Corpse Retriever

Next came the waiting.

While tending to his injuries, Xiong Shan teased the son sitting on his lap.

Runsheng put up two tents to keep off the rain, one for each side.

Li Zhuiyuan ate his crackers quietly. He knew very well that although he had helped Xiong Shan suppress the corpse poison, and although the atmosphere between them was friendly, there was still a line between them.

Xiong Shan could treat those three families as sacrifices to be offered up, so he could just as easily sacrifice Li Zhuiyuan too if the need arose.

But there was nothing to resent about that. On the contrary, this way of getting along, where each side clearly understood the other’s boundaries, made both of them feel at ease.

No one here was stupid. Everyone had a sense of limits. That meant there was no need to worry that the other person’s actions might suddenly warp into something absurd.

The rain stopped, but the sky, already dim, turned completely dark.

Holding his son, Xiong Shan took the initiative to walk over and asked Li Zhuiyuan, “Do you like children?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.“I love my son very much.”

“I can tell.”

“Because I suffered too much when I was young, I want to give him the very best of everything.”

“Mm.”

Li Zhuiyuan had no interest in arguing with him about parenting. The way people like them tried to make their sons into dragons was probably so extreme that even extremists would find it excessive.

“That’s what it feels like to be a parent.”

Li Zhuiyuan took out a pack of crackers and handed it to him. “Want to try some?”

“No. I’m not used to eating that.”

“Oh.” Li Zhuiyuan did not insist. He had only offered to cut off whatever Xiong Shan might have gone on to say.

“Little brother, how much do you know about the jianghu?”

“Not much.”

“You’re still young. Even if you really do go out after lighting your lamp and roaming the jianghu, it’ll at least have to wait until you’re an adult. But there are still some things you should know beforehand.

“Look at this lake in front of you. Right now it looks like this. But after you light your lamp, when you look at it again, it’ll be a completely different sight.

“At that point, even if you don’t want to go, the river current will push you forward. You won’t have any say in it.”

“I heard the elders at home say you can light the lamp a second time. Then you either retire into seclusion or find a dock to settle down at.”

“That means admitting defeat.”

“You wouldn’t admit defeat?”

Xiong Shan lowered his head and looked at the son in his arms. “Actually, I’m already tired. But for his sake, I want to fight for a little more.”

“I understand.”

“I know this mentality of mine is wrong. When someone at the gambling table wins until their eyes go red, the final outcome is usually losing everything.”

“Can’t you imagine yourself being the one who wins in the end?”

“Heh.” Xiong Shan gave a dry laugh. “The jianghu is too big. I’ve seen wandering independents with no formal background who even I had to admire.

“Not to mention those who come from family clans and sects. Some of their methods and arts are things even I can’t understand.

“And above them are the truly top-tier houses.

“In the jianghu, they’re called the Dragon King’s clan.

“Families like that have produced far too many ultimate victors throughout history. Their foundations are terrifyingly deep.

“When their descendants light their lamps and come out, they don’t call it walking the jianghu, or traveling, or making their name. They call it River walk.

“Just listen to that. What a grand tone. And yet they really do have the confidence to back it up.”

Li Zhuiyuan listened quietly, wondering why Xiong Shan was telling him all this.

After thinking it over, he came to the conclusion that the man really did not seem to harbor any ill intent toward him. It was as if he was simply speaking from the heart.

Xiong Shan said, “Tell me, if I had to compete with people who walk the river like that, could I win?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Success depends on the person. Even the Dragon King’s clan had to claw their way out of the wilds in the beginning, didn’t they?”

“Little brother, you can have that kind of spirit. But I can’t.” Xiong Shan reached out and gently pinched his son’s cheek. “If I hadn’t met you today, I probably wouldn’t be feeling this way.

“At such a young age, and your command of formations is already masterful. Do you know how frightening that is?”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“No, it isn’t. Because I don’t believe formations are the only thing you know.”

“I’m all right, I guess.”

“Luckily, you haven’t lit your lamp yet, so I know I won’t end up competing with you. But I also know that somewhere in the jianghu, there must be young people as outstanding as you who already have.

“And when I think that in the end I’ll have to fight people like that, stake my life against them, and struggle for that last seat—

“I get scared.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “If you keep talking like this, aren’t you worried it’ll affect your own spirit?”

“Doesn’t matter. Seeing you, then looking at my son, I suddenly feel there’s still hope. Heh, I’m not trying to take advantage of you, but while I was treating my wounds just now, looking at him on my knee, I really was thinking maybe it’s time for me to step down.

“I should raise him well, and later let him fight for this jianghu himself.

“Once this wave passes,

I’ll…”

Li Zhuiyuan raised a hand. “You’d better not say things like that. It’s bad luck.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Xiong Shan burst out laughing.

Just then, from several distant directions, rows of black shadows appeared.

The corpse-retrieving procession had returned.

“Lihua!” Xiong Shan called to his wife.

“I’ll do it this time, Brother Runsheng.”

Runsheng immediately carried out the small table, and Li Zhuiyuan quickly finished setting everything up.

Xiong Shan watched the boy’s movements intently.

The earlier tenderness and heartfelt sighing were over now. No one should take that too seriously.

What truly maintained and guaranteed cooperation between the two sides was strength.

This time, Li Zhuiyuan directly used karmic fire to light the candles. One red and one white, the two candles burned with black-shadowed flames.

Since Xiong Shan did not believe formations were the only thing he knew, then Li Zhuiyuan would help prove otherwise.

Xiong Shan nodded, licked his lips, and said, “That’s got a solid, upright flavor to it.”

The burned yellow paper was distributed, one sheet per person.

After doing this several times in a row, everyone had grown somewhat used to it.

Xiong Shan said, “Last night, this was the moment I slipped into their ranks. Your steps have to match their rhythm closely. Don’t break it.

“Most important of all, don’t look at the one in the middle.”

“Mm.”

“You’re not tall enough. You only need to grab onto one person’s clothes and follow.”

“Thanks. That’s very thoughtful of you.”

The teams were converging here from all directions. While they were still some distance away, there was no need to lower their heads yet, so they could still watch.

Of course, the one in the middle, the one whose feet never touched the ground, remained impossible to see clearly.

On the return trip, the number of people in each team had obviously increased.

And they must have picked people up halfway, or perhaps the inns they visited differed in number and location. In any case, the returning formations were no longer as compact as when they had set out during the day. Between each procession was a varying stretch of distance.

The first team had four people.

No wonder they came back so quickly and were first in line. They had only brought back one person.

It was a woman. Her eyes were closed, her hair hung loose, and her clothes were filthy and torn. She looked very much like that fool Li Zhuiyuan had run into before in Min’an Town.

Once the team drew near, everyone lowered their heads. After it entered the water, they raised them again and looked toward the second team.

The second team had five people: a white-haired old man and a gaunt middle-aged man with sunken eye sockets. Their eyes were closed too.

Li Zhuiyuan noticed a pattern. The people they brought back all seemed to be those who were already meant to die.

So what he had gone through last night really had been an exception?

Because he, the woman, and the seven members of the Wang clan had all been outsiders who barged in?

Or perhaps the identity of the Wang clan people triggered some special sensitivity?

The first two corpse-retrieving teams had already entered the lake and vanished.

But when the third team appeared in the distance, visible enough to make out, the situation suddenly became different.

The third team had four people.

By rights, since it had brought back fewer people, it should have been farther ahead. Was it because its route was the longest?

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at Xiong Shan beside him and saw the same confusion in his eyes.

Xiong Shan had experience, so it should not be a route issue. Something really had gone off course.

When the third team came a little closer, Li Zhuiyuan saw that the one they had brought back was a woman.

She wore a pale blue silk nightgown and cloth slippers, her long hair hanging loose over her shoulders, as if she had just been called out of bed.

Most importantly, there was a mole beneath her lip.

This woman was the one who had received them that day at the antique market. She was the one who had given him the initial information about Xie Niudao.

But she should have been in the city right now. How had she ended up here?

She could not have come of her own accord. If she had, she would not be dressed like this.

Li Zhuiyuan remembered that she had said her husband had suddenly disappeared during the first month of the lunar year five years ago. Could it be that he too had vanished in exactly this way, and now she was merely retracing the road he had once taken?

So this third corpse-retrieving team had actually gone into the city?

Tan Wenbin and Runsheng exchanged looks as well. They recognized that woman too.

When the third team passed by and began circling this place, everyone lowered their heads.

There was a scent of incense on the woman, and even after she had gone all the way around once, the fragrance lingered.

After that team entered the water, Li Zhuiyuan said, “She’s one of the Wang clan.”

At that, Xiong Shan frowned.

The fourth team arrived, and everyone looked up.

Again there were four people, which meant they had still brought back only one.

This time it was a pampered old lady, decked out in fine clothes and loaded with jewelry and jade ornaments.

Xiong Shan said, “That’s the old madam of the Bu family. She just celebrated a big birthday not long ago. I even went to mooch a drink at the banquet.”

The fifth team also had four people. The one they brought back was a young man in a white undershirt. There were very obvious hollows in both his upper arms, and his calves were especially muscular.

That matched the seven Wang clan people they had seen before. Corpse retrievers had to train their arms to clamp bamboo poles and train their legs for the corpse-kicking technique, so those two areas developed especially distinct lines.

One from the Wang clan, one from the Bu family, and now this young man had obvious corpse-retriever traits. If nothing unexpected had happened, then his surname was probably Xie.

So these three corpse-retrieving teams had gone to the other three families of the Old Heavenly Gate and each brought back one person?

The sixth team was still some distance off. For the moment they could only make out black silhouettes.

Xiong Shan said, “Why do you think the general is capturing people from those three families?”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Revenge.”

Aside from revenge, he could not think of a second reason. It was not as though they were being taken under the lake for a dinner invitation.

Xiong Shan said, “I suddenly realized I may need to seriously reconsider what you said about the internal conflict among the four families of the Old Heavenly Gate. I suspect this isn’t revenge from the general at all.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “It could be revenge from that Xie Niudao. He may already be able to borrow the general’s power.”

He paused, then added, “If that Xie Niudao isn’t dealt with, then the general’s seal will never truly be secure.”

At a moment like this, he needed to apply a little guidance, but not push too hard.

Xiong Shan nodded. “Yes.”

The sixth team drew closer, close enough to see clearly now.

This time there were not four people but five, which meant they had brought back two.

One on the left and one on the right, one burly and one lean, both with their eyes closed.

Beside him, Xiong Shan’s breathing suddenly grew ragged.

Li Zhuiyuan deliberately looked at him. It was clear Xiong Shan not only knew these two, but knew them well.

If Xiong Shan was still barely holding himself together, the woman was already too shocked to contain herself. She murmured, “Second Brother, Third Brother!”

Second Brother and Third Brother? Were these two from Xiong Shan’s team?

When the sixth team passed by, Xiong Shan reminded them in a tightly suppressed voice, “Lower your heads.”

That warning was meant for the woman.

She lowered her head.

The sixth team walked into the lake and sank beneath the surface.

The woman began sobbing and reached out to clutch Xiong Shan’s clothes.

It was obvious that the atmosphere within this team was very good. They had a strong sense of mutual trust and belonging.

Xiong Shan clenched his fists, and the scars on his face stood out sharply once more.

“How could this happen? How could this happen…”

Li Zhuiyuan asked, “What did you send them to do?”

Grinding his teeth, Xiong Shan said one word at a time, “If I told you I only sent them to keep an eye on the Yan family, the Xie family, and the Bu family, would you believe me?”

Li Zhuiyuan had not really believed it at first. If, like the woman, they had only been watching those two families and then planned to follow along once those families sent people out, how could they have been dragged into this corpse-retrieving procession for no reason?

But very soon, he had no choice but to believe him.

Because he saw something even more unbelievable.

The seventh team had arrived.

This team had a full eight people. Tonight, that counted as a large group.

The one at the very front was someone Li Zhuiyuan knew well: the young Daoist priest he had seen last night, the twin son of that elderly couple.

But behind him, carrying a bamboo pole, was Huzi.

On Huzi’s other side, and behind him, were his two thug brothers.

Hadn’t those three been sent by him into the city to try their luck? How had they ended up here?

In the next instant, Runsheng and Tan Wenbin both drew in sharp breaths.

Because even stranger than seeing Huzi and the other two in the line was what came after.

Behind the three of them were two more people carrying the pole: Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou!

When they passed through Meiling Town that morning, Tan Wenbin had even used the town phone to contact them. Everything had been normal then.

Because the road ahead was still unclear, Li Zhuiyuan had not asked them to bring Huzi and his men here.

And yet now, all five of them had appeared.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Heads down!”

The seventh team was getting close.

Runsheng and Tan Wenbin forced their heads down, though their fists were clenched tight.

As Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head, he looked into the bronze mirror in his hand and began searching for the angle.

Judging by the earlier pattern, this team would circle once around the Yin-Yang Road Inn where they were standing before returning beneath the lake.

He needed to calculate their speed and avoid looking at the one in the center, the only one whose feet did not touch the ground.

When Huzi’s figure appeared in the bronze mirror, Li Zhuiyuan closed his eyes and counted silently.

If he opened them too soon, he would see that thing and be injured again. If he opened them too late, he might miss Yin Meng and Lin Shuyou.

When the moment came, Li Zhuiyuan opened his eyes at once. In the bronze mirror, he saw Lin Shuyou. Yin Meng was on the other side, and because of the angle, Lin Shuyou blocked her from view.

And at that moment, Lin Shuyou seemed to sense something. He actually opened his eyes. Confusion showed in them as he looked around blankly, his mouth opening as though he were speaking, though no sound came out. But from the movement of his lips, Li Zhuiyuan could tell what he was saying:

“Little Yuanhou?”

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