Light Fortress
Chapter 293 - 269 Sisters (End)

Chapter 293: Chapter 269 Sisters (End)

Lu Nanzhi left Little Wasteland Mountain.

She did not look back.

The light from the lantern stretched further and further behind her.

As she neared the foot of the mountain, she saw a familiar silhouette standing among the bushes.

Lu Nanjin was wearing a trench coat, its contour at the waist elevated into a bulge by three long and short daggers. She had arrived here at some unknown time and had been standing quietly, not ascending the mountain.

Lan Qie was the ability to control the flow of wind.

Every breeze on Little Wasteland Mountain could be her eyes.

Lu Nanzhi stopped her footsteps.

She looked at her sister and asked softly, "Did you see everything?"

"I saw everything before the lanterns were lit," Lu Nanjin calmly looked at the mountain top, "After that, I could not see anymore."

"Now... the lantern is almost out."

The lady glanced at her sister’s trench coat.

Three daggers.

At this moment, coming with daggers... one need not speak of the intentions.

"Do you still want to go up and take a look?"

"No... no need," Lu Nanjin shook her head and said, "Many things, you don’t have to see with your own eyes to see the truth... I already know the truth, and the rest is not that important."

After ten years of striving, Lan Qie ultimately was not drawn.

After Qin Ye appeared, this dagger would no longer be drawn against Zhao Xilai.

"How did you know?" Lu Nanzhi walked aimlessly along the mountain path, she still did not want to return.

This departure to attend the meeting was a spontaneous decision; she had neither informed South Bay nor Zhou Jiren, and she had specifically instructed Gu Shen and Gu Nanfeng to keep it a secret... all to minimize trouble.

Of course.

Her own sister was also a trouble.

From Nan Jin’s previous behavior, in such scenes of peaceful negotiations, she could possibly have an adverse effect... Since she was determined to attend the meeting, the lady still hoped to resolve the dispute peacefully.

As it turned out.

The turmoil in Da Du ended more peacefully than she had imagined.

And her own sister... was not as "reckless" as she had thought. After the battle with the Angel Envoy ended, Nan Jin restrained herself for the first time, and the second restraint tonight was enough to suggest that perhaps her previous view of her sister was biased.

"Aren’t you forgetting someone sick in bed?"

Lu Nanjin emerged from the woods.

She followed behind her sister... just like many years ago.

The lady was slightly startled then realized... this journey was indeed very hasty, so much that she had neglected the one lying in bed who couldn’t move.

"Ying Ji is alright, isn’t he?"

"Don’t worry... he won’t die." Nan Jin said indifferently, "I visited him in the sickroom, he is severely injured, but fortunately, his spirit is recovering quickly, looking lively as if jumping about... just a bit bored."

"Lively as if jumping about?"

Associating this with the mummified figure lying stiff on the bed, the lady could not connect it with the phrase "lively as if jumping about"...

"Because he is entirely bandaged, he has limited mobility," Lu Nanjin added calmly, "So it’s his eyebrows that are lively as if jumping about."

"...I see."

Is this some kind of a dry joke... As the lady realized, she suddenly felt her sister was somewhat unfamiliar; this was not like the serious young girl she remembered.

But a moment later, she again felt a sense of familiarity.

Long ago.

She and Nan Jin also walked like this in the night breeze on the mountain path, side by side, one leading and the other following, aimlessly chasing the fleeting fireflies... Nowadays, neither the fireflies nor those hands that once led the sisters could be seen.

Perhaps it was because they had been apart for too long; in her memory, the Nan Jin she knew remained only as the girl who clutched a long dagger, defiantly stubborn at the moment of parting, the girl who seemed icy but would cry over a bit of grievance, who after ten years of returning home looked mature and strong enough.

Sometimes, she indeed wished that time had stopped ten years ago.

She had grown into a towering tree, able to provide shade for her sister.

The two walked slowly through the forest, their steps deliberate and their distance no longer that distant, as if they were walking back to a childhood where grass grew tall and orioles sang.

"I’ve gotten back what belonged to Old Lu..."

After a long walk.

After much thought, Lu Nanzhi shared the news calmly, "This should be good news, right?"

"Of course, it is." Lu Nanjin slightly lowered her eyes, "Congratulations on retrieving what is yours."

"It’s not just mine..." the lady furrowed her brow, gently correcting him, "There’s a share for you too in the Hua Zhi shares..."

This was an incredibly vast enterprise, vast enough to be quantified only in astronomical figures.

"You know what I mean... Years ago, you no longer needed to worry about these things. Compared to money, you have nobler ideals, grander ambitions." Lu Nanjin spoke earnestly, congratulating again, "Congratulations on taking over the banner of Hua Zhi and stepping onto a larger battlefield."

The lady was somewhat speechless.

She murmured softly, "Battlefield... that is indeed an apt metaphor."

This banner had already been raised very high.

But it wasn’t high enough, it could go even higher, much higher!

And beyond, lay the new battlefield...

"What about you?" she turned her head to look at her sister, "If you’re tired of life at the Judgement Institute... why not stay in Da Du..."

"Sister, I thought you knew me well."

Before she could finish, Lu Nanjin smiled and shook her head, "I will not stay in Da Du. This place is not suitable for me."

From the moment she gripped the sword, the meaning pursued by her life had changed.

"I have to admit... The me of long ago was really naïve and ridiculous."

Lu Nanjin said softly, "The reason I joined the Judgement Institute without regrets was because I wanted to become a ’Grand Judge’ like my teacher, to crown justice with my own sword... In this way, the grievances of Lion Alley could be vindicated."

"Naïve."

"Really very naïve."

In the long mountain path, the echoes of a girl mocking her past self resounded.

Moonlight spilled over.

The further she walked, the clearer she saw the shadows of those years, being trampled under her feet.

"Justice isn’t above the crown, nor is judgment beneath the sword..."

Layer upon layer of mist was unraveled.

The behind-the-scenes murderer of Lion Alley, apart from the Federation’s investigation team, included Source Tower’s Angel Envoy, and even further back, the Divine Throne of Source Tower... This wasn’t a problem that could be solved by wielding a sword in seclusion for ten years.

"This outcome is already very good." Lu Nanzhi could only offer consolation.

"And what about the person behind the scenes..." Nan Jin asked with a smile, "Has he bled, has he regretted, has he paid the price?"

She was asking about the one seated atop the Sky Divine Throne!

How could a god bleed?

How could a god regret?

"I still need to become stronger, this time... not just for revenge." Lu Nanjin raised her head, her eyes filled with the shocking scene she had witnessed in the old city area.

Countless gusts swirled, Lan Qie twisted into a sharp blade.

Even with just a wooden sword, she could still unleash a grandeur unmatched.

After Gu Nanfeng handed over that sword.

She saw hope.

And saw... the direction of her future.

Lu Nanjin said in a deep voice, "I need... to leave Da Du."

...

...

(End of Volume One, I will write a summary of the volume tomorrow morning.)