Zhou Fu noticed Chen Yuan’s slightly horrified expression. Thinking their homeroom teacher had arrived, she turned her head, but there was no one at the door.

Then it dawned on her that even if it *was* Lao Mo, the homeroom teacher, Chen Yuan wouldn't be afraid, not even if he were playing on his phone.

But just now, there really was fear in his eyes.

It was as if he had seen something nonexistent, something others couldn't see.

"W-what's wrong?" Zhou Fu asked weakly, looking at the hairpin lying on the desk, then at Chen Yuan, her expression filled with worry.

I didn't see wrong!

It was definitely a woman hanging from a tree.

And the hairpin in her hair was definitely this one.

There's no mistake, there can't be a mistake.

Because this ability is to see the memories of objects, not the memories of the object's owner. The appearance of that scene meant that it was definitely there at the time.

Ancient costume, hanging, hairpin…

Is this some kind of filming?

But this act is too real. The strangulation marks on her neck, and the inflamed, rotten flesh, were all so obvious.

The woman's face was devoid of any color, like a corpse in the morgue on the second basement level. Anyone who's actually seen one knows there's absolutely no beauty to it.

Even though the clothes she was wearing were indeed very beautiful, and the deceased was previously a super beauty, at this moment, it only made people feel extremely creepy.

Another reason why it couldn't be filming was that there were no staff or cameras in the memory.

Outside a desolate village, on a slope, a ginkgo tree held a corpse dressed in finery, hanging there stiffly. Even though it wasn't swaying, Chen Yuan felt like she was gently rocking...

"Chen Yuan, are you okay? Are you feeling unwell...?" Zhou Fu became increasingly worried, because Chen Yuan seemed to be possessed by something, acting a bit neurotic.

Whatever it is, leave Chen Yuan's body!

So, Zhou Fu grabbed Chen Yuan's hand and squeezed it tightly.

Only then was he pulled back from his imagination to reality. Then, looking at Zhou Fu, who was almost crying from fright, her courage ridiculously small, he quickly explained, "Oh, it's like this. This thing is a nickel alloy and contains lead. Touching it too much will stunt your growth, so I just asked you to let go."

"Then what about you? You looked like you were scared?" Zhou Fu was still puzzled.

"I was scared too."

Chen Yuan quickly put on a smile and explained, "Because someone reminded me not to touch this thing directly. I held it for so long just now, I was afraid of some kind of radiation or something."

What the hell kind of radiation? What am I even saying?

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's it, sorry."

Chen Yuan continued to smile, comforting Zhou Fu. At the same time, he pulled out two tissues and wrapped up the 'nickel alloy' hairpin. Then, he put it in the drawer.

"It's good as long as you're okay, you scared me to death." Zhou Fu breathed a sigh of relief, quietly stroking her majestic chest to calm her mood.

Like ocean waves, they surged up as she took a deep breath...

So big.

Can I ask Zhou Fu for a recipe so that Xinyu can eat the same things?

Ugh, shrimp-head male!

That thing really is evil, making me have such lewd thoughts!

I have to find some time to get rid of it.

Too damn evil.

Dead people's things are really unlucky.

But…

Am I overthinking things a bit?

Funerary objects are also dead people's things, but aren't they being stolen by grave robbers and sold?

Moreover, these cultural relics from the Ming and Qing dynasties and later, as long as they didn't come from tombs, can be legally traded. This thing, however, is just that its owner died, and then it changed hands.

It's not like she was killed by it.

My reaction was a bit of an overreaction...

As he thought this, Sherry Liu arrived. Then, everyone started reciting English and Chinese, entering morning reading.

At this moment, that scene in Chen Yuan's mind lingered for a long time...

It was as if that face had been engraved in his mind.

No matter what, he would think about it.

What a beautiful woman...

No!

Although Chen Yuan has an appreciation for beauty, he already has Xinyu. For Xinyu's sake, he can even unfollow two "hot girls." It's impossible for him to be infatuated with a corpse, this is unreasonable.

Could it be that this thing really has an evil nature?

I'm a damn materialist warrior, don't give me this kind of idealistic stuff.

If you keep this up, I'll have Chao-zi exorcise you directly.

Illiterate, it's called *fuchu* (exorcise)!

Of course, Chen Yuan was still rational, thinking this should be his psychological suggestion.

Psychological suggestion is the most correct solution.

It's normal. When people encounter certain things with added attributes and stories, they will naturally superimpose some divinity on them.

And the best way is to find a time to throw it away.

Then, when he got home, he would see Xia Xinyu looking at him with a smile, a bronze hairpin adorning her hair...

Stop telling scary stories!

Numb, numb.

Chen Yuan felt that if he continued to "deify" like this, he would scare himself sick sooner or later.

Therefore, he began to enlighten himself.

Seeing the future, seeing lifespan, hearing inner voices, entering dreams, increasing progress bars, Father of Weather, and perceiving the past memories of objects, *I* who have these abilities, am a god!

Master Brother Shi Jian can create lightning with his bare hands, which is already the ceiling of combat power. And I have so much power, I'm basically a villain template. A mere ghost, am I afraid of her?

That's right.

Come on, little ghost, you?

Useless hanger!

So, Chen Yuan decided to face this fear directly.

As the saying goes, the best way to conquer fear is to face it.

So, he directly touched this thing that he might not grow taller from touching.

It doesn't matter, Chen Yuan, whose height is already sufficient, decided to read all of its memories.

Then, his thoughts were instantly pulled back hundreds of years.

This copper hairpin was a gift from a commoner scholar to the daughter of a wealthy merchant.

How they met and fell in love, the copper hairpin doesn't have this memory.

After the daughter of the wealthy merchant received it, she wore it in her hair. Then, Chen Yuan, through it, glimpsed more of the memories of this fourteen-year-old girl...

The scholar brother she liked, the two of them secretly dating, the girl giving the scholar money to send him to take the imperial examinations, the girl's father humiliating the scholar, etc...

Indeed, some clichéd online novel stories, but online novel stories also come more or less from these few cases of that era.

The girl's family was well-off. Although they were merchants, their nominal status was low. The so-called 'scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants' meant that merchants could not wear brocade and silk, but that was just nominal. Wealthy merchants definitely looked down on those poor scholars.

Their low status was only reflected in the face of the real bureaucratic class, that is, the 'scholars'.

If the ending was a little better, then the scholar would pass the imperial examinations, successfully slap the dog-relying-on-human-power father-in-law in the face, just like the plot after Fan Jin passed the imperial examination, with more or less some refreshing novel moments.

But halfway through, Chen Yuan's expression gradually became serious.

At this time, whether or not he passed the imperial examinations was no longer important.

On the contrary, passing would only make this ending even more tragic...

He actually passed the damn examination.

Then, it was an extremely reasonable, human nature-conforming, clichéd story.

It's really not as good as "Peacock Flies Southeast," and far from it.

In the end, she sought death.

Releasing his hand and putting the hairpin back into the drawer, Chen Yuan was no longer afraid of that face at this time.

Even though the hairpin she wore when she hanged herself on the tree, this ominous object, was still here with him.

It can only be said that this woman is a bit stupid.

But there's no way. For a long period of history, the status of women needed to depend on men to be reflected, and because of the secondary role they played in labor, it was impossible for them to be independent in personality.

If a story like this is to have a good ending, it depends on the man.

This is also why there are so many scumbag men among ancient poets.

Because whether they're scumbags or not, it's all in the mind of the man.

Also, it's often women who oppress women. This is often reflected in the love story of Lu You and Tang Wan.

Feudal patriarchs are indeed hateful, but stubbornly resisting feudal ethics will only lead to deeper tragedies.

Where is the way to break the situation?

There really isn't one.

Putting himself in the shoes of this girl, it's just not to be a love brain, listen to her father, and marry someone of equal social standing, a merchant marrying a merchant.

Putting himself in the shoes of this man, it's okay to freeload, but don't turn your back on people and kick them when they're down.

Of course, the responsibility for this woman's stupidity doesn't lie entirely with her. The reason for that man's badness cannot be blamed on others.

It can only be said that this is a rather ordinary story. The only extraordinary thing is that the relic was picked up by me, who has Chao-zi, and then I saw this past that no one cared about.

Since she's such a useless woman, then why be afraid of the antique market?

However, the place where this story happened seems to be exactly where Xia Hai is now...

Although he was no longer afraid of this relic, Chen Yuan had some curiosity.

This hairpin has memories. Even though it has changed hands a few times, because it's not a precious thing, it has remained in this place after several hundred years.

Among them, the longest time was lying under the bed of a farmer's house, for many generations.

During this time, it experienced wars, but the hairpin's position did not change.

Later, the sea changed to mulberry fields. It wasn't until modern times, when a new self-built house was built on that land, that it was found.

But because it was just a copper utensil, it was casually placed in a drawer, unattended.

Then, the old house was demolished. Finding this thing, it was casually given to the younger generation of the family.

This child then played with it and discarded it casually. Finally, it was picked up by an old man and put it on display as a trinket for sale.

This hairpin is as worthless as the scholar's love, completely without value.

However, the place that was demolished is so close to a park near here.

In other words, it hasn't even been displaced?

If he could find that tree, and then put the hairpin back there...

No, what the hell am I doing with this feudal superstition?

Let go of the helping-others complex.

Moreover, this woman has been dead for hundreds of years. If she really had a soul, could it have remained in this world for so long?

If it were really possible, as long as you had regrets or hatred before you died, you could become a ghost. This world would have been a night parade of hundreds of ghosts long ago.

Tsk... Is it possible that this world *is* a night parade of hundreds of ghosts, but I just can't see it?

If that were the case, it would still be a good thing.

That way, I could see Xia Xinyu's parents, and then tell them that Xinyu is doing well, and let them rest assured and become Buddhas.

With this thought in mind, Chen Yuan thought about it all day.

After school, Chen Yuan originally wanted to go home with Xinyu, and then dispose of the hairpin himself, selling it at a pawn shop. But Xinyu had to go to her aunt's house today because it was her cousin's birthday, so he went home alone.

At the bus stop, he waited with Zhou Fu.

After the bus came, Chen Yuan suddenly said, "Fu-jie, go back by yourself, I have something to do."

"Ah? Oh, okay." Zhou Fu didn't think too much, just agreed, and then waved to Chen Yuan before getting on the bus, "Bye-bye."

"Yeah, bye-bye."

After Zhou Fu left, Chen Yuan took out his phone, opened WeChat, and found 'One Sword Illuminates Nineteen Provinces'.

Then, he sent a message.

Chen Yuan: Want to hang out today? I'll take you for a walk.

This was the first time Chen Yuan had taken the initiative to invite Xiao Cha.

Of course, it wasn't to cheat.

There was no such worldly desire.

It was purely to find that place and properly dispose of the hairpin.

But in most cases, it wouldn't be found. If that tree was still alive, it would be at least five or six hundred years old.

In recent years, Xia Hai has been somewhat extreme—too urbanized.

The old houses and old buildings that could be bulldozed have long been demolished.

Even if that tree was really so long-lived, if it conflicted with the planning of municipal construction, it would definitely be moved away.

The only thing that could be determined was that this broken hairpin had been neglected for the vast majority of the time, unknown to anyone, and very, very close to the place where she hanged herself.

What, what does finding the tree have to do with Xiao Cha?

It doesn't.

But I'm afraid to go alone.

………

"Ahhhhh! Mom, he asked me out!"

Looking at this message, Shen Xiaoran happily hugged her phone, wanting to roll around on the bed.

But because of her lower body disability, she couldn't roll around at all, and only writhed with her waist.

"Who asked you out?"

Her mother was puzzled, why was there a 'he' with such an ambiguous address?

"Chen Yuan." Shen Xiaoran said with bright eyes.

"Hey! Don't ruin other people's relationships, don't take the initiative to provoke trouble..."

"No, it's really not me this time."

Shen Xiaoran stretched out four fingers and swore, "After unilaterally simping for him without any results, I was already prepared to treat him as a passerby in my life, but I didn't expect that he... actually took the initiative to find me."

"Treat him as a passerby?" Her mother smiled when she heard this, then took out a pair of unfinished woolen gloves and asked, "Then why are you knitting gloves for a passerby?"

"Didn't you ask me to knit them?" Shen Xiaoran retorted in protest.

"What, didn't you want to knit a scarf? I said that a scarf can only be given to a girlfriend, so I told you to knit gloves. Don't blame me."

"Gloves are so old-fashioned, who wears gloves now... really." Shen Xiaoran has been persistent in rehabilitation during this time, but because she was bored, she started learning to knit things with yarn.

She originally wanted to knit a scarf for Chen Yuan to accompany him through a winter, but this plan was just proposed and was refuted by her mother, who warned, "If you want me to teach you, it can only be gloves."

There was no way, so it ended up being gloves.

But because Chen Yuan's attitude towards her has always been so-so, he has never specifically cared about her. She was always the one taking the initiative to find him, which led to her low interest and slow knitting of the gloves.

But she didn't expect that she could be "chosen" by Chen Yuan.

Happy, happy.

"Okay, Mom, you drive me there, and then drop me off and hand me over to Chen Yuan. You can just find a place to drink milk tea."

"If you didn't use the word 'just', I might be more willing."

"Good Mom, please, mua~"

Shen Xiaoran gave her mother a flying kiss.

Then, the other party could only smile and agree.

Shen Xiaoran changed into a light gray sweater, a long khaki children's coat, a cloth skirt for the lower body, and over-the-knee black cotton socks, and small shiny black leather shoes.

After dressing up beautifully, she had her mother take her to the park where she had agreed to meet Chen Yuan.

At the entrance, her mother completed the handover with Chen Yuan.

Before her mother's car had even driven far away, Shen Xiaoran smiled and showed her affection to Chen Yuan: "Did you miss me a little?"

"So-so." Chen Yuan pushed the wheelchair and began to observe his surroundings.

This perfunctory attitude made Shen Xiaoran regain the feeling of being a simp.

Then, she said nonchalantly, "It's okay, whether you miss me or not is fine. Just look for me when you're bored. I'm always available."

"Good child, good child."

Chen Yuan casually touched Shen Xiaoran's head and continued to observe the terrain.

This is the right place. The memory of the child losing the hairpin was in this place.

But, what does this have to do with the tree in the scene where she hanged herself?

That's right, I'm stupid!

"I'm going to tie my shoelaces, wait a moment."

Chen Yuan slowly squatted down and gently pressed his hand to the ground.

Reading the memories of this land.

Then, in an instant, infinite paintings appeared in his mind.

Moreover, they were not completely without rules.

After the film was unrolled, it was an infinitely extending timeline.

He only needed to find the memory of the same period as the hairpin to know what this place was like at that time.

Chen Yuan had seen the memory of her before she hanged herself. She walked to a ginkgo tree on a slope, then climbed up the tree herself, hung the rope on a branch, and finally put her head in it...

In other words, Chen Yuan roughly knew this terrain.

Of course, if this place was far from that tree, then it would be a waste of effort.

In this way, he slowly opened the memory of the earth.

Like finding a film, he slowly rewound.

Finally, he stopped at a certain moment, and then clicked on a picture.

The place where Chen Yuan was standing at this moment was a village, a thatched cottage. Looking up, there was a slope that was not very steep, but very wide.

On the slope, there was a road, and a ginkgo tree was planted by the roadside.

Coincidentally, from here, going up, there was a sloping asphalt road...

So, Chen Yuan directly pushed Xiao Shen up the slope.

"Eh? Do you have a place you want to go?"

"Yeah, I do."

Shen Xiaoran didn't understand, but didn't ask any more questions. She just watched Chen Yuan push her for about five minutes, until they reached a high point in the park.

Above that, there was another road.

Various ornamental trees were planted on both sides of the road.

Only one tree was different.

Moreover, there was a sign hanging on the tree, marking that this was a ginkgo tree, 722 years old.

What a coincidence!

With some excitement, Chen Yuan walked over. Then, he put his hand on the trunk of the tree.

Then, memories appeared.

Among them, a certain memory, because it was special, was particularly prominent.

Chen Yuan clicked on it.

Then, that girl was climbing the tree, preparing to hang herself.

A space-time distortion, Chen Yuan at this moment, was standing under this tree.

(End of this chapter)