Xu Yi held Zhang Daohan's corpse and sat in silence. He remained there until the setting sun seemed to weep and the evening clouds filled the sky. Then he rose, gathered the resources, and carried Zhang Daohan to a great tree atop Fish Mouth Peak, where he buried him beneath its roots. Afterward, he searched the mountainside for scattered remains.
Not a soul in the Southern Pole Sect had survived, and not a single corpse was whole. At first, Xu Yi could still identify them one by one. But when he saw familiar faces reduced to mangled remains, his heart ached, and at last he could no longer bear it. He simply unleashed his divine sense and gathered all the bodies together.
Then he used his divine ability to dig countless graves and buried them as far apart as he could. With a wave of his hand, fresh earth covered the countless mounds. Xu Yi reached out and seized a jade-colored hairpin. He had seen Jiang Xiao wear it before.
The past played out vividly before him. That round, slightly plump face, always ready to smile, seemed to appear before his eyes once more. The mountains stood silent, the setting sun red as blood. Xu Yi stood quietly among the countless graves, his heart surging, unsure where to go.
Return to Jin State? Xu Yi dared not even think about it. The Southern Pole Sect had fallen, and he could imagine the earth-shaking changes that would befall Jin State, which had been under the sect's protection. As for the Zhong family, if they still existed, his return would only bring disaster.
And if the Zhong family no longer existed, then returning now might leave him unable even to find someone to avenge.
So he simply wouldn't go back. He wouldn't