Day and night tour

Chapter 96 The Truth about Requiem
Lighting lanterns is the Zhou family's custom of announcing funerals. The messenger holds a white lantern and goes door to door to announce the news. The family that has received the news of the death will also take out a white lantern, light it, and hang it just above the door beam.

There were many people in the troupe, but the lights were lit one by one. There was no loud noise, no loud gongs and drums, only tranquility and peace.

"Alas, how come the young master is gone just like that?"

"Sister-in-law, can I go see the young master? I've been listening to his storytelling for a few days, and now that he's gone, I feel so empty inside."

"My condolences, sister-in-law. The young master is a good man. Good people like him should live in heaven."

Xu Li suppressed her sadness. No matter who she met, she would look sad at most, but she forced herself not to cry.

"If you cry too much, the deceased's clothes will become uncomfortable to wear."

This custom is deeply loved by the people in Pingshui Prefecture.

The night with white lanterns hanging gradually turns white.

At 4:30 in the morning, Xiao Fuzi woke up.

As an apprentice, he slept in a small dormitory with eight apprentices in one room, sleeping in a row. He opened the quilt, took out the clothes he had been holding in his arms all night, turned over, and sat in the corner counting money.

He sewed a dead pocket inside his clothes and put all his money in it. There was a very small hole above the pocket, just big enough for a finger to fit in.

He dug his fingers into his pockets.

"One, two, three... ten..."

The money in his pocket was all small change, which was the extra compensation Zhou Xuan gave him during this period.

Xiao Fuzi knew how many bills there were. After counting them carefully, he saw that not a single bill had decreased, so he got up, washed his face, and went outside to sweep the floor.

When Xiao Fuzi went out to be an apprentice, his father, a carpenter, only told him one thing: "It doesn't matter if you can't learn a great skill, just be diligent and you won't starve."

He has always been diligent, but today when he went out, he saw many white lanterns hanging in the yard.

This is a symbol of death in the team.

Xiao Fuzi didn't take it seriously and was sweeping the fallen leaves with a broom. Just then, Lan Lian from the etiquette office passed by. When he saw Xiao Fuzi, he said, "What are you sweeping? The young master has passed away. Go and take a look."

"Are you sick? You're cursing my young master so early in the morning?" Xiao Fuzi was so furious that he swung the broom and was about to hit Lan in the face.

"Don't be crazy, the young master is really dead, and those white lanterns are all hung for him." Lan Lian took a few steps back in fear and said repeatedly.

"Impossible...impossible..."

After muttering a few words, Xiao Fuzi suddenly threw the broom away and ran towards Luoying Hall.

The deceased in the opera troupe would be placed on the morgue bed in Luoying Hall before the funeral ceremony. They would be sent to the funeral room only after all the members of the troupe had paid their respects.

Xiao Fuzi started jogging at first, then ran faster and faster. When he saw a crowd of people gathered at the entrance of Luoying Hall, he ran forward like crazy.

When he ran to the door, there were already quite a few people in the room. Almost all the masters of the Zhou family had come. He couldn't see, so he could only squeeze in, but he couldn't. Fortunately, he was tall, so he stood on tiptoe and saw Zhou Xuan lying on the morgue bed, with a pale face and two bloody holes as big as bowls on his chest...

Xiao Fuzi was stunned. He sat down in the corner listlessly, looking towards the corner of the outer courtyard. It was there that Zhou Xuan always took him to dream and then paid him wages that were higher than those of the masters.

He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and said tremblingly, "Why don't good people live long?"

In his eyes, Zhou Xuan was a good man, the best man, and not just because he gave him a lot of money.

In his memory, ever since the young boss came back to life, he would greet him and smile whenever he saw him, never hit or scold him, and always liked to tell him jokes.

He was scared to tears by the nightmare caused by Zhou Xuan, but Zhou Xuan would not say that he was useless, but would say nice words to comfort him.

Even when giving him money, his attitude was not like "Take it, it's your reward", but rather like "You deserve this money".

Equality, respect,
It is a taste of luxury that is extremely rare in the life of a poor child like Xiao Fuzi.

"I want to help the young master's soul rest in peace."

Xiao Fuzi seemed to have made some kind of determination. He tied his leggings tightly and trotted to the corner of the outer courtyard, the place where he and Zhou Xuansheng had the most dreams. He ran a few steps, then bowed with a smile, ran a few more steps, and bowed with a smile again. Even if he couldn't laugh, he forced himself to laugh.

This is the custom in his hometown, to comfort the soul. It is said that when a person dies, the soul will not be at peace, so it will go to the place where it has been most often in its life. Someone has to go there and laugh and bow to the soul continuously, so that the soul will leave with peace of mind and go to where it should go...

But it was rumored that comforting the soul would shorten one's life, so Xiao Fuzi's hometown looked for people to perform a ceremony to bow to the soul. Those who were willing to go were all the old, sick, and disabled people who were hired for a living - people who had a very difficult life.

Xiao Fuzi didn't care about shortening his lifespan or not. He was only concerned about Zhou Xuan and wanted to send the young master off in his own way...

……

After eight o'clock in the morning, most of the people in the troupe had finished paying their respects. The crying was not loud, and many people held it in.

Funerals in Pingshui Prefecture are almost always held as happy funerals, and the worst kind of funerals are those where crying is unacceptable.

Zhou Lingyi sat next to Zhou Xuan and stared at him, while Yuan Buyu was in a daze in the corner, and occasionally he would suddenly curse out loud.

"Kill! Kill them all, kill them all. No one can harm my apprentice!"

It was clearly an expression of anger, but it gave off an extremely sad feeling.

Yu Zhengyuan walked up to Zhou Lingyi and said, "Boss, it's time to wash your eyes."

"Well, you guys go out first."

Zhou Lingyi stood up. Yu Zhengyuan helped Yuan Buyu up and waved his hand. Everyone knew what to do and left Luoying Hall on their own accord.

The hall door was closed. With the help of candlelight, Zhou Lingyi wet a silk handkerchief, rolled it in her hand, and used her fingertips to hold a corner of the cloth as she gently wiped Zhou Xuan's eyes.

Wash the eyes first, then the face, and finally the hands. This custom is usually done by the eldest daughter to her parents.

But Zhou Xuan only has Zhou Lingyi as a relative, so naturally Zhou Lingyi has to do it for him.

While washing her eyes, she said to Zhou Xuan with red eyes: "Brother, I know that you are always grateful to Grandpa for giving you a second life, and you are always grateful to our Zhou family!

Actually, you don't need to thank us. It's us, the Zhou family, who want to use you to prosper again.

People outside are saying that your brother's soul was lost, and your grandfather, who had been in a coma for two years, sensed that his grandson was gone, so he woke up the ancestral tree that had been dormant for a hundred years to summon his soul, and he found you by accident.

No, no,
It was the ancestral tree that woke up by itself, and at the same time woke up you that grandpa had been looking for. In his final moments, grandpa had used up the last of his life's glory and cast two hexagrams. One was a big hexagram, and the deduced hexagram was - if you were found, the Zhou Clan would have a chance to survive in the troubled times in the near future!
You don’t need to thank the Zhou family, the Zhou family should thank you!
At the beginning, when Grandpa and I discussed about asking you to come, I really didn’t have any feelings for you. After my brother became like that, I never wanted to mention the title of brother again.
But you came to Zhou's class and changed me.

Sometimes I even wonder, if my younger brother hadn’t turned bad in the past, he would have looked like you when he grew up!
I'm sorry, brother.

My sister failed to protect you!

I can only sing the last underworld play for you.
Let you go...in a more graceful way."

When guests were paying their respects, Zhou Lingyi always reminded others not to cry and not to be discouraged, but at this moment, she was choking with sobs and her face was red from tears.

"The hell of no birth is the bright hall of the square phase."

This sentence was the code word agreed upon by Zhou Lingyi and his grandfather before they summoned the spirits.

The Hell of No Birth refers to the Well of Blood.

Zhou Lingyi knew earlier than Yuan Buyu that Zhou Xuan was a psychic from the Blood Well!
"Since I treated you as my younger brother, I also wanted you to go through the Nuo mask of the ancestors and let them help you connect with the Nuo God and become the new Great Nuo! But those old guys are stubborn!

Brother, I'm sorry that I didn't explain these things to you when you were alive.

I am afraid.
I was afraid that you would blame our Zhou family and disown me as your sister.

I am afraid too.
I am afraid of losing you again, you are my only relative... but in the end... "

Zhou Lingyi had already wiped Zhou Xuan's eyes, face, and hands clean.

At this time, the door slowly opened a crack, and Yu Zhengyuan came in.

"Boss, there is someone outside who wants to offer condolences to Xuanzi."

"Is he from our troupe?"

"No, outside."

"It is not yet time for guests to pay their respects."

"He said his name was Xia Jin," said Yu Zhengyuan.

"Then let him in." Zhou Lingyi ordered.

"Ah."

The door closed gently and then opened gently, and a middle-aged man in a black gown and a black top hat walked in.

There was a scar on Xia Jin's face, which extended diagonally from his brow to his chin, making his already fierce appearance even more fierce, like a bandit.

"Sister Ling, I was late yesterday." Xia Jin and Zhou Lingyi had a life-and-death friendship. If it weren't for Zhou Lingyi, the scar on his face would not be on his face, but on his chest.

He has always been respectful to Zhou Lingyi. Even though he is much older, he is still willing to call her "Sister Ling".

"I don't blame you, Jin."

"It's a pity that your brother died." Xia Jin took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Zhou Lingyi: "After you left, I went back to check the bones next to the human turtle. This letter contains the information I found. In addition, there are two other people in your Zhou family who have served as the human turtle's 'feet'.

The human turtle is very cunning. He doesn't use one foot for a long time. He only possesses the foot when eating food. So the smell of the "foot" on those two people is very weak, but I can smell it! "

As the God of Killing Xiao, Xia Jin knows a lot about the White Walkers, their habits and tastes.

"Who are those two people?"

"I have already eliminated them. They are from your troupe. One is called Lao Ma and the other is called Lao Tian."

"Yeah." Zhou Lingyi opened the letter and her brows furrowed more and more as she read.

"Ren Ao may have other accomplices. It is impossible for Lao Ma and Lao Tian to bring him a large amount of food, but I don't have time to check.
This time I took the responsibility for Ren'ao's matter, and Youshensi was very angry. He issued an urgent transfer order to me, asking me to report to Mingjiang Mansion immediately, and I will leave soon. "

Zhou Lingyi put the letter away and said, "Ah Jin, thank you."

"No thanks, I'm sorry about your brother."

After Xia Jin clasped his fists, he took off his hat, bowed towards Zhou Xuan's body, and then strode away.

Zhou Lingyi put the letter away, opened the door of Luoying Hall, and said to Yu Zhengyuan: "Send my brother to Jingyi Room."

(End of this chapter)