Chapter 1

February 12th.

Mid-spring, the month of the hare, all things awaken from hibernation.

In the chill of early spring, the cold wind on the river was like a knife, and the ten thousand mountains seemed to sink like withered graves.

On the banks of the Yin River, there was a county.

It was called Chang County.

On the northern slope of Chang County, in a low, crippled hill, three incense sticks were stuck in the ground, and paper money for the dead was scattered. Two men, dressed in rough hemp clothing, were squatting by a pit, with hoes and freshly dug mud at their feet.

At this moment, neither of them spoke, their eyes fixed on the white-painted coffin in the soil pit.

According to folk customs, the colors of coffins are divided into five: red, white, black, yellow, and gold.

There are strict rules about this.

For example, the coffin for an elderly person who dies a natural death is red, as it is a happy death.

A black coffin is used for those who die violently or in battle, as black belongs to the element of water, which can suppress evil.

Poor families, unable to afford coffins, often wrap the dead in straw mats or use a few pieces of wood as a simple coffin, which are usually yellow, so poor families use yellow coffins.

A gold coffin is reserved for the nobility and high-ranking officials.

As for the white coffin, it is special.

It is only used for unmarried women and men.

However, according to the information Shuanzi and Chenpi had, the newly buried person in this grave should be a pregnant woman who died from a fall, not a white coffin.

"Brother Shuanzi, this is strange. Why is it a white coffin? Didn't they say the newly buried person was a pregnant woman?"

"Could it be an unmarried woman who was pregnant?"

"Or did we dig the wrong grave?"

Chenpi's lips trembled as he spoke.

If a girl becomes pregnant before marriage, it is considered a disgrace by her family and the clan, and in some places, the clan might even use private punishment, such as drowning in a pig cage.

How could anyone possibly bury and mourn her?

So, this is where the strangeness lies.

"You ask me, how should I know? I'm not her father. Since we're already here, let's just get it done. Quickly come down and help me pry open the coffin lid. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can leave this uncomfortable graveyard."

Shuanzi was a tall, strong man in his early thirties.

Chenpi was a few years younger, thin and small, with no backbone. Shuanzi led Chenpi into the pit and spat a few times into his palms. In the dark, the two of them used their hoes to pry out the coffin nails and, with great effort, finally lifted the coffin lid.

But when they held the torch and looked into the white coffin, they were greatly shocked.

Thud!

The most timid Chenpi was so frightened that he fell on his buttocks into the grave pit.

The temperature was very low at night, and they could see their own breath. The woman in the white coffin didn't look old, about sixteen or seventeen, wearing funeral clothes, with a waist like a willow branch and a flat stomach, not like someone who was pregnant. However, there was a black line around her neck.

It was a head that had been severed and then reattached.

Chenpi was frightened by the black line on the woman's neck.

Because of the dim light, at first, he thought it was a large, venomous centipede on the corpse, about to jump and bite him.

The woman's body in the white coffin had no black spots, no corpse spots, and no smell of decay. Instead, there was a faint, pleasant musk scent, indicating that she had died only a few days ago, probably not even a week.

She was still fresh.

The woman's face was very pale, which was normal for a corpse. She was wearing a red funeral robe.

If Chenpi hadn't been so scared and still in shock, he would have marveled at how beautiful the dead woman was.

Looking at the strange woman in the white coffin, Shuanzi's face changed, but he tried to remain calm and spat, "What's the panic? It's just a dead person."

"Speaking of dead people, this northern slope is a mass grave. The soil we're standing on is full of dead people and bones."

"If you want to leave quickly, come over and help me lift the woman. Remember, lift her by her clothes, don't touch her directly, or you might be taken by the living qi and the corpse might come back to life."

Shuanzi gave a light kick to the frightened Chenpi.

Under Shuanzi's coaxing and threats, Chenpi, with mud on his pants and sleeves, climbed out of the grave and shakily went to lift the woman in the white coffin.

Unexpectedly, the frail-looking woman was surprisingly heavy. Chenpi couldn't lift her the first time and almost fell into the coffin.

Shuanzi quickly grabbed Chenpi's belt, preventing him from colliding face-to-face with the corpse.

After a stern look from Shuanzi, Chenpi, with a stiff upper lip, continued to lift the woman.

Dead people are much heavier than living people.

That's why there's a saying, "dead heavy, dead heavy."

This time, they successfully lifted the woman without any trouble.

The woman's body was stiff and couldn't sit up. Chenpi held her under the armpits, dragging her half-body onto the edge of the coffin.

Then, Shuanzi, with a light leap, revealed himself to be a hidden martial artist, firmly stepping on both sides of the coffin, preparing to lift the corpse.

It turned out they were grave robbers, stealing dead bodies to make a profit.

Perhaps because of the movement of the body, the woman's funeral robe collar was a bit loose, and Chenpi, who had been shakily holding the woman, inadvertently saw the white, exposed skin inside her collar, his eyes fixed.

But at that moment, an unexpected event occurred.

Meow! In the night, a black cat with hungry green eyes suddenly darted out from a pile of grass, running to the mass grave to look for a corpse to eat.

According to folklore, there are three taboos for a dead body:

1. The dead body cannot touch the ground.

2. The living qi cannot be given to the dead.

3. Cats, foxes, and weasels cannot touch the dead.

Because a person who dies violently has a mouth full of resentment, and cats are yin, if they meet, it will definitely cause a zombie to rise.

Regardless of whether this folklore is true or not, in this situation, it's better to believe it.

"Quick! Stop that stray cat!"

"Don't let it jump into the coffin and touch the body!"

Shuanzi was so nervous that his heart was in his throat. But when he reached out to grab the cat, it was already too late. The cat had already nimbly jumped into the white coffin and onto the woman's body.

"Oh no!"

As Shuanzi spoke, the cat in the white coffin suddenly stopped, staring at the two men outside the coffin with its cold, green eyes, devoid of any emotion.

It was as if the eyes of a dead person were staring at Shuanzi and Chenpi.

The cat stood on the woman's chest, motionless, staring at the two living men by the coffin.

"You little beast, get out of here! Running to this desolate mountain and graveyard at night to scare me!"

With a shout, Chenpi, who had been frightened, suddenly found the courage to pick up a stone from the grave and throw it at the cat in the white coffin.

But the cat didn't dodge or avoid it.

Thud.

The cat was directly hit by Chenpi and died in the coffin, its head broken and bleeding. No one had expected this.

"Damn you, Chenpi!"

"Brother Shuanzi, didn't you tell me to hit it? What should we do now?"

"Quick, run for your life! Forget about the body and the coffin, you damn fool! Are you really stupid or just pretending to be crazy?"