Chapter 27

Li Zhuiyuan hung up the phone and asked the shop owner, "How much?"

The owner swallowed with difficulty. He still felt that the child was just being mischievous and putting on an act, but to be safe, he pressed the speakerphone button and then redialed.

The brief dialing tone made the owner's eyebrows twitch. Once the call connected, the dispatcher's voice came through:

"Hello, this is the Tongzhou Public Security Bureau..."

"Smack!"

The owner immediately hung up. He stared at Li Zhuiyuan in disbelief. He had never expected this child to have actually called the police!

"Xina Kangzi, what the hell are you doing!"

The owner ran from behind the counter toward the neighboring shop like a madman. He had to warn them—he absolutely could not let the police catch them red-handed.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the telephone. He had originally thought the owner had called back to say, "A child was just fooling around. Please don't take it seriously. Sorry for troubling you."

Instead, once the owner confirmed that he had called the police, he had been so frightened that he hung up immediately. He had not even considered that possibility.

Still, Li Zhuiyuan placed the phone fee on the counter and took two candies from the jar on the counter as change.

The candy of that era often had another edible coating beneath the wrapper, which could be dissolved in the mouth, but Li Zhuiyuan was used to scraping it off.

By the time he had cleaned off the coating and been sucking on the candy for a while, the shop owner still had not come out of the video hall.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that the owner had probably run into trouble inside.

With a silent sigh, Li Zhuiyuan decided he should keep his distance.

After the cars on the road had passed, he crossed to the other side. Still feeling that the straight-line distance was too close, he headed farther west and stopped in front of a bicycle repair shop.

From here, he could watch the video hall across the road, and when the police arrived, they would pass by his side first.

Before long, Li Zhuiyuan saw a police motorcycle arrive, followed by a police car.

The two vehicles stopped in front of the video hall. Six uniformed officers got out; four entered through the front entrance, while two went around the back.

The arrival of the police vehicles drew the attention of many nearby people. Evening shoppers and neighboring shop owners alike gathered around to watch the commotion.

Li Zhuiyuan did not move closer. He remained where he was and quietly waited for the outcome.

Less than two minutes later, an officer ran out of the video hall in a panic, his face full of disbelief.

Li Zhuiyuan's heart lurched. Could something have happened to the police officer too?

However, when he saw that officer take out the radio from the police car and begin speaking into it, and another officer emerged from the video hall afterward...

Li Zhuiyuan knew that the miasma had been broken.

In The Righteous Path to Subdue Demons, "miasma" had an entire volume devoted to it. Broadly speaking, it referred to a special environment formed when a Death Collapse lingered in one place.

That volume described many methods of investigation, analysis, and breaking such situations.

But clearly, in Wei Zhengdao's era, there had been neither telephones nor People's Police.

Soon, reinforcements arrived wave after wave. Among them was a middle-aged plainclothes officer with dark stubble covering his chin. After getting out of the car, his gaze quickly swept over the surroundings.

Though it seemed inappropriate to use such words for a police officer, this man gave Li Zhuiyuan the feeling of being watched by a hawk, because his gaze was simply too sharp.

What surprised Li Zhuiyuan even more was that the man did not head into the video hall. Instead, he pushed through the crowd in front of him and seemed to be coming toward Li Zhuiyuan.

But his movement was interrupted by his colleagues calling out from behind, forcing him to turn back.

At that moment, people from the video hall were led out one after another.

Their bodies looked limp, and they seemed liable to twist an ankle and fall at any moment, yet their faces were flushed and they swayed their heads wildly.

The middle-aged officer stepped forward, grabbed one person's arm, and pushed his fingers upward along the man's forearm, much like a classic massage maneuver.

He then released that arm and grabbed the second, then the third, repeating the same motion.

"Captain Tan, what's wrong?"

Tan Yunlong shook his head. "It doesn't look like they took anything."

His words left quite a few surrounding officers staring in astonishment.

To be honest, at first it had merely been a relatively simple case involving prostitution and the distribution of pornography. But after the responding officers checked the scene, they immediately made an excited report.

Then the entire Police Station erupted.

Who would have thought that in a rural township, they would suddenly uncover a den of people using drugs together?

Tan Yunlong knew what his colleagues were thinking, so he could only say, "This is merely my personal judgment. Bring them back to the station first, then have the town Health Center send medical staff over to examine them."

"Yes, Captain Tan."

In truth, Tan Yunlong was not entirely certain either, because this group's behavior looked far too much like it.

Soon, everyone in the video hall was brought outside.

Among them, Li Zhuiyuan spotted Lei Zi and Pan Zi. Rather than being afraid of the police, the two were chatting to themselves and occasionally high-fiving.

The two women who worked part-time at the video hall were the same. They even took the initiative to laugh and chat with the officers beside them.

Even a blind man could tell that something was wrong with that behavior.

Additionally, Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Brother Leopard, who had been behind that woman, was gone.

But where Brother Leopard had gone, Li Zhuiyuan neither knew nor could find out.

Next, they were loaded into police cars one by one, while the video hall and the convenience store next door were sealed off by the police.

The report had been called in from the convenience store, something that could be verified easily. Yet the owner was now writhing the most violently. After being put into the police car, he pressed himself against the window and kept making faces.

Perhaps because he had been the last to enter, he was currently at the height of his excitement.

Li Zhuiyuan looked around, puzzled. Why had Brother Run Sheng not returned yet?

A pedicab happened to be parked ahead, its driver watching the excitement. Li Zhuiyuan walked over, got in, gave the location of the town Health Center, and asked the fare.

After the pedicab driver quoted a price, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized that because of the earlier phone call, he had naturally switched to Mandarin and had not switched back to the local dialect. He asked for the price again in the Nantong Dialect.

The pedicab driver gave an embarrassed laugh and quoted a price half of the first one.

After arriving at the town Health Center and walking inside, Li Zhuiyuan had not yet had the chance to ask where Sister Mei and Run Sheng were when he saw two officers already walking ahead.

He followed them and quickly found a quiet hospital room. Run Sheng was sitting silently on a bench outside.

The officers pushed open the door and went inside. Li Zhuiyuan walked over to Run Sheng, gently nudged him, and asked:

"Brother Run Sheng, what are you doing sitting here?"

Run Sheng raised his head. "Little Yuan..."

After speaking with him, Li Zhuiyuan finally learned what had happened after they were sent to the hospital.

First, Brother Leopard's resuscitation had failed, and he had been declared dead.

Upon hearing that news, Sister Mei had fainted on the spot.

After the elderly pedicab driver arrived at the hospital, he simply left.

Therefore, the Health Center staff had required Run Sheng to stay behind and pay the bill. But Run Sheng had no money in his pockets, so he could only sit there as a "hostage."

He had thought that once Sister Mei woke up and he explained things clearly, he would be able to leave. It was just that Sister Mei had been unconscious for rather a long time.

Li Zhuiyuan took the initiative to push open the door and find the officers. Inside the hospital room, Sister Mei lay on the bed, surrounded by two uniformed officers and one plainclothes officer.

That plainclothes officer had arrived earlier. Li Zhuiyuan had not known beforehand; if he had, he might have hesitated before coming in, because it was the very man who had seemed to notice him at a glance in the crowd.

Li Zhuiyuan first approached the two officers and explained the situation, saying that his friend had merely done a good deed and should not be dragged into this subsequent trouble.

After the officers understood the full story, they took the initiative to speak with the Health Center staff. Soon, Run Sheng was informed that he could leave.

"That's great! I can finally go home and eat!"

Run Sheng was starving. He practically wanted to carry Li Zhuiyuan on his back and sprint home.

But at that moment, a voice sounded from behind them. "Kid, wait a moment."

Tan Yunlong walked up to Li Zhuiyuan, bent down, and studied the boy seriously.

"Kid, you were the one who called the police, weren't you?"

The dispatcher's feedback had been that the caller was a boy. Once Tan Yunlong arrived at the scene, he had immediately noticed Li Zhuiyuan.

How should he put it? While everyone else crowded forward to watch the excitement, someone standing alone and quietly at the edge, with an excellent vantage point, naturally stood out more. Added to that, the boy's friend had taken the video hall owner and his wife to the hospital. Putting all those clues together, it could not have been a coincidence.

"Yes, Officer, I was the one who called."

Li Zhuiyuan did not deny it. In front of such an experienced officer, lying simply was not worth it.

"Why did you call the police?"

"But wasn't I supposed to call the police?"

Tan Yunlong was briefly choked up. In the end, he could only smile. "You were. You did very well."

"Officer, can we go home now?"

"Of course." The test results regarding the video hall had not come out yet, but regardless, the person who made the report should be protected. "Come on, where do you live? I'll drive you home. It isn't safe for children to walk at night."

"Thank you, Officer."

Tan Yunlong had Li Zhuiyuan and Run Sheng get into the car. Before driving, he first removed the police siren from the roof.

He did not take Li Zhuiyuan directly home. Instead, he stopped the car once they reached Village Road.

Li Zhuiyuan said goodbye to Tan Yunlong, then got out with Run Sheng and headed toward Great Grandfather's Home. At the fork where they were about to turn into the small lane, they saw Li Weihan hurrying over on a Flying Pigeon bicycle, followed by four uncles, all of them rushing out of the village in a flurry.

Li Weihan's face was grave. Two of the four uncles looked deeply worried, while the other two were livid and still cursing under their breaths.

"Grandpa, Uncles."

"Little Yuanhou, hurry home. Your grandpa and uncles need to go into town."

Li Weihan did not even have the attention to properly greet his beloved grandson. The message brought by the messenger had been too shocking:

Lei Zi and Pan Zi had used that stuff in town and been arrested by the police!

The news was like a bolt from the blue!

They were rushing to the town Police Station. The two uncles muttering about beating those little bastards to death were Pan Zi's and Lei Zi's fathers.

Run Sheng asked curiously, "Little Yuan, did something happen?"

"Let's go home first. I'm hungry, Brother Run Sheng."

"Right, me too!"

When they returned home, Aunt Liu reproached them mildly. "How did you two lose track of time just from going out to play? We finished eating ages ago. Your Great Grandfather ate too and went out for a walk."

Still, Aunt Liu quickly brought out the food she had saved for them, though it did not look quite as appetizing anymore.

There was one bowl in front of Li Zhuiyuan, rice on the bottom and dishes piled on top. In front of Run Sheng was a basin.

Run Sheng hurriedly lit incense, then took several huge bites in a row. He chewed with an intoxicated, blissful expression, as if he had finally recovered.

The way he looked was more like he had taken something than the people suspected in front of the video hall.

Qin Li sat down across from Li Zhuiyuan and watched him eat.

While they were eating, Great Grandfather returned from his walk and remarked:

"Damn it, why is everyone in the village saying Pan Zi and Lei Zi joined a gang that sells opium, and that they're high-ranking members too?"

Li Zhuiyuan nearly choked on his food. As he coughed, he felt a soft little hand gently patting his back.

Li Sanjiang sat down, lit a cigarette, and continued, "You really can't tell. Those two boys always looked honest enough in the village. Guess you really can't judge a person by appearances."

"Great Grandfather, the villagers must be spreading nonsense. How could that be possible?"

"You never know. Your grandpa and uncles have gone to the Police Station now.

"Little Yuanhou, Great Grandfather has to warn you. Other things can be discussed, but you must never touch that stuff. Once you do, your whole life is basically over."

"I understand, Great Grandfather."

"By the way, who did you go out with this afternoon? You played until so late before coming home."

"With Panzi Ge and Leizi Ge."

The wrinkles on Li Sanjiang's face tightened, then relaxed as he nodded. "Then the villagers must be making things up after hearing rumors."

After dinner, Li Sanjiang went upstairs to wash up and sleep. Tomorrow, he had to get up early to perform Ritual Presiding at Old Zhao's home.

Run Sheng went to rinse himself off by the well. Without even drying himself properly, he eagerly turned on the television and sat down to watch.

With water constantly dripping from his soaked body and the pale light cast by the television, he looked like a Death Collapse that had just crawled ashore.

Li Zhuiyuan, meanwhile, assumed a horse stance in the yard.

A Li stood beside him, keeping him company.

After practicing long enough, Li Zhuiyuan straightened up and let out a long breath. A fine layer of sweat covered him, while much of the fatigue accumulated during the day had eased.

Liu Yumei had been sitting in the yard, cracking sunflower seeds and enjoying the evening breeze. Seeing that Li Zhuiyuan had finished practicing, she could not help teasing him:

"What's the use of practicing that? Look how serious you are."

"I'm just treating it like calisthenics."

That answer made Liu Yumei freeze. Without realizing it, she spat out the sunflower seed kernel and started chewing the shell.

Li Zhuiyuan seemed to realize that he had said something wrong and hurriedly added, "I just feel much better physically and mentally after practicing it. It's amazing."

"You're still young. Your bones haven't finished developing, so you aren't suited to practicing hard martial arts yet."

"Okay, Grandma Liu." Li Zhuiyuan looked at the belt around A Li's waist. "Grandma, isn't A Li's belt a little inappropriate?"

A Li was already prone to losing control when she encountered strangers or stimulation. Giving her a flexible sword to wear at her waist... that would mean someone getting chopped.

"Grandma thinks it suits her just fine. Only this belt can match the outfit our A Li is wearing."

The moment Liu Yumei finished speaking, A Li immediately untied the belt and threw it on the ground, because Little Yuan had said it was inappropriate.

The old woman's mouth twitched faintly.

Li Zhuiyuan bent down and carefully picked up the belt. Though it was thin and soft, it could be extremely dangerous if used with the right technique.

"All right, it's getting late. A Li, you should go to sleep. We'll play together again tomorrow morning."

A Li obediently returned to the house.

Li Zhuiyuan apologized, "Grandma Liu, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that in front of A Li."

"Grandma was just a little embarrassed. I'm not so muddleheaded that I can't tell good intentions from bad ones. I know you meant well.

"But there's something you misunderstood. Your Great Grandfather must have told you about A Li. When A Li truly has an episode, it doesn't matter whether there are weapons nearby or not."

"What?"

"Go back to your room. A Ting said you asked her to buy quite a few things today."

"I asked Aunt Liu to help me buy some materials for homework."

"Then go do your homework properly. This old woman is going to bed first."

"Good night, Grandma Liu."

Li Zhuiyuan went up to the second floor and opened his bedroom door, only to see all kinds of materials filling the room. The formerly empty room had suddenly become full and cramped.

"Aunt Liu is really efficient."

Li Zhuiyuan walked over to a cage. Inside was a tiny black puppy, with a water bowl and a food bowl in the cage.

Earlier downstairs, Aunt Liu had not mentioned a single word about it. Clearly, she was only responsible for helping him buy things; as for how he would explain it to Great Grandfather afterward, that was his own problem.

Including raising a Little Black Dog.

By rights, a puppy this age should have been at its liveliest and most rambunctious, yet this one lay sprawled against the side of its cage, sleeping soundly.

Even when he walked right up to it, it did not so much as open an eye.

He had confirmed it: this dog was not suited to guarding the gate. If put on watch, it would rest earlier, wake later, and sleep more deeply than its owners.

However, Li Zhuiyuan had not wanted it for that. He needed its blood.

That sounded somewhat cruel, but it was not. Virgin black dog blood appeared frequently in The Righteous Path to Subdue Demons, and was one of the essential components for activating and using many implements.

Yet only its essence was needed—a tiny smear of blood, used as a catalyst.

Like when Great Grandfather performed rites before recovering a corpse, splashing black dog blood around by the basinful... that was actually wrong.

Li Zhuiyuan had searched through Records of Strange Tales from the Jianghu and The Righteous Path to Subdue Demons, but had never seen any Death Collapse killed by being doused in black dog blood.

Besides, what Great Grandfather splashed around did not seem to be dog blood at all. He had prepared it in advance by adding pigment. As for what blood he used, that depended on whether the family had eaten chicken or pork in the previous days.

Normally, to ensure the blood essence remained potent, black dog blood drawn within a month was best. Beyond that, its effectiveness would be greatly diminished.

Each time, a bottle-capful was enough. It could then be mixed with other ingredients and ground into something like red ink paste. When it was needed, he only had to open the lid, press a fingertip into it, and smear it wherever necessary.

That amount and frequency would have a negligible impact on the dog's health. At worst, he could give it a big chicken drumstick after each blood draw to nourish it.

As for how to raise a virgin dog, the book recorded that as well. It was not complicated: feed it medicine.

The book contained a prescription that even an old traditional physician would consider merely a tonic for humans. Yet if a dog ate it, aside from strengthening its body, it would produce a side effect specific to dogs: it would drastically reduce its desire in that regard.

Keeping the dog shut in a dark room and isolated from the outside world could easily cause mental instability. Its blood would then carry baleful energy, making it less effective.

Yet simply keeping watch over the dog took too much effort. And if it ever found a chance to slip out and fool around, losing its virginity, there would be no way to verify it. If he then faced a Death Collapse with useless black dog blood, he would be the one out of luck. The cost was too high.

Neutering the dog once and for all was even less advisable. A dog that had lost its vigor had no essence in its blood, making it completely useless.

Therefore, feeding the dog this tonic was the most suitable option. As long as it was given according to the treatment course, it would remain an upright canine gentleman even during mating season.

Wei Zhengdao was a kindhearted man. He even mentioned in the book that once the dog reached three or four years of age, the medicine could be stopped and it could be granted its freedom, while a new dog was selected for blood collection.

Dogs that had taken the medicine were often stronger and healthier. Their only regret was that they could not pursue the canine way for those few years.

But once freed, they could still have a vast sky and a brilliant future. Consider it hardship first, sweetness later.

Seeing that the little puppy still ignored him, Li Zhuiyuan stopped paying attention to it. He took out his list and began putting the items away one by one.

Luckily, Brother Liangliang had given him some money earlier. Otherwise, his own pocket money would not have been enough to buy so many things.

And this was only the first batch of raw materials. It did not even include the upcoming experimental losses and processing costs.

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan finally felt the pressure of finances.

He somewhat regretted turning down the jade thumb ring Liu Yumei had offered him.

After checking everything and confirming nothing was missing, Li Zhuiyuan returned to his desk and began drawing design drafts.

The illustrations in the books were rather rough and mostly supplemented by written descriptions. He had to translate them into proper drafts before he could find someone to make them in the real world.

These handmade books were truly difficult to work through.

He worked until one in the morning, then left his desk, took a shower, and went to bed.

When he woke the next day and turned his head, he saw A Li sitting in a chair in her red dress.

Li Zhuiyuan could not help worrying. If he returned to the capital, would he feel oddly disappointed and unaccustomed when he woke up and could no longer see her?

The puppy in the cage seemed very interested in A Li. Facing her, it kept pawing at the cage.

But unlike other girls, A Li had no interest in cute little animals. Otherwise, Liu Yumei would probably have built her a small zoo long ago.

While washing up, he heard people talking in the yard below. It was Li Weihan and Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan quietly listened upstairs for a while.

The police had taken people back to the Police Station yesterday. After checking them, they found that not one of them had taken that stuff. However, among the four hooligans who had left earlier, the ringleader in the suit had connections to it.

That guy had originally been lying at home. When the police came to his door and asked him to go to the Police Station to assist with the investigation, he was so frightened that he confessed everything. He was only a small fry who had just found an upstream supplier and planned to distribute the stuff for quick money. This had led the police straight up the chain.

As for what had happened to those people in the video hall, the police explained that the gas valve on the Earthen Stove in a corner had not been properly shut off. Everyone had suffered gas poisoning, causing many of them to hallucinate.

Li Sanjiang asked in surprise, "Gas poisoning causes that kind of reaction?"

Li Weihan replied, "That's what the police said. Panhou and Leihou got IV drips, and once they returned home, they were normal again."

Li Sanjiang said with lingering fear, "Goodness, city folks take such huge risks using gas. Our Earthen Stove is still better."

Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs and greeted Li Weihan. Li Weihan stroked Li Zhuiyuan's head and took the opportunity to scold Pan Zi and Lei Zi again as cautionary examples.

Although they had not taken that stuff, they had gone to the video hall to watch that kind of video and gotten caught in a police vice raid. It was humiliating enough.

After Pan Zi and Lei Zi received their IV drips and returned home, their two uncles gave them a thorough encouragement with rattan switches to improve their sleep quality.

Still, Li Zhuiyuan could tell that Panzi Ge and Leizi Ge were loyal. Even after getting into trouble and taking a beating, they had stubbornly refused to mention that he had gone to the video hall too.

After Li Weihan left, Li Sanjiang called Run Sheng over, and together they pushed the Paper Crafting offerings to Old Zhao's house, where a funeral was being held that day.

Li Sanjiang invited Li Zhuiyuan to come along and have a funeral meal, but Li Zhuiyuan declined, using his excuse that he needed to stay home and study in peace.

For the entire day that followed, Li Zhuiyuan stayed in his room doing handicrafts, mainly preparing some basic materials.

He also let the puppy out of its cage to run around. But after it tried to approach A Li and was frightened by the sudden chill emanating from her, it could not be bothered to explore anymore. It actually returned to its cage by itself and went to sleep.

Moreover, from last night until now, apart from making a few noises that morning to remind him its water bowl was empty, it had not barked again.

Li Zhuiyuan even suspected that, even without being fed that medicine, once it grew up enough to have that capability, it still would not go out fooling around. It was simply too lazy to move.

At first, Li Zhuiyuan had only tried having A Li help him with some simple tasks. But after discovering that she learned quickly and worked with great precision, he began treating her as an official collaborator.

To a certain extent, Li Zhuiyuan had to admit that A Li's handicraft skills surpassed his own.

The two spent the entire day in that atmosphere. Their interaction felt stronger than when they read together, though A Li ended up quite filthy.

Before dinner, Li Zhuiyuan used a towel to wipe A Li's hands and face. The dirt on her clothes, however, was not easy to deal with.

Liu Yumei had just picked up her chopsticks to eat when she saw the filthy boy leading her equally filthy granddaughter downstairs. She was so shocked she nearly snapped her chopsticks.

Her granddaughter was a clean freak who needed to remain spotless at all times. Yet after being with this brat, she no longer seemed to care about any of that.

Though rationally, Liu Yumei knew everything was rapidly improving, emotionally, as a grandmother, she still found it hard to accept.

Was this not like the daughter she had raised in fine clothes and luxury suddenly saying one day that she was willing to go out and work with some poor boy, sharing hardship with him?

And she was not merely saying it, either.

Liu Yumei quickly calmed herself. During dinner, she noticed that her granddaughter was no longer merely eating with her head lowered. After taking a few bites, she would lift her head, look at the boy across from her, and sway ever so slightly.

The emotions Liu Yumei had finally calmed began to churn again... damn it, working together actually worked.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan did not plan to keep rushing the work that night. He was also worried about tiring A Li out. He would just draw new drafts by himself that evening.

After taking A Li back to the East Room, he went upstairs, first practicing horse stance on the terrace before returning to his room to draw.

Late at night, Li Zhuiyuan left his room to wash his face. On the way, he discovered that Great Grandfather's bedroom was empty. Hearing the television downstairs, he went down the stairs and saw Run Sheng watching TV alone while gnawing on incense.

"Brother Run Sheng, where's my Great Grandfather?"

"Still drinking at the funeral meal, probably."

Run Sheng was not suited to sit at a funeral table, so Li Sanjiang had packed food separately for him. He sat alone in a corner eating with incense, then greeted everyone and returned early to watch television after his meal.

"Oh, I see."

"Little Yuan, want to watch TV?"

"No, Brother Run Sheng, you watch. I'm heading back up."

Back in his second-floor bedroom, Li Zhuiyuan drew several more diagrams. Feeling that he had reached his limit for the day, he checked the time and saw it had passed midnight. It was time to wash up and sleep.

Carrying a washbasin toward the shower room, he deliberately glanced at Great Grandfather's bedroom and found that Great Grandfather had still not returned.

When he went downstairs, he saw Run Sheng adjusting channels while fiddling with the antenna.

"Brother Run Sheng, Great Grandfather still isn't back. Could he have gotten drunk at their house?"

Li Zhuiyuan knew that Great Grandfather liked drinking. Whenever he presided over a ritual and attended the funeral meal, he would certainly drink his fill.

"I don't know."

"Brother Run Sheng, come with me to take a look. If Great Grandfather's drunk, we'll carry him home."

"Sure."

Li Zhuiyuan took out a flashlight and put in the batteries. Old Zhao's house was not far away, but the road was hard to walk at night.

Walking along the country path, they saw as they neared Old Zhao's house that although the canopy was still up, its lights had mostly gone out. The funeral meal had clearly ended long ago.

Yet as soon as they stepped into the yard, they saw that a lamp was still lit beneath the large canopy. Three people sat beneath it, still drinking, and one of them was Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan could not help sighing inwardly. It seemed Great Grandfather had met drinking companions tonight. He had actually ignored the fact that the hosts had ended the meal and kept drinking and chatting with them until now.

At that moment, unable to wait any longer, Run Sheng raised his hand from far away and waved as he shouted, "Grandpa, they've already cleared the tables! Let's go home too!"

Hearing Run Sheng shout, Li Sanjiang looked over through drunken eyes and waved back. "It's fine. I told the hosts I was afraid their boy might not find his way home tonight, so I'd preside over the ritual for him a little longer. The hosts were delighted. They brought us cold dishes and saved extra liquor for us."

Immediately afterward, Li Sanjiang began introducing his two drinking companions. "See that? That's my great-grandson. My great-grandson is handsome and smart, just lovable. Don't get the wrong one, though. Not that big fool—that one belongs to Shan Pao's family."

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the table, intending to apologize to Great Grandfather's two drinking companions before taking the clearly tipsy old man home to rest.

As he approached, he had assumed the reason he could not see the two companions' upper bodies, especially their faces, was because the lighting was dim.

But now that he stood right beside them, he still could not make out their faces. He only felt that Great Grandfather's two drinking companions seemed rather young. Could they be friends despite the age gap?

Li Zhuiyuan raised the flashlight in his hand and casually swept it over their faces.

In an instant,

Li Zhuiyuan's heart trembled.

Because one of the people sitting at the drinking table was Brother Leopard!

The other looked familiar, but Li Zhuiyuan could not remember where he had seen him. He only felt the man looked far too young, only a little older than Run Sheng.

But the answer came quickly, because after the flashlight beam swept across their faces, it happened to stop on the black-and-white memorial portrait in the center of the funeral hall.

Today's funeral was being held for him.

And now, he had sat down at the table,

and was eating at his own funeral meal.