Khrom was dead. Without a shadow of a doubt, he was dead. After being beaten to such a state, if he was still alive, he would truly deserve to live.
Unfortunately, he wasn't that lucky.
Ning looked at Kell who was looking at the dead Khrom in horror.
'Rich kid reared in safety. He probably hasn't seen the true horrors of the world yet,' Ning thought. 'Could such a person's father truly be capable of sending so many people to their death?' he wondered.
He remembered the sweet old man that had thanked him after he healed his child. That man knew love, could he truly—
'His son!' Ning's eyes widened when he remembered about Zand. 'His son was paralyzed for quite a while right? Could it be that he partnered up with Khrom for this particular reason?' he wondered.
Ning couldn't understand why though. 'Killing people won't save a paralyzed child at all. He has no reason to— '
"Senior!" Famir shook him back awake.
"What? What is it?" Ning asked.
"He's dead. What should we do with his body?" Famir asked as he pointed to Khrom's corpse.
Ning gritted his teeth and said, "Just chop him to pieces and feed him to the dogs."
Famir got a little confused. "What's a dog?" he asked.
"It's— Never mind. Just let the guards handle his corpse," Ning said. Then, he remembered something.
"How did you say your father was found again?" he asked.
"Oh, it was one of lord Canon's men. I don't think he's here today," Famir said.
"Are you sure your father fell to death?" Ning asked.
"Yes. He died while trying to get the fruit for sister," Famir said with a guilty voice. He blamed himself for his father's death.
"How did your father's body look?" Ning asked.
Famir shuddered a bit. "Why are you asking these questions, senior? Can I not answer?" he asked as tears started welling up in his eyes. He didn't want to remember back to that day.
"Answer me, it's important. I don't think your father's death was an accident," Ning said softly.
"What?" Famir exclaimed with shock. "That can't be!."
"Quiet down, and tell me how he looked," Ning asked.
"He- his arms were broken and his— " Famir took a deep breath trying to not let the visuals affect him, and continued," and the back of his head was caved in."
Ning suddenly had a quizzing look. "How were his hands broken?" he asked.
"Right here, it was bent backward," Famir said as he pointed to his elbow.
"Any other damage?" Ning asked.
"No, not really," Famir said.
'Broken arm, broken skull, and yet no damage to the body. This sounds like assault rather than an accident. Was he killed by Canon's men and then that man reported it as an accident?' Ning wondered.
'Did famir's father know something? Does this village know something? Why would Canon want to kill the village?' Ning couldn't understand.
"Senior, let's go," Famir said and took him along.
Ning didn't know where he was taking him, but it looked important. When he reached the place, he finally realized.
"Oh," he said.
It was the funeral. 10 bodies lay on top of a pile of firewood. 10 people walked to the front of the bodies, each with an unlit torch.
All 10 of them put the end of their torch on a fire that was previously prepared and then went to their individual family's corpses to burn the funeral pyre.
The fire raged and everyone got silent for a while. They prayed for the people who died, and the ones who had to keep living without them.
The fire raged for nearly an hour, and everyone stood there the whole time, unmoving. Once the fire died down, the 10 people walked up to the ashes and kept them inside a pot.
Once the ashes were inside the pot, the 10 people all picked it up and placed it on top of their heads.
Jangar walked from the side and went to the center of the funeral pyre that was set so that the fire never reached here. Another man from the village also went to the center.
There in the center laid a corpse that was left untouched by the fire.
Ning was surprised. "What's going on? Did they make a mistake?" he asked.
"No," Famir said. "We needed to keep one of the bodies safe."
"Huh? Wh—" Ning stopped. He then turned south and looked at the mountain far away.
"I see. We are going to the Peak of Afterlife."
Ning walked forward and went to the center where the man was struggling to carry the corpse. "Let me do it," Ning said and swapped with the man.
Ning was on the back, and Jangar was on the front.
"You ready?" Ning asked.
Jangar didn't speak, and only nodded. Then, the group started walking.
The destination was far away, but nothing stopped their advancement. Every man who could walk, walked. The group of people walked for over 4 hours when they arrived at the gate of the seal.
Ning wondered how they were going to enter, but Jangar didn't seem to stop. He continued walking.
Right when he approached the barrier, the barrier opened to create a portal-like appearance, similar to what he saw back in the Hub Island's secret realm.
As he passed inside, he suddenly appeared on the top of the mountain. The men he had come with immediately got cold and shuddered. Only he was fine.
Ning got worried for a second but then stopped when he saw that the people were started to set up another funeral pyre. Once it was set, Jangar and Ning laid the body on top of the pyre.
Jangar opened the cloth covering the face of the corpse. Behind the cloth was an old face with a small smile on his face. Everyone got silent when they saw the face and started praying once again.
Once they were done, Jangar brought out two stones to light his torch. It was time to proceed with the Old Uncle's funeral.
