Chapter 94.4

What Li Zhuiyuan had just been calculating were the remaining threads of karma still tangled around him. He could ignore the matters back home—for now, only two issues remained since arriving at university.

Because it was likely that these two matters would continue to stir up new waves of trouble.

As for the forbidden book, the Mao father and son were already dead, and the book itself had been wrapped tightly in layers of seals. In theory, its contact with the outside world had been completely cut off. Even though it was deeply sinister, it shouldn’t cause further karmic entanglements.

Though Lin Shuyou could also potentially pose a risk, his current role was largely positive—he could stay, for now.

This was the rule Li Zhuiyuan had distilled from past experience, combined with Wei Zhengdao’s perspective of the “righteous path” in walking the rivers.

But if the rhythm and turbulence of the early stages were fixed, could he possibly shift from passive to active?

Suppose a certain stretch of turbulence—if he dealt with it in advance, drained its energy ahead of time—would that buy him a period of peace?

If only he had a chance to test that theory.

Li Zhuiyuan lay back down and closed his eyes.

“Good night, Binbin-ge.”

Task in hand, Tan Wenbin felt much more at ease. Drowsiness swept over him.

“Good night, Dragon King.”

…

The next day, before dawn, Li Zhuiyuan was already awake.

It was still very early, so he hadn’t intended to wake Tan Wenbin. But Wenbin was especially alert today—just a small rustle made him open his eyes. With a tired look on his face, he sprang up in a perfect kip-up.

“Binbin-ge, it’s still early. The police station and archives aren’t open yet. You can sleep a bit more.”

“I’ll go talk to my dad first. Sigh… with those two—one stabbing his thigh with an awl, the other eating every herb he finds—how could I possibly sleep in?”

After washing up, the two parted ways at the dorm entrance.

Ah Li lived on campus, very close by. He arrived in no time.

As soon as the boy pushed open the courtyard gate, he heard the sound of a ground-floor window being opened.

Ah Li stood barefoot by the window in blue silk pajamas.

Li Zhuiyuan walked to the window, removed his shoes, and stepped inside.

“Next time I come in the morning, even if you hear me, could you pretend to be asleep for a bit? Like when you used to wait in my room back at Great-Grandpa’s house. I want to experience that once too.”

Ah Li nodded.

Li Zhuiyuan took her hand. He felt nothing.

Ah Li tilted her head, gazing at him.

Li Zhuiyuan said, “Release the restriction. Don’t tell me none of them came back after yesterday.”

Ah Li lowered her head. She had never told him the reason she could see them even during the day. It was because she didn’t want him, while playing with her, to become disheartened by knowing just how foul and filthy her world looked through her eyes.

Li Zhuiyuan bent down, aligning his line of sight with hers.

“Ah Li, be good. Listen.”

Ah Li looked up. At once, he heard the voices again by his ear—but not as loud or chaotic as yesterday.

The boy didn’t feel happy at this. Instead, his expression darkened.

Because they had still come back, after all.

No matter how fiercely the weak warn others, it is always fleeting—and limited.

This world doesn’t reward the loudest voice.

It obeys the hardest fist.

Snap!

Li Zhuiyuan snapped his fingers.

Walked the shade.

He arrived inside the old house. At his side stood Ah Li. Behind him were the cracked ancestral tablets of the Qin and Liu families. Ahead, beyond the threshold, shadows clustered thick.

But this time, they kept a little farther back than before.

All except one.

Dressed in white robes, towering on stilts, wearing a tall hat, with a face caked in so much pale grease paint that its gender was indiscernible, the thing stood just outside the doorway.

It held two white lanterns.

It seemed to sense his gaze. Instead of backing away, it gave a sinister grin.

Then deliberately shook the lanterns.

One read: “Parents Killed.”

The other: “Whore and Harlot.”

Li Zhuiyuan stared it up and down, memorizing every feature of its grotesque form.

Then,

He gave it a warm, gentle smile.

“Congratulations.

You’re the first.”

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