Chapter 867: Don't Dig Too Deep

After Li Mu finished speaking, Li Biao said with a look of slight displeasure

"What now? I just washed myself clean from top to bottom; I even scrubbed my clothes several times before putting them on."

As soon as Li Biao finished, Wang Li couldn't help but chime in

"What's the point of how many times you washed? Can't you smell that your whole body reeks right now?"

Unexpectedly, Li Biao actually lifted his clothes and held them to his nose for a sniff.

It had to be admitted that although Li Biao was a complete idiot, he was truly something else, and he absolutely lived up to the "Biao" (reckless/wild) in his name.

Mainly, while Li Mu was gagging to that extent, Li Biao—the actual party involved—neither gagged nor vomited; he looked as if nothing was wrong at all.

This single point alone was absolutely not something a normal person could do. To put it bluntly, this could be considered Li Biao's one extraordinary trait.

However, while Li Biao himself seemed fine, the moment Li Mu saw him sniffing his clothes, Li Mu's eyes instantly bulged.

Immediately following that, Li Mu's gagging became even more severe. He gagged and coughed simultaneously, once again entering a state of living death.

Clearly, Li Biao's clothes must have been splashed with large white maggots earlier.

Actually, it couldn't be said that Li Mu was being dramatic; it was a stress response that any normal person would have.

After all, humans have an innate, deep-seated revulsion toward the sight of a fellow human's corpse being eaten.

If maggots grew in soybean paste or bugs appeared in rice, people in this era wouldn't particularly care.

Even if an animal were injured and the wound rotted and grew maggots, people wouldn't mind. Not only would they not mind, they would use their bare hands to pluck the maggots out of the animal's wound to clean it.

Everyone was accustomed to such things; it wasn't considered an issue at all.

But for a human corpse to be riddled with maggots—and to have them all over one's clothes—hardly anyone could stand it. After all, there is a vast difference between humans and animals.

Of course, the "divine beast" Li Biao was the exception.

After being repeatedly shunned by Li Mu and Wang Li, Li Biao finally gave up on trying to lean in close and sat by himself far away from the three, sulking.

Unfortunately, all Li Biao could do now was sulk, because there wasn't a single person willing to acknowledge him.

Ten minutes later, the group that had fired the shots arrived. The newcomers were the militia member Niu Dayou and his clansman, Niu Daliang.

As soon as they arrived, Niu Dayou hurriedly asked Li Mu

"Second Brother Li, did you find Old Seven?"

After gagging repeatedly, Li Mu was now weak beyond belief. Hearing Niu Dayou's question, he forced himself to stay focused and said

"Found him. Xiao An and his brother found him. The body is already rotting. Biaozi thought he'd pull him out to get him down the mountain, but the body had been eaten through by maggots and couldn't hold together. When Biaozi gave a tug, the leg came right off. We'll figure out what to do in a bit."

It had to be admitted that although Li Mu was very annoyed with Li Biao, when things actually happened, he would subconsciously help him.

From his words, one could tell he was skillfully framing the situation—turning Li Biao's mistake of damaging the corpse into a case of "good intentions gone wrong."

Otherwise, if the idiot Li Biao had ripped off Niu Qi's leg, the Niu family might have actually caused trouble for him.

After all, regarding the deceased, besides "resting in peace," there is the principle that "the dead are paramount." So, why on earth was Li Biao messing around with someone's corpse?

Of course, in a situation like searching for someone in the mountains, the Niu family might not necessarily fuss over this, but Li Mu's approach was absolutely commendable.

After hearing this, the two Niu brothers remained relatively calm. They showed neither grief nor joy, merely nodding slightly.

Then Niu Dayou asked

"Uh, Second Brother Li, where is he? We'll go take a look."

Hearing this, Li Mu tried to dissuade them

"How about we wait until more people arrive and go together? If you look now, you two are going to feel miserable for a while. Mainly, you'll have to suffer through it twice."

Niu Dayou pondered for a moment and said

"We're of the same blood. Since we're already here, we have to take a look. Otherwise, it wouldn't be right."

Li Mu nodded upon hearing this and pointed in the direction of the body

"He's right there at the bottom of that little gully."

With that, Niu Dayou and Niu Daliang strolled over to see Niu Qi's corpse.

Regardless, Niu Qi was a member of the Niu family. If he hadn't died a violent death, he would have been buried in the Niu family graveyard.

Locally, there was a rule: those who died unnaturally—meaning anything other than old age, illness, or natural causes—were considered to have died a "violent death," and such people were not allowed to be buried in the ancestral graves.

Additionally, there was another rule: those who died a violent death away from home were not allowed to have a funeral hall set up inside the village. A simple hall had to be set up outside the village, and they had to be buried as quickly as possible.

When the two returned from seeing the body, their expressions were extremely grim; something was clearly wrong.

It was unclear whether they were sad because a clansman had died, or whether they were experiencing physical discomfort after seeing Niu Qi covered in white maggots and flies, with his two legs forcibly separated.

Niu Dayou said to Wang An, Wang Li, and Li Mu

"We've identified the body; it is indeed our Old Seven. Uh, thank you three."

To be honest, even now, Wang An wondered how they had confirmed a disfigured, maggot-infested corpse as Niu Qi.

He had to admit, that was actually quite impressive!

After speaking, Niu Dayou and Niu Daliang returned to the group. The two of them sat there with somber faces, saying nothing, silently smoking their dry tobacco.

Out of curiosity, Wang An asked Li Mu in a low voice

"Brother Li, how did you determine that person was Niu Qi? You didn't get it wrong, did you?"

Li Mu was taken aback and said

"Didn't get it wrong. Niu Qi's left pinky and fourth toe were frozen off years ago. Everyone around our age knows that."

Hearing this, Wang An suddenly felt deeply disappointed.

It had to be said that some things should not be pursued to the root, because once you know the truth, it's not interesting at all.

While everyone waited, a group of over thirty people gradually gathered.

However, when the village head, Sun Dafu, learned the news of Niu Qi's death, his expression immediately darkened.

Clearly, Village Head Sun Dafu had not wanted Niu Qi to die.