The most direct threat was Chen Shu.
At this moment, even Yin Meng, standing nearby, was considering where in the school would be suitable to bury someone.
Yin Meng's nature wouldn't allow her to act so decisively.
But as long as the boy gave a little pat on his thigh and said, "Let's bury them," she would definitely grab a shovel and start digging.
She understood that the boy could tolerate Run Sheng's stupidity, but he would never give her a chance.
Similarly, if even the companions believed it to be true, the 'threatened party' naturally couldn’t hold on to any glimmer of hope.
Sun Hongxia couldn't help but doubt that the boy before her would rather bury her alive than face the truth.
"I say..."
Li Zhuiyuan turned his head to look at the still open shop door.
Yin Meng walked over, closed the door, and locked it.
Li Zhuiyuan asked, "Have you been to her room?"
"No."
"Take her to her room."
"Alright."
Yin Meng lifted Sun Hongxia, locking her arm with one hand, a method to immobilize her.
Before heading downstairs, Li Zhuiyuan grabbed a can of soda from the drink stand, took a couple of sips, and then opened another can.
Upon reaching the basement, the door to Sun Hongxia's room was ajar.
The space was quite large.
Just as Xue Liangliang said before, the only downside of this basement room was the lack of sunlight, everything else was quite nice.
However, inside Sun Hongxia's room were two altars, creating a very oppressive atmosphere.
One altar was large, about the size of a dining table in a regular household, while the other was smaller, akin to a stool.
On the large altar was a picture of a girl, and on the small altar sat a picture of a boy.
The two altars faced each other, one high, one low.
Next to the boy's picture on the small altar was a mat made from old clothes.
The candles and incense burner on the altars showed no signs of having been used in the past two days.
Sun Hongxia leaned against the bed, half-sitting, half-kneeling.
When Li Zhuiyuan entered, he took a sip of soda while holding another can in his other hand.
Yin Meng instinctively raised her hand to catch it, only to see the boy sit down beside the bed, placing the second can at his feet.
Oh, it turns out it wasn’t for her.
Li Zhuiyuan didn't like sweet drinks, but he felt a bit dizzy now and needed some sugar.
Sun Hongxia opened her mouth several times as if about to speak, only to fall silent.
The most taboo thing during an interrogation was to interrupt midway.
This could allow the interrogator to reorganize their psychological defenses, raising hope of continuing to resist.
However, Li Zhuiyuan didn't care.
The book Essence of Yin and Yang Studies allowed him to discern whether most normal people were lying, and he preferred to maintain control.
Li Zhuiyuan pointed at the boy's picture on the small stool and asked, "What’s your son's name?"
Yin Meng was slightly taken aback; she had originally thought the girl's portrait on the high altar belonged to Sun Hongxia’s daughter, maybe related to that faceless person with long hair.
She didn’t expect Sun Hongxia had a son.
Sun Hongxia replied, "His name is Zhao Junfeng."
"And this girl?"
"Her surname is Qiu, her name is Qiu Minmin."
Li Zhuiyuan finished the first can of soda and opened the second, asking, "What bad thing did Zhao Junfeng do to Qiu Minmin?"
Sun Hongxia replied, "Fengfeng insulted Minmin in the bathroom and even killed her."
"A student from our school?"
"Yes."
"When did this happen?"
"Seven years ago."
"Qiu Minmin's family is also at the school, right?"
Sun Hongxia hesitated, seemingly reluctant to answer, but at a glance from the boy, she shivered and spoke out, almost resigned, "Yes, her mother is here."
"My patience is limited."
"Qiu Minmin's mother, surnamed Ran, is the dormitory supervisor in your building."
Yin Meng, who was present in the room, felt her mind was almost overwhelmed.
This back-and-forth felt less like a conversation and more like a method for the boy to verify details with Sun Hongxia.
But how did the boy know all this?
Could it be that he already knew beforehand?
That seemed impossible; if he knew beforehand, things wouldn’t have escalated to this stage.
In truth, piecing these things together was simple.
The layout of the large and small altars could easily lead one to imagine Sun Hongxia often kneeling on the mat, apologizing to the girl for her son’s wrongdoing.
The ages of the pictures matched that of college students.
Sun Hongxia claimed to be a local, yet she spoke with an accent from another province.
Positions in school logistics are hard to come by, but part-time jobs are easier to get, and the pay and treatment surely better than working tirelessly at Xue Liangliang's shop.
The implications pointed to her intentionally hiding her identity and not simply working to earn money.
Carrying a heavy sense of guilt while remaining at the school was likely for redemption; since Qiu Minmin was already dead, her target for atonement must be her family.
Li Zhuiyuan was merely reasoning through the normal logic and confirming answers with Sun Hongxia, achieving this coincidence partly due to luck.
"You know Qiu Minmin is still at the school and just here."
Sun Hongxia nodded, "Yes, she often dances in the upper floors at night when no one is around. She used to attend various school events and danced very well."
"Why didn't she seek revenge on you?"
"Initially, when I ‘saw’ her, I was scared, but I thought, this is the mistake my son made, even if she’s a vengeful spirit wanting to take my life, it’s only right. During that time, I often knelt in the dance studio above, pleading for her to kill me. But... she didn’t. Over the years, I got used to it. Maybe she thinks that letting me die so easily would be too cheap for me, so she wants to keep appearing around me to torment and avenge me, which I have accepted."
"Maybe?"
"This is my speculation."
"No, that’s not speculation; you don’t have that kind of mind."
Sun Hongxia: "..."
"Did Qiu Minmin's mother, our dorm's Ran Ayi, tell you this?"
Li Zhuiyuan remembered that the work card on her desk had the name: Ran Qiuping.
"Yes, she did say those things. I’m very grateful to her."
"Next time, think carefully before speaking; I don’t want to correct you a second time, or else I might just bury you alive along with that Ran Qiuping."
Run Sheng had erred due to his professional nature, but it should still be understandable.
However, the problem now was that the people he cared about and wanted to protect were far from simple and very likely colluding with the dead to target him and others.
With people planning to take your life, there was no need for excessive caution.
"I... I understand."
"What does Ran Qiuping think about Qiu Minmin still being here?"
"She told me that her daughter still holds grievances. She wants me to wait with her until the day Minmin comes to terms with it, then my sins will be atoned."
Yin Meng thought: The dorm supervisor is keeping the corpse?
Li Zhuiyuan took another sip of soda, feeling it didn’t quite fit the situation.
Qiu Minmin was under some form of control, and the being controlling her was terrifying; it didn’t seem like something Ran Qiuping could do unless she had been intentionally acting during their first meeting.
Aside from that, the fundamental contradiction was, as Qiu Minmin’s mother... why would she control her tragically deceased daughter?
Unfortunately, Sun Hongxia wouldn’t provide more useful clues; they could continue questioning but wouldn't yield much value.
Because she had already been brainwashed by Ran Qiuping into a devout atoner.
Whether the family of a murderer should be condemned by public opinion was not a question Li Zhuiyuan needed to ponder now.
All he knew was, if Ran Qiuping could truly "nurture" and "manipulate" such a level of dead spirit into her own ghost, she would have no need to have Sun Hongxia do things for her or seek her confessions and prayers.
There was definitely more to this because it just didn’t add up.
"How did Zhao Junfeng die?"
"While escaping, he took a classmate hostage and was shot dead by the police at Jiangjun Mountain."
Sun Hongxia looked toward her son’s portrait, "He died without remorse, and he died so abruptly. If he had gone to face the law and accept his punishment, I would at least feel a bit better; this is my fault. I gave birth to him, and I didn’t raise him well, turning him into a beast and harming others."
"Who was the classmate he took hostage?"
"I don’t know."
"What happened to his body?"
"Here."
Sun Hongxia bent down and pulled out an urn from under the bed, "Do you want to see?"
"Open it."
Sun Hongxia lifted the lid, and Li Zhuiyuan reached in, grabbing a small handful... definitely ashes.
"Do you have any other relatives?" Li Zhuiyuan asked.
"His dad died early; I’m here, I have no family."
"Bind her up; we need to control her."
"Alright."
Yin Meng held the net for immobilizing the dead spirit and restrained Sun Hongxia.
Before putting something in her mouth to gag her, Yin Meng stood up and quietly asked the boy, "It seems we haven’t asked why Qiu Minmin attacked us?"
"You ask."
Yin Meng turned to Sun Hongxia, "Tell us, why did Qiu Minmin attack us?"
Sun Hongxia looked confused, "I don’t know."
Yin Meng pressed, "You don’t know?"
Sun Hongxia looked at the altar, "Could it be because you all came here and are staying next door, so I couldn’t offer her incense or paper in these past days?"
Yin Meng immediately gagged Sun Hongxia.
Obviously, she didn’t believe this reason either.
Li Zhuiyuan stepped out of the room, and as Yin Meng locked the door behind them, she followed up quickly, asking, "Why did she attack us?"
"If you think in complex terms, it should be our arrival, or specifically your actions along with Run Sheng and Xiao Hei, that’ve offended her."
"What if in simpler terms?"
"Imagine you’re a hidden criminal and one day discover that the neighboring rooms are all filled with police; wouldn’t you think they’ve come to arrest you?"
"Is it that simple?"
"For her, the reason for attacking us doesn't matter; what's important is she has already attacked. Had we not arrived in time, Run Sheng could have died at her hands. What we need to do now is retaliate."
Yin Meng’s expression changed, "Then we should hurry to catch that dorm supervisor."
"Qiu Minmin has already run away; do you think Ran Qiuping knows by now? Even if we hurry, it will be too late."
Yin Meng suddenly felt she shouldn't talk so much in front of the boy; aside from proving her foolishness time and again, it had no other effect.
The two returned to Building Nine, the dormitory office still dark.
Yin Meng tried to pry open a window.
"Smack!"
The lights inside turned on.
Yin Meng had just pried the window open when she noticed Li Zhuiyuan walking in from the office door, which wasn't locked.
The boy glanced at her, saying, "Put the window back."
"Oh, sure."
The office was small, containing a desk, a bed, a cabinet, and a cloth bag hanging on the wall with a key labeled with the dormitory number.
The only clue of any value was a large teacup under the desk with signs of charring.
Li Zhuiyuan lifted the teacup, bringing it closer to smell; there was a faint paper ash smell.
Once Yin Meng had closed the window, she walked in, looking around and asked, "She’s run away?"
Li Zhuiyuan replied, "I was genuinely afraid she would stay here waiting for us."
If that were the case, it would imply Ran Qiuping had some powerful backing.
Meanwhile, their team had significantly weakened after losing Run Sheng and Tan Wenbin.
Li Zhuiyuan approached the cloth bag, checking underneath his dormitory number for keys, finding none.
It seemed they needed to change the lock.
"Yin Meng."
"Yes!" Yin Meng straightened her back, waiting for instructions.
"Go back to the shop, keep an eye on Sun Hongxia, and tomorrow morning, go to the clinic to retrieve Tan Wenbin."
In terms of investigative ability, Zhuang Zhuang was far superior to Meng Meng.
"What about you?" Yin Meng explained, "You’re alone; I’m worried about your safety."
Li Zhuiyuan pointed upstairs, "It’s getting late; I’m going to sleep."
"Sleep?"
"Mm, I’m not feeling well; I need rest."
"What if something...?"
"There’s no ‘what if.’ Qiu Minmin has already been beaten nearly to pieces. If Ran Qiuping had any other means, she wouldn’t have run. We are quite safe now."
As Li Zhuiyuan walked out of the dormitory office, he reminded, "Don’t forget to turn off the lights."
Back in his dorm, Li Zhuiyuan filled a basin with water, placing the whip at the bottom of the basin, then headed to wash his face.
There’s no such thing as a thousand-day guard against thieves; one should rest when it’s time to rest and wash up when it's time to wash.
Just as written in Wei Zhengdao's book: We represent the righteous path.
Who among the righteous has their nerves frayed and fears creeping up every day?
As he poured the first basin of water over himself and applied shampoo, footsteps approached from behind.
Li Zhuiyuan continued to wash his hair; his ears were sharp enough that he could distinguish the footprints of some people after just hearing them once.
"Hey, what a coincidence, Shen Tong!"
Lu Yi, standing at six-foot-one, built like a northern strongman.
"Hello."
"So, Shen Tong is also taking a shower? What a coincidence!"
"Mm."
"Why did you come so early to check in, Shen Tong?"
"To catch ghosts."
"Hahaha, Shen Tong, you’re quite the joker."
Li Zhuiyuan rubbed soap over himself.
"Whoosh!"
Lu Yi poured a basin of water over himself.
"Ah, refreshing!"
Then, Lu Yi looked at Li Zhuiyuan, tightly rolling a towel in his hands, "Shen Tong, let me scrub your back."
"No need."
"It’s fine; we do this all the time at our bathhouse."
As he said that, Lu Yi prepared to start scrubbing.
"Really, it’s not necessary."
"Clap!"
At that moment, the whip that Li Zhuiyuan had placed by the sink fell.
Lu Yi widened his eyes and looked curiously, "Shen Tong, you southern folks use this to bathe? How does it work, is it effective?"
"Bro, I’m finished washing."
"Oh, cool. Want a late-night snack? I’ll cook dumplings in my dorm, want me to bring you a bowl?"
"Won’t the power trip?"
"Coincidentally, it won’t trip; our dorm internal wiring is sound."
"Thanks, but I’m not eating."
"Then how about coming over to my dorm tonight? I can play the guitar."
"Don’t you have tutoring tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow’s a day off."
"Then go to bed early."
"Hey, Shen Tong, you still haven’t said where you’re catching ghosts."
"There are ghosts in the dorm."
Li Zhuiyuan took his basin and left.
"Ha ha, Shen Tong, you’re quite the joker."
Lu Yi was still holding his basin and hadn’t finished pouring water, but he shivered and quickly rinsed off, then hurried back to his dorm.
Once back in his room, Li Zhuiyuan pushed two chairs against the door to block it, then opened the dormitory window and finally lay down on the bed.
Closing his eyes, he fell asleep.
He slept through the night and woke to the bright light of day, feeling a noticeable relief from his prior discomfort.
After getting out of bed, dressing, and moving the chairs aside to wash up, he returned to his desk and began drafting an investigation plan.
Just as he finished writing, he heard footsteps outside.
The dormitory door swung open, and Tan Wenbin poked his head in, "Xiao Yuan, I brought you breakfast."
A small steamed bun, fried dough sticks, and soy milk.
While having breakfast, Li Zhuiyuan handed the plan to Tan Wenbin, who took a glance, confirmed all was good, folded it, and put it away.
There were only two items on the list: one was to investigate the case of Zhao Junfeng and Qiu Minmin, and the other was to investigate Ran Qiuping.
The latter only required some visitations, while the former needed to find the documents, preferably contacting the police who had dealt with the case back then.
"Does your dad have connections?"
"Should be; my dad was later transferred to Shigang, and his network of former classmates and colleagues is quite extensive. Besides, if my dad can't help, I still have my grandfather and maternal grandfather—both are old police officers. But I need some time, Yuanzi."
"Take your time; the dead spirits at the other end won’t recover anytime soon. We have plenty of time and should be able to wait for Run Sheng to recover."
"Run Sheng is recovering well. This morning when the doctor checked his wounds, he said Run Sheng's body was stronger than an ox. Plus, Yin Meng brought me medicinal ointment that Liu Ayi left behind."
"Mm."
"Do we need to contact Liang Ge?"
"It has nothing to do with Liang Liang."
"No, I mean, since this is such an interesting thing, don’t we want to invite Liang Ge to join?"
"Forget it; I’m worried he’ll think up excuses to go back to Nantong to investigate again."
"Pfft... Hahaha!"
After Tan Wenbin finished laughing, he suddenly remembered something, asking, "Xiao Yuan, weren’t you alone?"
"I have company."
After Wenbin left, Li Zhuiyuan packed some things into his backpack then carried it to a dormitory door and knocked.
Before long, the door opened, and Lu Yi appeared, seemingly just waking up.
"Yo, Shen Tong!"
"Big brother, name your price. I want to hire you for a day; come with me."
"Ha!" Lu Yi bent down slightly and wrapped an arm around Li Zhuiyuan’s shoulders, "What are you talking about? We’re friends, no need to bring up money. Wait, let me brush my teeth."
After quickly washing up, Lu Yi locked his dorm room and said, "Let’s go, Shen Tong. Where to?"
"Jiangjun Mountain."
...
Jiangjun Mountain, also called Guanyin Mountain, was renamed because Yue Fei once resisted the Jin dynasty here.
This place isn’t exactly a famous spot, but it offers mountains and water, beautiful scenery, making it a nice vacation destination around the city.
Upon arriving, Li Zhuiyuan didn’t have any specific goals in mind; he figured he could handle the matter with Tan Wenbin alone, so he came here hoping for some good fortune.
If he had anticipated any danger, he wouldn’t have suddenly called Lu Yi to join him.
Li Zhuiyuan climbed to the top of a hill, took out his compass, and began examining the local feng shui.
Lu Yi, initially thinking Shen Tong had invited him for a day out, suddenly recalled the boy had brought out a compass and was seriously observing it, recalling what the boy had said last night.
Damn, could it be that the dorm really has ghosts?
Li Zhuiyuan shifted to three different hilltops for observation.
Besides spotting several good spots, he noticed nothing unusual.
However, when he reached the fourth hilltop, he found an area quite peculiar.
Winding paths lead to secluded places, hidden dragons in the depths, worshiping the main city, borrowing the king’s aura.
This could almost be considered a standard water burial site.
But also because it was too standard, to both a geomancer and a water monkey, it made sense as a choice.
Thus, there was a temple there.
It was customary for the ancients to build a temple on locations prone to issues such as haunting, mass graves, or ancient tombs.
These days, it could just as well be a school.
Li Zhuiyuan approached the temple door; it was quite small, and the plaque read: Jiangjun Temple.
Inside, there were both Buddhist and Taoist items, yet no monks or Taoists—only a few staff, and no entrance fee.
However, soon after stepping inside, Li Zhuiyuan sensed something was off.
Though the temple seemed lackluster, there’s typically a sense of balance and harmony in any temple, with only distinctions of strength and weakness.
But this temple gave off a greasy, viscous feeling, and faintly, Li Zhuiyuan caught a whiff of a light, decaying, watery corpse smell.
His nose wasn’t as keen as Run Sheng’s, but if he caught the scent, there was likely no mistake.
Yet what kind of dead spirit could be hidden in a temple?
Li Zhuiyuan hesitated; had it been Run Sheng beside him instead of Lu Yi, he would have boldly continued his investigation.
However, he was here purely on a whim; having bumped into some unusual things, it would be a waste merely to retreat.
Still, let’s take a look—just looking, not touching; I’m a visitor.
Following the intensity of the water corpse smell, he gradually walked to the main temple hall.
By now, Lu Yi had also caught the smell and even sneezed; he pointed around and said, "There are a lot of ginkgo trees in this temple; I always thought they smell quite nice."
Li Zhuiyuan ignored him and stepped into the hall.
Inside, a mighty statue of a general stood with a metal plaque reading "Great General."
This wasn’t Yue Fei; it was clearly Mo Liqing from Legend of the Gods, one of the four heavenly kings wielding a sword.
Li Zhuiyuan knelt in front of the mat.
Seeing this, Lu Yi also knelt down beside him.
In his eyes, the boy holding the compass had taken on a hint of mystical aura.
Li Zhuiyuan sniffed closely, and he had confirmed the source of the water corpse smell was from the base of the general statue.
The general stood on a stone platform, with a crack in the platform in front, indicating the likely presence of a hidden compartment that could be pushed out.
At this moment, the normal procedure should be to delve deeper into the investigation.
Yet Li Zhuiyuan held back.
The even distribution of the water corpse smell suggested that even if there were a dead spirit lying there, it was currently in a deep slumber.
It could possibly be akin to that grove of peach trees in front of the old bearded man's home, pressure laid down by the forebearers.
Standing upright, Li Zhuiyuan suddenly heard Lu Yi beside him already knocking his head to pray for the general's blessings for his parents' health.
Li Zhuiyuan had to interrupt him, "Don’t bow."
"Huh?" Lu Yi was momentarily confused, "Then..."
"Do as I do."
Li Zhuiyuan made a set of gesture for receiving gifts, which was somewhat complex and performed it slowly.
Lu Yi watched and learned; they completed it together, standing up and leaving the mat.
It's perfectly acceptable to bow in regular temples for emotional value, but with dead spirits, whether or not they actively harm you, simply being close may bring bad luck unless you have profound fortune to weather it.
Asking for protection from a dead spirit was a request for karma involvement; far too inauspicious.
Li Zhuiyuan began to circle around the statue, with Lu Yi following closely behind.
The boy may be young but carried a unique aura that involuntarily compelled others to listen to him, feeling he was always right.
After a round of observations, Li Zhuiyuan sensed something was amiss.
The layout here should represent a standard breaking of the curse, yet now it seemed modified by someone.
Li Zhuiyuan touched the ground’s crack with the tip of his shoe; it was clearly man-made later on.
This inadvertently gave the boy a sense of familiarity as he enjoyed using original feng shui layout for modifications.
Yet this rifler's skills were lacking.
They only ruined the curse-breaking effect; had it been him, he could have directly turned it into a gathering of the ominous.
For now, all he could do was sketch a circle on the map; currently, he had no knowledge if what lay inside was connected to Qiu Minmin, so it wasn’t the time to complicate things further.
Everything had to wait until he received specific case details from Tan Wenbin before making the next decision.
"Let’s go, Brother Lu."
"Eh, alright."
The two were just preparing to exit the hall when, outside in the corridor, two people promptly walked past, both men, one older and one younger, wearing staff badges on their chests.
The old man's hair was gray, and he walked with his hands behind his back.
However, his crossed arms were turned inward, and his shoulders sagged with raised scapulae.
This was the posture of carrying corpses.
Moreover, it was an action developed from years of practice and would naturally maintain this posture even during regular activities.
Uncle Qin had once told him during basic training that he didn’t need to set aside time to practice; he could cultivate naturally through his daily tasks.
That old man exemplified this level of mastery.
The young man showed some tendency in this direction, but it wasn’t evident.
He was clearly a successor of the old man.
Li Zhuiyuan hadn't anticipated meeting fellow corpse-fetchers here.
Still, he had no intention of greeting them, suspecting that the gap in the layout was likely created by them.
After the old man and the youth walked off, they parted ways, with the young man pausing in front of an office-like door, knocking.
The door opened, and a woman stood at the threshold, animatedly speaking to the young man; he seemed to be comforting her while his hands behind his back were clenched, evidently growing impatient with her.
However, neither party was aware that this scene fell within the watchful eyes of others.
Li Zhuiyuan pulled on Lu Yi's sleeve, indicating they should exit from the hall's back door.
Once outside the hall, they hastily made their way out of the Jiangjun Temple.
As they reached the outside, Lu Yi couldn’t hold back any longer, asking,
"Shen Tong, wasn’t that our dorm supervisor just now?"
(End of chapter)