The afternoon time gradually passed, and as dusk approached, everyone started to pack up, some carrying flags, some carrying banners, and some carrying scriptures, quilts, pillows.
A line of people formed and walked on the field ridges, heading toward Old Mrs. Niu’s grave.
The last two of the group continuously shot off crackers, very relaxed and leisurely. After lighting them, they threw them in the fields and off they went.
Li Zhiyuan helped Run Sheng carry a flag. As for Uncle Qin, he did not leave but followed the group from a distance, maintaining a hundred meters apart.
Old Mrs. Niu’s tomb was small. Although the city had long promoted cremation and strictly controlled burials, rural areas still practiced burials. However, the grand scene of building large tombs with concrete was no longer visible.
In place, there were small houses, the old ones had two floors made of red bricks and green tiles, and there were also three-story buildings and courtyards.
Anyone who didn’t know and walked into this cluster of tombs might even mistake it for a model exhibition themed "rural architecture."
Old Mrs. Niu’s grave was merely a mound, created by digging a "soil hat" in the mud beside it.
During the tomb visit, as the eldest, Niu Fu removed the soil hat, and Niu Rui used a shovel to dig a new one. After the tomb visiting ceremony ended, Niu Lian placed the new hat on it.
Arranging incense candles, burning paper money, burning Blood Scripture, everything proceeded methodically under Liu Jinxia’s command.
Once everything was over and the new hat was placed, they all went home without any incidents.
However, Li Zhiyuan noticed that Liu Jinxia didn’t look relaxed because, according to the rules, this ritual had to go on until midnight. Previously there were specific hours, but now it had all been unified to midnight.
It was only after midnight that the ritual was considered complete, serving also as a vigil, although the corpse had long been buried and wasn’t kept here.
It was fine during the daytime, but what might happen once it got dark was uncertain.
After dinner, the few villagers who came over to help also left. The children of the three Niu siblings each went back to their homes. They were supposed to stay and keep vigil too, but they were firmly sent back by the three siblings.
After the funeral service team packed up and left, the area around the spirit hall seemed particularly empty.
The three Niu siblings still knelt on the cushions, no longer mourning aloud but silently continuing to burn paper.
Niu Lian’s voice was hoarse, and both Niu Fu and Niu Rui, without their sister to lead, could only remain silent.
Liu Jinxia still sat in her old spot, visibly uneasy.
Mr. Shan still sat blocking evil spirits. He had run out of loose tobacco and switched to the cigarettes provided by the main family.
As for their own Grandmaster... Li Zhiyuan noticed that Grandmaster had already leaned against the railing, asleep, his body jerking occasionally as he snored.
Run Sheng, out of nowhere, found a deck of playing cards and smilingly said, "Let’s play Landlord."
"Do we need four people?"
"Why don’t you call him?" Run Sheng pointed toward Uncle Qin.
Li Zhiyuan shook his head. He knew Uncle Qin wouldn’t come over. In fact, he was quite grateful. Although Uncle Qin didn’t meddle in details, having him stand there made Li Zhiyuan feel a lot more at ease.
Next, Li Zhiyuan and Run Sheng began playing three-person Landlord.
It was just one deck, and with three people, it was easy to count the cards.
Run Sheng was terrible at cards, and the next player was also average, which made Li Zhiyuan win whether he was the landlord or the peasant.
As they played, time passed without notice. Li Zhiyuan asked, "What time is it?"
Run Sheng shook his head, "I don’t know, where’s the clock."
The next player said, "It’s eleven o’clock."
Li Zhiyuan: "Then it’s almost over, only one more hour."
Run Sheng: "Yeah, wonder if the main family will provide another meal after it ends."
The next player: "They should, they prepared a lot of food today and not many people came."
Li Zhiyuan picked up another set of good landlord cards, making this round uninteresting again.
However, just as he was about to play a card, Li Zhiyuan glanced at where Uncle Qin was standing and suddenly noticed that Uncle Qin was gone.
Suddenly without his support, Li Zhiyuan shivered and his mind became somewhat clearer, as if he realized something, he held the cards, dazed.
Run Sheng: "What are you thinking, Xiao Yuan, hurry up and play."
Next player: "Yeah, hurry up, we know you have good cards."
Li Zhiyuan played a card, throwing down a single king.
Run Sheng widened his eyes: "What’s this you’re playing?"
Next player: "Is your hand so good that you need to play openly?"
Li Zhiyuan spoke up, "Can I spread them out?"
Run Sheng said, "If you want to spread it, just spread it. There’s nothing to do with good cards."
Next player: "You have to think carefully though, playing openly can often lead to losses."
"I’ll think some more." Li Zhiyuan held the cards, lost in thought, while his eyes glanced covertly towards Grandmaster dozing, the three Niu siblings sitting on the cushions, and Liu Jinxia and Mr. Shan.
What seemed previously normal, now had a sudden sense of horror. Although he could hear all kinds of sounds around his ears, they, all of them, remained motionless.
Even when Grandmaster snored, his body didn’t move accordingly—it was as though the snoring appeared out of nowhere.
"What’s wrong? Have you decided whether to spread out or not?"
Li Zhiyuan nodded slightly. Run Sheng was normal, but that meant he really needed to show his cards now. If Run Sheng wasn’t there, what could those several old people do?
"Spread out the cards!"
Li Zhiyuan laid out his hand.
Run Sheng puzzled: "Hey, your cards aren’t that great. I thought you had a bomb?"