Beneath the dim light before dawn, a roaring fire consumed the hemp mourning clothes...
Li Jincheng, who had not slept for two days and two nights, stood silently beside the fire, clutching his father's spirit tablet. His eyes were hollow as he watched the gravestone slowly descend, sealing the tomb.
Yang Ge, Yang Tiansheng, and Xiang Wudi stood behind Li Jincheng, exchanging meaningful looks.
In the end, Yang Ge stepped forward, put an arm around Li Jincheng's shoulders, and turned him back toward the way they had come. "Come on. You've still got a mountain of things waiting for you at home."
Li Jincheng took one last look at the sealed tomb and drew a deep breath of the cool morning air. "You really know how to comfort someone," he joked hoarsely.
Yang Ge dragged him back, smiling. "I've said plenty of soothing things, too. You just weren't listening."
Yang Tiansheng and Xiang Wudi followed, one on their left and the other behind them, offering dry platitudes like, "The dead are gone. You have to let go."
Li Jincheng silently let the three of them pull and push him along. After they had gone quite a distance, he suddenly said, "Brothers, I don't have a dad anymore."
Their steps grew heavy, and all three sighed quietly in their hearts.
Just as Yang Ge and Yang Tiansheng exchanged helpless looks, unsure how to console him, Xiang Wudi, who was pushing Li Jincheng from behind, suddenly declared in a muffled voice, "If you don't mind, you may take me as your adoptive father!"
Yang Ge and Yang Tiansheng turned back in shock to look at this mighty warrior who had made such a bold move without warning.
Xiang Wudi spread his hands innocently. "He said it himself. I was only trying to