Jiang An and Chen Xun carefully lifted the body out of the coffin and then carefully filled the soil back in, making sure that no trace of digging was left.
Then they began digging the next grave.
People die in the village every day and need to be buried here, so they must be careful and try not to be discovered.
"Alright, let's go!" Jiang An said in a low voice.
"Okay!" The two didn't dare to delay and quickly lifted the four corpses, preparing to leave the place.
However, at that moment, Jiang An suddenly shouted alertly, "Who is it?"
The two immediately tensed up, their nerves taut, gripping their shovels tightly, ready to fight at any moment.
"It's me!" A familiar voice rang out, and they finally recognized Zhang Shunli. Their hearts, which had been hanging in suspense, instantly settled down.
"Uncle Zhang, why are you here?"
“I came to scout ahead for you. Song Tian just discovered that two villagers were missing from the main house. After she told me, I rushed over immediately!” Zhang Shunli said softly, looking at the corpses on the ground.
"Xiao Han has already gone to find those two villagers, while Xiao Song is in charge of keeping watch on the surroundings. We need to leave as soon as possible to avoid arousing suspicion. I'll scout ahead. If we encounter any danger or unusual situations, you all need to find a safe place to hide immediately. Under no circumstances should anyone discover that we are smuggling corpses!"
"Don't worry, Uncle Zhang!" Chen Xun said solemnly.
"Let's hurry up and go! Otherwise it'll be troublesome when it gets dark!" Zhang Shunli said in a low voice.
"OK!"
As they talked, their hands never stopped moving, carrying the body quickly toward Jiang An's thatched hut.
The three of them proceeded cautiously and remained vigilant throughout, and finally succeeded in transporting the body back to Jiang An's thatched hut.
Zhang Shunli looked around and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he was not being followed.
The two men carrying the body breathed a sigh of relief; they were safe for the time being.
"What do we do next?" Chen asked.
"Hide the body first, and deal with it tomorrow," Jiang An said calmly.
They placed the body in a corner of the thatched hut and covered it with some tattered clothes.
"Alright, let's hurry back so we don't arouse suspicion," Zhang Shunli said.
Jiang An and Chen Xun nodded and quietly left the thatched hut with Zhang Shunli.
The village was exceptionally quiet at dusk, and their footsteps sounded particularly clear in the silence.
The three of them quickly walked towards the main house and finally entered it before the last glimmer of white light disappeared.
"Where have you three been? Why are you so late? Don't you know we can't go out at this time in Ping'an Village?" A stern voice suddenly rang out.
A cold sweat broke out on Jiang An's back. After all, she had just experienced a thrilling event, and hearing such a question made her feel nervous.
Fortunately, Zhang Shunli finally realized what was happening and hurriedly explained, "Village chief, these two kids were craving meat, so I took them up the mountain to hunt a pheasant!"
As he spoke, he took a plump pheasant out of the basket on his back and showed it to everyone.
Seeing this, Jiang An secretly rejoiced that he had met a benefactor.
She was worried about how to explain to the village that she had returned so late, but she didn't expect that Team Leader Zhang had already prepared a reason, and it was so seamless.
She couldn't help but sigh that she was still too naive and hadn't considered things thoroughly enough.
In contrast, Team Leader Zhang clearly knew how to handle this situation better; he truly lived up to his reputation as an experienced senior.
"Pheasant! There are pheasants on the mountain! It's been so long since I've smelled any meat!" A greedy villager muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed on the pheasant in Zhang Shunli's hand, his gaze filled with lust.
The village chief's attitude softened noticeably. He waved his hand and said, "This is a one-time exception. What do these young people know? This is a matter of life and death for our village. We cannot allow any loss!"
Jiang An glanced at the two people huddled behind Zhang Shunli and then hurriedly said, "Give the pheasant to Tian Er's family. We'll stew it tomorrow so everyone can have a taste of meat. You can all go back now!"
After saying that, he turned and left, no longer pursuing the matter.
"Yes, village chief!"
Jiang An took the opportunity to find a corner and blend into the crowd.
But that was obviously impossible. Before long, a few gossipy aunties came over.
Ask her how she caught the pheasant.
... ...
That night, Jiang An tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, her mind filled with countless thoughts.
She tried to calm herself down as she thought about the recent events, but every time she closed her eyes, those terrifying images would flash through her mind, making it impossible for her to fall asleep.
And so, time passed by, minute by minute, and I spent the entire night sleepless.
The only constant is that another person dies in the middle of the night, but this time it's not an adult male, but a middle-aged woman.
Not far from Jiang An, the middle-aged woman quietly clutched her neck and howled until the very last moment of her life.
Thanks to her proximity, she rushed over immediately. At that moment, she clearly smelled a faint, sweet scent on the neck of the deceased.
It vanished in the blink of an eye, and she could no longer smell it. If she hadn't been constantly alert and hadn't had her rudimentary sense of touch, she would have mistaken the smell she had just experienced for an illusion.
But she was absolutely certain that she could smell it clearly.
Jiang An secretly made a mental note of this discovery. She would share it with the team when they met up the next day, pooling their wisdom to search for clues together. She believed that they would make a discovery soon.
The next morning, Jiang An arrived at the team's meeting point early, her heart filled with anticipation and nervousness.
As the team members arrived one after another, she couldn't wait to share her findings from the previous night with everyone.
“I smelled a strange odor on the deceased last night, near the neck, but it disappeared quickly,” Jiang An said firmly.
Upon hearing this, everyone showed expressions of surprise.
"Really? What does it taste like?" someone asked curiously.
"It's hard to describe. It's a bit like floral scent, but not exactly the same." Jiang An tried hard to recall the characteristics of the scent.
Everyone fell into deep thought and began to discuss the possible meaning of this strange smell.
"Are you sure?" Team Leader Zhang asked.
“I’m sure. I have a basic sense of smell. Although the scent was very faint, and I was very close to the deceased at the time, if I had been a step slower, I wouldn’t have noticed it!” Jiang An answered confidently.
"Could it be related to the murderer? Perhaps this is some kind of trace he left behind," someone speculated.
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