The tall figure walked on the narrow, silent path paved with cobblestones.
The rain curtain hazily enveloped the cemetery, and tall and short tombstones stretched into the distance among the withered yellow grass.
The tall and sharp church hat seemed to break through the rain curtain, and the funeral not far away was crowded with people. People dressed in black and gray gathered together in twos and threes, talking in low voices.
Lu Li's arrival only attracted the attention of a few people nearby. They saw an unfamiliar face, and they paused for a moment on those black eyes before moving away.
"You're late."
Wearing a black hat and holding a black umbrella, Tesla walked to the gate and handed him a white rose.
There are a few drops of crystal rainwater stuck to the petals, reflecting the entire world. Hold it to the tip of your nose and smell it. There is no smell in the slight coolness.
"It's made of cloth. It's not easy to find a bouquet of flowers nowadays." Tesla sighed.
Lu Li said nothing and followed Tesla's example by inserting the white rose into his chest pocket.
"When does it start?" Lu Li looked outside the umbrella. The pit in the cemetery had been dug, but there was no coffin in sight.
Judging from the tragic situation when Thomas died, even if the coffin was moved, it would most likely be a tomb inside.
"In a while, the host of the funeral went to the confessional to confess for her father."
"Is she a Christian?"
"That's right. Ordinary people these days always have to rely on something." Thomas meant something, and did not talk too much about this topic. Instead, he said: "Shall I introduce you to some people?"
"No."
Lu Li didn't want to interact with too many people.
"Okay, you can go over there and have something to drink. I'm going to see an old friend. The funeral will start to come to you later." Tesla pointed to an awning built at the edge of the cemetery and said, then left Lu Li and walked towards a
A bearded middle-aged man wearing a black formal suit.
Lu Li walked under the awning, put away his umbrella, and asked the nun who was acting as a waiter for a glass of juice.
Nowadays, juice is comparable to beef of the same weight, and only rich and aristocratic people can afford it - and it may not be freshly squeezed.
The fragrance of the juice dispelled the haze and earthy smell lingering in the cemetery, and Lu Li looked aimlessly at the entire funeral.
Men accounted for most of the people at the funeral, and the remaining small number were ladies in black dresses. People talked to each other, and many of them, like Lu Li, stayed alone and in remote places, not interacting with other people.
Most of the people who came to the funeral were Thomas' colleagues and exorcist practitioners.
After Lu Li drank the first glass of juice and picked up the second glass of orange juice, there was movement from the side door of the church: a coffin was being carried out.
As more and more people looked around, the chatter over the funeral gradually disappeared.
People's eyes followed the approaching coffin, and some of them fell on the young woman wearing a veil and wide-brimmed hat walking behind. They watched them walk into the funeral and place the coffin beside the dug cemetery.
The old man in a gray and white robe dressed as a priest stood in front of the coffin and slowly narrated his eulogy with only the soft sound of drizzle: "Three days ago, we said goodbye to Rudolph Thomas forever... Life is a journey from life to life.
Fighting to death, he was born to deliver a poem of hope..."
Because of Thomas' special identity, the priest omitted many parts of the content, such as "returning to the arms of God the Father" and "the door to heaven is open" and other religious elements. At the same time, all the metaphors in the eulogy explained Thomas' true identity.
Of course, only guests of The Exorcist can understand the metaphors in the eulogy.
"Would you like a glass of milk?" Thomas came to Lu Li's side at some point and whispered.
"We don't have it here, the juice is not bad either." Lu Li raised the cup slightly and said while the orange juice was shaking.
When he first arrived here, Lu Li could still afford oranges, but now, it's difficult for him to even look at them.
"Please give me a drink too," Thomas and the nun said, waving their hands.
"Has your problem been solved?" Lu Li asked him.
"That's right, they don't dare to come again." Thomas looked at the priest not far away: "What do you think of Sissi?"
"I don't know."
"Sissy Thomas, Thomas's daughter."
Lu Li looked at the woman in black dress who lowered her head behind the pastor, but did not answer Tesla's question: "Why do you ask that?"
Thomas smiled, took the juice that the nun had stirred, and said with a chuckle: "Thomas spent a long time looking for a suitable husband for her before he died. I heard that this was the reason for the breakdown of the relationship between father and daughter."
Lu Li fell silent for a moment and said, "It's inappropriate."
Tesla knew what Lu Li was referring to, and he became silent as he thought about a future with no hope in sight.
A few minutes later, the pastor finished reading the eulogy, and the workers carried the coffin into the dug grave. On his tombstone there was only a photo that seemed to have been cropped from a group photo. It was not very natural, and there was a hint of fatherly love in his smile.
It is conceivable that in the original photo, his daughter should be right next to him.
Sissi put her handkerchief into the veil and wiped the corners of her eyes.
Afterwards, there was a flower-laying session for relatives and friends. Guests lined up in front of the tomb and threw the roses they were wearing onto the unburied coffin.
When it was Tesla's turn, he put down the fake rose solemnly and whispered "Goodbye, old friend."
Behind him was Lu Li. He didn't say anything, put down the rose and turned around to walk away.
After laying flowers, the burial began. The coffin was buried layer by layer of soil. As time went by, the bright coffin was no longer visible. Only the smile on the tombstone was left, telling that Thomas' life had come to an end.
Afterwards, there was free time. Some people left, but most people stayed at the funeral to communicate with friends they had not seen for a long time - most investigators would rarely meet.
Lu Li stood under the awning, drinking juice one glass after another, but suddenly, a slightly hoarse female voice came from the side.
"Do you know my father?"
The veiled Sisi said to Lu Li.
Lu Li looked around and only saw Thomas walking away in a hurry.
"I don't know."
Sissi's eyes were slightly red behind her veil, as if she had just cried, but her tone was stiff: "Only his friends will come to the funeral."
"I just saw him for the last time."
Sissi obviously knew more, and pressed forward step by step: "Tesla said that my father was with you before he died."
"His death has nothing to do with me."
"I know, I'm asking..." Sisi's tone suddenly softened, with some kind of expectation: "Did he say anything before he died?"
Lu Li, who had always been indifferent, suddenly understood what she wanted.
Lu Li recalled for a while and replied to Sisi: "'This is...' he said."
After drinking the last glass of juice, Lu Li felt a little exhausted, so he put down the glass and prepared to leave.
"Wait a minute, can you tell me...his identity?"
"Exorcist." Lu Li said without turning around.
There is nothing to hide. In other words, it won't be long before people are exposed to the real side of the world.
While Sissi was stunned, Lu Li and Thomas who were looking at each other from a distance looked at each other and left the funeral scene.