"When I woke up, I didn't see the figure of my second brother."

The four of them gathered in the hall, holding bowls and drinking hot rice porridge.

Hua Xiao's hoarse voice said in a muffled voice.

Hua Shi frowned, turned his head, and looked towards the empty house, which was dark and dark, and there was no one there.

Out again?

In Li's house, there was silence at this moment.

A breakfast, tasteless, the atmosphere is low and depressing.

Hua Xiao and Hua Li both had bitter faces, bowed their heads with wilts, and were sluggish.

Neither of them wanted to look at it, and the corpse in the courtyard, which had been buried in the snow, had eaten breakfast, and then retreated into the house, refusing to come out again.

Judging from yesterday, the Li family has also been hit, and everyone has become a little crazy, and it seems that they can't deal with the aftermath for Hua Ciyuan for the time being.

It is not a way to keep the corpses in the yard all the time......

Hua Shi said hello to the two of them, and went out with the fine snow on his own.

She didn't have a funeral......

According to local customs, after a person dies, the body is cleaned up, put on a shroud, put in a coffin, and then carried by a person for burial......

After thinking about it, he found the carpenter in the village and paid him to make a coffin.

The carpenter had already heard that someone had died in the village, and he expected that someone would come to him to make a coffin, so he prepared it early, and told Hua Shi that he would have the coffin brought to her in the evening.

When I spent it, I chose the most inferior plank, and it cost one or two pieces of silver for just such a board.

People die like lights go out, and for her before her death, there is no merit or fault.

On the surface, if she wants to continue living in the village, she has to do this to her heart......

After a trip to Huashi, when he returned to the small courtyard of the Hua family, he saw the courtyard door open to the outside from a distance, and the voices of several men could be faintly heard in the courtyard.

As soon as she stepped into the door, Hua Tingjing, who had been waiting for a long time, heard footsteps, turned around and saw Hua Shi who had walked into the courtyard.

"Eldest niece, are you back? Where's your milk? Why didn't you see her? ”

Hua Ting greeted him and asked repeatedly.

Hua Shi raised his eyes and saw that in the narrow courtyard, there were seven or eight tall men around, talking nonsense.

In the courtyard, when there are many people, it looks chaotic, and the corpses that were originally lying on the wooden planks in the courtyard are gone.

"Oh, your father and I let him be carried back to the hall, scrubbed him, changed into clean clothes, and he is in the hall now."

Hua Tingjing noticed her gaze and hurriedly explained.

Hua Shi paused and hesitated: "...... are you?" ”

She didn't expect Hua Tingjing to bring someone to help take care of Hua Ciyuan's funeral, and her expression was a little surprised.

Hua Tingjing raised his hand and said: "Everyone is of the same clan, it is appropriate to help each other, after your father is gone, your orphans and widows, the old, the weak, the sick and the disabled, we can help if we can." ”

Hua Shi nodded and said nothing.

"By the way, what about your mother?" Hua Tingjing asked, and turned his head to look left and right again.

Hua Shi shook his head and said, "I don't know either." ”

Hua Tingjing remembered that yesterday, the Li family's crazy appearance, and now people don't know where to run...... You can't really be crazy...?

Thinking about it, Hua Tingjing's eyes when he looked at Hua Shi couldn't help but show a trace of sympathy.

Dad is dead, my mother is gone, if my milk goes crazy at this time, won't there be only these children left in the whole family...... Oh yes, he remembered that there was a sick grandfather coming.

"Where's your grandfather?" Hua Ting thought about it, and asked again.

He remembered that it was just that Old Man Hua was only injured in his leg, and it was still fine in other places, so it should be no problem for people to sit up......

Hua Shi lowered his eyes and said, "In the house, I should still be sleeping at this time." ”

She also had a bit of a mess in her heart......

The Li family is now gone, and the old man who is locked in the house looks a little crazy......

"Uncle Hua, let's get it here, just wait for the coffin."

A man came out of the hall and beckoned to Hua Tingjing and said.

Hua Ting responded, looked at Hua Shi again, and asked, "Have you found someone to order the coffin?" Is there enough money? Do you want Uncle to take you there? ”

No way, the Li family is gone, he looks around, and only Hua Shi can call the shots in this matter.

Hua Shi nodded: "It's enough, it will be delivered at night at the earliest." ”

Hua Tingjing breathed a sigh of relief.

When he saw the flowers, his mood seemed to be low, and his expression was a little dazed, and he didn't know what to do.

"When the coffin is loaded, we will carry the coffin to the ancestral hall of our clan, and if it is to be put for seven days, you will take a few of your younger brothers and sisters, and follow them to guard the spirit, and someone will be there for seven days, and after seven days, I will bring someone to carry the coffin to the ancestral grave and bury it."

Originally, during these seven days, a table should be prepared, and the people of the tribe should be called to come and pay tribute, and when the time comes, they will be carried to the burial......

Purse your lips when you flower.

She roughly understood, she had to take her younger siblings and stay by the coffin to cry and mourn for seven days, and on the first seven days, she was lifted up and buried.

When the follow-up matters were almost dealt with, Hua Tingjing asked the extra few people to go back, leaving only four people carrying the coffin, and he himself stayed there without any intention of leaving.

Looking at the posture, it seems that he has to wait for the coffin to be carried over, guard the coffin, and then send it to the ancestral hall of the Hua family in person.

After a few people left, the noisy atmosphere in the courtyard suddenly became low.

Xu saw that the atmosphere was not right, and Hua Tingjing kept talking while pulling the flowers.

Hua Shi also learned a lot about the clan in the village from his mouth......

For example, among the four major surnames in the village, except for the largest ancestral hall, the four surnames Hua, Xie, Li, and He have their own ancestral halls.

Generally, if someone in the village dies, a spiritual seat will be set up in the seven days after death, and a tablet will be placed, one in the hall of the family, and the other on the spiritual seat of the ancestral hall.

These are the rules of the village, and by now, the four walls of the ancestral hall have been filled with countless tablets......

As he was talking, there was a sudden noisy sound outside the low-walled courtyard, mixed with messy footsteps......

Hua Tingjing stood up, walked curiously towards the open courtyard door, and poked his head out to look.

I saw that on the road at the entrance of the alley, many villagers who came out of the house ran in one direction.

It's noon, if it's hot, it's not unusual for so many people to appear on the village road at this time, but at this time, it's freezing cold, and everyone likes to shrink into the house on weekdays, so they run out at this time, unless something big happens, just like yesterday......

"Hey...! Auntie? What are you all doing? What's going on over there? ”

Hua Tingjing shouted loudly, calling out to an aunt who was about to run over to watch the excitement.

"How do I know! I heard that someone died on the other side of the lake, and if you want to know, go over and see it yourself. ”

The aunt glanced back at Hua Tingjing, said such a thing, and ran away without looking back.

“… Dead again...?? ”

Hua Tingjing looked at the back of the running away and muttered, his face full of doubts.

After realizing what was going on, Hua Tingjing's eyes widened suddenly, and he turned his head to look out again.

At this time, all the people on the village road ran away, and he couldn't find anyone if he wanted to catch someone and ask.

"It's strange, why did someone drown......

Hua Tingjing muttered and retreated into the courtyard, with an unbearable curiosity on his face.

If it weren't for the fact that he had something at hand, he would have followed to see what had happened......

"Uncle Hua, what's going on outside?"

Before he could regain his senses, the four people in the courtyard looked at him in unison, and one of them asked curiously.

Hua Tingjing glanced at the four of them, shook his head and said, "I don't know, I heard that someone drowned in the lake, and the big guys all ran over to see the excitement......"

"What? Someone drowned again? ”

The man scratched his head, his expression only strange.

None of the people who drowned yesterday have passed the first seven? Why did someone drown the next day?

This year has just passed, how can people drown one after another......

Hearing this, Hua Shi turned his head to look at it, and his heart sighed inexplicably.

"Oh no! Oh no! Uncle Hua! ”

Before several people in the courtyard could recover from the news, there was a sudden shout outside.

Hua Tingjing heard this familiar voice, frowned, and walked out again: "What's it called?" What is it called? What's wrong? ”

The man ran over panting, his expression panicked.

Hua Tingjing held him up and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

The man looked at the few people in the courtyard, pursed his lips and said, "Oops! It was Mrs. Li, who drowned in the lake! ”

"What?!" Hua Tingjing was taken aback, slowed down, and immediately asked, "Which Mrs. Li are you talking about?" ”

There are many Mrs. Li in the village, and it doesn't necessarily stop there......

"Which one else could it be!" The man said helplessly, the meaning in his eyes was already very obvious.

Hua Tingjing didn't dare to look back at the flowers behind him, his brows were furrowed tightly, and he never let go: "Okay, how can you drown...?" ”

"I don't know, and it's not just Mrs. Li who drowned, but also Xie Lang and his mother."

It seems that he is afraid that Hua Tingjing will not know who he is talking about, and he deliberately said a name.

Hua Tingjing frowned: "Have you seen it clearly?" ”

"I must have seen it clearly before I dared to say it, the corpses were all fished up, and the face was full of blood ......"

The man said, his face palpitating, thinking of the bloody scene he had seen not long ago, and swallowed with difficulty, a little afraid.

Not far behind him, Hua Shi heard this clearly, and the expression on his face became a little stiff.

Lee's... Drowned?

"What the hell is Xie Lang...?" Hanashi asked aloud with difficulty.

She hadn't heard of that name......

Hua Tingjing heard her voice, turned to look at Hua Shi, patted his head, and immediately reacted, saying, "It's Xie Mingchi's milk!" ”

What he reacted was...... Not long ago, didn't the Li family and the grandmother of the Xie family just get married to the juniors of the two families, saying that they would pick a good day after the New Year, and then set up the wine to make things happen.

Generally, this kind of marriage event, which family wants to marry a wife, will be spread in the village, and he naturally heard about it......

However, how could these two have drowned together...?

Hua Tingjing thought about it, and then asked, "It was found in the same place?" ”

The man nodded hurriedly.

Hanashi's brow furrowed all of a sudden.

Li and the grandmother of the Xie family drowned in the lake......

Coming out of Hua's house, Hua Shi followed behind Hua Tingjing and the others, and headed in the direction of the east side of the village.

A village with hundreds of households naturally has a lot of area and place, like that kind of lake, pond, large and small, there are more than a dozen.

And if you want to say that the lake with the largest area is the one in the east of the village......

When a few people hurriedly ran over, the side of the huge lake, the slope, the stones, and the lake, everywhere stood with villagers watching the excitement.

Compared with the villagers who watched the drama yesterday, today's crowd is obviously worried and uneasy, and the emotions are more intense.

It's not as simple as drowning like yesterday's......

This time, there was blood, and the bluestone on the lake was full of bright red blood, and the snow on the edge of the lake was also stained red with blood......

“… How?! Dead again? ”

"Don't you want to pass this year! It's only been a long time, and three of them died at once! ”

"Yes, the old man who drowned last year or was lifted, and today he drowned two old women, creating evil!"

"Poor, I heard that one of them is still the old mother who lifts people? My son drowned yesterday, and my mother drowned with him? Kung Fu ...... of the front and rear feet"

In the crowd, the chaotic discussion was endless.

Most people were a little panicked in their hearts, after all, they saw blood, and they drowned two people at once.

"Don't you see? One of them had a broken forehead, saying that he had hit a stone, and his head was broken, and it was bleeding all over the ground......"

"I came late, I didn't see it, there were too many beatings around, I couldn't squeeze in."

"You said that these two people drowned together, could it be that the two had an argument, and then one of them pushed the other, broke his head, and then fell into the lake without standing firmly, and the other was afraid of being discovered, and then jumped in and killed himself?"

"You think it's a script, if I kill someone, I must have secretly escaped, so that no one will find out that I did it, instead of jumping in and drowning together, and I'm not a fool, and a fool is not that stupid."

The discussion of the onlookers became louder and louder, and when a few people arrived, the atmosphere was almost white-hot......