Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 386

Every time Tan Wenbin returned from his trip along the river, he would take a day to visit relatives in Shigang Town. He would either visit his grandparents or check on his maternal grandparents. After confirming his relationship with Zhou Yunyun, he would also send greetings to his future in-laws.

He would take turns at the three locations, but no matter which one he went to, he would always stop by Zheng Haiyang's grave on his way back, pull some weeds, and talk to him for a while.

Tan Wenbin knows that even the best of classmates and friends will eventually become strangers after growing up. Even if they still keep in touch and get together, their friendship will inevitably become distant.

But the worst part is that Tan Wenbin was able to continue growing and maturing, while Zheng Haiyang's life was forever frozen at the time when their relationship was at its best.

That night, Tan Wenbin truly witnessed the horror of the other side of the world. It was also that night that he vowed to avenge Zheng Haiyang. He chased after him and got on the tricycle driven by Runsheng and Xiaoyuan.

At this moment, he saw the same turtle as that night again.

When the man and the turtle made eye contact, it was as if an invisible force gripped Tan Wenbin's neck, making it impossible for him to breathe. His heart felt as if it had been kicked hard, and his pupils gradually became dilated.

"Brother Bin, Brother Bin, it's me, Haiyang!"

"Brother Bin, hehe, after you stood up for me, those guys really didn't dare to bully me anymore."

"Brother Bin, you got beaten up by your dad again. I'll treat you to some fried skewers to help you recover, this time it has to be my treat!"

Zheng Haiyang's voice grew clearer and clearer in my ears.

The soul feels like it's been thrown into a swamp, constantly sinking deeper.

However, just before Tan Wenbin's gaze became completely lost, a pair of snake eyes appeared.

The snake's eyes met those of the tortoise.

In an instant, blood flowed from Tan Wenbin's eye sockets, his snake eyes collapsed, but Tan Wenbin's pupils also regained focus.

When I called Xiao Yuan after arriving at the Nantong Grand Hotel, he reminded me to be careful.

I have been on guard the whole time.

But you still use this trick to try and trap me. Do you really think I've been following Brother Xiaoyuan around for nothing these past two years?

Dead turtle,
How much do you look down on me?!
Tan Wenbin's right hand instantly turned bright red, his Blood Ape power surged, and he grabbed at the tortoise on the head of the seat.

He grabbed the turtle's neck and instinctively squeezed it tightly.

"Snapped!"

Not only the neck, but also the limbs and the shell exploded at this moment.

Tan Wenbin tiptoed forward, his right hand, red and swollen, instinctively reaching out to slap the woman sitting in the back row.

Nowadays, if an ordinary person were to take a blow from him, the Blood Ape's strength would be enough to smash their head like a watermelon!
Li Lan remained seated, legs crossed, arms crossed, her expression calm.

She wasn't caught off guard, because a knowing smile played on her lips.

Tan Wenbin's hand stopped abruptly a few inches from Li Lan's head.

He stopped not because she was Xiao Yuan's mother, but because Tan Wenbin knew very well that if the person sitting in the car at that moment was really that big turtle, then he would have no way to resist or fight back.

Only Xiao Yuan can make a decision on this situation; he cannot act impulsively on his own.

"Auntie... there were flies in the car, I just killed them."

Li Lan nodded and said, "The car is indeed a bit dirty. Is it your own car?"

"Yes, that's right. I used it for a long trip last time and didn't have time to clean it when I got back."

Tan Wenbin sat back down, pulled out a tissue from the car seat, and wiped the bloodstains from the corner of his eye.

Li Lan: "There's a car wash up ahead."

Tan Wenbin looked up at Li Lan through the rearview mirror and laughed, "Car washes there are so expensive. We usually drive to the river and wash our cars with the river water."

"As far as I know, you're not short of money, are you?"

"We don't lack money, but we have plenty of mules at home, so we won't miss these two rounds of grinding."

Before anything happened, the car felt very oppressive, but after the incident actually occurred, the awkwardness and embarrassment disappeared.

Li Zhuiyuan appeared by the car door and handed the wallet to Li Lan through the car window.

Tan Wenbin showed the blood-stained crumpled paper in his hand to Xiao Yuan.

Li Zhuiyuan walked around the car, went to the passenger side door, and opened it.

Li Lan: "Son, won't you sit with your mother?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm used to sitting in the front so I can enjoy the scenery."

Li Lan: "But you are the best scenery in your mother's eyes."

Li Zhuiyuan pushed the passenger door back in, walked to the back, opened the rear door, and got in.

"Brother Binbin, thank you for coming to pick me up."

"It's not hard, it should be."

The car started, circled halfway around the flower bed in front of the restaurant, and then merged into the road.

Li Lan turned her head to look out the car window and sighed:
"I haven't been back for so many years, and Nantong has really changed a lot."

Li Zhuiyuan: "We haven't reached the stage of rapid urbanization yet; the changes in the future will be even greater."

Li Lan: "The future... I don't know if I'll ever see it again."

Li Zhuiyuan: "The future is your own choice."

Li Lan nodded: "Yes, I've made my choice. Your mother also considered your future, but in the end, you made your own choice."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Wasn't my coming to Nantong your choice?"

Li Lan leaned against the car window, tilted her body to the side, tossed her hair aside, and looked at Li Zhuiyuan with great interest:
"Son, is the path you're on now really the one I chose for you?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You should have been exposed to this long ago, why didn't you try to take this path as well?"

Li Lan: "I got involved too late."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I don't believe that reason."

Li Lan: "That's one of the reasons. The main reason is that I thought at the time that by not taking this path, I could skip it and reach the end faster."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You're overconfident."

Li Lan reached out and gently patted her face, then pinched a bit of her cheek. Although she was already a mother of a teenager, she still managed to reveal a touch of playfulness in this gesture. However, the meaning behind the action was cold and cruel:

"At that time, I didn't have any time left."

Li Zhuiyuan: "So, did you successfully jump down this path?"

Li Lan: "When I jumped off the boat and dived into that sea, I didn't know if I would succeed;

When I surfaced from the sea and returned to shore by boat, I was equally unsure whether I had failed.

Li Zhuiyuan reminded them, "We haven't reached the village yet, and not even 24 hours have passed."

Li Lan placed her hand on the boy's face, her fingertips gently caressing it.

"How many mothers in this world can be so rigid and strict in front of their children, always keeping their word?"

As she spoke, Li Lan looked at Tan Wenbin, who was driving:
“You specifically asked him to drive and pick us up, son, you were too hasty.”

Li Zhuiyuan: "I should have shown reasonable urgency."

Li Lan: "I feel the same way."

The light ahead was red, so Tan Wenbin stopped the car.

He had a vague premonition that he was about to hear something extraordinary.

My palms were slightly sweaty from nervousness, and my grip on the steering wheel became damp.

Li Lan shook the wallet in her hand: "Didn't you check it?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "No."

Li Lan: "There is a hidden layer inside."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I don't know."

Li Lan: "I was careless."

Li Zhuiyuan: "What you don't want me to know, I can't detect in the examination."

Li Lan opened her wallet, revealing the ingeniously designed inner compartment to Li Zhuiyuan. Li Zhuiyuan glanced at it and saw that it was empty.

"Son, here, this is your allowance from Mom."

Li Lan took out two banknotes from the thick wad of cash in her wallet and handed them to Li Zhuiyuan.

"Xiao Yuan, isn't this a bit stingy if we're using this as a gift for keeping up with the Joneses?"

"You can refuel this car."

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and took it, stroking it with his fingertips and observing it closely, but he couldn't find anything unusual.

Immediately, Li Zhuiyuan's gaze fell on the wallet in Li Lan's hand.

Li Lan took out all the remaining banknotes and handed the wallet over.

"for you."

Li Zhuiyuan unfolded the inner pocket of his wallet, first putting a banknote into it, then holding it up so that the sunlight outside would shine on the wallet's exterior. A thin halo of light shone in, and another layer of marks gradually appeared on the banknote—a painting.

However, each angle of light can only reveal a portion of the painting, like scattered puzzle pieces, which can only be pieced together after scanning them all and "getting them in hand".

Li Lan: "What do you think of this design?"

Li Zhuiyuan calmly answered while watching the changes in the banknotes:
"Intentionally damaging RMB is illegal."

"Mom just put a film on it, which can be peeled off."

The painting is not exquisite, but this does not mean that Li Lan's painting skills are lacking. On the contrary, Li Lan's expertise in this area is already that of an expert among experts.

She is copying, aiming to reproduce it authentically.

Finally, the entire picture on the banknote was presented before Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, and a complete picture immediately appeared in the boy's mind.

next moment,
The boy's pupils widened in shock.

This painting depicts a large ship anchored in a vast ocean.

There were many people standing on the deck.

A young man and a young woman stood shoulder to shoulder.

This young couple is the central figure in the painting.

There were many men and women nearby.

Even the couple in the center have their faces blurred and not detailed, so the others on the ship can only be shown in general terms as "there are many people".

Even so, the composition and positioning details of the painting instantly triggered a memory in Li Zhuiyuan's mind.

He had that dream!
It was during my senior year of high school. Wu Xinhan, the principal of Shigang Middle School, specially arranged for me to have a curtain hung in his office with a spring bed inside for me to take a nap.

That day, after I finished setting questions for the math competition class, I went to my office, lay down to rest, and had the exact same dream as in this painting.

He woke up the instant he jumped into the sea, and then saw Wu Xinhan having lunch with Zheng Haiyang outside the curtain. Zheng Haiyang's parents, who were sailors, had just received news of the accident, and Wu Xinhan was comforting and reassuring him.

At that time, Zheng Haiyang was still alive.

This dream wasn't particularly unusual for Li Zhuiyuan at first, since he often had more bizarre dreams due to the influence of his great-grandfather's fortune-changing ritual.

However, when he witnessed one person after another die mysteriously at the hands of the turtle, especially the scene of Zheng Haiyang's entire family being wiped out, this dream took on a very different meaning for Li Zhuiyuan.

Perhaps it's a case of what you think about during the day manifesting in your dreams at night, but it could also be some kind of divination hint.

After all, on that ship in my dream, I had Ah Li, Cui Cui, Run Sheng, and Tan Wenbin by my side...

In the dream, I looked to be Tan Wenbin's age at the time, which is the age of a normal senior high school student, just coming of age.

Therefore, this dream can be understood as a kind of premonition or prophecy: one day in the future, after I have come of age, I will lead a group of people to that East China Sea, jump off the ship, and enter the seabed.

At that time, I hadn't yet lit a lamp to travel the river; I was just a novice who had just entered the Xuanmen sect and was only beginning to glimpse the scenery. I didn't know how big this world was, nor how far this river actually stretched.

Now, reflecting on this dream, the person in the dream has already reached adulthood.

The self that has "lived" to "adulthood".

Perhaps only he, his companions, and Zhao Yi and Chen Xiyuan could realize what it meant when both of these concepts were realized in themselves.

And back then, when I went to the East China Sea, who was I looking for? And who could I possibly be looking for?

The biggest shock right now is:

His own dream was actually drawn by Li Lan—no, copied.

If it's just a dream, no matter how much you analyze it, it's like a rootless duckweed; but what if the dream becomes reality?

Li Zhuiyuan: "Where did this painting you copied come from?"

Li Lan: "Haven't you always wanted to know what your mother saw at the bottom of the sea?"

This painting comes from that seabed.

Li Zhuiyuan silently took the first banknote out of the wallet's inner pocket and stuffed the second one in.

Instead of holding his wallet up to the light to collect the "puzzle pieces" as he had done before, he took a deep breath.

Sunlight streamed through the car window, falling on the boy's face, and a few glistening beads appeared on the tip of Li Zhuiyuan's nose.

Tan Wenbin, who was driving, was unaware of the contents of the painting, but he was surprised that the heavy breathing sound was really coming from Xiao Yuan, who was usually calm.
Li Lan: "You know, although the figures in this painting, especially their faces, are not very detailed, I recognized the person in the very center of the painting the moment I saw it."

Xiaoyuan, I am indeed not a good mother.

But I am probably one of the mothers in the world who knows my son best.

because,

Even if you peel off all the skin off your body, your mother will still recognize you.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I only intended to erase the role of mother from my life, but I never thought of killing you."

Li Lan leaned back in her seat and said to Tan Wenbin, who was driving, "Young man, you smell of smoke. Get me a cigarette."

"Okay, Auntie."

Tan Wenbin held the steering wheel with one hand and took out a lighter and a cigarette case from his pocket with the other, handing them over.

Li Lan expertly took out a cigarette, lit it, and exhaled a smoke ring.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I thought that between us, we only wished for each other's mental destruction. It turns out that my mother really wanted me to die."

Li Zhuiyuan, you disgust me.

Li Zhuiyuan, why don't you just die?

That day, in front of Aunt Zhang's shop, the boy pressed his ear to the microphone, listening to the words coming from the other end, while giving a warm and obedient smile to his grandparents, Tiger, Stone, and the others in front of him.

In the car, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes in pain.

The illness has flared up again.

The human skin seemed about to crack again.

He thought he had done enough, that he had controlled the situation to a certain extent, and that he was confident he could face this woman.

But as expected, the woman before him was the most skilled in the world at peeling off his human skin.

The boy clenched his fists, nails facing his palms, instinctively trying to use physical pain to offset and release even a little bit of the mental torment.

But at that moment, his fingernail touched the faint mark Ah Li had left on his palm that morning.

When you're still feeling good about yourself, only those who truly care about you will worry about the worst-case scenario.

She didn't want to hurt herself, and she didn't even dare to prick the skin on her palms.

Li Zhuiyuan struggled to loosen his grip, his knuckles turning white.

The boy's face was still pale, and cold sweat kept pouring out. He pursed his lips, struggling against this attack of his illness.

This was the most serious illness he had ever suffered since he began to fight his inner demons; even in the past, he had never experienced anything so intense.

The main body must have sensed it.

At this moment, it is actually the best opportunity for the main body to launch an attack on the "inner demon," devour and dissolve the inner demon, and completely take control of this body to become "Li Zhuiyuan."

Because at this moment, Li Zhuiyuan was completely powerless to resist.

He built a flood control dam for himself, but when the dam collapsed, the raging floodwaters would only be more terrifying.

However, the main body did not make any movement.

He didn't kick someone when they were down, nor did he take advantage of their misfortune; he remained quiet.

Moreover, the original body seems to be exercising self-restraint, which is equivalent to helping Li Zhuiyuan suppress this episode and resisting the current fusion with Li Zhuiyuan.

Because the original body knows that now is not the time. What he seeks is not the kind of thing where he is willing to pay any price just to "take over" and have a moment of pleasure.

He knew very well that the two Dragon King sects, which had no spiritual power, and Li Zhuiyuan, who had some feelings for him and was acting in accordance with the righteous way of the martial arts world, were the key to maintaining the fragile balance between himself and the Heavenly Dao.

Li Lan saw the mark on the boy's palm. It wasn't made just now, nor was it made by her son's fingernail. The nail mark clearly belonged to a little girl.

"Son, are you dating someone too early?"

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes, tilted his head back, and took a deep breath.

Li Lan: "Is it the girl in the painting who's almost touching your shoulder, standing right next to you?"

Take a drag of a cigarette, open your mouth, let the smoke swirl and swirl in your mouth, and then exhale gently.

Li Lan moved the hand holding the cigarette to the window and flicked off the ash.

"Mom is really curious, what kind of girl can be so close to you?"

Your father was the most suitable and outstanding one that your mother could choose.

I admit that I did have some feelings for your father when we first got together.

But soon, I couldn't help but start to reject and resent him from the bottom of my heart... Even though I knew I shouldn't do this, I couldn't control myself.

Ah,
The person sleeping next to you, their unintentional words and actions, can make you feel that they are really... sigh...

That's when I realized that so-called love, relationships between men and women, couldn't stop the rate at which the skin on my face was melting away. All my hopes could only be pinned on my newly showing belly.

Son, tell Mom, didn't you have similar feelings when you were with her?

Li Zhuiyuan's expression finally returned to calm, and he suppressed his recent outburst.

Boy: "Brother Binbin, water."

"Here you go, Brother Xiaoyuan."

Taking the water from Tan Wenbin, Li Zhuiyuan unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and replied:
"Li Lan, in my eyes you're just a fool."

Li Lan smiled.

Li Zhuiyuan twisted the lid back on, leaning back in the same position as Li Lan:

"The stupidest and most ridiculous one among us is you."

Li Lan: "There's another painting you haven't seen yet."

Li Zhuiyuan: "I've already guessed what's in the painting."

Li Lan: "Then tell me, and I'll see if it's right."

Li Zhuiyuan: "It lost."

Li Lan: "So confident?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If the first painting is valid, then the result of the second painting is unique."

As an adult, I went to the East China Sea for whatever reason.

Even that big tortoise has no chance of winning.

This has nothing to do with confidence; it's a fact, an inevitability.

In the wave of the Dream Demon, although the Emperor was the one who ultimately issued the decree, there was a period of three-way power struggle.

This means that those three are in the same league.

However, there is a problem: the Wei Zhengdao who appeared in the dream... Li Zhuiyuan could not determine which period of Wei Zhengdao he was referring to.

The boy believed that Wei Zhengdao would become stronger as time went on.

The reason is simple: what a being like the Emperor of Fengdu is pursuing now is still to obtain immortality and continue to exist at all costs.

Wei Zhengdao was constantly trying to invent various suicide methods, and he was extremely distressed and frustrated because he could not commit suicide successfully for a long time.

What a being like the Great Emperor so desperately seeks is precisely what Wei Zhengdao despises and loathes the most.

The Heavenly Dao is now plotting to use him and then destroy him. If he can break through this destiny and shackles and live to adulthood, his achievements will only be greater than Wei Zhengdao's.

Because he awakened earlier than Wei Zhengdao, and his development period was many times more difficult than Wei Zhengdao's.

"Hehehehe..."

Li Lan laughed, covering her mouth with one hand, her laughter a little exaggerated.

Li Zhuiyuan put the second banknote into the wallet's inner pocket, lifted the wallet, and kept rotating it to start collecting the "puzzle pieces".

Li Lan: "What, you still can't resist taking a look?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I want to see how it dies."

After collecting a whole set of images, the second picture came to Li Zhuiyuan's mind.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled the moment he "read" the painting.

The second painting depicts a large, broken, and dying turtle that is already doomed to lose.

The painting does not show the more specific details of the giant tortoise; it only depicts the "state" or "result".

This is not a deliberate roughness due to limited space; a large part of the reason is that there are densely packed young people standing around, on the body, and on the shell of the large tortoise in the painting.

This young man... represents Li Zhuiyuan at that time.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled because there was no earth-shattering battle, no thrilling duel, and no bloodshed or heavy price to pay.

In the painting, he wins decisively.

Whether the giant tortoise acted voluntarily or was passively influenced by itself, it created countless copies of "Li Zhuiyuan".

Many people have already suffered from the inexplicable cooperation between their inner demons and their true selves.

Under absolute rationality, only the development of events that best aligns with the interests of the people will occur.

That is, none of the "Li Zhuiyuan" fought amongst themselves; instead, they worked together to suppress and kill the giant tortoise.

As for how to end the story of all the other versions of myself, that's none of the big tortoise's business anymore, because it's no longer here.

As a giant beneath the East China Sea, his death and defeat were so absurd.

The problem is that was me as an adult. As for me now, it's hard to say whether I can even survive to adulthood. The success rate is very low.

The bigger problem is that, although Li Zhuiyuan doesn't yet understand why his dreams are manifesting in reality, one thing has been proven:

Li Lan saw these two murals in that area underwater, memorized them, and then copied them.

This means that:

The giant tortoise also knew this would happen.

it,
What would they do?

In fact, any normal person would make the same choice.

I'm waiting to come of age.

And it,

How could they possibly give themselves the chance to become adults?

It would want to die sooner and more urgently than the Heavenly Dao, and unlike the Heavenly Dao, it doesn't want to use itself as a weapon. From its perspective, the weaker it is, the safer it is when it is killed, and the lower the cost it needs to pay.

So, did Zheng Haiyang's parents really go diving into that sea area purely out of profit, in the literal sense?
The night Zheng Haiyang's family had their accident, I, Tan Wenbin, Runsheng, and I were all having dinner at Zheng Haiyang's house. His grandparents had cooked a lot of delicious food.

They were trying to kill him, but they failed. After he became familiar with the darkness, he escaped with Runsheng and Tan Wenbin.

From my perspective at the time, it was an accidental encounter with something unclean.

But now, looking back... could this have been a deliberately orchestrated causal chain?

The truth is, that big tortoise had been searching for itself for a long time.

But it seems to be subject to some kind of limitation, and it has never been able to confirm who it is.

Before jumping into the blender and perishing together with the turtle inside his body, Zhu Changyong shouted out these words:

"We must get there...and get it!"

What is "it"? I don't know.

But it could never be referring to that big turtle.

The Emperor of Fengdu confined himself to Hell, which was his limitation; the giant tortoise must also have its limitations.

It was like a terrible trapped beast, seemingly blind, only knowing that "there is someone" who could threaten and end it in the future, but even standing face to face with that person, it still could not see the other person's "true face".

Just like what's depicted in this painting.

In the wave of the dream demon, after he woke up, he and his companions, even the White Crane Boy, all lost the memory of that dream. Does this mean that it is a kind of protection?
Is it possible that Wei Zhengdao's remaining part sensed something back then?
However, it seems pointless to dwell on these things now.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Li Lan.

The mother and son looked at each other.

Li Lan,

My own mother
She found herself, carrying that big tortoise!
At first, it was speculation and doubt, but the real trigger for Li Zhuiyuan's relapse was... he was certain.

Perhaps there is a tiny, insignificant disappointment in Li Lan as a mother.

Essentially, it's like feeling sorry for someone of the same kind who has become so depraved, even to the point of negating oneself.

Li Lan: "Now, I am it, and it is me."

Son, thank goodness for you. Thank goodness that I am the only one in the world who can recognize you through that painting. Otherwise, I would not have been able to obtain such good terms in the negotiations with it.

Xiao Yuan, you are such a good son to your mother.

that's nice,

I made the right choice in giving birth to you.

You really,
"It cured my illness, Mom."

Li Zhuiyuan remained silent.

Li Lan: "Son, even now, you still don't plan to kill me?"

When we left the hotel, I asked the other two to stay there.

When you first started driving, you deliberately stuck something like a talisman on the car. Earlier in the city, your lane changes and turns successfully shook off the third person who had been secretly following and protecting me.

As for Yu Shu, he wasn't there to protect me, and his strength lay in organizing and gathering people, not in himself.

Actually, even if the big guy leaves, this little guy alone is enough to handle them all, not to mention, there's also you here, son.

If you want to kill me now, it's very simple.

I tested it as soon as I got in the car, and even I, as a mom, couldn't control this little guy, haha.

Or do you think that killing me now wouldn't completely eliminate the problem, and I could just crawl back out of the sea, so killing me or not is pointless?

Li Zhuiyuan: "Brother Binbin." Tan Wenbin, who was driving, felt a sudden jolt in his heart. Brother Yuan, was he about to give him an order?
Li Zhuiyuan: "Watch out ahead."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky outside the car window.

Immediately following was a deafening roar of thunder.

This summer, thunderstorms were not as frequent as in previous years, but at the tail end of summer, it seems that the heavens are making up for all the thunderstorms that were left unused.

Before the rain, the wind eagerly began to blow.

The pickup truck had already left Nantong city, passed Xingren Town, and was driving on the straight road leading to Shinan Town.

The road is not narrow, but it is not very wide either. It is a more than adequate two-lane road, and there are also flat dirt areas on both sides of the road that can be used.

From a distance, Tan Wenbin could see a group of people walking against the flow of traffic on the flat ground by the roadside ahead, holding various flags, altars, and portraits.

At first, Tan Wenbin thought it was a funeral procession, but he found out it wasn't; it was probably an event being held at a nearby temple.

In terms of preserving local traditional folk customs, Nantong is not as good as Lin Shuyou's hometown in Fujian. Although there are temple fairs in the area, the fairs themselves have no connection with "temples" anymore and have become just a large market.

Therefore, it is quite rare to see such a temple procession here.

Although they were going against traffic, the road was wide enough and they were conspicuous enough that they did not obstruct traffic.

But then a gust of wind suddenly blew, causing all sorts of flags and banners to fly away, the altar to collapse, and many of the people supporting it to fall, ending up on the road instead of the flat ground beside them.

Fortunately, thanks to Xiao Yuan's timely reminder, Tan Wenbin immediately stepped on the brakes.

The car braked successfully without hitting the person in front.

However, one of the portraits was rolled up and pasted on the windshield of the pickup truck. The "god" in the portrait was very majestic. Although it was quite different from the traditional image of Fengdu, the identity of the "god" was written vertically on the right side of the portrait - the Great Emperor of Fengdu.

“Hiss…hiss…”

The wind continued to blow, and the portrait first developed cracks, which then widened until finally, a new gust of wind blew it completely into several pieces, which were then blown away, restoring the view through the car's windshield.

Tan Wenbin licked his lips.

Even if Ayou... no, even if Runsheng were sitting here right now, he could tell that something was wrong with what just happened. There was a special meaning behind it, and it was very ominous.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Brother Binbin, keep driving home."

Tan Wenbin: "Understood."

After shifting into reverse and backing up a short distance, I moved aside to let the group of people in front of me pass.

The pickup truck continued driving towards Shinan Town.

Li Lan rolled the car window down a little wider, and the wind outside kept blowing in, making her and Li Zhuiyuan's hair all messy.

The air was already filled with a strong earthy smell, a sign that heavy rain was coming.

Li Lan: "Still not going to kill me?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Killing you means I have lost completely."

Li Lan: "You're about to die, why would you care about this human skin?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "With this human skin, you can have a funeral after you die; without this human skin, you're just a mad animal. No villager with a normal mind would dare to eat its meat. They can only burn it in the wild or bury it alive."

Li Lan: "Are you so fixated on wanting to be a person?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Aren't you the same? You've been obsessed with wanting to be a human being for much longer than I have."

Li Lan: "This kind of persistence is meaningless; the more persistent you are, the more you realize how lowly you are as a human being."

Li Zhuiyuan: "We are sick, like patients in a hospital. We are not superior to ordinary people; we are all patients, and it is difficult for us to even become healthy ordinary people again."

It's raining.

Rainwater poured in through the fully open car window, wetting Li Lan's hair and her entire face.

A shed was erected in front of a house some distance away by the roadside, and a large crowd was gathered there; a funeral was being held.

It's just that this place is quite a distance from Shinan Town, otherwise we could really try to guess whether the person presiding over the funeral would be the great-grandfather.

In the open space outside the shed, paper effigies were being burned; three towering paper buildings had been set ablaze and were engulfed in flames.

There was a funeral band nearby, playing drums and gongs, and dirge was playing from loudspeakers.

But then it suddenly started raining, catching everyone off guard.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and looked in that direction.

His side window was closed, and a curtain of rain had formed outside, distorting his view.

From this perspective, the three towering paper-mache buildings look like three giant lamps.

Under the heavy rain, the three rows of lights swayed violently.

At the same time, whether it was due to water getting into the equipment or the speaker, the original funeral music turned into a long, seemingly eternal static electrical sound.

Because of the distance, the stretch of fields between houses and roads, and the tempering of wind and rain, what people sitting in the car hear is a melodious flute sound.

The rhythm of the flute music, at this moment, formed an extremely coincidental interaction with the fire on the three paper-mache buildings in the heavy rain.

It was as if the sound of the flute was guiding and urging the three lamps to burn.

Li Lan: "It sounds nice, like a flute."

Li Zhuiyuan has indeed been listening to the flute a lot lately, because Chen Xiyuan is her favorite and most skilled player in it.

Previously, Chen Xiyuan was afraid of disturbing the neighbors and disturbing others' rest. When she wanted to play the flute, she would open a domain to contain the sound and prevent it from spilling out.

Later, Li Zhuiyuan asked her to turn off the domain and play a fixed song for him.

Because that piece of music has a very obvious sleep-inducing effect; as long as you don't deliberately resist it, you can fall asleep after listening to it for a while.

As for those three lamps... with the accompanying flute music, it's hard not to make those associations.

Not long ago, when Li Zhuiyuan forcibly repaid his merits and started walking on the river from the shore, he not only borrowed Chen Xiyuan's flute, but also made a deal with the three very efficacious ancestors in Chen Xiyuan's family.

Suddenly, the three lights went out, the loudspeaker went silent, and the "whistle" stopped abruptly.

Li Zhuiyuan's eyes revealed a clear understanding.

The car was still moving, and the rain kept falling.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Close the window."

Li Lan: "Cold?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Mm."

Li Lan rolled up her car window: "I thought you wanted to get some rain to clear your head."

Li Zhuiyuan rolled up the two banknotes and put them into his pocket.

Li Lan smiled slightly, picked up the cigarette case again, but the cigarettes inside were already wet. She bit one in her mouth and tried to light it with a lighter, but she couldn't.

Li Zhuiyuan: "When did you start smoking?"

Li Lan: "Today."

Upon hearing this answer, Tan Wenbin glanced at the rearview mirror. He had seen the woman's practiced smoking earlier, but thinking about it from another angle, if Xiao Yuan learns everything so quickly, then his mother... must be the same.

Li Lan gave up, tossed the lighter into the cigarette case, and said:
"Young man, I'm sorry, I got your cigarettes wet. I'll have my son Xiaoyuan buy you a pack to make up for it."

Tan Wenbin gave a vague reply: "Mm."

Li Zhuiyuan took out a talisman, held it between two fingers, and reached it to Li Lan's chin.

With a slight tremor of her fingertips, the talisman ignited, the flames scorching the damp cigarette still dangling from Li Lan's mouth.

In just two blinks, the cigarette, though wrinkled, was indeed dried.

With a flick of his finger, Li Zhuiyuan sent the talisman flying out, and the last bit of flame ignited the tip of the cigarette in Li Lan's mouth.

The remaining talismans were scattered in front, seemingly falling gently, but in reality, not a trace of ash could be seen under the car.

Li Lan took a drag, exhaled a smoke ring, and said:

"I've met many extraordinary people, but when my own son shows himself to me, it feels really different."

Li Zhuiyuan: "This is the simplest one. It requires nimble fingertips and practice makes perfect."

Li Lan: "So just now, were you lighting a cigarette for your mother, or were you burning paper money at her grave?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Smoking is harmful to health."

Li Lan: "As a divorced mother who left her child in her rural hometown for two years and barely cared about him, isn't it normal for him to have a cigarette in his hand when we meet?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Exaggerated."

Li Lan: "You have so many demands."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You're the one who wanted to act."

Li Lan: "Little student, what time is it now?"

Tan Wenbin: "5 p.m."

Li Lan: "This scene went by so fast, it's already been nine hours."

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's because you spend too much time buying clothes."

Li Lan: "I don't care about any nephews, it's you who cares about Marquis Pan."

It was already afternoon when they finished buying clothes, and by the time the mother and son ate fried skewers, it was well past lunchtime.

"Kacha kacha kacha..."

The pickup truck's engine malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to lose power and come to a stop.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, I'm going down to take a look."

Tan Wenbin got out of the car and lifted the hood.

Then, Tan Wenbin swallowed hard; the hood of the car was full of turtles.

Some of the turtles were already dead, while others were still crawling, their bodies riddled with bite marks.

Judging from the current situation, even if I manage to get all the turtles out, I still won't be able to drive the car unless it's properly repaired.

Tan Wenbin lowered the hood and his gaze fell on the woman inside the car.

At this moment, Xiao Yuan got out of the car, and the woman moved to Xiao Yuan's side and got out of the car as well.

Li Lan: "The rain in my hometown isn't as warm and familiar as it's described in essays; in fact, it's much more bittersweet than when I was a child."

Li Zhuiyuan: "In recent years, many highly polluting factories have been opened."

Li Lan: "The landmarks of the houses along the road have changed. How much longer until we reach the village, if we walk?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Normally it takes an hour, but now with the heavy rain and strong winds, it will take even longer."

Li Lan: "Then let's go."

Tan Wenbin was still in a daze, but that didn't stop him from quickly getting two umbrellas from his car when Xiao Yuan and the woman walked side by side along the road to the north, and then chasing after them to hand them over.

Li Lan only took one hit, then spread it out to shield herself and the boy beside her:
"Little student, you should use an umbrella too, so you don't catch a cold."

And so, Tan Wenbin followed behind, holding an umbrella.

Ahead, a woman held an umbrella, and under the umbrella followed a son who kept a somewhat distant relationship with his mother.

Li Lan: "In your university, there is a staff dormitory building. It used to be where your supervisor, Engineer Luo, lived. Now it is the residence of your research group's supervisor, Professor Zhai."

During that period, another family stayed there, but I can't find out who that family is.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Was it thoroughly investigated?"

Li Lan: "If you don't have the necessary permissions, you won't be able to find it."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Oh."

Li Lan: "Yu Shu should know the identity of that family, but I didn't ask because I could tell that he would rather die than tell me if I asked him."

You dropped out of college and moved back to the village, which coincided with the time when that apartment building became available.

Moreover, every time you go out for a while, you immediately return to the village.

So, does that family still live in the village now?

Li Zhuiyuan: "Mm."

Li Lan: "Did you learn everything you know from them?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "No."

Strictly speaking, what I know, at least the very beginning, was learned in my great-grandfather's basement.

Even the smartest person could not have predicted that an old man in the countryside would have so many secret manuals hidden in his basement, and that just throwing out any one of them could cause a bloodbath in the martial arts world.

Li Lan had also lived in the village, even longer than I have. The fact that she couldn't find those things in her great-grandfather's basement can't be entirely blamed on bad luck; she herself said that her great-grandfather didn't like her.

However, given Li Lan's current state, her statement about "skipping this path" doesn't seem entirely wrong.

Li Lan: "As soon as I entered Nantong, I started to feel dizzy and nauseous. After arriving at the hotel, I asked Aunt Xu to bring out that can of coffee that didn't taste good, hoping to alleviate my discomfort with the feeling of nausea."

Unfortunately, it didn't work.

I've endured this uncomfortable feeling until now, and it only intensifies the closer I get to my hometown.

This matches a special event statistics report I saw before; the incidence of such events in Nantong has been surprisingly low over the past year.

Is it because of you, son?

"No."

"Is it because of that family?"

"No."

"Son, is it because I was able to get in here that you didn't rush to kill me?"

"It has some reference value, but there is a large error."

Qing'an can suppress the evil spirits in Nantong, preventing them from rising and preventing outside evil spirits from entering, but that giant tortoise is an existence on another level.

Even if it's not a direct confrontation, the long duration of its existence will give it more special methods to enter.

Of course, it's also possible that in Li Lan's judgment within that peach grove, it was still Li Lan.

She is now in control within this body.

In situations where humans are the primary focus, the evil spirits on the other side often become more like a tool that Taoist practitioners can use.

Just like Chen Lin back then, she had two sides, Yin and Yang. According to the Taolin Judgment, she was not considered an evil spirit that was not allowed to enter the Nantong territory.

"Son, I'm tired. You can hold the umbrella for me."

Li Zhuiyuan took the umbrella.

Li Lan moved closer to the boy, pressing herself against him.

Her steps became increasingly stiff and slow, which caused Li Zhuiyuan's pace to decrease further.

The mother and son stopped talking and simply continued walking forward under the umbrella, or rather... moving forward.

As we walked, it gradually got dark.

Li Lan: "How long have you been gone?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's been more than two hours."

Li Lan: "Not here yet?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's just ahead."

Li Lan responded and slowed down once again.

Li Zhuiyuan: "We've arrived at Shijiaqiao."

Li Lan: "This bridge is newly built; it wasn't like this before."

Not far in front of Shijia Bridge is the village road leading to Siyuan Village.

Villagers usually wait on the bridge when taking those rural buses; when they board the bus elsewhere, buy tickets, and tell the driver where they want to get off, they say Shijiaqiao.

At this moment, the village road was almost in sight.

Li Lan stopped and looked down the village road.

As darkness fell, the lights of countless homes shone brightly, creating a clear and bright scene.

The village has changed a lot. Many families have built new brick bungalows, and quite a few have built multi-story houses. But the original houses are still basically the same ones.

Li Zhuiyuan believed in Li Lan's memory; she must remember everything clearly.

Li Lan: "Actually, I have never been attached to this place."

Li Zhuiyuan: "What have you been longing for?"

Li Lan took the pocket watch out of her pocket and handed it to Li Zhuiyuan, who accepted this token of love between her and her ex-husband.

“I really want to meet your little girl.” Li Lan’s hand stroked the boy’s right palm. “She understands you far better than your father understands me.”

Li Zhuiyuan: "You're not worthy."

Li Lan: "A normal child would advise their parents to remarry, unlike you."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Children see their parents' lives and sometimes wish that one of them could escape their suffering."

Li Lan: "Keep the pocket watch for yourself, don't give it to her, it's bad luck."

At this moment, Tan Wenbin, who was following behind, turned around and lowered his center of gravity.

He realized that the person he had previously shaken off had now found him again. The other party was quite good at hiding, but unfortunately, he couldn't hide it from his five senses.

Li Lan: "I've already let it 'see' you, son, you're going to die. Tell me, after you die, should I let it create a new you, a new son, who will definitely be more obedient, more compliant, and more in line with my expectations?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You had the same dream when you were pregnant with me."

Li Lan: "What time is it?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's almost 8 p.m."

Li Lan: "Kill me. I'm too lazy to walk back. I'd rather climb out of the sea again."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.

Li Lan: "Still unwilling to lose?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If I kill you in front of that person, then I have to kill that person as well."

Li Lan: "My son, is he really that soft-hearted?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "He's a civil servant, I suppose."

Li Lan: "Hehehehe..."

She reached the entrance to the village road, but did not step inside.

Pushing away her son's support, Li Lan walked back unsteadily.

In the wind and rain, without any support or shelter from the umbrella, she staggered and looked quite disheveled.

"Xiaoyuan, don't blame Mom. Mom just wanted to get better. And Mom's illness is really cured, hehehe!"

A figure emerged from the rain curtain, a masked woman stepped out. She helped Li Lan up again, keeping a wary eye on Tan Wenbin as she led Li Lan away. The two figures quickly disappeared into the heavy rain.

The masked woman had no idea what terrifying power lay behind the person she was protecting and taking away.

Tan Wenbin walked up to Li Zhuiyuan and asked, "Brother Xiaoyuan, what exactly happened to Auntie?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "She went to that sea area, she dived down, she found the turtle, and now she has become a part of that turtle."

Tan Wenbin: "It's simply unbelievable."

For someone who is not a member of the mystical arts, to achieve that level as an ordinary person, one can only say that she truly deserves to be called Xiao Yuan's mother.

In the past, if something similar happened, Tan Wenbin would at least make up a whole joke, if not just a lighthearted one.

But this person's identity is special, and I can't just say things like "your mother is like this" or "your mother is like that" in front of Brother Xiaoyuan. Brother Xiaoyuan isn't Zhao Yi.

Zhao Yi seems to care but is completely indifferent, while Xiao Yuan seems completely indifferent but also seems to care?
Even without understanding why, Tan Wenbin sensed that there were several obvious ups and downs in the entire conversation between Xiao Yuan and his mother.

In short, Tan Wenbin felt a deep sense of melancholy. He felt that in the future, Xiao Yuan would lead them to confront that giant tortoise, and also to confront Xiao Yuan's mother.

"Brother Binbin, let's go home."

"Okay, I'll call Runsheng and Ayou later to help me push the car to the repair shop."

"The repair shop is in Shigang Town, which is too much trouble. I'll just push it home and leave it there."

"Since we're just sitting around doing nothing, it's better to fix it sooner so it'll be ready when we need it."

"Brother Binbin, we don't need the car for the time being."

"Ok?"

On the village road, a boy and a young man each held an umbrella and walked in the rain.

“But, Brother Yuan, I have to drive you and Grandpa Li to the airport the day after tomorrow, and then I have to drive to my school in Jinling to register after I come back.”

"I can't go to Hainan for now."

"what?"

"We won't be able to go to Nanjing for the time being."

Tan Wenbin looked thoughtful: "Did I...did I overlook something?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Brother Binbin, you didn't overlook it. You were driving, so there were many things you didn't see. Also, the way I communicate with her is indeed not easy for outsiders to understand."

In addition, there is the possibility that you didn't instinctively think in that direction.

Whether objectively or subjectively, you are trying your best to maintain a relaxed and comfortable state of mind.

I had planned to call a meeting as soon as I got home.

The boy, looking at the village road that was still some distance away, continued:

"Then I'll tell you first, and you can send them the meeting notice later."

Tan Wenbin nodded seriously: "Okay, Brother Xiaoyuan."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Find a big rock by the roadside and sit down for a while."

Tan Wenbin: "It's raining, and my pants will get wet."

Li Zhuiyuan: "It's better than collapsing on the ground and getting covered in mud."

The two sat down by the roadside.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Brother Binbin, do you think that her appearance this time is similar to the Yu family's back then, where there were signs all along and it was a ripple that appeared long in advance?"

Tan Wenbin: "I...that's really what I think."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Do you remember the portrait of the Fengdu Emperor that was cracked by the wind when we drove back? I had been thinking about why the Emperor's shadow returned to Elder Zhai and told me about the Goguryeo tomb."

The Emperor's shadow had previously revealed its meaning: Elder Zhai is Elder Zhai, and it is itself. After the Fengdu wave passed, it wouldn't be good for the shadow to attach itself to Elder Zhai again.

Now I understand the Emperor's purpose in doing this. The Emperor wasn't hinting at anything to me about the Goguryeo tombs; the Emperor was acting out of self-interest, helping me to scout the situation.

It's like a rope being pulled away from you; if you step on it, you might be able to hold it in place.

Tan Wenbin: "Is that torn portrait of the emperor implying that the emperor failed?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "I promised Chen Xiyuan that I would go to Hainan. This was my promise to her. Later, in order to travel from the shore to the river, I used the jade flute as a medium and borrowed the spirit of the Dragon King of the Chen family."

This made my trip to Hainan a necessary karmic connection.

When you're driving, do you notice those three flashes of light and the electrical sound that resembles a horn whistle?

"I noticed that through the glass it looks like three lights, and the sound of the horn is quite pleasant, so it represents the spirits of the three Dragon Kings of the Chen family, as well as the flute music..."

"The image of the Great Emperor is torn, which means that the Great Emperor failed to help me step on that rope. It is possible that the Great Emperor was too busy suppressing the Bodhisattva to have much energy to spare for other matters."

It's also possible that His stretching out of His foot was just a symbolic gesture, and He didn't actually step on it.

Perhaps He was just putting on a show; He was actually pleased to see his last disciple end up like this.

As for the Chen family, the Dragon King's spirit is not the current Dragon King. It's normal that they couldn't step on the rope that even the Great Emperor couldn't step on.

Moreover, they have no reason to help me step on this rope from a sense of justice.

Anyway,

Just wait and see, news will come soon. The planned construction of the Goguryeo tombs in Ji'an will be delayed due to an unexpected event.

Our upcoming trip to Hainan is likely to be disrupted by either the Chen family (the Dragon King's family), Chen Xiyuan, or my great-grandfather's tour group. Something is bound to go wrong, preventing our trip from happening.

Tan Wenbin seemed to recall something from the past, and his eyes widened: "This, this, this is..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yes, like our trip to Fengdu last time, it was actually the Bodhisattva who used his methods and paid the price to forcefully change our fate."

But the Bodhisattva's actions that time were actually quite smooth, and the plan was meticulously arranged, so we didn't notice it at first.

This time, however, the approach was quite forceful, crude, and impatient.

It was so obvious; it was practically a blatant interruption.

Tan Wenbin couldn't help but swallow, his body beginning to tremble. He now understood why Brother Xiao Yuan had asked to sit down on a roadside rock earlier.

"My mother's illness, in some ways, seems to have really gotten better."

Do you know why she went back to Nantong this time?

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to his face, then to the entrance of the village road:
"She's helping the big turtle, pointing people out and giving directions."

“I…” Tan Wenbin, “Brother Xiaoyuan, I didn’t understand your tone.”

Li Zhuiyuan:
"Because she was also helping me, pointing people and giving directions."

Today, my mother actually showed genuine concern and love for her son.

"Brother Binbin, if you were my enemy, where do you think would be the most suitable place to strike?"

Tan Wenbin: "It's definitely not in Nantong."

Li Zhuiyuan:
"Li Lan is now part of that thing, so it's only right that she comes, but she deliberately came early."

It was she who disrupted the original rhythm, and it was she who made this revision of the "waves" policy targeting us so abrupt and so impatient.

She didn't want me to travel a long distance south to Hainan during this time, nor did she want me to go north to cross the border to Ji'an.

Imagine what it would feel like if a new wave suddenly came while you were on the road.
Even if it happens on the road, it's not the worst outcome.

If this happened in Ji'an, it would be like two waves overlapping, and moreover, two major secret realms overlapping. Do we have any chance of survival?

"Brother Xiaoyuan, so Auntie is..."

"She wanted me to stay in Nantong."

Li Zhuiyuan stretched out his hand and pointed east:

"The dividing line between the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea begins in Qidong, which is a county under Nantong."

It is more decisive than the Way of Heaven, and it has no desire to wait until later, or be arranged to be at the end.

Based on the time we originally planned to spend at the Ji'an Civil Defense Project, we can preliminarily determine:

At the end of the month,

The next wave,
"Big turtle, come ashore!"

(End of this chapter)