Nantong Lao Shi Li comes from his great-grandfather’s surname and profession.

Before officially becoming a lantern bearer and a river walker, he interacted with some Jianghu figures outside. When they introduced which dock they were associated with, Li Zhuiyuan, in order to respond appropriately, came up with this name for himself.

When walking the river, he would often use this name to conceal his identity as a successor of the Dragon King’s lineage.

It wasn’t until he set up an altar in his great-grandfather’s small room that this identity was officially recognized; once the Dao field behind the house in the rice paddies was built, it meant he was completely on the right track.

After that, this identity was gradually used separately; when not on the waves, he would use Nantong Lao Shi Li.

Before the three groups set out this time, Li Zhuiyuan specifically instructed Chen Xiyuan and Zhao Yi to use the banner of Lao Shi Li, which completed the formal division in terms of purpose and meaning.

When a person travels on the river, the people on shore are still, but from another perspective, the river can be calm while the people on shore are moving quickly.

Similarly, considering the unique nature that Li Zhuiyuan himself cannot gain much merit from the river, the young man can instead passively exert “merit” outside the waves. Thus, it can also be considered that Li Zhuiyuan’s waves are on the shore.

Others ride the waves arranged by the Heavenly Dao on the river, while he rides the waves he creates on the shore.

The latter is clearly simpler and easier than the former, and he holds the initiative in his own hands.

In the past, river walking was work, and the time between waves was life; now, river walking is life, and the time between waves is work.

The shadow of Fengdu Dadi once bluntly told the young man: “Heavenly Dao will not allow you to live to adulthood.”

Of course, Li Zhuiyuan could not simply continue to live step by step, waiting for death.

At present, the Heavenly Dao’s constant targeting and oppression of the young man ultimately led him to embark on another path.

This river,
Li Zhuiyuan wanted to walk it differently.
And on this river, there was no competition, no other forces, only him—Nantong Lao Shi Li.

From the little girl’s perspective, she clearly believed the young man was deliberately mocking her. Whether it was Run Sheng’s casual shovel earlier or Lin Shuyou’s direct glare, it all indicated that their group had an extraordinary identity.

Deliberately choosing a nickname was just to extract the pleasure of tormenting prey from her. She used to do such things often, including the manipulation and arrangements for this family and this Daoist priest, which was also a relishing of this pleasure.

But she was indeed mistaken. First, the young man himself did not possess such low-level pleasure. Second, in the young man’s eyes, she was very serious and solemn, even with a hint of reverence for a first batch of experimental subjects.

After “this wave” ended, according to the young man’s consistently rigorous habit of post-hoc analysis and summarization, she would be meticulously recorded in his writings and would appear in textbooks.

However, this was, after all, his “first wave” on shore, and continuing to write it into the “River Walking Behavior Norms” would clearly be inappropriate. A new book would definitely need to be started.

At this moment,
Li Zhuiyuan smiled.
In Wei Zhengdao’s works, “Zheng Dao Fu Mo Lu” was a specially prepared “dumpling” meant to introduce the various evil arts he had researched and comprehended.

So, what was the true purpose of “Jianghu Zhi Guai Lu,” which served as his introductory reading material and which he also regarded as an encyclopedia of evil spirits?

Given Wei Zhengdao’s personality, would he be willing to write a basic reader for future generations? And, moreover, using the incredibly precious and rare Buddha-skin paper?

The cases recorded in “Jianghu Zhi Guai Lu” were simply too numerous—some strong, some weak, some low, some high, of all kinds. It clearly did not conform to the pattern of normal river walking where each wave is more difficult and stronger than the last.

Therefore, “Jianghu Zhi Guai Lu” was, in essence, a set of books Wei Zhengdao used to record his “river walking on shore.”

It seems that he, too, must write such a book.

The young man discovered that the more he progressed and improved, the more deeply he could understand Wei Zhengdao.

Despite this, the young man was not discouraged in the slightest, nor did he believe he was merely imitating and replicating.

One must realize that his situation was far more difficult than Wei Zhengdao’s back then. To be able to follow the same rhythm as Wei Zhengdao under more challenging conditions was, in itself, a success.

Without Li Zhuiyuan’s command, Run Sheng and Lin Shuyou did not continue to act.

The little girl was already suffering from an unknown pressure, and seeing the smile appear on the young man’s face, she finally couldn’t hold back.

A sharp shriek erupted from the little girl’s mouth. The living room floor tiles cracked, and branches shot out, engulfing the girl and rushing towards the door.

Run Sheng stepped forward, blocking Xiao Yuan. He gathered his Qi and power, raised his Huanghe鏟, and slammed it down.

Last time, in the pond of the Yu family ancestral home, Run Sheng absorbed a large amount of resentment. Now, every time he exerted serious effort, his skin would turn a dark bronze color, giving him a stronger visual sense of oppression.

When your power reaches a certain level, miracles that are unimaginable to ordinary people appear.

Before even touching the blade of the Huanghe鏟, just by the tearing force of the wind, those menacing branches were shredded to pieces.

By the time the little girl charged in front of Run Sheng, all her means and defenses were completely nullified.

What followed was akin to her using her own skull to take Run Sheng’s shovel.

“Bang!”

The little girl’s skull was indeed very hard; her head didn’t directly explode, but only showed cracks.

However, the floor tiles beneath her body exploded first, and half of her body was slammed into the concrete floor by the shovel.

Lin Shuyou wanted to seize an opportunity to act.
Having played too many high-stakes games, he occasionally wanted a little side dish to whet his appetite.
As long-time companions, they had this much unspoken understanding, so Run Sheng took half a step back.

Lin Shuyou’s twin maces arrived.
One mace struck the evil spirit’s neck, separating its head from its body. The second mace followed, delivering a powerful strike to the head as it spun in the air.

“Smack!”

What was destined to explode, finally did.

A puddle of black sawdust scattered, indicating that the person killed by this evil spirit had only left behind a layer of human-like skin, the inside long since hollowed out.

Run Sheng thrust his Huanghe鏟 downwards, and a Qi barrier rose, shielding Xiao Yuan from all the sawdust.

Blood light swirled in Lin Shuyou’s vertical pupils. He opened his mouth and spat out a fire snake, engulfing the remaining part of the evil spirit.

Crackling sounds continuously emanated, and faint wails and cries echoed from the unseen.

Finally, the evil spirit completely turned to ashes, exactly filling the pit she had just created.

“Phew…”
Lin Shuyou let out a breath.
He had acted, but there was none of the expected exhilaration, only a sense of emptiness.

As the evil spirit was dealt with, the oppressive evil surrounding the area instantly dissipated. The three people by the offering table rapidly crumbled, turning into sawdust piled beneath the table.

“Brother Xiaoyuan, should I clean up the house?”
Even without a corpse, the house definitely needed cleaning, especially the Daoist priest’s belongings.
Not to mention that everything was broken; even if it were intact, it would be too troublesome to pack up and inherit.
However, although the Daoist priest’s cultivation wasn’t high, he had died while vanquishing demons. Out of respect, a memorial tomb still had to be erected for him.

Lin Shuyou had been with Brother Xiaoyuan for a long time and had figured out his habits.

But this time, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t answer. Instead, he turned and walked towards the edge of the embankment.

Run Sheng also turned and quickly walked to the front-left of Xiao Yuan.

This family’s embankment was nowhere near as large as his great-grandfather’s, and for cost reasons, it was only paved with cement without a surrounding wall.

Li Zhuiyuan stood at the southernmost edge, with vegetable fields below and a vast expanse of farmland further ahead.

Certainly, with their current strength, it was normal to easily crush the low-level creatures from A-Li’s dream.

But after all, they were evil spirits once suppressed by the Dragon King’s lineage. Even if they hadn’t fully recovered and were far from their former ferocity, they shouldn’t have died so easily.

At least, you should have struggled a bit more, tried to create some waves.

If it were other righteous individuals of sufficient strength, they might have truly been fooled.

But Li Zhuiyuan had discovered her true hiding place on his way along the country path.

In front of the young man, she had always been transparent.

In “this wave,” she had not recuperated well, her strength was insufficient, and without the river water to amplify her theatrics, all her schemes and methods appeared like a joke to the young man.

“A-You.”
“Here.”
“Release those three pigs.”
“Yes.”
Lin Shuyou walked to the pigsty, gently struck it with his golden mace, the iron wire on the fence broke, and three pigs ran out.
They didn’t go anywhere else, but charged straight into the field in front of Li Zhuiyuan.

“Brother Run Sheng.”
“Hmm.”
“Remember the positions where these three pigs stay for a long time.”
“Okay.”
The three pigs in the field continuously rooted in the soil with their snouts. After rooting for a while, they moved to the next spot to continue rooting.

Finally, three shrill pig squeals erupted, and all three pigs fell to the ground, dying tragically.

“Brother Run Sheng, give each spot a forceful shovel.”
“Understood.”
Run Sheng glanced at Lin Shuyou and jumped off the embankment.

Lin Shuyou, in turn, stood at Run Sheng’s previous position, protecting Brother Xiaoyuan.

Subsequently, each thrust of Run Sheng’s shovel caused the entire farmland to tremble. Initially, it was slight, but later, the tremors became increasingly violent, and some areas even showed small depressions.

“A-You.”
“Yes, Brother Xiaoyuan?”
“If this were a normal wave of the river, how do you think it should be arranged?”
“Arranged?”
“Make the process more convoluted, the experience more complex, as recorded in the ‘River Walking Behavior Norms.'”
“If I were to arrange it… the clues wouldn’t be so precise from the beginning.”
“Be more specific.”
“For example, this murdered family, or this Daoist priest, should have had their interpersonal relationships and our network come into contact before they died.
When we arrived, they might not have been dead yet, or, they had just died as we arrived. We could even experience this evil spirit’s disturbance alongside them, initially unaware that the little girl had already been possessed by the evil spirit. We would then fight alongside this Daoist priest, discovering and understanding the crisis step by step.
If we were still very weak at the time, like in the first few waves, then this Daoist priest should have been able to teach us some skills and abilities.
Serving as an enlightening teacher.”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded, “Anything else?”

“Also, the appearance of this evil spirit would alarm Baizhen. While searching for this evil spirit, we might clash with the Baizhen Niangniang.
After the conflict, there would be a reconciliation, and finally, after much hardship, we would still come before this evil spirit.
Brother Xiaoyuan, that’s all I can think of for now.”

“That’s very good.”
Lin Shuyou, receiving praise, was a bit surprised and delighted internally.

The excited voice of Tongzi came from the bottom of his heart: “Ji Tong, he is teaching you, he is teaching you how to do things.”

Lin Shuyou: “I think Brother Xiaoyuan is just using my brain to think about problems, because Brother Xiaoyuan is too smart, he needs to downscale.”

Tongzi: “Ji Tong, you disappoint me too much. How can you be so unpromising?”

Lin Shuyou: “What promise did you achieve in the past?”

Tongzi: “…”

At this moment, Li Zhuiyuan spoke again, “However, A-You, there’s a problem here. How do you control the scale of the conflict between Baizhen and us? Before you knew us, Brother Liangliang was already Baizhen’s son-in-law.
So, you don’t know how fierce these Baizhen Niangniang were back then, or how ruthless their revenge was against those who offended them.”

“I think, if it’s river walking, then the river water should be able to control it…”
“River water can only push, it has its rules and limitations.”
“Yes, Brother Xiaoyuan, I remember.”
“Do you think, if Baizhen poured out all its forces, could it deal with this evil spirit?”
Lin Shuyou thought for a moment and replied, “With a certain price, and given the evil spirit’s current recovery of strength, Baizhen definitely could do it.”

“So, Baizhen can be involved in this wave, but before this wave, a new wave must first be created, allowing another group of stronger river walkers to confront Baizhen first.
Either destroy Baizhen, or Baizhen destroys these lantern bearers.
In short, Baizhen must be severely weakened, so much so that even if they discover this evil spirit hidden for countless years, they still wouldn’t dare or be willing to confront her head-on.
Only then can the friction you mentioned between us and Baizhen occur in your experience. Otherwise, Baizhen would instead become a protective barrier for this evil spirit.”

Lin Shuyou nodded thoughtfully.

Li Zhuiyuan: “This is also why forces like Baizhen are so obedient and submissive to us now, and why the spirit beast within Brother Binbin is so eager to join the Dragon King’s lineage.
Such entities with impure origins and complex natures naturally possess a sense of crisis. Unless they are willing to remain dormant and live silently, they will eventually be unearthed and face what is called a righteous reckoning.
Heaven truly has eyes. Lantern bearers carry heavy karma, and ordinary people who interact with them before and after river walking often receive timely ‘good begets good, evil begets evil’ responses, precisely because Heaven’s attention is focused on the lantern bearers.
But at other times, in other places, it might not be that Heaven is too late to see or cannot see, but rather that it sees, yet deems it not the right time to ‘unseal’ or ‘activate,’ so it simply leaves things as they are.
Perhaps this is: not that retribution won’t come, but that the time is not yet ripe.”

The Tongzi, who had just fallen silent, now loudly exclaimed again in A-You’s heart, this time with a tone of terror:

“My god, what is he comprehending, what is he understanding!”

Lin Shuyou: “My goodness.”

Tongzi: “…”

Lin Shuyou: “Tongzi, don’t be so jumpy. Luckily, my heart is very healthy.”

Tongzi: “Do you know, what he just said, it reminds me of the occasional fragments I heard from the Bodhisattva when listening to his teachings back then.
What he is comprehending now is something only a Bodhisattva-level being can touch!”

Lin Shuyou: “Fragments?”

Tongzi: “Because Bodhisattvas wouldn’t speak so explicitly, nor would they actively tell us too much, unlike how he is with you, being so open and candid.”

Lin Shuyou: “Oh, I thought it was because you were sitting too far away and couldn’t hear everything.”

Tongzi: “…”

Li Zhuiyuan stretched out his hand, pointing forward. As Run Sheng continued to forcefully thrust the Huanghe鏟 into the designated spots, this large area of farmland was on the verge of “boiling.”

“So, this time, my methods were still a bit rough.
I paid money, bought a ticket, entered an amusement park, but only played one ride.
Although it was worth the ticket price, I could have made the cost-performance ratio even higher, or even gotten some rides for free.”

Lin Shuyou didn’t know how to respond, so he could only nod and say, “Yes, Brother Xiaoyuan, you’re right.”

From Li Zhuiyuan’s perspective, the waves were paid for by his merits, equivalent to buying a ticket.

Being simple, straightforward, and to the point was indeed an advantage, but the advantage wasn’t utilized to its fullest. He still had to figure out how to plan and design the path, kill two birds with one stone, and maximize his benefits as long as conditions allowed.

Indeed, practice is the source and testing standard of theory, and theory originates from the summation and sublimation of practical experience.

Li Zhuiyuan initially only wanted to use his unspendable merits, with the primary goal of catching evil spirits as raw materials.

Unexpectedly, as he walked this path, a new door opened.

On the river, he only needed to ensure his survival, and then he could conduct exclusive harvesting during the intervals between waves. Not to mention he now had Zhao Yi and Chen Xiyuan, two great generals under him, which was equivalent to hiring two reapers highly skilled at harvesting wheat.

One possessed intellect and considerable overall strength, the other possessed great power.

In the future, he could even be lazy, letting the two of them “walk the river on shore” for him, while he only needed to sit at home and collect his share.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and patted his head.

Rarely, the young man’s head felt hot.

“Boom!”
The farmland ahead, with a loud bang, finally completely collapsed.

Run Sheng himself also fell, disappearing from sight.

But soon, accompanied by a giant old tree swaying upwards, Run Sheng, entangled by its roots, was hoisted up.

“Bang!”

With a burst of strength in his arms, Run Sheng broke free from his restraints and landed steadily, as if he had taken a free elevator.

The old tree didn’t have many branches, but its roots below were dense. In the center, there was a woman, her lower body merged with the tree roots.

The woman was very old, her skin severely damaged, and her entire body exuded an aura of death.

At this moment, she slowly raised her head and opened her eyes. Besides exhaustion and desolation, there was a hint of unwillingness.

Back then, to successfully break free, she had only managed to “throw” out a single sapling.

After various coincidences, it took root again, meaning that for a long time, she was no different from an ordinary tree.

Just as she finally recovered a little bit of her supernatural abilities and could try to replenish herself by absorbing human essence and blood, she encountered such a powerful and terrifying opponent not long after starting.

This made her feel that all her past resilience and waiting had become a joke.

If she had known this day would come, she would have rather incinerated herself in the sealing array, or after becoming a tree, erased all consciousness and simply lived out the springs, summers, autumns, and winters as a tree.

“Ah!!!”

Endless sorrow, anger, and injustice transformed into a mournful wail and scream.

Li Zhuiyuan, standing on the embankment, looked up at the sky.

If the Heavenly Dao were to arrange all this, it would probably give the woman more time to recover to a strength that matched the difficulty of the wave. At the very least, the river water would not propel his current self to resolve such a simple wave.

The young man exhaled. Today’s gains were already overflowing; now, it could end.

Checking the sun, he should still have time to hurry back at night and play two more games of chess with A-Li on the terrace under the starry sky before she went to bed.

“Buzz!”

A thick root bound another woman, lifting her up. She was middle-aged, dressed in old-fashioned clothes, and adorned with many accessories—she was a Baizhen Niangniang.

She had been dispatched by Baizhen to investigate the source of the commotion here, but was captured by the evil spirit.

“You, and those white mice, are in league! Let me live, or I’ll kill her!”

The evil spirit was threatening them with the Baizhen Niangniang.

The Baizhen Niangniang’s face also showed a look of pleading.

Faced with such a hostage threat,
Li Zhuiyuan raised his left hand and waved it forward:
“Kill.”
The young man ignored the hostage threat and intended to resolve the hostage along with the enemy.

In Li Zhuiyuan’s eyes, Baizhen’s continued existence in Nantong was entirely due to Brother Liangliang’s quick signing of the unequal treaty back then.

This was a historical issue that could only be implicitly allowed to persist.

Of the entire Baizhen, the only one who could be brought out and qualified to be a hostage for negotiation was that one particular person. According to Brother Liangliang’s description, she was the only “living person” among all the Baizhen Niangniang, because she had warmth.

Run Sheng activated his Qi gate, holding the Huanghe鏟, and leaped down towards the location of the old tree root.

All the roots that tried to block him were forcefully shattered.

And even if these roots quickly changed their strategy, even weaving into a formation-like shape, Run Sheng could still move through and dodge them. His speed was simply a bit slower, but he was still steadily advancing towards the old tree root’s location.

For Run Sheng, the methods used by these roots were utterly crude compared to those Xiao Yuan had him experience in the Dao field.

Seeing that threatening with the Baizhen Niangniang was useless, the evil spirit fiercely smashed the Baizhen Niangniang into the ground, freeing up its roots to concentrate on dealing with Run Sheng.

Li Zhuiyuan: “A-You, you go too.”
“Yes!”
Lin Shuyou jumped off the embankment. After a short run-up, he leaped high into the air. Roots lashed at him, but he shattered them while using their force to bounce higher.

Run Sheng advanced below, while A-You chose to attack from above.

The evil spirit was already powerless to resist, and the woman on the tree roots looked desperate.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down on the embankment, spread his palm, and the蛟龙之灵 appeared. After circling a few times in the young man’s palm, it plunged into the embankment below, as if being let out to play.

He took out a can of Jian Li Bao from his backpack, opened it, and took a few sips.

He touched his forehead again, feeling it was still hot.

Li Zhuiyuan decided that next time he went out with equipment, he might consider bringing a larger insulated cup and keeping it filled with ice cubes whenever conditions allowed.

Run Sheng and Lin Shuyou were almost reaching the old tree root; the end was near.

“Crack! Crack! Crack!”
Behind the young man, the cement on the embankment first cracked, then exploded.
The Baizhen Niangniang, who had been taken hostage earlier and then angrily smashed into the ground by the tree roots when she proved useless, had now stealthily made her way here and launched a sneak attack.
At the same time, the woman atop the old tree root shrank and withered rapidly.

The Baizhen Niangniang’s gaze shifted, taking on the same expression as the evil spirit.
This meant that the evil spirit’s true form was now within this Baizhen Niangniang.
Ordinary people were not suitable as her vessels, but the Baizhen Niangniang’s unique half-dead constitution was more conducive to her power.

She reached out to the young man.
She couldn’t kill him; she had to capture him alive. Killing him would only vent anger, and those two would still smash her. Only by controlling this young man could she have a chance to continue living.

Li Zhuiyuan did not dodge, did not turn, and not even a drop of the Jian Li Bao he held in his hand sloshed out.
When an enemy attacked from behind, the young man merely snapped his fingers.

“Boom!”

With Li Zhuiyuan at the center, red grid lines appeared around the embankment. The faint sound of a dragon’s cry could be heard.

The array, activated!

When the young man chose to sit on the embankment, he was actually choosing a quicker way to end things.

“Thump!”

The Baizhen Niangniang had just raised her hand when a terrifying force from the array pressed down on her, forcing her to kneel directly behind the young man, unable to move.

All other emotions in her eyes vanished, leaving only the purest despair.

Whether in terms of hard power or soft power, she was utterly crushed by this young man before her.

She didn’t understand why this young man would humble himself, specifically coming here to deal with her in such a pathetic state.
Was he so bored, so leisurely?
What was it about her that warranted him bringing people here on a special trip?

Run Sheng and Lin Shuyou, sensing the disturbance behind them, quickly turned to look. Seeing the Baizhen Niangniang already kneeling, the two did not return to defense. Instead, they worked together to sever the old tree root.

Li Zhuiyuan unhurriedly took out a black formation flag from his backpack. On the flag’s surface was a hideous face, created by Li Zhuiyuan using evil arts, called “San Xiang Shou Yuan Zhou” (Three-Phase Beast Resentment Curse).

He had made three of them, originally intending one for Run Sheng, one for Tan Wenbin, and one for Lin Shuyou.

But Tan Wenbin had a spirit beast, and Lin Shuyou had Tongzi, so they didn’t really need such magical artifacts. It was better to give two to Run Sheng and take one out himself to test its effect.

The young man stood up, facing the Baizhen Niangniang kneeling before him.
He flicked the formation flag in his hand. Instantly, a chilling wind blew, ghosts wailed, and shadowy beast figures roared out,扑ing onto her body, terribly tearing at her flesh and soul.

In the sky, a dark cloud gathered. There was no rain, yet a patch of gloom specifically enveloped this area.

Because the Baizhen Niangniang was suppressed by the formation and couldn’t resist, the efficiency of the beast-resentment transformation’s tearing was enough to show its terror. Although they were large in size, once they latched on, they were like a swarm of bone-maggots.

Evil arts are indeed evil arts.
In future battles, if one could deliver this blow when the opponent was severely wounded, the opponent would almost certainly have no chance of escaping successfully, and might even kneel down to beg for a quick death.

Lin Shuyou and Run Sheng completely destroyed the old tree root. When they returned to the embankment, this Baizhen Niangniang had also been gnawed into a pile of ashes. In the ashes lay a twig with only one leaf, and on the leaf, a woman’s face, shimmering faintly.

Li Zhuiyuan pulled out a sealing talisman and used it to wrap the twig, essentially temporarily stabilizing the existence of this evil spirit that was about to be completely annihilated.

She was still useful; if she were completely gone, this evil art material would be wasted.

“Brother Run Sheng, collect this.”
“Hmm.”
“After we go back, help me plant it under the peach orchard first.”
“Understood.”
Not only could she not be allowed to die, but she also needed to be fattened up a bit more. The peach orchard was the most suitable place to put her. Anyway, a mere drop from Qing An’s mouth when he drank would be enough for her to greatly nourish herself.
Moreover, because of Chen Xiyuan, Qing An had been in a very good mood recently. Asking him for a small favor now could also save a can.

Li Zhuiyuan: “Clean up, erect a memorial for the Daoist priest, and also build a grave for this family.”

The cleanup work was quickly completed. Although the ashes were mixed with a lot of plant ash, it was mainly for formality.
The Daoist priest’s ashes were scattered directly. Those outside the mundane world did not care about the physical body. His Daoist robe and damaged artifacts were neatly placed in the pit. After filling with soil, Li Zhuiyuan personally wrote a memorial tablet for him.
Unable to find any items related to the Daoist priest’s name, the tablet simply read “Nameless Daoist Priest perished in the righteous vanquishing of evil,” followed by “Erected by Nantong Lao Shi Li.”
No matter how minor his Daoist cultivation, it was indeed real cultivation. And though this family had built a two-story house, from the decoration and exterior, it was clear they were not wealthy, possibly even having incurred debt to build the main structure.
Only with little money could one not invite truly cultivated individuals to come out. The Daoist priest’s presence here must have been driven by a righteous heart.

Li Zhuiyuan knew that although he had fallen into the path of a heart demon and separated from his main body, the guidance for his actions was still filled with pragmatism.

He did not want to die, did not want to be acted upon by the Heavenly Dao prematurely, so he always adhered to the behavioral principles of the Dragon King’s lineage, not out of moral conviction.

But just as his companions had once built a fence in the desert of his heart, the young man felt that he, too, could build a larger fence for himself through these people.

This Jianghu would be quite dull without people like them.

“All right, let’s go back.”
The three returned to the shore where they had landed. Run Sheng pushed the wooden boat into the river, and everyone boarded.
Just as when they arrived, Run Sheng first paddled for a while with his Huanghe鏟.

Then, from under the boat, the Baizhen Niangniang reappeared, acting as boatmen.

The boat traveled incredibly fast, without an engine or oars.

Midway, they almost brushed past a steam ferry. A white mist rose from the Baizhen Niangniang, preventing the people on the ferry from seeing them.

Xue Liangliang’s family member reappeared, saying nothing, but standing on the river surface, drifting along, half-bowed.

Li Zhuiyuan: “They’re all dead.”
The woman nodded and began to perform a grand bow of thanks.
The evil spirit and the Baizhen Niangniang who had fallen earlier were both dead.
For Baizhen, it was definitely a gain; if they had handled it themselves, they would have lost more people.

Li Zhuiyuan waved his hand.
The woman submerged into the river.
The personal relationship with Xue Liangliang was mainly handled by Tan Wenbin. When Tan Wenbin came alone, he could be amiable, even chatting about everyday things.
Each had different responsibilities, so Li Zhuiyuan had to maintain this cold style to help her continue to suppress the other people in the town.

The young man could sense that as her pregnancy progressed, the intensity of the woman’s aura was continuously declining.
This meant that by strength alone, she had long been unable to command respect and now could only rely on his immense influence.

As boatmen, the Baizhen Niangniang were indeed professional. When they disappeared from beneath the boat, the wooden vessel, using its last bit of momentum, conveniently landed ashore.

The yellow mini-truck was still parked on the shore, and about five meters away on the ground, there were two piles of human-shaped ashes, with an empty plastic bucket beside them.

Lin Shuyou: “Thieves.”
If there were thieves, and they came to steal the car or oil at this time, their luck would truly be terrible.
Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. That was paper ash. When a living person burns, a greasy puddle is left.

Lin Shuyou got into the car, started it, glanced at the dashboard, and said:
“The Baizhen Niangniang filled up our gas.”
Those two piles of paper doll ashes must have been from the gasoline bought nearby, controlled by the Baizhen Niangniang earlier.
Sometimes it’s really hard to tell whether these people in society are human or ghost.

Driving back, not long after setting off, they saw a woman at a small private gas station by the roadside, holding a stack of yellow paper and scolding a man.
The man was so stifled by the scolding that he simply pulled out a cigarette, intending to light it.
Seeing this, the woman dared not scold him anymore.

Lin Shuyou: “Brother Xiaoyuan, should I go down and pay?”
Li Zhuiyuan: “No need.”
He had given an order that the Baizhen Niangniang were not to go ashore without reason, but this gas station was located by the shore, a gray area.
Although the Baizhen Niangniang couldn’t radiate merit, each realm had its own Dao. Accepting this yellow paper was like accepting a protection fee.
If individual business owners had to choose between paying protection money to local thugs or to ghosts, most would probably choose the latter.

By the time they returned to Siyuan Village in Shinan Town, it was already dark, but not too late, as most of the houses in the village still had their lights on.

As the car approached the embankment, Lin Shuyou exclaimed:
“Brother Bin is actually back!”
Tan Wenbin was sitting on a small stool, eating a bowl of noodles that Aunt Liu had just made for him.
Seeing the mini-truck return, Tan Wenbin stood up with his noodle bowl, walking towards them while continuing to slurp his noodles.
He and Chen Xiyuan had gone to Yancheng, which logically was a much longer journey than Li Zhuiyuan’s.
But when they arrived at the river where floating corpses always appeared at night, he didn’t even need to ask for details. Chen Xiyuan jumped into the river without a word.
In less than the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, Chen Xiyuan surfaced, holding a black mask.
Job done!
From beginning to end, Tan Wenbin’s only role on this trip was to shout, “Spare it with your flute!” just as Chen Xiyuan was habitually about to smash the mask with her green flute.
A single leaf reveals autumn. Tan Wenbin had a profound realization of how Chen Xiyuan used to navigate the river.
Moreover, because she had opened her domain underwater, Chen Xiyuan’s clothes were not wet at all.
She urged Tan Wenbin to return home early, as she wanted to formally thank the old madam before it got too late.

“Brother Xiaoyuan, I’ve taken that mask into the Dao field and placed it on Fengdu Dadi’s offering table. After dark, Chen Xiyuan took A-Li to Cui Cui’s house.”
“Hmm, I know.”

Aunt Liu hadn’t slept. Hearing the commotion outside, she opened the door of the west room and asked with a smile:
“You’re back? Do you want some noodles too?”
Lin Shuyou: “I want two poached eggs, Sister.”
The old ladies’ card game ended rather late tonight, because Wang Lian’s son was about to be sent to the city for a new course of treatment, and Liu Yumei had to lose more money to her.

After Chen Xiyuan brought A-Li here, A-Li went upstairs herself and sat at Cui Cui’s desk, drawing patterns with a pencil, to facilitate the carving of designs tomorrow.

Cui Cui knew that Sister A-Li was busy, so she didn’t go back to her room to disturb her.

Then, she went to find Sister Chen.

Sister Chen was beautiful and lovely, and very kind. Most importantly, Cui Cui noticed that every time she spoke to her, Sister Chen always responded and had insights.
Especially when Cui Cui talked about which girl in class had a crush on which boy, which boys fought over a girl, and which student secretly handed a love letter to the English teacher, Sister Chen’s eyes would light up.

After chatting about school and class matters, Cui Cui began to talk about village affairs.
She had heard all of it from her grandmother and mother chatting on ordinary days, already processed once, and when she told it, it became even more interesting.
Chen Xiyuan listened with great relish, finding it extremely appetizing, and unconsciously ate almost all of Cui Cui’s snacks.
Cui Cui was not stingy either. Seeing the snacks were gone, she even specifically asked her mother for money, taking Sister Chen’s hand to Aunt Zhang’s convenience store to buy new ones.

The convenience store in every village is often a hub for village gossip.

Just then, several elderly people were sitting in front of the convenience store. Chen Xiyuan stopped walking and found a long bench to sit on with Cui Cui. They selected snacks to eat while listening.
When their mouths were salty or choked, they asked Aunt Zhang for a can of Jian Li Bao to wash it down. This posture was like listening to xiangsheng in Sijiucheng.
It wasn’t until the old ladies’ card game ended and Aunt Xiang Hou called them back for dinner from afar that Chen Xiyuan and Cui Cui reluctantly paid and walked back.

Chen Xiyuan told Cui Cui that after she returned, she would take money out of her old clothes pocket and repay her tomorrow.
Cui Cui waved her hand generously, saying there was no need, she should be treating.
Both were chatty people, and despite the age gap, they felt a sense of mutual understanding.

Chen Xiyuan ate her dinner very primly, a small bowl of rice with a little side dish. It wasn’t because Aunt Xiang Hou’s cooking was much worse than Aunt Liu’s, but because she knew that if she really ate her fill, the old ladies tonight would probably have to go to bed hungry.

After dinner, Liu Yumei sat on a long bench at the corner of the embankment, receiving Chen Xiyuan’s formal tea ceremony.
After handing over the teacup, Chen Xiyuan kowtowed to Liu Yumei with the junior’s礼 reserved for family and close friends.
A normal kowtow, no need to make a dent.

Liu Yumei: “I don’t really have anything suitable to give you as a reward.”

Chen Xiyuan pointed to her clothes: “Thank you, Old Madam, for the reward.”

“Sit down and talk.”

“Aye.”

They chatted casually about family matters.
Ever since the Qins and Lius had their troubles, Liu Yumei had severed most of her old connections.
Now, she was quite eager to “see” from this girl’s words how her old handkerchief-friend had been doing all these years.

Then, Chen Xiyuan painted a “vivid” picture for her, making her feel as if she were there.
This girl really knew a lot, as if she had specifically listened under the bed.
Some things that were clearly not suitable to be said in front of her, this girl also divulged.
Finally, seeing that it was late and the girl showed no sign of stopping her chatter, Liu Yumei had to speak first:
“Alright, alright, let’s save some for tomorrow.”
“Okay, Old Madam.”
“I heard you want to invite Xiao Yuan to Hainan?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s good to give and take. Juniors should interact more. Give my regards to your grandparents for the trouble.”
“I don’t plan to tell my grandparents about the little brother’s identity.”
“Hmm?”
“We are all on the river, heavily involved in karma. Even if we wanted to actively give a good meeting gift, it would be tricky.”
“What nonsense, what gift do you need?”
“If my grandparents knew the little brother’s identity as your successor, they would definitely treat him warmly.”
Liu Yumei picked up her teacup, “Shouldn’t they?”
“Then it wouldn’t be convenient for the little brother to visit my family’s treasure vault.”
Liu Yumei’s action of drinking tea paused.
Chen Xiyuan continued: “If my grandparents knew the little brother’s identity and his visit to our family’s treasure vault was discovered, would they handle it or not?
If they handled it, it would make you lose face and harm the friendship between our two families; if they didn’t handle it, they would suffer karmic backlash.
I believe in the little brother’s abilities. He doesn’t even need a special greeting; he will definitely succeed in entering our family’s treasure vault!”

Liu Yumei really didn’t know how to respond to that.
She used to think her A-Li was overly attached to outsiders, but A-Li merely moved things from one place in the house to another.
But this girl in front of her wasn’t just pulling an arm; if permitted, she would eagerly kick open the family treasure vault door and help carry things out together.

Liu Yumei: “Please give my regards to your grandparents.”
“Yes, I will, Old Madam.”
After the chat ended, Chen Xiyuan left.
Earlier when they were chatting, Lin Shuyou had made a special trip to inform her and A-Li upstairs that they had returned safely.
At this moment, Chen Xiyuan, in a good mood, was swinging her flute and humming a tune, walking back very happily.

On the way, she encountered Run Sheng walking out from the direction of his house, holding a small twig.
Chen Xiyuan: “What is this?”
Run Sheng: “Xiao Yuan told me to plant it in the peach orchard and nurture it for two days.”
Chen Xiyuan: “Then… I’ll go.”
Run Sheng: “Good.”
Taking the twig, Chen Xiyuan turned and headed towards the Big Beard’s house.
Although she knew Qing An was terrifying, she trusted the little brother’s evaluation of him, and also believed in the recognition of music.

As soon as she plunged the twig into the peach orchard, a cold snort emanated from within.
A chill wind blew out from inside.
Chen Xiyuan raised her flute, letting the cold wind enter it, and a sorrowful melody drifted out.
It was like an overture, and also set the emotional tone for tonight’s ensemble.

Inside, the sound of a suppressed zither was heard, seemingly filled with endless sorrow and regret.

Chen Xiyuan raised her flute to her lips, and while accompanying the music, she walked into the peach orchard.

In Big Beard’s bedroom, Bunbun, sleeping in Xiao Yingying’s arms, suddenly started wailing.
Xiao Yingying didn’t know what was wrong with the child and immediately began to comfort him.
This child was both well-behaved and sensible. Since she had been taking care of him, she had never seen him fuss or cry. Tonight, his crying was completely uncontrollable.

Upstairs, the “creaking” sound that usually lasted for a long time every night gradually ceased.

Lihua: “What’s wrong with you?”

Xiong Shan: “I don’t know, suddenly feeling a bit off.”

Lihua: “Tired?”

Xiong Shan: “I don’t know, it shouldn’t be.”

Lihua: “It’s okay, if you’re tired, you’re tired, it’s normal. Don’t cry, I don’t blame you, really.”

Xiong Shan: “I really don’t know why I suddenly feel like crying…”

Lihua: “Alright, alright, I understand you. After all, it’s normal at your age, don’t cry, don’t blame yourself.”

Zhao Yi returned. He threw the eyeball he brought back from Yangzhou to Chen Jing, telling Chen Jing to deliver it to Li.
Chen Jing took the eyeball and happily ran off.
Since coming to Nantong, he hadn’t seen his longed-for Brother Yuan yet.
Looking at the small figure running so joyfully it almost bounced, Zhao Yi’s face showed a wry smile.
He could keep his person, but not his heart.
Actually, he truly didn’t know about Li’s situation before. No matter how special, no matter how targeted he was, he hadn’t expected the Heavenly Dao to be so excessive.
For a long time, he really thought Li and his subordinates progressed so quickly because of Li’s own strong abilities and his willingness to invest resources.
The moment he truly realized something was wrong was when Chen Jing was chosen.
Even knowing that the Yu family’s “wave” was certainly coming in the future, Li remained unmoved by Chen Jing.
Of course, Li could indeed not want him; he already had Run Sheng. But the attitude Li showed him wasn’t that he looked down on Chen Jing’s future potential, but that he found it troublesome to cultivate Chen Jing from scratch.
Wouldn’t it be fine to just pour merit into him until he’s overflowing? How could it be troublesome?
Suspicion was born at that time.
Later, Zhao Yi began to consciously observe, gradually discovering more clues.
He didn’t say it out loud at first because he truly thought Li knew.
When he gradually realized that Li didn’t seem to know, he was even a little excited.
He didn’t intend to intentionally hide it from him or trick him; that would be too low cost-effective. He came to Nantong this time to bring his subordinates to Li for lessons. He planned to use this to exchange for more lesson hours, and ideally, even he himself could “buy” a private lesson, such as looking at that internal reference book that A-You had once blurted out.
But as it turned out, this time, when he arrived, he found that Li actually knew about it before he even spoke.
Moreover, it seemed that this step wasn’t long.
This time, not only did the secret fail to sell for a good price, but it also ended up being a burden, and made him feel inferior in front of Li.
Although he knew that Li wouldn’t really care about such things, and it was normal for people to keep each other’s secrets without telling, what he wanted was Li’s favor.

“I just don’t know if my luck is bad, or if someone got there first?”

The Liang sisters thought their boss was grieving over Chen Jing’s attitude towards Li Zhuiyuan. The two sisters, with a tacit understanding, each hugged Zhao Yi’s arm, one on the left, one on the right.

Liang Yan: “You have me.”

Liang Li: “And me.”

Zhao Yi smiled and nodded. It was a misunderstanding, but there was no need to explain.
At the same time, Zhao Yi also realized that in a team, the most stable relationship truly seemed to be turning all team members into one’s family.
Xu Ming saw accompanying him on river walks as an indispensable job, and A-Jing’s heart was completely tied to Li, unwilling to harm Li even when possessed.
Only these two truly regarded him as their man, their future reliance.

Walking into Big Beard’s house, as soon as he stepped onto the embankment, he heard the mournful music.
Zhao Yi sniffled, and two lines of clear tears flowed down.
The more sensitive one’s spiritual perception, the clearer one could hear the music, and the more one could empathize.
When the Liang sisters weren’t holding hands, they weren’t sensitive to this music.
Seeing Zhao Yi cry, with such genuine emotion.
The sisters also cried, each resting her head on one of Zhao Yi’s shoulders, leaning against him.

Liang Yan: “Meeting you is the greatest fortune of my life.”

Liang Li: “I promise you, we will always be together, never to part in this life.”

Zhao Yi, still weeping, put his arms around the sisters’ waists.
Never mind, let’s just keep crying. Explaining would spoil the mood too much.

Li Zhuiyuan had just come out of the Dao field, confirming the condition of the mask.
Chen Xiyuan’s attack was too fierce; she almost shattered the soul of that human-like, beast-like creature.
Tan Wenbin was right to place the mask on Fengdu Dadi’s offering table. It could borrow a trace of Fengdu Dadi’s aura to suppress the fragmented consciousness on the mask, allowing it to re-solidify.

“Brother Yuan! Brother Yuan! Brother Yuan!”
Chen Jing excitedly ran onto the embankment, handing the eyeball in his hand to Li Zhuiyuan.
Zhao Yi’s work was the most meticulous; the eyeball was perfectly separated, its evil spirit aura was very strong, and the sealing technique was highly skillful.
The other two items needed a few days to mature, but this eyeball could be used immediately.
“You worked hard, A-Jing.”
“Not hard at all, it’s what I should do. As long as Brother Yuan needs it, I can get you anything.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Not yet, I’ll go back to eat. Grandpa Tian will cook for us.”
“I’m just about to eat noodles, want to join?”
“Okay, thank you, Brother Yuan!”
Li Zhuiyuan walked into the kitchen. Run Sheng and the others had already eaten their noodles. He himself went to the Dao field to check the mask’s condition and hadn’t eaten.
However, on the stove, from the noodles to the base seasoning in the bowl, everything had been prepared by Aunt Liu. The fire in the stove hadn’t completely died out, making it very simple to cook.
As he added firewood to the stove and waited for the water to boil, Li Zhuiyuan began to miss Chen Xiyuan’s blowpipe.
When the water boiled, he added the noodles, then scooped a ladle of broth to dissolve the seasoning in the bowl. When it was time, he lifted the noodles, shaking off the water while simultaneously creating a shape, and finally placed them into the soup bowl.
He brought out two bowls of noodles, one for Li Zhuiyuan and one for Chen Jing.
While eating, Chen Jing almost ate the noodles one by one, savoring each strand.
After eating, Chen Jing eagerly washed the dishes before returning.
When he arrived at Big Beard’s house, Old Grandpa Tian said to him, “A-Jing, wait, I’ll warm up your food.”
Chen Jing shook his head, his eyes red and wet.
Old Grandpa Tian: “Oh dear, oh dear, I’m just warming up your food, you don’t need to be so moved, it’s not like the young master doesn’t let you eat your fill, right?”

Around midnight, Chen Xiyuan finally emerged from the peach orchard.

Upstairs in the house, Lihua, who had been comforting her husband until now, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Her husband’s emotions had finally recovered.
She knew how devastating such a thing could be to a man.
She kissed Xiong Shan on the forehead, offering a final comfort: “Don’t worry, I’m with you not just for that kind of thing. Try to look at it differently.”

Downstairs in the room, Bunbun finally stopped crying and fell asleep.
Xiao Yingying sat on the bed, her hair disheveled, fine streams of water dripping from her body, trickling down the edge of the bed.
The child’s crying had exhausted her, almost causing her to reveal her true form.

Chen Gu Niang, one of the instigators of all this, only felt that today had been very pleasant.
She smashed an evil spirit, chatted and listened to gossip for a long time, and before going to bed, she could still enjoy a delightful ensemble. This was simply a life like a deity.
If it weren’t for her own cave dwelling in Wuzhishan, with her share of the family property inside, and the little brother being so poor that he had to visit her family’s treasure vault, she would have wanted to stay in Nantong permanently.

On her way home, she saw a familiar figure ahead—Grandpa Li.
Li Sanjiang had recently been to many parties. Yesterday he drank at the old carpenter’s house, and today he went to the former old village head’s house.
The older people got, the more they would think of inviting Li Sanjiang when hosting small drinking gatherings. This was a kind of last-minute appeal to the Buddha, as their dignified departure still depended on Li Sanjiang.
Even though many of the elderly there were younger than Li Sanjiang, and some even a generation below him in seniority, everyone seemed convinced that when they lay in their ice coffins, Li Sanjiang would still be robust.

“Grandpa Li!”
Li Sanjiang turned his head, straining his drunken eyes. After a long while, he finally realized who she was:
“Oh, you’re that shrewd old lady’s sister!”
“Who is the shrewd old lady?”
“Mmm… nobody.” Li Sanjiang reached up and patted his mouth twice. “It’s so late, why are you still wandering outside?”
“Just about to go back to sleep.”
“Oh, good. I’ll walk ahead, you walk behind. Watch your step, don’t twist your ankle and fall.”
“Aye, okay.”

And so, Li Sanjiang walked in a zigzag pattern ahead, swaying constantly, while Chen Xiyuan kept a watchful eye behind him.
But after a while, she noticed that no matter how much Grandpa Li swayed, he never fell, and he could keenly avoid the potholes on the village road.
Actually, after Run Sheng handed the twig to Chen Xiyuan, he went to the old village head’s house to prepare to bring Li Sanjiang back.
Li Sanjiang said he would sleep there tonight and return tomorrow morning, so he sent Run Sheng back.
Who knew that tonight’s table of old men couldn’t drink as much as last night’s? Before half the night was over, they were all passed out drunk. So Li Sanjiang was too lazy to sleep there and went back to his own home for a sweet sleep.

“Little girl.”
“My surname is Chen.”
“Little Chen.”
“Aye.”
“The wind is so strong tonight, look, it’s blowing me over. You be careful too.”
“It’s fine, this much wind is nothing. The wind where we live is really strong, typhoons! They can blow down trees and lift off roofs.”
“Really? That’s truly frightening! If a person ran outside, wouldn’t they be blown away too?”
“Yes, when a big typhoon hits, someone will drive a car with a loudspeaker to notify everyone not to go out.”
“Hehe, that’s really interesting, no wonder in the opera, loyal officials are always exiled to your place.
Back when they were all mud houses and thatched houses, wouldn’t they have to rebuild every time there was a strong wind?”
“When I was a child studying, I asked my grandpa, ‘What kind of place is Qiong Zhou, why is everyone always exiled to Qiong Zhou?’ Only then did I realize it was my home.”
“Hahaha!” Li Sanjiang laughed, “I’ve seen it on TV, it’s beautiful there, and the sea is pretty too.”
“Then, Grandpa Li, why don’t you come visit me? My grandpa is a great drinker. He says no one in this world can outdrink him.”
“He’s bragging!”
“Then, Grandpa Li, why don’t you go compete? Little brother… oh no, Xiao Yuan Hou is going too.”
Chen Xiyuan didn’t know why, in Nantong dialect, people were called with “hou’er” (monkey) added after their names.
“Ah?”
“I said Xiao Yuan Hou is going too.”
“Oh.”
“He’s little, and it’s typhoon season where we are. If you’re not there, what if Xiao Yuan Hou gets blown into the sea?”
“Oh, right.”
“Then you go. You and my grandpa will definitely get along.”
“Aye aye aye.”
“Grandpa Li, you’ve agreed? Then I’ll book your flight. I don’t know if Nantong Airport has direct flights to our island, if not, flying from Shanghai is fine too.”
“Booking flights is too troublesome and expensive…”
“If you don’t book a flight, taking the car is very far, your bottom will hurt, and where we are, you also have to wait for a ferry before boarding the island.”
“I’ll go tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow to find a place and try my luck with a lottery.”
“A lottery?”
“Hmm, maybe even your ticket money will be won back.”
“Grandpa Li, are you that good at lotteries?”
“I don’t know, I even suspect the lottery official knows me, always rigging it for me, making me feel quite embarrassed. Lately, I’ve had to avoid them when I see them.”
“Hahaha.”
Chen Xiyuan thought Grandpa Li was deliberately joking with her.
At home, everyone else had returned to their rooms or coffins to sleep; it was very quiet.
Li Sanjiang walked to the steps of the embankment, bent over, and began to pant.
Chen Xiyuan walked ahead first, then turned, extending her flute, and said:
“Come, Grandpa Li, hold onto the flute, I’ll help you up.”
“Alright.”
Li Sanjiang grabbed the flute and was led up the embankment.
“Grandpa Li, I’ll see you upstairs.”
“No need, no need. I’ve recovered. I’m not drunk, truly not drunk. You go to sleep, I’m going back to sleep too.”
After saying that, Li Sanjiang entered the house and went upstairs.
Chen Xiyuan stood on the embankment, watching Li Sanjiang’s figure appear on the terrace and then enter his own room. Only then did she prepare to return to her own room in the east wing.
But as soon as she took a step, she felt the flute in her hand become warm.
“Huh, what’s wrong?”
Chen Xiyuan shook the flute, once, twice, thrice…
Suddenly, the flute glowed,
Night turned into day!