Liu Yumei tried hard to observe, hoping to see even the slightest extra emotion on the boy’s face, but she failed.
*But this... how could it be?*
*Even between biological parents and children, when such matters are involved, even if they don’t immediately turn against each other, some resentment is sure to arise.*
*But the boy before her, in an instant, only kept the simplest logic, eradicating all unnecessary emotions completely.*
*This was terrifying. Was this child emotionless to the core?*
"There’s something Grandma wants to ask you. That time when the paper crafts at home got ruined by rain, wasn’t your Grandmaster seriously injured? What did he do before that?"
Li Zhiyuan blinked his clear big eyes and shook the teapot,
"Grandma, the tea is finished."
"Then brew another pot."
"Can’t drink anymore, already stuffed."
Li Zhiyuan lightly patted his stomach, stood up, and tidied up the tea set.
Just then, Run Sheng came back carrying a hoe.
"Brother Runsheng, accompany me to the old carpenter’s house to pick up some stuff."
Run Sheng went to the well, drew a bucket of water, and rinsed his feet, then pushed a cart following behind Li Zhiyuan to the old carpenter’s house.
The old carpenter had been waiting early, and the stuff was already prepared.
"Sir, about the payment, my Grandmaster said he’ll come to settle it later."
"To hell with the payment, consider this my advance offering for Uncle Sanjiang’s altar sitting."
"You’d better write it down in a notebook, just in case you forget over time, wishing you a long life."
After speaking, Li Zhiyuan bowed earnestly to the old carpenter.
"Heh heh, where did you, this little rascal, learn these ways, you’ve got quite a sweet tongue."
The old carpenter took out a prepared red envelope from his pocket and handed it to Li Zhiyuan, "Here, take this and buy some candy."
"Haven’t paid you yet, how can I accept your money so easily?"
"This is a separate matter, last time you came suddenly, Grandpa didn’t have time to prepare, it’s the first time a junior visits, this should be given, it’s tradition."
"Thank you, Grandpa."
Li Zhiyuan accepted the red envelope, at that point Run Sheng had already loaded everything onto the cart.
After returning home, Li Zhiyuan and Run Sheng together moved the stuff to the second floor.
What surprised Li Zhiyuan was that Alii, who had showered and changed clothes, was actually waiting in his room.
Once the crafted items were brought in, she naturally began to assemble them.
"Xiao Yuan, what are these? Some look familiar, like things from our field."
After carrying the stuff, Run Sheng squatted by the door. He couldn’t get too close to Alii.
"Hmm, these are things from the field." Li Zhiyuan replied, "Brother Runsheng, why don’t you go downstairs for a while, watch some TV, eat something, and rest up a bit? I’ll trouble you to accompany me out later."
"Alright, just call me when you need me."
After Run Sheng left, Li Zhiyuan and Alii started assembling, it was the simplest task, yet the most fulfilling part.
Soon, all the items were assembled.
Alii intertwined her hands gently, looking at the items she and the boy had made together, then looked up at the desk, where many blank drawings still lay.
"I will continue to draw in the future, and I will need Alii’s help again then. I’m clumsy with my hands, without Alii’s help, I really can’t make them."
The girl’s eyes shone brightly, as if hiding stars.
Li Zhiyuan gave the girl two bottles of Jianlibao to let her sit and rest while he began to gather his set of tools.
There were a total of six main tools, plus four smaller items.
The Luo Sheng Umbrella, entirely black, was said in the book to be able to isolate miasma when opened.
The Yellow River Shovel had multiple interchangeable uses, and upon initially seeing the design, Li Zhiyuan couldn’t help but think of the Luoyang Shovel, but their main focus was different, with the Yellow River Shovel primarily suited for underwater and wet boggy areas along water banks.
The Seven-star Hook could extend seven sections, used by Corpse Recovery Divers to retrieve drowned bodies, but each section had a unique design, symbolizing the Big Dipper, allowing for counteraction against the various states of corpses.
Next were the Soul Returning Basket and Homesickness Net. These, along with the Seven-star Hook, were actually among Grandmaster’s tools, but fundamentally different in nature from his set.
Grandmaster’s tools could only retrieve still bodies, it was impossible to bind those that moved.
The last item was the Three Pure Ones Fan, with a grand name that Li Zhiyuan meticulously carved runes on each fan blade as instructed in the book, adding various prepared materials to the embedded grooves.
This item’s purpose was mainly for self-usage.
If encountering a corpse skilled in misleading hearts like the cat-faced old woman, one would use the fan to smack one’s face or head and, as needed, open a hidden clasp to release specially made mist, quickly awakening oneself from illusions.
The four smaller items consisted of a special Black Dog Blood Seal, black canvas, an Eight Diagram Plate, and a stack of self-drawn talisman paper by Li Zhiyuan.
The black canvas had a layered structure inside, filled with wooden flower rolls, each engraved with distinctive lines, carved one by one by Alii with a small knife. When dealing with corpses, this could be wrapped around oneself for protection or used to cover the corpse’s head. The former served to ward off evil, and the latter inflicted damage to the corpse. At least, that’s what the book stated.
The Eight Diagram Plate was relatively rudimentary, wooden with no decorative patterns or grade, and the needle inside was ground by Li Zhiyuan himself. He tested it, finding it inaccurate.
But its inaccuracy was very consistent, so Li Zhiyuan needed only mental calculation for correction.