Chapter 134

The bad news is, Wei Zhengdao really isn't dead.

The good news is, Wei Zhengdao is trying to die.

His survival somewhat disappointed Li Zhuiyuan, but his desperate attempt to die salvaged his image in the young man's mind, making him seem even more vivid and relatable.

At the very least, Wei Zhengdao didn't stoop to becoming an unrecognizable monster in pursuit of immortality.

Though, he did, in fact, become such a grotesque being that even other monsters would recoil.

This "Five Sense Sealing Diagram" was the rope Wei Zhengdao used to hang himself.

He must have hung from this rope for a very long time, enduring wind and sun, so much so that the grime from his neck had blackened the rope, yet he still couldn't die.

Instead, the rope became imbued with malevolent energy, transforming into an evil artifact.

This evil artifact later required a Dragon King to personally intervene and shatter it.

So,

How dirty was Wei Zhengdao back then?

However, when Wei Zhengdao broke free from the seal, the diagram certainly hadn't yet become a malevolent object. Otherwise, given Wei Zhengdao's usual habits, he would have simply waved his hand and declared it "destroyed by the righteous path."

After it was lost, the sealing diagram gradually transformed into an evil entity over a long period of brewing and growth, eventually causing chaos and calamity in the human world. The exact duration of this process is truly difficult to calculate.

Because even Deng Chen's primary memories originated after he was broken and dispersed, so he knows very little about his past.

Qin Kan, who shattered the sealing diagram, had his name seen by Li Zhuiyuan on the offering table. Based on his seating order, it can be inferred that he was a person from the Yuan Dynasty.

In short, there is currently no precise method to deduce the year Wei Zhengdao decided to commit suicide and when his attempt failed.

But what can be generally confirmed is that it happened many, many years ago.

This also means that Wei Zhengdao likely continued to try other methods of suicide later.

He sincerely wished him success in his suicide attempts.

The most perfect outcome would be for him to someday enter a mysterious area and find a skeleton or a grave, with Wei Zhengdao's last will and testament nearby.

The message wouldn't need many words; knowing Wei Zhengdao's character, it would probably say:

"Haha, I finally managed to kill myself."

Thinking of this,

Li Zhuiyuan picked up the photo and lightly tapped his forehead.

No, that won't do.

If he were to find such a will, that would be the most terrifying thing and the worst outcome.

After all,

What person who successfully committed suicide could still write about their success?

Therefore, the best outcome would be to find no trace of him, no remnants left behind, as that would truly mean he succeeded.

While this would be unaccommodating for future seekers curious about him, it would best fit his typical style.

He had lived, been proud, indulged, rebelled. Finally, he grew tired of it all, found it meaningless, messed himself up, pondered ways to die, and then, at last, succeeded.

Looking back at "Records of Jianghu Anomalies" and "Records of Righteousness and Demon Subjugation," Li Zhuiyuan truly felt as though he was now giving Binbin and the others special tutoring, grinding information down to a fine paste and spoon-feeding it to them.

You, who could write popular science books with such a sense of uninhibited elegance, must not end up in such a cliché way.

Li Zhuiyuan's fingertip traced the words on the back of the photo.

The person under the peach tree who practiced from Wei Zhengdao's black book turned into a ghostly mess, but Li Zhuiyuan himself practiced it with no ill effects. This made Li Zhuiyuan suspect early on whether Wei Zhengdao shared the same mental illness as him.

But looking at this sentence, there was anger, helplessness, a sense of not knowing whether to laugh or cry... In short, a mix of emotions.

So,

Was your illness cured?

Although Li Zhuiyuan's condition was gradually improving because of Ah Li, it was like climbing a mountain; until the final step, it was truly difficult to confirm if this path could lead all the way to the summit.

If there were successful methods and paths from others to refer to, things would be much simpler and clearer.

This guy wrote so many books, yet he never thought that future generations might suffer from the same rare illness as him? Didn't he leave any prescriptions or remedies for future sufferers?

Li Zhuiyuan put the photo into his backpack.

Just then, Deng Chen returned with Tan Wenbin, Yin Meng, and Lin Shuyou.

Lin Shuyou walked at the very back, his head lowered.

He had gone to pick someone up earlier, but he didn't find them; instead, he got lost himself, which he found quite embarrassing.

Actually, when Li Zhuiyuan asked him to pick someone up, he intended to instruct him to take the incense burner and light incense before leaving, but Ah You ran off before he finished speaking.

Given this, in future waves or other situations, even if Ah You's help is needed, he cannot be assigned to act alone.

Ah You's priority for independent action would even have to be lower than Runsheng's.

Li Zhuiyuan: "By the way, where's Runsheng?"

Li Zhuiyuan hadn't sensed Runsheng's presence even when the white fog was still there.

Yet Runsheng was, after all, the strongest individual in the team. Even Lin Shuyou, if he were to enter a trance and summon the White Crane Boy, couldn't defeat Runsheng with his qi-gates fully open.

Logically, he should be the least likely to encounter trouble, but nothing is absolute. For instance, Tan Wenbin's complexion was somewhat sallow, indicating he had likely used secret ghost-controlling techniques and paid a price in lifespan.

As for Yin Meng... she seemed perfectly fine, just her hair was a bit wavy, as if she had managed to get a perm.

No one answered Li Zhuiyuan's question; everyone had rushed here after dealing with their own urgent situations.

Yin Meng's pager was broken, so she hadn't received the message, but she knew to call the shop and got the relayed information from Lu Yi.

"Mengmeng, Ah You, both of you go search near the Eighth Hospital now. Runsheng should be in that vicinity. He's likely injured and temporarily unable to move, but his life isn't in danger."

The pig's actions told Li Zhuiyuan that it was actually worried about the arrival of their reinforcements.

The only one who could truly pose a threat to it was Runsheng. Therefore, when the pig rushed here, it failed to kill Runsheng.

Yin Meng: "Understood."

Lin Shuyou: "Understood!"

The two immediately left the photo studio.

"Brother Binbin, finish things up here. For the exact sequence of events, ask him."

Li Zhuiyuan pointed at Deng Chen.

Deng Chen nodded respectfully to Li Zhuiyuan, then smiled at Tan Wenbin.

"Xiao Yuan..."

As Li Zhuiyuan walked out, he was called back. He turned to Tan Wenbin: "Yes?"

Tan Wenbin had originally intended to ask Xiao Yuan for specific instructions on how to wrap things up, or at least a guideline, even a keyword would suffice. But seeing the pallor and exhaustion on Xiao Yuan's face, he felt too awkward to burden him further, so he changed what he was going to say:

"Xiao Yuan, head west. There's a small mall there, and it's easy to hail a taxi outside."

"Okay."

It was already dark. As the heavy fog dispersed, pedestrian traffic on the roads gradually resumed. Car traffic was still halted because the roads were a mess and impassable.

Drivers stuck there with no way to turn around were still cursing the road administration, wondering why they were suddenly fixing roads late at night.

Li Zhuiyuan left the photo studio and walked west for a distance, avoiding the halted traffic. He hailed a taxi at the mall entrance.

After giving the driver the address, Li Zhuiyuan collapsed into the back seat.

He was exhausted.

He had not only personally taken action but also sustained injuries, using both spells and formations. Now, his entire being was completely depleted.

In fact, what drained him the most wasn't any of the above; it was the intense "battle of wits" with the pig in a short span of time, anticipating its moves and digging traps in advance, that truly exhausted his mind.

Fortunately, the pig didn't disappoint him. The cleverest method he had deduced was exactly what the pig had done, which could be considered a telepathic connection between a clever person and a clever pig.

His nose felt itchy, likely indicating a nosebleed was about to start.

Li Zhuiyuan took out a piece of paper from his bag, tore it in half, crumpled it into balls, and plugged his nostrils in advance. Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Haihe University, is this the right gate?" the taxi driver's voice came.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at the campus gate outside the window, nodded, and as he prepared to pay, he noticed the price on the taxi meter was nearly double the normal fare.

The young man was sensitive to numbers, and he didn't even need to calculate it; he had taken a taxi between this campus gate and the photo studio twice that day.

The driver must have seen him fall asleep as soon as he got in and tampered with the meter. Of course, even if he hadn't fallen asleep, seeing that he was a child, the driver would likely have done the same.

While there are indeed many kind and honest taxi drivers in the industry today, one cannot deny the reality that it is still a mixed bag of good and bad.

But seriously, he had just finished dealing with a major crisis, and now this guy was overcharging him for the ride?

Li Zhuiyuan could already see dark energy condensing on the driver's face as he turned back.

The brief sleep in the car not only failed to re-energize the young man but made him feel even more exhausted.

The young man didn't question, didn't ask, and was even too tired to speak. He took out the money from his bag and handed it directly to the driver.

The driver took the money.

Within the dark energy on the driver's forehead, faint streaks of blood were already churning.

Moreover, after taking the money, the driver dawdled and didn't offer any change.

He probably thought he had encountered a naive-looking kid, and as long as the young man was too embarrassed to ask, he wouldn't give change.

He had met all sorts of people and knew that some, when facing strangers, were too shy to speak up, even when clearly being taken advantage of.

Li Zhuiyuan, holding his bag, opened the car door.

As he got out of the car, Li Zhuiyuan habitually said, "Thank you, driver."

The driver waved his hand and smiled, "You're welcome."

He was very happy and smug.

Li Zhuiyuan saw that a bloody aura had already appeared on the driver's forehead.

But the young man said nothing, walked with his bag on his back, and headed into the campus gate.

Just as his great-grandpa once said:

Everyone has their own destiny. Some are genuinely pitiful and unfortunate, while others... well, some just have it coming to them.

In the courtyard.

Aunt Liu held chopsticks and a bowl, checking on the newly pickled vegetables.

The old lady's diet was generally light, but she still enjoyed a variety of flavors. Various small pickles were an essential supplement and garnish to the family's meals.

Uncle Qin was tilling the land. The last remaining patch of grass in the courtyard was being removed; according to the old lady's instructions, it was useless to keep it, better to plant vegetables everywhere.

There was no helping it; as Xiao Yuan began his travels, the old lady's demands for daily life became increasingly practical and down-to-earth.

When he embarked on his own journeys back then, the old lady hadn't undergone such a change.

Uncle Qin felt that he was indeed far inferior to Xiao Yuan, even though he had been an adult when he himself traveled.

Because he was unwilling to admit another possibility: that the old lady's mindset had changed because she was getting old.

In Uncle Qin's eyes, the old lady was the matriarch, a mother, and also a mentor.

Aunt Liu walked over, holding the bowl. She picked up a piece of pickled cucumber with her chopsticks and brought it to Uncle Qin's mouth: "Try this."

Uncle Qin opened his mouth, took it, chewed twice, and commented, "It's edible, but it doesn't feel flavorful enough yet."

"Your palate is too strong! By the time you think it's flavorful enough, will we even be able to eat it?"

Uncle Qin nodded: "Yes, that's true."

At that moment, the floor-to-ceiling window of the first-floor room was opened from the inside.

Uncle Qin and Aunt Liu both turned to look. Ah Li was standing at the doorway.

Smiles appeared on both their faces.

Back when they were at Li Sanjiang's house, they had played the role of Ah Li's parents.

Although they weren't her actual parents, emotionally, they had watched Ah Li grow up.

However, the two quickly noticed that Ah Li was holding a crumpled banknote in her hands.

Judging by the denomination, it appeared to be two yuan.

"Ah Li?" Aunt Liu walked over proactively. "Is your collection box full?"

Ah Li shook her head.

Aunt Liu pursed her lips, glanced upwards with the corner of her eye, and asked softly, "Then, are there not enough spirit tablets?"

It shouldn't be, because she had just restocked a batch, and given Ah Li's past rate of material consumption, she shouldn't be running out so quickly.

Ah Li shook her head again.

Then, Ah Li walked out of the room and into the courtyard.

In the past, Ah Li would only sit behind the doorstep, her feet on the threshold and her gaze fixed forward, remaining there all day.

After meeting Xiao Yuan and moving here, Ah Li would sometimes come out of the house to look at the vegetables and ants on the ground, or occasionally look up at the clouds and stars.

Aunt Liu prepared to get a stool for Ah Li.

But Ah Li, step by step, walked to the courtyard gate.

Reaching out, she pushed the courtyard gate open.

Aunt Liu froze, and Uncle Qin also froze.

Ah Li walked out of the courtyard gate.

In the past, Ah Li had been taken out before; the old lady would hold her hand and take her out, and Ah Li would follow and sit like a statue.

Later, Ah Li would ride Runsheng's tricycle to pick up and drop off Xiao Yuan for school. Xiao Yuan would also hold Ah Li's hand and take her to Cui Cui's house to play, or stroll by the fields and rivers.

In the countryside, where land is vast and people are sparse, they wouldn't encounter many people walking on small paths and field ridges.

Recently, Aunt Liu and Uncle Qin had also noticed that Xiao Yuan would take Ah Li for walks on the sports field in the mornings.

But no matter what, it was always someone close enough who took Ah Li out.

Now, this was Ah Li's first time wanting to go out by herself, and she actually did.

Uncle Qin put down his hoe, preparing to follow her.

The courtyard was fine; they were outsiders, so no one would drop by. But going outside... this was a university, quite densely populated.

Ah Li was afraid of strangers, let alone strange crowds.

Uncle Qin stopped walking just as he reached the courtyard gate.

He turned his head and looked up at the second floor behind him.

The old lady stood there, her gaze containing a warning.

Uncle Qin was quite surprised. Did the old lady mean for him not to follow her?

"Don't follow her. She walked out by herself. She knows what's outside."

After saying these words, Liu Yumei turned around, closed her eyes, and tears streamed down her face.

There weren't many people on the small path in the faculty residential area.

Ah Li walked along the roadside, maintaining as much distance as possible from everyone she passed.

Many doors in the nearby residential complex were open, with people sitting inside. Seeing such a beautifully dressed little girl walk past, many warmly greeted her.

Boys and girls her age even came out, watching her curiously, and some even followed her.

Ah Li didn't respond or look at them; she simply kept her head down, continuing on her way.

Her left hand was slightly clenched, swinging gently. Whenever she went out in the past, Xiao Yuan would hold this hand.

Her right hand instinctively clenched after she left the house, and then she realized that the money she held was even more crumpled.

She immediately loosened her right hand, used both hands to spread the money out, and tried to smooth out the wrinkles.

After leaving the residential area and reaching outside the sports field, the children who had been following her either stopped and went back or were called away by their families.

It became much quieter beside the girl, but ahead... there were more people.

She stopped, lifted her head, and looked at the crowd ahead.

Most of these were vibrant university students, but in the girl's eyes, they appeared as terrifying vengeful spirits.

She knew they weren't.

But there was nothing she could do; the clamor in her ears sounded like the wailing of ghosts, and every smiling face appeared particularly sinister to her.

She had stayed in her dreams for so long, experienced them for so long, that the environment of those dreams had already encroached upon her reality.

She took a step back; she wanted to go home.

But lowering her head to look at the two-yuan banknote in her hand, she lifted her head again and continued to walk forward.

She walked into the flow of people and felt herself being swallowed.

University students walking by, passing through, or simply sitting by the sports field chatting and flirting, were all drawn to the girl.

It wasn't completely dark yet, and the streetlights inside and outside the sports field were very bright, so everyone could clearly see the girl's attire and appearance.

Her exquisite appearance and demeanor were, no exaggeration, so captivating that when eyes fell upon her, people would even forget their next breath.

Currently, various foreign elements were popular, and ancient-style attire was extremely rare. In most people's perception, "ancient style" simply referred to the long sleeves and flowing skirts seen in folk dances at parties.

What the young girl displayed, however, was true elegance and nobility.

Many students realized at that moment that the descriptions and portrayals they had learned in classical poems and ancient texts in high school actually existed in reality.

This girl was like something out of a painting; "our ancestors really didn't lie to me."

Male and female students along both sides of the path admired her as their gazes followed her movement.

Students walking on the path had already gaped when they saw the girl. After she passed, they all turned around and stood frozen, continuing to stare.

After all, this was a university, and the students' conduct was relatively high. Everyone simply appreciated and praised her; no one made any inappropriate moves.

But the many gazes from all directions, falling upon the girl, brought a burning sensation.

Her vision even blurred slightly because of it, but she still pushed through, continuing forward.

Finally, she arrived at the store entrance.

She walked up the steps and entered the shop.

The enclosed space, the denser crowd, the closer gazes, brought even more terrifying pressure and torment.

Her hearing was filled with various sinister laughs and curses, and her vision was overrun with terrifying evil spirits and monsters.

They crawled out of the shelves, seeped from the cracks in the floor tiles, and even hung from the ceiling.

She stood there, perfectly still, yet the world around her was twisting and spinning wildly.

Her eyelids began to tremble.

The girl wanted to go mad, to scream, to completely lose control, because only then, by forgetting her own existence and who she was, could she forget the terror and torment.

But she still struggled to hold on. Just as she began to feel suffocated, she saw a can of orange-and-white drink on the shelf.

She reached out, took it down, and clutched it to her chest.

Found it.

Next,

she had to take it back home.

"Wow, what a beautiful little girl," a female student working part-time exclaimed beside Lu Yi.

Lu Yi, who was sitting behind the counter doing accounts, looked up and saw the little girl walking towards him. He rubbed his eyes, as the girl gave him a profound sense of unreality.

Lu Yi was already feeling unsettled today; the offering table was still set up in his dorm room. Now, looking at this girl, he felt as if he had stepped into a ghost story.

As the girl walked towards him, she repeatedly smoothed the banknote in her hand, as if she wanted to make it even flatter, even though the creases didn't affect its usability or circulation.

Reaching the counter, Ah Li looked up at Lu Yi.

In her eyes, Lu Yi looked like a long, segmented red snake, flicking its tongue.

A sinister voice emanated from the counter as the long snake slithered onto it, coiling up like a pile of stacked red sausages.

Lu Yi leaned forward over the counter and asked, "Is this what you want?"

Ah Li placed the two-yuan note on the counter. The snake used its tail to stick the banknote and, flicking its tongue, said:

"Exactly."

The girl turned and walked out of the shop.

Escaping the enclosed environment allowed her to relax slightly.

But next, she had to walk all the way back home from here.

Li Zhuiyuan, dragging his exhausted body, entered the school. As he passed the shop entrance, he went inside.

"Brother Prodigy, Yin Meng called back. I told her where to take photos."

"Mm-hm."

Li Zhuiyuan replied, walked to the shelf, picked up a can of drink, opened it, and took a sip.

He had overdrawn his energy today and eaten too much sugar. Upon tasting it, the overwhelming bitterness mixed with the surging bubbles made Li Zhuiyuan feel like vomiting.

He walked to the counter and put the undrinkable can of beverage into the trash bin.

Lu Yi didn't notice Li Zhuiyuan's unusual state and continued, "Earlier this evening, a little girl came to buy something. She was wearing ancient-style clothes! My goodness, she was truly beautiful, unbelievably gorgeous."

Li Zhuiyuan's first thought was Ah Li.

But he immediately dismissed it as impossible. How could Ah Li possibly come here to buy something?

If she needed anything, she would just write it down for Aunt Liu. She wouldn't even leave the house herself.

Li Zhuiyuan waved his hand at Lu Yi and then walked out.

After leaving the residential area, he passed by the sports field and finally entered the faculty residential complex.

This path, neither long nor short, he had walked countless times since Grandma Liu moved in, knowing it intimately.

Pushing the door open, he entered the courtyard.

Li Zhuiyuan saw Uncle Qin watering the vegetable patch.

"Hello, Uncle Qin."

"Mm-hm." Uncle Qin nodded at the young man. He wanted to say something, but seeing the exhaustion on the young man's face, he guessed what he had just been through and remained silent for the moment.

Li Zhuiyuan slid open the floor-to-ceiling window and went inside.

Ah Li was sitting on the bed, seemingly having just bathed, with a slight warmth radiating from her and her hair damp. Aunt Liu was standing behind her, drying her hair with a towel.

What puzzled Li Zhuiyuan was that Ah Li's face seemed somewhat pale, as if she had just experienced a bout of exhaustion.

But the thing was, even when the girl drew talismans for herself, she would at most feel a little tired and recover after a short nap.

In his memory, he had never seen Ah Li look like this before.

"Xiao Yuan is back."

Aunt Liu smiled, took the towel, walked out of the bedroom, and deliberately didn't close the door too tightly.

The door was drawn shut, but not latched.

Aunt Liu stood by the door, a smile playing on her lips, waiting quietly.

This sense of anticipation far surpassed the pleasure of tasting her own pickled cucumbers.

"Ah Li, what's wrong?"

Lu Yi's earlier words echoed in Li Zhuiyuan's mind. He thought of a possibility, though he still didn't believe it, as it was too exaggerated and absurd.

Ah Li moved her pillow aside; underneath it was a can of Jianlibao.

The girl, holding the Jianlibao can with both hands, knelt and shuffled from the bed to its edge, coming before the young man.

It really was her who went to the store!

Li Zhuiyuan pursed his lips. As he reached out to take it, the girl seemed to remember something. She first lowered her head, reached out, hooked the pull tab, and pulled it open.

Previously, when drinking this, the boy would always open it for her before handing it over.

She had grown up drinking tea with her grandmother and didn't actually like sweet drinks, but she enjoyed drinking it with him.

"Pop."

It must have been sitting still for a while, as the drink didn't overflow.

The girl smiled, revealing two adorable dimples, and handed the can of drink to the young man.

Li Zhuiyuan reached out and took it, tilted his head back, and took a large gulp:

"Mmm, it's very sweet."