"What do you want me to believe?"
Hua Shibu asked back without anger.
Hua Yu blinked: "Believe me, I didn't do it."
He said as a matter of course...
"It has already happened. What's the point of me believing it or not?"
…
In less than two days, three people died in the Hua family. The first two drowned. When the bodies were carried back that night, the old man, who was paralyzed in bed, heard that his wife and son had drowned one after another. He was already in poor health, and the shock of this also caused him to die...
Less than a month after the New Year, news of deaths came one after another in the village. Although the villagers knew that it was an accident, the matter of life and death was a matter of life and death, and they had witnessed the corpses and the glaring bloodstains with their own eyes, which inevitably made people panic.
This matter spread like wildfire and became a topic of conversation among the villagers after dinner...
In order to calm the restless people, the village chief Li Kui made an exception and invited a fortune teller who only came out once a year to perform a ritual to pray for the souls of the two families on the seventh day after the funeral.
On the day of the burial, in the Hua family's ancestral hall, more than a dozen big men carried three heavy coffins and walked towards the west of the village.
Along the way, the villagers who came to watch the fun followed and watched, lowering their voices and whispering to each other.
Hua Shi walked at the front of the team, holding Li's spirit tablet in his hand, with his head lowered. Everywhere he looked was thick white snow.
Half a step behind her were Hua Xiao and Hua Li. The two twins, only slightly taller than her waist, were holding the spirit tablets of Hua Ciyuan and Old Man Hua in their hands. One could faintly hear their soft sobs.
Right in front of her was Hua Yu, holding a wooden stick high in both hands. There were several white ribbons tied to the top of the stick. If you look closely, you can see several lines of incomprehensible characters written on the ribbons.
After that, all the elders of the Hua family died, and Hua Yu was the eldest grandson of the Hua family. The title of head of the household would be transferred to him.
Today is the seventh day after the death of Mrs. Li and Mr. Hua, and the seventh day after the death of Hua Ciyuan passed yesterday. However, the village chief Li Kui told her that he would ask a fortune teller to come today to pray for the soul of the deceased. In order to make things easier, he would just leave one piece for burial, saying that it wouldn't make a difference if it was a day or two.
In addition, in the dead of winter with snow, the corpse will not stink even if left for two more days, so Hua Shi naturally has no objection.
The shrill sounds of trumpets and suonas rang in my ears, and the mourning women and children behind me were crying at the top of their lungs.
Along the way, the sharp and piercing sounds of suona and wailing continued.
The flowers hang their heads and are silent.
If you look closely, you can see that her lower legs are trembling a little, and the snow has gotten into her shoes and socks. She feels her legs are numb and cold, and she is almost unconscious.
She and Hua Yu knelt in the ancestral hall and guarded the spirit for seven whole days without leaving.
Because she had spent most of her time kneeling in front of the coffin and burning spirit money, she was now sleepy and tired, her legs were numb, and her energy had been completely drained in these seven days.
She just wanted to finish it quickly, run home, take a nice hot bath and have a good sleep.
well……
Her eyelids were drooping, but the sharp sound of the suona, which was almost piercing her eardrums, forced her to tense up.
She raised her eyes slightly and looked straight ahead, seeing Hua Yu who looked energetic. Her gaze fell on his straight back and then dropped down again.
After Li's death, Hua Yu's back, which had been hunched, straightened up unconsciously when she was half-conscious.
It was obvious... He had devised a trap by every possible means and had achieved his goal, which made him very satisfied...
"stop--!"
Her thoughts were swirling, and when she came to her senses, she found that she had arrived at the burial place.
Hua Shi raised his head slightly, looked around, and a hint of doubt flashed across his face.
If it’s a cemetery, why aren’t there any tombstones around here…?
Before she could react, the shrill horn sound stopped, leaving only the mourner at the end of the procession, sobbing softly.
The dozen or so people carrying the coffin seemed to have been informed in advance and walked in one direction as if they were familiar with the route.
Hua Shi saw them push aside a long and dense vine, revealing the entrance to the cave hidden inside.
The pitch-black cave entrance looked so dark and deep from the outside that nothing could be seen clearly.
Then, the three coffins were carried into the cave. The people standing outside only saw their disappearing backs.
After about four or five minutes, the dozen or so people who had carried the coffin came out again, and the vines that had been peeled off were sealed again...
"Uncle Hua, will the coffin be placed in the cave? Aren't we going to bury it?"
Hua Shi turned his head to look at Hua Tingjing standing in the crowd, took two steps forward, and asked in a low voice the doubts in his heart.
Hearing this, Hua Tingjing turned around and explained, "You might not know this since you're still young, but when our ancestors first arrived here, they were fleeing disaster. Back then, it was freezing cold, just like it is now. They were cold and hungry, and many people froze to death. Back then, there was no way to bury the dead, so they just found a cave and buried them there. This custom has been passed down ever since."
Hua Shi listened to it.
Hua Tingjing continued, "Don't be fooled by the small size of this cave from the outside. It's a hidden gem inside. It can hold the coffins of everyone in the village..."
As if he felt that what he said was inappropriate, Hua Tingjing quickly waved his hand and said, "Hey, don't say such unlucky words!"
"But don't worry, this cave has been seen by others. It's cold year-round. If you put a coffin in there, it won't spoil easily, and the body won't stink easily. Even if you put it in there like this, even if it's buried, the memorial tablet can be placed in the ancestral hall or at home."
Seeing that she pursed her lips and remained silent, Hua Tingjing comforted her again.
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