“Little Yuan, that’s all I know. I didn’t go through that stack of files in detail back then; my eyes just happened to catch that photo, and my dad simply told me a few things about it.

How about I go back to the police station now and borrow that stack of files from my dad?”

Li Zhuiyuan tapped his fingers on the desk, his mind rapidly sifting through the priorities.

Undoubtedly, “Grandma Yu” was a topic he had chosen himself.

The river truly had pushed her right in front of him, just as he had expected.

Logically, his first priority right now should be to go all out: investigate, analyze, plan, and resolve this malevolent entity.

However, two hidden threads also needed to be resolved.

Tang Qiuying in the high heels, and the murderer of Qiu Minmin.

These two threads seemed minor but remained unresolved, meaning they still had the potential to unearth more problems. The worst-case scenario was that they might erupt simultaneously while he was dealing with the Grandma Yu incident, catching him off guard.

Therefore, he had to resolve them quickly first.

“Binbin, call Uncle Tan now and ask him to come to the school. Make up a reason or hint that he should bring the files related to Grandma Yu.”

“Little Yuan, my dad will definitely give you face. What kind of hint do you need? Just tell him directly.”

“This is for your dad’s own good. Let him maintain the stance that, both publicly and privately, he’s working to solve cases and bring criminals to justice. That way, he won’t be affected.”

“Okay, I understand, Little Yuan.”

“Tell Uncle Tan that we’ve found Tang Qiuying’s bones.”

“Little Yuan, you’ve already figured that out?”

“How could I figure it out just sitting in the room? You make the call, and when you get back, we’ll start looking. It’s definitely somewhere near this dorm building.”

“Alright, I’ll go to the shop to make the call now.”

“Remember to bring back the incense burner you left with Runsheng when you return.”

“Understood.”

Tan Wenbin rushed out of the dorm.

Li Zhuiyuan first took out the high heels and placed them on his desk. Then he opened a drawer, pulled out a yellow paper, and picked up a brush to write Tang Qiuying’s name and birthdate on it.

After doing this, Li Zhuiyuan began to ponder the latest findings on the Qiu Minmin case that Tan Yunlong had provided.

Tan Yunlong was indeed an excellent police officer. He had discovered that before Qiu Minmin was murdered, she had already been assigned to a highly desirable unit, even though her academic performance was only average and her family had no influential connections.

Additionally, re-interviewing Qiu Minmin’s former roommates revealed that she seemed to have been in a relationship at the time, but deliberately kept the person’s identity a secret.

Li Zhuiyuan had “read” Ran Qiuping’s letter to her daughter Qiu Minmin, in which she mentioned that after her daughter’s resurrection, she wanted her to try dating Mao Zhushan. Given Ran Qiuping’s deranged state at the time, if she had known her daughter was already in a relationship before her death, she surely wouldn’t have remained silent. At the very least, she would have harassed the partner or described them in the letter.

This implied that Qiu Minmin had hidden the relationship not only from her roommates but also from her own mother. Combining this with the high probability that the killer was someone from the school, the mysterious partner was very likely the murderer.

Furthermore, the scope could be narrowed. Considering the person’s ability to influence unit assignments, Qiu Minmin’s reluctance to reveal the relationship, and the killer’s vulnerable, aggressive mode of operation in the restroom, the culprit was likely an older, married school leader at the time.

Seven years had passed; they were probably retired by now. With worse luck, they might even be dead. If the true killer had died of old age or illness, that would be good news for Li Zhuiyuan, as that hidden thread would be severed.

But if they weren’t dead, he had to unearth them, because even if they were just an ordinary person, under the river’s influence, they could still drag him into something big. This was like some difficult math problems that sometimes mimicked elementary school word problems, using names like “Xiao Ming” or “Xiao Jun” to introduce the type of problem.

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, scooped water from the bucket into a basin, wet a towel, and wiped his face with cold water. He began to reflect on some of his past behaviors.

The Qiu Minmin incident originated from the faceless dead-fallen entity actively ambushing Runsheng; it was the entity that came looking for trouble, and he had no way to avoid it. But the problem was, he should have only sought simple revenge, not brought back that evil book. Because of that evil book, the Qiu Minmin thread had remained tied to him. However, considering the value of the evil book, picking it up wasn’t a loss after all; it could help him deduce secret manuals and cultivation methods in the future.

But Tang Qiuying’s high heels were a result of his own oversight. When she had latched onto Lu Yi, he should have just eliminated her directly. It proved that keeping her as a dorm security guard was truly useless. Ordinary people didn’t need her protection, and she couldn’t stop someone like Lin Shuyou. Li Zhuiyuan even suspected that Tang Qiuying’s high heels had already brought him a wave of misfortune.

That night, Lin Shuyou sneaked into the dorm because of their meeting in the teaching building. He wanted to test Li Zhuiyuan’s strength so he could sleep soundly, which was why he hadn’t brought a weapon. He climbed through the window, was blocked by the high heels, and only decided to summon the White Crane Child after discovering that Li Zhuiyuan was raising a ghost.

Li Zhuiyuan re-hung the towel and sat back down at his desk. In the past, he had been bored and would actively seek out and touch dead-fallen entities. But now, he had confirmed his path of “Walking the River” and had obtained the “Name Register” from A-Li. So, his subsequent actions should focus on “self-selected topics,” avoiding any potential karmic entanglement in reality as much as possible.

Li Zhuiyuan turned to look at Tan Wenbin’s desk behind him, where “The Records of Jianghu Monsters” was still placed. Wei Zhengdao’s book was full of personal agendas. Chewing on it now, it felt as if he had specially made a meal just for this particular ingredient.

Even if Tang Qiuying had been wronged and died unjustly, he only needed to position himself as someone who “saw a ghost harming people and intervened to eliminate it” from a righteous stance. Then, the cause and effect would have nothing to do with him. No wonder Wei Zhengdao, whether introducing dead-fallen entities in “The Records of Jianghu Monsters” or explaining how to deal with them in “The Records of Righteous Demon Slaying,” listed every dead-fallen entity’s fate as “destroyed by the righteous path.”

So, “destroyed by the righteous path” was a specific strategy.

Li Zhuiyuan opened a notebook and picked up a fountain pen. These principles and rules weren’t enough if only he understood them; his entire team needed to be clear. Therefore, Li Zhuiyuan planned to write a “Code of Conduct for Walking the River.”

“Walking the River” was the primary challenge at present. The current focus was how to better carry out the task of “Walking the River” in conjunction with real-world situations. In daily life, it was correct to avoid karmic entanglement as much as possible, but this did not mean abandoning life itself. Maintaining normal social interactions, activities, and a living state was also essential. Because “Walking the River” had begun, whether he liked it or not, the river would continuously push terrifying things in front of him, wave after wave. If he locked himself completely indoors or sought refuge in a remote mountain peak, the dead-fallen entity would directly knock on his door. However, if he had a social network, an activity circle, and combined that with A-Li’s “Name Register,” it would be like having a soft cushion that could provide a buffering effect.

This time, Binbin seeing Grandma Yu’s photo in the police archives was the best example. This way, he “saw” her first, then prepared while looking for her, instead of Grandma Yu showing up outside his dorm door at night with lanterns:

“Knock, knock, knock… Child… Grandma is here.”

The fountain pen spun in his hand, hesitating to write. Li Zhuiyuan realized that understanding it himself was easy, but writing it down for Binbin, Runsheng, and Yin Meng to understand would be challenging. This was no less difficult than the cultivation method translation Liu Yumei was currently busy with; concretely describing abstract feelings in words was truly hard.

After much thought, it seemed that providing examples was the most suitable method. After the “Grandma Yu” incident was resolved, if he was still alive, he could record the previous few incidents along with “Grandma Yu” as cases, then summarize the patterns and analyze them. But if that were the case…

Li Zhuiyuan turned again to look at the stack of ancient books on Binbin’s desk: Wouldn’t he also have to write a set of books, just like Wei Zhengdao? What would the title of that book be?

Just then, the dorm door opened. Tan Wenbin walked in, carrying a bag. He first placed the tortoise-shaped incense burner on Li Zhuiyuan’s desk, then said, “Little Yuan, I’ve made the call. My dad said he’ll be here soon.”

“Okay, then let’s go find the body now.”

“How do we find it?”

“Binbin, you’ll have to put on these high heels.”

“Uh… huh?”

“It’s not suitable for anyone else to wear them. An inexperienced ordinary person might have an adverse reaction. The only one with experience is probably Lu Yi.”

“Then I’ll wear them. Don’t bother Lu Yi; I’ve eaten so many of his red sausages, after all.”

Yin Meng and Runsheng were in special training; it was uncertain if they could make it to this matter. Moreover, in Li Zhuiyuan’s plan, having them complete this special training would enable them to play a greater role in future “Walking the River” tasks. Interrupting and restarting this training would mean Qin and Liu suffering secondary karmic harm and paying double the price, which was not cost-effective.

Tang Qiuying was afraid of him; last time when writing in the sand tray, she didn’t even dare to touch his hand, so he couldn’t wear them either. And Lin Shuyou was even less suitable; who knew if his vertical pupil would open as soon as he put them on?

Considering everyone, only Tan Wenbin among his immediate circle could do this.

“Little Yuan, should I put them on now?”

“Yes.”

“Then… can I wash my feet first?”

“You may.”

Tan Wenbin grinned at the high heels on the desk and said, “See, Senior Sister Tang? I’m good to you, aren’t I?”

The high heels swayed lightly twice, in response.

Tan Wenbin changed into slippers, took a bar of soap, and went to the sink. After washing his feet, he came back, sat on the edge of the bed, and started drying them with a towel.

Li Zhuiyuan brought the high heels in front of him.

“Oh, Little Yuan, how can I accept this?”

After carefully drying his feet, Tan Wenbin slipped them into the high heels.

“Huh, Little Yuan, no, they’re a bit small. I can’t get them on. Could you hand me the carving knife from the desk? I need to trim my feet to fit the shoes.”

“Thwack!”

The carving knife was thrown onto Tan Wenbin’s bed.

Tan Wenbin picked up the carving knife, looking somewhat disbelieving. “No, brother, do I really have to trim them?”

“You asked for it yourself.”

“I was just joking. I’m not Cinderella’s stepsister.”

“Just step on the shoe surface.”

“Oh, alright then.”

Li Zhuiyuan handed Tan Wenbin a newspaper.

“Little Yuan, the newspaper is for…?”

“It’s daytime now, and there are many people in the dorm. Do you want to walk around like this wearing high heels?”

“Oh, right, right, right.”

Tan Wenbin quickly bent down and wrapped his lower legs and the high heels together with the newspaper, then taped it all around. Although it looked peculiar, at least it wasn’t abnormal.

Li Zhuiyuan tossed the yellow paper with Tang Qiuying’s name and birthdate into the incense burner, then used a compass for a while before selecting three incense sticks and inserting them into the three corners of the burner. Finally, he found a cardboard box, cut a hole in the top with the carving knife, placed the incense burner inside, and handed it to Tan Wenbin.

“Little Yuan, you’re so thoughtful.”

“Binbin, I’m about to unseal the high heels. Don’t resist; let her possess you.”

“It’s fine, brother. I don’t think it makes a difference whether I resist or not.”

“Being completely possessed by a malevolent entity is different from merely having your hand guided on the sand tray last time. It will cause some damage to your luck and body. However, I can help you avert the disaster for the former. For the latter… you can recover by eating more. Also, one more thing: this might make you more sensitive to evil objects, which means increasing your success rate in ‘Walking the Underworld’.”

Tan Wenbin was pleasantly surprised. “There’s such a good thing?”

“Alright, let’s begin.”

“Okay, I’m ready.”

Li Zhuiyuan removed the seal. The incense smoke rising through the box’s hole turned from white to black. Tan Wenbin felt a chill instantly shoot from his feet to the back of his head, and he instinctively opened his mouth.

“Clack…”

He suddenly seemed shorter. The previously ill-fitting high heels had now magically enlarged, allowing his feet to slip in. Li Zhuiyuan wasn’t surprised; after all, even a big Northeastern man like Lu Yi had fit into them last time.

The lines on Tan Wenbin’s face now softened a bit. His expressions gradually showed a different style. He first lightly twisted his neck, then spoke:

“Stinky junior, call me Senior Sister, Senior Sister, Senior Sister!”

Tan Wenbin had washed his feet, and she was happy, but she still remembered the “Senior Sister’s grudge.” However, this also showed that, unlike her possession of Lu Yi last time, this time Tang Qiuying clearly had more conscious thought, because Li Zhuiyuan had placed “who she was” in the incense burner.

“Tang Qiuying, go find your remains.”

Upon hearing this reminder, Tan Wenbin’s eyes, which had been only mildly annoyed, were gradually covered by hatred. His facial expression also began to distort.

Li Zhuiyuan said calmly, “Go ahead and lose control. I’ll just destroy you and sever the karmic ties.”

Tan Wenbin’s body trembled. The hateful gaze disappeared, replaced by a look of grievance and fear. She had been suppressed by the young man herself; she believed he had the ability to easily destroy her.

“Do you remember who harmed you?”

“I only remember who I am and where my remains are. The rest, I don’t remember; my mind is very empty… But I feel that when I find my remains, I’ll know who killed me. I don’t know why, but I’m very certain.”

“Good, then let’s go.”

Li Zhuiyuan picked up a plastic bag, put Tan Wenbin’s sneakers inside, and then, holding the bag, opened the dorm door. Tan Wenbin, clutching the cardboard box, shuffled out. Li Zhuiyuan closed the dorm door and followed.

As they descended the stairs and reached the dorm entrance, they happened to see Lu Yi entering, holding a book in his left hand and a bag of packed food from the cafeteria in his right.

“Binbin, I just finished class. I’ll take lunch to Ayou, then go to the shop. I can skip my afternoon classes; I plan to do some inventory.”

Tan Wenbin looked at Lu Yi, a smile on his face.

Lu Yi paused. “Dude, what’s wrong with you? Why are your feet wrapped up?”

Tan Wenbin said, “Your guitar playing is really good. I like listening to it.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi’s face initially showed confusion, then, as if he remembered something, he instinctively retreated several steps, finally falling to the ground. However, the book in his hand flew out, but he managed to keep the bag upright with his hand, preventing the food from spilling. This tone reminded him of a nightmare he had been having recently, where a girl in his dream kept telling him she liked his guitar playing.

Tan Wenbin turned to look at Li Zhuiyuan, pleading, “I want to hear him play one more song, can I?”

Li Zhuiyuan replied without lifting his head, “Just say you want to die.”

Tan Wenbin looked aggrieved but dared not get angry at the young man. He could only gaze at Lu Yi yearningly for a moment longer, then, hugging the cardboard box, shuffled out of the dorm.

Lu Yi, sitting on the ground, looked at Li Zhuiyuan, his lips parting several times but unable to form words, only managing to mimic the sound of “ghost.”

“Lu Yi.”

Li Zhuiyuan’s voice calmed Lu Yi slightly. He had been to General Temple with Li Zhuiyuan and knew that Prodigy Brother had certain special abilities. “Prodigy Brother, Binbin, he…”

“It’s fine. Go up and deliver the food.”

With that, Li Zhuiyuan also exited the dorm building and followed. As Lu Yi picked up his book and walked up the stairs, his steps grew slower and slower. Yes, that familiar feeling just now, it was it, it was it. Lu Yi’s eyes welled up.

Tan Wenbin led the way, with Li Zhuiyuan following behind. The two walked one after another, out of the dorm yard and into the tree-lined path behind the dorm building. This path was generally not used by many people, only by students from this dorm building when they went to the sports field for physical education classes. Both sides of the narrow path were planted with plane trees, which were not very old.

Tan Wenbin stopped in front of the tallest and thickest tree, then knelt down and began to dig.

“Stop, I’ll call people to dig.”

Tan Wenbin didn’t stop, continuing to dig with increasing force. “I’m in here, I’m in here, I’m in here!”

Li Zhuiyuan took a Clear Heart Talisman from his pocket and pressed it onto Tan Wenbin’s forehead.

Tan Wenbin’s body trembled. The newspaper on his feet rustled, and the high heels were squeezed off his feet, falling to the ground.

“Little Yuan… I’m a bit cold… do we have a padded coat in the dorm?”

“Just sit there and sunbathe for a bit to recover. You’ll be fine.”

“Oh.”

Tan Wenbin sat under the tree, rubbing his arms up and down, still shivering and gasping for air. Li Zhuiyuan peeled the talisman from Tan Wenbin’s forehead; it had turned black. The talismans drawn by A-Li were truly effective instantly, unlike his own, which could only change color.

After a while, seeing Tan Wenbin had recovered a bit, Li Zhuiyuan handed him the plastic bag with the shoes.

“Little Yuan, you’re so considerate.”

Tan Wenbin happily put on his shoes, stood up, then bounced and twisted in place. A series of crisp crackling sounds came from his joints, indicating stiffness.

“Binbin, go see if your dad has arrived.”

“Okay.”

Tan Wenbin ran off with high steps. At the entrance of the tree-lined path, he continued his high-step motion in place while waving:

“Dad, here, here!”

Tan Yunlong, in a police uniform, walked over, followed by a few colleagues. Looking at his bouncing son, Tan Yunlong frowned. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Body chills. Exercising.”

“Where’s Little Yuan?”

“There.” Tan Wenbin pointed, then his gaze fixed on the paper bag his father was carrying. “Dad, I need to go back to the dorm to change.”

“These are snacks I bought for you. Take them back.”

“Only Dad is the best in the world!”

Tan Wenbin took the paper bag and ran back to the dorm. Opening the paper bag, he found Grandma Yu’s files inside. But tucked in a gap in the bag were two pieces of chocolate. This brand was really expensive; Tan Wenbin was surprised his own father would actually be so generous. He immediately opened a package, put the chocolate in his mouth, and placed the second piece by the pen holder, saving it for Little Yuan. Then, Tan Wenbin rummaged through his luggage bag and found the padded coat he had brought for winter at the start of the semester. Wrapping himself in the coat, he immediately felt much more comfortable.

Just then, there was a knock on the dorm door. Tan Wenbin opened the door and saw Lu Yi standing there with a guitar on his back.

“Let go of my friend! Come at me!”

Tan Wenbin was startled by this loud, yet inwardly timid, shout. “No, what are you doing?”

“Huh?” Lu Yi looked closely at Tan Wenbin, confused. “Dude, are you okay?”

“What could be wrong with me? Oh, didn’t you re-wire your dorm? Go make me some dumplings, don’t just serve them drained. I want soup, and also slice some red sausages to cook with them.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tan Wenbin walked into Lu Yi’s dorm. Lin Shuyou was sitting on the bed eating. Seeing this, he immediately put down his chopsticks. “Big brother, are you possessed?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Yi first wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, then silently sliced an extra red sausage into the pot.

Just then, shouts came from the hallway. Someone from their dorm pushed the door open, threw a book on the bed, and urged, “What are you still doing here? The police are digging for a body behind the building! Go look!”

Calling an excavator would take time, and machine operation could easily damage the site. Therefore, the best method was manual excavation, like archaeology. This required a large number of people. Fortunately, universities had no shortage of energetic young men. These young people, as long as they didn’t have to go to class, were full of vigor for anything else.

Soon, a group of people who had gone to borrow shovels ran back. Although they were sweating profusely from running, each insisted on keeping the last shovel for themselves. Tan Yunlong began to direct the excavation, while his colleagues maintained order around the perimeter.

Even university students from rural areas, having not done farm work for too long, felt exhausted after shoveling for a while. As for city students, it was even more so. But it didn’t matter; many people in the surrounding area were shouting and even pleading, “Classmate, please, let me dig! Let me dig two scoops.” The police hadn’t told them they were digging for a body, but the rumor had spread among them. This time, the rumor was correct.

Under the continuous rotation of fresh labor, a large hole was dug before the school leaders received news and arrived. Tan Yunlong timely ordered others to stop, and he carefully dug the last bit himself.

A decomposed body gradually appeared. Logically, in such an environment, the body buried for so long should have turned into a skeleton. But because the tree roots had also grown through the body, or perhaps due to the surrounding soil quality and feng shui issues, in any case, Tang Qiuying was still in a state of decomposition.

As soon as the body appeared, the surrounding university students became even more agitated. The three police officers maintaining order had to shout loudly to barely hold them back. The dorm windows upstairs were even more crowded with heads, some nearly half their bodies leaning out. One careless fall could add another fresh body to the scene. Fortunately, the called-in police reinforcements arrived at this moment, which finally brought order to the area.

Layers of school leaders also kept popping up, like a game of whack-a-mole.

Tan Yunlong put on new gloves. He observed that the corpse’s right fist was tightly clenched. He bent down to pry it open but couldn’t. Just as he was about to give up, the corpse’s right fist opened by itself. Clutched inside was a work ID badge, with a name recorded on it: “Wang Chaonan.”

Tan Yunlong immediately left the pit and approached the school leaders, asking who Wang Chaonan was. His original intention was just to try his luck, as the case was many years old, and getting a result just by asking a name would require extreme good fortune. But this time, his luck was indeed good.

This was the living area, so the first leaders to gather were naturally from logistics. After everyone chewed over the name, someone actually asked, “Is it the ‘Chao’ from ‘chaoyang’ (sunrise) and ‘Nan’ from ‘nanfang’ (south)?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“He’s an old employee from our logistics department, usually in charge of the school’s landscaping…”

“Where is he now?”

“He’s on holiday today.”

“Where does he live?!”

“I… I…”

At this moment, another person said, “I know where he lives. When he built his new house, I went for a drink. His house is right across from the grain station in Xinqiao Town.”

Tan Yunlong immediately arranged for some colleagues to continue maintaining the scene and excavating the body, while he took another group of colleagues to apprehend the suspect. If he truly was the murderer, failing to apprehend him now, if he heard what happened at the school, he might choose to flee.

But amidst this rapid arrangement, Tan Yunlong’s gaze still fixed on Li Zhuiyuan, who was standing on the periphery, carrying a plastic bag. There were too many people, and he already knew the body was there, so Li Zhuiyuan didn’t bother to squeeze in to look. However, seeing Tan Yunlong signal with his eyes, Li Zhuiyuan nodded and followed Tan Yunlong, carrying the bag.

Whether in Shigang Town or Jinling, Officer Tan had always been very adept in this regard. He only cared about catching the murderer; he didn’t care if you were a child. He was a person who both adhered to rules and didn’t.

Tan Yunlong signaled his colleagues to drive the police car and simultaneously called for local police station comrades to deploy. He himself found a parked motorcycle. The owner had also wanted to watch the excitement, but his motorcycle was then requisitioned. Li Zhuiyuan had experienced Tan Yunlong’s motorcycle skills before. After getting on the bike, he placed the bag containing the high heels between his back and Uncle Tan’s, then wrapped his arms around Uncle Tan’s waist and lowered his head.

What followed was a whirlwind ride. Li Zhuiyuan could only hear the whooshing wind in his ears; they couldn’t communicate on the bike at all. Xinqiao Town was not far from the school, and the local police station’s deployment speed was likely no match for Tan Yunlong speeding directly there on his motorcycle. The police cars that had set off with them were long since lost somewhere behind.

They arrived at their destination: Xinqiao Town, the grain station, opposite. It was a self-built village house. Directly opposite the grain station gate was a two-story building. All around were fields, and the nearest other houses were quite distant, so there was no possibility of misjudgment. Tan Yunlong, as a newly transferred police officer, knowing the geography so well and not stopping once to ask for directions along the way, showed that he had done his homework beforehand. In this regard, he was a bit like Binbin. Binbin used to be a bit unreliable, but when he truly got serious about something, he indeed showed his father’s demeanor.

In the courtyard of Wang Chaonan’s house, a middle-aged couple in their forties and a small boy of about three were having lunch. Tan Yunlong drove the motorcycle directly through the small path, all the way into their courtyard.

“Daddy, Mommy, motorcycle, bike!” the little boy shouted excitedly, pointing at the motorcycle. If it were grandparents, it would be normal, but for parents of this age, it was quite rare.

Immediately afterward, the man who was eating, seeing a person in a police uniform riding a motorcycle directly up to him, instantly slammed his bowl and chopsticks to the ground and ran off without hesitation. Experienced police officers often have the ability to quickly determine if someone is lying. And this scene, even a rookie police officer could tell at a glance, that there was a problem. This reaction was an admission of guilt.

Li Zhuiyuan pushed off with both legs and jumped off the back seat of the motorcycle. Tan Yunlong, therefore, didn’t need to stop the bike; he simply jumped off while it was still moving, letting it fall, and chased after Wang Chaonan. Wang Chaonan was clearly very flustered, and his escape was illogical. He stumbled when jumping off his courtyard and fell again when he entered the farmland. Before he could get up, Tan Yunlong tackled him and handcuffed him with the cuffs from his waist.

Li Zhuiyuan, who remained where he was, had been somewhat alertly observing the woman. But the woman only clutched the little boy tightly in her arms, crying repressedly, continuously muttering:

“Yongyong is our son, Yongyong is our son.”

This made Li Zhuiyuan feel a bit strange, because regardless of whether she knew about her husband’s crime, this shouldn’t be her reaction. It was as if, in her eyes, the police were there to take away her son. Li Zhuiyuan began to observe the boy’s and the woman’s facial features. If they were mother and son, there was absolutely no similarity in their facial details. Moreover, the woman’s face showed a “soil-breaking fate,” a type of fate where people often struggled to have offspring. Of course, nothing was absolute; facial fate readings were not rigid laws.

But when Tan Yunlong escorted Wang Chaonan back, and Li Zhuiyuan observed his face as well, he found that Wang Chaonan also had a “soil-breaking fate,” and it was even more severe and obvious than his wife’s. It could almost be used as a standard example of this fate in “Elucidations of Yin-Yang Physiognomy.”

Li Zhuiyuan might not blindly believe in the study of fate, but he believed in probability. So, this boy named “Yongyong” was likely not their biological child.

Just then, a police car drove up the road. After his colleagues arrived, Tan Yunlong handed over the suspect. As Wang Chaonan was being escorted into the police car, the plastic bag Li Zhuiyuan was holding began to tremble slightly, and wisps of black smoke, invisible to ordinary people, started to emanate. The murderer who had killed her was caught, and she was finally freed. In the black smoke, Tang Qiuying made a gesture of gratitude to the young man.

“Thank you… truly too…”

“Get lost.”

Li Zhuiyuan’s impression of this senior sister was terrible. As a malevolent entity, it might be excusable if she had forgotten who she was due to being dead for too long. But even as a ghost, her behavior logic was intolerable to Li Zhuiyuan. He had been angry when Runsheng made a mistake last time, but he still had to tolerate her all this time. He had carried these high heels all the way, not daring to throw them away, fearing that if the matter wasn’t concluded and he threw them, it would lead to other karmic entanglements.

The young man felt no joy or satisfaction of “redressing a ghost’s grievance” or “doing a good deed,” only the relief of finally being rid of this idiot. In comparison, he preferred the black cat from the “Cat-Faced Old Lady” story. That black cat was not only clever but, most importantly, obedient. Therefore, that night, the young man was willing to hold it and accompany it as it slowly dissipated.

Tan Yunlong had just taken out his cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it, when he saw the young man walking towards him. Yu Shu had once asked him if he believed in fate, then changed the question to whether he believed his son brought him good fortune. At that time, his mind wasn’t on his own son, but on Li Zhuiyuan. And all this stemmed from the day a ten-year-old boy pushed open his office door and told him about the case, and he didn’t put on airs or shirk, but just listened seriously. Choices were mutual; if he had treated him like a child that day, showing distrust and impatience, then whether he would have been transferred to the provincial capital was secondary; his son would also have lost a top scorer as a study companion.

“Little Yuan, thank you again this time.”

“Police and civilians, like fish and water.”

“Cough, cough…” Tan Yunlong choked on his smoke. “Right, right, that’s correct. Police and civilians should work hand-in-hand to combat crime and build a harmonious society.” Tan Yunlong didn’t understand the reason, but he understood how to cooperate.

“Uncle Tan, could I borrow your lighter?”

“Here, your aunt bought this for me a long time ago. It wasn’t cheap. It’s yours.”

“No need, I don’t smoke.”

“You can still use it sometimes. Don’t they show it on TV? You can light candles, incense, or some yellow paper.”

“Click!”

Li Zhuiyuan held the high heels under the flame, but they only blackened a little and wouldn’t catch fire.

“Uncle Tan, here’s your lighter back.”

Tan Yunlong took the lighter. Immediately, the young man pulled a talisman from his pocket, flicked it in his hand, and the talisman ignited by itself. This was an A-Li drawn evil-breaking talisman. Using it to ignite this was a bit overkill, but Li Zhuiyuan didn’t feel it was a waste; he had finally severed a thread.

He stuffed the talisman into one high heel, and it immediately burst into flames. The other high heel, even without a talisman, also caught fire.

“Plop!”

Li Zhuiyuan tossed the two high heels into the field and watched them quickly burn to ashes with his own eyes. After it was done, Li Zhuiyuan clapped his hands, turned, and met Tan Yunlong’s gaze.

“Uncle Tan, it’s a magic trick. I used white phosphorus.”

“A very spectacular magic trick. Can Binbin do it too?”

“Not yet.”

“Then please bear with him. He’s slow-witted, and his mind is never focused on studying.”

“Binbin has helped me a lot.” Li Zhuiyuan knew that Tan Wenbin had been a bit depressed these past two days, feeling increasingly useless. But in reality, although you couldn’t specifically explain what use he had, his role was irreplaceable. What Liu Yumei called the “shout” from the bow of the boat might not just be about people, but also about events.

“Officer Tan, I’d like to report something.”

Tan Yunlong immediately put his police cap back on. “Young comrade, speak.”

“I suspect the boy in this family was… illegally adopted.”

“Bought?”

“Uncle Tan, you can first check if they have legal adoption procedures.”

“I understand. I’ll investigate immediately.”

Tan Yunlong went to discuss with his colleagues. Normally, considering the child was young and needed care, they would only need to take suspect Wang Chaonan back for interrogation and investigation. But since there was this other situation, a police officer went to question the woman.

The woman immediately became like a frightened old hen, screaming and yelling frantically at the surrounding police:

“This is my son, this is my biological son, he’s flesh and blood from my body! None of you can take him away! I’d rather throw him to his death than let you have him!” As she spoke, she lifted the child. The surrounding police officers rushed forward, protected the child, and subdued her.

Afterward, police officers were assigned to question nearby villagers and the village chief. In the past, according to the custom of covering for relatives in the village, even if they knew the child’s origins were illicit, no one would report it, and they wouldn’t even tell the truth to the police, not even the village chief. But this time, after the police revealed that Wang Chaonan was suspected of murder and burying a body, the villagers no longer had reservations and quickly disclosed that the child had been bought from traffickers. This was no secret in the village; the couple was old and couldn’t conceive, so they bought a child from traffickers.

The woman was also taken into the police car. Tan Yunlong had arrived on a motorcycle. He instructed a colleague to drive it back to school for him and discuss the gas cost and wear. He himself, holding Yongyong’s hand, helped the child into the police car.

“Little Yuan, come, I’ll take you back to school?”

“Uncle Tan, Binbin said he misses his dad and wants to have a late-night snack with you tonight.”

“Then you come with me to the police station. I’ll take you back to school later tonight to have a late-night snack with Binbin.”

“Okay.”

Li Zhuiyuan got into the police car, sitting in the back seat with Yongyong. Yongyong wasn’t scared at all; instead, he seemed very excited.

“Police car, police car, beep-boop, beep-boop, beep-boop!”

“Uncle Tan, do you have paper and a pen in the car?”

“Yes, here you go.” Tan Yunlong handed the paper and pen from the front.

Li Zhuiyuan took the pen and began to draw on the paper. Gradually, Yongyong’s attention was also drawn, and he leaned over curiously.

“Brother, what are you drawing?”

“You’ll know soon. If you guess it, brother will buy you candy.”

“Yay, yay!”

As Li Zhuiyuan gradually drew elements such as a water vat, stilts, a tall hat, and two lanterns, Yongyong’s initially expectant and excited expression slowly faded, replaced by what seemed to be a long-forgotten but deeply hidden fear.

Li Zhuiyuan finished his drawing and held the complete picture in front of the boy.

“Ah!”

Yongyong let out a shriek, then burst into tears. “Wuwuwu… Beibei, be good… Beibei, be a good boy… Grandma Yu, don’t hit me…”

Li Zhuiyuan capped the pen and turned the drawing over. In his mind at this moment was the image from A-Li’s “sight”: Grandma Yu standing outside the threshold, and on the two lanterns, the deliberately written insults and curses for A-Li:

*Killed both parents, became a prostitute*

Alright,
I’m coming for you.