Chapter 279: Laid to Rest

In the real world.

Wu Xian had once heard of a custom called abandoning the old, where after reaching a certain age, old people were driven into deep mountains and forests to wait for death, and even worse, old people had to seal their own graves.

Old Tang had said in the morning.

Those who come to the Village Without Burials are all people waiting to die.

It wasn't that the old people liked to eat moldy cakes or loved to drink dirty water, but that they had no other choice. The only task for them coming to the Village Without Burials was to die quietly in this place without young people.

If this was the case.

It was very normal for these old people to have hatred for young people, because part of the suffering they endured was caused by young people.

So Old Tang only gave a good look to Wen Chao, who was also of age.

So the old people in the village were dismissive of Wu Xian's inquiries...

Wu Xian sighed long and hard.

He lifted the old woman's corpse, dragged it out of the room, and found a piece of broken cloth to cover it.

Then he turned around in the village and found a rusty shovel in the corner. After swinging it slightly, he found that the shovel was still quite sturdy.

While the old woman was coughing painfully, the doors and windows in the village opened one after another, and pairs of eyes stared at Wu Xian's actions.

When they saw Wu Xian carrying the shovel, wanting to go out of the village, Old Tang, draped in a long gown, came out and stopped Wu Xian.

"You, what are you going to do?"

Wu Xian was stunned for a moment.

"What else can I do? Dig a pit and bury her. People are already dead, at least let her be laid to rest. I see the weather is quite hot, and I'm afraid she'll get maggots after a long time."

Laid to rest...

Old Tang's expression shook.

The old people in the rooms also discussed secretly; they hadn't heard these four words for a long time.

If Wu Xian also chose to explore outside, he would find that outside the Village Without Burials, there were human bones thrown away everywhere, and no burial mounds could be found.

"Put down the shovel and take the old woman Wang's corpse to a place a bit further away and throw it down, then come back..."

Wu Xian keenly sensed that Old Tang's attitude towards him had softened. He immediately realized that key information was coming, so he retorted loudly with a face full of confusion.

"No, it must be buried. Since ancient times, covering the coffin and deciding the posthumous title, laying to rest—how can one let her corpse be exposed in the wilderness?"

Old Tang was speechless, and only after a moment did he say.

"Silly boy, didn't your parents teach you that doing this will bring disaster?"

Wu Xian shook his head and answered dismissively: "What disaster could there be? Could there be ghosts?"

"Don't talk nonsense!"

Old Tang was scared pale by this sentence and wanted to cover Wu Xian's mouth, but the distance was too far, so he could only stomp his feet in anger.

"I have said all I can say. If you still want to go court death, then go ahead!"

Old Tang leaned on his cane and returned to his room in a hurry. The doors and windows that had been secretly opened were also closed, as if Wu Xian were an ominous person, and they would be contaminated with ominousness if they looked at him a few more times.

Wu Xian scratched his hair in distress.

"I still wanted to get more information, but it seems that the word 'ghost' just now hit a taboo."

Just from the performance of the old people, Wu Xian obtained a lot of useful information.

The scripture said that this world had lost funerals.

Wu Xian had thought that what was lost was something formal, such as complex ritual performances, but now it seems that the lost funeral is something more basic, and even the simplest digging of a pit to bury people is a taboo.

Once a taboo is violated.

One will be retaliated against by 'ghosts.'

The horror of ghosts is deeply rooted in people's hearts, so these old people are tight-lipped and unwilling to say anything... The things feared by the old people should be the enemies that the Lotus Juanren and newcomers have to face in this Fudi.

In addition, Wu Xian also thought of an evil way. If they really couldn't know what a correct funeral was, they could ask the old people about taboos, organize the taboos, and maybe they could come up with a funeral process.

Center of the Village Without Burials.

A small bonfire was piled up with dry firewood.

Those who went out to explore all rushed back before dark and gathered around the bonfire to talk about what they had seen.

Wu Xian recorded everyone's harvest in his mind, and his understanding of this Fudi became more comprehensive. Among them, the news that surprised Wu Xian the most was brought back by Du E.

She, like Wu Xian, chose to ask the old people, but the things she asked about were more detailed than Wu Xian's.

The town that everyone saw on the east side of the Three Immortals Bridge was originally called Yao City, the most prosperous town nearby. The old people in the village all came from Yao City.

As for the current name of that city...

It's called the City of Immortality!

The act of abandoning the old in the real world is usually because of material shortages.

But the reason why the old people in the Village Without Burials are waiting for death here is because the City of Immortality does not allow death! Whenever someone is about to die, or is judged to be about to die at any time, they are driven out of the city, and the only place nearby that can accept them is this Village Without Burials.

The City of Immortality does not allow death, which also has real reasons. There are too many taboos about the dead. If old people die in the city, no matter how they are handled, they may violate taboos.

Therefore, the safest way to handle it is to drive people out when they are about to die, so there is no need to worry about the disaster brought by handling corpses.

After listening, Wu Xian asked Du E in surprise.

"Those old people are very hateful to young people. When I asked, they almost spat on my face. How could you ask for this information?"

Du E lowered her head shyly.

Wu Xian looked at her well-behaved appearance, then touched his own curly hair. For old people, those like Du E are more likable.

In addition to information.

Those who went out to explore also brought back some supplies.

For example, the Wei siblings caught a small wild boar. Wild boars are omnivorous animals and should have eaten humans, but there was no better meat choice than wild boar.

Wen Chao, Jiang Chun, and Ran Qiuhua.

Brought back quite a few sundries, except for some dry firewood, hemp grass, mugwort, etc., there were also a few wild vegetables.

Miao the middle-aged woman and the other five people, although they didn't find food, washed all the large vats in the village clean and filled them up. As long as there was no more corpse pollution, at least the drinking water for a few days didn't need to be worried about.

Next was the long-dressed big sister Jian Lingyu.

She went out alone and brought back a basket of all kinds of "weeds," and spread those weeds on the ground, pointing them out to everyone one by one.

Which kind can be eaten, which kind can be crushed to stop bleeding,

Which kind looks like it can be eaten but is poisonous and absolutely must not be touched...

Just this information alone benefited everyone a lot.

Even Wen Chao was a bit surprised.

In order to survive better in the Fudi, Wen Chao had actively searched for a lot of information, but the environment of the Fudi was different from the real world. Many things had no toxins in the real world, but might be poisonous in the Fudi.

Therefore, he could only confirm the efficacy of some plants, but Jian Lingyu was much more comprehensive than him. It seems that she said she was good at the auxiliary aspect, and she really didn't lie.

Information was exchanged, and supplies were all talked about.

Next...

It was time to consider how to handle the old woman Wang's corpse.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 280 =====