Chapter 37

For the past few days, Li Zhuiyuan's main occupation had been reading.

He ignored Grandma Liu's repeated hints, both subtle and obvious. He did not disturb A Li, nor did he try to approach her again for contact or explanations.

Because he knew that blindly pestering someone was nothing more than meaningless self-indulgence.

A Li had returned to her room and shut herself away again.

But Li Zhuiyuan knew how to call her back out.

The last time the girl had come out was because the Cat-faced Old Woman had entered the house. So all he needed to do was recreate the scene.

Li Zhuiyuan did not know whether the Cat-faced Old Woman had dissipated, but even if the three members of the Niu Family were still alive, their filial children had probably nursed them into a near-death state by now.

The baleful energy on the Black Cat had likely dispersed for the most part. Its medicinal effect might not be enough.

Besides, even if he found it, it probably would not dare come. It would be afraid of encountering a Zombie again after entering the house.

But Death Collapses were not cabbages growing by the roadside. They seemed easy enough to stumble across by accident, but when one seriously tried to seek them out, they became rather hard to find.

After thinking it over, Little Yellow Oriole was the only option left.

First, she lived nearby.

He only had to carry the bell and incense burner for a few steps to lead her home. It was not as though he could catch one outside and have Run Sheng haul it back on a tricycle.

Second, they had worked together before.

Lastly, and most importantly, Li Zhuiyuan clearly remembered that when Little Yellow Oriole had led Big Beard and his son into the pond, black mist had not risen from her body like it had from the Cat-faced Old Woman and the Death Collapse of the Zhou-family Taisui.

He did not know why, but that meant Little Yellow Oriole was very likely still there. She had not dissipated.

Now, the scene had been successfully recreated.

Little Yellow Oriole's arrival successfully caught A Li's attention. A Li came out and entered the dream, and Li Zhuiyuan finally "saw" her again.

It was just that after apologizing, the boy had nothing more to say.

He did not want to explain how Li Lan's phone call had affected him, nor did he want to elaborate on his illness. He certainly would not say that he needed comfort and support too, and that they could help each other.

If such words had worked on A Li, then Liu Yumei, A Li's biological grandmother, had probably said them countless times already.

The only thing a burdensome explanation could accomplish was being burdensome.

He only needed to make his attitude clear. The balcony of his heart was open again, and he hoped she could come out and take another look.

I have what you need, and I need to be in your eyes again.

Mutual need was the most stable bond in human relationships.

The boy and girl simply stood there in silence.

Behind them, Little Yellow Oriole still held her arms half-raised. She had been brought here today mainly to serve as a telephone line.

Aside from that, her presence allowed gusts of Yin wind and low wails to rise around them, keeping the environment and atmosphere from becoming too monotonous.

After a long while, A Li turned around and walked into the room.

Li Zhuiyuan did not call after her or chase her for a clear answer. He merely raised his head, looked at the night sky with some distaste, and waited for dawn.

But before dawn arrived, he still had to send back the person he had invited.

Li Zhuiyuan walked back to Little Yellow Oriole, bent down to pick up the incense burner and bell, then turned around and slowly stepped backward until those cold, wet hands once more settled onto his shoulders.

He closed his eyes and tried hard to imagine himself underwater, his body continuously floating upward, upward, upward...

As his head broke through the surface, Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes again.

He turned his head and saw Run Sheng standing by the embankment, holding the Seven Star Hook in his left hand and the Yellow River Shovel in his right, on guard.

He had returned to reality. The Yin Walking had ended.

Li Sanjiang, who had gotten drunk today and was currently snoring away inside, would probably never have imagined that after painstakingly performing the Fortune-Transfer Ritual again and again, all to sever Little Yuanhou's dark side and allow him to live like a normal person...

The boy had gradually figured out the rules of Yin Walking through repeated practice.

"Ding-ling-ling... Ding-ling-ling..."

The bell rang. Li Zhuiyuan turned around, and the figure in the cheongsam behind him turned with him, holding onto his shoulder.

Run Sheng rubbed the back of his head with the flat of the Yellow River Shovel.

He did not quite understand why Little Yuan had brought a Death Collapse out of the water in the middle of the night, only to take it back again. Fortunately, he never thought too deeply about things he did not understand. Little Yuan would tell him what to do anyway.

They did not run into anyone in the deep night, and Li Zhuiyuan smoothly led Little Yellow Oriole all the way back to the pond outside Big Beard's home.

"Hm?"

When he had led Little Yellow Oriole out of the pond earlier, Li Zhuiyuan had been facing away from the Fish Pond. Now that he had returned, Little Yellow Oriole was still behind him and had not gone down.

Thus, Li Zhuiyuan was able to reexamine the Fish Pond's original state, temporarily free of Little Yellow Oriole's influence.

He had come here before, but back then, he had not read the Liu Clan's Qi Gazing Art. It had been like an illiterate child visiting ancient ruins and scenic sites, unable to understand a single word on the inscriptions.

Now, he sensed something was wrong.

Little Yellow Oriole was clearly not inside, yet the Feng Shui Meteorology of the Fish Pond was even gloomier than when they had arrived.

If it had become clearer and more dispersed, that would have been understandable. But the opposite meant that something even more unusual lay in the depths of this Fish Pond. Little Yellow Oriole's presence above it had instead concealed it.

Could that be why Little Yellow Oriole had shown no sign of dissipating even after completing her revenge?

"Ding-ling-ling... Ding-ling-ling..."

Li Zhuiyuan did not immediately place the candles to send Little Yellow Oriole down. Instead, he led her slowly along the edge of the Fish Pond, wanting to see whether he could uncover its true secret.

But as they walked, Li Zhuiyuan gained no further insight. Instead, Little Yellow Oriole behind him gradually began showing signs of restlessness.

Li Zhuiyuan knew it was because he had kept her summoned for too long.

The hands that had originally rested on his shoulders had changed to a grip, tightening with increasing force. That wet cold seeped through Li Zhuiyuan's entire body.

For a time, Li Zhuiyuan grew agitated as well. Even his Qi-gazing state became difficult to maintain, turning halting and uneven, like the ghostly scrawl in the Liu Clan's Qi Gazing Art after he had resumed reading it following an earlier interruption.

But at that moment, a flash of Spiritual Light suddenly crossed Li Zhuiyuan's mind.

He raised his hand and tried observing the Fish Pond's Feng Shui Meteorology again according to the feeling he had when reading that ghostly, scribbled handwriting.

Amid those warped, overlapping, irregular fluctuations, several details he had failed to notice before actually emerged.

Great Yin casts a line, the lone pool reflects the moon; favorable for burying a noble woman, gathering and drawing in blessings.

This was an excellent site for a water burial. If a distinguished woman of a family were buried here, she could protect and nourish the good fortune of her descendants.

The reason ancient people disliked water burials was that waterways were prone to change. Not only would it make it inconvenient for descendants to offer incense and mourn, it could also easily damage the original Feng Shui Pattern.

But water burial customs had existed since ancient times. First, good burial sites were precious. Second, they were less likely to be robbed. Third, some people had special identities and simply wished to be buried without anyone knowing.

Although this pond had also suffered considerable damage, its basic Feng Shui Pattern had been preserved.

The reason Li Zhuiyuan had failed to see it before was precisely because it was damaged. It was like a problem that was already wrong; trying to force a correct textbook answer onto it would only make everything mismatch.

But where in this world could one find a perfectly intact Feng Shui Pattern, unless it had just been constructed?

Thus, this rough method of correcting errors through errors was instead the right way to solve real-world problems.

That meant his earlier guess had been wrong. This person had not copied the book in nervous haste and written the characters hideously. Rather, the copyist had deliberately incorporated his practical understanding into the form of the handwriting.

That was truly... an unimaginably advanced technique.

He had clearly stolen and copied someone else's work, yet his comprehension was deeper than that of the original owners.

Why could Li Zhuiyuan still be sure it was a copy?

Because if the Liu family themselves had mastered this method of improving practical understanding, they would never have deliberately continued writing the text in neat, orderly characters, making it harder for later generations to comprehend.

And that day, Liu Yumei had glanced at the book in his hand, whose cover he had deliberately torn off. She had only seen the messy, scribbled handwriting and had not recognized it as her family's Liu Clan's Qi Gazing Art at all.

Li Zhuiyuan became curious. Just who was this copyist?

But at least one thing could now be confirmed: the main burial chamber the Water Monkeys were searching for should be here.

It was just that the Water Monkeys' skills were inadequate. They had been misled by the decoy burial chamber at Sihai's Fish Pond, triggered the Earth Yin Red Balefulness, and lost two of their own.

The police had already set up surveillance at the Health Center ward, waiting for their accomplices to visit the injured so they could catch them all in one sweep.

No, what was this?

Li Zhuiyuan had initially assumed the sticky liquid dripping onto him came from Little Yellow Oriole behind him. But how could what flowed from Little Yellow Oriole's body possibly be warm?

He lowered his head, touched his chest, then his chin, and finally his nose...

Fine, there was no need to keep checking. He could already feel the blood pouring violently from his nose.

What was going on?

Had his body not yet recovered from the strain caused by speeding through the Liu Clan's Qi Gazing Art these past few days, or was using this newly understood method to gaze at Qi also an enormous burden on him?

Either way, if he did not stop the bleeding soon, something was truly going to go wrong.

Most importantly, perhaps because his blood kept flowing, Little Yellow Oriole behind him, who had already grown restless, became even more agitated!

She was no longer satisfied with merely gripping his shoulders. Her head had moved beside his face. Though she did not breathe, she was like a beast drawing near to deeply sniff its prey.

Li Zhuiyuan did not dare delay any longer. Besides, his purpose had already been accomplished. He immediately turned to Run Sheng in the distance and pointed to where the candles should be placed.

Run Sheng had only been following behind and had not stayed too close, so he did not know what was happening to Li Zhuiyuan. Now that Little Yuan turned toward him, Run Sheng saw under the moonlight that Little Yuan's face and clothes were covered in blood. Combined with Little Yellow Oriole's violently swaying body, he immediately thought Little Yellow Oriole was strangling Li Zhuiyuan and gnawing at his neck!

Run Sheng instantly grabbed the Yellow River Shovel and prepared to rush forward to save Little Yuan, only to hear Little Yuan shout:

"Put the candles at those two spots and light them!"

Run Sheng's mind and body clashed from sheer momentum. Holding the Yellow River Shovel, he spun around on one leg.

If he had not quickly steadied himself by driving the shovel into the ground, he might have fallen straight into the Fish Pond.

After scrambling back up, Run Sheng swiftly arranged the candles, then took out matches and lit them.

Li Zhuiyuan shook the bell and guided Little Yellow Oriole to that spot at just the right moment.

With his back to the Fish Pond, he snapped the incense sticks in the burner and extinguished them.

But Little Yellow Oriole did not release him. She still gripped his arm.

She did not want to leave.

The situation perfectly illustrated how it was easy to invite a spirit but hard to send one away.

Run Sheng had already picked up the Soul Returning Basket. He was ready to cover the Death Collapse with it, then hold the Death Collapse and fall into the water with her.

Li Zhuiyuan rubbed the bell against his face, coating it in blood, then flung it backward. The clear chime of the bell rang through the air before dropping into the Fish Pond.

Little Yellow Oriole released him, turned around, and walked toward the Fish Pond.

The water gradually rose over her body. Her hand grabbed the bell floating on the surface.

Li Zhuiyuan immediately pulled out two sheets of Yellow Paper, lit them from the candles, spread his arms, then clapped the burning Yellow Paper together with force!

"Smack!"

Sparks scattered from the Yellow Paper, but the flames went out at once.

The flames of the two candles on the ground turned green.

Li Zhuiyuan stomped down, completely extinguishing both candles.

After finishing all this, he looked toward Little Yellow Oriole in the Fish Pond. She had turned back around, and the water had risen over her chest, leaving only her neck and head above the surface as she stared at him.

"The Gate of Life is shut. Three offerings shall see you off. Please return!"

At last, Little Yellow Oriole slowly sank beneath the water. Once her loose black hair had completely submerged, her figure could no longer be seen.

Li Zhuiyuan dropped to the ground with a thud, leaning back and raising his head, but his nosebleed continued.

"Brother Run Sheng, help me roll up two paper plugs."

"Right away!"

Run Sheng immediately picked up some Yellow Paper and rolled two balls, but the first ones were too large to fit into Li Zhuiyuan's nostrils, so he had to roll two more.

Even after stuffing them in, the bleeding did not stop. Blood soaked through the paper plugs and continued flowing out. Only after they were replaced with two fresh ones did the nosebleed finally settle down.

Li Zhuiyuan breathed heavily. He felt obvious tightness in his chest and weakness in his body, symptoms of excessive blood loss.

Run Sheng carefully tended to him nearby. He did not even care that there was a Death Collapse in the Fish Pond, running over to scoop up plenty of water to cool Little Yuan's forehead and wash the blood from his cheeks.

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Only after resting for quite a while did Li Zhuiyuan finally recover somewhat.

Run Sheng let out a breath and patted his chest, saying with lingering fear, "Little Yuan, she was terrifying."

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "She was very good. It was my fault."

Little Yellow Oriole had already been restrained enough. This time, it really was his own fault. Who would have expected that examining Feng Shui could overdraw his body so badly?

Even the gentlest lion, if you provoked it with a bloodied head and body, deserved no sympathy if it finally ate you.

But this was also the price of trial and error when linking theory to practice. All he could say was that it was fortunate it had been Little Yellow Oriole. If it had been another Death Collapse, even if Run Sheng could save him, they would still have had to fight it.

"Little Yuan, what exactly were you doing tonight?"

Li Zhuiyuan pointed at the Fish Pond ahead. "Brother Run Sheng, there's a tomb beneath it."

Run Sheng's face immediately lit up with excitement, and he gripped the Yellow River Shovel again.

"Little Yuan, I'll dig it up!"

"Brother Run Sheng, what movies have you been watching lately?"

"Raiders of the Lost Ark. There are three of them, all shown on the county channel."

"Brother Run Sheng, robbing tombs is against the law."

"Uh..."

"Also, I suggest you start watching the evening news after dinner."

"Okay, I will. Then what should we do about this place?"

"The Water Monkeys didn't find it, so leave it alone. It's buried underneath anyway."

Because of Li Lan's work, Li Zhuiyuan had some knowledge of archaeology as well.

These days, tombs were only excavated when large construction projects began, when they had been robbed, or when natural damage required protective archaeological excavation. Otherwise, no one would take the initiative to dig one up.

Due to the special nature of water burials, their burial chambers lay much deeper underground than those of earth burials, making excavation even more difficult. Since Little Yellow Oriole still remained here without dissipating, it proved that the main burial chamber was in good condition. Since that was the case, it could remain preserved.

"Brother Run Sheng, keep tonight's matter secret."

"Understood."

Li Zhuiyuan slowly stood up and took another long look at the Fish Pond before him. This truly was an excellent place for Corpse Raising.

If those Water Monkeys had not all been caught and still refused to give up on the main burial chamber here, he rather looked forward to them finding this place. Because what awaited them here would not be something as simple as Earth Yin Red Balefulness.

After returning home, Li Zhuiyuan took another bath. Then he realized he could not wash this set of clothes clean. After all, it was a bloodstained outfit, and tossing it out carelessly might frighten someone.

He could only fold it up for now and burn it in the stove tomorrow.

After dealing with himself, Li Zhuiyuan lay down on his bed and decided to catch a little more sleep before dawn.

But his body must truly have been badly overdrawn, and he had lost a great deal of blood. Once he closed his eyes, he slept straight through until noon.

When he woke, before even opening his eyes, he could sense the fierce sunlight of midday.

Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes and stared at the carvings above his bed, even carefully distinguishing every pattern carved there.

In the end, there was no avoiding it. He could only choose to face reality.

He turned his head and looked toward the door.

The girl was sitting in a chair.

Today, she wore a light green ruqun, giving her an air of both dignity and new life.

Waking up every day and seeing her first thing felt wonderful.

There was no need for too many words or unnecessary gestures. Just one look at her was enough to make both body and mind begin to feel happy.

Li Zhuiyuan got out of bed, walked over to the snack cabinet, and took out three bottles of Jianlibao. Following the usual routine, he handed two to the girl and opened one for her.

In truth, the boy did not like drinking sweet soda first thing in the morning, but the girl liked clinking bottles with him.

After taking a sip, the girl set down her Jianlibao, reached out to take Li Zhuiyuan's right hand, and pried it open again.

The wound had already scabbed over. Li Zhuiyuan had been too lazy to bandage it again after showering last night. The burn mark on his palm had faded by now, but the bloody marks left by five fingernails around it remained distinct.

The girl ignored the wound she had caused and rubbed the burn mark on his palm with her index finger.

"Don't worry. There won't be a next time."

After that phone call, he no longer used the word "Mom" for her in his heart.

He did not want to think about whether that night had been Li Lan's final hysterical breakdown or a last distorted display of tenderness during one of her episodes. He was tired.

She had said he was not the son she wanted, but neither was she the mother he wanted.

Indeed, two mentally ill people both wanted to take genuine affection and support from each other. In the end, wouldn't they only torture each other?

The boy had decided to take off the mask he wore when facing Li Lan.

When you truly had nothing, you instinctively treasured everything you could grasp. Now, he could bear to let go.

The girl looked at the boy and spread open her own right hand.

There were five clear fingernail puncture marks on her palm, and the wounds had scabbed over too.

That meant that after she had strangled him that night, she had strangled herself as well.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his eyes, took the girl's hand, and said in a deep voice, "There won't be a next time for you either."

The girl nodded.

Li Zhuiyuan stroked the wounds on the girl's palm. He knew that whether they were described as "childhood sweethearts," "friends who grew up together," "playmates," "companions," or even that so-called attraction and affection between adults, none of it fit the two of them.

Because he and she were both gamblers.

It was precisely because they had experienced the feeling of winning that, after losing, they could not accept it and chose to sit back down at the gambling table.

At heart, they simply could not afford to lose.

They both wanted to be normal people. Neither was willing to accept defeat. That was why he had gone looking for her, and why she had come back.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that Li Lan probably hated this way of thinking of his, but it did not matter, because A Li did not mind either.

Sometimes, habitually thinking of things too simply and directly could make a person seem cold and heartless. But many people who found being together agonizing did so precisely because they thought too much.

The two held hands and went downstairs.

A Li was very happy. Li Zhuiyuan could feel the little hand in his palm swinging. Especially when they turned at the stairway, she seemed to want to rise onto her toes and spin around. Though she did not actually do it, Li Zhuiyuan had already imagined it.

Out in the courtyard, Liu Yumei was wiping at the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief.

Last night, she had secretly stood behind the window to peek. She had been anxious when the boy said that one sentence, and even more worried when her granddaughter had turned around and gone back into the room without any reaction... then opened her eyes and woke up.

However, her granddaughter quickly closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Liu Yumei felt more and more that she was old and no longer understood young people's thoughts. Back when her grandfather had pursued her, it had been a huge spectacle. The Qin Liu Families had nearly come to blows.

Who could have imagined that the young people of this generation would become so reserved?

But no matter what, her granddaughter had gotten better again. This time, she did not want anything to go wrong. She only hoped the illness would not relapse and that her granddaughter would recover completely.

Mm, wasn't he trying to make those Rune carvings? This afternoon, she would personally take an axe and chop up all the family's Spirit Tablets, then send them over to make Wood Flower Rolls.

Perhaps her joy was simply too intense, because Liu Yumei did not deeply question how that boy had managed to guide in Death Collapse.

Of course, perhaps she had suspected it long ago but simply did not care. To put it bluntly, if she were not concerned about the backlash of fortune, even if the boy went out to murder and set fires now, she would secretly help him dispose of the bodies afterward.

Because she had already figured it out: the key to her granddaughter's recovery lay with the boy.

That was not to say Li Sanjiang's fortune was useless. On the contrary, it was precisely because they lived in Li Sanjiang's Home that they had encountered this boy.

Li Sanjiang came downstairs for breakfast. The moment he saw the two children sitting together again, he immediately sighed.

"Sure enough, the feelings between children are pure."

Then he glanced up at Liu Yumei wiping away tears in the distance and could not help snorting softly.

"Go on, keep trying to stop them, you snobbish old woman."

Li Sanjiang had never thought highly of Liu Yumei, because he disliked the pretentious air of a fallen landlord-class young mistress that she carried. After all, Li Sanjiang himself had contributed to the liberation!

After breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan went to inspect the workshop he had built. All kinds of tools and materials had already been arranged inside. Aunt Liu, as a housekeeper, truly had nothing to criticize.

Li Zhuiyuan left Run Sheng in the workshop and had him begin working. It was all early-stage material processing and preparation. It was not difficult, merely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Run Sheng worked with great enthusiasm, because this was for crafting a new set of tools for him.

Based on Run Sheng's great strength, Li Zhuiyuan would next alter the materials and dimensions of the tools. That also meant Run Sheng would have to process a much larger quantity of raw materials.

In short, other than coming out for lunch at noon, Run Sheng did not leave the workshop the entire day. He did not even watch television.

After revising the new set of blueprints early, Li Zhuiyuan sat on the terrace reading.

This time, there was no need to force himself to rush through the progress. He was already afraid of that feeling of overexertion. If he did it a few more times, then forget facing Death Collapse in the future—he himself would first look like Death Collapse.

So rather than reading, it was more like he was relaxing and unwinding.

Qin Li sat beside him, holding the Qin Clan's Flood Dragon Observation Method in her hands. Downstairs, Grandma Liu drank tea and looked upward with a smile.

Li Zhuiyuan had also considered whether he should tell Grandma Liu about the Qin Liu Families' new insight into "ghost scribbles." After thinking it over, he decided it was not yet the time. At the very least, he needed to first go through all the books worth reading in the basement. What if there were other inheritances from the Qin Liu Families inside?

That afternoon, Li Zhuiyuan put down his book, played several games of chess with Qin Li, then went with her to the first floor. They opened matching snacks and drinks while watching television.

Since the television tyrant was not around, they could watch for as long as they wanted.

Even simply watching television could become boring. Li Zhuiyuan wondered whether he should take Qin Li to a movie theater. These days, theaters were basically empty except on holidays, so there was no need to worry about Qin Li coming into contact with strangers.

Li Sanjiang went out after lunch. When he returned and saw that Li Zhuiyuan was not studying, not only was he not angry, he was actually very happy. He thought it was good; Little Yuanhou had gradually recovered from the blow of losing his household registration.

At around five thirty in the afternoon, a motorcycle drove up. The rider took off his helmet—it was Tan Yunlong. After greeting Li Sanjiang, he easily got Li Zhuiyuan onto the bike, restarted it, and smoothly turned down from the courtyard.

Tan Yunlong rode even more wildly than Uncle Qin. Fortunately, Li Zhuiyuan had a helmet this time.

When they arrived at the Police Station family housing building, Tan Yunlong led the boy up to the third floor and opened the door. A middle-aged woman in an apron came out of the kitchen. She was plainly yet neatly dressed and looked very approachable.

"This is Little Yuan, right?"

"Hello, Auntie."

"Good, what a well-behaved child. Just call me Aunt Zheng."

Tan Yunlong asked, "Where's Bin Bin?"

"Bin Bin is in his room doing homework."

Tan Yunlong opened his son's bedroom door. At the desk, a tall high school student in a school uniform was bent over his homework.

Tan Yunlong walked to the desk and placed his hand on it.

Tan Wenbin's posture immediately became a little unnatural.

Then Tan Yunlong opened his son's pencil case and took out a Tetris handheld game console. The game was actually still paused on the screen.

Tan Wenbin lowered his head, not daring to meet his father's eyes.

Perhaps because there was an outsider present, Tan Yunlong did not lose his temper. Instead, he took out a handful of jelly snacks from his pocket and placed them on his son's desk, then separated out two and handed them to Li Zhuiyuan.

Li Zhuiyuan silently tore open a jelly snack and put it into his mouth. He knew this father-son relationship was definitely not very good. Maybe Tan Wenbin had liked jelly snacks when he was little, but what father would keep bringing jelly snacks to a senior in high school?

Although Tan Wenbin gave him face and ate one too, it looked more like they were putting on a performance of father-son warmth.

Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan sighed inwardly. Even if they were acting, there was warmth at their core. Unlike him and Li Lan, who had no feelings at all, only acting.

"This is Little Yuan, Li Zhuiyuan. Little Yuan, this is my son I told you about, Tan Wenbin. Call him Bin Bin."

"Hello, Little Yuan."

"Hello, Bin Bin Ge."

"Come on, find a blank test paper for Little Yuan to do."

"What? Let him do one?"

"Yes."

"Oh, then use this one." Tan Wenbin pulled out a mathematics paper from a stack of blank test papers.

High school coursework was basically completed in the second year. The entire third year was actually spent reviewing, revisiting lessons, and drilling practice questions over and over.

"Mm. Now, come out with me."

"Dad..."

"Come out." As Tan Yunlong walked outside, he began unfastening his belt.

Tan Wenbin looked miserable as he followed him out.

Then the door to the next room shut. Li Zhuiyuan heard several miserable cries, mixed with Tan Yunlong's scolding.

"I won't hold the fighting against you, but you actually dared to steal your mother's money to buy a game console! How do I usually educate you? Bad grades are one thing, but you cannot go down the wrong path as a person! Do you want me to personally arrest you and send you to jail someday?"

However, Tan Yunlong only struck him a few times before switching to verbal discipline.

During that time, Aunt Zheng came and knocked on the door several times, but to no avail.

Two hours later, the father and son came out.

Aunt Zheng complained, "There are guests at home. If you aren't going to eat, are you going to let Little Yuan go hungry?"

"I forgot." Tan Yunlong glanced at his son. "Isn't it all this useless brat's fault?"

Li Zhuiyuan had long since left the desk. He was sitting on the bed reading a comic book he had dug out from a stack of books. Before the father and son came in, he had hidden the comic beneath the blanket, and Tan Yunlong had not seen it.

Although Tan Wenbin was no longer crying, his neck still twitched now and then. He looked pitiful.

Tan Yunlong smacked the back of his son's head. "Go see how Little Yuan did on the test."

Tan Wenbin walked to the desk, spread open the mathematics paper, and discovered that every question had been answered.

"How did he do? Did he get them all right?" Tan Yunlong urged. "I'm talking to you."

"I don't have the answer key... I don't know."

Tan Yunlong: "..."

Tan Wenbin flipped through the papers underneath and cried out in surprise. "He even finished all of these!"

This stack of papers had been handed out by the teachers in advance for the students to complete at home according to the schedule. It contained not just mathematics, but multiple subjects.

Tan Wenbin discovered that aside from the essay on the Chinese language paper, every other paper had been completed.

He picked out some easy questions that he also knew how to solve and worked through them. He found that the answers matched what the boy had written.

Leaving aside the harder questions, this at least ruled out the possibility that the boy had simply filled everything in at random.

"So how is it? I'm standing here looking stupid waiting for you."

"Dad, these... these are all right."

"What about the others?"

"I'll have to work through them slowly to know, but judging from the solution methods and steps, he should know how to do them. If you want the answer keys, I can ask the teachers tomorrow."

"Do this. Find the old papers you've done and taken before, pick out the hardest big questions from several subjects, copy them down, and let Little Yuan do them."

"Oh, okay."

Tan Yunlong needed to confirm whether the boy truly had the level of a high school student. Otherwise, if he went to the school and said the boy wanted to skip grades, only for something to go wrong, he would not be able to handle the fallout.

Tan Wenbin copied down a question in a notebook, then set it aside and said to the boy, "Little Yuan, do this one first."

"Okay."

Li Zhuiyuan stood by the desk and picked up a pen.

Tan Wenbin took out another notebook and began copying the second question. By the time he finished copying it, he turned his head and saw that the boy had already put down his pen and was waiting for him.

"So fast?"

Tan Wenbin took the notebook and checked it. The answer was correct.

Then he watched Li Zhuiyuan rapidly solve the question he had just copied down.

He checked the answer, and it was correct again.

This was a question beyond the standard curriculum. During the exam, only two people in the class had solved it.

Li Zhuiyuan suggested, "Bin Bin Ge, just read the questions aloud. That'll be faster."

Tan Yunlong nodded. "Read them!"

Tan Wenbin picked up a mathematics paper and began reading from the multiple-choice questions. Every time he had just finished reading, Li Zhuiyuan immediately gave the answer.

Very quickly, aside from geometry questions that required looking at diagrams, Tan Wenbin read out every question on the entire paper, and the boy gave the answer directly every single time.

Tan Wenbin set down the paper, completely dumbfounded.

He usually admired the few top students in his class. Whenever they discussed studying in front of him, he could always feel the pressure and the gap between them. But in front of this boy, he felt no pressure, because he had been utterly crushed.

"All correct?" Tan Yunlong asked.

"Mm, Little Yuan Ge got them all right."

As if he had found a treasure, Tan Yunlong directly grabbed Li Zhuiyuan by the arm and spun him in circles.

"Hahaha! He really is a genius child, a real genius child!"

Parents always had an intense filter when it came to smart children with good grades. Parents with children preparing for exams were even more exaggerated. At that moment, Tan Yunlong truly felt as though the Star of Literature had descended upon his home.

Finally, after his excitement faded, he put Li Zhuiyuan down.

Li Zhuiyuan raised a hand to his forehead. He had gotten a little dizzy from all the spinning.

"Little Yuan, I asked around. The formal enrollment procedures can only be handled when school starts, and we'll need people from the Education Bureau to go to the school too. But Bin Bin's high school holds classes during summer vacation as well. We can first go take the assessment at the school, then handle the paperwork afterward. That way, you can join the classes first. What do you think?"

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "Uncle Tan, I want to enjoy the summer vacation."

"Alright then. It's only the end of July now, and there's still a month of summer vacation left. When it's time to handle your enrollment, I'll come pick you up."

"Thank you, Uncle Tan."

"No need to thank me." As he spoke, Tan Yunlong smacked the back of his son's head again. "Look at him, then look at you!"

Tan Wenbin had not fully recovered from his earlier shock. He instinctively asked back.

"Why don't you ask what his parents' education level is and what they do?"

Smack!

This slap was heavier than the last one.

"Listen to me. You and Little Yuan will be classmates from now on. Learn more from him. Also, he's still young, so you're responsible for taking good care of him in daily life."

"Okay."

Tan Yunlong nodded. His son was not stupid beyond saving.

You looked after them in daily life, so shouldn't they look after you in your studies? Even though parents always said grades weren't the most important thing, what parent in their right mind wouldn't want their child to do well in school?

The boy had heard the question and immediately given the correct answer. Even this veteran policeman had been stunned. If his own son could spend every day with a child like this, then even a pig ought to pick up a little immortal aura, right?

"Zheng Fang! Zheng Fang!"

Tan Yunlong walked out of the room, impatient to share what he had just seen with his wife in the kitchen. He believed she would be even more excited than he was. At the same time, he needed to remind her to add a few more dishes right away. Whether they could finish them was beside the point; what mattered was making it a proper occasion.

In the room, Li Zhuiyuan sat on the edge of the bed while Tan Wenbin sat in a chair. The older and younger boys faced each other.

"Little Yuan Ge?"

"Bin Bin Ge, don't call me that. Just call me Little Yuan or Yuanzi."

"Little Yuan Ge, what do you usually do at home?"

"Read."

"Do you just read all the time?" The answer left Tan Wenbin somewhat discouraged, but he still refused to give up. "Besides reading, what else do you like doing?"

"Scoop Death Collapse."