Lian listened quietly.
Thank the god.
She thought of that Lord.
She remembered those calm eyes.
She remembered his words: "No one shows you mercy, but I shall."
She thought of her name—Lian.
She lowered her head and buried her face in the dry grass.
She had heard Su Xue and Piao say before that the Lord God was extremely benevolent and had many devout believers.
Lian thought that it was only right.
A true god who was willing to show mercy even to monsters would naturally have a group of devout believers willing to die for him. It was not strange at all.
If it were her, if she had been in that great battle at the provincial capital...
She would have been willing to give everything to stand in front of the Lord.
Xiaoyun asked again.
"Then why didn't we leave with the Lord God?"
Tuoba Feng's voice drifted in.
"Lady Su Xue arranged it this way."
"She said... she said New Year is a festival for mortals, symbolizing reunion and joy."
"And we are all the Lord's believers. The Lord is usually so busy, he surely has no time to organize such things."
"So they want to give the Lord a surprise."
Xiaoyun blinked her eyes curiously.
"A surprise?"
Tuoba Feng paused for a moment, seemingly reminiscing.
"Lady Su Xue said that during the first God's Grace Festival, she didn't make it in time."
"She heard from Lady Hong Ling that back then, there were very few people, and it was quite meager."
"Just a hundred or so people, kowtowing a few times by the altar, distributing a few pills, and that was it."
"This time happens to coincide with the end of the year, and it also marks the Lord's recovery of the four regions and unification of Gloomlight Province."
"It is a perfect opportunity to ring out the old and ring in the new."
"It will be livelier with more people."
Tuoba Feng's voice carried a hint of emotion.
"We have received many favors from the Lord. It is only right and proper that we go and kowtow to him."
Xiaoyun nodded earnestly.
"Then I want to go too!"
"I want to kowtow to the Lord God!"
"Thank him for making Father not sad anymore!"
Tuoba Feng's footsteps faltered for a second.
Then he continued forward.
Inside the coffin, Xiaoyun spoke again.
"Father, what will New Year in the City of the Wrongfully Dead look like?"
Tuoba Feng fell silent for a while.
He didn't know either.
Did the Western Region ever have... a New Year?
He tried hard to remember.
When he was very young, when his grandfather was still around, it seemed they did.
The Western Region was covered in yellow sand and was extremely barren, but his grandfather would find a way to get a little meat and cook a pot of soup.
His mother would use the coarse cloth she had saved for a year to sew him a new set of clothes.
Although those clothes were big enough to fit two of him, with her saying "he could wear them for a few more years."
But they were new.
They were warm.
Later, his grandfather died.
His father and mother died too.
His clansmen died one after another, and gradually, no one cared for such things anymore.
New Year?
Surviving was already good enough.
Who still remembered New Year?
Tuoba Feng took a deep breath and spoke.
"There should be many people."
"It will be very lively."
"Everyone will put on beautiful new clothes and wish each other well."
"And then eat lots of delicious food."
Xiaoyun's eyes lit up.
"Really?"
"Lots of delicious food?"
Tuoba Feng gave an "mm."
Xiaoyun rolled around happily inside the coffin.
"That's great, that's great!"
"I want to eat delicious food!"
She nudged Lian beside her.
"Sister Lian, what about you?"
"Do you want to eat delicious food?"
Lian was stunned for a moment.
Delicious food?
She was a corpse and did not need to eat.
But she remembered many, many years ago, when she first gained consciousness.
Back then, she lay in the coffin, listening to the Grave-keepers' sacrifices.
They would place offerings outside the tomb door.
Sometimes it was a roasted lizard.
Sometimes it was a small piece of dry biscuit.
She would smell those scents and think they were very fragrant.
But she could not eat them.
Later, Xiaoyun came.
That little girl with pigtails would secretly stuff sand jujubes into the cracks of the tomb door.
She had tasted two and they were very, very sweet.
"I..."
Lian said softly.
"I want to try some."
Xiaoyun clapped her hands happily.
"Great, we'll eat together!"
Outside the coffin, Tuoba Feng listened to the conversation inside, and the corners of his mouth curved slightly.
Then he quickened his pace.
He intentionally took a longer route.
He wanted to deliberately avoid Chen Zhou, and also to let the two inexperienced ones inside the coffin see more of the scenery outside the Western Region.
Traveling and stopping along the way, it took another five days before they reached the borders of Qudao County.
Tuoba Feng stood outside the City of the Wrongfully Dead, looking at the giant city before him, somewhat surprised.
The entire city stood amidst a sea of equinox flowers.
Layers upon layers of fiery red petals covered the open ground outside the city, extending to the edge of the horizon.
In the middle of the flower sea, a straight road led to the city gate.
On both sides of the road stood ranks of zombie corpse guards.
They were clad in bone armor and held long spears, standing tall and straight.
They held their spears, lined up neatly like an honor guard. Although their faces were rotting, their posture was exceptionally upright.
Tuoba Feng swallowed hard.
Carrying the coffin on his back, he looked at the long queue in front of him.
It was full of people.
Living people.
They were lined up, entering the city in an orderly fashion.
But why did this scene feel a bit off?
Tuoba Feng thought his eyes must be playing tricks on him. He rubbed them and looked again.
Every person in the queue was wearing deathly makeup.
Deathly pale faces, pitch-black circles around their eyes, and bright red lips.
They were wearing black burial shrouds.
Neat and uniform.
At the very front of the queue, a thin old monk in a tattered patchwork robe was chanting sutras and praying for each person entering the city.
Ku Chan chanted while reaching out to pat the top of each person's head.
Those who were patted by him all looked jubilant, as if they had received some immense blessing.
Tuoba Feng: "..."
Was... was this what New Year was supposed to look like?
He began to doubt himself.
But he didn't say much. After all, this was the Lord God's territory. What if this was just a unique preference?
Tuoba Feng took a deep breath and honestly lined up at the back of the queue with the coffin on his back.
The person in front of him was a rather plump middle-aged man.
He wore a brand-new black burial shroud made of high-quality silk, with golden fortune characters embroidered on the collar and cuffs.
His face was painted snow-white, his lips were bright red, and his eye circles were as black as if he had been punched twice.
But he seemed completely unaware of anything being wrong, smiling as he chatted with the person next to him.
Sensing someone behind him, the middle-aged man turned his head.
Seeing Tuoba Feng, his eyes lit up, and he greeted him warmly.
"Oh, little brother!"
"You look like a new face. Are you also here for the God's Grace Festival?"
Rate on N.U.
