Chapter 868: The Feng Shui Here is Quite Good

Although Niu Qi was extremely selfish, particularly tactless, and very divisive, it had to be admitted that his crimes did not warrant death.

Now that Niu Qi was dead, the village head Sun Dafu, the accountant Li Youcai, and the militia captain Sun Xiangfeng were absolutely responsible.

Because if they hadn't sent Niu Qi to kill the black bear as a way of "killing the chicken to warn the monkey," Niu Qi would never have died in the mountains.

Thus, it was only natural that Sun Dafu's face remained grim.

Fortunately, Niu Qi's interpersonal relations were truly abysmal; he had offended everyone, even his own kin in the Niu clan. Furthermore, upon learning of Niu Qi's disappearance, the three leaders—Sun Dafu and the others—had promptly organized the villagers to search the mountains.

Most importantly, Sun Dafu, the village head, had personally entered the mountains.

Otherwise, a large-scale clan brawl between the Sun and Niu families of Kaoshan Village would have been inevitable.

One must realize that in rural areas at this time, large-scale clan brawls were not particularly uncommon occurrences.

There was no helping it; when reasoning failed, force was always the final method for solving problems—and the only method.

Led by Li Mu, Niu Dayou, and others, Sun Dafu brought the group to Niu Qi's corpse.

Perhaps the approach of the crowd disturbed the flies and greenbottle flies, causing them to swarm and fly wildly, creating a feeling as if they were blotting out the sky.

However, the chaotic flight of the flies allowed everyone to see the wretched state of Niu Qi.

By now, Niu Qi was unrecognizable. His entire head and body were covered in snow-white maggots.

In the eye sockets, the mouth, and the nostrils where the nose used to be, the density of the maggots was terrifying—nothing but densely packed, constantly churning masses of white maggots.

The internal organs in the abdomen were completely gone, exposing incomplete ribs, with dense white maggots surging and rolling back and forth inside.

Both thighs had been snapped off at the knees by Li Biao, and those two legs, now separated from the body, lay not far away, still clad in tattered trousers.

It was evident that Li Biao actually knew the difference between clean and filthy; he had known to use the trousers as a barrier to grab the legs and drag them out of the gully.

Seeing this scene, almost everyone's expression turned foul.

The stench permeating the air accelerated the reaction in their minds, and one by one, their throats began to heave.

Soon, many people couldn't help but vomit.

Immediately after, almost everyone began to dry heave.

Of course, there were three exceptions: Wang An, Wang Li, and Li Biao.

Although Wang An and Wang Li couldn't help but dry heave a few times, it wasn't as violent as the others.

But Li Biao, that "divine beast," was different. It was as if he couldn't smell the stench at all; not only did he not dry heave, but the expression on his face didn't change much either.

Wang An strongly suspected that Li Biao's nose was actually a "dead nose"—meaning he had no sense of smell.

Otherwise, he simply enjoyed the smell of such rot.

After a while, everyone subconsciously retreated. Clearly, they could no longer stand the stench and wanted to get away from the place.

As they moved away, they slowly began to recover.

Sun Dafu stared straight at Niu Qi's corpse and said to the crowd in a low voice

"Everyone, speak up. Regarding Niu Qi's body, how should we bring him back?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at each other. Clearly, no one could think of a good way.

Mainly because, in its current state, Niu Qi's corpse was an "invincible" existence.

Even approaching it was a struggle; if they had to actually pack up the body, what kind of ferocious person would be capable of doing that?

To put it bluntly, unless they were forced at gunpoint, probably no one except the divine beast Li Biao would voluntarily touch it.

Thus, after exchanging glances, everyone fell into silence.

Seeing that no one was speaking, Sun Dafu continued

"We're all kin in the village. We can't just leave Niu Qi's corpse to rot in these mountains, can we?"

Unfortunately, after Sun Dafu finished speaking, the crowd remained silent; no one picked up the conversation.

With no one responding, Sun Dafu was at his wit's end and took out his tobacco pipe to smoke.

The key was that this kind of thing couldn't be forced; it had to be voluntary. If no one volunteered, there was simply no way.

After another while, the militia captain Sun Xiangfeng said

"How about we go down the mountain and carry up some lime? Then we can use the lime to treat the corpse first. Otherwise, we can't even get close; no one can handle it like this."

After Sun Xiangfeng spoke, a villager said

"If you ask me, there's no need to go down for lime. Just gather some firewood and burn it into ash, then use the ash to treat it. Ash is clean and can suppress that stench. Otherwise, who can stand that smell?"

Another villager surnamed Li said

"I reckon the feng shui of this spot is quite good. Just burying him here would save us the trouble."

Wang An chimed in

"Yeah, this place is backed by mountains and facing water. I think it's actually quite decent."

To be honest, this was Wang An's genuine thought, but since no one else had proposed it, he hadn't wanted to be the first to speak up.

Regardless, someone who died a violent death cannot enter the ancestral grave. If he were to enter the ancestral grave, they would have to wait until Niu Qi's wife or son died and then bring him along.

So in Wang An's view, burying Niu Qi right there was actually quite good and saved them the hassle.

After Wang An spoke, Wang Li also spoke up in agreement

"I also reckon burying him here is quite good."

Following that, everyone began to agree. Without exception, they all consented to bury Niu Qi right there.

After all, no one was stupid. To everyone, direct burial was the simplest and most effortless option.

Once everyone had spoken, Sun Dafu, looking conflicted, refilled his pipe with tobacco and began puffing away again.

The others also continued to smoke in silence.

Suddenly, Sun Dafu asked the crowd with a conflicted expression

"About this... shouldn't we ask Niu Qi's wife for her opinion?"

Everyone blinked and stopped talking.

If they asked Niu Qi's wife, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance she would want Niu Qi transported back and buried a hundred steps west of the ancestral grave.

Because normally, that is how those who died violent deaths were handled.

As for burying him in the wild mountains, as Niu Qi's wife, she would inevitably be unable to accept it.

Sun Xiangfeng said hesitantly

"If she insists on moving him down the mountain, unless she collects the body herself, who's going to do this disgusting job?"

It had to be said that Sun Xiangfeng's point was very reasonable.

(End of Chapter)