Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 380 (Supplement!)
Uncle Qin: "Ah Ting, I've long since given up on the possibility of becoming Jackie Chan, but it seems I still have a chance to take that step below him."

Aunt Liu: "That's unbelievable."

Uncle Qin: "Help me seal it."

Aunt Liu pointed her fingertip at the life-destining centipede—no, the life-destining dragon—her finger was incredibly sharp, but the dragon's reaction was astonishing, leaving an afterimage.

But after a brief stalemate, Aunt Liu managed to subdue it. With a flick of her fingertip on its forehead, a wisp of sleeping toxin seeped away, and the dragon closed its eyes.

After sealing it back, Uncle Qin leaned forward, put his hands on the ground, and knelt down.

From the neck to the limbs, the veins were clearly visible.

He endured it, but she knew all too well the torture he had just suffered.

Aunt Liu: "Are you alright?"

Uncle Qin: "Tomorrow morning, I can still go to the fields to farm."

Aunt Liu: "I'll get you some hot water and wipe you down so you can sleep better."

Uncle Qin: "Hmm."

Aunt Liu poured hot water from the thermos into the basin, then wet a towel before starting to wipe Uncle Qin's body.

Uncle Qin: "There's something I regret."

Aunt Liu: "Sigh, are you going to bring up that soy sauce bottle story again?"

Uncle Qin: "That night, the mistress only asked me to break one seal to deal with those white rats."

Aunt Liu: "Isn't that a good thing? If you beat them too fast, then the lovers won't be able to be together."

Uncle Qin: "But Xiao Yuan was watching from the shore at the time."

Aunt Liu: "So that's how it is, hehehe!"

Uncle Qin: "Stop laughing."

Aunt Liu: "Alright, alright, Xiao Yuan should have guessed that you have a seal on you. At least he knows that you didn't use your full strength that night. I can see Run Sheng's progress. I don't believe you were completely unaware."

Uncle Qin: "It's a pity."

Aunt Liu: "Alright, alright. That time, the Bai family directly implicated Uncle Sanjiang. The mistress asked you to go, but you only broke one layer of the seal, which already took you almost a year to dispel the backlash. If you had broken a few more layers that night, you probably wouldn't be able to appear in front of Uncle Sanjiang now."

Uncle Qin: "The mistress said at the time that we only needed to avoid it for six months."

Aunt Liu: "It was because of this incident that the mistress realized that she had misjudged the good fortune that Uncle Sanjiang had. At first, we moved here hoping to get some of that good fortune to help A-Li get treatment."

What we have gained now is far more than just Ah Li's improved condition.

The changes in the mistress, your changes, the changes in the two families...

Haha, even I've fallen in love with eating sunflower seeds.

Okay, all wiped clean.

Aunt Liu moved Uncle Qin to his bed and covered him with a blanket.

"You go to sleep first, I'm going out for a bit."

"What are you doing out so late?"

"That girl from the Chen family has a bottomless stomach. She ate all the food in the kitchen. I'm going to Big Beard's house... never mind, I'll go to Aunt Jinxia's house and steal some food first."

"I'll go to the town market earlier when it's light and buy some more to take back to her family."

Aunt Liu walked out of the west room.

I saw that Chen Xiyuan was already standing below the dam.

"Sister, are you out of vegetables at home? Can I go borrow some from Big Beard's house for you?"

"Okay, there's plenty of food there, you go ahead, it's inconvenient for me."

"okay."

Chen Xiyuan ran out, and soon she came running back carrying two large baskets.

"Sister, here you go. Thank you for cooking for me."

Chen Xiyuan handed a peach to Aunt Liu.

Aunt Liu took the peach and asked curiously, "Why are there still more?"

“I specifically asked him for it, hehe, and he just gave me another one temporarily.”

"He's really willing to spend that much."

"He said he was going to die anyway, so there was nothing he was reluctant to part with. He also said that the good things he had been tricked away by his little brother were far more than just a few baskets of peaches."

"I'll go make you a midnight snack first. You can sit here and think about what you want to eat for breakfast tomorrow."

"Ah."

Aunt Liu went into the kitchen to cook first. After serving the late-night snack and Chen Xiyuan started eating, she took the peach and went into the west room.

Uncle Qin, who was lying on the bed, opened his eyes. Aunt Liu put a peach to his mouth and squeezed it.

Uncle Qin opened his mouth, and juice flowed into it.

After squeezing out the sticky liquid, Aunt Liu found a handkerchief and wiped her sticky hands.

Aunt Liu:

"This girl is really adorable."

……

In the morning, Uncle Qin and Runsheng went to the fields together, carrying hoes.

Upon arriving at the field, Runsheng took out two peaches and handed them to Uncle Qin.

Uncle Qin: "You eat it."

Runsheng: "Xiaoyuan asked me to give it to him."

Uncle Qin: "You eat."

Runsheng: "One for each person."

Uncle Qin: "How many did Xiao Yuan give?"

Runsheng: "One."

Secondly, it was originally Runsheng's share.

There weren't many peaches to begin with, and after everyone who was supposed to get one had been given one, Li Zhuiyuan only had three left.

Uncle Qin took one, squatted down, and took a bite.

Runsheng wiped the remaining peach on his clothes, and the two of them squatted down in the field, eating the peach.

After Runsheng finished eating, he turned around and saw that the peach in Uncle Qin's hand was still intact.

I was just fooled.

Runsheng: "I don't want to."

Uncle Qin: "It's not to save you money."

After putting the peaches away, Uncle Qin started working, and Runsheng scratched his head and followed along.

"Time for breakfast!"

Uncle Qin and Runsheng walked back together.

Back on the dam, Runsheng sat down to eat. At the round table next to Chen Xiyuan, the steamer baskets of steamed buns and soup dumplings were piled high, completely obscuring her.

When Li Sanjiang went downstairs for breakfast and saw this scene, he was first startled, then overjoyed.

I used to only drink one bowl of porridge, but this morning I drank two and a half bowls!
Li Zhuiyuan told Li Sanjiang that he was going back to school the next day and would be back within a week, and that he would definitely be able to go to Hainan with his great-grandfather.

Li Sanjiang smiled and said he understood. After breakfast, Lin Shuyou accompanied him for a walk in the village.

Tan Wenbin, acting as the host, invited Chen Xiyuan to visit various scenic spots in Nantong.

Chen Xiyuan agreed, and as she got into the yellow pickup truck, she was still asking if it would be too rushed to visit all the attractions in one day.
Tan Wenbin shook his head and replied, "It won't take a whole day; half a day is enough to see everything."

As soon as the car drove from the small path onto the village road, it saw Cui Cui walking towards it. She was there to play with Sister A Li and Brother Yuan Hou. Of course, she was also very happy to see Sister Chen.

Tan Wenbin waved and said, "Come on, Cuicui, get in the car. Let's go to your house first and tell your grandma that you'll be your sister Chen's tour guide today."

When Chen Xiyuan was taken to the city, Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand and entered the dojo.

The boy had promised the girl that he would play this fun game with her.

Perhaps the game content is too frightening for other girls, but for A-Li, who is not yet able to go out and walk the river, watching evil spirits being twisted, ravaged, mixed and used in front of her is not only a way to make up for her lack, but also a way to compensate for her past experiences.

Aunt Liu was washing dishes in the kitchen.

Uncle Qin came in and placed a peach in front of her.

Aunt Liu: "Did Xiao Yuan give it to you?"

Uncle Qin: "It was given to me by Runsheng."

Aunt Liu: "I don't believe it."

Uncle Qin: "Xiao Yuan gave me one and Runsheng one. I let Runsheng eat the one that was given to me, and I'm giving you Runsheng's one."

Aunt Liu shook her hands, wiped them on her apron, and gestured with her chin to the unfinished bowls in the sink.

Uncle Qin rolled up his sleeves and took over the washing.

Aunt Liu took a bite of the peach. It was sweet and refreshing, and most importantly, it had a cooling sensation that went straight to her stomach and even permeated her soul.

It's not some kind of magic pill, but it can soothe the soul and revive the spirit.

Aunt Liu: "We have some at home too."

Uncle Qin: "It's far worse than this."

Aunt Liu: "But we can eat our fill at home."

Uncle Qin: "When the matriarch asks me to inspect the two ancestral homes again sometime, I'll pick some for you."

Aunt Liu: "Pick more, I'll dry them into dried fruit, then mix in some honey, they'll be perfect as a snack."

Uncle Qin: "That's why the mistress never lets you return to the ancestral home alone."

As they spoke, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose.

Uncle Qin and Aunt Liu paused for a moment, then continued what they were doing, as if they hadn't noticed anything.

After a while, a second sense of foreboding arose.

Then, there is the third one.

Aunt Liu took a bite of the peach and commented:
"As expected of our Xiao Yuan, even if he goes astray, his evil magic is still much better than that of orthodox evil cultivators."

Uncle Qin continued washing the dishes. He could ignore it, but he couldn't be as confident and happy as Aunt Liu in giving her comments.

However, Uncle Qin quickly thought of something and said:

"Ah Li is not in her room on the second floor."

Aunt Liu: "Then let them be together."

Uncle Qin: "Is this alright?"

Aunt Liu: "What's wrong with that? I remember when Xiao Yuan wanted to coax A Li, he made her come out of the underworld to see him, and he even brought a dead dog to the dam."

This is the first time in my life I've realized that even the dead can be used as telephone poles.

Unfortunately, the two children were playing in the practice area behind the house, so I couldn't see them. Sigh, I really wanted to sneak in and take a look.

Uncle Qin: "You can't get in."

Aunt Liu: What are you saying!

Uncle Qin: "You can't get in without disrupting the formation of the Daoist temple."

Aunt Liu: "Have you tried it?"

Uncle Qin: "I watched them when they were farming behind the house."

Aunt Liu: "Has Xiao Yuan's skill in array formations reached such a high level?"

Uncle Qin: "To put it simply, the Ghost Gate of Fengdu is nothing special."

Inside the dojo.

The lingering evil energy here is very strong, with wisps of ghostly fire constantly flickering through the air, and screams continuing to echo around.

Ah Li sat on the altar steps, and even in such a gloomy and eerie environment, the girl still had two adorable dimples on her face.

The boy held one of her hands, and the two of them admired the "fireworks" created by the three consecutive evil spells.

“I will not let go of anyone who has bullied you, threatened you, or appeared in your dreams. This is just the first batch, and there will be more and more in each subsequent batch.”

They cursed you; the karma they left behind is now the death knell I will use to take their lives.

A wonderful atmosphere always has its time limit.

After the environment inside the dojo gradually returned to normal, Li Zhuiyuan took out the three sets of talisman armor.

With a flick of his finger, the talisman armor flew out, landed, and three figures appeared, representing the increase and decrease of the two generals.

That layer of fur holds a secret; it contains not only their clothes but also their very image.

The two generals who appeared at this moment were exactly the same as their divine souls.

"Greetings, Brother Xiao Yuan!"

"Greetings, Brother Xiao Yuan!"

This time, everyone was in order, and no one called him "Lord".

However, the way the two bowed was very archaic, which, combined with the way they addressed each other, still felt a little out of place.

After carefully examining their current appearance and touching their faces, the two generals, Zeng and Sun, turned and bowed to A-Li:

"Greetings, Miss Qin."

"Greetings, Miss Qin."

One is the de facto ruler in the present sense, while the other's status is equivalent to that of the mistress.

Their wood carvings, talismans, clothes, and so on were all made by A-Li.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I promised you last time that after you scouted out the way and lured the enemy away for me, I would give you double the compensation."

General Zeng: "His merits are immense!"

General Sun: "I have already received a generous reward!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "That little bit is far from enough."

Previously, Li Zhuiyuan thought he was quite generous, but later he discovered that he was actually very poor, while the officials and generals were even more ridiculously poor.

Although the combined merits of Runsheng and the other two were equivalent to what a normal Dragon King would earn from traveling the river, more than enough to satisfy them, this was far from what Li Zhuiyuan wanted to distribute.

The boy pointed to a black tree branch placed on the altar beside him and said:
"General Zeng, receive the reward."

The two generals stepped forward, reached out together, and grabbed the black tree branch with both hands, which then quickly disappeared into their respective bodies.

In an instant, General Zeng felt the connection between the two figures become even stronger.

The evil old tree root on Chongming Island was reforged by the boy using evil magic, turning it into an evil artifact. This artifact was originally intended for cursing or plundering.

You can align your target with the declining, thus dragging them down; or you can align your target with the strong, thus supplementing their benefits.

The side effect is that the longer this bond lasts, the deeper the sense of integration between the two becomes. Over time, they blur their perception of each other, invade each other's minds, and eventually become neither themselves nor each other, turning into something neither human nor ghost.

Evil weapons and evil arts are all about quick success and instant benefits. If the methods are not cruel and the side effects are not significant, then what right do they have to be called "evil"?
However, this side effect does not exist for General Zeng at all. He is originally a soul in two bodies, each being himself. The effect of this evil artifact will only deepen the communication and cooperation between his two bodies, fundamentally increasing his upper limit of strength.

So-called merits, aren't they accumulated just to exchange for these things?

General Zeng had no idea how much merit he needed to bring about such an immediate and qualitative change.

"Thank you so much, Brother Xiaoyuan!"

General Zeng knelt down on one knee before the boy, his fist pressed against his chest.

Li Zhuiyuan: "This is an evil artifact. If you nourish it with your divine soul, it can be used by you forever. Don't worry, I have already taken responsibility for the karma associated with it. You should be able to feel that it is very clean."

The two generals looked up in astonishment. If the boy hadn't mentioned it, they really wouldn't have known that this was actually an evil artifact.

You bear the consequences yourself, and you reap the benefits.

The two generals felt a surge of excitement in their chests. Comparison is the best policy. The former boss's cuts were outrageously ruthless, while the current boss was unbelievably generous. It was truly a case of one being heaven and the other deserving to go to hell!

The former incarnations of the generals were mostly ghost kings in the human world. Rather than being "converted" by the Bodhisattva, they were suppressed and subdued by the Bodhisattva. If they were truly absolutely loyal, the two generals Zeng and Sun would not have let the others go easy on them in Fengdu Ghost Street out of concern for their lives.

Winning them over with faith would certainly be the best option, but Li Zhuiyuan himself didn't even know what his faith was, so he could only use benefits to feed them and cultivate enough loyalty.

"General Sun, accept the reward!"

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to a ghost face mask that was only the size of a palm.

General Sun reached out and picked it up; the mask immediately melted into his palm.

"Hiss...whoosh whoosh~"

He immediately gasped for breath, and then let out a long, comfortable moan.

The next moment, He suddenly turned around, his body covered in scales, which added to his sinister aura.

General Sun patted the scales on his body. These scales were fused with his soul, and each scale could store his soul power. This meant that his soul's upper limit had been qualitatively increased, and his endurance in battle could also be greatly improved. In comparison, this amazing defensive effect could only rank third.

Li Zhuiyuan: "This is also an evil artifact, and I will bear the consequences as well."

General Sun knelt down on one knee, just like General Zeng before him, and pounded his fist on his chest, causing the scales to crack collectively.

"I am willing to die for you!"

Upon seeing this, General Zeng, who had just stood up, knelt down again:
"me too!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I don't need you to die for me. I'm terrified of dying. I don't practice martial arts, so I need you to protect me closely. If you die, it means I'm in danger too."

Therefore, I will try my best to help you both improve.

Your treatment is definitely not as good as that of the White Crane Boy.

He came before you.

But I can promise you that you will not be much worse than the virgins.

I've always been very biased.

The two generals, Zeng and Sun, said in unison:
"I will finally understand!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Alright, go back and get used to it yourselves."

"I will retire at the end!"

The three figures dispersed on the spot, and the neatly arranged armor flew back into the boy's palm.

In the previous wave, the disadvantages of the two generals, Zeng and Sun, were already apparent. They could serve as scouts and bait, but their strength was not yet sufficient to make them truly assume the responsibility of being personal bodyguards.

Admittedly, Li Zhuiyuan always had partners protecting him, but he would often encounter situations where there was a shortage of manpower, and sometimes, if he could act alone, the results would be better.

Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan focused on raising the upper limit of the two generals who could increase or decrease the damage this time.

I don't ask that they be as brave as Runsheng, I just need that they can truly help me hold the line a little longer in special moments.

There was also a red crystal, like a ruby, about the size of a fingernail, which was created by that one-eyed evil spirit.

Lin Shuyou accompanied his grandfather on a walk; he should be back by now.

As the boy was about to go out and call him, Ah Li moved first. She stood up and went out.

The girl meant that she was going to call for help.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled. Perhaps Ah Li was already familiarizing herself with how the team operated.

The boy sat down again, took out the purple-gold compass, and placed it in front of him.

Taking advantage of the present moment, he plans to further refine the blueprints for upgrading and optimizing the dojo.

As the compass spun, the wooden floor tiles around the boy began to move dynamically, enveloping him and isolating him from his presence.

On the altar where the White Crane Boy and the Two Generals of Increase and Loss were enshrined, the figurines of the Two Generals of Increase and Loss were moved in front of the White Crane Boy, as if to show off, and then they began to circle around the boy.

The White Crane Boy couldn't take it anymore and rushed up to fight the two of them.

They had no idea that the boy had not actually left.

"Clap! Clap!"

The figures fought from the altar to under it, and continued to tear at each other, one pinning the other down, their legs or arms wedged against each other.

The main problem is that although the dolls carved by Ah Li are lifelike, they were not made like toys with limbs and heads that can move. Therefore, when they fight, they look quite comical.

Li Zhuiyuan's thoughts were disturbed by the commotion. The purple-gold compass stopped spinning, and the young man's figure appeared.

The four figurines on the ground all stopped moving, stuck together, stacked like an Arhat.

Li Zhuiyuan was too lazy to talk about those three guys anymore. He could only comfort himself that a controllable internal competitive atmosphere could promote the team's progress.

Beside the coffin in the corner of the living room, Lin Shuyou quietly took out a pack of cigarettes from Tan Wenbin's coffin. He had just taken out one but hadn't even lit it when he noticed a gaze behind him.

Ah You turned around and saw Ah Li standing there looking at him. His hand trembled, and he dropped his cigarette and lighter to the ground.

For a moment, Ayou was unsure whether he was afraid of Ali or afraid that Bin Ge or Three-Eyes would find out about his secret smoking.

Ah Li shifted her gaze towards the back of the house.

Lin Shuyou nodded immediately.

A short while later, Lin Shuyou entered the dojo, with A Li following behind him.

"Brother Xiaoyuan."

"For you."

Following Xiao Yuan's guidance, Lin Shuyou looked at the ruby.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, is this really for me?"

Tongzi: "It was given to me by Brother Xiaoyuan! It was given to me by my brother! It was given to me by my elder brother!"

The White Crane Boy, who had just been shown off by the two generals who had been defeated, was now extremely excited.

Li Zhuiyuan: "To be precise, it was for children."

Lin Shuyou nodded, his eyes reddening; he was crying.

This made Ayou feel very embarrassed, because it was influenced by the child's emotions.

Pick up the red gem.

Boy: "Put it on your forehead, put it on your forehead!"

Lin Shuyou placed the gemstone between his eyebrows.

In an instant, an intense heat surged through me.

His vertical pupils activated in response, and as the True Lord and Ghost General marks between his brows further merged, the red gem melted, turning into two streaks of blood-like liquid that seeped into his eyes.

A sharp pain shot through him, and Lin Shuyou clenched his fists, but he still stubbornly refused to close his eyes.

After a long while, they waited for the red liquid to completely fill the eye sockets, making the eye sockets bright red, and then waited until all the red in the eye sockets was absorbed by the vertical pupils.

Lin Shuyou closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again. His blood-red vertical pupils activated, and his aura and pressure suddenly increased.

"Eeya ya ya ya!"

The boy cried out in his heart, "Where is Runsheng? Where is Runsheng!"

Lin Shuyou: "Runsheng is in the field, shall we go find him?"

Boy: "I was just asking."

Lin Shuyou: "The feeling in my eyes is different now."

The boy said, "It doesn't greatly enhance your physical body, but it can make your vertical pupils more versatile and allow you to cast more spells. However, mental spells won't have much effect on Runsheng."

After a pause, as if to mend his earlier words, the boy added:
"Because Runsheng doesn't use his brain."

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to the environment inside the dojo and said to Lin Shuyou:

"Ah You, you've worked hard. Clean up this place and then arrange it according to the requirements on this paper."

"Okay, Brother Xiaoyuan."

Li Zhuiyuan and A Li left the temple.

Ayou then placed the four figurines on the ground back onto the altar.

Perhaps feeling that its own personal spirit medium was right there, the White Crane Boy became exceptionally arrogant. Its puppet turned around and came to the two generals, Zeng and Sun, with red light flashing in its eyes.

Immediately, the puppets of the two generals, Zeng and Sun, were bewitched and began to fight each other.

The white crane doll began to sway in place, looking quite gleeful.

Having set off early in the morning, Chen Xiyuan returned from visiting the attractions in Nantong just in time for lunch at home.

Cui Cui also ate lunch here. She ate her fill early and then took charge of picking out bones, peeling shrimp, and dismantling crabs for Chen Xiyuan to improve her eating efficiency.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan took a fishing rod and went fishing with A Li by the river.

Chen Xiyuan also wanted to go, so Cui Cui pulled her to the town store to buy new snacks.

When fishing, he didn't use any feng shui tricks; he simply set up two fishing rods on the riverbank, hoping only one person would take the bait.

The boy lay on the fallen leaves, and the girl sat beside him.

Ah Li is holding a gourd in her left hand and a small carving knife in her right, carving an array on it.

The gourd is too hard to be broken by external force, but if the gourd itself is carved into an array, the problem can be solved by itself.

The formation was designed by Li Zhuiyuan, which required a great deal of understanding and carving skills, but fortunately these were not difficult for A Li.

After carving out a tiny bit, the girl would gently blow away the powder, then turn her head to look at the boy lying at her feet with a blade of grass in his mouth.

Siyuan Village is not a scenic spot, but it is more than enough to accommodate the peaceful life of a young couple.

I fished until dusk, but not a single fish took the bait.

As he prepared to leave, Li Zhuiyuan used feng shui techniques to observe the area and discovered that the riverbed below was completely empty, indicating that someone had likely laid nets upstream and downstream and cleared it beforehand.

When Li Zhuiyuan got home, he saw Liu Yumei sitting on the dam.

"Grandma Liu."

"Xiao Yuan, Grandma has something to tell you."

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Liu Yumei and expertly started by making tea.

Liu Yumei: "Grandma can probably guess what you're doing."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Mm."

Liu Yumei: "Grandma thought about this for a long time after she found out. It's all Grandma's fault, she was too impatient."

In fact, Liu Yumei's approach was not wrong. It is normal to tell the younger generation about family feuds when they are still young so that they can mature early, strive for progress, and complete the revenge in the future.

However, her children don't even need to wait until the future; it's as if she finished talking about her family feud, and her children immediately started to take revenge.

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's not Grandma's fault."

Liu Yumei: "Do whatever you want. Grandma is an old woman. Just like at the card table, I'm not afraid to lose, and I can afford to lose."

After saying this, Liu Yumei picked up her teacup, took a symbolic sip, got up, and left to return to Liu Jinxia's house.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the freshly brewed pot of tea, called over Tan Wenbin, and the two drank it together, so as not to waste it.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, Grandpa Li talked to me for a long time this afternoon about housing prices in Nantong city."

"Ah."

"It sounds like Grandpa can really afford it, and he even paid in full. It seems he made quite a bit of money this year."

Farming isn't very profitable these days, but we have Uncle Qin and Xiong Shan at home, as well as Runsheng who can start farming as soon as he gets home.

So now, my great-grandfather has rented a lot of extra land from other people.

With the help of Aunt Liu and Xiao Yingying, the paper crafts have become so popular that word of mouth has spread far and wide. In addition, the grandfather himself earns a lot of money by practicing vegetarianism.

Li Zhuiyuan now understood more deeply why his grandfather had been in low spirits yesterday.

It turns out that once they've earned enough from the house, they lose all motivation.

"After we finished talking about Nantong, Grandpa Li asked me about housing prices in Nanjing."

"Ah."

It seems that Grandpa has rediscovered his goals.

After we finished talking about Nanjing, Grandpa asked me about the capital...

Li Zhuiyuan paused slightly as he drank his tea; this goal seemed a bit too high.

into the night.

Tan Wenbin sat up in his own coffin and knocked on the lids of Runsheng and Lin Shuyou's coffins next door:

"Want to go for a late-night snack by the river?"

Upon hearing this, Runsheng and Lin Shuyou both sat up.

The white rat was captured by Qing'an and put into the peach orchard. After working as a cook for a while, Qing'an probably got tired of it and released it back into the wild.

Now, it has returned to that spot by the river.

Runsheng frowned and said, "Expensive."

In the past, Runsheng didn't feel bad about exchanging merit points for late-night snacks, but when he found that he and others could only get a little bit of oil, he couldn't bear to part with it.

Lin Shuyou nodded and said, "It is indeed expensive."

Tan Wenbin: "Come on, someone's treating. I haven't been to eat here since I came back, I'm so hungry."

Urged by Tan Wenbin, Runsheng and Lin Shuyou left the coffin. Runsheng rode a tricycle, and Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou got on. As soon as the tricycle went downhill, there was suddenly another person on it.

Chen Xiyuan: "Where did you get your late-night snack? Is it good?"

Tan Wenbin: "It's delicious, but a bit expensive."

Chen Xiyuan: "Come on, it's my treat!"

Tan Wenbin: "Paying for meals is a good deed."

Chen Xiyuan: "That's even better, it saves us the trouble of counting and making change, it's just a matter of waving our hands."

Tan Wenbin cupped his hands and said, "Sister Chen is awesome!"

After they all left.

Zhao Yi carried a large package and walked onto the dam.

Li Zhuiyuan came downstairs to meet him.

"The Zhou and Ding family's belongings are here. Here you go. Mr. Li, take them quickly. Ah~ I'm so sleepy, I'm in a hurry to go back to sleep."

Zhao Yi handed the package over, but the boy didn't take it.

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's too heavy, I can't lift it."

Zhao Yi pointed towards the village entrance, then pointed to himself:

"You let her go, but I'm allowed to stay?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Tacit understanding and trust."

"So you don't want her to get dirty, but you think it's okay for my place to get dirty no matter what?"

"You're already very dirty."

"No, no, I need to turn over a new leaf recently. Here, take the things, take them now."

Li Zhuiyuan still didn't answer, and turned to walk towards the back of the house.

"Hey, are you going to put it on the ground if you're not going to take it?"

Zhao Yi's threats had no effect whatsoever.

"Heh, haha."

Zhao Yi gritted his teeth and finally picked up the package and followed.

Upon entering the training grounds and observing the layout, Zhao Yi immediately asked:

"Who are you cursing? Are you cursing an entire family? The Zhou family... or the Ding family?"

Li Zhuiyuan calmly replied, "Together."

Zhao Yi: "Are you crazy? Do you know what the consequences of this will be?"

The two families set up their items, and using them as a starting point, Li Zhuiyuan began to cast a spell.

Candles were lit all around, first bright, then dim, like ghostly eyes.

In Zhao Yi's view, casting a curse on an entire family was tantamount to courting death.

Moreover, he discovered that what Li had cast wasn't some kind of malevolent curse; it was perceptible to the other party but far from causing serious harm. While this would reduce the backlash suffered by Li, its effect was negligible, making it a relatively worse loss.

The incantation is complete.

Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes and looked at Zhao Yi.

Ghostly figures surrounded him, and the boy's gaze was like that of a vengeful ghost from a dark abyss.

But soon, all the previous impressions dissipated, the candlelight shone brightly, and the boy's aura returned to normal. Anyone who didn't know him would have thought he was an innocent young man.

Zhao Yi: "How could this happen?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You didn't understand?"

Zhao Yi: "Why did you have to tell me this to my face?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Because you can sense it."

When he used his evil magic, Chen Xiyuan was taken away by Tan Wenbin, but Zhao Yike stayed in the village the whole time.

Since we can't hide it, we might as well not hide it.

Zhao Yi: "Li, sometimes I really think you're crazy!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If I were normal, would you still have a chance?"

Zhao Yi: "I need time to calm down and correct my old perceptions of this world."

Li Zhuiyuan: "There is enough time."

Zhao Yi: "Since you want to deal with them, what you just did was to alert them."

Li Zhuiyuan: "It was intentional, to give these two families a sense of crisis, so that they would arrange for their clan members and peripheral members to go out and avoid trouble in advance."

Zhao Yi: "Then what else do I need to do?"

Li Zhuiyuan took out an envelope and handed it to Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi took it, opened it, and found the method to break the curse inside.

Li Zhuiyuan: "The curse I set up is very minor, but it's not easy to break. You take your people and go to the Zhou and Ding families first to help them break the curses in their families."

Then tell them that the person who targeted their two families was Li, the corpse retriever from Nantong.

Zhao Yi: "I'm using this method to gain their trust? Hmm, that sounds familiar."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You can do it."

Zhao Yi: "Then, at the crucial moment, I betrayed you and colluded with you from the inside?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It seems easier to do destructive things under the guise of helping. You have all sorts of ways to circumvent cause and effect, and do bad things with good intentions."

Zhao Yi: "Okay!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Shouldn't we ask about the prize first?"

Zhao Yi: "Agree to it first, get the job done, and then the price can be higher."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I won't let you down."

Zhao Yi: "I will always believe in my little darling's extravagant generosity."

Li Zhuiyuan needed help walking along the riverbank.

He cannot bestow merit like the Heavenly Dao, but he can give good things that are hard to obtain even with merit, which can be used to exchange for Zhao Yi and Chen Xiyuan's labor.

Zhao Yi: "By the way, how cautious are you? Our strength is clearly sufficient. A direct sneak attack would be more straightforward. Why do you still have to resort to tricks?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "What would you do if you were in my shoes?"

Zhao Yi: "Same as you."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You should set off as soon as possible. I will meet up with you in a few days."

Zhao Yi: "Are you preparing to get busy with something important?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm going to start school soon."

Zhao Yi: "This is a huge deal."

The next morning, after breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan and the others got into the car and headed to Jinling.

Since there wasn't enough time for breakfast, Aunt Liu thoughtfully packed up some food so Chen Xiyuan could continue eating in the car.

Chen Xiyuan: "Nothing outside tastes as good as what my sister makes. This is the last indulgent meal we'll have for a while."

While eating, Chen Xiyuan asked again:
"By the way, little brother, are you prepared for the potential disasters to befall the Zhou and Ding families?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

It's him.

It was noon when I arrived at school.

The familiar school gate and the familiar greenery on campus made it difficult for the three of them to recapture the feeling of being students, as they had only visited the school a very short time. They felt more like tourists visiting the school.

Xue Liangliang said he missed them very much and had been waiting for them for a long time.

But the first thing I did upon meeting him was to take a package from Tan Wenbin, which contained a thick stack of photos.

"Xiao Yuan, I'll take them to eat first. You go to the old library to find the teacher. The teacher and Professor Zhai are together right now; they've ordered boxed lunches there."

Old Master Zhai specifically instructed that you should go see him as soon as you arrive.

"it is good."

Li Zhuiyuan separated from the others, took out the research group ID card from his backpack that he had never used before, and headed to the old library.

The new library is so popular that you have to fight for a seat every day, while the old library is deserted and has a desolate feel.

After walking in and turning a corner, Li Zhuiyuan found the research group's office area.

In a large, empty room, the boy saw Mr. Zhai and Engineer Luo sitting in the corner, facing each other, eating boxed lunches.

The two people weren't speaking loudly, but the amplification and reverberation effect inside was excellent.

"Yes, I rarely talk about this experience with people. The last time I mentioned it was when I was eating grilled fish at night in Wanzhou, when I talked about it with Xiaoyuan, Lin Wenbin and Tan Shuyou."

"Hehe, they're all my star students."

Mr. Zhai: "Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou."

Engineer Luo: "Haha, you have a good memory, old man."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Hello, teachers."

The boy's voice came out, but it didn't carry.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced around and continued walking.

The closer he got to the corner where Old Master Zhai and Engineer Luo were, the longer the distance between them seemed to grow.

The voices that Luo Gong had spoken earlier rang out again, and many Luo Gongs were speaking, telling the Goguryeo story that Li Zhuiyuan had heard.

In the boy's vision, the shadow beneath Old Zhai was growing longer and longer.

The Emperor's shadow... has returned.

As the narration continued, the boy's surroundings changed.

The sounds of banquets, laughter, singing, and music... first the sounds, then the visuals.

The boy stopped in his tracks, feeling as if he were in the middle of a grand banquet.

A suit of armor was placed on the seat in the very center of the banquet.

When the boy's gaze fell upon it, an invisible force seemed to rise from within the armor.

Although it was completely empty inside, it looked as if someone was wearing it.

The armored figure stood up, stepped down from the throne, and casually drew a jewel-encrusted sword hanging beside him.

It walked straight toward Li Zhuiyuan, gradually raising the knife in its hand.

A voice came from inside the armor:

"You are the one that fate... wants me to kill?"

(End of this chapter)