Chapter 163.2

Runsheng was still unconscious. Even if he woke up, he would be bedridden for a long time and unable to get up.

Yin Meng said, “Actually, I’m the only one who can go with Little Yuanhou right now. But Little Yuanhou told me to stay behind and look after you wounded patients. How about I talk to him again?”

When they had discussed this earlier, Li Zhuiyuan had said plainly that this time he was going home alone.

For one thing, the last surge had just passed. With two back-to-back early extremes, unless he deliberately went out hunting malevolent spirits again, the next surge would not be coming anytime soon.

Besides, with that one beneath the peach tree in Nantong, things were relatively safe there.

Tan Wenbin shook his head. “If you don’t stay, Little Yuanhou won’t feel at ease leaving us injured people behind.”

Lin Shuyou said, “But having no one around to help Little Yuanhou doesn’t seem right either.”

Tan Wenbin replied, “No, it really doesn’t. But who told us we don’t have any way to—”

“Beep beep… beep beep… beep beep…”

The pager went off.

Tan Wenbin glanced at it and smiled. “Well now, better timing than an early arrival. Looks like the extra hands delivered themselves.”

…

Xiong Shan had grown much thinner. He was still wearing the same clothes as before, and when the wind blew, they flapped loosely around him.

Lihua, on the other hand, had put on a lot of weight. Not only was her face rounder now, even her chest had become fuller than before.

The two of them were dressed plainly, squatting beside the flowerbed by the school gate.

Lihua turned sideways, using her husband’s body to shield her as she nursed the baby.

Students going in and out were all college kids, and they were polite enough to avert their eyes and not stare.

Xiong Shan pulled a pipe from his pocket and started stuffing tobacco into it.

Lihua nudged him lightly and reminded him, “Hold off a bit. Don’t go smelling like smoke later.”

Xiong Shan nodded and put the pipe away.

He had grown old.

That was Li Zhuiyuan’s first impression when he reached the school gate and saw Xiong Shan.

The first time they had met, Xiong Shan had still been full of that wild, unruly edge, the kind of swagger that said heaven was first and he was second.

That spirit had actually been shattered back during the Peach Blossom Village incident. Now, it had vanished completely.

That meant he had already lit the lamp a second time.

He had admitted defeat, and with it, accepted his fate.

Once a person accepts his fate, naturally he starts to wither.

Things he once would have argued over, he now let go. Things that once would have angered him, he had now learned to take calmly.

Li Zhuiyuan had seen something similar in Uncle Qin as well.

Back when Uncle Qin walked the river, carrying the hope of reviving the Qin Clan, he must have been just as sharp and driven, just as full of momentum.

That was why so many river walkers could not accept failure. They would rather die than let go of that last breath of pride.

The generations of duels among the Dragon King’s clan river walkers had been like that too, which was why blood debts had been passed down from one generation to the next.

And judging by how completely Xiong Shan and Lihua seemed to have let everything go, Li Zhuiyuan guessed their revenge against those three families had probably been carried through very thoroughly as well.

After losing their core clan members, the three Old Heaven Gate families had been no match at all for this wild husband-and-wife pair.

Only after taking their revenge had the two of them contacted Tan Wenbin according to their agreement.

Li Zhuiyuan stepped out of the school gate. The moment Xiong Shan and Lihua saw him, they hurried to their feet and came forward. Just as they were about to bow, Li Zhuiyuan stopped them.

“No need to bother with that. I’ll take you back to Nantong.”

“Good, good, good.” Xiong Shan nodded at once.

Lihua, meanwhile, looked almost overwhelmed by the favor. She had not expected Li Zhuiyuan himself to receive them and settle them in.

The car Tan Wenbin had arranged was already waiting up ahead. It was a taxi.

The driver was Liu Changping. He knew Tan Wenbin, and according to rumor, it was because Tan Wenbin had once ridden in his cab that he had met the little nurse who became his girlfriend.

Naturally, chartering a vehicle was not cheap, but the price did not matter much. What mattered was having a steady, reliable driver.

As the one shouting orders at the Dragon King’s prow, making arrangements like this had always been part of Tan Wenbin’s job.

Taxi drivers knew how to talk, and Xiong Shan had traveled all over and seen the world. The two quickly fell into lively conversation.

Li Zhuiyuan barely joined in. Most of the time he just quietly watched the scenery and thought about the matter in Baijia Town.

This trip home was not only because of his personal connection with Xue Liangliang. He was also worried that if something really had gone wrong in Baijia Town, the situation might spiral into total ruin.

As Li the Corpse Retriever of Nantong, whether by sentiment or by duty, he had to go back and take a look.

Liu Changping said, “This baby’s really well-behaved, huh? No crying, no fussing.”

Lihua replied, “Of course. My son’s been good ever since he was little.”

As if he had heard someone mention him, the baby let out a string of cheerful giggles.

Everyone in the car laughed except Li Zhuiyuan.

It was hard for anyone to resist a child who could play along with the moment so perfectly.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed as well that there was a sealing aura on the child. Xiong Shan had listened to his suggestion and sealed the boy’s spiritual perception.

Once they entered Nantong’s territory, they reached Shinan Town.

Li Zhuiyuan raised a hand to signal Liu Changping to keep driving north until they reached Shigang Town, where there were more shops.

After entering a clothing store, Li Zhuiyuan began picking out clothes. He chose quickly, because he remembered Taigong’s build and measurements. In his mind, he could compare them directly against the store’s sizes and cuts and tell at a glance whether they would fit.

This was not his first time coming back home from Jinling. Tan Wenbin had even come back once before with Zhou Yunyun, so there was no point bringing Jinling specialties again.

He picked out two sets of formal clothes for Taigong, along with two pairs of shoes.

Good thing Yin Meng was not here. Otherwise, she would have witnessed what real bargaining looked like.

Li Zhuiyuan did not care about that bit of money, but that did not mean he enjoyed being taken for a fool, getting overcharged, and then having the shopkeeper laugh about what an idiot he was after he left.

The main issue was that the clothing market in those days was outrageously inflated, with price tags that looked more like jokes than actual prices.

Only clueless young fools started by cutting the price in half. Experienced buyers first wiped off the last zero, then cut the result in half.

Shopkeepers knew you were going to haggle, so they deliberately wrote the tag prices absurdly high. That both widened their profit margins and satisfied the customer’s emotional need to feel like they had won the bargain.

But Li Zhuiyuan, using physiognomy, could figure out the wholesale cost after just a few exchanges, then name the exact cost plus a little extra for the shopkeeper’s effort.

He was so accurate that the shopkeeper was left stunned, too embarrassed to put on the usual act of saying, “That price is too low, it doesn’t even cover my cost.” He merely assumed the boy’s family was in the garment trade too and even tried to make connections.

Xiong Shan and Lihua followed the boy the whole time as he bought clothes. The impact this had on them was enormous.

The future Dragon King, personally buying clothes, and even haggling?

If anyone told that story in the jianghu, absolutely no one would believe it.

Li Zhuiyuan believed Li Lan would not believe it either.

The truth was, deep down, he still resisted doing things like this, though it was resistance he could still overcome.

After what happened with the dream ghost, Li Zhuiyuan felt that his condition had become even more stable.

After buying the clothes and shoes, Li Zhuiyuan went to buy some cigarettes and alcohol that Taigong usually liked as well.

He did not let Xiong Shan carry anything. When he stepped out of the department store holding the bags himself, he stopped on the steps, faced the sunlight outside, and felt a faint dizziness rise in his head.

He really was not suited for doing this sort of thing.

But he was going to do it anyway.

Li Zhuiyuan had thought about whether he should also buy a set of clothes for Li Weihan and Cui Guiying. The conclusion he reached was that he could not.

It sounded cold, but that was the truth. The pain he felt when buying things for Taigong was something he could overcome.

But if he bought things for his grandfather and grandmother, then imagined handing them over and seeing the joy on their faces, cold sweat would already start breaking out on him.

If it were all just an act from beginning to end, it really would not matter. The problem was that now, he was trying not to act as much as possible.

Actually, this kind of pain was something he could try to overcome too.

But in Taigong’s eyes, all the money Li Zhuiyuan had came from him. If Li Zhuiyuan used Taigong’s money to buy things for someone else, Taigong might not say anything, but he would not feel good about it.

And yet, now that he had thought of it this far, not buying anything would not be appropriate either.

Otherwise, what he was doing would not even compare to Li Lan. Li Lan at least knew to send living expenses every month and mail gifts during holidays, even if it was obviously arranged by her secretary.

Li Zhuiyuan pressed his lips together. Fine. He would go back to Taigong’s house first, ask for Taigong’s approval, and then go buy clothes for his grandparents.

With the order reversed like that, Taigong would not feel slighted. He would only think Li Zhuiyuan was sensible and filial.

In any case, the matter had to pass through Li Zhuiyuan’s own hands. This feeling of pain was something he had to experience for himself. He could not avoid it.

Once he got back into the car, Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and rubbed his brow.

He found that thinking through the subtleties of gift-giving among relatives was more exhausting than figuring out how to deal with the waves on the river.

Liu Changping started the car again, drove back through Shinan Town, and entered Siyuan Village.

The village roads had been widened. The old gravel road had now become a two-lane cement road, and even the road leading from the village lane to Taigong’s house had been rebuilt. Now the car no longer had to be parked out in the fields. It could drive straight into the yard in front of Taigong’s house.

Xiong Shan and Lihua had come with hearts full of nervous excitement, almost like pilgrims on a sacred journey.

When they saw that the car had really entered an ordinary village home, both of them revealed looks of shock. And after the shock came even deeper solemnity.

This was true depth.

Not hidden mystery, but calm naturalness.

If it had really been some secret ancestral residence tucked away in an arcane realm, that would actually have been a sign of inferiority.

Li Zhuiyuan got out of the car and found it strange that he did not hear Taigong calling out from inside.

Before he returned, Tan Wenbin had phoned Aunt Zhang’s shop. Taigong knew Li Zhuiyuan was coming back today and surely would have been waiting at home.

On the first floor, Xiao Yingying was sitting inside painting color onto paper effigies.

Ever since she had arrived, Li Sanjiang’s paper effigy business had flourished, because the figures made here were more lifelike and more finely crafted than ever.

Xiao Yingying set down her brush and turned to look over.

Her attention was instantly drawn to Xiong Shan and Lihua.

The couple recognized at once that she was a Dead Sinker.

Even if they had already lit the lamp a second time and left the jianghu, they had once walked that world, and their instincts were still there.

Xiao Yingying’s expression froze as well. She stood up, retreated quickly into the corner, then with a flick of motion climbed backward upward until she reached the upper corner near the beams.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, “Where’s my Taigong?”

Xiong Shan and Lihua immediately drew in their aura, looking awkward.

Xiao Yingying also came down from the beam, returned to the stool where she had been sitting, picked up her brush, and continued painting the paper effigy as she answered, “Drunk. Sleeping.”

Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs. Xiong Shan and Lihua stayed below. Liu Changping squatted in the yard outside smoking.

When Li Zhuiyuan pushed open the bedroom door, he saw Li Sanjiang lying on the bed, snoring thunderously.

Snoring was not a good thing, but judging from how full and forceful that snore was, Taigong’s body was still very sturdy.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the bedside and adjusted the blanket over him.

Taigong cracked open his bleary drunken eyes, smiled at Li Zhuiyuan, and said, “Little Yuanhou~”

Then he tilted his head and went right back to sleep, probably thinking this was just some dream brought on by drink.

Li Zhuiyuan left Taigong’s room and went next door, to his own room.

The door was open. Li Zhuiyuan saw Xue Liangliang sitting in a chair, a bottle of baijiu in his left hand and a cup in his right, still pouring and drinking by himself.

“Xiaoyuan, you’re finally back, Xiaoyuan!”

Xue Liangliang was obviously drunk too. Seeing Li Zhuiyuan return, he put down the bottle and cup and stood up, only to be hit by a wave of dizziness and lose his balance.

Li Zhuiyuan gave him a push in the natural direction, sending him toward the bed. Xue Liangliang staggered over, then fell onto it with a smack and instantly passed out face-down.

With no other choice, Li Zhuiyuan pulled a blanket over him too.

After getting Xue Liangliang’s call for help, Li Zhuiyuan had promised he would come back and told him to wait first at Taigong’s house.

Who would have thought that when Taigong saw Xue Liangliang arrive, he would sit down at noon to drink with him?

Liquor went well with stories, and the more they drank, the more there was to say. On top of that, Xue Liangliang had just been wounded by heartbreak, so the two of them ended up drinking themselves senseless.

Fine. So be it.

Li Zhuiyuan went back downstairs, pointed at the child in Lihua’s arms, then pointed at Xiao Yingying.

“Give the child to her.”

Lihua swallowed hard. What? Give the child to a Dead Sinker?

If anyone else had dared say that to her before, right in front of her face, she would absolutely have thought that person was insane and twisted his head off for good measure.

But since the order came from Li Zhuiyuan, she had no choice but to obey.

Seeing his wife moving too slowly, Xiong Shan even gave her a shove and urged, “Hurry up. What are you spacing out for? We’ve got serious business to do.”

He understood it more clearly than she did.

Silly wife, are you really afraid she’s after your son? Wouldn’t that be exactly the kind of thing you’d pray for?

Understanding at last, Lihua placed the child on the stool beside Xiao Yingying.

Without even glancing over, Xiao Yingying remained focused on painting the paper effigy.

Li Zhuiyuan then signaled for Liu Changping to drive. Taking Xiong Shan and Lihua with him, he headed for Big Beard’s house.

The four of them had already eaten lunch on the road, and it was not yet time for another meal, so no one was hungry.

Besides, if Xiong Shan and Lihua were going to be settled at Taigong’s place, Taigong himself would have no problem with it. He would probably just be delighted to gain two more sturdy, dependable beasts of burden.

But the local earth shrine absolutely could not be ignored.

The two had only just left the jianghu. Their old instincts and habits had not yet had time to fully fade. If they accidentally offended something here, they might end up turning into two shelled-and-peeled boiled shrimp without ever understanding how.

After the four left by car, Xiao Yingying set down her paintbrush.

She turned her head and looked at the child beside her.

The child was sucking on his fingers and grinning at her.

Xiao Yingying reached out, picked him up, and gently rocked him in her arms.

The child laughed even harder, then out of habit reached a hand toward Xiao Yingying’s chest, clearly looking for milk.

Xiao Yingying could only catch his little hand again and again and put it back, but the child refused to give up, so she had no choice but to keep wrestling with him.

Finally, Xiao Yingying got annoyed. Her eyes widened. Her already pale face instantly turned blue-green, her hair began to lengthen, and damp water vapor spread from her body.

The child froze for a moment, then burst into even louder laughter, thinking she was making funny faces to play with him.

Xiao Yingying slumped at once. Her face and hair returned to normal, and she looked at him helplessly before continuing to rock him.

Liu Changping stayed by the car smoking. Li Zhuiyuan led Xiong Shan and Lihua onto the packed-earth yard in front of Big Beard’s house, facing the peach grove.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “A senior is buried here.”

Xiong Shan and Lihua immediately began to pay their respects. They did not naïvely ask whether this buried senior was dead or alive.

Because if it were truly dead, there would have been no need to specially bring them here.

The peach grove remained silent.

Li Zhuiyuan reminded them, “After you settle in here, take some time to make an offering. And on holidays, festivals, or whenever there’s nothing else to do, you can also come burn paper and pay respects. One can never go wrong by showing extra courtesy.

It’s because it’s here that the household remains protected and at peace.”

Xiong Shan and Lihua said, “We understand.”

Though he did not state it outright, the fact that someone from the Dragon King’s clan would say, one can never go wrong by showing extra courtesy, was enough to show that whoever lay buried below was no less significant than that General.

Perhaps this so-called buried senior was not even human at all, but some terrifying ferocious beast that guarded the gate and watched over the home.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Let’s go. To the river.”

Liu Changping drove, following the boy’s directions, and took them all to the road by the Yangtze River.

After reaching the destination, Li Zhuiyuan signaled for Liu Changping to drive farther away. Liu Changping was curious, but he still did as told.

Li Zhuiyuan brought Xiong Shan and Lihua down to the riverbank. Evening was approaching, and the river was beginning to surge toward the shore in wave after wave, splashing up sheets of white foam.

It was right here that Li Zhuiyuan had once watched Uncle Qin strip off his clothes and throw himself into the river.

And at the time, all Li Zhuiyuan could do was stay on the bank and watch over those clothes.

Now, returning to the same place, he really did feel how much things had changed.

He remembered how, back then, he and Liangliang had set up a small offering table at home just to settle karma with a certain Bai Family Matron and beg her not to cling to them anymore.

But this time, there was no offering table, no lit candles, no offerings.

Li Zhuiyuan drew out a sheet of Yellow Paper before him, and it ignited on its own.

The boy spoke in a low voice:

“Bai family, come out and see me at once!”

As the words fell, he tossed out the Yellow Paper. It drifted onto the river without going out, then sank quickly to the bottom. From the bank, one could even see the glow continuing to descend deeper and deeper.

Before long, bubbles surged up from the river surface, then kept rising until they stood like a fountain. Gradually, a woman’s figure could be made out within them, wearing a red wedding robe and a phoenix crown.

“I have come at another’s request to ask about one matter. Why is Xue Liangliang forbidden to come down?”

“Because this servant is already with child.”