Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

The ghost of the little girl entangled Wan Zanghai and hugged the old man who had one foot in hell. Her questions dissected the souls of Wan Zanghai like a shining lancet, making the lips of the leader of the civilization of mankind and the commander-in-chief of the coalition fleet tremble. Her eyes were cloudy, and she was rendered speechless.

“Why didn’t you bring us?”

“Why didn’t you bring us?”

“Why didn’t you bring us?”

The ghost of the little girl did not notice anything wrong with the old man. She was still asking innocently.

“…I’m sorry, Bai Linger. I’m sorry.”

Wan Canghai trembled and extended his twisted hands, trying to hold his sister’s ghost. However, translucent ripples of life slid off his fingertips like white, smooth sand.

“I was wrong. I was really wrong!”

Wan Canghai sobbed. “It doesn’t matter how you want to take revenge on me. Come on, Bai Ling’er. Take my soul away and bury it with you on Earth forever!”

“Revenge?”

The ghost of the little girl was somewhat confused. “What are you talking about, brother? What ‘revenge’?”

“You…”

Wan Canghai was not sure. His eyes were full of confusion, and his hands were waving crazily. “Are you a real person, or are you just a figment of my imagination before I die? Are you the real Bai Ling’er, or are you the trauma in the deepest part of my memory? I don’t care if you are real or not. I don’t care if you are a human being or a ghost. Don’t—don’t torture me anymore. Come on. I’m ready for the final trial. It doesn’t matter where I end up or how I end up. Bai Ling’er, and all the people who are waiting to die on Earth. Come on. It doesn’t matter what you want to do to me. Come on!”

Wan Zanghai closed his eyes. Tears were flowing out of his eyes.

However, what greeted him was not cruel revenge but his sister’s confused voice. “I—I don’t know. We don’t know. Brother, save us.”

“What?”

Wan Canghai opened his eyes again and saw the ghost of his sister, who was as innocent and helpless as the little girl a hundred years ago.

“We don’t know what we are, either.

The ghost of the little girl extended her hand, but the ripples of life on her fingertips were wreathed in intense flames, which seemed to be bringing her endless pain and fear. “Not long after the starship left, a very intense light fell from the sky. Everything was burning furiously. The mountains, the ocean, the cities, the villages, and every one of us. Even deep inside our souls, flowers of flames were blossoming.

“Then, I can’t explain it clearly. We turned into weird things. We seemed to have no bodies, but we seemed to be able to manipulate everything. We seemed to be dead, but our senses were much more abundant than before. We could see a lot of waves and magnetic fields that we could not see in the past, but we seemed to be missing a lot of important knowledge and memories. I seemed to be Bai Ling’er again, but I also seemed to be many other people, thousands of people who had been left on Earth.

“Brother, I’m so scared. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I don’t know how long I can maintain this state. One day, I will vanish into thin air and die completely!”

“Don’t be scared, Bai Linger. I need to think. I need to think!”

In a trance, Wan Zanghai extended his finger and touched Ghost’s. He mumbled, “Then how did you catch up to us? Is—is it true?”

“The migrating starships left a long trace when they were sailing in the sea of stars. It was impossible for us to notice it when we were alive. But right now, we can see it as clearly as the tire tracks.

The ghost of the little girl said, “After we became what we are right now, we are no longer scared of the vacuum of the universe. It took us more than a hundred years to catch up to us with the help of solar storms and various magnetic field rays. Thankfully, we made it in time. Brother is still alive. Please save us, brother. You are our only hope. Everybody believes in you. You are the only one who can figure out our status and get us out of trouble. We—we don’t want to die. We want to live!”

“Believe… me?”

Wan Canghai was too ashamed to show his face.

“Of course, everyone believes that I am a good person.”

The ghost smiled sweetly. “In the beginning, when we were still in the village, everybody knew that you were warmhearted, kind, and willing to help other people. You were completely different from the other devils in the desert. Later, you also established a water cleaning company and helped everybody in the desert find a clean water source. You also facilitated the reconciliation between the devil race and the Underground Clan. I don’t know how many lives you saved! Brother, just like in the past, please save us again. You can do it. We believe in you.”

“Save? Believe?”

Wan Canghai was dazed for a long time. Looking at his body that was as thin as wood, he said in pain, “I need to think. I need to think hard.”

“Ding!”

The door was opened. The medical team had entered and performed regular treatment and maintenance on him.

Wherever the lights shone, the ghost of the little girl disappeared without a trace, as if it were really just an illusion of the old man’s death.

…

From that day on, the ghost of the little girl often appeared.

It sounded like a whisper in the wind, or a whisper in one’s ear, or a chuckle that seemed to come from the desert hundreds of years ago.

No. Not just the little girl. There were many other ghosts.

The civilians and the civilians who had once received the favor of the Thousand Treasures Sea, the beneficiaries of the ‘Global Water Clearing Plan’ and the ‘Great Harmony of the Demons and the Underground Clan’, the simple and kind people still remembered the things that the Thousand Treasures Sea had done to save their civilization, but they did not remember, or rather, did not care, about the betrayal and abandonment of the Thousand Treasures Sea at all. With a smile on their faces, they regarded the Thousand Treasures Sea as their last hope.

Even if Wan Zanghai cried bitterly and told the truth to the kind ghosts, the ghosts would understand it very well. They believed that all the bad things were done by the rich and powerful. Wan Zanghai must’ve been coerced by them and had no choice but to do so. Besides, hadn’t Wan Zanghai already avenged them in the ‘Massacre of the Outer Solar System’?

Right now, there were no obstacles for the rich and powerful.

Please lead them to survive in the sea of stars again!

The old man was dwelling in the illusions of ghosts all day long and had forgotten everything about the coalition fleet.

Because of his health, Tie Xiong and his other trusted subordinates asked him to deal with less and less work. They even cut off his communication with the outside world.

The trend of the returners was getting more and more intense on every starship. Tie Xiong and his soldiers were also accumulating their strength quietly like springs in the darkness.

After a lifetime of scheming and scheming, even if he was blind, deaf, and bedridden, he could still smell blood in the wind.

It was just that he no longer cared about such things and everything except ghosts.

Finally—

When Tie Xiong did not show up for three days in a row, the medical team responsible for his health replaced a batch of strangers and cut off all communication with the outside world. When the incessant quakes of the starship reached his bedroom, Wan Zanghai knew that it was time.

Tie Xiong appeared again. He was wearing a military uniform full of killing intent and boots that were soaked in blood and internal organs. On the shoulder of his black uniform, there was a crimson identification badge on which there was a skeleton emblem that Wan Zanghai had never seen before.

Looking at Wan Zanghai, Tie Xiong’s eyes were bloodshot, his eyelids shivering in excitement and fear.

The old man looked at his confidant with an indifferent face and peaceful eyes. He took out a wooden box from under his pillow with difficulty and tossed it over. “For you, Ah Xiong.”

Tie Xiong hesitated for a moment. He opened the wooden box, only to discover that it was a dagger with the words ‘easy day, only yesterday’ carved on it. It was the motto of the old Navy Seals.

“Thinking back—”

Wan Canghai replied calmly, “It was with this dagger that I killed my mentor.”

Tie Xiong finally understood.

“Reporting to the commander-in-chief, under the wise leadership, correct deployment, and personal command of the commander-in-chief, all the ‘public enemies of mankind’ of the ‘returners’ have been executed and punished accordingly. The order of the coalition fleet has been restored. Nobody dares to mess around anymore!

Tie Xiong clutched his dagger and said, one word after another, “I am a loyal believer of the commander-in-chief. I believe that there is no turning back for the civilization of mankind. Only by marching forward and reaching the other side of the stars can we hope for a new home!

“However, the system of the ‘New Earth Union Fleet’ is too loose, weak, and decayed. We are a sheet of loose sand that cannot resist the wind and waves on the way at all. The appearance of the ‘returners’ is the best proof and warning!

“Only by reorganizing the commanding level of the coalition fleet, establishing a ‘military government’, and implementing a strong military administration can the tens of millions of people be condensed into a determination to win the war and walk the path of darkness!

“Commander, I’ve been busy over the past half month. Now that the Iron-Blooded Fleet is taking shape, I can finally report to you. Please rest assured!”

“Very good.”

Wan Canghai smiled. “Well done, Tie Xiong.”

“However, the matter is too serious. Countless crew members have been bewitched by the ‘returners’ and cannot understand the necessity and justice of the military government. Some of them even consider us… homicidal devils.

Tie Xiong said, “It’s impossible for us to kill all the opponents, and we cannot allow their resistance to be transformed into complete hostility. Somebody has to stand up and take responsibility for the ‘slaughter of the Returners’ and the ‘building of a military government’ so that the dark chapter will be forgotten. Only then can we embark on the journey of light.

“Commander, you have always been the saviour of the civilization of mankind and the ‘god’ in everyone’s eyes. For the sake of our civilization, you are willing to make any sacrifices, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes.”

Wan Canghai smiled. “Let’s do it, Tie Xiong. Let’s do it. But… even if our civilization can sail to the end of the stars, will it still be our civilization at that time? Will it still be the civilization of Earth or mankind?”

“I don’t know.”

Tie Xiong walked toward the Sea of Treasures with his dagger. “Earth has been destroyed. Most of the survivors have been killed in the ‘Slaughter of the Outer Solar System’ that you devised. Can we call ourselves the ‘civilization of Earth’ or the ‘civilization of mankind’ right now?

“I—I don’t know.”

The old man closed his eyes, but he could not hold back his tears. “…I don’t know.”

…

Thousands of furious hands lifted Wan Zanghai up high and sent him all the way into the crystal reactor.

“Murderer!”

“Bloody executioner!”

“Devil. It was the devil who lied to us, betrayed us, and destroyed everything!

“The common thief, the lone wolf, still wants to be a dictator at this moment!”

“Burn him. Burn him to ashes. Let him be doomed forever!”

Many a time, human beings needed demons.

Human beings needed devils. Therefore, they created a devil with their own hands and defeated it after a lot of trouble, thereby giving themselves the flag of ‘justice’ and the courage to move forward.

Wan Zanghai pondered calmly in the raging flames.

His sister and thousands of other ghosts from Earth were crouching in a corner of the reactor, watching, protecting, and waiting for him.

…

His body turned into billions of specks of dust and fell into the dark vacuum.

In front of him, the fleeing fleet that had been reborn accelerated. Behind him, countless ripples turned into billions of ghosts that wreathed and swallowed the slightly glittering dust, forming a brand-new fleet of ghosts.

“Brother, we are finally together. How wonderful!”

“Yes, it’s really good. I didn’t expect that the other form of life would be like this.”

“Where are we going next? Are we going to chase after the fleeing fleet?”

“No. No hurry. In any case, we have their sailing and jumping trajectories in our hands. We can catch up to them at any time if we want.”

“Brother, we were all scared before. We could not control our form and frequency, and we seemed to be falling apart at any moment. But now that we have you, we are no longer scared.

“Yes. Believe me. You don’t need to be scared with me here.”

“Brother, what is the future like? Where are we going?”

“The future will be very beautiful, won’t it? One day, we will reach the other side of the light and find a way to reverse time and change everything. We will be able to stop all the mistakes and redeem all the regrets. We will revive every one of the victims of natural disasters and man-made disasters so that we can live happily together.

“Brother, we are no longer human beings. What are we exactly now?”

“I don’t know, but the universe is too big and too long. I will tell you the answer one day. Now, take a nap. Sister, you are too tired. Leave the rest to me. Your brother is here. Take a nap. Sister, go to sleep. Go to sleep…”

[Extra third sister is finished.]