Yes, he was still not giving up.
After all, the other tools were made entirely "by the book" from the instruction, only the talisman paper truly had his own touch of originality.
A talisman was stuck on the thug’s forehead, the talisman soon turned black, then slipped off.
Another was applied, it continued to turn black and continued to slip off.
The third one, the fourth one, the fifth one... until all the talismans he brought were used.
All the talismans turned black, but not even a wisp of white smoke came from the thug’s body.
Li Zhiyuan fell silent.
The fact that his own drawn talismans turned black proved they were somewhat useful, but being only that, they were useless.
A sense of defeat, like that of a poor student, surged up again.
"Brother Runsheng, the canvas."
The black canvas was thrown over, caught by Li Zhiyuan, who then covered the thug with it.
White smoke emerged, vaguely forming the despairing face of Brother Leopard, then quickly dispersed.
Li Zhiyuan lifted the black canvas; surprisingly, a hole had burned through it, many of the wooden flower rolls inside turned black, only one-third remained in the original color.
It meant that this tool had to be remade.
Li Zhiyuan went to the tombstone, where a black Copper Coin was lying.
"Brother Runsheng, dig a pit next to it."
Li Zhiyuan began inspecting the Copper Coin while Run Sheng was digging.
After a while, seeing that Run Sheng was still digging, Li Zhiyuan turned his head in confusion and saw that Run Sheng had actually dug a deep pit big enough to bury several people.
"Brother Runsheng, what are you doing?"
"Eh?" Run Sheng scratched his head and pointed to the two unconscious thugs who were tied up, "Aren’t we burying them?"
"No, bury this Copper Coin."
"Oh, I was mistaken."
"Don’t touch it with your hands, use a shovel." Reminded Li Zhiyuan as he went forward and smeared a lot of ink on the Yellow River Shovel.
Run Sheng picked up the Copper Coin with a shovel, carefully placing it into the pit.
"Brother Runsheng, first repair that earth wall a bit, you almost dug out someone’s urn."
This was a cemetery, and Run Sheng had dug too deep, exposing a corner of an urn.
After fixing the earth wall, Run Sheng began to backfill the pit. Once buried, Li Zhiyuan marked the spot with a few stones, then bowed in the direction of the urn underground:
"Sorry for disturbing you. Please keep an eye on that Copper Coin for me. When I come back to retrieve it, I’ll burn paper for you."
Before confirming the function and danger of that Copper Coin, Li Zhiyuan would not only refrain from taking it, but also avoid touching it.
When he looked down to check Run Sheng’s Yellow River Shovel, he was surprised to find that the areas previously covered with red ink had all turned white.
Turning black or purple or any other dark color while digging was understandable, but turning white could only mean that the Copper Coin was truly ominous.
"Brother Runsheng, let’s go."
"To the police station."
"Why do we need to go to the police station again?"
Having just finished a meeting with the city’s special investigation team, Tan Yunlong, yawning, walked back to his office, pushed open the door, and saw a boy sitting inside.
Tan Yunlong picked up the thermos, poured a cup of tea, and placed it in front of Li Zhiyuan.
He didn’t think there was anything inappropriate in his action, and his next question was:
"Where is the skeleton?"
"Um..." Li Zhiyuan appeared troubled, "Uncle Tan, you jumped quite a few steps."
"Because last time you entered my office, you were here to tell me the skeleton’s location, and now, you’re here again."
"It’s in the cemetery at the boundary between West Suburb Village and East Suburb Village, with two people unconscious next to it."
"Are they the accomplices responsible for moving the skeleton?"
"That’s for the police uncles to investigate."
"Thank you, Xiao Yuan, you really helped a lot from start to finish."
"My Grandmaster always taught me to remember the kinship between police and the public."
"Xiao Yuan, where is your household registration?"
"Uncle Tan, don’t scare the kids."
"I was just casually asking, just caring about you, my son should be a few years older than you."
"Then you probably don’t have a good relationship with your son."
Tan Yunlong was speechless; indeed, he only saw his son smile at him when he bought him food and toys.
"Uncle Tan, is the case progressing smoothly?"
"The investigation is moving fast, once this skeleton is confirmed, we can basically close the case."
Having said that, Li Zhiyuan picked up the teacup, took a sip, it was hot, he merely dabbed it on his lips, then set down the cup.
"Uncle Tan, I’m going home, you’re busy."
"I’ll have someone escort you."
"No need, my driver is waiting for me outside."
After the boy left the office, Tan Yunlong seemed to remember something, stepped into the corridor and stopped someone to ask: "Xiao Zhang, has Mr. Li left?"
"Just left, Captain Tan, do you need me to call him back?"
"No need, it’s nothing. By the way, call a few people, come with me to pick up the skeleton."
"Pick up bones? Are we having a dinner gathering tonight?"
Several empty cars were parked in front of the police station; cars couldn’t enter from the outside, and cars couldn’t leave from the inside, someone had been sent to call for moving cars.
Li Zhiyuan walked to the "Shigang Town Police Station" signboard, spread his arms, and hugged it.
He vaguely felt that this rapid disappearance of the Corpse that completely helped him eliminate the potential threat in advance, had a lot to do with this signboard.
At that moment, the cars blocking the entrance were cleared.
Li Zhiyuan turned his head and saw an old man on the other side of the door, also hugging a signboard.
An old and a young locked eyes; both silently let go of their hands.