Chapter 27

Li Zhuiyuan hung up the phone and asked the boss, "How much does it cost?"

The boss swallowed hard. He still thought the kid was just being mischievous and putting on an act, but to be safe, he put the phone on speaker and redialed.

A brief dial tone made the boss's eyebrows twitch. When the call connected, the voice of a dispatcher came through: "Hello, this is Tongzhou Public Security Bureau..."

*Click!* The boss immediately hung up. He looked at Li Zhuiyuan in disbelief; he hadn't expected the child to actually call the police!

"What on earth are you doing, you little rascal!" The boss ran frantically from the counter towards the next-door shop. He needed to warn them before the police arrived and caught them red-handed.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the phone. He had originally thought the boss was redialing to say, "It was just a child playing around, don't take it seriously, sorry for the trouble."

However, once the boss confirmed it was indeed the emergency line, he was so scared he immediately hung up, not thinking of anything else.

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

Candies at that time often had an extra layer of sugar coating after the outer wrapper was removed, which could be dissolved in the mouth. However, Li Zhuiyuan habitually scraped it off.

After the sugar coating was cleaned off and the candy had been in his mouth for a while, the convenience store owner still hadn't emerged from the video hall.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that something must have happened to the boss inside.

He sighed quietly and decided to keep his distance.

After the cars on the road passed, he crossed to the other side. Still feeling the direct distance was too close, he walked a considerable distance further west, stopping in front of a bicycle repair shop.

From there, he could observe the video hall across the street, and any police responding would also pass by his location first.

It wasn't long before Li Zhuiyuan saw a police motorcycle arrive, followed by a police car.

The two vehicles stopped in front of the video hall, and six uniformed police officers emerged. Four entered through the main door, and two went around to the back of the building.

The arrival of the police vehicles attracted considerable attention from nearby residents and shop owners who were out for an evening stroll. Many gathered to watch the commotion.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't move closer, remaining where he was, quietly awaiting the outcome.

In less than two minutes, a police officer rushed out of the video hall, looking utterly bewildered and disbelieving.

Li Zhuiyuan's heart skipped a beat: Could it be that even the police officers were in trouble?

However, after seeing that officer go to the police car to pick up a walkie-talkie and start speaking, and then another officer emerge from the video hall...

Li Zhuiyuan knew that the "miasma" had been broken.

In "The Record of Righteous Demon Subjugation," a whole chapter was dedicated to "miasma," which generally referred to a special environment formed after a "dead-fallen" creature took root in a certain place.

That chapter detailed many methods for investigation, analysis, and breaking the situation.

But clearly, there were no telephones or police officers in Wei Zhengdao's era.

Soon, waves of police reinforcements arrived. Among them was a plainclothes middle-aged officer with a chin full of dark stubble. After exiting his car, he quickly scanned his surroundings.

While it felt inappropriate to use such a description for a police officer, this man gave Li Zhuiyuan the impression of a hawk's gaze, his eyes incredibly sharp.

What surprised Li Zhuiyuan even more was that the officer didn't go to the video hall but instead pushed through the crowd, seemingly heading towards him.

However, his actions were interrupted by the shouts of his colleagues behind him, forcing him to turn around.

At that moment, people from the video hall were being brought out one by one.

They all looked limp, as if they might twist an ankle or fall at any moment while walking, yet their faces were flushed, and they swayed their heads vigorously.

The middle-aged officer stepped forward, grabbed someone's arm, and pushed his fingers up their forearm, much like a classic forearm-pushing movement in massage therapy.

He then let go of that arm, grabbed a second and a third person, performing the same action.

"Captain Tan, what's wrong?"

Tan Yunlong shook his head. "It doesn't look like they've taken drugs."

This statement caused many surrounding officers to show expressions of surprise.

To be honest, it was initially a relatively simple crackdown on prostitution and the dissemination of obscenity. However, after the responding officers investigated the scene, they immediately reported with excitement.

Then, the entire police station was abuzz.

Who would have thought that in this rural town, a gathering point for drug use could be suddenly busted?

Tan Yunlong knew what his colleagues were thinking and could only say, "This is just my personal judgment. Let's take them back to the station first, and then ask the town health clinic to send medical staff over for examination."

"Yes, Captain Tan."

In fact, Tan Yunlong himself wasn't entirely sure, because the behavior of these people was extremely similar to drug users.

Soon, everyone from the video hall was brought outside.

Li Zhuiyuan saw Leizi and Panzi among them. Surprisingly, they weren't afraid of the police; instead, they were talking to each other and occasionally high-fiving.

The two women who worked part-time at the video hall were the same, even chatting and laughing with the police officers beside them.

A blind person could tell something was off with this behavior.

Furthermore, Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Brother Bao, who had been behind the woman, was gone.

But Li Zhuiyuan didn't know where Brother Bao had gone and couldn't find him.

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

Originally, the tip-off call had come from the convenience store, which was easily verifiable. Yet, the convenience store owner was now the most agitated, making continuous funny faces pressed against the car window after getting into the police car.

Perhaps because he was the last one to enter, he was currently at his most euphoric.

Li Zhuiyuan looked around, feeling a bit confused. Why hadn't Brother Runsheng returned yet?

Just then, a rickshaw trishaw was parked ahead, watching the commotion. Li Zhuiyuan walked over, got in, stated the location of the town health clinic, and asked for the fare.

After the rickshaw driver quoted a price, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly realized that, due to his earlier phone call, he had naturally switched to Mandarin and hadn't switched back to his dialect. So, he asked the price again in Nantong dialect.

The rickshaw driver gave an embarrassed smile and quoted half of the original price.

Upon arriving at the town health clinic, Li Zhuiyuan walked in. Before he could even ask where Sister Mei and Runsheng were, he saw two police officers already walking ahead.

He followed them and soon found a quiet ward. Runsheng was sitting quietly on a long bench outside the ward.

The police pushed open the door and entered. Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Runsheng, gently nudged him, and asked, "Brother Runsheng, what are you doing sitting here?"

Runsheng looked up. "Xiaoyuan..."

Through their conversation, Li Zhuiyuan learned what had happened after they were sent to the hospital.

First, Brother Bao's resuscitation had failed, and he had been pronounced dead.

Upon hearing this news, Sister Mei immediately fainted.

The rickshaw driver left directly after arriving at the hospital.

Therefore, Runsheng was asked by the clinic staff to stay and pay the fees, but since he had no money, he could only sit there as a "hostage."

He thought that once Sister Mei woke up and clarified things, he could leave. It was just that Sister Mei had been unconscious for quite a while.

Li Zhuiyuan proactively pushed the door open to find the police. Inside the ward, Sister Mei lay on the hospital bed, surrounded by two uniformed police officers and one plainclothes officer.

This plainclothes officer had arrived earlier, something Li Zhuiyuan didn't know beforehand. If he had, he might have hesitated before entering, as this was the very person who seemed to have noticed him in the crowd.

Li Zhuiyuan first approached the two uniformed police officers, explained the situation, and stated that his friend had merely been doing a good deed and shouldn't be entangled in such subsequent trouble.

After understanding the full story, the police officers took the initiative to speak with the clinic staff. Soon, Runsheng was informed by the clinic that he was free to leave.

"Great! Finally, I can go home and eat!"

Runsheng was ravenous, eager to carry Li Zhuiyuan on his back and race home.

But a voice from behind spoke up at that moment: "Little friend, wait a moment."

Tan Yunlong walked up to Li Zhuiyuan, bent down, and looked earnestly at the boy.

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

The dispatcher had reported that the caller was a boy, and Tan Yunlong had immediately noticed Li Zhuiyuan's presence upon arriving at the scene.

How to put it? While everyone else was pushing forward to watch the excitement, someone standing quietly on the periphery with an excellent vantage point appeared more conspicuous. Coupled with the fact that the boy's friends had brought the video hall owner and his wife to the hospital, all these connections meant it was no coincidence.

"Yes, that's right, Officer. I called the police."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't deny it; lying to such a seasoned police officer was simply not worth it.

"Why did you call the police?"

"But shouldn't I have called the police?"

Tan Yunlong was momentarily speechless, then could only smile and say, "You should have. You did very well."

"Officer, can we go home now?"

"Of course." The specific test results for the video hall incident weren't out yet, but regardless, the caller should be protected. "Come, where do you live? Uncle will drive you home; it's not safe for children to walk alone at night."

"Thank you, Officer."

Tan Yunlong had Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng get into the car. Before driving, he removed the siren from the car roof.

He didn't drive Li Zhuiyuan directly home but stopped the car once they reached the village road.

Li Zhuiyuan said goodbye to Tan Yunlong, then got out of the car with Runsheng and walked towards his great-grandpa's house. At the fork in the road, just before turning into the small path, he saw Li Weihan rushing by on a classic 28-inch bicycle, followed by four uncles, all bustling and about to leave the village.

Li Weihan's face was stern. Of the four uncles, two looked worried, while the other two had grim faces and were muttering curses.

"Grandpa, Uncles."

"Xiaoyuan Hou, hurry home. Your grandpa and uncles have something to take care of in town."

Li Weihan was so preoccupied that he didn't even have time to properly greet his beloved grandson. The news he had received was truly shocking:

Leizi and Panzi were rumored to have been caught using drugs in town and arrested by the police!

This news was like a bolt from the blue!

They were now rushing to the town police station. The two uncles muttering "kill this scourge" were Panzi's and Leizi's fathers.

Runsheng asked curiously, "Xiaoyuan, what happened?"

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

"Yes, me too!"

Back home, Aunt Liu chided them slightly, "How could you forget the time while playing outside? We've already eaten, and your great-grandpa also finished and went for a walk."

However, Aunt Liu quickly brought out the reserved food, though it didn't look as appetizing.

Li Zhuiyuan had a single bowl with rice at the bottom and dishes on top; Runsheng had a basin in front of him.

Runsheng quickly lit some incense, then took several big bites, chewing with an expression of blissful enjoyment, as if finally recovering his strength.

His appearance made him look more like a drug user than the group suspected at the video hall.

Qin Li sat down in front of Li Zhuiyuan, watching him eat.

While he was eating, his great-grandpa returned from his post-meal stroll and remarked:

"Damn it, why is everyone in the village saying that Panzi and Leizi joined a drug-dealing gang, and their status isn't low either?"

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

Li Sanjiang sat down, lit a cigarette, and continued, "You really can't tell. Those two lads usually seemed quite honest in the village. It just goes to show, you can't judge a book by its cover."

"Great-grandpa, that must be just village gossip. How could that be true?"

"You can't be sure about that. Your grandpa and uncles have all gone to the police station right now. Xiaoyuan Hou, your great-grandpa needs to warn you: everything else is fine, but you absolutely must not touch that stuff. If you do, your life is pretty much over."

"I know, Great-grandpa."

"By the way, who were you out playing with this afternoon, that you're only just getting back so late?"

"With Brother Panzi and Brother Leizi."

Li Sanjiang's face wrinkled for a moment, then smoothed out as he nodded and said, "Then it must be just idle village gossip, hearing a whisper and turning it into a storm."

After dinner, Li Sanjiang went upstairs to wash up and go to bed. He had to wake up early tomorrow to attend the mourning ritual at Old Zhao's house.

Runsheng took a shower by the well, and without drying himself, eagerly turned on the TV and sat down to watch.

His soaking wet, dripping appearance, combined with the white light cast by the television, made him look like a "dead-fallen" creature that had just come ashore.

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

A-Li stood beside him, keeping him company.

After practicing for enough time, Li Zhuiyuan stood up straight, let out a long breath, a fine layer of sweat covering his body. The fatigue accumulated during the day had also significantly eased.

Liu Yumei had been sitting in the yard, cracking sunflower seeds and enjoying the evening breeze. Seeing Li Zhuiyuan finish his practice, she couldn't help but tease:

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

"Just consider it like calisthenics."

This reply made Liu Yumei pause, unconsciously spitting out the sunflower seed kernel and chewing on the shell.

Li Zhuiyuan seemed to realize he had said something wrong and quickly added, "I just feel much more comfortable and energetic after practicing this. It's quite amazing."

"You're still young; your bones haven't fully developed, so it's not suitable for you to practice hard martial arts right now."

"Okay, Grandma Liu." Li Zhuiyuan's gaze fell on the belt around A-Li's waist. "Grandma, isn't A-Li's belt a bit unsuitable?"

A-Li was already prone to fits of rage when encountering strangers or triggers; giving her a soft sword to carry... that would lead to people getting hurt.

"Grandma thinks it's quite suitable. Only this belt can match A-Li's outfit."

No sooner had Liu Yumei finished speaking than A-Li immediately unbuckled the belt and dropped it on the ground, because Xiaoyuan said it wasn't suitable.

At this, the old lady's lips couldn't help but twitch slightly.

Li Zhuiyuan bent down and carefully picked up the belt. Although it was very thin and soft, it could be quite dangerous if clever force was applied to it.

"Alright, it's getting late, A-Li. You should go to sleep. We'll play together again tomorrow morning."

A-Li obediently went back into 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 bit embarrassed, but she can still tell right from wrong, and she knows you meant well. However, you've got one thing wrong. Your great-grandpa must have told you about A-Li. When A-Li truly has an episode, it doesn't matter whether she has a weapon or not."

"What?"

"Go back to your room. I heard A-Ting say you asked her to buy quite a few things today."

"Yes, I asked Aunt Liu to help me buy some homework supplies."

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

"Good night, Grandma Liu."

Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs and opened his bedroom door, only to see the room filled with various materials. The once empty room had suddenly become packed and cluttered.

"Aunt Liu's efficiency is really high."

Li Zhuiyuan walked over to a cage containing a small black puppy. Inside the cage were a water bowl and a food bowl.

Earlier downstairs, Aunt Liu hadn't mentioned a word, clearly indicating that her responsibility was only to help him with the purchases. How to explain it to his great-grandpa later was his own business.

This included keeping a small black dog.

Logically, a puppy of this age should be the most lively and playful, but this one was sprawled diagonally by the cage, sound asleep.

Even when he walked right up to it, it didn't even open its eyelids.

It was clear this dog wasn't suitable for guarding the gate; if it were to guard, it would sleep more soundly, go to bed earlier, and wake up later than its owners.

However, Li Zhuiyuan didn't want it for that purpose; he needed its blood.

This might sound cruel, but it wasn't. The blood of a "virgin" black dog appeared frequently in "The Record of Righteous Demon Subjugation" and was one of the essential components for activating many tools.

But only a small amount, just a little blood, was needed for its essence, to be applied as a catalyst.

For instance, his great-grandpa's ritual before salvaging corpses, where he would repeatedly splash black dog blood by the basinful... was actually incorrect.

Li Zhuiyuan had scoured through "Tales of Jianghu Wonders" and "The Record of Righteous Demon Subjugation" and had never seen any "dead-fallen" creature that was killed by being drenched in black dog blood.

Moreover, what his great-grandpa splashed didn't seem to be dog blood either; he mixed it with dye beforehand. The specific type of blood used depended on whether the family's recent meat dishes were chicken or pork.

Normally, to ensure strong vital energy, it was most suitable to use black dog blood collected within one month; beyond that time, its effectiveness would be greatly diminished.

Each time, an amount equivalent to a beer bottle cap was sufficient. This would then be mixed with other ingredients to create a substance similar to red ink paste. When needed, one would open the paste lid, press with a fingertip, and then apply it to the desired area.

This small quantity and frequency would have negligible impact on the dog's health. At most, he could give it a large chicken drumstick after each blood collection for replenishment.

As for the method of raising a "virgin" dog, it was also recorded in the book and was not complicated: simply administer medicine.

The book contained a prescription that, even to an experienced Chinese medicine doctor, would appear to be merely a human tonic. However, if a dog consumed it, in addition to strengthening its body, it would have a specific side effect: it would greatly reduce its sexual desire.

Keeping a dog isolated in a dark room could lead to mental instability, and its blood would carry ill omens, rendering it ineffective.

Simply guarding a dog, however, was too exhausting. Moreover, if it accidentally found a chance to go out and lose its "virginity," there would be no way to verify it. Then, facing "dead-fallen" creatures with useless black dog blood would only bring misfortune upon oneself, and the cost was too high.

As for castrating the dog for a permanent solution, that was even less desirable. A neutered dog's blood would lack vital energy and be completely useless.

Therefore, feeding the dog this tonic was most suitable. As long as it was fed according to the prescribed course, it would remain a "virtuous dog gentleman," even during its mating season.

Wei Zhengdao was a kind-hearted person and even mentioned in the book that once a dog reached three or four years of age, one could stop administering the medicine, grant it freedom, and then find a new dog to continue collecting blood from.

As for dogs that had taken the medicine, they often became stronger and healthier. The only drawback was that they couldn't "indulge in dogly ways" for those few years.

But once freed, it could still enjoy a vast sky and a wonderful future, seeing it as "bitterness first, then sweetness."

Seeing the puppy still ignoring him, Li Zhuiyuan stopped paying attention to it. He took his list and began "cataloging" the items one by one.

Thankfully, Brother Liangliang had given him a sum of money earlier; otherwise, his previous allowance alone wouldn't have been enough to buy so many things.

Moreover, this was only the first batch of raw materials, not accounting for subsequent experimental losses and processing costs.

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan finally felt the economic pressure.

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

After inventorying and confirming nothing was missing, Li Zhuiyuan returned to his desk and began drawing design blueprints.

The illustrations in the book were rather rough and mostly supplemented with textual descriptions. He needed to translate them before he could conveniently find someone to produce them in reality.

These kinds of craft books were genuinely difficult to decipher.

After working until one in the morning, Li Zhuiyuan left his desk, took a shower, and went to bed.

The next day, he woke up, turned his head, and saw A-Li in her red dress sitting on the chair.

Li Zhuiyuan felt a little worried: if he returned to Beijing, would he feel lost and unaccustomed to not seeing her when he woke up?

The puppy in the cage seemed very interested in A-Li, constantly pawing at the cage while facing her.

However, A-Li was different from other girls; she showed little interest in these cute little animals. Otherwise, Liu Yumei would probably have set up a small zoo for her long ago.

While washing up, he heard people talking downstairs in the yard: Li Weihan and Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan listened quietly upstairs for a while.

The police had taken people to the station yesterday. After examination, they found that no one had actually taken drugs. However, among the four hoodlums who had left earlier, the leader in the suit was involved with such substances.

That fellow had originally been lying at home. When the police showed up and asked him to go to the station to assist with the investigation, he was so scared he confessed everything. He was just a small-time subordinate who had just found an upstream contact and planned to distribute this to make quick money. Now, he was directly caught through the chain.

As for what happened to the people in the video hall, the police explained that the gas valve in the small stove in the corner of the video hall hadn't been properly closed, causing everyone to suffer carbon monoxide poisoning, which led to many experiencing hallucinations.

Li Sanjiang asked in surprise, "Is that how carbon monoxide poisoning manifests?"

Li Weihan replied, "That's what the police said. Pan Hou and Lei Hou got their IV drips, and they were back to normal once they got home."

Li Sanjiang, still feeling uneasy, remarked, "Good heavens, city folks take such big risks using gas! Our traditional stoves are much better."

Li Zhuiyuan went downstairs and greeted Li Weihan, who stroked Li Zhuiyuan's head and, while at it, gave Panzi and Leizi another good scolding as examples.

Although they didn't take drugs, running off to the video hall to watch such videos and then getting caught in a police raid was still quite embarrassing.

After Panzi and Leizi returned home from their IV drips, their two uncles gave them a severe "encouragement" with rattan canes to help improve their sleep quality.

However, Li Zhuiyuan also understood that Brother Panzi and Brother Leizi were very loyal. Despite getting into trouble and being beaten, they firmly kept quiet about his own visit to the video hall.

After Li Weihan left, Li Sanjiang called Runsheng, and together they pushed the paper effigies to Old Zhao's house, where a funeral was being held today.

Li Sanjiang invited Li Zhuiyuan to come along for the feast, but Li Zhuiyuan declined, citing his "need to stay home and focus on studying."

Throughout the rest of the day, Li Zhuiyuan stayed in his room doing handicrafts, primarily preparing the basic materials.

Li Zhuiyuan also let the puppy out of its cage to run around. However, after it tried to approach A-Li and was scared off by the sudden coldness emanating from her, it no longer bothered to explore, surprisingly returning to its cage to sleep.

Moreover, from last night until now, it hadn't made a sound except for a few "hmphs" this morning to indicate its water bowl was empty.

Li Zhuiyuan even suspected that even without giving it the medicine, it probably wouldn't go "messing around" outside once it grew older and developed that function, simply because it was too lazy to move.

Originally, Li Zhuiyuan had only tried to have A-Li help him with some simple tasks, but after discovering how quickly she learned and how meticulously she worked, he began to treat A-Li as his official collaborator.

To some extent, Li Zhuiyuan even had to admit that A-Li's craftsmanship surpassed his own.

In this atmosphere, the two spent the entire day, with a stronger sense of interaction than when they read together, though A-Li ended up quite dirty.

Before dinner, Li Zhuiyuan used a towel to wipe A-Li's hands and face. The dirt on her clothes, however, was harder to deal with.

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

Her granddaughter was a germaphobe and needed to keep herself constantly clean, yet after being with this boy, she surprisingly no longer cared about such things.

While she rationally knew that everything was rapidly developing for the better, emotionally, as a grandmother, she found it somewhat unacceptable.

Wasn't this scene just like her pampered granddaughter, raised with every luxury, suddenly announcing one day that she was willing to go work and endure hardships with a poor boy?

And it wasn't just talk anymore.

Liu Yumei quickly composed herself. During dinner, she also observed that her granddaughter no longer simply ate with her head down. She would take a few bites, then look up at the boy in front of her, and then show a slight swaying of her body.

This made Liu Yumei's carefully composed emotions fluctuate again... Good heavens, this "working" thing actually seemed to be effective.

After dinner, Li Zhuiyuan decided not to rush the work further that night. He also worried about tiring out A-Li, so he would just draw new blueprints by himself in the evening.

After taking A-Li back to the East Room, he went upstairs, first practiced his horse stance on the terrace, and then returned to his room to draw.

Late into the night, Li Zhuiyuan stepped out of his room to wash his face. On the way, he noticed his great-grandpa's bedroom was empty. Hearing the TV downstairs, he descended the stairs and saw Runsheng watching television by himself while munching on something.

"Brother Runsheng, where's my great-grandpa?"

"He's probably still drinking at the feast."

Runsheng wasn't suitable to join the main table for the feast, so Li Sanjiang had packed him a separate meal, letting him eat alone in a corner with his incense. After finishing his meal, he had greeted them and returned early to watch TV.

"Oh, I see."

"Xiaoyuan, do you want to watch TV?"

"No, thanks, Brother Runsheng. You watch it. I'm going back upstairs."

Back in his second-floor bedroom, Li Zhuiyuan drew a few more diagrams. Feeling he had reached his limit for the day, and seeing it was past midnight, he decided it was time to wash up and go to sleep.

Carrying his basin, he prepared to go to the shower room. He specifically glanced into his great-grandpa's bedroom and discovered that his great-grandpa still hadn't returned.

Going downstairs, he saw Runsheng adjusting the antenna while changing channels.

"Brother Runsheng, Great-grandpa still isn't back. He hasn't gotten drunk at their house, has he?"

Li Zhuiyuan knew that his great-grandpa enjoyed drinking and would always have a good drink during mourning rituals and feasts.

"I don't know."

"Brother Runsheng, why don't you come with me to check? If Great-grandpa is drunk, we can carry him back."

"Alright."

Li Zhuiyuan took out his flashlight, inserted the batteries. Old Zhao's house wasn't far from here, but the path at night was difficult to navigate.

Walking along the country path, as they neared Old Zhao's house, they saw that although the tent was still up, the lights were mostly out. Clearly, the feast had long since concluded.

However, as soon as they reached the yard, they saw one light still on under the large tent. Beneath the light were three people still drinking, and one of them was Li Sanjiang.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but sigh inwardly. It seemed his great-grandpa had found drinking buddies tonight, as he was still chatting and drinking with them, disregarding the host's clearing of the feast.

At that moment, Runsheng, unable to wait to get closer, raised his hand and waved from a distance, shouting, "Great-grandpa, they've already cleared the feast. Let's go home!"

Li Sanjiang heard Runsheng's shout and, with his drunken eyes, looked over, waving back. "It's fine. I told the host I was worried his kid might not find his way home at night, so I'd stay for a bit longer at the ritual. The host was delighted and even added cold dishes and extra wine for us."

Immediately after, Li Sanjiang began to introduce Li Zhuiyuan to his two drinking companions: "See that? That's my great-grandson. My great-grandson is handsome and smart, very charming. Don't get it wrong, it's not that big oaf; that's from Shinpao's family."

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the table, intending to apologize to his great-grandpa's two drinking companions and then take his clearly intoxicated great-grandpa home to rest.

As he had walked closer earlier, he thought it was due to the dim lighting that the upper bodies, especially the faces, of the two drinking companions were obscured in darkness.

But now that he was right beside them, he still couldn't clearly see their faces. He only felt that his great-grandpa's two drinking buddies seemed relatively young. Could they be friends despite a significant age difference?

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the flashlight in his hand, pretending to swing it casually, and swept the beam across their faces.

Instantly, Li Zhuiyuan's heart trembled.

Because one of the people sitting at the table drinking was none other than Brother Bao!

The other person looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had seen him. He just seemed excessively young, only slightly older than Runsheng.

However, the answer quickly became apparent, because after the flashlight beam swept across their faces, it landed precisely on the black and white obituary photo in the center of the mourning hall.

The funeral being held here today was for him.

And now he was at the table, enjoying his own feast.