Light Fortress
Chapter 146 - 134 Every Year Has Today

Chapter 146: Chapter 134 Every Year Has Today

In the dim haze of phantasmal light,

a delicate and graceful shadow slowly came together in the white glow, while a steady, deep hum of electric arcs surged outside the window, like waves.

Gu Shen had entered the Spiritual Link.

Train number 001, as always, stable, quiet, a solace for the soul.

The gentle white light fell in every corner of the carriage, shattering all attempts of darkness to encroach from outside, making this place feel like a cradle full of security, inducing drowsiness.

But... the Spiritual Link was, after all, a form of deep sleep.

"It’s been a long time..."

Gu Shen rested his hands on his knees, and despite being very familiar with Chu Ling, seeing her again... he still felt somewhat unaccustomed, perhaps because the girl opposite was too beautiful, and after many days had passed, one could not help but be dazzled.

It took him a long time to say just this.

Because it really had been a long time... Deep Sea’s upgrade, Chu Ling’s disappearance, at that time he had just passed the review, not yet arrived in Da Du, and so very much had happened during this time.

Perhaps it only amounted to one month.

But that one month felt like a year.

Looking at Chu Ling, Gu Shen suddenly felt like he was a lucky child favored by the heavens, feeling slightly estranged after a long absence, but upon a closer look, his heart still fluttered.

The girl sitting opposite seemed amused by Gu Shen’s reserved manner.

Some people are calm and feign nonchalance when chatting online.

But when face to face, they become nervous and restless.

"We’ve only been apart for a month, and you talk like we’re strangers..."

Chu Ling said with a mock wistful tone, teasing with a laugh, "Is waiting for someone for a month really that long?"

"Not long."

Gu Shen hurriedly shook his head and then, after thinking seriously, added, "But if that person is you, then it feels very long."

Morning and evening,

day and night,

over and over again.

Chu Ling paused, her eyes lowered as she pondered Gu Shen’s words and then slowly shook her head.

In Gu Shen’s eyes, this gesture inevitably gave rise to some interpretation.

Did she feel that what he said was not good? Or not correct?

Even the most intelligent youths are often clumsy in this regard, harboring an eager heart, tentatively making overtures, fearing their sincerity might disturb the other.

"Did I... say something wrong?" Gu Shen, after a lot of thought, asked very seriously.

Chu Ling shook her head again.

"No... I’m just thinking,"

"You’re different from what the books say."

Now it was Gu Shen’s turn to be startled; he didn’t quite understand until Chu Ling lifted up the thick book resting on her knees. He realized that ever since she boarded the 001, Chu Ling had been reading a book.

That thick book, seemingly with endless pages to turn.

"I saw a sentence in the book that I found interesting, it seems to be excerpted from an ancient text—"

Chu Ling said slowly: "Knowing you are of celestial bone, no summer or winter, a millennium apart seems like dusk to dawn."

Who wrote this?

Gu Shen was somewhat annoyed; he chewed over it thoroughly after listening, though he only half-understood, vaguely grasping some of its meaning.

"A millennium of encounters ending in moments of daybreak or dusk, the time spent waiting... is it really that long?"

Chu Ling murmured softly: "Why do you feel it’s so long, yet I feel... it’s just the blink of an eye?"

Gu Shen couldn’t answer her question.

"It’s just... I also feel very happy to see you, very happy, and reluctant to part with you, very reluctant." The girl’s voice grew softer, and she whispered, "But what you call reunion, I don’t have the concepts of long or short... It seems that parting and reunion, to me, are just closing and opening my eyes. I can’t experience ’longing,’ nor ’pain’; everything ends before it even starts."

With this, she appeared somewhat saddened, her snow-white slender fingers slowly caressing the pages of the book.

"What’s in the book... may not all be right..."

Gu Shen’s hanging heart dropped a great deal; hearing Chu Ling mention reluctance, all his apprehensions vanished.

At this moment, after a long thought, he spoke again: "The book also says, compared to longing, a millennium is very long; compared to meeting, a millennium is very short. Why bother with so much thought, since we’ve reestablished the link, let’s just... make the most of every second we have."

After listening, Chu Ling lowered her eyes and considered for a long while.

Then, she gave up thinking, her eyes tired, resignedly saying: "What a complicated question..."

She didn’t ponder any longer.

"Right..."

The girl’s face lit up with a smile once again as she produced a small cake as if by magic from behind her. The cake, adorned with precisely eighteen little candles, wasn’t large. It was decorated with snow-white cream and strawberries, looking very youthful.

"I read in a book that turning eighteen is a very important day. It signifies a young person’s growth into an adult, gradually able to stand on their own. It is often spent with family. There would be a birthday cake with candles representing the age, and blowing out the candles, making a wish, could make the wish come true in the new year."

Gu Shen was stunned.

His nose suddenly felt a little sour.

The lights of the train dimmed, one by one the white lights vanished, plunging the entire carriage into a serene darkness, and a piano accompaniment of the birthday song began to play on the train’s speaker system.

The girl, holding the cake, moved lightly like a cat. In two or three leaps, she had hopped in front of Gu Shen and pulled out a paper birthday crown from her skirt’s hem, carefully placing it upon his head.

"Happy birthday to you~"

"Happy birthday to you~"

Chu Ling hummed the tune softly, her voice trembling slightly.

Chu Ling... seemed... nervous too?

Gu Shen could sense that she kept examining him intently.

Within her gentle humming, Gu Shen closed his eyes.

He made a silent wish in his heart.

Then he blew out the candles.

"Whew~"

In one breath, the tiny candle flames were all snuffed out.

The soft light in the carriage gradually brightened.

As Gu Shen slowly opened his eyes, he saw the uncontainable mirth in the eyes of the girl close by, "Congratulations, you’ve come of age today. Since you’ve blown out all the candles, your wish is sure to come true."

After she finished speaking,

"Wham" went the sound.

The girl had pressed the cake, tray and all, onto Gu Shen’s face.

Looking at Gu Shen’s stiff posture, Chu Ling murmured quizzically, "Huh... the book also said that smashing the cake onto the birthday person’s face and spreading it evenly would make them very happy. You don’t seem very happy?"

"Not at all... I’m clearly... super happy!"

Gu Shen slowly removed the cake tray from his face, a warm smile upon his visage, gesturing for Chu Ling to come closer.

"Splat!"

The cake tray was evenly pressed onto the face of the unsuspecting girl.

The girl fell onto the carriage floor with a plop, clearly taken by surprise.

After a long time, Chu Ling’s voice, muffled, rose,

"I think... you’re right, not everything in books is correct. Getting hit in the face with a cake doesn’t feel very good." Chu Ling reflected deeply, "But... I can’t help wanting to smother more of it on your face."

The two teenagers, faces smeared with cream, looked at each other and burst into laughter.

The carriage filled with the sounds of joyful chase and playful laughter.

The speakers broadcasted celebratory music.

The remainder of the cake and cream splattered on the seats and windows.

When it all ended, Chu Ling, leaning backward onto the floor, faced Gu Shen, who had his hands on the ground, both looking straight into each other’s eyes, seeing the clear and bright light within them.

"Thank you..."

Gu Shen’s voice was soft; he spoke genuinely, "This has been the happiest day for me."

"There will be many more days like this in the future..." Chu Ling’s thoughts drifted as she went along with her consciousness, murmuring softly, "Because I’ll always be with you."

The two looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh again.

"What did you wish for?" Chu Ling couldn’t contain her curiosity.

"I can’t tell you, otherwise it won’t come true."

Gu Shen shook his head resolutely, refusing to spill a word no matter how much she begged and pouted.

Upon blowing out the candles,

Gu Shen had silently made a wish in his heart.

If there were truly divine beings willing to bless him,

then let him... have this day every year, and have Chu Ling every year.