Chapter 865: Covered in Giant White Maggots

Noticing Wang Li's resentful little gaze, Wang An said with a chuckle

"See, I coordinated with you perfectly. I sent those two away directly."

Unexpectedly, Wang Li rolled his eyes at Wang An and said crossly

"Yeah, you almost sent me away too."

Hearing this, Wang An immediately said with an air of righteousness

"That definitely couldn't happen. You're my brother; I wouldn't screw you over."

However, after saying this, Wang An couldn't help but burst out laughing, effectively exposing his mischievous intentions.

So, immediately following that, Wang An praised Wang Li

"Your brain has really been trained now. I reckon the next time you argue with your Brother Mu, you'll definitely win."

To his surprise, Wang Li gave a huff and said

"I've never lost before anyway."

Truth be told, while Wang Li's tongue wasn't as sharp as Mu Xueli's, the kid was extremely skilled at seizing key points. Often, with just one sentence, he could turn the tide and shut Mu Xueli up.

Seeing that he couldn't deceive Wang Li, Wang An changed the subject, a wicked smile on his face

"Old Fifth, do you think those two will vomit directly while looking at that dead body? Hehehehe."

Hearing this, Wang Li immediately dropped his resentful gaze and also wore a wicked smile

"I almost vomited just now; I still feel nauseous thinking about it. I reckon they're in for it, gagagaga."

It had to be said, this feeling of pranking others was actually quite gratifying.

After the two brothers chuckled for a while, Wang Li suddenly stopped smiling and said

"Fourth Brother, I reckon that dead body is ten-to-one Niu Qi."

Wang An was stunned upon hearing this and instinctively said

"That shouldn't be possible. At most, Niu Qi has only been missing for four days. In four days, it shouldn't have rotted to that extent, right?"

Wang Li shook his head and said

"I heard them telling 'old stories' before. They said that Old Lady Niu, who died in our village a couple of years ago, looked just like that before she died."

"Telling old stories" essentially meant recounting old tales—to be precise, talking about ancient, trivial matters.

The reason for the phrase "telling old stories" was mainly that entertainment in this era was very scarce; people would gather together to listen to the elders tell stories.

Indeed, it wasn't until televisions became widespread that this practice gradually declined.

Hearing Wang Li mention Old Lady Niu, Wang An instinctively remembered that lonely old woman.

Old Lady Niu's surname wasn't actually Niu; her deceased husband's surname was Niu. Furthermore, she wasn't the original wife of Old Master Niu, but a concubine.

For some unknown reason, Old Lady Niu had no children throughout her life, so she had no one to care for her in her old age.

As a brief memory flashed by, Wang An asked

"Old Lady Niu is dead? What did she look like before she died? Why didn't I know about this?"

Wang Li was momentarily stunned because he thought Wang An already knew. He replied

"Of course she's dead; she's been dead for about two years. I only heard it from others, saying that before Old Lady Niu died..."

Following that, Wang Li recounted the story he had heard.

It turned out that Old Lady Niu had also died during the hottest time of the year, in the summer.

Supposedly, on the morning she died, she had even borrowed a sieve from a neighbor.

But by the afternoon, as the sun was nearly setting, she hadn't returned the sieve, so her neighbor went to her house to retrieve it.

Unfortunately, when the neighbor arrived, they found her lying on the kang, already stiff.

Of course, when a person dies, the body becomes rigid.

But Old Lady Niu was already attracting flies and breeding maggots.

In other words, although the exact time of Old Lady Niu's death was uncertain, it was certain that from the time she borrowed the sieve in the morning until the neighbor discovered her death, no more than twelve hours had passed.

And within those mere twelve hours, the body had grown maggots; it happened that quickly.

After listening to Wang Li's account, Wang An couldn't help but find it somewhat inconceivable.

Mainly, whether in his previous life or this one, Wang An had never paid attention to or researched such things, so he truly didn't know.

However, it was worth noting that if things were truly as Wang Li described, then the corpse in the small gully was very likely indeed Niu Qi.

Just as Wang An was trying to recall Niu Qi's distinguishing features, he heard Wang Li continue

"Fourth Brother, I think it's quite strange. Just a couple of days ago, didn't my mother take a few spotted piglets from your house? Then one of them died of some disease. Before it breathed its last, there were a few flies around it, but not a single greenbottle fly. The moment it stopped breathing, the greenbottle flies flew over immediately."

Hearing this, Wang An widened his eyes and asked in astonishment

"Are those things that impressive? Then why didn't that happen with all those mountain animals we killed? That day we killed dozens of wild boars, and I didn't see many greenbottle flies. It was only after you brought everyone back that I saw a few, and not many of them."

Wang Li also said with a face full of confusion

"Yeah, that's a pretty impressive thing."

While Wang An and Wang Li were discussing the problem, Li Mu came walking toward them, constantly gagging with "ugh" and "ack" sounds.

What was strange, however, was that Li Biao didn't come back with him.

Soon, Li Mu reached Wang An and Wang Li. Without even speaking, Li Mu continued to gag right in front of them.

By now, Li Mu's face was flushed red from gagging, tears were streaming down his face, and he was coughing incessantly; he looked as if he were completely exhausted.

To be honest, seeing Li Mu's miserable state, Wang An and Wang Li actually felt a bit of pity.

After a long while, Li Mu gradually calmed down, though he looked completely drained, as if he might faint at any moment.

Only then did Wang Li ask curiously

"Second Brother Li, where's Li Biao? Why didn't he come back?"

It was fine not to mention Li Biao, but the moment his name was brought up, Li Mu began to gag again, and the intensity of the gagging was even more severe than before.

Watching Li Mu gag again, Wang An and Wang Li looked at each other in bewilderment.

What disgusting thing had Li Biao done now to make Li Mu gag like this?

After another long while, perhaps because he had vomited enough—or more accurately, because his stomach was empty and there was nothing left to bring up—Li Mu finally said weakly

"That big idiot Biaozi... damn him... he went to pull the corpse, and then the corpse's leg broke, and Biaozi got big white maggots all over his body..."

"Ugh," "ugh," "ugh"... before he could finish his sentence, Li Mu began to vomit again.

(End of Chapter)