False evidence

Chapter 154 Map (Part 2)

Xiao Shen sighed, "It's no use, it's gone."

I nodded silently, wiped away Pidan's tears, and gestured for her to go next door to get the old cat's old blanket.

I studied veterinary medicine, not pet funeral services. So all I could do was work with Pidan and Shen San to carefully groom Choudan's sparse fur and then gently wrap it in a blanket.

Seeing that I was still putting the old cat's body, which was wrapped in a package, into the birdcage, Xiao Shen asked three times, "Have you thought it through?"

I nodded: "I may not be rich, but this is Rotten Egg's nest."

I took out my phone and dialed a number.

"Uncle Cheng, it's me."

"Something wrong?" Uncle Cheng seemed to have a premonition on the other end of the phone.

I asked, "At Shuangshan Cemetery, what's the cheapest... cheapest burial plot?"

Uncle Cheng is a veterinarian, but because he is a long-time resident near Shuangshan Road, he is very familiar with several of the cemetery's management staff.

Uncle Cheng first said "Please accept my condolences," and then said to me, "The cemetery is a person's final destination. Other things can be made do with, but the burial cannot be rushed. You don't need to worry about the money. Just tell me when the burial ceremony will be held."

I said, "As soon as possible, bury him tonight. No need for any ceremony or errands."

Uncle Cheng was silent for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Do you have a death certificate from the hospital?"

I sighed. "It's not a person, it's an old cat. I'll help it open it if needed."

Uncle Cheng didn't say anything more.

The next afternoon, I was notified that the formalities had been completed.

That night, Monkey drove, and I, Pidan, and Shen San went to pick up Uncle Cheng first. He led us to the edge of the cemetery.

Uncle Cheng didn't seem too surprised when he learned that I was going to bury the birdcage along with the bird.

Choosing to bury him at night was a decision made jointly by Xiao Shen and me.

Although apart from a few people, including the monkey, no one knew the value of the birdcage, I really didn't want my stinky egg to be disturbed and didn't want any oversights.

Stinky Egg is, after all, a cat. We showed it the utmost respect, but we couldn't have too many formalities.

Uncle Cheng personally built the tomb, and the group observed a moment of silence in front of the newly inscribed tombstone with the words "Three Daughters".

The name 'Sanqianjin' (Three Thousand Gold) was given to Choudan by Xiao Shensan. It was said that Choudan valued loyalty more than some people, and loyalty was worth a thousand pieces of gold. (Most importantly, this was the pinnacle of Xiao Shensan's 'cultural level,' and Choudan was a calico female cat.)
As the group prepared to leave, to ease the oppressive atmosphere, Monkey joked, "Let's assume that Sanqi's surname is San, and Chou Dan's new name is Sanqianjin. Does that mean our Sanqi has branched out and spread its branches?"

This was a really bad, really awful joke. The timing and the occasion were all wrong, especially since it was in front of Pidan.

So, after he finished speaking with an awkward laugh, everyone's eyes were on him.

Uncle Cheng frowned and said, "Don't talk nonsense in a place like this."

The monkey looked ashamed and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Children say the truth, children say the truth, let's go." Little Shen San went over and pulled him.

After a few steps, Pidan was the first to notice me still standing there. She came over, took my hand, and whispered, "Let's go back." I shook off her hand, stared intently at one spot, and after a long while, said coldly, "Come out."

A dark figure silently emerged from behind a tombstone and entered the range of the portable rechargeable lamp.

The monkey blurted out, "Two-Baldy!"

This man was Lu Zelin, whom we met the first time we visited Kou Yun's old house.

His appearance was so ugly that when Uncle Cheng and Xiao Shen San first saw him, they couldn't help but gasp several times.

Lu Zelin looked at me with a hint of surprise: "A birdcage personally crafted by Mao Zangjin, the King of the Northern Cages, is worth at least five high-quality coffins made of Phoebe zhennan wood. You're actually going to bury a cat with it?"

I lit a cigarette, took a shallow puff, and looked him in the eye through the smoke: "A cat that will stop at nothing to avenge its master absolutely deserves this kind of coffin. I know what you do, and now I'm telling you, if you dare to open this tomb and disturb the peace of the tomb's occupant, I'll prepare your coffin for you; it will definitely be made of the finest golden nanmu wood."

"That birdcage is actually worth that much?"

The monkey was taken aback, then stared at Lu Zelin with wide eyes, "Is this the birdcage you've been looking for?"

Lu Zelin turned his gaze to the newly erected tombstone, "The value of the cage itself is not enough to attract me."

Xiao Shen chuckled: "No wonder I've felt like there's a pair of eyes, like rats, secretly watching us these past two days. So, even before I'm buried, I've already been targeted by those ground rats?"

Lu Zelin's face darkened, and he looked at me again, saying, "Let's not beat around the bush, you know I'm not looking for a cage."

"Tch! Let's not beat around the bush? Coming from your mouth, it sounds like a dog can spew ivory from a dog's mouth. You're a damn grave robber, a rat who lives in the dark and dies without daring to face his ancestors, and you're telling me 'let's not beat around the bush'? Hahahaha..." Xiao Shen San laughed wildly.

Shen San was a master of verbal abuse, striking at the heart of the matter and relentlessly insulting people from their ancestors to their descendants. Lu Zelin, being young, was so enraged by him that he trembled all over.

Xiao Shen said that feeling like he was being secretly watched was probably just a ploy, but during this time, I genuinely felt that someone was constantly lingering near me.

I thought for a moment and asked Lu Zelin, "You've been following me these past few days. Are you absolutely determined to get that thing?"

Lu Zelin nodded with a gloomy face, and Shen San immediately said in a shrill voice, "Hey, the world has changed. These rats don't make money off the dead anymore, they've started targeting the living and smashing open flames now? Kid, you're so creative, does your ancestor know about this?"

Lu Zelin immediately said, "That's not something from the mortal world to begin with. If I want to get it, it won't break any rules!"

"Damn it! You still dare to argue with me!"

Xiao Shen San then burst into a tirade, "I think you're as ugly as a ghost, you must have never been to school! Because no school would dare to accept an ugly freak like you! I don't blame you for being uneducated, but your lack of manners is a result of your parents' and master's failure to teach you properly!"

Not from the mortal realm? If it's not from the mortal realm, go ask the King of Hell for it! As the old saying goes, if you want to rob the imperial treasury, you can sleep with the empress! If you dare to smear the King of Hell's fire, your great-grandfather will respect you as a true hero!
But you not only stalk living people, you even dare to show your face after being discovered! That's not just breaking the rules, it's disgracing our ancestors! Let's go back to the point. I'll just ask you one question: which teacher taught you "let's not beat around the bush"? Do you even deserve to say that?

I truly admire this Shen San. The fact that he's spewing profanities is nothing compared to the fact that everyone says you shouldn't hit someone in the face or expose their weaknesses when you insult them, but he's the type to expose people's weaknesses.

It's true that someone who is uneducated can criticize others for not having gone to school. But if someone had received a good education, why would they engage in tomb raiding?
Furthermore, when he curses, he relentlessly sticks to a single sentence and makes it clear that he's deliberately coming back to the point and demanding an answer from the other person!
I almost laughed when I heard what he said, but as the one being insulted, Lu Zelin couldn't possibly take it lying down.

As Lu Zelin trembled more and more violently, he finally straightened his chest and spat out a mouthful of hot blood...

Xiao Shen was taken aback for a moment, then asked me, "Did I go a bit too far? But these days, the mental fortitude of these molehills is really weak. They vomit blood after being scolded by an old man. If they were really sent down into the dungeon, wouldn't they be scared to death by the slightest disturbance or a zombie coming back to life?"

As soon as the words were spoken, a hoarse voice suddenly came from the darkness:

"What you said is absolutely true, and not at all excessive. It's just that my little apprentice is ungrateful. To be spoken to by you, Master Shen, is a blessing he has earned."

(End of this chapter)