Shen Feng appeared beside Chu Chaoyan, his expression somber. He knelt, unsure of what to say, but placed his hand on Chu Chaoyan's shoulder as a gesture of comfort.
Upon seeing Shen Feng, Chu Chaoyan straightened up and hugged him tightly, tears streaming down her face. "Shen Feng," she sobbed, "I have no family left. My last relative is gone. Now, I'm all alone."
"It's alright, you still have me. I've always been by your side!" Shen Feng quickly reassured her, gently patting her back. His greatest regret was not being able to see Professor Chu before his passing. When Shen Feng left Yuzhou, he felt it was just like any other departure, never imagining it would be a final farewell.
Chu Chaoyan continued to cry, her grip on Shen Feng unwavering, like a willful child in distress. She felt utterly helpless, with Shen Feng being the only person she could rely on.
Chang Jianyi glanced at Shen Feng's direction, saying nothing more. She knew this was not the time for jealousy. The most important matter at hand was handling Professor Chu's funeral. After all, Professor Chu was Shen Feng's teacher and held great prestige in the hearts of many. The funeral had to be conducted with grandeur.
Chu Chaoyan's embrace tightened, causing Shen Feng discomfort. His ribs had been broken by the golden eagle just yesterday and hadn't healed yet. Now, Chu Chaoyan's forceful hug made his side ache.
"Chaoyan, a little lighter, please. You're hurting me," Shen Feng whispered.
Chu Chaoyan, her eyes blurred with tears, looked up and asked, "What's wrong?"
Shen Feng couldn't help but offer a wry smile. "On the way back, I was captured by a mutated golden eagle. We flew for over an hour, and I was taken to the Qinling Mountains. I fought for half a day, breaking five or six ribs. I only just managed to run back."
Hearing Shen Feng's words, Chu Chaoyan immediately expressed concern. "Then you should go rest. I didn't mean to hug you so hard."
Shen Feng shook his head. "It's nothing. Your grandfather was my grandfather. In that sense, I'm like a grandson. My injuries aren't severe. As long as I don't fight, I'll be fine. I'll recover in a few days. The most important thing now is to give Professor Chu a grand funeral."
Chu Chaoyan was deeply touched. Chang Jianyi had accepted her, and now Shen Feng was doing the same. Despite his injuries, he persisted in arranging a magnificent funeral. Chu Chaoyan felt a renewed sense of belonging.
Chang Jianyi also approached, speaking softly, "Don't worry, we'll help you. We're family now. I'll have Shen Feng stay with you during this time."
She then took out a letter from her pocket and handed it to Shen Feng. "This is a letter Professor Chu left for you before he passed. He regretted not being able to see you, but he poured all his thoughts into this. Please read it when you have a moment."
Shen Feng took the letter, deeply moved that Professor Chu was still thinking of him even in his final moments.
Chang Jianyi added, "Take good care of Chaoyan these days. I have to go out of the city for work and won't be back for a while."
"Wait, why are you going out of the city?" Shen Feng asked, puzzled. Chang Jianyi, being pregnant, was going out to work. What if something happened?
Shen Feng suddenly realized something and grabbed Chang Jianyi's shoulders, asking in disbelief, "Senior Sister, you're not feeling neglected, are you? You can't leave me. We've been together for a year, supporting each other. Don't just distance yourself because you're feeling down."
Shen Feng was panicking. He hadn't expected his senior sister to say she was leaving the city. Wasn't this an impulsive act? Was she jealous seeing him and Chu Chaoyan being affectionate?
Chang Jianyi found Shen Feng's anxious words amusing. "Can you have a little more faith in me? Am I that prone to jealousy? I'm going to accelerate crop growth. With mutated beasts rampaging everywhere, if we don't harvest the crops quickly, they'll all be eaten."
Shen Feng realized his misunderstanding. Chang Jianyi wasn't leaving because she was tired of him. However, this also meant the mutated beast problem in Yuzhou hadn't been resolved.
"Then please be careful. Have Luo Qing protect you at all times. Also, Lin Yue and Qi Lingshan, those two ability users, should be free. Have them protect you as well. Your safety is the most important thing," Shen Feng urged.
Chang Jianyi nodded and then left Chu Chaoyan's home.
Shen Feng busied himself with helping Chu Chaoyan handle the funeral arrangements. Chu Yangtian's two sons were dead, leaving his granddaughter as his only surviving relative. Chu Chaoyan had to stay by the mourning hall at all times, and arranging the funeral fell to Shen Feng.
That night, Shen Feng took out Professor Chu's letter and began to read. To his surprise, the letter was filled with encouragement. Professor Chu only briefly mentioned the many issues in Yuzhou, dedicating most of the letter to encouraging him.
"Shen Feng, you are a very intelligent person, and you treat others with kindness. However, you have a fatal flaw: indecisiveness when faced with major decisions. Indecision is your weakness. In such situations, you need others to help you make decisions. You must try to avoid this in the future. As a leader, there are often no perfect decisions. At such times, you must step forward and tell your subordinates with firm conviction that following you is the right path. The charisma of a leader lies in their ability to step forward at critical moments, standing in front of everyone."
"Yuzhou has great development potential. You must develop it well. The greatest dangers Yuzhou faces are twofold: external, with mutated beasts continuously emerging from the southern Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which need to be eradicated; and internal problems, such as the unequal distribution of wealth and power, and class stratification, which need to be appeased. I recommend a strategy: establish a mercenary system with bounties, distribute weapons to the people, giving them the power to protect themselves, but control the mercenaries through trade and other means."
Shen Feng sat on the sofa, reading Professor Chu's letter and nodding. He knew this information was crucial. As the ruler of Yuzhou, he had to understand it all to stabilize the situation.
Chu Chaoyan brewed Shen Feng some black tea, adding two rock sugar cubes, and then returned to her vigil.
In the dimly lit mourning hall, a black coffin rested on a table, flanked by eternal lamps. Inside, old man Chu Yangtian lay peacefully, with ice packs placed to prevent decomposition. Many people would come to pay their respects during this time.
Shen Feng's gaze was drawn to Chu Chaoyan. As the saying goes, "A woman in mourning attire is beautiful." Dressed in white, Chu Chaoyan knelt on a prayer mat, silently burning paper money. Her fair face was illuminated by the flickering firelight, making her appear even more endearing.
Shen Feng shook his head forcefully, banishing the strange thoughts from his mind. He refocused on Professor Chu's letter.
During Shen Feng's nearly two months away from Yuzhou, he had come to understand the severity of mutated beasts. The typhoons that year had severely impacted humanity, but they had a greater effect on zombies. Countless zombies were swept away by the floods. The only beneficiaries were the mutated beasts. Weak mutated beasts were washed away, but the strong ones found ample food, allowing them to breed more offspring.
The Yangtze River Dragon King alone could kill thousands of people, instilling fear throughout the middle and lower reaches of the river. It was only through the combined efforts of Ke Yiming and Shen Feng that the Yangtze River Dragon King was finally killed.
Furthermore, in the Qinling Mountains, a pair of golden eagles had captured thousands of people for food. The dangers from the mountains were considerable. Even if the zombie problem was largely resolved, mutated beasts could still pose a significant threat to humanity.
"I must find an opportunity to clear out the mutated beasts south of Yuzhou. Otherwise, they will keep emerging from the mountains, leading to endless disasters," Shen Feng mused.
While reading the letter, Shen Feng took out a map and began to study it. The country was dotted with countless famous mountains and rivers, and hidden within them were innumerable mutated beasts. The sheer quantity was terrifying.
"The primeval forests of the Northeast, the northern grasslands, the plateaus and hills of the Southwest, the rivers of the East, and the snow mountains and deserts of the Western Regions – all these places likely harbor large numbers of mutated beasts. This is not good. The mutated beasts in these terrains are endless!" Shen Feng felt a deep sense of frustration.
In Shen Feng's opinion, the threat of zombies was no longer severe. It would likely take another two to three years to eradicate all the zombies in the country. However, there were too many famous mountains and rivers in China. Not only did poor mountains and harsh waters produce difficult people, but they also harbored fierce beasts and venomous insects.
"It seems that peace will not be achieved within ten years. This is not good," Shen Feng muttered to himself.
The critical point of the apocalypse had arrived at the source of animal mutation. The global mutation caused by the zombie virus originated from the ocean. The virus mutated after being influenced by a meteorite. Unless the meteorite in the sea was salvaged, the global mutation would not end.
Shen Feng could only shake his head helplessly. Salvaging the meteorite was beyond his capabilities. Only the nation had the strength for long-distance ocean voyages and meteorite retrieval. Individuals could not achieve this. The two warships that had departed from the South China Sea had failed in their salvage attempts. It seemed retrieving the meteorite was an impossible task.
Shen Feng diligently proceeded with organizing his teacher's funeral. For seven days, Yuzhou City held a grand ceremony, with banquets held continuously. All one had to do was offer a word of "take care" to attend a banquet, with expenses reimbursed by the City Lord's mansion. Thousands of children came daily to eat and drink their fill, their bellies bulging.
The once picky eaters had now experienced hunger and knew what it was like to go without. The seven-day continuous banquet in Yuzhou allowed them to eat heartily with just a perfunctory show of mourning. For the children, this was the happiest of times.
With Shen Feng overseeing the arrangements, prominent figures from Yuzhou attended the memorial. Some even knelt and wept, their grief so profound it was astonishing. One might have thought their own father had died, and even Chu Chaoyan found it exaggerated.
Shen Feng understood that these people were deliberately trying to curry favor with him. If a common family lost a relative, they would likely be buried hastily, and passersby would offer only a sigh. How could there be such dramatic weeping?
Of course, these displays of grief did not bother Shen Feng. However, if someone dared to laugh loudly in the mourning hall, Shen Feng would have them removed. Fortunately, no one dared to do so. Those who might cause trouble knew the danger. Angering Shen Feng at this time would truly be disastrous.
A once scenic park was transformed into a cemetery for Professor Chu. On the day of the burial, tens of thousands of people from the city came to bid farewell. The vast crowd even blocked the roads. Anyone witnessing this scene would have praised the grandeur of the occasion.
Shen Feng accompanied Chu Chaoyan as they respectfully kowtowed. As the coffin was lowered, he personally shoveled a handful of earth. Afterward, the group began to weep openly and scatter paper money. Professor Chu was buried with great ceremony. The cemetery was beautiful, with mountains and water, offering picturesque scenery. Tens of thousands of people saw him off, a scene that could be described as spectacular.
Chang Haojie also managed to sneak away and placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the tombstone.
"Grandpa Chu, thank you for teaching me history. It's a shame I didn't like it. I'm very sad you're gone today. I can only offer you these flowers. I'll visit you every year from now on," Chang Haojie said with regret.
It was then that Shen Feng learned Professor Chu had often taken the time to tutor Chang Haojie, a fact Professor Chu had never mentioned himself.
Chu Chaoyan gazed at her grandfather's grave with a somber expression. After the funeral, she stood there for a long time, reluctant to leave.