Chapter 76.2: The Song on the Road

Runsheng carried the cage and the black dog down from the truck and moved it into his basement room.

Outside the north gate, they arrived at a Sichuan restaurant. The big sign read “Old Sichuan,” while the smaller one underneath said “Wanzhou Grilled Fish.”

Even though it was the off-season, several tables inside were already occupied—an impressive turnout for a restaurant near campus during break.

Most of the businesses on this nearby street were closed, only reopening once the students returned.

As soon as Xue Liangliang stepped inside, the restaurant owner, his wife, their daughter, and son-in-law all came out to greet him with exaggerated warmth.

Hearing the familiar dialect, Yin Meng was delighted. So Xue Liangliang told her to go supervise the kitchen and help with the dishes.

It was still the off-season, after all. With limited prep stock, they couldn’t just order off the wall menu at random.

Tan Wenbin poured tea from the pot on the table and asked, “Brother Liangliang, you really must be a regular here.”

Li Zhuiyuan lifted his cup and said, “This place actually belongs to Brother Liangliang.”

Tan Wenbin blinked hard. “Seriously, Brother Liangliang?”

Xue Liangliang nodded. “I invested in it after we got back from Wanzhou. The family running it are folks I brought in, but they have a stake too—it’s not just a salaried job.”

“Damn, Brother Liangliang, you’re amazing! Why don’t you just go full-time into business? I bet you’d make a fortune.”

“Why don’t you go write The Secret Scroll of Zhuiyuan?”

“I…”

“Making money can’t compare to building dams for fun.”

Li Zhuiyuan took a sip of tea, then quietly set down the cup.

He’d grown picky after getting used to Liu Yumei’s tea.

The food came quickly, including a grilled fish dish.

“Ha.” Xue Liangliang picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks. “To be honest, the main reason I invested in this place was so I could eat here whenever I wanted.”

Runsheng replied, “Then you should’ve opened it by the Yangtze River. Even more convenient.”

Xue Liangliang turned and shouted toward the kitchen, “Cook another bucket of rice—we’ve got someone here with a bottomless stomach. Rice alone won’t shut him up.”

After the meal, Xue Liangliang drove the truck away. He had to report back to Luo Gong.

Runsheng and Yin Meng returned to the store. With things slow during the break, it was the perfect time to get familiar with the place.

Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin headed back to the dorm. While unpacking their clothes, Tan Wenbin asked, “Little Yuan, do you think Brother Liangliang deliberately got rid of that student who was running the shop?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m even starting to suspect he arranged someone to tempt the guy into skimming, just so he’d have a reason to fire him. But why go through all that? If the guy had sticky fingers, why not just fire him earlier?”

“Brother Liangliang doesn’t have time to manage campus stuff anymore. If someone else took over, they’d probably embezzle too. This guy just happened to be the lesser evil.”

“Damn, Brother Liangliang is so generous. First day here and he hands out a shop. From now on, we’re set—just swing by Runsheng’s place for food and drinks, hah!”

Li Zhuiyuan sat at his desk but didn’t open the book in front of him. Instead, he turned his head to look out the window at the trees.

He remembered first meeting Brother Liangliang by the embankment back in their hometown.

Even then, Brother Liangliang stood out from the crowd, though he still had a youthful awkwardness about him.

Over the past year, traveling far and wide with Luo Gong, he had indeed become far more mature and capable.

Truth was, everyone was changing.

For instance, there was Tan Wenbin—now changed into a tank top and running shorts after hanging up their clothes.

“Wenbin, you’re really going night jogging?”

“Yup.”

“Then why’d you shower just now?”

“I thought you’d be shy about showering alone.”

“Oh.”

“See you, Yuanzi.”

“Stay safe.”

“C’mon, what are the odds of running into unclean stuff on the first night at school before classes even start?”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“Heh. I said it on purpose.”

After heading downstairs, Tan Wenbin saw the dorm matron moving some things. He helped her out and ended up getting invited to the office for a glass of water and a little chat.

By the time he left the dorm building, it was already ten at night. The discount store nearby still had its lights on.

Tan Wenbin began jogging in the opposite direction, planning to loop back later. If Runsheng and Yin Meng were still around, he’d swing by for a soda.

The places they’d seen earlier looked totally different at night. With most students gone, the campus felt empty and quiet.

He jogged to a small manmade lake—not really a lake, more like an oversized pond.

Not long after running along the water, he heard footsteps behind him—someone else running.

Then the voice came: “Hey, classmate, hello!”

Tan Wenbin immediately picked up speed, going from a jog to a sprint.

“Hey, classmate, why are you running?”

After covering a good distance, he finally slowed and came to a stop. When he turned around, there was no one behind him.

“Yeah… why did I run?”

He was the one hoping to get lucky and encounter something. But now that he might’ve, his first reaction had been to flee.

“Guess I’ve had it too easy lately. I’m out of practice. Yeah, that’s all. No way I’m a coward afraid of the real thing.”

Back in the dorm, Li Zhuiyuan was reading under the desk lamp.

The new surroundings made for a perfect reading atmosphere.

“Click... click... click...”

From the hallway outside, footsteps echoed closer and closer.

Li Zhuiyuan looked up.

It wasn’t Tan Wenbin coming back. Wenbin wouldn’t wear high heels on a jog.

“Click... click... click...”

The sound drew nearer, finally stopping at the far end of the hall on this floor.

Then—

A faint scraping sound.

A turn. Now facing the dorm room door.

“Knock... knock... knock…”

The knocking came, dull and muffled, echoing in the cold hallway.

“Wenbin, you didn’t even need to go jogging.”

Li Zhuiyuan closed his book, opened the drawer, and pulled out a purple whip.

There were four Demon-Suppressing Whips in total. The others were black—only his was purple.

That was because Ah Li had scraped off the remaining old ancestral tablet covers and wrapped it inch by inch.

Gripping the whip, he stood up.

“Snap!”

He switched off the desk lamp, plunging the room into dimness. Bright lights ruined the mood.

The knocking paused.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the door, turning off the ceiling light along the way. The dorm was now pitch black—just right.

The knocking slowed.

The boy stood by the door and said, “It’s not locked.”

The knocking stopped.

He grabbed the doorknob and swung it open without hesitation. The hinges squeaked.

No one outside.

Holding the whip, Li Zhuiyuan stepped out and even closed the dorm door behind him.

“Bang!”

From the far end of the corridor, the sound of high heels echoed again—“Click... click...”

But no figure could be seen.

He walked toward it. The sound kept its distance.

Soon, the boy broke into a run.

“Click... click... click...”

The heels sped up, the sound growing fainter and fainter—until it vanished entirely.

Li Zhuiyuan stopped.

It ran.

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