Secular Immortal of the Nine Realms - Chapter 80

Chapter 80: That Day Will Come

There was a temple in Great Xia’s capital known as the Temple of Enlightenment. It was located in the suburbs, on the Heaven Treasure Mountain, but to reach the Temple of Enlightenment, one had to pass through the Immemorial Mausoleum.

Buried in the Immemorial Mausoleum were the soldiers who had died fighting for Great Xia since its founding five hundred years ago. The area was filled with hundreds of monuments inscribed with countless names, such as Er Gouzi, Third Zhang, Li Brat, and so on.

Each of these names represented a soldier who had once put their life on the line for Great Xia. Their blood became Great Xia’s body, and their valiant souls became Great Xia’s backbone.

Countless soldiers were transporting the corpses of their deceased comrades here.

Some of these corpses were identified by their family members and laid to the ground, but there were those who were the only ones left, or that their families were a long distance away.

Fang Chen stood with his hand behind his back. On his left was Abbess Clearlotus, and on his right was You Longchang, whose body was still drenched in blood.

“General You, have you tallied the casualties? How many of our soldiers died in this invasion?” Fang Chen asked.

You Longchang took out a paper scroll and looked at it. WIth a grim expression, he replied, “8,306 of our good men died in this battle.”

“Eight thousand, huh…” Fang Chen murmured wistfully.

Some of the nearby soldiers noticed Fang Chen and bowed toward him, but they swiftly got back to their work. The priority right now was to give their brothers a proper burial.

“Why is this brother hugging a Longdu cavalryman so tightly? We can’t bury him with those Longdu knaves, right?” a murmur echoed from afar.

Fang Chen looked over and saw a deceased Great Xia soldier desperately holding onto a Longdu cavalryman. The Longdu cavalryman had lost his head, but the sword in his hand had stabbed the Great Xia soldier’s heart.

That reminded Fang Chen of what his father had instructed him. “That soldier sacrificed himself to hold down a Longdu Ki Control martial artist, so that my father could behead the latter.”

The soldiers straightened their postures and saluted the deceased Great Xia soldier. The latter had made a huge contribution by helping to take down a Longdu Ki Control martial artist—many more could have died if not for his sacrifice.

“Bury them together. It symbolizes his contribution,” Fang Chen instructed.

“Yes, War supreme-ruler Fang,” the soldier replied.

Rules didn’t matter here when Fang Chen had personally given them the word, not to mention that this soldier had made a huge contribution here. It would be something to boast about on the monument.

“Abbess Clearlotus, are they here?” Fang Chen suddenly asked softly.

Abbess Clearlotus had her eyes closed all this while. It was only upon hearing Fang Chen’s words that she slowly opened her eyes, and her face immediately paled. She timidly nodded. “Yes, they are all here.”

In her vision were countless tattered figures drenched in blood, but none was as violent as the ghosts she usually saw. None screeched in indignation over their deaths or cried in agony. They simply quietly looked at Fang Chen with wistful eyes.

“Have a safe journey. You’ll never be forgotten.” Fang Chen clasped his fist at the surroundings.

The deceased military souls returned the gesture before slowly making their way toward the Immemorial Mausoleum.

Ye Qinghe and the others chanced upon the scene and sneered.

“War supreme-ruler Fang, you have my gratitude for what happened yesterday,” Ye Qinghe squeezed those words out of his mouth.

“Mm.” Fang Chen placidly nodded before looking elsewhere.

A flicker of rage flashed across Ye Qinghe’s eyes when he saw how cold Fang Chen was despite him humbling himself.

Before he could say a word, Tao Yu suddenly spoke up, “War supreme-ruler Fang, are you here to see these deceased soldiers off?”

“I thought I was the blind one here?” Fang Chen looked at Tao Yu with his grayish-white eyes.

“War supreme-ruler Fang, others might think that you’re putting on an act before our people. There are many who have come here to offer incense to the soldiers who died protecting our Great Xia.”

Tao Yu’s words prompted the crowd to look at Fang Chen, at which, Tao Yu continued on, “We have lost many soldiers today. War supreme-ruler Fang, you appear to be grieving for those soldiers, but what about the 600,000 soldiers who died at the Three Realms Mountain five years ago? Their corpses are still lying elsewhere, never to return to their homeland.”

The civilians were startled, but they soon lowered their heads in sorrow. That was one of their greatest regrets in the last five years.

600,000 of Great Xia’s valiant sons had died in the Three Realms Mountain, but they were unable to bring their corpses back.

You Longchang retorted with a frown, “Young master Tao, you shouldn’t run your mouth if you have never been to a battlefield. Even the deceased Greenpine soldiers didn’t make it back to their country. Do you understand the sheer manpower required to ship hundreds of thousands of bodies? Furthermore, others might use it as an opportunity to assassinate our people. Even if we had won that battle, our soldiers would have still been buried on the spot.”

Tao Yu sneered, “War supreme-ruler Fang, if you have time to mourn here, why don’t you think of a way to bring our 600,000 deceased soldiers back to Great Xia?”

You Longchang was infuriated by Tao Yu’s unreasonable words and was just about to say something when Fang Chen raised his hand and stopped him.

“You’re right,” Fang Chen said with a smile. “Regardless of your motive, I fully agree with your words. And that day will surely come.”

Tao Yu was taken aback. He hadn’t expected Fang Chen to acknowledge his words. However, he quickly snapped out of it and continued pressuring Fang Chen, “When will that day come?”

“What does that have to do with you? Do you intend to follow me to the Three Realms Mountain?” Fang Chen asked.

Tao Yu was choked by those words. There was no way he would accompany Fang Chen to somewhere as dangerous as the Three Realms Mountain.

“I hope your words aren’t empty,” Tao Yu sneered before taking his leave.

Many people have heard Fang Chen’s declaration today. If he failed to bring their 600,000 deceased soldiers back to Great Xia, over time, people would begin talking about this matter, and this would undermine his prestige.

If so, his goal would have been fulfilled.

“War supreme-ruler Fang, don’t take Tao Yu’s words to heart. It’s unlikely that we’ll be able to bring our 600,000 brothers back to Great Xia. Greenpine won’t watch idly as we do it,” You Longchang consoled.

Fang Chen patted You Longchang’s shoulder and said, “Everything is possible as long as we put our minds to it.”

With that, he leisurely took his leave together with Abbess Clearlotus, leaving the dazed You Longchang behind.

You Longchang contemplated those words, but he was still doubtful that Fang Chen could bring those 600,000 Great Xia’s soldiers back. It was a far distance away, so the logistics would pose a huge problem.

On top of that, those corpses were practically Greenpine’s bait. They were just waiting for them to bite the hook…