Wandering Gods of Day and Night
Chapter 102 - 99: Nuomian’s Trump Card

Chapter 102: Chapter 99: Nuomian’s Trump Card

In the process where spirit merges with flesh, Zhou Xuan’s body would occasionally shudder.

But the shudders were subtle, and the wakeful Xu Li and Song Jie, both exhausted, responded slowly and noticed nothing amiss.

...

Finally, daybreak arrived,

The Zhou Family’s Troupe’s canteen had readied noodles with shredded pork early on, waiting for the troupe members to finish eating before the auspicious time they had agreed upon. After a brief rest, they would be ready for the Nuo parade.

The four senior brothers didn’t go to eat; they were waiting to seal the coffin.

First, the master carpenter hammered a nail into each of the four corners of the coffin.

These nails required professional skill; a slight misalignment would lead to the coffin lid coming off during the procession, causing a great embarrassment.

Four nails could secure the coffin, but five coffin nails were needed.

The last nail, the burial nail, was to be hammered in by a relative.

The four senior brothers hammered in the fifth nail most of the way; the last part was for Zhou Lingyi to strike.

Just as the nail was driven in, Xu Li rushed over and whispered something into Zhou Lingyi’s ear.

"Uh?"

Zhou Lingyi’s eyebrows furrowed deeply. After giving the fifth nail two more hammer strikes, ensuring it was flush with the surface of the coffin wood, she hurried towards Silence Hall.

...

Inside Silence Hall,

All twenty-seven Nuomian masks were turned over.

Zhou Lingyi knew all too well what it meant when the Nuomian masks turned over.

She suddenly understood why, the day before yesterday when she had sung the Nuo opera for her younger brother and invited the nine great Nuomian masks, not one of them had opposed!

It turns out,

It was a trap under the guise of our ancestral Nuomian masks!

They had never intended for Zhou Xuan’s funeral to proceed with the Nuo parade.

"Class Leader, the ancestors..."

Xu Li’s grievance was cut off by a gesture from Zhou Lingyi.

"Eldest sister-in-law, the ancestors probably feel we haven’t taken good care of things, that’s why they’re angry. Wait outside for me, I’ll talk with them."

Without another word, Xu Li exited the Silent Hall, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"Ancestors, today is the day my brother is sent up the mountain; there’s no need for this turmoil."

Zhou Lingyi walked straight to the eldest charcoal-colored Nuomian mask: "Brother had already been arranged to join the Nuo parade up the mountain—your sudden change of heart, I find it inappropriate."

The charcoal-colored Nuomian mask stood up abruptly, hovering in mid-air, its hollow eye sockets bearing malicious intent like eyes, and it glared at Zhou Lingyi.

"Zhou Lingyi, you accepted an outsider as a brother, and now that outsider is dead, do you still want to sing the Nuo opera for him?"

"Is the Nuo opera something that just anyone deserves? Only those who have done great deeds for our Zhou Family, those who have shown great virtue in Ping Shui Prefecture, are eligible to be honored at the funeral."

"A Nuo parade up to the ancestral grave? What virtues and talents does a mere outsider possess to be buried in our family’s ancestral burial ground?"

Several ancestral Nuomian masks floated up, one after another, loudly rebuking Zhou Lingyi.

"Firstly, my brother has indeed done great deeds for our Zhou Family; the Human Turtle that nearly destroyed the Zhou Family’s Troupe’s legacy was defeated at the cost of his life.

Secondly, my brother was respected by the high monk Lady Lianhua of Ping Shui Prefecture; how does that not count as great virtue?

Thirdly, my brother was brought back by the Ancestor Tree and grandfather themselves. Why they sought him out is well known to you all—to extend the life force of the Zhou Family’s Troupe to future generations.

If the Ancestor Tree and grandfather acknowledged him as a son of the Zhou Family, who are you to deny it!

You refuse to heed grandfather’s ideas,

but you should at least listen to the words of the Ancestor Tree, right?"

Among the Zhou Family’s Troupe,

The Ancestor Tree is the true elder, except it is almost always in slumber and rarely awakens.

"The Ancestor Tree, it too can miscalculate!"

The charcoal-colored Nuomian mask, sneered coldly: "Continuing the fate of the Zhou Family’s Troupe? Haha, that outsider has already died, what’s there to continue?"

"Haha, if he really had such great fortune, how come he couldn’t even save his own life?"

"The Ancestor Tree miscalculated, your grandfather miscalculated, yet you refuse to admit it, always saying that when a girl takes charge, she acts rashly out of emotion."

"With no other heirs for the Zhou Family, and no other options for selecting a different Class Leader, Zhou Lingyi, I really doubt you..."

The charcoal-colored Nuomian mask looked at Zhou Lingyi, bitterly accusing: "I suspect that you let Zhou Xuan’s soul be taken deliberately; without a younger brother, your position as Class Leader becomes unshakable."

Zhou Lingyi’s fists clenched tightly.

As expected,

The ancestral Nuomian masks had never trusted her!

Even though she’d single-handedly shouldered the decline of the Zhou Family’s Troupe to its current state, in the eyes of the Nuomian masks, she was nothing more than a headstrong family head.

What angered her even more,

Was that the ancestral Nuomian masks used the reason "the brother is already dead" to doubt that Zhou Xuan could extend the fate of the Zhou Family’s Troupe!

"So you’ve always been longing for that previous brother? Have you forgotten who is to blame for the Ancestor Tree’s withering?

And who’s to blame for the Zhou Family’s Troupe’s dissipating popularity?"

"He was young and ignorant; given a few more years, he might have no less potential than you!"

"Zhou Lingyi, putting you in charge of the Zhou Family’s Troupe was only to wait for Zhou Xuan to grow up, but unexpectedly, you, as his sister, could not even protect your own brother!"

The Nuomian mask’s words were like sharp knives, stabbing into Zhou Lingyi’s heart.

Zhou Lingyi recalled that rainy night, during the Nuo ritual, when her brother publicly accused her of being a Dark Door, a person stained with blood and too filthy to worship the Nuo Gods.

Not one ancestral Nuomian mask had spoken a word in her defense at that time.

She remembered two years ago, when she took over the Zhou Family’s Troupe, kneeling in front of the ancestral Nuomian masks all night. They ignored her until her grandfather spoke up for her. Only then did the masks reluctantly accept her as the Class Leader.

Now,

With the Zhou Family’s Troupe rising swiftly, with Zhou Xuan winning Lady Lianhua’s favor, the troupe’s business was poised to reach new heights, its popularity to burgeon, and the Ancestor Tree’s life force to return to its peak state.