An Encounter with a Noblewoman, the Embalmer Advances, and Scenes Passing Like Lanterns (Fourth Update)

The heavy snow had just stopped, and the first light of dawn was showing.

Outside the Shocking Heron Martial Hall, two deep hollows marked where knees had pressed into the snow.

Hong Tianbao looked at Qin Zhong kneeling there. The face that usually made him look like a smiling Maitreya Buddha was filled with anguish.

He did not use Martial Force to lift his disciple as he might have during training. Instead, he bent down, gripped Qin Zhong's arms with both broad hands, and helped him up little by little.

"Good lad. Don't kneel. Your master knows."

Hong Tianbao offered no empty words about accepting his loss. He merely patted Qin Zhong's snow-dusted shoulders and brushed a little frost from his collar.

"Have you told Xin Tianya about the death?" Hong Tianbao asked quietly.

Qin Zhong shook his head, his eyes red. "Not yet. Great-Grandmother passed away at nine this morning. I came straight here to tell you, Master."

"Then hurry over." Hong Tianbao gave him a push. "Xin Tianya watched you grow up. He's half a father to you. He can't hear news like this from someone else.

"Go on. I'll take your master's wife, senior sister, and junior brother over to support you. Don't worry about things at home. We'll be there."

"All right."

Qin Zhong nodded. After one last look at the hall's doors, he turned and sprinted toward the Horizon Carriage Company.

Hong Tianbao watched him go, then turned to the people behind him.

"Li Xiang. Qingyao."

"Yes."

They stepped forward.

"Get changed," Hong Tianbao said gravely. "Whether as his fellow disciples or his friends, we must see him through this with dignity."

"Yes," Li Xiang and Ye Qingyao answered together.

Without another word, Li Xiang went back inside.

At the bottom of his wicker trunk