Chapter 56 Words Of Wisdom
With that, Jonathan continued, “According to my understanding, thoughts are the soul of a person, and this soul of ours resides in the brain. After a person’s death, their soul can no longer reside in the brain as the brain is already dead. The soul would then leave the person’s body. And since souls are insubstantial, they will float around after leaving the body. Hence, this is why some people say that they’ve seen ghosts floating around.
“I believe that when one dies, their soul somehow falls asleep too and no longer has a conscious. If a great wind blows, the soul will then be scattered and vanish. Therefore, things such as the Six Paths of Reincarnation are basically nonsense. There would only be one logical explanation for reincarnation if it did actually happen, which is a part of the person’s wandering soul coming into contact with a newborn’s brain, thus residing in there.”
Since this was Amber’s first time hearing such a novel explanation, it automatically piqued her interest, causing her to listen attentively.
Jonathan added, “Let’s continue with the previous topic. There’s this occurrence where family members would often dream of the deceased after one’s death, right? The return of the soul of the deceased could be explained as the soul’s yearning for a physical body and its family. However, since the souls no longer receive nourishment from the physical body, they can’t survive long. This is why ghost legends are common. Still, it’s rare for vengeful spirits to take revenge as they are powerless and will fade quickly.”
“What about Golden Years, then? What’s your explanation for the things that have been happening there?” Amber asked.
“It’s rare for vengeful spirits to take revenge, but there are also a few legends regarding this. As I said, the souls are unconscious after one’s death. However, there are some souls with too much resentment within them due to the grievances and anger that they suffered during their lifetime, and these feelings remain even after their deaths. On top of that, the soul just happened to grow in a place that’s filled with strong negative energy. Thus, it absorbed the negative energy to strengthen its resentment and slowly turned into a vengeful spirit.”
Amber’s eyes lit up immediately as she said, “The proprietress of Golden Years indeed experienced some terrible things while she was alive. I heard that she was strangled to death by her lover with a metal wire.”
Jonathan was unfazed by that information. “Is her lover still alive?”
“Her lover was using an alias. Hence, we can’t get a hold of him even if we want to. Up until now, we still have no idea where he might be,” she replied.
“Well, that explains her exceptionally strong resentment aura. However, the fact that she’s so powerful is indeed quite incredible. If everyone who died unjustly became so powerful, the world would’ve been in chaos long ago. Therefore, I have a feeling that there’s some sort of Destino’s treasure in Golden Years which nourishes wandering souls like her,” he elaborated.
“I still don’t get it, though. Since the proprietress is so powerful now, can’t she just seek revenge from that scumbag on her own?” Amber asked. “Perhaps, she has already taken her revenge. Regardless, I don’t understand her world at all.”
“There are rules that are to be obeyed between Heaven and Earth. Vengeful spirits shouldn’t have existed on Earth in the first place. Have you watched ‘Final Destination’ before?” Jonathan questioned.
“Yeah,” she answered.
“The existence of vengeful spirits is somewhat like the plot in ‘Final Destination.’ The Heavenly Law had accidentally allowed the vengeful spirits to escape. Therefore, it will try to correct this mistake by the means of what The Destino calls a Lightning Tribulation. I have a hunch that the proprietress, who has turned into a vengeful spirit, must have relied on some sort of treasure that was in Golden Years. As soon as she leaves the place, she would be nothing. Hence, I assume that’s why she didn’t allow you guys to destroy Golden Years.”
Amber was listening to Jonathan’s words with much interest. However, her curiosity soon got the better of her, and she asked, “How are you saying it as though you’re the person involved? It’s not like you’ve died before. Yet, you’re talking about the afterlife and death as if you’ve experienced it personally.”
The man chuckled. “Although I haven’t died before, I believe that all solutions come from the same origin. Philosopher Zyaire Lynch once said that all things are one. Hence, all things have the same origin. Despite not experiencing death before, I can still think about this issue from the nature of things.”
Amber could barely make sense of his words. “To be honest, I didn’t even catch a smidge of what you were saying. It’s too profound for me to understand.”
A chuckle escaped Jonathan’s lips after hearing her confession. “Come on. You graduated from a prominent police academy! How could you be so uncultured?”
Amber rolled her eyes at that. “Even after your various explanations, you can’t deny the fact that these are only your speculations. No one can truly confirm the actual situation in Golden Years.”
“That’s why I’d like to go and take a look,” he remarked.
However, his request was shut down by her resolutely. “Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous.”
Jonathan tried his luck again. “Well, we can’t just let Golden Years continue going on like that, right? It’ll eventually taint Horington’s reputation.”
“Still, it’s none of your business to go there.” After a pause, she said sincerely, “Jonathan, I really don’t want to lose any more friends.”
Instantly, he could feel a warmth spreading within him. Nonetheless, he was still adamant about his decision. “A lot of things are arranged by fate. I’m planning to open a bar now, and Golden Years happens to be here. I have a strong feeling that this is my fate. I know it’s a rather dangerous task, but who knows? It might reap great benefits too.”
“Are you telling me that the great benefit is the treasure that you mentioned earlier? The one that might be in Golden Years?” Amber asked.
“Regardless, I really need to take a look at the bar,” Jonathan said firmly.
“Fine. But you’ll have to prove to me that you’ll be able to get out of it without a scratch on yourself,” she stated.
“Although I’ve never been in the bar before, I can somewhat estimate the proprietress’ ability. She’s indeed on an extremely high level now as I can already feel the terror creeping within me while standing outside of the bar,” he said in a low voice.
Amber was familiar with such a feeling. “Right? That just proves why you shouldn’t go in.”
Jonathan turned to her and looked her in the eyes. “Captain Johnson, are you really going to be a coward for the rest of your life? Don’t you want to seek revenge for your colleagues who lost their lives? You’re someone who’s filled to the brim with a sense of justice; are you sure you can simply allow Golden Years to exist like this?”
Amber shuddered as a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes. However, it quickly died down. “What can I possibly do? I’m just a normal human, after all.”
“You don’t have to be overly horrified by vengeful spirits. There’s nothing to be afraid of as long as you haven’t done anything bad. Normally, vengeful spirits will first scare the ones that they seek revenge on. As the person becomes timid and weak, then only will the vengeful spirits truly take their revenge. Your colleagues and those experts were all merely regular people. Hence, it’s normal for them to be terrified after encountering vengeful spirits for the first time in their lives. They became weak and timid, which allowed the vengeful spirits to possess them,” Jonathan explained.
Amber took a deep breath. A look of determination was on her face as she said, “Fine. I’ll let you enter the bar. But on one condition—I’ll accompany you.”
Jonathan smiled lightly. “Sure.”
“When are we going?” she inquired.
“I still have some stuff to prepare before we go. In the meantime, please help me contact the current owner of Golden Years by tomorrow. I’d like to have a chat with him to further understand the situation,” he said.
“Okay,” Amber replied with a nod.
After reaching an agreement, Jonathan went to pay the bills before the two left the bar.
They then got into Amber’s car. Jonathan was planning to send her back home first as it was the right thing to do.
In the end, Amber was the one who drove the car. After some distance, she could not help but ask, “Why must it be Golden Years?”
Jonathan was silent for a moment as if he was taken aback by her question. However, he then grinned and said, “When I was a child, I often watched martial arts dramas and found it cool that the heroes always lent a helping hand to those in need. Hence, I started learning martial arts from my master. He always told me to be a righteous person. Would you believe me if I told you that I’m just a busybody?”
A smile appeared on Amber’s face. She would, without a doubt, believe in his words.
She knew about Jonathan’s past; she knew that his comrade had passed and how Jonathan did not mind the distance as he swore to protect his deceased comrade’s younger sister. She also had the chance to witness Jonathan’s rage, which was an indescribable shock to her.
Amber felt that Jonathan and herself were the same kind of people. The pair had hearts filled with justice and were the type of people who were not easily affected by society’s harsh reality. On top of that, they were unbothered by others’ mocking gazes and were willing to do anything for those who were dear to them.
“What are your future plans?” she asked again.
The night breeze blew into the rolled-down windows of the car, allowing the pair to enjoy the refreshing air as they drove down the road.
Jonathan seemed to have lost his interest as the topic was brought up. “Nothing much. The first thing that’s on my mind is to open up the bar. Then, I’ll wait for Yasmin to get married and have her own family. I’ll leave Horington after making sure that she’s safe and well.”
“Don’t you plan on marrying Jennifer?”
Jonathan froze momentarily. He looked slightly melancholic and only responded after quite a while. “Jen wants to live a stable, romantic, and happy life. As you know, I’m prone to wandering around a lot. It will only hurt us if we force ourselves to be together.”
Amber fell into deep thought at that. She, too, realized Jonathan’s rather capricious personality. It was true that people like him did not suit the family life.
She seemed to have understood his concerns as she said, “So you’re planning to open a bar for Jennifer, which also somehow acts as a settlement and explanation for her. Only then would you be able to leave with peace of mind, right?”
Jonathan’s expression turned sullen. He said nothing in return.
Amber, too, chose to remain silent after that.
About twenty minutes later, the pair had reached her house. She lived in a prime residential area with an amazing security system. At that moment, the neighborhood was ablaze with light.
Amber invited Jonathan to go to her house for a drink but was rejected by the latter. With a laugh, he said, “I’d have to reject your offer. I’m quite attractive, you know? I’m worried that you’ll fall for me.”
Amber chuckled. “In your dreams! All right, just leave. I’ll lend you the car. Send it to the police station tomorrow morning, okay?”
Jonathan had no reason to reject. “Okay.”
