Chapter 578: An Impressive Burial (Two)
Chapter 578: An Impressive Burial (Two)
It did not take too long for a grand carriage to come to a stop right in front of the inn. One could tell that this carriage was brand new just by looking at it. It was particularly pretty and had plenty of flowers on it, like it was a carriage decorated for a festival.
Jian Chen could be seen carrying the coffin of Bi Yunhai out of the inn before he carefully placed it into the carriage.
The carriage had previously been rented with a single Class 1 Magical Beast, but the beast had quickly been replaced with nine Class 4 Magical Beasts. That had been a major change for the inhabitants of Fengyang City at the very least. They had never heard of anyone using a Class 4 Magical Beast as a mount before.
After everything was finished, the group wasted no more time staying within the city. They slowly urged the carriage out from the city. Many of them chose to walk, but at least fifty of the Eastern Deity Sword soldiers remained seated on top of their Class 4 Magical Beast Mounts. Like loyal guards, they protected the carriage from both sides as it traveled down the roads, amid the people who talked about them.
Such a gathering was unprecedented within Fengyang City. Even the merchants and mercenaries that had been to plenty of cities felt stunned. Quickly moving out of the way when the carriage drew near, they all clearly saw the Class 4 Magical Beasts. The people that own them were definitely not people they could afford to mess with.
The carriage and the men guarding it left Fengyang City in a hurry, and now with a complete troop formation ready to pull the carriage, they traveled even faster. In a decent amount of time, the carriage arrived back within Gesun Kingdom.
Jian Chen had not forgotten about the head of the Yun family. He had a squadron of soldiers look after him from behind the carriage.
This short journey had taken roughly seven days before they arrived back at Lore City within the Gesun Kingdom. These seven days had not been much to Jian Chen, Ming Dong, or the other soldiers, but for Bi Lian and Bi Yuntian who were not used to traveling long distances, their faces had grown sagged and weary halfway through the journey.
Even after returning home, Bi Yuntian disregarded her weary body and sought out the assistant housekeeper of the Changyang clan to arrange Bi Yunhai’s funeral.
When he had heard the news, the assistant housekeeper looked hesitant, “Fourth lady, having a funeral for an outsider shortly after our Changyang clan was refurbished would be a little inappropriate. The elders of the clan will most likely not agree to such a thing.”
Bi Yuntian’s face grew dark as she said, “What outsider? This is my sister. Assistant housekeeper Xu, you will make the arrangements at once.”
“That…” The man found himself stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Changyang clan was not some sort of two-bit clan. They were a clan of nobles within the Gesun Kingdom. Having a funeral for an outsider was something the assistant housekeeper found inappropriate.
“Did you hear what my mother said? What is so inappropriate about burying my aunty here? Hurry up and make the preparations.” Jian Chen suddenly came toward them, giving the man a sharp glare.
After being hit by the angry eyes of Jian Chen, the assistant housekeeper began to tremble, “Ye-yes! A thousand pardons, fourth master. This servant will make the preparations right away.” When Jian Chen had spoke up, the man didn’t dare to speak back to him. Jian Chen held the highest position within the Changyang Clan, and the man was more than aware of it. The honor and glory that the Changyang clan had obtained was solely due to Jian Chen’s contributions.
When Jian Chen spoke, not a single person, not even the elders of the clan, would dare speak a word that would conflict with his own.
Under the management of the assistant housekeeper, the imperial guards and servants of the clan immediately moved into action to prepare for a funeral and the necessary arrangements. In the end, it had been Chang Wuji himself that came forward to give advice to the others.
Under the combined efforts of hundreds, it had taken half a day before everything was complete. Bi Yunhai’s coffin had fresh flowers arranged all around it. Bi Yuntian had hung a scroll with her sister’s likeness on it from the memories of years ago. From the image, Bi Yunhai looked to be a very regal person, and one could see the very close similarities between she and Bi Yuntian because of the vividness of the image. The only defect in the image was on the face of Bi Yunhai. There was a rather malicious scar.
After everything was done, a ceremonious burial project began. The rest of Lore City found the burial ceremony rather strange and confusing since it was arranged during a prosperous time for the Changyang clan. At the same time, it caused a ripple of gossip to resonate across Lore City. In a flash, the head of the other three major clans of Lore City came to visit and inquire what in the world had happened. At the same time, several of the smaller factions came by as well to express their sympathies. They also hoped that they could join the funeral themselves and earn them some small favors from the clan.
After the second day of the funeral, the king of the Gesun Kingdom came to Lore City along with his commander, Bi Dao, and roughly five hundred soldiers. Even the headmaster of Kargath Academy, Khafir, had been informed and flew from his academy to visit.
With the peculiar status of the Changyang clan, the entire future of the Gesun Kingdom was now relying upon the clan. Now that a funeral had suddenly popped up in the clan, the entire city had been startled and wondered just which important person had left the world. For that reason, the major powers of the kingdom came rushing on over.
When they all realized that it was Bi Yuntian’s long-separated sister, they all let out a secret sigh of relief. Bi Dao on the other hand still felt rather depressed.
News of the funeral quickly made its way around the area, and soon, the many factions of the Gesun Kingdom were made aware of the happenings within the Changyang clan. This had prompted plenty of important figures to come flying to Lore City to express their sympathies.
Even the two grand elders of the Hua Yun Sect came by in person. One reason they came was to express their condolences, the other reason was to give their apologies for what had transpired between them and Jian Chen all those years ago. They even brought along a hefty sum to help their apology.
In short, the funeral of Bi Yunhai was very important. Not only did the major factions of the Gesun Kingdom come to visit, the king himself came to pay his respects.
The funeral continued for seven whole days before wrapping up. This time, Bi Yunhai’s grave was no longer in a desolate place like before. Instead it was in the courtyard where Bi Yuntian lived within the compound. A jewel made specifically for the purpose of fengshui had been affixed to Bai Yunhai’s grave, and had made the grave into a very grandiose one.
With the funeral ending, every visiting party slowly went back home. Only Bi Dao was left remaining within the household. Like a statue, he remained upright in front of Bi Yunhai’s grave for three days without moving, but his face revealed pain.
Bi Dao and Bi Yuntian were both siblings under the same parents, meaning that the parents of Bi Yunhai were also the very same parents of Bi Dao. Not only did they have the cleanest blood ties, he and Bi Yunhai had also been very close playmates since they were young.
“Sister Yunhai, I never thought that you survived that day as well, and in a neighboring city as well. Why did I not hear about you sooner? If I had known, I would have gathered the three of us together to live. But, now, now we are separated once more by the borders of yin and yang.” Bi Dao’s eyes stared sorrowfully at the grave as he whispered to it.
Bi Yuntian pulled Bi Lian’s arm to him, “Brother, this the daughter that sister Yunhai left behind. Her name is Bi Lian. Bi Lian, this is your uncle.”
Looking to the armor-wearing Bi Dao, Bi Lian let out a filial-sounding phrase, “Uncle.”
Bi Dao’s eyes finally tore themselves from the grave to look to the eighteen year old Bi Lian with complicated emotions. After a moment of silence, he finally said, “Although my younger sister Bi Yunhai has left us, she left behind a child for us.”
“Bi Lian. You needn’t worry. Your uncle will protect you from now on.”
For the first time in forever, Bi Lian felt that she finally had a warm family that cared and loved her. A family that could protect her. A family that was completely different than the Yun family. Tears began to fall from her eyes because of her new family.
Bi Dao looked back to the grave of Yunhai once more, “Where is the murderer of Yunhai!?”
“He has been locked within the tinder house. We don’t wish for him to die so easily, so we left him there for the time being.” Jian Chen responded. Bi Lian had already given the captive the antidote to the poison he had been administered, so he was in no danger of dying from it just yet.
Jian Chen hesitated when he saw Bi Dao swiftly turn to walk to the tinder house. “Uncle, don’t let him die so easily!”
“I know!” Bi Dao didn’t even bother to turn around to respond. He quickly walked out of Jian Chen’s sight.
Not long after his disappearance, a miserable wail could be heard coming from within the Changyang clan. It was such a pain-filled wail that everyone that heard it could tell that that person was being tortured.
……
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed, and the funeral that had been held within the Changyang clan finally died down and was soon forgotten by everyone. Even Bi Lian and Bi Yuntian found the pain in their hearts slowly dull, but despite that, a smile could hardly be seen on their faces.
Bi Dao stayed within Changyang Manor for another half month during this time. The hatred he felt for the one that killed Bi Yunhai had been etched within his bones, and every day he would use the cruelest methods he knew in order to treat the head of the Yun family to a hell of pain. After exhausting all the methods he knew on the man’s body, Bi Dao had then given the man an excruciatingly slow death. Once dead he threw out the man’s body into the plains for the wild animals to eat. What the man had suffered while alive and dead could be described to be the worst experience to feel on the continent.
After the death of the head of the Yun family, the vendetta for Bi Yunhai had finally reached an end. Bi Dao didn’t stay much longer after that and had left for the imperial palace the day after.
After Bi Dao left, Jian Chen and the others gathered together along with his parents and the others from the clan. They were preparing to leave the compound to continue to develop the Flame Mercenaries.
“Cousin, please let me go with you.” Suddenly, Bi Lian asked to join Jian Chen with an earnest look on her face.