Chapter 15 — Smoke and Clouds Disperse

At the sight of Gao Yang, Heidi immediately forced herself upright. "Ancestor, thank goodness you're safe!"

Then she caught sight of Amber following behind him, and her expression shifted at once into something subtle. "So that thief didn't run off after all?"

"Hey! What's with the double standard?" Amber sprang up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I just went through hell and back with you Frostvein Sect people in the Shadow Realm to save your skins, didn't I! You big-chested, brainless old hag—"

Heidi had never imagined this thief girl would dare curse her to her face. Her expression soured at once. "Silence! This is utterly outrageous! Do you know what it means to insult a noble—"

Gao Yang hastily stepped between them to smooth things over. "No fighting, no fighting. Amber wasn't lying—the two of us really did go off together to deal with the crisis. Of course, her calling you big-chested afterward was definitely out of line—"

A brief hush fell over the scene, then Rebecca timidly raised her hand. "Lord Ancestor, that was the only compliment Amber gave in the whole thing, and you just shot it down..."

Heidi's face was a portrait of utter despair.

Gao Yang: "..."

Fortunately, Heidi was a sensible sort and did not stew over such trifles for long. Once Gao Yang had explained everything that had happened, the misunderstandings scattered like mist.

What Gao Yang and Amber had seen and heard in the Shadow Realm astonished everyone. Even Sir Byron, who knew nothing whatsoever of magic, could not resist crowding in to listen for quite a while.

After all, it was the sort of experience few could even imagine.

"You can actually enter the Shadow Realm?" Heidi's first concern was, as expected, Amber's peculiar ability. Her eyes swept up and down the half-elf several times, as though she might read the answer off her face. "Only a handful of high-tier shadow mages, or the 'Chosen' of the shadow gods, possess that power. How did you manage it?"

Amber turned her face away. "What if I'm a Chosen of the Goddess of Night?"

Heidi glared at her. "Don't be absurd. What kind of Chosen gets flattened to the ground by Byron with an ordinary steel sword?"

"Enough, stop pressing her," Gao Yang finally cut off Heidi's relentless questioning. "I've already promised not to pry into these things. When she wants to tell us, she will."

Heaven is great and earth is vast, but the Profound Vein Sect is greatest of all. Since Gao Yang had spoken, Heidi had no choice but to beat a retreat.

"First, let us bury the dead," he said. The mist had dispersed, and warmth had returned to every one of them. Seeing that everyone had recovered a little strength, Gao Yang rose and went to the side of the soldier who had died when his soul shattered. "He fought bravely. He deserves to be buried like a warrior."

The two surviving soldiers stared at Gao Yang in some astonishment.

Gao Yang was puzzled. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"He was born a serf," Sir Byron said, stepping over. "It was the viscount who issued the decree of grace, allowing serfs' sons like him a chance to join the domain's army and buy their freedom through service. But he had only served half a year, so he is still a serf. A man of that station cannot be buried as a warrior."

Gao Yang furrowed his brows and looked at Rebecca. "Is that so?"

Rebecca tensed at once, as though she had done something wrong. "I—I'm sorry! But I felt the serf system really wasn't... wasn't very reasonable, so I let them buy their freedom through service. I know it breaks the rules, but..."

Gao Yang's brow eased slightly. "No, I'm not blaming you."

Then he bent down, fumbled a coin from his robes, and slipped it into the dead soldier's breast pocket, laid against his heart.

That coin was the one Charlemagne the First had placed there with his own hand, seven hundred years ago, when Gao Yang Cecil was laid to rest.

The instant Amber saw the coin, she knew what it was. She clapped a hand over her eyes. "Mother of god... at least half an estate..."

But Gao Yang himself was utterly unaware of it. He had merely carried out the rite as he remembered it, then clapped his hands and stood. "Now someone has redeemed the debt of his soul. Bury him."

Byron hesitated slightly. "But the rules..."

Gao Yang glanced at him. "I am the rules."