Corpse Retriever

The cat-faced Granny stared at Li Zhuiyuan in utter shock.

She couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of this child’s mouth.

Her hands, which had been gripping his shoulders, let go unconsciously. Her body even shifted back half a step.

In that moment, she began to question:

Compared to him, wasn’t she the one acting like an angry, petulant child?

Between the two of them—

Who was the real Dead Sinker?

He spoke with certainty, with clarity, and he didn’t stop—he kept going:

“The one we cripple—make sure it’s partial paralysis, ideally hemiplegia. Given the conditions here, there’s no way he’d get a wheelchair, and no one will give up their job just to push him around to enjoy the breeze.

Paralyzed like that, he’ll be stuck in bed, curled in filthy sheets, needing help for everything from eating to toileting.He should still be able to talk. He should still be able to cry. His hands should work well enough to throw things when he loses it.

That way, it’ll be a real spectacle. Interactive. Emotionally immersive.”

The cat-faced Granny nodded, her hands reaching to smooth the wrinkles she’d left in the boy’s clothes earlier—but her hands were dirty, smudging them worse. The realization made her shrink back a little.

“As for the one we make sick—be careful. It can’t be a terminal illness from the start.

It should be a chronic disease, one that comes and goes. Manageable with great effort and expense, but never truly curable.

Control the severity—enough to cause agony but not to kill.

You also have to manage how often it flares up. After each treatment, let him rest for a while, let him feel what it’s like to be healthy.

But not for too long. Don’t let him have a full productive cycle. Don’t give him the chance to contribute to the family.

That way, he and his family will spiral into a vicious cycle of constant care and suffering, tearing each other apart, revealing the ugly truths underneath their masks.”

The cat-faced Granny took two steps back and clasped her hands in front of her.

“And... and the third?”

“The one we drive mad can’t go fully insane. That’d be too easy—she wouldn’t even realize what’s happening. It’d be a release, and that’s boring.

No, make her intermittently insane. For most of the day, she has to be lucid. Then, just for a little while, she snaps. But when she does, her madness needs to be violent, aggressive.

I figure her family will restrain her the same way she once restrained her mother.

Give her just enough sanity to scream, to curse, to break down completely.

Let her repent. We don’t need to sympathize with her. Her repentance should be one of our many pleasures.”

At that, Li Zhuiyuan nodded to himself.

“These are the key points for now. Do you have any other suggestions to add?”

The cat-faced Granny: “N-no, nothing.”

“Honestly, this plan does carry some risk. What if their descendants turn out to be truly filial?

But probably not. The grandkids already think their grandma lived too long, sucked away their luck, ruined their futures.

With children like that, I feel pretty secure.”

The cat-faced Granny: “Yes... secure. Very secure.”

“So, what do you think of the plan?”

“Ah? Good. Very good. Excellent. I’ll do exactly as you instructed.”

Just then, Li Zhuiyuan noticed wisps of black vapor rising from the cat-faced Granny’s body, like dry ice swirling on a stage.

“What’s happening to you?”

The black vapor began to recede rapidly.

“This plan is just... too good. Just thinking about it is enough for my resentment to start dissipating.”

“Can you still hold on?”

“I can. My resentment is heavy. Once all three of them get what’s coming to them, I think I’ll finally be freed.”

“So... you’ve been in pain all this time?”

“Every moment. Like being fried in boiling oil, tortured non-stop.

If I couldn’t think, if I couldn’t speak, maybe it’d be easier. But I can. And that makes it even worse.”

“That’s... tragic.”

“No, not tragic. Not for us... no, for me.

For something like me to even exist, to be born at all—that’s rare.

Every time I look up at the sky, I feel fear and dread. But still... I’m grateful to Him.”

Li Zhuiyuan looked at the cat-faced Granny. Really, he was looking at the black cat.

She’d raised three children, helped raise their children.

And yet, the only one who remembered her kindness, who’d endure unspeakable agony to avenge her, was the ugly, crippled stray cat she’d taken in.

Maybe the greatest difference between humans and beasts... is that humans can fall lower.

“But, aren’t you worried that telling me all this... won’t that get you in trouble?”

“Me?” Li Zhuiyuan shook his head. “Why would I get in trouble? I’m doing good deeds.”

“Good deeds?”

“Yeah.”

He pointed at the three Niu siblings still kneeling inside the house and continued:

“You’re a Dead Sinker, an unclean thing—you were going to kill them. I saved their lives. Isn’t that an act of virtue?”

The cat-faced Granny bared her mouthful of rotting teeth.

“You... you can explain it like that?”

“Honestly, I’m still a beginner. Just reading basic books. I don’t even know if my reasoning holds up. If I want answers... I need to go home and keep studying.

I’m still a kid. Not great at this stuff yet. Gotta work harder.”

“You... you’re going to keep learning?”

“Yup.”

“Thank you.”

“No need. I’m not entirely selfless here.

My great-grandpa and the others are sitting vigil for the Niu family. If all three of them had died today, it would’ve ruined their reputation—their livelihood.

Great-grandpa... he’s been really good to me.”

“Actually, your great-grandpa... already gave me a hand.”

“What?”

The cat-faced Granny: “Don’t worry. I know what to do now.”

Li Zhuiyuan gave her a childlike, innocent smile. “Thank you, Grandma.”

Just then, distant voices called out. His great-grandpa and the others had found the area.

Li Zhuiyuan waved goodbye to the cat-faced Granny and walked toward the road.

“Little Yuanhou! Little Yuanhou! Where are you, Little Yuanhou!”

Hearing those shouts in the local dialect filled Li Zhuiyuan with warmth and satisfaction. When he first returned to his hometown, he found the suffix “hou” awkward and unfamiliar.

But it was something the elders always called him. The tone of that dialect carried the warmth and love of home.

Professor Xu from the literature department back at the family compound was from Guangdong. He’d said that with economic development and population migration, dialects would inevitably fade from daily life.

Even Panzi, Leizi, Yingzi—they were speaking Mandarin at school now.

So Li Zhuiyuan knew, when the old folks were gone, those cries of “Little Yuanhou” would only echo in his memory.

“Great-grandpa! Great-grandpa!”

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