Chapter 73

For many, homesickness is like a jar of aged wine; one might feel unworthy to speak of nostalgia without raising a glass.

But sometimes, it’s more like a can of Jianlibao.

Opening the cap with a ‘pop,’ emotions gush out with the gas, and tears spill out along with the soda; take a sip, and the bubbles dance on your tongue.

Just like boarding students rushing home as soon as school breaks, or children sent to another family’s home, playing happily during the day only to cry out for home at night.

Among the children who had left home, Tan Wenbin was the most human.

Therefore, his reaction was also the most intense.

It was as if only by stepping onto the family’s courtyard, giving Li Sanjiang a strong hug, and hearing Grandpa Li call him “Zhuangzhuang,” could he definitively confirm from the bottom of his heart:

Whew, he was finally home, and all the thrilling and terrifying things he had encountered along the way had truly come to an end.

This feeling, his own parents truly couldn’t provide.

Li Sanjiang liked Zhuangzhuang; of course, his favorite was definitely still his great-grandson.

“Xiao Yuanhou!”

The familiar dialect accent acted like the best catalyst.

A special sparkle also appeared in Li Zhuiyuan’s eyes.

Li Sanjiang bent down, intending to pick up the boy. He didn’t succeed the first time, but managed to do so on the second attempt after taking a deep breath.

It wasn’t that he was too heavy to lift, but rather that he wasn’t as light as before.

Liu Yumei sat in a chair, drinking tea. The weather had turned cold, and she was already wearing a padded jacket. Gone was her imposing demeanor from when she was in the mountain city; at this moment, she truly resembled a delicate little old lady from the countryside.

Aunt Liu said with a smile, “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Wait here, I’ll go make you some noodles.”

Li Zhuiyuan got down from Li Sanjiang, walked into the house, and went upstairs.

Li Sanjiang, with a cigarette between the fingers of his left hand and his right hand supporting his back, walked toward Liu Yumei and sighed emotionally:

“Kids grow up fast, you know. It probably won’t be long before I can’t carry him anymore.”

Liu Yumei took a sip of her tea, completely dismissing the old man’s words as nonsense.

You can carry dead, heavy floating bodies, and you can’t carry a living person?

The old man was just lively again because his great-grandson was back, and he wanted to start a conversation to play matchmaker.

Seeing that Liu Yumei didn’t respond, Li Sanjiang continued to speak to himself:

“I’m old, really. In the blink of an eye, tsk, life is fleeting, isn’t it?”

Liu Yumei: “Then why don’t you hurry up and prepare your coffin?”

Li Sanjiang awkwardly flicked his cigarette ash. “Uh, right, I guess it’s truly time to consider that.”

“But you can’t just consider it; you need to act fast. Earth burials are becoming stricter now. If you wait too long, there won’t be any loopholes, and you’ll just be taken to the crematorium for cremation.”

Li Sanjiang gave a sheepish smile, waved his hand, and replied, “That’s true, that’s true.”

“Grandpa Li, let me introduce you. This is Yin Meng, she’s from Sichuan and Chongqing.”

As Li Sanjiang listened to Tan Wenbin’s introduction, he frowned more and more. What? She was going to live at their house now?

However, after hearing Yin Meng say she only needed a place to stay and eat, without wages, Li Sanjiang felt relieved. Not only did he agree to let her stay, but he also said he would pay her a salary, just like Runsheng and Aunt Liu.

His business naturally needed manpower, and he still needed regular laborers. What he feared was having a high-maintenance person at home.

Liu Yumei noticed the shovel head sticking out of Yin Meng’s luggage and waved to her. “Girl, come over here and talk.”

Yin Meng walked over with a smile.

“Want some tea?”

“Yes.”

After Yin Meng put a pinch of tea leaves into the cup, she added hot water from a thermos.

Liu Yumei felt a little regret; she should have known to let Xiao Yuan make her tea before letting him go upstairs.

“Where are you from?”

“Fuling.”

“Where in Fuling?”

“Fengdu.”

Fengdu, surnamed Yin.

Liu Yumei calmly continued, “From near the docks?”

“Yes, my family runs a coffin shop in the county town.”

“Ghost Street?”

“Grandma, have you been to our place?”

Liu Yumei shook her head. “No, I haven’t.”

Ordinary corpse retrievers who worked the docks wouldn’t have had the qualifications to meet her in the past, but she indeed knew of the Yin family in Fengdu.

Because the Yin family ancestors were very famous, but only the ancestors; the family had actually long since declined.

“What made you come here?”

“Grandpa passed away, and I have no relatives or friends there anymore, so I followed Xiao Yuan Ge… I followed Xiao Yuan here.”

“You can stay in the west room with A Ting.”

“Okay, I’m quite skilled, and I can work.”

“Don’t tell me all this; I’m not the master of the house.”

“So you also came here seeking refuge, like me?”

“Something like that.”

“Noodles are ready, come and eat!” Aunt Liu called from the kitchen doorway.

Liu Yumei raised her chin. “Go eat your noodles.”

“Alright, got it!”

After Yin Meng left, Liu Yumei fell into deep thought alone.

Aunt Liu walked over, sat down beside her, and softly asked, “What’s wrong, madam?”

“I’m feeling sentimental at the sight of this.”

“Because of that girl from the Yin family?”

“Yes, and no. I’m wondering what truly constitutes family heritage: is it a surname, some unique skills, or perhaps a certain belief?”

“Why are you pondering these things?”

“Since returning from the mountain city, these thoughts have been swirling in my mind.”

Aunt Liu chuckled, covering her mouth. She knew the old lady was just trying to save face.

“A Ting, what are you laughing at?”

“I’m laughing at your stubbornness.”

“No manners, slap your mouth.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll do it, I’ll do it.” Aunt Liu playfully tapped her own face a few times.

Liu Yumei was also amused and waved her hand dismissively:

“Go on, go on, don’t make a show of yourself in front of me. Go do your work.”

“Okay.”

Aunt Liu got up and, as she passed the three young people eating noodles, she enthusiastically said, “Eat slowly, there’s still more in the pot, and I’ll fry some more eggs for you.”

Entering the kitchen, Aunt Liu lifted the pot lid and hummed softly as she added oil to the pot.

Old lady, let’s see how long you can be stubborn.

She chuckled at the thought of a day in the future when the dignified mistress would also have to humble herself and discuss which child would take whose surname.

Liu Ting couldn’t suppress the smile at the corner of her mouth; she was quite looking forward to it.

It was getting colder, and the screen door had already been removed.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the door and saw A Li standing inside.

He hadn’t seen anyone by the doorway downstairs earlier, so he knew the girl was in her room.

On the drawing table were several completed artworks. The edges of the paper depicted door frames, the bottom showed a threshold, and the center of each drawing was filled with terrifying, hair-raising entities.

Li Zhuiyuan admired each painting one by one. The eerie drawings, paradoxically, made him happier and happier.

This meant that A Li was beginning to directly confront the horrors she had always avoided in the past.

Her condition had taken a significant step toward recovery.

“Hmm, why is there a painting hidden under this one?”

Li Zhuiyuan lifted the top painting, revealing the true appearance of the one beneath.

The painting depicted a view from below, looking upwards. On the second-floor balcony, a boy was sitting, engrossed in an ancient book.

A Li had actually drawn him.

“Why didn’t you draw yourself on top?”

A Li moved that painting aside as well. The one beneath, viewed from a level angle, showed the boy’s profile as he sat in a rattan chair, reading.

Next, there were two more paintings: one depicted the boy standing in the family courtyard at night, with a long-haired shadow in a black cheongsam behind him.

The last painting showed Ding Lao’er kneeling in front of the Ding family’s mourning hall in the mountain city, with the boy performing a ‘superior internal ritual’ towards Ding Lao’er.

In the girl’s eyes, there was only him.

An ordinary balcony wouldn’t move, but he was a living person, so the girl’s gaze would follow him.

He then raised the palm of his right hand; the previous burn was no longer visible due to Aunt Liu’s ointment, but the lesson from last time remained.

The girl’s condition was getting better and better, but if something were to happen to him again someday, it would surely cause her to collapse along with him.

However, the boy didn’t see this as the burden of responsibility, but rather like a counterweight for himself walking in a fierce wind.

Holding the girl’s hand, he sat back in the rattan chair on the second-floor balcony. Naturally, they began three games of Go from a distance, while Li Zhuiyuan also started telling her about the interesting experiences he’d had since leaving the mountain city.

As he spoke, the focus shifted to Yin Changsheng. The boy confidently declared that he would definitely return to Fengdu when he grew up, hoping to meet the Great Emperor of Fengdu, whether he was an immortal or a corpse.

The girl rested her chin on her hand, her eyes smiling. The boy’s expectations were inherently her expectations; if he found the future interesting, then she too would have aspirations for the future.

“Who’s that little girl? Oh my goodness, she’s so beautiful.”

While there were many examples of children who were beautiful when young but grew up to be less attractive, Yin Meng felt that the girl upstairs certainly wouldn’t. Her current appearance possessed an extremely high capacity for enduring beauty, and while looks could change, temperament was hard to alter.

Runsheng: “A Li, surname Qin. But don’t go near her; she doesn’t like strangers.”

Yin Meng: “Seriously?”

Runsheng: “Seriously.”

After they finished eating, the two sat in the courtyard and began weaving paper figure frames. Yin Meng used to make small coffins, so this work was even simpler for her.

She even asked Li Sanjiang, who was sitting there smoking, with great interest:

“Grandpa Li, aren’t you considering opening another coffin shop? I can make them.”

Li Sanjiang tossed the cigarette butt, smoked down to the filter, onto the ground and stepped on it with his shoe.

“No, I won’t. This line of business won’t last long here. It’s like a rabbit’s tail, short-lived.”

After a pause, Li Sanjiang added, “However, custom orders are possible.”

Yin Meng said boldly, “Alright, I’ll make one for you to keep ready.”

Li Sanjiang clapped his hands. “Good, that works.”

Just then, Aunt Liu walked by. Li Sanjiang called out to her and asked, “Would you like one custom-made for your mother-in-law too?”

“Custom-made what? A coffin?”

“Yes, buying your own materials and having our own people make it is cheap and cost-effective.”

“No need, our family members aren’t buried in earth burials.”

Yin Meng suddenly looked up, staring at Aunt Liu.

Aunt Liu continued, “We’re responding to the modern trend; we all plan to be cremated.”

Yin Meng lowered her head and continued her work.

“Alright then, let me think who else I can make one for. How about Shanao?”

Runsheng looked happily at Li Sanjiang.

“No way, Shanao can’t even afford food; how would he have money for a custom coffin?”

“Grandpa, just deduct it from my wages.”

“Haha, Grandpa’s just teasing you, kid. Even if he doesn’t have money, we can still afford to give him a coffin. He’s also an orphan with no parents or ancestral grave, so he can be buried next to me in the future. When I’m bored, I’ll chat with him.”

“Runsheng Hou, what do you think?”

Runsheng fell silent. When his grandfather was alive, he used to curse Li Sanjiang behind his back quite a lot.

He would say that every time he worked with Li Sanjiang over the years, he took all the hardship and blame, while Li Sanjiang always got the glory.

Grandpa used to say that the biggest mistake he made in his life was knowing Li Sanjiang, and that in his next life, he would definitely stay far away from that old man.

If they were buried together as neighbors, Runsheng truly feared his own grandfather would be so angry that he’d rise from the dead.

“Runsheng Hou, I’m asking you a question!”

Even facing Li Sanjiang’s urging, Runsheng didn’t dare to give a perfunctory “Okay,” because even though Grandpa Li was much older than his own grandfather, he always felt that his own grandfather would most likely pass away before Grandpa Li.

If he agreed to this now, once his grandfather passed away, it would be impossible to change.

Just then, Tan Wenbin walked out from the back toilet, tying his belt as he spoke:

“I say, Grandpa Li, what’s so good about your family’s ancestral grave? If you ask me, you should choose a new geomantic treasure spot. That way, it can also bring prosperity to your descendants!”

“As for our Grandpa Shan, unless he begs us, he shouldn’t even think about sharing Xiao Yuan’s future good fortune by being buried near us.”

“Exactly, we can’t let Shanao take advantage of this.”

Li Sanjiang stood up and waved. “Come on, Zhuangzhuang, come with me for a walk in the village, and we can pick out whose grave site is good.”

“Alright, this is important. I’ll have to give you some good advice.”

“Before we go look at the land, we still need to go to Liu the blind person’s house.”

“We have to go. We need to have her custom-make one first. Grandma Liu is rich.”

The old man and the young man walked down the courtyard side by side, chatting and laughing.

Yin Meng nudged Runsheng with her arm and asked, “Isn’t he called Binbin? Why is he being called Zhuangzhuang now?”

Runsheng: “They’re sworn relatives.”

“Should I acknowledge one too?”

“Then you’ll have to make coffins well and not be lazy with your work.”

“Grandpa Li likes diligent and dependable children?”

Runsheng hesitated for a moment, recalling Li Sanjiang’s usual way of addressing him, and said:

“Grandpa likes mules.”

Days just passed by like this.

Li Zhuiyuan had only suspected it before, but now he could say it was confirmed: the one buried under the peach grove at the Big Beard’s house had changed the geomancy of the village, and even the entire town.

Initially, the ‘dead-fallen’ appeared like chives, one batch after another, making it overwhelming;

Now it was better; there had been no news of the dead-fallen for several months, making one quite miss them.

He estimated that this situation would continue for several more years until that entity was completely worn away and gone. Only then would the ‘dead-fallen’ in the vicinity reappear, bringing back the scene of vibrant life and flourishing competition.

However, even though the ‘dead-fallen’ were temporarily gone, Li Zhuiyuan’s life was very fulfilling.

He didn’t go to school anymore, but his days were scheduled as if he had a timetable.

The first thing he did upon waking in the morning was to appreciate A Li’s clothing style for the day.

Then he would play a few rounds of Go with A Li before having breakfast.

Most of the day, Li Zhuiyuan spent reading.

He had now deciphered one-third of the Qi family ancestors’ books. He deliberately slowed down the pace, using only his surplus energy each day for deciphering.

He had finished reading the entire Yin family genealogy; it was truly fascinating.

It not only contained various research and verifications by the Yin family members concerning Yin Changsheng, but also many people’s own travelogues. Although it was just one family’s records, because it had been passed down from generation to generation since the Eastern Han Dynasty, it essentially contained the cases and experiences of many corpse retrievers.

This ordinary yet traditional perspective of corpse retrievers was very helpful to Li Zhuiyuan now. While Wei Zhengdao’s books were certainly accurate and profound, they were somewhat lacking in practical applicability.

The bamboo slips had already been restored, but Xue Liangliang said he would deliver them personally, so they weren’t in his hands yet.

When not reading, Li Zhuiyuan would play Go with A Li, enjoy the breeze, and engage in their private little games.

Currently, Li Zhuiyuan could calmly view the “scenery” from “A Li’s threshold perspective.” He didn’t deliberately prolong the time, woke up promptly, and experienced no severe side effects, at most a slight dizziness.

That old man Yin Fuhai had said he was “sturdy,” and he figured that after this period of special training, he should become even sturdier.

Moreover, A Li’s special training had only just begun, because he was still standing within the threshold; to go further, he only needed to step over it.

But this was too dangerous. Li Zhuiyuan didn’t dare; he hadn’t grown up yet and didn’t want to bring about his own premature death by playing around.

Yin Meng almost seamlessly integrated into local life. She was skilled at making paper figures and coffins, and she would often accompany Runsheng to funerals to deliver tables, chairs, bowls, and dishes.

She and Runsheng had a very good relationship.

Because Binbin had to go to school every day, he didn’t eat breakfast at home; he had to rush to attend morning self-study.

However, he still skipped evening self-study; otherwise, although he lived there, he would barely be seen at home.

In the evenings, he would practice kung fu with Yin Meng, doing horse stances.

Although family martial arts were not supposed to be passed down outside the family, she was the only one left in the Yin family, so it was up to her whether to pass it on or not, wasn’t it?

Runsheng would sometimes join them in practice. Everyone had basically started following the path of the Yin family corpse retrievers; at least, they now had a legitimate path.

This was also due to historical reasons: the earliest Yin family path must have been very advanced and difficult, but because the Yin family declined early and their tradition lasted long enough, generations of Yin family members themselves figured out how to “downgrade” and simplify it, managing to pass down the basic techniques.

As for the Qin family’s martial arts, they maintained their high-level configuration; one could not practice them blindly without specialized, exclusive guidance. Currently, only Li Zhuiyuan continued to practice their breathing techniques.

There was nothing to be done; Uncle Qin had disappeared completely after he left, as if all ties were severed cleanly, leaving no trace.

Every night, after Yin Meng finished teaching, Runsheng would then teach the Wei Zhengdao moves that had been “summarized” from Li Zhuiyuan.

The Yin family was responsible for building the foundation, while Wei Zhengdao was responsible for raising the upper limit.

At first, the three of them practiced on the second-floor balcony, but after Li Sanjiang scolded them for disturbing his sleep, they went to practice in the fields.

Facts once again proved that excellent teaching materials combined with excellent aptitude would undoubtedly yield great results.

Yin Meng’s movements were now extremely agile, and her techniques were executed with precision and fluidity.

Runsheng was even more astonishing; now, every punch and kick produced a whistling sound. Before, he could only instinctively deal with the ‘dead-fallen,’ often pouncing on them and biting like a beast. Now, he could do it with greater composure, like a beast that had learned to wear a suit and tie, making him even more imposing.

Tan Wenbin, who practiced with them, was practically drooling with envy over their progress. His companions were improving at a visible rate, but he himself had only achieved the effect of physical exercise.

Every night, the three of them would practice moves. They would first let Tan Wenbin choose one opponent, who would then quickly take Tan Wenbin down, and then the other two would spar.

The only thing that allowed Tan Wenbin to regain some confidence was that he made the fastest progress when Xiao Yuan taught the three of them “walking the Yin realm.”

Although Xiao Yuan forbade completing the final step of successful “walking the Yin realm,” he had mastered all the preceding steps. In contrast, Runsheng and Yin Meng were very slow learners when it came to “walking the Yin realm.”

Even so, Tan Wenbin noticed something was amiss: he frequently experienced “ghost pressing the bed” (sleep paralysis) when sleeping at night or napping in the classroom.

After telling Xiao Yuan, Xiao Yuan said it was a side effect, and that he had to stop practicing “walking the Yin realm” for a few days after experiencing sleep paralysis.

Li Zhuiyuan indeed had no way to resolve this side effect, or rather, it was inherently unresolvable, as it was simply part of “walking the Yin realm.”

However, during the teaching process, Li Zhuiyuan also discovered that people with more active and agile minds seemed to learn “walking the Yin realm” more easily.

Periodically, Tan Wenbin would come to Li Zhuiyuan to pick up his customized practice sets and then deliver another set to the school.

The “Zhuiyuan Secret Papers” were selling very well in Nantong and had also sold outside the city.

A substantial share of profits came in every month.

Tan Wenbin had already drafted a new plan for Li Zhuiyuan.

Starting next semester, instead of creating practice sets based on individual subject knowledge points, they would produce full test papers.

This was because the second semester of senior year was the critical sprint phase. Students and teachers would have finished reviewing earlier knowledge points, and there would be huge demand for complete test papers.

The full papers could be categorized by difficulty: basic papers, mock papers, and advanced papers.

Basic papers would boost confidence, mock papers would be