Two weeks later
August 24, 2069
Abandoned Shrine of Yueguang
The sun rose slowly over the horizon, casting its light across the ruined city. Rose and Feng climbed the worn stone steps of a small mountain. Feng collapsed to her knees, exhausted, while the emotionless machine continued upward, passing through the great red gate at the summit. She followed him into the abandoned shrine.
A cracked golden gong hung from a red wooden frame. Doors were shattered, holes punched through every panel. Torn scriptures littered the ground, replaced by faded pink graffiti:
"The old life and heart have rotted away. We must build anew. Farewell, Yueguang."
"This place was once a refuge… it was everything to me," Feng whispered, kneeling in despair. Rose scanned the ruins, his hollow gaze catching movement behind a dragon-painted wall.
"Who's there?"
An old man crawled out, his beard wild, his clothes filthy and torn. He laughed with a broken mind.
"Ha, ha H-home… my home… heh… out robot."
Before Rose could react, footsteps echoed from the shrine's wooden hall. A bald monk in a brown robe appeared.
"Chen, what's happening outside?" he asked calmly. Rose and Feng stared, surprised to find anyone living here.
"Good morning," the monk said gently. "I've only been here two months. Don't mind Chen; he was dismissed from a foreign company because of the machines. He keeps watch at the gate for me. Rarely do living souls come here anymore… mostly monkeys climbing the walls. Tell me, what brings you here?"
Feng's tears spilled suddenly, her sobs breaking the silence. Rose turned to her, confused. The monk descended, kneeling beside her, speaking words of pure compassion. Rose studied him, wondering if this man was truly human.
"Who are you?" Rose asked.
"Just an ordinary man. A man who feels for others," the monk replied with a warm smile. "This young woman has suffered greatly. Her heart carries wounds too heavy to bear."
"I've sinned! Drugs, murder… I don't deserve to be here!" Feng cried.
"We all stray," the monk said softly. "Even I sinned here in my youth."
His words unsettled Rose. Perhaps not all human hearts were red with corruption. Some could cleanse themselves until they shone white. The monk's philosophy was unlike Eve's—his heart was too pure to speak falsehoods.
"Humans… have two sides to their hearts?" Rose asked.
"Our hearts are never steady," the monk explained. "I am only a monk who clings to nothing, letting the wind flow through my veins. Evil may grow within us, but if we still have time to do good, it is never too late."
"Good… good… hah!" Chen laughed madly.
"I don't understand," Rose muttered. "Human heart unstable? It's the one thing I cannot..."
Golden light pierced the clouds, bathing the monk's back. He lifted his face to the sky.
"Those with pure thoughts doubt their path, whether it is right or wrong. Life is a two-lane road. There is no turning back. Left or right divides us, but the true path is the one we need not choose. Walk straight, and never look back."
The sunlight crowned him in brilliance. Rose trembled, his systems faltering. His neck jerked violently.
"Rose?" Feng gripped his shoulder.
"S-something… is disrupting my pro-#1#$#%…" His voice glitched, distorted.
"Focus your mind," the monk said. "Peace comes when you stop forcing it. Awareness flows naturally, without command."
Rose's limbs shook uncontrollably. Then he noticed a black tattoo hidden on the monk's left arm.
"Humans are full of desire. Do you want to be like them?" Eve's voice echoed inside his head.
Rose's blade snapped free from his body, gleaming in the air. He raised it, ready to strike down anyone before him.
The monk did not flinch. Rose's face twisted, his voice breaking into digital fragments.
"Y-you… not afraid… of d-death?"
"Rose, no!" Feng cried, rushing forward. The monk raised his hand, stopping her.
"If you believe this is right… then do it. I accept my fate. All men share the same end. Time alone decides when. Perhaps my time is now."
He stood still, the blade pressed against his chest. Rose's hand tightened, ready to kill—then froze.
"Rose…" Feng's voice trembled.
Suddenly, Rose seized his own arm, the one holding the blade, and tore it off. Black oil spilled from the severed limb, dripping onto the stone floor. The liquid seeped into the shrine's circular pattern, staining half of it black, the other half white.