Chapter 73

Li Lan, you are truly disgusting.

Other people’s mothers are all warm harbors, capable of giving children protection and solace.

But his own mother, upon meeting, Li Zhuiyuan just felt that the human skin on his face vaguely had a tendency to peel off.

They are both mother and child, and also fellow patients.

From a certain angle, they should be the pair of mother and child on this world who are most familiar and understand each other.

Yet it is precisely because of this that when the two of them face each other, any disguise they construct becomes completely ineffective, but they rely heavily on this disguise to survive.

Because they are both too smart.

Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes.

In the past six months, his illness has been well controlled, especially in the recent few months, with no relapses.

He can clearly feel his own changes. When facing outsiders, he no longer observes their expressions, hoping to perfectly play his role in front of everyone.

When facing outsiders, he gradually becomes too lazy to perform.

And when facing people in close relationships, he often deliberately doesn’t perform, feeling delighted with every instinctual emotional reaction, even if it’s just a little bit.

But this is a seedling, he firmly believes that under his careful nurturing, it will grow into a towering tree later.

However, when the building is constructed higher, the fall is often more tragic.

It’s quite ridiculous, a simple meeting, and his ‘treatment effect’ from the past six months appears to be loosening, and after loosening, a landslide is likely to follow.

Because when facing Li Lan, all your postures, actions, and expressions will be mobilized. You clearly know that disguise is useless, but people, when stripped naked, will subconsciously grab at everything they can to cover their bodies.

Fortunately, this time is not like answering the phone in Aunt Zhang’s small shop at the beginning, where he had to endure Li Lan’s malicious sarcasm on one side while still pretending to be a warm mother and child in front of Li Weihan, Cui Guiying, and others.

He came to the family compound to ask Grandpa Zhang to help him ‘decode’ the remaining location positions. This has nothing to do with whether he is Li Lan’s son or whether their mother-child relationship is good. He understands certain hobbies of these old professors; for old friends to have a new research topic to ponder together is fun in itself.

So, he doesn’t need to perform with Li Lan here. He doesn’t need to care about the gazes of the people around.

Here is Li Lan’s social network, not his, Li Zhuiyuan’s.

The mother opened her arms, but did not wait for her son to throw himself into her embrace.

Li Zhuiyuan calmly shifted his gaze. He didn’t pull Wu Xinhan or Teacher Yan’s hands, asking them to quickly take him away.

This is his home, the woman in front is his mother. It’s not convenient for the two elders to do so. Of course, using explanations, deception, and a tough attitude might work, but it’s a bit troublesome.

Things can actually be very simple.

For example… run.

However, Li Lan acted first.

After all, they have been stage performers for so many years. Even after such a long time apart, their tacit understanding is still there.

The moment Li Zhuiyuan had the thought of running, Li Lan was already taking action.

Everything happened in a flash. When Li Lan found that her son wouldn’t throw himself into her embrace, she bent down and ran towards her son.

The two actions connected very quickly, so fast that outsiders almost didn’t feel anything was wrong.

It’s not only the script where the son throws himself into the embrace; it’s also very normal for the mother to proactively run over and hug the child.

As for the child, who hasn’t seen his mother for a long time and feels a little strange and shy, it’s also very understandable.

Li Zhuiyuan was hugged by Li Lan.

The boy didn’t feel strange; a senior is a senior after all.

There were tears in Li Lan’s eyes, and her expression was just right. She hugged the boy’s back with her right hand and his head with her left, and first kissed the boy’s face.

Li Zhuiyuan felt a bit like laughing. She could actually strongly endure her physiological disgust and kiss him.

His current feeling was like being embraced by a corpse.

But then, a sentence Li Lan said in his ear after the kiss made Li Zhuiyuan return to that previously familiar feeling of being dominated and blindly following.

Ordinary mothers and children are each other’s soft spots, while they are knives stabbing at each other’s soft spots.

She said softly:

“Do you want to know about that seabed matter?”

Immediately, she raised her voice:

“Come, son, let’s go home with Mama. Mama will talk to you properly.”

Li Zhuiyuan showed a pure and genuine smile on his face, and both hands were raised, proactively hugging the ‘corpse’ in front of him.

After a while, Li Lan stood up and apologized to Principal Wu and Teacher Yan. She wanted to spend some time with her son.

This posture made Principal Wu and Teacher Yan feel a bit flattered, and they quickly waved their hands, indicating that there was no need to ask for their opinion.

Several retired professors from Jiangsu province nearby invited them to drink tea and play chess, and Principal Wu and the others immediately agreed.

Li Lan took Li Zhuiyuan’s hand, and the mother and son walked towards their home.

Along the way, many grandpas and grandmas proactively greeted them, and the mother and son also responded very naturally.

No matter what questions they asked, the answers and cooperation were all very appropriate, and they didn’t slow down their pace.

When they opened the courtyard door and walked in, the mother and son were still warm.

Because the courtyard is very small, a row house, people in the next-door courtyard can still see here when standing on the steps.

Opening the inner room door, Li Lan walked in.

Li Zhuiyuan closed the room door conveniently after coming in.

The moment the ‘click’ sound rang out, the temperature inside the room seemed to drop by several degrees.

This was not an illusion.

Because the mother and son, together, lost their human flavor.

Li Lan should be hungry. After sitting down at the dining table, she took out several small bags from the box under the table, and then slid one of them to the boy sitting opposite.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the bag, opened it, and inside was a compressed biscuit.

He had just come over after the afternoon exam, and he was indeed hungry at this time, but he didn’t want to eat this. He put the biscuit down, wanting to leave his stomach empty. He had to accompany Principal Wu and the others to eat Quanjude roast duck in the evening.

He actually didn’t like greasy duck that much, but now, he was extremely looking forward to it.

The boy didn’t ask how Li Lan knew that ‘that seabed’ was related to him, because it was very easy to investigate.

He is Zheng Haiyang’s classmate. Tan Yunlong went to the mental hospital to visit Zheng Haiyang’s mother. He and Tan Wenbin bought tickets together to go to Mountain City.

For a long time at the dining table, only the woman’s chewing sound was heard.

Li Zhuiyuan turned his head and looked at the thermos placed below. There was a layer of dust on its lid, and there was no hot water inside.

He looked towards the sink again. Its edge still had red and black residue. The faucet, not used for a long time, would release rust when water was first turned on, and needed to be run for a while to clear it out.

Li Lan had also just returned home.

Li Zhuiyuan put his hands on the tabletop, played with his fingers, and conveniently recalled several games he had lost to A Li in chess for review.

Li Lan stood up and left the table, first walking into the study on the first floor which was originally closed, then walked out. She held an official document bag in her hand, from which she extracted a document bag and threw it to the boy.

Subsequently, she picked up a water cup again, filled it with tap water, and drank it.

Li Zhuiyuan untied the document bag. Inside was an investigation report, titled “841 Cargo Ship Incident Investigation Report”.

It was the ship Zheng Haiyang’s parents worked on.

Li Zhuiyuan looked through it page by page. Some places were smeared over, which should be information that even Li Lan could not access.

The report detailed the ship’s history, crew, smuggling history, and the subsequent collective mental disorder situation of the remaining crew members.

For a long time at the dining table, only the boy’s sound of flipping pages was heard.

After finishing, Li Zhuiyuan put the document bag away properly, closed the zipper, and pushed it towards Li Lan.

To Li Zhuiyuan, this report was very important, yet very useless, because it didn’t record the seabed matter.

Li Lan was not in a hurry to take the document back, but took out another one from the official document bag, placed it in the middle of the dining table, along with a small stack of blank report paper and a pen.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, pulled the second document bag to his front, untied it, and glanced at the title: “Fengdu Weird Phenomena Investigation Report”.

The document that was extracted was not very thick and had color differences, which should be a summary from multiple eras.

Li Zhuiyuan didn’t flip to the second page, but first placed this document aside, then immediately stood up again, dragged that stack of report paper to his front, picked up the pen, and began to write down the scene of the seabed experience that Zheng Haiyang’s mother had described to him.

Li Lan’s secretary, Aunt Xu, had come to ask Zheng Haiyang’s mother in advance, but she left before the result was out.

So, this segment, only he knew.

Li Lan was obviously not the kind of fool Aunt Xu was. After writing, Li Zhuiyuan tore off two sheets of report paper and pushed them towards the opposite side.

Then, at the dining table, the woman held the report paper, the boy held the document, and together they read quickly.

Li Lan finished reading first. She put down the report paper in her hand, closed her eyes, and lightly tapped the tabletop with her fingertips.

Li Zhuiyuan also finished reading. Originally, so many weird events happened in the history of Fengdu. These events would only sporadically exist in local people’s after-dinner talks and old people’s vague and unclear memories.

Era is the best tool to obliterate traces. Even if re-investigated now, it is impossible to get such a solid and detailed report.

There is a saying that goes well, only the wrong name, not the wrong nickname.

Ghost City, why is it called Ghost City, indeed has its reason.

The supernatural phenomena happening around it also seem to adhere to a unique rule.

At Yin Fuhai’s funeral, Li Zhuiyuan personally presided over the ritual. He even personally witnessed the scene of four ghosts carrying the coffin.

Whether Yin Changsheng and those ‘Dao friends’ he mentioned in “Baopuzi” really still exist, Li Zhuiyuan could not confirm. What he can confirm now is that Ghost City still preserves a unique…

It can be called a ceremony, a rule, or a bit coldly, an operation logic that living people cannot see.

His memory is very good. If he goes to Fengdu Ghost City to explore the core after he grows up, the things recorded in this report will help him save a lot of time.

Liangliang Ge said that there is not much time left for Ghost City.

Li Lan took out another document from the official document bag, and then tossed it to the boy again.

Li Zhuiyuan opened the document bag. The title on the first page of the document: “Jian 572 Civil Air Defense Engineering Investigation Report”.

The boy grasped the document forcefully. His expression, which had always remained calm, finally couldn’t be maintained at this moment.

He began to feel fear and confusion.

Near Jian, a civil air defense engineering with serious water seepage, encountering the ghost shadow of Goguryeo during the investigation.

These were the stories Luo Gong told them at the supper stall in Wanzhou county town.

Why would Li Lan specifically give him this report?

“841 Cargo Ship” and “Fengdu Weird”, these two reports have concrete clues that can point to him. Whether he has contacted or been there, it can all be verified.

But how did the content of the chat while drinking soy milk and eating grilled fish at the supper spread out?

Did Luo Tingrui say it?

Or was Luo Tingrui investigated and then made a report?

No, with Luo Tingrui’s identity, Li Lan wouldn’t go this far.

Moreover, Liangliang Ge said that they had just finished the project in Wanzhou recently, and Luo Gong had always been in charge of the progress of the project.

But if it wasn’t leaked from Luo Gong’s side, then it could only be the other people who were present at that time.

Xue Liangliang, Tan Wenbin, Runsheng.

Li Zhuiyuan’s breathing began to become rapid, and cold sweat seeped from his forehead.

He wanted to analyze exactly who leaked the message, but the premise of doing so is to abandon all emotional factors and use the coldest rational thinking to treat everyone equally.

Normally, this wouldn’t be considered a serious matter, it could even be said to be a trivial matter.

But the problem is, he is currently facing Li Lan, and he is always in a strong struggle.

Any small breach, at this time, may trigger a dam break.

His illness, which had not occurred for a long time, was gradually becoming uncontrollable at this moment.

Li Lan looked at her son’s painful and pale face at this time. Not only was there no worry on her face, but the corner of her mouth still slightly curved.

It was as if she was looking at a clown desperately wrapping clothes around his body, but essentially still naked.

She opened her mouth. This was the first voice exchange between the mother and son after they returned home.

Because they sympathize with the same illness, they know better how to make you completely fall ill.

She said:

“It’s the person you trust most closely.”

A Li instantly floated up in Li Zhuiyuan’s mind. He had told A Li about all his affairs.

Instantly, he calmed down.

Li Lan’s eyelids drooped slightly.

The boy opened his right hand, looked at the wound scar that had disappeared, and remembered that initially, there were wounds caused by five fingernails digging in here.

That night, the girl pried open his palm, saw his self-harm wounds, and resolutely turned and left.

The next day, she just sat in the room, her foot on the threshold.

Is it the person I trust most closely who leaked the message? Did A Li tell Liu Yumei, and then Liu Yumei reported it upwards through her connections?

Logically, it seems plausible,

The premise is that A Li can speak.

“Hehe… hehehehe…”

Li Zhuiyuan laughed.

The profound and complex problem he originally thought was cut off by a simple “one plus one equals what”.

With reason and basis as a foundation, the atmosphere of mother and son being alone together, the sharpest dagger in this world is in the lie wrapped under reality.

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and looked at Li Lan sitting opposite him.

You shouldn’t have said that extra sentence.

You thought it was the last straw to break the camel’s back, but it was actually the rope you handed out.

That one sentence of yours actually exposed your bottom card. The “Jian Civil Air Defense Engineering Report” was something you drew out, playing a probability card.

You cannot make Luo Gong proactively accept an interrogation report, but you can see Luo Gong’s work resume, and you can also discover his extremely deep obsession with the Goguryeo ghost shadow in the civil air defense engineering through some of his subsequent actions.

You should have also seen the Yong State Underground Palace report. You feel that Luo Gong will likely talk to us about this matter because I am still Luo Gong’s student.

As for whether he actually said it, you don’t know.

You played this probability card. If I really immerse myself in thinking about who deliberately leaked the report, I would truly fall into the trap of self-proving.

Li Zhuiyuan was not in a hurry to speak, just tore off a sheet of report paper and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Then, he picked up the pen again and began to write down the matter about ‘Zhu Changyong’. Tan Yunlong should have already reported this part, but Tan Yunlong didn’t know about the previous segment where Zheng Haiyang’s family of three climbed out of the black turtle.

After pushing the written report paper towards Li Lan, Li Zhuiyuan picked up the “Jian 572 Civil Air Defense Engineering Investigation Report”.

It’s not wrong, Luo Gong said he reported it, but the upper levels didn’t give him feedback because Luo Gong’s ‘dream’ report seemed very ordinary among the crowd of reports.

Before Luo Gong and the others arrived, before the engineering water seepage, people had actually already died.

After Luo Gong and the others came, there were also quite a few people who couldn’t come out after going in at that time. Luo Gong himself being able to live out was considered extremely lucky.

In the mountain, something was indeed dug out, not a tomb, not an altar, not an underground palace, but…

The last part of the conclusion report was missing.

It was not that Li Lan was hiding it privately, but that Li Lan didn’t know, or rather, she couldn’t bring the complete report home.

But whether or not to read the conclusion report actually didn’t matter, because it could still be guessed based on the elimination method.

Later, he will go. He is not interested in Goguryeo culture, but he is very curious about Luo Gong’s ‘white moonlight’.

That night when Luo Gong was talking about this segment of experience, he just heard that Luo Gong had concealed a part. Now, combined with this report, his judgment is further verified.

Okay, the transaction is over.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up from his seat. He didn’t go out towards the door, but walked to the edge of the table, picked up the boiling water kettle, rinsed the inside under the sink, added water again, and plugged it back in.

While the water was boiling, the boy also picked up the rag at the edge of the table, washed it, then carefully wiped the dirt at the edge of the sink, and finally washed the cloth again and folded it at the edge of the sink.

At this time, the water in the boiling water kettle also boiled.

Li Zhuiyuan walked towards Li Lan, reached out and picked up the water cup Li Lan had used to drink tap water earlier.

Li Lan had always been watching his actions, her expression calm.

But her hands were already hidden in the sleeves of her windbreaker.

Li Zhuiyuan poured the boiling water into the cup, then held up the cup, first placed it in front of him and lightly blew on it with his mouth:

“Huff… huff… huff…”

Finally, the boy held the cup towards Li Lan, with a pure and genuine smile on his face, and said in a clear voice:

“Mama, drink hot water.”

Li Lan’s body began to tremble slightly, her breathing became rapid, and the blue veins in her neck exposed.

Come on,

Disgust each other.

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