劍問蒼天 - 第155章 拜祭 - 清風書屋

The alley was long and winding, and the deeper they went the fewer people there were. After perhaps half an hour's walk, the three reached its end, where no refugees remained—for the simple reason that here stood a mortuary. But the little mortuary's gate was dilapidated, half of its wooden door fallen to the ground and the other half nowhere to be seen, who knew whether someone had taken it for firewood.

Zhou Yixuan gazed at the mortuary, shook his head, and sighed. Xiao Wan stood beside him and called softly, "Grandfather."

The Wild Wolf Daoist was somewhat puzzled. He was, however, of the Demon Sect by birth, and such gloomy places as mortuaries did not much trouble him; he only wondered why Zhou Yixuan and Xiao Wan should come to such a place.

Zhou Yixuan was silent for a while, then said, "Let's go in. At any rate, it should be quieter here."

With that he went in first, Xiao Wan and the Wild Wolf Daoist following behind. Entering the mortuary, they saw a small courtyard overgrown and desolate, littered everywhere with broken wood shavings and shattered beams, and here and there something white glimmered faintly in the grass. Xiao Wan's face had gone a little pale, and she could not help clutching at Zhou Yixuan's clothes.

Zhou Yixuan glanced back at her and said in a low voice, "It's not the first time you've come. What is there to fear? Besides, this is where your father lives—would he harm us?"

Xiao Wan nodded, and her color improved somewhat. The Wild Wolf Daoist frowned behind them but said nothing.

Beyond the courtyard was the mortuary's gatehouse. Zhou Yixuan stepped forward and saw the door thick with dust—who knew how long it had been since anyone came here. He said nothing, shook his head, sighed again, and pushed the door open.

"Creak..." The wooden door gave a harsh sound and swung slowly inward, and a musty smell rushed out. In the dim light lay three coffins, scattered every which way, their lids all fallen to one side.

An indescribable desolation of years seemed to seep faintly from that little room. Zhou Yixuan's mouth twitched twice, his face bleak, and he walked slowly forward, not troubling to look at the scattered coffins beside him, going straight to the altar table where offerings and spirit tablets had once been placed, and looked at the dozen or so tablets lying every which way upon it.

The room was utterly still; it seemed no one dared speak. Zhou Yixuan slowly reached out, picked up the tablets, slowly wiped away the thick dust upon them, glanced at each, and set it aside, then went to find the next. And so it went, until, when he had cleaned the seventh tablet, he saw written upon it: "Spirit Tablet of My Beloved Son, Zhou Xingyun."

Zhou Yixuan stopped. He gazed at the tablet in silence, long and fixedly. Xiao Wan slowly came up beside him, looked at the tablet in his hands, and her eyes grew moist. She said softly, "Grandfather, put Father's tablet back properly."

Zhou Yixuan let out a long breath, his face somewhat desolate, and nodded. Xiao Wan took the tablet from his hands, set it carefully upon the offering table, then stepped back, pressed her palms together, and bowed respectfully to the tablet, saying softly, "Father, Grandfather and I have come back to see you again. These years, thanks to your blessing, Grandfather and I have wandered the world, but all has been well. Today we've come back to tidy things up for you—I hope you won't blame us."

With that she bowed respectfully three more times. The Wild Wolf Daoist, watching from behind, suddenly stepped forward as well and bowed three times to the tablet, which startled both Zhou Yixuan and Xiao Wan. Xiao Wan said in surprise, "Daoist, why did you..."

The Wild Wolf Daoist, ignoring Zhou Yixuan's odd look, said, "Since he is your father, he is my senior as well. Having come to this place, it is only proper that I pay my respects to a senior."