My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 90 Burying the Corpse

The same place, the same smell. Lin Ziping found a piece of cloth and covered his mouth and nose with it. He knocked on the door of the mortuary with a look of grim determination.

As Lin Ziping knocked on the door, he kept regretting his actions. Dai Qin hadn't asked him to help collect the body, so why had he suddenly decided to take on this task? But after circling the mortuary several times, he couldn't bring himself to leave. He decided to just consider it an act of kindness. It was fine if he didn't know the person, but he couldn't bring himself to watch someone he knew languish in the wilderness.

"Who is it?" a voice came from inside the house.

Lin Ziping took a step back, and the door opened from the inside.

The newcomer was completely covered up, except for his eyes, which looked Lin Ziping up and down and asked, "Who are you?"

Lin Ziping clasped his hands in a respectful greeting and said, "I am Lin Ziping from Fuchun County. May I ask if Coroner Zhang is here?"

The newcomer bowed to Lin Ziping, saying, "The coroner is inside. What brings you here?"

Lin Ziping did not answer, but took out a few copper coins and handed them to him: "Please pass on the message, young man."

"What are you doing here, you silly boy?" A moment later, the voice of the coroner came from behind.

"Coroner Zhang." Lin Ziping turned around and clasped his hands in a salute.

The coroner nodded in acknowledgment, then looked Lin Ziping up and down: "This time you finally knew to cover it with a cloth. What brings you here today?"

"Coroner Zhang, did they send a hanged body here from the prison a couple of days ago?" Lin Ziping asked.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang the coroner looked at the person who opened the door for Lin Ziping, and the person nodded.

Coroner Zhang replied, "It's that woman with the broken leg, isn't it? The bodies of the whole family are here, and no one has come to collect them."

A family of three? Yes, and Hu Xinhua and Dai Qin's daughter, Xin Cheng. Their bodies have been lying there for so long, they've already started to decompose. Do they really want to help bury them too?

Lin Ziping thought about the scene and got goosebumps. He forced himself to say, "Coroner Zhang, if I need to help collect the bodies of that woman and her daughter, what should I do?"

It's okay for a little girl to help, but forget about scumbags.

The coroner, Zhang, seemed surprised by Lin Ziping's words and looked at him with astonishment: "You're going to collect their bodies?"

Lin Ziping nodded.

“Come back and tell me when you find the burial site, and I’ll arrange for someone to move the body there. Silly boy, I must remind you that this family of three cannot be buried in the Pingding Village cemetery in this situation,” said Zhang, the coroner.

If we can't get a burial plot, where should we be buried? Are we supposed to find a scenic spot like on TV? That's so environmentally unfriendly!

This was the first time Lin Ziping had encountered something like this, and he didn't know how to handle it.

Seeing Lin Ziping's reaction, the coroner Zhang pointed in a direction and said, "There's a graveyard about two or three miles away. Some people who died violent deaths are buried there. You can go and take a look."

What are you looking at? Being unfamiliar with the place and having never been there before, Lin Ziping clasped his hands in a respectful bow again: "Uncle Zhang, I'll have to ask you for help with this matter; I'm just doing this on someone else's behalf."

"Alright, Lao Liu, you should help him," Zhang the coroner instructed the man beside him, then turned and left.

"Brother Lin, come with me," said Old Liu, the man who opened the door for Lin Ziping.

The two arrived at a distance of about 500 meters from the mortuary. Old Liu removed the cloth from his face, revealing a middle-aged man with scars covering his right cheek, making him look quite frightening.

Lin Ziping suppressed his fear and asked calmly, "Brother Liu, what should I do about that?"

Old Liu rewrapped the cloth and said, "However you want to bury it, it will cost 100 coins to send someone over, 500 coins to dig a hole and bury it, 1 tael of silver for a straw mat, 5 taels of silver for an ordinary coffin, and the price for a good coffin will depend on the situation."

It turns out that the funeral industry already exists in this era, offering a complete service from digging a pit to burying people.

Lin Ziping thought for a moment and said, "Just something ordinary will do."

Old Liu nodded and said, "Let's start with a deposit."

Lin Ziping took out one tael of silver and handed it over.

Old Liu considered it for a moment and said, "You wait here for me, we'll go over together in a bit, bury it and pay."

He left without waiting for Lin Ziping's reply.

After a while, Old Liu drove a donkey cart out of the mortuary and called to Lin Ziping, "Get on."

Without thinking, Lin Ziping plopped down next to Old Liu. A strong smell of decay wafted over, and Lin Ziping gagged twice.

Old Liu glanced at Lin Ziping: "Want to check if it's real or fake?"

Lin Ziping waved his hands repeatedly.

"Are you new here?" Old Liu asked as he drove the cart.

Lin Ziping didn't want to speak and looked at Lao Liu with a puzzled expression.

Old Liu seemed to understand Lin Ziping's meaning: "Only a newcomer would be so kind. I, a man, can't even bear to look at the injuries on this woman's body. It must have been done by her man. Tsk, she's pitiful."

Lin Ziping didn't say anything, and Lao Liu didn't ask any more questions. Before long, they arrived at a cemetery.

Several people were carrying two coffins and waiting there. When they saw Lin Ziping and Lao Liu arrive, they quickly went forward.

Old Liu directed the men to place Dai Qin and her daughter's bodies in coffins. Lin Ziping, who didn't understand feng shui, pointed to a more spacious spot and told them to dig a pit.

The group dug down according to the location pointed out by Lin Ziping. Lin Ziping stood aside, looking around idly, recalling the scene when he and Xiao Fuzi buried Chunfan. So many years have passed without any news. He wondered how Xiao Fuzi was doing.

Suddenly, Lin Ziping felt a gaze sweep over him.

Lin Ziping looked around and saw a person staring intently at him from behind a tree not far away. That was... that was Mo Bani!

Mo Bani and Lin Ziping exchanged glances, then Mo Bani took a step back in alarm and turned to run away.

Lin Ziping took out five taels of silver from his pocket, put it on the cart, and said to Lao Liu, "Brother Liu, I have to go first. I'll leave the rest here. You can use the extra to buy drinks for the brothers."

Without waiting for Lao Liu's reply, he took off after Mo Bani in the direction she had left.

"Stop! Mo Bani, stop right now!" Lin Ziping shouted as he ran.

The training over the past few years has paid off; the distance between the two is getting smaller and smaller. Seeing that Lin Ziping is about to catch up, Mo Bani stopped and squatted down.

Lin Ziping chased after her, grabbed Mo Bani, and said, "Mo Bani, why are you running?"

Mo Bani looked at Lin Ziping in a panic, her eyes filled with tears.

Um, this feels like I'm the one bullying her.

Lin Ziping released his grip and asked, "Mo Bani, what are you doing here?"

“I…I…I’m here to visit relatives,” Mo Bani stammered.

"What are you secretly looking at while visiting relatives?" Lin Ziping frowned.

"Sir, please let me go." Mo Bani knelt down and begged Lin Ziping.

"This... I didn't do anything." Lin Ziping couldn't help but wonder if he had been too violent and frightened her.

Lin Ziping softened his tone and said, "Get up first."

After a while, Mo Bani observed Lin Ziping's reaction, then timidly stood up and stood silently to the side with her head down.

Seeing Mo Bani like this, Lin Ziping thought that the case was now closed, and he couldn't control what she was doing here. Besides, he had skipped work today, and the sun was already setting, so he should go back. As for Lao Liu, he would go to inspect the case after he had a day off in a couple of days.

Unexpectedly, Lin Ziping didn't want to care about Mo Bani, but Mo Bani followed closely behind him. Whenever he turned around, Mo Bani would look at him with teary eyes and say nothing.

Back in the county town, Lin Ziping saw that Mo Bani was still following behind him. He sighed, bought a few steamed buns and mantou at the steamed bun shop, went to the teahouse, ordered a pot of tea, and invited Mo Bani to sit down.

He handed a steamed bun to Mo Bani, poured a bowl of water in front of her, and said, "Eat up."

Regardless of Mo Bani's situation, Lin Ziping had been on the go all day. He started eating a steamed bun with the oil paper on it. Sigh, who would understand? His hands weren't washed, and he still had a faint smell on his body. He would never have been able to eat anything before, but now... this steamed bun actually smelled pretty good.

"Thank you." A voice came as Lin Ziping was wallowing in self-pity.

Mo Bani took a sip of water and ate the steamed buns Lin Ziping had given her in big bites. Lin Ziping paused for a moment, then poured her another cup and said, "Slow down, there's more."

Seeing that Mo Bani had slowed down, Lin Ziping asked, "Why are you following me?"