Corpse Retriever

Tan Yunlong suddenly realized something—when you throw a stone to test the waters, you’re supposed to at least wait and see where the splash lands.

He immediately pushed open the door and stepped out of the security office, heading toward the long bench area. It was crowded, and his eyes swept quickly over the people.

”Uncle Tan.”

Li Zhuiyuan’s voice called out. Only then did Tan Yunlong notice that the boy had quietly left the office on his own.

He glanced at him first, then discreetly followed the direction the boy was pointing. In the corridor on the east side, leading to the hot water room, someone was walking away—a woman, judging from the back.

Tan Yunlong immediately vaulted over the bench in front of him and hurried to catch up.

The woman seemed to hear the urgent footsteps behind her and broke into a run. The chase was on.

A few officers arrived shortly after but saw no sign of Tan Yunlong. They didn’t know which direction he had gone. Li Zhuiyuan stepped forward and reminded them, “Uncle Tan went that way—he’s chasing a female suspect.”

The officers quickly rushed off to support him.

Li Zhuiyuan didn’t follow the excitement but instead returned to the security office, where a plainclothes officer was still keeping an eye on the pickpocket.Pouring himself a glass of water, Li Zhuiyuan settled into a chair to wait.

He had stepped out earlier upon hearing the pickpocket speak in a Nantong dialect. The central bench area was indeed crowded, but not unmanageable.

The Water Monkey ward was at the far west end. By drawing an imaginary line between the ward and the security office and projecting that line onto the bench area, the scope narrowed considerably. Only from that small region could one observe both locations simultaneously.

When Li Zhuiyuan was scanning the area, the woman had just stood up—she caught his eye right away because she wasn’t carrying anything.

About fifteen minutes later, the door to the security office opened again. Tan Yunlong was helped in, accompanied by a doctor.

His shirt had been opened, revealing a long diagonal bruise on the left side of his chest—clearly the mark of a kick.

Tilting his head in the direction of the bruise, Li Zhuiyuan tried to visualize the posture needed to deliver such a kick. Something about it felt off.

As the doctor applied medicated oil, Tan Yunlong explained to his colleagues, “I actually caught up with her and grabbed her, but she flung me off in one motion. When I got back up, she kicked me again.”

“Uncle Tan, she’s that strong?”

“Not exactly strong—I’m not trying to save face here. I didn’t catch her, and I got injured—nothing to be proud of.

“It’s just that when we got close, whether she threw me or kicked me, I had braced myself and was ready to counter and restrain her.

“But her style of force was bizarre. I couldn’t predict it, and suddenly I was flat on my back.”

Li Zhuiyuan understood at once. The woman had used a technique designed for dealing with Dead Sinkers.

Such techniques might not work well against the living. But Tan Yunlong had been going easy, aiming to subdue her without harm. Caught off guard, he suffered from unfamiliarity.

Soon after, more officers returned, all looking defeated. Clearly, the suspect had gotten away.

“Station more personnel here. Didn’t the doctor say those two are waking up soon? We might get something from them.”

After giving the orders, Tan Yunlong dressed and led Li Zhuiyuan outside.

“Uncle Tan, can you still drive?”

Seeing him clutching his chest, Li Zhuiyuan couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s not too bad. Get in.”

This time, Tan Yunlong drove the motorcycle slowly.

“Xiaoyuan, next time you go off on your own, tell me in advance.”

“Okay.”

“You know, you’d make a pretty good cop. Ever thought about applying to the police academy?”

“No.”

“What university then?”

“Haihe University.”

Tan Yunlong twitched at the answer—he seemed to have guessed the boy’s real reason for choosing that school.

When they arrived home, Tan Yunlong handed Li Zhuiyuan a slip of paper. “Xiaoyuan, call me if you need anything.”

“Okay, Uncle Tan.”

Watching the motorcycle drive away, Li Zhuiyuan turned his gaze toward the bearded man’s house.

Someone trained specifically in anti-Dead Sinker techniques wasn’t just your average Water Monkey.

Still, if they could be baited into the trap, their complexity was limited.

To be safe, should he start preparing early?

The books talked about how to eliminate Dead Sinkers, not help them—but they also listed many taboos when fighting one...

So, just reverse those taboos.

That way, even if there was a tough one among the Water Monkeys, he’d still be able to back up Little Oriole.

He tapped his forehead with a fist and suddenly realized: What kind of crooked thinking is this?

But he quickly reassured himself. Having grown up around archaeology, he’d seen countless national treasures ruined by tomb robbers, and he had witnessed the heartbreak of seasoned archaeologists.

Between two evils, choose the lesser. He wasn’t helping Dead Sinkers for evil’s sake—he was protecting national heritage.

He went back inside. The TV was off, and Runsheng wasn’t watching it, but the faint “ding-dong” sound from behind the back wall meant he was still working late.

Not wanting to disturb him, Li Zhuiyuan went upstairs and found his great-grandfather still lying on the terrace chair.

“Great-Grandpa, why aren’t you asleep?”

“Waiting for you.” Li Sanjiang shifted and yawned. “What did Officer Tan say?”

“He agreed.”

“He really did?”

“Yeah, he’ll personally take me to handle the enrollment a month from now, before school starts. Don’t worry, Great-Grandpa.”

“Good, good. You’re going to school in Shigang, right?”

“Yeah.”

“What grade?”

“Sixth grade.”

Li Sanjiang counted on his fingers, calculating the ages and grades of Yingzi and Panzi. “Aren’t you jumping ahead a bit?”

“It’s fine, Great-Grandpa. I’m still young. If I fall behind, I can repeat the year—it just means more time to learn.”

“That’s true.” Li Sanjiang nodded. “That’s a good deal.”

“Great-Grandpa, go to sleep. It’s late.”

“Mm, should sleep. Got guests coming early tomorrow.”

“Who?”

“An old war buddy of mine.”

“Your comrade?”

“From the same village.”

“A Taiwanese businessman?”

“No, just unlucky. We were both conscripted. I escaped, he didn’t. He ended up retreating all the way to Yunnan and into Myanmar.

“Life was okay at first, but then we attacked and smashed their forces.

“After that, he drifted around Southeast Asia. Supposedly made a small fortune. Now he wants to come back and invest in his hometown.”

“He called you?”

“Yeah.”

“What about the village head?”

“What’s it got to do with him?”

“If an overseas Chinese is investing, usually the town mayor tags along.”

Li Sanjiang’s face lit up with realization and amusement. “Heh, so the old guy’s putting on a show to impress people?”

“I’m just guessing.”

“Alright, alright, let’s sleep. You too—wash up and get some rest.” Li Sanjiang chuckled as he fanned himself on the way to his room. “After summer break, our Little Yuanhou’s starting sixth grade. Wonderful.”

Li Zhuiyuan showered, then sat at his desk and began writing in his experience journal.

He hadn’t bothered with notes or mistake books back when he was in school—handing in blank exams wasn’t a big deal. But now, a single misstep could mean death.

He liked that pressure. Exams should feel this serious.

As for being in sixth grade of middle school, not elementary, he figured Great-Grandpa would realize that eventually.

His age and the special class setup were hard to explain to outsiders, but the high school was already informed—transferring and skipping grades would be much smoother.

He opened several stacked books, flipped to the specific volume and page from memory, and selectively copied down ten “taboos” for dealing with Dead Sinkers.

He wouldn’t use all ten—at most, two. So he had to weigh their usefulness and controllability before making a final choice.

Once finished, he climbed into bed and went to sleep.

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