Chapter 24: The High Tower

Chapter 24: The Tower

As for Fang Xiaoling, she was immersed in her own world, no longer paying attention to anything outside.

She had still let Eve eat the fruit of wisdom. Eve suggested that she create more people and grant them all wisdom, so that they might possess the power of creation; naturally, new films would then be no problem at all. Fang Xiaoling felt that would take too long and expressed her dissatisfaction with the suggestion, which made the wise Eve rather unhappy.

And so, a cataclysmic chain reaction began.

Fang Xiaoling overlooked the fact that the flow of time in this world was also determined by her imagination. When she felt as though time was passing quickly, it truly began to accelerate, and everything developed with extreme rapidity.

Eve secretly let Adam eat the fruit of wisdom as well. The two gave birth to many children who also possessed wisdom. These children matured in an instant and knelt, begging Fang Xiaoling to create spouses for them. From the moment Fang Xiaoling’s heart softened, the vast villa became crowded, so they persuaded her to create more such villas. To Fang Xiaoling, Adam and Eve were her children, and the children of these children—and their children’s children—were all her children as well. A love broader than she had ever known blossomed in her heart, and she granted their request.

Thus, cities emerged.

People were now able to live by their own hands; they no longer needed Fang Xiaoling’s help. Consequently, she departed, creating a new dwelling for herself in the pink sky. Yet, just as she had finished building her home, she looked down to see that the world below had already spawned numerous kingdoms. Wars raged one after another, and the stench of blood drifted up to the heavens, filling her with grief.

"Children, why must you slaughter one another?"

Upon hearing her voice, the people pondered the question, but found no answer. And so, the wars resumed.

Disappointed by the people she had created, Fang Xiaoling raised her dwelling even higher, hiding herself within thick clouds so that what she could not see would not trouble her heart.

Yet, before long, she heard a chaotic clamor. Opening the clouds to look down, she saw that an untold number of centuries had passed below. The people of the world were working in unison to build a tower that would reach the heavens. Many fell to their deaths during the construction, but even more stepped in to take their places, continuing the ascent. They shouted, "The Divine dwells up there! She made a promise: the first to reach the summit shall be granted immortality and endless wealth!"

"Who ever made such a promise?" Fang Xiaoling watched the ever-rising tower in disbelief, a surge of anger rising within her. Who had dared to take such liberties and deceive everyone in her name?

As she thought this, the answer appeared in her mind: they had done it themselves.

None of them were certain if the Divine had ever spoken those words, but each of them had successfully deceived themselves.

*Boom!*

A violent bolt of lightning shattered the tower. Generations of effort crumbled in an instant due to Fang Xiaoling’s wrath. She wished for the people below to simply live their own lives and stop gathering to cause trouble, so she declared, "I wish for the people below to be unable to communicate with one another, to have their own distinct customs, and to live their own lives in peace."

The first part of her command—that they could no longer communicate and would have different customs—took effect immediately, but the final part did not unfold as she had wished. The people did not "live their own lives in peace"; instead, wars in the world below became even more frequent. The strong forced the weak to learn their languages and assimilated them, gradually forming groups that, after generations of effort, coalesced into nations once more.

Fang Xiaoling considered destroying them all, yet she still felt that the people of the earth were her children. Her love had not vanished, but disgust had indeed taken root. In a state of intense inner conflict, she created a messenger, endowing him with greater wisdom and ability, more compassion and kindness, and even granting him immortality.

"Child, I am weary. I hope you can take my place and stop the wars between men."

But when the compassionate messenger descended, he was met only with the mockery of the people.

Fang Xiaoling let out a long sigh. She wanted to divert her attention and see how Li Mengling’s world was faring. She saw Shen Yi approaching with a warm towel, placing it on Li Mengling’s forehead. She instantly remembered a time when she herself had fallen ill and Shen Yi had scurried about to take care of her. At the time, she had felt quite happy, until she discovered that Shen Yi was having an affair with Jiang Tongtong.

If the root of all disharmony in this world was Fang Xiaoling’s "serpent of desire," then when had the serpent of desire in Shen Yi first been born? Fang Xiaoling suddenly gained a different perspective on the matter of Shen Yi.

Was it truly only because she was not good enough that she had been shunned by him? Although she had previously believed this, and Roland had told her as much, and even Shen Yi himself had claimed that it was her lack of worth that drove him to Jiang Tongtong, could it be that the reality was the opposite?

Could it be that the intervention of Jiang Tongtong was what had awakened the serpent of desire in Shen Yi’s heart?

Fang Xiaoling looked down at the people of the world below; they were nailing the messenger to a cross and burning him with fire.

"Who should be blamed for all this? My whim? The serpent’s treachery? The messenger’s failure? Or the ignorance of the people? Perhaps, no one is wrong... or perhaps, we are all sinners." Fang Xiaoling murmured to herself.

She saw the messenger’s burning face in the world below, still wearing a smile. That smile seemed to say to her, "Please, do not destroy them. I will surely save them; it will only take a very, very long time."

Fang Xiaoling intended to leave. She did not yet know where the exit was, but she had a premonition that the method of departure might be similar to, or perhaps the opposite of, the way she had entered. She needed an extremely quiet place to think. Since time in the world below passed too quickly, and she did not know when someone might build another tower, she curved the entire world into the shape of a planet and imagined countless stars into existence. The star she had first created, with its gravity and pink sky, became merely one of many.

She went to a distant star to reflect, and as a precaution, she created a black hole capable of consuming everything around that star.

Before leaving the planet where the messenger remained, she left one final decree: As long as there remained in this world those who shared the messenger’s ideals—those who believed the people were still worth saving—the people would not be destroyed. But if there were no longer anyone with such thoughts, then let them be destroyed.