Chapter 768: Chapter 180: Honoring the Loyal Souls Today [Ten Thousand Words!]
Jing Xiuyun sighed as she glanced sideways at Zhao Ying’er’s eyes, and said softly: "Regret not meeting before marriage... Ying’er..."
Zhao Ying’er’s eyes were following Fang Che’s figure back and forth, enraptured, and upon being called, her face flushed red, scrambling: "Where was this window decoration supposed to go?"
"Hahaha..."
Jing Xiuyun laughed heartily.
Halfway through the laughter, she noticed that carriages began entering the Guardian Hall’s entrance. It was the goods she ordered yesterday, and she hurriedly waved her hand vigorously, leading a group to check the goods.
In the distance, another convoy of carriages approached, bringing the customized boxes.
"A few more people over here, over here." Jing Xiuyun called out.
Soon, the entire Baiyun State Guardian Hall became busy.
It was indeed too busy, with countless carriages delivering goods, queuing densely. The people from the Guardian Hall directly used their movement techniques, swiftly flitting back and forth.
...
Fang Che stood at the highest point of the Guardian Hall, his hands behind his back, watching silently as the houses of Baiyun State stretched out below him, lined up like scales, lost in thought.
Yuan Jingjiang appeared behind him at some unknown time.
"Fang Che, thank you!"
Yuan Jingjiang remained silent for a long time before finally speaking this sentence.
"No need to thank me, they were my brothers too."
Fang Che sighed softly: "Brothers are like limbs, not to change because of life and death."
"Fang Che, do you know how many people have died at the Baiyun State Guardian Hall in the past hundred years?"
Yuan Jingjiang asked heavily.
Fang Che was startled, suddenly realizing something he had overlooked, and couldn’t help but sweat on his back, turning around abruptly.
"How many have been notified? Or is there a time limit?"
"You need not worry about that. You’ve already spent so much money; it’s not suitable for you to worry about anything else."
Yuan Jingjiang said: "Notifications were sent to the families of martyrs from the past hundred years. For those beyond a hundred years, each family received some supplies. The entire Guardian Hall worked through the night and has distributed everything."
"Every family that ever had someone serving and sacrificed at the Guardian Hall... one share per household, regardless if it was 500 years or a thousand."
"But at most, it can only be traced back 600 years. Beyond that, even blood relatives cannot be found."
He sighed lightly: "As for those who can come, family members within a hundred years, whether in Baiyun State or other states, 175 people have already set out overnight to bring them."
A bitter smile emerged on Yuan Jingjiang’s face.
"How many heroic souls lie eternally, the cost of today’s prosperity..."
He seemed full of sentiments, but only managed to articulate those few words, unable to continue.
"West Mountain Cemetery..."
Fang Che silently asked: "How many of our people are buried there?"
"Since the establishment of West Mountain Cemetery thousands of years ago, until a few days ago... until Tang Zheng was buried there..."
Yuan Jingjiang, his eyes dull, looked at the sky where the sun was rising, and said word by word: "Forty-seven thousand one thousand nine hundred seventy-nine people from the Baiyun State Guardian Hall are buried there!"
Forty-seven thousand one thousand nine hundred seventy-nine!
This number made Fang Che’s body tremble suddenly, his pupils enlarging: "So many?"
This number was overwhelming.
One must know that the people of the Guardian Hall, compared to ordinary people, are all High-level Martial Artists!
Even over four thousand years, but over forty thousand people, averaging over a hundred deaths every year at the very least!
Fang Che felt his throat dry: "In those thousands of years, were there no peaceful years, where none died?"
"Of course there were."
"That means, if we exclude the peaceful years, hundreds die every year on average?"
Fang Che was shocked.
In normal times, how many people are there altogether at the Guardian Hall? Even counting every branch in different urban areas, with logistics, finance, the canteen, etc. included, full capacity doesn’t reach five thousand.
"Sometimes, when the demonic flames are rampant, the deaths at the Guardian Hall are utterly shocking. It’s said that in the worst year, the Baiyun State Guardian Hall reportedly went through three batches of people in one year. The first two batches... died completely, not a single one left."
"That year, just the martial artists of the Baiyun State Guardian Hall alone, ten thousand died!"
Yuan Jingjiang chuckled, stretching his hand out, pointing his finger at the vast expanse of Baiyun State, saying softly: "Mr. Fang, the current prosperity of Baiyun State, with hundreds of millions of people, majestic cities, is built on the cornerstone of over forty thousand heroic souls!"
"But we... if you hadn’t come, we wouldn’t even have the ability to take care of the families and descendants of the heroic souls."
Yuan Jingjiang’s voice was heavy and full of age.
Fang Che remained silent.
The two said nothing further and just quietly watched.
Watching this Baiyun State, built by heroic souls, the more they looked, the more lovely it seemed, the more it stirred a bittersweet feeling in their hearts, bringing a sensation of wanting to cry. On their shoulders, heavily, seemed to be the entrustment of the heroic souls.
Fang Che recalled a phrase.
"The myriad family lights rest on my shoulders; the life and death of the masses rest upon me!"
There had never been a moment where he understood this phrase so profoundly, truly feeling the responsibility in these words. As vast as the heavens, as boundless as the sea, as towering as mountains and peaks!
A deep and vast sigh.
Dissipated in the wind.
...
In the afternoon.
Countless crowds began converging on the Baiyun State Guardian Hall from all directions, with gray-haired elders, middle-aged women bringing young or small children, even lone women; some dressed elegantly, others in worn but very clean clothes...
It was clear that each of them made an effort to present themselves well.
Among them were martial artists and ordinary people alike.
At the entrance of the Guardian Hall, on both sides, vibrant and colorful, all were floral baskets extending out like soldiers welcoming in neat ranks.
