si-mexico Chapter 1523 - 775: Always the Same
Chapter 1523 - 775: Always the Same
The beginning was in the sound of cries.
In just a fleeting moment of confusion, the world seemed to become completely different.
When the light of the Lighthouse illuminated Ji Jue at that instant, the burning flames slowly opened like an eye. It awakened from the flames and gazed at him.
Without anger, without compassion, just calm and indifferent, overlooking.
Looking at Ji Jue.
Ji Jue was also looking at him.
Then, those distant cries once again surged in like a tidal wave!
"It's all fucking lies!"
In the chaotic slum, a desperate man shouted at the collectors, grabbing a shovel and swinging it wildly, screaming madly: "You all knew! You knew the water wasn't clean, you knew there was something wrong with the disease, even buying your medicine requires loans from you, owing you money...
I have nothing left! Damn it, nothing left! What more do you want!"
Bam!
"Don't talk nonsense, buddy, no one forced you to borrow money. When you signed the contract, didn't I advise you to think it over carefully!"
The collector's expression turned grim, and his subordinates swarmed in, pressing the indebted man into the mud, pinning him down terribly. An iron rod came down, shattering teeth, bringing forth blood and broken tongue.
"Accept your losses, pay your debts, you personally signed your name, you borrowed the money yourself, even the medicine was lent by us. And now you say you can't repay it, how can it be so simple?"
The collector waved coldly, pointing to the man's rundown shack behind him, "Take it all away."
The crowd surged in, screams of horror and crying children arose, but soon, all sounds disappeared. Only the man in the mud whimpered, struggled futilely, was dragged up, stuffed into a vehicle, and shut in.
Between the dead silent shacks, no one dared to speak. Only the collector flipped a page in his hand, looking at another address.
Next house.
Soon, cries rose up once more.
At the docks, gunfire resounded, and the chaotic crowd suddenly hushed. Under the army's barrels, the futilely resisting ship owners stared at the clearance order before them, trembling, their expressions twitching repeatedly, finally lowering their heads wearily and closing their eyes.
Signing their names on the repayment agreement.
Selling away everything in their future lives.
Or, hysterical rebellion, hit on the head with rubber batons, falling awkwardly to the ground, trodden over, watching helplessly as their final belongings are chained up and handed to a tugboat to be taken away...
More sailors with nowhere to go wandered the streets, looking around blankly, watching as once welcoming smiles turned cold as ice, unreachable.
In a narrow alley, a disheveled man skillfully tied a tourniquet, gritting his teeth, injecting the medicine into his wrist, soon sinking into a dreamy blissful slumber.
In the stench of decomposing Disaster Beast flesh, bent, emaciated poor people curled up in their shacks, gasping and turning over, scratching at their wounds, digging out chunk after chunk of sharp scales, moaning in pain.
Closing their eyes in the dimness, wanting to sleep, but the cries outside grew so noisy.
Someone was shouting hoarsely, roaring.
Madly smashing everything in their hands, wanting to deny everything before them, deny the outcome of this reckless gamble, yet unable to stop the incessant barrage of bad news.
Until the final straw that broke the camel's back, silently fell.
"It's all fake!"
The crazy woman held her dead child, kneeling on the street, crying out desperately, "Those medicines are just flour tablets, completely useless!
They're all liars…"
In her arms, the corpse of the dead infant was covered in scales, face distorted, thick foul liquid seeping from its mouth and nose, maggots crawling out.
Selling all property, wagering all future, even selling herself cheap, the end result was a pill that lacked any effective ingredient.
Just counterfeits compressed from starch and painkillers in low-quality workshops.
"Where's the medicine!"
When the enraged crowd stormed into the workshop, the man hung up was tearful: "The real medicine was long sold off by those beasts… I had no choice, I really had no choice… I was forced into it… I, I didn't…"
"Burn him! Burn him!!"
Faces twisted in anger, completely insane, surged forward, setting the entire workshop ablaze, amid cries the flames spread.
In those crowded shacks, small flames quietly spread, growing, until finally turning the entire sky scarlet with fierce light, thick smoke billowed, shrouding the sun, the roaring sound echoing continuously.
The flame illuminated Ji Jue's eyes.
He saw the grand crowd surging, flooding the streets, angrily waving weapons in their hands, destructively tearing down everything in front.
Riots, riots are spreading.
Toward the splendid City Lord Mansion, toward the seemingly tranquil Upper City District, the crowd surged like boiling, throwing out Molotov cocktails and stones.
Bam!
Flames crossed the array, landed before the Commander, a weak flame crawled to the edge of his boots, extinguished cruelly in mud by the raised boot.
"Open fire."
When the order from the City Lord Mansion came through the intercom, the Commander coldly raised his hand, chopping down!
Thus, gunfire broke out in quick succession, roaring sounds filled the air, blood splattered, the densely packed crowd fell like straw in the wind.
The sounds of roaring and shouting vanished, leaving only screams and wails.
The streets were dyed red with blood, those dirt-covered corpses lay on the ground, their rotting faces still bearing pustules and scar-like scales.
Ji Jue bowed his head, seeing those empty eyes.
Their lips moved as if still talking, but no sound came out, only tearless eyes staring at the sky burnt red, gradually dimming, losing its luster.
In that instant, a desperate shriek sounded.
From amidst the crowd, from the injured and dying, the spreading blood seemed drawn by an invisible force, converging toward the center.
Toward the long-mutated sick...
The dry skin rapidly expanded, flesh writhing as chaotic carapace and scales grew from flesh and gun barrels, broken arms swiftly elongated like tentacles and arms. Exposed bones sprouted sharp barbs.
Mutation and transformation!
Amidst corpse and blood, disfigured mutants rose, their voices shrieking!
On the face lost of human features, only beastly resentment and madness remained, roaring, charging towards the machine guns and soldiers.
Mutations spread like a storm.
Right before Ji Jue.
But this time, those wailing crowds no longer scattered or fled, nor did they retreat in shock as usual...
Instead, they bent down, picked up the weapons on the ground, and followed behind their mutant compatriots, charging toward the resplendent districts!
Like spreading flames, utterly uncontrollable.
Hatred, resentment, pain... Those desperate, reduced to beasts, bloodthirsty and crazed, even as their remaining consciousness and sanity rapidly faded, their crimson eyes were firmly fixed on the highest point.
Loud cries!
They ran wildly, destroying, wielding the force of their pain.
One wave after another, they rushed toward the once-unreachable palace, climbing the walls recklessly, ignoring the barrage of bullets, feasting on those high and mighty nobles.
No matter if they became utterly disfigured mutants, it didn't matter; sacrificing everything, they wanted those people to pay the price!
But, there was no price—
Ji Jue closed his eyes.
Boom!
When the sound of shrill cries broke out amid the mellifluous melodies and dances, someone in the opulent hall frowned, waved expressionlessly.
Then, among the guests, someone wiped their mouth, rose from their seat.
And drew their sword.
The mutant beast, cut in half!
When the light of the Superior emerged from the chaos, all disturbances abruptly stopped; under the blades of the Chosen Ones, the uncontrollable beasts lay dead on the ground.
Carapaces and scales shattered beneath iron and stone, bones and blood burned in flames.
Hatred was meaningless, so were resentment and pain.
Even if reduced to beasts, it meant nothing.
The burning bones turned to char, the wailing crowds scattered once more.
Throughout, the songs and dances never ceased.
Just as always.
"Understood, then clean it up."
The Yamen's Governor listened to the report, interrupted impatiently, waving his hand, "It's just an endless supply anyway, don't waste my time."
He smiled, raised his glass, and toasted the returning guests.
Before Ji Jue's eyes, the songs and dances continued.
This time, no sound interrupted the jubilant melodies, no voices disrupted the feast.
It wasn't even a riot, just some mild disturbance, occurring countless times over the years, not even worth mentioning, no cries to be heard.
Under the suppression of the reorganized military, the crowds were completely dispersed, and the city returned to silence once more, as cartloads of corpses were taken to the incinerators.
The once mournful whimpering crowds were stirred up again.
Rushing to the streets to claim the mercy and compassion from the City Lord, cartons of medicine and expired food appeared in the black market, met with a frenzy.
Ji Jue watched their eager faces, flattering with cash, still bearing bruises and bloodstains,
He saw those dying infected, the mutants in the sewers, the homeless shivering in the cold wind... and many more, many more who dared not step outside, counting how long their household supplies and savings would last.
They accepted reality.
Despairing or numbly bowing their heads, sucking on whatever dew might keep them lingering even a day longer.
Time and time again, countless times before, countless times ahead...
Once innumerable times, and countless times yet to come.
In the distance, smoke rose from the burning corpses.
Rising to the sky reddened by flames.
From start to finish, he saw no abnormalities, no Great Evil, no Destruction, no redemption, nor did he find his enemy.
Only, at some unknown point, he could no longer hear cries.
"Dad said when he comes back, we'll move into a house where we won't freeze." The innocent child looked up, full of curiosity, at the haggard old woman: "Grandma, will it get better in the future?"
In front of the extinguished heater, the pair of muddled eyes lifted blankly, shaking her head: "I don't know."
"Then... will it get worse?"
"I don't know."
She held the bewildered child, nestling together, stroking her yellowed hair, whispering softly: "Probably, it'll be just like now."
"I don't understand what Grandma says."
"When you grow up, you'll understand."
The old woman's expression twitched slightly, unsure whether it was a cry or a laugh, as if devoid of strength, only numbness remaining.
"It's all the same, always the same."
Living is to be taken for granted, suffering is to be taken for granted, enduring is to be taken for granted, and finally, dying is to be taken for granted...
Hasn't it always been this way?
Why be troubled and confused then?
Thus, those hollow eyes opened once more, finally awakening from a series of dreams and fantasies never destined for them, vaguely regarding everything before them.
The final realization came.
Perhaps...
This is just the way the world is.
In the distant darkness, a laughter that waited for decades rang out, uncontrollable.
The final sacrifice, thus offered!
Ji Jue finally saw...
The world sank into silence, like a dead sea, once again ripples emerged.
The bitter sea stirred.
The true corrupt flames belonging to this world were ignited from the Lighthouse!