Keeping Vigil (2)

The door creaked...

The door that had been pushed open swung back on its own, breaking the silence.

Whether they were searching the funeral home, waiting in the side rooms, or had just stepped through the entrance, everyone instinctively began looking for the old man mentioned in the mission.

"Knock, knock."

The slow knocking drew closer.

Zhao Yijiu recognized where it was coming from and immediately looked toward the locked door in the backyard.

The knocking came from right behind it. People from the front courtyard hurried over, too late to introduce themselves to one another. The locked door shuddered, and someone on the other side slid the bolt free.

Deep darkness spilled through the widening gap. An elderly man with a hunched frame, dressed in a patch-covered robe and leaning on a cane, crossed the threshold and shuffled out step by step.

Just as Zhao Yijiu tried to glimpse what the backyard looked like, a gust of wind blew through and slammed the door shut in the blink of an eye.

"So many helpers have come..."

The old man's hoarse voice carried the decay of someone nearing the end of his days. He struggled to lift his head. Deep furrows lined his face, and his eyes were clouded.

Some people hadn't forgotten to stay in character. They felt that not asking a couple of questions in a situation like this would break character, but before they could open their mouths, their throats seemed to close up, and their lips felt glued together. Not a sound came out.

So no one interrupted the old man. He stood alone before the dozen or so people gathered around him, the skin on his face stretched tight over his flesh as he managed a stiff smile.

"Such kind, good children..."

"Please help out.