It shouldn't be what I think.
I couldn't help but tremble slightly, but I quickly suppressed it.
As I approached, I saw that the person presiding over the ceremony was an elderly man. I had met him once before, during yesterday's chase.
He handed us three lit incense sticks, which we took and symbolically bowed to the corpse.
We didn't want to cause any trouble, so we prepared to put the incense sticks into the earthenware pot that served as a makeshift path and leave immediately.
After all, we've already paid our respects and offered incense, so they have no reason to stop us from leaving.
However, just as I bent down to insert the incense sticks and my gaze inadvertently swept across the edge of the white cloth, my movements suddenly froze.
A chill ran from the soles of my feet straight up to the top of my head.
As if by coincidence, a cold morning breeze blew by, lifting a corner of the white sheet and revealing a hand and part of the forearm of the corpse.
That hand was rough, covered in calluses, and looked like an ordinary person's hand, except that it was a bit bluish-white in color.
After all, he was dead, so it's not surprising that he was a little pale.
What truly made my blood almost freeze was the crisscrossing, charred marks that covered that hand and forearm.
This is the mark left by the yang energy slash of my peach wood sword!
Having used the peach wood sword so many times, I am very familiar with those marks, and if I sniff carefully, I can almost smell the scent of my own blood.
Impossible! How could it be such a coincidence? Could it really be what I'm thinking?!
My breathing suddenly became rapid, and my hair stood on end.
Luo Tianhe and Li Huai noticed my strange behavior and both looked surprised, wondering why I was reacting so strongly.
I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down, but I still couldn't help but say:
"Grandpa, could you let us see the deceased one last time? To express our condolences."
I speak without thinking, and what I say is completely nonsensical.
After all, I'm not a relative of the deceased, so what reason or right do I have to see him one last time?
A normal person would never agree to my request.
But the old man presiding over the ceremony glanced at me with his cloudy old eyes and said nothing.
He slowly extended his arm, which was covered with age spots, and pinched a corner of the white cloth.
Time seemed to stretch out at that moment, and I couldn't help but hold my breath.
The surrounding villagers remained silent, but their eyes seemed to have undergone a subtle change.
I couldn't help but look around and noticed that their eyes no longer seemed so empty, but instead carried a hint of barely perceptible malice and mockery.
Am I mistaken? The old man clearly said that these people are normal during the day!
I tried to calm myself down and stop paying attention to the villagers around me. As the white sheet was slowly lifted...
The first thing that was revealed was a wide-open, bloodshot eye!
His pupils were dilated, filled with extreme fear.
Then came the entire face, with its bluish-gray skin and stiff muscle lines.
My pupils constricted; I recognized him!
He was the villager who charged ahead with Wang Fugui last night and was the one I focused on with my peach wood sword, leaving the most sword marks on his face, neck, and body!
Wang Fugui said his name was Li Laosi, and that he had fallen to his death while walking at night last night.
But as we saw with our own eyes, he turned into a walking corpse last night and was hacked to death by me, sword by sword.
And there wasn't the slightest sign of injury on his body. A tremendous sense of horror gripped my heart like an icy hand, almost suffocating me.
"They did it on purpose, they absolutely did it on purpose!"
I was screaming internally, but I couldn't utter a single word.
Luo Tianhe and Li Huai recognized the face instantly, and both of them turned ashen-faced.
Li Huai couldn't help but take a step back, staggering and almost falling.
At this moment, Wang Fugui came closer to me again, and the formulaic sorrow on his ordinary face disappeared.
Instead, there was an extremely bizarre expression, a mixture of numbness and a hint of cruel mockery.
I suddenly realized that Wang Fugui's face was incredibly repulsive.
He stared at me with those empty eyes, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a tiny upward arc:
"Guest, look how restless Li Laosi is in his departure."
"Did you see him yesterday?"
"Of course I haven't seen him. If I hadn't seen him, I wouldn't have let him fall to his death like that."
I squeezed out those words through gritted teeth: "Fell to your death," emphasizing the last two words.
Upon hearing what I said, Wang Fugui's smile gradually faded.
The surrounding villagers remained silent, but I noticed that their encirclement seemed to have inadvertently shrunk a little.
Those eyes that were just somewhat empty before now felt like countless invisible needles pricking us.
Luo Tianhe, standing to the side, had already reached his right hand inside his clothes and was gripping a retractable baton tightly.
I know that Luo Tianhe is about to reach his breaking point.
If these villagers were in the same state as yesterday, he estimated they would probably just run away.
However, if they just act like somewhat strange people, then Luo Tianhe's extendable baton won't be polite to them.
Li Huai gritted his teeth, and veins bulged on his neck.
For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the room.
I looked around at the dozens of villagers. Although they were not as tall as us, they appeared somewhat thin and withered.
However, two fists can't beat four hands, and now we have three people against forty or fifty people, so our chances of winning are extremely slim.
Just at this critical moment, a hoarse voice broke the silence.
"Fugui, what are you doing here with so many people?"
I instinctively looked over and saw that it was that lame old man!
He appeared on the outskirts of the crowd at some point, hands behind his back, hunched over, and strolled over slowly as if taking a walk.
When the villagers saw him, their eyes flickered, and they instinctively made way for him.
This is an old man who seems to be quite respected among the villagers during the day.
Wang Fugui's strange expression vanished instantly, replaced by his usual formulaic sorrow. He turned to the old man and said:
"Seventh Uncle, these are three guests from outside who came to see Li Laosi off. Li Laosi died a terrible death; he was literally thrown to his death."
Seventh Uncle glanced at the corpse on the bed and let out a soft snort.
"Heh, they certainly died a horrible death, but it has nothing to do with those outsiders, don't you think?"
Seventh Uncle looked at Wang Fugui, who immediately nodded as if he had swallowed a dead fly.
"Now that it's been delivered, the sentiment is what matters."
Seventh Uncle said calmly, but his tone carried an unquestionable air.
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