Demon Slayer Across Worlds

When Shen Changan returned to his hometown, Old Man Li had already passed away.

In the end, he hadn’t made it in time to see his grandfather for the last time. All he could do was burn some paper money with the others, kneel respectfully before the elder’s coffin, and bow his head three times in solemn tribute.

The old man had many descendants, but Shen Changan was his only grandson on his daughter’s side. Now that the elder was gone, everything left behind was divided up, and as a relative from the mother’s side, there was little left that concerned him according to local custom.

Moreover, Shen Changan had lost his mother in childhood and wasn’t especially close to the Li family. By rights, he would not have had to return. Yet his grandfather had always doted on him, and so Shen Changan made the journey home to send the old man off one last time.

After the paper offerings were burned, Shen Changan stayed to keep vigil in the mourning hall.

A Taoist priest had chosen the burial date, and it would be three more days before Old Man Li would be laid to rest. Each night, someone needed to keep watch, ensuring that incense burned without interruption.

Shen Changan, being among the younger generation and the eldest of them, naturally took the first night’s vigil.

There were few people keeping watch that night, and Shen Changan recognized even fewer. The others passed the time playing cards, cracking sunflower seeds, and chatting in small groups, while he sat alone, lost in thought.

As the night wore on, the watchers became drowsy