In the twelfth lunar month on the Loess Plateau, the wind wasn't strong, but it was capricious and chaotic, with no discernible direction. What began as a northwest wind would swirl along the mountain ridges and through the gullies, abruptly shifting to a southeast wind. Then, after blowing past another mountain depression, it would immediately veer into a southwest wind.
The fire at the grave mound opposite flickered erratically in this disorderly wind, like a madman, swaying left and right.
Two members of Ma Yuanghai's family, who were visiting graves, had been watching leisurely from outside the gravesite. But when they saw the fire suddenly leap to the field above, they panicked and scrambled towards it.
By the time they reached the upper field, its entire edge was already ablaze. Terrifyingly, the field had been left fallow, and a continuous stretch of dry weeds covered it.
