Light Fortress
Chapter 294 - 1 Mountain Rain

Chapter 294: Chapter 1 Mountain Rain

Light rain.

A gentle, persistent drizzle.

Above the barren hill, fine rain threads, as soft as down, floated, falling on the thick fabric of umbrellas and pooling on the dimly mirrored ground where the water reflected the world above, crowded with people in black.

Since the planning of the old city district, this desolate wild had never garnered any attention, and it had never been as bustling as it was today.

Hundreds of people gathered here, from the foothill to the hilltop.

The board of the Flower Banner, the high-ranking officials of South Bay, the Transcendents of the Sincere Heart Association from northern and southern Beitang, officials from Da Du District, and people of certain status and position in Dadu District were all present here today.

A line of black cars parked at the base of the hill, appearing from a distance, in the heavy rain, like a dormant black dragon.

The attire for the climb was uniform; everyone wore solemn black formal wear.

Despite the large crowd, the small barren hill remained quiet.

The order was strict.

No one spoke, and no voices were heard.

Opposite the crowd, solemn and imposing, stood two frail wooden steles, ready to fall with a blow of wind.

One was inscribed with: An ordinary group, Lu Cheng.

The other: A man of ambition, Zhao Xilai.

The wording on this wooden stele was the final insistence of Mr. Zhao... To him, being buried on this little barren hill was the fulfillment of his last wish.

On this tombstone, apart from the names, no further introduction was necessary.

In his lifetime, he had experienced countless battles, bathed in much blood, and what he ultimately established was not just a tombstone after death... As long as the flag of the Flower Banner still flew, then everything he had done was worthwhile.

Ambitions, dreams, pursuits, aspirations... All of him was buried there.

This place was merely a resting place after death.

Zhao Qi knelt long before the wooden stele and did not rise; he had refused an umbrella. He had arrived here before the funeral officially began and had maintained this posture for hours... No one knew what this sole heir of the Zhao family was thinking at the moment; one could only faintly see Mr. Zhao’s silhouette trembling indistinctly amidst the rain threads, his cheeks covered in a mix of what could hardly be discerned as rain or tears.

Chen San held an umbrella over his wife.

Lu Nanzhi wore a simple and plain black coat over a black dress, and even beneath a thin veiled hat, it was visible that her expression was somewhat haggard and her eyes were slightly reddened.

...

...

Gu Shen held an umbrella, standing in a secluded corner on the summit of the barren hill, silently watching the solemn and grand funeral.

Chu Ling was gazing at the scene too, connected through the Spiritual Link.

The handover ceremony for the reserve member of Dadu’s council had been completed smoothly... In the final moments, Flower Banner had given up the "struggle," and the old man’s resignation had made many people breathe a sigh of relief behind closed doors, deeply feeling fortunate.

Fortunate that Dadu was still peaceful, not facing stormy weather.

Nowadays, Lu Nanzhi was the most dazzling figure in Dadu District, without a peer, as the old man’s will was announced after his death... She had obtained the full inheritance rights while Zhao Qi only received 1% of the shares in the vast Zhao Family enterprise, which was entrusted to Cui Zhongcheng to manage in a trust fund. He could neither withdraw nor use it but received a certain amount annually as "living expenses" to secure his life.

Of course, it was still an astronomical figure... But to lay claim to the trust fund, the price was to go to North Continent and enter the Fortress to start from the lowest level.

Lu Nanzhi had become the third official councilor of Dadu.

But now, Dadu was once again left with only two councilors.

"After a person dies... where does the soul go?"

Chu Ling pondered for a long time and then asked this question.

As she spoke, she sat in the carriage of triple zero; the pages had no answers about life or death, the machines couldn’t feel pain, nor could they comprehend the meaning of death... She could only seek answers from Gu Shen.

Gu Shen smiled, "Grandma told me, good people go to heaven, bad people go to hell."

Chu Ling seemed thoughtful.

"Heaven... Hell..." she murmured, "What are those places?"

"One is a very clean Pure Land, while the other is a place where evil ghosts are imprisoned," Gu Shen patiently explained, "No one has seen them; they are only heard of through rumors."

"Will Zhao Xilai go to heaven?" Chu Ling thought again.

"Hmm..."

Considering what the elder had done, although he did not know what he had done during his lifetime, Gu Shen still honestly replied, "Perhaps not."

Good and evil, righteousness and wickedness... Those aren’t things one can summarize in a word or a sentence.

A person’s life is so long, so very long.

"A very clean Pure Land... is it like the Four Seasons Wilderness?" Chu Ling asked again, causing Gu Shen to pause.

Gathering the lost souls who have nowhere to go.

Collecting the chaotic, spreading essence.

It sounds quite a bit like heaven... Gu Shen couldn’t help but smile and said, "By that account, the Four Seasons Wilderness should actually be hell, and someone like Tie Wu probably can’t go to heaven."

She tilted her head and thought for a long time.

Chu Ling said, "Then... what about me?"

"If one day I die... where will my soul go?"

Gu Shen hadn’t expected the young girl to ask such a question.

"Will I die... and what does death feel like?"

Attending a mortal funeral for the first time, even just through a Spiritual Link and observing through Gu Shen’s perspective... Chu Ling still felt a very strong sense of empathy.

As an AI that has absorbed countless pieces of knowledge,

she had the world’s largest database and the most rational logic. She knew the definition of death, knew about funeral customs in different regions, but didn’t know... what death feels like.

At the beginning of a mortal’s existence, once there is a thought, it can be called "living."

So... she, too, is "living" now.

At the end of a mortal’s existence, when all is extinguished, that is "death."

Zhao Xilai will die.

Of course, she will die too.

What will the arrival of that day be like?

It seems like an issue that cannot be resolved even if computed for ten thousand years.

There are some flavors in this world that can only be understood through personal experience, through first-hand taste.

"If that day comes... I hope I can go to a clean place, like the place where I was born," Chu Ling thought for a while, then closed the book on her lap, gave up on the futile calculations and thinking, and softly laughed, "Hmm... the term you used is quite apt, Pure Land. I hope I can go to a Pure Land, whether it is heaven or hell doesn’t matter."

She was born in the deepest layer of the Deep Sea.

There was nothing there, completely empty, utterly dark.

To say that it was hell might not be too far-fetched... Endless loneliness and solitude, isn’t that the greatest torment?

If to die.

To extinguish everything.

Just like closing one’s eyes, losing all thought... then going to a vacant Pure Land and returning to Chaos might also be a good ending?