526 Being Human

Seven days later, it was still snowing. In the tranquil Puccirya graveyard of the Sacred City, a thin layer of snow covered the tombstones and, of course, the names carved on the surfaces as well.

Outside the graveyard a few black carriages were parked. In the desolate graveyard, there were only a few people. They were holding umbrellas and gazing at an iron-made coffin.

The young man who was hosting the funeral coughed a bit. He looked rather pale and was wearing a black suit, which made him look very sharp and solemn. The suit was of a different design than those of people who came from the institutions of the Sacred City. He was not wearing any emblem, so no one really knew what title he had.

He was not holding an umbrella but wore a scarf instead. The scarf was white, and his long hair hung down overtop of it.

Earlier, Ye Qingxuan had finally woken up. He then refused to stay in the hospital to rest, and had prepared this funeral for Hermes. He knew Hermes would not want the priest to say beautiful words to him; Hermes would have wanted God to forgive him, not a priest. Thus, he decided to host the funeral himself.

I don't know what boss would think about this, or if he would agree to let me to host his funeral. If he were still alive, he would definitely laugh about his own stupid thoughts. I want him to know that the afterworld does not exist, when people die, they die. There is no soul inside a person's body, and there is no kingdom to shelter the soul. So, when we are still alive, we need to live everyday to its fullest and live happily.

"What do you think? Boss." Ye Qingxuan touched the tombstone.

"Sir, it is your turn to read the eulogy," Anglo gently said.

Ye Qingxuan was silent for a long while. Everyone was watching him. He stood next to the tomb and opened the paper. When he read the first line, he could not help laughing.

"A kind man with a pure heart?" He shook his head and threw the eulogy aside. "How absurd this eulogy is. If Hermes heard this, he would jump out of his coffin."

Everyone was surprised to see Ye Qingxuan throw away the eulogy. After a while, Ye Qingxuan said, "As you can see, today we gather here to pay our condolences and respect to Mr. Hermes, and to say goodbye to him."

"Just now, I heard someone praising Hermes as a kind person with a pure heart, but we all know that this is not true." He looked at the coffin and sighed. "Mr. Hermes was, in fact, a vulgar and indifferent person; he was neither generous nor kind. He never believed in God. However, he showed great enthusiasm and had lots of repulsive addictions to this world."

"He sought happiness from the misfortunes of others, which is very disgraceful. Still, he made great contributions to this world, even if this was not something he really wanted to do. He had many fortunes, more than we can imagine, but he never used his money to do anything good for society. Instead, he invested his money into luxury goods. As far as I am aware, most people regard him as a p*ick and hate him. Even though he offered some help to some in difficult times, he was still detested by many."

"He never meant to be a good person or a bad person. He just lived his life at his own will, making full use of his talent and living a life that we consider unhealthy. He left some fortunes which we regard unnecessary for us."

Ye Qingxuan said, "Now he is dead. A sudden death claimed him. He is also an ordinary man who died. In his whole life, he lived a freer and more colorful life than anyone else. He never wasted his life, not even for a minute. I think this is the best compliment we can give him."

The funeral was almost over, but Ye Qingxuan did not ask God to bless Hermes' soul like other priests did.

Ye Qingxuan was silent for a while, then he said, "His soul belongs to himself, and may he rest ever after."

After this, Ye Qingxuan felt all his memories about Hermes fading, and he finally accepted the fact of Hermes' death. He thought he heard someone applauding inside the coffin, but when he listened carefully, the sound was gone.

Bai Xi shoveled soil into the grave, and soon more people joined him. At last, the grave was filled with soil, and a flat stone was moved over top of the grave. Everyone stood in silent tribute.

When the funeral was over, Ye Qingxuan turned around and saw an old priest, Albert, standing outside the graveyard.

Ye Qingxuan walked over to him and asked, "Why are you here?"

"To see him off." Albert looked at the tombstone and sighed. "As the leader of the three saints, he was supposed to receive a better funeral. We will never forget his contributions."

"I think he simply wanted to see a more interesting world," Ye Qingxuan said. "Besides, he did not care if his funeral was grand or not. Let him rest in peace."

Albert handed him a document and said, "This is the research report I received ten minutes ago. I think you will want to read it."

"News from outside Sacred City?" Ye Qingxuan asked.

The Sacred City was the center of the human world, and if the territory outside was gone, this central city would be meaningless.

"It seems that things are much worse than we thought," Albert said while Ye Qingxuan read the document.

"The fight between the other countries and the catastrophe is not over yet, and I am afraid it is going to last for a while. We know too little about these catastrophes. After Hyakume died, the whole world changed completely. We have lost at least thirty percent of our territory, and worse still, Anglo…"

Ye Qingxuan frowned and asked, "Anglo is still shrouded by fog?"

"Yes," Albert nodded. "Currently, we can't see what is really going on inside the fog. But there is one thing we can be sure of; the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster is still intact. The enchantment is fine, so I think we should still do our best to save the people there."

"How about the Sacred City? Do you intend to give it up?" Ye Qingxuan asked.

"We don't have enough people," Albert said. "We have already sent many people from the Sacred City to different places. Yes, we have lots of people here in this city, but remember we have to save the whole world. It is just difficult. Currently, the Knights Templar have already made their departures, and all the musicians have gone as well. If possible, we have to send another group of people to the desert in the west."

"There are only Knights Templar of Hospital there, and around forty percent of them have died. It is already a miracle for them to be able to protect that area."

"The Knights Templar of Hospital… you mean Father Bann is there?" Ye Qingxuan suddenly realized that Father Bann had been sent to the desert in the west. "How is he?"

"Don't worry, he is fine, and is the commander of the Knights Templar of Hospital and the Sixth Army Corps. When you were in a comma, he sent his regards to you, and after he knew you woke up, he hasn't sent any more messages to us."

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan sneered. "Giving him a good title and then sending him to the most dangerous place, is this how you usually do it?"

Albert sighed. "We have already sent eight hundred members of the Knights Templar of Hospital, three thousand warriors, and hundreds of engineers to support him. Besides, they are equipped with six airships. And four musicians, even the whole membership of the Third Institute of Mechanical Engineering went with him... with these people, he could occupy a small country. Moreover, the big Camp of Chainsaw Fraternity is there. Do you think they would not help him?"

Hearing this, Ye Qingxuan was finally relieved.

But what on earth was happening in Anglo? Ye Qingxuan had lost touch with Maxwell, and according to the emergency rule, all the members of the Fifth Department should obey Ye Qingxuan's orders.

Up until now, the members of the Fifth Department had been collecting as much information as they could outside Anglo, but they still got nothing.

From time to time, people would be drawn into Anglo by the illusions in the fog, and never came back. From the document, Ye Qingxuan knew that the fog was magical.

In less than a week, around thirty people had disappeared, including some knights with strong minds.

Ye Qingxuan had not heard anything from Bayer, the principal of the Musician Association, the Royal Music School, Maxwell, or the royal family.

"I see." Ye Qingxuan put away the document.

"Someone wants to see you," Albert said.