Chapter 141

Chapter 137

In the study, both the boy and the girl were drawing.

Li Zhuiyuan drew faster because he only needed to copy the image of the corpse-driving Taoist.

A Li then needed to process it artistically based on the boy's description.

The boy finished his drawing, put down his pen, and stood by the drawing table, staring carefully at the Taoist.

Although the Taoist's hair was messy and covered his face, his Taoist robe and the multi-layered cloth shoes he wore on his feet appeared very clean. This cleanliness was not just about the absence of dirt.

In the painting, the Taoist was moving forward, his left foot stepping out, revealing the sole of his shoe. The sole was very white, and the neat stitches were visible.

His yellow Taoist robe, at the collar and cuffs, was also very smooth, without the slightest fraying.

Even the red and yellow knot decoration at the hem of his right hand-held bell was fresh and delicate.

These were new clothes, shoes, and magical tools...

Therefore, one could boldly guess that the body of this corpse-driving Taoist must have been buried somewhere, and all the burial items were new.

When Yu Popo appeared, although heavily powdered, she still conveyed the feeling of a "blind old woman." The fact proved that her clay statue sculpture only lacked a pair of eyes to be restored.

When the big fish voluntarily took the bait, its rotten and festering body was also a manifestation of its real state.

The five heads of Yin gods, except for the pig head, all bore the image of severe injuries. Only the pig head showed no wounds. This could mean two things: one, that among the five, the pig was in the best state; two, it showed the dominant position of the pig among these five Yin beasts, implicitly suggesting that the images of the other four heads were forcibly dragged out by this pig.

So, the images presented in A Li's dream contrasted with their real states.

Then came the problem.

Since this corpse-driving Taoist could appear in A Li's dream, it meant he had a "life-and-death friendship" with the previous Dragon King.

And he was decently buried.

Only two possibilities could lead to this situation.

One possibility was that the Dragon King, although he suppressed him initially, still admired him or had a past connection, and therefore arranged for him to be properly buried.

Another possibility was that although the Dragon King suppressed him, someone later retrieved his remains, handled them properly, including finding a grave and burying him.

The first possibility was unlikely, because an opponent who could have this kind of friendship with the Dragon King, even if they died by the Dragon King's hand, would likely not do such a dirty thing as coming to bully a lone girl.

Unless his appearance this time had another purpose.

Just like the big fish last time, he didn't come out of the fog to provoke, but wanted to use the Dragon King's power to find an opportunity to perish with Yu Xuzi.

Moreover, the corpse-driving Taoist was not pushed out by the river water. Other existences in the white fog dared not expose themselves outwards, yet he came out on his own.

Considering all these factors, it was difficult to immediately label the position of the corpse-driving Taoist.

The other possibility was easier to understand, which was that his sect still existed today, and dealing with him required fighting against his current successor.

Li Zhuiyuan would rather choose this possibility. The positions of both sides would be clear, the nature of the event would also be clear, and everyone would kill each other with purely defined goals.

But reality was not like popular TV dramas where good people and bad people are easily distinguishable by their appearance.

His great-grandfather, sometimes accompanying Runsheng to watch TV, most frequently asked, "Is this a good person or a bad person?"

That guy Yu Popo wasn't even really a person. The big fish and the recent pig head weren't either.

But this corpse-driving Taoist... was truly a person.

Wei Zhengdao, in his "Jianghu Strange Records," emphasized that evil cultivators become dead corpses after death and are the hardest to deal with.

He could not only understand your methods but also possessed some of his lifetime skills, and even played mind games with you.

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes, first erasing the various complex logics that had just formed in his brain, and focused on finding the main contradiction.

When he reopened his eyes, the boy's gaze was much clearer.

Regardless of whether you are good or bad, whether you have unspeakable hardships or hidden meanings, since you appeared in A Li's dream, and since I plan to take you as an experimental subject and actively build a causal link towards you...

Then my final goal is to thoroughly kill you. That's right.

As for whether you are greatly relieved and finally at peace, or angry and ashamed and die unwillingly, these are all afterthoughts, just added seasoning when everyone gathers around the barbecue pit after completing an event.

Li Zhuiyuan did not see the "corpses" behind the corpse-driving Taoist, nor did he draw them. However, the yellow paper money the opponent sprinkled was recorded in detail by Li Zhuiyuan.

Moreover, he separately enlarged and depicted them in the two corners of the painting scroll, drawing a front and back view of each.

The design of paper money varies greatly in different places due to different customs.

Although "Heaven and Earth Bank" hell money is popular, it is still not mainstream and has only appeared for a short time.

The paper money here in Nantong is mainly square yellow paper. When attending a white funeral, close relatives generally also buy a bundle of yellow paper as a gift.

Many households in the village also put this yellow paper in the toilet basket for wiping.

Because its texture is better than newspaper, it is relatively thick and not easily broken, and there is no hole in the middle.

However, paper money in many other places, from the design perspective, truly resembles "copper coins," and the colors and specifications also have their own traditional customs.

Some places are more elaborate, and words are printed on the paper money.

Fortunately, words were printed on the paper money sprinkled by the corpse-driving Taoist.

The reason Li Zhuiyuan chose to draw the paper money in two corners was that this paper money was divided into two types, with the exact same design but different fonts.

The front and back of the paper money in the left corner read: Yin people on the road, Yang people avoid.

The front and back of the paper money in the right corner read: Jie family reward, Little ghosts thank and bow.

These two types of paper money should have been stacked alternately and sprinkled out together.

The paper money on the left side had a very simple meaning, serving as a kind of announcement.

Traditionally, corpse-drivers traveled at night because it was easy to disturb people during the day, leading to many unnecessary troubles.

Moreover, people engaged in this line of work are generally considered unlucky by the secular world, and they themselves are also reluctant to force their way into the mainstream, preferring to be content with a low-key existence.

This point is very similar to corpse salvagers. Great-grandfather's home also usually has no outside guests.

Even now, as employees of public funeral homes, they often encounter discriminatory gazes when introducing their work to strangers.

But the text on the paper money on the right side had an unusual tone.

Jie family reward, this points out the family name.

Little ghosts thank and bow, this points out the hierarchy.

It means the Jie family has a very high status on the "yin and yang road," and it's no longer begging little ghosts not to cause trouble on the road, but rather, "I'll reward you with some money, so be sensible and get out of my way."

Daring to print these words proves that the Jie family's status is real, absolutely not just self-inflated.

Because in this line of work, this is the most taboo thing. People generally keep a low profile, only saying seven points when they can do ten, for fear of boasting too much and getting into trouble.

Without this real foundation, if you dare to sprinkle this paper money, just wait for those dirty things to actively come knocking and mess up your whole family.

This is also why the term "walk the river" is exclusive to the Dragon King's family.

In the literary world, people can entertain themselves within their circle, flatter each other, and boost their status shamelessly.

From ancient times to the present, it's not that no one in the mysterious world has played like this, but they have all ended up at the bottom of the river.

"Jie family?"

Having a family name makes things much easier to handle, saving the trouble of searching like finding a needle in a haystack.

Li Zhuiyuan gently tapped his temple with his fingertip. In his mind, there were indeed two records that could match this Jie family.

One record came from an ancestor's travelogue mixed in the Yin family genealogy. When he was traveling, he once stayed at an inn on the outskirts of Da Yong city at night.

In the evening, a corpse-driving person brought a guest to stay.

Normal inns naturally wouldn't dare to accommodate a corpse-driving person, but some inns had this kind of special background, and... some inns might really have had such bad business that they were on the verge of bankruptcy, where bankruptcy was more terrifying than corpses.

The innkeeper carried a lantern in the evening to instruct the staying guests to avoid going out as much as possible before dawn, hinting that a corpse-driving person had come to stay.

That Yin family ancestor was not in this list. He not only went out but also went to seek out that corpse-driving person. The two drank and chatted and "became bosom friends."

Li Zhuiyuan felt that the phrase "became bosom friends" here was watered down.

Because the Yin family, after Yin Changsheng, their family power and status had been plummeting for two thousand years.

But alas, Yin Changsheng's reputation was too great, and he was vaguely the true body of Fengdu Great Emperor, so when each generation of Yin family members traveled, they would always get a drink when mentioning their ancestor...

No matter how prominent the opponent was, no matter whether the current Yin family had the qualifications to sit at the table, they would more or less give Yin Changsheng some face.

Therefore, the travelogues of each generation of Yin family ancestors are truly quite interesting because they could always mingle in high-end circles.

Just like the corpse-driving person regarded as a bosom friend by this Yin family ancestor, his surname was Jie.

But it was a pity that ancient people wrote things relatively concisely. That Yin family ancestor only recounted this experience as a small episode and did not describe it in detail.

Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan, as a later generation reading the record, could only know one thing from this record:

He went to Da Yong, had a meal with the Jie family corpse-driving person, and bragged all night.

Da Yong is now Zhangjiajie.

Another record in his mind came from Wei Zhengdao's "Jianghu Strange Records." He recorded in it a dead corpse that was an evil cultivator. This dead corpse's surname was Xie, and together with Jie, Bu, and Wang, they were called the four major corpse-driving families of Old Tianmen.

Xue Liangliang said that Li Zhuiyuan's brain was like an encyclopedia, which was indeed true.

These records, before, he had just looked over them and conveniently remembered them in his brain.

He would conduct a more detailed consideration when he actually needed to take them out and analyze them.

Xie, Jie, Wang, Bu, the four major corpse-driving families of Old Tianmen.

Here, Old Tianmen should refer to Tianmen County.

In 263 AD, the Ju Liang Mountain cracked, and a cave opened like a door on the thousand-ren stone wall.

Emperor Jing of Wu, Sun Xiu, the sixth son of Sun Quan, the third emperor of Eastern Wu, regarded this as an auspicious sign, changed Ju Liang Mountain to Tianmen Mountain, and established Tianmen County from the northwest part of Wuling County, with its capital in present-day Zhangjiajie.

In 555 AD, during the reign of Emperor Jing of Liang in the Southern Dynasties, the court abolished Tianmen County and established Li State.

When Wei Zhengdao wrote this book, Tianmen County had already been renamed. He just referred to these four families as Old Tianmen.

They should have continued to use their original names at that time. It's not that... the old name sounds better.

Li Zhuiyuan rubbed his eyebrows. Actually, there was a simpler method. It would be good if the Qin and Liu families had a complete family history passed down.

His efficiency would be higher if he took various biographies of Dragon Kings and searched.

But the old lady said that the Dragon King's family would not specifically record these things. They were all recorded by other families.

This showed only the shallow first layer of the Dragon King's family's arrogance. The deeper reason was that too many Dragon Kings had emerged from their family. Generations of Dragon Kings had all acted as heaven's white gloves. Who would dare to clearly record their biographies?

This was equivalent to your family serving as heaven's human white gloves for generations, and you were secretly keeping private accounts?

If they really recorded it, and then two heaven's white glove families married and combined into one, and the secret private accounts of the two families were combined... that consequence would be simply too terrifying.

So, what was passed down by the Qin and Liu families were only some stories and deeds orally transmitted by each generation of ancestors.

On the contrary, a family like the Zhao family of Jiujiang, which only had one generation of Dragon King, could be a bit cheaper. But even so, the so-called Dragon King notes were definitely not publicly available within the family. The younger generation, it was feared, only the boy Zhao Yi would have the qualification to read them, and reading them would necessarily come at a certain price, equivalent to spying on heaven's secrets.

As for the Yin family... that family was equivalent to a broken jar beyond repair, nothing left.

Moreover, the biggest problem with the Yin family genealogy was that they recorded Yin Changsheng's biography like a myth or legend, seriously distorting it.

But now it seemed, this was perhaps also a kind of protection measure. If it had been recorded realistically and in detail, the Yin family would not have merely declined, but would have been extinct early on.

As for the things Li Zhuiyuan wrote himself, they were only circulated within the team and could not be spread outwards.

Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan did not want to ask the old lady whether she knew about the Jie family. Although the fourth wave had not yet started, he was already preparing to go, and still did not want to drag the old lady into this causal link.

If one day the sky collapsed, Li Zhuiyuan could understand if the old lady wanted to stand up and take some responsibility, and he would not object. But usually, he didn't need to use a soft knife to cut meat.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his pen again and wrote below the painting scroll: Jie family, Zhangjiajie.

It seemed another team building trip was coming.

A Li put down her pen at this moment and looked at Li Zhuiyuan.

"Did you draw well?"

A Li nodded.

"Let me see."

Li Zhuiyuan walked over.

A Li had drawn the scene at the end of her third wave.

She had originally drawn a preliminary draft of the scene with the five heads of Yin beasts side by side, but that wasn't the formal draft. If there were better ones later, that one would be removed.

Li Zhuiyuan looked over. In the painting, he was small, with his foot stepping on a pig head. The pig head was prostrate on the ground, its body continuously extending backward, like a small mountain.

Was this not too much artistic processing?

At that time, that pig head had been struck down by him, originally in a dying state. Together with the other three Yin beasts, the monkey, cow, and centipede, it was very small, semi-transparent, and very weak.

When he stepped on the pig's head, the pig's size, if it were in an ordinary farm household's home, wouldn't even be big enough to be butchered for the New Year. It would have to be left to continue growing meat.

However, Li Zhuiyuan also understood why A Li designed it this way, because stepping on an ordinary small pig... really didn't look good.

Yu Popo's image was gloomy and strange, the big fish was ferocious and huge. If the third painting became a small pig, the contrast would be too great.

A Li's fingertip lightly stroked the painting paper. Obviously, she was also concerned about this point.

"A Li, you drew really well, I like it very much."

A Li raised her head and looked at the boy.

"I'm telling the truth. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. This painting frame won't be spread outwards, and later, when we're old, we'll only flip it out to appreciate and recall. Since it's drawn for ourselves to look at, what's there to be embarrassed about?"

A Li nodded.

As for whether it accidentally got out later and was seen by others, what did it matter? He originally drew it for his own amusement. The people who peeked had no right to say that he exaggerated.

A Li pointed to the area around the painting scroll, meaning that she still needed to enrich the painting scroll, for example, by adding the images of the four Yin beasts.

"Those four can be added, but there's no need to draw them fiercely, nor should they be drawn like that pig head. They are always doing good deeds and accumulating virtue, and now they are also considered to be under our sect."

A Li nodded, indicating that she understood.

Since they were under their sect, their images definitely had to be drawn with kind eyes and benevolent eyebrows, to contrast with the pig head.

"A Li, here." Li Zhuiyuan took out a design drawing paper from his pocket. This was the Seven Orifices Concentric Lock recorded in Wei Zhengdao's book. "When you have time, make two locks. One locks the study door, and one locks the painting frame where you live."

A Li's eyes showed doubt, then she raised her head and looked at the ceiling above.

She understood.

Li Zhuiyuan originally didn't want to snitch. After all, no child liked being watched by elders stealing a look at their diary. But A Li was too smart. There was no need for Li Zhuiyuan to struggle with whether he needed to find a reason or excuse. She just knew why he did this.

However, A Li was not angry.

She didn't think it was bad for outsiders to see the image of the boy she drew.

But Li Zhuiyuan had to consider the old lady's condition.

These days, the old lady had been coughing non-stop.

A true cultivator, who could casually pinch a solid wood chair into fine powder when angry, how could she possibly have such a long-lasting cold that wouldn't get better?

The only possibility was that she had been secretly looking at some things she shouldn't have. Alas, truly a curious and naughty old lady.

A Li took the design drawing paper. She would go and make them.

"I'm going on a long trip in a while."

A Li had just picked up her brush, preparing to continue completing the painting scroll, when she heard this. She silently put the pen down again.

She stood up and left her seat.

The boy was going on a long trip, and she had to help prepare and pack his luggage in advance.

Please... you... collect_(!)

During the third wave, the consumption of team talismans and other tools was very high. They hadn't had time to replenish them yet. It was inconvenient to replenish them during another long trip, so they had to bring some for emergencies.

Therefore, she had to go to the third floor to get materials.

The ancestor memorial tablets were treasures all over.

The hard base could be used as handles and external parts, the outer skin could be used as talisman paper, and the inside could be used to make wood carvings. Crushing it could also be used as material for gathering thunder.

Especially the side with the words. Even if the ancestors' spirits were gone, that side could sometimes still play a "shock" role. Each time A Li took materials, she would carefully peel off that side first.

Li Zhuiyuan's original intention was not to hint at this. He could have said these things directly. But seeing A Li had already walked out of the study, he could only follow.

They went up to the third floor, pushed open the door, and walked into the room with the memorial tablets.

Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward first, took down all the slightly old-looking memorial tablets, and together with A Li, they each carried a pile and walked down the stairs.

Now that they had more tools and the number of users had expanded from one person to the whole team, the consumption rate of ancestor memorial tablets had also increased significantly.

There wasn't much difference between new and old anymore; they were actually all quite new.

As they came down the stairs, Liu Yumei happened to be holding a copy of the "New Liu Family Qi-Gazing Art," preparing to come out. Seeing the two children carrying so many ancestors down, Liu Yumei turned and stopped, sitting back down to continue drinking tea.

Downstairs, Qin Shu walked in carrying a water bucket. Seeing the two children coming down the stairs, he immediately walked into the kitchen. While pulling back Liu Yi, who was holding a rag and was about to come out to wipe the dining room table, he asked, "Think again about which vegetables are still suitable to plant in the courtyard."

Back in the study, Li Zhuiyuan helped A Li neatly stack the memorial tablets.

This feeling was like stacking firewood waiting to be used.

After finishing these things, Li Zhuiyuan did not stay at Grandma Liu's house for lunch and returned to the dormitory first.

Almost immediately after him, Tan Wenbin also came back, holding a thermos bucket.

"Xiao Yuan ge, these are spring roll lotus cakes my mom made. Do you want to try some?"

"Okay."

Tan Wenbin opened the thermos box.

"I'll go find the dorm aunt and get some vinegar for you to dip."

Tan Wenbin went out holding a bowl. When he came back, he not only brought a small bowl of vinegar but also a large bowl of bone soup.

"The aunt is stewing bone. She gave me a bowl."

Li Zhuiyuan started eating lunch, and Tan Wenbin began to talk about what happened at noon.

He said that Luo Mingzhu was very annoying. Not only did she want to get close to him, but she also wanted to pull him into rebuilding an exploration team.

Tan Wenbin stretched out, making a gun gesture against his forehead: "I'd be crazy to team up with someone like her."

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a spring roll, dipped it in vinegar, and said, "Method-wise, it's actually feasible."

"Hmm?" Tan Wenbin immediately asked, "Xiao Yuan ge, do you have a plan?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. He wasn't used to talking while eating, so he just sped up, finished his lunch, and then tidied up the thermos bucket.

Seeing this posture, Tan Wenbin knew there was something serious to discuss. He took advantage of Li Zhuiyuan going to the washbasin to wash the thermos bucket, ran downstairs to the water room, filled two bottles with water, poured two cups of water, then added some mineral water to mix, and picked up his notebook and pen, preparing to take notes.

Yin Meng was with Runsheng in the hospital, and Lin Shuyou had an unmissable professional class in the afternoon.

But strictly speaking, even if they attended this discussion meeting, their role would only be to "emphasize participation."

Currently, within the team, only Tan Wenbin could help Li Zhuiyuan fill in gaps and refine the plan.

The two sat facing each other in the dormitory. Li Zhuiyuan handed Tan Wenbin the "Walk River Behavior Norms 2.0," "Actively Towards the Wave Plan Book," and the painted scroll of the corpse-driving Taoist that he had written last night.

Then, he began to narrate what had happened in the morning and briefly introduced his current thoughts.

Tan Wenbin was looking at the norms while also looking at the plan book, and still had to glance at the painted scroll from time to time. His ears also had to pay attention to Yuanzi ge's speech. He was busy as a bee.

After all, he wasn't a genius who could do two things at once, but luckily, he was familiar with how to coordinate.

He should look at these things himself, understand what he should, and listen to what he should. He didn't need to understand and correct things conceptually, but only to help Yuanzi ge complete the transition from idea to practical implementation based on what he already knew.

In addition to this, he also had to digest and chew on it himself, take time to convey Yuanzi ge's spirit to other people in the team, saving Yuanzi ge the trouble of explaining things repeatedly to each person.

Li Zhuiyuan finished speaking, picked up his cup, and took two sips of water.

Tan Wenbin also put down the notebook and painting scroll he was holding, nodded, and said, "I understand, Xiao Yuan ge, we are going to actively create causal links?"

"Right. Before, the causal lines were all pushed towards us by the river water. Even if we detected them in advance and followed the vine to find the melon, it was still based on them being already established.

Even if we went early, the banquet was actually already set up.

This time, we'll change the way we play. I want to experiment and see if the river water will recognize the causal links we create ourselves."

"Understood. It's just to create a reason. So, Xiao Yuan ge, you were just saying that Luo Mingzhu's new exploration team can be utilized. Just like this time, the Jie family, Zhangjiajie.

We have to actively create a reason for us to go to Zhangjiajie first."

"Right, that's the meaning."

"If I join Luo Mingzhu's exploration team and then hint for her to go to Zhangjiajie, like this, our reason for going to Zhangjiajie is established?"

"I said method-wise it's feasible, but it doesn't have to be Luo Mingzhu."

Tan Wenbin carefully chewed on the meaning of this sentence, and then enlightened, Xiao Yuan ge was just using Luo Mingzhu's exploration team as an example, not actually intending to use this method.

"Xiao Yuan ge, is it because this method has a flaw..." Tan Wenbin made a gesture of digging a ditch with a shovel. "We are digging the ditch in advance when there is no water, but afterwards, this ditch is also destined to have water flowing in."

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "Pulling in ordinary innocent people can easily cause secondary trouble."

These people are very likely to suffer causal backlash.

Tan Wenbin suddenly clapped his hands and said, "This is easy! Don't pull in innocent people, just pull in guilty people!"

Then, Tan Wenbin looked at Li Zhuiyuan and said, "Xiao Yuan ge, you actually thought of this point early on, right?"

"Yes, but the specific implementation measures need you to help design."

"This is easy! I'll go to my dad's bureau first. There are many names of wanted criminals and many letters requesting assistance in investigations. I'll find a wanted criminal who is on the run or likely hiding in Zhangjiajie.

As an excellent youth recognized by the police bureau, I definitely have to contribute to social harmony and stability! With a wanted order, I can go to Zhangjiajie."

Li Zhuiyuan: "One line is not enough, it's easy to break and not easy to continue."

Before, when they were pushing backward, they were always on several lines together. Just like the last time they went to Min'an Town, they pushed backward on three lines together.

Tan Wenbin took out a cigarette pack from his pocket, pulled out one, didn't care that Yuanzi ge was right beside him, lowered his head to light it, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled:

"Got it, add one more. Let Yin Meng or A You, one girl and one who looks delicate, carry some money in their pockets, and bury a treasure map of gold bars hidden somewhere in Zhangjiajie in their old home. Deliberately wave it in front of those social dregs.

Let those dregs make a move and rob them. That money is to boost their confidence and also give them travel expenses, so they can set off for Zhangjiajie first. Since we were robbed, we definitely have to get the money back for revenge. This way, we have another reason to go to Zhangjiajie."

Walking the river was originally about eliminating evil spirits and accumulating great merit to bring peace to the world. Using these human dregs as bait was even more "clear on clear."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Yes, not bad. The first line, the wanted criminal line, has a high degree of freedom. As long as we don't find him, we have reason to go everywhere in Zhangjiajie.

The second line, we can also act as guides. While chasing that group of robbers, we can leave some clues in front of them to hint, letting them follow our rhythm. We can tune them to wherever we go."

Tan Wenbin: "Then can't the third line also follow suit..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "No. There are already two guilty lines, both with a dark style. The third line is best if the style is normal. This conforms to the river water's aesthetic."

Tan Wenbin inhaled forcefully from his cigarette, his right hand incessantly scratching the back of his head: "This is so difficult..."

"Since we don't want to pull in innocent people and cause secondary trouble, then we should remove this class of people from this scope. Who are the people who won't care about pulling causal links themselves?

Those who have extremely strong goals and are actively willing to pay the price for this, and don't care about this price or the price's influence on them is not significant."

Tan Wenbin followed Li Zhuiyuan's thoughts and said, "The former is not easy to find and depends on luck. The latter is easier to find. Take a simple example, such as a dead old person's last wish or a terminally ill person's wish."

These two classes of people, one is already dead, and the other doesn't care about anything else.

Li Zhuiyuan: "Actually, the difficult point is right here. Just because the first two lines are easy to design, the third line requires luck. So, this third line is the most important foundation."

Tan Wenbin: "Understood."

Li Zhuiyuan: "The third wave is just over. We still have plenty of time, no rush, we can find it slowly, and we can also think about it carefully. Maybe we can think of other better methods."

"Okay, Xiao Yuan ge, then I'll go to my dad's bureau first to pick a suitable wanted criminal, and then go to the hospital to visit Runsheng and Yin Meng. By the way, I'll tell them about these things, and I'll take these materials and the painted scroll."

"Okay."

Tan Wenbin went out.

Li Zhuiyuan sat alone in the dormitory for a while, then stood up, first turning the copper mirror towards the dormitory door to eliminate the possibility of outside interference.

Then he walked to the corner, picked up the evil book that had been crumpled into a ball, put it on the desk, and peeled it open.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a brush, dipped some ink, and casually wrote a simple damage array.

After writing it, the ink disappeared, and new fonts appeared, completing this simple array.

The boy did this to probe whether the "pen and ink" of this book would continue automatically.

Indeed, the floating pen and ink were very deep and clear.

This meant that its inkless state last time was a deliberate threat. It didn't want to be used for free and wanted some compensation.

But Li Zhuiyuan didn't spoil it. After resealing it, he threw it aside and didn't care about it.

It was afraid and admitted defeat.

And, it still found a reason for itself. A new line of words appeared on the blank page:

"I've rested well."

Rested well?

Then I'll try.

Li Zhuiyuan took out the paint tray, adjusted the paint, and then began to draw on the blank page of the evil book.

He drew the corpse-driving Taoist.

Since this evil book could distinguish skills and repair arrays... could it also recognize people?

It would be best if, after he finished drawing a person, it would float up the person's biography.

Of course, Li Zhuiyuan also knew that this possibility was very low, almost impossible.

So, he drew this painting in this book to verify another matter.

This painting was drawn by him personally. The corpse-driving Taoist in the painting was his target for the fourth wave. It could be said that it was full of his walk river causal links.

Although the matter was still in the planning and starting stages, the boy wanted to see if this had already attracted "heaven's secret."

Heaven's secret cannot be leaked, but it can be sensed. The life and death door seam on Zhao Yi's forehead in the Zhao family of Jiujiang had a similar effect, helping him avoid bad luck and seek good fortune.

But who could truly sense heaven's secret the most and avoid bad luck and seek good fortune the most... it should be evil things.

The very existence of this kind of thing was a provocation to the way of heaven. If it had no sense of heaven's secret, it would not have survived until now and would have been annihilated in the long river of history long ago.

This evil book was terrifyingly evil. Li Zhuiyuan was very careful and cautious every time he used it. Therefore, he had great confidence in the book's sensitive perception.

As long as it could react, even if only slightly, it would prove from the side that his current attempt and the path he was walking had a chance of success!

Actually, only the boy was willing to use such a precious thing as a consumable to probe heaven's secret.

Other people, even if they were righteous, would not touch this evil book, but they would also not be willing to burn it as firewood just to see a glimmer of light. This was true waste.

Initially, when Li Zhuiyuan first started drawing, it seemed to know that the boy was drawing a person, and the evil book would still help add a few strokes, saving the boy effort.

When the boy started coloring, the evil book could help fill and render quickly by itself.

Sometimes when it helped incorrectly, Li Zhuiyuan only needed to pause the pen tip slightly on it, and the evil book would eliminate the superfluous parts it had added on its own, allowing Li Zhuiyuan to draw it himself.

But seeing that the drawing was almost complete, and even the paper money was drawn, the evil book still maintained a calm and composed appearance.

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but suspect: Could it be, was he really just entertaining himself?

However, since he was drawing, he should complete it thoroughly and pursue details.

Li Zhuiyuan began to write the words on the paper money, changing to a fine pen for this.

The first piece of paper money: Yin people on the road, Yang people avoid.

As Li Zhuiyuan just wrote the word "Yin" of these eight words, the evil book thoughtfully imitated his handwriting and actively filled in the remaining seven words.

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. On the other piece of paper money in the painting, he lifted his pen and wrote the word "Jie."

As soon as this word appeared, the evil book did not supplement the following words.

Originally, the words were supposed to be: Jie family reward, Little ghosts thank and bow.

Not only that, but Li Zhuiyuan perceived that the evil book was trembling. It was afraid, very afraid.

Absolutely not a Jie family could make it so afraid.

Because Li Zhuiyuan had experimented with the advanced version of "Liu Family Qi-Gazing Art" using it, and it had generously floated up and told him which sect the skill belonged to.

No matter how powerful or terrifying the Jie family was, they couldn't compare to a true Dragon King family.

So, it wasn't afraid of the Jie family, it was afraid of...

"Bang!"

A ball of flame rose up.

This book burned.

———

Note: On April 4, 1994, Da Yong was renamed Zhangjiajie. Using "Zhangjiajie" directly in the text is for everyone's reading convenience, the same reason applies to Wanzhou earlier.

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