Chapter 28: The Sun

Death, no matter which world it occurs in, is always something that evokes both immense fear and deep sorrow. In this place without light, that fear is even more profound: aside from the faith in the lighthouse and prayers, the people here have no other means to change or delay the approach of death.

Li Le curled her fingers, recalling the death mist that clung to her like maggots to bone, obedient yet sinister, and her eyes flickered with wild, unsettling thoughts. If that mist could corrupt and drag people down—what if she could control it? Could she strip away the corruption, and use it to save others?

A sudden flash of insight struck Li Le, and with it, a question she had neglected for so long surfaced in her mind: Something isn't right!

Very wrong, in fact.

If she remembered correctly, Brother Bai had said that the natives here too were susceptible to the mist's erosion...

But then—where were those people who had been corrupted by the mist?

Li Le desperately tried to recall her time within the death mist, the corpses she passed by, but the more she remembered, the more terrified she became.

Because those bodies—

They all wore the attire of her own world!

She had never seen a corpse clad in coarse linen, ragged shirts—never the burly men of this city...

So what about the bodies of the people from the city? What about the living dead? Were their bodies taken back to their original city?

No, no, it’s not impossible!

Li Le swallowed hard, struggling to steady her nerves.

If... if those bodies were truly taken back to the city...

Then... where would they most likely be placed?

Her whole body grew stiff, her mind nearly frozen, but her body was already reacting. With a gaze bordering on horror, she slowly turned to look toward the city’s center.

The lighthouse?

Is it the lighthouse?

It must be... beneath the lighthouse.

After all, the lighthouse could restrain the mist’s corruption...

If all those corrupted by the mist were indeed placed there, wouldn’t that be the most reasonable thing?

And then, that so-called “exchange” at the center, separated entirely from the inner city... surely it wasn’t just a simple marketplace...

At the very least—it could not possibly be merely a trading post...

But... if that were so, as more people died in the city and the place grew ever larger;

If one day the lighthouse reached its limit, lost its power to suppress the mist, wouldn’t the whole city become a dead city?

How would the people withstand an assault by the living dead?

Would her Brother Bai, Lie, and all the mist dwellers survive? Would she have to wander endlessly within the death mist again?

She would surely go mad, spending so long in that silent, icy shroud.

“...Sister... Sister, what are you looking at?” Lie blinked, his voice pulling Li Le back from her dreadful imaginings.

Li Le tugged at the corner of her mouth, forcing a self-mocking smile. “Nothing really, perhaps I’m just overthinking…”

Was it truly just her imagination?

Deep inside, a quiet voice questioned her.

Li Le shivered, turning to see Lie’s face, filled with concern and vibrant life, and only then did she feel a faint sense of being alive.

“Come, let me hold you a little longer,” Li Le said, almost wistfully, as she embraced Lie. Her hood slipped back, revealing locks of fragrant black hair.

“…Sister, what’s wrong? You were fine just a moment ago…” Lie asked softly.

He tilted his head slightly, catching a glimpse of her profile, and the half-closed eyes shimmering with tears.

Li Le’s eyes stung, her voice hoarse. “It’s nothing, Lie. Do you know? I just want to bask in the sun…”

Lie cocked his head, puzzled. “…Sun…? What is that? Can I help you find it?”

“No… you can’t… Lie, I might never see it again.” Li Le held him close, her tears falling, soaking his shirt.

Never in her previous life had she imagined the sun, so taken for granted, would become so precious—so precious that she fought to remember that single ray of light, the feeling of its burning warmth upon her skin.

Lie’s hands slowly wrapped around Li Le, and his youthful voice sounded solemn in her ear:

“Sister, don’t cry. Tell me, what is the sun like? I’ll help you find it.”

“If I can’t find it now, I’ll help you look in the future. I’ll grow stronger, and I’ll search the death mist for it. I’ll definitely find it for you.”

Li Le’s fingers curled, as if burned by the warmth of his words. She half-opened her eyes, turned to look at Lie’s face so close, and said, with a touch of sadness:

“The sun is a great, eternal lighthouse hanging in the sky… whenever it shines, its brilliant light illuminates the whole world… all the death mist vanishes, all the shadows disappear…”

“That warmth passes on and on…”