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The question left Liu Ying completely bewildered, her face turning pale. She trembled as she said, "Uncle Tiger, I don't know." Uncle Tiger didn't press further and followed Liu Ying back to her home. My heart sank as I listened from the side.
When we arrived at Liu Ying's house, several people had gathered inside—relatives of Liu Ying. Upon entering, Uncle Tiger frowned and began examining Liu Ying's father's body. I stayed close to Uncle Tiger, too afraid to speak. Since Liu Ying's father was not fully dressed, a cooling mat covered his body. Uncle Tiger lifted the mat and first looked at the skin on his legs. I followed suit and noticed a layer of black hair growing on his legs. Even more shocking was that I could see the hair visibly emerging from his skin.
After death, the body shrinks, and when Uncle Tiger opened up the clothes he had made for him, it was clear to anyone that the size of those clothes was definitely not small. Uncle Tiger tried to put them on him, but no matter how he attempted it, they just wouldn't fit.
As I was engrossed in watching, Uncle Tiger suddenly covered my eyes and said, "Little one, you shouldn't look." He then replaced the cooling mat and told Liu Ying, "Let them go outside for now; I need to speak with you for a moment." Liu Ying wiped her tears and ushered her relatives out.
Liu Ying was indeed a pitiful person; her mother had died early in her life, and she had grown up with her father. Now that he was gone too, she cried helplessly. "Uncle Tiger, just tell me what you need to say."
Uncle Tiger began, "Liu Ying, your father's body probably can't stay here; we should cremate him today." Upon hearing this, Liu Ying suddenly knelt before Uncle Tiger with a thud and pleaded, "Uncle Tiger, no! If my father dies and there's no body left, that would be unfilial of me. I can't do this to my father." As she spoke, she began to cry even harder.
Uncle Tiger sighed in resignation and said, "Alright then, let’s do this: keep your father's body under the sun for a day. I'll come back tonight to check. If by then the clothes fit him, that's good; if not..." He paused there.
Liu Ying sniffled and asked, "What if they don't fit?" Uncle Tiger didn’t answer directly but changed the subject: "We'll talk about it tonight." After saying this, he called for me to leave with him.
I still felt a bit scared but curiosity got the better of me. On our way back, I asked Uncle Tiger several questions. He responded vaguely and told me not to ask too much; I'd find out by nightfall.
Time passed quickly until night fell again. Uncle Tiger and I returned to Liu Ying's house. Her father's body had been moved inside; only a few close relatives remained. Once we entered and lifted the cooling mat again, I gasped in shock.
Liu Ying's father was covered entirely in black hair except for his head. The sight was so dense it was truly disgusting; both Liu Ying and her relatives turned pale. They all asked in fear, "What happened?" Their faces reflected their terror as Uncle Tiger's expression darkened further.
Ethereal spoke up: "He won't be able to wear those clothes now; if we don't cremate him soon, something worse might happen." Liu Ying wiped her tears and asked stubbornly, "Uncle Tiger, is there really no other way? Why did my father end up like this?"
Seeing Liu Ying's father in such a state prompted her relatives to urge her to cremate the body quickly; otherwise, things could get even worse. With no other choice left, Liu Ying tearfully agreed to burn her father's body and proceeded with the funeral arrangements.
In the end, Liu Ying's father never wore the clothes Uncle Tiger had made for him. At that young age, I found myself deeply shocked by what I had experienced.
I nodded quickly in agreement when Uncle Tiger mentioned something important. In my eyes now, he seemed like an incredibly powerful figure—first meeting Yellow River King and then handling matters concerning Liu Ying's family left me in awe of him.
When we arrived at Uncle Tiger's home later that night because it was late, he told me to go to bed. The next morning when I woke up, I saw Uncle Tiger talking with a middle-aged man who appeared well-off.
The man said to Uncle Tiger, "Uncle, my wife has passed away; please make her a beautiful outfit." He provided her measurements and specifically requested that it be made beautifully and expensively. After hearing this request, Uncle Tiger agreed.
Once the man left, Uncle Tiger called me over and said, "Wang Niu, didn't you say you wanted to learn from me? Come here." Eagerly approaching him without hesitation, I watched as he took out a pair of scissors carved with Python designs along with a piece of black cloth.
To be honest, although I'd been around Uncle Tiger for several days now, I'd never seen him actually make clothes before. He instructed me: "Wang Niu, pay attention."
I nodded eagerly with wide eyes fixed on him as the flat black cloth suddenly hovered before him. With those scissors in hand, Uncle Tiger began cutting into the cloth without lifting his hands for a second cut. His hands twisted in intricate motions like braided dough as he worked.
I dared not blink as I watched him finish making the outfit before adding some embroidery depicting a pair of children playing together—it looked truly beautiful. At that moment I thought how surprising it was that such a rough-looking man could have hands more delicate than a woman's.
Once finished, Uncle Tiger asked me if I understood how it was done. I shook my head in confusion. Looking somewhat fatigued now, he instructed me: "The clothes are done; take them over."
I accepted the outfit from him with an affirmative response before heading out. After walking for a while and glancing back at him entering the room where there had previously been a snake incident—I didn’t think much of it at that time.
Uncle Tiger informed me that the person who needed clothing lived in Cao Family Village and gave me all necessary details about their location—about three or four miles away from us.
It was around eleven o'clock when I set off; by noon I arrived at my destination. Perhaps due to the man's wealth or status, the funeral proceedings were quite lively—they even hired a troupe for performances along with Aunt Li—the most famous spirit medium nearby—to conduct rituals.
After finding the middle-aged man again, I handed over the outfit while relaying Uncle Tiger's instructions clearly. He responded dismissively with an indifferent tone: "Alright, got it," before shooing me away.
However since there was still singing going on nearby at that moment—I lingered for a while longer watching until suddenly hearing someone shout behind me: “Open the coffin!” My curiosity piqued as I approached to see what was happening.
Once opened by the middle-aged man amidst many onlookers—including some relatives wiping their tears—I caught sight of the corpse beneath its cooling mat and immediately felt terrified upon seeing black hair covering it!
I shouted out instinctively but was shoved aside by the middle-aged man who warned me not to speak carelessly before placing the outfit inside and closing the coffin again.
Feeling anxious about what I'd witnessed—I hurried back to tell Uncle Tiger everything that happened! Surprisingly though upon hearing my account—he didn’t seem alarmed like I'd expected but instead told me calmly not to panic.
I asked him what could possibly cause someone who had died to have their entire body covered in black hair? What followed next were words from Uncle Tiger that left me utterly stunned.
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