Chapter 723: The Head of the Morticians

The rain was continuous.

In the hazy water mist at the edge of the willow bank, several figures in black suits walked slowly toward them.

They walked from the main city of the ruins, through the rain curtain and the mud, yet not a speck of dust touched them. They were like travelers who had transcended the mortal world, walking among men with the most solemn and dignified image.

In their field of vision, a withered willow tree was gradually outlined in the water mist... and appearing with it were two figures embracing.

Bai Ye, who was walking at the very front, suddenly raised his hand, signaling everyone to stop.

Unlike the Aurora Realm, they did not bring umbrellas in advance this time, but just stood there, letting the cold rain wet their hair... Even so, they did not go forward to disturb them. No one spoke, like silent mountain peaks standing in the rain.

One minute,

five minutes,

ten minutes...

I don't know how much time passed before the figure under the willow tree wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and slowly stood up from the ground.

Su Zhiwei turned her head, her red-rimmed eyes shifting. The pressure of the Nine Lords level gathered in her gaze, piercing through the rain curtain and enveloping those silent black mountain peaks!

"What... do you want to do?" a hoarse voice came from her mouth.

"We are very sorry to disturb you, Lord Red Dust," Bai Ye said calmly. "We are a professional funeral team. We have come this time to hold a funeral for the Head of the Qing Shen Dao and the Chief of the Floating Life Painting."

Su Zhiwei's eyes narrowed slightly. She scanned the crowd and asked uncertainly:

"...The Twilight Society?"

"Lord Red Dust, you have actually heard of us?" Bai Ye was extremely surprised.

Logically speaking, Lord Red Dust was an existence from the Great Cataclysm era. She had been asleep for so many years; how could she possibly know about the Twilight Society after waking up for such a short time... But unexpectedly, as soon as she heard his words, she had called out their name.

"Don't you only hold funerals for the Nine Lords? Why are you laying Yao Qing to rest?"

"This is also a decision from the higher-ups; we don't know the specifics... Perhaps it is because the contribution the Head made to humanity is no less than that of the Nine Lords, so he is worthy of our funeral service; perhaps it is to prevent certain thieves from secretly taking his body."

Su Zhiwei frowned slightly. She looked back at the figure leaning under the willow tree, wondering what she was thinking.

After a long time, she seemed to have made up her mind and looked at the group again.

"...I trust you."

The members of the Twilight Society hadn't expected Su Zhiwei to agree so simply. They had thought Su Zhiwei would insist on burying Yao Qing's body herself, or be extremely wary of their mysterious funeral team... But for some reason, she seemed to have a natural trust in them.

"Thank you for your trust, Lord Red Dust. We will definitely give the Head a grand burial," Bai Ye replied respectfully.

Square 10 walked straight to the willow tree, tapped his palm lightly on the ground, and a wooden coffin lid automatically emerged from the soil... Holding a hammer, he tapped continuously on the boards, and a black coffin perfectly received Yao Qing's body.

This entire process was as smooth as flowing water, every action and detail highlighting the word "professional."

In less than half a minute, the Twilight Society had completed the encoffining of Yao Qing's body and carried the coffin on their shoulders.

"Wait."

Just as the Twilight Society members were about to leave, Su Zhiwei suddenly spoke.

Bai Ye and the others looked back in confusion, only to see the beautiful figure in the white training suit standing alone under the withered willow tree, her red-rimmed eyes filled with complexity...

"Reversing the era, restarting the world... It's true, isn't it?"

Bai Ye was stunned, seemingly not knowing why Su Zhiwei would suddenly ask this.

But after pondering for a moment,

he still gave the most solemn and serious response:

"Yes, Lord Red Dust... This is the shore we must reach, even if we have to bet our lives on it."

"Then, I wish you success."

After Su Zhiwei finished speaking, she said no more. She stood quietly under the withered willow tree, watching the Twilight Society members carry the coffin and gradually disappear at the end of her vision...

Long after they left, she did not move her feet, just stood there in a daze, like a statue that had existed since time immemorial.

……

Main City.

Disheveled refugees walked out of the underground shelters and onto the streets.

They looked blankly at the strange ruins before them, and the scattered limbs and pools of blood everywhere; this was the truest appearance of the aftermath of the war. The smell of blood permeating the air entered their nostrils, causing their stomachs to twitch uncontrollably, and the next moment they began to vomit violently.

Most of these people were refugees from outside the main city. After seeing this scene, they wanted to leave the main city to go home and see. Even if there were occasional surviving police officers running out to maintain order, they couldn't control the situation at all, and the nearby streets fell into chaos... Cries, rummaging sounds, vomiting, and roars rose one after another.

In this chaos after the war, a girl in a black dress stained with blood was stumbling against the flow of people, walking slowly forward.

That was Liu Qingyan.

After separating from Chen Ling and the others, she had gone straight back to her home in Liu Town, but when she arrived, she found that the house was empty.

She guessed that her family had mostly fled with others, so she followed the direction of the main road to search, but after running around for a long time, she only saw a pile of mangled corpses at the foot of the mountain.

Her parents and younger brother were among them.

Liu Qingyan couldn't remember the things that followed very clearly... She cried loudly beside the body parts, then dug a grave with her bare hands, moved their incomplete corpses into it one by one, and covered them with soil... She buried all her relatives in the world, and also buried all the past of the Red Dust Realm. She sat in a daze in front of the dirt grave for who knows how long, before standing up stiffly and walking toward the Red Dust main city.

The exhaustion of spirit and body struck Liu Qingyan's mind like a tide. After passing through a group of refugees, she leaned against a wall and walked into an empty alley, sitting down as if she had exhausted all her strength...

Her face was as pale as paper.

Pain and confusion filled her mind. She sat there blankly, like a silent black rose statue.

Suddenly, a flicker of light and shadow pulled her, who was lost in thought, back to reality...

I saw that in the empty alley, a ray of moonlight shone down out of thin air. The light and shadow intersected on the surface of the broken wall opposite her, gradually weaving into four large patterns, occupying almost all of her field of vision...

Those were four distinct poker card faces:

—【Heart 5】, 【Spade 5】, 【Diamond 5】, 【Club 5】.