Liu Hecang, a farmer, earns extra money as the undertaker in his village, but he's far from happy to see his business increasing.

Liu, 66, a resident of Dangjie, in Central China's Henan province, is the sole mortician in his mountainous village, and he performs traditional funeral rites. He said that the number of deaths in the village has been rising for three years.

"As many as 17 people died last year," Liu told China Daily in late April, adding that in the past, there were at most 10 deaths a year in the village of 1,100 people.

Making and selling paper items that are burned as offerings for the deceased during the funeral, he could earn an average of 300 yuan ($50) per funeral.

The rising number of deaths has brought him more money, but less happiness.

"More than half of the deaths in recent years were caused by cancer," he said. "I don't know what spell God has cast on this innocent village."

Liu, a mortician for more than 30 years, said he had never gone through so much sadness as in the past year.

Apart from the increasing deaths, early deaths have made the mortician sad.

"Three men who were younger than 40 died from cancer last year, and the youngest one was only 20," he said.

Xu Yongmei, who lost her 37-year-old husband to leukemia last June, said she can hardly make ends meet since his death.

"There is only a little more than one mu (0.07 hectare) of farmland left for me, and it's impossible for me to live on it," Xu said.

Hao Helian, 44, a village woman, said it was as though "the sky collapsed" when her 20-year-old son died of leukemia last May.

"He hadn't even fallen in love yet," she said. "He was taken too soon."

The undertaker said Hao had asked him to make a paper woman as a wife for her deceased son, and she plans to burn it on the anniversary of his death this month.

"One of the most heartbreaking things is when the gray-haired see the black-haired off (when older parents bury their children)," he said.

Liu is very concerned about his wife's health - Wang Lanping, 68, was diagnosed with several diseases including a gastric ulcer and liver problems.

"She can't work on the farmland anymore, and she is becoming weaker and weaker," he said.

Liu said that he hoped fewer people would die in his village this year.

"It has become unrealistic for villagers to wish to die of old age instead of cancer," Liu sighed.