The sandstorm howled across the sky, kicking up layers of sand and making it almost impossible for anyone to open their eyes. Bai Qi shielded me with his body, allowing me to barely squint.
As the yellow sand blotted out the sun, a layer of black miasma enveloped the entire village, making it nearly impossible to see the road ahead.
When we reached the crossroads in the village, a line of people emerged faintly from another road. Judging from the shadows and the sound of gongs, we could guess that they were probably corpse - haulers.
The man in the front carried a gong and banged it as he walked. Behind him was a line of people dressed in long gowns and wearing Qing - dynasty official hats. Every time the corpse - hauler in front struck the gong, the people behind would hop three times like sparrows.
This was a typical corpse - hauling team.
Although I couldn't see who they were clearly, having watched a lot of zombie movies as a child, I could easily imagine the scene.
They were dressed in Qing - dynasty official uniforms, wearing tall felt hats, with several pieces of yellow paper with spells drawn on them pressed on their foreheads, hanging down to their grayish - white faces. The yellow paper was used to control the zombies' hopping. Once it was removed, the zombies would go out of control.
Normally, corpse - haulers worked at night and rested during the day. Why were they so bold as to appear on the street in broad daylight? This was simply too audacious.
Just as I was about to ask the reason, a hand with distinct knuckles suddenly appeared behind me and gently covered my mouth.
There was a faint scent of sandalwood on him. I already guessed that it was Gu Yuan.
The sound of the corpse - hauler's gong was getting closer. As I had expected, they walked in a line, tied together with hemp ropes, passing by us as if we weren't there.
The mourners behind them had no idea what was going on. They were still scattering white paper money and moving forward.
The corpse - haulers with the zombies and the mourners crossed paths almost at right angles.
I couldn't help but worry about my mother because she was among the mourners.
When the corpse - hauler passed by my cousin's coffin, he gently patted it.
The coffin suddenly became restless, as if the body inside was frantically pounding on the coffin lid.
The coffin - bearers were so scared that they didn't dare to carry the coffin anymore. They dropped it on the ground and were about to run away.
"Don't say a word. Pretend you saw nothing. I'll handle it," Gu Yuan whispered in my ear, afraid that I would be worried and scared.
After Gu Yuan left, Bai Qi quickly rushed behind me to prevent anything unfavorable from happening to me.
After I was captured by Hu Qingluan and trapped in the Jing Ruyi last time, Bai Qi had become even more vigilant.
I didn't dare to move either, afraid that if I made a wrong move, I would not only be of no help but also cause trouble for them. I could only watch as Gu Yuan turned into a silver light and landed on my cousin's coffin lid.
With a wave of his arm, all the mourners stood still, including the six coffin - bearers who were about to run away. They were frozen in a panic around the coffin.
Gu Yuan stood on the coffin. His black clothes fluttered in the yellow sand, looking like the Yama of Hell.
At first, the coffin was extremely restless. Gu Yuan bit his finger and drew a spell on his palm. Then he slapped the coffin with one hand. A shrill scream came from inside the coffin, and a puff of black smoke quickly rose around it, dissipating with the strong wind.
However, the corpse - hauler didn't look back. He led his corpse - hauling team and continued walking forward, his figure gradually disappearing into the yellow sand.
As the corpse - hauler's figure disappeared, the sandstorm also subsided, as if nothing had happened just now.
The mourners returned to normal at this moment. The memories of the coffin - bearers also disappeared. Seeing the coffin on the ground, they quickly stepped forward to pick it up again and continued towards their destination.
"What's going on?" I finally could speak and immediately asked.
"The corpse - hauler was looking for someone. He wanted to take your cousin's body back to her roots," Gu Yuan replied.
"Back to her roots? How is that possible? My cousin's roots are right here in our village. Where does he want to take her?"
"Your cousin's soul hasn't been sent away yet. Maybe you can ask her," Bai Qi said.
By the time we had settled all the arrangements for my cousin's funeral, it was almost night.
After seeing off my cousin's close friends, I released my cousin's soul.
"Lanlan, I've made you suffer. I'm really sorry," my cousin said with a sorrowful look on her face. Knowing that I had been seriously injured, she quickly stepped forward to check on me.
"Cousin, I'm already better. I'm really sorry that even though your body and soul are here, I can't bring you back to life."
"Everyone has their own fate. I have nothing to complain about. I've suffered enough in this life. I just hope that in my next life, I don't have to be a human being. Even being a pig or a dog would be better than my miserable life," my cousin said.
Saying this, my cousin heaved a deep sigh, as if she had already let go. Maybe death was a way of relief for her.
However, she couldn't let go of what had happened today so easily. After all, someone had almost taken her body away.
I told my cousin what had happened at the funeral today. After hearing it, my cousin showed no sign of surprise, as if she had known all this.
"Cousin, tell me the truth. Are you really my aunt's biological daughter?"
My cousin lowered her head and shook it, saying, "My mom said I was picked up."
"Ah? It seems my guess is almost right," I said in great surprise.
"She wasn't picked up. She was born secretly by a female college student at school and given to your aunt," my parents said. I didn't expect them to still be there and hear our conversation.
Although my mom couldn't see my cousin, she could tell that I was talking to her. She knew more about what had happened back then and thought it was time to tell the truth.
Back then, my aunt and uncle went to work at Xiangjiang University in the city. They had been married for many years but had no children. My uncle was crazy about having a son, so he went to a temple to pray for a child. A monk told him that he could adopt a girl named Daiti, and soon she would bring a son to the family.
My aunt worked as a cleaner in the female students' dormitory at Xiangjiang University. She helped the female college student give birth.
The female student was afraid of being punished by the school and planned to send the child to an orphanage. My aunt suddenly remembered what the monk had said and thought it was a heaven - sent opportunity, so she adopted my cousin.
Later, when the female student graduated, she wanted to get the child back, but my aunt refused her requests many times.
After my aunt had a son, she thought about returning my cousin, but she couldn't contact the other party anymore.
As time went by, an adopted child was never as good as a biological one. I roughly knew what had happened later.
My cousin lowered her head and continued, "Not long ago, my biological mother contacted me. She hoped that I could go home with her, so I proposed a divorce to Zhao Youcai. He thought I had someone else outside, so he angrily threw me into the mountains."
"Your mother is from Xiangjiang, right?" I suddenly thought of something.
"Yes. She runs a company in Xiangjiang. Her business is very successful now. The only regret is that she has no children to inherit her family business."
At this point, I roughly understood. The corpse - hauler was probably related to my cousin's mother.
Just as I was about to ask my cousin for her biological mother's contact information, Wang Bao rushed into my cousin's house in a hurry.
He grabbed my mother's hand and cried out, "Auntie, my parents, my brother - in - law, and my sister - in - law's mother are all dead. Wuwuwu. It's so scary. Do you think I'll be next?"
Wang Bao was so scared that his legs were weak. His eyes were dodging, and his body was trembling constantly.
My mother was terrified. She quickly stepped forward to help Wang Bao up, but the next second, Wang Bao suddenly changed his expression. His face became extremely distorted and terrifying. He let out a shrill scream and pounced on my mother.
"Mom, be careful!" At this moment, I didn't care about anything else. I directly stood in front of Wang Bao and pushed my mother away. I watched as Wang Bao's blood - filled mouth, dripping with saliva, was about to bite my neck.