Introduction

Introduction

When my grandpa told me about his past, he always kept it lighthearted and avoided the serious stories. Actually, it was just like what any other ordinary family would do. The version of the stories your elders told you in person was different from the version that people around them told.

It was only when the two versions were combined that the truth might come out.

I still remember that when we were carrying out the funeral rituals for my grandpa, Grandma was sometimes calm and sometimes extremely sad. As we were holding vigils (1), she intermittently told the younger descendants many stories which were very different from the stories that Grandpa had written in his notes.

Well, it wasnt that the stories were completely different. Maybe I should say that the things Grandma told us made those in the Mystic Nine feel more like human beings instead of characters in a novel.

I hope that you can also feel what I feel.

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TN Notes:

(1) At Chinese funerals, it's customary for relatives to hold vigils over the deceased. It's a way for loved ones to show filial piety and loyalty to the deceased. Family members thus take shifts to watch over the deceased in their coffin.New novel chapters are published on