Secrets?

"A request? What request?" 

All of the elders in the room were curious to hear Alex.

"My friend that died earlier today, would it be alright if I take care of his funeral?" Alex asked. "He mentioned to me that his parents are buried in the east. If possible, I wish to bury him there as well, along with his parents."

Tai Guidao's last words and his feelings about visiting his parents kept recurring in Alex's mind.

"Oh, that's very kind of you," the young elder said.

"Very kind indeed," one of the sect masters said. "But that won't be possible. We handle all the funerals for the disciples who die in the sect. If you wish to, you may get his ashes at the end of it all."

"Ashes?" Alex asked. "I won't get to bury him?"

"No."

Alex didn't know how to feel about that. He wanted the poor man to be with his parents, at least in death.

"I see," Alex said. "Then would it be possible for me to be present during the funeral?"