Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 444

"Let's find a hotel in the county town ahead."

"It's still early."

Liu Changping first looked at the sun outside the car window, then glanced at the time inside the car, which was not yet four o'clock in the afternoon. He felt that he still had the energy to drive for a long time.

"I'm tired."

"okay."

Liu Changping drove the car off the provincial highway.

The conditions in the county town were much better than in the town where we stayed last night. We chose a hotel opposite the county government building and checked in.

The room was spacious, and there was a large balcony outside.

After taking a shower, Li Zhuiyuan washed and wrung out his and A Li's clothes from the past two days and handed them to A Li, who then hung them on the balcony.

Li Zhuiyuan wiped his hands with a towel while watching the girl on the balcony who was meticulously ensuring that the spacing between each piece of clothing was consistent.

As far as I can remember, this should be the first time Ah Li has ever hung clothes out to dry.

However, no matter what, the girl wouldn't be so confused as to wonder: why do clothes need to be washed and worn a second time?
Although in the past, due to Grandma Liu's pampering and hobbies, Ali rarely wore the same clothes a second time. After all, Grandma Liu still felt that 365 days a year was not enough to fully utilize her design talent.

It was still early, so Li Zhuiyuan planned to take A Li downstairs for a walk.

He has already revealed the purpose of his trip to the Emperor.

Master has gone to great lengths for that hell, and he wants people to relinquish some of their life savings. You have to give them time to process it.

Furthermore, when someone is emotionally agitated, one should not rush over to them for their own safety.

Going downstairs, I ran into Liu Changping in the hotel lobby, who had just finished a phone call with his wife.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's go out to eat together."

Liu Changping nodded and said, "Okay, let's try the local specialties."

Li Zhuiyuan chose a restaurant that was on the verge of closing down.

It was very quiet; at lunchtime, there was only Li Zhuiyuan's table of guests.

The boss, a middle-aged man with a full beard, warmly invited Liu Changping to the kitchen to select chickens.

Li Zhuiyuan and A Li sat down at the table. There was a pot on the table with a small wood-fired stove underneath. This kind of wood-fired chicken style of cooking can be found all over the world.

A signboard on the wall tells the history of this local delicacy, saying that Emperor Wu of Han and his crown prince visited this place, ate this firewood-cooked chicken, and praised it highly...

They are all made-up stories, but other parts have basically been updated to the version of Emperor Qianlong's trip to the south of the Yangtze River or his incognito visits.

After selecting the chicken, Liu Changping sat back down and looked at the billboard, asking curiously:
"Did Emperor Wu of Han and the Crown Prince really come here?"

Whether he had actually come or not, Li Zhuiyuan didn't know.

However, the characters in this story do seem quite fitting for the scene of hell.

It should be noted that when the crown prince rebelled, Emperor Wu first executed those who helped the crown prince, then those who suppressed him, and finally those who remained neutral.

Yin Changsheng was a figure from the transition period between the Western and Eastern Han dynasties, and should be very familiar with the story of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty.

The chicken was served, and the bearded owner began to stir-fry it.

The spatula is held using the same method as the knife.

The calluses on his hands grew layer by layer, then melted away, forming "callus halos." Each "halo" represented a breakthrough in his understanding of knife skills.

After stir-frying, the large pot lid was put on, and the owner pointed to the clock on the wall and started a countdown.

Time's up, open the pot.

Picking up a piece of chicken, it was not only a bit dry but also a bit sour. The chicken was freshly killed, so the only reason for this taste could be the owner's secret recipe, which is indeed different from the general public's taste.

Fortunately, it's still edible. Add some side dishes and glass noodles to stew, and the slight sourness actually makes it quite appetizing.

When we finished eating and paid the bill, the bearded owner enthusiastically asked, "How was it? Was the chicken delicious?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "This chicken tastes very good. It would be even better if we didn't put any chicken in it."

The shop owner was taken aback for a moment, but wasn't angry. He just smiled and said, "You're not the first customer to say that to me."

Actually, the owner's secret recipe would be more suitable for making dishes like mala tang (spicy hot pot), rice noodles, or noodles, but it's not suitable to pair with a chicken as a main dish.

Li Zhuiyuan: "But you still refuse to change."

The boss shrugged: "You have to stick to something."

Li Zhuiyuan guessed that the boss was probably unwilling to give up his murderous intent.

After dinner, everyone returned to the hotel and rested.

The following morning, after collecting the clothes, Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs with A Li.

Liu Changping was already sitting in the car waiting, and he didn't urge them to leave.

After getting into the car, Liu Changping started the engine. Before he even drove out of the hotel gate, he noticed something was wrong. He turned off the engine, got out of the car to check, and found a nail stuck in the tire.

Liu Changping: "It's okay, I brought a spare tire. I can just change it, it'll be quick."

Li Zhuiyuan: "No rush, change it slowly."

The boy guessed that this was probably just the beginning.

Sure enough, as soon as Liu Changping changed the tire and started the car again, white smoke began to rise from the hood as soon as he drove out of the hotel.

There was no other way but to take the car to a nearby repair shop.

Liu Changping, smoking a cigarette, said to Li Zhuiyuan, "Brother Xiaoyuan, how about I leave the car here and we get another car to go to Fengdu?"

Li Zhuiyuan refused; there was no need to ruin the car any further.

By late afternoon, the car was repaired, and the broken tire was patched.

Everyone got on the bus and set off again.

This time we drove further, out of the county town.

It would have been better if the taxi hadn't even left, because it was making a rhythmic sound like a tractor, forcing it to pull over.

The car was taken back to the repair shop for another inspection and repair.

Midway through the journey, a minibus stopped, carrying many passengers.

Liu Changping glanced at the signs indicating the origin and destination hanging behind the minibus's windshield and said, "Brother Xiaoyuan, how about we take this first?"

Li Zhuiyuan refused again.

If they don't want to ruin the car, why would they want to ruin a car full of people as well?

By the time the car was repaired again, it was already dark. Not wanting to travel at night, at Li Zhuiyuan's request, the taxi drove back to the hotel, and everyone checked into their rooms and settled in again.

The next morning, when Li Zhuiyuan got up, he saw a taxi with a Jinling license plate circling outside. It must be Liu Changping testing the car.

We went downstairs, got in the car, and set off again.

After driving out of the county town and just past yesterday's distance, as I went over a very ordinary little pothole, "bang!" my tire blew out.

When Liu Changping went down to check, he found that in addition to the right front tire being blown out, the left front tire also had two nails stuck in it and was leaking air and flattening.

There was only one spare tire that had just been patched, so it couldn't be used as two tires in one. I had to take the car back to the repair shop from yesterday.

The repair shop owner, a balding middle-aged man, saw Liu Changping arrive again and quickly pulled out a cigarette, offering it to him and saying sincerely:

"Dude, I really didn't cheat you. I took responsibility and fixed it properly. I didn't scatter the nails on the road. Seriously, I swear to God, even if I were a scoundrel, I wouldn't go so far as to exploit you like this!"

Hearing this, Liu Changping was both annoyed and amused, and in the end, he could only helplessly accept the cigarette and nod.

He's an experienced driver; he can tell if there's a problem with the car or if the boss is sabotaging things.

The bald boss asked in a low voice, "Dude, have you been cursed lately?"

Liu Changping took the cigarette out of his mouth and said, "Don't talk nonsense like that."

Bald boss: "There's a river god temple on the east side of our county town. It's very effective. Do you want to go and pray there?"

Liu Changping glanced at the boy and girl standing to the side and shook his head: "We don't like these feudal superstitions."

Seeing this, the bald boss didn't say anything more.

After the tire was changed, the taxi set off again.

I was lucky this time; before I even left the county, a motorcycle behind me honked its horn to warn me that my fuel tank was leaking.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's not leave today, let's go back to the hotel."

We checked into the hotel again.

From the balcony, Li Zhuiyuan saw Liu Changping flag down a local taxi at the hotel entrance and head towards the east of the city.

In A-Li's bag, there was Grandma Liu's tea.

Li Zhuiyuan borrowed a tea set from the hotel, brewed a pot of tea, and spent the entire afternoon sitting on the balcony, basking in the sun and reading a book.

It wasn't that he was deliberately slacking off here, but rather that he was forced to slack off because of work requirements.

This feeling of "paid leave" is indeed more pleasant.

Midway through, Li Zhuiyuan received a call from Tan Wenbin, informing him that they had finished at one location and were heading to their next target.

Li Zhuiyuan asked them if they were injured.

Tan Wenbin replied: It's not heavy.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't ask for any more specific details, and Tan Wenbin didn't elaborate either.

Being so far apart and on different routes, Li Zhuiyuan had no ability to remotely command them, nor did he want to disrupt their rhythm.

Zhao Yi hasn't called in the last two days; he must have already entered the no-man's land.

Chen Xiyuan didn't contact them even once. Well, Sister Chen probably didn't know that there was such a thing as contacting each other.

The sun was setting; dusk was approaching.

Liu Changping has not returned yet.

Li Zhuiyuan took out a compass, and the evil dragon appeared. After placing a hair of Liu Changping on it, he began to locate the path.

It's not in the east of the city, but very close to the hotel.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up and visually assessed the location from the balcony.

"Ah Li, let's go have dinner."

It's the same shop, still barely clinging to life.

At mealtimes, the place remained empty.

Standing at the shop entrance, Li Zhuiyuan looked at A Li, who closed her eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan took A Li's hand, pushed open the wind chimes at the door, and led the girl with her eyes closed into the store.

The bearded boss, holding a chicken-killing knife, lifted the curtain and came out from the kitchen, fresh blood dripping from the knife.

The owner laughed and said, "Haha, after being open for so long, you are my first repeat customers."

Li Zhuiyuan: "This time, cook some side dishes to go with rice, and don't kill the chicken."

Boss: "This won't do, the chickens have already been killed."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then we won't eat it."

The boss licked his lips, gestured "please" towards the outside, and said, "Then please go ahead."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Release our people. If we're going to leave, we'll all leave together."

The boss swallowed hard: "I didn't expect that the real big shot is you two kids. Ha, I spent the whole afternoon testing him, and it was all for nothing."

Li Zhuiyuan: "So retiring from the martial world is the right thing to do. They don't even know the simple truth that the most important people in the martial world are the elderly and children. Retiring early ensures safety."

The boss held the knife horizontally in front of him and said in a deep voice:

Even if one retires from the world of martial arts, one still understands the principles of knowing what to do and what not to do.

You carry a heavy burden of calamity, even the River God is shaken by it. I absolutely cannot stand by and watch you bring disaster to this county without doing anything!

Li Zhuiyuan knew the reason for the calamity befalling him.

The "gaze" from Fengdu fell on him, and naturally also extended to his driver.

This level of perspective led them to the River God Temple. If it were just a tourist attraction with a ticket, it wouldn't matter. But if it were truly efficacious, the spirits within would surely be shaken.

However, Li Zhuiyuan was too lazy to explain to this bearded boss.

Should I tell him that this is just a playful exchange between master and disciple between myself and the Emperor of Fengdu?
With that preconceived notion, he would only think he was a madman, talking nonsense.

Ah Li opened her eyes at this moment.

There was no color in the girl's eyes.

The curtain leading to the backyard was lifted again, and a middle-aged woman wearing a hairpin and a blue robe walked out.

She looked dazed and seemed completely out of control of her actions.

Judging from her attire, she should be a staff member of the river god temple, not a Taoist priest, nor a nun; it seems to be a kind of offering or sacrifice.

A faint blue glow appeared between the woman's brows, indicating that she had borrowed some power from the river god.

In terms of its form of inheritance, the River God Temple is very similar to the Lin Family Temple in Lin Shuyou's hometown; in terms of the way power is transferred, it is similar to the shamanic practices in Northeast China.

In reality, it cannot be seen, but in the state of spirit possession, one can see a transparent blue water snake coiled around the woman's neck, lending her power.

Now, the water snake is under Ah Li's control.

The water snake's tail obscured the woman's eyes, and its head lowered towards Ah Li, not only daring not to meet her gaze, but also not daring to resist.

Zhao Yi, that guy, likes to peek into other people's hearts through the crack in the door between life and death whenever he has free time. Even himself, Zhao Yi will take a look whenever he has free time.

Therefore, whenever he made progress, Zhao Yi was always the first to notice, and then he would beat his chest and stomp his feet in regret.

But Zhao Yi dared not risk his life for Ah Li; that would be like a moth drawn to a flame.

The woman from before should have been standing in the backyard, either keeping an eye on Liu Changping or ready to rush in and help her husband take action.

She was too eager. There was no array in the restaurant. Even though Li Zhuiyuan didn't use a compass to locate this place, he could still sense obvious fluctuations in his aura from a great distance.

A little boy, about three or four years old, followed her in. He walked to the woman's side, gently tugged at her clothes, looked up, and called out with great concern:
"Mom? Mom? Mom, what's wrong?"

As his wife walked out of there in a daze, the bearded boss's teeth crunched, his eyes reddening as he stared intently at the girl beside the boy.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand, extended two fingers, and pointed them at his eyes.

The woman did the same thing, placing two fingers almost directly on her eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to the bushy beard:

"Hand over the person and we'll leave."

Liu Changping is still alive; the blood on the knife in the boss's hand is chicken blood.

Little boy: "Daddy, what's wrong with Mommy? Why is Mommy acting so strange?"

When his son asked him a question, the bearded man lightly tapped the hilt of his knife with his right hand.

"Buzz!"

The outer shell of the knife cracked open, revealing a smaller, more exquisitely crafted knife inside, engraved with patterns that seemed to draw upon the energy of the blade.

Inside the hotel, a sharp wind began to rise.

This is a master knife user.

Compared to local, regional traditions like the River God Temple, a master like him opening a small wood-fired chicken restaurant here to stay with his wife and children truly deserves to "retire from the martial arts world."

It's like falling deeply in love with a woman and settling down in the city where she works and lives.

For this, he gave up and abandoned a lot.

But at this moment, he was not threatened; the increasingly fierce wind showed his increasingly determined heart.

Even though his wife was being controlled and her life was hanging by a thread, and even though his young son was right there, he had no intention of sheathing his knife. Instead, he drew it out in full force.

"After doing so many unprofitable deals, today I've finally made a big one. Sacrificing one family to protect the whole city is worth it!"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Sigh..."

The boy was speechless.

He actually didn't like dealing with these kinds of pure江湖人 (jianghu people), because they often didn't know how to seek profit and avoid harm, and liked to do business at a loss.

Such people are extremely rare in the world, as rare as endangered wild animals. If you happen to encounter one, even if he wanders into your yard and starts nudging around, you still have to coax him to leave on his own.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at A Li.

Ah Li's eyes regained their luster.

The woman regained her composure: "You guys... Pfft!"

Before the woman could finish speaking, she spat out a mouthful of blood and her gaze went blank again.

This wasn't done by Ah Li.

Instead, it was the water snake around the woman's neck that, fearing that the woman's words might anger Ah Li, actively shielded the woman's senses from its influence when it was not under her control.

This rapid alternation of opening and closing caused the woman's blood and qi to flow backward, resulting in her vomiting blood. It also turned Li Zhuiyuan's gesture of goodwill to ease the situation into a catalyst.

The bearded man let out a loud shout, and with a leap, the knife flew up and fell back down.

"Crash..."

Metal playing cards flew out of the boy's pocket and landed in front of him. General Sun, who had been waiting in ambush, appeared, holding a weapon and blocking the bearded man's knife.

Upon first contact, General Sun immediately felt the pressure.

The opponent wasn't strong, not really powerful, but the sword intent was incredibly firm and sharp, and it actually began to penetrate the rune armor's defenses, touching the divine soul that was descending upon him.

This is a swordsman who, for the sake of his wife, children, and a warm bed, failed to realize his full potential.

The bearded man unleashed three more slashes, which General Sun blocked three times in succession. Smoke billowed from his body, indicating that his soul had been severed.

With the ample time gained by General Sun, Li Zhuiyuan, surrounded by vicious dragons, had already completed the formation of the restaurant.

"Go back."

General Sun retreated.

The bearded man raised his knife, ready to attack again.

The next moment, he suddenly realized that he was getting further and further away from his opponent and the boy and girl, and his knife was still out of reach.

Inside the restaurant, it was as if dividing lines had appeared, pushing away and separating the areas where he, his wife, and his children were.

He held the knife horizontally in front of him, staring at everything in disbelief.

The boy's figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Buzz!"

With a flash of light, he slashed forward, and the boy's figure twisted and turned into wisps of green smoke before disappearing.

Then, the boy's figure reappeared on the other side.

The bearded man swung his blade again, shattering the figure.

One figure after another appeared, and even though he knew they were fake, he still slashed down with each strike.

But each of these strikes was layering the pressure from the formation he was under; he was, in effect, empowering the formation to suppress him.

However, the effect of the suppression has been consistently emphasized by Li Zhuiyuan and has not diminished.

Once the timing was right, Li Zhuiyuan delegated the pressure to the rest of the group.

"Pfft!"

Unable to withstand the terrifying pressure, the bearded man knelt on the ground, his hands bracing himself against the earth, and the knife in his hand fell to the ground.

His face was contorted, veins bulging, as he struggled to support his body so as not to fall flat on his face.

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to him and said, "It's not a calamity I'm suffering from, it's my master, the Great Emperor of Fengdu, who has tripped me up. He's just being temperamental with me."

The bearded man raised his head, bit his tongue, and spat out a mouthful of blood essence, which transformed into sword intent, cleaving Li Zhuiyuan in two.

But the boy in front of him once again turned into smoke and dissipated.

Li Zhuiyuan walked up to him again: "I am the successor of the Dragon King lineage of the Qin and Liu families."

Blood flowed from the bearded man's eyes, but instead of flowing downwards, it gathered upwards to his brow. A blood-red blade flashed out and shattered Li Zhuiyuan in front of him.

"boom!"

The pressure from the formation increased, and the bearded man prostrated himself on the ground.

"boom!"

The pressure from the formation continued to increase, and the man's stubble felt as if it had been glued to the tiles.

"boom!"

The pressure from the formation increased further, and the bearded man felt as if his bones were about to be crushed into dust.

This time, Li Zhuiyuan appeared again, walked up to him, and looked down at his face:
"I could have easily killed you, but I didn't. Do you believe me?"

The determination in the bearded man's eyes faded.

He believed it.

Li Zhuiyuan waved his hand, and the separated areas of the hotel returned to normal.

"Dad, Daddy!"

The little boy saw his father being pressed to the ground like that and ran over anxiously.

Anxiety was evident in the bearded man's eyes. The pressure he was under was so great that if his son got close, he would explode instantly.

"boom!"

The little boy ran into an invisible wall and fell to the ground.

The bearded man's eyes relaxed.

Ah Li looked at the water snake on the woman's neck. The water snake detached from the woman and fell to the ground.

The woman returned to normal, and while keeping a wary eye on Li Zhuiyuan, she stepped forward, wanting to hug her son, but an invisible barrier appeared between her and her son.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his finger and waved it across the back of the little boy's clothes, writing the character "柳" (willow) on it using feng shui principles.

The barrier disappeared, and the woman was able to hold her son.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Take your son and go to the River God Temple."

The woman looked at her husband without speaking or leaving, meaning that even in this situation, she would not leave; as a family, even if they died, they would die together.

Of course, she had another concern: she had already felt the terrifying pressure from the boy's side, and she didn't think her own river god temple could withstand them. Going to call for reinforcements at this time would be like carrying a stone up a mountain.

With a flick of his finger, Li Zhuiyuan freed the son from the woman's arms. The woman tried to stop him, but found it impossible.

The little boy was driven out of the restaurant by Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Go to your mother's temple."

The little boy stopped sobbing, stood up, glared at Li Zhuiyuan with hatred, and shouted:
"You great evil spirit, I'm going to have my grandma come and get you!"

It's silly to say that now.

But considering his age, it is quite commendable that he was able to muster the courage to encourage himself in this way.

The little boy wiped away his tears and ran towards the east of the city.

From an outsider's perspective, this family is impeccable in terms of morality, kinship, and courage, and even admirable.

Unfortunately, Li Zhuiyuan is now the villain here.

The boy sat down at a table.

Ah Li didn't sit down; the girl was still staring at the little water snake.

The little water snake lay on the ground, trembling.

Li Zhuiyuan snapped his fingers, relieving half of the pressure on the bearded man.

The bearded man managed to sit up with difficulty, breathing heavily.

The woman tried to get closer to her husband, but he stopped her with his hand.

Li Zhuiyuan: "What's your name?"

The man with the thick beard: "Lu Pu."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't ask any further questions.

The bearded man found it odd; he thought the boy would ask which school or lineage his family had inherited.

The boy wasn't interested in that.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the woman and said, "Shouldn't we serve the guest a glass of water?"

The woman remained unmoved.

Her senses were previously blocked by the water snake, causing her to have a distorted perception of the situation.

Lu Pu: "Go pour water for the guests."

The woman stood up.

Lu Pu: "I want to drink it too, but don't poison it."

The woman paused for a moment, then nodded.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Lu Pu: "Now that you've said that, I think she's more likely to poison him."

Lu Pu: "I can now realize that I must have misunderstood you. I may have to apologize to you from now on."

Li Zhuiyuan: "You can make a decision after the River God arrives."

The whole thing started at the river god temple.

Liu Changping went to the temple to worship the river god and exorcise evil spirits; as a result, a great evil spirit entered the temple, shaking the river god; then when Liu Changping returned to the hotel, he was "invited" into this place.

The woman brought over a tray, placed two glasses of water in front of Li Zhuiyuan, glanced at General Sun standing to the side, and then placed an extra glass.

Lu Pu reached out to take his own.

At that moment, he felt a sense of relief, and the pressure from the formation almost disappeared.

He took the water glass and, ignoring the heat, drank it all in one gulp.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at General Sun.

General Sun stepped forward, grabbed a cup of water, and drank it all in one gulp.

"L……"

The water he drank dripped onto the ground through the gaps in his armor.

General Sun cannot drink water, but he can use his spiritual sense to determine whether the water is poisonous.

The evil dragon left the boy's body and began to rotate around General Sun. His soul, which had been damaged by the sword intent, was visibly reforming.

General Sun was deeply moved. He knew that the young man had used his own strength to heal him.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, I know you don't really want to kill him, so I only defended and didn't attack just now."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

This is General Sun trying to make amends. If the boy were present, he would probably have started mocking him directly. Sword intent is more damaging to the soul than sword energy.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his teacup and blew on it.

When he set up the formation, he deliberately let the aura of the formation leak out. If that river god temple was truly fearless and selfless, it should have been on its way by now.

The boy handed the glass of water, which had cooled down a bit, to Ah Li.

Ah Li took it, took a sip, and two adorable dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth.

The girl sat down next to the boy and finally stopped staring at the water snake.

Lu Pu said to his wife, "Bring the person out."

The woman returned to the courtyard and came out again, supporting Liu Changping, whose face reeked of alcohol.

Liu Changping wasn't tortured; he just drank a lot of alcohol, but you couldn't get anything out of him anyway.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Does this wine have any side effects?"

This is no ordinary wine; it carries a medicinal aroma, making it easier to get drunk and prompting people to reveal their true feelings.

Lu Pu: "It can easily make people confused and disoriented. The only side effect is... it's a kidney tonic and aphrodisiac."

Outside, on the road.

An old woman, dressed in a blue robe, with a red silk sash over her shoulder and a purple belt around her waist, holding a cane in her left hand and a banner in her right, walked toward the restaurant with a look of fearlessness.

"Grandma, Grandma..."

The old woman stopped and looked at the little boy: "Thank goodness, you escaped. Where are your parents...?"

"Buzz!"

Behind the old woman, a golden carp appeared.

Clearly, the real river god is this golden carp, and the old woman is the abbot of the temple.

River God recognized the character "柳" (willow) on the back of the little boy's clothes.

Although Uncle Qin carried the hopes of two families back then, he traveled the river as a lamp bearer in the name of the Qin family. Therefore, Dragon King Liu has not been seen in the martial arts world for a long time. It is normal for young martial arts practitioners not to know him, but it is impossible for an older person not to have such knowledge.

The old woman dropped her cane, unfurled the banner, and ran swiftly, appearing as a woman in her sixties.

The grandson followed behind, but couldn't catch up no matter what he did.

An aged yet respectful voice came from the steps at the restaurant entrance:
"A humble temple by a lowly river pays homage to the Dragon King!"

The last trace of doubt in Lu Pu's eyes dissipated, and his brain, which had been numb from the pressure, finally belatedly realized what the Dragon King's Court really meant.

Just as Lu Pu was about to kneel down and apologize to Li Zhuiyuan, Li Zhuiyuan spoke:

"Boss, I'd like to order the side dishes, but not the chicken."

……

It turns out that it tastes really good without chicken.

Li Zhuiyuan was very satisfied with the meal.

At the next table sat an old woman, Lu Pu, a woman, and a little boy with curious eyes in his mother's arms.

Lu Pu's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Those who are willing to risk their lives at critical moments are already heroes. When the initial passion subsides, other feelings emerge. Lu Pu felt increasingly uneasy as he recalled the young man's words, "It was my master, the Emperor of Fengdu, who was throwing a tantrum at me."

After finishing his meal, Li Zhuiyuan said, "Boss, the bill is due."

Lu Pu shook his head: "No, don't..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's settle the bill, it's settled."

Lu Pu walked over, took the money, gave him change, and said gratefully, "Thank you."

Li Zhuiyuan: "The knife is very nice, but let's change the dish."

Lu Pu: "Okay, okay, I'll change this billboard as well."

Liu Changping was still drunk.

Li Zhuiyuan refused Lu Pu's help, walked to the ground, picked up the small water snake, and threw it at Liu Changping.

Ah Li looked at the water snake.

Soon, Liu Changping stood up in a daze and left the restaurant with the boy and girl.

Back at the hotel, after watching Liu Changping lie down on the bed and continue to sleep soundly, Li Zhuiyuan returned to his room and threw the small water snake onto the balcony.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at A Li and said:
"The Dragon King's clan has its own rules, which are the family traditions left by the ancestors of the Qin and Liu families. I must abide by them because they can protect me and save my life."

Actually, after a while, it's not so painful to follow, and you gradually get used to it.

Today, I will judge them by their intentions, not their actions; but with myself, I will judge by my actions, not my intentions.

Ah Li nodded, took out two cans of Jianlibao from her bag, opened them, and inserted straws.

Li Zhuiyuan took a can and gently clinked glasses with A Li.

Just then, Li Zhuiyuan's mobile phone rang.

After answering the phone, Xue Liangliang's voice came from the other end:
"Hey, Xiaoyuan?"

"Brother Liangliang, it's me."

"Why aren't you all home? When I went to your house tonight, I found that no one was home, not even the dog."

I just saw Grandpa Li come back drunk, almost falling asleep in his coffin. I helped him upstairs to the second floor and settled him in bed. I wiped him down, poured him a glass of water, and now Grandpa Li is sleeping soundly.

"Thank you for your hard work, Brother Liangliang."

"Haha, what are you saying? It's only right to please the landlord."

"We've gone out; I'm on my way to Fengdu."

"Fengdu? What a coincidence! Mr. Zhai returned to Jinling School from Ji'an yesterday. The teacher originally wanted to invite him to dinner, but Mr. Zhai declined, saying that he had to catch a flight tomorrow morning to go to Shancheng first and then to Fengdu to attend a meeting."

The teacher said that Professor Zhai's attendance at the conference was a pretense; the real reason was that a precious artifact from a Goguryeo tomb had been sent to a research institute in Fengdu, and Professor Zhai was eager to see the latest research findings.

"Is that so? What a coincidence. After I arrived in Fengdu, I went to visit Elder Zhai."

hang up the phone.

Li Zhuiyuan:
"Rest now, Ah Li, we can set off tomorrow morning."

……

The next morning, after getting up, Li Zhuiyuan went to the balcony first.

Seeing Liu Changping, now sober, sitting in the car early once again.

Judging from his movements, he was wiping blood from his nose.

As Li Zhuiyuan and A Li went downstairs to the taxi, Liu Changping had stuffed paper balls into both of his nostrils.

He overdid it.

He has completely blacked out about getting drunk yesterday; he doesn't even remember where he got drunk.

Liu Changping: "Shall we set off?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's go around the east side of the city first before leaving the county."

Liu Changping drove the car to the east of the city. When Li Zhuiyuan gestured for him to stop in front of the River God Temple, Liu Changping said:

"Hey, that's all feudal superstition. We were just unlucky. There's nothing like that nonsense."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's just treat it as a tourist attraction."

Liu Changping: "Then you guys go ahead and shop. I'll wait for you outside. Haha, I don't believe in that."

Li Zhuiyuan led A Li into the temple.

There is a ticket window at the entrance of the temple.

The ticket seller standing at the window is Lu Pu's wife.

The woman's eyes widened as she saw the boy and girl approaching.

Li Zhuiyuan handed over the money, took two tickets, and three sticks of incense that came with the tickets.

Although it was early, there were quite a few worshippers at the temple.

After all, Li Zhuiyuan had personally tested it yesterday, and the temple was indeed efficacious; it would truly come to his aid if needed.

Upon entering the main hall, there stands a statue of a woman sitting on a giant golden carp.

When the old woman saw Li Zhuiyuan, she was startled at first, and then quickly struck the wooden fish in her hand.

Wisps of smoke rose up, separating the other worshippers from the young girl.

Li Zhuiyuan offered incense.

Following the boy's movements, Ah Li flicked the incense stick in her hand in half with her fingertips before inserting it into the incense burner.

The boy waved his hand and left with the girl.

The carp raised in the four small ponds in front of the main hall leaped out of the pond as the boy passed by, drawing amazement from the surrounding worshippers.

Back in the car, Liu Changping started the engine.

This time, they not only successfully drove out of the county town, but also traveled smoothly all the way until night, finally arriving in Fengdu territory.

Liu Changping was astonished: it was so effective! When he drove back, he would definitely have to pray again to the river god to bless his wife with a smooth delivery.

Li Zhuiyuan gestured to Liu Changping to drive the car to the guesthouse where they stayed during the last meeting. It was the best place, with a good view and close to Ghost Street.

As night fell, the construction site and even the entire Fengdu area showed very obvious changes compared to when I left last time.

Li Zhuiyuan has already started working. He knows that the changes he is seeing now are just the beginning. Perhaps when he looks back at some point in the future, reality will clash strongly with his memories, and it will feel like he has entered a completely different world.

When checking into the room at the front desk, the receptionist asked Liu Changping if he was a participant in the conference.

Li Zhuiyuan took out his identification and handed it over, using public funds to book a room for himself.

It wasn't about taking advantage of public resources, but rather that we were about to meet our "master," and it was easier for everyone to speak under this guise of a different identity.

Li Zhuiyuan asked the front desk if Mr. Zhai had checked in, and the front desk shook its head after checking, indicating that he had not yet been registered.

As they went upstairs, Liu Changping joked that the sculptures and buildings in the scenic area he saw on the way gave him a creepy feeling. Could there really be such a thing?
What Liu Changping didn't know was that he had been spending a lot of time with Li Zhuiyuan recently, and his aura was so strong that even little ghosts in Fengdu would be scared and take a detour when they saw him.

Enter the room.

Li Zhuiyuan stood by the window, looking at the familiar scenery outside.

He stayed at this guesthouse for a long time last time, not only participating in the finalization of the project, but also witnessing the Emperor suppress the Bodhisattva into hell.

Having been stranded on the road for several days, "Master" should have made up his mind by now. What kind of outcome awaits him next?

“Duoduoduo…”

There was a knock on the door.

"Hello, waiter, milk please."

Li Zhuiyuan walked over, opened the door, and took the milk from the waiter.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Li Zhuiyuan closed the door.

Just as he was about to bring the milk to Ah Li, who was sitting by the bed, the boy suddenly stopped.

He turned around and looked at the door he had just closed.

Ah Li got up from the bed, walked to the door, and stared at the door.

If everything was normal before, then just now, all the sounds outside the door, even the tiny noises that were meant to make the silence seem to have been wiped out in an instant.

Li Zhuiyuan placed the milk on the cabinet beside him and reached out to grasp the doorknob again.

With a gentle turn, accompanied by a creak, the door was opened again by the boy.

The lights in the corridor reflect a metallic sheen here, revealing a set of ancient and weathered armor. It gradually rises from its neatly stacked state, slowly growing taller, until it appears as if someone inside is putting it on.

Standing at the door is...

The tomb owner!
(End of this chapter)