Qiqi stopped before a seven-story pagoda. Patches of lingering snow covered the Buddhist Pagoda, with plenty of weeds poking through. Clearly, no one had cleaned it in a long time, and it looked no different from the surrounding pagodas. Without a word, Qiqi reached out to clear away the weeds.
Hu Xiaotian went over to help, but before his hand touched the Buddhist Pagoda, Qiqi snapped, "Don't touch it!"
My good intentions get treated like a donkey's liver and lungs, Hu Xiaotian thought. You think I want to touch it? He retreated a few steps and stood watching with his hands tucked into his sleeves, keeping an eye out for her while he was at it. After all, they had climbed over the wall to get here, and he felt a thief's guilty unease.
After clearing the weeds from the pagoda, Qiqi knelt before the Buddhist Pagoda and respectfully kowtowed three times. She pressed her palms together and closed her eyes, apparently offering a prayer. In all the time Hu Xiaotian had known her, this was the first time he had seen her so devout. He wondered who was buried beneath this pagoda and what connection that person had to her.
Just then, footsteps sounded in the distance. Hu Xiaotian looked up and saw a young monk in gray robes walking slowly toward them with a bundle of incense and candles.
The monk spotted them at the same time. Having climbed over the wall, Hu Xiaotian could not help feeling guilty, but the monk's expression remained utterly calm, as though he had not seen them at all. The young monk placed incense and candles in the burners before the Buddhist Pagodas one by one, then pressed his palms together and paid his respects.
Soon, the young monk reached the Buddhist