When Tan Wenbin walked into the discount store, Runsheng and the others were still busy checking inventory.
He strolled over to the drink shelves, intending to grab a bottle of soda, but remembered that he had switched into athletic shorts and had not put any money in his pockets. In keeping with his principle of not causing trouble for them, he walked up to the counter, picked up an enamel mug, and gulped down several mouthfuls of water.
"Need any help?"
Holding a pen and an inventory ledger, Yin Meng shook her head. "No need. We're almost done counting. There really is a lot of merchandise."
"Of course there is."
Yin Meng pointed toward the shelves stocked with daily necessities. "Before the semester starts, we need to stock up on another batch of daily essentials."
Auntie Sun said with a smile, "It's like this every year."
Yin Meng said, "We should bundle straw mats, mattress pads, quilts, washbasins, cups, and towels together as a complete set, put up a discount sign, and sell them as a package."
Auntie Sun froze for a moment. She had wanted to keep flaunting her seniority, but for the moment she could not find the words.
Tan Wenbin shrugged. "Not bad. Looks like you've already settled into the groove."
"It's a pity," Yin Meng remarked with regret. "Ordinarily, after students graduate, you can collect quite a bit of second-hand stuff, clean it up, and sell it cheap to incoming freshmen when the new term begins. Didn't you collect any at the end of last semester?"
Auntie Sun shook her head. "We never did that before."
Yin Meng nodded. "Then we'll do it from now on. Most students come from ordinary family backgrounds."
Leaning against the counter, Tan Wenbin teased, "Sure enough, the coffin shop was holding you back."
"If we're going to do this, we have to do it right. I'm also planning to set up a hot food section here—throw in a packet of hotpot base, simmer some meatballs and tripe, and sell them by the skewer, like street hotpot skewers."
"Great idea, but don't do the cooking yourself."
Yin Meng looked at Tan Wenbin, unconvinced.
Tan Wenbin cautioned her with absolute seriousness, "This is a school. Causing a collective food safety incident would be a very big deal."
Yin Meng did not argue. She merely twirled the pen in her hand. "All right, point taken."
Runsheng stacked the last of the goods by his feet onto the shelves, dusted off his hands, and looked over at Tan Wenbin. "Did you just go fishing?"
"Yeah."
"Catch anything?"
"By the lake, someone called my name from behind, but when I turned around, there wasn't a soul in sight."
Runsheng said with some surprise, "There really was something?"
Auntie Sun asked, "Was it the lake on the west side? Plenty of people like to jog there normally, and couples like to hang out there too."
Tan Wenbin asked curiously, "Auntie Sun, you've been at this school for a long time. Do you know any campus ghost stories?"
"Ghost stories?"
"Yeah. We're pretty interested in that sort of thing."
"What ghost stories could there be? It's all just idle gossip. Now, if you're talking about dead people, plenty of people have indeed died at this school. Every semester there are some—jumping off buildings, drowning, overdosing on medicine, even choking to death."
As long as the population of an area reached a certain threshold, someone dying was hardly a novelty.
Yet that was not what Tan Wenbin wanted to hear. He pressed on, "Isn't there any place that's particularly wicked?"
"Wicked places?" Auntie Sun covered her mouth and chuckled. "This is a school, where would wicked places come from? Though a while back, I did hear an old sister of mine mention that things often go wrong at night over around Jiangjun Mountain."
"Jiangjun Mountain?"
"Just grasping at shadows, nothing you can take seriously."
"All right then. Runsheng, Yin Meng, keep at it. I'm heading back. Brother Xiaoyuan is still alone in the dorm."
Tan Wenbin walked back to the dormitory building. Passing the dorm manager's office window, he saw the auntie holding a pen and writing while nibbling on a piece of sponge cake.
"Auntie Ran."
"You brat, you scared me." Tan Wenbin had helped her carry some things earlier before heading out for his night jog, so they were already acquainted.
Auntie Ran picked up a piece of sponge cake and offered it to the young man.
Tan Wenbin did not reach out with his hands; instead, he opened his mouth wide. "Ah—"
Auntie Ran could only laugh as she popped the sponge cake into his mouth.
"What are you busy with?" Tan Wenbin asked while chewing.
"Writing a letter to my daughter."
"Can't you just call?"
"Phone calls are so expensive."
"Just use the office phone for personal business."
"Huh?" Auntie Ran was taken aback. Only then did she catch his drift, and she scolded him with a smile, "You brat, you sure know a lot. Looks like your family pulls that sort of stunt all the time."
"That's an injustice! My dad is a man of rigid principle. When I was a kid, I always wanted him to drive his police cruiser to drop me off at school, but he never did it once."
"Your father is a good man, truly."
"Naturally. Look whose dad he is."
"Hehe." Auntie Ran put down her pen and rubbed her wrist. "Phew... all finished. Actually, even if I called, once I picked up the receiver, there wouldn't be much to say anyway."
"Come on, let me see. I'll help you check for typos."
"Shoo, shoo, shoo, get back to your dorm."
"Good night, Auntie."
"Good night, you brat."
Once Tan Wenbin had left, Auntie Ran produced a matchbox, struck a flame, and lit the envelope. When it had burned halfway, she dropped it into a large enamel mug beneath her feet.
Beside the mug sat a shoebox, half-torn, revealing a pair of black high heels inside.
***
*Click!*
Entering the room, Tan Wenbin flicked on the light, only to discover that Li Zhuiyuan was already lying in bed.
He immediately switched the light back off.
"Brother Bin, you're back."
"Did I wake you, Brother Xiaoyuan?"
"I wasn't asleep."
"Oh. You went to bed awfully early tonight."
"It's not early. Have you looked at what time it is?"
"Alright, I'll come back earlier in the evenings from now on." Tan Wenbin picked up his washbasin and towel, intending to rinse off at the outdoor wash sinks.
When they returned after dinner, he and Xiaoyuan had already washed up there once.
There was a bathhouse on campus, but first, it was rather far, and second, it was currently closed. In truth, even when it opened later, Tan Wenbin felt he would be too lazy to go. In a boys' dormitory, wasn't it far more straightforward to take a basin, scoop water at the sinks, splash it over oneself, and then swagger back to the room swinging freely?
Just as he was about to open the door, he noticed a talisman pasted onto it.
"Brother Xiaoyuan, this is..."
"It came by."
"Ah?"
Tan Wenbin instantly raised the basin in his left hand and gripped the towel in his right, entering a state of high alert.
"It fled."
"Oh." Tan Wenbin relaxed. "Brother, what kind of thing was it?"
"It ran too fast. I didn't see it."
"Brother, I'll try not to go out at night from now on. I'll protect you."
"I'm going to sleep."
"Got it." Tan Wenbin opened the dorm door, his oversized slippers clapping crisply against the corridor floor. "Why the hell was I even night-jogging? I'd be much better off guarding Xiaoyuan. Tsk, our Brother Xiaoyuan is still the spookiest of them all."
Early the next morning, Li Zhuiyuan woke up.
Turning his head out of habit, he saw Tan Wenbin still snoring away soundly.
The sense of contrast was quite stark.
Li Zhuiyuan climbed out of bed, picked up his basin, and walked over to the wash sinks. While he was brushing his teeth and washing his face, someone strolled in behind him, humming a tune.
"Hey, little brother, are you here to attend college too? Hahaha."
"Yes."
"Uh..." The other party hesitated, asking again, "You're really here for college?"
"Yes."
"Holy crap, for real?"
Having finished washing up, Li Zhuiyuan packed his things into the basin, turned around, and walked out.
The student leaned out while still brushing his teeth, watching Li Zhuiyuan enter the corner room at the very end of the hall before pulling back.
The boy put down the washbasin. Just as he sat down at the desk, Tan Wenbin woke up. Bending down to scoop up the quilt he had kicked off the bed, he muttered:
"Sleeping in a coffin really is better. You never have to worry about kicking off the covers."
Getting out of bed, Tan Wenbin stretched lazily. "Brother Xiaoyuan, once I've washed up, I'll head out and bring you back some breakfast."
"No need. We'll go find Brother Runsheng and the others together shortly. We're going out to have some fun these few days. Once classes start, they'll have to watch the shop and won't have free time."
"True enough."
Tan Wenbin went out with his washbasin. A short while later, he pushed the door open and returned with a grin.
"Just now at the sinks, a sophomore kept chasing me to ask if you were really a student. Pretty nice guy. Name's Lu Yi, from Harbin. He even gave me a red sausage."
With that, Tan Wenbin took a bite himself. "Mmm, the flavor is very authentic."
"Have you ever eaten red sausage before?"
"Never, but the flavor I tasted the first time is authentic enough in my book."
"He didn't go home?"
"No, staying on campus to work a tutoring gig. He said his home village is huge, so tutoring back in his hometown wouldn't be convenient."
Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin arrived at the discount store. The inventory check had wrapped up the night before, and business was slow right now, so they left Auntie Sun to watch the shop. The four of them walked out the school gate together and boarded a bus.
Tan Wenbin noticed Runsheng carrying a large backpack and asked, "Runsheng, why bring so much water?"
Bringing one's own water or buying it outside scenic spots was a shared memory among travelers across the country during this era.
Water inside tourist attractions was expensive, and as for meals... no normal person would bring themselves to buy food inside a scenic area.
"Last night we inventoried a lot of food that was near-expiry or had just expired, so I brought it all along. I have a big appetite, and food and drink outside are pricey. It's a good chance to finish them off."
"Runsheng, you're the second boss now after all. Why still be so stingy? You ought to show some swagger."
Runsheng patted the bulky bag. "These are all good things. They were hard to come by when I was little. Back then, I never dreamed that one day I'd be able to eat snacks to my heart's content."
After getting off the bus, the four first went into a duck blood vermicelli soup shop for breakfast.
Then they spent the entire day visiting several scenic spots in succession. Throughout the journey, Li Zhuiyuan handled all the commentary. By dusk, his throat felt a little raspy.
It could not be helped. Anyone could appreciate majestic natural scenery with their own eyes, but without someone providing detailed and insightful explanations at cultural and historical sites, one could only look at flowers from horseback, quickly breezing through and crying boredom.
The four caught the final bus back to the university, then headed to Old Sichuan for dinner. After entering the campus gate, they split into pairs.
Runsheng stepped into the shop and did not see Auntie Sun. He was still carrying a portion of brown sugar ciba cakes specially packaged for her.
"She might be downstairs." Yin Meng tied her hair back with a hair tie, picked up a broom, and began sweeping the floor.
Runsheng headed toward the basement. Arriving before Auntie Sun's room, he knocked on the door. There was no response from inside, and the light was off; she probably was not there.
Runsheng had no choice but to return to his own room, only to find the dog cage empty.
After looking around, he finally found the black dog curled up into a ball beneath the bed.
The black dog showed none of its usual languid ease. Instead, its eyes were watery, and its whole body was trembling.
Runsheng silently stood up, walked over to his luggage, and retrieved the Yellow River shovel.
Sweeping the floor, Yin Meng heard the scraping sound of benches coming from upstairs. It was still well before the start of the semester, and there were no performances requiring rehearsal; by rights, nobody should have been upstairs.
Walking to the base of the staircase, Yin Meng called out toward the top, "Auntie Sun, is that you up there, Auntie Sun?"
There was no answer, but the scraping of chairs grew even clearer.
Yin Meng ascended the stairs to the second floor. The lights were off, but by the moonlight filtering through the windows, she could faintly make out a figure dancing there.
The figure danced with complete absorption, knocking aside the chairs arranged around the space from time to time.
The light switch was right at the top of the stairs. Yin Meng reached out her hand.
*Click!*
The light came on, and the figure vanished.
The cavernous dance studio with its wooden floor appeared entirely empty.
Footsteps came from behind. Yin Meng turned instantly, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw it was Runsheng.
Runsheng came up holding the Yellow River shovel. As he passed Yin Meng, he said, "Xiaohei saw something and was terrified."
Hearing that, Yin Meng was also frightened.
Clutching the shovel, Runsheng walked to the center of the dance studio and surveyed the surroundings.
Yin Meng followed and said, "Just now I heard chair noises upstairs. When I came up, I saw a figure dancing here. Once I turned on the light, it was gone."
Runsheng asked, "Could it be a living person?"
Yin Meng shook her head. "A living person couldn't possibly vanish that quickly right in front of my eyes."
Even setting aside their profession as corpse retrievers, both of them were now genuine martial practitioners. Their perception and reaction times far surpassed those of ordinary people.
"Let's go tell Xiaoyuan."
"Mm."
Just as the two came down the stairs, they saw Auntie Sun walking in carrying an insulated food container.
"Hey, isn't this a coincidence? The dorm manager from Building Nine just called me over to eat tangyuan. I figured the shop shouldn't be left unattended for long, so I carried some back. Come, come, come, let's eat together."
Auntie Sun walked to the counter, set down the insulated container, and warmly beckoned the two over.
Runsheng glanced at Yin Meng, signaling for her to notify Xiaoyuan while he stayed behind.
Yin Meng shook her head slightly. That was the boys' dorm; it was inconvenient for her to go. Runsheng should go while she stayed.
Runsheng's gaze hardened, signaling that getting into the boys' dorm would be easy enough for her too.
Having sparred and trained together for so long, they naturally did not lack tacit understanding; signaling with eye contact was even simpler.
Left with no choice, Yin Meng had to run out of the shop.
Auntie Sun asked in confusion, "Eh, where did she go?"
Runsheng said, "To deliver something to our friends."
"Then let's eat first. If tangyuan sit for too long, they'll bloat and fall apart."
"I packed some ciba cakes for you. Left them downstairs. I'll go get them."
"No need, just eating these will be fine. Eating too much at night causes indigestion."
"Oh, okay."
Runsheng walked behind the counter and set the shovel down on a chair.
"Runsheng, what are you holding that shovel for?"
"A patch of wall paint is peeling off. I was planning to scrape it down and repaint it."
"The design of that shovel looks pretty intricate. Where did you buy it?"
"Brought it from home."
"Oh, no wonder. Here, you eat first." Auntie Sun unscrewed the insulated container and handed a spoon to Runsheng. "Eat up quickly. Have a taste of our local tangyuan."
"What's the occasion today, eating tangyuan?"
"It's the birthday of the dorm manager over at Building Nine."
"Oh."
Runsheng nodded. Taking the spoon, he did not rush to scoop up the tangyuan. Instead, he drew a thick incense stick from an iron tin and lit it.
"Is that a cigar?"
"It's incense." Since they would be running the shop together from now on, Runsheng did not bother concealing it from her.
"Incense?"
"It's a personal habit of mine when eating. I've been doing it since I was small; I can't break it."
"That kind of habit really is peculiar. But I've heard some children even scrape wall plaster to eat. Yours is at least cleaner."
Suddenly, white light flashed—lightning.
Immediately following:
*Rumble!*
Thunder roared, rain began to pour outside, and the wind whipped in through the doorway.
Auntie Sun said, "This season is always like this. A thunderstorm hits out of nowhere. Hurry and eat, see how they taste."
Runsheng did not lower his spoon. Instead, he stared at the incense stick he had just lit.
The wind howled in from outside, ruffling his hair and fluttering the pages of the book on the counter. Yet the incense smoke curled steadily upward, rising in a dead-straight line.
Runsheng looked up.
Directly above,
was a pair of suspended feet.
***
"You've worked hard today, Brother Xiaoyuan. Care for a soda?"
"You drink it, Brother Bin."
"Oh, right, I forgot you don't like sweets. Then I'll brew you a cup of tea... Let me look. I remember my mom slipped two packets of my dad's prized tea leaves into my luggage when I left. Hey, found them."
Tan Wenbin brewed a cup of tea and set it on Xiaoyuan's desk.
"Brother Xiaoyuan, give it a taste."
Li Zhuiyuan picked up the teacup, took a sip, and nodded.
"How does it feel?"
"Your dad hasn't taken any bribes."
"Uh, hahahaha!" Tan Wenbin could not hold back a burst of laughter. Wiping away tears of amusement with the back of his hand, he said, "Then tomorrow I'll go buy you some good tea leaves."
"No need."
Counting the days, Grandmother Liu should appear near the school within a few days.
Tea was neither inherently good nor bad; it was merely a matter of taste. The problem was that he had grown accustomed to Liu Yumei's flavor, and that flavor happened to be exorbitantly expensive.
Tea that the elders in the work-unit family compound would convene a tea party to savor together if they managed to get even a pinch was merely everyday drinking tea for Liu Yumei.
*Rumble, rumble!*
"Uh-oh, it's going to rain."
Tan Wenbin walked over to shut the windows and gathered the laundry while he was at it.
Just then, from out in the corridor came the rhythmic clicking of high heels: *clack... clack... clack...*
Tan Wenbin heard it. He immediately gestured an excited "shh" toward Li Zhuiyuan, even though the boy was sitting quietly at the desk and had not moved at all.
Executing a series of rolls across the floor, Tan Wenbin grabbed his Yellow River shovel, then crept over to the dorm door on tiptoe. Just then, the high heels approached the doorway once more.
A scraping sound followed—the shoes pivoting toward the dorm room door.
"Brother Bin..."
"Shh, shh!" Tan Wenbin waved frantically at Li Zhuiyuan, signaling him not to scare the thing away.
Li Zhuiyuan flipped a page of his book and said, "It's a living person."
"Ah? Oh... that, I knew that."
Tan Wenbin stood up, his left hand smoothing his hair and his right patting his thigh, prioritizing awkwardness to defuse awkwardness.
*Knock, knock...*
"Binbin, are you in?"
It was the voice of the dorm manager, Auntie Ran.
Tan Wenbin opened the door. Auntie Ran stood in the doorway holding a ceramic bowl.
A pair of chopsticks rested across the top of the bowl, which held tangyuan. The outer rim of the bowl was stamped with red characters: *Model Worker*.
"Auntie Ran."
"Auntie boiled some tangyuan and brought some over for you. Remember to return the bowl and chopsticks to Auntie tomorrow."
"Okay, thank you, Auntie."
Auntie Ran poked her head into the room and smiled at Li Zhuiyuan, who sat at the desk. "Our top scholar should have some too."
Li Zhuiyuan turned and offered a shy smile.
Tan Wenbin asked, "Auntie dressed up tonight, even wearing high heels!"
"Today is my birthday."
"Oh my, why didn't you tell me yesterday? If I'd known, I would have prepared a cake for you."
"You brat, you only know how to sweet-talk."
"Auntie, happy birthday."
"Alright, alright, remember to return the bowl and chopsticks."
Auntie Ran clicked away in her high heels.
Tan Wenbin closed the door.
"Brother Xiaoyuan, I didn't tell Auntie about you. She manages the dorms, so she knows the students who get assigned to this room aren't ordinary. She dug around and found out who you were ages ago, and she was even puzzled why this year's newspapers didn't run the provincial top scorer's photo."
Li Zhuiyuan had declined to cooperate with publicity efforts, and Wu Xinhan had not insisted; in any case, having the provincial Gaokao top scorer come from his high school was enough.
"Mm, it's fine if you mentioned it. Once you enter university, Gaokao scores lose their meaning."
"Brother Xiaoyuan, have one?"
"I already brushed my teeth. I won't eat."
"Then I'll eat." Tan Wenbin picked up the chopsticks and had just picked up a tangyuan when he suddenly heard the window open. Immediately after, a woman's face thrust inside, frightening him so badly that he flung the bowl right out of his hands, crying out, "Holy mother!"
Yin Meng vaulted inside.
Tan Wenbin complained, "Hey, why didn't you use the door?"
"I'm a girl."
Tan Wenbin held up two fingers and made a walking motion. "There's only one dorm auntie. You could have just ducked beneath her window sill and walked right past."
"Climbing the wall is more convenient."
Li Zhuiyuan looked toward Yin Meng and asked, "Did something happen with Brother Runsheng?"
"In the dance studio above the shop, I saw a shadow that vanished."
Tan Wenbin bent down, preparing to clean up the tangyuan spilled on the floor. "What's the big deal? Just like Brother Xiaoyuan said, when the few of us gather, unclean things naturally balance out in our direction."
Yin Meng continued, "Runsheng said Xiaohei was terrified."
"Holy shit!" Tan Wenbin straightened up instantly.
That black dog had been raised on tonic herbs since it was a pup, and it was the purest five-black hound. When dogs of that breed encountered unclean things, they usually only became more vicious and excited.
Therefore, whatever could terrify it had to be of immense origin, by no means an ordinary foul spirit.
After leaving Nantong, the four of them had wanted to retrieve some floating corpses to satisfy their itch, but that referred strictly to ordinary floaters—never a monstrous powerhouse that posed an extreme challenge like this.
Li Zhuiyuan opened the drawer and picked up his whip. "Is Brother Runsheng trapped?"
"No, he stayed at the shop and told me to notify you."
"Why did you separate?"
"Because Auntie Sun came back in the middle of it, so Runsheng stayed at the shop to keep her company."
The next instant, Yin Meng caught a flicker of cold detachment in Li Zhuiyuan's eyes.
That single glance sent a sudden chill down Yin Meng's spine.
It was neither revulsion nor anger, but something elevated far above both.
The boy was instinctively rejecting such a foolish choice.
Yet very quickly, the boy closed his eyes and opened them again, his gaze returning to normal. He gave a faint, flat acknowledgment: "Mm."
The three dashed out of the dormitory building. Passing the dorm manager's office on the way, they saw the window closed and the light extinguished.
Braving the rain to reach the shop entrance, Li Zhuiyuan halted and raised a hand.
Tan Wenbin and Yin Meng stopped immediately as well.
The rain continued to fall. Along the frame of the shop's doorway, water dripped down ceaselessly.
The problem was that the door was set back within the building structure beneath an overhead terrace; rainwater could not strike it and form a water-curtain cave effect.
Li Zhuiyuan glanced upward deliberately and saw no trickling water line.
Unless an interior wall of this activity building had cracked, allowing rainwater to seep through and flow precisely out of a fissure above the doorframe—but how could such a coincidence exist in this world?
Thus, the water dripping from the doorframe was not of the same source as the rain outside.
Li Zhuiyuan said, "It's inside."
Seeing that Brother Xiaoyuan showed no intention of charging in, Tan Wenbin dared not act rashly either. Instead, he shouted loudly toward the interior:
"Runsheng! Runsheng!"
Li Zhuiyuan said, "There is a miasma. He can't hear inside."
"Oh..." Tan Wenbin drew his neck in.
With a miasma present, forcing a way in would mean entering its domain—one would either get lost or fall unconscious. In short, it would waste critical time.
Li Zhuiyuan's gaze sharpened. Holding the whip in his right hand, he snapped his fingers with his left:
*Snap!*
Under the state of walking the yin path, the water dripping from the doorframe turned into a thick black fluid, falling down while simultaneously flowing to both sides and ascending again, like a living creature.
Li Zhuiyuan raised his whip and lashed toward the moving black line on the ground!
*Crack! Crack! Crack!*
Three strikes in succession severed the process.
In reality, from Tan Wenbin's and Yin Meng's perspective, Xiaoyuan had merely cracked his whip against the floor a few times, and the curtain of water along the doorframe stopped on its own.
Li Zhuiyuan called out, "Yin Meng, enter."
Without hesitation, Yin Meng was the first to charge inside. Li Zhuiyuan followed second, and Tan Wenbin brought up the rear.
In truth, none of them had ever rehearsed tactical coordination in daily life, but when facing perilous situations, they all understood who needed to be shielded as the core.
Originally, the best person to lead the vanguard would have been Runsheng, but he was currently inside.
Everything in the shop appeared normal, though the lighting was somewhat dim.
Beside the counter, Auntie Sun lay slumped over, unconscious.
Li Zhuiyuan cast a deep, piercing glance at Auntie Sun's back.
Runsheng was nowhere to be seen on the first floor. From upstairs came three consecutive heavy impacts: *Thud! Thud! Thud!*
"Head upstairs!"
Maintaining the order in which they had entered, the three swiftly ran up the stairs. Just as they reached the landing, the surrounding walls and the steps beneath their feet began to undulate as though turning to liquid, swaying with ever-increasing violence.
Yin Meng could only crouch low to barely maintain her balance.
Tan Wenbin fell flat on his rear, unable to distinguish directions, his center of gravity completely lost.
Li Zhuiyuan looked up toward the top of the stairs. It was trying to prevent them from entering.
That meant Runsheng was still locked in combat with it.
"Follow me!"
Li Zhuiyuan raised the whip in his hand and cracked it against the empty space before him. As the sonic crack of the whip echoed, he closed his eyes, his ears twitching faintly.
Then, in Yin Meng's and Tan Wenbin's sight, Xiaoyuan appeared to be walking in the direction of heading downstairs.
They immediately lowered their gaze, tracking the positions where Xiaoyuan's feet landed.
Yin Meng leaped across, while Tan Wenbin scrambled on all fours; in any case, they had to advance along those remembered footprints.
Finally, Tan Wenbin crawled out. The surrounding spatial perception returned to normal. He stood up and saw Runsheng pinned against the wall by a length of rebar.
Yin Meng had seen it even earlier. Her eyes reddened, yet she did not move, remaining steadfastly in front of Xiaoyuan.
Tan Wenbin immediately raised his shovel, moved behind Xiaoyuan, and peered constantly all around and overhead.
"Over there!"
Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin noticed a section of the ceiling at the same time. Black liquid was dripping from it, accompanied by a thick, nauseating stench of decay.
Looking higher, a dark silhouette seemed plastered against the surface. It appeared to have been grievously wounded in the fight against Runsheng.
*Hum—*
The dark shadow began to writhe. Its form vanished from its original position, yet the dripping liquid remained—only its direction shifted, actively drawing closer toward the three.
*Hum! Hum! Hum!*
Vanishing and reappearing several times in succession, the trail of black blood on the floor drew closer and closer.
Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin raised their tools at once, aiming toward that direction.
Li Zhuiyuan, however, kept his eyes closed.
The black blood appeared right in front of them.
Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin each raised a Yellow River shovel.
Li Zhuiyuan shouted, "Opposite direction!"
The two pivoted instantly, slamming their shovels downward toward the reverse direction.
*Bang! Bang!*
Two heavy thuds rang out in succession.
Tan Wenbin felt the recoil numb his arms to the bone, nearly seizing into cramps.
After driving her shovel down, Yin Meng leaped into the air, kicking out repeatedly with both feet at that location—a textbook dead-flipper kicking technique.
*Thud, thud, thud!*
A mass of sludge materialized in what had been empty air. Sludge splattered in all directions, revealing a body within; at its waist, black blood distinct from the mud gushed forth steadily.
Yin Meng raised her shovel once more, slashing down diagonally with full force at the wound.
The splattered sludge suddenly contracted, slamming hard against Yin Meng.
*Smack!*
Yin Meng lost her balance and was forced toward the sludge.
Yet a fraction of an instant before making contact, Yin Meng planted one hand on the floor, locked her waist tight, and swung her entire body around that arm as an axis, driving both feet fiercely into the sludge entity once more.
The sludge scattered again, exposing the face of the body inside. More accurately, it had a head but no face; where the face should have been looked hollowed out by rot, caved in entirely.
The only indication that it was female was the long, straight black hair.
It burst out from the sludge, lunging straight toward Yin Meng.
Yin Meng was just preparing to raise her shovel in defense.
At that exact moment, Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes, his gaze locking directly onto it.
A soundless, piercing shriek instantly tore through the dance studio. Both Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin felt an agonizing, tearing pain in their eardrums.
Meanwhile, the faceless entity pivoted immediately, lunging toward Li Zhuiyuan.
It sensed an immense threat: this boy was attempting to control it!
Tan Wenbin, who had stayed beside Xiaoyuan without joining the fray, lunged forward of his own accord, shielding Li Zhuiyuan and swinging his shovel with all his might at the oncoming faceless figure.
*Bang!*
The shovel struck square against the faceless head, but Tan Wenbin was hurled backward by the impact, knocking Li Zhuiyuan down along with him.
*Damn it, I knocked Xiaoyuan over!*
Bleeding from his mouth and nose from the shockwave, Tan Wenbin gritted his teeth and scrambled to reach for the dropped Yellow River shovel, but a hand gripped his arm from behind, using the leverage to stand up.
Li Zhuiyuan glared at the entity.
In this kind of close-quarters combat, every split second decided life and death. No amount of ritual tools had room to be deployed; this was an encounter battle, not a planned trap hunt.
Consequently, Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin could only wield their Yellow River shovels to fight for their lives from start to finish, while Li Zhuiyuan had employed Wei Zhengdao's black book method for controlling floating corpses right from the outset.
The boy's open palm snapped shut.
*Hum—*
The faceless figure halted dead in its tracks.
Both Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin breathed a sigh of relief. Success!
Yet the joy of success lasted only a fleeting few seconds. Deep within the dark, sunken hollow of the faceless entity's visage, two glowing red eyes surfaced.
Li Zhuiyuan's expression shifted in shock: *Damn it, it was already being controlled!*
Fresh blood began seeping from the corners of the boy's eyes, yet he kept them locked open with unyielding resolve, ignoring the frantic pulling and tearing through his consciousness in the state of walking the yin path.
The faceless body began shuddering violently, spewing continuous bursts of black bloody mist, its physical frame appearing on the verge of disintegrating.
Yin Meng and Tan Wenbin exchanged a glance; one produced a Guixiang net, the other extended a Seven Stars hook. But just then, sensing that it might be held here permanently, the faceless corpse's body suddenly swelled outward.
*Boom!*
Black mist billowed forth, blinding all sight.
The faceless silhouette recoiled at blinding speed, shattered the second-story glass window, and vanished into the night.
Li Zhuiyuan bowed his head, slowly squatting down and pressing both hands over his eyes.
*It hurts so much...*
Li Zhuiyuan's heart was flooded with sheer shock.
Back in Shigang Town, they had encountered that Taisui dead-flipper capable of commanding minion spirits, but those two minion spirits possessing thugs had been completely handled by Runsheng alone back then.
Yet if this faceless entity just now was also a minion spirit, then how terrifying must the entity controlling her from behind the scenes truly be?
Why would something of this caliber exist inside a university?
"Xiaoyuan, are you alright?" Tan Wenbin asked with concern.
Yin Meng crouched beside him as well.
Though Runsheng was still pinned to the wall, nobody went to look at him just yet.
It was not cold-bloodedness, but fear that dividing their strength might allow that thing to double back and ambush Xiaoyuan.
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "Go check on Runsheng. She's on the verge of falling apart; she won't be coming back."
"Mm."
Yin Meng immediately stood up and ran toward Runsheng.
Runsheng gripped the rebar piercing his shoulder with his left hand, hissing continuously in sharp breaths.
His pale face showed that he had already depleted most of his strength in the preceding struggle.
In fact, the reason Li Zhuiyuan had been able to successfully initiate his technique and come within a hair's breadth of controlling that dead-flipper was that Runsheng had already battered it into critical condition beforehand.
"What should we do?" Yin Meng asked.
"Support me... pull me out."
"Can you take it?"
"I can... didn't hit anything vital."
Tan Wenbin ran over to help as well. Flanking him on either side, the two supported Runsheng's weight while Runsheng gripped the rebar with one hand, inching forward bit by bit.
It was equivalent to reliving the agonizing process of being impaled all over again.
Finally, breaking free of the restraint, Runsheng dropped to both knees with a heavy thud, his mouth hanging open as he gasped for air in ragged gulps.
Fortunately, the wound was not in a vital spot; had it veered inward even a fraction of an inch, it would have been a catastrophic, fatal injury.
This was the first time Runsheng had ever been left in such a wretched state. Looked at from another angle, only someone like Runsheng could have survived a death match against that faceless entity; anyone else, whether Yin Meng or Tan Wenbin, would have died long ago.
Li Zhuiyuan walked over. Though he had wiped his face, dried traces of blood still remained at the corners of his eyes.
Runsheng saw the boy's shoes. He forced his head up, looking at the boy's face, and particularly at the boy's gaze.
"Xiaoyuan... I... was wrong..."
Even the fiercest beast, when lulled by prolonged comfort, would have its sharp edges worn down over time, turning dull and losing its former ruthlessness and decisiveness.
No one could keep that string perpetually taut, forever making the most correct and suitable choice. Even a blade needed to visit the whetstone every few days.
Li Zhuiyuan's eyes revealed a look of genuine concern.
"Brother Runsheng, are you alright?"
Runsheng gave a slight nod. "I'm fine... minor wound."
Li Zhuiyuan knew Runsheng was not putting on a brave face; so long as the injury was not fatal, he seemed capable of recovering remarkably fast every time.
"Binbin, take Runsheng to the campus infirmary. Just say he tripped onto some rebar by accident during renovations."
"Okay."
Unlike their middle school infirmary of the past, which could only hand out basic herbal remedies, the university infirmary was more like a small hospital, staffed with doctors on duty even through the night.
The biceps Tan Wenbin had built up through training proved useful now; an ordinary person truly would not have been able to support a massive frame like Runsheng's.
Yin Meng had wanted to go along, but since Xiaoyuan had not called her name, she stayed behind.
The two returned downstairs. Because that entity had departed, the lights in the shop had returned to full brightness.
Though rain still poured outside, the water curtain along the doorframe had vanished.
Li Zhuiyuan walked up to the counter.
He noticed a faint twitch at Auntie Sun's earlobe—very slight, but impossible to hide from someone skilled in physiognomy.
Her earlier unconsciousness had not been faked, but her current slumber was an act.
Li Zhuiyuan knew she had a problem. It had nothing to do with their interactions over the past two days, when she had seemed perfectly normal.
Everything stemmed from the posture in which she had been lying when the three first entered.
Had she been sprawled flat on the floor, or battered and clinging to life with a bloody head, or even shivering upstairs under Runsheng's protection, any of those would have been normal.
The most abnormal part was that she was lying with both hands resting on the counter—a posture that looked like she was merely catching an afternoon nap during a work shift.
Why would such a savage dead-flipper treat you with such gentle tenderness?
Furthermore, she had watched the shop the entire day. If something was going to happen, it should have happened long before, yet it had waited until Runsheng and the others returned.
Although this reasoning was somewhat cold-blooded and amounted to a presumption of guilt, Auntie Sun emerging completely unscathed was the single biggest problem.
Especially now, when she was still pretending to be unconscious.
She was unlikely to be the culprit, nor was she the puppet master, but that faceless dead-flipper was bound to be connected to her!
Yin Meng was flawless in her professional competence as a corpse retriever, but in other matters, she was inevitably somewhat slow. Right now, she was even about to step forward to shake Auntie Sun awake.
Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand, halting Yin Meng's movement.
Then, the boy reached out and took the Yellow River shovel from Yin Meng's hand. Yin Meng released her grip at once, handing it over to him.
Li Zhuiyuan raised the Yellow River shovel and smashed it down onto the counter!
*Crash!*
"Ah!"
The glass countertop shattered to pieces. Auntie Sun let out a shriek, jerking her head up as she tumbled to the floor. Planting her hands to catch herself, she was pierced by glass shards, hissing repeatedly in sharp pain.
Fury flared in Yin Meng's eyes. She finally realized the woman had been faking unconsciousness all along. The thought that Runsheng had stayed behind solely on her account made Yin Meng clench her fists tight.
Auntie Sun's eyes darted first to Yin Meng, then shifted to the boy walking toward her step by step with the shovel raised.
The soles of the boy's shoes crunched crisply against the shattered glass, yet his face wore a warm, gentle smile, identical to the several times she had seen him over the past two days—ever so sensible, ever so polite.
Leaning on the Yellow River shovel, Li Zhuiyuan crouched down, looked at Auntie Sun, and asked the coldest question in the most genial voice:
"The truth, or buried alive?"
Chapter 76