Chapter 103.2

“Can’t do the job right, and you still don’t want to take responsibility!”

Tan Wenbin was chased all around the office, yelling in grievance, “Dad, who’s your actual son here?!”

“I really do wish I could swap you out.”

Hearing that, Tan Wenbin finally couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.

“Pfft... Dad, your ego is really something.”

The very next second, the force doubled.

“Ow! Exactly, huh? You want Brother Yuan to be your son, but did you even ask whether Brother Yuan would want a dad like you?”

Smack! Smack!

“I can’t even imagine what it’d look like if your son had a brain like Brother Yuan’s. But you? You can imagine it even better than I can, hahaha—ow!”

Smacksmacksmacksmacksmack!

At last, the office quieted down, because Tan Yunlong was tired from hitting him.

Tan Wenbin sat in the chair. Even though he’d been smacked that many times, this was nothing. Even the him from a year ago would only have counted this as a light appetizer, much less the current him, whose body was sturdier and more solid now.

“Dad, you’re tired, right? Here, I’ll pour you some tea.”

Tan Wenbin picked up the thermos beside him and started pouring.

The moment Tan Yunlong saw his son’s posture while holding the hot-water flask—shoulders drawn inward, upper arms clamped tight—he immediately asked:

“Were you the one who smashed those stones?”

Was that woman killed by you?

Tan Wenbin calmly finished pouring the tea, then asked in puzzlement, “What stones? I didn’t smash anybody’s window.”

Tan Yunlong said, “When someone tries too hard to act natural, it comes off as deliberate. To anyone with real insight, your answer was already clear just now.”

“Dad, what are you even talking about?”

“The correct approach is to predict ahead of time what the other person might ask, prepare yourself mentally, and treat it as if you truly didn’t do it. Only then will your reaction come closer to something real.”

“Dad, are you planning to go to our school and give a lecture on law and order? Heh, no, that’s not right either. Even if you were giving a lecture, you shouldn’t be teaching that kind of topic.”

“You’ve improved a little from before. At least now you know how to hold up under pressure and avoid getting tricked into exposing yourself.”

“Officer Tan, whatever makes you happy.”

Tan Yunlong didn’t pursue the matter any further. Instead, he said, “No matter what, this is ultimately a very good thing. Ask Zhuiyuan whether he’s willing to come out and accept a commendation.”

“There’s no need to ask. Brother Yuan definitely won’t want to.”

“What about you, then?”

“Of course I have to follow Brother Yuan’s lead. Fame and fortune are like floating clouds to me.”

“Too late. In a moment you’re going to have to go through the official process. You can’t hide this anymore.”

“Huh?”

“No matter how much I try to keep the impact low, the bureau already has the corresponding procedures in place. A certificate and a formal notice to the school are unavoidable.”

“What a hassle...”

“You understand the principle behind Zigong redeeming people, don’t you?”

Tan Wenbin sighed.

“It’s not a bad thing, really. Getting a certificate and having the school formally commend you will help your future prospects.”

“But a Dead Sinker wouldn’t acknowledge this certificate even if it died.”

“What?”

“N-nothing. Fine then, Officer Tan. I’ll cooperate.”

“Go on.”

“Yeah.”

Tan Wenbin walked out of the office and was taken away to make a statement.

Once the whole process was done, several police officers personally escorted him back to the school. At the entrance of the shop, right in front of nearby teachers and students, they presented him with a certificate to help restore his reputation.

There was also a cash reward in an envelope.

In reality, things hadn’t moved that quickly. The reward still had to go through official approval procedures, so the envelope was actually stuffed with newspaper.

After the ceremony, Tan Wenbin carried the certificate into the shop.

Lu Yi had just been downstairs in the basement clearing inventory and hadn’t seen any of the earlier excitement. He had only just come back up, and when he saw Tan Wenbin return, he said in delight, “Man, you got released!”

Tan Wenbin replied, “Yeah, man. Thanks for taking care of my parents for me.”

“Uh, my mouth slipped—I didn’t mean it like that. Huh, what’s this? A certificate? Oh, damn, amazing. You’re incredible. I’ll frame it and hang it over the counter.”

“Don’t. Just keep it safe for me for now. Low-key.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. You’re the big-picture guy, man.”

Tan Wenbin took a bag and packed some food and drinks. Even though he didn’t pay, he still had Lu Yi count everything up at the register.

After that, he carried the things back to the dorm, knocked on the dorm supervisor’s door, and went in to chat with her for a while. He talked about some troubles in daily life, and also about how much he missed his mother.

When he left, he left all the food and drinks behind.

Back in his own dorm room, he saw that Brother Yuan hadn’t returned yet, so he took a shower first, changed into clean clothes, and then went to Lu Yi’s dorm room.

As the local earth god of that dorm room, he had a key.

He packed two sets of fresh clothes and some toiletries for Lin Shuyou, put them all into a basin, left the dorm building, and went to the shop again to grab another batch of food and drinks.

When he checked out again, Lu Yi asked in confusion, “Why didn’t you just take more the first time?”

“No matter how much I took, it all had to be left on the auntie’s desk anyway.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. In the future, if you take inventory late and get back after the dorm doors are shut, just give them my name.”

“You’ve already gotten close with the new dorm supervisor auntie? That was fast. When she did room inspection last night, she was loud as hell. Everybody said she had a terrible temper.”

“She’s all right. Her husband just cheated on her, so she’s in a bad mood lately. She’ll be better after a while.”

“No way, even that you can tell?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you must get along really well with your counselor too, right?”

“Haven’t had time to get familiar yet.”

He’d barely participated in military training at all. He had eaten and drunk with the previous counselor before, and then she’d turned into a dead counselor.

“You’d better hurry up, then. You seem pretty busy, and you’re definitely going to end up skipping classes or asking for leave. If you build a good relationship first, it’ll be easier to get approval slips.”

“I don’t really need that...”

Halfway through saying it, he thought about it carefully. Brother Yuan could skip class whenever he wanted anyway; Luo Gong had his back. But if he himself kept showing his face too often and left Luo Gong with a bad impression, what if Luo Gong stopped including him in projects?

To be safe, he still needed to build that relationship. When it came to this kind of thing, having it yourself was better than relying on your father, your mother, or Brother Yuan.

“All right, I will. I’m heading out.”

Knowing that Brother Yuan was at Granny Liu’s place, Tan Wenbin didn’t rush over, because if he went now, he’d have to see those two try-hard maniacs undergoing special training.

He went to the infirmary again. After entering the hospital room, he found Lin Shuyou fast asleep, actually snoring.

“He’s recovering this well?” Tan Wenbin touched his own lower abdomen. “Maybe I should get one tattooed on me too?”

Even though he knew it wouldn’t have any real effect if he got one, there’d at least be a psychological effect.

Tan Wenbin turned his head and glanced at the curtain around the bed next door. He reached out and pulled it open. It was an empty bed.

After yawning, he set down the things he was carrying, then left the room and went downstairs.

The moment he left, two travel-worn figures appeared at the stairwell.

One had a head full of silver hair but still looked sharp and vigorous. The other was middle-aged yet still broad and powerfully built.

“Master, was that him?”

“There are signs that he’s practiced some martial skills, and his spiritual perception is decent enough. But at the end of the day, he’s still rather ordinary. It wasn’t him.”

“What a pity. Ayou refuses to tell us no matter what, and keeps insisting that he’s found us an incredible opportunity, telling us to get ready to add a special page to his branch of the family genealogy.”

“That child Ayou is good in every way, except that he’s too stubborn and too single-minded. That makes him easy to deceive and use.”

“I’ve already observed him. He’s had two recent injuries on him. He’s been used as a weapon twice.”

“Hmph. Follow him. I want to see exactly who it is that dares use one of our family’s children like this. Do they really think a general has no temper?”

…

Li Zhuiyuan slept all the way until the afternoon.

There was no helping it. Last night’s exertion really had been a bit too much.

After getting up, he took a shower first.

The new clothes Granny Liu had custom-made for him had already arrived, so he changed straight into them.

The meal was rice with flat beans, plus some pickled vegetables. Simple fare.

The reason was that Aunt Liu’s senses of taste and smell were all in disarray right now, so for the time being, she wasn’t suited for cooking.

As a result, the standard of living at Granny Liu’s house had recently taken a nosedive.

Still, it wasn’t so bad. While he ate, Ah Li sat beside him to keep him company and even peeled a salted duck egg for him, which counted as two extra dishes.

Because the weather was bad, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t go out onto the terrace with Ah Li. Instead, he went into the study. After handing Ah Li the white bone piece, about the size of a chess piece, he told her about everything that had happened the night before.

Ah Li held the white bone in her hand and listened with her head slightly raised, paying close attention to the boy’s account. Her eyelashes fluttered from time to time, her way of constantly responding to him.

When he finished, Li Zhuiyuan reached out and took Ah Li’s hand.

What had once been ghostly wails had now become furtive whispers.

Liu Yumei had been right. They really were a pack of trash who bullied the weak and feared the strong.

Walking the shade.

Ah Li welcomed Li Zhuiyuan into her inner world.

It was the same flat house, with the same damaged memorial tablets.

The difference was that outside the threshold, beyond the original open space, a ring of gray-white mist had appeared all around.

Inside the fog were layers upon layers of ghostly figures and soft rustling sounds.

They were all hiding in there.

Granny Yu was already gone, but on the ground outside the threshold, a white lantern remained.

Li Zhuiyuan picked it up. The flame lit on its own, giving off a pale, eerie glow, and the curse words that had once been written on it had already vanished.

Holding the lantern, the boy looked around and asked:

“Who wants to be next?”

The murmuring suddenly paused. Only after a long while did it resume, and even then it was no longer as dense as before.

He waited a long time, but no one took the initiative to step out of the fog.

Li Zhuiyuan turned around and wedged the white lantern into a crack in the wall.

He had to keep the lantern for now, because in the future, he would need to carry it into the fog and drag out whatever was hiding inside.

The reason he wasn’t doing that now was, first, because Runsheng and Yin Meng’s special training still hadn’t ended, and he was missing two helpers at his side.

Second, whenever one wave had just passed, there would always be a period of calm afterward, giving you a chance to breathe and lick your wounds.

And because he had answered in advance, it was like turning in the exam early, leaving himself an even longer rest period.

The new wave still hadn’t arrived. Even if he went in with the lantern right now and dragged one of them out, without the river water driving it forward, it still wouldn’t be able to appear before him.

Every single one of those things hid themselves extremely deeply. If they were that easy to find, Liu Yumei would have long since led Uncle Qin and Aunt Liu to wipe them out. There was no way they’d have been allowed to remain until now.

The reason he had been able to find them with perfect accuracy every time was because he had made use of the rules.

Once he listed them as the question, they had no choice but to come. It was, in a way, using public authority for private ends under the name of Wei Zhengdao.

They were his question bank.

As long as he kept going wave after wave, choosing “self-selected questions,” they would only grow more afraid. The ones crushed to pieces on his river path were already gone for good. As for the rest, they probably wouldn’t dare come near him again to threaten or harass him.

Of course, that might also produce another consequence: the truly powerful Dead Sinkers who normally disdained using this kind of method might instead borrow it to seek revenge on him, the shared successor of the Qin and Liu families.

That didn’t really matter either.

When the time came, he would just deal with them.

At the very least, Ah Li’s surroundings were much quieter now.

Walking the shade ended, and they returned to reality.

Li Zhuiyuan and Ah Li went up to the third floor, to the place where the memorial tablets were enshrined.

Now that he had formally started his river journey and passed the first wave, it was time to pay respects.

But just as the boy was about to bow, he saw Ah Li had already taken down the two tablets in the middle.

“Ah Li, put them down for now. Take them later when I’m not here.”

Ah Li put the tablets back.

Li Zhuiyuan completed the rite of homage. Afterward, he stepped out of the room and waited by the door. A moment later, Ah Li came out with the two tablets in her arms.

Back downstairs in the study, Ah Li sat down and placed the white bone on the drawing table, then looked at Li Zhuiyuan.

“It’s for you. You design it.”

Ah Li shook her head.

“You’re planning to make it and give it to me?”

The girl nodded.

“If it’s a gift for me, then you should definitely be the one to design it too.”

Ah Li picked up a pen and began drawing the design sketch.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced toward the other corners of the desk. At the very edge there was a long scroll painting whose background had already been completed. It showed the scene outside the threshold from before.

Judging from the layout and composition, what Ah Li had intended to paint was probably Granny Yu standing close to the threshold that day.

In the middle of the drawing table, there was a square seal blank about the size of a child’s palm. Beside it lay carving knives and design drafts.

Picking up the draft, Li Zhuiyuan saw what the seal would eventually look like: a square base with a soaring dragon on top. Though small and delicate, it carried tremendous dignity.

Only, the characters on the seal hadn’t been drawn yet. Ah Li probably still hadn’t decided on them.

Every word he said and every thing he did had been remembered by the girl and stored in her heart. She was really making them.

And it was obvious that she was deeply invested and immersed in it. Before, she had done this to escape. Now, she was enjoying the concentration and peace it brought her.

While Li Zhuiyuan was still lost in thought, Ah Li handed him the newly drawn design.

“That fast?”

He lowered his head and saw a bone ring on the paper.

All it required was hollowing out the middle, then thinning the edges a little while preserving as much of its original form as possible, so the design itself wasn’t complicated.

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the drawing, then at his own finger, imagining what it would feel like to wear that bone ring.

A trace of anticipation really did rise in his heart.

This piece of bone was the only thing left behind from Granny Yu after she had been burned to ashes. It possessed the ability to amplify the mind. Once he wore it, the effects of his Psychic Manipulation would become even more pronounced.

Ah Li walked to the edge of the desk, rolled up the long scroll with the completed background, and tossed it into the trash bin beside it.

She had originally intended to use that unfinished painting as a record of the first Dead Sinker the boy dealt with after formally beginning his river journey.

But now, after hearing his account, she had a better image in mind.

In it, the boy held black, surging water in his left hand and raised karmic fire in his right, while Granny Yu knelt before him like a dog, waiting for her final end.

The girl reached out and touched the two tablets she had just taken down. She was going to use them to make a huge framed album.

Every time he dealt with another Dead Sinker in the future, she would paint a picture and place it inside. By the time all the pictures were finished, his river journey would also be complete.

The only issue was that the scrolls were long, which meant the framed album had to be made very large as well, requiring a lot of material. Still, if she used all the memorial tablets in the house, it should barely be enough.

Li Zhuiyuan never could have imagined that when he picked up that white bone, he had only thought of giving it to Ah Li as craft material, to lessen the burden on the ancestors of the Qin and Liu families a bit. Instead, because of him, he had practically delivered a total wipeout to both families’ ancestors in one stroke.

The girl turned back and looked at the new blank scroll on the drawing table, the unfinished seal, the newly designed bone ring, and the framed album she was about to start making.

A sincere sense of satisfaction rose in her heart.

Li Zhuiyuan drew back the curtains and opened the floor-to-ceiling doors.

In a corner of the courtyard was a pile of straw mats, and underneath them was in fact a blood-red coffin.

Runsheng was lying inside it right now.

That also meant that when Uncle Qin had returned last time, he hadn’t just brought coffin nails. He had uprooted the lair of that great malevolent thing and brought it back wholesale.

Even from far away, Li Zhuiyuan could hear Runsheng’s muffled groans of pain. It was obvious that inside, he was enduring an extremely terrifying ordeal of torment and tempering.

But the moment Li Zhuiyuan came closer, the muffled groans disappeared instead.

When he moved even closer, he heard several crisp knocking sounds.

It sounded like Runsheng was grinning foolishly inside.

“Brother Runsheng, keep it up. I’m waiting for you.”

Knock knock!

Two consecutive knocks sounded in reply.

Uncle Qin asked, “Xiaoyuan, what do you think would be good to plant here? How about loofah?”

“Aren’t we planting flowers?”

“Your Granny Liu said flowers are flashy but impractical. Better to plant some vegetables. That way life feels more steady, like there’s something to look forward to.”

This was the first time Uncle Qin had ever heard the lady of the house use the word “steady” to describe life, but as for having something to look forward to, that much he really could see on her face.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Vegetables you grow yourself definitely taste better, like the vegetables we used to grow at Great-Grandpa’s place.”

“The pickled vegetables at home are about to run out. You can have the old lady drink plain porridge to settle her stomach, but she’s not used to the pickles sold outside.”

Aunt Liu’s voice drifted over. She was standing in another corner of the yard beside a pickling jar. Only this time, what was inside the jar wasn’t pickled mustard greens, but Yin Meng.

Yin Meng had her eyes closed, with only her head exposed. Her whole body was submerged in a black-purple liquid, and there even seemed to be venomous insects crawling around in it.

The environment might have been filthy, but it was obvious that Yin Meng’s skin had turned even fairer and that she looked much more energetic, like an egg fresh out of its shell.

It was the first time Li Zhuiyuan had learned that poison could apparently be used for beauty treatments.

By contrast, Aunt Liu standing beside her looked haggard and thinner. Even her formerly glossy hair had begun to split and turn slightly yellow.

Li Zhuiyuan had originally wanted to walk over to Yin Meng and tell her to keep it up too, but when he saw how radiant she looked and compared it to Aunt Liu’s condition, all he could do was say to Aunt Liu:

“Aunt Liu, you’ve worked hard.”

Aunt Liu pointed at Yin Meng and said, “This girl’s got a ruthless streak and real talent. She’s just a little too demanding on the teacher.”

“I’m here!”

Tan Wenbin’s voice rang out from outside as he cheerfully greeted everyone.

Then he noticed that not one of the three people in the yard was looking at him. Instead, they were all looking behind him.

So he turned around too and saw an old man and a middle-aged man walking along the path outside. Their steps were steady, like mountains advancing, carrying with them an overwhelming bearing.

The middle-aged man had a proud look on his face. The elderly man radiated authority without anger.

They came forward step by step.

First they saw the woman standing beside the pickling jar, pulling up her hair and tying it with an elastic band.

Then they saw the man standing beneath the flower trellis, rolling up both sleeves.

At once,

the middle-aged man’s expression turned dull and honest, and the elderly man’s back hunched over.

When they passed the courtyard gate, they did not stop. Instead, they quickened their pace and kept walking forward.

They were

just passing by.

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