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Seeing him, there finally appeared some brightness in Yang Ge’s eyes.
Liu Mang charged over and, without a word, pulled Yang Ge, who was gripping the handles of the cart, out and scolded with a fierce face, "Such a big event, how could you not say a word, treating your brother and Liu like outsiders?"
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.
Yang Ge tried to lift the corners of his mouth, "Isn’t this... for fear of troubling you?"
Liu Mang in turn grabbed the handles of the cart, "If we fear trouble, are we still family?"
Speaking, he began to pull the cart forward.
Yet the cart didn’t budge.
He turned around, shocked, and knocked on the big red coffin on the cart, his voice so dull it was nearly inaudible, "Did you really bring the shop’s treasured coffin here?"
Yang Ge tried to force a smile, but instead, hot tears rolled down his cheeks, "The old man never used anything good in his life..."
"You..."
Liu Mang sighed, wiped the hot tears from his face with his sleeve, and said earnestly, "Don’t think about bearing everything alone, our family isn’t without people."
Yang Ge grinned and nodded.
Liu Mang waved his hand, "Let’s go, lead the way... What are you all dawdling for? Push the cart!"
A group of martial arts disciples energetically responded in unison and started pushing the cart forward with grunts.
The cart slowly continued forward, but they didn’t get far before another distant cry of "Yang Ge, Yang Ge" came from behind.
Liu Mang turned his head in confusion only to see a large group of burly men dressed in black striding toward them.
Even though these men weren’t carrying any weapons, their presence still made Liu Mang’s pupils shrink, "Little brother, who are these people..."
"It’s alright, they are friends."
Yang Ge replied and quickly turned to meet them.
"Friends?"
Liu Mang looked at the striding men with suspicion. They all seemed vaguely familiar, but upon closer inspection, he didn’t recognize a single one.
Meanwhile, Yang Ge went up to them and stopped a group of centurions and standard bearers preparing to salute. He asked the leader Fang Ke, "How come you’re here?"
Fang Ke, "Look at what you are saying, how could we not come for such a big event? If word gets out, outsiders might think your family has no one left... What are you all standing around for? Get to work!"
A group of centurions and standard bearers surged forward, displacing the weak and helpless martial arts disciples, and took hold of the hearse cart.
"You must be Liu from Iron Fist Martial Arts Hall, right? How can we let you do such rough work? Let our brothers handle this..."
"We used to be trackers on the Bian River; when we were in trouble, it was Yang Ge who helped us. Now we’re scraping by in the county office..."
"My name is Liu Yongguang, by accounts, our brotherhood spans over five hundred years. In the future, if there’s anything you need, just come find me at the county office. I can’t speak for other places, but in Lu Ting, my word carries weight!"
Yang Ge looked at the group that was giving Liu Mang the runaround, managing a strained smile, "Sorry for the trouble..."
Fang Ke shook his head, "Anyone else could say that, but not you. To be honest, everyone in Lu Ting should go and bow three times in respect to the old man!"
Yang Ge tried to smile, but tears kept spilling out, and he had to cover his face and wave his hand, "I thank you all on behalf of the old man."
Fang Ke supported him and said softly, "Take care of yourself..."
...
Huang stood guard in front of the spirit hall, barking and driving away anyone trying to get close.
The villagers who were helping to build the spirit hall saw its mournful, frantic state and all wiped away tears...
"Uncle Nine lived a lonely life; having someone like Yang Ge to look after him in his old age, the heavens weren’t too unkind to him."
"Let me tell you, Yang Ge is alone and without much means, so we all need to support him a bit more, to send off Uncle Nine on his last journey amidst a warm and lively farewell."
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"Look at what you’re saying, even without Yang Ge, there’s no way we would just ignore the situation and let Uncle Nine rot in his house..."
"Can’t you shut your damn mouth? If Yang Ge heard what you’re saying, he’d beat you up!"
"What a joke, am I supposed to be afraid of him, an outsider? I didn’t beat him up before out of respect for Uncle Nine, but now that Uncle Nine is gone, does he dare to throw his weight around in our village?"
"Talking tough now, huh? Who was it that Yang Ge beat until they were howling, begging us to take their side? If it wasn’t for your damned fault, Yang Ge wouldn’t have even left the village!"
"Oh, now that you see someone eating white rice and fine flour, you start speaking up for others? Who was it that said our village’s sparse acres could hardly feed our own families, let alone spare food for an outsider?"
"Stop talking, Yang Ge is back, and a lot of people have come with him..."
"Tch, he’s just an inn assistant, how many people can he possibly bring..."
The chatter stopped abruptly as a group of sturdy, round-waisted men in black surged into the dilapidated and narrow courtyard, making the scantily clad villagers feel as if there was no right place to stand.
Yang Ge entered the courtyard, looked around at the villagers who stood confused, knelt to the ground, and knocked his head to them: "Thank you all for coming to see the old man off on his final journey, please go home and rest for now, and when I set the date for going up the mountain, I will invite you all over for the feast..."
The villagers looked at Yang Ge, who was kneeling on the ground, wanting to help him up, but no one dared to step forward.
Fang Ke and Liu Mang saw this, stepped forward one to each side, and helped Yang Ge up from the ground.
Liu Mang politely made a round of bows to thank everyone and arranged for his apprentices to see the guests out.
Fang Ke surveyed the courtyard, directing the hundred households to carry the longevity coffin into the memorial hall, while also instructing the flag bearers to tidy up the cramped and broken courtyard.
Yang Ge didn’t look at those who had often bullied the old man without his children to protect him. Instead, he followed the longevity coffin into the memorial hall, holding the howling Huang, knelt before the spirit, watching as they placed the old man in the coffin...
The villagers reluctantly began to leave in small groups.
"With so many guests, Yang Ge must be making a name for himself!"
"Tch, just an inn assistant, how successful can he be? He must be trying to appear more important than he is, hiring people with money..."
"If you could hire so many people, you’d be considered successful too!"
"I can’t bear to leave my mother; if I went to the city, I would surely be more successful than him..."
A group of rustic villagers thought they were whispering quietly, but their chatter was heard not just by Yang Ge, a master of profound martial arts, but even Fang Ke, a skilled practitioner, heard them.
They looked at Yang Ge, who was kneeling in silent reverence before the spirit, burning paper money without any reaction, and momentarily abandoned the idea of stepping out to put those fools in their place.
More than twenty embroidered guards and a dozen martial arts apprentices worked together to dismantle the small dilapidated courtyard’s walls, level the surrounding terrain, and lit a number of bonfires, finally making the memorial hall look somewhat presentable...
After dark, another large group of people flooded into the unnamed small fishing village.
The leader, wearing a Nine-Tube mask, strode into the memorial hall and thumped to his knees beside Yang Ge.
Yang Ge looked at the man with curiosity, then turned to look at Fang Ke.
Fang Ke was taken aback, hurried forward, and said urgently, "Hu Qiang, what the hell are you playing at?"
Hu Qiang tactically leaned back: "Who’s Hu Qiang? Don’t get the wrong person, I’m Zhang Mazi, I’m back to mourn for my foster father!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than sounds of mourning music started to be played in the courtyard...
Yang Ge smiled and said to Fang Ke, "This guy is pretty clever, he has potential."
On hearing this, Fang Ke also smiled and said, "If you say he has potential, then he definitely does."
Just then, Liu Mang, who heard the commotion and came in, saw the person kneeling next to Yang Ge wearing the Nine-Tube mask, and was stunned, standing at the door gesturing urgently to Yang Ge.
Yang Ge stood up and went out; Liu Mang grabbed his arm, his face full of shock, and said, "You’re actually sworn brothers with Zhang the hero?"
Yang Ge spread his hands: "Would you believe me if I said I only found out today that I’m sworn brothers with Zhang the hero?"
Liu Mang: ...
He had a feeling that something was not quite right, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was.
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