Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After having a hearty early dinner, Li Sanjiang and the others were preparing to set off.

There was a human-powered goods tricycle at home, with a long plank at the back, which was usually used to deliver tables, chairs, bowls, and dishes for red and white events. But Runsheng didn't know how to ride a vehicle, and several old people didn't dare let him learn temporarily today.

Therefore, Runsheng pushed a flatbed cart out of the storeroom. The front was very spacious. After Li Sanjiang, Liu Jinxia, and Grandpa Shan sat up, Runsheng first grabbed the cart handle to level the cart body, then steadily pushed the three old people down the dam.

It must be said that Runsheng, after eating a full meal, was frighteningly strong.

But looking at the retreating figures, Li Zhuoyuan's heart was still uneasy. After all, it was undeniable that this was still a very standard combination of... old, weak, sick, and young.

Inside the house, calmness was restored.

Uncle Qin was chopping wooden strips at the top of the dam to make frameworks for paper effigies. Aunt Liu was downstairs coloring the newly made paper effigies. Liu Yumei sat in front of the east room door drinking tea. On the second floor, in the southeast corner, Li Zhuoyuan and Qin Li were reading.

He was still the same as the past two days. He calculated the time, brought Qin Li down to the toilet, drank water, ate some snacks, and when he passed by Liu Yumei, he would still smile and greet her.

Liu Yumei also saw it. After the boy had been reading for a long time, he seriously did a set of broadcast gymnastics.

However, with still half an hour until lunch, Li Zhuoyuan closed his book. He didn't go into the room to get another book, but looked at Qin Li very seriously:

"A Li, I'm worried that great-grandfather and the others will be in danger, so I must go look. Will you wait for me at home, okay?"

Qin Li did not respond.

Li Zhuoyuan stood up and went downstairs. Qin Li also followed him down, but Li Zhuoyuan took out the key to enter the basement, while Qin Li walked towards the east room.

Liu Yumei asked somewhat surprised: "What happened?"

Her granddaughter had been getting up early these past two days, even making her grandmother advance her daily time to comb and groom her granddaughter.

It was all just to read with that Xiao Yuan Hou early.

But it was just approaching noon, why did her granddaughter want to go back to her room alone?

Did the two children quarrel?

No, could her A Li still quarrel?

Immediately, Liu Yumei saw that Xiao Yuan came out holding a peach wood sword in his hand. Oh, that really didn't look like a quarrel. If her granddaughter was really angry, this boy wouldn't still be able to jump around alive.

Li Zhuoyuan walked up to Uncle Qin and said: "Uncle Qin, I want to go to town to buy some things."

"Okay, tell me what you want to buy, and I'll buy it back for you."

"I want to pick them out myself. Uncle, ride the vehicle and take me there."

Uncle Qin put down the wooden strips in his hand, patted his hands, and nodded, saying: "Okay."

However, he still asked again: "Is it Shennan Town?"

"Shennan Town is too small, let's go to the next-door Shigang Town."

Shennan Town only had a few shops on one street, and it indeed couldn't compare to the nearby Shigang Town. There were department stores, dance halls, song houses, and other places there. Villagers from several nearby towns all went to Shigang Town to buy large items or for entertainment.

The Niu family was in a village below Shigang Town, which was also the destination of Li Sanjiang and the others.

Uncle Qin looked at Li Zhuoyuan, and suddenly changed his words with a smile: "Today is busy. If you want to go to Shigang, then tomorrow."

"No, Uncle Qin, I want to go."

"You want to go to your great-grandfather's place?"

"Yes, and buy some things along the way."

"Xiao Yuan, your great-grandfather is working. My job is farming at home, making paper effigies, and delivering tables and chairs. Your great-grandfather's work, I don't touch."

"Yes, I know." Li Zhuoyuan raised the peach wood sword, "Great-grandfather told me last night to remind him to bring this, but I forgot this morning. I just remembered, so please, Uncle, take me to Shigang. I'll give it to great-grandfather. This is great-grandfather's treasure, and great-grandfather cannot be without it."

In Li Zhuoyuan's description, this peach wood sword seemed to have become a heavy tool for eliminating demons and upholding justice, but he still carefully used his hand to cover the bottom end of the sword handle, covering the mountain gate — "Shandong Linyi Furniture Factory".

Uncle Qin was stunned. Delivering goods was indeed one of his work contents, but he obviously heard another layer of meaning from the boy's words in front of him.

"Okay, give the sword to me. I'll send it to your great-grandfather."

Li Zhuoyuan took the peach wood sword away and said: "Uncle, you forgot, I still need to go buy things. I need to follow."

"Then wait a moment."

Uncle Qin walked towards Liu Yumei, who was sitting there drinking tea, and whispered something in front of her. Liu Yumei raised her head, looked at Li Zhuoyuan standing far away, and sighed with a smile on the corner of her mouth:

"That Li Sanjiang is a boorish person who doesn't know how to appreciate good fortune, but this child is a thoughtful master. He sees that our background is not ordinary, no, he sees the underlying truth."

Seeing that their family's conditions were good was just the first layer. Seeing another layer of background was the second layer.

"Then what should I do?"

Liu Yumei did not answer in a hurry, but picked up her tea bowl and sipped her tea.

This child was probably already determined early on, but he could still hold back and do the same things as the past two days. He was clearly worried about his great-grandfather getting into trouble, but he didn't show any anxiety or impatience at all.

Recalling the scene of him bringing A Li to the toilet earlier and smiling at her as he passed, ripples suddenly appeared in the tea soup in Liu Yumei's bowl.

How could this heart... still be like a child's?

"You go with him." After a pause, Liu Yumei added, "But you need to explain some things clearly to this child on the way."

"I know."

Uncle Qin walked up to Li Zhuoyuan and said: "Xiao Yuan, wait a minute. I'll push the vehicle out."

"Okay, Uncle."

An old-fashioned 28-inch bicycle was ridden out by Uncle Qin. Li Zhuoyuan wanted to sit on the back seat, but Uncle Qin grabbed him with one hand and lifted him onto the front bar.

When the two people rode down the slope and left, Qin Li subconsciously walked in that direction, but Liu Yumei grabbed her hand.

The girl's eyelashes began to flutter.

"A Li, Grandma knows you want to play with Xiao Yuan, but Xiao Yuan has his own matters to attend to now. You should just wait at home this time and wait for him to finish his matters and come back.

If you keep clinging to him, he will feel tired and annoyed, and then it's possible that he won't want to play with you."

Hearing these words, the girl turned her head and looked at her grandmother. There seemed to be a hint of almost imperceptible doubt in her gaze.

But Liu Yumei still caught it. She was very happy and also very sad.

She hadn't been able to detect other emotions from her granddaughter for a long time. This time, she finally felt it, and it was when she said something like this to her granddaughter.

"A Li, Grandma doesn't mean that Xiao Yuan will really dislike you. When he comes back, Grandma will dress you up nicely again to play with him, okay?

Actually, Xiao Yuan cares about you very much. This boy is smart. He could clearly drag you along and say he wants to go to Shigang to find his great-grandfather to force us to comply.

But he didn't do that.

So, Grandma will simply return the favor."

...

The 28-inch bicycle rode very steadily, and sitting on the front bar, being surrounded by the rider's arms, felt like being protected.

Li Zhuoyuan held the peach wood sword in his hand, and his gaze kept sweeping over the muscles of Uncle Qin's arms.

Then he looked at his own small arms and legs. Although they were whiter than Uncle Qin's, it was very obvious that they were good-looking but not practical.

"Uncle Qin, have you practiced?"

"Yes."

Uncle Qin was a little surprised. He put the boy on the front bar to find an opportunity to talk conveniently. He didn't expect that he hadn't even opened his mouth yet, and the boy had already spoken first.

"Uncle Qin, can you fight?"

"I can't."

"Impossible, right?" Li Zhuoyuan stretched out his finger and pinched Uncle Qin's forearm. It didn't feel as hard as it looked, but it was very solid.

"Honestly, Xiao Yuan, I don't hit people."

"Do you still practice usually, Uncle?"

"I do both work and farm, and I'm busy. I don't have time to practice separately, but after entering the door of kung fu, everything you do can be attached to practice."

"I want to learn."

"Xiao Yuan, when did you watch 'Shaolin Temple'?"

'Shaolin Temple', starring Jet Li, had already become popular all over the country. Even now, it was a regular feature in outdoor movies shown on rural dams.

"Uncle, I know it will be very hard, but I'm not afraid."

"It's not just hard, but the era is different. No matter how good your kung fu is, can it compare to a bullet?"

"It's also good for exercising the body."

"Hehe."

"Uncle Qin, show me some moves."

Although 'Jianghu Strange Records' only introduced dead corpses as an entry-level encyclopedia, by constantly reading it, Li Zhuoyuan also discovered that quite a few dead corpses universally had the characteristic of great strength, and under particularly strange environments, sometimes it really depended on the corpse salvager's physical quality to forcibly pass.

The book also marked quite a few weaknesses of dead corpses and attack methods. It was not that a talisman paper or technique could hit a dead corpse and make it vanish into thin air, but it truly relied on physical action.

Among the most frequently appearing and most practical were back skills, wrestling, grappling, leg sweeps...

On some illustrations, Li Zhuoyuan could still see that this did not seem to be traditional close combat. Looking at the actions of the figures, it seemed to be kung fu specially designed to deal with dead corpses.

In addition, Runsheng's appearance yesterday also helped Li Zhuoyuan break through the confusion in his heart.

Don't look at Runsheng's large meal amount and some strange characteristics. In fact, Runsheng should be the most standard corpse salvager's physique.

Moreover, his great-grandfather's physique was also extremely good, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to carry corpses all the way from Shanghai Beach to now. At this age, he could still easily carry himself and walk on the rural dirt roads.

Seeing that Uncle Qin didn't respond for a long time, Li Zhuoyuan asked again: "Uncle?"

Uncle Qin lowered his head and looked at Li Zhuoyuan: "This needs the agreement of the elders."

"Okay, I'll ask when I go back."

The elder here, Uncle Qin spoke very vaguely, but Li Zhuoyuan understood that he was referring to Grandma Liu.

"Xiao Yuan, I have something I want to explain to you in advance."

"Uncle, please say."

"Uncle is a lazy person. I only do things within my duty. For things outside my duty, I absolutely will not do them."

"How could that be? Uncle is clearly very diligent."

Even in the countryside at present, Uncle Qin was among the outstanding diligent and capable people. He farmed, worked, and delivered goods. Even the old oxen in the village were not as capable as him.

"What Uncle said is true. For matters that don't belong to Uncle, even if Uncle is standing in front of them, if a soy sauce bottle falls, no matter how much spills out, Uncle will not reach out to support it."

"Really?"

"Really."

Li Zhuoyuan was silent.

Uncle Qin sighed in his heart. Talking to this child really felt like having a conversation with a smart person. He could feel that this child understood his meaning.

After a long time, Li Zhuoyuan responded: "Uncle, I know."

"Yes."

Siyuan Village was originally located at the northern end of Shennan Town, close to Shigang Town. In addition, Uncle Qin was riding on a small road, which saved more time by passing through from the village.

After coming to the road belonging to Shigang Town, Uncle Qin continued to ride towards the destination.

"Uncle, do you know the location?"

"Yes, I delivered tables and chairs to that village before."

"Oh."

"Also, do you want to go to the department store in town to buy things first?"

"No, let's go to where great-grandfather and the others are first."

"Alright."

After passing through the town, they went down to the village, and the road became smaller.

Not long after, they saw a place holding a funeral matter in the distance.

"Uncle, you can stop."

"We're almost there."

"I'm tired."

"Rest there again, and you can also drink some water."

"I need to pee. I can't hold it."

"Okay."

Uncle Qin stopped the vehicle. Li Zhuoyuan jumped off the vehicle, found a place under a willow tree to pee, and then squatted by the ditch to wash his hands.

Qin Li originally thought that the boy would get back on the vehicle after he finished, but who knew that the boy would sit down on a smooth stone next to the field ridge, take out a bottle of drink, several packs of biscuits, and two books from his chest.

Qin Li still remembered the gourd-shaped drink. It was bought back for the boy according to Li Sanjiang's words.

It was no wonder that when they got on the vehicle earlier, the boy's clothes were bulging. It turned out he had secretly packed so many things. This was obviously not planning to leave, but preparing to have a picnic and read on the spot.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm tired, resting. Uncle Qin, you sit too."

"Didn't you want to give the sword to your great-grandfather? It's right ahead. Hurry up and send it, then I can go back to work. Your Aunt Liu can't finish the work alone at home, and the work period is already very tight. If we don't finish, we can't deliver the goods, and your great-grandfather will lose his temper and scold people."

"No, great-grandfather said he wants to write the inheritance in my name. If great-grandfather has any problems, I'll be the young master. I won't lose my temper and scold people."

"You boy..."

"Uncle, sit down. Look how tired you are working all day. Let's take a holiday too, combining work and rest."

Qin Li walked up to the boy. He could see that the boy was intentional. As long as the sword wasn't given to Li Sanjiang, he still hadn't completed the task and still needed to accompany him here.

What shocked Qin Li even more was that the boy seemed to have prepared for his "soy sauce bottle falls, I won't support it" long ago.

Was this still a child? This was clearly a monster wearing a child's skin!

Suddenly, Qin Li let go again. Yes, it was no wonder that A Li was cold to everyone but only showed closeness to him.

Qin Li lowered his center of gravity and bent down. He planned to use brute force to carry the boy over and forcibly hand over the task.

"Uncle, our two families living together is really warm. Grandma Liu is very nice, and Aunt Liu is also very gentle."

Qin Li's eyes narrowed.

"The book says that harmonious relationships between people are built on the most basic foundation of respect."

Qin Li: "Hehe, is it possible that we aren't?"

Li Zhuoyuan turned his head, looked at the unexpectedly close Qin Li in the distance, and said with a smile: "Are we? We are."

Qin Li closed his eyes and straightened up. He felt himself being held, being held by a child.

After a while, Qin Li said: "Xiao Yuan, if Uncle hadn't agreed to send you, would you have come alone?"

Li Zhuoyuan shook his head: "I'm just a child. I can't help with anything. I wouldn't have come alone, because coming would only cause trouble."

"Alright, let's go find your great-grandfather. I won't go back, but you must remember, if the soy sauce bottle falls, I still can't support it."

"Okay, thank you, Uncle."

Li Zhuoyuan immediately packed up his things, walked to the front of the 28-inch bicycle, and urged:

"Uncle, hurry up and get on the vehicle. We're almost there."

...

"What are you doing?" Li Sanjiang first looked at Li Zhuoyuan, then looked at Qin Li, "Why did you bring the child?"

"Great-grandfather, I missed you, so I begged Uncle Qin to come find you. Uncle Qin couldn't win against me."

"Xiao Yuan Hou, is this a place you should come to? Go, go, go, let Li Hou take you back."

"No, I won't leave. I just want to stay here."

Li Zhuoyuan tightly grabbed Li Sanjiang's clothes, and a wronged expression appeared on his face.

Li Sanjiang originally wanted to say some harsh words to drive him away, but seeing the child's appearance, the soft spot deep in the heart of this old man who had never married or had children in his life was heavily touched.

Therefore, when old people spoil children, sometimes... they really don't follow principles, especially generational affection.

"Okay, Li Hou, keep a close eye on the child and don't let him run around."

Qin Li nodded: "Yes, I will."

Li Zhuoyuan successfully stayed and began to observe the funeral matter.

The funeral was held on an empty dam in this village. It used to be the village's collective threshing ground. They also hired a relatively small white event team to handle things.

Eight actors wearing Daoist robes were performing a ritual. Each held a magic tool and muttered in their mouths, circling around the offering table.

Sacrifices were placed on the offering table, and the most central was Old Lady Niu's black and white photo.

The sign read Niu Shi.

Because the old lady was a child bride brought in before marriage and had no maternal home or name, when the village registered the census later, she just reported her husband's family name.

Filial sons and daughters knelt on mats, their heads wrapped in white ropes, their bodies wearing hemp clothes, their arms wrapped in black gauze. They cried and threw paper money into the fire basin in front of them.

Niu Fu and Niu Rui only dry-howled, wiping their tears from time to time, with actions but no emotion.

Their younger sister, Niu Lian, not only had good emotions and actions, but her tears flowed out like a broken water tap, and she also spoke continuously.

"Mother, our dad left early, and you worked hard to raise the three of us! Hiss, yo, feed!"

"Mother, in the early years the conditions weren't good, you weren't willing to eat one more bite, you fed it all to us! Hiss, yo, feed!"

"Mother, the three of us just grew up, you haven't even come to enjoy happiness, why did you just leave? Hiss, yo, feed!"

The "hiss, yo, feed" after each sentence served to end the content of the previous sentence and pave the way for the emotion of the next sentence, also taking into account the role of breathing.

They were clearly talking, but they used a singing tone. Perhaps, this was the earliest form of domestic singing ancestors.

Niu Lian's expression influenced her two brothers. Each time, they followed Niu Lian's ending and repeated, crying and mourning like a chorus.

Li Zhuoyuan found it very interesting. Not to mention that he had interacted with the old lady before, just the content of this funeral wailing could make people laugh and cry. What did they mean "children just grew up and you just left without enjoying happiness"?

You are all just adults? You are clearly all grandparents one by one. If you really wanted to be filial, how could you not have come?

Then, linked to the big beard's white event last time, he cried and mourned for his old mother during the day like a truly filial son, but it didn't delay him taking his son to do beastly things in the evening.

So, the afternoon session of this white event team could perform again, but it couldn't compare to the morning session. That was the real contest of acting skills.

However, this funeral seemed a bit too deserted. According to the rules, a funeral should also include feeding people.

Li Zhuoyuan moved to Li Sanjiang, who was smoking, and asked: "Great-grandfather, why are there so few people? Aren't they feeding people?"

But not far away, cooks were seen busy working.

Li Sanjiang smiled coldly and said: "Half a year ago when the old lady just passed away, these three siblings held a funeral for their old mother. Not only did they not hire a white event team, but the meals were also as simple as possible. They made a clear soup and water meal. The villagers who came to contribute money didn't say it was how good it was, but they didn't even fill their stomachs.

This time they're holding a netherworld birthday, so the villagers just didn't come. It's too out of line."

Li Zhuoyuan understood. Coupled with the fact that these three siblings had purely used their old mother's funeral as a means of collecting money last time.

The tradition of collecting money for events in the countryside originally meant that everyone worked together to help the main family handle the event. Even if individuals who were greedy for cheap things came, they basically wouldn't suffer a loss.

Who knew they would meet such three shameless people. Liu Jinxia was sitting at the back of the offering table this time, getting smoked by the fire and wiping her tears with a handkerchief from time to time, but she was still chanting scriptures nonstop. From time to time, she would take out some specific talisman papers and hand them to the filial sons and daughters below to help burn.

Her position was used to connect yin and yang, which is to help the dead and the living communicate.

Grandpa Shan spread out a broken mat and sat in the northwest corner, holding a water pipe and drawing nonstop.

Li Zhuoyuan recalled the content in the book. With the offering table as the origin, Grandpa Shan's position was just at the mouth of dispelling evil. Evil wind and evil qi that wanted to enter needed to pass through there.

Runsheng was also not idle, walking back and forth, turning the banner. This was physical work, and he had to turn the banner up and not let it fall.

On the contrary, his great-grandfather was sitting under the shed drinking tea. Li Zhuoyuan felt that his knowledge was superficial and couldn't tell exactly what position his great-grandfather held.

But... it should be extremely important.

They had already eaten lunch. In the afternoon session, the actors of the white event team collectively changed into monk's robes and pretended to be monks, starting to knock on wooden fish and chant scriptures.

Several of them looked quite real.

Runsheng brought bowls and chopsticks from the back kitchen. He was hungry. People were having afternoon tea, but as long as conditions allowed, he would eat his afternoon meal.

He also thoughtfully invited Li Zhuoyuan to eat together. Li Zhuoyuan was not polite either and took an empty bowl and filled it with some rice and vegetables before eating.

As for Uncle Qin, Li Zhuoyuan and Runsheng called him over, but he didn't eat.

Since he arrived here, Uncle Qin had been standing at the edge of the shed, basically not moving.

Runsheng inserted incense into the meal and vegetables. While the incense was burning, he said to Li Zhuoyuan: "I told my grandpa that you were reading those books. My grandpa said you were much smarter than me and told me to talk to you more in the future."

Unlike Li Sanjiang's belief that his great-grandson must go back to the capital to attend university, Grandpa Shan had already seen that Li Zhuoyuan was a good seedling for a corpse salvager early on.

"Okay, you can often come and play with me in the future."

In Li Zhuoyuan's view, Runsheng was the best link between theory and practice.

"Really? That's great, hehe. You don't know, my grandpa isn't well and often needs to take medicine. Home is already tight, and I'm also a rice bucket. Sigh.

Coming to your home, I can not only eat my fill but also save Grandpa some burden. When there's work, I'll go back to work for Grandpa and salvage corpses. I won't delay either."

"Do you want to live forever?"

"Ah, isn't that okay?" Runsheng touched his head.

"This needs to be asked of my great-grandfather."

"Then I'll let my grandpa talk to your great-grandfather. According to my grandpa, after he's gone, I'll work for your great-grandfather."

"Yes." Li Zhuoyuan nodded. His great-grandfather was also old, and it wouldn't be bad to have Runsheng take over in the future.

After all, corpse salvaging was his great-grandfather's original profession and an important image. His great-grandfather's other industries were also endless because he was a corpse salvager.

The incense burned out. Runsheng impatiently used chopsticks to mix the meal, vegetables, and incense ash together, then ate it with big mouthfuls.

Li Zhuoyuan curiously asked: "If you don't light the incense, can you really not eat?"

"Yes." Runsheng answered while swallowing, "I can't eat it. When I eat it, not only does it have no taste, but I also feel nauseous."

"Then you've eaten..." Li Zhuoyuan hesitated for a moment before asking, "Have you eaten dead corpses?"

Runsheng was stunned and immediately lowered his voice, saying:

"Grandpa warned me that I can't say I've eaten them outside."

"Then you need to remember your grandpa's warning well."

"Of course, I always remember."

Li Zhuoyuan finished eating very quickly and watched Runsheng continue to eat with gusto there. He thought that if he had come two days earlier, it would have been great. He could have just caught up with the old lady's paper effigy birthday banquet, and he could have taken up a table by himself.

The afternoon gradually passed, and as dusk approached, everyone began to pack up. Some took flags, some took banners, some took scripture books, quilts, and pillows.

A line of people formed and walked along the field ridge towards Old Lady Niu's grave.

The last two people in the team kept kicking two footballs very leisurely and casually. After lighting the fire, they threw them into the field and then rushed away.

Li Zhuoyuan helped Runsheng take a flag. As for Uncle Qin, he didn't walk but followed the team from afar, maintaining a hundred-meter distance.

Old Lady Niu's grave was very small. Although cremation had been promoted in the city early and earth burial was strictly controlled, earth burial was still popular in the countryside, but the scene of large-scale graves and cement seals was indeed not often seen.

Instead, there were small houses, the old ones were two-story buildings, red brick and green tiles, and there were also three-story buildings, and even three-compound courtyards.

One wondered if people who walked into this graveyard would mistake it for a model exhibition with the theme of "rural architecture."

Old Lady Niu's grave head was just a grave head, which was dug out from the mud next to it with a shovel to form an "earth hat".

When climbing the grave, Niu Fu, as the eldest, would first take down the earth hat, and Niu Rui would then dig a new one with a shovel. After the grave climbing ceremony ended, Niu Lian would put the new hat back on.

Placing incense and candles, burning paper money, burning blood scripture, everything was carried out in an orderly manner under Liu Jinxia's command.

When everything was finished, the new hat was put back on, and everyone returned without any incident.

But Li Zhuoyuan noticed that there was no relaxed expression on Liu Jinxia's face, because according to the rules, this funeral needed to be held until late at night. It used to be the four watch periods, but now it was uniformly midnight.

Only after midnight was the funeral considered finished, which also counted as guarding the night. However, the corpse had already been buried and was not staying here.

Tonight, waiting for darkness to fall, something would happen, but it was not certain what.

After dinner, a minority of villagers who couldn't refuse to come and help all left. The children of the Niu family's three siblings also returned home, although they originally should have stayed to guard together, but they were all strongly driven back by the three siblings.

After the people from the white event team packed up and left, the area around this mourning hall seemed extra empty.

The three siblings of the Niu family were still kneeling on the mats, no longer crying, just silently continuing to burn paper.

Niu Lian's throat was already hoarse, Niu Fu and Niu Rui lacked their sister's creativity and couldn't follow suit, so they also remained silent.

Liu Jinxia was still sitting in her old position, looking uneasy.

Grandpa Shan was still sitting in the position to ward off evil, his tobacco had been lit, and he continued to draw from a cigarette given by the main family.

As for his great-grandfather... Li Zhuoyuan discovered that his great-grandfather was already leaning against the railing, asleep, his body shrugging and shrugging, snoring.

Runsheng didn't know where he found a deck of poker cards and said with a smile: "Let's play Fight the Landlord."

"Do we need four people?"

"Then you call him?" Runsheng pointed at Uncle Qin.

Li Zhuoyuan shook his head. He knew Uncle Qin wouldn't come over. In fact, he was very grateful. Although Uncle Qin said he wouldn't support the soy sauce bottle, having him stand there made his heart much steadier.

Next, Li Zhuoyuan and Runsheng played three-player Fight the Landlord together.

With just one deck of cards, divided among three people, it was very easy to calculate the cards.

Runsheng's card skills were very poor, and the other player's level was also average, which meant that no matter if Li Zhuoyuan was the farmer or the landlord, he always won.

Playing and playing, he didn't know how long had passed. Li Zhuoyuan asked: "What time is it?"

Runsheng shook his head: "I don't know, where would I have a watch?"

The other player said: "Eleven o'clock."

Li Zhuoyuan: "Then it's almost over, only one hour left."

Runsheng: "Yes, I wonder if the main family will provide another meal after it's over."

The other player: "They should. They prepared quite a lot of food and vegetables today, and not many people came to eat."

Li Zhuoyuan got another good landlord hand. This round was also meaningless.

However, just as he was about to play his cards, Li Zhuoyuan glanced at where Uncle Qin was standing and suddenly discovered that Uncle Qin was gone.

Gone without a trace. Li Zhuoyuan's heart trembled, and his mind also cleared up several points. He immediately seemed to have thought of something and held the cards in his hand, lost in thought.

Runsheng: "What are you thinking, Xiao Yuan, hurry up and play!"

The other player: "Yes, hurry up and play! We know your cards are good."

Li Zhuoyuan played his cards, a single big king.

Runsheng's eyes widened: "What kind of play is this?"

The other player: "Are your cards too good and you want to play openly?"

Li Zhuoyuan: "Can we play openly?"

Runsheng said: "If you want to play openly, just play openly. Your cards are good, there's no other way."

The other player: "You need to think clearly, playing openly is easy to lose."

"Then I'll think again." Li Zhuoyuan held the cards and pretended to think, while the corner of his eye glanced at his dozing great-grandfather, the Niu family's three siblings sitting on the mats, as well as Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan.

The scene that had seemed normal before now had a feeling of sudden horror. He could clearly hear various sounds by his ears, but they were all motionless.

Even when his great-grandfather snored, his body didn't follow the movement. This snoring sounded like it was echoing in an empty space.

"Brother Runsheng?"

"What? Have you thought about it? Do you want to play openly?"

Li Zhuoyuan nodded slightly. Runsheng was normal, but this was precisely why they needed to play openly. In this combination of old, weak, sick, and young, the only one they could rely on was Runsheng.

If there was no Runsheng, what would those old people do?

"Play openly!"

Li Zhuoyuan laid down the cards in his hand.

Runsheng said doubtfully: "Hey, your cards aren't that good. I thought you had a bomb?"

"Play. A big king. Do you want it?"

The other player: "You play."

Runsheng: "No."

Li Zhuoyuan: "Three sevens with a five."

The other player: "I want it."

Li Zhuoyuan: "Three tens with a seven."

Runsheng: "Xiao Yuan, don't play so fast! The player above me wants it!"

Li Zhuoyuan slapped the small table and shouted at Runsheng: "Open your eyes and look! Where do we have any upper or lower players!!!"

Runsheng was confused by the shout. He subconsciously wanted to argue, but he turned his head to look at his left and right sides and suddenly woke up, saying:

"That's right! There are only two of us! How can we play three-player Fight the Landlord?"

The next moment, the cold night wind blew.

Li Zhuoyuan and Runsheng shivered at the same time, and then at the same time, they discovered that the two people who were originally playing cards in the funeral tent, at some point, were actually sitting on the grave head.

Around them were red and green two-story and three-story small houses under the moonlight. Beside them was Old Lady Niu's grave, with a new earth hat on top.

"I want it, three eights with a three! I want it, three eights with a three!"

Beside them, the sound of playing cards came, it was a female voice, very sad, very sharp.

Li Zhuoyuan and Runsheng looked at each other. Runsheng protected Li Zhuoyuan behind him. The two walked around the grave mound and came to the back.

Here, there was unexpectedly a hole. The mouth of the hole was very irregular and still had bloody handprints, as if someone had dug it out with their hands.

Moving to the edge of the hole, they could see that the inside was dug out. A woman was lying inside, her hands dripping with blood. There was clearly nothing, but her left hand was in the posture of holding cards, and her right hand was in the action of throwing cards:

"I want it, three eights with a three!"

She kept excitedly throwing her face, scattering her hair and mud stains. It was Niu Lian, Old Lady Niu's youngest daughter.

She had used her hands to dig open her mother's grave and drilled in.

But inside the grave, except for the dense stench of decomposition and an unspeakable pool of turbid water, there was only a roll of broken straw mat, no trace of Old Lady Niu's corpse bones.

According to the rules, even with earth burial, there should be a coffin. It was not like before liberation when bodies were thrown into random graves. And Old Lady Niu had no coffin. When the coffin was stopped, it should have been rented, but it was replaced when it was buried. The purpose was very easy to guess... to save the money for this coffin.

Li Zhuoyuan subconsciously covered his nose, suppressing the urge to vomit from the stench. Runsheng, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected.

At this time, because the card round was over, Niu Lian seemed to have sobered up a little, but only a little.

"Not playing right, not playing right, then I'll continue working."

Niu Lian made the action of throwing down the cards in her hand, then turned around and continued to dig downwards with her bare hands.

It was not certain that after digging for a while, this hole would collapse, and she might be buried alive.

"Hey, don't dig! It's dangerous to dig again! I'll come save you!"

Li Zhuoyuan stretched out his hand to pull Runsheng.

"What, Xiao Yuan?"

"First go look for your grandpa, they might be in danger!"

"Ah, that's right, but she..."

"Who's more important?"

"Grandpa is important!"

Runsheng no longer hesitated and directly pulled Li Zhuoyuan and ran towards the funeral shed.

When they reached the shed, Li Zhuoyuan was already panting, and inside the shed, the Niu family's two brothers were gone.

Liu Jinxia was crawling around the offering table, crawling and meowing like a cat. The old lady's palms were already broken and bleeding, leaving a string of dense handprints on the ground.

Grandpa Shan, on the other hand, was barking "wang wang wang" while lying in front of a tree, lifting one leg as if a dog was starting to pee.

The urine flowed and soaked his clothes, looking very dirty.

After peeing, he unexpectedly used his hands and feet together to dig soil at the tree roots.

"Grandpa!" Runsheng quickly shouted, "Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"

This shout immediately attracted the attention of Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan.

The two, one walking like a cat and one crawling like a dog, were both on all fours, their faces ferocious, and they quickly pounced towards Runsheng and Li Zhuoyuan.

Runsheng opened his arms, voluntarily blocking in front of Li Zhuoyuan, and shouted: "Xiao Yuan, retreat!"

Li Zhuoyuan listened and retreated two steps. Feeling it wasn't enough, he retreated two more steps.

The next moment,

Liu Jinxia pounced on Runsheng, clipping Runsheng's waist with her legs and starting to scratch, tear, and bite at his chest;

Grandpa Shan then hugged Runsheng's leg and bit Runsheng's thigh. Immediately, a piece of flesh was bitten off, along with two old teeth.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, what's wrong with you? What's wrong with you?"

Runsheng didn't resist, just anxiously looked at his grandpa who was constantly biting him from below.

Seeing the situation, Li Zhuoyuan immediately reminded: "Counterattack! Don't stand there and do nothing."

"But he's my grandpa! How can I lay a hand on him?"

Li Zhuoyuan immediately said: "You are saving them! If you don't wake them up, they will suffer even more injuries! Hurry up and take action!"

If you don't wake them up, your Grandpa Shan will gnaw your leg until he loses all his teeth!

"Okay, I'll listen to you, Xiao Yuan!"

Runsheng nodded forcefully. As long as he decided to do something, he was very firm and no longer dragged his feet. He just saw him first pinch Liu Jinxia's neck with one hand and lift Liu Jinxia up.

Liu Jinxia used all her limbs and kept waving, but the old lady was short and had short limbs, completely unable to reach.

Immediately, Runsheng slapped Liu Jinxia's face from left to right.

"Slap!" "Slap!" "Slap!" "Slap!"

Liu Jinxia's face swelled up visibly, and the corners of her mouth on both sides were broken and bleeding, but the whole person quieted down, and the fierce pupils were covered by white cataracts again.

"Wu... sys... zheng... ma... le?"

"Xiao Yuan, you're really fierce!"

After praising Li Zhuoyuan, Runsheng lifted his leg and kicked away Grandpa Shan, who was hugging his thigh and gnawing.

Grandpa Shan landed very unfortunately, face first, and still slid for a distance.

When he sat up steadily, Li Zhuoyuan saw that Grandpa Shan was already touching his face with his hand, clearly sobering up. He muttered: "I... I... not..."

Before he could even recover, he saw his raised grandson rushing up quickly. Immediately, a huge palm was welcomed to his face.

"Slap!" "Slap!"

After all, there was a grandfather-grandson relationship. Runsheng slapped Liu Jinxia four times, but for his own grandpa, he first slapped twice and then stopped to see the effect.

"Grandpa, are you awake?"

"Pah!"

Grandpa Shan spat on Runsheng's face and also spit out two teeth, which were just knocked out by the slaps.

"Still not awake?"

Seeing that his grandpa was still about to attack, Runsheng raised his palm again.

Grandpa Shan quickly shouted in fear: "Stop! I'm awake! I'm awake!"

"Grandpa, you're finally awake! I was really scared!"

Runsheng hugged Grandpa Shan.

Grandpa Shan: "..."

Seeing that Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan were both sober, Li Zhuoyuan immediately went to look for his great-grandfather. This was what he cared about the most.

Very quickly, he found him.

But after seeing his great-grandfather, Li Zhuoyuan was somewhat disbelieving.

It wasn't because his great-grandfather was how miserable or embarrassed. On the contrary, Li Sanjiang was still leaning in his original position, dozing and snoring, sleeping very soundly.

It seemed that the matters around him had nothing to do with him at all, and he was not affected in the slightest.

Although his great-grandfather was safe and sound, Li Zhuoyuan was very happy, but this vastly different treatment from Liu Jinxia and Grandpa Shan still left Li Zhuoyuan deeply puzzled.

Immediately, Li Zhuoyuan connected it to the matter that happened on the first floor at home once, and a guess suddenly arose in his mind:

Could it be because the cat-faced old lady was really too afraid of great-grandfather,

Not daring to lay a hand on great-grandfather?