Chapter 4

The old woman screamed and lunged forward to grab it.

"No! Please don't!"

Melvin stared at the old woman in front of him and curled his lips into a wicked smile.

Then he let go...

"No!"

I couldn't hold back any longer and rushed straight toward Melvin.

But it was already too late...

"Crash!"

After one sharp, heart-piercing sound,

that square wooden urn slammed hard against the floor.

The lid burst open instantly.

White ashes mixed with fragments scattered all across the floor...

Time seemed to stand still...

The old woman let out a piercing wail and threw herself at the pool of white ashes.

She stumbled,

then dropped to her knees with a thud.

Trembling all over, she scooped up the ashes scattered on the floor, tears falling into her palms,

mixing with the ashes into a thick smear of white mud in her hands...

"My son, I'm so sorry... I couldn't protect even this last little bit of you..."

Her hands ran through the fragments and were cut by them, blood trickling down between her fingers like a little stream,

but she didn't notice at all.

Bit by bit, she just gathered up the ashes scattered on the floor with her hands and put them back into that already broken little box.

They scattered, and she gathered them again; she gathered them, and they slipped away again.

Her sobbing went from heart-rending to gradually silent,

but her body shook harder and harder.

I couldn't stand there any longer. I stepped forward quickly, bent down, spread the ceremonial scarf flat on the floor, and began helping the old woman collect the ashes left on the floor.

The onlookers turned their faces away,

one after another shedding tears of sympathy.

Shelagh was stunned by the sight before her, but she quickly went back to her usual awful self.

"What are you crying about?!"

"It's just a little ash! I'll pay you for it, all right?! What terrible luck!"

As she spoke, Shelagh pulled a hundred-dollar bill out of her pocket,

and it landed square in the ashes on the floor.

The ashes the old woman had just gathered up were scattered by her once again.

Seeing this, Melvin stepped forward and tugged at Shelagh's sleeve.

"Forget it, Shelagh, let's go. Don't stoop to this old wretch's level!"

Melvin had probably sensed that something was off, and he tried to pull Shelagh away.

But before Shelagh could even turn around,

I grabbed her by the ankle.

Shelagh was caught off guard.

Taking advantage of the moment, I slowly stood up, met Shelagh's filthy eyes head-on, and spoke through gritted teeth.

"You'll regret this. You'll pay the price for what you did today."

"What's there to regret?!"

Shelagh stared at me, a disdainful sneer curling at the corner of her mouth.

"Cara, I think this old hag has brainwashed you! Turning on your own like this today—just wait until we get back and see how Melvin deals with you!"

Melvin immediately jumped in.

"Cara, let me tell you, don't try to scare me here. Forget some hero's ashes—even if it were that hero's own mother, if she really crossed me, I'd deal with her however I please!"

He got more and more worked up as he spoke,

and he shoved Shelagh down to sit on the old woman's lower bunk.

"Shelagh, we're not leaving today after all! You sit right here, and lie down when you get tired! I'd like to see just what this old hag and that pile of mud can do to me!"

The moment Melvin finished speaking,

the train's announcement slowly came on.

"Attention passengers, our next stop is Larkspur Station. Passengers disembarking, please prepare..."

As the train slowly pulled into the station,

everyone in the carriage froze.

A long red carpet was laid out on the platform, and thousands upon thousands of ordinary people stood there holding ceremonial scarves.

A well-equipped honor guard stood on both sides, with a leader-like figure at the very front.

Every one of them wore a solemn expression as they slowly walked toward our carriage to the strains of funeral music...