Chapter 128: Chapter 129: Prepare the Coffin for Your Son

Translator: 549690339

But now, the person is no longer here.

No matter how much of a fuss is made, in the end, it would not truly result in giving a life for a life.

What could somewhat console Bai Xin was that Zhu Minglang had come back, standing alive and well in front of her.

Moreover, on the very first day Zhu Minglang returned to the Imperial City, he killed Hao Shaocong in the street, which might bring even greater trouble to Zhu Minglang and Zhu Heavenly Officer.

This account could be settled slowly with the Hao father and son; handling it this way was the most foolish.

The Hao father and son knew Zhu Minglang was not someone to be trifled with and stowed away their initial arrogance and deceit.

Hao Shaocong’s eyes were filled with rage, but in the end, under the coercion of his father, he had to enter the mourning hall.

Kneel down, kowtow.

Continue until you’ve completed a hundred.

Zhu Minglang just stood at the mourning hall, looking at a young teenager lying quietly in the wooden coffin…

“Kowtow harder,” Zhu Minglang turned around and said coldly to Hao Shaocong.

Filled with resentment and anger, Hao Shaocong still ended up slamming his head hard on the ground, causing his forehead to bleed.

“Zhu Tong, this is the murderer who killed you. In a few days, I will be participating in the great clan competition, and then I will make sure he goes down and apologizes to you personally!” Zhu Minglang did not whisper these words, but said them directly in front of everyone in the mourning hall.

Hao Yong, Madame Zhao, and other attendees of the funeral were all shocked as they looked at Zhu Minglang.

Was Zhu Minglang publicly swearing to kill Hao Shaocong?

How could someone be so outrageously disregardful of the law?

“Zhu Minglang, my son only accidentally killed your unrelated brother. By saying such words in public, are you completely disregarding me, Hao Yong, and the Purple Sect Clan??” Hao Yong roared in a great rage.

“My uncle and aunt had only this one child in their entire life, while you, Hao Yong, have three sons. A life for a life—what have I said that’s excessive?” Zhu Minglang retorted.

“I said it was an accident!”

“Don’t worry, on the day we meet, it will also be an accident,” Zhu Minglang said with a smile.

An accident, such a barefaced lie, was only worthy of deceiving oneself.

When Zhu Minglang had been gazing at Zhu Tong’s body just now, he had seen the scars that could not even be concealed by makeup, clearly visible even through the extravagant burial garb!

If this had happened before, Zhu Minglang might have believed the accident story, made him kowtow a hundred times, and then handed him over to the Royal Family for disposition.

But after examining the body, Zhu Minglang was certain not to let Hao Shaocong off the hook!!

This was clearly a malicious act of murder. Even after death, the body had been severely mutilated, showing a profound hatred for Zhu Tong. Not only was the murderous intent heavy, but the attacks did not cease even after the victim was dead.

Such repugnant behavior was not that of a friendly rivalry between clans; what was even more detestable was the so-called guilt they showed before Zhu

Minglang’s appearance. It was as if they were mocking Zhu Yushan and Bai Xin, simply playing around with insincere apologies!

After taking things this far, did they still expect Zhu Minglang to interact with them cordially?

What, had the Zhu family become a place where any Tom, Dick, or Harry could come to cause trouble?

“Hao Yong, if your wretched son drops out of the competition, or if you hide him somewhere, prepare coffins for your other two sons. I will also present free of charge the musicians who played the suona for us today, to make your family’s funeral even more solemn than ours today at Zhu Gate!” Zhu Minglang said.

These words silenced the entire mourning hall, including guests from the Great Sect Woods and the grand clans. They had not expected to encounter such an unrestrained and wildly arrogant individual in the Zhu family!

For a moment, Hao Yong and Madame Zhao’s complexions turned ashen, and Hao Shaocong, with his head bleeding profusely, changed from anger to fear.

They had heard of some of Zhu Minglang’s past deeds.

This fellow, an extraordinary Sword Cultivator, had beaten up senior figures, and at a young age, had battered the exceptional geniuses of various major forces…

Although they had heard that he had fallen and become lost, they still worried that this little devil from the Imperial City would do something excessively outrageous, especially as he was the son of Zhu Heavenly Officer – his significance was entirely different from that of an adopted child like Zhu Tong!

“Zhu Minglang, if you dare touch my son, I will spare nothing to make you regret it immensely!” Hao Yong’s face twisted fiercely, probably provoked beyond the point of calming his temper.

“Let’s go, let’s leave, don’t get entangled with this madman,” Madame Zhao said hurriedly.

“You still have twenty more,” Zhu Minglang said coldly, staring at Hao Shaocong’s back.

Hao Shaocong’s head was already covered in blood. Just now he had been frightened badly by Zhu Minglang’s words, and as Zhu Minglang stood behind him, he was like an executioner from the Underworld.

Hao Shaocong believed that if he did not finish the kowtows, his head would indeed fall off. Zhu Minglang, although no longer a Sword Cultivator, exuded a terrifyingly evil aura, making Hao Shaocong feel as if there was an Evil Sword hanging behind his neck — a sword that had drunk the blood of untold donors and chopped untold souls.

Finally, he completed the kowtows.

Hao Shaocong was somewhat delirious, and it was his father who helped him to his feet.

“The family extends its thanks.” It was only then that Zhu Minglang, like seeing off guests, uttered this phrase.

Hao Yong and Hao Shaocong had to bow to Zhu Yushan and Bai Xin once more before leaving Zhu Tong’s mourning hall with unsettled spirits.

After this father and son left, many people from the Zhu Sect were already quietly discussing beside the mortuary hall.

“For such scum, this is exactly what they deserve. I’ve long wanted to avenge Zhu Tong. You have no idea, when Zhu Tong’s body was sent back, it was no different from a butchered pig or sheep!” a young casting apprentice said.

“It’s just like big brother Minglang, he deals with such trash without hesitation or delay, finally feeling a sense of relief!”

“Is he really Zhu Minglang??” some younger disciples, who could hardly recognize Zhu Minglang, looked at him curiously.

After all, living in the Zhu Sect, they had somewhat heard of this name.

The conducting of the ceremony is just the last respect for the deceased.

But the ceremony will eventually end.

He will fade completely from everyone’s sight, be they mere acquaintances or close kin like Zhu Yushan and Bai Xin.

People are distinguished as noble or lowly, rich or poor, and once they are in different social classes, human lives do not receive a fair judgment.

Zhu Tong, after all, was not a direct descendant, but just an adopted son.

Zhu Minglang was very clear that, apart from himself, there were not many who would seek justice for him.

He had still been considering whether to participate in the Sect Forest and Family Gate competitions, but now, because of this Hao Shaocong, Zhu Minglang had no choice but to go.

Passing through the gates, he walked toward Water Droplet Lake Half Mountain Island.

There, white lanterns were no longer hung; like usual, it maintained the Zhu Sect’s consistent solemnity and simplicity, as if the funeral before the gates had nothing to do with the Zhu Sect behind them.

After all, Zhu Tong was an adopted son and his aunt and uncle also did not have much status in the Zhu Sect; they merely managed some of the Zhu Sect’s shops in the Imperial City.

The willows danced lightly, and ahead lay a stone arch bridge leading to the Zhu Clan Inner Court.

The Zhu Sect was divided into the inner court and the foreign court.

The inner court was the core of the Zhu Sect, responsible for the inheritance and development of forging skills, while the foreign court primarily managed the business of casting shops.

For a long time, the inner court of the Zhu Sect had been indifferent to the foreign court, even with a hint of disdain.

They held their funeral, just as unrelated to the happenings within the Zhu Gate Lake Mountain Island inner court.

“Zhu Minglang, your family seems very complicated,” Fang Niannian commented in a low voice.

She had also noticed that the foreign court and inner court of the Zhu Sect seemed like two different worlds.

The inner court in the midst of the lake and mountains seemed like an isolated, sacred place, unaffected by the foreign court’s funeral, as if they were two unrelated families.

“Our Zhu Sect once took in a defeated nation’s casting family, most of whom became slaves. My grandfather disagreed with the slave system and thus established a separate court, which was handed over to the defeated nation’s forging family to manage. That is the foreign court now under the charge of my aunt and uncle,” Zhu Minglang explained helplessly.

In the Supreme Court Imperial City, many families within the dynasty had their own slave groups.

And for any power, these slave groups held no status, even though individuals like Zhu Yushan were gradually changing their identity and becoming a true core member of the Zhu Sect, the entire dynasty still did not take them seriously.

“Then, your aunt and uncle, they’re not blood-related?” Fang Niannian asked.

“Uncle Zhu Yushan, originally named Yushan, was a study companion of my father’s. My father shared the same view as my grandfather and disliked the whole defeated nation slave thing, calling him brother all the time, and even requested to the clan to let him change his surname of the defeated nation, which is why we now have the name Zhu Yushan. My father treated him like a brother, and they have always treated me as if I were their own,” Zhu Minglang explained.

Indeed, even if the slave group had offspring, they were certainly of slave status.

Even though Zhu Yushan and Bai Xin had already changed their surnames and seemed to have shed the status of defeated nation slaves on the surface, if they had children, they would still be considered slaves by the Supreme Court

Dynasty.

This is why they had not had children for many years.

Their children would still be unable to cleanse the slave brand.

“So, Zhu Tong, as a disciple of your clan, even if he was killed in the competition, no one would deeply investigate the matter??” Fang Niannian finally realized.

Coming from the Yaoshan Sword Sect, Fang Niannian’s rough impression was that the Zhu Sect should be extremely powerful – how could they allow a funeral to be mocked and ridiculed, completely disrespecting the bereaved family, if not deliberately provoking them.

It turns out the foreign court of the Zhu Sect was comprised of slaves from a defeated nation, and while the Zhu Sect accepted them and gave them enough respect and status, outsiders still saw them as a lowly group of slaves.

The thought that Ancestral Dragon City-State could also end up in such a situation sent a shiver down Fang Niannian’s spine.

Even relying on a reasonable and powerful clan, life is still as cheap as dirt.

“It doesn’t matter how others see it. My uncle is my uncle, my aunt is my aunt, and my brother is my brother!” Zhu Minglang took a deep breath and said.

“Right, those words you said at the mortuary hall earlier, in one word, cool. The faces of that father and son and especially Madame Zhao, were simply disgusting, and they went too far!” Fang Niannian remarked.

Zhu Minglang looked at Fang Niannian, slightly stunned.

After a moment, he finally said, “All this time I’ve known you, that’s the first time I’ve heard you compliment me..”