99: Chapter 96: Inviting Nu 99: Chapter 96: Inviting Nu Zhou Lingyi reminded Lv Mingkun again, “Fifth Brother, just stitch up the wounds on my brother’s body, don’t send it to the Water Room.
I don’t want him to endure any more tornt.”
In the Water Room, the body would undergo several washings inside and out to ensure a clean and easy preservation process.
But this ti, Zhou Lingyi did not want to follow the usual ritual of opening the coffin after seven days.
She wanted to arrange a Nu opera for Zhou Xuan, without any superfluous opening performances.
Two days later, they would hold the Nu procession up the mountain.
With such a short ti, there was no need to add excessive spices to the body, avoiding many tedious processes.
“Understood,” Lv Mingkun agreed.
…
The masters of the Jingyi’s Water Room were fans of Zhou Xuan’s storytelling.
Even putting aside his identity as the Young Master, they were willing to take great care in handling Zhou Xuan’s body with utmost seriousness.
Lv Mingkun removed the fine dust and soil from the wound and ticulously stitched Zhou Xuan’s twisted and intertwined wounds.
The masters then cleaned Zhou Xuan’s body and applied a thin layer of wax, using the simplest thod that wouldn’t harm the body, giving Zhou Xuan’s skin a subtle sheen.
The masters of the Jingyi Room and Lv Mingkun treated the Young Master as if he were a piece of art.
anwhile, Zhou Lingyi set up an incense hall outside the Silent Hall.
Xu Li and Yu Zhengyuan laid out nine Nu masks on the incense table.
In the Zhou Family’s Troupe, there was a rule,
that to perform a Nu opera for soone, money was only part of it.
The most important part was to invite the nine Nu masks, which would decide if the Nu opera could be perford.
If the Nu masks approved, the opera could be perford,
if not, the opera could not be perford.
This has been the rule for many years, and no one has ever broken it.
Xu Li and Yu Zhengyuan invited the nine ancestral Nu masks, the most senior among the twenty-seven Nu masks in the Silence Hall.
The one placed in the center was a jet-black Nu mask, the Zhou Troupe’s most senior ancestor.
Zhou Lingyi lit incense, held it with both hands, and confided to the Nu masks: “Ancestors of the Zhou family, my brother has passed away.
I want to arrange a Nu opera for him.
When he was alive, everyone in the troupe liked him,
they enjoyed interacting with him, and eagerly anticipated his storytelling.
The troupe hasn’t been this lively in years.
Moreover, my brother didn’t die for himself; he died fighting the Alien Ghost Man Ao, who had plagued our family for years.
Father, too, was tainted by its blood between the eyebrows,
For his last journey in life, my brother deserves a Nu opera.”
Zhou Lingyi knew the ancestral Nu masks were at odds with Zhou Xuan,
because “Zhou Xuan” was not originally a mber of the Zhou family, essentially an outsider.
Despite her repeated pleas, the ancestral Nu masks had refused to accept him into the Nu, forcing Zhou Xuan to join the “storyteller.”
Would the nine masks now rule in favor of Zhou Xuan having a Nu opera?
Zhou Lingyi, Yu Zhengyuan, and Xu Li watched the nine Nu masks quietly and tensely.
If they remained undisturbed on the incense table, it indicated approval.
If five or more of the masks overturned, then the opera could not be perford.
Moreover, Zhou Lingyi couldn’t use the red thread as she did last ti to tether the masks—during the Nu procession, the nine Nu masks would hang in front of the coffin.
How could she keep them tethered then?
If they all flipped over, the Zhou Troupe would imdiately understand what was happening.
The Nu opera would be stalled, and it would create unnecessary chaos.
As ti passed,
the incense in the hall started to burn down, inch by inch, to the very end of the sticks, yet none of the nine Nu masks reacted.
“The ancestors didn’t object; they still care about Xuanzi.” Xu Li hugged Zhou Lingyi.
Zhou Lingyi bowed to the incense again, “Thank you, ancestors.”
She, Xu Li, and Yu Zhengyuan then took the Nu masks one by one back to their venerated positions in the Silence Hall,
while Zhou Xuan’s Jingyi was completed.
His body, looking fresh and dressed in a new storytelling white gown, was carried by Fifth Brother to the spirit hall set up under the Ancestor Tree, and laid to rest in the coffin.
At the bottom of the coffin lay layers of cotton, paper money, and pages from *The White-Browed Hero* torn by the opera fans in the troupe.
They, unable to resist after hearing Zhou Xuan’s stories, had written down segnts in books.
Now, the pages they penned served as heartfelt gifts to Zhou Xuan.
As Zhou Xuan was moved into the coffin, others followed, leaving the Silent Hall, once bustling, empty and dark.
With the door closed and no lights lit, the hall was pitch black.
In that empty room, strange voices erged from those ancestral Nu masks.
“Ancestor, isn’t this unfair to Zhou Xuan?”
“How unfair?
He’s not a Zhou family son and pretends to be one!
Such people deserve punishnt!
And still wanting a Nu opera on the mountain?
What rit does he have!?”
The jet-black Nu mask spoke of Zhou Xuan with utter disdain.
“He deserves so embarrassnt, and Zhou Lingyi, just a girl, what nerve to side with an outsider after becoming Class Leader!”
“This ti, they need a lesson so they won’t think we ancestors have no temper!”
“They want a Nu procession up the mountain the day after tomorrow?
As if!”
After the black mask set the tone, the other masks silenced,
leaving the Silent Hall silent once more.
…
Zhou Xuan’s coffin was placed in the spirit hall, beginning to receive formal condolences from guests,
while Zhou Lingyi and Xu Li went to Zhou Xuan’s room to gather his belongings to burn with the paper money.
As soon as they entered, Zhou Lingyi spotted a pen on the floor and a notebook.
On the cover was written, “Sister, Master, goodbye,” the final stroke left unfinished.
Zhou Lingyi held the notebook for a long ti, sighed, then placed it in the collection bag and said to Xu Li, “My brother was cautious.
If he sensed the Human Turtle, he wouldn’t have left without warning and Elder Yuan.
As it stands, it seems likely that the Human Turtle used so evil skill to summon my brother.
Realizing this, he left this short will.”
“Xuanzi…” Xu Li couldn’t help but feel sorrow rise again.
Zhou Xuan didn’t have many personal effects, just clothes, so books, notebooks, a water cup, and about ten picture fras showing photos from the day he beca an apprentice,
including silly photos with Yuan Buyu and a family picture with all five senior brothers and Zhou Lingyi.
“Those were good tis.”
Zhou Lingyi held the family picture; Zhou Xuan’s slight smile in the photo was like warm sunshine.
She put the photos in a small bag, intending to keep them for life.
Once the belongings were neatly gathered,
Zhou Lingyi and Xu Li left Zhou Xuan’s room.
On Zhou Xuan’s writing desk, the diary pages continued to turn, the writing fading slowly in sync with an unseen rhythm.
anwhile, Zhou Lingyi and Xu Li, amid organizing the relics, seemingly ignored the conspicuous journal, as if—perhaps—they couldn’t even see it!
…
There weren’t many people in the spirit hall, coming to pay their respects.
Li Shuangyi entered with a bouquet of white chrysanthemums.
He bowed three tis to Zhou Xuan, then gently placed the flowers on Zhou Xuan’s body, leaning on the coffin edge, and sighed, “Little junior brother, I never saw you as my enemy, but in the martial arts world, one cannot be themselves.
There’s a chain around my neck too…
a dog chain hard to remove…”
“Third Brother.”
Li Shuangyi heard a bell-like voice, causing him to tremble, then calm down without looking up.
“Class Leader!”
“Third Brother, co with .” Zhou Lingyi wished she could spend all her ti with Zhou Xuan for his final journey.
But she was not only a sister, she was Class Leader, and certain things demanded her attention regardless of timing.
Zhou Lingyi walked ahead as Li Shuangyi followed, the distance between them reminiscent of two years ago, when Zhou Lingyi first brought Li Shuangyi to the Zhou Family’s Troupe.
The two exited the Zhou Troupe and went to the Back Mountain Lane, followed by Liu Jiaotian, who stopped at the lane’s end.
Zhou Lingyi and Li Shuangyi ventured into the back mountain, over the ridge, through wasteland, reaching a secluded bamboo grove.
Although Li Shuangyi had never been there, he figured it was quiet and deep enough—a suitable place for Zhou Lingyi to act.
“Lao Wu has been following you these past few days.” Zhou Lingyi stopped at the bamboo grove’s bone remnants.
“Yes.”
Li Shuangyi nodded, “Lao Wu and I are close.
While following , he deliberately revealed his presence, assuming what I did and knowing why you had him tail —Lao Wu hoped I would escape quickly…”
“Was it just you who took my brother’s soul, or were other brothers involved?”
“Just !”
When trailed by Lao Wu, Li Shuangyi knew his actions were exposed, but he stayed because he didn’t want to leave!
Facing Zhou Lingyi, he didn’t deny it.
But he omitted that, on the night Zhou Xuan’s soul was taken, he returned drunk to the troupe and t Yu Zhengyuan and Second Brother Zheng Jiujang.
Both brothers, close as siblings, knew Li Shuangyi rarely drank and never so excessively.
Hence, they must have guessed Zhou Xuan’s soul’s disappearance closely tied to Li Shuangyi.
“Was the Human Turtle behind covering your taking Zhou Xuan’s soul?”
“No, it was Lao Ma.”
“Lao Ma was the foot of the Ghost Man Ao.”
Li Shuangyi, head lowered, truly didn’t know that.
“When did you join the Actor Hall?”
Zhou Lingyi asked.
“After leaving the Zhou Family’s Troupe, when Zhou Xuan ruined my voice.
With no skills to earn a living, none would want to teach opera.
I sold cigarettes at the Pear Garden Theater to make so money and listen to operas.
One day, Li Lisheng approached , claiming he could heal my voice if I joined the actors.
I agreed, not questioning his malicious intent.
After all, I had nothing then.
What was I to exploit?
Slowly, I realized I’d fallen for the damn dogborn Li Lisheng’s trap.
He brought into the hall, never healed my voice, and got a chain around my neck!
I beca his Dark Door and killed many, so many that I felt I’d changed, becoming greedy and cruel.
I hardly recognized myself anymore!”
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