Capítulo 1239: Chapter 101: Qiaxike Has No Gravestone
Ti seems to have slowed down.
The shells “slowly” reach their peak in the air and “slowly” fall down.
“Let’s make a deal.”
The figure shrouded in countless black mists stands before the floor-to-ceiling window, turning around after witnessing the volley of artillery fire.
Gu Shen turns his back to the artillery and faces the girl.
He whispers, “I’ll help you… take them out. Not just in the Dream, but in the real world, the kind of ‘take out’ where they can’t escape anywhere. I will fill this nightmare for you.”
“Deal…”
The girl looks bewilderedly at the black mist.
A dazed voice echoes in the chapel.
“This word isn’t quite right, let think…”
Gu Shen rubs his temples, wondering if it’s the influence of the Netherworld King’s Spark, as he finds himself using the word ‘deal.’
“You don’t have to change the word, I know what ‘deal’ ans.”
The young girl’s deanor suddenly turns determined, “I agree. What do you need to do?”
“I need you to…”
Gu Shen smiles, “Beco my [Angel Envoy].”
Angel Envoy?
The girl is montarily stunned.
“You don’t need to rush to agree.”
Gu Shen says calmly, “First, observe my sincerity.”
Gu Shen stands up.
In an instant, his spiritual power is completely unleashed, reaching the entire edge of Mu Wanqiu’s Dream!
Gu Shen’s “vision” encompasses the entire chapel, along with the Snow Forest extending for ten miles around. He sees Lin’s Guard Army, traveling with “external armor,” outside the Snow Forest, and spots a familiar face, Lu Zhe, the future pillar of the Investigation Corps, who is now still a youthful-looking young man.
This group is racing through the Snow Forest.
Because of his influence, the tiline has shifted slightly…
Their arrival ti is sowhat delayed.
“Sorry, the ‘highlight scene’ of this dream is mine.”
Gu Shen softly chants in his heart.
In the next mont.
Frozen ti returns to normal.
Shells fly through the air, the chapel’s floor-to-ceiling glass windows shatter, but only because soone purposely struck them. In an instant, Gu Shen leaps out, stepping on the stone pillar to ascend the arch, and with a series of whip kicks in just a tenth of a second, he soars into the sky.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom——”
Fiery light erupts above the chapel.
All these shells are prematurely detonated, countless wisps of vapor shattering. The Holy Judges watching from a distance are puzzled; by all logic, the shells haven’t yet reached the chapel. How were they detonated?
And in the next mont.
The white horse neighs, suddenly raising its front half.
“?!”
As Bishop Qu’s expression freezes, dread floods his heart. In the instant the shells detonate, another figure suddenly appears behind him. Gu Shen appears ghostlike within the Holy Judge Army’s formation, nonchalantly seated behind Bishop Qu, pulling on the reins with one hand while calmly saying, “I rember your face.”
Gu Shen gently draws his two fingers across, and a line of blood appears at the neck of the Archbishop in the red robe.
“Bishop!”
“Bishop!!”
The scene unfolds so eerily, the Holy Judges have no ti to react when the towering steed collapses with a crash, and Gu Shen slides backward, clutching this long Chi Huo filant… “tailoring” through the Holy Judge Army.
This is the gift he presents to Mu Wanqiu.
The greeting gift should be impressive.
Muddy ground flies up.
While Gu Shen remains spotless.
The Holy Judges, clad in Light Holy Robe and riding white steeds, are cut down, “n and horses overturned,” amidst the thunder of exploding shells by Gu Shen alone. One by one, he slays them as if slicing through lons, though this massacre holds little aning beyond his need to fulfill a promise. Therefore, Gu Shen morizes every face in this dreamscape.
These faces are so vivid.
It is because Mu Wanqiu conducted an investigation after the events.
Everything within the nightmare.
She rembers clearly.
And after everything concludes.
Gu Shen returns to the chapel.
From beginning to end, it seems only a second has passed, as the artillery bursting behind Gu Shen is like fireworks, with only a few scattered embers falling to the ground. The impact waves, like waves crashing against a cliff, “slowly” shatter the chapel’s floor-to-ceiling glass.
“You… who are you?”
Mu Wanqiu’s true mories begin to awaken at this mont.
Her head aches.
She tries to focus on “Gu Shen,” but no matter how hard she tries, she can’t see clearly, only vaguely sensing that the “humanoid” shrouded in black mist is very familiar…
“I am…”
Gu Shen lightly smiles.
“The Netherworld King.”
Artillery erupts, countless fragnts of glass burst inside the chapel.
The shockwave howls in.
Flocks of crows scream.
The Holy Cross collapses.
Gu Shen takes a step forward, spreading his arms wide.
The girl stares blankly at the broad figure before her, the firelight from the shells engulfing him. This scene overlaps almost completely with the imagery in the dream—
…
…
Qiaxike Town no longer exists after the war ended.
This town has been trampled many tis.
The Frontier has been ravaged by war, with many refugees displaced, choosing to embark on long journeys from their hos…
There are no people left.
Naturally, the town no longer exists.
The whistle blasts.
The steam train stops at the Northern Continent Border.
The little girl holds Aunt Ai’s hand, slowly walking toward the holand in the dream. It’s a rare sunny day, the sky cloudless, and the snow reflecting crystal-clear warm light.
The two of them look at the soil that is both strange and familiar, stunned and dazed, unsure of where to go next.
“What? Don’t recognize it?”
A fellow traveler on the train, an old man, sees their reaction and laughs, “I can tell you haven’t been back in a long ti. The Third Legion has been here… They rebuilt after the war, reconstructed houses, and re-planned the land. This area is now incorporated into ‘Ussuriisk County,’ and according to the new policy, it’s now ‘Wu County South.’
“But we still like to call it ‘Qiaxike’…”
He pauses and laughs, “The people from before are still here, how could the town not be?”
“We… ca to pay our respects.”
Aunt Ai speaks softly.
The old man nods, the smile on his face fading significantly. He extends a withered hand, takes their luggage without a word, and whispers, “I guessed as much… Co, I’ll show you the way.”
The wind rises.
Dried grass debris brushes against the girl’s face.
She gazes in the direction of the wind to see layers of shattered grasses beneath the snow, stubbornly growing.
Soon enough.
They arrive at an empty little hill.
There’s nothing there.
No tombstone, no burial mound, no wooden sign.
“This is it.”
The old man points to the silent mourners in the distance and murmurs, “Whoever you want to commorate, do it here.”
Aunt Ai asks in surprise, “Where’s the graveyard… the cetery?”
“There was never a graveyard. Too many died, and there wasn’t enough space. They were just burned all at once. Many warriors in the legion don’t even have headstones, let alone us…”
The old man shakes his head, rasping, “But in a way, it’s good. It ans you left early… This godforsaken place has been through much more after that. So now it’s like this, all the lost souls gathered in one place. When I die, I can join the crowd here too.”
“Recently, I heard the noble of the Third Legion say that after fighting for six years, they’ve finally taken Central City. Her Majesty will build a large cetery there, modeled after East Continent’s ‘Qingzhong’…”
He chuckles, “I won’t have the chance, but you might go see it for if you have ti.”
The snow on the hill is swept clean.
Wild grass flutters.
So co, and so go.
A large oak tree grows here, adorned with wind chis, letters, and nurous wish papers. Though the war flas consud Qiaxike, it didn’t scorch this old tree… Many of Qiaxike’s children grew up protected under this great tree.
Aunt Ai clutches the “Jade Talisman” hanging from her chest.
She softly murmurs a couple of sentences, then makes up her mind, taking it off to hang among the many wish papers.
The breeze blows, making the wind chis sway.
Snowflakes drift across the tree, countless wishes jingling.
Qiaxike has no tombstones.
This town has endured too much death.
After this, only new life remains.
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