88: Act II: The Trial

Land of Joy, Central Square.

When the word "Judgment" was indifferently uttered by Gu Yanci, the entire world fell silent.

All sounds ceased, only the suppressed cries of billions of souls, accumulated over countless years, still echoed between heaven and earth.

These mournful cries were the grandest background music at this moment, offering the most sorrowful accompaniment to this long-overdue judgment.

Gu Yanci raised his hand, and the scythe of the eternal elegy moved through the air.

This time, the flowing gray halo on the scythe's blade was no longer mere sadness.

It became deeper, more complex.

Within the halo, besides the billions of weeping faces, scenes of karmic cycles also emerged.

There was the helplessness of good causes leading to bad outcomes.

There was the irony of malice giving rise to good deeds.

There was the distortion of love turning into a cage.

There was the fierce determination of hatred forging protection... The faces of all beings reflected on the scythe's blade transformed into scenes, the most ordinary yet profound moments belonging to "humans."

There were the lamp lights of a mother mending clothes for her child going on a long journey.

There was the companionship of lovers holding hands under the setting sun.

There was the trust of comrades entrusting their backs to each other in desperate situations.

There was the unyielding struggle of ordinary people, however small, when facing natural disasters.

This was "Humanity."

It encompassed all emotions and transcended all emotions.

It was an order, a legacy, a "choice" that, despite enduring countless hardships, still stumbled forward towards light and future.

Precisely because of Humanity's "choice," whether it was "right" or "wrong," "merit" or "fault," or even "good" or "evil," it only presented "actions" and "consequences."

And this was the true meaning of "judgment."

"The second act... is named 'Judgment.'"

"You, in the name of love, committed acts of imprisonment; this is your first crime!"

"You, in the name of protection, committed acts of deprivation; this is your second crime!"

"You, in the name of happiness, committed acts of inhumanity; this is your third crime!"

The moment his words fell, Gu Yanci swung his second strike.

This strike did not cut Su Ke Ke's body, nor did it cut her soul.

It cut the "chain of karma" that the avatar named "Su Ke Ke" had been given since its birth.

Buzz—

The gray scythe blade cut silently.

There was no clash of energy, no annihilation of laws.

Su Ke Ke merely stood still, her body trembling violently.

Her eyes instantly became hollow.

The next second, an endless torrent of "images" rushed into her sea of consciousness like a bursting dam!

She "saw" it.

She saw herself, how she, in the name of "love," wove the "Happiness Field" that covered the entire world.

Then, she "saw" it.

She saw the wife who, under the "Happiness Field," unable to shed a single tear for her deceased husband, ultimately suffered a mental breakdown and self-terminated in an eternal smile.

She "saw" it.

She saw a mother, forced to smile despite her son being "purified," secretly gnawing at her own arm under the covers in the dead of night, using extreme physical pain to fight against the forbidden sorrow.

She "saw" it.

She saw a man who had just lost his daughter, forcibly fitted with an "Eternal Smile Corrector" by the Smile Guard.

His mouth was physically torn, blood mixed with unshed tears swirling in his eyes.

Ultimately, he chose to jump from a tall building, seeking release through a death defined by the "Daily Joy Broadcast" as a "surprise flight."

She "saw" it... She "felt" it... How every "well-intentioned" law she created ultimately led to such "cruel" tragedies.

How every act of "protection" she imposed ultimately turned into such "malicious" harm.

"I... made everyone happy..."

"I... protected Zhang Wei..."

These two absolute directives, imprinted by the main body deep within her existence, clashed fundamentally and irreconcilably with the billions of instances of pain, despair, and hatred she was now personally "feeling" that originated from her!

Her "cause" and the "consequences" she created were forcibly equated under this Scythe of Judgment.

This... was the "perfect happy paradise" I created?

This... was the absolute "happiness" I bestowed upon "her"?

No... that's not right... I just... wanted her to be happy... I just... didn't want to see her suffer in reincarnation anymore... I just... loved her...

Cracks began to appear on Su Ke Ke's avatar's divine body, emitting ominous gray light spots.

Her reason for existence was being denied by herself.

Her underlying logic was being destroyed by herself.

"I was for... her... happiness..."

Her voice began to tremble.

Just a second before her consciousness was about to completely collapse, a fragment of memory, which should not have belonged to her and had never been given by the main body, quietly surfaced...

It was a warm, sunny afternoon.

The cicadas outside the window chirped noisily and long.

In a high school classroom, a fan slowly spun overhead.

A girl in a blue and white school uniform was lying on her desk, poking another girl's back with some annoyance.

"Wei Wei, don't sleep, I still can't do this math problem."

The girl called "Wei Wei" slowly lifted her head, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

She wasn't angry about being disturbed; she just smiled helplessly and took the practice book.

"Ke Ke, you're such a dummy. Look, you should use this formula first here..."

Sunlight streamed through the window, scattering onto their fluffy hair, coating it with a golden halo.

At that time, Zhang Wei was Zhang Wei.

She would cry, she would laugh, she would be troubled by math problems she couldn't solve.

At that time, Su Ke Ke was Su Ke Ke.

She would act spoiled, she would be lazy, she would rely on her best friend.

They were not the Joy Empress, nor the God of Calamity.

They were just two ordinary high school girls, sharing a single popsicle and dreaming of the future.

The memory scenes flashed quickly.

Bicycles after school, street vendor skewers, the playground at dusk... Finally, it settled on an evening.

The two sat side by side on the riverbank, watching the distant sunset dye the sky a brilliant orange-red.

"Wei Wei, do you think the sunrise is more beautiful than the sunset?"

"Hmm? Why do you ask?"

"Because after sunset comes night, but after sunrise, it's a brand new day! Full of hope!"

"That... seems to make some sense. Then... shall we go watch the sunrise together tomorrow? We'll go to the mountain top in the east!"

"Okay! It's a deal!"

Su Ke Ke, in her school uniform, extended her pinky finger to Zhang Wei beside her.

"Pinky swear, for a hundred years, no changing!"