Corpse Retriever

Li Zhuiyuan slept deeply that night—no dreams, no waking, not even a change in sleeping position. One blink and the long night had passed.

As usual, he turned his head to the side—and as expected, the girl was sitting in the chair by the door.

But something felt off. She hadn’t changed her clothes.

She was still wearing the same black martial arts outfit from yesterday, with the smudges she’d picked up while rushing around still clearly visible.

That meant she hadn’t gone back to the east wing to sleep last night. She had sat there, the entire night.

Li Zhuiyuan could guess why. Yesterday had drained him completely, and she was probably worried he might suddenly die in his sleep.

A reason that might seem absurd to others, but to the girl, it was the most straightforward, honest logic.

She had never spoken a word in front of him since they first met, yet Li Zhuiyuan found himself growing increasingly able to understand her.

He got out of bed and walked over.

Her face was as delicate as ever, showing no signs of fatigue.Maybe she was used to sleepless nights. In her world, day and night had long since blurred together.

Otherwise, Liu Yumei wouldn’t always be reminding him to coax Ah Li back to the east wing to sleep.

The girl raised her head and met his gaze.

In her eyes, Li Zhuiyuan saw a near-whole version of himself.

He had thought about it before—why she treated him so differently.

It all traced back to that night when the Cat-demon granny came. The girl had stood in the courtyard, looked up, and seen him on the second-floor balcony.

He was probably the first person to step into her dreams.

Not a pleasant dream—because her eyes could see the terrifying underside of the world.

At the age of ten—no, probably even younger—she had already been this way.

It was hard to imagine how a babbling toddler could survive in such an environment, surrounded by endless ugliness and filth.

She must have cried, been afraid, screamed—but the world hadn’t changed for her, so she changed herself instead, sealing everything away.

Autism, OCD, mutism—these were all just surface symptoms. The real reason was her utter rejection of all contact with the outside world.

As embarrassing as it was, it was the truth: his appearance that night, to her, was like a sliver of light piercing years of darkness.

He was like a balcony sealed behind glass, and she stood there, using him to cautiously reach out and sense the world.

Maybe he was just a temporary vessel for all her hopes and curiosity about life.

But wasn’t it the same for him?

His mom already hated him. His dad couldn’t stand the family anymore. Neither Grandpa from the North nor the South saw him as their only grandchild.

But at least, in the eyes of the girl in front of him, he filled her whole world.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out to tidy the stray hair by Ah Li’s ear, but she beat him to it—wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her face against his chest.

She had seen him do this with Li Sanjiang once and had remembered it ever since. She liked it.

She had been secretly practicing it—awkward, but endearing.

Li Zhuiyuan patted her head and repeated the familiar line:

“Ah Li, whatever you want, I’ll buy it for you. I’ve got money, plenty of money.”

The line was a bit off-topic, but she liked it all the same.

She pulled back slightly and looked at him with bright eyes.

He understood—this was her way of expressing joy, of celebrating his “recovery from a serious illness.”

To her, his exhaustion from last night was no different than being sick.

He smiled at her and thought to himself:

“Actually, we’re both pretty sick.”

…

They got up later than usual, and everyone else had already eaten.

As Li Zhuiyuan led Ah Li downstairs, Liu Yumei was sipping tea with her head bowed in the courtyard.

He didn’t dare look too closely at her expression. It wouldn’t be good, no doubt.

Aunt Liu had already set the table and came over, giving him a meaningful look.

Li Zhuiyuan got the hint and said to Ah Li, “Go wash up with Aunt Liu, and if you’re tired, take a nap.”

Ah Li obediently turned and walked toward the east wing. Aunt Liu followed and closed the door behind them.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down and started eating breakfast.

Midway through, Li Sanjiang came walking back from the outhouse behind the house. He bent down and studied Li Zhuiyuan’s face.

“Little Yuanhou, you look much better than yesterday.”

“Great-grandpa, have a seat. I’ve got something I need to tell you. I was too tired yesterday to bring it up.”

“Need some pocket money?” Li Sanjiang patted his pocket and pulled out a bill far beyond the usual kid’s allowance, placing it beside Li Zhuiyuan’s bowl. “Need money, just tell your great-grandpa. I’ve got loads.”

Li Zhuiyuan didn’t grab the money. Instead, he said:

“Great-grandpa, the night before last, at Old Zhao’s memorial feast, you weren’t drinking alone. You were with two people. One was Brother Bao—the video hall owner the police raided—he’s dead. The other was Zhao Xing—he’s Old Zhao’s son, the one the funeral was for. Neither of them were alive. They came to drink with you because they needed your help…”

“Hold it, hold it!”

Li Sanjiang cut him off, placing a hand on the boy’s forehead, then on his own to compare temperatures. He looked puzzled.

“Aiyo, feels a little warm. You must be talking nonsense from a fever.”

“Great-grandpa, I’m serious. They wanted you to go to Old Jiang’s house in Shigang Town and deal with a taizui in the water jar. If you don’t help, they’ll come back and bother you. Please be careful these days.”

“Little Yuanhou, you mean… I was drinking with two…” Li Sanjiang lowered his voice, “Two dead people? All night?”

“Yeah.”

“Sigh. My fault. I shouldn’t have told you about my dream yesterday. Must’ve messed with your head—daytime thoughts, nighttime dreams.”

“I’m not dreaming, great-grandpa. I’ve already prepped some useful stuff to help you handle it…”

“Okay, okay. I believe you. Now finish eating. After breakfast, I’ll take you to Old Doctor Zheng for a check-up and maybe a shot.”

Li Zhuiyuan smiled. “Wow, I told you a whole ghost story and you’re not even scared. You’re tough.”

“Heh, you little sparrow, think you can scare your old man? I’d know if I drank with someone all night. Runsheng didn’t see it, only you did? That story’s full of holes—too easy to pick apart.”

“Mm, I’ll make it better next time.”

“Put more effort into your studies. Less into spooky nonsense. Oh, and starting tonight, I’m doing the Luck-Shifting Ritual for you again.”

Li Sanjiang patted his shoulder and headed inside to rest, needing to store up energy for possibly dreaming of leading zombie drills at the Forbidden City again.

Li Zhuiyuan looked down at his half-eaten salted duck egg, spinning it slowly in his fingers.

“This doesn’t make sense,” he muttered.

“It’s not supposed to.”

It was Liu Yumei’s voice.

He stood and walked over. “Grandma Liu, what did you just say?”

“The tea’s gone cold. Brew a fresh pot. Go easy on the leaves. My mouth feels bland today.”

He nodded and began making tea. He understood what she meant—around here, you had to tread lightly when discussing strange matters. Never spell things out.

Everything had to be spoken in riddles—just enough for the other person to understand.

Liu Yumei leaned back slightly in her chair and said:

“Do you sometimes think your great-grandpa’s a bit dull? That he doesn’t see things clearly or won’t listen to reason?”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded.

“Child, that’s normal. People get like that when they’re old.

“At your age, you’re full of energy and curiosity. But as folks reach middle age, they start resisting new things, clinging to the old ways.

“And by the time they’re old, they follow one rule only—live like they always have, rolling along like a hoop until it rolls straight into the grave.

“They get stubborn, inflexible. Tell them they’re wrong, they’ll say you’re too young. Say they shouldn’t do something, and they’ll say it’s how they’ve survived this long.

“Right or wrong doesn’t matter to them. Making it to old age is proof enough. It’s its own kind of skill. You understand?”

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