Corpse Retriever.

Chapter 447

Chen Xiyuan placed her hand on the flute, ready to strike.

Li Lan looked around. The rain outside was still torrential, but inside it had become a light drizzle.

Most raindrops evaporate into mist overhead before they fall, then drift away in all directions.

Chen Xiyuan was replaying in her mind the moment she opened her domain, the scene of smashing the woman's head in front of her with a flute.

Li Lan acted as if nothing had happened, turning around to take her briefcase from the car.

"Find a place to take shelter from the rain."

After saying that, Li Lan walked towards the edge of the area.

The mud on the ground was deep, and each step swallowed up to her knees, making Li Lan walk unsteadily.

On the side facing the mountain, there are two large, arched rocks. The area below them is relatively clean and provides shelter from the wind and rain.

After Li Lan sat down, she waved to Chen Xiyuan over there, signaling her to come over.

After hesitating for a moment, Chen Xiyuan glanced at the driver, who was still unconscious in the car, and then walked over and asked:

"What do you mean."

Li Lan pointed to the ceiling: "These two large rocks are clearly loose. If a secondary mudslide occurs, this is the most dangerous place. I'm scared because you're not here."

"You're afraid of this?"

Li Lan took off her shoes, turned them upside down beside her, and said while rubbing her feet:
"It's a bit cold, could you help me start a fire?"

Chen Xiyuan didn't move, but asked:

"What do you want from me?"

Li Lan: "I wasn't looking for you, you bumped into me."

Chen Xiyuan pointed to her face and asked, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

Li Lan nodded: "Fools sometimes have good luck."

Chen Xiyuan gripped the flute tightly.

Li Lan: "If you hadn't chased that thing, it wouldn't have rained here, that thing wouldn't have escaped from here, it wouldn't have caused this mudslide, and my car wouldn't have been in this accident."

Before I came here, I was wondering why the initial report only mentioned abnormal signs, but recently it has suddenly become so turbulent and active.

Seeing you, I understand now; you were playing hide-and-seek with it here.

Chen Xiyuan: "What exactly is your purpose?"

"What's my purpose?" Li Lan opened her briefcase and took out a folded map. "You shouldn't be here, yet you suddenly appeared and barged in, and now you're asking me what my purpose is?"

Chen Xiyuan paused for a moment, her eyes thoughtful. Considering that she had received the water droplets from her younger brother, she gradually felt that the woman in front of her was right.

Li Lan: "Your eyes tell me that from the first moment you saw me, besides fear and apprehension, there was also a hint of curiosity and comparison."

The only person in this world I can be truly compared to is my son.

"So, don't my son and I look alike?"

Chen Xiyuan: "Although you're not ugly, your little brother is better looking than you."

Li Lan seemed surprised by this answer, paused for a moment, and then smiled:

"Hehehe, just how deep is your favoritism towards my son?"

Chen Xiyuan: "I'm just stating the facts."

Li Lan: "The truth is, you can dismiss all the unreasonable things my son does; he always fits your imagination."

Chen Xiyuan's gaze sharpened.

Li Lan: "Don't misunderstand, I didn't investigate you. I was just stating the double standards."

Chen Xiyuan: "You..."

Li Lan: "People who apply double standards often don't realize that they are applying double standards."

Chen Xiyuan picked up her flute, not caring anymore, she was going to smash it!
Li Lan had already unfolded the map in her hand and said:
"You mark the location where you recently found it, and the direction it fled in."

Chen Xiyuan hesitated for a moment, put down the flute, and started marking and drawing lines on the map.

Li Lan nodded: "You are gradually shrinking its range of activities. If this continues, you will inevitably drive it into a dead end. It will only take another three months."

Chen Xiyuan: "Three months..."

Li Lan: "If you want to catch it quickly, it's very simple. Just make three rounds of predictions in a row."

Chen Xiyuan: "Three rounds of prediction..."

Li Lan lowered her voice: "This first round..."

Chen Xiyuan couldn't help but lean forward, wanting to hear clearly.

Li Lan: "Sir, you're furious."

Chen Xiyuan: "..."

Chen Xiyuan picked up the tree roots covered in mud from the vicinity, and under the effect of her domain, she first forcibly dried them, then smashed them with her flute, and finally started a fire.

The firelight brought warmth and cast flickering light on Li Lan's face.

Chen Xiyuan: "Round Two."

Li Lan: "You've already stopped the bleeding for the driver in the car, so the second round is over. Although he was assigned to me temporarily, and I'm not satisfied with his work style, if the person really isn't here, I'll still have to write a report, which is troublesome."

Look, it's here.

Li Lan took out a pen and pointed to a spot on the map.

Chen Xiyuan: "How did you confirm that?"

Li Lan handed the map to Chen Xiyuan and asked, "Do you need me to give you a lesson here?"

Chen Xiyuan took the map and turned to leave.

Li Lan: "Wait a minute."

Chen Xiyuan turned to look at her.

Li Lan pointed to the two rocks above her head: "I have to stay here, warm myself by the fire, and wait for rescue."

Chen Xiyuan raised her flute and tapped each of the two large rocks above her, securing them in place.

After Chen Xiyuan's figure disappeared into the heavy rain, Li Lan's gaze fell on the fire in front of her, and she murmured:
"So, you, like them, also possess the power to influence destiny."

……

"Initially, this was just a small village, or more precisely, a small nomadic tribe."

It not only had to face suppression, plunder, and annexation from powerful tribes outside, but also had to endure and struggle through various natural disasters.

Later, the tribe had its first goddess.

"Brother Yi, is it the goddess again?"

“Ah Jing, I’m just interpreting the murals, not telling you a bedtime story.”

"I'm sorry, Yi-ge, please continue."

"The first goddess had a piece of... Why is it drawn like a clod of earth? Just think of it as the broken piece of porcelain in my hand."

Through it, the goddess can summon shadows to help her tribe drive away wild beasts, resist invasions, and warn of disasters.

When the first goddess died, she held this broken piece of porcelain as she entered the fire, thus completing the handover to the second goddess.

Oh, blood sacrifice.

The blood porcelain in the hands of the second-generation goddess was even larger.

A bigger clod of earth, damn it, it probably wasn't a porcelain bottle at first, but a pottery jar. This mural has a very long history.

And so, generation after generation of goddesses protected the tribe, which gradually evolved from a small nomadic tribe into a large clan. As it absorbed more and more people, it began to build cities and establish a kingdom.

"Brother Yi, which dynasty in history is it?"

"How would I know? In those days, in this place, the current town mayor could be the ruler of the country."

Anyway, the following means that the tribe that worshipped the goddess grew stronger, the number of people and objects in the rituals increased, a great altar was built, and the goddess lived in a palace.

What happens next is getting interesting.

As you can see, this series of murals below basically follows the same process: an external threat invades, a goddess comes to the rescue and protects the inhabitants, they win and resolve the crisis, and everyone joyfully holds a ceremony to celebrate.

But there are three hidden lines of change here, which are metaphors implied by the mural's designer.

One line represents the external threats faced, no longer natural disasters, wild animals, or invasions by foreign tribes.

Because they have already built cities, they possess more stable and powerful military forces and economic resilience.

External threats are being portrayed as increasingly...exaggerated.

Enemies, beings that can be easily understood and seen everywhere in reality, are gradually being depicted as terrifying demons.

The second storyline depicts the goddess sitting at the highest position on the altar during a ritual, holding a clod of earth that grows larger and larger.

Previously, it was only during the handover between two generations of goddesses that the clod of earth in the hands of the previous goddess would become larger after the previous goddess carried the clod of earth into the fire.

Now, without any handover, the clods of earth keep growing.

The third storyline shows that despite repeated victories against external threats, the number of people celebrating around the altar has not increased but has actually decreased.

Tsk.

Look,
The final few paintings depict the locals rebelling, collectively storming the temple, successfully overthrowing the goddess's rule, and imprisoning the last goddess in an underground river of blood—likely a form of execution.

"Brother Yi, what's the meaning of the last painting? It was deliberately erased. Is it to hide some secret?"

"The erasure was too even, so it didn't seem like a cover-up, but rather a figurative expression, meaning that when the locals overthrew and executed the goddess, a sandstorm swept in and buried everything here."

"Just like that... gone?"

"It must have been that the goddess deliberately perished together with the locals before she was executed, or perhaps, after the goddess died, the power in this blood porcelain bottle went out of control and brought about a terrible disaster."

"Why would the locals do this? Wasn't the goddess supposed to be protecting them from the wind and rain?"

"That's right, the goddess helped them withstand the storms, but the storms that followed were created by the goddess herself."

Later, the goddesses were no longer satisfied with slowly nourishing the blood porcelain through their own blood sacrifices. Instead, they created demons and consumed the local population as sacrifices.

Just like the Zhao family in Jiujiang, their story is that the dragon slayer turned into a vicious dragon.

Liang Li: "Only a small portion of the blood porcelain was lost; most of it is still sealed here. If we remove most of the blood porcelain, will it cause a major catastrophe in the future?"

Chen Jing: "Brother Yuan will control all of this."

Zhao Yi: "That guy surnamed Li is incredibly wicked. He's tough, and he can handle it."

Liang Yan: "But boss, you said that the blood porcelain was for Miss Qin Li..."

Zhao Yi: "Putting aside her identity, I wouldn't even dare to look at her through the crack of the gate of life and death, which tells you how wicked she is."

To be honest, she and that guy surnamed Li are a match made in heaven; their bad match makes a good one, they should be locked together tightly.

Liang Li: "That's quite enviable."

Zhao Yi reached out and touched Liang Li's forehead: "Do you have a fever?"

At this moment, eerie howls echoed from the dark space ahead, and terrifying intents were spreading in this direction. Thick blood was also constantly seeping out from the cracks in the ground and rock walls.

Xu Ming: "Oh no, we've been discovered!"

Zhao Yi: "We've infiltrated here step by step, we're already in their core area, do you really expect them to be dozing off so we can sneak out the Blood Porcelain?"

"Buzz!"

Zhao Yi gripped the knife, and even though the knife was not yet drawn, the flesh on his hand that was holding the hilt was already turned inside out, the skin of which was bright red.

"Just one last push, alright, let's fight!"

……

There is a final meeting this morning.

Mr. Zhai asked Li Zhuiyuan to come up on stage and give the summary report on his behalf.

The meeting concluded after the report.

Li Zhuiyuan planned to say goodbye to Elder Zhai, as he was going home.

Mr. Zhai was not seen in the conference hall after the meeting ended.

Stepping out of the conference hall, I looked around and saw Mr. Zhai walking side by side with two elderly people in the opposite corridor.

Two elderly strangers, one wearing an old-fashioned long robe and looking energetic, the other wearing a Zhongshan suit and looking kind and amiable.

Li Zhuiyuan quickly caught up with him.

The boy was clearly faster, but the distance between them didn't close; instead, it widened.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped in his tracks.

Ahead, three elderly people who were about to reach the corner also stopped in their tracks.

The two elderly people beside Elder Zhai seemed to be looking back.

For a moment, Li Zhuiyuan had the illusion that he was at the bottom of a reservoir, with two huge floodgates about to open in front of him.

Old Zhai raised his hand and placed it on their backs, stopping them from doing so, and led them forward, turning the corner.

Li Zhuiyuan turned around, went back to his room, packed his backpack, and then went to the lobby of the guesthouse with A Li to check out.

Liu Changping's taxi was parked at the entrance.

As the boy and girl were about to get on the bus, Old Zhai's voice came from behind:

"Xiao Yuan, where are you going?"

"Teacher, I need to go back now. I'm heading to Shancheng Airport."

"Me too, together."

And so, Old Zhai got into the car.

Liu Changping focused on driving.

Throughout the journey, Mr. Zhai, sitting in the passenger seat, chatted with Li Zhuiyuan about the next phase of the project.

As Li Zhuiyuan responded earnestly, he mentally recreated the image of the three old people walking side by side.

I remember last night Mr. Zhai wanted to take me to a dinner party, saying he wanted to meet some old friends.

It seems that the old friend at that meal was not "Old Zhai" himself.

Li Zhuiyuan did not feel regretful for not being able to participate.

Given the choice, he would definitely go have dinner with Mengmeng, who had just been released from prison.

As for deliberately avoiding seeing those two people today, it's probably a chain reaction from not attending the dinner party last night.

In the Emperor's view, his proposal of Yin Meng was a tug-of-war with Him.

But what the Emperor didn't understand was that he would actually take care of Yin Meng's feelings.

After Yin Meng left last night, Li Zhuiyuan showed unusual emotional fluctuations.

In the past, such phenomena rarely occurred among teenagers.

What's even more surprising is that if the Emperor hadn't unusually taken away his two friends, the boy himself wouldn't have even noticed his own behavior last night.

It was as if this was the only way to do it, the only way to do it.

After discussing work, Mr. Zhai said he was sleepy and needed to take a nap.

Li Zhuiyuan looked out the car window at the scenery rushing by and unconsciously reached out to touch his face.

The boy could probably understand how the Emperor felt. Last night, when He looked at him, it was similar to how he used to look at Yu Miaomiao.

Although this matter was insignificant, the logic of following one's emotions caused the Emperor to feel a loss of control over himself, which also forced Him to readjust some of His arrangements.

The taxi arrived at the airport. Li Zhuiyuan's flight to Nantong was earlier, so he got out of the taxi first.

In the co-pilot's seat, Mr. Zhai was still asleep. Liu Changping said he would find a place to park, watch Mr. Zhai rest, and then wake him up to board the plane before the flight time approached.

Li Zhuiyuan handed a thick envelope to Liu Changping.

Liu Changping accepted the call.

As he started the car again and drove away, Liu Changping smiled and tossed the envelope to the boy.

He knew it was perfectly reasonable for him to accept the money, as he wasn't wealthy or powerful. However, he still decided to throw the money back because the act of doing so would make him happy.

This would make him feel that he wasn't just doing this long-distance trip for a job, but simply helping a friend out.

After finding a quiet spot in the parking lot below the terminal and turning off the engine, Liu Changping clutched his chest with one hand and covered his face with the other.

The envelope was thick, and it contained a lot of money! It hurt my wallet!

I wouldn't say I regret it, but after spending so much money, I inevitably feel empty inside.

After making the adjustments, Liu Changping opened the carriage drawer, intending to take out a pack of cigarettes to smoke, and saw a thick envelope inside.

Liu Changping smiled; he was very happy.

At least when he threw out the first envelope, he didn't know there would be a second one. He got off the bus, walked a little further away, lit a cigarette, and started smoking.

Old Zhai, who was fast asleep in the passenger seat, opened his eyes a crack and looked at the envelope in the open glove compartment.

After finishing his cigarette, he returned to his car.

"Are you awake?"

"Well, wake up."

"Why don't you sleep a little longer? It's still a long time before your flight."

"They've had enough sleep, they're getting old, they don't need much sleep anymore, right? They're gone."

"Yes, it should have taken off by now."

"Young man, did you bring them all the way from Nantong?"

"Yeah, haha."

What do you think of him?

"Who? Brother Xiao Yuan... Xiao Yuan?"

"Ah."

"Xiao Yuan is a very good person. He will be good to whoever is good to him."

Old Zhai's lips trembled as he silently repeated: He would be good to whoever was good to him.

"Please have some water." Liu Changping twisted open the bottle cap and handed over a bottle of water.

Old Zhai took the water, took a sip, and said, "You're going back to Jinling, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm going to drive back to Jinling."

"I also want to go back to my university in Jinling. Come on, take me back."

"Um, you're not taking a plane?"

"The flight was delayed and eventually had to be canceled."

"How did you know?"

"Boom! Boom!"

At that moment, a thunderclap sounded in the sky.

Liu Changping: "Oh dear, this thunder is huge. It looks like we really won't be able to fly. Why don't you wait for tomorrow's flight? It's a long way back by car, and it's tiring."

Old Zhai reached out and fiddled with the light sign on the taxi dashboard. Pressing it down revealed a red "occupied" sign, while raising it revealed a green "vacant" sign.

"Let's not wait until tomorrow, let's go. We can talk on the way and it won't be boring."

"Okay, let's go now." Liu Changping started fastening his seatbelt.

"Is this how we set off?" Old Zhai pressed down the light board.

Liu Changping laughed and said, "Hahaha, that's right!"

What Mr. Liu didn't know was that the sign outside the taxi wasn't the red "Passengers Available," but rather the black sign with gold lettering—【酆都】.

……

Nantong Xingdong Airport.

The advantage of a small airport is that you don't have to walk much from getting off the plane to exiting the terminal.

There were many unlicensed taxi drivers soliciting customers at the entrance, and Li Zhuiyuan was judging them by their appearances.

I'm not worried about running into bad people, but I'm too lazy to go through all that trouble on my way home.

As a result, I saw an acquaintance.

"Yuanzi, haha, Yuanzi!"

"Brother Pan."

Pan Zi wasn't here to fetch customers; he was here to solicit business.

He works at Xinglong Machinery Factory in Xingren Town, near the airport. His fiancée's family also lives in the town. Although they haven't officially held a wedding yet, they were already engaged when Li Zhuiyuan went to Ji'an.

So now, sometimes after work, he doesn't go back to Shinan Town. Instead, he stays at his fiancée's house. His future father-in-law has a motorcycle, which he brings after get off work to pick up passengers at the airport.

"Come on, Yuanzi, let me take you home!"

The two boys' backpacks were strapped to the back bar of the motorcycle. Li Zhuiyuan sat in the middle, and A Li sat behind him, hugging the boy's waist and resting her face on his back.

Pan Zi first went to his fiancée's house. His fiancée was on night shift and not home. Pan Zi didn't go inside. He stopped his motorcycle on the road and called out to his future father-in-law, "Dad, I'm taking my brother home. He'll be sleeping in Shinan tonight."

The prospective father-in-law first responded, then enthusiastically ran over to ask Panzi to let his relatives stay for dinner before leaving, or even to sleep there that night.

The prospective mother-in-law also came out and tried to persuade them to stay.

Panzi refused, saying that his younger brother's great-grandfather was still waiting for him to return.

In fact, Li Zhuiyuan felt that his grandfather probably had no idea that he had been away from home these past few days.

However, this shows that the prospective parents-in-law really like Panzi, and their enthusiasm for Panzi's relatives is also a result of their affection for him.

On the way to Shinan, although the wind was strong, Panzi still spoke loudly, wanting to chat with Li Zhuiyuan.

Most of the time, he was the one talking, and Li Zhuiyuan was the one listening.

When Li Zhuiyuan was first sent back to Nantong, Panzi was still a big kid who liked to stay at his grandparents' house and make a ruckus with his younger siblings. In less than three years, he first started working, then took care of his grandparents, and now he is starting to work hard for the small family he is about to build.

In the journey of life, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish whether people create different roles or different roles drive people.

When they arrived at Siyuan Village, Panzi drove the car to the dam area of ​​his great-grandfather's house.

I called out "Grandpa" a few times, but there was no response.

Panzi: "Is Grandpa not home?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "They should be back soon."

Panzi: "Then I'll go back first, Yuanzi."

"Thank you, Brother Pan."

"Don't say such things, we're brothers."

After Pan Zi left, Li Zhuiyuan went into the kitchen to boil water.

It's clear that the stove in the house hasn't been used for a while.

Ah Li took out a jar of brown sugar from the cupboard and then selected some eggs.

Having ridden a motorcycle through the wind for so long at night, Li Zhuiyuan was really looking forward to Ah Li's signature dish.

“Di er li ge lang na, di er li ge long hei…”

Grandpa came back drunk.

As Li Sanjiang passed the kitchen door, he stopped and peered inside, clinging to the doorframe.

"Little Marquis Yuan~"

"Grandpa."

"Hehehe, Grandpa is wrong. Grandpa has been drinking too much lately. I apologize. I will stop drinking starting tomorrow and stay home quietly."

Li Zhuiyuan left the stove, intending to help his grandfather upstairs.

Grandpa refused, saying he could leave on his own. He also declined the late-night snack, saying he had plenty of wine and meat tonight and would enjoy it very much.

"It's been so many days since I've seen my little Marquis Yuan. Your grandfather misses you terribly."

As he spoke, the old man cupped the boy's face in his hands and kissed the boy's head.

Then, wobbling yet very steadily, I went up the stairs, across the terrace, opened the door, went into the room, and went to sleep.

Since his grandfather was sleeping at home that night, after having a late-night snack and washing up, Li Zhuiyuan and A Li went into the west room.

Aunt Liu and Uncle Qin have always slept in separate beds.

Li Zhuiyuan slept in Uncle Qin's bed, and A Li slept in Aunt Liu's bed, just like when they were sleeping in a standard room during a trip.

However, there are quite a few things lurking in the cracks of the room, constantly crawling around and deliberately making noise.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his right hand, and the evil dragon appeared, circling the room once before all was silent.

The next morning.

After Li Zhuiyuan woke up, he first lit the stove to cook rice porridge, and then went to help A Li comb her hair.

Keep things simple when you're out and about, but now that you're home, you can be a little more particular.

Li Zhuiyuan paused for a moment while combing his hair.

Someone has gone home.

The sound of people cracking sunflower seeds came from the doorway.

Aunt Liu leaned against the door frame, watching the scene of dressing up inside, while happily munching on sunflower seeds.

The hardworking Uncle Qin picked up his hoe and prepared to go to the field.

As Qin passed by Aunt Liu, she spat the sunflower seed shells from her mouth onto Uncle Qin.

"Look at people."

Uncle Qin: "I've been watching."

How does it feel?

"I've known for a long time that I can't beat Xiaoyuan, and I stopped trying a long time ago."

Aunt Liu: "Can't you learn from others properly?"

"You know I don't have that kind of brain."

Aunt Liu: "You're not even as good as your apprentice... Runsheng. At least he knows how to burn paper money. What, he's the only one who didn't open the valve in his brain?"

"I did think about it at the time, but he had just started training, so I didn't dare to target him."

Aunt Liu: "Go away, go back to farming. Seeing you makes my internal injuries flare up again."

Uncle Qin scratched his head and got out of bed.

After Li Zhuiyuan finished dressing A Li, he came out and put his hand on Aunt Liu's wrist.

Aunt Liu looked at him with a smile, without dodging.

She had internal injuries, and the injuries had been quite severe, but Li Zhuiyuan could sense that countless things inside Aunt Liu's body were "stitching and mending" her wounds, which had already healed considerably on the way back.

Aunt Liu: "Ali only got a minor cut, it's nothing. He's thick-skinned anyway, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to pretend to be stupid until now."

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Liu Yumei, who was sitting on the dam drinking tea after returning.

Aunt Liu: "Don't worry, the old lady had a safe journey and nothing happened to her."

Li Zhuiyuan looked into Aunt Liu's eyes.

Aunt Liu: "Oh dear, even if she asks me to keep it a secret, I won't hide it from you, Xiao Yuan. We know who's in charge in our family, and I know the rules."

Li Zhuiyuan walked onto the dam.

Liu Yumei poured Li Zhuiyuan a cup of tea, and after the young man sat down, she said:

"Looks like you just got back too."

"Yeah, I came back last night."

"Was it successful?"

"Everything is going smoothly for me."

Liu Yumei unscrewed the cap of the medicated oil, first applied it to her fingertips, and then pressed it onto her forehead.

"I've managed to suppress the Qin family's ancestral home this time, but I can't suppress it for long. If there are any unusual developments next time, you'll probably have to go there in person."

"This is what I should do; you're working hard on my behalf."

Ah Li came out, carrying her hiking backpack, and went into the east room.

Opening the door to the south bedroom in the east room, there was no bed, only boxes.

Open the outermost box, and you'll find neatly stacked cans of Jianlibao inside.

The girl placed a bottle of Weiyi soy milk in the very center.

outside the house.

Liu Yumei's gaze turned slightly cold: "I knew a long time ago that there would be quite a few monkeys hanging in the trees outside our ancestral home, but in the past, it was always Ali or Ating who went home to clean them up. This time, I went back myself and found that there were actually so many footprints outside the house."

Li Zhuiyuan: "That's good. I'm just afraid they'll turn over a new leaf and stop thinking about it."

Liu Yumei: "Hmm, after my little Yuan survives all the tribulations, I'll teach them a lesson, hehe."

Li Zhuiyuan: "There is no need to wait until they have survived all the tribulations; they can actually act as tribulations themselves."

The tea in Liu Yumei's cup rippled gently.

Aunt Liu: Breakfast is ready!

After breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan went to the basement to get the books and the chessboard, and then went with A Li to the pavilion at the entrance of the village road.

Not long after they left, Aunt Liu approached Liu Yumei and reported:

"Grandma, I've lost something..."

"what?"

"The little account book I hid under my bed is gone."

"What if it gets eaten by bugs?"

Aunt Liu gestured with her hands: "I wrote down this much, they can't finish it all."

"It's no big deal if it's lost."

“Last night, Xiaoyuan and Ali slept in our west room.”

"It is only natural for the head of the household to check the accounts."

……

Inside the pavilion at the village entrance.

Ah Li, who was playing chess with the boy, looked up and gazed outside the pavilion.

There was nothing outside the pavilion.

But soon, as a cloud of mist appeared and then dispersed to both sides, Chen Xiyuan's figure was revealed.

She has injuries.

On the flute in his right hand was a piece of animal skin, with nine tails swaying in the wind at the bottom, eyes still wriggling in the middle, and a sheep's head hanging at the top, its eyes gleaming with an eerie light.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Thank you for your hard work."

Despite being the first to return victorious, Chen Xiyuan's face showed no pride, but rather a hint of unease; otherwise, she wouldn't have secretly driven her domain into the village.

Chen Xiyuan asked softly, "Madam, has she returned?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yes, I'm back."

Chen Xiyuan: "Then... I'll leave?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "There's no need to hide."

Chen Xiyuan: "Little brother, do you know how much I wish my grandpa had struck me with lightning instead of Xiao Hei that day? I'm in a worse situation than a dog right now."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Take it easy."

Chen Xiyuan: "Don't worry, when you go to Qiongya to settle accounts with my grandfather, if any member of the Chen family dares to stand in my way, I'll break their legs first."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Thank you."

Chen Xiyuan: "Actually, I wanted to break my grandfather's leg first, bring him over, explain the matter clearly, and apologize, but I can't beat my grandfather right now."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Normal."

Chen Xiyuan: "I will work hard to improve myself and try to break my grandfather's legs before you go to Qiongya."

Li Zhuiyuan did not respond.

Chen Xiyuan: "Little brother, let me tell you, this thing is really hard to catch. It's the most elusive monster I've ever seen. It actually tried to outsmart me!"

You'd never guess who I met. She pointed me in the right direction, and that's how I managed to grab it and beat it senseless until it's this pitiful state it is now.

"Li Lan".

"Ok?"

"Guess who you least expect, and you'll be right every time."

Chen Xiyuan: "Um, little brother, here, take this. I won't go into the village. I really don't know how to face the old man..."

Just then, Aunt Liu's voice came from the cement bridge behind:
The old lady asked, "Has that silly girl surnamed Chen arrived home yet? Tell her to come back and blow on the fire in the stove!"

(End of this chapter)