The village chief's words made nausea surge through me, and I turned away, about to throw up.
Last night, the old woman had cooked two large chunks of meat especially for us. Old Liu was vegetarian and hadn't touched any, but I had eaten a whole chunk and a half!
Seeing me dry-heaving off to one side, the village chief grimaced and said:
"It's been a whole night. Even throwing up your stomach wouldn't help now!"
Old Liu paid it no mind and asked the village chief:
"Just who is Guan Jun? Everyone here gets so nervous whenever he's mentioned!"
A melancholy look crossed the village chief's face.
"There's something downright sinister about Guan Jun. When he lived in the village, he stayed in during the day and went out at night, always heading into the mountains. Every morning, when we went out to work the fields, we'd run into him coming down with his hands covered in blood!"
The village chief grimaced, then continued recalling the past:
"Later, he got more and more outrageous. Whenever anyone in the village died, he'd dig up their grave practically the moment they were buried. Everyone said he'd taken to evil practices!"
Just then, a young man rushed in from outside and shouted agitatedly to the village chief:
"Chief, something terrible's happened! Auntie Li is dead!"
The village chief froze, then grabbed the young man's arm and asked:
"Auntie Li was so healthy! What happened?"
"I don't know! They say a snake bit her while she was picking mushrooms in the mountains!"
Without asking anything else, the village chief hurried after the young man toward Auntie Li's house.
Naturally, Old Liu and I weren't about to stay behind, so we hurried after them.
Auntie Li's house happened to be behind the Guan family's glazed-tile-roofed house. By the time we arrived, it was already packed with people.
Auntie Li had been laid on the floor beneath a white cloth, with her relatives sobbing uncontrollably around her.
When the village chief entered, everyone hurriedly made way. He lifted the white cloth for a look and asked quietly:
"What exactly happened?"
A man beside him wiped away his tears and said:
"My aunt went up into the mountains with a neighbor this morning to pick mushrooms. A venomous snake bit her in the hills behind the village!"
As he spoke, the man couldn't help crying again.
The family wasn't well-off, and the house was sparsely furnished, but I could tell they were all hardworking, kindhearted farmers.
Old Liu walked over to the deceased and lifted the white cloth for a look as well.
Auntie Li's face was pale, her eyes tightly shut. A few inches below her right ear were two small holes that looked like the bite marks of a venomous snake.
The village chief shook his head and sighed:
"We've never seen a snake that venomous in the hills behind our village. How did she die so quickly?"
After speaking, he couldn't help wiping away a tear himself.
"Maybe it was just her fate. Hurry over to Li Dong's at the village entrance and order a coffin. Pick a suitable day and bury her!"
The man looked helplessly at the village chief and said:
"We just spent the family's money putting up a greenhouse. A coffin costs over a thousand yuan, and we don't have that much right now!"
Although I was no great philanthropist and my city salary wasn't high, I had grown up in the countryside and had a natural fondness for honest country folk.
I stepped forward and told the man:
"Whatever happens, she needs to be buried first. I'll put up the money. Just consider it a loan to your family."
The man gave me a grateful look, and the village chief added:
"These two came from the city. Everyone here has put their money into their vegetable plots, so money's tight for all of us. Why don't you take it for now and pay him back once you sell your vegetables?"
Hearing this, the man happily clasped my hand and thanked me over and over.
Without any further delay, I went with the man to order a coffin from the funeral shop at the village entrance, riding in the ox cart he drove.
The shop that handled the village's funeral business wasn't large. Several coffins stood outside, along with some paper figures and oxen.
The owner was tall and thin, with a long face, small eyes, and a black mole on the tip of his nose.
Seeing us come in, the owner hurried over to greet us.
"What's wrong, Li Gang? What brings you here?"
The man said hoarsely:
"My aunt was bitten by a venomous snake in the mountains. I've come to order a coffin!"
The owner's expression barely changed at the news. He simply said, "Oh," then pointed into the courtyard.
"Got one ready!"
That sounded unpleasant, as though he had already prepared it and was waiting for someone to die.
Li Gang was an honest fellow and said nothing, but my expression darkened, and I snapped:
"You make your living off the dead. Isn't talking like that bad luck?"
The owner glanced at me and said flippantly:
"Oh, you're from outside the village. Looks like you don't know the rules, young man. Talking back to the owner in a funeral shop is even worse luck!"
Then the owner stared at me and laughed.
Coming to buy a coffin had already put me in a bad mood, and now the owner was actually laughing in that nasty way.
My temper flared right then, and I swore:
"What the fuck are you laughing at? Are you doing business or not?"
Seeing that I was angry, the owner pointed with his right hand at a red coffin in the courtyard.
"That coffin, plus the paper figures and oxen in the yard. Take them all. Eighteen hundred!"
Embarrassed that I had cursed at the owner, Li Gang tried to calm me down.
"Brother, don't get angry. Let's not stoop to his level!"
I glared at the owner, pulled eighteen hundred yuan from my wallet, and slapped it onto the table before heading into the courtyard with Li Gang to carry the coffin.
With a great deal of effort, we lifted the coffin onto the ox cart.
As we left the courtyard, I gave the owner another fierce glare, thinking, If that bastard says one more word, I'm going to beat him up today!
The owner stood in the doorway without another word, merely staring at me coldly and waving a hand.
Seeing how angry I was, Li Gang spoke as he drove the ox cart:
"Brother, thank you so much. I'll pay you back once I sell my vegetables!"
I shook my head and said:
"Take care of your aunt's funeral first. Let's not talk about money!"
"Brother, outsiders just aren't welcome here. I've gotten used to people like that funeral shop owner over the past few years."
Taken aback, I asked:
"You're from somewhere else?"
Li Gang nodded and said:
"I've been here two years. When I first arrived, I thought this place was pretty nice, and the villagers were very friendly. Only after settling here did I realize their friendliness only lasted a little while. Deep down, they're still very hostile toward outsiders!"
Li Gang flicked the whip in his hand and continued:
"Brother, did you come to this village to visit someone?"
I said quietly:
"Not to visit. I came to ask about someone called Guan Jun, but I haven't found him yet!"
Li Gang turned to look at me when he heard this and said:
"I know of Guan Jun, but he stopped living in the village long ago!"
Rather surprised, I asked:
"You've heard of Guan Jun?"
"I heard Guan Jun used to be a decent person. Later, they say he became obsessed with some frightening, unorthodox practices and made everyone afraid of him!"
Li Gang sighed after saying this.
"Ah, I heard all this from my aunt. She was a local. I came here to live with her!"
I hurriedly followed up:
"Then which of the three Guan families did Guan Jun belong to?"
Li Gang said quietly:
"The richest Guan family, right in front of my house. My aunt was very close to Guan Jun's mother years ago. I heard that after his mother died, Guan Jun disappeared."
So Guan Jun belonged to the family with the glazed-tile roof!
That surprised me quite a bit. Ever since hearing what the village chief said, I had assumed that Guan Jun, whom everyone feared, belonged to the old woman's family on the west side of the village.
What a series of twists!
Once we brought the coffin back, the village chief began organizing the funeral rites. Old Liu and I were outsiders and didn't want to take part, so we left first.
Once outside, I quickly told Old Liu what Li Gang had said.
Old Liu didn't seem surprised. Instead, he left me stunned with a single remark.
"Auntie Li, who just died, wasn't killed by a snakebite!"
I was astonished.
"Old Liu, what do you mean? Are you saying it was murder?"
Old Liu shook his head and said:
"Just wait. This isn't over yet!"
That evening, the village chief arranged for us to stay in the old house in his backyard. It was simple, but perfectly livable.
Old Liu and I had just washed up and lain down.
Suddenly, we heard footsteps in the courtyard.
Then came a series of knocks. Thump, thump, thump...
I climbed out from under the covers to open the door.
Old Liu frowned and warned me quietly:
"Be careful. Something's not right!"
I picked up a brick from the floor and gently opened the door.
It was Li Gang.
Holding a box, Li Gang spoke quietly when he saw me:
"Brother, I found this box while sorting through my aunt's things. I remember her mentioning it. She said Guan Jun's mother had needed to go away for a while and left the box at her house. Later, she died before she could collect it. I haven't opened it. See if it's any use to you?"
After saying this, Li Gang put down the box and hurried back to keep vigil.
Curious, I placed the box on the kang and opened it. It was actually full of medicinal prescriptions, and they were strange and frightening: steamed buns dipped in duck blood, earthworms boiled with goji berries.
Reading them made me nauseous. Just as I was about to toss the box aside, Old Liu dug a photograph out from beneath the prescriptions.
The sight of that photograph shook me to my core!
It was the very photograph I had seen in the village chief's house in Tiger Waist Mountain Village: Old Wu, Liu Yunbo, Old Tang, and two other comrades in camouflage uniforms, their arms around one another's shoulders.
"Old Liu, how come Guan Jun's mother had this photograph too? I've got it! One of those other two men must be Guan Jun!"
Old Liu held the photograph and stared at it for a long time. Finally, he put it down and shook his head.
"I know who Guan Jun is!"
With that, he pointed at someone in the photograph.
I followed Old Liu's finger, and I was instantly dumbfounded.
"Liu Yunbo?"
Old Liu nodded and said:
"No wonder I kept feeling I'd heard that name before when Wang Dazhong first mentioned Guan Jun. So that bastard changed his name!"
At Old Liu's words, everything suddenly clicked!
I remembered the chief of Tiger Waist Mountain Village telling me that Liu Yunbo, Old Wu, and the others had been as close as brothers before entering Demon Cave. After finding treasure, they had cut off all contact for good.
When Liu Yunbo sent that deadly bronze bell, I had asked Old Wu whether he knew Liu Yunbo. Old Wu had looked wronged and said he didn't. He hadn't been lying!
Guan Jun had changed both his given name and surname, becoming Liu Yunbo!
Thinking of it that way, Liu Yunbo's reason for sending Old Wu the sinister bell made sense. He was Old Wu's sworn enemy, Guan Jun, whom Wang Dazhong had mentioned!
So that was it!
Before I could recover from the shock, another burst of urgent knocking sounded.
Thump, thump, thump, thump...
Thinking Li Gang might have remembered something else, I hurried to get up and open the door.
When I opened it, there was actually no one in the courtyard outside!
I was just about to close the door when I caught sight of what had been left on the ground.
Two paper coffins!