The blazing sun stretched across the blue sky, wantonly pouring its light and heat over the world.
Luo Zhang summoned the sons and daughters of the Luo Clan to the clan's Ancestral Temple.
As the temple doors slowly creaked shut, the light abruptly dimmed. Oil lamps sprang to life throughout the chamber, their flames swaying gently, flickering between light and shadow.
The Luo Clan's Ancestral Temple was immense, and over thirteen hundred years, it had grown ever larger.
Before them stood densely packed Spirit Tablets.
All the Spirit Tablets were arranged together, yet whenever someone looked toward a particular spot, the corresponding Spirit Seat would reveal itself. This was, naturally, a gift from Ji Zhao.
They were arranged in orderly tiers from top to bottom.
The sons and daughters of every generation of the Luo Clan were listed there, whether they had lived in the Luo State or been enfeoffed elsewhere.
Incense smoke, unceasing throughout the day, filled the chamber and soothed the mind.
Perhaps because extreme wisdom invited harm and deep feeling shortened life, the sons and daughters of the Luo Clan generally did not live particularly long.
After the beginning of the Later Han, their fortune diminished, and the Luo Clan's numbers became even less plentiful.
In the present Luo Clan, only three people remained from the generation before Luo Zhang's. All could be considered living fossils and almost never appeared before the world.
Luo Zhang's own generation numbered seven men and women in total: three men and four women. One was Luo Kong's mother, who was still in the Unshuang Kingdom in the Western Regions. The others all remained in Zhao City.
Luo Xiao and Luo Shu's generation was populous, with eight men alone. The eldest, Luo Xiao, and the third, Luo Kong, had both passed away.