Chapter 141

Chapter 142

Chapter 138

This book caught fire.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't try to put it out. His first thought was: Is this evil book deceiving me?

Then, the young man immediately came up with the answer: No, it's not.

Because he had only treated it as a test, or more accurately, a form of divination. But the arrow was already on the string; no matter the result, he would continue to follow his heart's path.

So, it burned, proving that destiny is within me.

If it hadn't burned or reacted, he would have simply declared "man conquers nature" and carried on.

In any case, it wouldn't affect his decision, so its current reaction was more likely to be real.

That is, it really involves destiny.

The fire continued to burn. Li Zhuiyuan picked up the cup on his desk, but instead of pouring it on the book, he took a sip himself.

He knew how precious this evil book was, but he didn't feel bad about it. If it truly burned to ashes, then so be it.

As it burned, the fire finally began to die down.

Half of the pages were burned black, and the cover and back were very wrinkled, but overall, it was still intact.

Indeed, it was worthy of being filled with evil things; its life was truly tenacious.

The young man thought of a new way to use this book.

He could use it to probe destiny in reverse.

The contest between him and the question setter wouldn't be limited to the fourth wave. It would likely continue. So in the future, if he had any ideas, he could use this book for further divination, to see if it burned or not.

Reaching out, he flipped through the pages. Half were burned black, but many remaining pages were just scorched yellow.

Hmm, even if it could never fully recover, it could at least burn one more time.

As for helping it recover?

That was impossible, absolutely impossible.

For this kind of evil thing, it was best to just squeeze its value. He absolutely couldn't make deals with it, because every moment of self-satisfaction could lead him into the book's calculations.

When talking with the devil, one shouldn't bring a scale, but a whip.

After wrapping it up with the seal again, he shoved it under the bed.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a rag, wiped his desk, and refilled his cup with hot water.

He thought for a moment, then opened a drawer and took out the empty pull-tab can, placing it on his desk.

He hesitated about sticking a label on the pull-tab can, thinking it wasn't appropriate. So he simply tore two pieces of paper, folded them into a square, concave paper box, placed it in the corner of the desk, put the pull-tab can inside, and then took a fountain pen from the pen holder and put it in there as well.

This way, he wouldn't need to explain anything, and Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou wouldn't mistake it for trash and throw it away.

He reached up and touched his own face.

The reason he didn't want to explain was that he felt a bit embarrassed about this matter.

Was he already experiencing this kind of emotion?

Compared to his former self, he would probably think this idea... no, this behavior of collecting pull-tab cans was truly very childish and stupid.

Unfortunately, this matter was still intertwined with A Li. He already knew clearly that when he was with A Li, his condition would improve, and his human skin would grow.

He just didn't know when this kind of emotion could detach from A Li's category and spread to others, or center on himself.

This didn't mean the young man wanted to separate from A Li. It was just that only if he stepped out more boldly could he hold the girl's hand and lead her forward better.

Putting away his thoughts, Li Zhuiyuan began to make a more detailed plan based on the implementation suggestions Tan Wenbin had previously given him.

Plans might not keep up with changes, but that didn't mean plans were useless. At least through them, his companions would clearly know the objective, and by the way, he could convey the direction of their thinking through the plan document. So even if changes occurred and the plan document was discarded, his companions would still understand where to exert their subjective initiative, instead of becoming headless chickens.

Li Zhuiyuan wrote until dusk, predicting many possible accidents and adding many of his own ideas.

Lin Shuyou came back after class. He opened the dormitory door and saw Xiao Yuan working on something. He didn't dare to disturb him and silently sat at Tan Wenbin's desk, starting to recite and study his own material.

Only, with Xiao Yuan sitting beside him, it was like having an exam invigilator standing right next to you.

Lin Shuyou saw the time was right and simply gathered his things, escaping to the evening self-study classroom to study.

In the evening, Tan Wenbin returned. Li Zhuiyuan was still writing. Tan Wenbin stood beside him and watched for a while, then sat on his own bed.

He held a large file bag with three wanted posters inside.

In addition, there were three investigation files.

The former were taken from his dad's bureau, and the latter were done by himself, done a bit sloppily, only providing a general idea.

It was close to midnight when Li Zhuiyuan finally finished writing. He put down his pen, having written a thick stack.

For him, the speed of writing seriously hindered the speed of his brain.

He handed these things to Tan Wenbin, who began to flip through them.

Li Zhuiyuan then picked up the file bag Tan Wenbin had brought back. There were three wanted posters, the suspects two males and one female.

The most recent one was issued half a year ago, involving a male working outside who had used violent means to insult a shop owner and his daughter before fleeing.

The oldest one was from four years ago, about a gang specifically targeting taxi drivers for robbery. The gang leader, who also acted as the bait, was female. They not only robbed taxi drivers, injuring several, but also caused the serious injury and death of one driver.

This was also why, nowadays, taxis generally had transparent partitions between the driver's seat and the back row, separating the driver from passengers.

Indeed, social security wasn't very good these days, and taxi drivers were definitely a high-income profession, and their work situation was solitary, making them easy targets.

The two males in the gang were caught, but the female fled. The gang confessed her native place.

The middle case happened two years ago and involved a fraudster who had defrauded many elderly people of their funeral money and pensions.

All three suspects' native places were in Zhangjiajie, and the police suspected that the criminal suspects had likely fled back to their hometown.

Zhangjiajie was now a well-known domestic tourist attraction, with beautiful scenery, pleasant views, simple folk customs, and enthusiastic and hospitable people. It was an excellent place for vacation and sightseeing.

However, in any place, when the population reached a certain level, it was normal to regularly produce some bad eggs.

They were deliberately looking for them; even if they changed to other areas, they could still find many.

But this also gave Li Zhuiyuan a wake-up call. This method was good, as the destination was a city. But next time, if they went to sparsely populated areas or simply uninhabited areas like glaciers or deserts... where would they find wanted criminals?

And the second method, "fishing enforcement," also made it very difficult to find criminal gangs daring enough to go to uninhabited areas to dig for gold.

So, they would use this method this time, and if it succeeded, the method for next time would still need to be upgraded.

For example, if they went to uninhabited areas, they would have to find criminals in advance themselves, using some form of divination or insinuation, similar to herding cattle and sheep, guiding them to move towards the uninhabited area destination.

As for ordinary criminal gangs digging for gold, they would need to upgrade to grave robbers, giving them clues and telling them to go to the designated location to dig up ancient tombs and dry corpses.

"Choose this one." Li Zhuiyuan took out the wanted poster of the female suspect. "She has a long history and is responsible for a human life."

"Okay, good." Tan Wenbin nodded and set this wanted poster aside.

Li Zhuiyuan then looked at the three investigation reports Tan Wenbin had compiled. They were essentially local thugs in three different areas, most suitable for fishing.

One was a gang of thugs guarding an underground casino, one was a loan sharking gang, and one was a gang of hooligans bullying students near a school.

They were all frequent visitors to the police station, considered social tumors, who scattered like birds and beasts after each police crackdown but soon revived.

"Choose this one." Li Zhuiyuan selected the third one. "Hoodlums who bully students are generally younger, from poorer economic backgrounds, and more prone to daydreaming."

"Hey, Xiao Yuan, I think so too."

"Then why didn't you just bring back this one?"

Tan Wenbin: "Bring back three, it's more auspicious."

Immediately after, Tan Wenbin stood up and said, "Xiao Yuan, I'll take these to the photo studio and find Deng Chen to print them."

"The store can't copy them?"

"The store's copies are nowhere near as good as Deng Chen's eye-rolling quality.

Besides, giving him something to do will make his heart feel more at ease."

"You handle it."

"Oh, right, Runsheng will be discharged tomorrow afternoon."

"So fast?"

"He mainly has severe superficial burns, and unlike ordinary people, he doesn't need to worry about infection risk. He can be discharged early. After all, he usually eats a lot of incense, so he has blessings."

"That's good. Let's have dinner tomorrow night."

Runsheng hadn't returned to the team yet, so the team couldn't really take action and set off.

Looking back at the pig head incident, although Runsheng was the most injured, the strength he displayed was actually what made that pig most apprehensive.

This included Runsheng's final plan to fully open his pores and fight desperately, which made that pig feel a real crisis.

That pig hadn't planned to conveniently clip the Dragon King's wings first, but Runsheng was a tough nut to crack, and it didn't dare to go after his head.

When that pig was about to go after Yinmeng, Tan Wenbin's Fourth Uncle was committing suicide, forcing that pig to quickly switch targets and go after the white centipede spirit.

When that pig was preparing to make a move on Tan Wenbin, Tan Wenbin's first attempt at ghost control technique was unskilled, causing his body to look inflated, very similar to Runsheng's state when preparing to fight desperately.

Finally, Tan Wenbin reported the black python's location, allowing that pig to choose to bypass him and rush directly to the photo studio.

And not being able to conveniently completely eliminate his three companions, making himself "have reinforcements," this factor also forced that pig to choose the smartest way to obtain the "black python."

In short, the team's role was indispensable. Historically, there shouldn't have been a lack of Dragon Kings walking the rivers alone, but it wasn't suitable for the current Li Zhuiyuan, because the river didn't give him the opportunity to grow up.

Tan Wenbin drove to Pingju Photo Studio and found Deng Chen to copy a stack of text.

It had to be said that the flesh-and-blood... no, the snake-flesh printing press was still very useful. Deng Chen could even help with layout and proofreading, and enlarge the font.

Tan Wenbin was very satisfied and took the items away. Deng Chen "looked" at the contents of the text and felt a damp patch on his back.

If possible, he really wanted to forget the contents of that text, because he saw the true ambition of this future Dragon King Lord. People were no longer satisfied with simply passively walking the river.

Tan Wenbin returned to the dormitory. On the way, he passed the window of the dorm aunt's office and conveniently went in to freeload some supper.

Back in the dormitory, he continued to read and study. He had now developed the good habit of studying at night and sleeping in the classroom in the morning.

The next morning, Li Zhuiyuan got up and, as usual, went to find A Li. He walked with her on the playground, then had breakfast at Liu Aunt's place, carrying his schoolbag to attend the "elective course."

It was fortunate that Professor Zhu had a class at 8 o'clock.

A sunny morning, with Professor Zhu's warm and steady voice, was indeed a perfect match.

However, some things always came so unexpectedly.

When the bell rang, the students in the classroom didn't wait for Professor Zhu. In the past, he always arrived early, watching the students enter the classroom with a smiling face.

A new teacher walked in, called the class monitors of several classes, and said a few simple words to them.

Subsequently, the class monitors announced to their classmates that today's ideological and political class was canceled, and everyone could go back to the dormitory or find other empty classrooms to sit in and wait for the third and fourth periods.

Although Li Zhuiyuan was sitting in the back corner, his hearing was good, and he heard the teacher tell the class monitors that Professor Zhu's family had experienced a death.

Even though he had only met her once and was psychologically prepared, the sudden departure of someone still made Li Zhuiyuan slightly lower his eyelids. The set of finely bound books that Grandma Zhu had given him were still in his dormitory.

Li Zhuiyuan carried his schoolbag to the teaching building opposite and entered a classroom.

The teacher who was teaching looked at the young man and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Actually, the young man should also have been in this classroom attending class at this time.

Tan Wenbin was sleeping soundly. Fortunately, Lin Shuyou was diligently attending class and saw Xiao Yuan enter. He immediately woke Bin Brother up.

"Hmm?"

Tan Wenbin groggily lifted his head. Upon seeing Li Zhuiyuan, he immediately stood up and asked the teacher for leave. "Teacher, the student union has an activity rehearsal. I'll go first."

The teacher frowned but didn't say anything.

Lin Shuyou shrank his head and quickly followed Bin Brother.

Li Zhuiyuan led Tan Wenbin and Lin Shuyou to the faculty building outside the school. Professor Zhu was sitting alone on the sofa in the living room, his head down.

"Professor Zhu, please accept my condolences."

Professor Zhu looked up at Li Zhuiyuan, forced a smile, then looked at the tightly closed bedroom door. "She kept mentioning you a few days ago and repeatedly looked at the painting you drew."

Grandma Zhu was a woman full of artistic sensibility, and her life hand-in-hand with Professor Zhu had allowed her to immerse herself in this for most of her life. Thus, she genuinely liked this kind of talented young prodigy.

When Professor Zhu had previously invited Li Zhuiyuan home as a guest, he had said his wife had contracted a strange illness. It was indeed a strange illness, as people were nearing their end, and no specific problems could be found, nor could it be treated. He could only watch his wife's condition worsen day by day.

"Professor Zhu, how will the funeral be handled?"

"I notified the school. The school will send people to help me."

Tan Wenbin naturally understood why Xiao Yuan had brought him here and took the initiative to speak. "Professor Zhu, we'll come and help you with it. My family has been doing this for three generations."

"No need to trouble yourselves. The school will..."

Tan Wenbin: "We are also from the school."

Professor Zhu was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Then, thank you."

Saying this, Professor Zhu stood up and bowed to Tan Wenbin.

Tan Wenbin accepted the courtesy. He had previously lied about his family doing this for three generations, but he had handled his share of funerals following Li Sanjiang, so he was clear about the procedures.

"Professor Zhu, do you plan to rent a mourning hall at the funeral home or hold it in the community?"

"Hold it in the community. Those flowers outside were planted by her. She should also want to say goodbye to everyone here, it's just... it's best if it can be quieter, not to disturb the neighbors."

"Rest assured, I understand."

Tan Wenbin began to handle things one by one. Later, the people the school sent to help arrived and instead became Tan Wenbin's subordinates.

Under his organization and management, the entire funeral was orderly, and the Professor Zhu who had lost his loved one was able to sit quietly beside the rented crystal coffin, accompanying his wife for the last journey.

For the deceased's relatives, this was already a great blessing.

Colleagues and students of the elderly couple all rushed to mourn.

Lin Shuyou was assigned by Tan Wenbin to write the gift list. According to Professor Zhu's wishes, all gifts, whether from colleagues or students, would be returned after the funeral.

He certainly couldn't accept the students' condolence money, and even if there had been exchanges with colleagues before, at his age, he feared it would be difficult to return the favor later, so he simply didn't accept any.

Originally, the most suitable person for this task was Li Zhuiyuan, but Li Zhuiyuan had the experience of writing couplets for Liu Jinxia. It was truly not suitable for him to specifically handle this, as it might add variables to this funeral.

So, Li Zhuiyuan was responsible for sitting beside Professor Zhu and listening to him recount stories of their lives together.

During this time, Li Zhuiyuan heard that Grandma Zhu's hometown was in Zhangjiajie, but in her hometown, there were no relatives left.

This seemed like a coincidence, but there was a kind of deliberation to it.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't answer and continued to listen quietly.

As evening fell, Runsheng and Yinmeng, who had just been discharged, also came. Runsheng was still wrapped in many bandages, but it didn't prevent him from helping with some tasks.

Since there was no banquet, everyone simply ate a casual meal in the evening. Professor Zhu was still mentally composed and also ate some.

In the evening, everyone accompanied Professor Zhu to keep vigil all night.

Originally, Tan Wenbin said he and A You staying was enough, but Li Zhuiyuan didn't return to the dormitory and chose to stay here.

The next morning, Grandma Zhu was picked up by the crematorium's car, sent for cremation, and then buried in a nearby public cemetery.

In the afternoon, Professor Zhu carried his wife's black and white photo back and placed the photo frame on the previously arranged altar table.

Tan Wenbin helped light incense and candles, and the final step of the ritual process was completed. The funeral process was over.

Overall, this funeral was relatively simple, and many aspects didn't conform to customs, but Li Sanjiang had once told Zhuangzhuang that the handling of a deceased person's affairs should ultimately depend on the needs of the living.

For Professor Zhu, what he wanted was such a simple, unpretentious process, without a big fuss, so he could continue to feel his wife's presence at home and continue living days with "her."

Finally, Professor Zhu grabbed the arms of the helping crowd one by one and knelt before them.

It was only a gesture; the old professor only bent his knees and was held up by everyone, not letting him truly kneel down.

He insisted that everyone take a red envelope, and everyone did.

After everything was finished, Li Zhuiyuan and the others returned to school.

Usually, at this time, everyone would gather at Old Sichuan for a meal, but having just experienced a peaceful funeral, they temporarily had no appetite for spicy and greasy food.

The five people at the store boiled several pots of noodle soup, along with some homemade sausages and pickles, and ate a simple meal.

After everyone finished eating, Li Zhuiyuan said, "The operation can begin."

Tan Wenbin was responsible for the wanted poster line and could act freely, finding points of involvement and enriching the cause and effect of that line.

Lin Shuyou and Yinmeng were responsible for the school-side hoodlums line. They needed to put more money in their pockets or bags, display their wealth in front of that group of hoodlums, then deliberately go into a small alley to give the other side an opportunity to rob them, and by the way, give them the gold bar clue.

Yinmeng was the only girl in the team, and Lin Shuyou's appearance, when not speaking, initially gave people a timid and easily bullied impression.

The two of them were most suitable to be the bait.

Runsheng was simply not suitable to appear in this scene, especially with bandages still on his body. A big guy with bandages, at first glance, looked tough to provoke. Even if he wore a big gold chain around his neck and swaggered, that group of low-level hoodlums who even bullied students wouldn't dare to provoke him.

Li Zhuiyuan required everyone to first write the script today, and after the script was written, they were to hand it over to him for review.

The purpose of doing this was also to delegate the exercise of thinking.

In the evening, Tan Wenbin was the first to bring his script to Li Zhuiyuan. He must have pondered for a long time, writing it all in one go.

"Okay, very good. Just go with this."

In the evening, Yinmeng and Lin Shuyou also handed in their scripts. Li Zhuiyuan read them and said, "No need to act as a 'couple.' Too much extra drama has been added." Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. "You two make some cuts. You can amplify the contradictory characteristics of your usual interactions; don't leave too many plot holes."

Yinmeng and Lin Shuyou looked at each other, clearly not fully understanding.

"Come on, come on, I'll help you two revise it together." Tan Wenbin put his arms around their shoulders and began to help them plan.

It was late at night when the second version of the script was finished.

Li Zhuiyuan took it and looked, somewhat worriedly. "No problem, but I hope after you two act it out, it doesn't affect your future unity."

...

The next day, during the third and fourth periods, Li Zhuiyuan went to Professor Zhu's class as usual and waited.

He originally thought Professor Zhu wouldn't come to class, but he did.

For him, maintaining the original rhythm of life helped create a feeling that life was still the same.

Professor Zhu first smiled at Li Zhuiyuan, who was sitting in the corner of the classroom, then began to lecture.

His voice was a bit hoarse and tired, but the content of his lecture was still full of logic and rationality.

After class, Professor Zhu walked over to Li Zhuiyuan's side and chatted with the young man for a while.

After chatting, he left.

Li Zhuiyuan sat there, watching his back disappear outside the classroom door.

Not long after, Runsheng came in, carrying a lunch box in his hand.

Li Zhuiyuan opened the lunch box. Inside were two dishes that Runsheng had made himself, covering the rice.

"Runsheng, have you eaten?"

"Definitely ate first, otherwise I'd have to carry the bucket over, which wouldn't look good."

"They all left?"

"Hmm, Binbin went out, and Mengmeng and A You also went out."

"Then after I finish eating, I should also go to find my third line."

"The third line, where are you going?" Although Runsheng wasn't participating this time, he had also read the plan and script.

"Go to find Professor Zhu."

"Professor Zhu wasn't in class just now, was he?"

"It was his class. I deliberately waited until now. Him coming to find me to talk and me actively going to find him to talk are different in nature."

On the first day of the funeral, sitting beside the crystal coffin, Professor Zhu mentioned Grandma Zhu's native place. Li Zhuiyuan's heart was a little tense. He didn't want Professor Zhu to say that Grandma Zhu had some last wish in her hometown.

Because what he wanted was not to be pushed by the river, but to take the initiative himself.

On the second day of the funeral, Li Zhuiyuan also didn't mention the matter of Grandma Zhu's hometown to Professor Zhu. Today's morning class, including the chat between them after class, Li Zhuiyuan also didn't mention it. Of course, Professor Zhu also didn't mention it.

This was to confirm that there was no river water involved in this instance.

Now that it was confirmed, he should actively dig it out himself.

Li Zhuiyuan finished eating, closed the lunch box, and said, "Runsheng, let's go."

Runsheng smiled. He knew that Xiao Yuan was deliberately calling him to come, afraid that he would be emotionally low after just recovering from his injury and having nothing to do this time, so he specially called him to bring food and said they would act together.

But just going to Professor Zhu's house, why would he need to follow?

Xiao Yuan was indeed different from before.

The previous Xiao Yuan, when he was in front of you, would be very enthusiastic, considerate, and pay attention to every detail. But if you weren't by his side, his world seemed to suddenly be completely without you.

Runsheng had seen the scene that night when the young man answered his mother's call, squatting by the stream holding burning incense.

He seemed to be climbing up from the mire little by little, and he himself was already used to standing in front of him.

When Li Zhuiyuan arrived at Professor Zhu's house, Professor Zhu was eating.

He had just fried a dish and was holding his rice bowl, sitting in front of his wife's photo, eating while chatting.

Li Zhuiyuan's arrival surprised Professor Zhu a bit, because if there was something, why didn't he say it in the classroom?

"Xiao Yuan, have you eaten?"

"I have eaten, Professor Zhu."

Li Zhuiyuan sat on a chair beside him and began to chat with Professor Zhu slowly.

As they chatted, the young man took the initiative to turn the topic. "Zhangjiajie is such a beautiful place. Did Grandma Zhu not think of going back to her hometown to see?"

"She did think about it, but first, there were no relatives left in her hometown early on, and second, we were busy with work before. By the time we retired, her health gradually deteriorated."

"Then Grandma Zhu must have had regrets in her heart. I heard that after people die, their souls will float back to their hometown to see."

Professor Zhu was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, then nodded vigorously.

Afraid that Professor Zhu would decide to go himself, Li Zhuiyuan quickly spoke again. "Professor Zhu, I have a relative working in Grandma Zhu's hometown recently. He just called me to go and see him, and I've already prepared to ask for leave from school to go there.

I plan to bring a painting of Grandma Zhu's hometown village from the study and a photo of Grandma Zhu, and go to her hometown to help her fulfill her wish."

"Your relative?" Professor Zhu asked with a worried look. "What relative, Xiao Yuan? You're still young. This year, except for direct relatives, some relatives also have to..."

Li Zhuiyuan struggled to say two words: "My mom."

"Oh, that's good, that's good." Professor Zhu breathed a sigh of relief. He was worried the young man had been deceived. If such a child were trafficked, it would be a great loss to society.

"Professor Zhu, shall I go to the study and get the painting?"

"Then, thank you, Xiao Yuan. Actually, just now when I heard what you said, I was planning to go myself."

"You are old, and so many students look forward to your class."

"Indeed. Then I can only trouble you."

"This is what I should do. Don't be so polite."

Li Zhuiyuan also helped pack Grandma Zhu's belongings. He knew where that painting was. Professor Zhu also gave Li Zhuiyuan a photo of Grandma Zhu. The photo was also black and white, but Grandma Zhu was younger in it.

"She should like to be a bit younger when going back to her hometown, right?" Professor Zhu was asking the photo this last question.

Li Zhuiyuan first organized the items, then lit three incense sticks for Grandma Zhu.

Perhaps the old lady didn't have such a strong attachment to her hometown in her heart; he had added this wish for her.

She had already left, and cause and effect couldn't involve her, but to a certain extent, he was also using her.

Li Zhuiyuan handed Professor Zhu the paper with Tan Wenbin's pager number and the store's phone number.

Among the team, Tan Wenbin was the most sensitive to the sound of the pager, and someone could answer the store's phone 24 hours a day.

"This is?"

"Professor, if you have anything or a headache and need to go to the hospital, call this number, and we will arrive immediately."

"No need for this. My health is fine, and how can I keep troubling you?"

"This is a small gesture from us as students. Please accept it."

"Good, good, good. I accept. Thank you, child. I'll put it under the desk glass."

Professor Zhu took the paper and went into the inner room.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at Grandma Zhu's photo. Three burning incense sticks curled blue smoke. Deng Chen's photography technique was truly too meticulous.

In the photo, Grandma Zhu, in the white smoke, looked at the young man, blooming a smile.

...

Tan Wenbin walked out of the school gate. Next, he was going to the bureau to find his dad.

However, he didn't drive the store's small pickup out as usual, but hailed a taxi at the school gate.

According to the script, he now had to add a scene for himself. As soon as he got in the car, the driver laughed. "Yo, it's you, haha."

"Master, what a coincidence?"

"Yes, just a coincidence."

This taxi driver was the same one Tan Wenbin had taken from Pingju Photo Studio to the Eighth Hospital last time. The other had told him that a damn colleague had an accident, and since he also wanted to go to the Eighth Hospital to visit an old brother, he had given him a free ride.

Jinling was big, and there were many taxis. This was the second time they had met. Tan Wenbin also conveniently looked at the work ID placed in front: Liu Changping.

Liu Changping drove while saying, "I have to go see a movie with someone tonight."

"Got a partner?"

"Just one stroke away from completing the eight characters."

"Congratulations, congratulations."

"Truly thanks to you. If you hadn't taken my car to the hospital that day, I wouldn't have met her."

"Oh?"

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

"She's an intern nurse at the hospital. I parked and happened to meet her; she had just fallen. I went to help, and that's how we met."

"That's your own good fortune."

"Hehe."

Tan Wenbin knew it was because Liu Changping hadn't charged him that day.

He had just finished walking a wave with the Dragon King and gave a free ride, which also counted as gaining a bit of merit in this wave.

This little bit of merit fell on Liu Changping and granted him a marriage line.

This was not an exaggeration... because he himself had relied on this merit to directly supplement his Yang life. Looking again at that white crane boy, if the merit wasn't rich enough, how could He "endure humiliation" to eat alone?

Besides, Tan Wenbin had read Xiao Yuan's "Zhuiyuan Secret Volume" record about the third wave and noticed that Xiao Yuan had written about being "blacked" for the car fare when returning to school.

Although not verified, Tan Wenbin suspected that the one who had blacked Xiao Yuan's car fare was the "damn colleague" Liu Changping mentioned.

This guy was truly, who not to black, but blacked the car fare of the Dragon King who had just finished walking a wave.

He directly hooked his own cause and effect with "evil spirits." If he wasn't unlucky, who would be?

Benefiting from Xiao Yuan's understanding and breakdown of the cause and effect of walking the river, Tan Wenbin now also had his own understanding of this. In this world, there indeed existed a kind of "noble person." Meeting a noble person could change one's luck.

But the prerequisite was that one's own mind must be upright. Upright people received good luck, while those with wrong intentions suffered backlash.

After the topic was laid out, Tan Wenbin chatted with Liu Changping.

As they chatted, he steered the conversation towards the robbery cases targeting taxi drivers and sisters.

"Yes, especially when picking up passengers at night, you have to be extra careful. Some remote places, even if the road is far and the fare is high, I don't dare to go.

And on those nights, when several men are taking a taxi together, my heart also has to murmur a bit.

I don't want to earn money and lose my life."

"Then couldn't they arrange women to take taxis to lower your guard? I heard there was such a case four years ago, and one person died."

"Yes, yes, yes, I remember that matter. That gang had women take taxis at night, and after arriving at the destination, two men would rush up to rob.

Alas, I had just entered this industry then and was scared when I heard about this. Later, that gang was caught by the police, but that woman escaped."

Next, Tan Wenbin deliberately guided Liu Changping, and they together denounced that female suspect.

Liu Changping cursed with great pleasure. After arriving at the destination, he was still not satisfied and picked up his cup, drinking a whole cup of water in one gulp.

Tan Wenbin paid the fare, and Liu Changping generously rounded down the amount for him.

"Yo, how embarrassing, isn't it usually passengers who give drivers tips?"

"Truly, little brother, if you open a store one day, specializing in chatting with people, I think people would be willing to pay just to chat with you."

"Hahaha." Tan Wenbin laughed as he got out of the car and walked into the police bureau. He came to his dad's office door and knocked.

"Come in."

Tan Wenbin tidied his clothes. Connecting this to Liu Changping earlier, he suddenly realized that his own dad was actually the one who gained the most benefit.

He hadn't even sponged off his parents yet, and it turned out Dad had been taking advantage of his son? Simply outrageous!

Tan Wenbin pushed open the office door and went in, deliberately not closing the door, and said very loudly, "Dad, when I just took a taxi over, I heard the taxi driver talking about a matter, saying four years ago there was a gang...

This world, actually has such arrogant criminal gangs! Taxi drivers and sisters, serving citizens, creating a good city image, getting up early and going to bed late, forgetting to eat and sleep, putting in so much effort...

Under the bright sky, in broad daylight...

Simply unbearable, who can bear it...

As the bureau's awarded excellent youth, if I have the opportunity, I must...

...bring them to justice!"

Tan Wenbin's voice attracted many police officers outside. Some old police officers also explained the case to the younger ones. At that time, the bureau had put in a lot of effort to catch this gang, even having police officers pretend to be taxi drivers.

Tan Yunlong, sitting behind his desk, was initially wondering what was wrong with his son again.

But as he listened, his face gradually became a bit strange. He had a premonition that he seemed... to be about to earn merit again.

Truly, every time before he earned merit, his son would put on such an inexplicable show.

Finally, Tan Wenbin finished speaking.

Tan Yunlong opened the lid of his teacup on the desk and pushed it forward.

Tan Wenbin was not polite, walked up, and drank the tea in the cup in one gulp.

"Hoo... burp."

"What's the matter?"

Tan Wenbin went to close the office door, walked to the desk, and whispered, "Dad, the wanted poster I copied here yesterday..."

"What you just said, wasn't it about one of them?"

"Hmm, I feel the case I just mentioned could be investigated more thoroughly."

"You have clues?"

"Not yet, but where there's a will, there's a way."

"Then what ideas do you have?"

"Not yet, but heaven has eyes."

Tan Yunlong pulled out a cigarette and bit it in his mouth.

Frankly, as a police officer, he didn't want to substitute his thinking mode into this situation.

But the problem was, sometimes he couldn't help it. Ever since that year at Shigang Police Station, when that boy pushed open his office door and walked in to tell him which family's pond water tank bottom had a corpse buried, his worldview had shifted somewhat.

He could only repeatedly comfort himself that it was all for solving cases and bringing criminals to justice.

Tan Wenbin drew a cigarette from his old man's cigarette box. After his old man lit his cigarette, he leaned in.

Tan Yunlong helped him light the cigarette and asked, "Didn't you quit?"

"Hmm, quit for many days."

"Then what a pity, endure a bit."

"Nothing, not a pity, quit every day."

Tan Yunlong sighed helplessly. "Smoke less, it's not good for your health."

Tan Wenbin exhaled a smoke ring and waved his hand. This was even more nothing. Your son, I, can now actively add and subtract Yang life.

Tan Yunlong said, "The nature of this case at that time was very bad. As a citizen, you have the responsibility and obligation to cooperate with the police and jointly build a harmonious and safe social security environment..."

Tan Wenbin listened and kept nodding. Not bad, his own old man was just as smart as himself.

Tan Yunlong: "...If you can find her, discover her, you must report it to the police in a timely manner."

"Understood!"

Tan Wenbin extinguished the cigarette butt and waved his hand. "Dad, I'm going. I probably have to go on a long trip recently. Go home and accompany my mom more."

"You don't need to tell me that."

"The problem is you're busy with work and not accompanying your wife. Your wife will go find my partner to accompany her. If my partner goes, I have to drive to go. I'm also very busy, okay?"

"Get out!"

Tan Wenbin left the police bureau and walked to the door, looking at the majestic and tall plaques on both sides.

He remembered Xiao Yuan saying before that when Li Dazye encountered dirty things, he would actively hug the police station plaque.

At that time, Xiao Yuan and Runsheng had also treated him as a temporary plaque and hugged him.

So, did his trip today also count as "hugging the plaque"?

Anyway, he was already here.

Tan Wenbin walked to the front of the plaque, spread his arms, and gave it a warm hug.

"Yo, Binbin?" Officer Xiao Zhou had just walked in from outside, saw this scene, and laughed. "I knew early on how good you would be at the police academy exam!"

"Huh?" Tan Wenbin laughed while patting the dust off his chest. "Revolutionary division of labor is different."

"It's nothing, there will be opportunities after graduation."

"I still like to deal with water more."

"That's also good, hydraulic engineering helps national development!"

...

Dusk, outside a middle school after school.

"Remember, you still have to hand over so much money tomorrow, hear me?"

"I... I don't have it."

"Don't have it? Hehe, just like today, isn't it easy for you to secretly take money from home?"

"If I take it again, my parents will find out, really."

"I don't care if your parents find out or not. Remember, if you can't hand over the money tomorrow, think about your fate."

"I..."

"Slap!"

A slap across the face, and the male student fell to the ground. A hoodlum put his shoe on the boy's chest and spat heavily on the boy's face.

"This is just an appetizer. If you can't hand over the money tomorrow, I'll invite you to eat a good meal in the toilet, hahaha!"

"I'll hand it over... I'll hand it over..."

"Bang!"

The hoodlum kicked the boy again. "Get lost, see you tomorrow. Don't think about hiding from us, we have ways to find you."

The boy struggled to get up, crying as he ran away.

Three hoodlums gathered together, counting the money, and divided it on the spot.

Just then, a female student walked past, and a hoodlum went up and slapped her butt heavily.

"Ah!"

The female student screamed and ran away.

The hoodlum put his palm under his nose and sniffed, letting out a proud and harsh laugh.

At this moment, another hoodlum poked him, pointing to another place. On the opposite street stall, there was a young man who looked scholarly paying, holding a stack of large denomination bills in his hand, counting the change to give to the stall owner.

Beside the young man was a young woman. The woman was carrying a bag and wearing a skirt. The two were arguing.

"Tiger Brother, that girl is so fair."

"Yes, really fair, damn, so tender."

"Not a middle schooler, from the nearby university?"

"Should be."

The three hoodlums' gazes were immediately attracted by Yinmeng.

Yinmeng was already good-looking, and she had been whitened by Liu Aunt with special methods. Plus, she was specially dressed up today, making her even more youthful and beautiful.

The three hoodlums unconsciously went over there, wanting to join in the fun, or be a hero saving the beauty, or take advantage of the situation. Anyway, there was nothing to lose.

However, before they crossed the street, the two on the opposite side bought their things and walked over.

The male even actively handed the money to the female, stuffing it into the girl's bag.

Lin Shuyou: "This is all my living expenses for this semester from home. You can keep it safe there."

Yinmeng put the money into the bag while sarcastically saying, "What are you giving me this money for, heh, I really despise your family's nouveau riche face."

Lin Shuyou: "You can talk about me, but you can't talk about my family!"

"I'll talk, I'll just talk, so what? Isn't your family nouveau riche? What's there to be arrogant about?"

"That's still better than your family. It's not fake that your family was rich before, but now it's just a chicken feather!"

"Even a chicken feather is a phoenix feather. Can your family's minor role compare?"

"Hey, a good man doesn't boast about his past glory. Don't look at who's left in your family now!"

Next, the two engaged in a high-frequency exchange of insults about "nouveau riche" and "declined household."

The three hoodlums listened and figured out that the male was initially trying to curry favor with the female, but the female didn't appreciate it. The female's family had been well-off before, but now they weren't, while the male's family was very rich now.

The two were clearly arguing out of anger, almost tearing each other's faces off, scolding each other with red faces, not at all like acting.

Moreover, these two people talked so quickly that even if the three hoodlums approached, they wouldn't know how to interrupt.

Lin Shuyou: "Don't look at how poor your family is now!"

Yinmeng: "What poor appearance? My grandfather buried treasures in the backyard of the old house back then. As long as I need it, I can go back home anytime and dig it out!"

According to local customs, Yinmeng's grandfather had buried two jars of wine for her not long after she was born, to be opened when Yinmeng got married.

"If you keep this up, I won't care about you anymore!"

"Don't care, don't care. Who cares about you? Get lost, don't follow me!"

"Okay, then let's walk!"

Lin Shuyou walked away separately.

Yinmeng walked into the small alley ahead by herself.

The three hoodlums looked at each other, then followed. The three of them had personally seen the male stuff a stack of money into the female's bag earlier.

"Ah, what are you doing, what are you doing!"

Yinmeng heard footsteps behind her and swung her bag at them, but soon, because the girl had little strength, even the bag was snatched.

"Go away, don't come over, don't come over!" Yinmeng fearfully hugged herself, shrinking into the corner of the wall.

The three hoodlums swallowed, just about to make a move, when they suddenly heard an urgent whistling sound nearby.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!"

The three hoodlums had only ever bullied middle school students before. Hearing this sound, they immediately panicked, threw Yinmeng aside, and quickly ran away.

Lin Shuyou landed with a whistle in his mouth.

Yinmeng also returned to normal and said, "You were too fast. I haven't built up the tension yet."

Lin Shuyou said, "I was worried you couldn't hold back."

If these three had actually made a move on Yinmeng, Lin Shuyou was afraid that in a fit of anger, Yinmeng would directly poison them to death.

Yinmeng said, "You quickly chase them, follow them, and see if they take the bait."

"Understood!"

Lin Shuyou flipped over the wall and chased after them.

The three hoodlums ran back to one of their homes. After closing the door, they immediately started rummaging through the robbed bag in the room.

First was that stack of money, a genuine stack of large denomination bills.

Next, there was some change inside and some girls' cosmetics.

"Huh, what is this?"

One of the cosmetics boxes cracked open, revealing a yellowed paper hidden inside.

Tiger Brother took out the paper and unfolded it. There was a map drawn on it, marked with traditional Chinese characters, indicating a specific location. Next to it was Zhangjiajie, Shazi Town, Baichi Village, Xie family backyard...

Finally, there was a small illustration, showing a courtyard with a jar buried inside. Inside the jar were blocks of something, and next to it was a note "gold." Even without the note, it was clear what it was.

"Is this that female's family's treasure map? She said her grandfather buried treasures for her."

"Is this real?" one of the hoodlums asked.

"Tiger Brother, I think it should be real."

Tiger Brother: "I also think it's real."

On the roof edge, Lin Shuyou hung there, listening to the conversation inside through the window.

After discussing, the three hoodlums gradually reached a consensus and thought this treasure map was real.

This scam technique wasn't high-level, but it was flawless.

Because the three hoodlums simply couldn't conceive of the possibility of being scammed, as they originally had nothing to be scammed out of.

Of course, the most important thing was that this stack of money was truly in their hands.

The weight of this stack of money alone made this treasure map seem as real as could be.

If a scammer were to scam someone by directly smashing a stack of money in their face, then in this world, probably not many people could resist being scammed.

"Does that female know the treasure map is inside?"

Tiger Brother: "Whether she knows or not, we have to hurry and go. Dig out the gold, and we won't have to worry for the rest of our lives!"

"Even if we don't find the gold, this money is enough for the three of us to travel extravagantly several round trips. Anyway, we won't lose!"

Tiger Brother slapped his head. "Nonsense, don't say unlucky words. There must be gold! Go, you two go home first, hurry and pack your things, we're going to the train station tonight!"

Lin Shuyou smiled, retracted his body, and just as he jumped down, he met Yinmeng, who had also crept over.

Yinmeng threw a bag of clothes at Lin Shuyou. Inside was a set of new clothes, a hat, scarf, sunglasses, and money. She asked, "How is it?"

"Go notify Xiao Yuan, we can eat fish."

...

Tiger Brother and his two brothers, each with a luggage bag, entered the train station.

They first went to the ticket window to buy tickets. Very luckily, there was a train to that place tonight.

"Is there a soft sleeper?"

Tiger Brother pretended to be grand and asked. He had actually seen on the board that there were no soft sleeper tickets for this train, but it didn't prevent him from deliberately asking now that he had money.

If there were really soft sleeper tickets, he wouldn't have asked. Before getting the gold, he didn't dare to spend too extravagantly.

"No soft sleeper, there are hard sleepers. Buy or not?"

"Buy, three tickets."

Tiger Brother held the tickets and turned to leave.

Behind him, Lin Shuyou, who had changed his outfit, walked up. He had rich experience in makeup and performance. Tracking Tiger Brother and his companions without being discovered was simply too easy.

After Tiger Brother and the others were slightly further away, Lin Shuyou said, "The same train as them, five hard sleeper tickets."

...

The wind on the station platform at night was strong, bringing the coolness of late autumn.

The train finally entered the station, and railway staff began to guide and direct. Passengers swarmed to board and alight.

Tiger Brother and the other two entered a hard sleeper compartment. There were three berths on each side, upper, middle, and lower, for a total of six berths.

"We only have one lower berth, ah."

Tiger Brother: "Damn, forgot to say when buying tickets."

The tickets they bought were consecutive numbers, just wrapping around the left side's upper, middle, and lower berths.

But the middle and upper berths in the hard sleeper compartment were really cramped and uncomfortable.

Tiger Brother: "How about this, A Xing, you sleep in the opposite lower berth, and you and A Wen take turns sleeping. If someone comes, we'll swap berths with them, no big deal."

A Xing nodded and directly occupied the opposite lower berth.

Soon, a large man still wrapped in bandages came in.

He just stood beside A Xing and said in a low voice, "This is my berth."

A Xing looked up at the large man, then at Tiger Brother sleeping in the opposite lower berth.

Tiger Brother saw Runsheng, but he pretended not to see him.

"Get lost!"

Runsheng raised his voice.

A Xing had to leave the lower berth and climb to the opposite upper berth.

Next, Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin came in.

The young man's bag contained Grandma Zhu's painting and photo, and Tan Wenbin's bag contained that wanted poster.

Li Zhuiyuan climbed to the upper berth on this side, and Tan Wenbin came to the middle berth.

Yinmeng and Lin Shuyou were in the next compartment.

The train began to start.

Tan Wenbin first struck up a conversation and asked Tiger Brother, "Where are you going?"

Tiger Brother: "Zhangjiajie."

"Coincidentally, isn't it? I'm going there too."

"Are you from there?"

"Sort of, I went to school there when I was young."

"Then do you know where Shazi Town and Baichi Village are?"

"Silly Town and White Idiot Village?"

"Yes, do you know where?"

"Alas, I really don't know. The place names have changed a lot over the years. Before, Zhangjiajie wasn't called this name either. Are you going there?"

"Hmm."

"It's nothing. When we arrive, I'll help you ask. I'm sure we can find out."

"Good."

"Right, what are you going there for?"

"Business." Tiger Brother wasn't willing to say more.

Tan Wenbin also stopped talking. By the time they got on the train, it was already late, and everyone gradually started to sleep.

Initially, Tiger Brother and his two companions snored very loudly, but soon, their symphony was completely drowned out by Runsheng and Tan Wenbin's.

Li Zhuiyuan lay on the upper berth, eyes open, looking sideways out the window.

It was dark outside, with only a few scattered lights occasionally.

If he were a pessimist, he would probably look at the scenery at this time and feel sad, feeling the future path was vast and uncertain.

But in the young man's eyes, there was a lively glimmer. He was very excited.

Walking the river, walking the river,