Strange Cards

Chapter 330 Xiao Qingshan

After personally dealing with everything, the hunters all returned to the southern base. Looking at the two coffins, one large and one small, they couldn't help but mourn in silence.

After everyone properly stored the coffin, they went to rest, but they didn't rest for long before getting up at dawn.

Today, all the hunters were dressed in black formal attire, even the three younger ones were wearing three black dresses.

Bai Yu wasn't wearing a skirt; she was wearing exactly the same one as Shi Yu.

Qi Wu, Liu An, Shi Yu, and Bai Yu carried Li Shun's coffin and walked ahead, with Da Niu leading the way, scattering money along the road for his best partner.

The coffin of Li Shun's mother was carried by four figures, while Gu Yueyu and Guan Yun followed silently behind with the three children.

Da Niu led the way, and after leaving the base, they turned left and right and walked out of Nanhai City, arriving at a very secluded small mountain.

In front of the mountain stands a stone tablet carved from Taishan stone, with the three large characters "Hunter's Tomb" powerfully engraved on the earthen surface.

Da Niu used Qi Wu's token to open the gate to the cemetery beforehand and led everyone inside.

The group carried the two coffins slowly up the mountain, where two tombstones had already been placed beside a dug pit.

One tablet is inscribed with the tomb of hunter Li Shunzhi, and the other with the tomb of Li Shunzhi's mother, Li Lianqing.

The only people present were Shi Yu and Bai Yu. Liu Yu and Shi Yanlan were visiting this cemetery for the first time, and the four of them looked around curiously.

It was clear that Qi Wu and the others had been to this cemetery before. After arriving, they produced two long wooden benches from somewhere, placed Li Shun's coffin on the benches, and then...

"Xiaoyu, let's bury Shunzi's mother's coffin first."

"We can't hold a big funeral for Shunzi, but it should at least be decent."

"My father-in-law is coming soon. Ever since I became a headhunter in the South, my father-in-law has basically been in charge of organizing the funerals of us Southern hunters."

"He's extremely professional in this area."

Shi Yu nodded, raised her hand and instructed the Shadows and Steel Claws to bury Li Shun's mother's coffin, quickly pile up a small mound, and firmly insert the tombstone on it.

After the tombstone was placed, all the hunters went to Li Shun's mother's grave to offer incense, bow, and light an everlasting lamp for her.

Li Shun's mother's grave was right next to Li Shun's grave. After the burial was completed, everyone had some free time.

Seeing the curious group, Qi Wu lit a cigarette and spoke.

"Xiaoyu, do you know where this place is?"

"Where are the bones of the southern hunters buried?"

Qi Wu nodded, offered Shi Yu a cigarette, and then said...

"You're right, but not entirely."

"This is indeed the burial place for the dead hunters from the south, and it is also the final resting place for some of their family members."

"This place is called Xiaoqingshan. It was the site chosen when the Sifang base was established."

"The place names here also borrow from a few lines of poetry."

"The green hills are fortunate to bury loyal bones; there is no need for them to be wrapped in horsehide to return home."

"Why must one's bones be buried in one's hometown? Green hills can be found everywhere in life."

"And that's how this hill got its name, Little Green Hill."

Qi Wu took a puff of his cigarette, and then Da Niu lit one as well. The thick smoke instantly enveloped the three men.

The female hunters, along with their children, stood a little further away to avoid being bothered by the smoke.

Qi Wu took a deep drag on his cigarette, and only after smoking off most of it did he exhale a thick cloud of smoke.

"This is where all the hunters of the South have been buried after they died; this is a rule that was established long ago."

"However, some hunters' families are also buried here, but only a small number."

"Because most hunters don't have families, like me and Da Niu."

"Da Niu is a person who escaped from a small county town in the west that was swept by ghosts, while I was picked up and raised by the former chief hunter Feng Yan."

"Some hunters were worried that the place where their family members would be buried after their deaths would be used as a hostage by the enemy, so the rule that hunters' family members could also enter Xiaoqingshan was established."

"The last time we came to Xiaoqingshan was the year before you and Baiyu joined, when the gates of hell opened in the western Gobi Desert."

"We also lost two brothers, who were also alone and were buried by our own hands in Xiaoqingshan."

"The vast majority of hunters have no family; this seems to be an inevitable relationship."

"Even if you're lucky, someone like Liu An still has a falling out with their family."

"Take a good look at this place."

"Who knows, we might end up lying in here like Shunzi someday."

Qi Wu finished smoking the last bit of his cigarette, stubbed it out, and put it away. Then he looked down the mountain.

Two elderly figures dressed in black slowly climbed up the mountain and soon arrived at the hunters' side.

The visitors were none other than Qi Wu's father-in-law and mother-in-law, and everyone thought to themselves upon seeing them.

"Hello, elders."

Qi Wu's father-in-law smiled and distributed the things he had brought to everyone.

"Everyone, please choose an instrument to play funeral music."

"I will recite the Rebirth Mantra to help this child be reborn in a better realm."

"But which child went into Little Green Mountain this time?"

Gu Yue hugged Qi Nannan and remained silent for a while before speaking.

"Li Shun, that's Shunzi, the kid you often say looks like a monkey but is very honest."

"That child..."

Just as Gu Yue was about to speak, Old Master Gu waved his hand to interrupt her.

"Alright, that's enough."

"I know that child is destined for hardship, and I will pray for a good birth for him."

"I hope he can be happier in his next life."

Shi Yu was holding a large drum, while Yu Yan was given a cymbal.

Bai Yu held a gong, while Da Niu received a suona.

Qi Wu also had one, while Gu Yue, the only one who didn't get a musical instrument, stood a little further away with the three children.

"rise!"

With Old Master Gu's command to begin, everyone quickly got into the zone.

Even though Shigure and Baiyu had never played before, they quickly found the rhythm and joined everyone in banging gongs and drums for Li Shun's funeral.

Meanwhile, Old Master Gu held something that Shi Yu had never seen before, and after kneeling down, he muttered something under his breath.

"The Dao says: Long ago, in the Azure Heaven, a song sang in the blue sky, and the Great Floating Earth. Receiving the Primordial Beginning's salvation, countless beings of the highest rank, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, shall speak this scripture. He shall circulate it ten times, summoning all directions, before attending to the seat. Heavenly True Great God, Supreme Saint, Venerable One, Wondrously Virtuous True Man..."

Meanwhile, Old Mrs. Gu was slowly burning paper money. Finally, after Old Mr. Gu finished reciting the sutra for saving people, everyone carried Li Shun's coffin and slowly buried it in the pit.

After the coffin was buried, all the female hunters' eyes reddened, and they all turned away.

The three remaining male hunters looked at the coffin buried in the deep pit and slowly filled it with soil.

Everyone knows that every shovelful of soil being laid is a farewell to Li Shun, until the soil is completely buried, then Li Shun will truly be saying goodbye to everyone.

Of course, we'll never see each other again.

Because everyone had tried to find the ghost that Li Shun had become, but they had carefully searched every possible place Li Shun might have gone, but they still couldn't find him.

Everyone waited for a very long time, but let alone seeing ghosts, those places weren't even cold.

The group slowly shoveled soil until the last shovelful. Then they all went up to tamp the soil down and erected a stone tablet for Li Shun.

After the monument was erected, Old Master Gu took out a bottle of ink and an extremely fine calligraphy brush from his black bag.

Grandpa Gu dipped the tip of his brush into the ink, took out the red pigment, and slowly traced the characters on Li Shun's tombstone until they were red.

After everything was done, everyone offered incense and lit lamps for Li Shun, but everyone bowed respectfully, and even the three younger ones kowtowed.

After completing everything, Qi Wu took out the prepared portrait, separated one of them, and asked Shi Yu to use the shadow to paste the portrait on Li Shun's mother's grave. Then, he personally pasted Li Shun's portrait on Li Shun's tombstone.

Once the final portrait was affixed, the brief funeral was complete. Qi Wu looked at the black-and-white-clad but brightly smiling boy, bowed deeply, and said...

"Shunzi, take care over there. Everyone misses you."

"If you need anything, remember to send it to us in your dreams, and we will send it over."

Take good care of yourself.

"us..."

"I'll be going now."

With that, Qi Wu turned around and left with his entourage.

The grass in front of Li Shun's grave was already damp with scattered tears, and soon, for some reason, a crystal-clear drop of water appeared on Li Shun's portrait.

It's like...

Li Shun also looked like he was crying.