SWDnovel Chapter 63 Funeral
Chapter 63 Funeral
Wang Shouzhou's grip on the knife tightened instantly, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
He looked into Zhong Xiu's eyes and remained silent for a long time before turning to his brothers and saying, "Go tell the rest of the brothers to return to Qingyun Mountain immediately. The sect leader has left."
Upon hearing this, the men's expressions changed immediately. They were able to go from being laborers to earning a living in the government office entirely thanks to Shen Qing's guidance, and they were extremely grateful to him.
The group dared not delay and strode off to various places to report the death.
Chen Shouxin, Lin Shouwei, and Lin Shoujing received the news together.
Xu Ping waited for Lin Shouwei at the entrance of the women's prison, and Lin Shouwei then sent someone to fetch Chen Shouxin.
When the five met at the entrance of the county government office, Zhao Shoucheng was asking the county magistrate for leave.
The county constable looked at the newly appointed head constable who had never asked for leave before, and without asking any questions, simply put his seal on the leave approval slip.
The group then split up to inform the other disciples of the death.
When the first group of disciples returned to the mountain and arrived at the mountain gate, it was already past noon.
Zhao Shoucheng walked at the front, followed by Chen Shouxin, Lin Shouwei, and Lin Shoujing.
The group originally wanted to ask Uncle Zhou, the most senior member of the family, to preside over the funeral arrangements, but they learned that Uncle Zhou had not been seen for more than ten days, so they had to give up.
As dusk fell, Wang Shouzhou and Zhong Xiucai returned to Qingyun Mountain, for they had gone to the city to buy a coffin for Shen Qing.
The two finally found a coffin shop at the end of the old street in the north. Because the shop was small, the materials and workmanship were obviously made for peasants.
Looking at those cheap, flimsy coffins, Wang Shouzhou had no intention of going in. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed Zhong Xiu grabbing his sleeve and preventing him from leaving.
Faced with Wang Shouzhou's questioning gaze, the girl looked up into his eyes, slowly shook her head, then walked past him into the shop, pointed to the thinnest coffin in the corner, and said, "This one."
Wang Shouzhou stood there, stunned, a nameless anger rising in his heart. He felt that Zhong Xiu was utterly ungrateful for choosing such a low-quality coffin for the sect leader.
"Junior sister, your senior brother has plenty of money. We should choose a better coffin!" Wang Shouzhou said, emphasizing each word.
Facing Wang Shouzhou's almost murderous gaze, the girl looked directly at him without fear, "Senior brother, please believe me, okay?"
Looking into the girl's clear eyes, Wang Shouzhou felt inexplicably uneasy. He suddenly remembered Shen Qing's care for Zhong Xiu on the mountain and the situation where Shen Qing left Zhong Xiu on the mountain.
At that time, he thought it was because the sect leader was biased, but now he vaguely understands some things that are hard to explain.
Wang Shouzhou did not argue further. After paying the money, he and Zhong Xiu carried the thin coffin one after the other and headed towards Qingyun Mountain.
Shen Qing's funeral was presided over by three academy teachers: Sun Wenyuan, Li Molin, and Fang Jingzhi.
These three poor scholars had been teaching on Qingyun Mountain for more than half a year and had long considered themselves half Qingyun people.
Sun Wenyuan spent half the night flipping through the "Book of Rites," copying down each and every item from the mourning dress system to the funeral rites. He then went over the process with Fang Jingzhi twice, afraid of missing any step.
Li Molin then divided his disciples into two groups: one group stayed to keep vigil in front of the coffin, and the other group went to the mountain gate to greet guests.
Zhao Shoucheng and Chen Shouxin gently moved Shen Qing from the coffin into the thin coffin.
When the coffin was being placed in the coffin, Zhao Shoucheng took out the copy of "Qingyun Qi Refining Manual" that he had taken with him when he went down the mountain, and gently placed it next to Shen Qing.
"Sect Master, this cultivation manual was personally copied by you for your disciple, and I have kept it with me all this time."
"Now I return it to you."
Seeing this, Chen Shouxin also put his copy in, followed by Lin Shouwei. The three volumes of handwritten cultivation manuals were placed side by side in Shen Qing's coffin. The corners of the books were curled up from being turned over, and the footer of the pages was densely filled with annotations made by the disciples themselves.
Afterwards, Zhao Shoucheng took the Qingyun Sword, which symbolized the Qingyun Sect Leader, from Shen Qingjing's room and placed it in the coffin as a burial companion to Shen Qing.
The Qingyun Sect has disbanded, and this sword has lost its meaning.
Before the coffin was closed, Wang Shouzhou knelt before it, took out a shirt with a blue cloud pattern that he had personally sewn on it, placed it on Shen Qing's chest, and whispered:
"Sect Master, rest assured, your disciple will not disgrace you."
Then he kowtowed three times and personally closed the coffin lid.
According to local Qinghe funeral customs, the deceased must have their body kept vigil overnight.
The memorial tablets from previous generations on the ancestral hall's altar were temporarily moved to a side table, and Shen Qing's memorial tablet was placed in the center.
Shen Qing's coffin was placed beneath the shrine.
Zhao Shoucheng divided the Qingyun disciples into four shifts, with two people in each shift on duty for three hours until dawn.
Those whose names were called kowtowed in turn before the altar. Wang Shouzhou volunteered to take on the most difficult shift at dawn, saying that he was used to working the night at the dock and could handle it.
As night deepened, the mountain wind howled outside the Ancestral Hall, while the lights inside flickered.
The disciples keeping watch knelt before the spirit tablet, and the incense sticks in the incense burner were replaced again and again.
The ancestral tablets of past masters are quietly arranged on the side table of the offering table. The torch of more than two hundred years has been passed down to this generation, and only this thin coffin and these disciples kneeling in front of the spirit remain.
Shen Qing lay in a thin coffin, which was very dark.
Relying on the Qi Concealment Technique, Shen Qing was like a real dead man at this moment, but his consciousness was very clear.
He could hear the dull thud of Wang Shouzhou's forehead hitting the bluestone ground as he kowtowed before the coffin.
You can smell the cheap incense in the incense burner, and you can feel Zhao Shoucheng's trembling hands as he moved him from the coffin to the body.
His disciples thought he was dead, but he wasn't.
As dawn broke, the system automatically extracted spiritual energy.
To Shen Qing's surprise, the extracted spiritual energy increased by several strands. After checking, Shen Qing discovered that the loyalty of many disciples had increased by several points.
This reached a new milestone, leaving Shen Qing somewhat speechless. His disciples' loyalty had actually increased after his death.
Pure spiritual energy flowed directly into his dantian. In an instant, Shen Qing activated the Qi Concealing Technique to its maximum, locking all the spiritual energy within his dantian by the earth's energy.
The vigil outside the coffin continued, and no one noticed anything amiss.
Shen Qing lay in the darkness, secretly relieved; the biggest flaw hadn't been discovered.
Wang Shouzhou's loyalty level had already reached its maximum and could not be increased any further, while the three people who followed him the earliest, including Zhao Shoucheng, also reached one hundred after experiencing this incident.
Those disciples who had already scattered into various industries in Qinghe each gained several points, though some lost some, but they were a minority.
Lying in the darkness, Shen Qing realized something.
Perhaps his death will make these disciples remember Qingyun Sect more than any of his words while he was alive.
Because the living grow old, compromise, and disappoint others, while the dead never do.
He ultimately died on Qingyun Mountain, during the process of the Huang family seizing the mountain. He became the last vestige of dignity for the Qingyun Sect, and an indelible thorn in the hearts of these disciples.
The next morning, the first group of uninvited guests set foot on Qingyun Mountain.
Huang Yuanji, accompanied by Huang Dehou and several members of the Huang family, carried a plaque inscribed with "Virtue and Blessing the Village" to the ancestral hall in the name of offering condolences.
Li You and his constables stood at a distance from the academy gate, not following them. He understood that his duty was to protect the academy, not to get involved in the feud between the Huang family and the Qingyun Sect.
Huang Yuanji stood before the spirit tablet, took three incense sticks from the offering table, lit them, and inserted them into the incense burner. Wisps of smoke rose and swirled among the beams and pillars of the ancestral hall.
He stared at the thin coffin in silence for a moment, then turned away with a perfectly measured expression of grief on his face.
"Brother Fushan died on the battlefield, and Nephew Shen guarded the mountain for several years. He has done his duty to the ancestors of Qingyun Sect. What a pity! What a lament!"
Huang Yuanji sighed, but it was so clear that everyone inside and outside the mourning hall could hear it.
He then took out a silver ingot from his sleeve, placed it on the offering table, bowed to the coffin, and turned to leave.
Huang Dehou followed closely behind, bowed, and placed his own offering of condolence money.
The mourning hall was silent. No one returned the greetings, no one spoke, and no one even looked up at the Huang family father and son.
Zhao Shoucheng knelt before the coffin with his back straight, his lips pressed into a line, his gaze fixed on the coffin.
Wang Shouzhou knelt behind him, his hands on his knees gripping the hem of his robe tightly.
Everyone suppressed their anger, and no one uttered a sound, but everyone remembered this moment.
My Qingyun Sect Master's body is barely cold, and the person who took Qingyun Mountain is right before my eyes.
Huang Yuanji stopped at the entrance of the Ancestral Hall. "Although this mountain has changed hands, I am not an unreasonable person. Since my nephew Shen has passed away, I will grant you three days."
"Within three days, arrange the funeral of Nephew Shen. You former disciples of Qingyun may gather your remaining belongings here. After three days, apart from the teachers and students of the academy, no one else may set foot on Qingyun Mountain."
After saying this, he led the Huang family members away in a long stride, leaving the plaque that read "Virtue Spreads to the Village" before the coffin, a truly ironic sight.
As Shen Qing listened to the suppressed breathing outside from inside the coffin and watched the loyalty level constantly fluctuating on the system panel, he suddenly felt that it was absurd.