After a hearty breakfast, Li Sanjiang and the others prepared to set out.
There was actually a human-powered cargo tricycle at home with a long slatted flatbed behind it, which they normally used to deliver tables, chairs, bowls, and dishes for weddings and funerals. But Runsheng did not know how to ride it, and none of the old folks dared let him try learning on the fly today.
So Runsheng wheeled out a handcart from the storeroom instead. The front platform was spacious. Once Li Sanjiang, Liu Jinxia, and Grandpa Shan were seated on it, Runsheng took hold of the handles, leveled the cart, and pushed the three elderly people down the embankment with remarkable steadiness.
It had to be said: once fed his fill, Runsheng possessed strength that was downright terrifying.
Yet watching their departing figures, Li Zhuiyuan still felt uneasy. After all, there was no denying that this was still a classic lineup of the old, the weak, the sick, the crippled, and the young.
Calm returned to the household once more.
Out on the paved ground, Uncle Qin was chopping wooden slats to make frames for paper effigies. Auntie Liu was on the ground floor painting the freshly crafted paper figures. Liu Yumei sat before the east room sipping tea, while up on the second floor's southeast corner, Li Zhuiyuan and Qin Liang were reading.
Just as he had done the past two days, he kept track of the time and brought Qin Liang downstairs to use the toilet, drink some water, and have a few snacks. Whenever he passed Liu Yumei, he offered her a warm, polite smile.
Looking up, Liu Yumei also saw the boy, after reading for a long stretch, diligently run through a full set of broadcast calisthenics.
However, half an hour before lunchtime, Li Zhuiyuan closed his book. Instead of going inside to fetch another, he looked intently at Qin Liang.
"A-Li, I'm worried Great-Grandpa and the others might be in danger, so I need to go have a look. Will you wait at home for me to come back?"
Qin Liang did not respond.
Li Zhuiyuan stood up and headed downstairs. Qin Liang followed him down as well, but while Li Zhuiyuan took out a key to enter the basement, Qin Liang walked over to the east room.
Liu Yumei asked in some surprise, "What happened?"
Her granddaughter had been getting up early these past two days, which had prompted Liu Yumei herself to move up the time she spent dressing and styling the girl each morning.
And wasn't it all just to sit and read early on with little Master Yuan?
Yet it was barely noon. Why was her granddaughter heading back into her room all alone?
Had the two children quarreled?
No, could her A-Li even quarrel with someone?
A moment later, Liu Yumei saw young Yuan emerge holding a peach wood sword. Ah, so they definitely hadn't quarreled. If the boy had truly enraged her granddaughter, he wouldn't still be walking around in one piece.
Li Zhuiyuan walked up to Uncle Qin. "Uncle Qin, I want to go to town to buy some things."
"All right. Tell me what you need, and I'll buy it for you."
"I want to pick them out myself. Could you ride your bike and take me there, Uncle?"
Uncle Qin set down the wooden strip in his hands, clapped off the dust, and nodded. "All right."
Still, he asked, "In Shinan Town?"
"Shinan Town is too small. Let's go to neighboring Shigang Town instead."
Shinan Town had only a single intersection with a few shops. It was no match for neighboring Shigang Town, which boasted department stores, dance halls, karaoke parlors, and more. Whenever villagers from nearby towns wanted to buy large goods or find entertainment, they went to Shigang Town.
The Niu family lived in a village under Shigang Town's jurisdiction, which happened to be Li Sanjiang's destination.
Uncle Qin looked at Li Zhuiyuan, then smiled and changed his tune. "Things are busy today. If you want to go to Shigang, let's wait until tomorrow."
"No, Uncle Qin, I want to go today."
"You want to go to your great-grandfather?"
"Mm. And buy some things while I'm at it."
"Xiao Yuan, your great-grandfather is out doing a job. My job is tending the fields at home, helping with the paper effigies, and delivering tables and chairs. Uncle doesn't touch your third uncle's business."
"I know." Li Zhuiyuan held up the peach wood sword. "Last night, Great-Grandpa told me to remind him to bring this, but I forgot this morning and only just remembered. That's why I'm asking you to take me to Shigang so I can hand it to him. This is his treasure—he can't do without it."
In Li Zhuiyuan's telling, this peach wood sword sounded like a sacred instrument forged to slay demons and uphold the righteous path. Yet he still carefully kept his hand cupped over the base of the hilt, hiding the maker's mark: *Linyi Furniture Factory, Shandong*.
Uncle Qin paused. Delivering goods was indeed part of his duties, but he could clearly hear another motive behind the boy's words.
"All right. Give the sword to me, and I'll deliver it to your great-grandfather."
Li Zhuiyuan pulled the sword back. "Uncle, you forgot. I still have to buy things. I need to go with you."
"Then wait a moment."
Uncle Qin walked over to Liu Yumei, who sat sipping tea, and murmured a few words to her. Liu Yumei looked up toward Li Zhuiyuan standing in the distance, a faint smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
"That Li Sanjiang is a rough fellow who doesn't know how blessed he is, but this child has a remarkably sharp mind. He's realized we're no ordinary household. No—he's seen our true colors."
Noticing that their household was well-off was merely the first layer; sensing their deeper background was the second.
"Then what should I do?"
Liu Yumei was in no hurry to answer. She raised her teacup and took a sip.
This child had likely made up his mind early on, yet he had remained composed enough to carry on with his routine from the past two days. He was worried sick about his great-grandfather, yet showed not the slightest trace of restlessness or panic.
Recalling how he had led A-Li down to the toilet earlier, passing before her with that polite, smiling greeting, Liu Yumei watched ripples stir across the tea in her bowl.
To have such depths of composure... how was this anything like a child?
"Go on and accompany him," she said, pausing before adding, "but make things clear to him on the way."
"Understood."
Uncle Qin walked back to Li Zhuiyuan. "Xiao Yuan, wait here. I'll go push the bicycle out."
"Okay, Uncle."
Uncle Qin wheeled out an old-fashioned twenty-eight-inch roadster. Li Zhuiyuan went to climb onto the luggage rack behind the saddle, but Uncle Qin caught him with one arm and hoisted him onto the top tube in front.
As the two rode down the slope, Qin Liang instinctively took a step in their direction, only for Liu Yumei to catch her by the hand.
The girl's eyelashes began to flutter.
"A-Li, Grandma knows you want to play with Xiao Yuan. But he has his own business to take care of right now. At times like this, you should wait at home for him to finish and come back.
"If you do nothing but cling to him, he'll feel tired and annoyed, and then he might not want to play with you anymore."
Hearing this, the girl turned her head to look at her grandmother. In her gaze, there seemed to drift a barely perceptible trace of confusion.
Yet Liu Yumei caught it all the same. She felt both thrilled and sorrowful;
It had been a very long time since she had detected any other emotion in her granddaughter. To finally sense one now, and only through words like these...
"A-Li, Grandma doesn't mean Xiao Yuan will really come to dislike you. When he comes back, Grandma will dress you up pretty so you can play with him again, all right?
"Actually, Xiao Yuan cares about you a great deal. That boy is clever. He could easily have dragged you along, claiming he needed to find his great-grandfather in Shigang to force our hands.
"But he didn't.
"So Grandma is simply returning the favor."
***
The heavy bicycle rode smoothly. Sitting on the top tube, framed by the rider's arms, gave a distinct sense of security.
Li Zhuiyuan held the peach wood sword while his gaze continually drifted over the muscles in Uncle Qin's arms.
Then he looked at his own spindly limbs. Though paler than Uncle Qin's, they were clearly ornamental and practically useless.
"Uncle Qin, have you practiced martial arts?"
"Mm."
Uncle Qin was slightly surprised. He had seated the boy on the front bar precisely to find an opening to talk, never expecting the boy would speak first.
"Uncle Qin, do you know how to fight?"
"I don't."
"That can't be true, right?" Li Zhuiyuan reached out and pinched Uncle Qin's forearm. It wasn't as hard as it looked, but it was remarkably dense and firm.
"I'm not lying to you, Xiao Yuan. I don't know how to beat people up."
"Do you still practice regularly?"
"Between working and farming, I'm busy. I don't have separate time set aside for training. But once you've crossed the threshold of gongfu, whatever you do becomes training in itself."
"I want to learn."
"Xiao Yuan, do you think this is *Shaolin Temple*?"
The movie *Shaolin Temple*, starring Jet Li, had long since swept the entire country. Even now, it was a staple at open-air screenings on village threshing grounds.
"Uncle, I know it'll be hard work, but I'm not afraid."
"It's not just the hardship. Times have changed. No matter how good your gongfu is, can you outrun a bullet?"
"It's still good for building up the body."
"Heh."
"Uncle Qin, when you have free time, teach me a bit, will you?"
Though *Jianghu Zhiguai Lu* was only an introductory compendium detailing the traits of dead-flippers, Li Zhuiyuan had noticed through his reading that many dead-flippers possessed immense physical strength. In bizarre, treacherous environments, a corpse retriever sometimes genuinely had to rely on sheer physical fitness to survive.
The books also marked out many weaknesses and combat techniques for dealing with dead-flippers. It wasn't as if one could simply fling a talisman or chant a spell and watch the corpse dissolve into ash; one truly had to lay hands on them.
Among the most frequent and practical methods were carrying techniques, wrestling throws, joint locks, and leg strangles...
From some of the illustrations, Li Zhuiyuan could tell these weren't standard close-quarters combat moves. Looking at the stances of the figures depicted, they seemed specifically designed to counter dead-flippers.
Furthermore, Runsheng's appearance yesterday had cleared away much of the haze in his mind.
Though Runsheng ate prodigiously and had peculiar traits, in truth, he possessed the most textbook constitution for a corpse retriever.
Moreover, his great-grandfather's physical condition was also exceptional. Otherwise, he could never have carried corpses all the way from Old Shanghai to the present day, let alone still carry Li Zhuiyuan with ease along country paths at his advanced age.
Seeing that Uncle Qin hadn't answered, Li Zhuiyuan pressed again, "Uncle?"
Uncle Qin looked down at him. "We'll have to see if the elders agree."
"All right. I'll ask as soon as we get back."
Uncle Qin had left the reference to "elders" vague, but Li Zhuiyuan knew he meant Grandma Liu.
"Xiao Yuan, there's something I need to make clear to you beforehand."
"Go ahead, Uncle."
"I'm a lazy man. I only do what's within my duty. Anything outside it, I won't do."
"How could that be? You're clearly very hardworking."
Even in the countryside of today, Uncle Qin was among the most industrious workers around. Farming, crafting, making deliveries—the village's old draft oxen weren't as tireless as he was.
"I'm speaking the truth. If it isn't my job, even if I'm standing right in front of a tipped soy sauce bottle, no matter how much spills out, I won't reach out a finger to right it."
"Really?"
"Really."
Li Zhuiyuan fell silent.
Uncle Qin sighed inwardly. Speaking with this boy truly felt like conversing with an adult of sharp wit; he could tell the boy understood his meaning.
After a long pause, Li Zhuiyuan replied:
"Uncle, I understand."
"Mm."
Siyuan Village was situated at the northern edge of Shinan Town, directly bordering Shigang Town. Moreover, Uncle Qin took narrow back paths through the villages, saving even more time.
Once they emerged onto the road belonging to Shigang Town, Uncle Qin continued riding toward their destination.
"Uncle, do you know the way?"
"I know it. I've delivered tables and chairs to that village before."
"Oh."
"Or did you want to go to the department store in town first to buy things?"
"No, let's go to where Great-Grandpa and the others are first."
"All right."
They passed through the town and descended into the village, where the road narrowed.
Before long, they spotted a funeral gathering in the distance.
"Uncle, you can stop now."
"We're almost there."
"I'm tired."
"We can rest once we get there. You can have a drink of water too."
"I need to pee. I can't hold it in."
"All right."
Uncle Qin braked. Li Zhuiyuan hopped off, found a spot hidden by a willow tree to relieve himself, and then squatted by a nearby irrigation ditch to wash his hands.
Qin Li assumed the boy would get back on the bike once finished. To his surprise, the boy sat down on a smooth stone beside the field ridge, pulling from inside his clothes a bottle of beverage, a few packs of biscuits, and two books.
Qin Li recognized that gourd-shaped bottle; Li Sanjiang had told him to buy it for the boy.
No wonder the boy's clothes had looked so bulky when he climbed onto the bike earlier—he had secretly packed all these things. He clearly had no intention of moving forward; he was setting up a picnic and reading session right where he sat.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm tired. Taking a rest. Uncle Qin, have a seat too."
"Didn't you say you wanted to deliver the sword to your great-grandfather? It's right ahead. Go deliver it quickly so I can head back to work. Your Auntie Liu can't finish everything alone at home, and the deadline is tight. If we don't deliver on time, your great-grandfather will lose his temper and yell at people."
"He won't. Great-Grandpa said he's leaving his estate to me. If anything happens to him, I'll be the young master. I won't lose my temper and yell."
"You little..."
"Uncle, sit down. Seeing you work all day is tiring. Let's take a break. Balance work and rest."
Qin Li stepped up before the boy. He understood now: the boy was doing this on purpose. So long as the sword wasn't placed in Li Sanjiang's hands, his errand wasn't complete, and he would have to stay here to watch him.
What shocked Qin Li even more was that the boy seemed to have anticipated his warning about not righting a tipped soy sauce bottle.
Was this still a child? This was practically a monster wearing a child's skin!
Then, suddenly, Qin Li felt a sense of relief. Ah, no wonder A-Li was cold to everyone else yet showed affection only to him.
Qin Li lowered his center of gravity, intending to use brute force to scoop the boy up and carry him over to finish the task.
"Uncle, our two families living together is truly warm and nice. Grandma Liu is very kind, and Auntie Liu is very gentle too."
Qin Li's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The books say that harmony between people is built on a foundation of basic respect."
Qin Li gave a dry chuckle. "And aren't we doing that?"
Li Zhuiyuan looked back at Qin Li, who stood unexpectedly close, and smiled. "Are we? Yes, we are."
Qin Li closed his eyes and straightened up. He felt completely outmaneuvered—by a child.
After a moment, Qin Li asked, "Xiao Yuan, if I hadn't agreed to bring you, would you have come alone?"
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "I'm just a child. I can't help with anything. I wouldn't have come alone, because coming alone would only cause trouble."
"Fine. Go find your great-grandfather. I won't head back. But remember: if a soy sauce bottle tips, I still won't right it."
"All right. Thank you, Uncle."
Li Zhuiyuan immediately packed his things, walked over to the bicycle, and urged, "Uncle, get on quickly! It's right ahead!"
***
"What are you doing here?" Li Sanjiang looked first at Li Zhuiyuan, then turned to Qin Li. "Why did you bring the boy?"
"Great-Grandpa, I missed you, so I begged Uncle Qin to bring me. Uncle Qin couldn't talk me out of it."
"Little Master Yuan, is this a place you should be coming to? Shoo, shoo, let Li Hou take you back."
"No, I'm not leaving! I want to stay right here!"
Li Zhuiyuan gripped Li Sanjiang's clothes tightly, a look of grievance surfacing on his face.
Li Sanjiang had intended to use harsher words to drive him off, but seeing the child like this, a tender spot deep inside the old bachelor—who had never married or had children of his own—was thoroughly touched.
When elders doted on a child, they truly had no principles at times—especially when it came to a great-grandchild.
"Fine, fine. Li Hou, keep a close eye on the child. Don't let him wander off."
Qin Li nodded. "Mm, I will."
Having successfully stayed, Li Zhuiyuan began observing the memorial rites.
The ceremony was being held on an open threshing ground in the village that had once belonged to the collective. A modest funeral performance troupe had been hired and was currently busy at work.
Eight performers dressed in Taoist robes were conducting the ritual, each holding ritual implements, chanting under their breath as they circled the offering table.
Offerings were laid out on the table, and at the center stood a black-and-white portrait of Old Lady Niu.
The spirit tablet bore the inscription: *The Departed Niu-shi*.
Because the old woman had been taken in as a child bride before marriage, she had no maternal family and no given name. Later, during the village census registration, she had simply registered under her husband's surname.
The filial sons and daughter knelt prostrate on prayer mats, their heads wrapped in white hemp cords, wearing coarse mourning robes with black armbands, wailing aloud while tossing paper money into the brazier before them.
Niu Fu and Niu Rui merely howled with dry throats, dabbing at tears from time to time—going through the motions without any real grief.
The younger sister, Niu Lian, however, excelled in both emotion and performance. Her tears gushed like water from a frozen, burst pipe, accompanied by continuous, rhythmic laments.
"Oh Mother! Father passed away early, and you raised the three of us all on your own through such hardship, *siyowei*!
"Oh Mother! Times were hard back then, and you wouldn't eat an extra bite, feeding it all to us instead, *siyowei*!
"Oh Mother! The three of us had only just grown up, and before you could enjoy a single day of blessing, why did you have to leave us, *siyowei*!"
Each trailing "*siyowei*" concluded the thought of the previous line while setting the emotional tone for the next, also serving as a pause to catch her breath.
Though she was speaking, she delivered it in a rhythmic chant. This was practically the earliest ancestor of domestic rap.
Niu Lian's performance spurred her two brothers. At the end of each line, they repeated her refrain, joining in the wailing like a backing chorus.
Li Zhuiyuan found it quite amusing. Even setting aside his encounter with the old woman, the content of their laments alone was enough to provoke laughter. What did they mean by "the children had only just grown up before you could enjoy a blessing"?
Were they fresh into adulthood? Every single one of them was already a grandparent! If they had truly wanted to show filial piety, how could they have run out of time?
It reminded him of the funeral at Big Beard's house, where the man had wept for his mother like a devoted son by day, yet saw no contradiction in taking his son out to commit monstrous deeds by night.
So no matter how well the funeral troupe performed in the afternoon, they couldn't hold a candle to the morning's main act—that was where the true masters of acting competed.
Still, this memorial service seemed unusually deserted. By all rights, such rites ought to include a banquet for guests.
Li Zhuiyuan leaned in toward Li Sanjiang, who was smoking a cigarette, and asked, "Great-Grandpa, why are there so few people? Aren't they serving a meal?"
Not far away, after all, cooks could be seen bustling about.
Li Sanjiang let out a cold sneer. "Six months ago, when the old woman first passed, the three siblings handled the funeral without hiring a single troupe. They pinched every penny on the food, serving up watery broth and meager scraps. The villagers showed up with gift money, and far from getting a decent meal, they couldn't even fill their bellies.
"This time, for the posthumous birthday rites, the villagers simply refused to come. Those siblings lack all decency."
Li Zhuiyuan understood. So the siblings had treated their mother's funeral purely as a means to rake in gift money.
The rural tradition of collecting gift money was originally meant as a collective effort to help the host family bear the burden of the occasion. Even if a few freeloaders showed up, the family rarely took a loss.
Who could have guessed that these three would be so shameless?
Liu Jinxia sat behind the offering table, her eyes irritated by smoke so that she constantly wiped them with a handkerchief, yet she continued chanting scriptures without pause. From time to time, she brought out specific talismans and handed them down to the mourning sons and daughter to burn.
Her position served to bridge yin and yang, conveying messages between the living and the dead.
Grandpa Shan had laid out a tattered straw mat in the northwest corner, puffing steadily on his water pipe.
Li Zhuiyuan recalled what he had read in his books. Taking the offering table as the origin, Grandpa Shan sat squarely at the evil-breaking position. If any yin wind or sinister aura wished to enter, it had to pass through him first.
Runsheng had not rested either. He paced back and forth, spinning a ceremonial banner in circles—a task requiring immense stamina, for he had to keep the heavy banner whirling without letting it tip.
By contrast, his great-grandfather sat beneath the awning sipping tea. Li Zhuiyuan felt his knowledge was too shallow to discern which directional post his great-grandfather occupied.
Yet... it had to be of supreme importance.
They had eaten lunch long ago. In the afternoon session, the performers from the funeral troupe changed into Buddhist robes, pretending to be monks as they struck wooden fish and chanted sutras.
A few who were balding looked convincing enough.
Runsheng carried over a bowl and chopsticks from the kitchen. He was hungry again. While other people had afternoon tea, he had an afternoon meal whenever circumstances allowed.
He thoughtfully invited Li Zhuiyuan to join him. Li Zhuiyuan didn't stand on ceremony either, taking an empty bowl, scooping up some rice and dishes, and digging in.
As for Uncle Qin, Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng had called out to him, but he refused to eat.
Ever since arriving, Uncle Qin had stood at the outer edge of the awning, barely shifting his position.
Runsheng stuck incense sticks into his food, and while waiting for them to burn down, he said to Li Zhuiyuan, "I told my granddad you've been reading those books. Granddad said you have way more brains than me and told me to talk to you more often."
Unlike Li Sanjiang, who held firmly to the belief that his great-grandson had to return to the capital for university, Grandpa Shan had recognized early on that Li Zhuiyuan was prime material for a corpse retriever.
"Sure. You can come over to play with me anytime."
In Li Zhuiyuan's eyes, Runsheng was an ideal bridge connecting theory with practice.
"Really? That's great! Heh, you don't know this, but Granddad's health is poor and he takes medicine all the time. Money is tight at home, and I'm a bottomless pit when it comes to food. Sigh.
"At your house, not only can I eat my fill, but I can also lighten Granddad's burden. When there's work, I'll go back to help Granddad retrieve corpses. Neither gets neglected."
"You want to stay permanently?"
"Ah, is that not allowed?" Runsheng scratched his head.
"You'll have to ask my great-grandfather."
"Then I'll have Granddad talk to him. Granddad said that after he passes, I'll work for your great-grandfather anyway."
"Mm." Li Zhuiyuan nodded. His great-grandfather was advanced in years, so having Runsheng take over down the road would be a good arrangement.
After all, corpse retrieval was his great-grandfather's true trade and his defining identity; all his other ventures enjoyed steady business precisely because of that reputation.
Once the incense burned down, Runsheng eagerly stirred the ashes into the food with his chopsticks and began wolfing it down in huge mouthfuls.
Curious, Li Zhuiyuan asked, "If you don't light incense, can you really not eat?"
"Mm." Runsheng swallowed and replied, "Can't get it down. Without it, the food tastes like nothing and makes me want to heave."
"Then have you ever eaten..." Li Zhuiyuan hesitated for a moment before asking, "...eaten a dead-flipper?"
Runsheng froze, then immediately lowered his voice. "Granddad warned me. I'm not allowed to say I've eaten one when I'm outside."
"Then you must keep your grandfather's warning firmly in mind."
"Of course. I always remember."
Li Zhuiyuan finished eating quickly. Watching Runsheng continue feasting heartily, he thought that if the young man had arrived two days earlier, he could have joined the old woman's paper-effigy birthday banquet and swept an entire table clean by himself.
The afternoon gradually slipped away. As dusk approached, everyone began gathering their belongings: flags, banners, scripture texts, quilts, and pillows.
They formed a single-file line along the field ridges, heading toward Old Lady Niu's grave.
The two men at the rear of the procession set off double-bang firecrackers continuously, doing so with practiced ease—lighting them and tossing them out into the fields, where they shot up and exploded.
Li Zhuiyuan helped Runsheng carry a banner. Uncle Qin did not leave, but followed the procession from a distance of a hundred paces.
Old Lady Niu's grave was very small. Though the cities had long promoted cremation and cracked down on traditional earth burials, burials were still common in the countryside. However, large, elaborate mounds sealed with concrete were rarely seen anymore.
In their place were miniature houses: older ones had two stories with red bricks and blue tiles, while newer ones boasted three stories or even courtyard layouts.
Anyone wandering into the cemetery unaware might mistake it for an architectural model exhibition of rural housing.
Old Lady Niu's grave, however, was just a bare mound of dirt—a simple "earth cap" dug out of the adjacent mud with a shovel.
At the grave, Niu Fu, as the eldest, first removed the old earth cap. Niu Rui used a shovel to dig a fresh one, and once the ritual concluded, Niu Lian placed the new cap atop the mound.
Incense and candles were arranged, paper money was burned, and blood-written sutras were consigned to the flames. Under Liu Jinxia's direction, everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.
When all was done and the new cap set in place, everyone headed back. Nothing unusual occurred.
Yet Li Zhuiyuan noticed that Liu Jinxia looked far from relaxed. According to tradition, this memorial service had to continue deep into the night. In the past, specific two-hour watches had been observed; now, the cutoff was midnight.
Only past midnight would the rites be considered complete. It was akin to keeping a wake, except the corpse had already been buried rather than resting in state here.
During the day, matters were manageable. Once darkness fell, what might occur was anyone's guess.
After dinner, the few villagers who had felt obligated to come and help departed. The spouses and children of the three Niu siblings also returned home; by rights, they should have stayed for the vigil as well, but the three siblings had forcefully sent them away.
Once the members of the funeral troupe packed their gear and left, the ritual tent felt desolate.
The three Niu siblings remained kneeling on their prayer mats. They no longer wailed, silently burning paper money instead.
Niu Lian's voice had gone hoarse. Deprived of their sister's creative leads, Niu Fu and Niu Rui had nothing to echo and could only remain quiet.
Liu Jinxia still sat in her original spot, looking visibly unsettled.
Grandpa Shan remained at the evil-breaking position. His pipe tobacco had run out, so he had switched to cigarettes provided by the hosts, puffing away steadily.
As for his own great-grandfather... Li Zhuiyuan noticed the old man was leaning against the railing, fast asleep, his shoulders rising and falling as he snored rhythmically.
Runsheng produced a deck of playing cards from somewhere and said with a grin, "Let's play Fight the Landlord."
"Doesn't that take four people?"
"Then call him over?" Runsheng pointed toward Uncle Qin.
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. He knew Uncle Qin wouldn't come. In truth, he felt rather grateful; even if Uncle Qin refused to right a tipped soy sauce bottle, having him stand there gave Li Zhuiyuan considerable peace of mind.
So Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng began playing a three-player game of Fight the Landlord.
With only one deck split three ways, counting cards was simple.
Runsheng's card skills were poor, and the player downstream was equally mediocre. As a result, whether Li Zhuiyuan played as a peasant or the landlord, he won every hand.
As they played, time slipped away. Li Zhuiyuan asked, "What time is it?"
Runsheng shook his head. "No idea. Where would we find a watch?"
The downstream player said, "It's eleven."
Li Zhuiyuan said, "Then it's almost over. Just one hour left."
Runsheng said, "Yeah. Wonder if the hosts will give us another meal when it's done."
The downstream player said, "They should. They prepared plenty of food today, and hardly anyone came to eat."
Li Zhuiyuan drew another strong hand as the landlord. This round looked to be just as unchallenging.
Yet just as he was about to play a card, Li Zhuiyuan glanced toward the spot where Uncle Qin had been standing, only to find Uncle Qin was gone.
His pillar of support had vanished without warning. Li Zhuiyuan felt a shudder run through him, his mind snapping into sharp alertness. As an unsettling realization dawned on him, he stared blankly at the cards in his hand.
Runsheng asked, "What are you spacing out for, Xiao Yuan? Hurry up and play."
The downstream player said, "Yeah, play already. We know you've got good cards."
Li Zhuiyuan led with a single card—the Red Joker.
Runsheng's eyes widened. "What kind of play is that?"
The downstream player said, "Are your cards so good you're going to play with your hand open?"
Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Can I open my hand?"
Runsheng said, "If you want to play face-up, go ahead. Nothing we can do against a great hand."
The downstream player said, "Better think it through. Playing face-up makes it easy to capsize."
"Then let me think a bit more." Li Zhuiyuan gripped his cards, pretending to ponder, while out of the corner of his eye he surveyed his dozing great-grandfather, the three Niu siblings kneeling on their mats, Liu Jinxia, and Grandpa Shan.
A scene that had felt completely normal moments ago now radiated a sudden, chilling horror. Though he could hear every sound clearly around him, every single one of them was utterly motionless.
Even when his great-grandfather snored, his chest didn't heave in rhythm. The snore sounded as though it were being produced out of thin air.
"Brother Runsheng?"
"What? Made up your mind yet? Playing face-up or not?"
Li Zhuiyuan gave a slight nod. Runsheng was real, which made laying his cards out all the more necessary. In this lineup of the old, the weak, the sick, the crippled, and the young, Runsheng was the only one they could count on.
Without Runsheng, what would the old folks do?
"Face-up it is!"
Li Zhuiyuan laid his cards out on the table.
Runsheng said in confusion, "Hey, your cards aren't even that good! I thought you had a bomb!"
"Play. Red Joker. Anyone want it?"
The downstream player said, "Your turn."
Runsheng said, "Pass."
Li Zhuiyuan said, "Three sevens with a five."
The downstream player said, "I'll take it."
Li Zhuiyuan said, "Three tens with a seven."
Runsheng said, "Xiao Yuan, don't play so fast! The player before me wants to take it!"
Li Zhuiyuan slapped the small table and shouted at Runsheng:
"Open your eyes and look! Where is there any upstream or downstream player?!"
Runsheng was stunned. He instinctively moved to argue, but when he turned his head to look to his left and right, he suddenly snapped awake.
"Wait... there are only two of us! How could we be playing three-player Fight the Landlord?!"
The next instant, a bone-chilling night wind swept past.
Both Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng shuddered. Then they realized simultaneously that the two of them, who had been sitting in the ceremonial tent playing cards, were somehow sitting atop a grave mound.
All around them in the moonlight stood the colorful two- and three-story miniature houses. Beside them lay Old Lady Niu's grave, still topped by the fresh earth cap.
"I'll take it! Three eights with a three! I'll take it! Three eights with a three!"
From the side came the voice of someone playing cards—a woman's voice, shrill and piercing.
Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng exchanged a glance. Runsheng shielded Li Zhuiyuan behind him, and together they rounded the grave mound to its rear.
There, an irregular hole had been dug into the mound, smeared with bloody handprints, looking as though it had been gouged open with bare human hands.
Peering into the opening, one could see the interior had been hollowed out. A woman lay inside, both hands drenched in blood. Though her hands held nothing, her left hand was posed as if holding a fan of cards while her right mimed snapping a card down:
"I'll take it! Three eights with a three!"
She tossed her head agitatedly, sending matted hair and mud flying. It was Niu Lian, Old Lady Niu's youngest daughter.
With her bare hands, she had clawed open her mother's grave and crawled inside.
Yet within the burial cavity, aside from a heavy stench of decay and an indescribable pool of foul water, there was only a tattered straw mat—no trace of Old Lady Niu's bones.
By rights, even an earth burial required a coffin. This was not the pre-liberation era, when corpses were tossed into mass graves. Old Lady Niu had lacked a coffin; the siblings must have rented one for the wake and swapped it out at burial. The motive was easy to guess: to save the cost of a coffin.
Li Zhuiyuan instinctively covered his nose, suppressing the urge to vomit from the foul stench. Runsheng, by contrast, seemed completely unfazed.
With the card game broken, Niu Lian appeared to regain a sliver of consciousness—though only a sliver.
"Not playing anymore? Not playing? Then I'll get back to work."
Niu Lian mimed tossing down her cards, turned around, and resumed digging deeper with her bare hands.
If she kept digging, the hole would collapse and bury her alive.
"Hey, stop digging! It's dangerous, I'm coming to pull you out!"
Li Zhuiyuan reached out and grabbed Runsheng.
"What is it, Xiao Yuan?"
"Check on your granddad first! They might be in danger!"
"Ah, right! But what about her..."
"Who's more important?"
"Granddad is!"
Runsheng hesitated no longer, pulling Li Zhuiyuan along as they sprinted toward the ceremonial tent.
By the time they reached the tent, Li Zhuiyuan was gasping for breath. The two Niu brothers were nowhere to be found.
Liu Jinxia was crawling on all fours around the offering table, mimicking cat meows as she moved. The skin on the old woman's palms was torn and bleeding, leaving a dense trail of bloody handprints across the ground.
Grandpa Shan was barking like a dog, crouched before a tree with one leg lifted, urinating like a canine.
The urine trickled down, soaking through his clothes and making him look thoroughly filthy.
Once finished, he began pawing at the dirt around the tree roots with both hands and feet.
"Granddad!" Runsheng shouted in alarm. "Granddad, what's wrong with you?!"
The shout immediately drew the attention of Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan.
One prowling like a cat, the other scurrying like a dog, both on all fours, they lunged furiously toward Runsheng and Li Zhuiyuan with savage expressions.
Runsheng spread his arms wide, stepping in front of Li Zhuiyuan. "Xiao Yuan, get back!"
Li Zhuiyuan obediently retreated two steps, then took two more for good measure.
The next instant,
Liu Jinxia pounced on Runsheng, wrapping her legs around his waist as she scratched and bit at his chest.
Grandpa Shan clamped onto one of Runsheng's legs, sinking his teeth into his thigh. A chunk of flesh came away instantly, along with two of the old man's loose molars.
"Granddad! Granddad, what happened to you? What's wrong with you?!"
Runsheng didn't fight back, only staring down in panic at the grandfather gnawing on his leg.
Seeing this, Li Zhuiyuan called out, "Fight back! Don't just stand there!"
"But he's my granddad! How can I hit him?!"
Li Zhuiyuan said urgently, "Remember the books I've been reading? They say corpse demons can bewitch the mind, just like our card game earlier! The way to break the illusion is to slap their faces—slap them hard across the face!"
In truth, the books listed many other methods: pure yang black dog blood, banishing talisman water, consecrated ritual implements, and the like.
Li Sanjiang and the others might have brought black dog blood, but whether it came from a virgin dog... Li Zhuiyuan had serious doubts, given how freely the village dogs mingled.
As for talisman water, Li Zhuiyuan had no idea what it even was; he hadn't read that far yet.
And consecrated ritual implements required nurturing and refinement by an accomplished master to truly ward off evil. Li Zhuiyuan refused to believe the Linyi Furniture Factory had assembled a row of grandmasters to consecrate each peach wood sword coming off the assembly line.
That left only the crude, direct method. The books said as much: slap them back to their senses. If one slap didn't work, give them a few more.
Runsheng hesitated. "B-but... can we really do that?"
Even while being assaulted by two maddened elders, Runsheng spoke with calm innocence, as though the body being injured weren't his at all.
Li Zhuiyuan said firmly, "You're saving them! The longer you wait to wake them up, the more harm they'll suffer! Do it now!"
*If you don't wake them up, your Grandpa Shan will lose the rest of his teeth chewing on your leg!*
"All right, I'll listen to you, Xiao Yuan!"
Runsheng nodded vigorously. Once he committed to a course of action, he showed no hesitation. With one hand, he seized Liu Jinxia by the throat and hoisted her into the air.
Liu Jinxia flailed with all four limbs, but her short arms and legs couldn't reach him at all.
Runsheng swung his other palm back and forth across her cheeks.
*Smack! Smack! Smack! Smack!*
Liu Jinxia's cheeks swelled before their eyes, both corners of her mouth splitting and bleeding. Yet she went still, the feral glare in her eyes clouded over once more by cataracts.
"Wha... hap... pened... to... me...?"
"Xiao Yuan, you're amazing!"
After praising Li Zhuiyuan, Runsheng swung his leg and kicked Grandpa Shan off his thigh.
Grandpa Shan met an unfortunate landing, skidding across the ground face-first.
By the time he pushed himself up, Li Zhuiyuan saw the old man rubbing his face, clearly coming back to his senses. He mumbled to himself:
"I... what did I..."
Before he could fully gather his wits, his adopted grandson strode up, and a massive palm came hurtling toward his face.
*Smack! Smack!*
Kinship counted for something after all: Runsheng had delivered four consecutive slaps to Liu Jinxia, but against his grandfather, he gave two and paused to check the effect.
"Granddad, are you awake?"
"*Ptui!*"
Grandpa Shan spat a mouthful of blood into Runsheng's face, along with two more teeth knocked loose by the slaps.
"Still not awake?"
Seeing his grandfather still showing aggression, Runsheng raised his palm again.
Grandpa Shan cried out in terror, "Stop! I'm awake! I'm awake!"
"Granddad, you're finally awake! I was so scared just now!"
Runsheng threw his arms around Grandpa Shan in a tight hug.
Grandpa Shan: "..."
Seeing that Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan had both regained their senses, Li Zhuiyuan immediately went looking for his great-grandfather—the person he cared about most.
He found him quickly.
Yet upon seeing his great-grandfather, Li Zhuiyuan could hardly believe his eyes.
It wasn't that the old man looked battered or miserable. On the contrary, Li Sanjiang was still leaning in his original spot, snoring rhythmically, sleeping soundly and peacefully.
It was as though everything that had happened around him had nothing to do with him at all, leaving him completely untouched.
Though Li Zhuiyuan was glad to see his great-grandfather safe, the stark contrast between his treatment and that of Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan left him deeply perplexed.
Then, recalling what had happened on the ground floor at home, a thought sprang into his mind:
*Could it be that the Cat-Faced Old Woman feared Great-Grandpa so much...*
*...that she didn't dare lay a finger on him?*
Chapter 14