Chapter 10: The Missing Corpse

  However, in this matter, Li Tianzhen is ultimately a bit more passive. After all, she can't outdo Zhushan Lao Dao. In the end, if Li Tianzhen doesn't cooperate with Zhushan Lao Dao, she will be the one to suffer.

  So Li Tianzhen reluctantly gave Zhang Xiaolan three head knocks despite having ten thousand unwillingness.

  Seeing Li Tianzhen yield, Zhushan Laodao also stopped teasing her.

  After Li Tianzhen finished kowtowing, Zhang Shan Lao Dao walked into the woodshed with a compass. Zhang Shan Lao Dao used the compass to take some measurements in the woodshed and then found a rolling pin in the northwest corner of the room. Li Tianzhen recognized it at a glance - it was the same one his son Liu Da Kui had used last night, which was also the one inserted into Zhang Xiao Lan's lower body.

  Zhu Shan Lao didn't tell Li Tianzhen why the rolling pin was here, he just asked Li Tianzhen to throw it into the paper money and burn it, then bury it.

  After burning the incense sticks, the Taoist ritual of Bamboo Mountain's old master was also completed.

  However, before leaving, Zhushan Laodao left a word for Li Tianzhen.

  "As long as Zhang Xiaolan's case is not solved, the Liu family will not be at peace."

  Zhu Shan Lao Dao finished speaking and left.

  Zhu Shan Lao Dao's words, Li Tian Zhen could hear that he wasn't talking nonsense. However, after listening, Li Tian Zhen still felt a bit depressed. This Zhang Xiao Lan, when she was alive, caused trouble for the Liu family and even took Liu Ren Qing's life. Now that she's dead, she still wants to harass the Liu family, this is truly endless.

  Li Tianzhen was angry, but she couldn't do anything about it because that Xiaolan was invisible and intangible, so even if she wanted to beat her up, she couldn't find a place to start.

  However, what made Li Tianzhen feel slightly relieved was that on this night, his son Liu Da-kui did not tie himself up again and did not go to find the rolling pin to poke at his thing.

  It can be seen that the Taoist priest's ritual was somewhat effective, and although the 200 yuan spent seemed a bit expensive, it wasn't wasted.

  But after Zhang Xiaolan's body was sent back by the police, something happened again in the Liu family within a few days.

  After Zhang Xiaolan's body was sent back, Li Tianzhen found that the body had not rotted, but Li Tianzhen did not suspect this. Because Zhang Xiaolan's body had been autopsied by a forensic doctor, perhaps the forensic doctor had applied some medicine to preserve the body well, so it didn't rot.

  Because Zhang Xiaolan ruined the Liu family, Li Tianzhen was furious when she saw her corpse. When Zhang Xiaolan's body was just brought back, she didn't let it enter her own courtyard, but instead found a desolate land, called a few people, and hastily dug a hole to throw Zhang Xiaolan in.

  After throwing Zhang Xiaolan's body in, Li Tianzhen also picked up a stick and hit the body hard several times. After hitting it, out of anger, before filling the soil, she inserted the stick in her hand into Zhang Xiaolan's lower body.

  After venting her anger, Li Tianzhen let the people beside her start filling the pit with soil.

  On the same night that Cao Cao buried Zhang Xiaolan's body, Liu Daguai went to find a rolling pin again, and just like the previous two times, he tied himself up and poked his thing with the rolling pin.

  Li Tianzhen saw her son like this and knew that Zhang Xiaolan must have come back. Therefore, she had to go invite Zhu Shan Lao Dao again.

  Li Tianzhen's corpse whipping, Zhushan Lao Dao had already heard. He knew that this time, Zhang Xiaolan's resentment was much heavier than the last time. For Zhushan Lao Dao, it would be much more difficult to subdue Zhang Xiaolan this time.

  Of course, this is a bit difficult, but it's not impossible. As long as Li Tianzhen offers a reasonable price, this matter can still be negotiated.

  Zhushan Old Dao was a famous person, so many people invited him and he didn't have to worry about guests. Therefore, Li Tianzhen had no room for bargaining in front of him. Whatever Zhushan Old Dao asked for, she had to give.

  Bamboo Mountain Taoist went to the Liu family's place and took a look, then went to the place where Li Tianzhen buried Zhang Xiaolan. After visiting these two places, Bamboo Mountain Taoist told Li Tianzhen that she must give Zhang Xiaolan a proper burial and cannot just bury her carelessly. Moreover, she also needs to wear mourning clothes and offer sincere apologies to Zhang Xiaolan. Otherwise, the Liu family will continue to suffer from disaster.

  It was because of the words of Bamboo Mountain Taoist that Li Tianzhen bought a large coffin and gave Zhang Xiaolan a lavish funeral. When burying Zhang Xiaolan, Bamboo Mountain Taoist pasted four talismans on the four corners of the coffin. According to Bamboo Mountain Taoist's words, as long as no one disturbed Zhang Xiaolan's grave, nothing would happen to the Liu family again.

  But on the second morning, when someone passed by Zhang Xiaolan's grave, they found that the grave had been dug up and the four talismans posted by Zhushan Dao people were torn to pieces. What's even more bizarre is that Zhang Xiaolan's body was nowhere to be found.

  This news scared Li Tianzhen to death. Li Tianzhen had no choice but to go find Zhu Shan Lao Dao again. After examining the scene, Zhu Shan Lao Dao told Li Tianzhen that Zhang Xiaolan's body was stolen by someone and asked if the Liu family had any enemies.

  It is obvious that Zhang Xiaolan's body went missing, which must be man-made. Moreover, the person who made Zhang Xiaolan's body go missing must have a deep hatred for the Liu family.

  Because, as long as those four symbols are destroyed, Zhang Xiaolan can come out and find trouble for the Liu family again. Although it is currently impossible to confirm who was responsible for Zhang Xiaolan's death, Zhang Xiaolan's death still has some connection with the Liu family.

  What's more, Li Tianzhen also stripped Zhang Xiaolan of her clothes in public and flogged her corpse. For the deceased, being flogged is an unbearable humiliation. Therefore, Zhang Xiaolan would never forgive the Liu family.

  Now, the only way for the Liu family to avoid disaster is to find Zhang Xiaolan's body. To find Zhang Xiaolan's body, they must first find the grave digger, who is also the person with a deep grudge against the Liu family.

  If Zhang Xiaolan's body is not found, the Liu family may be ruined.

  There are quite a few people who have grudges against the Liu family. Liu Renqing, relying on his position as village chief, has bullied and taken advantage of many people, seizing their money and property. Therefore, if we talk about the Liu family's enemies, there are more than a dozen households in Shitou Village alone that don't get along with them.

  It turns out that in the entire Shima Village, there are only thirty or so households, which means that at least half of the people in the village are enemies of the Liu family.

  Zhang Xiaolan was buried in the boundary of Shimavillage, and most of those who had a feud with Liu's family were also from Shimavillage. As the village chief, Liu Renqing couldn't control other villages, so he hadn't offended people from other villages much. Therefore, Li Tianzhen narrowed down her target range to within Shimavillage.

  Liu Renqing offended many people, but most of them were minor frictions. It seems unlikely that a little friction would lead to the downfall of the Liu family.

  So the scope has narrowed further. Only someone who hates the Liu family with a vengeance would be capable of doing something like this.

  There are three households of such people in Shimǎ Village.

  The first was Chen widow, in the third year after the land reform, that is, in the winter of 1984, Chen widow's husband died. After Chen widow's husband died, Liu Renqing took back the five-point land allocated to Chen widow's family with the power of village head and occupied it as his own.

  In the countryside, land is the capital of survival. Although Liu Renqing still left Chen widow three points of land, the things grown from this little land were not enough to make a living. From then on, Chen widow's days became worse and worse.

  However, Chen widow has always been timid, so Liu Renqing dared to rob her land in such a grand manner. Therefore, Chen widow should not have the courage to dig up Zhang Xiaolan's grave.

  After Chen's widow, the second person who had a deep grudge against the Liu family was Li Laojia. A year ago, the town wanted to build a reservoir and required each household to contribute labor. Li Laojia was already over 60 years old, crippled, and lived alone; his household didn't have any labor force to spare.

  Liu Renqing saw that Li Quezi was easy to bully, so he told him that if he couldn't provide labor, he had to pay money. Then, he forcibly took a big fat pig from Li Quezi's pen and sold it. As for the money earned from selling the pig, Liu Renqing put it into his own pocket.

  Li the cripple walks with a limp, so he probably wasn't the one who dug up Zhang Xiaolan's corpse either.

  Now, there is only one left. The last one to appear was Zhang San, and in Li Tianzhen's view, the most likely person to dig up Zhang Xiaolan's body was him.