Chapter 949: Conversation at the Columbarium!
Chapter 949: Conversation at the Columbarium!
Chapter 949: Conversation at the Columbarium!
A two hours’ journey was nothing when compared with the previous one month on the road. Once the motorcade entered Elegy City, everyone felt like they had been liberated.
“We will be staying here for a day and gather again at the city gate the morning of the day after tomorrow. You are free to do your own things during this period,” Ye Xi announced.
This drew a collective cheer from the crowd, even Bai Xiaofei.
“Fickle Bai, you come with me.”
Bai Xiaofei’s smile froze on his face upon Ye Xi’s icy order.
“Based on what?! He is my servant, he follows me!” Tan Xin stood out at this critical juncture to defend her ‘ownership.’
Unfortunately, Ye Xi did not care. She used her killer move again. “You can come with me if you want. Don’t forget your identities.”
“You said that you wouldn’t mention what happened as long as I handled the Black Dragon Swarm,” Bai Xiaofei smugly reminded Ye Xi.
“I did? Why can’t I remember at all? Don’t tell me you want to go through some training at the Servant Management Office before we leave this city? There is a branch at Elegy City ready for you.”
Unexpectedly, Ye Xi, who looked like an iceberg, would play dirty. Bai Xiaofei had always thought that this was his exclusive.
“You are unreasonable!” said Tan Xin as she gnashed her teeth and stomped her feet.
Ye Xi had no intention to be reasonable. “Under my jurisdiction, I am always reasonable!” she declared with a smile. “Fickle Bai, it’s up to you.”
Bai Xiaofei squealed bitterly as Ye Xi walked off. Then he made his decision. “Let’s go, let’s see what she’s up to.”
However, Tan Xin made no move to follow him. “I know you can handle it on your own. I’ll have a good meal while I wait for you!”
When Bai Xiaofei looked back, she had already vanished.
“Dammit!! Who said she’d never abandon me?!!” roared Bai Xiaofei.
Sadly, he accepted his fate and followed in the direction that Ye Xi had left. Little did he know, a pair of eyes were following him in the dark…
“If I am not mistaken, this is a columbarium…?” Bai Xiaofei gulped hard as he caught up with Ye Xi. This shouldn’t be a place one could casually come to!
“As a man, you may be one of the few who have been here,” remarked Ye Xi nonchalantly.
Feeling flattered and scared at the same time, he said, “I don’t like being special, so I’d better wait for you outside.”
He wasn’t stupid. Good things didn’t just fall down from the sky. It might be an honor for Moonlight people to get to enter the columbarium of the sacrificed, but Bai Xiaofei knew that he had not done anything to enjoy this honor.
Therefore, there must be something waiting for him once he went in…
“If you don’t like being special, then go to train at the Servant Management Office like other men. You probably haven’t been there, right?” asked Ye Xi aloofly.
“How could I miss such a rare opportunity?! That’s so unlike me!” Bai Xiaofei immediately moved his feet with a 180-degree change in attitude. If it weren’t for fear that he’d offend Ye Xi, he would have rushed past her.
“My Lord!”
As soon as they entered the building, the two guards at the door respectfully saluted Ye Xi.
Seeing this, Bai Xiaofei’s eyes lit up.
“I’m just following the usual routine, you don’t have to worry about me. This man is with me. Give him three incense sticks,” said Ye Xi casually, obviously accustomed to this situation.
“You are not just a simple general from the border, are you? Although this place is still a long way from the capital, it still can be considered intimate to the emperor and the guards seem to know you,” Bai Xiaofei probed.
“Nobody will think you’re dumb if you don’t run your mouth,” replied Ye Xi coldly as she took off her armor and placed it on the stone bench outside the hall.
Following her, Bai Xiaofei entered the hall. The moment he was inside, he quieted down and his face was filled with horror. In front of him was a pillar at least tens of meters high filled with nothing but memorial tablets!
Ye Xi respectfully lit the incense sticks and kowtowed to the memorial tablets. Bai Xiaofei followed suit. The whole process was done in extreme silence.
“Come with me,” said Ye Xi as she headed toward the back of the room.
The two passed through a door and came to an open backyard, in the middle of which was a huge stone tablet.
“In the front hall are those whose names were found, but every person on this stone tablet is anonymous. Every red thread on it represents the life of a nameless soldier,” Ye Xi introduced in a heavy tone.
Let alone Ye Xi, even Bai Xiaofei’s mood sank after seeing the dense number of red threads on it.
“Do you know why I brought you here?” asked Ye Xi.
“I’m not a worm in your stomach, am I?” Bai Xiaofei smiled awkwardly.
“So there are things you can’t guess, huh?” Ye Xi’s lips curled up into a proud smile as she was finally able to get back at him.
“Making guesses requires clues. I’ve gotten nothing from you at all ever since we came to this city. What can I even guess?” Bai Xiaofei shrugged innocently.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, Ye Xi’s expression turned icy.
“Do you know that in the imperial capital, your tongue will be cut off if you talk to an official like that?”
Bai Xiaofei immediately felt his tongue tingle. He wisely admitted his mistake, “Please forgive me, my lord!”
Letting it slide, Ye Xi looked at him solemnly. “Just like you said, I want to send you to the border!”
This was what Bai Xiaofei wanted to hear most. As long as I don’t have to be the emperor’s servant!
“I can’t wait.” Bai Xiaofei grinned and returned the favor, giving Ye Xi what wanted to hear most.
“I’m curious. Everyone else avoids the border. Why are you so interested in it?” Ye Xi couldn’t suppress her curiosity.
“A man’s destination is the battlefield, whether he is a puppet master or an ordinary person. What’s the point of living otherwise?” Bai Xiaofei answered earnestly as if he was already at the border risking his life.
“If all the men were like you, Moonlight might not have become like this. Unfortunately, most men want to live their lives in debauchery.” Ye Xi’s voice was full of contempt as she reiterated her view on men.
“That’s because you’ve never looked into it seriously. Those men are only a small part compared to the ones who want to make a career and contribute. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many bandits in Moonlight. Can’t you see that they are so desperate because they want to have what men should have?” Bai Xiaofei struck while the iron was hot. However, Ye Xi instantly erupted.
“That’s because they’re ignorant! They, as Moonlight people, attack and kill their own fellow countrymen! Those scum must be dismembered into ten thousand pieces! When the border matter is over, I will take my army to annihilate every single bandit in Moonlight!” Losing control of her emotions, Ye Xi looked like she just wanted to eat the bandits alive.
Bai Xiaofei believed that she was capable of what she said.
“In this world, right and wrong are not absolute. They certainly have problems, but if we trace this to the root cause, isn’t Moonlight responsible for it? As you said, they are all Moonlight people, so why do they have to be treated so differently?” Bai Xiaofei did not back down this time but risked himself being sent to the Servant Management Office for training.
“Humph, as if mud can toughen up and make a wall!” Ye Xi didn’t answer Bai Xiaofei’s question at all.
Hearing this, Bai Xiaofei couldn’t help but sigh. He thought that women in Moonlight would be different, but they were just as unreasonable when they refused to debate using logic…
Come on, I’m not talking about mud men and whatnot! I’m talking about the Moonlight governing system!
“Then why are you willing to believe me? If you can put the same belief in other men, they may seize this opportunity to prove it to you.” Bai Xiaofei threw himself into the gamble.
However, Ye Xi’s response nearly made him choke to death.
“Who told you I believe in you? I just think that you are quite handy. And you may have misunderstood the reason why I want to send you to the border. At Moonlight borders, men have only one role.” Ye Xi’s lips curled up. “Cannon fodder!”
A dead silence immediately spread in the atmosphere.
“Why, you’re scared now?” She looked at Bai Xiaofei with great interest and a devilish smile.
“Scared? That has never happened to me. Let me tell you that even if I’m cannon fodder, I will make the whole Moonlight remember my name!” This time, Bai Xiaofei decided to oppose Ye Xi till the end.
“Don’t worry, even if you can’t get a spot in the Columbarium, I’ll build a monument for you. As for whether you will be remembered or not, that’s not something I can control. However, let me tell you that the border of Moonlight is not such an easy place to go to. You’ll have to work hard in the servant contest at the capital, Servant Fickle Bai.” Ye Xi burst out laughing.
Meanwhile, Bai Xiaofei was inwardly glad. Thank the stars that I didn’t use my real name!