Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 440

The late autumn dusk, like that old dance hall, has a captivating charm that lingers in the memory, but the smell of smoke inside makes you want to escape.

Li Sanjiang sniffed, put his hands in his pockets, quickened his pace home, and no longer tried to recreate the scene of the village party secretary's arrival.

The temperature dropped suddenly.

Li Hua was cooking in the kitchen when Li Sanjiang passed by and joked with her:
"Lord Hua, don't forget to bring your son back today."

"Don't worry, Uncle Sanjiang, I won't forget. My son is doing just fine in the room upstairs, hehe."

As Li Sanjiang entered the hall, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Xiao Hei in the doghouse seemed to have turned a little whiter.

I stopped to take a closer look and found Benben fast asleep in his doghouse.

This child, I don't know where he went playing today, he's all dirty and covered in mud.

Li Sanjiang picked up the child and placed him in a large basket containing soft paper.

Xiao Hei lay back down in its doghouse and let out a long sigh of relief.

Runsheng and Lin Shuyou sat on a bench, making paper offerings while watching TV.

A war movie was playing on TV, and the scene was depicting the tense atmosphere before the war.

Li Sanjiang took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff. Just then, he saw a scene on the television showing a large-scale, well-organized military formation.

He inhaled the smoke but couldn't exhale it; he swallowed it directly, choking himself and coughing violently.

"Cough cough... cough cough... Damn it, they can actually march so in such perfect unison."

While applying paste, Lin Shuyou replied, "Yes, Uncle Li, this is the elite."

Runsheng, who was weaving bamboo strips nearby, reminded him, "Our grandpa was an elite soldier back in the day."

Li Sanjiang: "Some of the TV shows these days are really inexplicable. If they could have gone beyond this battlefield, how could they have been defeated and collapsed like that in just a few years?"

Pear Blossom: "Dinner's ready!"

After shouting, Pear Blossom hurriedly left. She and her husband needed to take advantage of the time when Xiao Yingying was serving wine to the man under the peach grove that evening to ask him for his opinion on the arranged marriage.

Li Sanjiang: "Youhou, take the child to her, she's forgotten again."

Pear Blossom, who was running halfway, was called back and took her son, who had been abandoned countless times.

The milk in the bottle was all gone, and the snacks in the little backpack were all eaten up as well.

"My son is growing, so Mom will prepare more for you tomorrow."

When I got home, I found that there was no altar set up on the dam.

Xiao Yingying stepped forward, picked up Benben, and frowned when she saw that the child was dirty.

Pear Blossom waved her hand dismissively: "It's alright, it's not dirty, the child isn't sick."

Xiao Yingying glared at Lihua, who, like a guilty stepmother, avoided eye contact.

After Xiao Yingying took the child inside to bathe, Lihua asked her husband with some confusion:
"Have you already asked? What was the result?"

Xiong Shan: "We won't be making offerings tonight. They say the wine jars over there are full, so they probably drank tea instead of wine today."

Pear Blossom: "When should we ask? They might still be waiting for our reply. We can't keep our in-laws waiting too long. What if they calm down and change their minds?"

Xiong Shan pointed to the peach grove: "Why don't you go in and ask yourself?"

"You..." Pear Blossom was so angry that she reached out and pinched Xiong Shan's soft waist, turning him around hard. She gritted her teeth and said angrily, "I've discovered that your abilities are only good enough for pressing down on me at night, right?"

Xiong Shan: "Hey, don't worry. Since it's the old lady's side that said it, how could the in-laws change their minds so easily? Our face isn't worth much, but the old lady's face is there."

Pear Blossom: "Really?"

Xiong Shan: "Alright, you're just a mother afraid of missing out on a sucker, while they're probably afraid of missing out on a great deal."

Pear Blossom: "They're from a prestigious and upright sect of that caliber..."

Xiong Shan: "Our son is the eldest brother of the next generation in the family."

After calming his wife down, Xiong Shan went inside. In the kitchen, Lao Tian, ​​who had already prepared dinner, was still busy working.

Xiong Shan: "It looks like your young master is coming back."

Old Tian: "Yes, he'll be back tomorrow. He said he's gotten so thin from working on the construction site. We should take advantage of the young master's visit to Nantong and make him some of his favorite childhood foods to help him recover."

Xiong Shan: "That's great, we can also benefit from this and have a treat."

Old Tian: "Hey, is there some noise outside?"

Xiong Shan: "Someone is calling out, I'll go check it out."

As Xiong Shan walked out of his house and onto the village road, he saw villagers running around and shouting with flashlights. In the river at the east end of the village, a person was floating.

Some quick-moving villagers have already run to Li Sanjiang's house to inform him.

Li Sanjiang had only eaten half of his meal when he downed the rest of his wine in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and waved his hand, saying:

"Zhuangzhuang, Runshenghou, Youhou, let's go, get the gear ready, let's go fish for rafts!"

Retrieving corpses is a business that depends on the weather.

Sometimes I make a profit every few days, and sometimes I don't get any business for months or half a year.

Runsheng and the others took out all of their great-grandfather's belongings from the basement. Since they were in the village, there was no need to use a cart. The three of them shared the load and followed Grandpa Li out the door.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at A Li: "Shall we go take a look together after we finish eating?"

Ah Li looked up at the second floor; her painting was not yet finished.

Li Zhuiyuan: "I'm just going to take a look; it won't cause any trouble."

Ah Li nodded.

After finishing his meal a little faster, Li Zhuiyuan cleaned up his own dishes and put the food for his great-grandfather and the others in the kitchen to reheat when he returned. Then he left home with A-Li.

Watching a spectacle is human nature, and village life is exceptionally peaceful. Therefore, whenever something special happens, whether good or bad, it immediately attracts many villagers to come out with their families to gather around.

Li Zhuiyuan held A Li's hand and walked slowly. There were many people around, some running and some chatting. They were still far from where Piaozi was, but the area had already become noisy.

Ah Li's palms were slightly sweaty, but her expression remained normal.

Before, she relied on imagining the boy by her side to ward off her fear of the outside world, but now that the boy is holding her hand, she has nothing to be afraid of.

When they arrived at the riverbank, Li Zhuiyuan saw that an offering table had already been set up at his grandfather's place, with two lit candles already lit.

"May the Supreme Lord Laozi command this swiftly!"

The old man held the peach wood sword and began to perform the ritual.

At the same time, Runsheng pushed the boat out, and Tan Wenbin threw out a net to catch the floating body and pulled it back. After it was pulled to the side of the boat, Lin Shuyou bent down to catch it and smoothly and properly carried the body on his back.

When Runsheng rowed the boat back to shore, Ayou leaped onto the shore with the body on his back. Tan Wenbin laid a straw mat on the ground, and Ayou squatted down with his back to the mat, laying the body face up on it.

Both the materials used and the procedures followed show great respect for tradition.

It was dark, and they were far apart, so Li Zhuiyuan could only make out that it was probably a female corpse.

With Qing'an around, it's practically impossible for anyone to die in Nantong, especially since this place is right under Qing'an's nose.

However, after examining the female corpse, Tan Wenbin's expression changed. He stood up and his eyes gradually turned into snake eyes in the darkness as he surveyed his surroundings.

“Ayou…”

"Brother Bin?"

"It's alright, Brother Xiaoyuan is here too."

Tan Wenbin squeezed through the crowd, walked around to the open area on the outskirts, and found Li Zhuiyuan.

"Brother Xiao Yuan, there seems to be something wrong with the body."

"what happened?"

“I suspect this body is quite old, not a recent one, but a well-preserved old one. Brother Xiao Yuan, why don’t you go and take a look yourself?”

In the distance, the lights of police cars could already be seen.

Before the police arrived, Li Zhuiyuan, with Tan Wenbin's protection, approached the body.

The female corpse was not severely saturated, and she was about thirty years old. Her skin was very white, but this whiteness was neither from before she was alive nor from after she died; it was more like a result of the passage of time.

Tan Wenbin's judgment was correct; the female corpse was at least two hundred years old.

However, her current attire is very modern, and she shows no trace of resentment, meaning she has not been a zombie.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Brother Binbin, please inform Uncle Tan's former colleagues to check if any ancient tombs in the vicinity have been looted."

The local forensic experts may not be able to determine the exact year of this unusual female corpse, and even if they do find a clue, it would be difficult to report it in that direction.

Tan Wenbin: "Okay, Brother Xiaoyuan."

Aside from being a bit old, there were no other problems with the body. The police had already arrived and secured the scene, so Li Zhuiyuan took Ah Li's hand and went home first.

Tan Wenbin and Ayou Runsheng stayed here with Li Sanjiang to take a brief statement.

After they finished, the four of them carried the things home.

Tan Wenbin, who was at the back of the group, gestured for Ayou to take the things off his shoulder first, and then took out his mobile phone to make a call to his father.

Tan Yunlong: "Are you sure, kid?" Tan Wenbin: "It was Brother Yuan who said so."

Tan Yunlong: "That's definitely right."

Tan Wenbin: "You've gone to a lot of trouble."

Tan Yunlong: "If I had known that you wouldn't be spending most of your time at school after you went to university, I probably shouldn't have transferred to Nanjing. Staying in Nantong would have been more convenient for you."

Tan Wenbin: "That's too much, Director Tan. You've gone from being a middle-aged man whose career has been stagnant to someone who could have continued to rise but is now stuck because you're too young. Why don't you eat cake?"

Tan Yunlong: "You brat, you're asking for a beating, aren't you?"

Tan Wenbin: "Look, you're getting impatient, aren't you?"

After hanging up the phone, Lin Shuhao asked curiously, "Brother Bin, was that female corpse dug out of an ancient tomb? What kind of pervert would change a female corpse's clothes?"

Tan Wenbin: "Who knows? It's most likely not from our village. The body has been in the water for a while, so it must have been floating along the river for a long time."

After arriving home, Runsheng went into the kitchen to reheat the food, and everyone finished their dinner before resting.

The next morning, Pear Blossom came to make breakfast.

Tan Wenbin was squatting by the well, brushing his teeth, and greeted Lihua.

Pear Blossom first took Benben upstairs to the second floor. Inside the room, A-Li was painting, and Li Zhuiyuan stood beside her watching the finished work.

Li Zhuiyuan put down his painting, turned his head, and saw the child sitting at the door.

Today, Benben had three baby bottles hanging around his neck, and his little backpack from yesterday had been replaced with a larger one, bulging out of his bag.

Li Zhuiyuan walked over and removed the things from the child's body. Benben was finally free from the burden and could sit up straight.

There was a painting inside the tube that seemed ready to be painted, but it immediately fell silent once Tan Wenbin went upstairs.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, the police station has given us feedback that a Qing Dynasty tomb in Jinsha was recently robbed. However, what's strange is that the tomb robbers only opened the coffin and took the corpse; the burial objects inside the tomb were basically untouched."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then it might not be a spur-of-the-moment pervert, but a veteran whose target is this kind of corpse."

Tan Wenbin: "Brother Xiaoyuan, do you mean that someone is collecting these corpses to set up evil spells?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Nantong is very clean because of Qing'an, but this cleanliness can provide people with another level of convenience."

Tan Wenbin: "This shows they don't respect Li, the corpse retriever from Nantong."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Take Ayou and follow up on the investigation. Find that guy as soon as possible. We're leaving Nantong soon. Before we leave, clean up the house."

Tan Wenbin: "Understood."

Pear Blossom: "Time for breakfast!"

Li Zhuiyuan led A Li and Tan Wenbin downstairs.

Left alone in the room, Benben leaned forward, stuck out his bottom, and stood up.

But after looking at the baby bottle and schoolbag on the ground, he sat down again, hung the things on his body, and crawled out of the door.

From Benben's perspective, crawling skillfully is much easier than walking clumsily.

Huffing and puffing, they arrived at the stairwell again, peeking their little heads out.

The doghouse directly below is gone.

Last night, Xiao Hei carried his doghouse and moved to a new place overnight.

At this moment, Little Black, who was lying in his doghouse in another corner, raised his eyes and looked at the child at the top of the stairs, a hint of smugness appearing on his face.

After confirming the other's identity with his eyes, Benben confidently continued climbing forward, only to fall down.

Xiao Hei immediately got up, darted out, and used his body to catch Benben again.

Benben turned around knowingly, put one chubby arm around Xiao Hei's neck, and pointed to the back of the house with the other hand.

Although the child was small, he was very strong. Xiao Hei knew he couldn't shake him off, so he simply went along with him and carried him out of the side door again, running to the rice paddy behind the house.

Sun Yuanqing saw again that his grandson-in-law was riding a dog.

Benben got off the dog, sat down next to Sun Yuanqing's head, and started their picnic.

Today we had an extra bottle, so I drank from one myself and also put one up for Sun Yuanqing.

Sun Yuanqing felt incredibly warm inside.

The old man found the child more and more pleasing to the eye.

After Aunt Liu left home, no one brought food to Sun Yuanqing anymore.

For Liu Yumei, it was already quite magnanimous of her not to chop him into countless pieces with a sword when he came to snatch her grandson-in-law right in front of her. She had only buried him in the ground and treated his foundational injuries. Did he really think she could personally bring him food? Dream on!

For Sun Yuanqing, fasting for two days is nothing special, but it's different when someone remembers you, brings you food, and stays with you.

Benben had no idea what that head in the ground was thinking.

For a child who hates school, they'll do anything as long as they don't have to go to class.

After eating and drinking his fill, Benben leaned back and rested his head on Sun Yuanqing's head.

Looking at the blue sky and white clouds above, Benben felt that this was what life should be like.

He squinted, wanting to take a nice nap to make up for the regret of being taken out of bed by his mother too early.

Unfortunately, as Tan Wenbin drove away from home in his yellow pickup truck with Lin Shuyou, Benben's happy times were also forced to end.

The second-floor window opened with a "snap," and a painting flew out from inside.

Sun Yuanqing couldn't intervene before the three-day groundbreaking ceremony was over, and could only watch helplessly as his grandson-in-law was dragged away.

……

On the dam, Li Zhuiyuan and Liu Yumei sat together drinking tea.

"Ali and Ating have sent word that there is a small problem at the Qin family's ancestral home. It's not a big deal, but I need to go there in person. It's a very simple matter."

"Grandma, you used so many adjectives."

"Isn't this because I was afraid you'd misunderstand and worry? Don't worry, the ancestral homes of the Qin and Liu families aren't so easily damaged. I dare to leave our ancestral homes and stay here with Ah Li for several years, naturally I have the confidence to do so."

When are you leaving?

"I'll leave after I finish this pot of tea."

“I’ll have Runsheng go with you.”

"I can tell you've got your own things to do lately. Right now, the most important thing at home is yours."

When will you be back?

"It'll only take a few days, very quickly." Liu Yumei looked at her feet. "This is my home now."

The tea is finished.

Liu Yumei got up and left. She didn't pack her bags or take the sword with her. She walked down the dam empty-handed.

She didn't even say goodbye to Ah Li, nor did she ask the boy to take good care of Ah Li in the next few days.

There's absolutely no need to say these things in front of family.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and watched Liu Yumei leave.

As a result, Grandma Liu, who had just stepped down from the dam, quickly blended into her surroundings and disappeared, as if silently saying: Please sit down, you're too polite.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down, picked up the thermos on the ground, and brewed another pot of tea.

After finishing the pot of wine, Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs and returned to his room.

The girl had just finished the last painting, which meant that the preliminary preparations for the next stage of her plan were complete.

"Ah Li, you've worked hard."

The girl bent down, took out two cans of Jianlibao from the box, opened them, inserted straws, and handed one can to the boy.

Li Zhuiyuan felt a little regretful, having just drunk so much tea downstairs.

Li Zhuiyuan hung portraits of his companions and evil spirits on the walls of the room, making the atmosphere in the room oppressive and heavy.

The boy stood in the center of the room, his gaze sweeping over the paintings.

Next, the troops were divided into four groups.

Yesterday, he extracted enough information from Su Luo, and combined it with his own judgment of the current situation.

“Ah Li, if this matter can be completely successful, then there will be no competitors on this river that we can worry about anymore.”

In the previous generation, one member of the Qin family also achieved this feat.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head, bit the straw, and took a small sip of his drink:

“I’m really looking forward to them treating me the same way they treated Uncle Qin.”

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I spent a lot of time sorting out the plot today, so I'll make up for it with a longer chapter tomorrow. Hurry up everyone!

(End of this chapter)