Chen Xu'an stood at the front of the crowd, the scorching heat making beads of sweat break out on his forehead.
But he didn't retreat; he merely squinted and stared at the coffin.
By now, the flames had completely engulfed the coffin.
The high-piled firewood burned bright red, looking from afar like a giant burning tomb.
The originally pitch-black nanmu coffin had long been burnt to charcoal, its surface cracking with dense patterns.
The air faintly emitted the unique scorched smell of charred wood, mixed with the pungent fumes of gasoline, causing occasional coughs in the watching crowd.
The tongues of fire continued to lick at the corpse inside the coffin.
Chen Hongye's once pristine skin gradually turned a charred yellow, like over-roasted meat, then slowly darkened and wrinkled.
Even the hair clinging closely to his scalp was singed by the flames, first curling and withering, then quickly igniting into small flames that turned into falling ash bit by bit.
