The Man Had Been Dead for More Than Five Hours

One by one, the people in charge arrived.

Some of the townspeople also came to join in the fun.

A woman had just entered when she threw herself onto the corpse and began to wail loudly.

"Jianmin, why are you so desperate?"

"Who can't stand to see our family doing well? Who really ruined you?"

"You funeral directors, you were clearly keeping vigil in the mourning hall, why did you stand by and watch someone die?"

"You are so cruel! Did you kill my husband?"

"Second sister-in-law, please accept my condolences." The eldest brother Li Jianguo, also looked deeply saddened.

Then, his expression changed, and he glared angrily at the three newlyweds keeping vigil.

"You can't escape responsibility for my second brother's hanging in the funeral hall. Tell me, how are you going to resolve this?"

Outside the door, some townspeople were whispering among themselves, "Why did Li Second die in the mourning hall?"

"Could it be that his father misses him and wants him to go down and keep him company?"

"Perhaps Li Second did something wrong behind the scenes, and his father took him down with him?"

"I never expected him to be like this. He always seems so high and mighty, but he's actually this kind of person in private."

"I heard that Li Second made a fortune doing business, but maybe it was some kind of unscrupulous money. Perhaps God took pity on him and took him away?"

"That's true. That Li Second has become a wealthy boss. He even came back in a car this time. I heard he covered all the funeral expenses."

"The old man was originally seventy-nine years old, and he was healthy and without any illness or disaster, so it could be considered a happy funeral. Although he was still a year shy of eighty, as the saying goes, 'a tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives.' It's only a few months short, so it can definitely be held as a happy funeral."

"As a result, Li Second made so much money outside, but he didn't want to spend even more money on his father's funeral."

"I heard that the eldest and second eldest sons even had a fight over this, with the eldest complaining that the second eldest son was unfilial and didn't fulfill his filial duties despite having money."

"Sigh, did the old man really do this?"

"It's better to believe it exists than to believe it doesn't."

"Otherwise, how do you explain him hanging himself in his own father's mourning hall? He came back beaming, wearing and using expensive clothes and items. I saw him; he was wearing a thick gold chain around his neck and a foreign watch on his wrist—that must have cost a fortune."

"That's true. If I had that much money, I would definitely enjoy myself to the fullest. How could I bear to die?"

Although the noise from the people outside was somewhat suppressed, the mourning hall was not large, and their conversations could still be heard by those inside.

The second son's wife's face turned pale and then red. She immediately put her hands on her hips, pointed at the eldest son, and started yelling, "So, my husband went through all that trouble to come back from so far away to arrange his father's funeral. The people, all these things, the food at the feast—wasn't everything paid for by him?"

"You, the eldest brother, do nothing, contribute no money, and yet you spread such rumors about your brother behind his back."

Li Jianguo was covered in sweat. "Sister-in-law, you've misunderstood. I didn't say that about my brother. Besides, this matter is still unresolved, and we don't know who harmed my second brother."

He looked at the three newlyweds keeping vigil, then suddenly grabbed Li Yue's arm. "It's all your fault! You just watched my second brother hang himself without stopping him. What were you thinking?"

"Let go! When I turned around and saw him, he was already hanging there." Li Yue felt a bit of pain from his grip and quickly shook her hand, trying to pull it away.

But how could a manager sitting in an office in the city possibly match the strength of this big man?

"Such a commotion and none of the three of you noticed? Are you all dead?"

"Or were all three of you neglecting your duties and dozing off during the vigil?"

Li Jianguo's eyes were bloodshot. He desperately needed someone to take responsibility, and the three funeral directors at the scene were the perfect scapegoats.

The second son's wife also glared resentfully at the newlyweds.

The newcomers began to feel completely lost.

They really can't explain this.

There were no security cameras here, and the person did indeed die in the funeral hall, so those who were also in the funeral hall cannot escape their guilt.

Even if these people take the blame for the deaths, they will have no way to defend themselves.

The second son's wife rushed over, grabbed Li Yue, and demanded an explanation from them; otherwise, they wouldn't be leaving the mourning hall.

The candlelight flickered in the offering basin, the wind making it sway and dim the light in the mourning hall.

The person in the black and white photograph appears to have their mouth turned down, looking extremely angry.

However, no one noticed this.

Seeing the scene had become extremely chaotic, Xiao Lai went to replace the incense sticks in the sacrificial basin with new ones to prevent the incense from going out.

The other three senior members were still examining the body.

However, out of caution, they didn't touch it.

Tang Ping noticed a mark on the corpse and suddenly exclaimed, "Huh?"

He turned and looked around the mourning hall, found a tattered cloth and covered his fingers with it. He then gently pressed the fingers on the corpse until he was sure of the situation, before pulling Li Yue, who was about to cry, away.

"Don't rush to shirk responsibility, something's wrong with this body."

The eldest brother kept shouting that Li Yue and the others should take responsibility; he couldn't wait to push all the blame onto them so he could relax.

Upon hearing Tang Ping speak up, he glared at him with displeasure, his eyes widening. "You're in cahoots with those funeral masters. Who knows if you're biased towards them?"

Tang Ping clicked his tongue and twirled his wrist, wanting to teach this person a lesson. However, it's sometimes best not to touch NPCs in Dungeon, otherwise you might kill or offend them.

This NPC might later turn into a ghost and come back to seek revenge.

Tang Ping tried his best to explain calmly, "This isn't something I can deny just because I'm biased. Look here, the lividity on the body has spread extensively, and it doesn't disappear when pressed. This means the person has been dead for more than five hours."

We weren't in this village yet back then, were we?

"What do you mean by lividity? I don't understand what you're talking about." Li Jianguo was different from his younger brother, both of whom had gone to school.

He had dropped out of school early to farm at home or do manual labor in town to earn money for his family. With limited education, he couldn't understand what Tang Ping was saying at all.

"Since you don't believe us, then go ahead and call the police," Li Yue said irritably, clutching her swollen wrist.

Li Jianguo stood there, his expression shifting, unable to make up his mind.

Although the second son's wife was outspoken, she was educated and lived in a big city, so she knew more than Li Jianguo.

Previously, she had also lost her temper and reason because her husband had died.