[Day 8 - Late Morning, Open] Prayers for the departed

[Iuchi Xiao Hua]

One of the smaller rooms of the embassy housed a humble shrine to the ancestors, a wooden cabinet with a small stone altar, a basin for incense and few spiritual scriptures hanging from the shelves. Before the contraption, a man sat on his, his head bowed, his hands folded in prayer.

With-in the room, and to the hallways beyond, scent of fresh incense lingered. The sweet scent was accompanied by a low murmur of prayers, wishing the recently departed souls a quick transition to the next phase, what ever that was.