Light Fortress
Chapter 281 - 257: A Story from a Long Time Ago

Chapter 281: Chapter 257: A Story from a Long Time Ago

Qin Ye was dead.

The news spread throughout Da Du in just three minutes.

South Bay and the Hua Zhi’s joint effort lasted only one night... before either side could sort out the suspicious cases from the past, or before the Federation Council’s central court could complete transcontinental adjudication, everything had already ended.

For the higher-ups in the council pursuing the old case of Lion Alley, Qin Ye’s death was the end, for even the strictest of laws... the deepest and heaviest punishment that could be bestowed upon this man was only death.

At this time, death had become a "light" matter.

But... was it really over?

Lu Nanjin, who had witnessed Qin Ye’s death firsthand, and Lu Nanzhi, waiting in Song Ci’s hospital room, did not think so... Qin Ye was merely a knife used for killing, and though the knife was broken, the hand that held the knife was still there.

If they were to avenge Lu Cheng.

Then the real enemy... was not Qin Ye, but the Divine Throne of the Source Tower.

...

...

The brilliant stars hung high in the sky.

In today’s Da Du, it was rare to see such clear and bright night stars even once in a decade. The neon-flashing night sky always felt illusory, unreal... with information extrapolating everything, and data fabricating all things, perhaps it wouldn’t be long before the starry sky people looked up to would also become a product of intelligence.

This was Gu Shen and Chu Ling’s first "good night" together.

In the virtual world linked by the Spiritual Link, freed from the shackles of the physical realm, they could meet purely in spirit... this was actually a very romantic thing.

The spirit transcended the shell.

In the virtual realm of consciousness, emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure were exposed in their most naked form.

Perhaps... this was what "true openness" really meant.

Without a heart, one could still hear the heartbeat; it was a sound akin to the beating of the spirit... on the silent wilderness, it rhythmically throbbed, slow and strong, to the flickering of the stars.

Gu Shen could hear Chu Ling.

And Chu Ling could also hear Gu Shen.

The two of them lay on the wilderness, with blades of grass brushing against their cheeks and the wind rustling through their hair.

Time seemed to freeze in this realm.

Indeed, it would be nice if it could... Stay paused at this moment, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with that.

Chu Ling reached out her fair hand, slowly aligning it with the apex of the sky, her index finger and thumb slightly curved to form an arc, creating a circle. She framed a star, squinted her eyes, looked at the twinkling light within her fingers and asked softly.

"Have you ever heard of ’Astrology’?"

"Seven Governing Stars, Four Surplus, Eight Characters of Birth Time... Does this count as ’Astrology’?" Gu Shen’s hands were placed behind his head as if pillowing it, he laughed and said, "I used to read quite a mixed variety of books... I know a little, but I thought it was all deceitful."

Chu Ling looked at Gu Shen somewhat astonished when she heard the words "Seven Governing Stars, Four Surplus."

These were not words one would just casually mention.

She smiled and said, "You’ve read a lot of books... that is indeed part of Astrology, but it’s just one branch of it."

Compared to Gu Shen, she was the true "erudite scholar." The ’Source Code’ began a massive, efficient learning process at the moment of constructing the Deep Sea Network. Once science and logic had been thoroughly absorbed, the Deep Sea began to infer into the realm of the "Transcendent."

"It’s said that long ago, in an age without the Transcendent, people always believed in the existence of ’Astrology,’" Chu Ling murmured, looking at the star she had framed, "All of us... whether from the East Continent, Southern Continent, North Continent... when we look up, we see the same sky."

"Every star in this sky has a meaning."

Gu Shen also mimicked Chu Ling’s gesture, slowly extending his hand to frame the stars, and said softly, "Meaning..."

"From the fate of an individual to the fortunes of an entire race," Chu Ling said, "Of course... that’s what’s written in the books. Those are the ancient people from many years past, and it seems that people tend to revere them due to the passage of time. But Mr. Turing didn’t think so when he created the ’Source Code’. Knowledge isn’t divided by antiquity; there’s only the distinction between what’s correct and what’s wrong. Up to now, I still can’t understand ’Astrology’."

After a slight pause.

Chu Ling said, "Just as I cannot understand the ’Transcendent’... I can only accept these rules that don’t conform to cognition and tell myself that this is just another fundamental state of the laws."

Gu Shen slowly shifted his head.

He looked at the girl lying on the wilderness, not knowing why Chu Ling would suddenly bring up astrology...

"Actually... it was just something I said offhand."

Chu Ling also looked toward Gu Shen as if she really had a Mind Reading Technique, discerning the thoughts in his heart.

"You don’t have to take it seriously, nor do you need to ponder deeply..."

Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she said, "When I was alone before, I was very bored... Thoughts like this would often appear, and I’ve always wanted to share them with someone."

Gu Shen was stunned.

Was what Mr. Turing created... really just the ’Source Code’?

The girl sitting in the zero-zero-one carriage, from the first moment Gu Shen saw her... he did not think she was just a string of emotionless, incorporeal code. Deep in his heart, she was not data.

She had happiness, she had sadness, her own emotions... Even in the closed off sea of data, she could feel loneliness, and throughout the long years, she also wanted to find someone to talk to.

Gu Shen framed the star with both hands, tilted his head slightly, squinting his eyes, and looked very seriously for a while, then said, "Hmm... Astrology does exist."

"...What?"

Chu Ling was slightly startled.

She looked at Gu Shen, who seemed to be divining from that star with a serious expression, the streak of Chi Huo on his brow fluttering back and forth.

So far, what she couldn’t understand the most wasn’t astrology, nor the abilities on the Transcendent Genealogy Map... but that streak of flame in the center of Gu Shen’s forehead, which was the fire of hope that could create miracles. Nothing he did would be surprising.

"Are you... seeing something from the stars?" Chu Ling asked, moving closer out of curiosity.

"Shh... I’m divining right now."

Gu Shen shifted his shoulders, raised his palm higher, signaling Chu Ling to come closer still.

Chu Ling rested her head on the spot on Gu Shen’s shoulder, and following the direction of his raised arm, the star framed in his palm was an ordinary one... She knew, in fact, that the Four Seasons Wilderness was a fictional Spiritual Domain, and everything here was false. Even if Gu Shen had really learned Astrology, it could not be used here.

But she still believed.

"What are you... divining?" Chu Ling whispered very softly, curling up in Gu Shen’s arms like a kitten, afraid of disturbing the divination.

"I’m divining... our future."

The girl looked at Gu Shen in shock and surprise, a flush spreading across her chubby cheeks like a flying blush.

Gu Shen spoke calmly, "I’m asking the stars... what our sea and this wilderness will look like in the distant future."

Chu Ling tentatively asked, "So... what did the stars say?"

"In the distant future, that sea will be more beautiful, and this wilderness will be more vast... Our future..."

Gu Shen purposefully paused.

He saw Chu Ling just like that, lying in his arms, looking at him attentively and patiently waiting for what followed.

"About our future..."

Gu Shen squinted his eyes and smiled, "That really is a story for the far future. The stars say we have to wait a long time before they will tell us."