Chapter 95: Lifting the Coffin
The flimsy wooden gate slammed against the wall with a bang, scattering sand and gravel. A large group of people rushed in noisily, crying and shouting.
"Ah Hui, is it someone from your brother's sect who's here?"
"Immortal Master! You must do justice for us! My son died a terrible death!"
...
The room was in chaos. Lu Yuanyuan looked in surprise towards the sound and saw about twenty people inside and outside the room, all dressed as villagers. Among them, a man and a woman were shouting the loudest for justice.
The man was in his thirties, with dark skin, a large belly, and patched clothes. He loudly proclaimed that he wanted to see the "immortal master."
Behind him, a woman in her forties, disheveled and filthy, was sobbing uncontrollably. She was being supported by two burly village women, sandwiched between them to prevent her from collapsing to the ground from weeping: "Master, my son died so unjustly! Everyone in the surrounding villages knows that my son was promising and kind-hearted. He shouldn't have died..."
Ah Hui seemed to be closest to this woman. She stepped forward, pulled her up, and said sadly, "Please don't be like this, get up first."
The air was filled with noise, crying, and cursing, and the scene was chaotic for a moment. Fu Xinguang stood up to quell the situation: "Everyone has misunderstood! We are just friends of He Zhao, passing by and came to pay a visit."
The sounds in the room suddenly paused. The woman, sprawled on the floor, froze for a moment, then slapped her thigh and began to wail again, screaming, "My poor, wretched son!"
...
It took a full half-cup of tea time to see the villagers, who had come to seek justice and to watch the commotion, out the door. The house was now a mess. Duan Lansheng frowned slightly as he looked at the empty doorway: "Were the man and woman from earlier the deceased's family members?"
Ah Hui nodded.
From Ah Hui, everyone learned that the man who had entered shouting to see the immortal master was named Zeng Dayan. The woman's surname was Tong, and everyone called her Aunt Tong. The two were not husband and wife, but if they had anything in common, it was that their sons were among the four dead.
Among them, Aunt Tong's son, Zhang Mao, is Ah Hui's fiancé. No wonder Ah Hui took the initiative to help Aunt Tong earlier.
The situation appears to be more complicated than initially thought.
Fu Xinguang said, "Miss Hui, we have some questions for you."
At this moment, Xu Rao floated up from the side, blushing, and asked, "Ah Hui, is there a place nearby where I can wash myself? I have something to do... I want to go and clean up."
Ah Hui nodded quickly: "Yes, the washroom is in the back. But you have to go to the stream to fetch water first, and then you can go to the washroom to clean yourself."
Realizing something, Lu Yuanyuan stood up and said, "I'll go with you."
Xu Rao gave her a grateful look and nodded vigorously.
Life in Aipozi Village is very natural. The nearest water source is a 20-minute walk away, through a quiet forest path.
Xu Rao's period has started.
There wasn't much water left in Ahui's water tank, so Lu Yuanyuan told Xu Rao to wait in the washroom, took two wooden buckets from Ahui's house, and went to the stream to fetch water.
The wooden buckets filled with water were heavy; even the strongest man would find it difficult to walk the entire distance without breaking a sweat or getting out of breath. Lu Yuanyuan, however, carried one bucket in each hand, yet seemed to feel no weight, returning to Ahui's house with light steps.
Fill the water tank, and the extra bucket of water will be just enough for Xu Rao to wash her clothes.
Ah Hui's bathroom was just a simple hut built of wooden planks. Xu Rao had already changed her clothes, and her pants were stained red. When she saw Lu Yuanyuan return, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, Senior Sister Lu."
Lu Yuanyuan closed the door and put the wooden bucket down.
Even this year, her periods only came every few months. This must be a characteristic of this body; it's been like this for both lifetimes, unchanged before and after cultivating immortality. Aside from the longer intervals between her periods, she didn't feel any different from others. Looking back now, this constitution really saved her a lot of trouble; having less frequent periods was so great!
The village of Aipozi was particularly sweltering before sunset. Xu Rao sat on a small stool, washing her pants with her head down, and sighed, "Sigh, no wonder we haven't received any replies to the letters we sent asking about He Zhao's whereabouts. It's perfectly normal that Ahui has experienced the double blow of her brother's disappearance and her fiancé's tragic death in such a short time, and she's not in the mood to pay attention to letters from the outside world."
Lu Yuanyuan placed her hands behind her back and leaned against the wall, recalling the villagers' chatter in her mind, trying to extract any useful information from it. She replied, "Besides, Ahui's mother is also sick, and she has to take care of her mother."
"Yes! If I were her, I'd be in a daze all day long, even more depressed than her..."
Just then, Lu Yuanyuan suddenly sensed something and abruptly turned her gaze to the door of the washroom. Immediately, her expression turned cold, and without warning, she kicked the door open.
This kick was no small matter. Curses and screams erupted as the door was kicked open. A man who had been furtively lying on the door was thrown back by the force of the impact, rolling several times on the ground, groaning in pain, one hand covering his nose, blood mixed with his teeth seeping from between his fingers.
Lu Yuanyuan stepped out of the washroom and looked at him coldly from above.
This man was thin and had a sleazy demeanor. He had small eyes, a wide nose, and a shifty expression. He looked somewhat familiar; he was one of the people who had broken into Ah Hui's house with Zeng Dayan earlier that day.
Xu Rao quickly rushed out the door, and upon seeing the situation, she understood what had happened. She flew into a rage: "You bastard, how dare you peek?!"
"I didn't! I was just passing by, and you guys attacked me without even asking what happened!"
The man's face flushed red and then turned pale. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the people in the front house come out after hearing the commotion. Seeing that things were not going well, they quickly fled.
He had barely climbed over the fence when Duan Lansheng arrived beside Lu Yuanyuan, frowning as he asked, "What happened?"
Fu Xinguang, Jia Song, and A Hui also came upon hearing the news, watching the two with concern.
Xu Rao angrily said, "Someone is peering through the door trying to spy on us!"
Seeing that everyone's faces had turned grim, Lu Yuanyuan patted Xu Rao on the back reassuringly and added, "I noticed him as soon as he leaned against the door. He probably didn't have time to see or hear anything."
Xu Rao wrinkled her nose and said, "That's true. Oh well, we can't kill someone over this. Senior Sister Lu knocked out two of his front teeth just now, which was a warning. Let's see who dares to come after us."
Although it was just a minor incident, it still cast a slightly negative impression on everyone's perception of the place.
That evening, the group discussed the matter and decided to split into two groups to investigate. The missing girls were scattered in various locations, so Fu Xinguang and Xu Rao decided to inquire in nearby villages. Lu Yuanyuan, Duan Lansheng, and Jia Song, on the other hand, stayed in Aipozi Village to investigate the mysterious deaths of the four men. They agreed to return to Aipozi Village within five days.
That night, Fu Xinguang and Xu Rao quietly left the village. Lu Yuanyuan, Duan Lansheng, and Jia Song split up and searched for information in the village.
The next afternoon, the three of them shared the information they had gathered in the back room of Ah Hui's house.
Jia Song spoke fluently: "I've found out everything about the four dead men. The youngest was fourteen years old, named Zeng Fan, the son of Zeng Dayan from yesterday. The second was Zhang Mao, eighteen years old, and Ahui's fiancé. The remaining two were cousins, the older brother was named Li Quanfu, and the younger brother was named Li Quangui. Both brothers were almost fifty years old and still single, without wives, children, or other relatives, and were usually quite reclusive."
Lu Yuanyuan crossed her arms: "No wonder no one came to speak up for them yesterday."
Duan Lansheng said calmly, “Zeng Dayan is a domineering and arrogant man. He is a kind of village bully in Aipozi Village. His wife is missing and he only has a son, Zeng Fan. Zeng Fan is the opposite of him. He is cowardly and the villagers often hear Zeng Dayan disciplining his son at home.”
"Zhang Mao should be the one with the best reputation among the four. He is rather weak and can't do much farm work, but he is very filial and is also A Hui's childhood sweetheart. However, his mother and aunt have always disapproved of Zhang Mao's marriage to A Hui, feeling that Zhang Mao can find someone better and that A Hui is not good enough for her son and is marrying above her station."
Jia Song looked puzzled: "Then why did Aunt Tong agree later? Wasn't the wedding date already set?"
Lu Yuanyuan shrugged and said, "Because He Zhao has become a disciple of Mount Shu."
Jia Song: "..."
The candlelight in the center of the table dimmed slightly.
Jia Song rested his chin on his hand and said, "These four people don't seem to have anything in common in terms of age or experience. If we can find common ground, we might be able to understand why they became victims of the same tragedy."
Duan Lansheng said, "They do have one thing in common."
"What?"
Duan Lansheng said, "Half a month ago, a family surnamed Qu in the east of Aipozi Village passed away. Since no other relatives came to arrange the wedding, the villagers originally planned to dig a pit and bury them. However, Zhang Mao stepped forward and said that this family had suffered in life and that he couldn't bear to be buried so hastily after their death, so he decided to pay for their burial and even prepared coffins for them. Few people responded; only the Li brothers and Zeng Fan contributed some money. It is said that because of this, Zeng Dayan was furious and chased Zeng Fan all over the village with a rolling pin."
Lu Yuanyuan seemed lost in thought and remained silent. Jia Song, who was standing next to her, suddenly realized: "When Aunt Tong came in yesterday, she said that Zhang Mao was a kind-hearted person. She must have been referring to this matter."
Since it was past midnight, the three decided to discuss it again the next day, blew out the candles, and went to rest.
Ahui's family doesn't have many rooms. Ahui's mother needs to rest and has a bed to herself. Duan Lansheng and Jia Song are temporarily staying in He Zhao's room, while Lu Yuanyuan shares a bed with Ahui.
In the dead of night, Lu Yuanyuan quietly got up, put on her shoes, glanced at the sleeping Ah Hui, tucked her in, and pushed open the door. As soon as she stepped out, she saw someone else coming out of He Zhao's room. The two met face to face; it was Duan Lansheng.
Duan Lansheng was dressed neatly, looking ready to leave. Upon seeing Lu Yuanyuan, he paused, seemingly wanting to say something. Lu Yuanyuan quickly made a shushing gesture and pointed to the door.
The two walked quietly away from Ah Hui's house. After walking for a while until no one could hear them, Duan Lansheng stopped and said, "I'm a little concerned about the Qu family at the east end of the village. I want to go and check on them tonight when no one is around."
"So it seems we're heading to the same destination. Have you noticed something amiss?"
Duan Lansheng turned his head and looked at the path in the distance: "Zhang Mao took out a large sum of money to bury the Qu family. And I noticed yesterday that Aunt Tong's clothes and shoes were still patched and old. There may be people in this world who would cut off their own flesh to feed eagles, but Zhang Mao is a filial son and should not do such a thing."
Lu Yuanyuan instantly understood what he meant.
To erect a monument and bury the Qu family, it is not necessary to spend so much money on a coffin. In Aipozi Village, many people are buried in the ground.
If Zhang Mao were a wealthy man with more money than he could ever spend, then there would be nothing to say; scattering money on the roadside would be his prerogative. But he was a poor but filial son, and most of his family's savings came from his and his aunt's hard work. Why would he disregard his family and waste money on his neighbor's funeral when there were ways to save money?
However, I never expected Duan Lansheng to look at it so carefully.
Yesterday, Ah Hui's house was in complete chaos, with people pushing and shoving each other. Everyone's attention was almost entirely drawn to Aunt Tong's wailing.
Lu Yuanyuan couldn't help but glance at him. The moonlight was clear and bright tonight, and the moonlight, like flowing water, shone on his black hair, and his dark blue eyes also flowed with a beautiful, watery luster.
Lu Yuanyuan stared at him for a moment, then looked away, took a step forward, and said as she walked, "I agree with you. Also, I think Zeng Fan is quite strange. Zeng Dayan beat him up, and he really beat him to death. Zeng Fan is cowardly and is especially afraid of his father. Why would he risk being beaten up to help a family he has no connection with?"
In the dead of night, not a soul could be seen in Aipozi Village. Even the guard dogs were fast asleep. Before long, the two arrived at a courtyard at the east end of the village.
The courtyard was dark, and the wooden gate was unlocked, only slightly ajar. Perhaps because someone had died here, it gave off an especially eerie feeling. Duan Lansheng pushed open the gate, stepped inside, and glanced around.
This was an ordinary village house, with a small living room and two bedrooms. There was hardly anything left in the house; there were many footprints on the floor. All the better items had been moved out, leaving only some shaky chairs and dilapidated beds and tables.
Duan Lansheng pushed open the doors to the two rooms. The male head of the Qu family was named Qu Shan. He was disabled in both legs and could not leave the room on his own, and could not even get out of bed. The room facing north should be the one he lived in before he died. The doors and windows were tightly closed, and there was a lingering smell of terminal illness.
As for the other room, it should be the room of Qu Shan's wife and daughter, containing only a bed. The bedding was filthy, covered in dust and smelling of medicine, and hadn't been washed in a long time, which explains why no one had taken it away.
Duan Lansheng showed no sign of disgust. His expression was solemn as he scanned the room before finally settling on the bed. He gently lifted the mattress.
The wooden board beneath the mattress was stained with a large, dark brown stain.
Meanwhile, Lu Yuanyuan walked to the back of the house. There was the Qu family's stove, and some tattered wicker baskets hung on the wall. Lu Yuanyuan looked up and examined them closely. Suddenly, her shoes kicked something, making a crisp sound in the dead of night.
Looking down, I saw that it was a broken medicine bowl.
A mouse darted out from under the stove and disappeared into a hole in the wall.
Lu Yuanyuan propped herself up on her knees and slowly squatted down in front of the stove. Her gaze moved from left to right. Looking over the stove, the pots, pans, and bowls were all old and worn, with nothing particularly noteworthy. Just as she was about to get up, she suddenly noticed something emerging from the shadows at the bottom of the stove.
Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback. She carefully took it out and looked at it in the moonlight. She found that it was a round wooden stick.
As a cultivator specializing in alchemy, she immediately recognized it as a hardwood pestle. Standing it upright in the mortar and grinding it continuously would crush food or medicine. It was quite normal for the Qu family to have such a thing since both adults needed medicine.
Strangely, she couldn't find a mortar that matched the wooden pestle.
Lu Yuanyuan frowned and inspected the stove again.
The mortar is indeed gone.
Could it have been taken away? Just like how the usable items in the front room were also divided up.
But who would just take the mortar and not the pestle?
These two items are a set of tools; neither can be missing. Taking only one won't do any good. You can't exactly take the mortar home and use it as a rice bowl, can you?
Lu Yuanyuan squatted down, a hint of inexplicable doubt creeping into her heart.
No, that's not right.
The wooden pestle rolled out from under the stove. If that rat hadn't suddenly rushed out and bumped into it, causing part of the pestle to stick out, she probably wouldn't have bothered to lie down and see what was under the stove.
Someone came here wanting to take the pestle and mortar. But perhaps due to carelessness or haste, they couldn't find the correct pestle, so they only took the mortar.
Who is the other party? What is their purpose in taking this thing?
"..."
Lu Yuanyuan bent down, her cheek pressed to the ground, and looked under the stove—it was covered in thick dust, dark and cramped, and there was nothing there.
She sat up again, held the wooden pestle under her nose, and sniffed it carefully for a while. She smelled a very peculiar scent, and her expression changed slightly.
The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, casting its gentle light.
Lu Yuanyuan frantically searched the stove and found an empty bowl, which she placed in the moonlight. Duan Lansheng also came out of the house at this moment, saw her squatting on the ground fiddling with something, quickly stepped forward, and squatted down.
Lu Yuanyuan used her fingernail to gently scrape along the grain of the wooden pestle's base. This was the part that frequently came into contact with the mortar, and years of use had left deep marks from the wood grain. Clearly, the previous user hadn't cleaned it thoroughly, and the residue left in the crevices fell into the bowl as her fingernail scraped it.
This is a dark brown powder, and although there is only a small amount, it has a strong and spicy smell with a distinctive animal flavor.
It's musk.
Almost at the same moment, the system's task progress suddenly increased to 40%.
...
On the eve of dawn, Lu Yuanyuan and Duan Lansheng returned to Ahui's home as quickly as possible and woke up Ahui and Jia Song respectively.
To uncover the truth behind the mission and find out why those four people died, she had to start with the Qu family. The system's progress bar had already told her that this was the right approach. The dead can no longer speak out to seek justice; the only way was to exhume their bodies and perform an autopsy.
Only the villagers know how to get to the place where the Qu family of three is buried.
After setting up a protective barrier at Ah Hui's house, the four of them slipped into the night and, led by Ah Hui, arrived at a cemetery on a hillside. Sure enough, there were three tombstones standing there.
The soil was packed tightly, but it meant nothing to those who cultivated immortality.
Ah Hui's face was pale: "Sister Lu, are we really going to dig up the Qu family's graves?"
Jia Song's hoe was already stuck in the mud. He tremblingly echoed, "Yes, Senior Sister Lu, shouldn't we inform the villagers? This is digging up a grave."
Lu Yuanyuan planted the shovel in the ground and stomped on it: "Stop talking nonsense, hurry up and dig! Don't really drag it out until dawn. Do you know what it means to have a clear conscience during the day and not be afraid of ghosts knocking at your door in the middle of the night?"
Jia Song looked to Duan Lansheng for help. But Duan Lansheng's response was to dig the first shovelful of soil.
Jia Song: "..."
Jia Song gritted his teeth and had no choice but to follow along.
Only Ah Hui didn't have to lift a finger. She seemed frightened by the three men's audacity and didn't dare to approach them, so she stayed far away and watched their actions.
After confirming that Ah Hui couldn't hear him, Jia Song asked in a low voice, "Senior Sister Lu, Senior Brother Duan, do you suspect that the deaths of the Qu family members are related to those four people?"
“This is our only breakthrough right now. The longer we stay in Aipozi Village, the easier it will be for them to discover our identities. We need to investigate as soon as possible.” Lu Yuanyuan stopped digging. She couldn’t very well say that the system’s progress bar had implicitly confirmed her guess. She continued, “Only Li Quanfu, Li Quangui, Zhang Mao, and Zeng Fan were involved in the Qu family’s burial. The claim that the Qu couple died of illness, and that their daughter, Xiaotao, fell to her death while going down the mountain at night to find a doctor, and that she was already dead when Zhang Mao found her—these are all one-sided accounts. Once we open the coffin, we’ll know whether what they’re saying is true or not…”
Just then, Duan Lansheng suddenly stopped what he was doing, turned his head to look at the boundless night in the distance, and his expression turned slightly cold: "There's a sound."
In the darkest hour before dawn, rustling sounds came from the woods and fields all around, like the swaying of grass and trees, or the footsteps of ghosts. Gradually, they could see clearly that they were men carrying weapons, roughly ten times their number, thirty or forty in total, each face flashing with intense hostility, and the leader was Zeng Dayan.
Ah Hui looked around in alarm and involuntarily retreated to Lu Yuanyuan and the others.
After the encirclement gradually narrowed, several people caught up, panting. Aunt Tong was among them. She waved vigorously at Ah Hui and said angrily, "Ah Hui, you little brat! What are you doing following these strangers? Come back to your auntie!"
"Surround them all and stop them from causing trouble!"
"This is our place, we can't let these outsiders break the rules!"
"That was a good deed my son spearheaded before he died! What do you mean by exhuming the coffin?!"
...
Now that things had come to this, Jia Song and the others exchanged glances, stepped forward, and shouted, "We suspect that the deaths of the Qu family members are not simple. If you want to find out why your son died, let us exhume the coffin and examine it. If it turns out to be a misunderstanding, we will naturally restore the coffin to its original state!"
At the front of the crowd, Zeng Dayan roared, "Don't listen to their nonsense! Arrest them all! Anyone who dares to resist, just take action!"
The villagers, who had hesitated slightly after hearing Jia Song's words, picked up their weapons again and approached step by step.
Jia Song said in a trembling voice, "Are these people crazy?"
Zheng—
The sword light shone brightly, like the ninefold spring sky, blazing brilliantly. Though clearly invisible, its chilling aura instantly jolted the restless villagers, like a pebble thrown into boiling water, causing a buzzing commotion to erupt from the crowd!
With the sword tip pointing diagonally to the ground, Duan Lansheng stepped forward, blocking the grave, and coldly stared at everyone: "Whoever steps forward will die first."
Even though there was only one person and he didn't say anything threatening, the surroundings fell into a deathly silence. Countless eyes were staring at them, and no one dared to take another step forward.
Duan Lansheng didn't turn around, but said softly to the two people behind him, "You two continue."
Lu Yuanyuan and Jia Song snapped out of their daze and resumed digging. After an unknown amount of time, one of their shovels finally struck something hard with a "click."
It is the lid of the coffin.
Using spiritual power, the coffin was lifted from the soil. The coffin lid was nailed with many thick iron nails, but for a cultivator, removing the nails was not difficult. As soon as the coffin lid was lifted a crack, a strong stench of decay rose into the air, almost knocking a person over.
Not only the people near the coffin, but also the surrounding villagers smelled it, covering their noses and retreating in disgust. Ah Hui couldn't stand it after just one glance and immediately knelt on the ground and vomited.
The coffin contained the body of a small woman, who appeared to have been a very thin child in life. Maggots swarmed across the corpse, with the neck area being the most severely decomposed.
Jia Song mustered up his courage and glanced at it, but immediately looked like he was about to faint. His stomach churned, and he covered his mouth and rushed to the side.
Lu Yuanyuan was arguably the calmest of the three, firstly because she was mentally prepared, and secondly because she had lived two lives and completed numerous missions, so this wasn't the first time she had seen a corpse. She knew very well that the most severely decomposed areas were likely the sites of the fatal wounds suffered before death.
Suppressing the stench that assaulted her nostrils even as she held her breath, Lu Yuanyuan took out gloves from her storage ring and slowly reached towards the female corpse's neck, intending to touch the bones. However, her peripheral vision caught her attention by some unnatural curves.
Her eyes widened suddenly.
The next second, her hand changed direction and, almost trembling, reached towards the woman's legs. She lifted the clothes, revealing no pants underneath, so she saw two rotting legs spread out like a frog, and in the middle of the legs, a piece of blackened flesh was stuck.
It was an infant whose original shape was almost unrecognizable.
Because of a difficult birth, he got stuck here and died along with his mother, still connected by the umbilical cord.
But because of the noise of the coffin being opened and the body continuing to decompose, it has now slipped out.
The moment this scene, more shocking than she had imagined, entered her eyes, Lu Yuanyuan was stunned. After belatedly realizing what it was, an indescribable anger ignited within her, like a fuse being lit in her brain.
Lu Yuanyuan swayed. She held onto the coffin with one hand, while her other hand trembled as it reached towards the mass of flesh. However, before she could actually touch it, she couldn't bear it any longer and stopped. At that moment, a pair of hands reached out from under her eyelids and gently covered the naked lower half of the female corpse with a cloth.
Lu Yuanyuan suddenly looked up and saw Duan Lansheng's profile.
Duan Lansheng had arrived at some unknown time. Normally a clean freak, he showed no disgust at the corpse in the coffin. His black hair was tied up high, his expression solemn and serious, his lips pursed, and his hand placed inside the coffin, like a clean snowflake before dawn, gently covering the female corpse with his outer garment.
Noticing that Lu Yuanyuan was staring at him, Duan Lansheng turned his head, gave her a reassuring look, and with a slight effort, pushed the lid of the coffin shut.
The coffin was closed and carried to the ground.
The other two graves were also set up in the same manner, with coffins erected. Finally, at dawn, all three coffins were placed in front of the thatched hut in Aipozi Village. Almost everyone in Aipozi Village came and whispered among themselves in front of the hut.
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