On this day, the sun was shining and the weather was good, but the atmosphere in the school was solemn and depressing. No matter where you were in the school, you could hear the slowly playing funeral music.
A funeral was being held on the lawn near the playground.
There were no wreaths or mourning couplets, only 37 black coffins parked on the edge of the lawn. Most of the victims' bodies were in such a miserable state that it was not suitable to be seen. Therefore, the coffins were nailed shut, and only the names of the deceased were written on the memorial tablets in front of the coffins.
Xiao Chen held a handful of nameless white flowers in his hand. Like everyone else, he placed the flowers on the coffin and bowed every time he arrived at a coffin.
Some coffins had relatives and friends standing beside them to express their gratitude, but most of the coffins were empty.
"It's so sad. If I die, there will definitely be no one to accompany my coffin. I wonder if those who left first will feel lonely." Zhang Sicheng beside Xiao Chen sighed sadly.
"I don't think so." Xiao Chen replied, but he did not give his reasons. He had communicated with those ghosts and they were just some fragments of memory.
"The important thing is to get married as soon as possible. Once you give birth to a son, there will be someone to take care of him when he passes away. The kid in that world doesn't have a father to take care of him, and I don't know if he misses me." Chen Hansheng originally wanted to make a joke, but he was also somewhat infected by the sad atmosphere.
"He must be well fed and well dressed. Compared to this world, that world is really a paradise." Zhang Sicheng said, "But when it comes to getting married, the one with the best hope of achieving this is probably Li Jia. When I was recovering in the hospital, I saw him visiting the girl named Serinda every day."
"I've always said that you can't judge a person by his appearance. The more skilled they are, the quieter they are. They can hook up with an earl's daughter by just asking for help. That's amazing..." Chen Hansheng muttered.
Xiao Chen continued placing flowers and walked to Du Mei's coffin, but saw Shi Hao standing there, stroking the coffin with his hands, closing his eyes and crying.
He walked up to Shi Hao, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Shitou, I heard everything Li Jia said. You did everything a man could do. None of us can do it as well as you."
Shi Hao opened his red eyes. "But I told her a day ago that if she became my girlfriend, I would definitely protect her. But a day later... I, I am so sorry for her."
"Each of us has limited abilities. The key is to do our best. Really, you have avenged her with your own hands. She will surely rest in peace." Zhang Sicheng also said, "I used to feel guilty about Professor Lin's death. I thought others were just talking nonsense to comfort me. However, after a long time, I finally accepted this simple truth and realized that things were just like this."
Shi Hao nodded when he heard that. Suddenly, he remembered something. He pulled Xiao Chen and whispered, "Xiao Chen. I heard..." Shi Hao was hesitant, "Can you communicate with spirits?"
"What?"
Shi Hao dragged Xiao Chen aside and said, "I heard from your comrades who came back with you that you learned the magic of talking to the dead. Is this true? If you really have such a skill, can you let Du Mei and I meet again? Everything happened so fast at that time. I didn't even have time to say a word to her."
"You may have misunderstood. I can't communicate with the dead. I can just sense some fragments of their approaching death."
"Then please help me once. Please, any information is fine. For example, was she in pain at that time?"
Xiao Chen said nothing more, nodded, closed his eyes, and held his hands in front of him. After a while, a white light shone in his hands. Shi Hao looked at the light and seemed to see Du Mei's face, and couldn't help but shed tears again.
The light slowly faded away, Xiao Chen opened his eyes and said: "Everything happened too fast, it was over before I could feel any pain. She was very peaceful when she passed away, and she felt relieved."
Shi Hao took a deep breath, hugged Xiao Chen, and repeatedly said: "Thank you! Thank you!"
In front of Ji Xun's coffin, Xiao Chen unexpectedly saw Morey.
When Mo Lei saw Xiao Chen placing the flowers on the coffin, he smiled and said, "I saw everything just now. It was just an illumination technique. You can't hide it from me."
Xiao Chen also smiled, "The souls of the dead should not be disturbed. The living only need the comfort of their own beliefs."
Hearing this, Morey nodded solemnly and said, "You are right. But some things must be done by the living."
"Like revenge?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Yes. Ji Yijun and I may both need some closure."
Xiao Chen looked around and asked curiously, "Where is Ji Yijun? Shouldn't he be here at this time?"
"He didn't come today. I don't know what role the son of the deceased should play in your customs. But he gave me a very strange feeling. Ye Zi went to look for him ahead."
He looked at the coffin that was already covered with white flowers and sighed, "Our world is a world of constant war. I heard from your companions that your life was very peaceful before you came here, and you didn't have to worry about the threat of war. For you, such a world may be too tragic."
"A peaceful world is created through war. Morey, we have taken the first step."
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In this world without mobile phones, it is very difficult to find someone. Ye Zi went to many places and asked many people, but he didn't see Ji Yijun coming to the funeral.
So she ran to Ji Yijun and his father's dormitory and found him as expected.
The current Ji Yijun was a person she had never seen before. He was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, standing in front of an easel, holding two or three watercolor pencils of varying thicknesses in his left hand and another in his right hand, and was drawing a portrait on the drawing board.
Ye Zi was surprised to find that Ji Yijun's skills were very good, and the image of a family of three was almost emerging on the screen.
A woman, quiet and kind; a boy, naughty and lively; a man... is his father Ji Xun. Ji Yijun painted very carefully, he was using a No. 2 watercolor pen to outline his father's eyes. Those eyes are bright and resolute, making people feel full of fighting spirit and enthusiasm.
Ye Zi quietly walked behind him, but before he could say anything, Ji Yijun spoke first.
"Don't bother me!" His voice was very cold, keeping people away. He didn't even look back at Ye Zi, but continued to draw stroke by stroke.
"He seems to lack some kindness in your painting. Uncle is a very good person." Ye Zi commented after looking at it for a while.
Ji Yijun paused, and the dark brown shadow was drawn a little bigger. He changed to the fine brush in his other hand, dipped it in a lighter ochre color, and added two strokes on the shadow. He stepped back a few steps, looked at the overall feeling of the picture, and retorted: "Kind? Good person? You can't survive in this world by being a good person!"
Ji Yijun suddenly became emotional. He walked back and forth in the room angrily for a few steps, threw all the pens in his hand to the ground, put one hand on his waist, pointed at the portrait and said, "He always thought that he should be a good person and live a stable life. He practiced martial arts just to strengthen his body, but did the horse thief who deserved to be cut into pieces give him a chance? Did this damn world give him a chance? What I want to do now is to be a bad guy, a bad guy who will never show mercy to the enemy. What they did to my father, I will return to them a hundred times. Let no one in this world dare to do such a thing to us again! Morey told me that he can find that person. I am waiting for that day, the day when the murderer trembles in front of me!"
"Ji Yijun, don't say that. Do you know how scary you look? Today is the day of your uncle's burial. You shouldn't stay here. Come with me and send your father off for the last time."
"I won't go. What's so good about that black coffin? The person I want to see is here! Here!" Ji Yijun poked the painting with his hand. His eyes turned red, but he held back and didn't let a single tear fall.
"Let him paint here." A middle-aged man's voice came from the dormitory door.
"Principal Guo? Aren't you presiding over the ceremony downstairs?" Ye Zi was surprised to see Guo Qian walk in.
"The ceremony is over. They still need some time to say goodbye." Guo Qian was wearing a black suit and a plain tie today. He looked at Ji Yijun, who was still standing in front of the easel, trying to keep his eyes open to prevent himself from crying, and then looked at the portrait that was about to be completed.
Guo Qian pointed at the man in the portrait and said, "I hope you can really become a person like this in the future. I believe this is also your current goal."
Ji Yijun opened his mouth wide and looked at Principal Guo at a loss.
Guo Qian added: "I know that this painting contains not only what you hope your father has, but also what you want to have. Protecting the people you cherish. This is your understanding of a man."
"Principal Guo... I actually..." Ji Yijun seemed to be choked and couldn't speak. He suddenly found that Guo Qian had spoken out all the vague things he had been thinking about, and he felt relieved but also terrified.
"Come on! My man! We still have a long way to go, and we need men to stand up and support this new home for us. In this process, we can fall down, we can sacrifice, but we must know what we should do and what kind of person we should be. Many people are slowly starting to think about this, and I'm glad you're one of them."
Guo Qian's eyes were full of encouragement at this time, which made Ji Yijun feel warm from the bottom of his heart. This was the feeling of being understood.
"But don't give yourself too heavy a burden! We have a lot of people! There are many shoulders. No matter how great the pressure is, we can carry it together. How can we not bear it?" Guo Qian patted Ji Yijun's shoulder heavily, turned and walked out of the room.
"Ji Yijun..." Ye Zi quietly watched Ji Yijun slowly squat on the ground, buried his head in his arms, and began to sob. It was very light at first, then one sound after another, and finally he cried wildly.
She looked at the painting. The man in the painting seemed to be looking at the blue sky outside the window. He was so proud, so proud, wanting to be the master of this world.
(End of Volume 1)