Corpse Retriever

“Brother Yuanhou?”

Seeing Li Zhuiyuan frozen in place, Liu Cuicui reached out to grab his hand.

The moment they touched, Li Zhuiyuan felt the icy chill on his left shoulder vanish. At the same time, he noticed Liu Cuicui shiver, her hand trembling as it held his.

“Cuicui, step back!”

“Huh?”

“Stay away from me!”

Though she didn’t know why, Liu Cuicui obediently let go and backed away several steps.

“Cuicui, stay there, don’t move, don’t come near me.”

“Okay…”

Brother Yuanhou’s sudden attitude brought back memories of being shunned. A mist welled up in her eyes, her little nose sniffling.

Li Zhuiyuan had a feeling: when Liu Cuicui touched him, the old woman with hands on his shoulders had lifted one to grab at Liu Cuicui.

Only when Liu Cuicui stepped back did the old woman return to her previous position.

“Granny Liu, I’ll be going then!”

Niu Fu’s robust voice rang out from inside, not a trace of the earlier hoarseness.

He walked into the living room, glanced at the two kids still there without any gesture, and headed for the door.

“Grandpa…” Li Zhuiyuan raised his hand, pointing to the corner, to the basin on the rack by his side. “Wash your hands.”

Liu Cuicui wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and said with a smile, “Grandpa, wash your hands before you go. It wards off bad luck.”

After speaking, she lowered her head, staring at her toes. Did Brother Yuanhou think her family was bad luck too?

She’d long been used to it, normally wouldn’t think much of it, but for some reason, today she felt especially sensitive.

“Oh, alright, I’ll wash then.”

Niu Fu pulled back the foot he’d stepped over the threshold and turned to the basin to wash his hands.

As he washed,

Li Zhuiyuan felt the icy chill on both shoulders gradually fade. A wave of relief washed over him, mixed with a sense of exhaustion.

Niu Fu’s back, visibly, slowly hunched again.

Li Juxiang came out, supporting Liu Jinxia, and said, “I’ll see you out.”

“No need to be polite. I’m off, see you.”

Niu Fu finished washing, reached for the cloth on the rack to dry his hands, but found it just out of reach. He shook his hands instead, clasped them behind his lower back, and slowly sidestepped over the threshold.

Li Juxiang looked puzzled, as if something was off, but she couldn’t pinpoint it.

She walked to the basin to change the water, but when she saw its contents, her expression froze:

The banana leaves in the basin had turned into impossibly fine, uniform strips, as if no one could’ve torn them so precisely by hand.

Most strikingly, the water in the basin had turned black!

Li Juxiang quickly stepped to her mother’s side, leaned down, and whispered what she’d seen.

Liu Jinxia looked at her daughter in shock, then out toward the door.

By now, Niu Fu had finally crossed the threshold and reached the dam.

Li Zhuiyuan, at last recovering from his exhaustion, walked up to Liu Jinxia, pointed at Niu Fu’s retreating figure, and said, “Grandma, on his back…”

“Silence!”

Liu Jinxia’s hands shot up, covering the boy’s mouth.

Her hands reeked so strongly that Li Zhuiyuan’s eyes stung with tears.

Outside, Niu Fu’s body paused. He half-turned, casting a meaningful glance, then continued walking away.

Only after he’d left the dam and gone far did Liu Jinxia release her grip on the boy’s mouth.

“Kid, now, speak.”

Li Zhuiyuan took several deep breaths and said, “Grandma, that grandpa… was there something on his back?”

Liu Jinxia leaned her face close to Li Zhuiyuan’s, lowering her voice. “Xiao Yuanhou, did you see something?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.

He truly hadn’t seen anything, only felt it.

Liu Jinxia furrowed her brow and asked, “Xiao Yuanhou, last night, Sanjianghou went to your house, right?”

“Grandma, I was asleep. I don’t know.”

“Heh.”

Liu Jinxia nodded with a smile, not pressing further, but said gravely, “Xiao Yuanhou, remember one thing from Grandma.”

“Tell me, Grandma.”

“Some things, even if you see them, you must never show it in front of them. If they know you can see them, they might… latch onto you.”

Was that why?

Li Zhuiyuan nodded firmly. “Grandma, I’ll remember.”

“Good, go eat with Xiao Cuihou.”

“Okay, Grandma.”

Li Zhuiyuan walked to Liu Cuicui, who looked at him with some confusion.

“Cuicui, come on, let’s eat.”

“Okay, hee hee.”

A smile bloomed on the little girl’s face again.

After the two kids went to the kitchen, Liu Jinxia sat in the living room chair, her expression heavy.

“Mom?” Li Juxiang was still holding the basin. “Did Xiao Yuanhou really see something?”

“Sometimes, to see something, you don’t always need your eyes.”

“How could this happen?”

“You’d have to ask Sanjianghou. Heaven knows what kind of tricks he’s been messing with.”

“Sigh, I hope the kid’s okay. I really like him.”

“Yo.” Liu Jinxia gave her daughter a half-smile. “What, got your eye on him for a son-in-law?”

“Mom, don’t make those jokes. I’d never think that. He’s Lanhou’s son.”

This time, Liu Jinxia, unusually, didn’t scold her daughter for “lowering herself” but comforted her, “That Lanhou girl, sharp as a tack since she was little. Her son’s even more precocious, so he’s really not suited to be a son-in-law.”

Li Juxiang laughed and asked, “Mom, listen to yourself, what nonsense. Is being smart a fault now?”

“Daughter, you don’t get it. Have you ever seen a kid get possessed by something filthy and faint one day, then hold hands and play like nothing happened the next?

Guess if he knows about what happened at Big Beard’s. You believe he was asleep last night and knows nothing?

Hah, just now, he saw something unclean again right here, and now he can calmly sit down and keep eating. This kid’s not just smart.

He can quickly figure out his situation and adjust himself. Even for something… like seeing ghosts. It’s just that he’s still young, with a bit of a kid’s innocence.

When he grows up, living with someone like that would be pretty dull. One look, and he’d see right through you. You’d have no secrets in front of him.

You couldn’t even act coy or throw a tantrum, because he’s standing taller than you, looking down at you from every angle.

Cold, no human warmth.”

“Mom, how can you say that about a kid? I think Xiao Yuanhou’s great, polite, and well-behaved.”

“That’s because he’s like that with everyone, just like his mom was as a kid.”

“Mom…”

“Right, didn’t his mom get divorced too?”

“You…” Li Juxiang was angry.

Liu Jinxia, still not done, exhaled a puff of smoke and continued, “People like those two, mother and son, are suited for someone with no sense of self, whose whole world revolves around them.”

“Mom, I’m going to find Grandpa Sanjiang.”

“Go, go.” Liu Jinxia waved her hand. “If that Sanjianghou dawdles, ask him if he wants Hanhou to take care of him in his old age or see him off, after messing up Hanhou’s favorite grandson.”

Li Juxiang quickly dumped the basin’s black water, hopped on her tricycle, and set off. She really didn’t want to hear her mother go on.

Liu Jinxia snuffed out her cigarette butt, yawned, and slowly shuffled toward the kitchen.

The two kids had finished eating. Liu Jinxia saw her usually pampered granddaughter, who never did chores, eagerly grabbing bowls and chopsticks to clean the table.

She kept saying, “Brother Yuanhou, put those down quickly. I do this stuff every day.”

It made Liu Jinxia chuckle.

Perhaps because it concerned his own pension and funeral, Li Sanjiang didn’t dawdle this time. He arrived early, riding in Li Juxiang’s tricycle.

Liu Jinxia had Li Juxiang take the two kids upstairs to watch TV, then led Li Sanjiang into her office.

“Wow, Blind Liu, you’ve got this place packed tight.” Li Sanjiang patted the tall stacks of wooden crates around them. “Someone who didn’t know better might think you just got a shipment from Guangdong, ready to switch to wholesale.”

“No time to waste on your nonsense.”

Liu Jinxia laid out everything that happened today, including the Niu family’s underworld birthday ritual.

Li Sanjiang’s eyes widened. “How could Xiao Yuanhou see that?”

Liu Jinxia took a deep breath, clenched her fist, but ultimately held back her anger, retorting, “You’re asking me, damn it?”

Li Sanjiang pulled out a cigarette, tossed one to Liu Jinxia, and took another, holding it under his nose to sniff and ponder.

Liu Jinxia picked up the cigarette, tapped the filter end on the table, and asked, “What the hell did you do last night?”

“Something virtuous.”

“You…” Liu Jinxia licked her lips and asked, “Big Beard and his son were floating in the fishpond today. Did you drag that dead thing over there?”

Li Sanjiang didn’t answer.

“How’d you drag it over?” Liu Jinxia pressed, trying to pry more out of him. Then, as if struck by a horrifying possibility, her voice rose, and she cursed, “You damned old fool, you didn’t make Xiao Yuanhou guide the corpse, did you?”

“Cough, cough…” Li Sanjiang cleared his throat. “Blind Liu, lend me a light.”

Liu Jinxia hurled the matchbox at him. “You really did it!”

Li Sanjiang looked away and lit his cigarette.

Liu Jinxia got up from her chair, circled the table, and stood in front of Li Sanjiang, spit flying onto the old man’s face.

“Living people walk the yang path, dead people walk the yin path. You made Xiao Yuanhou guide the corpse—that’s making this kid walk the yin path, tainted by ghost qi. Do you realize he might’ve been turned into someone who can ‘walk the yin’ because of you?”

“Walk the yin?” Li Sanjiang froze, then burst out as if he’d heard the biggest joke ever. “Haha, what a load of crap! No way a little thing like that could make him walk the yin!”

“Heh… hehehe.” Liu Jinxia let out a cold laugh.

Li Sanjiang, on the other hand, started getting anxious, jumping to his feet. “If it was that easy to walk the yin, you, Blind Liu, wouldn’t still be pulling these con artist tricks after decades in this trade!”

(Continue in Next Part)