Chapter 173 The Wind Rises
Simply dig up the grave and check if the body was burned to death—
Loquats can verify whether your guess is correct or not.
At first, he didn't know why he had been sent here, but now he thought, perhaps it was for this. To uncover the truth with his own hands, and to put an end to all of this.
"Let's go," Pipa said to the white cat that had been observing her the whole time.
The latter tilted its head, revealing a puzzled, animalistic expression.
Pipa didn't pay much attention, and the two of them continued up the winding mountain path... but this time, Pipa was in front.
Having clarified its direction and knowing what it needs to do next, Pipa no longer needs anyone to guide it.
—He now has his own path to walk.
Under the blazing sun, the heat was unbearable, and all the plants along the way had withered, just like the loquat tree in the corner of my yard.
The higher he went, the more strenuous it became for Pipa... Whether it was his parched throat that felt like it was burning or his ankles that ached so much they were almost numb, both of these things made him feel deeply tired and in pain, but they did not stop him from going up.
I don't know how long we walked.
The sun was gradually hidden behind the clouds, and the air, which had been so still, seemed to finally have a slight breeze blowing.
Pipa took a deep breath and slowly stood still on the earthen slope in her memory.
I had initially thought that it might be difficult to find any trace of it because so much time had passed.
When they arrived at the destination, they discovered that their worries were completely unnecessary.
The burial mound is right there; you can see it at a glance.
Besides being higher than the surrounding ground, there is another obvious distinguishing feature: the soil in that area shows signs of having been recently turned over.
Upon seeing this, Pipa was momentarily stunned, but quickly recovered.
Since I haven't left Nancun during this period, it's very likely that my mother was only recently buried.
Thinking about this, Pipa began to feel a little nervous.
Because it is highly likely that what he will soon see is not some long-decayed skeleton, but his mother, who has only recently died, from his memories.
Pipa stood in front of the grave for a while.
Then he realized that he had come all this way to dig up graves, but he didn't even have a single handy tool.
Although the soil on the grave looked like it had been freshly turned, it had been exposed to the scorching sun and had not been moistened by rain, so it had long since hardened and was not so easy to dig up.
Just as Pipa was searching around, trying to find a handy stone or some dry twig to use as a tool...
Suddenly, he felt a cool, furry touch on his calf. Looking down, he saw Yuanxiao, who hadn't moved in a long time, rubbing against his calf in a coquettish manner.
Pipa was about to speak up and tell Yuanxiao not to disturb her.
Before he could finish speaking, he froze.
Because he suddenly noticed that the latter was holding something that looked somewhat familiar in its mouth.
Upon closer inspection, he was even more surprised—wasn't this Shen Yun's dagger?
Pipa remembered that she had accidentally lost the dagger while fighting with the vines.
The problem is, if it's true, as Pipa previously thought, that she ended up here because time had reversed, then...
So why did the dagger that Shen Yun was supposed to give him a few years later appear ahead of schedule?
—Or is this not actually Shen Yun's dagger?
Seeing that she couldn't figure it out for the time being, Pipa decided to put the problem aside for the time being, since the most urgent task at hand was to find out the cause of her mother's death.
Pipa bent down and took the dagger from Yuanxiao's mouth, then reached out and patted Yuanxiao's head.
"Thank you for bringing this, and for showing me the way earlier." He thanked her sincerely.
At the same time, he felt Yuanxiao rub her head against his palm, and the cool, soft touch felt somewhat familiar.
It's like...
Just like what Li Xiao once did.
Thinking of this, Pipa couldn't help but glance at Yuanxiao again. The latter remained obedient and quiet, her excessively beautiful emerald cat eyes casting a focused gaze at him.
"Li Xiao?" Pipa blurted out involuntarily.
But when Yuanxiao heard the name, she just tilted her head and looked at him with a puzzled expression.
—As expected, I was overthinking it.
At this time, Young Master Li should still be at home, surrounded by Mr. Ajiu and his group like a precious treasure.
How could it be a cat?
It's still such a thin cat, looking pitiful as if it hasn't eaten in a long time.
Thinking of this, Pipa couldn't help but say, "Yuanxiao, be good. After I finish my business, I'll take you to find something to eat, okay?"
Only after the words were spoken did I belatedly realize that I had been somewhat presumptuous.
After all, Pipa hadn't even found a drop of water at home, and he was just as hungry and thirsty. What could he possibly offer in return?
But Yuanxiao seemed to understand, and even believed. The white cat blinked, without making a sound, but simply used its long, flexible tail to hook and entwine Pipa's fingers.
—Hanging with a hook.
It seems there's no way to deny it now.
Pipa couldn't help but sigh inwardly. In any case, she would just have to take it one step at a time.
When Pipa first shoveled the dagger into the ground, he was a little hesitant. Using such a sharp dagger to dig up graves was a bit of a waste.
After two, three... seven, eight, nine, or even ten strokes, Pipa gradually forgot about it and focused all her attention on digging soil on the grave.
Fortunately, after digging through the relatively hard top layer of soil, the soil became increasingly loose as they dug deeper.
Thanks to the sharp dagger in his hand, his work efficiency was greatly improved.
As the excavation progressed deeper, Pipa's knife movements became less sweeping and aggressive than before, because he was unsure of the exact depth of the burial site and worried that he might accidentally stab the corpse directly.
Finally, after who knows how much time had passed, the dagger that had been shoveled into the soil was scraped by something. Carefully pulling it out, it turned out to be a piece of grayish cloth.
Upon seeing this, Pipa immediately dropped the dagger, stretched out both hands, and began frantically scrambling with her ten fingers.
The pressed-down fabric was gradually revealed, and then a small finger was wrapped in the fabric.
Upon seeing those fingers, Pipa froze for a moment, an incredulous expression suddenly appearing on her face. Then, as if she had gone mad, she began digging into the soil with her hands with even greater urgency.
My fingers were cut by the grit, and my nails cracked and bled from the repeated digging. I didn’t care at all.
Finally, he could see what was buried under the soil...
He couldn't help but catch his breath, and his eyes widened suddenly.
The beads of sweat that had been accumulating on my forehead finally broke down as if unable to bear the weight any longer, falling into my eyes and causing an indescribable stinging pain.
Pipa couldn't help but close her eyes briefly, but before the pain had completely subsided, she eagerly opened them again.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from my stinging eyes, blurring my vision.
Nevertheless, Pipa clearly saw that what emerged from the pit was indeed a corpse.
—But there is more than one.
There were two people buried in this burial mound at the same time, one adult and one child.
The older female corpse was naturally Pipa's mother, while Pipa hadn't had time to completely dig out the other corpse; she only saw a section of the other person's wrist that had fallen out of the soil.
It appeared to be broken, with white bone protruding from the flesh, and the finger joints were twisted to varying degrees.
However, what terrified Pipa the most was the sleeve hanging above her arm.
Even though it was covered in mud, Pipa could still recognize the small patch on the inside of his sleeve at a glance—it was clearly sewn on by his mother…
The reason I'm so sure is because the garment also contains loquats.
Even on the day she left Nancun and boarded the ship, Pipa was wearing this very outfit.
Exactly the same, even the shape of the patch and the direction of the stitches are exactly the same...
For a moment, Pipa felt an unprecedented sense of confusion.
He instinctively grabbed a lock of his hair, swaying and backing away while muttering to himself, "How is this possible?"
Yeah, how could that be...?
Why are my clothes on a corpse out of the blue?
Whose body is it that is wearing his clothes and buried with his mother?
Even the slender arm that peeked out from the sleeve looked somewhat familiar... like...
Thinking of this, Pipa subconsciously glanced at her arm, then quickly looked away.
Because a terrifying conjecture suddenly flashed through Pipa's mind, a conjecture that even he himself could not accept, yet it was so vivid and intensely clamoring in his mind.
That is...
That is...
Before Pipa could banish that terrible thought from her mind, she suddenly tripped over her staggering steps.
He immediately lost his balance and unexpectedly fell to the other side.
In my haste, my outstretched hand seemed to press against something hard, and I suddenly felt a sharp pain.
"ah!"
This time, Pipa finally couldn't help but cry out.
The moment she hit the ground, Pipa felt half of her body go numb. But the most painful part was the hand that was supporting her by her side.
After calming down a bit, Pipa raised her hand and looked at it. Sure enough, there was a big gash in her palm, and blood was gushing out. The bright red color made Pipa's scalp tingle.
The culprit that caused all this was lying quietly to one side—the very dagger that Shen Yun had given him.
Just now, Pipa had almost dug up the hem of the clothes, but not wanting to cause further damage to the body, and also because he was eager and impatient to dig the person out, he carelessly tossed the dagger aside...
Unexpectedly, this resulted in a large cut on my hand.
As I noticed the wound on my palm, other wounds on my hands from digging also started to ache, especially the fingernails that had been split open by pebbles.
In addition, both arms ached as if they were filled with lead.
Even so, Pipa's attention was still focused on the two corpses in the dug-out grave, especially the corpse of a child wearing her own clothes.
He hesitated, wondering whether he should go forward and remove all the soil covering the other corpse to see if the face was as he suspected...
Pipa did have a suspicion in his heart, but he was afraid that he would not be able to withstand the huge shock that might come after the truth was verified.
It was at this moment that Pipa finally belatedly began to understand the voice that had echoed in her mind earlier, and the words spoken by the other person—
If you can make up your mind.
It probably doesn't refer to the act of digging up the grave with his own hands just now, but rather to what's happening now...
The burning hot palm, which was in so much pain that it was almost numb, suddenly felt a cool, moist sensation.
Pipa stiffly lowered her head, then saw Yuanxiao licking her palm with her tongue.
Yuanxiao licked the food very carefully, from the palm of her hand to each finger, and even the joints between her fingers, she licked them all very carefully, especially the broken skin and bleeding areas.
"etc……"
Pipa originally wanted to stop the other party, but his hands were still covered in mud, and cat tongues have barbs that could easily get caught in the flesh and cause further injury.
But to my surprise, the area that was licked felt cool and comfortable, like it had been treated with medicine.
Even the large gash that had been cut open by the dagger, from which blood was gushing out, quickly stopped bleeding.
Pipa tried moving her fingers back and forth, and sure enough, it didn't hurt as much as before.
A hint of gratitude crept into her gaze as she looked at Yuanxiao.
At times like these, having something by his side to distract him, even something as simple as a cat that can't speak, would be wonderful.
"Thank you." Pipa thanked the white cat again, a touch of emotion welling up inside her. "This is the second time already."
Because of the injury on her hand, Pipa did not immediately reach out to touch Yuanxiao's cat head after thanking her.
Yuanxiao didn't show any dissatisfaction; it just flicked its tail lightly behind it, as if expressing agreement with Pipa's words.
Then Yuanxiao suddenly opened her mouth and this time bit a section of Pipa's trouser leg, gently tugged it, and then let go.
Then, under Pipa's puzzled gaze, he turned around and slowly walked to the grave mound that had already been dug up.
She sat down again beside the mound of earth where the body of what looked like a child was buried, and then turned back to gaze quietly at them with her emerald green eyes.
That long, soft tail swayed gently and nimbly behind her.
They seem to be waiting for something...
"Are you waiting for me to come over?" Pipa couldn't help but blurt out.
Yuanxiao made no other gesture; she simply sat there quietly watching.
Pipa stopped talking, got up from the ground, and dusted himself off.
I glanced at the sky; it was gloomy, with thick clouds pressing down as if a downpour was imminent.
The wind is rising—
The gentle breeze couldn't completely dispel the lingering stuffiness and heaviness in the air, but it seemed to slowly blow away the last trace of worry in Pipa's heart.
The heavy rain eventually fell, just as he would eventually have to face the truth of everything.
—If not, then why did I come here?
Now that things have come to this, why doesn't he dare to do it?
Pipa took a deep breath and walked towards the grave mound again. This time, he walked steadily and firmly; his steps revealed that he had made up his mind.
Pipa stopped in front of the dug-up grave.
However, he did not immediately look at the corpse. Instead, he turned to the white cat, who was quietly observing everything, and calmly asked, "You brought me here so that I could see this. You knew all along."
Yuanxiao was still as quiet and well-behaved as ever, staring at this side with her round, beautiful eyes.
But the moment it heard Pipa say that, the tail that had been wagging back and forth behind it paused slightly.
"Was that your voice from down the mountain just now?" Pipa asked again.
This time, as the words fell, Yuanxiao's tail stopped wagging. Its emerald eyes flickered, as if a complex emotion was surging within them.
After saying what she wanted to say, Pipa didn't look at Yuanxiao's reaction anymore.
Instead, he squatted down and calmly began to continue the work he had just finished.
He moved carefully, starting from below, first digging out the corpse's two legs.
Like the broken hand, the other person also had varying degrees of injury to their feet and legs.
Pipa focused his attention on the corpse's ankles. Although he was mentally prepared, the familiar deformity still made his heart sink.
As you continue upwards, each familiar mark seems like a straw breaking the camel's back.
finally……
Pipa looked at the corpse in front of her, the small, almost broken body, with only the head remaining.
Just then, by sheer coincidence, a raindrop suddenly hit the corner of his eye.
Pipa was taken aback. Just as she raised her hand to wipe it away with the back of her hand, she suddenly heard that not-so-unfamiliar voice.
[This is the last time, are you sure you really want to continue?]
This time, Pipa heard it clearly; the source of the sound was Yuanxiao, who was standing nearby.
If you regret it, I can send you back right now, and you can forget everything here and start your life anew...
However, Pipa quietly interrupted the other party's suggestion.
"Let's forget about it."
As he spoke, a smile suddenly appeared on his face that even he found inexplicable: "What's that saying again? 'Since we're already here, how can we easily turn back now?'"
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