Dawn's Light

Hakuji stared blankly at his father's body lying on the ground. His tear ducts could no longer hold back, and endless tears poured forth like a torrent bursting through a collapsed dam.

"Father..." Hakuji struck the ground with his fist in grief. He hit so hard that the ground scraped his knuckles raw.

Blood seeped from the torn skin, but how could Hakuji care about such physical pain now? His mind was filled with every little memory of the life he had shared with his father.

After standing there in a daze for a long while, Hakuji slowly came back to himself. He knew he could not remain so despondent. What he needed to do now was give his father a proper burial.

Hakuji carried his father's corpse on his back and headed outside Edo City. He had already been driven out of Edo City and could no longer remain within its walls.

Hakuji carried his father step by step toward the outskirts with his small, frail body, while a group of ill-intentioned people followed behind him.

Hakuji knew that his father had loved a certain kind of flower in life, so he deliberately buried him in a natural flower field outside the city. Back when his father had still been alive, he would often come here to pick the flowers his father liked.

After burying his father, Hakuji knelt before the grave with his head hanging blankly. He did not know where he could go to survive next, but one thing was very clear to him: he would never be able to return to the Edo City behind him.

As Hakuji sat there lost in thought, a noisy clamor rose behind him. At least twenty people had appeared at his back.

Hakuji frowned. In a situation like this, they