Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 376

Li Zhuiyuan: "There's something you need to pay attention to. After you leave this time, make sure to use the name 'Li the Corpse Retrieval Expert from Nantong' for me."

Okay, everyone, let's go downstairs for lunch now.

Chen Xiyuan, who has always been extremely enthusiastic about eating and drinking, was walking towards the stairwell, but the frown that had been on her face did not ease.

Even though her little brother's request was a bit strange, and what he said at the end was indeed a bit hard for her to understand, wasn't this always his style?

Chen Xiyuan felt that she should have adapted long ago.

However, for no apparent reason, a gloomy feeling seemed to rise in my heart, and even when I went down the stairs, the change in perspective caused me to feel dizzy and nauseous.

Once I stepped out of the first-floor hall and onto the open ground, the sunlight warmed me again, and my whole body felt like it was ablaze with restless energy.

It was probably because the sunlight was too dazzling.

She was almost afraid to look up.

After Aunt Liu brought the dishes to the table, she waved to Chen Xiyuan:

"Come and try it, I made drunken shrimp for you, see if it suits your taste."

Chen Xiyuan sat down somewhat blankly, picked up her chopsticks in a daze, and put several drunken shrimp into her mouth.

With a single sip, the tenderness of the shrimp and the perfect balance of seasonings burst forth in your mouth.

Chen Xiyuan's eyes lit up instantly.

All the discomfort, numbness, irritability, and anxiety disappeared, and I felt as if I had been brought back to life.

She looked at Aunt Liu excitedly and said:

"Sister, it's delicious!"

"If you like it, eat more. Also, this mutton is different from the Dongshan goat from your area."

It has a strong gamey flavor, and the cooking method follows that flavor; try it like a smoked dish.

Chen Xiyuan picked up a piece with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth. Indeed, the "mutton flavor" was very strong, but combined with the pungent garlic sprouts, one bite was enough to whet her appetite.

Chen Xiyuan, biting the end of her chopsticks, looked at Aunt Liu with embarrassment and asked, "Sister, is there enough food? I want to eat my fill."

Aunt Liu bent down, bringing her face close to Chen Xiyuan's, and pointed to the kitchen:
"These are all in the kitchen, in bowls. If you can eat them all, then eat them all. If you leave any, your Uncle Li will wake up this afternoon and find out, and he'll start blaming me again."

"Hehe, sister, you're so kind."

Relieved, Chen Xiyuan picked up her rice bowl and began to devour it.

Aunt Liu went to the kitchen and brought out the dishes in basins one by one. When all the basins were placed on the table, the dishes that were originally in plates had been cleared out and were ready to leave.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't rush downstairs, but kept watching Chen Xiyuan's changes.

After seeing that she had returned to normal, the boy took Ah Li's hand and walked towards the stairwell.

Zhao Yi stood close by, following closely.

He knew he had to work first before he was entitled to pay, but he was so eager to get paid that he wanted to find some reassurance first.

"My little darling, once this is all done, when you're giving lessons to my people, could you also give me a private lesson?"

Li Zhuiyuan stopped and looked at Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi placed his hands on either side of his chest, a smile on his face.

But then, a question from the boy made Zhao Yi's smile vanish instantly.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Did you already know this?"

At Zhao Yi's level, keeping his emotions hidden is already a basic skill. Even in the last second before death, he can still uphold the professional ethics of an actor.

The change in expression implies an answer.

The premise of pretending and lying is that you are willing to bear the cost of being seen through by the other party.

Clearly, Zhao Yi made a decision immediately; he couldn't afford to take the consequences.

Zhao Yi: "I thought you already knew."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's eat."

Zhao Yi: "Yes, I am hungry."

Everyone took their seats and began to eat.

Zhao Yi's men all stayed at Big Beard's house, where Old Tian would cook for them. Zhao Yi himself stayed close to Lin Shuyou, squeezing into a table with the three of them.

Picking up his chopsticks, Zhao Yi glanced at the normal amount of food and said with some surprise:

"No, this amount is barely enough to feed sparrows."

Immediately, Zhao Yi seemed to understand something and smiled:

"Congratulations! It seems you've made good progress in your studies recently."

Everyone else had finished eating and put down their chopsticks long ago.

Only Chen Xiyuan remained, still focused on eating.

She ate very quickly, but the amount was just too much.

Runsheng broke off the remaining half of the thick incense stick in his hand and put it aside for the next meal. Then he took out the iron box, took out a "cigar" from it, lit it, and silently smoked it.

Tan Wenbin took out two cigarettes, lit them at the edge of Runsheng's cigar, and flicked one to Zhao Yi.

Right now, everyone is watching her eat all by herself.

While drinking her soup, Chen Xiyuan smiled apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, I'll be quick, almost done."

Finally, Chen Xiyuan finished eating, raised her head with satisfaction, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Others teach their apprentices so they starve to death, but Miss Chen taught her apprentices to survive until her master did.

Aunt Liu: "Are you full? If not, I'll get you another pot of vegetables?"

"I'm full, I'm full, sister, your cooking is really good, thank you for your hard work."

"The old lady said that when guests come to our house, we don't have much else to offer, but at the very least we must ensure that they have a bed to sleep in and a full meal."

"Hmm, please thank... oh, I think I forgot to thank the old lady."

Last night, when she took Ali to Cui Cui's room, she heard a group of old ladies chatting in the next room. She almost couldn't move her legs.

If she hadn't known that the old lady would definitely notice her presence, and that her little brother was waiting for her downstairs, she probably would have driven in, sat among the old ladies, and listened until the end.

Aunt Liu: "Alright, there's no rush."

Chen Xiyuan: "Sister, please tell the old lady that I will serve her tea properly when I come back from my busy trip."

Zhao Yi sat on the bench next to him, his hands hanging down and his head down.

Listen to this: other people come here, they have beds to sleep in and plenty of food to eat, while I haven't even had a full meal today.

Lin Shuyou leaned closer to Tan Wenbin and whispered, "Brother Bin, is it because Miss Chen calls Aunt Liu 'sister' on purpose to make Aunt Liu sound younger?"

Ah You remembered that Miss Chen was Grandma Liu's distant grandniece here, a generation below Aunt Liu, so calling her "elder sister" was obviously inappropriate.

Tan Wenbin: "Just like the 'aunties' in Sichuan and Chongqing, or the 'grandma' in Nantong dialect, it's probably a habitual way of addressing 'aunties' in that area."

Lin Shuyou breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

He can calmly observe the progress of others, but if Miss Chen also starts to become worldly and socially adept, it will bring him great unease.

Chen Xiyuan picked up the flute from the table, looked at Tan Wenbin, and waved her hand, saying:
"We've eaten our fill, time to get back to work."

Full of energy and high spirits.

Tan Wenbin stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and said, "Here I am!"

Zhao Yi patted his stomach, stood up, stretched, and said:

"Ah~ I'm setting off too."

After they all left, Li Zhuiyuan looked at A Li beside him and asked:
"Want to go together?"

Of the three paintings, the boy specifically chose the one closest to his home.

Ah Li shook her head, went into the house, went upstairs, and came to the second-floor terrace. She looked down at the boy standing below and smiled.

She really wanted to go.

The boy had also told her that this evil spirit was not that threatening and would not be difficult to deal with.

Theoretically, the boy could stand with her on the periphery and watch Lin Shuyou or Runsheng drag out and capture the evil spirit.

But ultimately, there is a certain degree of risk involved; this is not an autumn outing after all.

She didn't want to be a "burden" taking care of the boy when he might be in danger.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled and waved to A Li.

Recognizing emotions and then consciously controlling them is itself a huge step forward.

The boy could foresee that in the future, Ah Li would definitely be able to recover to a new stage. At that time, he would no longer be able to trouble her to pack his hiking backpack, because she also had a bag that needed to be packed.

"Runsheng, Ayou, let's go."

Ah Li stood on the terrace, watching the three boys get into the yellow pickup truck, and watch the pickup truck drive onto the village road and disappear into the distance.

She turned around, went into the room, stood in front of her workbench, picked up her carving knife, and began to recarve the patterns on the talisman armor.

In the kitchen, Aunt Liu, who was washing dishes, turned her gaze away and sighed.

Uncle Qin, who was scraping soot from the bottom of the stove pot with a file, asked with some curiosity:

"Why are you sighing?"

Aunt Liu: "One day, Ali will go out with Xiaoyuan."

Uncle Qin: "Isn't this a good thing?"

Aunt Liu: "You don't understand."

Uncle Qin: "How am I supposed to understand if you don't tell me?"

Aunt Liu: "If those two go out together in the future, where will I go to eat sunflower seeds?"

Uncle Qin: "Hehe, it's not like I'm not coming back."

Aunt Liu: "How can that be the same? Now that Xiao Yuan is coming back, we call it going home; but if they go out together and come back, we'll call it visiting relatives."

Uncle Qin put the cleaned pot back on the stove and clapped his hands: "It's really complicated, I don't understand."

Aunt Liu: "You blockhead, I don't expect you to understand. Open the salt bag and add some salt to the spice jar."

Uncle Qin washed his hands, took out the salt bag, and said as he tore it open:
"There's one more thing I don't understand. Xiao Yuan just got back, so there definitely wasn't enough time. Besides, I just checked, and the three groups of people clearly went in different directions, which means it definitely wasn't something that happened on the river."

Aunt Liu: "What happened?"

Uncle Qin: "Since it's a matter on land, why didn't you call me? I'm just sitting here doing nothing anyway."

Aunt Liu: "Xiao Yuan has better henchmen. Let's not even mention Zhao Yi. That Chen girl also listens to Xiao Yuan very much. In the end, it's just that our Xiao Yuan has grown up too fast."

Uncle Qin nodded, poured the salt into the salt jar, and seeing that the soy sauce bottle next to him had fallen over, he picked it up.

After helping him up, he was stunned.

Aunt Liu finished washing the dishes and chopsticks, and while wiping her hands, she turned around and saw Uncle Qin standing in front of the condiment station, lost in thought. She asked:

"what happened to you?"

Uncle Qin:

"I should have helped that soy sauce bottle back then."

……

Chongming Island is very close to Nantong, but getting on the island is not easy.

First, you have to go to the pier to wait for the ferry. There aren't many ferries each day, and if there's bad weather, it's common to be unable to get on or off the island for two days.

As the pickup truck approached the riverbank, Li Zhuiyuan looked out the window at the scenery.

He remembered Xue Liangliang pointing here and saying that a bridge would be built across the river in the future, turning the so-called natural barrier of the Yangtze River into a smooth road.

Xue Liangliang even joked that this bridge would become the Shanhaiguan Pass for Nantong people; crossing it would be like returning home.

Currently, Liangliang's vision remains only on design blueprints.

However, the three of them didn't need to go to the pier to buy tickets and wait for a ferry to go to the island.

Lin Shuyou parked the pickup truck, got out first, and walked to the riverbank.

In the past, it was always Brother Bin who did this kind of thing, but since Brother Bin isn't here today, it's his turn to shine.

Without taking the yellow paper to make a mark, Lin Shuyou's gaze narrowed slightly, and his vertical pupils opened.

The majestic aura of True Lord White Crane poured down into the river. Soon, a column of water rose, and a Bai family lady, her face heavily smeared with rouge and appearing to be very old before her death, emerged. She respectfully bowed to Lin Shuyou.

"Prepare the boat."

"Yes."

Bai family lady dived down, and soon a wooden boat appeared on the river ahead.

"Brother Xiao Yuan, you can board the ship now."

The three boarded the boat.

At first, Runsheng was rowing the boat with a Yellow River shovel.

After a while, Runsheng put away the shovel.

The boat beneath them continued to move quickly and steadily.

If you lean out of the boat at this moment and look down, you can see two rows of figures moving below the boat.

The Bai family ladies were acting as boatmen.

This speed is much faster than a car ferry.

If there are convenient conditions to take advantage of, then there's no need to create trouble for yourself.

Moreover, the appearance of this evil spirit on Chongming Island also poses a threat to Jiangxia Baijia Town, which is very close to the island.

She should have always been there. She wasn't discovered in Baijia Town before, and it's even possible that the evil spirit existed even before the town was established.

However, because Li Zhuiyuan controlled the river water, she had to reveal the situation, which immediately alerted Baijia Town.

As they approached the island, a beautiful figure slowly appeared on the side. She was the person in charge of Baijia Town and also Xue Liangliang's wife.

In the past, she was always the one to come out and receive the proclamation. The reason why someone else came this time was because she was previously on Chongming Island, responsible for monitoring that evil spirit. After learning that Li Zhuiyuan and the others had arrived, she quickly returned.

Her belly clearly showed she was pregnant, but the pregnancy was way beyond what could be calculated in terms of normal gestation period.

When Liangliang was chosen as a son-in-law by the Bai family, he hadn't even graduated from university yet.

Judging from this situation,

Liangliang is both a representative of early marriage and early childbirth and a typical example of late marriage and late childbirth.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Tell everyone in Baijia Town to evacuate."

Lady Bai: "Yes."

Li Zhuiyuan waved his hand.

The woman's figure disappeared into the water again, along with the group of Bai family ladies at the bottom of the boat.

And the wooden boat, with its last bit of strength, made it ashore.

Li Zhuiyuan took out the Purple Gold Compass and finally confirmed the location of the evil spirit.

"So close."

The three of them hadn't gone far after getting ashore when they stopped in front of a house.

The building is two stories high with a cement exterior. Next to it are two single-story houses, one of which is a toilet and the other is used to raise pigs.

Three pigs stuck their noses into the gap in the pigpen and kept nudging.

But the pig's eyes revealed a scrutinizing emotion.

Lin Shuyou raised his golden mace and pointed it at the three pigs.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, there's something wrong with them."

Li Zhuiyuan: "The problems aren't just with those things."

The house was surrounded by farmland and vegetable gardens. As Li Zhuiyuan walked along the path, he heard the slight sounds of crops slowly turning around.

Evil spirits reside in this house, but not only in this place.

The fact that she hasn't taken any action yet suggests that she has other ideas.

"Squeak..."

The door to the living room on the first floor opened at this moment.

The aroma of wine and food wafted from inside.

With Runsheng and Lin Shuyou protecting him from the front and back, the boy walked to the living room door.

The living room door was covered in peeling paint, and the long glass panel inlaid with it had numerous cracks and several bloody handprints.

There was a table inside, covered with dishes.

The dishes are mainly cold dishes, such as fish balls without soup, uncut egg skin, and a large piece of pork liver... This style is usually used for offerings.

After the offering and burning of paper money are completed, it is convenient to process and eat them again.

A large bowl of rice wine was placed on the table, boiling and making the entire table very hot, which also brought out the aroma of the food and wine from before.

"Wow!"

With a crisp sound, four figures landed and took their seats on the four sides of the offering table.

An elderly couple, a little girl who is probably their granddaughter, and a Taoist priest wearing a yellow robe.

They had been pressed against the ceiling above, and when they were lowered down, each of them was connected to a tree branch on their back.

After they sat down, they began to eat. The three adults ate with their hands instead of chopsticks, while the little girl ate very politely with chopsticks.

He is definitely dead.

Based on the broken peach wood sword, the cracked Bagua mirror, the torn talisman paper, and the melted candle in the corner of the living room, we can deduce what happened here.

It was probably an elderly couple who stayed in their hometown to take care of their granddaughter. They noticed that strange things had been happening in their home lately, so they sought out this Taoist priest.

Whether it's good or bad luck, this Taoist priest wasn't a fraud; he truly possessed spiritual power.

If he were truly a fraud, his performance wouldn't have deterred any evil spirits.

But this very act brought about a fatal disaster for the family and for the Taoist priest himself.

Admittedly, the waves were created by Li Zhuiyuan, but the tragedy of this family had nothing to do with him, nor were they killed by him.

It's not that the boy wouldn't have died if he hadn't created the waves; rather, it was precisely because the boy created the waves that the family, including the Taoist priest, didn't die silently.

Because when waves affect ordinary people, they don't treat them as resources to be consumed, but rather follow the fate of each individual.

For example, even if a good person cannot get a chance to survive, at least they can get revenge; while a fugitive will either be imprisoned or simply die in this turbulent situation.

Fate is predetermined, not that it cannot be changed, but 'Heaven' will not change it for you. Instead, it will guide your destiny according to its own direction, like the flow of a river.

In fact, this evil spirit had already taken over the little girl's body.

It must have been that when she killed the Taoist priest, some kind of energy leaked out that shouldn't have happened.

Because Li Zhuiyuan observed the materials and craftsmanship of the Bagua mirror and peach wood sword in the corner, he concluded that the Taoist priest had some Taoist skills, but only some. This evil spirit could kill him with ease.

The little girl put down her chopsticks, picked up the bowl of yellow wine in front of her, and took a sip.

She looked at the boy standing at the door, a smile playing on her lips, a smile that even carried a hint of mockery.

In particular, Li Zhuiyuan noticed that she deliberately glanced at the Yellow River shovel in Runsheng's hand, as if she was using it to confirm their identities as "corpse retrievers".

Moreover, she probably thought that the three of them were afraid because they didn't dare to come in for a long time.

Li Zhuiyuan wasn't afraid; he deliberately slowed down his pace.

Although the theory was successfully demonstrated, this was, after all, the first time he had combined theory with practice. The young man needed to observe and analyze step by step to see what the differences were between the river's propulsion and his own creation.

Two points have now been discovered.

One is a wave that one created oneself, with a more direct path, without too many twists and turns, a very smooth cause-and-effect clue that directly leads one to the evil spirit.

Another point is that this evil spirit didn't recognize her at all; she genuinely thought of her as a corpse retriever with some skill, just like the Taoist priest.

Previously, when I was fishing for evil spirits in Ah Li's dream, this perception was shared. Although the other side was not as clear as I was, the other side could still vaguely sense that I would go to find it. At least there was a hazy sense of crisis. There were even times when the other side took the initiative to provoke me and attract my attention in order to achieve its own purpose.

This time, however, the previous two-way perception has turned into one-way transparency from my own perspective.

In Ah Li's dream, this evil spirit clearly showed obvious fear when facing her, but she, the spirit herself, was unaware of it.
Li Zhuiyuan realized that his understanding of the past existence of the evil spirits in A Li's dreams was still superficial. He would have to conduct further investigation and analysis with A Li when he returned.

But the boy probably knew that this was the root cause of these two phenomena.

He had fished for evil spirits in Ah Li's dream to guide the river to find them, but once the river got involved, things immediately changed.

The purpose of walking along the river with lanterns is to hone one's skills, improve oneself, compete, and be selected. The river itself has its own direction, which means it has its own purpose.

Just like Ah Li's self-portraits, each wave of her life experiences will be subject to artistic embellishment while respecting historical facts.

Ah Li did this to highlight the imagery of the young man, while Jiang Shui did this so that it could use the existence of the waves as a foundation to build a stage for people to perform.

Therefore, without the "artistic processing" of the river, the waves, regardless of the difficulty, would at least become incredibly crisp and efficient.

At the same time, this also made Li Zhuiyuan realize the true treatment that comes with the identity of "Dragon King".

The Dragon King's life will go through two stages. One stage is to compete in the river and become the Dragon King. The other stage is to uphold the will of Heaven and spend the rest of his life suppressing the world.

When the Dragon King suppresses the martial world, Heaven will naturally not set obstacles or burdens for him. Instead, it will actively assist him. Therefore, the Dragon King enjoys not only his current treatment as a surfer, but also countless times better treatment.

Li Zhuiyuan let out a breath. He felt that the new knowledge he had gained from this experience had actually surpassed the evil spirits he was trying to uncover.

"Hehehe...shushshush..."

The little girl initially let out a silvery laugh, which then turned into a hoarse sound like the swaying of tree branches.

She got off the table and walked towards the door.

When she spoke again, her voice, which was originally female, now contained a male tone, creating a blend of the two timbres:

"If you're scared and regret it now, it's not too late. I just need the three of you to do one thing for me, and I'll spare your lives."

Li Zhuiyuan: "What is it?"

The little girl said, "Go outside and check to see if those annoying white rats have retreated back to the bottom of the river. Going into the water shouldn't be a difficult task for you corpse retrievers."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Don't worry, they've all left, not one is left."

Little girl: Are you sure?

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm sure. If they hadn't retreated, how could we have gotten in here?"

Little girl: "That's true."

It seems these guinea pigs are aware of the dangers. Even though I, Grandma, have only been out of trouble for a few years, they know just how formidable I was back then.

Having sensed their approach, I released a bit of my aura into them, which did have an effect and scared them away.

So, since that's the case..."

The little girl's gaze turned cold:
"You don't need to live. Just stay by Grandma's side forever and be my servants, fertilizing and tending to her."

"Oh, right, you're not tall enough yet, you haven't grown up. Unlike the other two, you're both quite strong. You won't be able to do much work, so you'll have to go and be my new fertilizer."

The little girl held up one finger.

"Buzz!"

From the fingertip, a python opened its mouth wide and shot out.

Runsheng casually raised his Yellow River shovel and blocked it.

"Crack!"

The snake broke off and fell to the ground, turning into withered branches.

The little girl looked at Runsheng with surprise and disbelief. Then she beckoned, and the three people sitting at the offering table who were eating all looked in their direction. Their eyes were filled with black light, and waves of oppression, intimidation, and seduction surged forth.

Lin Shuyou activated his vertical pupils and, without any unnecessary movements, stared back directly.

"Ah!" "Ah!" "Ah!"

Blood welled up in the eyes of all three, and with a thud, their heads hit the table, where they remained motionless.

The little girl instantly raised her voice, horrified, and said:

"Who...who are you people?!"

Li Zhuiyuan:
"Li, the corpse retriever from Nantong".

-

I'm 4.5 words short of my monthly goal, and I have three days left to achieve it.

In addition, the idea of ​​giving away blood glucose meters that I mentioned last time has been organized and planned with the help of my administrators. Readers who are interested can now leave a message in the pinned post in the book review section to participate.

(End of this chapter)