The east room, that's where the girl was sitting.
"Ting Hou's daughter is in the east room." Li Sanjiang jabbed his own forehead with the end of his chopstick, "That little girl has issues with her head, stay away from her. It wouldn't be good if you got scratched or bitten by her."
It was hard for Li Zhiyuan to imagine that the little girl named Qin Li could be associated with such behaviors.
"Don't take it lightly. When her family had just moved here the year before last, I gave her candy. Who knew that the moment I put the candy in her hand, she threw it away and charged at me like crazy, scratching and biting. Even a corpse couldn't be as fierce."
"I understand, Grandmaster."
That's great, so she's neither deaf nor blind.
"Alright, eat up. Once you finish the meal, Grandmaster will perform a ritual for you."
Li Zhiyuan finished his meal first and put down his chopsticks, and Li Sanjiang followed suit, ending his drinking and started to eat.
The toilet was behind the house. Li Zhiyuan was the first to go out and circled the dam, and just happened to see the little girl being led by an old grandma to stand up and walk to the inner dining table.
She must be Aunt Liu's grandma.
On this old grandma, Li Zhiyuan seemed to see a shadow of his own Grandma Bei—both possessed an air of dignity and grace.
The little girl sat by the dining table, didn't pick up her chopsticks, and the old grandma kept softly persuading her at her side.
By the time Li Zhiyuan finished using the toilet and came back, he saw the little girl had started eating. She only ate from her own bowl while the old grandma picked food for her with a small plate.
He noted that the old grandma's glance swept over him, but she didn't greet him, and after hesitating for a moment, Li Zhiyuan didn't go over to say hello either.
Back in the house, Li Sanjiang had finished eating, and Aunt Liu was cleaning up.
"Xiao Yuan, the place for bathing is in the room at the far end upstairs, Auntie has already poured hot water for you. It might be a bit scalding, so you can add some cold water yourself."
Upon reaching the second floor, a well-fed and drunk Li Sanjiang was already lying on a rattan chair that came from who-knows-where, with a toothpick in his left hand and a cigarette in his right, humming a tune and belching from the alcohol.
Li Zhiyuan's gaze lingered on the rattan chair.
"Ha, tomorrow I'll have Li Hou go to the market and buy one for you as well."
Li Hou must be referring to Uncle Qin.
"Okay." Li Zhiyuan smiled. He did indeed want one.
"The bath is over there." Li Sanjiang pointed, "You wash first, and then I'll wash."
The bathroom was quite narrow, most likely a makeshift addition at a later time, equipped with a rubber hose connected to a water tank.
Li Zhiyuan tested the water temperature; it was a bit hot but didn't need to add cold water.
After he quickly finished washing and came out, Li Sanjiang stood up: "Wait in my room for me."
Now, it was completely dark outside, with the moon hanging in the sky.
Li Zhiyuan glanced at the east room again, the door of the one-story house was closed, and the light was on inside.
Opening the door to Li Sanjiang's room and walking in, Li Zhiyuan reached out and found the rope by the door on the wall, giving it a pull.
The decor in Grandmaster's bedroom was an exact replica of his own—a bed and a wardrobe.
However, in the middle where it should have been empty, there was now a circle of densely packed lines and a row of small candles, next to which lay an open old book on the floor.
Li Zhiyuan picked up the book and realized it was handwritten, not printed.
The cover read "Golden Sand Luo Wen Scripture".
Flipping through the contents, it was all array patterns and some annotations, crudely drawn and casually written. Most importantly, the handwriting was truly ugly.
Far worse than the calligraphy of Grandpa Xu from the family housing complex, who is known for his Dongpo pork.
Soon, Li Zhiyuan found within the book an Array Map identical to the one drawn on the ground, labeled—"Transportation Evil Formation".
Its effect was to transfer the Evil Qi from one person to another, and it had a note: may cause harm to others.
Li Zhiyuan glanced at the map in the book and then at the one Grandmaster had drawn himself on the ground.
"Why do I feel... there are some discrepancies in the drawing?"
After all, the map in the book was also hand-drawn, inherently irregular, so it wasn't easy to make a direct comparison.
"It's also possible Grandmaster didn't draw it wrong, but the map in the book isn't standardized."
With two impressionistic styles, even if they were depicting the same thing, comparing them really posed a challenge.
At this moment, Li Sanjiang came in after his bath, bare-chested, wearing only a pair of blue oversized underwear.
Seeing Li Zhiyuan holding and looking at the book, Li Sanjiang couldn't help but laugh: "Ha, can you understand what you're looking at, Little Yuanhou?"
Li Zhiyuan nodded: "I understand."
"Great, great. You understand, our Little Yuanhou is the smartest."
Li Sanjiang patted Li Zhiyuan on the head and took the book from his hand and tossed it aside.
That book was all carelessly written in traditional Chinese characters with joined strokes. He once had to ask for help several times from a retired school teacher from the neighboring village who enjoyed calligraphy, just to understand it a bit better.
Later, Li Sanjiang stopped asking because the last time he went to see him, Li Sanjiang even brought his own paper offerings;
The gifts were free, no charge, and the teacher's children kept thanking him.
So, how could he possibly believe that a ten-year-old kid like Li Zhiyuan could understand these?
"Alright, Little Yuanhou, sit there, keep still."
Li Zhiyuan obediently sat on the designated spot, and Li Sanjiang bent over to light all the candles on the ground. Then he took out three black cords, each tied to Li Zhiyuan's wrists, ankles, and neck. When he sat down himself, the other ends of the three black cords were also tied to his own corresponding spots.