Zi Lu loved lively places during his lifetime.
Even after death, he was buried in a lively place.
Many people come to Yanshan Mountain for sightseeing.
However, at this moment, it was dusk.
The sky was filled with sunset clouds, and the air had grown cold.
The tourists were packing up to head back.
Gradually, it became quiet and desolate.
His tomb was built like a house.
It had an arched facade with a platform where offerings could be placed.
Behind the platform was the burial chamber, resembling a door inviting people to come in and sit.
Jiang Changtian looked at the tomb, momentarily speechless.
The last person whose death had affected him deeply was his father, Grand Preceptor Jiang.
At that time, he felt as if the sky had fallen, and he was devastated.
He was young then.
It felt as if a part of his internal organs had been buried along with his father.
The grief was indescribable.
He thought that from then on, only he, his elder brother, and his mother would walk the path of life together.
But after his father's passing, his world truly collapsed, and he was truly left all alone, struggling to survive.
Countless times he thought, if he had never experienced the happy life when his father was alive, he would surely have believed that he was meant to be so miserable, meant to be lowly, meant to be pitiful.
But he had once lived a happy life.
So he felt painfully torn.
Zi Lu, who lay before him now, was the second elder figure he had encountered in his life.
Zi Lu was a very charismatic person, but he didn't have a strong fatherly air about him and didn't like to lecture people.
He was very good at praising others.
He was always smiling.
Very magnanimous.
But in his presence, one felt very safe.
Initially, the rebellion was only out of necessity.
But later, it was under Zi Lu's protection that he steadily landed on his feet.
Jiang Changtian felt that Zi Lu knew about his little thoughts.
Zi Lu had sent people to bring Aunt Yin, always helping to settle matters in the inner quarters.
Zi Lu was a true hero.
If anyone could ascend to power, Jiang Changtian thought General Zi could.
He knew how to use people well, was magnanimous yet attentive to details.
But now, buried in the earth, he had vanished like smoke.
So one must live, stay alive to have all possibilities.
Jiang Changtian lit incense and knelt down earnestly, kowtowing three times.
Heaven, Earth, Sovereign, Parents, and Teachers.
He regarded him as his teacher...
Jiang Feng looked at the tomb, not feeling good about it, even though this tomb was considered quite beautiful, much better looking than the mounds of earth he remembered.
But this was still a tomb.
A place for burying bones.
So while alive, one should strive harder, do all the things one wants to do.
Leave no regrets, no remorse.
One might die at any time, so while alive, one must live freely and joyfully.
He also burned incense and kowtowed.
To the elder, to the predecessor.
Qin Luoxia brought Mianmian along to burn incense and kowtow.
She spoke in front of the tomb: "Brother Zi Lu, I know you must have been worried about your child when you left. You called me sister, and I have no brothers or elders. I'm willing to take you as my elder brother. Entrust the child to me, and from now on, I'll be his aunt. I'll raise him, I'll watch him get married and have children on your behalf. You can rest easy in the netherworld, don't worry."
Zi Congheng had been calmly watching Jiang Mianmian's family burn incense and kowtow.
In fact, he had seen this scene so many times that he had become numb to it.
At first, he had wanted nothing more than to crawl into the tomb and lie with his father.
Later, he slowly realized that even if he entered the tomb, it would be of no use.
He had talked to his father countless times, but his father never responded.
If there really was a spirit after death, how could he bear to leave him so alone?
Even looking at this tomb now, he felt as if it were a rope, tugging at his throat, making it hard to breathe.
He didn't want to speak anymore.
In fact, he didn't really want to live either.
It felt meaningless.
He was very smart.
At least in the worldly sense of smart, he could read articles and remember them after a single glance, never forgetting.
He could even tell from his sworn brothers' clothes and shoes that they had betrayed him.
But he didn't speak up about it.
He didn't want to cause more deaths by speaking up again.
Father was gone. Nothing mattered anymore.
He even hoped his sworn brothers would kill him.
But perhaps he was too useless.
There were so many opportunities, but his sworn brothers never made a move.
His sworn brothers: ...
Suspecting you of entrapment.
That lunatic Gong Qichi, after Father passed away, he went crazy.
If we killed you, he would fight us to the death.
Besides, you don't even speak, so what's the difference whether you're killed or not?
Of course, not all sworn brothers were like this.
Just some of them.
At this moment, after Qin Luoxia finished speaking, suddenly a bunch of incense on the platform fell over.
It was as if the person in the tomb was responding.
Was this agreement or disagreement?
In the countless times he had come to the tomb, Father had never stirred, never responded once.
Zi Congheng stared blankly at the fallen incense.
Suddenly, tears streamed down his face.
Qin Luoxia was a bit confused.
Was Brother Zi Lu giving directions?
The incense fell over, was that agreement or disagreement?
Qin Luoxia was a bit bewildered, but she was a flexible woman, resilient.
She lit another bunch.
Then she repeated what she had just said.
"Brother Zi Lu, I know you must have been worried about your child when you left. You called me sister, and I have no brothers or elders, I'm willing to take you as my elder brother..."
"Puff..."
At this point, the incense fell over again.
Qin Luoxia nodded.
"I understand, Brother is nodding in agreement. Thank you, Brother, for making the effort to push the incense."
Then she lit another bunch.
And repeated those words again.
"...Brother, entrust the child to me, and from now on, I'll be his aunt. I'll raise him, I'll watch him get married and have children on your behalf. You can rest easy in the netherworld, don't worry."
A row of incense stood upright.
The smoke swirled left and right, without pattern.
As if a ghost was blowing the smoke.
The smoke that should have risen straight up was twisting chaotically.
Zi Congheng, who hadn't cried for a long time, felt tears sliding down his cheeks, but the corners of his mouth turned up.
He couldn't help but smile.
He didn't know what his father meant.
If Father didn't want him to go to the Jiang family, he would surely be anxiously bumping around now. Thinking this way, it felt as if his father was still alive, truly by his side.
Zi Congheng, who had been silent from the moment they met until now, suddenly knelt before Qin Luoxia and said: "Aunt."
Qin Luoxia emotionally patted the young man's shoulder, also shedding tears.
"Good boy, from now on, you'll follow Aunt. If Aunt has a bite to eat, you'll have a bite. If Aunt has a sip to drink, you'll have a sip. Aunt will treat you equally, I'll be proud if you strive to improve, and I'll also spank you if you're naughty."
The chaotic blue smoke finally rose straight up.
...
On the return journey.
Zi Congheng actually got into the carriage with the Jiang family to go back.
He didn't even go home to pack his things.
Jiang Mianmian obsequiously called him brother.
Although paying respects at a tomb was a somewhat sad affair, the degrees of intimacy were different after all, and human emotions are mostly not interconnected.
On the return journey, Mianmian was only thinking that she now had a brother, one who clearly still needed education, and her father now had something to do, there was now someone to guide in studies.
Although she wanted to appear sad, she couldn't suppress her happiness.
There are three things humans can't hide: coughing, poverty, and love.
Mianmian now had a deep fraternal love for her Worm Brother, the kind where joys and sorrows are shared.
"Brother, do you like spicy food?"
"Brother, did you bring your turtle back?"
"Brother, are you cold?"
"Brother, can you recite the Analects?"
"..."
Zi Congheng's mind was in a jumble, with grief tangled up tightly in it. At this moment, he only felt his head was in a muddle.
He thought his father had reason to push over the incense.
He kind of wanted to get off the carriage now.
"Brother, do you prefer practicing sword or knife?"
"Brother, can you climb trees?"
"Brother, have you put on your long johns, are you cold?"
...
