Chapter 50: The Old Village Chief

Inside the coffin, my old squad leader lay in silence.

He was no longer reanimating, and in all likelihood, he would not be doing so again. Yet, even so, my heart could not find peace for a long while. The fact that I had recovered my squad leader’s remains brought me not a shred of comfort.

Because my old squad leader... had turned into a dried corpse!

The body lying motionless in the coffin was completely devoid of moisture. Under the beam of my flashlight, his exposed arms looked pitch black and as hard as beef jerky. His face was equally dark, his eyes tightly shut, with his lips and cheeks shriveled from dehydration. It was as if every drop of blood in his entire body had been drained away by some unknown force.

I turned around and shouted at everyone, "How could this happen?!"

They looked at one another, and everyone shook their heads. Indeed, who could know why? No one knew what that old woman with the dough-figurine face had done to my squad leader’s body during those missing hours, and no one knew how a dead person could be reduced to a dried corpse in such a short time. In short, it was utterly incomprehensible to all of us.

Just then, that obnoxious Master Duan spoke up, "Isn't it simple? Your squad leader reanimated and turned into a malevolent ghost! It’s a good thing I arrived in time, or else every one of you would certainly have met your doom!"

Apart from my timid Uncle Zhao Hai-kun, no one paid him any mind. Even Uncle Lei Ren, with whom I had a strained relationship, sneered at the remark. Lei Wangcai let out an angry huff and said, "Nonsense! This will invite disaster sooner or later!"

Hearing this, Master Duan immediately grew sullen. He spat out his cigarette butt and reached out, preparing to perform his "Six Meridians Divine Sword" stunt on Lei Wangcai once again.

But at that very moment, someone’s arrival brought everything to a halt.

As we stood helpless before my squad leader’s "dried corpse," an old man emerged from the crowd of villagers. He was in his fifties or sixties, holding a flashlight and leaning on someone for support. It was clear he held some status.

He walked straight up to my Uncle Zhao Hai-kun and said, "Hai-kun! To let a funeral reach such a state! I’d like to see how you explain this to the fellow villagers!"

Zhao Hai-kun looked at the approaching elder, his face instantly filled with anxiety. "Old Village Chief! You can’t treat my second brother like this! He is a direct descendant of our Zhao family..."

Hearing this, I turned to look at this stern-faced "Old Village Chief." What was this old man suddenly doing here, and what did he intend to do with my squad leader’s remains? Confused, I listened intently to the dialogue between the village chief and Zhao Hai-kun.

After about seven or eight exchanges, I finally grasped the situation. It turned out that after all this commotion, the news of the reanimation had spread throughout the village. Worse, the news of my squad leader’s suicide had also leaked. In this village, such matters were of the utmost importance—a top-tier concern.

Because of this, the Old Village Chief issued an unreasonable "ultimatum" to my uncle. He told us, "Zhao Haipeng died an unnatural death. According to the rules, he cannot be buried in the ancestral graveyard!"

"What?!" Zhao Hai-kun’s eyes went blank upon hearing this. He looked as if he had been struck by lightning. I fully understood his feelings. By his generation, the Zhao family was already in decline, and since he had no heirs, Zhao Haipeng—the only hope—was now dead. The Zhao family was on the verge of extinction. Under such immense pressure, the village chief’s insistence that Haipeng could not enter the ancestral graveyard was nothing short of kicking a man while he was down.

After a moment of struggle, my uncle reached out with trembling hands to grab the chief’s sleeve. "You can’t do this! The ancestral graveyard is... nine-tenths filled with Zhao family members." He was clearly trying to use "history" to remind the chief that their roots in Zhao Family Village were deep, and that my master, Zhao Haipeng, was fully entitled to rest in that ancestral ground.

But regrettably, the Zhao Family Village was no longer named Zhao.

The village chief let out a cold snort and motioned to Master Duan. "Master Duan! You tell him."

The malicious-looking Master Duan stepped forward again and said to my uncle, "Hai-kun! Things have reached this point; I can no longer keep the lid on it. Your Zhao Haipeng has turned into a malevolent ghost and is going to harm people. If he is buried in the ancestral graveyard, it will likely bring misfortune to the whole village."

Listening to this con man, I suddenly realized, "So you’re the one who told the chief that my squad leader died an unnatural death, aren't you?"

The bastard actually nodded at me. "If I hadn't said it, someone else would have found out sooner or later. Besides, your squad leader reanimated—I’m doing this for everyone’s good."

I felt there was a sense of vengeance in his words. It would be one thing if he were taking revenge on me, but what was the point of taking it out on a dead man? I sneered, marking the scoundrel’s cruelty in my heart and noting our grievance. I swore that if I did not avenge this, I would not be a man!

Under this immense pressure, I was about to step forward to speak for Zhao Hai-kun, but Lei Ren interrupted, grabbing my arm. "Young man, say no more."

What? I hadn't even said anything yet. What did he mean? Confused, I asked, "Why?"

Lei Ren smiled and said, "Don't be foolish. This is Zhao Family Village. The village chief’s word represents the will of the villagers; Zhao Hai-kun cannot change the outcome alone. And..." He stroked his white beard, his tone shifting as he looked at Master Duan. "Even if you beat this Duan fellow to a cripple, it wouldn't solve anything."

Lei Ren’s words warmed my heart inexplicably. I felt there was more to what he was saying. Why was he on my side this time? It was incomprehensible. Seeing my confusion, Lei Ren continued with a strange look in his eyes, smiling faintly. "Bury your old master first, and I will tell you the rest later."

In a daze, I felt he knew something. But what? I couldn't guess. However, his words were implicitly supported by Xian Hongye. Fearing I might "lose my beastly nature," she gripped my arm tightly and shook her head. "Don't act recklessly. The village has its own rules."

Helpless, I nodded, cast one last glance at the sulking Master Duan, and fell silent.

Seeing that I had yielded, the Old Village Chief grew even more smug. He waved his hand, telling Zhao Hai-kun, "He cannot enter the ancestral graveyard. Your family’s downfall is all caused by this unnatural death of Zhao Haipeng; he must not be allowed to harm the other villagers..."

I didn't listen to the rest; it was too unpleasant. Finally, I heard Zhao Hai-kun ask, "If you say he cannot enter the ancestral graveyard, then where is Haipeng to be buried? We can't cremate him!"

"Of course not!" The village chief looked at the coffin. "I’ve already thought it through. He will be buried in the outer graveyard. Aren't there some of your ancestors' relatives buried there, too?"

"The outer graveyard?!" Zhao Hai-kun looked stunned. Seeing his expression, I asked, "Uncle, what is the outer graveyard?"