Hua couldn't help but doubt her life.
There were more than a dozen drawers in the room. Out of sheer coincidence, she had opened the one that held the New Year's money.
'What kind of luck is this exactly?!'
She looked around, her gaze landing somewhere.
There, neatly arranged, were the five accessories that person wore most often, said to have been gifts from former subordinates.
Before leaving, he hadn't taken anything with him.
That person seemed to have everything, yet also seemed to have nothing.
Hua took several deep breaths before barely calming the bitterness in her heart.
She carefully put the accessories into the drawer, only taking three things from the room.
The jade abacus, "Feather Dust," and the bow left for the "Reignbow Arbiter."
Hua came to the corridor and faintly heard the sound of things being smashed in the distance. She quickly sped up her steps and arrived at the front hall, where the floor was covered with shattered tea sets.
Daiyang, who had previously been knocked unconscious by the Aeon, had already woken up.
She sat where she was, not speaking, with no expression on her face, quietly shedding tears.
This former Luofu general who had served the longest, even while emotionally collapsing, still retained the sharpness of a soldier. She quickly heard Hua's deliberately light footsteps and suddenly looked up.
Lan opened their mouth, wanting to say something but stopping.
Guanliang stepped forward, blocking the Aeon and Hua behind him.
He couldn't be sure what extreme actions this colleague might take.
In Daiyang's eyes, perhaps Hua was the one replacing the Marshal's position.
Guanliang didn't know whether she would vent her anger on Hua, but he knew that if the Marshal were still here, he would never want to see them standing against each other.
He took the initiative to step forward, blocking Daiyang's line of sight.
Guanliang took that stack of envelopes, found the will the Marshal had left for Daiyang, and handed it over.
He could only place his hopes on this letter.
Guanliang sighed inwardly.
'Marshal, now we can only rely on you.'
'Only you can save Daiyang.'
Since the Reignbow Arbiter became a god, Daiyang had been Luofu's general. For thousands of years, she led the Cloud Knights to eliminate disasters.
She had fought her way out from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the Marshal's most trusted subordinate.
She could personally execute enemies on the battlefield without changing expression, and also apply extreme punishment to major criminals in the Shackling Prison while chatting and laughing.
Daiyang had seen countless bloody and horrifying scenes, but this time, she slowly turned her head.
After recognizing the familiar handwriting on the envelope, she quickly looked away, her body trembling uncontrollably.
It was as if she could no longer hear anything, only feeling her heartbeat in her chest gradually slowing.
Seeing this, Guanliang had no choice but to withdraw his hand.
He let out a long sigh. "I know this is very hard for you to accept..."
Before he could finish, Daiyang stopped being silent. She glared angrily at Guanliang and shouted hysterically, "The Marshal won't leave us."
"He's the person who keeps his promises the most."
Her voice choked as she gasped for breath, speaking in broken fragments, "I asked him before, asked whether one day he would grow tired… whether he would leave us…"
"He told me he wouldn't grow tired. Even if the universe reached its end, he wouldn't leave us..."
Guanliang remained silent for a long time.
Looking at Daiyang, he seemed to see the other generals of the future after learning of the Marshal's death.
'Truly spoiled by the Marshal.'
Guanliang sighed. "He's human. He gets tired too."
No matter how gentle the wording, it couldn't comfort Daiyang.
At this moment, language seemed so pale and powerless.
Guanliang didn't say anything more.
There were still many things he needed to consider.
For example, how to make the subordinates give up searching for the Marshal's remains.
And also the upcoming funeral.
Guanliang was extremely familiar with organizing funerals. He and the Marshal had attended and organized many funerals, for colleagues and also for colleagues' parents.
He knew what kind of standards a general's funeral should have.
Only this time, it was different.
What kind of funeral could possibly be worthy of a Marshal who had exhausted his heart and soul for the Xianzhou?
About this, Guanliang had no clue. He had neither the time nor the mood to continue wasting time with Daiyang.
He turned around and saw Hua.
Guanliang instantly got an idea.
Might as well have one play the good cop and the other the bad cop.
"Lan, knock her out and take her back to the Yaoqing."
Daiyang suddenly raised her head.
Hua hurriedly tried to stop them. "Wait... you two step aside first, I'll talk to her."
Guanliang deliberately hesitated. "Better to just take her back to the Yaoqing."
Hua shook her head. She first stuffed the bow in her hand into the Aeon's hands, then pushed them away.
"You two step aside first..."
One god and one human were driven into the courtyard.
Lan held the bow while Guanliang fell into thought.
According to Xianzhou customs, at funerals and farewells to the deceased, peers bow, juniors kneel.
And children keep vigil for the deceased.
Based on the Marshal's age being even greater than the Aeon's, and his contributions to the star seas… plus the ages of the foreign guests, they probably weren't even a fraction of the Marshal's age. So having them follow local customs and kneel to send him off would be reasonable.
But the Marshal's situation was too special. Aside from Hua and the generals, among his children there was also an Aeon.
No matter how many embarrassing childhood stories of the Aeon Guanliang had heard, there was no way he could have an Aeon follow a human funeral process, let alone kneel for the Marshal.
After thinking for a moment, Guanliang immediately crossed Lan off the vigil list in his mind.
The Marshal had never made his subordinates kneel to him in life.
At the funeral, they might as well break the rule once.
Just as he was thinking this, the door opened.
Hua and Daiyang both had red, swollen eyes as they walked toward them.
Guanliang finally let out a breath of relief.
'As long as they don't fight.'
Suddenly, Lan moved, taking a few steps forward.
Guanliang's heart jumped into his throat, afraid the Aeon might say something inappropriate.
Lan handed the bow to Hua.
Hua looked confused and pushed it back.
"He gave this to you."
Lan, "..."
The Aeon lowered their head, looking at the bow in their hands, unexpectedly feeling emotions they couldn't describe.
This bow had actually been left to them by the Marshal?
Lan lowered their head and met Daiyang's eyes.
Back then, they agreed to her not just because they heard the wish of a former colleague, but more because of the Marshal.
After noticing the Marshal's intentions, Lan had deliberately split off one-tenth of their divine power, and using that power along with their contract, sensed his location and physical condition.
When they sensed the Marshal was heavily injured, they had already created an avatar in advance and arrived at the Void Mausoleum to wait. As expected, the Marshal came.
During that night of long conversation between Lan and the Marshal, they had thought about knocking him unconscious. In the end, they gave up and allowed themselves to lose consciousness.
The next day, Lan met Guanliang.
Even now, the Aeon still remembered what Guanliang said when he left.
"My superior who tried so hard to attribute his achievements to the Reignbow Arbiter was a human with humanity and emotions."
The hidden meaning was a veiled accusation, calling Lan inhuman and emotionless.
For Lan, only the time before becoming a god counted as having humanity and emotions.
They originally could have stopped the Marshal, but they didn't.
Lan chose to respect his decision.
Therefore, when that portion of power returned to their body and the contract suddenly broke, they weren't surprised.
They just didn't know why, but as an Aeon who shouldn't feel the passage of time, they suddenly felt time dragging unusually long.
Lan distinguished right from wrong. From the result, they had broken their promise.
Whether Daiyang hated or resented them, they wouldn't defend themselves.
Lan recalled the contract that had suddenly broken yet could still be faintly sensed, and said to Daiyang, "You will meet again."
Daiyang's dim, lifeless eyes immediately lit up.
Hua's expression instantly froze.
Daiyang had firmly insisted the Marshal wasn't dead. After much effort, Hua had finally managed to stabilize her emotions. She was just about to accept reality.
And then?
With just that one sentence from the Reignbow Arbiter, all her efforts were wasted.
Guanliang felt it was unbelievable.
Lan could actually say something with such high emotional intelligence?
Daiyang murmured, "He's always been like this."
The Marshal would never break a promise.
Her rationality returned, and Daiyang looked up at the Aeon.
That was the "Galaxy Ranger," the "Reignbow Arbiter" followed by the Xianzhou, the Aeon of the Hunt. Only not her colleague, not the crown prince chosen by the Marshal.
Her expression was complicated. Even in front of the Crown Princess and Guanliang, she still used honorifics toward the Aeon.
"I am no longer Luofu's general. Please withdraw your blessing, Reignbow Arbiter."
Lan knew that this proud colleague, after they broke their promise, would no longer place trust in them, nor use their power.
The Aeon nodded and made their own request.
"Alright. In exchange, you must delete your memories."
Daiyang's expression changed drastically, then she sneered.
Hua, "..."
'This way of speaking…'
'Worthy of being taught by that person!'
Guanliang, "..."
'Lan, are you sick?!'
'Making treatment for Mara sound like brainwashing…'
The two of them spoke back and forth, persuading her again and again. Finally they calmed Daiyang and explained in detail the function of "Feather Dust."
Daiyang first had Lan withdraw the blessing, then gave a bitter smile.
"Your Highness Crown Princess, please allow me to refuse."
Hua didn't say anything upon hearing that title.
She could understand Daiyang's feelings.
If she were Daiyang, she also wouldn't be able to accept reality so quickly.
And she wouldn't easily let someone she hadn't known long modify or delete her memories.
Hua smiled and agreed, and said she could come find her anytime.
After resolving Daiyang's matter, she and Guanliang looked at each other and both sighed inwardly.
One god and three humans boarded the ship back to the Yaoqing. Considering Daiyang's feelings, they didn't discuss the Marshal's funeral arrangements.
Only after arriving at the Yaoqing, settling Daiyang, and returning to the Marshal's residence did Guanliang and Hua begin their discussion.
They both tacitly ignored the Aeon's presence.
Guanliang frowned tightly, "First we should settle the general funeral process, then the guest list…"
Hua thought for a moment and said, "He liked quiet. Fewer people would be better. Should we open a separate realm? Or choose the Lucofox in the Void Mausoleum?"
Guanliang replied, "Lucofox. Subordinates once wanted to open a separate realm as his residence, but he refused."
After saying this, Guanliang paused and sighed. "If you want fewer guests… I can only say I'll try."
"The common people don't care who leads them. They only care about food, clothing, housing, and transport."
"For the current Xianzhou people, as long as their lives aren't affected, it doesn't matter who becomes Marshal."
"Changes in the Marshal's position will affect exchange rates, stock prices, even production values… so it only directly affects 0.1% of the universe."
Hua's expression stiffened. "0.1%…"
Guanliang nodded. "Yes. They're the most powerful group in the star seas, but 0.1% of the entire universe… is still a very shocking number."
"If those in power in the star seas make up 0.01%, then those who are friendly with the Xianzhou and qualified to attend this funeral would be 0.001%."
He fell silent for a moment, then said, "And adding their companions… I can only say I'll try to keep the number to five digits."
Remembering how she had previously suffered from this kind of vague wording, Hua paused and asked, "When you say five digits, do you mean ten thousand or ninety thousand?"
Guanliang, "…I'll try for ten thousand."
Hua understood.
'Got it. Definitely more than ten thousand.'
Guanliang added, "If we don't include people from affiliated planets, we could reduce it to ten thousand."
Hua rubbed her forehead and nodded in agreement.
The two of them, along with the Aeon acting like decoration, talked for a while and roughly finalized the invited funeral guests.
Inevitably, they mentioned the Marshal's still-unfound remains and both looked at Lan.
Lan understood the Marshal.
If it weren't for a natural disaster, he wouldn't have used such extreme methods to fight them.
The Marshal wouldn't want the Xianzhou to start another war because of him.
The Aeon said, "That is a place humans cannot reach."
Guanliang couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
'How similar their fates were.'
The former Yaoqing general Zhaoyan had once gone to the edge of the universe with great effort, and in the end, using a neutron gun's positioning, they found him.
Looks like the Marshal was even more impressive.
He deliberately went somewhere humans couldn't reach.
Guanliang didn't say anything more and quickly ended the topic.
The former Alchemy Commission head he had worked with was in increasingly poor health and now couldn't hold on much longer.
Emotionally and logically, Guanliang should go see him.
Guanliang arrived at the Alchemy Commission, passed through a corridor, and came to the hospital room surrounded by many doctors.
The person on the hospital bed had sunken cheeks and cloudy pupils and could no longer speak.
But when he saw Guanliang, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Guanliang took a deep breath, quickened his steps, and sat by the bedside.
He glanced at the ECG that suddenly showed fluctuations because of his arrival.
Guanliang knew that for patients nearing death, hearing is the last sense to disappear.
So he said, "Rest easy. We succeeded. He doesn't know."
After hearing this, the person on the bed closed his eyes in satisfaction.
The doctors gathered around the bed could no longer hold back their crying.
Guanliang looked at the ECG gradually becoming a straight line, his vision slowly blurring.
Before Lan's mother died, the Marshal had lied to her.
And now, he had made the same choice as the Marshal.
'That's right, what else could I say?'
'Say that after spending hundreds of years becoming the Alchemy head, after discovering the Marshal's secret you resigned voluntarily, only to end up failing to hide it at all under the jokes of the Aeon of Elation?'
'Or say that all your efforts and mine were completely useless?'
At this moment, Guanliang actually felt a bit relieved at the death of the person before him.
With a blank expression, he raised his hand and wiped away his tears with the back of it, then stood up and left.
Next, he still had many things to do.