Chapter 127

Why is it the Zhao Family of Jiujiang again?

He and Zhao Yi had only parted not long ago. Could Zhao Yi really be that impatient for another cup of Biluochun?

Thinking back to what Liu Yumei had said earlier about “eating up an extinct household,” Li Zhuiyuan could more or less guess what it meant. Still, he felt that Zhao Yi should not be stupid enough to do something like that.

Besides, from a normal logical standpoint, Zhao Yi had already cut away the Gate of Life at the center of his brow and resolved to light his lamp and walk the river. If so, he should no longer have too much entanglement with his family.

It was like himself now. Even while walking the river, he only kept the most basic contact with Granny Liu. Even when talking about some of the things involved in walking the river, he had to use vague substitutes, precisely because he did not want the karmic ties around him to rebound onto them.

So why was Zhao Yi doing the opposite?

Liu Yumei had naturally noticed Li Zhuiyuan’s arrival. The old lady seemed to hesitate. The calling card in her hand swayed slightly, but in the end, she still did not toss it over for the boy to read.

“Xiaoyuan, you young people have your own work to be busy with. Leave the family’s social dealings to us old folks.”

As she spoke, Liu Yumei put away the calling card.

“All right, Grandma.”

Even though he knew there was probably some misunderstanding here, Li Zhuiyuan truly was not in a position to explain it now.

First, the old lady was in the middle of her anger, and this was not the right time for him to play mediator.

Second, the calling card really had been sent by the Zhao Family of Jiujiang. The old lady was angry at the Zhao Family of Jiujiang, not just one particular person.

Third, and most importantly, this matter involved “eating up an extinct household,” and he himself was carrying the inheritance of both the Qin and Liu Clans. Wasn’t the one being “eaten from the bowl” basically him?

The old lady’s anger also came from a desire to protect what was his.

Like an old hen, Granny Liu was shielding him behind her, guarding his food bowl. He truly had no reason to help outsiders smooth things over for them.

Still, afraid that the old lady might damage her health by getting too angry, Li Zhuiyuan said before going downstairs:

“Grandma, Zhuangzhuang has started dating someone lately.”

“Oh?”

As expected, Liu Yumei’s interest was immediately piqued.

Old people loved chewing over the younger generation’s romances and marriages as everyday gossip.

And yet for the past year and more, all she could do was watch helplessly as the carefully cultivated cabbage in her own family kept getting nudged and nosed at by that little golden pig.

Fortunately, that little sturdy pig knew how to nudge cabbages too now.

“Zhuangzhuang hasn’t come by to see me for several days.”

“He should be coming over in a little while.”

“Mm.”

Liu Yumei lifted her teacup.

Li Zhuiyuan turned and went downstairs.

But before the cup had reached her lips, Liu Yumei set it down again and said, “The tea really has gone cold.”

Aunt Liu comforted her, “The heat’s already building. It should be boiling soon.”

“Our Xiaoyuan is something else too. He’s been walking the river for quite some time now, yet his name still hasn’t spread at all. People still think this family is being held up by nothing but a widow and an old woman.”

Aunt Liu said, “That’s true enough. When A Li walked the river back then, the commotion he caused was much bigger than this.”

“That’s why A Li failed at walking the river.”

“Then it must be that Xiaoyuan does things much more quietly than A Li did.”

Liu Yumei shook her head. “That child Xiaoyuan is far more high-profile than A Li ever was.”

“Old Madam, I truly have no idea how to answer that. Please have mercy and enlighten me a little?”

“Every single time, Xiaoyuan goes early and comes back early. Before the waves even have a chance to build, he smooths them flat. The way he walks the river is practically like going on a business trip to clock in for work.

Ah, someone with a good brain really does everything differently from ordinary people.

And there’s another thing. Do you remember that banquet in Shan City? I never taught him, yet he knew the rite of homage for both the Qin and Liu families. That means he must have used them plenty before.

He’s used them this many times, and yet there are still no rumors about him in the jianghu. A Li has been out and about lately too, and even he hasn’t heard anything.

That can only mean one thing:

Other people treat their family name as the calling card they carry while traveling the jianghu, something they use to gain convenience and resources.

That boy, I’m afraid, treats ‘the Qin and Liu families’ river-walking successor’ as his self-introduction when Black and White Impermanence come to claim a soul.”

At first Aunt Liu did not understand, but after thinking it over, she finally got it.

In other words, Xiaoyuan really had not hidden his identity. But every time he declared his background, he thoroughly cleaned out whoever or whatever evil thing learned it.

If you never leave survivors, then who is there to report anything about you? How could there possibly be any legends about you in the jianghu?

There actually had been two survivors, though: those two Officers of the Command Banner who had strode fiercely past the gate last time.

But first, they had truly been frightened. Second, since their own child had been left here waiting for a stroke of fortune, once they returned to their temple back home, they naturally kept silent about it and would not say a word no matter what.

Liu Yumei murmured, “That’s good too... making a fortune quietly.”

Aunt Liu could not help laughing and wincing at the same time. Old Madam, your favoritism really goes all the way to the bone. You were even willing to use a phrase like “making a fortune quietly” for your own family.

From ancient times to the present, what Dragon King family ever carried itself in this kind of style?

Aunt Liu said, “Then we can look forward to the day paper can no longer wrap up the fire.”

Liu Yumei nodded. “When paper truly can’t hide the fire anymore, the whole river will be shocked by it.”

“And this calling card from the Zhao Family of Jiujiang...”

“That’s a separate matter. Call A Li upstairs.”

“Yes.”

Aunt Liu went downstairs to fetch him, and Uncle Qin came up shortly after, walking to the old lady’s side.

Liu Yumei said, “Take a look yourself.”

Uncle Qin picked up the card, opened it, and read through it.

Though the wording was respectful and the posture humble, anyone who was not a fool could understand the meaning beneath the words.

Even in the past, the old lady could never possibly have agreed to such a thing, much less now, when the family had produced another river-walker.

Uncle Qin closed the card and waited for instructions.

“A Li, have your injuries healed?”

“Madam, it’s nothing serious.”

“I don’t intend to let Xiaoyuan get involved in these matters.”

“Of course.”

“Have Tingting send the reply. A Li, go to the banquet in my place.”

“Yes.”

“Sigh, even if all that’s left of this family is a widow and an old woman, we still have to observe proper courtesy. We can’t let people laugh at us. Since you’re going alone, they may think we’re putting on airs.

How about this? No matter how many people they bring to the banquet, leave them an equal number.”

“Understood.”

…

The moment Li Zhuiyuan came downstairs, he saw Tan Wenbin pushing open the courtyard gate and walking in.

“Binbin, did it go smoothly?”

Tan Wenbin froze for a second, then realized this was Xiaoyuan, the one who was with Ah Li, and no longer found it strange.

“It did, very smoothly. My mom brought Zhou Yunyun back to our house to take care of her, and she even called me Chen Shimei.”

“Chen Shimei?”

“My mom got the wrong idea. She thought Zhou Yunyun and I had already been together for a while, and then thought that because I hadn’t been at the hospital these past few days taking care of her, I was looking down on her.

Sigh.

‘Your Highness the Prince Consort~

Step closer and take a look,

It says Zhou Yunyun, nineteen years old~’”

“Save your voice. Go sing for the old lady upstairs. She’s in a bad mood right now.”

“Done. I’ll just serve up my own business for the old lady as a little bit of gossip.”

“Mm. I’ll wait until you’re done talking with her, then we’ll head back together. I still need to teach you a few more things... Where’s Lin Shuyou?”

“He refused to come here no matter what.”

“Oh.”

Uncle Qin came downstairs, and Tan Wenbin went up.

He had not even reached the second floor before his voice rang up ahead of him:

“Oh my, Old Madam, you have to help me think this through! My head’s splitting into two over this!”

Li Zhuiyuan and Ah Li sat before the floor-to-ceiling window, facing the carefully tended vegetable patch outside.

The boy held a fully ripened persimmon in his hand, peeled it carefully, and passed it to the girl. She lowered her head and took a bite.

Li Zhuiyuan then took a handkerchief and wiped the corner of her mouth before continuing to peel it.

The girl ate half the persimmon. The other half was hard for her to bite into, so Li Zhuiyuan tore it apart himself and ate it.

Then, under the girl’s watchful gaze, he picked up the handkerchief and went to wash it under the tap.

The girl puffed out her cheeks.

When Li Zhuiyuan turned around and saw that expression, he felt that the longer the two of them stayed together, the more childish they seemed to become, even as they grew older.

The afternoon breeze was soft and cool. The two of them continued sitting there together, not speaking, not interacting, not even playing chess, just quietly emptying their minds.

From the second floor, meanwhile, the old lady’s laughter drifted down from time to time, startling the birds in the treetops.

Beautiful moments kept slipping away, and yet there was no need for panic or clinging, because there was the certainty of tomorrow.

At last, Tan Wenbin came downstairs.

After Li Zhuiyuan said goodbye to Ah Li, he returned to the dormitory with Binbin.

Inside the dorm room, Lin Shuyou had his eyes shut. Muttering to himself, he turned in circles while waving both arms around.

Even when people came in, he did not notice in the slightest.

Tan Wenbin teased, “Oh? You’ve opened a whole new path for yourself? You’ve merged spirit dancing into the Officers of the Command Banner?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “He’s had a deviation and fallen into obsession.”

Tan Wenbin immediately turned serious. “What do we do?”

Li Zhuiyuan looked toward the water bucket sitting against the wall.

Tan Wenbin understood at once. He picked it up and splashed the water straight at Lin Shuyou’s face.

Smack.

“Hah...!”

Lin Shuyou froze, then came back to his senses.

The moment he was fully conscious, he bent down and quickly gathered up all the papers that had gotten wet. To him, these things were precious beyond compare, the admission ticket to the seat of honor at the New Year family banquet.

Tan Wenbin picked up a mop and started wiping the floor beside him, grumbling, “How did you manage to go into deviation just from looking at formation diagrams?”

Lin Shuyou carefully spread the drawings on his desk, then grabbed a rag and helped wipe up the water on the floor. Looking embarrassed, he said, “I don’t know either. The more I looked, the more I got absorbed.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “You only need to memorize them by rote. You don’t need to truly look into them.”

“Huh?” Lin Shuyou hesitated when he heard that.

Tan Wenbin said irritably, “Xiaoyuan isn’t wasting time speaking in reverse to you. Just take him literally.”

“Oh. All right, I understand, Xiaoyuan.”

Li Zhuiyuan had indeed not been speaking ironically. Lin Shuyou did not possess a complete structural understanding of formations, nor did he have especially strong insight into them. And those were all formations Li Zhuiyuan had modified himself. Once Lin Shuyou sank into the awareness and sensation of the formations, there was no telling where his mind would get led off to, and it was easy for him to suffer deviation and fall into obsession.

At times like this, rote memorization—knowing that it worked without understanding why—was actually the best solution.

After the two of them finished cleaning the room, Lin Shuyou knew what was coming next, so he sprinted back to his own dorm at top speed, changed into clean clothes, and ran back again.

Tan Wenbin took off his shirt and sat in the chair.

Li Zhuiyuan took out two Soul-banner talismans and stuck them to Tan Wenbin’s left and right shoulders. Then he pressed down with both thumbs to consecrate the talisman papers.

Buzz!

Tan Wenbin suddenly straightened his chest and let out a long chant from his throat.

Previously he had not felt anything especially unusual—he was just used to it. But now he immediately felt much more alert, and even the negative clutter in his mind had cleared away.

“Xiaoyuan, it really works. The two little ones sleep more comfortably now too. But why are they always sleeping?”

Lin Shuyou blurted out the answer, “Because they’re absorbing your yang energy.”

Tan Wenbin shot him a glare. “Look at you, always having to talk. Why don’t you go back to falling into obsession?”

Lin Shuyou shrank his neck.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “The two of them are cursed wraiths to begin with, not ordinary resentful souls. Their mother entrusted them to you before she died, so now they regard you as their ‘mother.’

Before these talismans were attached, your negative emotions would be magnified several times over because of their presence. Now the three of you no longer affect one another. You can sense their presence, and they can sense yours. Each side can detect the other’s vague condition, but there’s no way to communicate directly like before.”

Tan Wenbin nodded deeply. “That’s better. Better not to communicate. We’ll walk the river together and accumulate merit. Once you’ve saved enough, hurry up and reincarnate. Don’t let us actually build feelings for each other and end up unable to part.”

“Still, as the main body, you can borrow a bit of power through them. Although, really, that power was yours in the first place.”

In essence, Binbin was the one supporting them.

Li Zhuiyuan began demonstrating some simple techniques he normally used.

Tan Wenbin watched with great concentration.

Lin Shuyou sat there too, openly stealing the lesson while taking notes.

After demonstrating everything once, Li Zhuiyuan asked, “Did you learn it?”

Lin Shuyou flushed red and said awkwardly, “I tried my best, but...”

Tan Wenbin answered frankly, “Nope!”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “I’ll write down the process in more detail in a bit. Just follow it, chant the incantations, and practice the hand seals. Keep practicing and that’ll do.”

Tan Wenbin asked curiously, “If I keep practicing, I’ll learn it?”

Mainly, Tan Wenbin knew his own talent in this area rather well. Even the most basic walking the shade had taken him an extremely long time to barely grasp.

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “If you keep practicing, then even if you don’t learn it, the two of them should.”

Hearing that, Tan Wenbin beamed. He turned his head to the left and then to the right and said, “Children, come on. Study hard for me.”

Lin Shuyou looked like he wanted to speak but held back.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down at the desk and began writing a foolproof manual for the techniques.

Thanks to his previous experience helping Binbin prepare for the college entrance exam, Li Zhuiyuan now found writing this sort of thing very easy, and he could even slip rather naturally into Tan Wenbin’s way of thinking.

Lin Shuyou continued to look as if he wanted to speak but did not dare.

Like a child watching others sit down at the dinner table, hoping someone would notice and call him over too.

After Tan Wenbin finished amusing himself with his two sworn sons, he lightly kicked Lin Shuyou with his foot and asked on his behalf, somewhat amused, “Xiaoyuan, can Ah You learn these too?”

“He doesn’t need to. The former bodies of the Officers of the Command Banner were Ghost Kings. They have their own means of using techniques.”

Lin Shuyou said, “But...”

Tan Wenbin finished for him, “But those Officers of the Command Banner look like they only know how to fight and kill, right?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “That’s because they’re holding back. They don’t want to waste their own power.”

Tan Wenbin asked, “Then what do we do?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Communicate with White Crane Child slowly. From now on, every time you invite him into your body, bring Dissolution of Evil Talisman Needles and things like that with you. If he won’t help you use techniques, stab yourself.”

Lin Shuyou stared. “You can... communicate with the great lords like that?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “The Yin gods are actually pretty easy to talk to.”

“Really...”

Tan Wenbin recalled the scene at the Zhao family home, when Xiaoyuan had walked down from the roof while White Crane Child reached out a hand to support him.

“Yeah. They’re not that cold and unapproachable. Use needles to communicate with the Child more often.”

Lin Shuyou asked, “Then can I practice these techniques too?”

Li Zhuiyuan did not answer.

Lin Shuyou said, “I...”

Tan Wenbin slapped the back of Lin Shuyou’s head, signaling him to shut up. Who cared whether you secretly watched or not? Why did you have to ask out loud?

Once he finished writing everything, Li Zhuiyuan handed the manual to Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin took the booklet and led Lin Shuyou off to the Bargain Shop Bandit Camp.

Because Li Zhuiyuan needed to take out the Black Book and use it to deduce Yuxuzi’s incomplete formations.

At a time like this, the dormitory’s restraints had to be activated, and there could not be anyone nearby, or else it would be too easy for them to be affected by the Black Book.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his writing brush and copied one of Yuxuzi’s incomplete formations into it. Very soon, the completed missing section of the formation emerged on the page.

It was filled in, but not perfectly.

So Li Zhuiyuan also wrote down his own line of thought and insights. After the writing faded, the newly appearing content improved accordingly.

Either the Black Book itself had limitations, or it was deliberately leaving room for his own participation.

Still, it did not matter. With it there, it was essentially like having a real-time reference text.

One after another, Li Zhuiyuan wrote Yuxuzi’s incomplete formations into it, and man and book continued working through them together.

Yuxuzi’s accomplishment in formations did not lie in height but in depth, and that depth was exactly what Li Zhuiyuan needed, because it required the accumulation of time.

Even within simple formations, the ingenious ways tiny details could be used made even Li Zhuiyuan think they were fascinating.

If it had not been for someone with hundreds of idle years on his hands, no one would have been bored enough to push their deductions and experiments in that direction.

It was already dark.

Li Zhuiyuan still did not feel tired and had even forgotten to eat, but the book could not take it anymore.

The writing appearing on the Black Book was becoming lighter and lighter, as though it were running out of ink.

Li Zhuiyuan knew this meant the book was setting terms for him.

The free trial period was over. If he wanted to keep using it, he would have to pay.

Li Zhuiyuan did not even bother writing to ask what it wanted. He simply closed it, wrapped it back up in its seal, and tossed it into the corner.

Most of Yuxuzi’s formation fragments had already been deduced anyway. Who knew when he would need it again next? It could sit there gathering dust for now.

Maybe if he really ignored it for a while, it would get scared, and the next time he opened it, it would have ink again.

Wei Zhengdao had said before: the more desire you had, the more easily these evil things could affect you. The best way to deal with them was not to indulge them.

Li Zhuiyuan left the dormitory and went to the shop. It was too late, and the cafeteria had already closed, so he planned to find something to eat there instead.

On the television by the counter, a Hong Kong zombie film was playing, and a group of students had crowded around to watch.

Behind the television, Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou were practicing spells, stroke by stroke, extremely seriously.

They were obviously practicing real things, but in other people’s eyes they just looked like they had watched too many zombie movies and were imitating what they saw.

That kind of thing was fine for little kids, but for college students it looked rather childish, so quite a few people were laughing at them.

Runsheng specially fried Li Zhuiyuan a bowl of egg fried rice.

Li Zhuiyuan took a bite and nodded. “It’s good.”

Runsheng’s cooking really had been improving day by day. It could not be helped—mainly because the other one was completely unreliable, and even less someone to count on.

“Where’s Mengmeng?”

“This afternoon she said she was going to learn driving with Zheng Jiayi. Tonight she probably went shopping too. She won’t be back for dinner.”

“Mm.”

“It’s good for her to go out and have some fun. She hardly got to play at all when she was little.”

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the last slice of sausage from the bowl. “Brother Runsheng, I don’t mind.”

“Heh.” Runsheng rubbed his fingers together. “Every time she comes back from going out, she’s really happy.”

Li Zhuiyuan asked, “Any sausage left?”

“No. What we brought has already been eaten up. After that, Officer Tan brought over some more, but today that got finished too.”

“Then let’s go home and get some at the end of the month. There’s more at home.”

“Mm, all right.” Runsheng smiled very happily. He missed his own grandfather too.

Actually, even the sausage they had eaten at Taigong’s house before had been stuffed by Aunt Liu.

Even now, if they wanted to keep eating it, they could simply ask Aunt Liu to make more.

But sausage needed to be air-dried, and the wind of a foreign place could never blow out the same flavor as the wind of home.

Li Zhuiyuan turned to look at the telephone on the counter. Ever since arriving in Jinling, he had not made a single phone call home.

He had tried many times. But no matter how many times his hand gripped the receiver, the moment he thought of the call going first to Aunt Zhang’s little shop and Aunt Zhang then calling for Taigong to come answer, he would feel panicked, sweaty, and miserable.

What kept surfacing in his mind was that night, when he had answered Li Lan’s call under the eyes of his family.

This was not just because of his illness. Li Lan had also left behind a psychological shadow in him.

Even though he never made the call, he wrote letters very often.

When writing letters, Li Zhuiyuan still felt uncomfortable, but he could overcome it. Especially when he wrote in Ah Li’s study, he could feel a kind of pain mixed with warmth, as if Taigong were standing right in front of him.

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