"Brother Run Sheng, wake up."
"Hmm... What’s up, Xiao Yuan?"
"Brother Run Sheng, come go out with me, bring your tools."
Li Zhiyuan went to get some incense candles and also grabbed some ingredients from the kitchen. When he came out, he saw Run Sheng getting ready to push a tricycle:
"Brother Run Sheng, it’s not far. We can walk."
"Alright." Run Sheng followed with a large burlap sack on his back and asked quietly, "Xiao Yuan, are we going to deal with them?"
"That group that leased the fish pond."
"The police will handle them."
"Then what are we going to do?"
"Ask someone for help."
Run Sheng glanced at the burlap sack on his back, then at the incense and offerings in Li Zhiyuan’s hand:
"To ask for help, we need to bring this?"
Li Zhiyuan led Run Sheng to a fish pond, directly facing Big Beard’s house.
Big Beard’s wife had already left with their eldest son. The house was up for sale, but it wasn’t easy to sell due to poor location and a recent drowning out front that was shrouded in mystery. Despite the low price, no one dared to buy it for now.
So, it was currently one of the quietest places in the village.
Li Zhiyuan stood by the fish pond, closed his eyes, then slowly opened them, recalling the contents of the "Liu’s Qi Observation Technique" in his mind.
Back then, he had led Little Huang Ying here. Now, he had to determine if Little Huang Ying was still here.
The color of the water ripples, the state of the water plants, the banks and everything along them, including the wind blowing over—all these tiny details formed the weather map in Li Zhiyuan’s mind.
Li Zhiyuan slowly walked along the fish pond, carefully observing. Finally, he confirmed that a corpse was hidden within the pond.
Little Huang Ying was still here.
"Brother Run Sheng, here, here, and there, dig a small pit and then place incense sticks."
"Okay." Run Sheng picked up the Yellow River Shovel and got to work.
Li Zhiyuan threw the offerings he brought to specific spots in the pond, then placed two candles at the receiving position on the southwest side of the pond and lit them.
After doing this, Li Zhiyuan picked up a stack of yellow paper and ignited it with the candle flame.
"Brother Run Sheng, unless I call you later, do not act. Stay away and when the time comes."
Run Sheng obediently stood at a distance, then asked in confusion, "?"
Li Zhiyuan waved the burning yellow paper and chanted:
"I, Li Zhiyuan, invite you to emerge. Afterward, I’ll offer three tributes in return."
The yellow paper was slapped into the mud, extinguished.
Li Zhiyuan turned his back to the pond, holding an incense burner in his left hand and a bell in his right.
Although Run Sheng stood far away, he could clearly see ripples suddenly appear on the surface of the pond behind Li Zhiyuan, followed by the figure of a long-haired woman slowly rising from the water.
Run Sheng’s breath quickened as he wanted to shout out that Xiao Yuan was in danger, but he quickly realized that Xiao Yuan had summoned the corpse himself.
Then it dawned on him: My god, Xiao Yuan could actually summon a corpse!
*All those years helping his grandfather recover bodies had been reactive, never had he thought this kind of proactive approach was possible!*
*How on earth did Xiao Yuan manage it?*
Two cold hands landed on his shoulders, and Li Zhiyuan felt a heaviness, the dampness soaking through his clothes.
That familiar sensation was back.
However, this time, he wasn’t very scared but still called out to Run Sheng just to be safe.
"Ding ding ding... ding ding ding... ding ding ding..."
The crisp sound of the bell rang out as Li Zhiyuan started to move forward, the figure behind him following his pace.
their shadows stretched tall and short.
Liu Yumei was fanning Alii with a cattail leaf fan, and Alii lay there with her eyes open, not yet asleep.
In the past, the boys’ nightly lulls would send Alii to her room, obediently closing her eyes, focusing on falling asleep early to dress up and meet him in the morning.
Suddenly, Liu Yumei felt something, she got up and walked to the window to peek outside, then looked back at Alii on the bed, seeing her eyes slowly closing.
"This... this is... this is..."
Even someone as seasoned as Liu Yumei was left speechless by shock. After a while, she recalled what the boy had told her a few days ago:
"Grandma, Alii is back in the room. We need to find a way to call her out again so I can apologize to her in person."
Liu Yumei wore a mixed expression of laughing and crying:
"Seriously? Do young people now meet up at night ?"
Li Zhiyuan, shaking the bell and holding the incense burner, walked onto the dam and then stopped.
Then, Li Zhiyuan closed his eyes.
Even though he was cold, soaked, and uncomfortable, he forced himself to a drowsy state.
In fact, he didn’t need to fully sleep, just reach a semi-conscious state to successfully enter the Underworld.
When he slowly opened his eyes, he first looked behind him; the long-haired figure in the qipao was still there, but he couldn’t see Run Sheng’s figure anymore.
*Yes, he successfully entered dream state.*
"Please wait a moment, I’ll send you back shortly."
With that, Li Zhiyuan put down the bell and incense burner and walked forward on his own.
He freed himself from those hands, while the figure in the qipao remained in the same position, holding up her hands, motionless.
Li Zhiyuan reached the east room and stopped.
This time, she finally looked at him, no longer ignoring him as she had during the day.
In the dead of night,
on the dam stood a boy, a girl, and a corpse.
The boy looked at the girl and said earnestly:
"Alii, will you forgive me?"