At the dinner table, as soon as Old Li took out the gold ingots, the deputy director's eyes lit up. Then, Old Li explained the whole situation, and Liu Quanyou was stunned. Fortunately, he had seen Old Li's skills before, so he wasn't too surprised. Finally, he asked Old Li how he wanted to handle the gold ingots. Old Li said that he originally wanted to donate them to the government, but he needed some money to support Zhang Guodong's family, so he came to him for help. Liu Quanyou was very pleased and told Old Li that donating valuable items to the country would bring some compensation.

"The historical value of these gold ingots is extremely high, making them rare collectibles. If auctioned, their price would be many times higher than that of gold itself. If you want to donate them to a museum, the state will at least compensate you with the equivalent value of gold. Don't worry, leave this to me."

After that, they toasted each other, reminiscing about old times, and drank until evening. Liu Quanyou wanted Old Li to stay a few more days, but Old Li insisted on going back. Reluctantly, Liu Quanyou personally drove him back, assuring him that the compensation for the gold ingots would arrive soon and that once Zhang Guodong's matter was resolved, he would definitely invite him to stay in the city for a few days.

It turned out Old Li knew many important people, which made the brothers admire him even more.

"When are we going to visit his family?" Tie Zhu asked. "As soon as the money arrives, we'll go. In the meantime, we need to find a way to retrieve his remains." Old Li took out a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and took a deep drag.

Seeing the cigarette, I thought to myself that you couldn't tell from his usual demeanor that he enjoyed such high treatment in the city. "The remains are sealed in a concrete pillar. How are we going to get them out?"

Old Li glanced at the brothers, smiled mysteriously, and said, "Such a simple thing, and you can't figure it out? There's only one way to do it: blow up the pillar. I've already checked it out; the walls of the laboratory are very sturdy. Even if the pillar breaks, the building won't collapse."

"What? Blow up the laboratory? You must be joking." The brothers were shocked.

"Yes, what's the problem? Your family has plenty of explosives. Blowing up the pillar should be easy," Old Li said lightly with a smile.

"Blowing up the pillar is easy, but what if the government investigates? Destroying a national education facility is a serious crime," Tie Zhu thought aloud.

"Heh heh, did you forget why that room was built in the first place? It was originally an ammunition depot. If an explosion occurs now, we can make it look like an old bomb left from the past caused it. What’s there to worry about?"

"But the lab equipment was just bought. Wouldn't a lot of it be destroyed?" I mumbled.

"That's easy. Those bottles and jars aren't worth much. When the compensation comes, we can donate some money to the school anonymously to repair the lab." After Old Li's analysis, the brothers felt that although it was not proper, there were no loopholes, so they agreed.

The next day, the brothers started preparing. Tie Zhu got the explosives and detonators ready, and I opened the windows of the lab. That night, the brothers sneaked into the lab to set up the explosives. Having grown up playing with gunpowder, they were very familiar with its properties. They drilled holes at different stress points on the pillar, placed detonators of varying amounts, and controlled the blast range to the minimum.

Once everything was ready, we left the lab and hid in a secluded spot. Tie Zhu used an incantation to ignite the fuse paper on the detonators. Soon, a muffled explosion came from the lab. Simultaneously, the brothers' silhouettes flashed over the back wall of the school.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"The sun is shining, the flowers are smiling, the birds say, 'Good morning, good morning, why are you carrying a schoolbag?' I’m going to blow up the school, I won’t be late, light the fuse, and run quickly, boom, the school is gone!" We sang a modified nursery rhyme, happily walking home.

The next day, various departments came to inspect the explosion site and found two dud bombs (which Tie Zhu had planted under the pillar). They concluded that the explosion was caused by old bombs left from the past. Strangely, they also found a skeleton in the pillar, a mystery they would never solve. In the end, they buried the remains in a public cemetery, allowing Zhang Guodong to rest in peace.

A few days later, Liu Changyou delivered the compensation for the gold ingots to Old Li, which amounted to 120,000 yuan. He took out 20,000 yuan and anonymously donated it to the school for lab repairs. Additionally, with Liu Changyou's help, they quickly found Zhang Guodong's family. After Zhang Guodong's death, his family lost their breadwinner, leaving his disabled wife to shoulder all responsibilities. She farmed during the day and did odd jobs at night. Fortunately, their two children were very helpful, and their lives gradually improved. Old Li told them that Zhang Guodong had been selected by the state over twenty years ago for a secret mission and had not been able to contact his family. Now, the government was providing a 100,000-yuan subsidy to his family in recognition of his sacrifice.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Guodong's wife was moved to tears, feeling both sorrow and pride. She had long suspected he was no longer alive, but hearing the news brought a flood of emotions. She was proud that her husband had died for the country, which silenced years of rumors and provided substantial compensation to ease their hardships.

Through Zhang Guodong's case, Tie Zhu and I fully experienced the joy of using Taoist techniques to help others. Without these skills, we could never have rescued the soul trapped in the pillar or helped his family. This motivated us to train even harder under Old Li's guidance.

Time always flies when you are focused on something. Before we knew it, it was spring of the following year.

Five miles northeast of Shuangpai Village, there was a large reservoir. Built against a mountain, it was flanked by the Yanshan Mountains, covered with lush green pine and cypress trees, especially on the small hill at the northeast corner. The hilltop had an old temple, a relic from the Japanese occupation during World War II. Between the mountains, a dam connected the closest points, gathering water from the north to form a clear and beautiful lake.

Below the reservoir was Jian Village, home to about two hundred families. To the east was a grove of white birch trees, with an ancient spring named Dongquan at its center. This spring never dried up, flowing year-round. To make the most of this resource, the government built a circular pool around it and channels to irrigate the fields.

Not far from Dongquan to the northwest was my friend Wu Jianguo's fish pond. With further reforms and opening up, the Wu family’s business flourished, and this year they dug a larger pond at the foot of a nearby hill.

One weekend, the weather was exceptionally clear, and the trees were greedily soaking up the sun's energy. Under the jujube tree, Old Li was intently painting a landscape on a stone table. When I walked in, I said, "You're really in the mood, painting first thing in the morning."

"Hehe, this is called leisure. You youngsters don’t understand the pleasure," Old Li replied without stopping.

"What's so great about painting? Answer my questions about formations first, then continue," I pleaded.

"Don't underestimate painting. It cultivates your mind and dissipates anger and impatience. As Taoists, we must avoid these emotions. Remember, you need to maintain a calm mind at all times. Being anxious, angry, or overly excited only clouds your judgment. You must remain unaffected by emotions to perform at your best." After speaking, Old Li paused, revealing a magnificent sunset landscape.

"Wow! Your painting skills are getting better. Can I have this one?" I flattered him perfectly. Old Li was delighted, "Take it!" he agreed readily.

Hmph, telling me to stay calm at all times, but a few compliments made him so happy. He’s good at preaching to others, I thought.

"By the way, Jianguo invited me to fish at his pond this afternoon. Since you’re free, why not join us? It's also a form of relaxation, hehe..."

"Fishing? Sounds great. It's been a while since I had fish soup!"

Spring lethargy, autumn fatigue, summer naps, and winter hibernation—spring afternoons always made people lazy. By Wu's newly built pond, a fishing competition was underway. Old Li, Wu Jianguo, and I sat on chairs, eyes glued to the floats in the water, waiting for fish to bite. Wu Jianguo had specially transferred more than a dozen big fish from another pond for this competition.

Judging by the way he held the rod and his fishing movements, Old Li's fishing skills were truly unimpressive. The ancient Taoist charm of "singing a high tune and drinking wine, fishing alone in the autumn river" was nowhere to be seen in this modern Taoist.