Chapter 39

Lunch was quite a feast.

It was originally prepared to entertain guests, but the guests had already left.

However, most people's small tables only had more dishes, with no change in portion size. Only Run Sheng's portion, originally a large basin, had become two large basins.

Li Sanjiang saw this and couldn't help but curse, "Damn it, why don't you just eat out of a bathtub!"

Run Sheng, with some delight, asked, "Can I?"

Li Sanjiang rolled his eyes, choked by the response.

Run Sheng then realized he had misunderstood and smiled sheepishly. He then held his chopsticks in his left hand and his spoon in his right, starting to eat alternately.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the drunken shrimp in front of him. The shrimp were soaked in white wine, with ginger, scallions, and garlic added to remove the fishy smell.

He picked up a shrimp, put it in his mouth, and with a gentle bite, the shrimp meat came out, tasting fresh and delicious.

He picked up another drunken mud snail. He bit the front end with his teeth and slowly pushed outwards, separating the snail meat from its shell. The snail meat was very small and crunchy when chewed.

Eating these required caution; one couldn't be too hasty, or they might end up eating the sand inside the snail.

Coastal areas generally had a tradition of eating raw cured seafood. For those accustomed to it, it was an irresistible delicacy.

But for most people inland, this type of dish was simply terrifying.

It was true, raw cured food did carry a significant risk of parasites.

After a small taste, Li Zhuiyuan saw that A Li also wasn't interested in these two dishes, not having touched them with her chopsticks. He got up and carried the two dishes over, intending to place them in front of Li Sanjiang for him to have with his drinks.

"Give them to me."

Liu Yumei spoke up.

Li Zhuiyuan then brought the drunken shrimp and drunken mud snails to Liu Yumei and Aunt Liu's dining table.

"Can't get used to it?"

"Mmm."

"Good stuff, and you don't know how to enjoy it."

Liu Yumei ate two drunken mud snails and took a sip of the yellow wine in her cup.

Aunt Liu said with a smile, "A Li also doesn't like these."

Liu Yumei shook her head, "A Li just finds it troublesome."

Then, Liu Yumei asked Li Zhuiyuan, "What were those people who came this morning planning to do?"

"Buy a house. They had their eyes on Big Beard's house."

"Oh, how is that house?"

"It's very spacious, and the fish pond is quite large. They're in a hurry to sell, so it's very cheap. Grandma, are you interested in taking a look?"

"What would I look at? I don't have money to buy it."

"Even if you don't buy it, it's fine to just take a look."

"I don't have money to buy it, so looking would only make me more upset when I sleep at night. It's better not to go. Besides, I'm not from this village, and according to the rules, I can't buy one anyway.

In short, everything must be done according to public regulations."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that Liu Yumei was deliberately reminding him that he should report it to the police and not mess around himself.

"The police uncles are busy too. Besides, isn't there a slogan about police-civilian cooperation painted on the outer wall of the police station?"

Liu Yumei gave the boy in front of her a deep look, picked up her yellow wine, took another sip, and said faintly, "Amongst the monkey troop, there are also mountain kings."

Meaning, within this group of Water Monkeys, there was a truly formidable one.

Li Zhuiyuan replied, "Or perhaps it's just picking the best among the short ones."

"Heh heh." Liu Yumei chuckled and waved her chopsticks, "Go eat, child."

Li Zhuiyuan walked back to his small table.

Aunt Liu lowered her voice and asked, "Should I go take a look at what specific book Little Yuan was reading?"

The boy's words earlier had actually subtly alluded to the matter of the Sihai family's fish pond, implying that since they could mistake the bait hole and stumble, their skill level was limited.

This realization already made Aunt Liu feel a chill, even more so than when the boy had asked her in the morning if she had any poison.

The latter indicated a child's nature, while the former implied that this child seemed to have truly entered the path, and deeply so.

Liu Yumei shook her head, "If that child hadn't come earlier, and we went to look at the books in Li Sanjiang's basement, there might have been something to discuss; but now that this child has seen through the tricks, going to look would only get ourselves entangled. Are you in a hurry to see Ah Li?"

"How could I? You need someone to attend to you."

"Although I've lived a long life, I don't know how to cook."

Aunt Liu: "Looking at it this way, the books in Uncle Sanjiang's basement are indeed quite extraordinary."

"They are indeed extraordinary. Didn't he say that during the Four Olds campaign, several groups of people specifically entrusted their books to him for safekeeping?"

"Then it seems those groups of people were not ordinary either."

"There's no logic to this world, where only we are allowed to have good eyesight, and everyone else is blind and can't see."

"You speak the truth."

Liu Yumei actually had a few more things she kept to herself, not saying them aloud.

That was, no matter how extraordinary a book was, it was still just a book.

And the more extraordinary the book, the harder it was to understand.

How many people in the Xuanmen (Mystic Sect) spent their entire lives without ever truly grasping a single book?

She liked to sit on the terrace and drink tea, and the boy would sit on her head and read. She only remembered that child reading books as if flipping through comic strips, one after another.

If it were truly an extraordinary Xuanmen treasure, and he could still understand and learn from it by reading it this way, then it would truly be defying the heavens.

But the facts seemed to be laid out before them.

When he first moved in, he was just a child scared by his first encounter with a dead float. Now, not only could he distinguish between the auxiliary and main acupoints, but he could also personally guide the dead float.

A child like this, before liberation, would have been fought over tooth and nail by various families to inherit their legacy.

Heh...

If the ancestral tablets they worshipped weren't just inanimate objects, but had even a sliver of spirit, they would probably be clamoring at night for them to take him as a disciple.

The two families' tablets would probably even fight again over whether he should follow Qin or Liu.

See, Liu Yumei picked up the wine pot and poured herself another cup.

When A Li's illness was cured, as a token of gratitude, she might even pass on the "Liu Clan's Qi Gazing Art" to him.

After Li Zhuiyuan sat back down, he calmly started eating lunch. There were some things he had to make clear to Grandma Liu, and he had to state his position.

After all, he still needed Aunt Liu to be his safety net.

Although the incident would happen at Big Beard's house, if he couldn't control it and things went awry, it might also affect his own family. At that time, he would have to ask Aunt Liu to return to their hometown to take care of his elder uncle along with Uncle Qin.

After lunch, Run Sheng, with his belly sticking out, didn't plan to rest and was about to go back to the workshop to work.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped him and handed him a few blueprints. "Brother Run Sheng, could you help me craft these items first? I need them urgently."

Run Sheng took the blueprints and, without even looking at them, said directly, "Okay."

He believed that Little Yuan wouldn't give him blueprints he couldn't understand or make.

Li Zhuiyuan, on the other hand, went to the room with Qin Li.

He continued to pick and choose from those ten taboos, while A Li continued to carve with her carving knife.

The desk was large enough for the boy and girl to do their own things without interfering with each other.

Finally, Li Zhuiyuan selected two taboos.

In fact, among the books he had read, there were many types of taboos, but many did not have the conditions for implementation. Even among the ten he had carefully selected, at least half of them were eliminated by him because their success conditions were too complicated.

For some necessary materials, he could understand their names, but he didn't know what they actually were in reality, and their prefixes often spanned hundreds or thousands of years.

There were also some special triggering artifacts that were as difficult to make as evil artifacts. Human skin drums were even mentioned, along with a requirement to select virgin boys and girls under a certain age.

Some even required him to build an underground palace in a special environment, collect feng shui, and then place Little Yellow Oriole inside.

To be honest, if he had the means and conditions for such a grand undertaking, why would he rack his brains to deal with those Water Monkeys?

The last two selected.

One was to change the corpse-raising land into a煞冲 land (land with conflicting energies) in a short period by making preliminary changes to the feng shui, somewhat like sprinkling water into hot oil.

The other was to wrap the Little Yellow Oriole with scriptures on a banner, causing the resentment within her to boil. He had to pay attention to the effect of the scripture banner; it was similar to how a strong wind could extinguish a fire, but a moderate gust could make the fire burn even brighter.

However, at his current level, he only needed to worry about whether he could create the wind, not about what to do if the wind was too strong.

These two were the most feasible from a practical standpoint.

Moreover, their effects were similar to stimulants. After using them on Little Yellow Oriole, she would immediately fall into a deep state of weakness, thus avoiding the situation of losing control later.

Li Zhuiyuan had already asked Run Sheng to craft the materials for the formation flags, but he still needed to re-plan and design the specific usage. At the very least, he had to determine which points of the feng shui needed to be altered, which required a large amount of deduction and calculation.

He opened a drawer and took out a roll of large white paper, cutting off a section according to his needs.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a pen and ruler and began to sketch the scene of Big Beard's pond and its surroundings, following the memory from that night.

He had received this kind of family education from his parents since childhood, and coupled with his good memory, he finished the drawing in about half an hour.

It was much more detailed than a sketch and omitted many unnecessary details. Holding the edges up, it had a slight resemblance to a photograph taken by a camera.

Li Zhuiyuan used double-sided tape to stick it on the wall, then stood there staring at it.

But as he looked, he gradually frowned.

The reason he chose to draw it was similar to using scratch paper, to reduce the burden on his brain. However, this drawing... didn't seem to have much effect.

This was because feng shui and meteorological phenomena could not be depicted with clear lines. When he calculated, he still had to form a real-world image in his mind first, then add the feng shui and meteorological elements, and finally perform the deduction and calculation.

This drawing was truly like "taking off pants to pass gas" (a useless action).

He couldn't use this drawing method; he had to use the ink wash painting style.

Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs. His family business was paper crafting, so the first floor had palettes and brushes readily available. He selected a set and ran back upstairs.

Li Zhuiyuan took a new sheet of paper and placed it before him, picking up his brush to begin drawing.

But as he drew, he felt something was off again.

It wasn't that the method was incorrect; the method was definitely right. The key was... he himself didn't know how to draw it.

He'd seen plenty of geniuses among his classmates, but they all just learned quickly; no one was born with innate knowledge.

On a professional track, skipping the learning process rendered even a genius no different from an idiot.

This was also why he could never beat A Li at Go. A Li had clearly studied the game, while he hadn't.

Although the most direct approach would be to go to the site and observe the location, now that the Water Monkey had its sights set on Big Beard's house, it would be impossible to go there and linger without attracting attention.

The crucial point was that this wasn't something that could be figured out with a single glance; it required extensive deduction and calculation. Therefore, going to the site was out of the question – the risk was too great.

Aunt Liu could definitely draw. He'd observed her coloring the paper figures; she clearly possessed a profound skill in painting.

Grandma Liu could also draw. She often propped up a table and personally used her paintbrush to design clothes for A Li.

But the problem was, neither of them would help him draw this.

Li Zhuiyuan sighed, walked out of the room, and went downstairs to the workshop.

He pushed open the door. Inside, Run Sheng was diligently hand-carving the patterns onto iron spikes, which would later serve as flagpoles.

"Xiao Yuan, you're here."

Run Sheng handed Li Zhuiyuan a large ceramic cup.

The ceramic cup was a bit dirty, and it contained steeped agastache leaves.

Li Zhuiyuan took it and drank two large gulps.

After handing it back, Run Sheng drained the cup with a "glug glug" and then picked up the kettle from the small stove, refilling the ceramic cup with hot water.

"No wonder it's so hot. Run Sheng Ge, why did you put the stove in the room?"

"Heh heh, sometimes a little heating and scalding makes it easier to work. It is a bit hot, but I just drink more water, no big deal."

"You need to take better care of yourself."

"I'm in great health, don't worry. I've already eaten."

Li Zhuiyuan knew that from Run Sheng's perspective, as long as he had eaten, nothing else seemed to be a problem.

It was just that the workshop conditions were indeed rudimentary, and the space was a bit small. It would be great if he could set up a professional studio in the future, with his own electric stove, machine tools, and cutting machines.

That way, making anything would be convenient.

However, for now, it was just a dream.

"Ge, I have something to tell you."

"Okay, Xiao Yuan, tell me." Run Sheng didn't stop, continuing with the work in his hands.

Li Zhuiyuan told him about the Water Monkey.

Run Sheng asked in surprise, "Xiao Yuan, you didn't tell me when they came this morning. Were you afraid I'd give myself away?"

"Yeah."

"What a shame. I've seen similar scenes on TV; I think I could have acted the part."

"No rush. You can continue to hone your acting skills, and you'll be able to do it in the future."

"Mm!"

Run Sheng picked up a black and white towel and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"So, Xiao Yuan, are we going to stab them in the back while they're trying to dig up that tomb?"

As he spoke, Run Sheng held up the iron spike he had just finished polishing and made a "stabbing" motion.

"Perhaps, without us even lifting a finger, Little Yellow Oriole can make them all attend a funeral feast."

"That would be too bad. Watching others act and not being able to join in always feels unsatisfying.

In movies, it's usually like this: Little Yellow Oriole kills a bunch of them first, then a powerful figure emerges among them and subdues Little Yellow Oriole, and at the critical moment, we make our entrance."

"You've already planned it all out?"

"You have to think about it, otherwise, working lacks motivation."

"Run Sheng Ge, you keep busy. I'm going back upstairs."

"Alright, don't worry. You go think about your stuff. Leave this to me."

Influenced by Run Sheng's enthusiasm, Li Zhuiyuan also composed himself, intending to go back upstairs and tackle the difficult problem. Even if he couldn't draw it on paper, he could calculate it by brute force, even if it meant another nosebleed.

However, Li Zhuiyuan didn't go upstairs immediately. Instead, he went to the kitchen. At this time, Aunt Liu would be making his medicine.

"Xiao Yuan, you're here. Heh heh, this bowl is for you, and this bowl is for the dog."

"Thank you, Aunt Liu. This bowl is for me, right?"

Li Zhuiyuan confirmed again. He didn't want to drink the wrong one.

"Yes, that's right. Drink up."

The medicine was very bitter, but Li Zhuiyuan drank it down at a steady pace, finally finishing it.

"Aunt Liu, this medicine is very expensive, isn't it?"

"It's not worth much, just common tonics. It takes a bit of effort when simmering to bring out the medicinal properties and harmonize them, then the effect comes out. However, Xiao Yuan, you mentioned you often get nosebleeds and feel dizzy. You really need to take care of yourself, don't let yourself become depleted and damage your vital energy prematurely."

"I understand, Aunt Liu."

"Also, it's best to drink this medicine in the morning, preferably right after you wake up. Following the morning qi, your body is recovering, and with the addition of the medicinal soup, the effect will be best.

How about this: from now on, I'll have A Li bring it to you in the morning. A Li needs to go to your room in the morning anyway."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. "Okay."

He didn't refuse because he knew Grandma Liu and the others wanted to speed things up, using his name to assign extra homework to A Li.

Although, the image that came to mind felt a bit strange.

Every morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, the girl would bring the medicine to his bedside.

But for his health, and for the girl's condition to continue improving, he still had to drink the medicine.

He remembered that in his class, there were indeed classmates who were often sick due to poor health. Li Zhuiyuan originally thought he wouldn't have this problem because Li Lan had the same illness as him, but Li Lan's body was always fine and she could endure hardships and go to the field.

But the problem was that now he was dealing with these things, calculating them was much more complex and mentally draining than calculating math problems.

The little black dog was sleeping in its doghouse. When Li Zhuiyuan came over with the medicine bowl, it opened its eyes, yawned, and when he approached, it drank all the medicine. Then, with a belly full of liquid, it lay down on its back and went back to sleep.

After being fed and medicated well during this period, the little black dog's fur had become even more black and shiny. Li Zhuiyuan also noticed that its tongue was black. The only white part of its entire body was its teeth.

This dog was chosen and bought for him by Aunt Liu. Its breed should be unusual.

Going upstairs and entering the room, Li Zhuiyuan intended to roll up some paper balls for himself before forcing himself to calculate. But he saw that although A Li was still at the desk, she had moved to his original position.

The object in the girl's hand was no longer a carving knife, but a brush.

As he walked closer, he confirmed that the girl was indeed painting, and it was almost finished, in the final stages.

Looking closely, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but widen his eyes. She was imitating the drawing of the fish pond that he had posted on the wall, and she had also depicted the atmospheric conditions.

The difficult problem that had been troubling him, and the price he paid with nosebleeds, had been solved by the girl.

With the final stroke, A Li put down the brush, then dipped her finger into a cup, got some water, and gently sprinkled it evenly onto the drawing paper, allowing the ink to spread further and the atmospheric conditions to become clearer.

Finished.

The girl turned around and looked at the boy.

"A Li, you are truly a genius."

Hearing the compliment, the girl's eyebrows seemed to curve slightly.

Then, she stood up, reached out her hands, and wrapped them around the boy's neck.

Li Zhuiyuan felt that it might be necessary to find a more suitable way to act cute with Great Grandfather in front of A Li next time, or to secretly tell Great Grandfather to change his response.

Otherwise, every time this happened, it would ruin the mood.

But for now, he could only gently pat the girl's head and say:

"A Li, I'll buy you anything you want. I have money, plenty of money."

The ceremony was complete.

A Li, satisfied, released her hands and sat back in her seat.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down and stared at the painting, beginning his calculations.

Every twenty minutes, he would pick up a pen and mark a spot on the painting. These were the locations where flags needed to be placed.

In the end, he marked a total of twelve spots.

Even if flags were placed at all twelve spots, one formation eye would still be missing. But there was no need to worry about that; the formation eye was Little Yellow Oriole herself.

Next came the materials for the formation flags. Run Sheng would make the flagpoles, but the tricky and complex part was the flag surface. Ordinary fabric would be blown by the wind, which was not conducive to display. Therefore, it needed to be a fixed surface, preferably a piece of Yin wood of excellent quality. This way, after carving the patterns, the effect could be maximized in a short period.

Originally, Li Zhuiyuan had planned to go to the graveyard with Run Sheng that evening. They wouldn't need to dig up graves, as broken coffin planks were often exposed there.

But now...

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at the wood flower rolls in front of A Li and the half-split spirit tablet at A Li's feet.

It seemed there were already better board materials to choose from.

For example, these ancestral spirit tablets.

When they finished eating, the Village Chief arrived.

The Village Chief had a smile on his face, repeatedly saying that Uncle Sanjiang had encountered something good.

He then took out several handwritten documents, which already had the seal of the village committee and the signatures and thumbprints of Big Beard's wife and eldest son.

Li Sanjiang marveled at how fast Ding Dalin was, having already bought a retirement home.

Then, looking down at the content of the documents, his expression froze: "Why did he buy Big Beard's house?"

The Village Chief, likely having received a red envelope from the middleman, said with a smile:

"A house and fish pond for free, just tell me if you want them. He's already paid, and you just need to sign here. If you had a bit of a black heart, you could turn around and kick them out, and they wouldn't be able to win a lawsuit against you."

"But I did warn him not to buy from Big Beard's place."

"It's cheap, I guess. Even though he's an overseas Chinese, he probably didn't make a fortune. If he had made a fortune and wanted to invest back home, the town would have directly approved a new plot of land for him."

"That makes sense."

Although he felt the house from Big Beard's place was unlucky, Li Sanjiang signed and put his thumbprint on it, following the principle of "better to have it than not."

At worst, after Ding Dalin left, he could have Little Yuanhou sell the house.

"Then it's settled. They're probably eager to return home and live there. We'll find someone to clean it up tomorrow, and they'll officially move in the day after. They'll probably hire a troupe to play music all day and invite the whole village to celebrate and have a feast."

"That sounds really lively. Big Beard's place has had feasts non-stop lately."

"Heh, we're just saying that now. When we go to their place to give gifts and join the fun the day after tomorrow, we need to keep our mouths shut. I'll remind the others in the village too."

"I know."

"Oh, right. He said he won't be collecting gifts when he invites the villagers to the feast."

"I'll still give one."

"That's right, you should. Consider it a gift for your own house."

Li Sanjiang nodded, offered the Village Chief two cigarettes, and the Village Chief took one.

"Alright, that's settled. Uncle Sanjiang, I'll be going now. You guys enjoy yourselves."

Li Sanjiang lit his cigarette and said to Li Zhuiyuan, "Little Yuanhou, Great Grandfather earned you a house."

"Thank you, Great Grandfather."

"This is nothing. Just you wait, Great Grandfather will save up some more money, and before I close my eyes, I'll get you one in the city too, for when you get married."

As he spoke, Li Sanjiang deliberately glanced out of the corner of his eye at Grandma Liu, who was sitting at a distant table eating.

As if afraid she wouldn't hear, he deliberately raised his voice:

"After our Little Yuanhou gets married, he'll definitely live in the city!"

Hmph, let that materialistic old woman look down on people.

Liu Yumei picked up her wine glass and took a sip. She couldn't be bothered to argue with this show-off of an old man.

Her Qin and Liu families both had old ancestral homes in places like Suhuaiyang, and they had even donated several mansions to the state as protected cultural relics in the past.

However, just because the two children played well together now didn't mean they would necessarily follow the path of childhood sweethearts all the way to marriage.

She, Liu Yumei, just wanted to cure her granddaughter's illness. She hadn't really considered turning the Li family's boy into her granddaughter's future husband.

Since ancient times, wealthy families who took in live-in sons-in-law valued not talent, but honesty and integrity.

If they picked someone too shrewd and capable, they wouldn't be able to control him. Then, all the family's assets would belong to this young man, and he would simply take everything, not even leaving their surname behind.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan drew the patterns for the formation flags.

Then he went downstairs to the kitchen, personally cooked ten packs of assorted seafood noodles, and sent them to Run Sheng in a basin.

Run Sheng was still up late rubbing iron. Seeing the large basin of noodles with two thick incense sticks placed on top, his mouth stretched into a wide grin.

After reminding him again to get some rest, Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs to wash up and sleep.

Waking up, Li Zhuiyuan stretched first, then turned his head.

He saw the girl sitting on a chair by the door, holding a bowl of medicine.

She looked unexpectedly charming and adorable in that pose.

A Li stood up, carried the medicine to Li Zhuiyuan's bedside, and sat down, slowly bringing the bowl towards the boy's mouth.

The boy knew she was trying to emulate how his elders used to treat her, feeding her medicine.

Li Zhuiyuan gladly accepted.

Then, Early in the morning, Li Zhuiyuan went to wash his hair.

Li Sanjiang came out of his room yawning and saw Li Zhuiyuan by the water tank, asking, "Little Yuanhou, what's up? Did a bird poop on your head today too?"

"Great Grandfather, I just felt like my hair was a bit oily, so I'm washing it."

After breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan returned to his room and gave the design drawings to A Li, asking her to be responsible for carving them onto the boards.

He himself began drawing the scripture banners. With his past experience drawing talisman papers, it wasn't difficult this time.

Moreover, the "power" of the talisman papers made Li Zhuiyuan believe that his scripture banners would definitely not be too effective, only stimulating Little Yellow Oriole without truly suppressing her.

By noon, all the materials were ready, and Run Sheng had finished rubbing the flagpoles.

The afternoon was spent assembling and putting everything together, completing the twelve formation flags.

Li Zhuiyuan specifically added a long rope to the scripture banners, so Run Sheng could fling them from a distance later.

Li Sanjiang originally thought that since tomorrow was the housewarming, Ding Dalin would come over tonight to chat with him again. However, Ding Dalin didn't show up, and it was Tan Yunlong who arrived that night.

Tan Yunlong rode a motorcycle, with Tan Wenbin on the back.

The father and son brought many gifts. On the back of the motorcycle's trunk, bedding was tied up, along with a bag containing toiletries.

It turned out that the city's education bureau was conducting an inspection, so the town's high school had to interrupt its summer classes and give the students a week off until the inspection was over.

Tan Yunlong said he was busy with work, and his wife was going on a business trip, so he could only leave his son here to be taken care of, and it would be a good opportunity for him to learn from Xiao Yuan.

Li Sanjiang misunderstood and thought they were here to get Xiao Yuanhou some extra tutoring.

However, Li Sanjiang, despite being occasionally absent-minded about certain matters, was quite shrewd most of the time. He decisively refused the living expenses Tan Yunlong offered and patted his chest, promising to take good care of his son. After all, everyone understood the importance of maintaining good relations with the police station.

Tan Yunlong walked up to Li Zhuiyuan, bent down, patted his shoulder, and whispered:

"Those two who were unconscious are about to wake up."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded, which meant that the group of Water Monkeys would also be dug up soon.

"Binbin, I'll have to trouble you with him for now. If he doesn't listen to you, you can hit me, and I'll beat him to death."

Li Zhuiyuan turned to look at Tan Wenbin, who was standing behind him. Tan Wenbin gave Li Zhuiyuan a "you know" smile.

Tan Yunlong left.

Tan Wenbin, holding the bedding, said, "Xiao Yuan, where is your room? Can I sleep with you?"

Li Zhuiyuan looked at Run Sheng. Run Sheng immediately walked to Tan Wenbin's side, took his bedding, set up another round table next to his own, neatly spread the bedding on it, and patted it.

"Come on, you'll sleep here with me tonight."

Tan Wenbin, far from being displeased, nodded with a bit of excitement: "Okay!"

As night fell, Li Zhuiyuan went to bed early. He would have to stay up late tomorrow, so he needed to conserve his energy today.

Run Sheng's work was done, and he could finally relax and continue watching TV.

Tan Wenbin sat with him and watched TV. After the screen turned to static, Tan Wenbin took out a game console and taught Run Sheng how to play Tetris. The console also came with another airplane game.

Run Sheng was having a great time, but the game console soon ran out of battery.

"Oh no, I forgot to bring batteries."

"It's okay, let's go to sleep then." Run Sheng turned off the light and got onto the table he had set up.

On the opposite table, Tan Wenbin also lay down.

In the dark first floor, there were rows of paper figures, neatly lined up in the moonlight.

Tan Wenbin found the atmosphere quite captivating, feeling a mix of fear and excitement.

He turned on his side towards Run Sheng, pulling the blanket over half his face. His voice muffled by the blanket, he asked in a low voice:

"Run Sheng, do you know about dead floats?"

"I do."

"Are they like corpses of people who died and fell into the water?"

"What else?"

"Are they the kind that can walk ashore by themselves after they die?"

"What else?"

Hearing this answer, Tan Wenbin's eyes lit up with excitement, and he quietly pulled his exposed feet back under the covers.

"Run Sheng, have you ever fished them out?"

"I have."

"You're really amazing."

"Xiao Yuan is even more amazing."

"Heh heh, I told my dad this time that I wanted to come here to study, but actually, I just wanted to see if I had a chance to see dead floats."

It was true that school had temporarily closed, but his mother's business trip was a lie. As soon as he suggested it, his parents readily agreed.

In the eyes of Tan Yunlong and his wife, Li Zhuiyuan was no longer just another child; he was a child from heaven!

Tan Yunlong was a man of action. He specifically called the town's high school to inquire about transferring and skipping grades. When asked where their child studied before and what grade he was in, Tan Yunlong, having seen Li Zhuiyuan's file, reported him for the gifted program.

Initially, the person on the phone politely acknowledged his request and hung up, seemingly just to save face.

An hour later, the phone rang again. The tone had become very excited, and multiple people were shouting, asking Tan Yunlong if he was sure about the gifted program.

They stated that if everything was confirmed, they would immediately come to the school to handle the procedures, with the principal and directors providing full accompaniment, along with a series of preferential conditions.

Knowing that Li Zhuiyuan wanted to spend his summer vacation, Tan Yunlong did not provide the school with Li Zhuiyuan's name or address, saying he would bring the child before the new semester began.

However, Tan Yunlong confirmed one thing: this gifted program was not what he thought, like an affiliated primary school of a university.

Run Sheng prepared to sleep, thinking that the guy across from him seemed a bit dumber than himself.

Tan Wenbin, on the other hand, chuckled to himself again:

"Hey, you know, the first time Xiao Yuan told me he liked to fish for dead floats, I foolishly asked him if it was a type of snack."

As soon as the words fell, Tan Wenbin saw Run Sheng's eyes light up.

Immediately after, a voice that landed with a solid thud, yet carried an endless aftertaste, came:

"Delicious, wonderful!"

That night, Tan Wenbin slept tucked away under his covers, not daring to get out of bed even to pee.

The next morning, Tan Wenbin groggily saw a girl in a red dress walk past him with a bowl of medicine, heading upstairs.

When he arrived last night, A Li had already been coaxed to sleep by Li Zhuiyuan, so this was his first time seeing her.

"This little girl is so beautiful, even more so than the stars on posters."

Run Sheng sat up and stretched his neck, warning, "Don't go near her."

"Why not?"

"Besides Xiao Yuan, no one can get close to her."

"There's a rule like that?"

Dawn broke, and Tan Wenbin felt Run Sheng wasn't so scary anymore.

"It's not a rule."

Run Sheng had always been sensitive in this regard. He remembered the first time he went upstairs and tried to approach Xiao Yuan and A Li, A Li's body had trembled.

At that time, the little girl gave him a feeling that was even more terrifying than the most frightening dead float he had ever seen.

"Breakfast is ready!"

Aunt Liu's voice rang out punctually, like a daily alarm clock.

Li Zhuiyuan and A Li came downstairs. Today, he hadn't let A Li feed him medicine, so she hadn't washed her hair.

Tan Wenbin chuckled and ambled over, wanting to join them for breakfast.

"Binbin Ge..." Li Zhuiyuan quickly grabbed A Li's hand, preparing to remind her.

"You eat with me!"

Run Sheng grabbed Tan Wenbin by the neck and, like lifting a little chick, pulled him over to his own dining corner.

Tan Wenbin forgot how breakfast was eaten. After the meal, his eyes were red, and the incense made them ache a little.

Early on, there was already a clamor of gongs and drums at Big Beard's house, with loud speakers blaring.

The villagers had all been notified by the Village Chief yesterday that a former overseas Chinese from the village had returned and was settling down, inviting everyone to a housewarming banquet.

Furthermore, it was stated that everyone was welcome to grace the banquet with their presence, and no monetary gifts were required.

As a result, the entire village, young and old, came to watch the excitement early on.

Li Zhuiyuan and Run Sheng also arrived, with Tan Wenbin tagging along, insisting on following.

"What should we do with him tonight? He's very curious," Run Sheng asked, making a chopping motion with his hand in front of Li Zhuiyuan, "Knock him out?"

Li Zhuiyuan's eyelids twitched. He was afraid Run Sheng Ge would get too into character and not control his strength, accidentally killing someone with a chop.

"There's no need for that, just tie him up."

"Okay."

Li Zhuiyuan began to observe the banquet spread.

Because so many people were invited, the courtyard and the first floor of the house were not enough to accommodate everyone. Tables extended into the fields, with sheds set up.

Additionally, the opera troupe's performance area was set up by the fish pond, with speakers and large drums all placed there.

Li Zhuiyuan knew this was to help mask any noise during tomb raiding at night.

Since it was an all-day banquet, it meant there would be music and performances for a full day and night. During the day, opera was performed for the living, and at night, it was performed for the dead.

The custom was to meticulously cater to both the living and the dead, symbolizing smooth sailing in the future.

However, all-day banquets were rare in rural areas now because the cost of the night performances was several times higher than the daytime ones, and ordinary families were unwilling to spend this extra money to perform for ghosts.

With all the drums, loud speakers, and amplifiers, no one in the village would find any commotion at night strange.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but marvel inwardly. This was what professionalism looked like, and they were willing to spend money, buying a house and treating the entire village to a banquet.

The opera troupe's performance had already begun, with people gathered all around. Li Zhuiyuan, feigning curiosity, led Run Sheng in a circle around the opera stage and then deliberately went with Run Sheng to a less crowded spot across the fish pond to relieve themselves.

This was actually to help Run Sheng confirm the coordinates for planting the flags.

"Did you remember everything, Run Sheng Ge?"

"Don't worry, I remember it all."

"I'll bring two to plant when the time comes, the rest will be up to you."

Those formation flags were quite heavy, and Li Zhuiyuan could only carry two at a time.

"What about me, what about me?"

Tan Wenbin caught up and also unbuckled his belt.

"Can I have a few?"

Li Zhuiyuan comforted him, "Don't worry, the rest is up to you."

"I guarantee the mission will be completed." Even though he had no idea what the mission was, he just wanted to be involved.

The banquet began at noon.

Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin followed Li Sanjiang to their seats in the first-floor room.

Tan Wenbin curiously asked, "Where's Run Sheng? Why isn't he coming to eat?"

"Run Sheng is eating at home, and also, don't talk."

"Got it."

Tan Wenbin made an "okay" gesture.

Run Sheng needed incense to eat, and this action attracted too much attention. Normally, when he went to banquets with Great Grandfather, Great Grandfather would also have food packed separately for him to eat alone in a corner.

Under the circumstances today, it was even more important not to arouse the suspicion of the Water Monkeys.

The quality of the banquet was very high, with local chefs invited. After Tan Wenbin stopped talking, he ate with his mouth glistening with oil.

After the banquet dispersed, many villagers felt bad and wanted to give money, but they were refused. So, they went home to get gifts and brought them over.

Next, the entire afternoon was dedicated to everyone watching performances. The evening performances were taboo for living people; no one would watch except the performers.

This opera troupe was highly skilled, with singers, dancers, acrobats, contortionists, and even a performance of breaking a stone with their chest.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed that the performances later on... were actually real martial arts.

Judging by the performers' habits and details, they all used techniques for dealing with the dead float.

In this case, if the first two who contracted the fish pond hadn't been incapacitated by the Yin Earth Red Sha in the bait hole, it would have been difficult for the police to catch them with their skills.

At the same time, it also indirectly confirmed that Grandma Liu's evaluation of this Water Monkey troupe was correct.

After all, this was by no means a hastily assembled, amateur group; it was a very professional Water Monkey troupe.

After all, those scoundrels who only wanted to rob graves for wealth wouldn't all have specifically trained skills to deal with the dead float.

It seemed that if Little Yellow Oriole went up against them, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.

However, looking at the lively and bustling scene before him, Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but feel a sense of melancholy.

The first time he saw Little Yellow Oriole was also at a scene like this. Back then, Little Yellow Oriole was still performing on stage.

It was she who gave him, a newcomer to the countryside, a shock of wild, rustic aesthetic.

Li Zhuiyuan's gaze fell upon the surface of the fish pond. He wondered if Little Yellow Oriole, who was now in the fish pond, was also watching the performance?

She must also resent that funeral service troupe who took the money and then disregarded her whereabouts, right?

Just then, Secretary Jin, who had changed into a black tight-fitting outfit and just finished singing a song, walked to the edge of the stage with a microphone and asked the audience:

"What song would you like to hear? You can tell me."

Rural people were generally shy, and when asked the first time, no one dared to speak up to request a song.

Li Zhuiyuan was the first to raise his hand.

Secretary Jin recognized Li Zhuiyuan and smiled, waving at him and signaling him to come closer to the stage: "Come here, child, you tell me, what song do you want to hear?"

She crouched down and held the microphone to Li Zhuiyuan's mouth.

Li Zhuiyuan, facing the stage from the side, was directly facing the surface of the fish pond. He said in a clear voice:

"Um…

I want to hear, 'A Thousand Thousand Songs'."