SLH | Chapter 70

Piles of Corpses

“Rotting corpses? How is that possible? I haven’t heard of anyone passing away recently!” a woman said.

Liu Hu explained, “It’s not humans, it’s the smell of rotting animal corpses.”

Song Tingzhu looked at his husband, “Could it be the white tiger from the back mountain?”

Liu Hu nodded, “It should be.”

“What should we do now? With such a strong smell, can our distillery still operate normally?”

“Let’s not talk about operating for now. With the stench so close, the animal carcass is probably at the foot of the mountain. If left unchecked, won’t it attract other things?”

“The older folks have seen black bears before. If it really attracts such a beast, it’ll be troublesome.”

Everyone was anxious, and with this happening today, there was no way to continue working. Song Tingzhu reassured everyone and then headed to the village head’s house with his husband.

Zhang Hongbo heard about the situation, puffed on his dry tobacco, and asked his eldest son to gather the villagers at the wheat field.

“Why is the village head gathering everyone?” asked someone who lived far away and was unaware of the situation.

“The white tiger on the back mountain seems to have died, and the stench is spreading far. The village head probably wants to organize everyone to go to the back mountain and deal with the corpse.”

“It’s just an animal carcass; how can it have such a strong stench?”

“Who knows, let’s hear what the village head has to say.”

When most of the people had arrived, Zhang Hongbo had his eldest son ring the gong.

“Everyone, quiet down.”

“The reason for gathering everyone today is to discuss the stench coming from the back mountain. Huzi and Butcher Zhang have confirmed it’s a dead animal. It’s probably the injured white tiger, and with such a strong smell, it must have died in one of the ponds. Many families in the village rely on river water without wells. If left unchecked, it might lead to an epidemic.”

“I thought the food I cooked this morning had a strange smell. I thought it was because the salted duck eggs were too old!”

“My family too. I noticed it yesterday, but with the rain and the earthy smell, I didn’t think much of it. But hearing the village head, I realize something’s wrong.”

Everyone was panicked, asking what should be done.

Zhang Hongbo said, “Don’t panic. We’ve discovered it in time, so there’s still a chance to fix it. Later, the young and strong men in the village will go to the back mountain to find the source and clean it up.”

With their own safety at stake, no one was unwilling. In the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a group of men carried hoes and shovels up the mountain.

Liu Hu and his brother, along with Zhang Hongbo’s two sons, led the way. After searching the mountain for more than half an hour, they finally found the source.

It was a small spring, with the pond full of animal corpses. The stench was overwhelming, even the seasoned Butcher Zhang couldn’t handle it.

A man pinched his nose and retched, “No wonder it smells so bad; so many animals have died here.”

Liu Meng covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, “It doesn’t make sense. Even if the white tiger was injured, other animals wouldn’t dare to come near. But look, there are rabbits, wild chickens, and even a dead sheep in the pile. Where did the sheep come from in the mountain? And it looks like a domestic breed.”

Liu Hu said in a deep voice, “These corpses were deliberately dumped here by someone.”

Everyone was shocked.

“Most of the villagers use the mountain’s water. Who would do such a harmful and selfish thing?”

“Yeah, Huzi, what evidence do you have to say it’s deliberate?”

“Look here.” Liu Hu used a branch to move aside the grass around the pond.

“Footprints!”

“One footprint doesn’t prove anything. People go up the mountain to collect firewood every day. Someone might have just passed by.”

Liu Hu frowned, “If someone had passed by, they should have noticed the pile of corpses earlier. But it was only discovered when the smell became unbearable, clearly indicating it’s deliberate.”

“But who would do such a thing? Everyone drinks from the creek; it’s like harming themselves.”

Everyone agreed, “Yeah, there’s no reason for anyone to do this.”

With no clear reason, everyone held back their disgust and cleaned the spring. Liu Hu also sprinkled lime in it. Once the water started bubbling, they finally descended the mountain.

When the brothers returned home, Song Tingzhu heard about the situation, sorted through the herbs in the bamboo basket, and frowned, “Today’s incident is a reminder. With more orders for wine, we need to be more cautious about the water source.”

Liu Hu thought, “Tomorrow, I’ll go to town and find a couple of craftsmen to dig more wells at the distillery.”

The family thought it was a good idea. The next morning, Liu Hu got up early and went to town. Song Tingzhu woke up, called his sister-in-law Le Ge’er, and burned some Chinese mugwort around the distillery. He also sprinkled some alum in the courtyard well before locking up and returning home.

“The well water needs two days before it’s drinkable, so the distillery will be delayed for two more days.” On the way, Tang Chunxing cursed the person who caused trouble, “That heartless bastard, did a dog eat your conscience? Harming fellow villagers, is that something a person would do?”

Song Tingzhu was slightly stunned, then asked, “Sister-in-law, how do you know it was someone from the village?”

“The path up the back mountain is difficult. To dump those animal corpses up there, someone unfamiliar with the mountain would take at least an hour. And with the recent rain, some places haven’t dried. If it was someone from another village, how could there only be a few scattered footprints?”

Song Tingzhu paused in his steps.

He only thought that fellow villagers wouldn’t harm each other, forgetting the lesson from the Zhang family clan elder. Throughout history, there have been countless examples of brothers turning against each other, let alone people just living in the same village.

Tian Le noticed his serious expression and asked, “Brother-in-law, did you find any clues?”

Song Tingzhu shook his head, “Sister-in-law makes a valid point. This matter is definitely related to someone in the village.”

Tian Le angrily kicked a stone, “Then how do we catch the person? Targeting us during the brewing season, clearly, they’re against us.”

Song Tingzhu said, “Le Ge’er is right. If someone did this on purpose, it must be targeted. And since the distillery is closest to the back mountain, if the river water was truly contaminated, the distillery would be the first to suffer.”

Tang Chunxing frowned, “So they’re targeting our family?”

Song Tingzhu lowered his voice, “Most likely.”

The distillery has orders for four thousand jin of wine. If the water source fails and they can’t brew, they won’t meet the end-of-year delivery, and will have to compensate the shopkeepers double. Even if the shopkeepers are lenient, the reputation of Liu Ji Distillery would be ruined, and no one would dare to cooperate in the future.

Moreover, the Liu family collected a lot of grain from nearby villagers. If they can’t pay at the time of delivery, a single spit from everyone could drown the Liu family.

Song Tingzhu was worried, and even three days later, when the creek water returned to normal, he still had a layer of concern on his face.

“Xiaomei, where’s Xia Ge’er?” Near noon, Tang Chunxing returned from the fields and couldn’t find her Xia Ge’er at home, so she asked Liu Xiaomei, who was cooking in the kitchen.

Liu Xiaomei added water to the pot and replied, “He went to play with Shuyang by the big banyan tree.”

“I didn’t see them on my way back. I’ll go look for them.” Tang Chunxing said worriedly.

Meanwhile, under the big banyan tree, Xia Ge’er and Yin Shuyang were squatting behind the tree, watching an ant nest.

“Brother Shuyang, these little ants can move such big things. They’re amazing.” The little guy gestured with his hand.

Yin Shuyang broke some crumbs and tossed them near the ant hole, “Yeah, my dad even told me a story about ants defeating an elephant.”

Xia Ge’er tilted his head, curious, “What’s an elephant?”

“It’s an animal, like chickens and ducks. There are wild ones and ones people raise. Elephants are really big. My dad said they’re bigger than the houses we live in.”

“Not just that, some wild elephants are as big as a small boat and can carry hundreds of jin on their backs!”

The two kids turned to look, seeing two unfamiliar uncles they hadn’t met before. Without a moment’s hesitation, they held hands and ran back to the yard without looking back.

Second Zhang stroked his chin, muttering to himself, “Strange, I shaved before coming.”

Third Zhang said, “Big brother, we should ask someone where Boss Liu lives.”

“Alright.”