He should have become an honest, simple farmer when he grew up, yet he died an unnatural death.
Little Yi Village was quiet and still. It was as if every bird had vanished. Yu Xiaoxue and I sat in the graveyard for a long time before finally discussing and deciding to bury Zhang Yidan.
Besides, no one would believe such a bizarre thing if we reported it to the police. According to procedure, they would have a forensic examiner dissect him, and his corpse would be subjected to endless torment.
Dust returned to dust, earth returned to earth. Zhang Yidan had suffered enough. It was time to cover him with yellow earth and send him to his grave.
I picked up a discarded hoe someone had abandoned beside a grave and began digging Zhang Yidan's grave. According to the customs of ancient times, young men who died before the age of thirty did not need coffins. They were simply wrapped in a straw mat and hastily buried in the dead of night. Before the body was covered, a stone had to be placed on it to prevent the wronged soul from emerging to cause trouble and harm people.
But I had no intention of placing a stone now, because Zhang Yidan no longer had a soul. After Granny Zhou had pierced his soul-sealing talisman with scissors, his newly formed soul had already been scattered.
Besides, the feng shui of Little Yi Village had already been broken. The ghost officials 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 lonely, wandering ghost.
"Who are you?! Who told you to bury someone? Put your hands