Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 412

The wine in the peach grove is dwindling at a visible rate.

Xiao Yingying, who was making paper offerings on the dam of Big Beard's house, immediately got up and moved the offering table out and placed the wine jars on it.

The guy inside drinks when he's happy, and the happier he is, the faster he drinks.

A large jar of wine that had just been placed on the offering table turned into clear water in no time.

Qing'an held the wine jar upside down, the rim facing down, the wine dripping down; it was more like he was being drenched than drinking.

As long as the offerings continue, the wine jar in his hand will never be empty.

Having already followed Wei Zhengdao once, he didn't actually have any obsession with the second Wei Zhengdao.

But the existence of someone who could surpass Wei Zhengdao of the same era made him feel joy from "countless hearts".

Even his own self-destruction, which has lasted for thousands of years, seems to have been given new meaning.

As long as the beginning and end are captivating enough, the long, drawn-out middle section is worth the wait.

Learning things quickly doesn't just refer to techniques and secret manuals.

The last time the giant tortoise made landfall with a typhoon, the kid was forced to wait passively before he had to make a desperate gamble to survive.

When he faced this terrifying existence that was beyond his control again, he took the initiative and seized control.

Walking on the river and treading the waves, climbing higher and higher step by step, nothing could be better!

He once told the boy that in the future, he could become the boy's second or third wave of success, giving him an achievement and a sense of liberation.

But now, the scale and level of this wave of youth has reached such a high level.

His own mangled body, the result of his own slaughter, was becoming increasingly unworthy of being presented in public.

Their group followed Wei Zhengdao across the river, and their deeds were completely lost in the long river of history. Qing An didn't care about these empty names.

But he couldn't accept that his sloppy appearance would leave him unworthy of being selected for the dinner table.

He set down the wine jar, his gaze cool and aloof.

Su Luo's body trembled.

The next moment, different faces appeared on all the peach trees around.

They were all quiet and expressionless.

Qing An's lips curled into a smile as he slowly said:
"Grow a little longer, travel a little longer. As long as you don't die, and you still stand on the river, when the time is right, I will break the seal and swallow all the evil energy I have suppressed in Nantong for years, and pursue the ultimate demonic path."

"I can savor it myself, and you can see for yourself what kind of brilliance our Dragon King team, which doesn't exist in history, truly possessed."

……

"It's going to rain, time to go home and bring in the laundry."

Liu Yumei looked up and glanced at the sky.

Liu Jinxia, Granny Hua, and Wang Lian immediately put down their cards, packed their things, and left.

But strangely enough, just as the three sisters stepped out of the dam and were walking along the path before even reaching the village road, they suddenly felt a bright ray of sunshine overhead.

Looking back, there was only that one dark cloud, which happened to cover Li Sanjiang's house.

Liu Yumei got up and left the card table, intending to walk to the back of the house, but she immediately stopped.

She silently retreated to the coffee table and sat down, holding the teacup in her hand.

Aunt Liu and Uncle Qin unconsciously moved closer to Liu Yumei.

Liu Yumei: "Just do what you're supposed to do. If you don't feel like working, just sit here and enjoy the breeze. It's cool without the sun."

Aunt Liu took a few steps back and sat on the manhole cover.

Uncle Qin sat down directly on the ground.

Since the head of the family has not given any orders, they cannot act rashly.

This is a rule that everyone has established in their hearts after the last typhoon.

It was very quiet on the dam.

Only Runsheng, who was in the coffin in the main living room, was snoring. He had practiced in the dojo in the morning and had nothing to do in the afternoon, so he simply took a nap.

As Liu Yumei skimmed the tea foam with the cup lid, she looked up at the sky.

Xiao Yuan's first attempt was a small-scale experiment, and it failed.
The second one was slightly normal, but suddenly it became extremely abnormal again.

As a master in the field of Feng Shui, she was very familiar with the clouds above her head.

This looks like... thunder is about to break!
A perfectly peaceful afternoon was suddenly disrupted by a thunderclap.

Ok.

Just as Liu Yumei was about to lower her head to take a sip of tea, the sun suddenly came out again.

The old lady immediately looked up, and the clouds that had just been gathering dispersed.

Is everything alright? Have they stopped? Or has the situation been resolved?

Before we could even catch our breath, the scattered clouds gathered again, blocking out the sunlight over the dam once more.

Is it going to thunder again?
Then, they dispersed again.

Then, they gathered again.

It goes on and on, in cycles, in gatherings and in partings.

Uncle Qin reached out and tugged at Aunt Liu's trouser leg beside him, then pointed to the ceiling:
"How is this going?"

Aunt Liu: "My surname is Liu, but as you know, I don't specialize in the Liu family's feng shui path."

Uncle Qin: "That's what you get for not studying hard when you were a kid."

Aunt Liu couldn't help but roll her eyes and said, "Instead of asking me, you should ask the mistress."

Uncle Qin leaned forward to take a look, then sat back down and shook his head.

Aunt Liu also turned her head to look over and found that the mistress also had a look of disbelief on her face.

In her lifetime, Liu Yumei had experienced countless feng shui phenomena, but this was truly the first time she had ever seen thunderclouds present such a pattern.

Hesitating to strike but not striking, it's as if the will of heaven and earth is playing a joke on you.

Inside the dojo.

Ah Li's gaze remained fixed on the boy.

She had already finished performing the main scenes the boy had assigned her; all that was left was the final wrap-up and farewell.

Whether that final segment can be performed smoothly depends on whether the young actor can continue the play and whether the actor from "The Book Without Words" will cooperate in the performance.

Li Zhuiyuan: "You beast!"

The entry point of the Jiaoling was crucial, as it coincided perfectly with the formation of the Silver Python's evil spirit. It swallowed the Silver Python's remnant will, thus taking over the Silver Python's current ecological niche and transforming into the evil spirit in its place.

Whether it succeeds or fails, whether one is willing or not, the choice must be made in this short period of time.

Is it to tear away all pretense, break free from the "Book Without Words," and bury its own painstakingly constructed scheme; or to accept that this is an accident, and use its own status to feed this dragon spirit and elevate it into an evil dragon?
It doesn't have much time left to consider and weigh the options.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan added fuel to the fire.

The boy began to actively dismantle and interrupt the process of this evil magic, showing anger at the situation getting out of control.

The surrounding Taoist temple was arranged according to the boy's wishes, in an attempt to suppress or even eliminate the influence of this evil magic as much as possible.

This isn't fake, because the boy really did it, and he gave it his all.

These dazzling maneuvers not only exceeded the comprehension of ordinary people in the Xuanmen sect, but also left even array masters sweating profusely.

Unexpectedly, the dragon spirit floating in the center of the altar began to rotate its body, and an invisible force spread out in all directions.

First, the restrictions on the entrance and exit of the dojo were altered, and then various aspects of the dojo began to reverse the boy's will, counteracting and resisting it.

These past few days, Li Zhuiyuan has been using the "Evil Book" as a sparring partner on the central platform of the altar. Naturally, it knows that the layout of this Taoist temple originally had a place reserved for this dragon spirit.

This was a design the boy created for himself during the second renovation and upgrade of the dojo, for the sake of simplicity and laziness.

However, this dragon spirit not only utilized this structure, but also demonstrated a strong control over the dojo. It was able to stand on equal footing with the young man here.

This dragon spirit has been scheming and plotting to wait for this opportunity!
It was indeed almost successful, because no matter how hard the boy tried, he could not stop this evil spell for a while and could only let it continue to run.

At this moment, deep within Li Zhuiyuan's consciousness.

The main body was standing in the Taoist temple behind his great-grandfather's house.

However, unlike Li Zhuiyuan's current location in reality, the main body is standing at the location of the Jiaoling, and the surrounding ritual arrangements are the same as in reality.

The main body continuously manipulated the formation within the dojo with its hands.

Yes, how could this dragon spirit have been so scheming and biding its time? When Li Zhuiyuan subdued it, he stripped it bare and destroyed it completely. The dragon spirit's fear of the boy almost seeped into the depths of its soul.

Even if it did betray them, it wouldn't be smart enough to mobilize the Daoist formation to fight Li Zhuiyuan.

The one who truly represents the Jiaoling in doing these things is Li Zhuiyuan's true form.

From a realistic perspective, Li Zhuiyuan's battle with Jiaoling is essentially a "battle between the left and right hemispheres of his brain."

And this is the script that Li Zhuiyuan wrote for "it": the boy wanted "it" to believe that it was a pure accident.

Just bear with it, don't make things worse. You know, even if this lightning really strikes, Grandma Liu and the others sitting outside will ignore the consequences and do everything they can to protect you from it.

All you have to do is sacrifice this little bit of your status. Once things get messy here, I won't have any other options and will be even more easily tempted by your carrots.

A small act of impatience can ruin a great plan. You're trying to trick me into going to the Goguryeo tomb; I'm of great use to you!
The sorcery continues.

The dragon spirit is gradually undergoing a transformation.

Originally, it resembled a small red snake, but now its body is covered in ink-like black spots, and as these black spots settle to a certain extent, they slowly transform into scale-like structures.

The dragon spirit opened its mouth, revealing fangs it had never seen before.

It is gradually challenging new positions.

This means that, at least so far, the person in "The Book Without Words" has not yet broken ties.

It endures silently and makes selfless contributions.

The further it goes, the less likely it is to break off relations, because its sunk costs are increasing.

Li Zhuiyuan breathed a sigh of relief, but the anxiety on his face, especially in his eyes, intensified.

As the transformation of the dragon spirit deepened, ferocious patterns appeared on its body.

If you finally catch a sucker, you have to take advantage of them. Once this opportunity is gone, it's gone forever!

"How could this be? It shouldn't be like this, how could it possibly succeed!"

The incredible part still needs to be revealed, because the probability of the evil technique of refining dragons succeeding under such extremely rudimentary conditions is comparable to finding oil while digging in one's own porcelain jar.

He had to show some fear, though he didn't need to fake it, because the alarm bells in Li Zhuiyuan's heart were practically boiling over in his throat.

This was the highest-level use of evil magic by Li Zhuiyuan since he developed and used it, far surpassing the previous instances.

At that moment, an invisible pressure from above descended upon this place, sealing off all external perception within the dojo.

You're going to be struck by lightning!
The boy was completely relieved. Although it wasn't over yet, he could almost be certain that he had succeeded!
The gaze of Heaven has been drawn here.

At this moment, even if the creature inside the "Wordless Book" suddenly goes crazy and runs out to tear up the script, it can expect to be struck by lightning along with itself!
Beings of this caliber, even with their white dragon-fish attire, are inherently extremely limited. Even a powerful figure like the Fengdu Emperor had to summon himself to Fengdu, and a domineering giant tortoise could only cast his gaze from across the river.

Having been ravaged, manipulated, and exploited by this terrifying being far too many times, Li Zhuiyuan had come to understand some of their trump cards.

This scene of being struck by lightning was also part of the boy's plan. He needed this to make it shrink completely to avoid the gaze of Heaven, which would prevent it from exploring the outside world for the time being.

The boy experienced some kind of auditory hallucination, a sound he imagined himself making... Ding ding ding ding!
Like countless gold coins falling to the ground, rapidly scattering, that's the merit you're accumulating through frantic automatic deductions from your account.

Even without going outside to look up at the sky, Li Zhuiyuan could imagine the scene above at this moment; the clouds must have gathered and dispersed repeatedly.

This is the karmic backlash from using forbidden evil arts, which is rapidly offsetting one's own merits, essentially resulting in frequent fines.

Li Zhuiyuan:
“Something’s strange about this. I suspect there’s a hidden force behind this dragon spirit, helping it evolve into an evil spirit! Ah Li…”

Li Zhuiyuan took a deep breath and continued in a heavy tone:
"Go out and tell Grandma that I am the future hope of both the Qin and Liu families, and I cannot die!"

Ah Li stood up expressionlessly and walked to the entrance of the dojo.

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze swept over, and with a flick of his fingertips, he reopened the altered restrictions on the entrance and exit of the dojo.

This distraction gave Jiao Ling the opportunity to complete the final step.

Its head and horns were sharp, its black scales were fully exposed, its claws were strong and powerful, and its aura was radiating outwards.

It began to roar, to rejoice; it was celebrating its new life!
Ah Li walked out of the temple.

On the dam, Liu Yumei, Aunt Liu, and Uncle Qin watched as A Li walked out as if nothing had happened.

Liu Yumei hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but then stopped.

Ah Li crossed the dam, entered the main living room, and came to Run Sheng's coffin.

The closer Ah Li got, the quieter Run Sheng's snoring became.

When the girl stood still, Runsheng opened his eyes, sat up, and pointed to his nose.

Ah Li nodded.

Runsheng climbed out of the coffin.

Little Blackie, whose injuries had improved somewhat, smacked its lips. Lately, it had been sleeping with Runsheng.

Ah Li reached out and pointed to the tattered straw mat in the corner, which was deliberately covered by paper figures, and then pointed to Runsheng's hiking backpack.

Runsheng understood, walked over, picked up the straw mat, and then went to his backpack.

Even if the straw mat is rolled up, it's too long to fit in a backpack.

Runsheng found a few fertilizer bags, covered the straw mat with them, tied a small knot to secure it, and then tied a large knot to make it easier for his arms to pass through his back.

He even gave Ah Li a special demonstration of how to memorize it, spinning around in place to do so.

Ah Li turned and left the main house, passing by her grandmother, Aunt Liu, and Uncle Qin again. She went into the east room, entered the bedroom, bent down, dragged out the sword box, and picked up her grandmother's sword.

As they walked out, they passed the offering table and picked up a candlestick from it.

After leaving the east room, A-Li placed the sword and candlestick on the tea table in front of her grandmother.

Then, Ah Li pointed to the clouds gathering and dispersing in the sky, and then to Liu Yumei's face.

At this moment, Liu Yumei felt like she was being used as a puppet.

However, she did not resent this treatment.

The responsibility of the head of the household is not about maintaining harmony and mutual benefit, but about maximizing the value of everyone in the household. Liu Yumei smiled.

She didn't understand, but she knew what to do.

He opened his palm, and the sword was drawn.

With a wave of his hand, the candlestick was lit.

Liu Yumei plunged her sword into the lamp flame, her aura reversed, and the lamp flame quickly turned white and weakened.

As the lamp flame changed, Liu Yumei, this seemingly pampered and elegant old lady, went from having white, dry hair and wrinkled, cracked skin to becoming emaciated... until the lamp ran out of oil and burned out.

Going back in time, making oneself younger requires consuming a lot of vital energy; but making oneself old and weathered only requires conserving vital energy, and this consumption is negligible. It is simply a more sophisticated way of faking death, and apart from disemboweling or extracting the soul, it has almost no flaws.

"Bangdang..."

The longsword slipped from his hand and landed on the ground.

Liu Yumei tilted her head back and slumped onto the chair, her eyes dim and cloudy.

To help Xiaoyuan withstand and resolve this tribulation of lightning, she exhausted everything, her life force depleted, and she almost burned to the very end.

At this moment, because of her "advanced age," Liu Yumei felt unusually calm.

In the past, all she could think about was going all in, smashing everything in sight, and finding an enemy to take down with her.

As a result, Xiao Yuan encountered completely different ways of opening the door time and time again.

Last time he was playing dumb; this time he's playing dead.

Alas, I am indeed not suited to be the head of the household; my vision is too narrow.

Ah Li turned her head and looked at Uncle Qin and Aunt Liu.

Uncle Qin and Aunt Liu immediately stood up.

Ah Li pointed to her grandmother, who was barely breathing, and then to the bedroom in the east room.

Uncle Qin stepped forward, picked up Liu Yumei, and carried her into the east room. Aunt Liu followed him in, carrying a dim lamp.

Liu Yumei was placed on a bed. Now, she was no different from an old woman in the countryside who was seriously ill and waiting to die. It was almost time to start preparing for her funeral.

Ah Li's gaze fell on the floor beneath the bed.

Aunt Liu knelt down beside the bed, holding the lamp. Seeing this, Uncle Qin also knelt down.

Ah Li walked to the main entrance of the east room, placed a stool inside, and sat down.

The girl stood with her feet on the threshold, her eyes vacant.

With that, her filming wrapped up.

She had another phone call to make, but that was off-screen.

At this moment, the clouds overhead, which had gathered and dispersed countless times, finally dispersed and disappeared without a trace.

This means that Li Zhuiyuan's merit account, which cannot be spent, has enough balance to cover the deductions.

Inside the temple, the dragon spirit has successfully transformed into an evil dragon.

It deliberately crashed into the silver python's body.

"Snapped!"

The silver python's body couldn't withstand the evil spirit of its strength and exploded, but its flesh and blood became the final tempering after being forged.

"Roar!"

The evil dragon lunged at Li Zhuiyuan, intending to kill its master.

However, the original formation logic of the dojo was to leave a place for the dragon spirit. But when the dragon spirit transformed into an evil dragon, it was no longer suitable. Therefore, it became stronger, but also lost the ability to control the dojo.

The real reason is that, deep within the mind and consciousness, the true self has withdrawn.

In reality, invisible barriers appeared before Li Zhuiyuan, but the evil dragon forcefully pierced through them one by one. When it finally appeared before the boy...

Li Zhuiyuan slammed his hands, which were shrouded in blood mist, onto the ground in front of him. The blood mist spread and seeped into every corner of the dojo.

Without hesitation, the boy destroyed the foundation of the dojo, turning it into a seal.

"boom!"

As the evil dragon landed, layers of sealing power slammed down on it, rendering it unable to move. At the same time, the entire dojo began to tremble.

Li Zhuiyuan packed his things, left the temple without lingering, and walked out.

The first thing the boy did after leaving was to turn around, wave his palm towards the entrance and exit, erase the access control, remove the last gap in the dojo's seal, and successfully suppress the evil dragon.

Li Zhuiyuan looked up at the clear sky above.

"Ugh……"

The boy let out a sigh.

In the script, this sigh contains a variety of complex meanings.

But Li Zhuiyuan was thinking: It seems I have to call Zhao Yi over again to supervise the renovation of the temple.

As for whether it was worth destroying the dojo that we worked so hard to build... well, it was definitely worth it.

Uncle Qin has worked hard until today to finally condense nine evil dragons.

Now, I have someone of the same quality.

Moreover, while it was astonishing that Uncle Qin deviated from the true essence of the "Qin Family's Method of Observing Dragons," turning from life to death and achieving a breakthrough, he also sealed off his own limits.

The evil dragon in his possession still has the opportunity to continue growing.

Furthermore, Li Zhuiyuan's decision to destroy the Taoist temple to suppress the evil dragon was not merely for the sake of putting on a good show. Rather, it was the only way for Li Zhuiyuan to ensure his absolute safety when facing this evil dragon.

This shows just how valuable the evil dragon is now!
Clutching the wordless book, the boy slowly walked from the back of the house to the open space in front.

As he passed the east room, the boy paused briefly, turned his head, and looked through the crack in the window. He saw Grandma Liu lying on the bed, barely alive, and Uncle Qin and Aunt Liu kneeling in front of the bed.

Upon seeing Ah Li sitting behind the threshold, the boy instinctively quickened his pace, entered the main house, went upstairs, and entered his room.

He casually tossed the wordless book onto his desk, and "coincidentally" turned to the first page: "The Evil Book: The Woman's Cage."

Li Zhuiyuan just threw it away casually, so this first page is not casual at all.

It suffered a great loss, it endured it, and it also... became anxious.

The boy's arms hung limply, and his eyes were lifeless.

Feelings of self-blame and frustration don't need to be acted out; just clear your mind and space out.

As for how long we'll be spacing out, it shouldn't take long.

It has paid a huge price, and now it is eager to see results.

Finally, the boy's eyes began to refocus.

On the first page of the prison cell wall, the first of the three lines of place names is Jinan Prefecture, followed by a more specific location description.

It's a timely help.

Because of his overconfidence and willfulness, he went too far and failed, causing his family to suffer such a heavy price. At this time, it is the most normal human choice to find a suitable reason to leave the family.

A map was pasted on Li Zhuiyuan's desk.

That was one of the many "toys" that his great-grandfather bought for him when he first moved here.

The boy looked at the precise location description that appeared after Jinan Prefecture and confirmed it by comparing it with the map.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the pen on the table and flung it at the map on the wall as if venting his anger.

"puff!"

The spot where the pen tip pierced the surface!

Immediately, Li Zhuiyuan picked up the mobile phone on his desk and dialed Tan Wenbin's number.

The call connected, and it was very noisy on the other end; they were singing karaoke.

Tan Wenbin immediately left the private room and found a quiet spot with good signal:

"Brother Xiaoyuan, is something wrong?"

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze remained fixed on the "Evil Book," while the woman in the prison cell knelt on the ground. He should give her a treat; it was time for him to eat his carrot.

"Tan Wenbin."

"exist!"

"Return to the team, prepare to depart."

"understand!"

Tan Wenbin returned to the private room.

At this moment, Lin Shuyou was holding a microphone and singing "You'll Only Win If You Fight Hard".

Tan Wenbin turned off the stereo and said to Zhou Yunyun and Chen Lin:
"We have urgent business and need to go back first."

Lin Shuyou immediately put down the microphone and headed towards the door of the private room, without delay.

Tan Wenbin stepped forward and hugged Zhou Yunyun, who had stood up from the sofa.

Lin Shuyou: "..."

Zhou Yunyun: "Be careful, we'll play by ourselves."

Tan Wenbin: "Mm."

Chen Lin got up, ran to the door of the private room, and pounced on Lin Shuyou almost like a deer.

Lin Shuyou only had time to open his arms before Chen Lin clung to him.

"Be careful, I'll be waiting for you to come back..."

Lin Shuyou felt a warmth in his heart until Chen Lin finished speaking:
"I'll wait for you to come back so we can continue our blind dates."

Lin Shuyou's face immediately turned red.

Xue Liangliang asked, "Binbin, do you need my help?"

Tan Wenbin: "Brother Liang, you've already helped a lot. Happy wedding, and take good care of your wife."

After saying that, Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou left.

I drove the pickup truck back to Siyuan Village as fast as I could.

The car was parked at the bottom of the dam. As soon as they got out and walked up, the two felt that the house was much quieter.

Aunt Liu, who should have been in the kitchen, was not there. Grandma Liu, who should have been sitting on the threshing floor drinking tea or playing cards, was also gone. A-Li stood with her feet on the threshold, sitting in the east room. When they appeared, A-Li's gaze did not waver at all.

Runsheng, carrying a backpack and a straw mat, sat in the living room. Upon seeing Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou, he pointed to two hiking backpacks placed on the round table beside him.

"It's all packed up for you."

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan came down from upstairs:
"Let's go, Jinan."

Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou didn't say much and quickly put their bags on.

Stepping out of the living room, the boy turned his head to look at the east room, then quickly looked away and walked down to the threshing floor.

Soon, the yellow pickup truck carrying four people drove out of Siyuan Village.

Grandpa went out and hasn't come back yet.

There was no time to tell my grandfather that I was going out, nor was it necessary, because my family would explain for me, since nothing had really happened at home.

Ah Li withdrew her feet from the threshold and stood up.

She went into the bedroom, sat down by her grandmother's bed, and reached out to touch her grandmother's face, which was so thin it was just skin and bones.

Liu Yumei's cloudy eyes looked at A Li.

Ah Li nodded.

Liu Yumei slowly inhaled, and on the candlestick that Aunt Liu was holding, the flame changed from pale to blue-yellow, and from weak to normal.

On the bed, Liu Yumei's withered body gradually filled out and returned to its original state.

"Cough cough..."

She coughed a few times and subconsciously took a few deep breaths.

I've only ever made myself younger before, this is the first time I've ever made myself older.

After this transformation into an older woman, her most direct feeling is that everything is relative and comparisons are daunting. She realizes that she is still "relatively young" now.

Liu Yumei turned to the side and said to Aunt Liu and Uncle Qin, who were still kneeling in front of her:
"Get up, all of you. I was just bored and wanted to see if you would still have the filial piety when I was really about to die."

Ah Li left the east room, entered the main room, went upstairs, and arrived at the boy's room on the second floor.

She walked to the desk, picked up the boy's old mobile phone, and dialed a number.

"Hey, you surnamed Li, what do you need Brother Zhao for?"