The two took a step back and stood shoulder to shoulder, each bowing to the ancestral tablets on their side. They began to chant, "Five directions, Five Elements. Five Races, five sacrifices. Awaken the Celestial Heart, gather the will of the people..."
As they spoke, the red incense stick in the burner quivered slightly, the ember at its tip glowing a little brighter.
When Lu Ya and Duan Fangchun finished their chant and bowed three times to the tablets, the ember at the tip flared a Fiery Red. It raced down the stick, consuming the entire blood-red incense in the blink of an eye.
Only when the incense had completely burned away did the column of ash lose its form, collapsing into a heap in the peculiar Incense Burner.
The smoke from the red incense, however, did not disperse. Instead, it bizarrely coiled around the two of them. Drifting with a will of its own, it rapidly formed a series of strange Runes.
