Corpse Retriever

“So soon.”

“Little Yuan understands and supports you.” As he spoke, Uncle Qin pointed toward Ah Li’s study, then tapped his own ear.

Aunt Liu seemed to remember something too. She pointed in the same direction, then picked up a kitchen knife and covered her eyes with it.

Uncle Qin said, “Didn’t you tell me Little Yuan had a new insight into The Qin Family’s Guide to Viewing Flood Dragons? Where’s the new book?”

“Little Yuan handed over the newly realized realms from the Qin and Liu families’ techniques to Mistress, but she hasn’t even finished translating The Liu Clan’s Art of Observing Qi yet.

If you think you can make sense of those chicken-scratch glyphs, I’ll go get the set of The Qin Family’s Guide to Viewing Flood Dragons for you to try.”

“No thanks. You forget how it was before? I’ve never been good with books. Mistress was so mad she starved me for ten days.”

“Come off it. You think Mistress didn’t know I was sneaking food to you?”

“I’ll wait for the translated version with annotations.”

“By the way, why don’t you tell Little Yuan about your experiences traveling the rivers?”“I failed.”

“Isn’t failure more important to learn from?”

“Everyone’s different. The conditions one faces while walking the rivers are never the same. If I told him my story, it’d only mislead him. Besides, I trust Little Yuan knows what he’s doing.”

Uncle Qin picked up a jujube from the table, bit into it, and walked into the courtyard. As he exited the kitchen, he flicked the jujube pit and struck Runsheng on the back of the head, pulling him back once again from the edge of unconsciousness.

“Our time is short. You have to get used to it. Even if you pull them out later, you should still feel like they’re there.

Unfortunately, your comprehension isn’t great. You’re too slow at learning The Qin Family’s Guide to Viewing Flood Dragons. But luckily, your body can handle this clumsy method. That makes you the fastest learner of all.”

The training continued until a voice called out:

“Dinner time!”

Tan Wenbin came downstairs and sat at the table. One look at Runsheng’s face made him jump.

Even back when Runsheng got impaled by rebar from a wall, he didn’t look this pale.

In front of Runsheng was a large basin; Wenbin had a medium one.

When the incense in the basin burned out, Runsheng picked up his spoon, slowly scooped up some food, and brought it to his mouth. Only while chewing did his face show a flicker of relief.

Liu Yumei picked up her bowl and ate in silence.

Wenbin asked, “Where’s Yin Meng?”

Aunt Liu replied, “She got full while taste-testing.”

After dinner, Runsheng limped back to the courtyard step by step and resumed his boxing practice.

Li Zhuiyuan stood to the side watching him for a while. Maybe it was because of this quiet presence, but tonight Runsheng held out longer than usual.

He even managed to speak between gasping breaths:

“When I’ve got this down, next time I fight that Officer-Commander, I’ll lift him up and throw him, haha.”

Runsheng would be staying here tonight to continue training.

Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin left the courtyard—not heading straight back to the dorm, but first making a stop at the house Liu Yumei used to live in.

They pushed open the door. In the living room, Yin Meng was sprawled out on a straw mat, her body looking like someone had spilled paint all over her.

The way she looked, she was just one mat short of being wrapped up and dumped in a mass grave.

She was still unconscious, not even able to speak. Li Zhuiyuan looked at her for a while, then walked out.

On their way back to the dorm, Wenbin whispered, “Xiao Yuan-ge, those round things on Runsheng’s body… are those stickers or…”

“Coffin nails.”

“…Tch.”

Back at the dorm, Wenbin was the first to push open Lu Yi’s door.

Lin Shuyou was crouched by the bed, eating noodles Lu Yi had brought back from the canteen in a plastic bag. There was half a red sausage in there too. Seeing Wenbin, he looked up and called out:

“Big bro!”

Wenbin nodded at Lin Shuyou, then threw an arm around Lu Yi’s shoulder.

“You were talking about picking up a side job to make money, right? Listen, that discount shop across from our dorm—that’s ours. They need someone to handle the books now. Don’t bother with tutoring anymore. Just go there when you’re free to inventory and keep accounts. Name your price, it’ll be more than tutoring for sure.”

“Bro, I can’t accept that kind of favor. It’s too much.” Working on campus with guaranteed pay was obviously better than dragging yourself out every day to tutor off-campus.

“It’s fine. Just think of it as your ancestors watching over you.”

“Uh, what?”

“Come on, I’ll take you to the shop right now. I’ll introduce you to the student staff and show you the ropes.”

“I-I-I…”

“You in or out? Speak up.”

“If you trust me, then I’m in!”

“Of course I trust you.”

Someone who made sure his fellow villagers had enough to eat—even offering up his dinner as an offering every night—clearly wasn’t short on character.

Late that night, Li Zhuiyuan lay in bed, eyes open, deep in thought.

On the bunk beside him, Tan Wenbin kept tossing and turning. He couldn’t sleep.

Binbin felt he had been working really hard, pushing himself constantly. From the moment he moved into Grandpa Li’s house, he hadn’t let up.

But today, he felt a deep sense of despair and defeat.

Because today, he saw people more talented than him… working even harder. The kind of crazy-hard that ignored life and death.

“…Sigh.”

Wenbin turned again and glanced toward Yuan-ge’s bed. Seeing he was also still awake, he couldn’t help but murmur:

“Xiao Yuan-ge, with people like them around, how’s an ordinary guy like me supposed to survive?”

“Binbin-ge, aren’t you studying hard too?”

It would’ve been fine if he hadn’t brought that up. But now that he had, Wenbin couldn’t help twitching at the mouth.

He was studying, technically.

But Zhuangzhuang’s studies were more about how to boost morale in any situation.

That said, chatting with grannies did help one grasp a lot—especially tone, presence, and the posture of those in power.

He figured that even if he didn’t pursue anything formal in life, just this charisma could get him far in a traditional pyramid scheme, whether Southern or Northern style.

Li Zhuiyuan sat up in bed.

“Xiao Yuan-ge, what is it?”

“I’m calculating the unfinished business still clinging to me. Binbin-ge, go find out if any female students ever died in our dorm building. The more detailed the data, the better.”

“Got it, I’ll look into it.”

“And while you’re at it, ask Uncle Tan if there’s been any new developments in the Qiu Minmin case from seven years ago.”

“Understood.”

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