The considerations that had slowed their movements in town no longer mattered once they reached the mountain. It was like coming home to Yu Xing's happy place, where he could finally move at his own pace.
The mountains near town were covered in traces of human activity. Some people grew vegetables there, some cut down trees for carpentry, and some had even buried their dead there. Grave mounds dotted the slopes here and there.
Yu Xing brought the three corpses to a place with fewer traces of human activity. Li Huaihua's entire family was dead, and even the only neighbor she had been close to had lost her life. No one would come to pay their respects, so he might as well find a quiet spot where, at the very least, no one would disturb them.
He didn't even need a shovel to dig the graves. Several rotting roots he'd just gathered wriggled through the dirt like earthworms and broke through the soil. Before long, they had cleared out two grave pits.
One for Aunt Zhang, and one for Li Huaihua and Xiao Yulan.
Xiao Yulan wanted to be buried with her mother. She said that her mother couldn't come back for now, and she at least wanted to see their bodies reunited.
Yu Xing used plants from the mountain forest to weave two coffins. Once the branches and vines were pressed tightly together, they were surprisingly sturdy.
Zhao Ruru helped out. They lowered the coffins into the pits, placed the bodies inside, then covered them layer by layer and sealed them shut.
Two small mounds rose from the ground, finding a home in this silent, deserted place.
Xiao Yulan crouched beside the grave she shared with her mother. In the end, she reached out and gently patted the earth,