Chapter 105.2

“The counselor’s future in-laws are too far removed from us. If this line is going to work, the way it should develop is this:

The counselor’s partner gets some strange illness because she’s caring for her parents and trying to solve their problem.

The counselor, in turn, catches the same strange illness while taking care of his partner and trying to solve her problem.

Even though you’re the class monitor right now, your relationship with the counselor still isn’t especially close. That kind of bond takes time to build.

On that basis, one day when you go to his office to hand in materials, or when the two of you are having a late-night snack together, he has an episode right in front of you. Either he suddenly faints or starts having a seizure. In any case, it has to be obvious.

Only then can things pass from you over to me.”

Tan Wenbin nodded. “If we go by that, then even if I’m good at getting close to people, it’ll still take at least two months before we’ve built that level of friendship.

And even though I do enjoy dealing with people like Fatty Wu, it’s hard to really get someone like that to open up. Unless I end up going to his place halfway through all this, and his pretty partner cooks us a meal.”

Li Zhuiyuan said, “His partner should also be raising a few stray cats. Better yet, she should volunteer at an orphanage too. Gentle and kind, the exact opposite of the counselor’s image.”

Tan Wenbin asked, “That’s what would move you, Brother Yuan?”

“No. You.”

“Oh, right. Me.”

He had almost forgotten. His Brother Yuan had no feelings.

Tan Wenbin said, “Then my sympathy would overflow, and I’d come begging you for help, Brother Yuan.”

“Mm.”

Tan Wenbin blinked. Saying that he himself would be overflowing with sympathy felt pretty strange.

But after chewing on it a bit, he tasted the logic of it. He really did need to love life, enjoy socializing, and throw his feelings around freely.

Take today, for example. If not for wanting to see him serve as class monitor, Brother Yuan never would have gone to the classroom for the class meeting. And it was only because of him that Brother Yuan had agreed to go chat with Fatty Wu in the office about interpersonal relationships.

Granny Liu had been right. He really couldn’t just keep imitating Brother Yuan.

He...

needed to become Brother Yuan’s radar.

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Tan Wenbin’s whole body felt light, and he started swaying with ease.

Those two overachievers can keep overachieving all they want. As long as I go back to being myself, my role on this team will be completely irreplaceable. Ha, that’s fate.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “So, it’s still too early.”

“Right. It really is too early.”

To follow a vine to find the melon, you at least needed a vine. If this line could really be established, then this wasn’t following the vine to the melon at all. It was more like someone’s seed had only just sprouted, and they were already heading over with four or five Yellow River Spades to start digging.

Lin Shuyou asked curiously, “What exactly are you two talking about?”

Tan Wenbin said, “When adults are talking, kids shouldn’t interrupt.”

Lin Shuyou said, “If you find a malevolent spirit, remember to call me. It’s my duty and honor!”

It was true that he wanted to uphold the righteous path and exterminate evil. It was also true that he wanted to learn secret arts. Lin Shuyou now carried not only the responsibility of the righteous path, but also the future development of every Officers of the Command Banner temple across thirteen counties and two cities back in his hometown.

The burden on his shoulders was heavy.

At this point, he could hardly wait for another incident like Granny Yu’s death to happen a few more times. That way, he could keep getting stabbed with needles. Of course, getting even more experiences of other kinds would be even better.

Tan Wenbin said, “Don’t rush. We don’t need you for the time being. My Runsheng is coming out of seclusion tomorrow.”

Lin Shuyou said, “Even though we all take exterminating evil and defending the righteous path as our mission, and there’s no need to rank ourselves against each other... he still can’t beat me.”

They had crossed hands before. Even when Runsheng and the others attacked together, they still hadn’t been able to stop him.

Tan Wenbin said, “It’s fine. Just wait and see. The first thing Runsheng will probably want to do after coming out is find you for a spar.”

Lin Shuyou said, “If people of the righteous path start killing each other, wouldn’t that only delight our enemies and grieve our own?”

“I’m going to get a bottle of ink,” Li Zhuiyuan said as he walked into the store.

Lu Yi was sitting at the counter taking payments. He genuinely liked the job now. The moment classes were over, he came straight here. Even though he was drawing a salary, it gave him the feeling of being the boss.

Li Zhuiyuan took a bottle of ink from the shelf and went to the counter to pay. Lu Yi was on the phone.

“Prodigy’s here. I’ll let him take it.” Lu Yi handed the receiver to Li Zhuiyuan. “It’s the big boss.”

Lu Yi had learned that title from Tan Wenbin.

Li Zhuiyuan took the phone. “Hello, Liangliang.”

“Xiaoyuan, Jingjing’s doing much better now and has been discharged. Shimu wants to invite you to dinner to thank you. Teacher asked me to call and ask if you’d like to come. It’s fine if you don’t.”

“Have you gone back to Jinling?”

“No, we’re in Dujiangyan right now.”

“Then I won’t go.”

“All right, then. I’ll call Shimu back in a bit. That’s it, I’ll hang up first...”

“Liangliang, where exactly is your hometown in Anhui?”

“Anhui Nantong.”

“I’m asking seriously.”

“Oh, I thought you wanted to keep that joke going and I was about to play along. My hometown is in a small town near Huangshan.”

“What’s it called?”

“Min’an Town. It’s an old town, really beautiful. Teacher and I will be back next month, and my dad’s birthday is around then too. I’ll take you all to my hometown for a visit. You’ll definitely like the architectural style there.”

“What day is your father’s birthday next month?”

“At the end of next month. Still a while off.”

“All right. I understand.”

“Don’t go preparing a gift. Just coming is enough.”

“Okay.”

Li Zhuiyuan hung up.

Carrying the ink, he left the store and returned to the dorm.

Lin Shuyou still wanted to follow him in, but Tan Wenbin made a kicking motion at him and forced him back into his own room.

After shutting the door, Tan Wenbin let out a helpless sigh and said with feeling, “This guy’s gotten so clingy lately, sticking to us all day long. Should I go deal with that a little, get him to calm down and be a proper door god?”

A door god belonged outside the door, not inside it.

“Mm. Give him two more sets of talisman needles too.”

“Heh. I’ll give him one set first. If he performs well, I’ll give him the second.”

“Binbin, you handle it.”

“Mission guaranteed.”

Tan Wenbin took a set of talisman needles and went out.

Li Zhuiyuan sat down at his desk and opened the book in front of him.

It was a sample of the new edition of The Zhuiyuan Secret Scroll sent over from the school back home. It was no longer in the format of exam papers, but hardbound, and it would include curriculum outlines, formula analysis, and answer explanations inside.

They had sent over three sets in three different colors, divided into upper, middle, and lower volumes.

What they mainly wanted was for Li Zhuiyuan to look over the cover design. And for practicality’s sake, there was nothing written inside, only blank pages, so it also counted as a hardbound commemorative gift from the old school.

The one Li Zhuiyuan had open right now was the upper volume of The Zhuiyuan Secret Scroll. Written on it in fountain pen were the words Volume One, with the title Granny Yu.

It contained a full record of every thread of the Granny Yu incident, along with post-incident analysis and speculation.

Tan Wenbin had already read that volume long ago. On his desk right now was still a small booklet titled Rules for Walking the Rivers.

Li Zhuiyuan picked up his fountain pen and wrote on a fresh page: Volume Two.

Then he pushed the book aside and wrote “Min’an Town” on the notebook next to it.

When two seeds sprouted in the same place, then it might no longer be a coincidence.

But if they really went so far in advance to start digging backward along the trail, wouldn’t that be a little too stifling for the Dead Sinker on the other end?

A faint smile curved Li Zhuiyuan’s lips.

“Why should I empathize with you?”

...

“Here.”

Tan Wenbin handed the talisman needles to Lin Shuyou.

“Thanks, brother!”

Lin Shuyou took them with overwhelming excitement. Tan Wenbin had already given him one set earlier, in accordance with the promise made at the hospital bed.

Each set consisted of two Dissolution of Evil talisman needles and two sealing talisman needles. One set was enough for one Officers of the Command Banner practitioner to use once, and once used, it was gone. Unless, like last time with Lin Shuyou, one could receive life-renewing aid from the temple and restore them.

Lin Shuyou pulled out the original set from under his bed. One set in each hand, he held them both up.

“I’ll keep this set for myself. This other set I’ll mail back to my grandpa.”

“Are you stupid or what? Didn’t it occur to you that the first thing you should’ve done when you got the first set was send it home so your folks could study it and see whether they could copy it?”

“My grandpa can’t copy it.” As he spoke, he pointed at his stomach. “Even if my grandpa wanted to patch this up, he’d still have to wipe it off and redraw it.”

“You won’t know unless you try.”

Lin Shuyou scratched his head. “But even if we managed to copy it, who’d dare test it? If there’s even the slightest mistake, one test run turns into instant death.”

“Fair point. Suddenly I feel like you’re pretty smart.”

The prototype design for this talisman came from Wei Zhengdao’s Chronicle of the Orthodox Demon-Suppressing Arts.

When drawing talismans, you had to pay attention to spiritual charm and the texture of the lines. You couldn’t make one just by tracing it. Those things were only recorded in books.

Besides, the one who had personally drawn these talismans was Ah Li.

So from the very root of it, Li Zhuiyuan had a monopoly on the production of these talisman needles. Even if he gave them away, every set out there was one less set in existence.

Tan Wenbin pointed at the other set of talisman needles in Lin Shuyou’s hand and said, “Since your grandpa’s getting one, what about your master? Send this set back too and give it to him.”

“Then what am I supposed to use?”

“When you need it, I’ll give you one.”

“Ah, right. Big brother, you’re so smart!”

“And one more thing. It’s fine if you follow me to and from class from now on. But if I’m with Brother Yuan, don’t follow us. Learn to read the room.

Go to class during the day like normal, go back to the dorm and sleep at night, and when you’re needed, I’ll come get you. The rest of the time, focus on handling Brother Yuan’s outer perimeter security.”

“Understood.”

“I’ve still got another set of talisman needles here. If you do a good job, I’ll give them to you later.”

“Got it!”

Tan Wenbin reached out and patted Lin Shuyou on the arm. “Once Runsheng comes back, go have a proper fight with him.”

“Huh? How can that be okay?”

“Are you dumb? If you and he start fighting, and you can’t beat him, then in order to push him harder, do you think Brother Yuan might add a little something extra to you?”

“So I should deliberately lose to him?”

Tan Wenbin frowned.

Lin Shuyou said excitedly, “Right? As long as I intentionally lose to him, Brother Yuan will keep adding more and more to me.”

Tan Wenbin’s mind flashed with the horrifying special training Runsheng had gone through lately.

“You foolish child. If you play it like that...”

“It’ll work, won’t it?”

“Runsheng will beat you to death.”

...

After returning to the dorm, Tan Wenbin saw that Brother Yuan was reading. The dorm was piled high with books now, basic reading materials that Granny Liu had sent over.

During this period, he and Brother Yuan had been reading these books together, and it gave Tan Wenbin the illusion that he and Brother Yuan were in the same stage, laying foundations side by side.

“Liangliang’s father has a birthday next month. His hometown is also Min’an Town.”

“Min’an Town?” Tan Wenbin had barely sat down before he sprang back up. “Brother Yuan, could it really be that?”

“Not certain, but the probability is increasing.”

“Should we start investigating now?”

Li Zhuiyuan shook his head.

“No rush. We’ll wait until Runsheng and Yin Meng finish their special training.

The moment you grab hold of this line, the vibration will travel back along it as well.

So either we don’t move at all, or if we do, we push straight down every line at top speed and give it no time at all to react.”

“All right. Got it.”

At mealtime, the two of them just ate some bread, then kept reading together into the afternoon.

Tan Wenbin got up from the desk. He had just finished one volume of an introductory text, while beside Brother Yuan’s feet sat a whole stack of books he had already gotten through.

“Brother Yuan, I’m going to keep the old lady company for a while. Are you going now?”

“I’ll go tonight.”

“All right, then I’m heading out first.”

Tan Wenbin went alone to the Liu residence. The moment he pushed open the gate and stepped into the courtyard, he saw Runsheng sitting in a chair.

But this time there wasn’t the slightest trace of weakness in him. Instead, he had an air of calm composure.

“Runsheng, you...”

Runsheng said, “My special training is over.”

“Then where’s Uncle Qin?”

With messy hair, a haggard face, and a slight sway even in her walk, Aunt Liu came out of the house. “He had some urgent business and had to leave for a while. He’ll come back later. But the lessons are finished.”

Tan Wenbin looked toward the pickling vat in the corner and didn’t see Yin Meng anywhere.

Aunt Liu said, “I found an old well in Jinling and soaked Mengmeng in it. Before she graduates, she needed a proper cleansing.”

“Oh. I see.” Tan Wenbin nodded.

With a clatter, several tools were tossed down at Tan Wenbin’s feet: tweezers, a wrench, a pry tool, a hammer, and a knife.

“What’s this...?”

Rubbing her forehead, Aunt Liu said, “He left in a hurry and didn’t have time to deal with the aftermath. I’m too tired. Zhuangzhuang, help Runsheng pull the sixteen coffin nails out of his body.”

Runsheng took off his shirt and bared his back.

Tan Wenbin bent down to pick up the tools, then looked at the embedded nail heads all over Runsheng’s body and swallowed hard.

The sight was simply too terrifying. Each nail was as long as a chopstick and thick too. Just imagining what it would look like pulling them out was enough to make his scalp go numb, let alone having to remove sixteen of them.

This wasn’t a matter of courage or no courage. He had killed people with stones before, after all. But using this kind of method on one of his own companions? He truly couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Runsheng comforted him. “It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

“All right.” Tan Wenbin took a deep breath, just about to start, but then stopped himself again.

Runsheng asked, “What is it?”

“I thought of a good place. Not only can we get them out properly, it can disinfect you too.”

...

“Brother Fan, my dear Brother Fan.”

The moment Fan Shulin heard that voice, his whole body trembled.

He lifted his head, looked at Tan Wenbin, then immediately shifted his gaze behind him.

Whew... this time he wasn’t carrying anybody on his back.

“Brother Fan, a friend of mine was walking along and accidentally got stuck with a thorn. I wanted to ask you to help pull it out.”

“Sure, I’m good at that.”

“Where is he?”

“I had him wait in the operating room.”

The school infirmary also functioned as a community hospital, and it did have an operating room, though it wasn’t used very often. Anything more serious was usually sent on to one of the bigger hospitals nearby.

Fan Shulin, however, had recently made repeated use of that operating room to carry out several major surgeries in a row. If not for concerns about violating regulations, he would already have wanted to write a paper about it.

On the way to the operating room, Tan Wenbin tried to slip a red envelope into Fan Shulin’s white coat.

Fan Shulin pushed it away. “No need this time.”

“You should take it, you should take it.”

“No need. I’m just pulling out a thorn. It’s nothing.”

“It’s still a bother.”

“If you consider me a friend, then don’t give it.”

“All right then. Next time I’ll get you a ceremonial banner.”

“Heh, now that’s a good one!”

“You should’ve said so earlier, Brother Fan. That wasn’t very brotherly of you, keeping your needs from me.”

“Well then, brother, are you free tonight? Let’s go drinking.”

“Tonight?”

“Yeah. An old classmate who used to drink and chat with me till dawn not long ago got divorced today. I’ve got to go comfort him.”

“Why’d he get divorced?”

“Who knows? He and his wife had both been working just fine here in Jinling, but then all of a sudden she became dead set on quitting her job and going back to her hometown.”

“That sounds like a made-up excuse for divorce.”

“Doesn’t seem like it. She really quit. She’s going back to Huangshan.”

“Back where?”

“Huangshan. That’s where her hometown is.”

Tan Wenbin froze in place. Fan Shulin pushed open the door to the operating room and asked in confusion, “You’re not coming in?”

When he saw that Tan Wenbin still hadn’t reacted, Fan Shulin shut the operating room door first, pulled on gloves, picked up his tools, and walked over to Runsheng. The moment he saw him, he couldn’t help but laugh.

“Well, well, another familiar face. Looks like this is a good one this time. Not badly hurt at all. Tell me, has your gang been keeping the peace lately?”

“Gang?” Runsheng looked a little puzzled, but still nodded. “Nothing much has happened lately.”

“Then unifying the underworld of the whole school must be getting close, right?”

“Unifying the underworld has only just begun.”

“Mm. A heavy responsibility and a long road ahead.” He nodded. “Come on then, where’s the thorn? I’ll pick it out for you.”

Runsheng took off his shirt.

Still standing outside the operating room in a daze, Tan Wenbin was jolted awake by a shriek from inside:

“What are you people, demons?!”

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