Chapter 88 Dead Infant
It looked like something like a swaddling cloth, wrapped in silk, and made a thud when it hit the ground.
It rolled into a dark corner.
Yu Shan looked down and was about to put his foot down from the stool when Tao Tao stopped him.
"It's alright, take the urn down first."
He responded, then took down the urn and placed it aside.
The two guards also got the rest of the urns and were loading them onto the carriage.
Tao Tao squatted down and reached out to touch the package hidden in the shadows. She touched a piece of cloth and tugged at it, but couldn't budge it; it was quite heavy.
"What is that?"
She muttered a questioning remark, and with a forceful tug, the fabric covering her was also torn off.
She stared intently, her pupils contracted sharply, and she blurted out instinctively, "Holy crap!"
"Huh? What?"
Yu Shan didn't hear clearly and thought they were calling him.
The fine fabric wrapped around a dead infant! Its skin was bluish-gray with lividity, and some of the exposed skin was even rotting, emitting a foul stench.
"Miss Tao, what happened?"
The guards behind her saw her stop there and assumed she had encountered some problem.
She did indeed encounter a tricky problem, and a particularly tricky one at that.
"Why do I smell something sour and rotten?"
Yu Shan sniffed hard, and after realizing it wasn't his imagination, he immediately covered his nose.
Tao Tao's face was not good. She bit her lower lip, unfolded the swaddling clothes, reached out and held the dead baby in the center, her fingertips trembling slightly.
"What is this? It looks like a child?"
"Miss Tao, is it a paper figure?!"
Their voices were filled with panic, as if they couldn't believe what they had just seen.
The naked, curled-up little body, the abnormal skin color, the tightly closed eyes—if it were a paper doll, it would be incredibly realistic.
She said calmly, "Never mind that, let's get out of the city first."
Seeing how calm she was, they relaxed, thinking that if she were really a child, she wouldn't be so calm.
After loading the necessary items onto the carriage, Tao Tao put the stillborn baby back into the long box and placed it in the corner of the carriage.
I rushed as fast as I could and finally made it.
At this moment, under the Taoist priest's instructions, Chen Jinghe ordered his men to dig pits according to the directions.
By the time they arrived, they had almost finished digging. In the darkness, white lanterns were lit up and hung by the families along the mountain path they had come from.
This is a guiding light, so that those who have just become ghosts will not lose their way home.
The view from the foot of the mountain is truly magnificent.
The mournful, plaintive weeping echoed on the wind throughout the silent mountains, filling people with unbearable sorrow and grief.
The wind howled, making the white banners flutter wildly, as if they were the last cries of the dead, their final lingering attachment to this world and their loved ones.
The exquisite paper offerings and yellow and white longevity coins struggled in the raging fire, making a crackling sound.
The wind fanned the flames, carrying ashes that rushed towards them, blinding everyone.
Tao Tao was preoccupied with the dead infant in the carriage, and took a step back, accidentally bumping into someone. She quickly turned around and said, "Sorry."
As she walked to the side, the person in front of her shifted their foot and blocked her way.
She lowered her head in frustration and walked to the right, but the man followed her to the right, blocking her way.
She frowned, looked up in annoyance, and saw a familiar face hidden under the black hood.
Tao Tao stared at him in shock: "You..."
The man's slender fingertips pressed against her lips, silencing her. He gradually increased the pressure, and her originally cool lips were rubbed until they turned red and hot.
As the crimson hue spread across his eyes, they gradually became increasingly obscure and gloomy, revealing a hidden lust within.
She felt her mouth was burning and a little sore from his rough handling.
Just as he was about to reach out and brush it away, he withdrew his hand.
What are you doing here?
"These are all soldiers who died on the battlefield. How could I not come?"
He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the raging flames not far away. The leaping firelight reflected in his dark eyes, shining like starlight illuminating the night.
"Then why are you wearing a cloak?"
"In order to avoid attracting attention."
She nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
A silence fell between the two, making the surrounding noise seem even more intense.
Duan Gan glanced sideways at her, "Tao Tao."
"ha?"
She turned her head to look, and his face was reflected in her amber pupils, filled with a bewildered confusion.
"say."
Tao Tao asked, puzzled, "Speak? Say what?"
"Anything is fine."
"You're a really strange person."
As soon as she finished speaking, she remembered what had just happened, and her expression turned slightly serious: "I do have something to tell you."
"What?"
Tao Tao looked around, then beckoned him to lower his head.
Duan Gan leaned down slightly, getting close to her, and their eyes met.
“I just went to Liang Yongsheng’s shop to get something and found a long box.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled, "And then?"
"Tao Tao! The cenotaphs have been mostly completed, and the paper money has been burned almost all. We can go down the mountain soon."
Chen Jinghe walked over as he spoke.
"So fast, okay."
She moved out of his shadow and stood in front of Chen Jinghe.
He straightened up, his eyelids half-closed, and remained silent, yet there was an inexplicable displeasure about him.
Chen Jinghe's gaze suddenly shifted to the person behind her. He frowned in confusion, about to speak, when he realized that the figure in front of him looked increasingly familiar.
Finally, he realized what was happening and, in surprise, cupped his hands and said, "Fourth Master."
The man didn't reply and walked straight down the mountain.
Seeing this, Tao Tao thought for a moment, took the lantern from the person next to her, and followed.
Chen Jinghe stood there, feeling utterly bewildered.
He walked quite fast, but after a while, he slowed down.
Aren't you going back with them?
As Tao Tao spoke, she carefully watched the road as she walked.
Thinking to myself, how could this person walk so fast on such a dark mountain road?
Seeing that he didn't speak, she asked again, "Did you come on horseback?"
The person in front of her suddenly stopped. She was looking down at the road and didn't notice, so she bumped into them.
Instantly, she felt a lump in her throat, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Why did you stop all of a sudden? You didn't even say anything."
She complained behind her.
Duan Gan turned around, looking down at her slightly red nose and watery eyes: "What were you about to say?"
She asked impatiently, "What did you say?"
He leaned down close to her, the large hood covering her face, and she heard him ask, "Does it hurt a lot?"
Tao Tao looked up and was momentarily stunned by the beautiful face so close to her.
I hadn't looked closely just now, but now my pupils are completely filled with such a delicate face.
She thought her eyelashes were very curled, but his eyelashes seemed longer and thicker than hers.
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