Lian'er slowly laid her brother's body on the ground. She turned to the crowd and began to kowtow, striking her head against the earth. "Kind sirs and madams, I beg you to help me bury my mother and brother. I will spend my next life as an ox or a horse to repay you."
Gu Zhang sighed. "Get up, child. Stop kneeling. It's only right that we lend a hand."
He turned and shouted, "Gu Qing! Erlang! Help carry her."
"Little Fei, go get the shovel from the cart."
Gu Fei ran back to the inn, grabbed the shovel from the mule cart, and ran back. Gu Zhang quickly took it from her.
Gu Qing and Er Lang carried the woman, while Lian'er carried her little brother on her back. The group rounded a street corner and came to the edge of town.
Gu Zhang found a flat piece of ground and had Sanlang start digging a pit.
Sanlang dug for a while until he was drenched in sweat, then Er Lang took over.
Before long, they had dug a pit a meter deep and about the length and width of a person.
