Xindu City fell into a complete silence.
A deathly stillness, born of despair so deep that people forgot to breathe.
Though the Divine Lady had not said it explicitly, everyone present knew in their hearts that of the two hundred who went, none would return alive.
Shen Jue knelt on the ground, his knees aching from the hard surface.
After an unknown amount of time, he finally spoke, his voice tinged with an irrepressible raspiness. “This general, Shen Jue, is willing to offer my humble strength to the Divine Lady. I will assist the Divine Lady in slaying the evil dragon and purging the wickedness to restore peace to the world. I beg the Divine Lady to grant my request!”
Shen Yu was stunned for a moment, and it took a long time before he could squeeze out two words: “Brother...”
“Fuyan, do not speak yet,” Shen Jue interrupted him. His tone was not heavy, but it left no room for argument.
He turned around to face his younger brother, born of the same mother. Shen Yu was only a year younger than him, but he was much fairer, and his features were exceptionally delicate. He did not look like the child of a military family at all, but rather like someone born into a family of scholars.
At this moment, Shen Yu’s eyes were brimming with tears, but he held them back so fiercely that his eyelashes trembled.
Shen Jue reached out and ruffled Shen Yu’s hair. His movements were clumsy and unfamiliar, like someone who had never known how to comfort others learning to be gentle for the first time.
“Fuyan, you have read more books than I have, and your mind is sharper. I have always been proud of you. From now on, the affairs of Xindu City will rest on the shoulders of you and Zirang. Do not fail the Divine Lady’s compassion for mortals.”
Shen Yu clenched his fists.
He suddenly began to hate himself for being just a scholar; otherwise, he could have taken his brother’s place to assist the Divine Lady in slaying the evil dragon.
Pei Du felt the same way at that moment.
Shen Jue’s voice suddenly grew softer.
“There is one more thing.”
Shen Yu had already guessed what he was about to say, and he could no longer hold back his tears, which began to flow silently down his face.
“Go home and apologize to Father and Mother for me. Tell them that their son is unfilial and cannot serve them in their old age. For their years of upbringing, I can only repay them in the next life.”
He paused for a moment before adding, “Also, our little sister is still young and as mischievous as a monkey. Keep an eye on her in the future, and do not let her cause trouble everywhere.”
Shen Yu’s voice was choked. “I will.”
This sacrifice was inevitable. If it was not his brother, it would be someone else’s brother, father, or son...
He could only watch as his brother’s silhouette grew more distant.
A crowd had already gathered at the city gate.
No one asked who the first person to stand up was.
Because the second, third, and fourth were already walking toward the gate in silence.
A city guard in an old military robe reached the edge of the crowd and suddenly stopped, turning to look behind him.
Standing there was an elderly couple.
The old man’s back was hunched, and the old woman’s hair was entirely white. Their hands were gripped tightly together, their knuckles pale.
After a moment of silence, the city guard walked toward the two elders. He took three steps and stopped.
“Father, Mother, your son has failed you.” He knelt and solemnly kowtowed three times to the two of them.
“In the next life, I will be your son again. I will care for you until the end and make up for everything I owe you in this life.”
His forehead struck the ground with a dull thud.
The two elders watched this scene, supporting each other’s trembling bodies as tears fell like rain.
The city guard stood up and turned to leave, not daring to look back for a single second, fearing that if he did, he would be unable to move his feet.
Such partings of life and death were happening in every corner of Xindu City, showing the many faces of life.
A young man in a blue cloth shirt had only taken a few steps toward the city gate.
When the crying of a child came from behind him.
“Daddy, Daddy, don't go!”
The child was only four or five years old, with hair tied in a small tuft. He stumbled out of the crowd and hugged the man’s leg tightly, his little face flushed red and covered in tears, looking pitiful to the extreme.
“Waaa, Daddy, don't you want me anymore!”
The man knelt and picked up the child, using his rough, large hand to wipe the tears from his son’s face.
But the more he wiped, the more tears fell. He finally gave up and simply held his son tightly in his arms.
“You are already a little man. Why are you still such a crybaby? In the future, listen to your mother at home and protect her well for me.”
Before long, a young woman approached. She wore a faded blue cloth dress, and her belly was slightly rounded.
She was a pregnant woman.
She walked up to the father and son, first taking the child from her husband’s arms, and then gazing into his face.
“I won't stop you,” she said quietly. “I couldn't stop you anyway. You are usually as quiet as a stone, but once you set your mind on something, nine oxen couldn't pull you back.”
The man’s eyes were filled with guilt.
“Chun-niang, I have failed you...”
The woman shook her head through her tears.
“There is no need to say you failed me. I know that you are not just doing this to protect Xindu City, but also to protect the two of us and our little home.”
“Go. Come back safely. We will wait for you.”
The man pressed his forehead against his wife’s for three seconds before letting go, turning, and leaving.
The child in the woman’s arms seemed to understand something and began to cry heart-wrenchingly.
“Daddy, don't go! Daddy, come back!”
The child’s cry was as sharp as a knife, carving a hole in the hearts of everyone present.
The woman held her son tightly, finally unable to restrain herself as tears slid down uncontrollably.
“Your father has gone to be a great hero,” she coaxed softly with a raspy voice. “Be good. We will wait for him to come back...”
The child did not understand what a great hero was.
He only knew that his father was gone, that his father did not want him anymore, and he cried until he nearly lost his breath.
“I don't want a great hero! I want Daddy!”
In another corner, a young gentleman in light green silk robes stood before a carriage with blue curtains.
He folded a letter and pressed it into his attendant’s palm.
The attendant asked, “Young Master, what is this?”
The gentleman did not answer his question, only saying, “Take this back to the manor and give it to my parents.”
It was his farewell letter.
He brushed off nonexistent dust from his robes, picked up a long sword, and turned to walk toward the city gate.
Pei Du was the first to recognize the young gentleman.
“Lu Buyan?” his voice was filled with disbelief.
Shen Yu also whipped his head around.
The newcomer was their classmate and friend.
Lu Sui, courtesy name Lu Buyan, was the eldest son of the Minister of Justice. He was known for his unwavering integrity and had spent his life studying the laws and legal codes.
As if sensing two burning gazes, Lu Sui turned his head and met the eyes of Shen Yu and Pei Du.
“Fuyan, Zirang, see? I told you back then that you should learn swordsmanship because it would eventually be useful, but you wouldn't believe me.”
He smiled.
His puppy eyes curved into crescents, and small dimples appeared on his cheeks, looking so bright that he did not seem like a man about to go to his death.
For to die for one's ideals was to die a worthy death.
“Today, I shall also be a hero for once.”
Pei Du stood where he was, his fingernails digging into his palms until blood seeped from the cracks.
Having lost both his brother and his best friend in succession, Shen Yu finally could not hold it back any longer and broke into loud sobs.
More and more people gathered at the city gate.
Someone was silently counting the numbers: one hundred and thirty-two, one hundred and fifty-eight, one hundred and seventy-one, one hundred and eighty-nine.
When the count reached the one hundred and ninety-ninth person, the counter stopped, his brow furrowed into a deep knot.
They were still missing one.
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