Chapter 600 - 6: The Last Mysterious Reward (Part 2)
Chen Zhou continued walking ahead, without responding.
Despite his age, his steps were quick and steady, forcing the shorter Sunday to quicken his pace to keep up.
Soon, Sunday realized that the leader was heading to a place unlike any before, and he stopped asking questions. He simply followed closely, waiting for this man — who was like a father to him — to tell him the answer directly.
The two of them, one in front and the other behind, quickly reached the end of the street.
The lights from the houses on both sides dimmed to the extreme here. Ahead, the cobblestone road continued, but there were no yellow lights, only a pitch-black forest standing in the way, waiting for travelers to pass through.
Chen Zhou stopped here and turned to look at Sunday.
"I’m going back to where I came from, leaving forever."
...
Sunday widened his eyes in shock, unable to believe what he had heard.
He trembled with his lips and pondered for a moment before asking—
"Are you going back to the Celestial Kingdom?
If you leave and never return, what will happen to us?"
"Where I come from is not the Celestial Kingdom; it’s just a distant land belonging to the people.
As for after I leave..."
Chen Zhou pointed towards the brightly lit street.
"I’ve paved the way for you all through past efforts; although it’s all thanks to your hard work, without me, you might never have achieved this.
As for the future after I leave..."
Chen Zhou indicated for Sunday to look at the dark forest ahead beyond the end of the road.
"The future is yours to decide.
Whether to continue paving roads, build taller houses, and enable people to lead better lives or to plunge into the darkness, it’s not my concern.
After I leave, you and Monday will become the helmsmen of the island.
This now formed large ship faces either burial in a storm or reaching the other shore; it all depends on your ability to steer, to avoid the rocks.
While I was here, I could help you bear a lot of pressure, but as long as there’s always someone thinking in place of you, you’ll never grow up.
From now on, it’s your turn to bear all this, to take over greater powers, which also implies heavier responsibilities."
With that, Chen Zhou patted Sunday’s shoulder once more.
"Many things I’ve done before, perhaps you never understood the deeper significance behind them.
Starting now, you should turn back, think from the perspective of an island ruler, and ponder my intentions.
Though you’re not young anymore, it’s never too late for learning.
After I leave, I hope you can sustain the island in this world, at least don’t let it fall into outsiders’ hands."
"But..." Sunday opened his mouth, upon learning the news, a strong sense of helplessness surged within him—
The island’s true pillar is about to fall, yet he does not know whether he and other officials can support this scene.
"There’s no ’but’; everything has its first time.
There’s an old saying in my hometown, ’Having parents is no better than having oneself.’ I’ve taken care of you for long enough; you can’t always be like this."
Chen Zhou interrupted Sunday, held his shoulder, making him look at the bustling street.
Then, he turned around, walked into the darkness, just as he had said, leaving Sunday behind.
...
The night of December 1 was particularly difficult for Sunday.
Upon returning home, he didn’t utter a word, directly locking himself in the study.
The wife’s inquiries, the daughter’s concern, he ignored them all, just sat on a chair looking at the picture on the study wall, sitting until midnight.
...
The previously dark island after nightfall had long disappeared; past midnight, long streets at the harbor remained crowded.
In the middle of the dry season, the sky had no clouds, starlight shimmered.
Singers sang traditional tunes; dancers performed graceful dances; a circus from afar conducted performances, people’s cheers echoed one after another.
Agile horses danced in steps, leapt over low fences, monkeys rolled through ringed fires and leapt onto the horse’s back, curling their tails to solicit applause from the audience.
The circus artist waving a whip was immersed in the excited gazes from the audience when suddenly a shout came from the crowd—
"Look!"
Following the direction the shouter pointed, people raised their heads, suddenly realizing the sky had turned dim yellow, the stars vanished.
The island’s heat quietly subsided, bonfires on the beach flickered restlessly, a frigid wind blew from the harbor, causing thinly dressed people to break out in goosebumps.
Visitors from Northern Europe looked at the sky incredulously, muttering—
"It’s going to snow."
Born in the tropics, the natives only learned from books what snow was like, not reacting yet when snowflakes fluttered down from the sky.
The snow arrived hastily, first little fluffs of cotton-like snowflakes gently drifting down, within a few minutes growing larger, coming in droves.
The wind augmented the snowy onslaught, and bonfires roasting meat spewed black smoke.
In an instant, the snow turned into sheets, became masses, pouring down headlong, engulfing the world swiftly.
People shouted, fled, tightly wrapped themselves and hid inside street-side stores, watching the magnificent scenery through the windows.
"God!"
"Oh heavens!"
"Allah!"
Such exclamations kept pouring out from people’s mouths as they watched fires extinguish outside, snowflakes pile up on the cobblestone pathways, and swirling and spinning white becoming the sole dominator of the world.
...
The snowstorm rolled through the mountains, leaving everything it touched in snow white.
Chen Zhou woke from a dream, the howling wind outside making him momentarily think he had yet to escape dreamland.
The parrot hanging by the window uneasily imitated dog barking, fluttering its wings trying to break out of the cage.
Wearing slippers, Chen Zhou pulled open the curtains, and the sight of the manor nearly made him unable to believe his eyes—
A hefty snow, snow forming a layer of blanket on the ground, had turned the entire manor into a jade-white world.
The wind still blew, the snowstorm already abated, the fluff ball-like snow perched on trees fluttered down, turning to whirling snow dust as they hit the ground, shimmering silver.
The snow came quickly and dissipated quickly.
After waking up, standing at the window for less than long, the wind greatly weakened, soon the thick yellow clouds enveloping the sky also dispersed.
Only the thick layer of accumulated snow remained on the ground.
Not long after, in the tropical island’s heat, snow turned into water, that snow-white scene briefly appeared in this world as an ephemeral blossom, fading as quickly as it came.
...
With open windows, the wind blowing indoors from the manor lawn carried a unique chill mingled with the earthy smell of melting snow.
Gazing at the starry sky, Chen Zhou recalled today was the day when the last mysterious prize arrives after the challenge.
This sudden snowfall should be this time’s delivered reward.
He smiled a little, gazing into the boundless sky, as if seeing those spectators who’ve watched him for 28 years, softly saying thank you.
To this day, he had long come to terms with the past.
Not everyone has the chance to live half a lifetime more, nor does everyone have the luck to start this challenge.
Like a "butterfly," he had done his utmost, fluttering his wings to alter the world’s advancing path.
Now his homeland’s snowstorm has begun calling him, howling northern winds like embarkation whistles.
After saying the final farewell, it’s time for him to say goodbye to this world.
...
The peculiar weather wrapped only the island, Monday sleeping on a ship merely saw the island enveloped in heavy clouds.
December from the beginning until the 10th was his routine day to review naval training levels, having been away from home for long and always feeling an emptiness as though about to lose something very important.
Seeing the island’s unusual condition, Monday hurried to lead the fleet to return overnight.
When the steel ships docked at the harbor, the island’s snow had yet to fully melt, those recently hiding indoors all came out, standing on the streets holding cold snow, discussing the miraculous-like scene.
It was late, and Monday dared not disturb Chen Zhou, thus called Chen Fu, Chen Lu, and Chen Shou, heading straight to Sunday’s residence.
Island’s upper echelons gathered, and of course, the middle and upper ranks below could catch wind.
Yet this time, no matter how many people they inserted around their superiors, no matter how much money they spent on bribes, they couldn’t probe the meeting’s content.
They only knew that in the years following this gathering, the island’s laws, just like that night’s storm, experienced an unprecedented dramatic change.