Chapter 62: Where Have They Seen This Name Before
Translator: BeetleBarker Editor: Tennesh
Paying respects at his own grave left Fang Zhao with mixed feelings. A sense of sorrow as well as a bit of rejoice.
He might not have survived to see the founding of the New Era, nor had he become one of the eleven legendary generals. Yet, he got to live all over again!
Even though he never got to see the founding of the New Era, he got to see the rewards of what they were fighting for. The glorious New Era over 500 years into the future. If not for his retained memories from his past life and seeing the records on the gravestones, he might not have believed he was still on the same planet.
The changes had been absolutely revolutionary.
As for the meritorious deeds and eulogies of his past life on his gravestone, Fang Zhao did not give more than a passing glance. He was sure that whoever wrote it down had not been familiar. That was because "composer" had not been written there. That had been his original job, and anyone close to him would never have forgotten that.
Fang Zhao spent a long time deep in thought by his own grave. He thought about the end of days and he thought about the records that were written in books about that period. He thought about the world in the New Era and wondered what belongings he would find if he dug up his own grave.
As Fang Zhao bent down to gaze at his grave, a man walked by.
"Sorry to bother you, I have to see your ID."
Fang Zhao raised his head. A youthful police officer had come over. The police officer showed Fang Zhao his badge and at the same time his white bracelet which meant that he was on official government business.
In the distance, a few other police officers were also watching. They had been assigned to situation response teams. Every year during this period, a number of these teams would be assigned to various locations throughout the cemetery to keep an eye out for suspicious persons. The officers assigned here were all experienced and were experts when it came to catching criminals and maintaining order.
Although there had already been a screening at the entrance of the core cemetery, if the officers noticed any suspicious behavior, they had the right to do a second investigation.
There were some people in the core cemetery area who were walking over to pay their respects. Seeing the situation, they immediately turned back and walked away, and when they were far enough away, they glanced back and discussed something in hushed voices.
Fang Zhao raised his eyebrows. Had spending too much time in front of his own grave made him look suspicious?
Acceding to the the officer’s request, Fang Zhao used his bracelet to transmit his identity information over.
The officer studied the information on his display and checked whether his appearance tallied and he was not an imposter.
"Fang Zhao? Sounds familiar. I think there is someone here called..." the police officer caught the name on the gravestone "...Fang Zhao".
Glancing from the name of the tombstone to the name on the display, the officer was a little surprised but quickly broke into a smile. "That’s a great name."
Among the billions of humans, there were many people who had the same names as heroes and martyrs of the Period of Destruction. Every year during this time, it was not a rare sight to see people paying their respects to their namesakes.
"Thank you for your cooperation, please continue." The police officer replied politely after checking Fang Zhao’s identity. With that, he turned around and walk away, signalling to his colleagues in the distance that everything was in order.
After the inspection, Fang Zhao no longer lingered on his own gravestone. Instead, he moved to the others. Names both familiar and unfamiliar showed up, evoking a number of memories.
Fang Zhao could still feel the gaze of someone on him. It was those police officers. He paid them no heed.
Every year, these people guarded the cemetery and ensured the safety and order. Unless there were people with malignant intentions, they normally did not need to worry about the gravestones being damaged.
In the 500 over years, the gravestones and garden had not suffered much damage. On normal days, the cemetery workers guarded the place, while during crucial times, these people were called in to stand guard.
The younger generation is pretty impressive , Fang Zhao thought.
The group of officers watching Fang Zhao did not know what Fang Zhao thought of them.
"Lian Jie, are you sure that person is all right?" a young police officer asked.
Lian Jie was the officer that had previously gone to investigate Fang Zhao.
"Yeah. No issues," Lian Jie replied, eyeing Fang Zhao who was strolling amongst the gravestones.
"Then why did you go over and check his identity?" another officer asked.
"I don’t know, I just had a strange feeling that he seemed like he wanted to dig that grave up." Lian Jie continued, "Another one with the same name as a martyr."
Hearing this, the rest of them came to a sudden understanding.
"So what was his identity?" one of them asked Lian Jie.
"A composer," Lian Jie said. "There are three types of people I don’t understand. One kind are philosophers. Another kind are artists. The thoughts and ideologies of philosophers are too profound for someone with my IQ to understand. As for artists, they are a fusion of crazy and calm. Unlike politicians who are able to have a firm grasp on the mundane world, an artist is like a narcissistic person living in their own world. I have no idea what goes on in their brains either."
"What about the third type?" the officer beside Lian Jie asked.
"The last type are perverts."
"...So do we still have to keep an eye on that fellow?"
"Let’s just watch him. Although I doubt he is going to do anything that would pose a threat to public security at the moment, who knows what would happen later. Keeping an eye on him would be better," Lan Jie replied.
Fang Zhao paid no mind to the gazes of the officers and continued walking by the gravestones of the first row one by one. After he was done, he looked up at the densely packed gravestones arranged on the uneven earth. There was no end in sight.
The area was too wide. Fang Zhao could not hope to cover the entire area within such a short time. His turn at the public worship area was coming up. Thus, Fang Zhao followed a trail and headed out of the core cemetery area. Raising his head, he realized he was in another cemetery area with a boundary that was indiscernible.
Behind the core cemetery area was the loose graves area. Some were moved over after the cemetery was completed. Others were slowly added on later and were all martyrs of the New Century.
Although this was called the loose graves area, they were not dishevelled or in a bad condition.
There were more people paying their respects at the loose graves area. The security here was not as high as the core cemetery area. Here, there were parents bringing their children about, respectfully bowing, placing flowers, and then giving a long-winded talk about who knows what. They were most likely family or descendants of martyrs.
The cemetery was really big and it would take quite a while to travel the area on foot. Running was not permitted in the park, so those in a rush had to ride on the train within the cemetery. Train tickets were not expensive, only costing a dollar.
Fang Zhao boarded the train and found himself a window seat. He watched as the train departed from the loose graves areas and the train passed by the core cemetery area. However, as the train passed by, the buzz and chatter of the passengers aboard got louder all of a sudden.
Fang Zhao saw a lot of people gathering at the core cemetery area. However something was blocking their way, so they could only stand at one side tiptoeing to see what was going on.
Five black flying cars descended from the skies into the vicinity of the core cemetery area, followed the pathway, and drove in.
Vehicles were not permitted inside the cemetery. The airspace above the cemetery was restricted to private cars. Private vehicles seen in the cemetery were special enough. Vehicles that could be driven straight into the core cemetery area were special even amongst the privileged.
"Looking at the number plate, it belongs to the Wu family," a male student holding a pair of binoculars at the front said.
A bunch of girls who were beside promptly came over and asked, "Was Wu Yun there? Fellow student, could we borrow your binoculars?"
"There is nothing to see, the car has already gone in," the male student replied.
Wu Yun was a famous film star in Yanzhou. He did not belong to any the three big media conglomerates. He had the wealth to engage his own business team because he was a member of the Wu family.
Yanzhou got its name from the great general Wu Yan. But unlike the Renaults of Leizhou, the Wu family had experienced civil war after Wu Yan passed away. This nearly lead to the extinguishing of the Wu family. This was the reason why, in the history of Yanzhou governors, there were very few that had the Wu family name.
However, even though they had not become the ruling family like the Renaults of Leizhou, they were not to be taken lightly. Especially in recent centuries, the Wu family’s businesses had been thriving. Even if they were not Yanzhou’s number one, they were easily amongst the most influential families.
What about the younger generations of the Wu family?
Looking at the crowded gathered outside the core cemetery area, he remembered that, when he had received his new life, he had read up on the Wu family’s history. He had wondered, back then, if Wu Yan was still alive, would he have shot his unworthy children who had thrown Yanzhou back into a period of internal strife?
Wu Yun, who was mentioned by those students, could only be considered among the younger generation of the Wu family. In those five cars, other than Wu Yun, there should be a few other members of the Wu family. Fang Zhao felt it was unfortunate that he did not get a chance to meet the younger generation of Wus. However, he still had a long time to live, so he was bound to run into them in the times to come.
The train had already left the core cemetery and was headed in the direction of the public worship area.
At the same time, the five lengthened black cars of the Wu family had entered the core cemetery. The most senior person was at the front, with the young generations following behind.
Every year before Memorial Day, the Wu family would visit the cemetery once to pay their respects. This was their own custom. On the actual Memorial Day, they would join the Yanzhou governor as well as other officials of importance to take part in some memorial activities.
Whatever the younger generation was thinking, at this time, they had to put on the same expressions as their elders. Facing the gravestones, they put on an expression that was thirty percent respectful and seventy percent solemn.
It had been so long since then. There were not many sentiments. After all, the people they were paying their respects to had already been gone for over 500 years. However, there was still a little sense of respect. Afterall, without Wu Yan, there would not be the Wu family of today.
According to Wu family customs, after they had paid their respects in front of Wu Yan’s grave, the Wu elders paid their respects to the grave beside it and place a bunch of fresh flowers down.
Every generation of Wus would feel an unbounded sorrow upon seeing the grave that was after Wu Yan’s.
If this person had not left first, Yanzhou would not have been named Yanzhou.
However, today, upon seeing the name on the grave, a few members of the Wu family felt a little puzzled.
Fang Zhao?
Where had there seen this name before?
Translator’s Thoughts
BeetleBarker BeetleBarker
Sunday is always a fun day. Triple dosage of Big Zhao coming your way. Hope you guys feel all fuzzy and gay! ;)