Chapter 74.4: The Threshold

“Alright, I got it,” said Tan Yunlong. He still didn’t quite understand, but he decided to give the suggestion a try.

Whether it was mystique or just the atmosphere, Forensic Wang had begun to respect the two boys a little. She pointed at the corpse and said, “Also, there’s something strange about the water seepage in this body.”

Tan Wenbin lit up at that. “That’s great! I’ll grab my tools when we get back.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “No need. That’s normal.”

“For real?” Forensic Wang asked again, still confused.

“Mm. Nothing to worry about.”

After they stepped out of the forensics room, Tan Yunlong called over Little Liu to take the boys home.

Once off the trike at the village road near their house, Tan Wenbin finally asked, “Xiaoyuan, what was that thing exactly?”

“A corpse fiend.”

Like the Cat-faced Granny back then—a fusion of an animal’s corpse steeped in resentment and a human body.

“Oh?” Tan Wenbin made a circle with his hands. “So that missing chunk—that’s the fiend’s true body?”

“Mm.”

“The body’s here, so where did it go?”

“It ran off.”

“Ran off?” Tan Wenbin looked toward the big-bearded man’s house. “It ran off once it got near our turf? No wonder you told my dad to search downstream. Makes sense. If the corpse fiend fled, it must’ve been heading our way originally.”

A normal corpse could only drift downstream, but a corpse fiend going against the current wasn’t strange at all.

“So that waterlogged body—it can’t turn into a Dead Sinker, right?”

“Nope. It can’t.”

Tan Wenbin chuckled helplessly. “I swear, we oughta raze Big Beard’s house and build a shrine there. It really is guarding the place.”

“Binbin-ge.”

“Mm?”

“Study hard.”

“What else can I do?” he sighed. “There’s really nothing else to do but keep marching forward.”

…

Back home, Li Zhuiyuan saw that Li Weihan had arrived, bringing along a load of things.

They were from Li Lan, sent from the capital.

Every holiday, she mailed things back home—along with monthly remittances that never once stopped.

This year’s New Year package was extra full, mostly because there was now a “son’s share.”

New clothes, new shoes, school supplies, snacks—two whole burlap sacks’ worth.

Li Weihan smiled and said, “Little Yuanhou, see? Your mom’s always thinking of you.”

Li Zhuiyuan could only smile back with equal warmth, putting on a show for Grandpa.

He knew. This was her way of reminding him that she hadn’t forgotten.

…

On New Year’s Eve, at noon, Li Zhuiyuan joined Li Sanjiang to eat a reunion lunch at Li Weihan’s place.

Originally, Li Sanjiang had wanted to invite Li Weihan and Cui Guiying to his house for dinner. But since the winter break started, Li Zhuiyuan’s uncles had dumped their kids at the grandparents’ again, and the house was running like a school.

It didn’t feel right for Li Weihan to bring a bunch of kids over to crowd someone else’s home, so this compromise was the best they could do.

After lunch, as they stepped outside, Li Sanjiang kept muttering curses at those ungrateful bastards of brothers.

They didn’t go straight home—they swung by the big-bearded man’s house instead. It technically belonged to Li Sanjiang, and since the year was ending, it was time for some cleaning.

Runsheng and Yin Meng had already started tidying up earlier. Li Sanjiang grabbed a broom and joined in. Even Li Zhuiyuan took a rag to wipe down tables and chairs.

By the time they finished, dusk had settled.

Li Sanjiang put his hands on his hips and laughed. “Whew! Owning a big house ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. Cleaning it’s a damn job, ha!”

In the end, he placed two pagoda incense sticks on the dam.

Liu Yi had made them herself. He wouldn’t have had the heart to burn them if they were store-bought.

The incense smoke curled into the air. Runsheng took several deep whiffs beside it.

Li Sanjiang waved at him. “Shoo! That’s for the Bodhisattva—to keep protecting you all next year!”

At those words, Li Zhuiyuan, Runsheng, and Yin Meng all turned to look toward the peach grove.

Yeah, they had to admit—they’d made it through thanks to that protection. Everyone lived idle but safe.

Still, any complaints they had stayed in their hearts. At most, a few grumbles slipped out now and then. Nothing too over the top. After all, no Dead Sinkers showing up was definitely a blessing.

…

At the New Year’s Eve dinner, Li Sanjiang handed out red envelopes. Everyone got one—except for Liu Yumei. Either they were family or his workers. As for Zhuangzhuang’s envelope, he’d already given it when he came home that morning.

Liu Yumei gave out lucky money, too.

Ah Li handed both of her red envelopes to Xiaoyuan.

The girl still remembered what he’d looked like when he didn’t have a dime to his name.

Li Zhuiyuan held Ah Li’s hand and led her into the east room. He opened her treasure box and put all four envelopes inside.

That night, everyone gathered around the TV to watch the Spring Festival Gala.

As the countdown reached zero, the television erupted in festive cheer, and fireworks went off outside, right on cue.

Locals didn’t count age by exact months—only by the turn of the year.

Li Zhuiyuan held Ah Li’s hand and stood at the edge of the dam, watching the distant flicker of fireworks barely visible in the night.

“Ah Li, we’re a year older now.”

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