Chapter 153.2

Li Zhuiyuan smiled.

He knew the river water had started exerting its force.

Because the one before him was Boqi’s manifested form and spirit.

Boqi had originally been a man of the Zhou Dynasty. His father had been a powerful noble of the court, and he was murdered out of jealousy by his stepmother. After death, he transformed into a bird. His heart was as clear as a mirror, and he could devour nightmares.

In ancient times, when people had nightmares at night, they would wake and call out Boqi’s name to dispel ill fortune and calm themselves.

The ancient descriptions of the Twelve Divine Beasts of Nuo culture also recorded Boqi’s trait of feeding on dreams.

So was the dream ghost connected to Boqi’s manifested form and spirit?

Once Boqi’s manifested form had been dragged in front of Li Zhuiyuan and could be examined closely, Li Zhuiyuan discovered that when it took the form of a bird, there was a black sedan chair on its back. Though the body of the sedan chair was cracked, it still gave off an ancient, austere aura.

In the finer details, it was somewhat similar to the coffins Yin Meng made.

And when it took human form, its shoulder blades had been pierced through by green chains, as if someone had once forcibly suppressed it that way.

The former was probably Yin Changsheng’s handiwork. After all, letting Yin family descendants cling to others and get a seat at the table was one thing; expecting them to truly step in and deal with a manifested spirit of this level was simply asking too much.

Talismans were pasted onto the green chains. They were the Liu family’s Demon-Suppressing Lock. The material itself was secondary. What mattered was that the user had to use blood from their own heart as the catalyst to stir up the qi of heaven and earth in response. In other words, the lock served as the medium to draw on a feng shui layout and carry out suppression. The user also had to pay an enormous price for it.

That meant this manifested spirit really had been around for many years, and it was extremely troublesome. First it had been suppressed by Yin Changsheng, and after breaking free, it had then been suppressed again by the Liu family Dragon King.

What should have been a terrifying evil presence with monstrous ferocity had instead been kicked into this miserable state by two generations of outstanding figures. Now it only dared hide in the mist to scare a little girl. When facing him, it did not even dare show itself.

Its current condition had to be extremely bad.

He had only tried on a whim, but he had actually dragged out an evil thing that had crossed paths with both Yin Changsheng and the Liu family.

That was what true heritage meant.

Li Zhuiyuan released the spell. Since it had already been dragged out and stood before him, and since he had now marked it in his memory, then even if it hid back in the mist, there was no point. The river water would push it over on its own, whether it wanted to come or not.

But now, when Boqi took human form, it looked at Li Zhuiyuan with pleading in its eyes. When it took bird form, it even let out mournful cries.

Was it begging him to spare it, or asking for something else?

Li Zhuiyuan did not care.

The only thing the boy remembered was that just now, in this same thick fog, it had seemed to be shrieking quite happily.

Li Zhuiyuan turned around, took Ah Li’s hand, and led her back toward the house.

The girl was trembling so badly she could barely support herself and could only lean on him.

They crossed the threshold and returned inside. He looked again at the row of cracked memorial tablets on the altar.

They no longer had any spirit in them. This was what Liu Yumei was most dissatisfied with, and it had indeed caused Ah Li terrible suffering.

But to be fair, as the inheritor of the Qin and Liu families, he really had received their protection, even if it had been invisible.

For example, right now, when he was facing an attempt on his life by the force behind that hand, the ones who had truly given him support at this moment were still the accumulated heritage of the two families’ ancestors.

When he had treated Ah Li before, it had been out of feeling. But now, little by little, it also had to be out of reason. In this world, there was no such good thing as taking benefits without doing anything in return.

Maybe, in the unseen currents of fate, they too were using him in this way to make up for what they owed Ah Li.

Before leaving the little house, Li Zhuiyuan turned back once more to look outside the threshold.

Ever since Boqi’s manifested form had been dragged out, the great fog had retreated much farther away. The mist had grown so dense it was almost like a white wall painted into place, and everything had suddenly gone dead silent.

But Li Zhuiyuan was not looking at them.

He was looking at the force behind that hand.

You want to scheme to eliminate me ahead of time?

Fine.

This time, not only am I bringing the river water down on you, I’m also throwing in a bonus Great Emperor of Fengdu.

You were the ones who made the first move, that part is true.

But now I’m very curious.

How exactly are you going to clean this up?

He opened his eyes and returned to reality.

Ah Li’s body went limp, slumping weakly against Li Zhuiyuan’s chest. She was drenched in cold sweat, and strands of hair clung to her face.

She must have cried. While her body had been unconscious, it had reacted on instinct. But once she opened her eyes, she quickly restrained her tears again in front of him.

At that moment, Aunt Liu came in carrying a tray. On the tray were two white hot towels.

She had been standing outside earlier, unable to stop eating mango.

But the more she ate, the more something felt wrong. Still, Little Yuan was in the middle of his river walk, and without hearing him call out, she did not dare rashly go in and interfere. The only thing she could do was a bit of support work that would not get tangled in cause and effect.

Aunt Liu said seriously, “Little Yuan, say the word if there’s anything.”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “Aunt Liu, it’s fine.”

Since he had never planned from the beginning to tell them, and intended to settle this through his own ability, now that he had already set the stage himself, there was even less reason to say anything.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up one towel. Ignoring the heat, he unfolded it and wiped Ah Li’s forehead.

When he was about to keep wiping her face, Ah Li reached out, took the other towel, unfolded it, and wiped him in return.

Actually, Li Zhuiyuan had not sweated much.

But a collector’s pursuit was one of constant improvement, and now the girl wanted to collect a matching pair.

Aunt Liu said, “Ah Li is going to take a bath now.”

Ah Li’s gaze shifted to the tray holding the two towels.

Aunt Liu immediately said, “I won’t take them away. I’ll leave them right here.”

Ah Li nodded, glanced at the boy, then walked out of the room to wash up and change clothes.

Li Zhuiyuan checked the time. In the dream, one could not feel the passage of time. So much time had gone by that the others had probably long since returned. The boy slung his schoolbag over his back and headed out.

Aunt Liu carried a bowl of medicinal soup upstairs to the third-floor room where the memorial tablets were kept.

Liu Yumei was standing by the window, her expression grave.

“Old Madam, it’s time for your medicine.”

This time, Liu Yumei did not need any urging. She reached out, picked up the bowl, and drained it in one go. After finishing, she did not say a word about wanting a bowl of lotus seed soup to balance out the bitterness in her mouth.

Aunt Liu said quietly, “Little Yuan seems to have run into something.”

Liu Yumei said bluntly, “They just got back from out of town, and Little Yuan’s eyes only recovered a couple of days ago, so this time it shouldn’t be anything related to the boat. If it’s not about the boat, and yet he won’t tell you or Ah Li, that means it’s something inconvenient for us to know.”

Aunt Liu said, “So...”

Liu Yumei said, “Little Yuan has probably run into the same kind of thing Ah Li did back then.”

Aunt Liu pressed her lips together. “Damn those bastards.”

Liu Yumei raised her hand, and the formation in the room activated, sealing off all sound. She did not want Ah Li hearing what came next.

But out in the courtyard, Uncle Qin, who was doing wood carving work, unconsciously lowered his head even farther.

Because he suddenly could no longer hear anything from the room on the third floor. He knew exactly what kind of words they would not want him to hear, and because of that, he felt deeply guilty.

Liu Yumei said, “Back when Ah Li failed his river walk, we could still treat it as old enemies from the past secretly making a move. But this time, it’s different.

“Ah Li failed to complete the river walk, and that broke that last edge of sharpness. It tore away the final layer of face-saving cover from our two families.

“When the two families were still at their height, there actually were not many enemies. Even if there was deep hatred, people could still keep a certain restraint.

“But now that we’ve declined, even those who used to be allies of the Qin and Liu families probably would not mind stepping on us in passing. They do not want to see us rise again successfully.

“From an individual, to a family, to a nation, it is always the same.

“When you are strong, everywhere is full of friends. When you are weak, everywhere you look is full of enemies.”

Aunt Liu said, “Then what should we...”

“If he won’t say anything, then we should not do anything extra, in case we make things worse by trying to help.

“Our family has too few people now, so I’m only temporarily sitting in this position. But this family will definitely have proper rules again in the future. There will be a family head.”

Aunt Liu said, “Rest assured, Ah Li and I understand.”

“I’m not reminding you about that. There’s no need for a reminder. The farther his boat sails, the more the rules will naturally establish themselves. I raised the two of you. You may be a bit slow, but you’re not fools.

“Actually, the signs are already appearing.

“Even I am gradually reaching the point where I can no longer put on the airs of an elder in front of him.

“That child is propping up two broken boats as he sails.

“Sometimes I even think, if I hadn’t dragged him into all this, if he’d been sailing alone, would his journey actually have been steadier and easier?

“If you can’t give him anything, if you can’t offer any benefit, how can you still have the nerve to go on acting like an elder?”

Liu Yumei turned her head to look at the rows of memorial tablets on the altar and spat irritably,

“Bah, isn’t this all your fault!”

...

Runsheng felt that even when Uncle Qin had driven coffin nails into his body back then, it had not been as painful as accompanying Yin Meng shopping for clothes now.

Especially since they had met a shop owner who was eloquent and silver-tongued, and Yin Meng was having a great time chatting with him.

Runsheng already knew what was about to happen.

One side was trying to build rapport so it would be easier to haggle, and the other side was trying to build rapport so the customer would feel too embarrassed to haggle too hard. Beneath the tender feelings, knives and shields had already been prepared.

Smiling warmly, the owner looked at Runsheng and Yin Meng and said with heartfelt emotion,

“How wonderful, the two of you. My girlfriend and I used to have a very good relationship too. It’s just a pity that I hadn’t made anything of myself back then. After all those years together, our relationship still lost to reality, and in the end we broke up because her family didn’t approve.”

Runsheng said, “Actually, it was because she didn’t approve.”

The owner: “...”

In that instant, the owner suddenly felt that the bright sunny day outside had turned gloomy. As he breathed, it felt like his heart was leaking air.

All at once, everything seemed meaningless, dull, desolate, empty, because he realized he could not even argue back.

Yin Meng named an absurdly low price.

“Selling or not? If you are, I’ll take the whole set, clothes and pants.”

The owner waved his hand to indicate he would sell. He did not want to talk anymore.

Yin Meng happily paid, bagged up the clothes, and dragged Runsheng out of the store.

“Not bad, Runsheng. You really know how to bargain. When I haggle, I cut against the price tag. You cut straight into people’s hearts.”

“Are we done now?” Runsheng asked, carrying the clothing bag.

“What’s the rush? It’s not easy to drag you out like this. Let’s go ahead and buy next spring’s and summer’s clothes too.”

“I can’t wear that many.”

“Did you forget what Little Yuanhou said? Since we have the means now, we’re not saying we should waste money, but there’s no need to force ourselves to suffer for nothing either.”

Runsheng fell silent.

Yin Meng had discovered that using Little Yuan to pressure Runsheng worked really well.

Runsheng stopped resisting. Dragging his exhausted body along, he practically let Yin Meng pull him forward. He moved like a dead sinker that had just crawled out of the water.

Just then, at the edge of the roof on the fifth floor above the pedestrian street, a girl in a pajama nightgown held both arms straight out in front of her and walked numbly along the edge, as if sleepwalking.

Runsheng and Yin Meng exchanged a glance.

That hand had fed them a clue.

...

“Director Tan, could you tell us in detail how you managed to identify the suspect at a glance during a routine inspection at the train station? Is it really true, as people outside say, that you have a photographic memory?”

The local TV station reporter held out the microphone to Tan Yunlong.

Behind her, the cameraman was looking for the right angle, first focusing on a close-up of Tan Yunlong’s face, then pulling back to make sure Tan Yunlong himself remained in frame while also including the commendation banners and award certificates hanging on the office wall.

Tan Yunlong wore a careful but composed smile and replied,

“I certainly don’t have a photographic memory. The actual reason is that my son studies at Haihe University in this city.

“His grandfather and his maternal grandfather were both police officers, so from childhood he always had a dream of becoming a police officer when he grew up.”

“Director Tan, please allow me to interrupt with a question. I believe this is also something viewers in front of their televisions want to know. Why is it that your son attends Haihe University instead of a police academy?”

“He said that the security of the motherland is guarded by his father, but the building of the motherland has to be taken on by him.”

“I’ve heard that your son once rendered meritorious service during an operation cracking a human trafficking ring?”

“Yes, that’s right. He was commended for it as well. I personally presented him with the certificate. Thanks to our bureau chief for giving me, as a father, that opportunity.”

“You have a truly outstanding son. You must also be an excellent father.”

“Thank you.”

“All right, please continue.”

“Although my son didn’t attend police academy, he has always had the heart of someone who wants to be a police officer. So in his spare time, he takes out wanted notices and studies them, and he often looks through certain case files that can be made public without violating confidentiality rules. He also frequently discusses cases with me.

“A lot of the time, his line of thinking can give me new inspiration.

“For example, in this case, not long ago he took out this wanted notice and discussed with me where the suspect might be hiding, so I formed a deeper impression of the suspect in the photo. That was how I was able to recognize her at a glance on the train.”

“Director Tan, I heard the suspect had disguised herself at the time?”

“Yes, she had. But the abnormal reaction of the trafficked child she was holding made me look at her twice.”

“That’s what I’d call your keen eye. I believe this is not merely the instinct of a veteran detective. It is also the reward for your tireless devotion to your work, for carrying that work into your family life, and for your commitment to the rule of law and loyalty to your duty!

I believe that with police officers like you, our Jinling...”

The interview ended.

The reporter and cameraman left Tan Yunlong’s office. Next they still needed to interview Tan Yunlong’s subordinate officers and his superiors, to hear their evaluation of him.

This whole segment had been recorded specifically to feature Tan Yunlong as an exemplary figure. After editing, it would be broadcast on the local TV station and might even be sent up to the provincial station.

Tan Yunlong sat down behind his desk, picked up the tea that had already gone cold, took two sips, then tugged open his collar and let out a breath.

Back in the day, he had been famous in the police force as a thorn in everyone’s side, the type who broke rules to solve cases. Otherwise he would never have been demoted to a township police station.

Who would have thought that one day he would get used to this kind of solemn seriousness?

The truth was, he genuinely wanted to turn down those commendation meetings and TV interviews. He felt they wasted too much time.

Besides, he felt guilty.

That guilt had persisted from the very moment, back at the Shigang Town police station, when that little boy had taken the initiative to push open the door to his office.

But his superiors had persuaded him, saying he needed to set a good example for the younger officers in the bureau. They had even cited the story of Zigong redeeming captives as an example.

The office door was pushed open, and Tan Wenbin walked in.

Tan Yunlong could only yank harder at his collar. The last person he wanted to see right now was his own son. At his age, and yet he was still blushing in front of his son.

“Dad, when’s the program airing?”

“Whenever it airs.”

“Ah, whatever. My mom will definitely be sitting in front of the TV ahead of time and recording it, then taking it back home to show your father-in-law.”

“Call him Grandpa Nan. What do you mean, my father-in-law?”

“Can’t help it. Shigang can’t pick up our Jinling local station anyway.”

“The provincial station will air it too.”

“Hahahahaha!”

“You little brat.” Tan Yunlong could not hold back either and started laughing too.

Tan Wenbin pulled a cigarette from his pocket, stuck one between his old man’s lips, then lit it for him.

Tan Yunlong said, “Smoke less.”

“Got it.”

“I’ve got several cartons there. Drop by the house when you have time and take them.”

“Sure.”

“Why is it that when you talk now, it’s either a Sichuan accent or a Beijing accent?”

“You’ve got to know at least a bit of both. We’ll have projects all over the country in the future. I’m getting used to the work environment ahead of time.”

Tan Yunlong looked at the cigarette in his hand and asked, “Why’d you suddenly switch to this brand?”

“It’s from Yunyun’s dad. She brought me his whole stash, said he smokes too much and it’s bad for him.”

“Your mother used to do that too.”

“Heh.” Tan Wenbin flicked the ash, then reached over and casually picked up the file beside him to flip through it.

Tan Yunlong had been about to say that was against the rules, but then he changed his mind.

Just in case...

As long as a case could be solved, some rules were not necessarily unbreakable.

“Dad, got any new cases lately?”

“The one in your hands is one.”

“Oh, this is a wife-murder case? Isn’t the chain of evidence already pretty solid?”

“It is. But the husband, who’s the suspect, keeps denying it.”

“Denying what?”

“He says that after arguing with his wife, he left home and went to stay at a friend’s house. Then he dreamed about his wife. He knew it was a dream, so in the dream he lashed out at her violently to vent his anger.

“But in reality, the friend who took him in says he went out during the night, and there are witnesses near the friend’s house who prove he returned home on the night of the murder, during the time of the crime.”

“A mental case?” Tan Wenbin tapped his temple. “Trying to dodge punishment?”

Tan Yunlong blew out a ring of smoke and said,

“That’s exactly where the problem lies. He insists he’s not mentally ill. He says his mind is perfectly normal, and he keeps shouting that he really only killed someone in a dream and did not kill his wife in real life.”

Tan Wenbin said, “Murder in a dream?”

...

Everyone received a page and rushed back to the school as fast as possible, then returned to the room in the shop basement.

Li Zhuiyuan was actually the last one to arrive. By the time he got there, Tan Wenbin, Runsheng, and Yin Meng had already written down their clues in text form.

After all, they might later need to use a scripted design to stir the river water, so putting everything into writing ahead of time would also make later adaptation easier.

That was the advantage of a team that already had experience and had been tempered through practice.

As Li Zhuiyuan carefully read what they had written, he also rapidly wrote down the results of his own investigation, all while continuing to ask them questions aloud and probe for details that might have been missed.

Doing three things at once was nothing to the boy. Every time he and Ah Li played blind chess, they always started with at least three games at once.

After finishing his own writing and reviewing what Tan Wenbin, Yin Meng, and Runsheng’s two groups had written, Li Zhuiyuan handed over his own account for them to read.

There was one person who still had not turned in written material even now. He had been the first to return, but he was still scribbling away furiously.

Li Zhuiyuan walked over to Lin Shuyou’s side. There were several tears in Ah You’s clothes, his pants were ripped too, and there was mud on his shoes, but he had not really suffered any injuries.

Anyone who could get into university on their own merit naturally would not be bad at basic composition. Even Yin Meng’s group had finished long ago. There was no reason Lin Shuyou should be this slow.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his gaze to Lin Shuyou’s notebook.

It was a new notebook, but the front half already contained page after page filled with writing.

He had actually written this much!

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and patted Lin Shuyou on the shoulder, asking,

“Are you writing a novel?”

“Ah...” Lin Shuyou scratched his head. “It’s just that after I went out early this morning, I ran into a lot of things, and they were all pretty twisted and complicated. There were lots of unexpected turns too. But fortunately, I didn’t fail the mission. I got the clue!”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded when he heard that.

Looking at the already written thick stack of pages, he almost felt sorry for the hidden black hand behind the scenes.

The clues Tan Wenbin’s group and Runsheng and Yin Meng’s group got were both simple and direct. But once it got to Lin Shuyou, everything suddenly became unbelievably convoluted and bizarre.

That black hand behind the scenes was probably cursing too: Have the Qin and Liu families really declined so far that they’ve sent out such a blockhead?

Of course, this was also something Li Zhuiyuan had arranged on purpose.

Someone had to be sent out to draw the enemy’s attention and wear down some of their energy.

At last, Lin Shuyou finished writing. He rubbed his wrist with a pained expression.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up what he had written and flipped through it as he said,

“The meeting officially begins now.”

Everyone sat up straight.

Li Zhuiyuan continued,

“Actually, I shouldn’t have called all of you back this quickly. These things really could have been communicated over the phone.

“But I had no choice except to call every one of you back, even if it was only to sit together and exchange information and materials, or even... just to hold a meeting for the sake of holding a meeting.

“Because

“I cannot guarantee

“that the next time we hold a meeting, the ones sitting here will still truly be you.”

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