Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 391

Li Zhuiyuan had accompanied his grandfather to many funerals, so he was very clear about the funeral procedures and arrangements.

In addition, all the necessary materials for the funeral were available at home, making the process even simpler and smoother.

The mourning hall was quickly set up.

The offerings consist mainly of local staple foods, which are what the older generation considers snacks.

According to his own taste, Li Zhuiyuan placed a box of unopened Jianlibao on the offering table.

To make things a little more extravagant, Li Zhuiyuan lit eight thick white candles, four on each side.

This is to account for the potential power outages that may occur as the typhoon approaches and the winds become stronger.

There is no portrait of him. Although it is very convenient to take photos at home, we can just pull Tan Wenbin over and make him pose with his eyes crossed.

But if you do this in advance, you'll have gone too far.

Tan Wenbin is a skilled actor, but he excels at using sincerity to win sincerity. Simple deception cannot fool truly discerning eyes.

Furthermore, Tan Wenbin's situation also involves the chain reaction of Lin Shuyou and Runsheng. No matter how hard those two try to disguise themselves, in the eyes of high-class people, it's all an open secret.

However, the absence of a portrait of the deceased on the altar is truly a regrettable omission.

Li Zhuiyuan took a pen and paper and drew a sketch of himself. He didn't draw in front of a mirror. He emphasized the angles and shadows, then put it in a ready-made photo frame. If you don't look closely, it's actually no different from the effect of a photograph taken for his funeral.

I searched for a long time but couldn't find a suitable elegiac couplet.

Because the clientele of the "Grandpa" is generally older, it wouldn't be suitable for Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan wrote a pair himself with a brush and hung them up:

First line: Before the young phoenix sings, it has already become rain.
The second line: Even a fleeting moment of beauty leaves a lingering fragrance.
Horizontal scroll: Universal Celebration

I originally intended to follow the trend and write "Heaven and Earth grieve together" for the horizontal scroll.

After hesitating for a moment, the boy felt that this did not conform to the literal truth.

After all, he knew very well who the real mastermind behind this wave was.

The funeral hall is the core of a funeral; all rituals and procedures revolve around it.

But for Li Zhuiyuan, the bone was secondary.

There's only one person and one dog here, it's too deserted. At this time, we need to bring in some people. If there aren't enough living people, then we'll use paper figures.

Li Zhuiyuan had plenty of paper figures at home, but that wasn't what he wanted.

He plans to do it himself, or as the Nantong dialect would say, "personally make the dollies."

The paper offerings made by my great-grandfather's family, with their high quality and low prices, basically monopolized the surrounding market.

Aunt Liu is a master at making paper figures. Her painting skills, which she inherited from the old lady, are used to depict paper figures in a way that is like using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

Xiao Yingying's paper offerings were of very high quality. She followed the original style, and no one understood the beauty of the "dead" better than her.

Actually, everyone in the family, no matter who it is, has some skill in making paper offerings. Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou naturally picked it up after arriving here for a short time.

When they have nothing to do and are watching TV, if their hands are free, they will tear off some bamboo strips and do something, just like the old ladies in the countryside who sit on the threshing floor and start shelling soybeans.

However, the person in the family who is most skilled at making paper offerings is actually Li Zhuiyuan.

Because the boy's Nuo opera puppetry skills had already reached an extremely high level.

Little Black stared wide-eyed at the scene in astonishment.

The boy sat on a small stool, and with just a few twists and turns of his hands, he rubbed the bamboo strips in the air. The strips seemed to come alive, spontaneously piecing together a fine and precise skeleton in front of him.

There is one thing that even Xiao Hei's dog eyes cannot see.

That is, during this step of the manufacturing process, there was a line of blood in the palm of the boy's hand, which kept flowing in, as if adding blood vessels to the "skeleton".

However, only Li Zhuiyuan himself could "see" this bloodline. Even though Tan Wenbin and the others had been connected to it many times before, they could only feel it but could not touch it.

Once each "skeleton" is completed, sheets of paper of various colors immediately float over to cover it, and the paint is also collected and applied automatically.

Having become accustomed to creating puppets using corpses, especially powerful ones, the current task of simply making paper figures is as difficult as solving a kindergarten arithmetic problem.

Soon, paper figures of Uncle Qin, Aunt Liu, Grandma Liu, Tan Wenbin, Runsheng, and Lin Shuyou, almost identical in height and temperament to them, were created.

Li Zhuiyuan then put in more effort when making Ah Li's paper doll.

There are some people who, for both reason and emotion, you should treat differently.

When Ah Li's paper doll was made, it clearly had a more vibrant feel than other people's paper dolls.

This level of special treatment is sufficient; after all, this thing isn't exactly auspicious, and going overboard wouldn't be appropriate.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Zhuiyuan made a paper figure of Zhao Yi.

Since Zhao Yi was already there, Chen Jing was also conveniently created.

I had planned to call it a day.

But after hesitating for a moment, Li Zhuiyuan still created Chen Xiyuan.

Job done.

Next, we'll make some arrangements.

Li Zhuiyuan flipped up two round tables and placed them on either side of the mourning hall in the living room. Benches were arranged around them, plastic tablecloths were spread out, and bowls, plates, chopsticks, spoons, and a small vinegar dish for the two of them were placed on them.

Liu Yumei's paper figure was placed in front of a small round table, with a pot of tea in front of it, and a pen and a new book of favors on the table.

Aunt Liu's paper figure already had a paper tray in its hand, with paper dishes on it, as if it were serving food.

Uncle Qin simply placed him somewhere, as if he were waiting to be ordered around, or as if he was about to be scolded.

Runsheng's paper figure sat in front of the brazier, burning paper money;

Tan Wenbin stood beside the offering table, directing the vegetarian meal.

Lin Shuyou stood in the center, holding a golden mace made of gold ingot paper in his hand. His image itself had the characteristics of a true lord. This was a performance in front of the mourning hall.

Zhao Yi and Chen Jing were placed at the entrance, with their backs against the wall to prevent them from getting wet in the wind and rain, as if they were guests who came to pay their respects.

Chen Xiyuan's paper figure, positioned at a safe distance, faces the wind and rain outside and is playing a flute.

The three coffins were three beds.

The inside of Runsheng's coffin has a bit of patina.

The inside of Binbin's coffin was permeated with the smell of smoke.

Runsheng sleeps with Uncle Shan, who won't mind Runsheng's smell; Binbin sleeps with Grandpa, who is a heavy smoker.

But Li Zhuiyuan didn't really want to choose either of them. Within the limits of his circumstances, he wanted to lie down in a relatively clean place.

Fortunately, there was the coffin where Ah-you slept.

Ah-you takes frequent showers, doesn't smoke, and cleans and wipes his bed every morning and evening, making him a qualified coffin warmer.

The coffin was heavy, but the family had a small wheelbarrow for transporting coffins. Li Zhuiyuan was strong enough to insert the wheelbarrow into the four corners of the coffin, and he could easily push the coffin to the back of the mourning hall by himself. After confirming the position, he removed the wheelbarrow.

Li Zhuiyuan lay down inside to try it out; compared to his size, the coffin was practically a large apartment.

After leaving the coffin, Li Zhuiyuan placed A Li's paper figure at the head of the coffin.

The girl gripped the edge of the coffin with both hands, looking into it.

The funeral arrangements are now complete.

Li Zhuiyuan was sweating from exhaustion.

However, he didn't go upstairs to take a shower; after all, the wind and rain outside were getting stronger, and taking a shower was pointless.

Xiao Hei kept pacing around the mourning hall. As a black dog, it had an instinctive aversion to and rejection of the "evil" side, and the current environment here made it feel very uncomfortable.

But looking at the boy... it dared not act recklessly.

The doghouse was forcibly demolished to make room for the funeral hall.

Xiao Hei found a new corner, lay down, closed its eyes, and decided to avoid seeing anything.

Before it could even feel sleepy, a leash was thrown in front of it.

Little Black licked its lips, not daring to resist. It put the loop around its own neck and then used its claws to adjust the tightness to its liking.

Currently, even in cities, the trend of keeping pets is just beginning to emerge, but Xiao Hei, as a country dog, has already learned to skillfully use a leash on its own.

Li Zhuiyuan led Xiao Hei out of the living room and pushed out one of the oldest tricycles in the house.

The boy tied the other end of the black dog's leash to the handrail, then pushed the tricycle with the dog to the rice paddy behind the house.

Li Zhuiyuan entered the temple and began moving things out.

His temple was well-equipped with everything he needed, and he had set up offering tables for people with whom he had deep ties.

The first offerings brought out were those of the Emperor of Fengdu.

After loading the tricycle, Li Zhuiyuan put many new battle flags made from mechanical materials into the vehicle.

The boy rode his tricycle, loaded with goods, onto the village road.

The wind was strong and the rain was heavy. The boy rode slowly, while Xiao Hei followed easily behind, occasionally shaking off the water droplets from his body.

Farming is too hard these days, and you have to pay grain taxes, so renting land in the village is very convenient. Thanks to Uncle Qin, a great laborer, the fields in the great-grandfather's family are constantly expanding.

There are two fields located on either side of the village road, which can be seen as you turn into the village from the road.

Li Zhuiyuan got off the vehicle and pushed the tricycle along the ridge of the field.

The wind and rain were fierce, and there were few villagers on the road, but if you were working on someone else's land, the news would spread immediately.

The offerings were unloaded from the vehicle and arranged in the field.

The array flags were planted around the perimeter, immediately forming a protective formation that shielded the area from wind and rain.

The most distinctive feature of this formation is that it can amplify the power of Feng Shui.

Li Zhuiyuan stood in front of the offering table, his hands reaching out to grasp at the surroundings. The invisible feng shui forces were drawn to him and temporarily bound to this place, as if gathering power.

After everything was arranged, Li Zhuiyuan hung up his newly painted portrait of the Emperor of Fengdu.

The emperor, with his fair complexion, had lost some of his majesty but gained a unique feminine softness.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed the tricycle back with Xiao Hei. Before it was over, he moved the Bodhisattva's offering table from the temple to the vehicle, and then went to the opposite side of the village road in the farmland where the Great Emperor was.

Following the example, first arrange the formation, then consider the feng shui.

While they were busy working, Li Weihan, wearing a raincoat, rode by on his old bicycle on the other side of the village road.

He rode over there first, then turned around and rode back.

After looking closely in the heavy rain, I realized that the person working in the field was my grandson.

He quickly lifted the car up and jogged down.

"Young Marquis Yuan, what are you doing here?"

"Sir, I'm arranging things."

What are you setting up?

"Buddha."

Li Weihan looked closely and found that it was indeed a Bodhisattva statue.

"Did your great-grandfather tell you to put this here?"

"Ah."

"Such strong winds, such heavy rain..."

"My grandfather said that this is a blessing for me. I will face a hurdle this year, but as long as I can get through it, everything will go smoothly until I reach adulthood."

"Grandpa, look, it's windy and rainy today, just right."

Li Weihan felt sorry for his grandson being exposed to the wind and rain, but he was also a bit superstitious. Besides, strange things had indeed happened to his grandson before, and it was Uncle Sanjiang who resolved them.

"Then Grandpa will help you set it up."

"No need, sir. Grandfather said I have to do it myself. I can't let anyone help me, otherwise it won't work."

"You've been exposed to wind and rain, you might catch a cold. I'll ask your grandma to make you some ginger soup when we get back."

"The hot water at home is all boiled, and the ginger soup is ready too. I can have it as soon as I get back. Don't worry, Grandpa has arranged everything. I'm in good health, nothing will happen."

"Then put on my raincoat."

"You have to get rained on and exposed to the wind; you can't block it, or it will affect your future."

Li Weihan had nothing to say and could only stand aside, watching his grandson fiddling with the things, in case something happened to him.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't try to hide anything from Li Weihan; he arranged things however he wanted, since his grandfather wouldn't understand anyway.

When Li Zhuiyuan finished making arrangements and was about to leave, Li Weihan subconsciously wanted to pray to the Bodhisattva, but then realized that the Bodhisattva was there to protect Xiao Yuanhou, so he quickly stopped, afraid of diverting his grandson's blessings.

"done?"

"Yes, it's done, sir."

"Here, I'll push the cart for you."

Li Zhuiyuan did not object.

Li Weihan first pushed the tricycle from the field to the village road, then placed his old bicycle horizontally on it, and then pushed the tricycle forward.

The wind is getting stronger and stronger, to the point that it's not safe to ride a bike. Besides, there's a concrete bridge without railings in front of us. If you fall into the fields on either side, you're probably not hurt, but if you fall off the bridge, you could have a serious accident.

"Young Master Yuan, has your mother told you again when she will be coming back?"

"It'll be soon, sir."

"Yes, your grandma misses your mom terribly."

Actually, he was the same way.

Anyway, ever since Li Zhuiyuan came to Nantong, the thing he heard most often from others was how much Li Weihan doted on his little girl.

Li Weihan pushed the car to the dam area below his great-grandfather's house.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Grandpa, you've gotten caught in the rain too. Look, everyone's eating inside right now. Why don't you come along?"

Li Weihan could see shadowy figures moving around in the living room.

But he has always been someone who doesn't like to take advantage of others, not even his own son.

"No, no, you go upstairs quickly, take a hot bath and drink some ginger soup to get rid of the cold. Your health is important."

"Yeah, I know."

Li Weihan took off his old bicycle and pushed it away.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed the tricycle onto the dam, but instead of going to the main house, he went to the east house.

Grandma Liu left in anger, without even closing the door behind her.

After entering the east room, Li Zhuiyuan bowed to the offering table once again.

Then, the boy took all the memorial tablets off the altar and placed them on the tricycle outside the door, leaving none behind.

The journey wasn't far; it was just the fields in front of my house.

Li Zhuiyuan first moved the memorial tablets, then returned to move the offering table, essentially relocating all the offerings in the east room.

Physical fatigue is not a big problem for today's teenagers; the main issue is setting up the formation and guiding the feng shui, which is a real mental drain.

However, Li Zhuiyuan carried the specially made "Jianlibao" with him. Whenever he felt slightly tired, the boy would tear open the seal and drink half a can.

My energy was quickly replenished, even overflowing, and I was in a state of high excitement.

Any medicine of this kind has side effects, but if Ah Li makes it carefully, she can minimize these side effects.

But this is meaningless to Li Zhuiyuan right now. You can't make someone who is unlikely to survive tonight worry about the harm of exhaustion two days later.

Moreover, this specially made Jianlibao was only a basic product.

Li Zhuiyuan had even prepared talisman needles in his own coffin.

"call……"

With a long sigh of relief, Li Zhuiyuan returned home.

Inside the kitchen, the dishes Aunt Liu prepared for lunch today were still there.

There was a separate small table next to it, on which were carefully selected eggs and tempting brown sugar.

This is clearly Ah Li's personal kitchen table.

Li Zhuiyuan made himself a bowl of poached eggs with brown sugar, half a spoonful of brown sugar and one egg, just to make a token gesture.

Then, the boy stir-fried two dishes as toppings and cooked noodles.

She served herself a bowl and also served Xiao Hei a bowl.

The man and the dog ate face to face.

After finishing the meal, Li Zhuiyuan washed the bowls and scrubbed the pot.

As for the bowl that Xiao Hei used, it was placed on the ground by the door, reserved for its future use.

A simple formation was set up on the tricycle to help it withstand the wind and rain and maintain its balance. Li Zhuiyuan rode it again, with Xiao Hei in tow, and arrived at Big Beard's house.

The once vibrant and beautiful peach orchard is now nothing but a desolate expanse of withered branches and fallen leaves.

The wooden house is gone, Qing'an is gone, even the little yellow oriole is gone.

Here, Li Zhuiyuan could not sense any trace of their presence.

But he knew the location of the fishpond where the bearded man's family used to live, and he knew exactly where Qing'an had sunk.

The boy's gaze fell on that area in the peach grove.

After standing there for a while, Li Zhuiyuan withdrew his attention and walked to a pit.

This pit was originally the site of a pool. Yesterday, Li Zhuiyuan sucked out all the resentment inside, causing this peach grove to wither.

Li Zhuiyuan squatted down and reached his palm downwards.

In the fishpond deep within the boy's consciousness, the fish that had just been fattened up a day ago were pulled out and flown into the sky.

In reality, resentment flowed from the boy's palm back into the pit.

It is the spring here, and when it regained its "water flow", the surrounding peach trees gradually regained their vitality.

The peach blossoms have bloomed again, and the ground is once again covered in lush greenery.

However, this peach orchard is still somewhat "thinner" than it was at its peak.

It wasn't that Li Zhuiyuan was being secretive, but rather that this cycle of giving and taking inevitably resulted in losses. However, the current situation was sufficient.

The peach grove has returned to its original state, and the house is still the same house, only now it's missing a door.

Li Zhuiyuan held a bottle of Jianlibao from Kaifeng in his left hand and drank it, while his right hand kept pulling and stretching in all directions, trying to grasp the feng shui energy in this direction.

When I finished setting everything up, the can of beverage in my hand was also completely empty.

The boy glanced at the original location of the fishpond, then reached out and broke off a peach branch. Using it as raw material, he used Nuo opera puppetry to weave a skeleton.

Then draw peach blossoms and cover them.

With peach branches as the skeleton and peach blossoms as the skin, this Qing'an paper figure, once completed, exudes a sense of elegance and refinement.

Li Zhuiyuan hung this special paper figure on the thickest peach tree.

From the boy's perspective, the paper figure, because of the bloodstains he left inside, appeared even more vibrant than the surrounding peach blossoms.

After leaving the peach orchard, Li Zhuiyuan rode his tricycle with Xiao Hei to the village entrance.

There is a line between the main road and the village road.

The road on the other side is paved, while the village road here is a gravel dirt road; the two are clearly distinct.

That day, Li Lan stood outside the line the whole time and did not step in.

Li Zhuiyuan parked his tricycle on the side of the road and stood at the line. Blood mist continuously overflowed from his right palm and then quickly condensed, eventually turning into blood that dripped down.

The boy walked from the south end of the line to the north end, and then from the north end to the south end, repeating the cycle tirelessly.

The blood that flowed from him did not spread out due to the impact of rain and strong winds after it hit the ground, but instead steadily traced and thickened the line repeatedly.

Xiao Hei stood by, watching the boy continuously bleed out his blood.

It silently raised its paw.

In its subconscious, being bled is not only its mission, but also its guarantee of a life of luxury.

The boy is now acting as if he's smashing his dog bowl.

As a large amount of blood flowed out, Li Zhuiyuan's face grew paler and paler, and his body grew colder and colder.

After finishing, Li Zhuiyuan stopped, staggered back a few steps, leaned against the tricycle, and began to pant.

He pulled out the "last pill," which looked like a candy bean, from his pocket.

You put it directly into your mouth and chew it, just like eating Maltesers.

The drink that helps with swallowing is Ah Li's special beverage.

Anyway, as long as I don't die, I can keep pushing my body and mind to their limits.

Soon, two flushes appeared on the boy's face, and his eye sockets became sunken.

But his energy and spirit returned to their peak.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and looked at Xiao Hei, who had been staring at him with a mournful gaze for a long time.

The boy squatted down and grabbed one of Xiao Hei's paws.

Little Black sticks out its tongue excitedly.

Li Zhuiyuan pulled out a piece of yellow paper and swept it along the little black dog's wrist, revealing a thin, long cut from which the dog's blood flowed out.

The boy used the yellow paper to catch the blood. When the paper was stained red with dog blood, the boy gently stroked the wound of the little black dog with his palm to stop the bleeding.

Xiao Hei looked at the "red paper" in front of him in disbelief.

It pressed its paw down on the boy's wrist and exerted force to push it down.

It's like saying: "You only took this little bit? Are you looking down on dogs?"
The main reason was that seeing the boy bleed so much, yet only taking so little from himself, made Xiao Hei feel like a useless person.

Li Zhuiyuan held the "red paper," and the flames rose. Then, dark red flames ignited, ignoring the influence of wind and rain in nature. The boy used it to bake the line.

After doing all this, Li Zhuiyuan gently nudged Xiao Hei with his foot and said:

"For the rest of the day, don't go home. As long as you're in this village, you can go wherever you want and hide wherever you want, as long as you can guarantee you won't be discovered and that you'll still be alive."

Little Black tilted its head, looking puzzled.

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze sharpened. He said in a deep voice:

“I know you can understand.”

This black dog was personally selected by Aunt Liu when it was still a puppy; it has been fed well and nourished ever since; although Heaven has withheld its own merits, Run Sheng and the others still manage to get some of the spoils, enough to excite the White Crane Boys. Surely a small portion of it will also end up on this black dog, since its black dog blood has always been used by the team.

It's not only smarter than ordinary dogs, but even the smartest dogs can't reach the lower limit of this guy's intelligence.

But it's just lazy. It's too lazy to use its robust body and almost intelligent mind, preferring to indulge in the wonderful life of eating and sleeping, and sleeping and eating again.

"Wang Wang Wang!"

Little Black barked three times, as if making a promise.

Then, it turned its head and ran towards the village.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed the tricycle onto the road.

No matter how many times he walked back and forth along this line before, he always kept one foot inside the line. This time, it was the first time the boy had left the village since Li Lan came that night.

The moisture in the air and the wind blowing from all around have clearly changed.

The one realized he had left the village.

To be more precise, it means that you actively move from its blind spot into its field of vision.

The giant tortoise has vision problems, and Li Lan is its eyes.

Without Li Lan, the giant tortoise wouldn't be able to find itself.

Because of Li Lan, he had a glimmer of hope when facing the giant tortoise.

Li Zhuiyuan spent so much effort to deduce this glimmer of hope.

But, one life encompasses all things.

Indeed, as Tan Wenbin said, even if they ultimately died under the giant tortoise's claws, they had already made the giant tortoise pay the price, thus fulfilling his promise to avenge Zheng Haiyang.

However, Li Zhuiyuan wanted more than just that.

Just as Grandma Liu believed that revenge should be carried out after he had fully grown up, Li Zhuiyuan acted immediately, not wanting to wait any longer.

The boy used the same strategy against the giant tortoise.

or,

You've really killed me this time;

As long as you don't kill me
Then I'll knock a hole in your shell.

The boy wanted to develop slowly and grow step by step, but the surrounding environment never allowed him to do so.

Many people like to blame their setbacks and failures on the environment, as if they were the ones who could influence the environment.

Li Zhuiyuan clearly belongs to this extremely special category, but he never thought of giving up on himself.

"Wei Zhengdao, your start is like a flower in a greenhouse, nowhere near as interesting as mine."

Instead of returning to the village, Li Zhuiyuan rode his tricycle to Shigang Town.

There are no pedestrians or bicycles to be seen on the road, and even fewer cars. Many broken tree branches can be seen on the road.

Li Zhuiyuan rode to Zheng Haiyang's house.

He didn't need to come here.

According to feng shui and meteorological observations, as well as meteorological forecasts, the typhoon will officially make landfall in Qidong at midnight tonight.

That's right.

But this is not the time for the giant tortoise to land.

Its massive body, as large as a mountain—no, more like an island—is impossible to actually set foot on land, unless it truly intends to unleash a natural disaster.

The typhoon it is currently carrying may be brought forward or changed due to its influence, but in essence, the typhoon will occur whether it is present or not.

It is reckless yet cautious; it is willing to pay the price, but every price is spent wisely.

This is not intentional, but rather an instinct formed by these ancient beings in their tacit coexistence and conflict with the Way of Heaven.

Li Lan also told herself its exact "landing" time.

eight pm.

Li Lan's interrupted trip home to visit relatives will begin anew in that location.

Li Zhuiyuan only told Tan Wenbin twelve hours, without telling him the specific time. Therefore, even Tan Wenbin would probably only rely on weather forecasts to make predictions.

Grandma Liu firmly believes that her skills are far more accurate than those of the weather station.

Even Li Zhuiyuan couldn't be sure whether some of those who left would return with the mindset of "going to their deaths."

But Li Zhuiyuan was certain that some people would definitely come back, even if it meant rushing to their deaths; and if you didn't let her stand in front, she would get angry and upset with you.

Li Zhuiyuan also needs them to come back.

For example, Liu Yumei, Uncle Qin, and Aunt Liu.

He needs their fighting strength; without them, this show simply cannot continue, and no matter how much he tries, he will only face certain death.

However, due to the rules of traveling the river, I cannot scheme with them. They must ensure that their actions are not motivated by a genuine desire to help me, otherwise they will suffer the consequences.

Furthermore, it would be a huge waste to stand directly in front of them, using one's own body and advanced age to block the attack.

The challenge lies in effectively utilizing them while being unable to command them directly.

The first thing to address in a funeral is the issue of karmic repercussions.

As long as they can believe they are dead, even if it's just for a moment, at that moment their actions are not considered part of the subjective causal backlash.

Since they are already dead, who can they help?

Moreover, this funeral serves more than just this purpose; in fact, it could be said that this purpose is merely a minor addition to the funeral.

Li Zhuiyuan wanted to accomplish all the objectives that should have been achieved through command himself. He wanted to create an absolutely suitable condition and then introduce his own forces in the right way.

This funeral wasn't just for him alone; he was to be "buried" alongside this giant tortoise!
It can be said that Li Zhuiyuan has taken the rules of the river to the extreme this time, even to the point of going to any lengths to exploit loopholes in the rules.

But he didn't think he was cheating. He looked at the other side first. That giant turtle was heading straight from the East China Sea towards him, a minor.

From the moment he "lit the lamp," there was no such thing as "fairness"!

Zheng Haiyang's home is very old.

No one lives here to this day.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the living room door, and the boy walked in amidst a series of creaking sounds.

Afterwards, he entered the room where Zheng Haiyang's grandparents had invited him and others to dinner.

The boy recalled the scenes from that year, memories that remained vivid in his mind. But now, he needed to return to the place, needlessly verifying the giant tortoise's "perspective."

He reminisced about the sense of spatial dislocation he experienced at the time, and then tried to empathize with Zheng Haiyang and his grandparents back then.

They were already being controlled by the giant tortoise. Li Zhuiyuan was simulating how the giant tortoise was controlling them.

The spatial dislocation he simulated, which he felt at the time, was probably not Zheng Haiyang and his team's "special ability," but rather the "real manifestation" of the giant tortoise.

Its eyesight is truly poor, a point that the theoretical line also supports.

Combined with the giant tortoise's bizarre ability to replicate itself...

Li Zhuiyuan left the living room, went to the dam, and looked in the direction where Zhu Changyong jumped into the mixer and died.

None of the people cloned by the giant tortoise knew they were fake; they all initially believed they were real.

Why did Li Lan go to find the giant tortoise?

That's because, based on her own research, she believed that the giant tortoise could help cure her illness.

What is the principle behind the treatment? And why does Li Lan believe that her illness has been cured?
The boy began to walk among the spirits.

Walking through the underworld offers another perspective for observing the real world.

The same goes for the giant tortoise; its poor eyesight stems from the fact that its perspective of the world is vastly different from that of ordinary people.

Li Zhuiyuan was certain that the two pictures in the prophecy were fake, but the giant tortoise believed them, which shows that it accepted the underlying principle.

The fact that it could successfully replicate itself after reaching adulthood demonstrates that the level of strength or power is not the difficulty for it in replicating.

Replication comes at a price, namely its vitality. The little turtles that crawl out of the clones are actually the original life force split off from the big turtle.

Therefore, rather than saying that the giant tortoise is a perfect replica, it is more accurate to say that it pulls out the "people" it sees from another, or even many other, perspectives, infuses them with its own vitality, and "throws" them back into reality.

Li Lan felt that it could separate her healthy and normal self from the sick self.

Li Zhuiyuan had already deduced these things. The reason he made another trip was simply because he had nothing better to do. It was like finishing the exam early but still having a long time before the exam ended, so he might as well do the calculations again, even if it was unnecessary.

Incidentally, it ran out of the village to show its face, adding another layer of excitement to its journey.

That's enough, it's time to go back.

Li Zhuiyuan rode his tricycle back to the village.

On the road, a police car drove up and kept honking its horn at the boy.

Sitting in the car was Tan Yunlong, who had returned from Nanjing today to hand over the case.

Li Zhuiyuan was forced to stop by a police car.

Without saying a word, Tan Yunlong pulled the boy into the police car. As for the boy's tricycle, he put it in the trunk. If he couldn't close it, he would use the trunk to hold it in place, not caring whether it would get scratched or damaged.

"Xiao Yuan, it's so windy outside, why are you still..."

"Never mind, let me go back to the police station to hand over my things first, then I'll take you home!"

"Uncle Tan, this is misusing a public vehicle for personal purposes."

"If you see a minor on the road during a typhoon, as a police officer, can you remain indifferent?"

Tan Yunlong parked his car in front of the police station.

When he went in to hand in the documents, Li Zhuiyuan got out of the car and walked to the plaque hanging at the entrance of the police station.

The rainwater had already washed it clean, leaving not a trace of dust.

The boy opened his arms and hugged it.

Even though everything is set up, the probability of failure is still very high, and there is a very high chance that I won't survive tonight.

The downside of developing feelings is that, beyond rationality, one begins to crave a kind of sentimentality that seems meaningless at first glance.

And this is also a key factor in the success of tonight's plan: the giant tortoise that has merged with Li Lan will not believe in such things.

She, it, like her past self, would consider this irrational impulse, this meaningless desire to die or commit suicide, to be foolish, ridiculous, and low-class.

Tan Yunlong ran out, and Li Zhuiyuan let go of his arms and got back into the car.

The police car started up again and drove on the road, its body swaying constantly in the strong wind.

Tan Yunlong glanced at the boy sitting in the back seat through the rearview mirror and asked with a smile:

"Xiao Yuan, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about my mom."

"Hehe, really? In a few years, you won't miss your mom anymore. When Binbin was little, he was very attached to his mom. He even wrote an essay called 'My Beautiful Mom,' which won third prize in his elementary school essay competition for the first time ever."

"Can we still see it now?"

“It’s kept there, with his mother and the birth certificate.”

As soon as the police car entered Siyuan Village, shouts came from inside the car: a factory in the next town had been blown down by the wind, and people might be buried inside.

Tan Yunlong dropped the boy off at the path, stopped the car, helped him unload the tricycle, and then drove the police car to the scene for rescue.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed his tricycle home.

I went upstairs first, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes.

I went downstairs and came to the living room.

Li Zhuiyuan brewed a pot of fresh tea at the small round table where Grandma Liu's paper figure sat, and deliberately laid out the tea set there.

Immediately afterwards, the boy scattered a handful of melon seeds on the tray of Aunt Liu's paper figures.

Finally, a soy sauce bottle was placed in front of Uncle Qin's paper figure.

It's despicable; you have to calculate everyone's emotions and reactions. I'm even plotting to add fuel to the fire so that when they come back here, they'll be genuinely angry and believe.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that although he had driven Grandma Liu away by virtue of his legal standing, given her temperament, she would definitely come back.

Moreover, the boy deliberately handed Grandpa Qin's memorial tablet to Grandma Liu.

Even if it were just out of respect for Grandpa Qin, Grandma Liu would definitely not give him any face at all!

Li Zhuiyuan lay down in the coffin. Outside, the wind and rain raged, but in the boy's ears, there was only the crisp ticking of the clock.

On a small island in the East China Sea, the lighthouse keeper is still diligently working.

As the light shone on him, the tower keeper paused for a moment, his light illuminating a patch of red.

He thought he was seeing things, so he started to shine the light around him and found that the red color filled his surroundings, covering an area that was almost boundless.

"Buzz!"

The red color disappeared instantly.

next moment,
"Buzz!"

The red flag has been raised again.

It's as if beneath the surface of the sea, there's an indescribably huge eyeball that just blinked.

"Clang... clang... clang... clang..."

When the wall clock in the house struck the eighth chime,

"Boom!"

A terrifying streak of blood-red lightning flashed across the sky, instantly turning the dark night into a crimson day.

A figure appeared at the entrance to the village road of Siyuan Village.

it,
coming!

(End of this chapter)