Although cremation is now popularly practiced, many places still adhere to the custom of earth burial.
The older generation firmly believes in the saying that "earth burial brings peace." If cremated, the flames will burn the soul of the deceased, causing the spirit to become a wandering ghost, unable to reincarnate.
When I was a child, I was accustomed to these funerals, so I did not hesitate or linger but continued driving forward, avoiding the mourners. While glancing sideways, I saw Du Xiaolan looking earnestly at the ice coffin in the mourning hall, seemingly lost in thought.
I chuckled and asked, "What are you thinking? You seem so preoccupied."
Du Xiaolan forced a bitter smile and said, "Oh, it's nothing, just feeling a bit emotional. A person lives their whole life only to be imprisoned in a coffin for who knows how many years in the end."
Seeing her worried expression, I comforted her, saying, "When a person dies, it's like a lamp extinguishing. Once you're dead, you're dead, and you don't have any concept of time anymore."
Du Xiaolan casually said, "But what if people turn into ghosts after they die?"
I had never shared with her my childhood experiences with ghosts, so I grinned and said, "Don't talk nonsense. There are no ghosts in this world; it's just people's imaginations running wild."
"Well, you never know, maybe I'm a ghost," she said, turning her head to look at me intently and flashed a very eerie smile.
Her smile made me uneasy, and her unwavering gaze filled me with an inexplicable fear. It was probably the fear instilled in me from childhood encounters with ghosts, as I suddenly didn't know how to respond.
Suddenly, Du Xiaolan grinned and said, "Look at how scared you are. How could there be such a beautiful female ghost like me in the world?"
"Well, if you were a ghost, you would be a gentle and kind one," I awkwardly replied. When she fell silent, I stopped talking as well.
Both of us remained silent, lost in our own thoughts. Two kilometers ahead, we could already see a village, and as we approached, the chaotic funeral music and cries became more audible.
I frowned, about to speak, when Du Xiaolan suddenly said, "Ah, Mingyang, did we forget to check the almanac today? Listen to that sound; it seems like more than one family is holding a funeral."
I thought to myself that Du Xiaolan was quite naive. Three days ago, over 60 people traveling to Pingxing Township had died in a bus accident, and if half of them were from this township, it would cause quite a stir.
After voicing my speculation, Du Xiaolan nodded thoughtfully and muttered, "That makes sense, but so many people dying all at once is really eerie."
That was exactly what I had been thinking. Ghosts do exist, and all these people had died in strange and inexplicable ways. If there were no vengeful spirits, it was fine, but if there were, it could be massive.
As I thought about this, the car had arrived at the village entrance, called Chaichiling Village. Directly in front of us was a wide, straight cement road, and at this moment, three mourning halls were arranged along this road, blocked solidly by the white-clad mourners. The wailing and crying merged into a cacophony, making it impossible to discern what they were lamenting.
Out of respect for the deceased, I couldn't honk and make them move aside. Instead, I turned off the engine, pulled over, and waited by the roadside.
Du Xiaolan seemed somewhat frightened, huddled in the passenger seat, squinting at the scene before her. I didn't feel any fear, but after waiting for over ten minutes without the mourners dispersing, I got out of the car and walked over.
Rural people always liked to watch the excitement, and some villagers were standing nearby. As I passed by, I overheard a seventy-year-old lady sighing and saying to someone, "Oh, it's really pitiful. Such a well-behaved girl, and then this happened. The whole family got into a car accident."
"Indeed, such a good family. It's really a pity, tomorrow they will…"
"Scoundrels, bow down." With that, I stopped listening to the gossip and hastily returned to the car. The people kneeling on the ground stood up one by one and walked toward the home of the family holding the funeral.
As I drove past, I glanced back and saw three memorial portraits in the mourning hall - a middle-aged couple in their fifties and a girl in her early twenties.
I didn't give it much thought; I had seen many instances of separation and death before. The other two families had already dispersed as well. According to the navigation, after passing through three villages in a row, we finally arrived at Sanhe Village.
I am reassured that there is no music coming from Sanhe Village.
Du Xiaolan sighed in relief and smiled, saying, "I've been worried all along that Liu Jiguang might not be human, but now it seems I was just overthinking."
"I told you, how could something like that happen to us," I chuckled, even though I had thought the same as Du Xiaolan.
With the worries dispelled, I felt a lot lighter, and following the detailed address, we quickly arrived at Liu Jiguang's doorstep.
It was a two-story small Western-style building in the countryside, decently renovated. After all, it was a rural area, and compared to the houses in this village, Liu Jiguang's house should be considered quite prosperous.
However, I found it strange that, theoretically, with the wedding scheduled for tomorrow, relatives and friends from the village should be coming to help. But it was remarkably desolate, with the front gate tightly locked and no one entering or leaving.
After parking the car, I saw a man in black sitting in front of a nearby garbage dump. The man was rummaging through the trash, muttering to himself. When he saw us, he suddenly shouted wildly at us and then left.
He was undoubtedly insane, and I paid him no mind. Instead, I was puzzled. Starting from when we entered the village, all the doors of the houses were tightly closed. Aside from that madman, I hadn't seen anyone else.
Du Xiaolan seemed not to have noticed this. After getting out of the car, she took the clothes she had brought, knocked on the car door, and said loudly to me, "Mingyang, come and help me quickly. It's already six o'clock. Do you want us to work until midnight?"
"Coming," I replied. This place gave me a very strange feeling, as if the entire village's people had inexplicably disappeared.
Just as I got out of the car, a cold wind suddenly whistled, and I couldn't help but shiver, hastening under the eaves. It was already July, but the wind was surprisingly cold, no different from the cold wind of midwinter.
I had my suspicions, but since we were already here, there was no turning back.
Rubbing my arms, I knocked hard on the door, but there was no response from inside for a long time.
I squinted at Du Xiaolan and said, "It seems like no one's in. Check the contract for Liu Jiguang's phone number."
"Just a moment," Du Xiaolan put down the clothes she was holding and was about to hand me the contract when the door suddenly made a moving sound. I instinctively pulled back my hand and turned around hurriedly. The door opened a crack, and a man in his fifties or so walked out.