Ever since we went to see Professor Hu.
The deaths had never stopped.
Professor Hu's death in particular seemed to have started it all, as though it were preparing me for what was to come.
I had just come to understand Professor Hu's view of life and death, felt I had gained a great deal from it, and seemed to have become much more accepting of death.
Then Zhang Rong and Xiang Yifeng died, followed by Grandmaster, Zhuge Ming, and the others, and now Old Master Song and Daoist Lan.
I had gone numb. My entire being had gone numb.
I felt that this trip to Mohe was like a vicious curse.
It had cursed so many people.
And I learned from Song Xiaotian that he and Uncle Song had known nothing about Grandmaster's passing. It was only when they set out for the Northeast that Old Master Song told them Grandmaster had died.
But on the very day Grandmaster's ashes were brought back, my master had notified Old Master Song.
So Old Master Song had known about it several days in advance.
Song Xiaotian also said that he and Uncle Song had both found Old Master Song rather strange during those days. He kept remarking that he was getting old and, in a lighthearted tone, had made arrangements for some matters after his death.
He had hardly gone out during those days, spending all his time with his great-grandson, Song Xiaotian's son.
Although Song Xiaotian and Uncle Song found it odd, they had not thought much of it. After all, it was not unusual for an elderly person to make arrangements for after their death in advance.
But they had never expected that, once those arrangements were made, he would leave so quickly, just like that.
Old Master Song