The next day.
By the calm, peaceful sea.
A salty breeze blew across the boundless ocean.
The pier teemed with people.
A makeshift mourning hall stood there.
Old Man lay peacefully on a wooden bed, covered with a white cloth.
Old Ninth knelt before his bed with Hi Dog and the others.
The Lei Zis had put on white mourning cloths of their own accord.
Only sobbing could be heard. No one wailed anymore.
They had long since cried themselves hoarse.
Xiao Yuan and Fang Mu stood some distance away, both doing something rare: taking out cigarettes and lighting them.
"Cough, cough."
Xiao Yuan coughed lightly, tears glistening in those bloodshot eyes.
"That really burns."
"Old Man... he was such a good man. With him around, we felt like children who still had a parent."
Looking at Old Ninth's back, Fang Mu murmured, "This is the first time I've seen Ninth Master cry."
"He just hadn't been hurt deeply enough before."
Xiao Yuan shrugged with feigned nonchalance. "Old Ninth and Tiger carry too much on their shoulders."
"They bottle everything up, afraid of losing the people around them. Whatever happens, they lead their men to handle it themselves."
"If anyone hurts their people, they retaliate like mad."
"They want to protect their brothers and elders that way."
Xiao Yuan looked at Old Ninth's back with an aching heart.
Old Man's death, Smoke Fiend's death.
They were enough to break Old Ninth.
"What do we do now?"
Though Fang Mu was a man of letters, his long stay in Chun Prefecture had rubbed some of Little White Tiger off on him.
"We have to avenge him, or Ninth Master will never escape this shadow."
"There's nothing left for me to worry about."
Xiao Yuan shook their head helplessly. "If Old Man