Chapter 13

Why did this towel look so familiar?

Liu Yumei thought back. Wasn't this the one that Li family boy had draped over his shoulder today?

"What was this supposed to mean?"

Liu Yumei wanted to take the towel down, but just as her hand was about to touch it, she stopped.

She turned to look toward the inner room. The girl stood in the doorway.

"A Li, hadn't you already lain down? Why are you up again?"

The girl said nothing.

"A Li, did you put this towel here?"

The girl did not answer.

"A Li, this is where the Spirit Tablets are kept. It's the most precious place for offerings, so you can't just leave things here. Towels should go where they belong. How about Grandma puts it away and washes it clean for you?"

The girl's eyelashes began to twitch.

"Then leave it there. Leave it there. It's quite nice there, haha, quite nice."

The girl calmed down again.

"A Li, go to sleep. Grandma won't touch it. Grandma promises that when you wake up tomorrow, you'll still see it here."

The girl turned and went inside.

Liu Yumei sighed, then a smile appeared on her face. She had noticed that this time, when A Li was about to get angry, only her eyelids twitched slightly, while her body did not tremble along with them. That was progress too.

All these years, they had done everything they could to prevent A Li from having an episode. It was not merely because, in that state of furious rage, she could hurt herself and those around her. It was also because every episode made her condition worse afterward.

Right now, treating A Li's illness was the most important thing. Everything else was secondary.

At last, Liu Yumei found her husband's Spirit Tablet behind those of her two brothers.

"You've really suffered, having to squeeze in with my two brothers for a while. You didn't fight, did you?"

Back then, that old fool had shamelessly pursued her, and her brothers had beaten him up more than once. Even after she married him, whenever he drank with her brothers, they would still quarrel until they nearly came to blows.

The difference was that before the marriage, her brothers picked fights and taught him a lesson, while after the marriage, he would provoke them every time he drank, shamelessly shouting:

"Come on, hit me! If you've got the guts, beat me to death! If you kill me, your sister will have to become a widow for me!"

Her brothers had ground their teeth in hatred, endlessly scolding her for being blind enough to let herself be fooled by him.

Actually, aside from being a little petty and holding grudges, that old fool had truly treated her well.

She gently wiped her husband's Spirit Tablet with a handkerchief. "Old fool, your granddaughter wants you to make room for her things, so bear with it."

After saying that, Liu Yumei shifted the Spirit Tablets around, placing her husband's tablet beside her father's.

"Talk to my father more. A son-in-law counts as half a son."

Though that dirty towel sitting right in the middle was a little unpleasant to look at, Liu Yumei still spoke with delight in her voice:

"You all, don't hold it against A Li. Didn't you cause her to end up like this? You died so decisively and gloriously back then, leaving not even a trace of ancestral blessings to protect your descendants.

"That Li family boy is called Li Zhuiyuan. It's quite a nice name, and he's an interesting child too, though he's far too precocious.

"I've seen plenty of clever children, but I've never seen one like him in all my life.

"Other than the bit of childishness he hasn't yet shed, he feels like someone deliberately pretending to be a child.

"What a pity. People like that often do not live long.

"But perhaps not. He lives with Li Sanjiang now, and he's Li Sanjiang's relative. Sharing in his good fortune should be much easier than it is for us.

"But none of that matters.

"I only hope he can slowly cure our A Li's illness. Our A Li has suffered too much, endured too much. None of this should have been hers to bear.

"When you all died in the river, you kept shouting that it was for a new world.

"The world is too big. I'm just a shallow-minded woman, and I can't hold all of it in my heart. I can only look after my own granddaughter. I only hope she can laugh happily and speak openly, just like other little girls.

"If you have spirits in heaven..."

At this point, Liu Yumei could not help rolling her eyes at the Spirit Tablets. Her tone turned angry and resentful:

"If you had followed the old customs and left even a little spiritual protection behind before you died, how could my granddaughter have become like this?!"

After bathing, Li Zhuiyuan found another towel. He carefully scrubbed it clean with soap and hung it on the clothesline.

When he passed Li Sanjiang's bedroom door, he hesitated for a moment before finally pushing it open and entering.

On the bed, Li Sanjiang was holding a cigarette between his fingers, crossing his legs, humming a little tune as he worked himself into sleepiness.

"Great Grandfather, there's something I thought over. I still need to tell you about it."

"Oh? What is it? Go ahead."

"Last night, Niu Fu's mother came to our house. She used the tables, chairs, bowls, Chopsticks, and Paper People downstairs to hold herself a birthday banquet. It was very lively, and I was dragged into attending."

Li Sanjiang frowned slightly and instinctively propped himself up. "Go on."

"Near the end of the banquet, a Zombie appeared and fought Niu Fu's mother. She couldn't beat it, and at the last moment, she sent me away."

"She sent you away? Where did she send you?"

"I woke up."

"Oh." Li Sanjiang nodded. Thinking of how he had been chased by a group of Zombies in his dream, he understood. The Child must have had a dream like his, one with Zombies in it. He comforted him, "Little Yuanhou, just treat it as a dream. Don't worry, nothing will happen tonight."

Since they were not doing the Fortune-Transfer Ritual tonight, he could finally get a good night's sleep too.

"But, Great Grandfather..."

"It's fine. Don't take it to heart. I understand it all."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. Sure enough, Great Grandfather understood.

"Great Grandfather, there's something else. Have you noticed the issue with Grandma Liu's family living here and working for you?"

"Of course I noticed it long ago. Heh heh."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded again. Sure enough, Great Grandfather knew.

Li Sanjiang secretly chuckled. That family helped him farm, made Paper Crafting for him, carried tables, chairs, bowls, and plates for his banquet, and even handled the cooking and cleaning... yet they only asked for such meager wages.

Heh heh, if that wasn't a problem with their brains, what was?

In times like these, servants with bad brains who worked so much for so little were hard to find. He had to treasure them.

"Anything else, Little Yuanhou? If not, go back to sleep. Your Great Grandfather is sleepy too."

"One last thing. Actually, I'm the one tutoring Yingzi Jie every time. Her comprehension is rather average, and she learns quite slowly."

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that after he finished speaking, Li Sanjiang pressed his lips together, and his cheeks swelled more and more, as though he were holding something in with great difficulty.

Ten seconds of silence passed. Then, finally:

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!"

Li Sanjiang laughed so hard that it pulled at his wounds. He kept sucking in cold breaths, but he still could not help laughing and scolding:

"You little rascal. If you don't want to study, just say so. You even came up with such a lousy excuse. Do you take your Great Grandfather for a fool?

"Enough, enough, no more nonsense. Go back and sleep. Yinghou will definitely come tomorrow. No matter how much you want to play, you can't escape studying!"

"Good night, Great Grandfather."

Li Zhuiyuan did not argue. Even Great Grandfather was not omniscient. There would always be a few things he could not understand. That was normal.

Back in his bedroom, Li Zhuiyuan lay down, pulled up the blanket, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

He slept very soundly and did not dream.

When dawn was just beginning to break, Li Zhuiyuan woke up. He sat by the bed for a while and felt things out, only to find that the quality of his sleep had been far worse than when he dreamed.

He got out of bed, picked up his washbasin, and prepared to wash up. The moment he opened the door, he saw a girl standing outside. It was Qin Li.

She had styled her hair today and wore a wooden hairpin. Her upper body was dressed in white, while she wore a black horse-face skirt below. She looked refined and elegant.

Beautiful people needed beautiful clothes to complement them.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that Qin Li's clothes could not be bought in stores. First, foreign fashionable styles were popular these days, while traditional retro clothing had long declined and was considered tacky and unpresentable. Second, Qin Li's clothes were exquisitely designed and made. They likely had to be custom ordered from some small clothing workshop with a proper heritage, and they could not be cheap.

Still, judging by how Grandma Liu casually gave away a jade thumb ring worth an apartment in the capital as a meeting gift, her family certainly did not lack money.

There was dew on the girl's hair. Li Zhuiyuan could not help reaching out to touch it, feeling a faint dampness.

"Have you been waiting here for a long time?"

The girl said nothing. She only looked at Li Zhuiyuan.

"Next time, wait until I'm up, then I'll go to the East Room and call you over to read together. That way, you won't have to stand here waiting. All right?"

The light in the girl's eyes dimmed a little.

"Then I'll try to get up earlier from now on. If you come and I'm not up yet, just come inside and wait on a chair. The door isn't locked anyway."

The brightness in the girl's eyes returned.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the clothesline and took down the towel he had washed last night. It had been hung out at night and was not fully dry, but it could still be used.

He went to the bench from yesterday, wiped it down, then placed the towel on the wooden bench. "Sit down first. I'll go wash up."

Qin Li sat down.

Li Zhuiyuan went to wash up.

Sitting on the bench, Qin Li's gaze fell on the towel, which was still quite clean. She reached out and grabbed it, but after thinking for a moment, she withdrew her hand.

After brushing his teeth, Li Zhuiyuan was wiping his face. He had just set down his washcloth when he saw Grandma Liu standing in front of him, startling him.

"Little Yuan, heh heh, I'm really sorry to trouble you."

This was the first time Li Zhuiyuan had seen Grandma Liu enter the Main House, let alone come upstairs. Qin Li must have been waiting here for him since she got up, and Grandma Liu must have kept her company the entire time.

"Grandma, I like playing with A Li."

"Then you two have fun together. If you need anything, just call for Grandma." Grandma Liu went downstairs with a beaming smile.

Li Zhuiyuan returned the washbasin to his room. It was still too early, and the sun had not yet risen. He did not want to read.

After looking around the room, he picked up a small wooden box and came outside.

"A Li, shall I teach you how to play Go?"

Qin Li said nothing. She only stared at the small wooden box.

Li Zhuiyuan opened it. Great Grandfather had asked Uncle Qin to buy him snacks and school supplies, and Uncle Qin had bought this along with them.

It was a Go set. The board was printed on a sheet of semi-transparent oiled paper, while the pieces were plastic discs the size of ladybugs. In short, it was tiny and crude.

But it was cheap to make and inexpensive to buy. The stationery shops in Shinan Town certainly would not stock a proper Go set. Who would buy one?

"First, let me explain the rules of Go..."

Before Li Zhuiyuan could finish, A Li picked up a black stone and placed it on the board.

Li Zhuiyuan said no more and placed a white stone.

After several moves, Li Zhuiyuan confirmed it. The girl knew how to play Go.

A smile appeared on his face as he immersed himself in the match.

They played fast Go, with neither of them thinking much.

Gradually, Li Zhuiyuan began to struggle. Finally...

"I lost."

Li Zhuiyuan had not gone easy on her. He had genuinely lost.

Though he had never formally studied Go, his mind was good at calculation, and Go relied heavily on that. So long as he was not competing against professional masters, among ordinary hobbyists, his skill was not bad.

But the girl was clearly better. She must have formally studied it before. Not only did she play quickly, but her moves were methodical.

Li Zhuiyuan did not feel defeated by this. He knew he learned quickly, but he could not skip the process of learning.

In many fields, a good mind alone was not enough. One also needed a great deal of accumulation and experience, as well as the support of a proper platform.

"A Li is amazing. Want to play again?"

The girl twirled a stone between her fingertips and looked up at Li Zhuiyuan. Her meaning was obvious. She wanted to play again.

Li Zhuiyuan put the board in order. Feeling the morning breeze beginning to rise, he found four fallen chunks of cement in the western corner of the terrace and used them to hold down the paper board.

The second game began.

Their moves were still fast. As Li Zhuiyuan played on, the corners of his lips could not help curving upward.

He felt it. The girl was yielding moves to him.

He did not feel insulted. Instead, he was happy, and then he began deliberately making poor moves.

This time, the girl's pace slowed. Her brows gradually furrowed as well.

Li Zhuiyuan could not bear to tease her any longer, so he still won.

The girl looked up at Li Zhuiyuan.

There was the faintest trace of a pout at the corner of her lips. It was barely noticeable, but she was probably angry.

Yet her eyelashes did not twitch, and her body did not tremble.

"All right, all right, it was my fault. I was wrong." He looked up and saw that the sky was already bright. From downstairs came Aunt Liu's call that breakfast was ready.

Li Zhuiyuan put away the board and took Qin Li downstairs for breakfast.

With unspoken understanding, the breakfast that had originally been enjoyed alone became a small table with two wooden stools.

As usual, Li Zhuiyuan portioned Pickles into a Small Dish for the girl. Once she began eating, he followed his habit of cracking the duck egg shell, peeling open the top, and scooping it out with Chopsticks.

Suddenly, he noticed that the girl beside him had stopped eating. Li Zhuiyuan looked over and found her staring at the duck egg in his hand.

"Want me to open one for you? But then it'll be harder to control the portion."

Qin Li continued staring at it.

Li Zhuiyuan could only crack a duck egg for her too, carefully peel away part of the shell, and hand it over.

Qin Li accepted it with both hands, held it against her chest, and lowered her head to study the cracked duck egg seriously.

Just then, Li Sanjiang swayed downstairs.

He looked at Little Yuanhou and the girl's table for two, then at Liu Yumei, Qin Li, and Liu Ting's family table. Silently, he walked toward his own little table for a lonely old man.

Just as he was about to start eating, he spotted figures on the small path in front of the embankment.

A dark-skinned boy of around fourteen or fifteen pushed a wheelbarrow, with an old man sitting on it.

The boy wore only a pair of patched blue shorts. His upper body was bare, and he wore a pair of obvious ill-fitting plastic Liberation shoes.

The old man was bald with a patchy scalp. His body had visibly shrunk from old age. He wore plastic slippers and held a water pipe in one hand.

Seeing them, Li Sanjiang helplessly set down his Chopsticks. "Well then, the beggars are here."

Once the grandfather and grandson pair came up the embankment, Li Sanjiang stepped forward warmly to greet them. "Oh my, I knew you'd come today, but I didn't expect you this early."

The old man took a puff from his pipe and said, "We deliberately traveled while it was dark. If we got here, we could save ourselves a breakfast."

"Tinghou, is there any porridge left in the pot?" Li Sanjiang asked.

The old man snorted coldly and said disdainfully, "If all I get at your place is thin porridge, then I came for nothing. We want solid food."

"Alright, alright. Tinghou, go cook."

"Got it."

Aunt Liu went to the kitchen to cook.

"Little Yuanhou, come here." Li Sanjiang called Li Zhuiyuan over and pointed at the old man as he introduced him. "This is your Uncle Shan."

"Bullshit. Why the hell do I have to be a generation below you?"

"Fine, then call him Grandpa Shan."

"Hello, Grandpa Shan."

"Ah, good. Such a handsome little kid, fair and tender-skinned. What a good boy."

Li Sanjiang smiled and rubbed Li Zhuiyuan's head. "Little Yuanhou."

"Great Grandfather?"

The old man's face instantly reddened. Furious, he snapped, "You bastard, Li Sanjiang! You were trying to take advantage of me after all!"

"Heh, I can't be bothered taking advantage of you. Aren't you about the same age as the child's Grandpa Hanhou?"

Li Zhuiyuan was rather surprised. In other words, this old man was so much younger than his Great Grandfather, yet his own Great Grandfather looked younger instead.

In the distance, Liu Yumei, who was drinking porridge, set down her bowl and chopsticks and lightly covered her nose with a handkerchief.

The old man reeked of waterlogged corpses. It was truly nauseating.

Looking at his appearance, he was exactly what a corpse retriever ought to look like. Li Sanjiang, on the other hand... he ate well, lived well, and had been well cared for. He was an exception among exceptions.

To put it bluntly, anyone with a respectable background and a proper livelihood would rather not choose corpse retrieval as a profession. That alone determined the corpse retrievers' economic standing in the village. Add in all the taboos surrounding corpse retrieval... and peaceful old age was rare indeed.

Liu Yumei did not intend to keep eating. She saw her granddaughter leave the table as well, probably because Little Yuan had been called over to meet someone. Yet instead of going upstairs to wait and read with him, her granddaughter headed straight back to the East Room.

Hmm?

Curious, Liu Yumei slowly returned to the East Room. Just as she was about to step over the door threshold, she saw her granddaughter come back out.

"Going to find Little Yuan after all?"

The girl said nothing. She crossed the courtyard, went upstairs, and sat in the northeast corner, waiting for Li Zhuiyuan to finish up and come read.

Though she was delighted by her granddaughter's changes and improvement, after the initial excitement gradually faded yesterday, Liu Yumei's heart began to sour.

She had painstakingly raised this little girl with such care, yet now, all her granddaughter saw was Little Yuan.

Fortunately, they were still young, so there was no need to worry about that sort of thing.

But then again, if they were already like this as children, what would happen once they grew up?

Luckily, Little Yuan would return to the capital after summer vacation.

But what if her granddaughter's illness had not been cured by then, and he had to leave?

Entering the East Room, Liu Yumei prepared to light some incense to drive away the smell and settle her chaotic thoughts. Her gaze naturally swept over the spirit tablet table.

Then she immediately turned back to look again.

"This..."

Where her father's spirit tablet had originally stood, the tablet was gone. In its place was...

a salted duck egg with its top cracked open.

The old man's surname was Lu, and his name was Lu Shan. He was from Xiting Town and was also the village's corpse retriever.

The youth was named Lu Runsheng. Lu Shan had picked him up by the river. Though he was an adopted son, the age difference between them was too great, so Lu Shan had the youth call him Grandpa.

"Little Yuanhou, your Great Grandfather and Grandpa Shan had a friendship forged through life and death."

Lu Shan sneered. "Heh, yes. Every time, I was the one risking my life while you handled the money once it came in."

"Hey, wasn't that because I trusted your skills? Besides, that little bit of work was nothing to you. There was no need for me to do anything."

"You old bastard. The older you get, the thicker your skin becomes."

Some jobs were more complicated, and one ordinary corpse retriever could not handle them alone. They would call friends and companions to work together. Lu Shan was Li Sanjiang's well-practiced partner.

The two of them were extremely close. Whenever there was dangerous work, Li Sanjiang thought of him first.

For example, the Niu family's memorial birthday this time.

Li Zhuiyuan could sense it too. Grandpa Shan harbored considerable resentment toward his Great Grandfather, which was understandable. One look at the grandfather and grandson's clothes showed that their lives were rather strained, while his own Great Grandfather's household... even the Village Chief's family probably did not eat as well as he did on a daily basis.

They were in the same trade, yet their lives were worlds apart. Of course there would be resentment.

Aunt Liu brought over the dishes. Pressed for time, she had only managed to stir-fry two dishes: sausage with garlic shoots, and eggplant braised with salted pork. The portions were generous, with much more meat than vegetables.

The freshly steamed rice was served in an aluminum basin, billowing with heat.

At the sight of the meat, Runsheng began swallowing unconsciously.

What surprised Li Zhuiyuan was that Aunt Liu had also casually brought over a bundle of incense with the dishes.

"Sis, bring me another rice basin."

"Sure. I forgot."

Clearly, the grandfather and grandson were not visiting Great Grandfather's Home for the first time. Aunt Liu had hosted them before.

Aunt Liu brought another large bowl-basin. Grandpa Shan scooped rice into it, then piled dishes over the top.

Then he lit the incense and inserted sticks into the rice and dishes on the table.

After doing that, he began wolfing down the rice bowl in front of him.

Li Sanjiang took out a bottle of baijiu and poured Grandpa Shan a cup. Grandpa Shan only made time for a single gulp amid his eating, then glanced at the table to signal Li Sanjiang to keep pouring.

Runsheng, meanwhile, sat there watching the still-burning incense and did not touch his chopsticks.

Yet he was clearly starving and eager to eat.

Aunt Liu brought over the soup: tomato egg-drop soup with plenty of aromatic vinegar.

Grandpa Shan picked up the soup bowl and poured it straight into his basin before continuing to shovel food into his mouth.

Li Sanjiang took out a cigarette pack, pulled out two cigarettes, flicked one to him, and lit one for himself. "Damn it, did you come here hungry without eating yesterday?"

Grandpa Shan continued swallowing with loud gulps. At last, he lifted the basin and drained every drop of soup into his mouth. Only then did he set it down in satisfaction, wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, pick up the cigarette, tap it against the tabletop, and say:

"Once I got your message, I stopped eating. I've been hungry for nearly three days."

"I'm saying, if you starve yourself to death, just wrap yourself in a straw mat and bury yourself. But the child has to suffer along with you. What a sin."

Grandpa Shan lit his cigarette and said flatly, "I picked him up, so he has to suffer with me. That's only right. I told Runsheng Hou too—after I die, he should come find you. He can work for you, and you can feed him."

"Quit spouting that bullshit. I'm older than you. I'll definitely go before you do."

Grandpa Shan exhaled a smoke ring, ran his tongue over his teeth, spat beneath the table, and said, "Give it a rest. Calamities like you live for a thousand years. I don't have the confidence to outlive you. Even comparing our lifespans feels taboo."

At last, the incense over the food burned out, leaving plenty of ash on both the dishes and rice.

But Runsheng did not care in the slightest. He pulled the aluminum rice basin in front of himself and began eating.

Li Zhuiyuan was puzzled, but he was too embarrassed to ask.

Grandpa Shan, seated opposite him, noticed and smiled. "Runsheng Hou ate tainted meat when he was little. Now, if he eats clean food made for the living, he'll throw it up. Even if he's only drinking a bowl of corn porridge, he has to stick in a joss stick first."

As he spoke, Grandpa Shan suddenly leaned toward Li Zhuiyuan with a mischievous air and teased, "Little Yuanhou, right? Do you know what tainted meat is?"

Li Zhuiyuan said, "Dead human flesh?"

Grandpa Shan's expression froze. He truly had not expected this little kid to calmly throw the question right back at him. He had intended to tease the child without revealing the answer, but now the little kid had left him at a loss instead.

Li Sanjiang said unhappily, "What nonsense are you telling a little kid?"

Grandpa Shan pointed at Li Zhuiyuan. "Sanjiang, your great grandson is interesting. He's good material for our line of work."

"Bullshit. My great grandson is going back to the capital to take the college entrance exams. How could he ever follow our lousy path?"

"Li Sanjiang, what I despise most is people like you—looking down on our trade while still making money retrieving corpses. Heaven really must be blind. Why hasn't it let a Death Collapse swallow you whole?"

"Heh, not convinced? Keep it bottled up."

"Great Grandfather, I'm going upstairs to read."

"Go on, go on."

Li Zhuiyuan left the table and went up to the second floor. The morning sunlight was lovely, shining on Qin Li's hair and horse-face skirt, making her look like an exquisite sculpture.

Taking out his book and sitting down, Li Zhuiyuan said apologetically, "Guests came over, so I kept them company for a while. Sorry to keep you waiting."

Qin Li said nothing.

Li Zhuiyuan opened his book and began enjoying another wonderful day of reading.

When he finished the volume in his hands and was about to switch books, Qin Li suddenly stood and looked behind them.

Li Zhuiyuan looked too and saw Runsheng standing there shyly.

He seemed extremely uneasy because he wore only a pair of underpants. In the village, that was normally nothing unusual. During the height of summer, shirtless boys and men could be seen everywhere in the fields and courtyards.

But before the boy and girl in front of him, his appearance created too stark a contrast.

Li Zhuiyuan's clothes and shoes had been sent from the capital. Though he was not particular about food or clothing, he was not used to going shirtless. As for Qin Li, there was no need to mention her.

Though Runsheng was older than them, he felt both inferior and eager to come over and play with them.

Li Zhuiyuan took Qin Li's hand. "Brother Run Sheng is a guest at our home. It's fine."

After hearing that, Qin Li stopped looking at him.

Li Zhuiyuan was not surprised that Qin Li had actively looked toward Runsheng. The girl seemed able to see unclean things. The way Runsheng had eaten earlier... it would have been stranger if there had been nothing unusual about him.

"Brother Run Sheng, we're reading. Come sit with us."

"Ah, is that alright?" He wanted to sit down, but only smiled and scratched his head.

Li Zhuiyuan walked over and took hold of his wrist.

His body was so cold.

It was midsummer, and he had just eaten so much. By all rights, he should have been sweating and warm, yet he felt dry, cool, and moist.

Runsheng followed Li Zhuiyuan over and sat on a Small Stool.

Qin Li's eyelashes began twitching, and her body gradually started trembling.

Li Zhuiyuan could only take her hand again and see whether it would calm her down. If it did not, he would have to make Runsheng sit farther away.

Fortunately, once he took her hand, she quieted down. Then he could only keep holding it.

Seeing this, Runsheng awkwardly seemed ready to stand. He could tell that this impossibly beautiful girl rejected him.

"Brother Run Sheng, don't feel uncomfortable. A Li is naturally afraid of strangers. It isn't aimed at you. In this home, only Grandma Liu and I can get close to her. She's fine now, so keep sitting.

By the way, Brother Run Sheng, do you often go retrieve Death Collapses with Grandpa Shan?"

Sure enough, at the mention of retrieving Death Collapses, Runsheng immediately became much more natural and confident. He said, "Yeah. These days, Grandpa basically sets up the Offering Table on shore, and I'm responsible for the retrieval.

Let me tell you, just three months ago, I retrieved a Death Collapse. It was a dead infant. Damn, that thing was wicked. Really, don't tell me you don't believe it."

"Did you run into a whirlpool?"

Runsheng froze for a moment. "What's a whirlpool?"

"A river sinkhole. The sort of river stretch where the ground easily caves in or vortexes form."

Runsheng slapped his thigh excitedly and asked loudly, "How did you know?"

Then, as if he had figured it out, he smiled. "Did your Great Grandfather tell you?"

"I read it in a book."

"A book?" Runsheng looked at the book lying on the wooden stool before him and reached out to open it. "These words make my head hurt. Was it written in this book?"

"Yeah. This set has many volumes."

Records of Strange Tales from the Jianghu contained extensive records of infant Death Collapses. Since many places had long practiced the cruel custom of drowning infants, infant Death Collapses appeared in endless numbers.

These Death Collapses shared one trait: they generally carried malicious intent with an extremely strong purpose.

With other Death Collapses, as long as you did not happen to run into one, or quickly slipped away after seeing one, you would usually be fine. But infant Death Collapses deliberately circled within particular waters, actively seeking people out.

Their most common method was luring people into dangerous parts of the river and using the terrain to kill them.

Even ordinary small rivers had dangerous spots. If things went wrong, even old fishermen could lose their lives. And they would use special methods too—for instance, wrapping water weeds around your feet while you swam, making you lose strength and drown.

Many of these infant Death Collapses died before they were born or shortly after birth. They carried powerful resentment and rage, yet were weak themselves. Unlike other Death Collapses, they possessed few special abilities and could only use the terrain to take revenge on the living.

Runsheng was extremely surprised. "Our trade can actually have books written about it?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. "It can."

Runsheng said, "Who has that much free time to write about us retrieving corpses?"

Li Zhuiyuan did not know how to answer. He did not know who the author was, though he vaguely had a guess. At the end of every entry, the Death Collapse in question had been "eliminated by the righteous path." Could the author's name contain the words "righteous path"?

Runsheng added, "What's even stranger is that books are written for people to read, and someone actually reads stories about corpse retrieval."

Li Zhuiyuan said, "..."

So far, Records of Strange Tales from the Jianghu was packed with useful information.

"Brother Run Sheng, tell us more specifically about that time."

"Oh, right. That day, I ran into a vortex. The boat overturned, and I got trapped in mud and sand. Luckily, I held my breath and clawed upward with everything I had. That was how I outlasted it. Otherwise, I would have been buried alive in the river."

"That was really dangerous." Li Zhuiyuan added, "Brother Run Sheng, you're really amazing."

Fortunately, Little Yellow Oriole had only wanted him to lead the way back then. If he had encountered an infant Death Collapse instead, judging by the dates, he would probably be observing his first seven days after death by now.

"Hehe, it was nothing. Mainly, Grandpa and I had planned to eat well at the client's home after finishing the job, so we deliberately went without lunch. If I'd had food in my stomach, that Death Collapse wouldn't have made me look so bad."

"Then this time, you still need to eat your fill before going."

"Of course. I like your Great Grandfather's Home. Every time I come here, I get to eat until I'm full, and I eat well too!"

"Did you retrieve that infant Death Collapse in the end?"

"Of course I did. It was crafty. When it saw it couldn't kill me, it tried to burrow into the water weeds to hide. I felt around for it beneath the water along the weeds.

When it saw it couldn't hide there, it tried to burrow beneath the riverbed. I dug it out like I was digging potatoes. Seriously, that water-soaked, pale, swollen thing looked just like a boiled taro with its skin peeled off.

All it needed was a bowl of soy sauce and some minced garlic."

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that as Runsheng said this, he licked his lips.

Li Zhuiyuan did not want to think too much about anything else. He could only assume that Runsheng had truly been hungry at the time.

"Runsheng Hou, Runsheng Hou!" Grandpa Shan shouted from downstairs. "Come down and make Grandpa's bed. Grandpa's taking a nap before lunch."

"Coming, Grandpa."

Runsheng got up and ran downstairs.

Qin Li, meanwhile, took the initiative to open the book on the wooden stool.

Li Zhuiyuan understood what she meant. She wanted to read with him. She did not want to be disturbed.

"Brother Run Sheng is a guest. Tomorrow, Great Grandfather and the others will still be relying on Brother Run Sheng."

Thinking about the group heading to the Niu family's Memorial Birthday tomorrow—one wounded man, one old man who could barely walk, and one blind man...

Only Run Sheng was remotely dependable.

Qin Li raised her head and looked at Li Zhuiyuan, her gaze dimming slightly.

She seemed to be expressing her grievance.

Li Zhuiyuan squeezed her hand. "All right, be good. Let's keep reading."

But after Run Sheng went downstairs to make the beds, he never came back up.

At lunchtime, Li Zhuiyuan took Qin Li downstairs and found Grandfather and Grandson sleeping on the first floor, using a round table as a bed. They got up to eat lunch as well.

The amount they had eaten at breakfast had truly only been breakfast, and Aunt Liu had carefully prepared lunch, making it something of a small feast.

Grandfather and Grandson ate until their bellies were round, then lay back down on the round-table bed for a nap. They slept until dinnertime, and after dinner, they went straight to sleep for the night, their snores shaking the house.

It was hard not to suspect that they had some special method for storing up energy in advance for tomorrow.

This allowed Li Zhuiyuan to spend nearly the entire day reading again, just as he had yesterday. He was even more efficient today and had reached the twenty-fourth volume.

With the foundation and knowledge he had built up earlier, all he needed to do for the later Death Collapses was remember their names and characteristics.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that, with one more full day, he would finish Records of Strange Tales from the Jianghu. He was greatly looking forward to the next set.

A little strangely, Yingzi Jie had not come today either. Li Sanjiang muttered about it once, but with business tomorrow, they could only wait until afterward to speak with Hanhou.

That night, once again, he had no dreams.

In the morning, Li Zhuiyuan deliberately woke up even earlier than yesterday. Lying in bed, he felt himself out for a moment. Hmm, he was beginning to miss waking up refreshed after dreaming.

As he sat up in bed, Li Zhuiyuan's heart jolted. He then realized that Qin Li was sitting in the chair in his bedroom.

The girl seemed to realize she had startled him. She stood up and lowered her head.

He could sense her agitation and unease.

Li Zhuiyuan got out of bed, walked over to her, and took her hand. "How wonderful. The first thing I see when I open my eyes is you."

The girl raised her head, her eyes lighting up.

Today, she wore a white qipao with floral hairpins in her hair. She looked elegant and refined, and carried the fragrance of orchids and irises.

Li Zhuiyuan washed up first, then played three more games of chess with her. He happily lost all three.

When they went downstairs for breakfast, Aunt Liu pointed at the two-person wooden bench beside her. "Little Yuan, you and A Li eat over here."

Li Zhuiyuan saw another table beside it, laden with meat and wine so early in the morning. To accommodate Run Sheng, incense had even been thoughtfully lit in advance.

At that moment, the incense was burning;

It looked like a table of funeral offerings.

Liu Jinxia was brought over by Li Juxiang on a tricycle. When she saw Li Sanjiang covered in bandaged wounds, Liu Jinxia nearly cried from fright and pointed at him as she cursed:

"Li Sanjiang, you old beast! You're not human, you're not human!"

Liu Jinxia cried and made a scene for a long time, but in the end, she could not bring herself to quit. Instead, she first persuaded her daughter to go home.

Li Zhuiyuan and Qin Li sat down at their own seats and began breakfast.

After a while, Li Sanjiang called out to Grandpa Shan, Run Sheng, and Liu Jinxia to eat:

"Come, come, everyone's here. To the Offering Table!"