Chapter 295

Last night.

When Wu Xian and the others buried Wang Popo.

With time tight, the task heavy, and fear gripping them, they could only hastily bury the body.

It was barely past noon today.

Eleven people had participated in the burial; manpower and time were now ample, so they could plan properly before interring the corpse.

Wen Chao took a sip of warm water.

"Since surviving the Blessed Land, I've abandoned my former academic research and turned to studying things most people consider heretical."

"The Southern History records four forms of burial: water burial casts the dead into rivers, fire burial reduces them to ashes, earth burial seals the coffin in the ground, and bird burial abandons them in the wild."

"Water burial means the corpse is devoured by fish and turtles; bird burial means it is pecked clean by birds—their souls ride with the fish and birds to distant lands, toward freedom…"

"I'm sure you've all noticed: there are no fish in the water here, no birds in the sky—so bird burial and water burial are impossible. Our only options are earth burial and fire burial."

"Last night, Wu Xian and the other five proved that earth burial yields information. I propose we try fire burial today."

Fire burial…

The group fell into quiet murmurs.

Wen Chao's suggestion wasn't useless, but since earth burial had already been proven viable, attempting fire burial now seemed unnecessarily risky.

Fortunately, there were two corpses.

After discussion, they finally decided to split into two groups: one for fire burial, the other for earth burial.

The fire burial group consisted of Wen Chao, Jiang Chun, Wu Xian, Du E, Jian Lingyu, and Su Xuan—six people tasked with burying Yang Bin's corpse.

The corpse was shattered beyond repair; earth burial would require tedious suturing alone.

The earth burial group included the Wei siblings, Li Juxian, Ran Qiuhua, and Gao Fushuai; they believed Aunt Miao drowned, making fire burial incompatible, hence their choice.

Wu Xian was a staunch fire burial advocate—he even proposed burning both corpses.

His reason: the urns! A proper funeral requires five elements, but Wu Xian believed they only needed to resolve four, since the coffin had already been chosen.

Everyone who entered the Burial Village selected either a coffin or an urn—that selection was the necessary element for their escape from the Blessed Land.

Like Wu Xian and Du E, they chose coffins; coffins require earth burial.

The urn, though larger, resembled a bone ash container in form—so Wu Xian guessed that to grant Aunt Miao and Yang Bin peace, fire burial was the only way.

But Wei Hengbo's group preferred caution, and Wu Xian himself needed a control group to verify his theory, so he didn't press them.

The earth burial side would wait.

For fire burial, Wu Xian, Wen Chao, and Su Xuan gathered sufficient dry firewood.

The three women tended to making Yang Bin's corpse presentable—even if no suturing was needed, he deserved to depart with dignity.

Reassembling the shattered corpse tested one's nerves.

Jiang Chun nearly vomited several times; Du E's composure cracked, but Jian Lingyu remained calm throughout.

After much time, they finally prepared everything.

Yang Bin's body was reassembled and laid upon a flat wooden board.

Around him were wildflowers plucked from the wilderness, a female clay figurine skillfully molded by Du E, and paper money cut from torn clothes into round shapes with square holes.

Looking at the corpse, already crawling with fly larvae.

Wu Xian sighed faintly.

Yang Bin's wife and children could never have imagined their husband and father would die so carelessly here—may he be reborn without ever being drawn into the Blessed Land's turmoil over soy sauce.

Then.

Wu Xian lit the dry firewood.

Whoosh! Flames roared, thick smoke and heat carrying a heavy greasy odor.

Normally,

burning a corpse requires diesel. But Wu Xian's group had no diesel, so they cut slabs of pork fat from yesterday's wild boar and placed them beneath Yang Bin's body.

Someone might now wonder:

If they burned the corpse outdoors, wouldn't the ashes scatter in the wind and be impossible to fully collect?

Those with experience burning corpses know:

Even funeral home incinerators cannot fully reduce a body to ash—some bone fragments always remain.

A wood fire's heat pales beside an incinerator's, so they needn't worry.

The fire burned for a long time.

In the end, only a charred, broken corpse remained.

The five each took stones, smashed the desiccated remains, swept the ground, and gathered the mixture of ash, sand, and soil into the urn…

Hasty, but complete.

Regarding urn handling, theories exist: enshrine it in a cemetery, temple, or yin dwelling; bury it beneath a tombstone; or scatter it in rivers, lakes, seas, or sacred mountains.

They briefly discussed.

They decided to bury the ashes in the earth and plant a tombstone above.

Busy until near dusk, they shared a simple meal with the other group and distributed food to the elders, then returned to their rooms to await nightfall…

…

Inside the thatched hut.

Wu Xian and the other six sat in a circle, each beside a clay bowl filled to the brim with clear water.

The water surface trembled slightly, making the oil lamp's glow flicker rapidly.

Wu Xian leaned askew and asked:

"Professor Wen, really—you can't make a few mirrors?"

Wen Chao shook his head.

"I know how to make a mirror, but the conditions here don't allow it. Some things can't be done just by having knowledge—you also need to meet certain basic requirements."

Wu Xian sighed and flicked the water bowl in front of him.

"Then today we can only rely on this thing."

Last night.

Everyone had been teleported into their own coffins or jars, and the condition for teleportation was line of sight—so long as someone was looking at you, you wouldn't be moved.

No one could guarantee it.

That the same thing won't happen tonight.

So today everyone sat together in a circle, and if another person's gaze became unreliable, they could still watch their own reflection in the water, keeping their own line of sight fixed on themselves.

Everyone stared intently at each other.

Not long after.

Everyone felt their eyes become painfully dry.

Even blinking required first gaining others' permission, because they had to ensure that at every moment, everyone was under someone's gaze.

During this time, they heard many strange sounds.

Noises from the main house, the howls of monsters beyond the village, and things beneath the moonlight stirred restlessly.

The staring contest lasted for a long time.

Wu Xian thought that if this continued, the dark circles he'd taken a month to fade might return...

"I propose we give up!"

(End of Chapter)