He should have become a plain, honest farmer, but instead he died an unnatural death.
In the tranquil Little Yi Village, even the birds seemed to have vanished. Yu Xiaoxue and I sat in the graveyard for a long time, and in the end, we discussed it and decided to bury Zhang Yidan.
Besides, if we reported such a bizarre matter to the police, no one would believe us. Following procedure, they would have Zhang Yidan's body dissected by a forensic examiner, subjecting the corpse to endless torment.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Zhang Yidan had suffered enough. It was time to cover him with earth and send him to his grave.
I picked up a hoe abandoned beside a grave and began digging Zhang Yidan's grave. According to the old rules, young men who died before the age of thirty did not get coffins. They were wrapped in a straw mat and hastily buried under cover of night. Before the body was lowered into the earth, a stone had to be placed on it, to keep the wronged spirit from emerging to haunt and harm people.
But I had no intention of placing a stone this time, because Zhang Yidan no longer had a soul. Granny Zhou's soul-sealing talisman scissors had pierced him, and his newly formed soul had long since been scattered.
Besides, Little Yi Village's feng shui had already been broken. The ghost messengers could not enter. Even if they knew Zhang Yidan had died, they had no way to come and bind his soul. Once he missed the time to cross the Bridge of Helplessness, he would become a lone, wandering ghost.
"Who are you?! Who let you bury someone? Put your hands up!"
As I was digging a pit to bury Zhang Yidan, two