A young Taoist knocked on the door of the temple head's room and continued knocking anxiously.
The temple head opened the door sleepily:
"What is it?"
"Ha...!"
"....?"
"Calm down, it's clear something happened to make you wake me, so just say it."
The Heavenly Demon stood behind the door of the Mount Tai temple, under the moonlight, accompanied by the Second Guard.
No other companion was there.
No weapon was with the Heavenly Demon.
Nothing but a body under a white sheet, clearly the slender form of a woman beneath it.
The temple head didn't know if he was dreaming or awake, so he clenched his fists until the pain convinced him of reality.
He bowed his head and back slightly in respect: "Exalted Heavenly Demon, what are you doing here at this hour of the night?"
Kang Long looked at the temple head: "Does the Tai temple also hold funeral ceremonies? I've come to request one."
The temple head glanced at the body in the Heavenly Demon's arms: "Funeral ceremonies are held in the morning, but no one has said the temple doors cannot be opened at night."
The temple head opened the temple doors with his personal key and, with the help of his attendant, lit the candles.
The guards came running up the stairs to inform the temple head of the Heavenly Demon's arrival.
As soon as the guards reached the temple doors, the temple head went toward them.
Fools.
It took them this long just to come up.
Why did they come at all?
If the Heavenly Demon had ill intent, you would either be dead or wouldn't have sensed his presence at all.
"Sir, the Heavenly Demon has arrived, do you give orders to form up?"
"Huf. The Heavenly Demon had sent a letter before coming, but since it was delivered by a pilgrim, you weren't informed. In the end, the Heavenly Demon came up the stairs and in a formal manner out of courtesy."
The guard was taken aback: "So there's no problem?"
"No, there's no problem. The bottom of the stairs and the mountain entrance need protection. Return to your posts."
The temple head waited for the guards to go down and looked sleepily at the moonlight behind the clouds: "Huf, there are things to do."
The temple head went to Dung-i's body and pulled back the sheet: "What region is she from?"
"Chosun."
"Chosun? Hmm, which Buddha do they believe in?"
"I don't know."
"Is there anyone from her family to accompany her?"
Kang Long, who had been standing the whole time, suddenly sat cross-legged before Dung-i: "Only me and our son. No one else is here, and no one else is currently available."
Your son? The Heavenly Demon's wife?
The temple head knew.
Blood would be spilled.
The temple head was frozen in place but continued the conversation: "Do you want us to hold a ceremony for the peace of her soul, to prepare her for transfer to her homeland?"
"No."
"I want us to remain close."
The sun's rays began to touch the mountain, and Kang Long had completed most of the funeral necessities with the temple head's help.
The Second Guard had been sitting outside on the stairs the entire time.
The temple head came out and gestured to the young Taoist who had been watching from a distance the whole time.
The young Taoist was a disciple under the temple head's tutelage: "Go and say that we have a ceremony and need to carry a lady out of the temple."
"Understood."
Four women carried a wooden coffin down Mount Tai and placed it behind a handcart at the entrance of the Mount Tai temple.
The Heavenly Demon kept his presence and aura hidden the entire time.
After two hours of pulling the cart, the Heavenly Demon reached an open plain atop a hill, and Dongfang Dubai was waiting at the top of that hill.
The Heavenly Demon pulled out the white flowers on the hill by their roots and placed them aside. After digging the ground with his bare hands, he placed Dung-i's coffin in a way that made it clear there was room for another coffin above it.
He poured soil over the coffin and replanted the flowers on top of it.
"Did you memorize this place?"
They nodded slightly in confirmation.
"Good."
"The day I am to be buried is here, so remember this place."