Corpse Retriever

The train pulled into the station.

Brother Hu and his two companions got off carrying their duffel bags, smiles already spreading across their faces.

Zhangjiajie was their San Francisco.

Here, they would begin their very own gold rush dream!

Li Zhuiyuan stepped off the train with his backpack on. The sun outside was bright and a little glaring.

The disguised Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou passed by him. Li Zhuiyuan gave them a slight nod, and the two of them continued following Brother Hu’s group forward.

According to the plan, because their “funding was sufficient,” those three punks would be highly motivated for the first few days after arriving in Zhangjiajie, running all over the place looking for the village that did not exist.

During that time, Lin Shuyou and Yin Meng would not need to do anything. Their main task was simply to stay with them.

Once the three punks started losing enthusiasm and thinking about backing out, the two of them would “drop bait,” such as bribing passersby or beggars to feed them bits of information, helping the three regain confidence and keep chasing their dream in Zhangjiajie.

In short, they would keep stringing them along like that until Li Zhuiyuan found a concrete new lead. Then they would guide the three into place, completing the canal layout and waiting for the river water to fill it.“Grandma Zhu’s last wish” and “Tian Meihong on the wanted notice” were both open routes.

For the former, she was looking back toward her hometown. As long as she was in Zhangjiajie, all of it counted as her hometown. In the end, Li Zhuiyuan only needed to stop by her actual home village and check in.

The latter was even simpler. Even if Tan Wenbin was just strolling the streets, wandering the night market, and eating snacks, he would still technically be searching in plain clothes for a wanted fugitive.

That meant those two routes had a lot of flexibility. As long as the scroll, the photograph, and the wanted notice were kept in the bag, everything they did afterward had a basis.

But those three punks were, after all, three living human beings, so someone had to keep an eye on them.

One person was not enough. A second person was needed to swap shifts and stay in contact with the team at all times.

More importantly, Li Zhuiyuan simply did not trust Lin Shuyou to carry out a task alone.

Ayou definitely had enough fighting ability. Even without changing his face or inviting spirits, dealing with three little hoodlums would be easy for him. But sometimes his brain tended to short-circuit.

Yin Meng was very satisfied with the arrangement. She had originally been the last one to join the team, and now she could even mentor the newest junior member. It gave her the feeling of being a senior, practically the leader of an action squad.

After leaving the train station, Li Zhuiyuan, Tan Wenbin, and Runsheng followed Runsheng’s suggestion and walked quite a distance down the street before choosing a rice noodle shop. They sat in the corner and ordered ten bowls of rice noodles.

The reason they had deliberately walked farther was that Runsheng felt the places around the train station were too expensive.

Besides that, there were too many illegal cabs around the station. Even when real taxis came in, they usually quoted a flat rate and wanted to drag you somewhere farther away.

After eating, Tan Wenbin hailed a taxi and asked about the nearest antique market, then had the driver take them there.

Now that they had arrived in Zhangjiajie, the next phase of their goal was to find the Xie family.

An antique market was a very good point of contact.

Markets like that often had an outer market and an inner market.

The outer market sold so-called antiques, both real and fake. The inner market dealt in special items like talisman paper, blessed objects, or cursed objects.

Most antique markets had shops like that in the inner section. They usually looked deserted. The owners and clerks sat inside without calling out to customers, simply waiting for people who knew what they were looking at, or people who had a need, to come in on their own.

When they arrived, this antique market was quite large. Outside, a construction site was in full swing. It looked like they were planning to expand it into a tourist culture street.

There were plenty of tourists inside, including many foreigners. From time to time, they could even hear a bit of Korean.

There was not much worth browsing in the outer market. They did not even need to bother distinguishing genuine antiques from fakes, since most of what was being sold were handicrafts and souvenirs.

Tan Wenbin said, “Did this driver take us to the wrong place?”

Li Zhuiyuan replied, “This is probably the only antique market he knows.”

The driver had not taken them to the wrong place. It was simply the only one he knew.

Fortunately, after wandering around for a while, Li Zhuiyuan still spotted an inner-market shop.

Just like the outer market, the inner market was also a mixed bag. A lot of newly rich people in modern times had made their fortunes by sheer luck, simply because they happened to catch the right trend. As a result, they deeply believed in this sort of “superstitious nonsense.”

Their influx had also created a warped market inside the inner section. Why not fleece fools with money?

They passed by three inner-market shops in a row, and all of them were just for show, with nothing real for sale. But when they reached the fourth one, Li Zhuiyuan stopped and looked at the two paper effigies displayed at the entrance.

Tan Wenbin and Runsheng also noticed something unusual about them. The two of them could practically be considered professionals when it came to paper offerings, so they could tell good work from bad.

“Why don’t these paper effigies have eyes painted on them?” Runsheng asked.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “These are paper effigies meant to be used as tools, not simply burned as sacrificial offerings.”

The fact that the shop dared place those two paper effigies at the entrance was proof enough of its pedigree.

Li Zhuiyuan walked into the store. There was not much merchandise inside, just barely enough to fill the cabinets and display cases.

An old man in a blue long gown with a goat beard was sitting there drinking tea. When he saw customers enter, he did not even get up to greet them.

There were three candles on the counter, and an oil lamp hanging from the beam overhead.

After surveying the surroundings, Tan Wenbin took the initiative and walked over to the three candles.

Seeing this, the old man slowly put down his teacup and prepared to rise and receive them.

Tan Wenbin began lighting the candles. One. Two...

One candle signified a person of the jianghu, meaning a fellow insider who understood the trade.

Two candles signified someone of equal standing, someone who considered himself important enough to associate with the shop owner and the people behind him as a peer.

When the second candle was lit, the old man had already switched to better tea leaves and was preparing to brew tea.

But when he saw Tan Wenbin light the third candle, the old man’s hand trembled. He set down the cup and pot in his hand, hurried over at once, bowed, and asked:

“I did not know such an honored guest had arrived. Forgive me for failing to welcome you from afar. May I ask who you are...?”

Lighting the third candle meant: my status is higher than yours, so you had better serve me properly.

Of course, even if you did not really have that kind of standing, you could still swagger in and light all three candles. But you would have to bear the consequences yourself.

Tan Wenbin looked at Li Zhuiyuan, and Li Zhuiyuan began the formal greeting.

“My chest faces Jiujiang, my courage shines on Xunyang, my spirit towers over Mount Lu, my soul descends upon Poyang. Jiujiang, Zhao Yi.”

When traveling outside, identities were whatever you made them.

Just like the candle-lighting rules, impersonating another family was no problem, provided you could withstand the other side’s revenge once they found out.

The old man immediately returned the greeting. “The Zhao Family of Jiujiang, renowned indeed. Please, Young Master Zhao, take the seat of honor.”

Led by the old man, the three of them entered the inner room of the shop.

After serving tea, the old man withdrew. Soon afterward, a plump, beautiful woman of about thirty with a mole beneath her lip walked in.

The moment she entered, Li Zhuiyuan caught the way her eyes swept briefly across his forehead.

It seemed this shop had even deeper roots than he had expected, because this woman knew about the Gate of Life crack on Zhao Yi’s forehead.

That also meant she had already realized he was an impostor.

“Young Master Zhao, I am...”

The woman smiled at the corners of her mouth. Every gesture she made was full of charm. With a light flick of her sleeve, something in the cabinets on both sides of the room seemed to open its eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan pressed the untouched teacup in his hand down onto the table. As his palm turned downward, he used Four Ghosts Lift the Sedan, and the things in the cabinets on both sides immediately shut their eyes again.

The smile on the woman’s face deepened at once. She did not step forward, but instead bent into a graceful curtsy first.

“I did not know Young Master Zhao had come here. May I ask what business brings you here? If there is anything you need, please do not hesitate to command me.”

Even if she knew he had borrowed someone else’s identity, what did it matter? In the jianghu, what ultimately mattered was still the strength of one’s fists. Compared with that, the truth or falseness of such details hardly concerned anyone.

Li Zhuiyuan got straight to the point. “I want to ask about something.”

“Please ask, Young Master Zhao.”

“I’m looking for the Xie family.”

“You mean one of the four corpse-driving families of the Old Heaven Gate?”

“Yes.”

“Then which one are you looking for, Xie Niudao or Yan Jiaxie?”

The four great corpse-driving families of the Old Heaven Gate were Yan, Xie, Wang, and Bu.

“I’m looking forthe Xie Niudao.”

“To be honest, Young Master Zhao, if you were looking for any of the other three families, that would not be difficult. This little shop could even help point you in the right direction. But as for the Xie family, they had already declined by the late Yuan. Though there were still members of the Xie family carrying corpses and taking jobs during the Ming and Qing, they had long since ceased to matter.

“The last time I heard of a Xie family member appearing was twenty years ago, at Old Master Wang’s birthday banquet. The Xie family sent a mere child to attend. I only remember that the child knew nothing at all when asked about his family, and ate an entire banquet table’s worth of food by himself.

“After that, no more news of the Xie family was ever heard. Thinking about it now, twenty years have passed. That child from the Xie family must now be around my age.”

“Where can they be found?”

“Young Master Zhao is asking about the ancestral residence of the Xie family?”

“Yes.”

“Peach Blossom Village, Meiling Town. Back then, Old Master Wang’s birthday invitation was sent there. We assumed it would vanish without a trace, but who would have thought someone would actually come?

“But afterward, every attempt to get in touch or track them down ended in failure. Even that child vanished without a trace.”

“Why did the Wang family still want to find them?”

“Well, they were once all listed among the four great families of the Old Heaven Gate. There was some old connection there, after all. If the family was really down to a few lonely stragglers, then for the sake of their ancestors, someone had to lend a hand, didn’t they?”

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the woman. “Not everyone has the right to lie.”

The woman covered her face and smiled apologetically. “It is said that the Xie family has been hiding a great secret for hundreds of years, and everyone has always been interested in that secret. Back then, Old Master Wang also wanted to arrange a childhood betrothal with that child, and incidentally get his hands on the secret as well. But who could have guessed that the child would gorge himself until his mouth was shiny with grease, say a couple of lines like ‘May your happiness be as vast as the Eastern Sea and your longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountain,’ then roll right off the table and run away?

“People were sent to follow him at the time, but somehow every one of them lost track of him.”

Hearing this, Tan Wenbin could not help raising an eyebrow. For someone talking about events from twenty years ago, she knew the details awfully clearly. Could that really still be called “something I heard”?

Still, Little Yuanhou was the one asking questions right now, so Tan Wenbin did not interrupt.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, “So right now, the only lead to finding a member of the Xie family is Peach Blossom Village in Meiling Town?”

“Young Master Zhao is blessed with deep fortune. If you truly go looking, you may well find them.”

“Thank you for the auspicious words.”

Li Zhuiyuan stood up, preparing to leave.

The woman stepped aside to clear the way.

But as Li Zhuiyuan passed in front of her, she spoke again.

“Young Master Zhao, if I may ask, are you seeking the Xie family for revenge, or...?”

“Do I need to tell you that?”

“You misunderstand me.”

“Oh?”

“Young Master Zhao, if you do find the Xie family, and if you meet the one who came to the banquet twenty years ago, could I trouble you to pass on a message for me?”

“Say it.”

“Tell him that the girl who was supposed to have a childhood betrothal with him, the one who tore off duck legs for him at the banquet, is still waiting for him.”

That was practically revealing her identity outright. Her surname was Wang, and this shop was also a Wang family business.

Earlier, because she had seen him concealing his identity, she had not introduced herself. But now she was volunteering the information because he was looking for the Xie family.

Still, Li Zhuiyuan did not believe this touching love story very much. From her features, he could tell she was already someone’s wife and had borne children. In fact, hers was the face of a woman blessed with many sons.

This was not some beautiful tale of love at first sight in childhood and lifelong waiting.

Li Zhuiyuan asked, “What are you waiting for him to do?”

The woman sighed and said:

“My husband ran away from home during the first lunar month five years ago and vanished without a trace. He left behind a pair of twins, one boy and one girl. The children are both in school now.

“I am just one woman, trying to keep this shop running while raising two children. It has truly been hard. And I cannot stand the sight of other men. After thinking it over and over, it seems the only thing left is that half-finished marriage fate from back then. At least it gives me a bit of a story to cling to. If he were willing to come back, it would not be impossible to try living together. He could even pick up two ready-made children who could call him father. How convenient, haha.”

As she spoke, she ended up laughing herself.

After a while, she stopped and said apologetically, “I’ve made a spectacle of myself. Young Master Zhao, please forgive me.”

“I’ll pass the message on.”

“Many thanks, Young Master Zhao.”

…

After leaving the shop, the three of them headed straight out. Since they had already obtained the next clue, there was no need to waste time there.

Tan Wenbin had been wearing a thoughtful expression the whole time. He kept turning the woman’s words over in his mind, and the more he thought about them, the stranger they seemed.

Once they were out of the antique market, Tan Wenbin finally could not help asking, “Little Yuanhou, it sounds like this Wang family has a very unusual relationship with the Xie family.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Mm.”

“That last bit she said felt really strange. It was kind of inexplicable.”

“That’s because we still haven’t made it clear what our stance toward the Xie family actually is.”

“Hm?”

“Binbin, try putting yourself in the shoes of someone who is on good terms with the Xie family, then think over her last words again.”

“Then that would mean the Xie and Wang families may have had some misunderstanding in the past, and she wants us to pass on a message to help ease things?”

“And now imagine we have a grudge against the Xie family, and that this trip is for revenge.”

“Then... that would mean the Wang family’s banquet twenty years ago may very well have been a trap, and that woman’s husband who disappeared five years ago may also have died at the hands of the Xie family?”

Li Zhuiyuan nodded. “Mm. These two families have a deep feud.”

Tan Wenbin smiled. “Looks like the name Zhao of Jiujiang really does carry a lot of weight.”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “She recognized long ago that we are not Zhao of Jiujiang. But precisely because we dared to impersonate Zhao of Jiujiang, she became even more wary of our real identities. That’s why the way she spoke got so twisted.”

Stopping in place, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes, his ears twitching lightly.

Runsheng immediately looked alert. His gaze swept the area as he asked, “Little Yuan, someone’s following us?”

“No, but maybe not here.”

Tan Wenbin pulled out the map they had prepared in advance. “Let me see how far Meiling Town is from here...”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Very far, and very remote. We’ll need to take a long-distance bus.”

Tan Wenbin then pulled out a city map. “Then let me see where the bus station is. We could hire a car there.”

Li Zhuiyuan pointed ahead. “It’s right up there.”

Tan Wenbin put the map away with a bit of helplessness. Little Yuanhou had studied the map beforehand, so every location was already in his head.

“Then should I hail a taxi?”

“It’s not far. Let’s walk. We should also give them a little time to prepare.”

Outside the state-run bus station was a large square. Many illegal vehicles were parked there: motorcycles, tricycles, little vans, even old minibuses.

You did not even need to buy a ticket at the ticket window inside the station. If you bought one from the scalpers here, it would be cheaper.

Of course, you could not board inside the station. Once the state-run coach drove out, the scalper would have you stand by the roadside, and then the driver would stop, open the door, and let you on.

“Meiling Town! Going to Meiling Town!”

The moment the three of them stepped into the square, they heard two men waving hand-lettered plastic signs and shouting at the top of their lungs.

Quite a few of the other drivers nearby were giving them strange looks.

Meiling Town was very remote, so remote that even illegal drivers did not want to go there. Sometimes it was not even a matter of whether there were passengers to pick up. The problem was that after dropping someone there, they would have to drive all the way back empty.

Tan Wenbin looked at the signs in the men’s hands and was sure that if he went up and rubbed the writing with his finger, his fingertip would come away stained with not-yet-dry black ink.

“Little Yuanhou...”

“There’s a special ride arranged for us. Why not take it?”

“How did they know we’d come here?”

“Because all three of us are carrying hiking packs. One glance is enough to tell we didn’t drive here ourselves.”

“Tch, so that’s how it is. Then I’ll go make a call from that phone booth over there and notify Ayou and Mengmeng.”

“Mm.”

Tan Wenbin ran off to the phone booth to make the call. There was plenty of time, so he called first and then waited for the return call.

Meanwhile, the two illegal drivers were very considerate. They kept circling around Li Zhuiyuan and Runsheng, continuing to hawk rides.

Partway through, a woman carrying a baby on her back came over to ask about the fare. She wanted to go to Meiling Town.

The two drivers were clearly taken aback and started negotiating the price with her.

The moment she heard the fare, the woman was delighted and immediately said, “I’ll ride, I’ll ride!”

Tan Wenbin had finished the call and came running back. He also went over to discuss the price.

The fare really was absurdly cheap, cheap enough that it might not even cover the fuel.

Even so, Tan Wenbin deliberately held back a laugh and haggled with them anyway.

And they actually agreed.

That made the woman with the child, who had been standing nearby waiting to board, anxious. She hurried over and demanded the same price.

In the end, they agreed to that too.

The woman was grinning from ear to ear.

Just as that deal was settled, another one opened up. Five more people arrived, carrying large bags and bundles, dressed like migrant laborers from some small township below who had come into the city for work.

But their act looked a little too deliberate. The cloth shoes and Liberation rubber shoes on their feet had all been intentionally smeared with dirt, and their clothes had also been deliberately dirtied.

These days, even people coming into the city for labor only ended up filthy on construction sites because they had no choice. Who would not normally clean themselves up, especially when heading home?

These five really had no idea how ridiculous they looked.

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