Chapter 69

Chapter 69

"Ah... hmmph!"

Tan Wenbin's scream was about to escape when a hand clamped over his mouth, forcefully stifling it. He stared wide-eyed, terrified, at the old face before him.

The old man smiled and was about to speak when he noticed the young man wrapping his arms up, entangling his legs down, and twisting his body with a surge of power from his waist.

"Oh?"

The old man uttered a sound of surprise, seemingly recognizing it as a close-quarters combat technique for taking someone down.

"Huh?"

Tan Wenbin, however, was utterly astonished because he found himself grappling at empty space, as if the old man had no physical form. Yet, his mouth was undeniably covered by the other's hand.

"Young man, I'll let go, but don't make any noise. I'm old; I can't stand loud shouting."

Tan Wenbin nodded.

The old man removed his hand from Tan Wenbin's mouth.

"Yuanzi, Runsheng, there's a ghost!"

"Heh heh."

The old man chuckled, got up, and climbed out of the coffin where Tan Wenbin was.

"Yuanzi, Runsheng!"

Tan Wenbin continued shouting while sitting up, watching the old man warily.

The old man ignored him completely, walked to another coffin, and waved his hand at an incense burner placed below. Incense ignited, and wisps of white smoke rose. He took a deep breath, and the white smoke split into two streams entering his nostrils.

"Ah..."

The old man made a sound of comfort, a sickly flush appearing on his face.

"Yuanzi, Runsheng!"

Seeing Tan Wenbin's persistence, the old man sighed, "Stop shouting. They can't hear you."

Tan Wenbin finally stopped shouting and asked, puzzled, "Who are you?"

"You're sleeping in my house, and you ask who I am?"

"Your house?" Tan Wenbin seemed to realize something and asked, "Are you Yin Meng's grandfather?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Are you haunting this place?"

"What do you mean haunting? I'm not dead."

"Not dead?"

"Nonsense. If I were dead, why would I haunt my granddaughter and ruin her luck? I'm not crazy."

"Then your..."

The old man pointed to the coffin behind him: "See? This is where I sleep."

There were two coffins in the outer room, which was the shop, and three in the inner room. Tan Wenbin had assumed all three in the inner room were empty, never expecting one of them to be occupied.

"So what are you? If you're not a ghost, why couldn't I touch you just now?"

"I find it strange, simpleton. Aren't you from the trade?"

"What trade?"

"The body-retrieval business."

Tan Wenbin puffed out his chest and stated firmly, "Of course!"

"Then you don't know you're currently in a 'walking yin' state?"

"'Walking yin'?" Tan Wenbin touched his body. "Is this what 'walking yin' is?"

"When I came out, I didn't intend to bother you, but you kept bouncing around, so I pulled you. I didn't expect you to start screaming."

"What about my friends?"

"When 'walking yin,' you can't see living people, so all your shouting just now was useless."

"No way..."

"No way what?"

"Uh, nothing, nothing. Wait, I didn't see you out during the day. Why are you 'walking yin' at night?"

"I wish I could come out during the day, but my body isn't up to it anymore." The old man pointed to his head. "Cerebral infarction, paralyzed."

"So you 'walk yin' every night to move around?"

"Don't be silly! Are you really ignorant or just pretending? Who can 'walk yin' as easily and frequently as eating and drinking?"

"Isn't it?"

Tan Wenbin raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

"Snap!"

He had always thought Xiao Yuan's gesture of closing his eyes and 'walking yin' with a snap of his fingers was very cool.

"It's Ghost Festival today, so I have to get up tonight for business."

"It's so late, what kind of ghost business?"

"Exactly."

Tan Wenbin: "..."

"Enough of this talk. I need to open the shop."

The old man passed through the curtain and entered the front shop. He then froze, seeing a boy standing there. The boy was looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

The old man asked in surprise, "I haven't even opened the shop door. How did you get in?"

Li Zhuiyuan didn't answer.

The old man rubbed his head. "Wait, you're not wearing a robe. I see, are you with that simpleton?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

Tan Wenbin also rushed out from the inner room. Seeing Li Zhuiyuan, he excitedly waved his arms: "Brother Xiaoyuan, I've 'walked yin'! I've 'walked yin'!" His excitement was like a child discovering he had just learned to ride a bicycle.

The old man stroked his chin, looking at the boy, and said, "So, you're the real deal."

"What does that mean?" Tan Wenbin asked curiously.

The old man pointed to the boy: "I didn't even know he was standing here earlier, which proves he's very 'solid'."

"'Solid'?"

"Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp. You're the shrimp."

"Are you the big fish?"

The old man glanced at the boy again and said lightly, "A small fish."

Li Zhuiyuan had long sensed the "commotion" inside the room and had already entered the 'walking yin' state. He had also heard the earlier conversation, knowing the old man was Yin Meng's grandfather, but he hadn't lowered his guard. Now, however, he was confident the other party was "harmless" because they had shown weakness.

In fact, during that time, the boy's mind had been wrestling with one question: Should he pounce and bite him? There was no way; he truly didn't know how to fight in the 'walking yin' state. The last time he faced the little girl in red in Road覇 Village, he had used powder to disperse her. The books by Wei Zhengdao he was currently reading didn't elaborate on 'walking yin' either. It should have been a basic subject, so basic that Wei Zhengdao didn't even bother mentioning it, yet Li Zhuiyuan simply didn't know it. It was like he could perform advanced calculations but "couldn't" do basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. He could use them because, although he didn't understand what "addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division" meant, he had memorized the answers to basic arithmetic problems. This was also why he would often overexert himself to the point of nosebleeds. While his young age and undeveloped body contributed, the main reason was that his initial calculations involved massive amounts of data.

"You're Yuan Ge'er, right?"

The old man indeed adopted a different attitude towards Li Zhuiyuan, adding a polite honorific after his name, unlike calling Tan Wenbin a simpleton.

"Yes," Li Zhuiyuan replied. "Hello."

"Yin Fuhai, I'm stationed at Fengdu Wharf. May I ask which wharf Yuan Ge'er is from, or which Dragon King he worships?"

As he spoke, the old man performed a series of river-specific hand gestures. Not every trade developed jargon and gestures; this form of mutual identification was specifically designed to defuse conflicts and avoid disputes. Another widely known group that liked to adopt such postures was bandits. "Wharf" here meant a local boss, while "stationed" implied he was merely a part of that wharf, not its sole authority. "Dragon King" referred to the great powers on the river.

Li Zhuiyuan rarely encountered legitimate peers, so he analyzed this information based on its literal meaning. But he didn't know how to respond. What was his great-grandfather's standing? "Stationed at Nantong Haohe Wharf?" In reality, his great-grandfather's residence was quite far from Haohe River in the city center. More importantly, no one had ever taught him the local hand gestures. He couldn't just mimic them back, could he? It was still his great-grandfather's unreliability, leaving his great-grandson unable to properly introduce himself when out and about. Relatively speaking, Li Zhuiyuan felt that Runsheng's Uncle Shan might know something about this, but Uncle Shan never used these customs with his great-grandfather. Perhaps he didn't even consider Li Sanjiang a true peer. What Li Zhuiyuan knew were only the inner-door courtesies of the Qin and Liu families, but performing those here wouldn't be very appropriate.

However, seeing the boy not return the greeting, the old man grew angry, and his tone became sharper: "If you look down on me, stationed at Fengdu Wharf, then why are you staying in my house?"

Li Zhuiyuan, left with no choice, returned with a set of Liu family inner-door courtesies. Performing this courtesy meant there was no need to verbally state his family's origin. Clearly, the old man recognized it. The moment he saw this returned courtesy, the old man turned completely transparent. He was so scared he almost ended his 'walking yin' state. Presumably, even his paralyzed body in the coffin twitched a couple of times from the shock.

After a long while, the old man calmed down. This time, not only had his previous anger vanished, but he had adopted an ingratiating expression: "A member of the Liu family gracing my door, a distinguished guest, a rare visitor. How wonderful. It's been so many years since someone from the Liu family has 'walked the river' again." There was no fawning in the old man's conciliatory expression.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "You know the Liu family?"

"Any old-timer on this river will have heard of them."

"I mean, do you know the Liu family has no one left?"

"I know," the old man said calmly. "It's precisely because I know how the Liu family disappeared that I hold them in even greater respect."

"My surname isn't Liu."

"An honorary outer disciple?"

"Yes."

At the Ding family banquet in Mountain City that night, Grandma Liu had put him forward to return the courtesy. Although he hadn't formally entered the family or apprenticed yet, an honorary disciple in the future was a tacit understanding between them, awaiting A-Li's full recovery.

"It's the same. Honored guest, please forgive me; I, an old man, cannot personally host you."

"Don't be so formal. I'll call you 'Old Master,' and you can call me 'Xiaoyuan.' That way, we'll both be more comfortable."

"Honored guest... oh no, is Yuan Ge'er friends with my Mengmeng?"

"Something like that, but I'm here to repay a favor to Yin Zhiwang."

"Ancestor? Oh, I see. Then your seniority is indeed very high."

"Old Master, are you not doing business anymore?"

"Ah, I will, I will."

The old man walked to the shop door. Yin Meng had replaced the door planks when closing for the night. The old man didn't move the planks; instead, he placed his hand on a mirror on the wall and gently turned it. The thick door planks, at this moment, became somewhat transparent. Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin both saw black figures appearing on the street outside, which should have been quiet in the dead of night. However, among these black figures, there were also a few bright ones mixed in. Those must be living people: two drunk individuals with their arms around each other, and two solitary ones. So, when you have nothing to do late at night, it's best not to wander aimlessly alone on quiet streets, because the street might be much livelier than you see.

The old man sat back behind the counter, as if waiting for customers to arrive. Tan Wenbin stood at the end of the counter, carefully observing the "pedestrians" outside.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the old man and asked, "Is this a feature of Ghost Street?"

"I've heard that a few other places have similar features, but I haven't been there and don't know the specifics. However, places like our Fengdu Ghost Street should be rare."

"Are they ghosts?"

"Yes and no. Every Ghost Festival, they appear on this street at night."

Tan Wenbin asked, "Haven't you caught one to study?"

The old man quickly waved his hand, saying, "A visitor is a guest. This isn't a shady establishment."

Just then, a black figure walked in. Its form was blurry and indistinct, only generally recognizable as a person. It stood before the counter, and the old man mumbled something to it. Li Zhuiyuan couldn't quite hear what was being said. A moment later, the black figure left, dropping a piece of money at the shop entrance, which floated down into the water vat. As soon as the money fell in, it turned into black ash and dispersed. A smile appeared on the old man's lips, and he stroked his beard.

Only then did Li Zhuiyuan realize the purpose of the water vats in front of every shop. Yet Yin Meng herself didn't know, describing a commonly mistaken, incorrect usage.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "What was exchanged?"

The old man chuckled, "Lifespan."

"Hm?"

"If my body could still move, I could personally make other things to sell tonight, or help run errands and fulfill wishes. But now I can only sit here 'walking yin,' unable to do anything substantial. The only thing I can sell is this bit of lifespan. Although paralyzed, I still have a long time left. However, in my condition, every extra day I live is another day I burden Mengmeng. It's better to sell these burdensome days and exchange them for some yin virtue for Mengmeng. My granddaughter is a good person, just very proud. There's really no need for her to suffer in this coffin shop for me; it only delays her youth."

The old man's attitude towards his granddaughter reminded Li Zhuiyuan of his own great-grandfather.

"How much can you sell?"

"Not much. Those with great merits wouldn't be wandering spirits like this."

"True."

"But every bit helps, even a mosquito's leg is meat."

Li Zhuiyuan pointed to the inner room and asked, "Aren't you calling Yin Meng?"

"She won't wake up. Not everyone can 'walk yin'; she can't."

Hearing this, Tan Wenbin immediately smiled, meaning Runsheng couldn't 'walk yin' either, but he could!

"Can't this be learned later?"

"Some people are born with it, and some learn it by chance when they encounter certain things later in life, but yes, it can be learned."

"So, you deliberately didn't teach her?"

"Hmm, what's the point of learning this? Being able to see these things isn't necessarily a good thing. In peaceful times, this trade won't prosper. Honestly, I wish she could live happily, find something she loves to do, then marry a good man, have a child, and live an ordinary life."

His great-grandfather also had similar hopes for him.

"I think she's actually learned quite well herself."

"Just consider it for physical fitness. A girl with some skills won't be easily bullied."

Just then, Tan Wenbin spoke up: "Brother Xiaoyuan, I'm so dizzy, and my head hurts."

The old man said, "Simpleton, go back to sleep. Staying in the 'walking yin' state for too long will be unbearable. Don't lose control and drift onto the street, or you'll become a wandering ghost."

Tan Wenbin asked nervously, "Um... how do I end it?"

"Each family has its own incantation," the old man said, looking at Li Zhuiyuan. "Didn't you teach him?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Close your eyes and imagine you're at the bottom of the sea, rising to the surface."

The old man: "..."

Tan Wenbin obediently closed his eyes and began to imagine, even rising on his tiptoes and gently fluttering his hands up and down. A moment later, Tan Wenbin opened his eyes, his expression full of pain: "I can't wake up, Xiaoyuan, my head hurts even more, ah..."

Li Zhuiyuan didn't know what to do either and could only look at the old man: "Old Master, do you have a method?"

"I..." The old man stood up, walked over to Tan Wenbin, mumbled something for a moment, then slapped Tan Wenbin on the forehead. Tan Wenbin flew backward, passed through the wall, and entered the inner room.

Tan Wenbin, waking up in the coffin, though his head was splitting and he was extremely tired, still managed to climb out, push aside the curtain, and re-enter the outer room. He saw the door planks still in place and no other figures. Only then did he realize what had happened. He slapped his forehead, crawled back into the coffin, closed his eyes, and immediately began to snore.

"Alright, he's back. If this kid hadn't learned it before, he's quite perceptive. Has he experienced anything?"

"Yes, he has."

"Oh, then that's caused by encountering too many incidents."

"Does 'walking yin' for a long time make you tired?"

"Of course you wouldn't be tired; you're very 'solid'."

"How so 'solid'?"

"You must have been standing outside the inner room earlier, listening to our conversation, yet I didn't sense your presence at all."

"Be more specific."

"This... are you truly unaware?"

"Does it look like I'm faking it?"

"No, it's just very surprising. If you don't know, how did you train?"

"Also by experiencing many incidents."

The old man shook his head: "No, experiencing incidents can only open up the ability to 'walk yin'. Yours is clearly refined."

Li Zhuiyuan thought of A-Li. If it referred to refinement, it must be from entering A-Li's "field of vision" to see the scenery. Every time he "came out" after viewing the scenery, he would feel disoriented and uncomfortable for a while, but with more repetitions, the side effects diminished.

After waiting for a long time, no second black figure appeared at the door.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Business is slow?"

The old man chuckled, "A coffin shop wouldn't exactly be bustling with customers."

"Will you do another business? I won't take your lifespan."

"Besides my lifespan, what else can I offer now?"

"I'll give Yin Meng money in reality, and you teach me 'walking yin' now."

The old man leaned back. Although he had already sensed something was amiss, he truly hadn't expected such words to come from the boy's mouth.

"Are you doubting my identity as a Liu family member?"

"No, I've confirmed it, because only in a Dragon King Temple can such strange things happen."

"This deal, are you taking it?"

"Yes, but I can't accept your money."

"No, I must pay, because what's free is often more expensive."

"You misunderstand. It's just that I feel what I can teach are only the basics, and it would be rude to accept your money for that."

"It's the basics that I lack."

"Alright then. I can teach you all twelve ancestral 'walking yin' methods of the Yin family. It will take a long time to learn them, though. How long will you be staying here?"

"Leaving tomorrow afternoon."

"This 'walking yin' method has many details and taboos. It's difficult to truly grasp without direct instruction and guidance. Perhaps you could consider staying here longer? For example, stay for a month, which would at least ensure you learn one method."

"It's fine, just teach me."

"Then I'll list all twelve methods, you choose one, and we'll familiarize ourselves with it tonight?"

"No need. Let's start from the first one."

"Oh... alright."

At first, even knowing the boy was from the Liu family, the old man still thought he was a madman, aiming impossibly high. But as he taught, he realized that he was, in fact, the frog in the well. For each method, he would first describe it, then demonstrate it, and finally point out key details. The boy would sit on a chair, think for a while, and then be able to use it. The first time was awkward, the second fluent, and by the third, he was masterfully proficient. The second, the third... all were the same.

Midway through, he even began to suspect whether the other party had already learned the Yin family's 'walking yin' methods and was merely putting on a show to verify them with him. However, he quickly dismissed that idea. Because he himself didn't even know the last three methods. He could only repeat the ancestral incantations and key details to the boy; he couldn't demonstrate them. The boy, however, remained the same. After thinking for a while in the chair, he would come to analyze with the old man: based on the consistent characteristics of the first nine methods, should the next steps be this way or that way, and where were the key points? Then, the boy would use it. After the other party demonstrated it, he would even teach the old man in reverse, asking him to try practicing. The teacher-student relationship quietly reversed.

The old man never dreamed that one day he would be taught his own ancestral methods. It was utterly absurd, yet the facts were before him, leaving him no choice but to believe. What was even more frustrating was that after the other party learned it, he would break it down and explain it in detail, inspiring the old man and deepening his understanding, yet he still couldn't use it right away.

After the boy had finished learning everything, the sky outside was still dark; it would be a while until the rooster crowed. The old man was deeply frustrated. He slumped against the wall, looked at the still vibrant boy, and sighed, "No wonder you're from the Liu family." Li Zhuiyuan merely smiled at this. For him, these were truly just basic exercises, a way to go back and fill in conceptual gaps after having severely skipped steps previously.

"It's a good thing it's the present era. If it were in the past, after you grew up, you would definitely be a major figure, one who could summon wind and rain."

"Old Master, was the Liu family very powerful in the past?"

Having finished learning, Li Zhuiyuan was willing to chat, especially about the Liu family's past.

"Look at what you're saying. On the river, there used to be a saying: 'Dynasties flow like water, but the River Transport Association stands firm.' Many of the famous River Transport Association bigwigs throughout history were merely minor deities, like the 'Dragon Kings' of families such as the Liu's, pushed to the forefront. Back then, the only family that could rival the Liu family in reputation was the Qin family. Such prominent families didn't care about the petty affairs on the river. They were more focused on the secrets beneath the surface of the river; that was their true foundation."

"Old Master, you truly know a lot."

"Haha, there are many travelers from all corners of the world here. In my younger days, I also loved making friends and telling stories. It's almost dawn. You should rest. Actually, I'm pretty exhausted myself, heh heh."

"Hm," Li Zhuiyuan nodded. "Only two customers today?"

"Yes, that's right."

The first customer came in right when the shop opened, and the second came in midway through the teaching session.

"But the second customer didn't pay."

"Ah?" The old man paused, surprised. He recalled the boy had been deep in thought with his eyes closed then, yet he had still noticed this. He immediately explained, "The deal didn't go through, so naturally, no payment was needed."

"Didn't go through? But after the second customer left, your expression immediately turned very grim."

"I'm just tired, truly. It's been a long time since I worked this hard."

"You said it yourself, these are all basic things. Even demonstrating the first nine methods was just a simple task. So, Old Master, are you really tired, or is it because you gave a large portion of your lifespan to the second customer?"

"You're joking, heh heh."

"I can read faces. Your end is near."

"You..."

"Is it inconvenient to say?"

"I'm ashamed to say."

The old man lowered his head, rubbing his face with his hand, half in shame and half in shock. The boy before him had clearly sensed it all along but had deliberately waited until all twelve methods were taught before bringing it up. Such cunning and composure were truly terrifying.

"Then, let's not talk about it."

Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand, preparing to snap his fingers to end his 'walking yin' state. He had spent quite a long time today and felt he should sleep until noon. Fortunately, it wouldn't delay the afternoon boat.

"No, I'll tell you. I'm afraid you'll find out even if you leave late during the day."

"I'll know?"

"My son died."

"Yin Meng said that after her parents divorced, her father went to work in the South, and there was no news of him since."

"I originally thought he couldn't handle the shock of the divorce, so he immediately ran off to the South alone after the divorce, abandoning his daughter and this home."

"What's the truth?"

"He died."

"Dead?"

"He didn't agree to the divorce. That woman, in collusion with the man she's now married to, killed him. His body was sunk to the bottom of Xiwanzai."

"So how did the divorce happen?"

"In our small town, rules might be stricter now, but in the past, a wedding banquet was enough for marriage. There was no need to get a certificate; you'd just get one temporarily if you needed it. Divorce was even simpler: everyone just went their separate ways, and that was it. At the time, he left a letter saying he was useless, a good-for-nothing, couldn't keep his wife, and was too ashamed to stay home. He went to work in the South to make something of himself, and not to worry. He had already died then, and the letter was forged."

"You never suspected anything?"

"I was foolish, I truly never suspected."

"Who told you then?"

"He came back himself. Last month, during the temple fair, he came home and told me personally. They were building a bridge at Xiwanzai, and his remains were dug up when they were laying the foundation. It had been so long that the police couldn't trace anything. I'm furious, so I plan to..."

"I'm tired, my head hurts."

"Ah?"

"No more talking. I'm going to sleep."

When he woke up, it was indeed already past noon.

Li Zhuiyuan climbed out of the coffin. Runsheng was holding a rag, helping wipe the counter. Seeing Xiaoyuan awake, he immediately went into the inner room and woke up Tan Wenbin, who was also still deeply asleep and catching up on rest.

"Hey, you really can sleep," Yin Meng said with a smile.

"Yeah," Li Zhuiyuan responded.

Tan Wenbin rubbed his eyes and came out, straight up declaring in the middle of the day, "Yin Meng, your grandfather isn't dead!"

"Of course he's not dead. I never said he was dead yesterday. He just had a cerebral infarction and can't wake up."

"Really? You didn't say that yesterday?" Tan Wenbin tried to recall.

Li Zhuiyuan: "She didn't say so."

But the implication, both explicit and implicit, was similar to her grandfather being dead, and in reality, it was indeed quite similar.

Tan Wenbin immediately apologized with an embarrassed smile: "Um, I'm sorry, heh heh, I got it wrong."

Yin Meng said, "Want to have lunch? I'll make it."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Let's eat out instead."

The pig trotters from last night still left a bit of an impression.

Just then, two boys walked into the shop from outside. They looked only two or three years older than Li Zhuiyuan, and both ran in with reddened eyes.

"Sis, sis."

"Sis."

As soon as they entered, both boys called Yin Meng "Sis."

"Who are they?" Tan Wenbin asked.

"My mother's later children."

"How come you seem to have a good relationship with them?"

"Well, when they occasionally come to the county town, I buy them some food and give them some pocket money."

Tan Wenbin: "You're really quite kind."

"Am I?"

"So kind it's like your brain is filled with water."

At this point, the two boys ran over, hugged Yin Meng, and cried:

"Waaah, Sis, it's bad! Mom and Dad both fell into the river pond and drowned this morning!"