Chapter 156: Cremation

Quietly walked down the mountain, I carefully made my way back, staying particularly cautious along the path, afraid that a moment's lapse in attention would disturb the witch ahead.

By then, I’m afraid we all won’t be able to carry our own burdens.

After about ten minutes, I stumbled back to the old man's house, but strangely, I didn't encounter a single villager on the way!

As I stepped into the courtyard, I saw Ouyang Sheng still continuously wielding his peach wood sword.

As I approached, I noticed he was drenched in sweat, seemingly sensing that something was amiss. At that moment, I deliberately glanced at the paper figures surrounding him. I couldn't quite understand how, but even though they were just paper figures, they now appeared exceptionally menacing.

It seems as if it's going to tear us all apart, making people feel a bit apprehensive.

At that moment, Ouyang Sheng saw me return and slowly put away the peach wood sword in his hand.

“What’s the situation over there?” Ouyang Sheng looked at me with a weak expression.

I glanced around and saw the old man's children kneeling in the mourning hall, burning joss paper, while the four burly men stood nearby, ready to assist in the old man’s burial.

I’m afraid my words might disturb them, so I waved my hand at Ouyang Sheng, signaling him to step aside and talk somewhere a bit further away.

“Hey, what are you two messing around with? When are we going to start the burial?”

Seeing the two of us moving aside, one of the strong village men looked at us and spoke, seemingly thinking we were plotting something against them.

“Please wait a moment! Why are you afraid when we are right here?” I responded to the villager.

However, someone as clever as Ouyang Sheng should be able to see something on my face.

“Mr. Ouyang, this old man's body needs to be cremated quickly!” I said eagerly, stepping aside. I was afraid that the longer we delayed, the more unfavorable it would be for us.

“What on earth is going on?! Did you go to the cemetery?” Ouyang Sheng looked at me, seemingly puzzled by my meaning.

I frowned and, to keep it brief, roughly explained to him what I had just seen.

Upon hearing my explanation, his face instantly darkened.

“No wonder I always feel as if something is obstructing the old man's soul from returning to his body. It seems that this old man's body must be cremated!” Ouyang Sheng said as he turned to look at the mortuary.

“What are you saying? Cremation?! I'm telling you not to daydream!” It seems that Ouyang Sheng's voice was a bit loud, causing the old man's daughter, who had just come out of the mourning hall, to hear him. At this moment, she was marching over here with an imposing manner.

“But not cremating will cause problems!” Hearing her words, Ouyang Sheng hurriedly explained.

“Don’t give me that nonsense. I’ll tell you, we have been burying our ancestors for generations here; cremation is a disrespect to the deceased. What are you really trying to achieve?! Don’t think that just because Uncle Wu trusts you, we wouldn’t have beaten you to a pulp by now! Please do not touch our bottom line!”

At this moment, the old man's daughter was getting more and more agitated as she spoke.

As he shouted, a few strong men, along with the old man's son, also stood up and walked over.

“It's absolutely impossible to cremate! If there’s any trouble, you’d better think of another way. Even if Wu Uncle is called over, it won’t work! This precedent absolutely cannot be broken!” At this moment, the deceased's son glared at us with wide eyes, looking furious.

It seems that cremation is absolutely out of the question!

I'm afraid that before we can even cremate the old man's body, they'll beat us up first.

But if we don't cremate him, I'm worried that the wizard will control the old man's corpse, and then all of us will be in big trouble.

I glanced at Ouyang Kun, seeking his opinion. It was obvious that even calling Uncle Wu over now would probably not be of much help.

It seems I'll have to temporarily bind the old man's body with a jute rope and put it into the coffin. What I'm most worried about right now is this body coming back to life!

There is a fundamental difference between witchcraft and Taoist arts; I understand Taoist arts better, but witchcraft is even more eerie and terrifying in my mind.

At this moment, the scene of that thing, about the size of an infant, crawling into the coffin reappears in my mind.

However, arguing here is not the solution; the most important thing right now is to take a look at the body! Ensuring the safety of the body is the top priority.

I glanced at Ouyang Sheng, who furrowed his brow and didn't have time to argue with the old man's family. He headed straight towards the front of the mourning hall.

```htmlSeeing me leave, a group of people followed me with concern.

At that moment, there was another person in the mourning hall, and that person was Shuan Quan's wife.

Seeing me approach, she shifted her position a bit but did not seem inclined to make way for me.```

Ouyang Sheng and I approached the old man's body from the side. The old man was covered with yellow paper on his face.

As I got closer, I carefully extended my hand in front of the old man's face and gently lifted the yellow paper covering it.

However, it's good that there doesn't seem to be any special changes, and there are no obvious signs of fortune. Looking at my nails and limbs, there also seem to be no noticeable changes.

Of course, no changes are the best outcome, but the absence of change does not necessarily mean safety. After all, as I mentioned earlier, we are quite familiar with Taoist techniques, but we have no understanding of this witchcraft at all.

The more this happens, the more worried we become.

It’s better to tie him up as soon as possible. Then Ouyang Sheng called me over and asked me to help him get some rope.

However, just as I turned around, I suddenly saw the old man on the ground seeming to move a little.

In an instant, all the hairs on my body stood on end, and I immediately stopped in my tracks, turning my head to look at the old man.

```htmlHowever, he still lay there, motionless.

No way! The corpse definitely moved just now; it felt as if I had been jolted by an electric shock.

Then, I noticed that the wife of Qian, who had been kneeling in the mourning hall, also turned pale, her face drained of color, and she was instantly frozen, not knowing what to do.```

This shows that it wasn't just me who saw it; Shaun Quan's wife definitely saw it too.

Seeing that I had stopped in my tracks, Ouyang Sheng, who was walking out, turned around to look at me and asked with a concerned expression, "What's wrong?"

```html“Corpse!” I widened my eyes and slowly pointed at the old man's body: “It moved!”

We need to understand that this was the last thing I wanted to see!

However, just as I was about to signal to Chuan's wife to leave quickly, a strange and piercing sound suddenly came from the old man's body!```

Then, I saw the most terrifying thing of my life!