Chosen: Beyond Fate

Still confused, Ji Jue asked, “But why me? If you really wanted to donate, wouldn’t it have been better to use your own name?”

Chen Xingzhou offered a mocking smile directed at himself. “If it were me, even if I donated the money, I still wouldn’t receive this kind of treatment. The Bishop told me that if I wanted to truly earn something fair and honorable, money alone wouldn’t do it. He asked whether I could do more good deeds in the future. I can’t. I’m probably destined to do dirty work for the rest of my life. But at the very least, Yubo can live a respectable life...”

A heartfelt smile spread across his face as he looked at Ji Jue. “Thank you, Ji Jue. Because of your donation, nine charitable hospitals have already introduced new medical equipment. Next, the Radiant Church will use this money to promote a new vaccination program across all of Haizhou. Those shares will be held long-term by the Church, and every dividend earned from them will provide long-term dialysis treatment for people who otherwise could never afford it. From this day forward, you will always be a friend of the Radiant Church.”

Ji Jue fell silent, lowering his head to look at the badge in his hand.

Less than a week of protection had somehow earned him such an enormous reward. Even though he had never considered keeping that money for himself and would not have accepted it even if Chen Xingzhou had offered it directly, he still felt genuine joy at this gift Chen Xingzhou had given him.

But behind such an enormous donation, what kind of price had been hidden? And what exactly did this count as? Compensation?

Ji Jue smiled. He did not put on some melodramatic act of refusal or hesitation. Calmly and openly, he slipped the badge into his pocket before asking, “Since I saved your little brother, aren’t you a bit stingy? This small token of gratitude doesn’t prevent us from becoming enemies.”

Chen Xingzhou pressed a hand against the wheelchair’s armrest and straightened his back, expression turning serious. “This is probably a pointless question, but I still want to ask, anyway. Any interest in joining the Wasteland Assembly? The boss changes every ten years. With your abilities, it might be effortless for you. No, perhaps with you around, I might not even be able to keep my seat for the full ten years.”

Ji Jue waved dismissively. “Sorry, not interested at all. You can keep that kind of thing and play with it yourself.”

The rain had stopped. It was time to leave. He had taken leave for too many days already. There were still plenty of things waiting for him to do. It was already noon. If he moved quickly enough, he could still swing by and pick up the youngest child and the others from school on the way.

And so, without the slightest attachment or hesitation, Ji Jue turned around and left.

Crystal-clear droplets dripped from the eaves overhead, while beyond the distant gates, the coastline shimmered with sparkling waves, dazzling to the eye. Even the wind rushing toward him felt fresh and invigorating. The sound of the tides surged on, unchanged as ever, just like that distant, lingering resonance from half a month ago.

Outside the cemetery gates, Ji Jue turned back for one last glance at the elusive truth.

The beginning of it all, the start of this bloody storm, had originated from Chen Xingzhou’s younger brother, Chen Yubo, being attacked by Lei Yaoxing. Soon, word had spread that Lei Wuye was critically ill and on the verge of death.

But what had caused that attack in the first place? A bizarre bet, a sports car enthusiast who never dared drive over eighty, a rich second-generation kid[1] being used as a pawn, a woman who had vanished without a trace, and Ji Jue, an unlucky bastard who had been accidentally dragged into the mess through outsourced work.

So Chen Xingzhou, targeted where it hurt the most, openly turned against Lei Yaoxing, tearing open the curtain on the chaos to come.

But...

A few insignificant lackeys and a sniper? Could such tiny figures really have been responsible for pulling open the curtain on everything? If the goal was an attack, why wait until the finish line? Wouldn’t tossing a rock onto the road midway have been easier?

If they wanted reliability, wouldn’t it have been simpler to just spray bullets into the crowd and kill everyone outright? And if Ji Jue had really stood back and done nothing back then, would that shot actually have hit its mark?

And the mysterious woman whose actions in the club had indirectly triggered everything, where had she gone with that lingering perfume scent of hers?

Why had Lei Wuye’s health suddenly deteriorated? From being strong and vigorous, he was barely clinging to life within only a few months. Why had Lei Yaoxing gone further and further astray until he opposed everyone around him? Why had this funeral happened at such a perfect time? And that bullet fired at Chen Xingzhou, unnoticed by all, unblocked by all, launched with such absurdly masterful marksmanship, whose hand had it come from?

There were too many mysteries. With time, they had already become impossible to trace or verify. As the new boss took power, everything would gradually be buried beneath dust, alongside all those who knew too much, forever entombed underground.

Ji Jue could not help imagining: if it had been him, if he had stood in their shoes, what would he have done?

The answer was that there was no answer. Just like at this very moment, some endings were destined to have no answers.

So he’d let it end here, as there was no need to dig any deeper. This was the outcome everyone could accept. For Ji Jue, apprentice craftsman, the turmoil within Cliff City’s underworld had already come to an end. Whatever happened afterward no longer had anything to do with him.

The world he belonged to did not lie within this wilderness.

“Farewell, White Deer.” Ji Jue turned back, gazing toward the surging seawater below the roadside embankment.

From the tide’s reflection, the White Deer stood in the distant wilderness, watching over everything, including survival, hunting, competition, and death. The chaotic and cruel panorama of the wilds—from beginning to end, the White Deer had witnessed it all. But was the White Deer truly the only witness?

The young man bidding farewell to the wilderness lifted his head. And finally, he saw it.

Above the heavens loomed an immense manifestation that blanketed the mortal world and encompassed all creation. It was vast beyond form, supreme beyond image, boundless as the sea and rising like flame. It resembled an endless road stretching ever upward, advancing toward heights beyond heights.

It had been watching him silently from the start, as though it had been waiting for him for a very long time.

For a fleeting moment, the mortal world fell silent. Beneath the cemetery eaves, the lingering raindrops fell and shattered among fresh green shoots, faint glimmers emerging within them.

The conversations within the hall ceased abruptly. As if sensing something, everyone turned to look back toward the distant heavens.

Tong Ting lifted his gaze, sighing in realization. “Supreme Resonance? I never expected that one to show such favor toward a craftsman. I thought it would be the White Deer instead.”

Mr. Lin shook his head regretfully. “What a pity. Supreme Benevolence flows through all things. Hunters and beasts pursue prey and wilderness alike, but even within the wilderness, sentient beings may still give rise to the desire to transcend, the will to climb higher...”

The elder of the Radiant Church gazed upon that vast ascending presence and smiled softly. “Even all of you here, do you not also harbor the desire to rise?”

Ambition and ideals had always been one and the same. The countless phenomena of the mortal world were all born from this. Some people say humanity evolved from apes. Perhaps the very instant an ape first conceived the thought of standing upright, that simple desire had already doomed the world to become the chaos and madness it is today.

This desire for transcendence had nothing to do with good or evil, nobility or lowliness, morality or status. The moment a beast gazed upon the world before it and, after fear and confusion, gave birth to longing, the world’s first primate was born. All things within the mortal realm originated from that primordial desire to transcend. This was the origin of the soul.

“So... this is where you are?”

Amid the sound of the tides, the young man who had turned away from the White Deer and walked onward let out a quiet sigh. He raised his hand toward the sky and grasped that brilliant stream of light descending from the heavens!

For a single moment, it felt as though countless phantoms came roaring toward him like a tidal wave. They were everything that had once been, every past version of Ji Jue.

The babbling infant reaching out to grab a toy, the survivor of flames crawling from the ruins with tears streaming down his face, the ragged young laborer lowering his head and gritting his teeth as he carried bricks, the fortunate applicant receiving a wrench from Mrs. Lu, the student walking proudly through the gates of Tianmen University, the unwilling soul rising from nightmare and returning once more to the mortal world, the Chosen One of Ember Path crowned with the Edge of Revolution swinging down a single sword strike...

And now, at this very moment, the craftsman bathed in the sea breeze once again lifted his gaze toward the blazing sun and the heavens above.

Starting with the Ji Jue of the past and stretching to the Ji Jue of the present, the single thread continued unbroken through the remnants of time. Though their ages, identities, and circumstances all seemed completely different, in another sense, they had never changed at all.

Before this, all living beings in the world were no different from one another.

Even on the verge of death, Lei Wuye still wanted to cling tightly to power. Chen Xingzhou, after falling to rock bottom, swore he would rise above the masses. Lei Yaoxing, after years of waiting, wanted to seize control of everything.

Those unwilling to remain insignificant longed to climb higher and take the stage. Even if their appearances and identities differed completely, the force driving them all came from the same source. The poor craved wealth, the weak yearned for strength, those with nothing hungered for power, those dissatisfied with reality turned toward ideals.

Even while drowning in the mire, unable to free themselves, they still refused to give up and insisted on lifting their heads. And when they gazed at the sky, they could not help but long to... touch the stars!

Once such a thought appeared in the mind, it became impossible to forget. And so, the desire to climb only burned brighter and brighter until it could no longer be stopped.

That was how the frogs at the bottom of the well yearned for the distant light above them, and how trapped beasts sunk in mud instinctively struggled toward the mountains. They struggled desperately, climbing ever upward.

Beyond dangerous peaks could be even higher peaks. Beyond the heavens, perhaps there was another heaven still. But, so long as unreachable heights continued to exist in this world, this desire to transcend would never disappear.

This was... Ascension!

***

You Have One New Notification

Federation Cliff City Catastrophe Defense Bureau V

2 minutes ago via Tianyu P3 Deluxe Client

Due to abnormal meteorological changes within the Uncharted Sea, a massive storm has been detected forming and is expected to make landfall within the Federation today. A Red Warning has been issued.

Starting today, the entire Cliff City region will experience heavy storms for the next two to three days, with localized thunderstorms, hail, and other severe weather conditions. Citizens are advised to reduce unnecessary outings and take proper safety precautions.

The city’s administrative agencies will suspend operations starting today and are expected to resume normal functioning tomorrow or the day after. Those who need to handle official matters are advised to check the relevant updates posted by Safe Cliff City in a timely manner.

—— Cliff City Catastrophe Defense Bureau

Comments:

└@bloomingflowers_fullmoon: I support Cliff City and the municipal government’s decision!

└@peaceandlove: Hope the storm passes quickly. Everyone please stay safe~

└@bannedaccount: What are you even talking about? You shut everything down and take a holiday just because of a little thunderstorm? The useless people in the city government should just hang themselves.

└@quju: Supporting Cliff City, wishing everyone stays safe~

└@22 (Muted): North Mount’s gonna flood again, huh? That idiot governor’s already been replaced four times. The damn drainage system’s been “under repair” for eight years, it floods every year like clockwork. Just how much did they embezzle?

└@bannedaccount: When is Xu Chaoxian finally going to die?

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1. “Rich second generation” usually refers to children of wealthy families who inherit large fortunes from their parents. ☜