed by a suffix, it means that this place... is not too dangerous?

This place is indeed not too dangerous.

Li Zhuiyuan treated this powerful array that Wei Zhengdao had set up years ago with extreme caution and patience.

However, Li Zhuiyuan had felt something was wrong when he was up there, because the scale of this great formation was too low.

This is not just a matter of being eroded by time; it has been completely destroyed by time.

The reason Li Zhuiyuan waved the array flags so many times was to temporarily complete it; otherwise, even the quicksand wouldn't have been touched, and the array wouldn't have been active. If they wanted to get down, they would have to rely on manual digging.

However, for normal killing formations, dealing with the erosion of time is of paramount importance. After all, this method would not be used if the target was not difficult to kill.

Even if Wei Zhengdao, who set up this killing formation back then, were still on the river, his skill level would definitely not be limited to this.

Moreover, Qing'an also said that the people Wei Zhengdao suppressed were extremely difficult to kill.

Runsheng kept moving forward and soon arrived at the main seat.

The flashlight shone around the main area, but there was no towering altar, no chains everywhere, no dense killing formations... In short, everything that should have been placed here was nowhere to be seen.

This sparrow is not only small, but it also doesn't have any internal organs.

In the main seat, there is only a stone table and a stone bench.

The tables and chairs were nothing special, and the carvings were careless. It was obvious that they were just carved from a large rock. Not only were there no carvings of formations or runes, but even the most basic polishing was not done.

Li Zhuiyuan got off Runsheng's back and walked to the stone table.

There are two protrusions on the stone table. Over the long years, they have become stuck to the stone table, but you can still tell that they were once placed on the stone table... a pair of stone chopsticks.

This place is very clean, with no trace of any evil spirits remaining, and there are no signs of any evil spirits being imprisoned or struggling here.

The main seat in the entire core area has only one table, one chair, and one pair of chopsticks.

Or perhaps Qing'an made a mistake.

But that's obviously impossible. Few people in the world care more about Wei Zhengdao than him, especially since he participated in the battle against that evil spirit.

Moreover, even if we assume the worst, there wouldn't just happen to be a remnant of an ordinary array set up by an ordinary array master, and it wouldn't be without any purpose.

Either...

Li Zhuiyuan sat down on the stone bench, facing the stone table. He placed his right hand on the stone chopsticks, slightly raised his wrist as if to pick them up, and looked at the empty table in front of him.

The boy took a deep breath and murmured:

"Wei Zhengdao ate the evil spirit."

(End of this chapter)