Chapter Thirty-One: Mourning

  "It's me——" I shook hands with Wang Liang, and I didn't have the mood to chat with them anymore. After all, I had been holding back my anger for a long time. I just pointed at that broken house: "See? It's there. Li Hongjun is inside. But you guys be careful, he knows kung fu. Look, he even slashed my neck with a dagger."

  Wang Liang and the other two police officers all smiled, exchanged a glance with each other, and just hummed: "Thanks for reminding us, but don't worry about this, we're all prepared —"

  As they spoke, they showed me the handcuffs and electric batons in their hands. This thing can knock out an ox with just one poke, but I still had some worries in my heart. Seeing the three police officers walking towards that broken house, Yang Xiu Feng and I exchanged a glance and could only follow them up, hoping to subdue Li Hong Jun and prevent any further incidents.

  After all, it's just a few dozen steps to the front of that broken house. At this time, there were already many people in the village who had gathered around, wanting to see what had startled the police comrade, but no one came over, they just looked from afar, and naturally saw me and Yang Xiufeng, probably knowing it wouldn't be anything good.

  At this time, Wang Liang kicked the broken door of the broken house that was about to fall down with one foot. The three people did not dare to rush in at once, after all, there was a guy holding a dagger inside. Unexpectedly, Li Hongjun did not show any reaction to their rude behavior, but instead looked at them calmly: "You're here, now that kid can rest assured, just in time for you to witness, within three days, I must be cremated."

  As soon as the words fell, Wang Liang and the other two had completely believed what I said, that this was a mentally ill person. The three of them exchanged a glance, only to fan out in a semicircle towards Li Hongjun, their electric batons at the ready to strike at any moment. However, for now they were still trying to calm Li Hongjun down: "Don't be nervous, we're here to take you to the hospital, we won't hurt you..."

  "Trouble——” Li Hongjun furrowed his brow, merely letting out a cold snort, clearly disdainful of the electric batons in the hands of the three civil police officers. He naturally understood that they weren't there to bear witness, but for team members, it didn't matter whether they were willing or unwilling participants - as long as someone was present, that was enough. As he watched the three approach, the mocking intent on Li Hongjun's face grew thicker. Just then, Li Hongjun finally made his move, his body flashing as he pounced towards the civil police officer to Wang Liang's left.

  The policeman was shocked, and he thought of using the electric baton to poke Li Hongjun, but unexpectedly, Li Hongjun chopped a palm knife on the policeman's arm, and the electric baton fell to the ground. Before Wang Liang and another policeman could surround him, Li Hongjun turned the tables, and the electric baton was already placed on the policeman's body. In an instant, the policeman let out a miserable hum, his whole body convulsing as he retreated two steps, and he collapsed to the ground.

  At this time, Wang Liang and another police officer also surrounded him, but it was too late. Wang Liang's electric baton was kicked away by Li Hongjun, making it impossible for him to reach Li. Just as Li pulled Wang Liang, the other police officer's electric baton had already been inserted into Wang Liang's body. Immediately, Wang Liang let out a miserable cry and fell to the ground, convulsing into a ball. However, Li Hongjun did not stop. Taking advantage of the other police officer's momentary distraction, he rushed into the officer's arms. The electric baton made another "crackling" sound, and then that officer also fell to the ground. All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Myself and Yang Xiufeng had just reached the door when we saw this scene unfold before our eyes.

  I didn't run, because I still didn't know how Li Hongjun would deal with the three police officers. If Li Hongjun really wanted to make a move, I couldn't say anything and had to fight back, even though I knew clearly that I wasn't a match for Li Hongjun. At this moment, I couldn't afford to retreat. As for Yang Xiufeng, she was blocked behind me, and I whispered: "Xiaofeng, you go first..."

  Yang Xiufeng didn't react, but Li Hongjun did. He went over and picked up the handcuffs that the three police officers had dropped, then one by one he cuffed Wang Liang and the others together. The three of them were now cuffed together, unable to struggle even if they wanted to. But this actually made me feel more at ease - at least for the time being, Li Hongjun didn't seem to have any intention of harming Wang Liang and the others.

  "Little kid, are you going to report me as a madman?" Li Hongjun patted his hand, completely nonchalant about what had just happened, and didn't even give Wang Liang and the others a glance.

  My body stiffened, my face twitched for a moment, and I was at a loss for words. After an awkward silence, Li Hongjun suddenly laughed: "Don't be nervous, this is all normal. I'm not blaming you. If you hadn't said that, they wouldn't have come either. Anyway, now we have witnesses, so you don't need to worry anymore. Hurry up and prepare the funeral for me."

  I was at a loss for words, but soon the three police officers also calmed down. They looked at themselves being handcuffed, but didn't dare to move. Li Hongjun glanced at them and smiled: "Alright, since you're here today, be my witness. I'll let this kid handle my funeral arrangements. Within three days, as long as everything is ready, I can die anytime, then go for cremation. This kid has nothing to do with anything that happens afterwards. Did you hear me?"

  The police officers naturally didn't dare say anything, it's still better not to provoke Li Hongjun for now, whether they were willing or not, they could only stay and bear witness. However, Wang Liang kept making eye contact with me behind Li Hongjun's back, perhaps hoping I would do something?

  I don't know what to do, fortunately Li Hongjun didn't have the intention of hurting anyone, he just swallowed his saliva: "That... I'll go prepare for your funeral right away, but they..."

  "Just wait a few more days, and once I'm dead you can let them go." Li Hongjun seemed to have had enough, simply walking back into the house and sitting down on a broken wooden board, waving his hand at me to leave.

  "Then can't I get someone to deliver food for them, otherwise they might starve to death in three days?" Although Li Hongjun's impatience was visible, I still mustered up the courage to say it out loud, or else I would have been uneasy about it, after all, the three police officers were called by me.

  Li Hongjun looked up at me and waved his hand: "Whatever you want—"

  I didn't dare to waste any more words, so I left the broken house and came back to make a phone call to report the incident again. However, I'm afraid it's too late for the town police to do anything about it now. This kind of thing probably requires the criminal police team to take action. I hope they can rescue the three police officers. But as for the three police officers being subdued, I have an added worry in my heart. I don't dare delay any longer, or else if Li Hongjun gets angry, something bad might happen. So next is to prepare for Li Hongjun's funeral.

  After returning home, I called over Fat Dogzi Da Zhu and Da Chun, as well as Li Hongqi, another bold young man from the village. Three days is not a lot of time, and there are many things that need to be done. I had Da Chun in charge of setting up the mourning hall, Fat Dogzi finding someone to make the coffin, Da Zhu responsible for hiring mourners, and spending money to hire filial sons - this was also an unavoidable task. Of course, I would lead Li Hongqi, who is a bit younger than me, to select a burial site, which is the most important thing of all.

  But every single thing is done with rules, and rural areas are actually more complicated than cities when it comes to handling funeral affairs. First of all, let's talk about the mourning hall. In the city, it's enough to just set up a mourning hall, but here we have more stringent requirements. In the past, people rarely borrowed temples or funeral homes to move the coffin and handle the funeral, instead, they would set up a shed in their own home to handle the affairs. Of course, I could only choose to set up the shed in the abandoned stone house on the south side of the village, which was originally the home of the Qin family, who were outsiders in our village. However, the Qin family had almost died out, leaving behind only one daughter who had married into another village, so that place became a no man's land. Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible to use anyone else's old house for funeral affairs.

  Here is the translation:

  As it happens, labor is cheap in the village. Normally, this kind of thing would be helped by the elderly men in the village. However, for Li Hongjun's matter, I was willing to let the elderly men in the village gain some benefits, not only giving them money but also intentionally giving a bit more. Of course, I didn't dare to go too far. Later, I found out how ridiculous I was. But spending money is efficient - it only took half a day's time, and an abandoned old house was cleaned up, looking quite decent. They even temporarily installed electric lights and prepared a place for the mourners to eat, drink, and rest.

  Here is the translation:

  As for this spirit shed, there are rules to follow. Building a shed is done on flat ground with poles erected in an instant, and it becomes a building. The sheds built vary according to different seasons: warm sheds and cloth sheds are built in winter; cool sheds and mat sheds are built in summer. Those with glass on all four sides are called glass sheds.

  Wealthy families can build ridge sheds, three-hall two-roll sheds, or one-ridge one-flat sheds. Ridge sheds can only be used for funerals. Ordinary families usually build flat sheds with plain glass. Families with the worst conditions may be able to build a simple bamboo shed; those who are even poorer can only set up cloth tents.

  In front of the spirit during a funeral, there should be an altar platform, and it is divided into first, second, and third grades. The first-grade altar platform has a sky well and can have stairs on the front, left, and right sides. The second-grade one is slightly smaller, and the third-grade one has a sky well with only one staircase in the front. However, nowadays, no one sets up an altar platform anymore; usually, it's just flat ground with railings installed, or sometimes without even railings.

  In addition to the mourning hall, there are other customs for families with wealth and power. The coffin is covered with a red satin canopy that reaches the ground, and curtains are set up on either side so that the women of the bereaved family cannot be seen from outside. A white cloth spirit curtain is hung in front of the coffin, and a large red satin armchair is placed in front of it. In front of the chair is a spirit table with a long-lasting lamp and five offerings. Some families also set up a low table in front of the spirit table, on which are placed a libation vessel and cups for offering wine to pay respects. A censer is lit with charcoal, and sandalwood is prepared for guests to offer incense as a tribute.

  In general, five incense sticks or white incense are placed in the high incense burner within the five offerings. The incense sticks are stuck to a piece of white paper and after the guests have offered incense, they are inserted back into the burner. In the center of the mourning platform, a blue mat is set up with a red mat on top, indicating that the bereaved family does not dare ask the guests to kneel on the plain mat, but rather the guests themselves remove the red mat as a sign of humility.

  I was just trying to make some extra money for the old masters, but I didn't plan on saving Li Hongjun's expenses. Even many years of unused old customs were brought out, and if it weren't for Er Da Ye's records in his notes, many elderly people wouldn't remember these rules. With this 100,000 yuan, a big event that hadn't been seen in the surrounding villages for decades was stirred up, and even some people came over to watch the commotion.