Chapter 67

Hu Daniu looked gloomily at the coffin that was almost placed right in front of his house. After a while, he spat out in anger:

"Damn it, who did I offend to deserve this?"

Thinking about how Chen Lao Da had vented all his anger on him today, he felt his teeth grind in frustration. But to be fair, he couldn't blame others. Ultimately, it was his own fault for sticking his nose into other people's business and speaking out of turn.

Knowing that Chen Lao Da was in a bad mood, he still insisted on talking about the rules and suggested burning and burying the coffin in a remote place, which would have avoided this ominous situation.

"Fine, since it's already here, I'll help you guard it for the last day. After all, it's the least I can do."

At this point, Hu Daniu suddenly closed his mouth, as if afraid someone might hear him. He looked around, and seeing no one, he sighed in relief, slapped himself, and muttered:

"Why am I becoming like Zhao Kuaimouth, saying everything that comes to mind?"

Hu Daniu rubbed his slightly swollen old face and looked at the coffin with a strange expression.

Today was the seventh day after Xiaoli's death, and also the last day of the wake in Hulu Village. After today, she could be buried. In Hulu Village, they generally used earth burial, but in special cases, they used cremation.

For example, for someone like Xiaoli who died under abnormal circumstances.

They believed that such a person was full of resentment, and if the body was not completely burned, it could come back to life and harm others. The wake was also meant to resolve the deceased's resentment.

Hu Daniu didn't really understand these things. After all, his real job was a carpenter, making not only coffins but also other furniture. His identity as a fortune-teller was something he had fabricated himself.

Since no one in the village knew about these things, he wasn't completely bluffing; he did know a bit about it.

After a lot of effort, Hu Daniu finally moved the coffin from outside into his yard.

Since his wife had died early, he had no children and lived alone, so he wasn't afraid of anything. After setting up the coffin, he found some white silk from his house to use for mourning, and arranged the coffin properly.

But this arrangement was actually a form of protection, meant to seal the spirit inside the coffin to prevent it from coming back to life and harming others.

"Done."

Hu Daniu patted his hands, relieved. Seeing that it was getting late and his stomach was growling, he closed the yard gate and returned to his house.

Only the coffin, wrapped in white silk, was left, with water seeping out from the seam of the lid.

"Hiss"

As they came out of Chen Lao Da's house, Xia Tianqi and Leng Yue were about to leave to find some villagers who might know something, but Chen Lao Da, who had rushed out of the house, stopped them:

"Comrades, wait a moment."

Hearing Chen Lao Da call them "comrades," Xia Tianqi's eyebrows raised, and he said to Leng Yue with a strange expression:

"Yueyue, did you hear what he said?"

"What?"

"He said we are comrades, but we have no relationship."

Hearing this, Leng Yue realized that Xia Tianqi was shamelessly teasing him again. He coldly snorted in dissatisfaction and turned to Chen Lao Da, who had approached them.

"Is there anything else, Brother Chen?"

Leng Yue spoke as politely as before.

"It's still about the family matters. Sigh, I'm really making a fool of myself. My daughter-in-law and my foolish son, sigh."

Chen Lao Da couldn't help but sigh with a worried look.

They had just come out of Chen Cong's house, so they understood his current situation. Chen Cong, despite being dehydrated to the point of barely having a breath left, hadn't passed away. It was unknown whether the female ghost was still tormenting him.

As for Chen Lao Da's current actions, it seemed he had learned about their investigation in the village today and had come to explain some things.

"Brother Chen, we understand your feelings. The pain of losing a loved one is not something everyone can bear. We are the ones who should apologize for disturbing you at this time."

Despite Leng Yue's usually cold and indifferent demeanor, he was quite eloquent in such situations, which made Xia Tianqi think that Leng Yue wasn't bad at talking, but simply didn't want to talk to him.

Hearing Leng Yue's words, Chen Lao Da's worried expression eased a bit, and he said gratefully:

"It's good that you understand, good that you understand. If there's anything you need me to do, just say the word, and I, Chen Lao Da, will definitely do it."

"Your words give us peace of mind, Brother Chen."

After a bit more conversation, they finally managed to send Chen Lao Da back.

After Chen Lao Da left, they went back to their house and sat for a while symbolically before leaving under the cover of night.

However, they didn't notice that Chen Lao Da was standing by the window of the opposite house, looking at them thoughtfully with a grim expression.

Just as Hu Daniu was about to serve the food he had just prepared, he heard his neighbor, Old Wang, shouting:

"Daniu, Daniu!"

Since they were both close to Chen Lao Da and lived next to each other, they often interacted, and their relationship was quite good.

"Coming, coming."

Hu Daniu took the wok off the stove and hurriedly ran out to open the door for Old Wang.

"What's the matter? You sound like you're calling a ghost. I'm in the middle of cooking, have you eaten?"

"Not yet, to be honest, I can't eat." Old Wang sighed:

"It's been several days, and I've been feeling anxious, always thinking something terrible is going to happen."

"Stop scaring yourself. What terrible thing could happen in our village? Even birds don't bother to defecate here."

Although Hu Daniu said this, he was also feeling uneasy, as he had been feeling this way for several days.

"Let me say something you might laugh at. Since I saw that woman's floating corpse, I've been having nightmares every night. In the dream, she turns into a vengeful ghost and chokes me, saying she's come to take revenge.

Do you think people who do bad things really get punished, and can be haunted by ghosts?"

Old Wang spoke seriously, and seeing that he wasn't joking, Hu Daniu's lips twitched as he tried to comfort him:

"Stop scaring yourself. What's done is done, and you enjoyed it. Now regretting it is meaningless. Besides, if there were really such a thing as retribution, Chen Lao Da would have died many times over.

I think you're just idle."

Hu Daniu thought that after hearing this, Old Wang would feel a bit better, but unexpectedly, Old Wang replied:

"Why hasn't Chen Lao Da been punished? Didn't you see his foolish son almost turn into a mummy? If it wasn't retribution, why would a healthy person end up like that?"

Hearing Old Wang mention Chen Cong, Hu Daniu felt his body stiffen. Indeed, as Old Wang said, Chen Cong's condition was very strange, especially the continuous seepage of water from his body, which made him think of the stiff body of Xiaoli, who had floated on the Hulu River.

Thinking of this, Hu Daniu broke out in a cold sweat. Then he saw Old Wang, standing at the door, pointing behind him and asking in confusion:

"Is there another family in the village that has lost someone?"

Hu Daniu knew Old Wang was referring to Xiaoli's coffin. He instinctively looked back and explained:

"Who else could it be? It's that woman."

Before he could finish, Hu Daniu's eyes widened in terror.

"Why is the coffin lid open?"

"What's with all this water on the ground?"

...