Chapter 17

Having personally experienced two "dead diver" incidents and just finished reading *Chronicles of the Jianghu Supernatural*, Li Zhuyuan had originally hoped to make further progress in his studies regarding the dead divers.

It was as if, after finishing the conceptual reading, it was time to give himself some formulas, and then see if he could find an opportunity to apply those formulas to solve problems.

But after pulling out these two sets of books, it felt more like he had just learned a tiny bit of a course, only to have two new classes opened for him simultaneously.

Turning to look at that chest, he hesitated whether to put the two sets of books back and feel around again, but his great-grandfather's words from that night surfaced in his mind

"Little Yuanhou, do not be ambitious beyond your means; you must start by building a solid foundation."

Li Zhuyuan shook his head. Forget it; since he had already pulled them out, he might as well read them.

Once he finished reading, perhaps next time he could perform physiognomy and fortune-telling for the dead divers?

But this kind of self-consolation was truly incapable of withstanding scrutiny.

Was he going to read the facial features of dead divers that had been soaked into pig skin jelly?

Or tell the little warbler and the cat-faced old lady that their fates were bad and they were destined to die violent deaths?

With a complex and helpless mood, Li Zhuyuan carried the two sets of books out of the basement and up to the second floor. From below, Liu Yumei's voice drifted up

"Xiao Yuan, come down and help Grandma brew some tea."

Li Zhuyuan looked down. A lightbulb hung at the entrance of the east room, and beneath it, Liu Yumei sat there. Beside a tea set sat a Go board.

"Coming, Grandma Liu."

Li Zhuyuan responded, placed the books on his desk in his bedroom, wiped the dust off his body with a towel, and ran downstairs.

Even if Liu Yumei hadn't called him, he would have found a private time to talk to her about Uncle Qin teaching him martial arts.

Especially after finding these two sets of books, his desire to practice martial arts had become more urgent. Since the textbooks were off-topic, he could only choose to catch up through extracurricular tutoring.

"Grandma, tea is served."

"Mhm."

After brewing the tea, Li Zhuyuan sat down opposite Liu Yumei. He didn't rush to speak of his own matters, but waited for her to speak first so he could naturally propose his conditions.

After all, who would go out of their way to brew tea late at night before bed for no reason?

However, just as Liu Yumei was about to speak, the door to the east room was opened from the inside. Qin Li stood at the doorway, wearing white silk pajamas that shimmered under the light.

"Ah Li, go back to your room and rest first. Grandma and Xiao Yuan have some things to discuss."

Qin Li did not move.

Liu Yumei could only give Li Zhuyuan a meaningful look.

Li Zhuyuan looked at Qin Li: "Ah Li, go to sleep first. I'll wake up early to read tomorrow."

Qin Li turned and closed the door.

Liu Yumei sighed. The two were still children, so it was nothing, but if her daughter remained this close to the boy and listened to his every word once they reached adulthood, she would have a real headache on her hands.

However, there was a more pressing issue at hand that needed timely resolution.

"Xiao Yuan, come to my room tomorrow to pay respects to our family's ancestral tablets."

"Huh?"

"Just consider it a social visit."

"Alright, Grandma Liu."

It was like visiting a friend's house and paying respects to their elders; if the elders had become ancestral tablets, one was still expected to bow.

"By the way, tell Ah Li to clean up those dirty towels and that stinky duck egg."

"Towels?"

Li Zhuyuan suddenly remembered. No wonder he had to find a new towel to wash and hang up every night lately; he had wondered where the dirty towels went, only to find Ah Li had taken them.

But what on earth was a stinky duck egg?

Liu Yumei felt a bit embarrassed to speak of it, but she had to brace herself and explain: "Ah Li has a habit of taking things you give her and storing them in the house. Perhaps it's because I told her, or perhaps she thinks so herself, that the ancestral hall should be the place for the most precious items. So, Ah Li placed those dirty towels there.

That duck egg was likely the one you peeled for her during breakfast the other day; it has gone stinky.

I don't dare touch the things Ah Li puts there for fear of her throwing a tantrum, so you are the only one who can help me clean them up.

Also, teach her not to put anything else in the ancestral hall in the future."

To have to ask an outsider to educate the granddaughter she had raised herself was truly depressing for Liu Yumei.

Yet, she had no choice but to speak up; otherwise, every time she spoke to the ancestral tablets, she would have to endure the stench of the stinky duck egg.

She herself was fine, merely smelling it while speaking, but the ancestors of the Qin and Liu families would be constantly smothered by it.

Furthermore, she was afraid that if Ah Li placed something new in the ancestral hall, given that they had been eating fish-head congee for breakfast lately, she might accidentally bring a bowl of the fish heads that she and Xiao Yuan had eaten and place it on the main seat of the ancestral hall.

"I understand, Grandma Liu. I'll come to pay respects to the tablets tomorrow."

Li Zhuyuan didn't ask why he couldn't do it right now. He knew Grandma Liu didn't want Ah Li to feel like she was tattling.

"Mhm, very good." Liu Yumei nodded with relief, her gaze falling on the Go board. "Look, do you like this board?"

Li Zhuyuan examined the board closely. It was an antique of significant age, and upon closer inspection, it carried a faint scent of sandalwood.

Especially the Go stones; holding a few in his hand, they felt smooth and cool. Although they shared a consistent luster and temperament, a closer look revealed subtle differences, meaning they were not mass-produced from a mold but were crafted using ancient methods.

"Grandma Liu, this is a fine item."

Li Zhuyuan had become somewhat immune to the fine items Liu Yumei occasionally produced.

Even though the era of the "ten-thousand-yuan households" had gradually receded, being able to display such wealth and heritage so ostentatiously was truly staggering.

"Seeing that you and Ah Li know how to play Go, I dug this out for you to enjoy. Take it back to your room later."

"Alright, I'll keep it in my room for now."

Liu Yumei nodded with satisfaction and was about to see him out when she heard Li Zhuyuan say

"Grandma Liu, I have been sickly since childhood, so I wish to train my body with Uncle Qin."

Liu Yumei glanced at the boy. Although he was indeed fair and tender and hardly looked robust, he didn't look sickly at all.

However, she immediately understood his meaning. In the past, she would have brushed him off with a few words without hesitation, but since she had just asked him for a favor...

Fine, teaching some martial arts wasn't breaking any rules; it wasn't teaching anything else.

"Alright, I'll go tell your Uncle Qin."

"Thank you, Grandma."

"Come, let's play a game."

"Alright."

Being manipulated by a child made Liu Yumei feel somewhat uncomfortable. She hadn't intended to play, but she couldn't resist a game after all.

Then, she regretted it. By the mid-game, she felt her momentum had completely vanished.

Initially, Li Zhuyuan's intention was to let Grandma Liu vent her frustration on him since he had gained an advantage, assuming that Qin Li's skills were taught by Grandma Liu and that he certainly wouldn't be a match for the elder.

But as they played, he suddenly discovered that Grandma Liu's skill was actually inferior to his own.

Relying on his mental calculation, he was barely an amateur expert, whereas Grandma Liu was, at most, at an amateur intermediate level.

"Grandma, I'm sleepy. How about we stop?"

"Mhm, then go to sleep."

"Alright."

Li Zhuyuan stood up, packed the stones, and carried the board back upstairs.

Liu Yumei entered the room and went to the bedroom. Qin Li was sleeping with her eyes closed, being very obedient to the boy.

A loving smile appeared on her face.

No matter what,

Her Ah Li was increasingly showing the qualities of a young lady.

"Ah Li's illness will surely be cured. It will."

...

Arriving at the second-floor terrace, he happened to see his great-grandfather standing at the edge, having just finished urinating and currently in the final stage of shaking himself off.

"What are you carrying?"

"A Go board borrowed from Grandma Liu."

"You need to settle your mind more, read more books, and study hard."

"I know, Great-grandfather."

"Mhm. Something happened at Yinghou's house; he won't be coming around for a while. You'd better hurry up yourself."

"What happened at Yingzi's house?"

"They say her Nan Grandpa and Nan Grandma both fell ill and are lying in the health clinic. Yinghou and his mother are there taking care of them."

Yingzi's Nan Grandpa and Nan Grandma should be her maternal grandparents.

Only then did Li Zhuyuan understand why Yingzi hadn't come to tutor him these past few days. Logically, no matter how poor her comprehension was, she should have finished the previous problems long ago.

"Do we need to visit them?"

"Visit my foot! Her mother's maiden family is in Jiu Xu Port; it would take several transfers by bus. Besides, if they are truly at death's door, it would be your grandfather who goes. What would I be going there for?"

"Oh."

"Go back to your room and sleep early."

"Great-grandfather, do you have a magnifying glass here?"

"A magnifying glass?" Li Sanjiang thought for a moment. "Check the niche in the stove; it might be there. I used to want to use it to start fires, but later I found matches were better. What do you want that for?"

"To read."

The characters in those two sets of books were simply too small.

"Is reading such hard work for a boy that you need a magnifying glass? How about this, I'll take you to the town's optical shop to get you a pair of glasses?

Actually, forget it, the town's optical shop probably isn't up to par. I'll take you by bus to the municipal People's Hospital to get them made."

"No need, Great-grandfather. I just need it to look at diagrams. I'm not nearsighted."

Li Zhuyuan first went to his bedroom to put down the board, then ran down to the kitchen. Sure enough, he found a dusty magnifying glass in the stove niche. After cleaning it, he returned to his bedroom and turned on the desk lamp.

The first one he took out was *The Essential Interpretation of Yin-Yang Physiognomy*, consisting of eight volumes.

He flipped the pages. There was no preface or foreword, not even a label for the first chapter; it went straight into the content.

Li Zhuyuan held the magnifying glass and read intently.

After reading three consecutive pages of dense text, both front and back, Li Zhuyuan realized something was wrong.

These three pages actually contained a vast amount of text, all discussing the same thing—eyebrows.

From the angle and direction of the eyebrows, to their density and thickness, length, and color... it covered nearly a thousand variations in total.

Starting from the fourth page, it began discussing eye bags.

Li Zhuyuan didn't continue reading that part but flipped two pages ahead to confirm. Indeed, it spent two large pages discussing eye bags.

Next, it began discussing eyelids.

Faintly, a suspicion arose in Li Zhuyuan's mind... although there was no label for the first chapter, the early sections likely all belonged to the category of "Eyes," right?

But after all this time, it was still only a part of the "Eyes" section.

Li Zhuyuan flipped to the very last page of the book and found it discussed eye corners... still part of the eyes.

Then, he took out the second book, looked at the beginning, and flipped through. Well, the first three pages were entirely about earlobes.

Flipping to the very last page, it discussed the area behind the ears.

He picked up the third volume and used the same method to quickly confirm. Correct, it was discussing the philtrum—the area between the lips and the nose.

So, the first four books covered: Eyes, Ears, Mouth, and Nose.

Logically, the five senses refer to eyebrows, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Here, it had combined eyebrows and eyes into one volume instead of giving eyebrows its own.

It was quite efficient.

Skipping the basic concepts, Li Zhuyuan took out the fifth volume and read the first page carefully... he didn't understand it.

But he roughly found the pattern. It seemed to be a series of permutations and combinations, with a small snippet of explanatory text under each combination, and it was extremely brief.

The general idea was that due to space constraints, much had been omitted, and the reader was expected to understand it themselves.

Li Zhuyuan rubbed his eyes. So, this was physiognomy?

It wasn't the kind where a fortune teller walks up to you and says, "Your forehead is dark; you may face disaster soon."

According to the logic of this book, it should be: "Do you know how many permutations and combinations exist for the appearance of the forehead?"

Li Zhuyuan found it very difficult to understand. How could a book on physiognomy, which involved feudal superstition, exude such a heavy sense of scientific rigor?

Just how much energy did the author have to have observed so many people's faces so meticulously?

No, it would be impossible for one person, or even an entire sect, to achieve that.

If this book wasn't written blindly, the author must have collected and researched countless previous works and notes to summarize it this way.

Li Zhuyuan opened the sixth book and read the first page seriously.

Fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, and his earlobes turned red—this was typically his physical reaction when his brain was thinking rapidly to solve a difficult problem.

After finishing the first page, he still didn't understand the content, but he understood the rules.

If the fifth book was a permutation of the basics of eyes, ears, mouth, and nose from the first four books, then the sixth book was a permutation of the permutations of the previous one.

If one could pass the fifth book through rote memorization, the sixth book already involved mathematical calculations. The volume of calculation was simply too massive.

Li Zhuyuan took a deep breath and opened the seventh book.

This time, he read the first page very quickly because he was merely confirming a suspicion.

As expected, the seventh book was a further escalation based on the sixth. The difficulty of understanding and calculation was not merely a simple multiplication.

"Whew..."

Li Zhuyuan really wanted to wash his face right now, but after a moment of hesitation, he opened the eighth book.

After finishing the first page of the eighth book, Li Zhuyuan closed the book.

He leaned back in his chair.

He realized he had been wrong. He had previously wondered why a book on feudal superstition could exude such scientific rigor.

After reaching the eighth book,

He saw metaphysics.

The classification of eyes, ears, mouth, and nose in the first four books was very much like raw data, or raw numbers. The fifth through seventh books were the application of those raw numbers.

Using a more intuitive metaphor, it could be compared to painting: you start with the most basic points, lines, and planes, move to drawing a complete object, then to composition and structure, and finally to the combination of light and shadow for three-dimensional perception...

By the time you can perfectly copy a master's work and create excellent original pieces, you have roughly reached the level of the seventh book.

This eighth book... required you to perceive your own style, create a school, and become a master.

Therefore, even if this book were real, ordinary people could only look at it; they couldn't learn it. Forget the eighth book—you'd have to memorize over a thousand types of eyebrows first.

Li Zhuyuan's gaze swept toward the other set, *The Theory of Fate Deduction*. Forget it, he might as well just give up.

Sitting up straight again, he opened the first volume. Oh, it actually had a foreword.

As expected, these two sets of books were by the same author, because the very first sentence of the first line was: "Having finished the previous work, *The Essential Interpretation of Yin-Yang Physiognomy*."

Was this a necessary prerequisite?

Continuing to read, Li Zhuyuan discovered it wasn't. Rather, fate deduction required several conditions: one was physiognomy, one was astrology, and one was the study of fortune.

"Could there be another two sets by the same author in the chest that I haven't found?"

Soon, Li Zhuyuan realized he was wrong. In the foreword, the author expressed regret, stating he had only mastered physiognomy and no longer had the strength to delve into astrology and the study of fortune.

Or rather, astrology and the study of fortune were inherently inclusive of one another and were not separate categories; physiognomy and fate also contained elements of astrology and fortune.

According to the author's view, he believed that the true method of fate deduction should integrate these four major disciplines to truly achieve perfection.

"In other words, even after learning these four, it only increases the accuracy; it still won't be one hundred percent."

And the previous work, physiognomy, was just one of the aids to improve the accuracy of fate deduction.

With the foreword finished, Li Zhuyuan officially turned to the first page of content.

What appeared first was a corner of a diagram. To be precise, this entire page was just a corner of a diagram, and the text was written inside the diagram.

Li Zhuyuan flipped the pages quickly, memorizing each diagram in his mind. After flipping through the entire book, he began to assemble the puzzle in his brain. He managed to piece it together, and though it was still incomplete, he could see what it was.

It was the Eight Trigrams.

So, if all eight books were completed, they would form a complete set of the Eight Trigrams.

And this set of books was actually... a complete new algorithm.

In that instant, Li Zhuyuan had the illusion that he wasn't living in his great-grandfather's house in the countryside, but had returned to a classroom in the capital.

The old professors and their group of child students, exchanging those grim smiles after torturing one another.

"It really does feel like being in a classroom, studying."

Li Zhuyuan checked the time and found it was already one in the morning. He stood up, left the room, went to the washbasin, scooped up some water, and washed his face.

Once he felt refreshed, his fighting spirit was reignited

"Study! Study hard!"

...

In the morning, just as dawn was breaking, Li Zhuyuan opened his eyes and turned his head, seeing the light entering his bedroom even before the sun.

Qin Li was sitting in a chair, facing away from him.

She did this for fear of facing him directly like last time and scaring him when he woke up.

Today she was wearing a padded skirt—a lined top and a skirt.

The top was dark green with white patterns, and the skirt was light green embroidered with landscapes and flowers.

To Li Zhuyuan, who had spent half the night reading with a magnifying glass, this sight was exceptionally pleasing to the eyes.

After washing up, before breakfast began, Li Zhuyuan brought out the Go board Grandma Liu had given him last night, wanting to play with Qin Li.

But looking at the expensive, normally sized Go board, Qin Li hesitated to pick up the stones.

"Do you not like it?"

Qin Li said nothing.

Li Zhuyuan had no choice but to put the board away and take out the crude plastic Go set Uncle Qin had bought him in town.

Once it was spread out, Qin Li immediately picked up the stones and began to play.

After losing three games in a row, Li Zhuyuan somewhat missed his clash with Grandma Liu last night.

However, he could also feel his own progress in Go. After all, being constantly suppressed by a girl made it easy to discover and improve upon one's deficiencies.

The girl was no longer letting him win on purpose. By the third game, although he still lost decisively, the atmosphere of their match had become that of a formal game.

But Li Zhuyuan also knew that his limit would soon be reached. Unless he threw away both sets of books in his bedroom and replaced them with Go manuals to study, he would never be able to surpass the girl in skill.

But what would be the point of doing that? Being overly competitive in unnecessary matters would only seem childish.

"Ah Li, you play really well."

The girl seemed to be smiling. Although her expression was subtle, the slight quiver of her lips seemed to foreshadow her next move.

Auntie Liu called them for breakfast.

After breakfast, Li Zhuyuan noticed that the girl had once again taken the salted duck egg he had cracked for her, clutching it in her hand and hiding it in her sleeve.

Li Zhuyuan caught her hand and took the egg out

"Ah Li, if it's food, eat it. Don't hide it. If you want to collect things, I can give you special gifts in the future."

The girl's eyes lit up.

After breakfast, Li Zhuyuan kept his promise and went to the east room. Liu Yumei was not in the room, nor was she drinking tea outside as per her habit; she was intentionally staying far away.

This was the first time Li Zhuyuan had entered the inner part of the east room. Looking at the ancestral tablets bearing the surnames of both the Qin and Liu families, a strange sense of déjà vu welled up in his heart.

It felt as if he had been to a similar place and had the same feeling before, but he couldn't remember where or who had taken him there.

Li Zhuyuan leaned down to bow to the tablets. After completing the ritual, he reached out to collect the dirty towels and the stinky duck egg from the altar.

At that moment, Qin Li reached out and grabbed Li Zhuyuan's arm. Her eyelashes didn't flutter, and her body didn't tremble, but it was a clear sign of her displeasure.

It was only because Li Zhuyuan was the one cleaning them; if it were anyone else, even Liu Yumei herself, the girl would have lashed out long ago.

"Ah Li, be good. If you want to collect things, don't put them here. We can find a better place for them. This place is for the ancestral tablets to honor our ancestors, understand?"

Ah Li lowered her head, looking very disappointed.

Li Zhuyuan, meanwhile, was thinking: what should I give her?

Giving food definitely wouldn't work; she would surely hide it and let it continue to mold.

"Ah Li, how about I give that Go set to you? It's not new, it's the one we used for our game this morning, the one in the small wooden box.

You can keep it in your room. In the future, you can bring it out every morning to find me, and we can play with it together."

Qin Li looked up. Although she still showed no obvious expression, one could feel that her entire being had become bright and radiant.

Outside the door, Liu Yumei, who had intentionally avoided the moment only to sneak back and eavesdrop, couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She could already imagine her granddaughter carefully tending to that worthless toy.

Walking out of the room, he saw Liu Yumei.

"Grandma Liu."

"Hey."

Li Zhuyuan didn't leave immediately but continued: "Grandma Liu, the weather is very nice today. You should go out for more walks to breathe some fresh air; it's good for your health."

"I told Ah Li that once he's done with his work in the evening, he'll teach you. Don't be afraid of the hard work."

"How could I be? Thank you, Grandma Liu."

As Li Zhuyuan held Qin Li's hand up the stairs, he happened to see Li Sanjiang coming down. When he had no work, his great-grandfather usually slept in late.

"How has your studying been lately?"

Li Sanjiang forgot that he had already asked last night; he just enjoyed the feeling of an elder caring about a child's studies.

After all, if he really looked closely, he would probably discover exactly what kind of books Li Zhuyuan had been reading lately.

Also, because Qin Li was always accompanying Li Zhuyuan in his reading, he was somewhat intimidated by the little girl and still wasn't quite willing to get close.

"It's a bit difficult, but I will work hard."

"Mhm, working hard is good."

Returning to the northeast corner of the second-floor terrace, Li Zhuyuan took out his books, set up the magnifying glass, and placed a blank notebook beside them.

In *The Essential Interpretation of Yin-Yang Physiognomy*, there were many terms and descriptions regarding "dimensions" and "cutting." Besides those, there were many abstract classical passages, likely common in ancient medical texts.

Li Zhuyuan could recognize the characters, but he had no concrete understanding of the concepts, so he could only record them with his pen first.

Fortunately, he could ask Liu Yumei about the former; he could tell that although Qin Li's clothes were custom-made, they were certainly altered by Liu Yumei. As for the latter, he could ask Auntie Liu, who clearly understood medical arts.

By now, Uncle Qin had brought back the raw materials for incense making, and Auntie Liu was preparing to make it using ancient methods.

Li Zhuyuan couldn't help but wonder... just what kind of people were Ah Li's family?

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Li Zhuyuan officially began memorizing the text.

There were two classmates in his class who truly possessed the talent of photographic memory.

Li Zhuyuan knew he couldn't compete with them in that regard; the gap was massive because he needed to scan the text twice or even three times.

Midway through, having maintained a hunched posture to use the magnifying glass for too long, his neck felt somewhat sore.

Li Zhuyuan continued reading and memorizing with the magnifying glass in his left hand while using his right hand to massage his neck.

A moment later, another warm, soft little hand also began to massage the other side of his neck.

A smile appeared at the corner of Li Zhuyuan's mouth; what a cute case of shared obsession.

Throughout the entire morning, except for taking Qin Li to the bathroom once and getting a drink of water, Li Zhuyuan was memorizing.

He felt as if his brain was being filled with all sorts of different "eyes."

Once he finished memorizing the "ears, mouth, and nose" that followed, his mind would likely be filled with countless, diverse human faces.

Even the hairstyle models provided by the largest barbershops in the capital for customers to choose from would seem excessively impoverished and meager to him.

After lunch, Li Weihan and Cui Guiying arrived.

Immersed in his memorization, Li Zhuyuan didn't notice the situation in the courtyard, and Qin Li, by his side, naturally did not remind him.

It was only when he noticed Qin Li's body beginning to tremble that Li Zhuyuan looked up in surprise, seeing Cui Guiying approaching with deliberately light footsteps.

He hurriedly grabbed Qin Li's hand, fearing the girl might lash out at his grandmother.

Seeing her grandson reading seriously, Cui Guiying had no intention of disturbing him, so she merely smiled and said, "Little Yuanhou, reading, are you?"

"Mhm. Grandma, where's Grandpa?"

"Your grandfather is talking to your great-grandfather."

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing much, it has nothing to do with you."

"Is it something regarding Third Aunt's maiden family?"

"Uh... yes. They say they want to invite your great-grandfather to take a look."

"Oh."

Generally, when encountering illnesses that were difficult to handle in regular hospitals, many family members would try to seek unconventional methods. Moreover, it wasn't very common for an elderly couple to fall ill at the same time; it was indeed strange.

"This little girl is truly beautiful."

Cui Guiying made a move to reach out and pat Qin Li's head, but Li Zhuyuan hurriedly stepped in front of Qin Li to block her.

"Uh..."

Cui Guiying froze for a moment and could only pat her grandson's head instead.

"Grandma, she's shy with strangers."

"Oh, is that so? She seems to get along quite well with you, though."

After chatting with Cui Guiying for a while, Li Weihan also came up to see his grandson.

However, Li Weihan only asked a few pleasantries about whether he was eating and sleeping well, and then stopped talking, simply watching him.

When the time was right, he prepared to leave.

Before leaving, Li Weihan said, "Oh, right, Little Yuanhou, the day after tomorrow your great-grandfather has to go on a long trip and won't be back in the evening. It just so happens that the villagers are going to dredge the river that day; I'll take you along."

Upon hearing this, Cui Guiying complained, "What are you doing? Taking a boy to dredge the river? What are you thinking?"

Li Weihan said dismissively, "It's only for two days. Staying out for one night is no big deal. It's not like the old days; the dredging period is shorter now and it's not as hard. Our four sons, including Lei Hou and Pan Hou, are also going with me."

Cui Guiying: "Even if Uncle Sanjiang has to go to Jiu Xu Port and won't be home, couldn't Little Yuanhou sleep at our house?"

"Uncle said it wouldn't be convenient to sleep at home. After all, Little Yuanhou has left his home and hasn't returned to secular life yet."

In truth, Li Weihan also just missed his grandson, and since the entire family's able-bodied laborers were heading out to dredge the river, he wanted to take Li Zhuyuan along for some fun.

"Little Yuanhou, do you want to go with Grandpa?"

"Yes, Grandpa."

"See, the boy agreed."

Li Weihan took Cui Guiying and left. His main purpose today was to deliver a message to his in-laws in Jiu Xu Port to invite Uncle Sanjiang.

It was said that a relative of a patient in the same ward had come to visit, and that relative was from Shigang Town. They had spoken of the corpse-retriever from Siyuan Village in Shinan Town in a way that sounded quite miraculous.

When the in-laws heard this, they realized it was the very village their daughter had married into, and they immediately contacted them, wanting to invite someone to come out of seclusion to take a look.

After dinner, Li Zhuyuan went to wait in the courtyard. Liu Yumei did not break her word; Uncle Qin took Li Zhuyuan to the back of the house and began teaching him martial arts

Horse stance.

Following Uncle Qin's requirements, Li Zhuyuan began squatting. Uncle Qin's hands would correct his form at every point of exertion, while he explained various details to watch out for.

After a full hour of adjustments, Uncle Qin finally stopped talking.

Li Zhuyuan, however, was drenched in sweat, his legs trembling.

But Uncle Qin only let him rest for a while before making him squat for another hour.

When walking up the stairs to the room, Li Zhuyuan had to lean against the wall.

In the evening, Liu Yumei sat at the doorway to enjoy the cool air, and Uncle Qin came to stand beside her.

"How is it?"

"His brain is truly sharp."

"His limbs aren't up to it?"

"No, no, that's not what I mean. I mean his brain is good; he learns everything quickly. He understands much faster than I did when I was practicing martial arts as a child. He can already feel the rhythm of rooting his feet into the ground.

It's just that practicing martial arts requires suffering after all. We'll see if he can persist."

"What, you want to take him as a disciple?"

"No, I have no such intention."

"Teach him well. Remember, only teach martial arts."

"Alright, I understand."

Liu Yumei returned to the room and sat before the ancestral tablets. She picked up a piece of pastry from the offering table, took a small bite, and chewed slowly.

The stench in the ancestral hall was gone now, allowing her to feel much more relaxed and comfortable.

"The Li boy that Ah Li likes to play with has started learning martial arts from Ah Li. I'll have to see if he can stick with it. If he has both a sharp brain and the ability to endure hardship...

Goodness, I'm truly curious how his mother gave birth to such a child."

Liu Yumei was preparing to sleep. As she reached out to take the copper mirror from her dressing table, her hand met empty air. Looking closely, where was the mirror on the table?

But it was impossible for a thief to enter this room, and no one would touch her things, unless...

Liu Yumei walked into the bedroom and looked at her sleeping granddaughter, who was clutching a small wooden box in her arms.

"That girl Ah Li... she didn't take my copper mirror as a return gift, did she?"

...

Over the next two days, Li Zhuyuan lived a very regular life: reading and practicing horse stance.

The first day of horse stance was very painful; when he woke up in the morning, his legs were still sore. By the second day, it felt much more normal. By the third day, he could even stop feeling the pain and fatigue.

He only felt that once he entered the stance, he could imagine himself as a tree growing from the ground. Following Uncle Qin's teachings, he moved his body with slight, dynamic swaying in rhythm with his breathing and heart rate. Even his brain, which felt heavy after reading all day, became much clearer.

However, during these three nights, Uncle Qin taught him nothing else besides the horse stance.

Li Zhuyuan was not impatient, because his breakthroughs in reading were faster.

Rote memorization and mathematical accumulation were not difficult for him. After three full days of reading under the desk lamp at night following his horse stance practice, he had reached the seventh volume of *The Essential Interpretation of Yin-Yang Physiognomy*.

In addition, he had also read three volumes of *The Theory of Fate Deduction*, barely mastering the basic algorithms for fate deduction.

However, he was also aware that this was an early advantage gained by his strong learning ability.

Moving forward, to make further progress, he would have to spend time and energy conquering it bit by bit.

Especially the eighth volume of *The Essential Interpretation of Yin-Yang Physiognomy*, which he hadn't started yet, but he already knew its difficulty in his heart. Yet, this eighth volume was the most important!

Even if he didn't achieve complete mastery, having learned these things made his heart itch with a desire to see the practical effects.

On the second-floor terrace, Li Sanjiang was lying in a rattan chair, smoking and drinking tea while leisurely listening to the opera *The Case of Judge Bao* on the radio.

Li Zhuyuan walked over and asked, "Great-grandfather, when is your birthday?"

"What for?"

"I want to remember it in advance so I can celebrate it for you."

"Heh, what a coincidence. It passed just before you returned to the old house. The next one won't be until next year."

"Then tell me first so I can write it down."

"Alright, alright, alright."

Li Sanjiang told him his birthday. The boy even asked for details, including the specific hour, but he didn't take it seriously and told him everything.

Next, Li Sanjiang noticed that his great-grandson was alternately staring at him intently and then scribbling in a notebook.

"Little Yuanhou, what are you writing?"

"Calculations."

"Math problems?"

"Mhm, something like that."

"Let Great-grandfather see." Li Sanjiang reached out and took the notebook, only to find that what was written were not numbers, but rows of dense or sparse horizontal and vertical lines.

"What is this?"

"Calculation steps."

"Do teachers teach this kind of thing now?"

"Mhm, it makes calculating faster."

"Oh, then calculate well and study hard."

"Mhm." Li Zhuyuan continued to observe his great-grandfather's physiognomy while continuing his calculations.

"Little Yuanhou, I'm going to Jiu Xu Port tomorrow and won't be back tonight. Hanhou said he'd take you to dredge the river?"

"Mhm, I've already agreed with Grandpa."

"Alright then, go out and get some fresh air. Your grandfather misses you too. I'm telling you, back in the day, your grandfather's favorite was your mother, but now, his favorite is you. Your grandfather is quite biased, you know."

Finally, Li Zhuyuan finished his calculation. His brow furrowed, and his entire being exuded an aura of despondency.

"Hey, Little Yuanhou, what's wrong?"

"Great-grandfather, I calculated it wrong."

"If it's wrong, it's wrong. As long as you know it's wrong, just recalculate it. It's no big deal."

Li Zhuyuan nodded.

Based on his calculations of his great-grandfather's physiognomy and fate deduction, the summary of his great-grandfather's fate was

【Premature death in childhood, plagued by illness, short lifespan, depleted wealth, destined to avoid water, forbidden from seeking unconventional paths.】

Looking at his own calculated results, and then looking at the great-grandfather lying there listening to the opera.

If he had been off by one or two things, or if it was a bit vague, that would be fine; after all, he hadn't learned everything, so some errors were normal.

But how could it be entirely wrong?

No, it wasn't just a simple error; it was the exact opposite!

A heavy sense of frustration rose in his heart, an experience he had almost never encountered in his past studies.

Previously, he had felt a bit of pride in how quickly he learned, but now, it was all gone.

"Great-grandfather, I'm going back to my room to sleep."

"Alright, go on, go on. Sleep early. Your grandfather will come pick you up in the morning."

"Great-grandfather, you should sleep early too."

Watching Li Zhuyuan's lonely retreating figure, Li Sanjiang scratched his chin in surprise, thinking to himself

Isn't the boy just getting a math problem wrong? Is it really worth that much?

...

Returning to his bedroom, he sat at his desk.

Looking at the two sets of books before him, Li Zhuyuan suddenly felt an impulse to throw his pen away and push all the books onto the floor.

He didn't want to learn anymore; he was experiencing a sense of academic aversion.

Propping his face with his left hand, he picked up the copper mirror from the desk with his right hand and toyed with it.

He had discovered that night that the small Go box was gone, and in its place appeared a very ancient copper mirror.

He knew that Ah Li must have taken his gift and given him a gift in return.

His reflection in the mirror looked dejected.

As he watched, he suddenly felt that this was the normal reaction for someone his age.

This time, when facing this inexplicable emotion, he did not feel panic or fear, nor did he need to repeatedly hypnotize himself into accepting his identity.

He hadn't expected that getting a calculation wrong could have such an effect.

The sense of frustration in Li Zhuyuan's heart was slowly tucked away. He took the mirror with his left hand, continued to look at his face in the mirror, and then picked up his pen with his right hand to begin calculating again.

I'll calculate for myself.

There is a saying: "A doctor cannot treat himself."

But what is infinitely more taboo than that is... "A fate-reader cannot calculate for himself."

However, Li Zhuyuan was learning physiognomy and fortune-telling from the two sets of books he had moved from the basement without a teacher's guidance, and the author clearly had not considered that there might be someone capable of reading and understanding this book who wouldn't know such basic things. It was like the first page of a calculus textbook not providing a multiplication table.

As he calculated,

Li Zhuyuan felt his head becoming heavy and dizzy.

He must be tired. Well, I'll sleep after I finish this calculation.

Continuing to calculate,

He felt like he was running from the nose. Was he catching a cold?

He reached out to touch, then looked down.

Fortunately, it wasn't a cold.

It wasn't mucus.

It was blood.

"Thud!"

Li Zhuyuan's small face slammed directly onto the desk, and he lost consciousness.