“Okay.”
Sole Wolf gave the money to Lev.
Without wasting more time, Lev grabbed a shovel and began digging.
Not long later, the soil on Yannick's grave was gone, revealing a black coffin.
Frankly, the coffin was only a semblance of the real thing, for it was only four planks nailed together.
Zeke uttered, “Open it.”
However, Lev had already used up all of his courage in digging the grave. Opening the coffin was not something he could bring himself to do.
As he quaked in his boots, he glanced at Sole Wolf and replied, “Sir, I... I don't dare to do that.”
Useless!
Sole Wolf stepped forward and kicked the coffin.
The board flew, and the inside of the coffin was indeed empty.
At that, the villagers widened their eyes, baffled. They were all staring, but no matter how long they stared, nothing appeared inside. There was no body in there, nor were there any clothes in there.
In the next second, the villagers started a heated discussion.
“What's going on? Where's Yannick's body?”
“We buried him ourselves, so how could his body just vanish?”
“Did some boars or stray dogs take his body away? Something similar to that had happened in the village before.”
“Nonsense! If he was taken away by boars or stray dogs, how can his coffin be fine? Someone clearly did this!”
“But it's just a body. Who would steal it?”
Zeke continued, “Dig Yoshua's grave too.”
“Okay.”
Since Yannick's grave was empty, Yoshua's grave was probably empty too.
That was why Lev was less fearful of digging the grave—it was empty, after all.
Lev then rolled up his sleeve and vigorously dug away.
Meanwhile, the villagers watched him with jealous gazes.
If I knew that these were empty graves, I would have dug them too! We lost a great opportunity to get rich, were the thoughts that appeared in their heads.
Shortly after, Yoshua's coffin emerged.
The coffin was as simple as Yannick's coffin.
“Open it up,” Zeke commanded.
“Okay.”
Lev pried open the coffin with the shovel and discovered that the inside was also empty.
Again, the villagers began murmuring among themselves.
“Someone must have stolen their bodies.”
“Who did this? I can't believe they wouldn't even let their bodies off.”
“They're insane. When did lunatics like these appear in our village?”
Just then, Zeke said, “Their bodies weren't stolen.”
The villagers turned to him curiously, “Where would they be if they weren't stolen?”
Zeke explained, “The truth is, they didn't die. They escaped from their graves. Look at the coffins. They were opened from the inside—not destroyed from the outside.”
The crowd began studying the coffins, and when they found that he was right, they inhaled sharply.
Undoubtedly, the coffins were opened from the inside.
So Yannick and Yoshua aren't dead?
Still, the villagers found it hard to accept that. “Why did Yannick and Yoshua pretend to die? Was it to avoid paying us back?”
Zeke shook his head and answered, “To trick both you and me. They must have wanted to cut off all ties with this place and be reborn somewhere else.”
The villagers were confused by Zeke's words.
Reborn? Is he talking about going to a different world and getting reincarnated?
Zeke was trying to say that the Lewis brothers were going to another place to start new lives.
That was the only reason Zeke could think of for why they had decided to fake their deaths.
Zeke then asked, “Are Yannick and Yoshua dutiful sons?”
The elderly man who spoke to Zeke at the start nodded. “Quite. Although they did not come back to visit their parents for a few years, every time they come back, they're very nice to them.”
Zeke nodded. “In that case, Yannick and Yoshua must have taken their parents away for their new lives. Their parents' graves must be empty too. Open them up!”
“Okay.”
With that, Lev moved to dig up the graves.
A villager abruptly cried out, “Lev, wait a moment!”
Lev turned to the villager. “What's wrong?”
The villager said, “Lev, you're technically kin to Yannick's family, so even if you're only digging their empty graves, it's still an immoral act. How about this? I'll dig it for you. You just need to give me a thousand.”
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