Funeral

Chen Miemie had a rare early night's sleep.

The main reason was that he had to get up early the next day.

After two days of cleanup and emergency repairs, Sixiang City had almost completely erased the scars left by three weeks of fighting.

Morning, 7:30 AM.

In a large garden located in a corner near the northern city wall.

A public funeral was being held for all the soldiers who sacrificed their lives during the process of restoring the seal.

Notices had been broadcasted across the city the day before, inviting citizens to attend voluntarily.

Normally, such an event would be held at the Sun and Moon Cathedral and hosted by the Church.

Unfortunately, Father Jing's actions had severely damaged the Church's public image, preventing them from hosting this grand funeral.

Starting at 6:30 AM.

Citizens had been arriving one after another.

By exactly seven o'clock.

The garden was densely packed with crowds dressed entirely in black.

Among them were relatives and friends of the fallen soldiers, citizens grateful to their protectors, and Mystics who had fought alongside them.

There were so many people that they almost spilled out of the garden gates. Chen Miemie's sedan was still far from the entrance when it could no longer move forward.

He got out and walked.

The scene was crowded but exceptionally quiet.

The only sounds drifting in the air were the suppressed sobs of a few who couldn't hold back their tears.

7:30 AM.

Commander Sun, President An, and Director Deng walked up the relatively low steps.

Commander Sun began to preside over the ceremony.

"Citizens of Sixiang City, in this battle to restore and defend the seal, a total of 1,728 people sacrificed their lives. Their spirit will live on in our memories and our actions..."

Commander Sun's speech was very short, lasting only two or three minutes.

After following a set of standard procedures, everyone was allowed to individually pay their respects to the people they wished to mourn.

Chen Miemie didn't know many people.

There were only three places he needed to visit.

The garden was somewhat chaotic. The first place he found was the memorial for Joker.

To Chen Miemie's great surprise, so many people had come to the memorial of a former Mist Bishop.

The people who came to see Joker all had complex expressions on their faces.

It seemed like they harbored deep gratitude but didn't dare to express it directly.

There was absolutely no atmosphere for chatting; Chen Miemie could only read the incredibly conflicted emotions from the expressions on their faces.

Strictly speaking, Joker was still a wanted criminal.

Last night at City Hall, they had argued fiercely, splitting into two factions over whether to set up a separate memorial spot for Joker.

One side argued that Joker had a long history of evil deeds, and doing so might send the wrong message that great merits can cancel out great sins.

The other side believed that Joker had contributed to restoring the seal, and treating each matter separately, he met the criteria for this public funeral.

Chen Miemie quietly walked away.

The second place he found was Madam Jin's memorial.

Standing at the very center were two family members.

Mr. Jin in his wheelchair and Xiao Jin.

There were quite a few neighbors here whose names Chen Miemie didn't know but whose faces were familiar.

He remembered some of them quite vividly.

They were the middle-aged women who used to gather in groups of three or five to mock Madam Jin behind her back.

Today, their faces were filled with sorrow.

Bickering for over a decade was, in its own way, a kind of relationship.

In the face of life and death, the neighborly dislikes and conflicts vanished with the wind, leaving only the lively memories of gossiping about daily life together.

Chen Miemie waited in line and walked up to the family.

This was the first time he had seen the Jin father and son since his trial; they hadn't been home all this time.

Mr. Jin looked at Chen Miemie, and Xiao Jin looked at him too.

Xiao Jin's gaze was easy to read: he just glared at him, thinking he was the bad guy who caused Madam Jin's death.

Mr. Jin's expression was much more complicated.

It was a calm gaze tinged with an indescribable emotion.

Finally, Mr. Jin let out a long sigh, looking as if he wanted to say something but stopping himself.

Chen Miemie also felt terrible and could only reiterate the promise he had once made.

"I promised Madam Jin that if you two ever run into any difficulties, you can come to me."

Mr. Jin remained silent for a long time:

"I will. It was her own choice, and it was also our family's destined fate."

Mr. Jin didn't hate Chen Miemie.

He was a reasonable man.

Ever since he fell into debt, lost his legs, and collapsed as the family's pillar, the fate of the Jin family had changed.

Later, when Madam Jin summoned the Bloodkin, she stepped onto a path of no return out of sheer despair.

If it hadn't been for her sacrifice on the night of the trial, the Jin family would have either been silenced by the Bloodkin or purged by the city as traitors.

After leaving Madam Jin's spot, Chen Miemie searched for a long time before finally finding the last location.

This was the memorial for Yue Junyang.

The situation here was a bit unusual.

At this moment, the area had just been cordoned off.

A circle of Mystics was clearing the scene because an Anomaly had shown up.

A giant crab Anomaly.

It wasn't a physical entity; it looked more like a phantom.

The crab walked sideways up to Yue Junyang's portrait.

Using its massive pincers, it deftly counted the piles of flowers in front of the portrait.

"Do not worry. I am here for the boy in the portrait for a special reason. I will not harm anyone else."

The Mystics surrounding the area in charge of security didn't reply.

This crab's danger level was estimated to be above 5. It had completely ignored multiple layers of defense and appeared out of thin air; they couldn't handle it.

Someone had tentatively launched an attack, but it passed right through the phantom without any effect.

It was best to avoid a fight. Otherwise, with so many people around who couldn't be evacuated quickly, it could cause mass panic and a stampede.

The crab acted as if no one else was there and quickly finished counting the flowers.

"2,712 flowers, plus the 8 valid gifts he received previously, makes a total of 2,719 gifts of true sincerity."

The crab looked around. Most of the people still gathered here were holding flowers in their hands.

"And he will receive even more.

I announce that this boy, no, this name is worth my remembering, Yue Junyang, has completed the trial.

What I once gave him is not equal to the answer he provided. Therefore, I will see him off on his final journey here.

You may continue now."

After speaking, the crab moved to a spot nearly a hundred meters away, making room for the people coming to pay their respects.

The atmosphere at the scene was very strange.

People were somewhat afraid, but they also seemed to sense that the crab truly had no malicious intent. After all, most Anomalies killed people, but they rarely lied.

The crowd that hadn't fled yet hadn't finished paying their respects, so they naturally wanted to complete the task. However, the presence of the crab phantom not far away made them hesitant to step forward.

Holding a flower, Chen Miemie walked out from the crowd.

Under the gazes of the crowd and the crab, he walked up to the memorial spot and completed his mourning.

With the first person taking the lead, a few timid figures gradually followed, and then more and more people joined in. Finally, the flow of people formed a long, continuous line once again.

11:30 AM.

The public funeral came to an end.

The crab phantom, which had remained motionless for over two hours, finally came alive again.

"Amazing. Over 10,000 gifts in the end.

Facing fear yet still daring to step forward makes this sincerity all the more precious.

Death is not the true end; being forgotten is.

These tens of thousands of gifts, anchored by true sincerity, are the continuation of this boy's existence.

His life was very short, but the light upon his name will shine for a long time."

Having said that, the crab blew bubbles as its figure gradually faded and finally vanished.

It left behind a final lingering echo.

"What an incredible kid."

As soon as the crab left, murmurs of speculation and discussion broke out across the scene.

"Are even the anomalies coming to pay their respects to this little hero?"

"Isn't that the truth? I heard that even the Gentleman's Sword, the weapon of the human race's ancient sage, Great Sage Mianyue, has acknowledged him."

"My boy goes to the same school as him. I asked around, and this Yue Junyang has been an upright gentleman since he was a child. He always loved helping others and bringing his schoolmates together."

Chen Miemie, who had also been standing to the side the whole time, listened to them piece together these bits and pieces of hearsay. Smiling faintly, she turned to leave.

'Yue Junyang, thank you for holding on until the very end. No one in this world will ever again be able to say you were just putting on an act.'