The Journey to the East The Journey to the Future The Journey to the End

Prologue

Ling's POV

"See you in the next life, Wanwan," I finished my final words and closed my eyes, accepting the fate of all living things. 

I left my burdens behind, I left Wanwan to bear them. I stepped out of my dead body and watched as she leaned in to kiss my forehead, before getting up and wiping her tears dry.

Then, she was gone. 

The bloody battlefield changed into a meadow. A huge meadow. Not far from here was a bridge, which emitted such bright light that even if you're dead, you'd feel the pain. And what have I learnt? To walk through bright blinding light.

So that was what I did. 

I trusted my instincts and crossed the bridge, and there I found a guy at a weird counter or booth or some thingamajig of sorts. 

"Hello, Ling. Welcome to the world of the dead. Once you enter, you must first proceed to the FAT People to assess your sins and good deeds, before your priority for reincarnation can be calculated and placed on the reincarnation list. Now just take a left turn after walking about a hundred meters from here and you should see them. Enjoy your stay here!" The weird guy said the moment I stepped in. 

Who the hell are the FAT People? 

"Oh, and, in case you are wondering what FAT stands for, it's the abbreviation for Fair Assessment Team. Ok, now go on, or else you may never get to get out of here and into the glorious world of the dead," he explained, without the need for me to ask. Can people read minds here? And how did he know my name? I think so, but I can't read anyone's mind so maybe not. Maybe I'm not a qualified dead person yet? Then what am I? A living person?

Why is death so complicated. 

I tried to recall his directions to find the FAT People, but after all those questions popped up in my head, waiting to be answered, it was hard to. I turned back to ask him again, but he was gone. So now I have to rely on my god-awful memory to find my way to the obese people. Same thing, isn't it. 

I just kept walking straight, just kept walking straight. Until I banged into something. It was invisible so I didn't see it. Am I supposed to turn left or right or what? I gave a sigh of exasperation and thought of a brilliantly stupid idea. 

I closed my eyes and turned around and around. When I stopped, I walked straight and if I was lucky, it would probably be the FAT People. Keyword: WAS.

I wasn't, so I banged into yet another invisible thingamajig. Not only does my face hurt from all the banging into invisible things, I'm now very disoriented after all that spinning. 

Finally, after the fifth time spinning and banging (NOT THAT KIND OF BANG), I found an entrance.

I stumbled in and saw a few people sitting behind a curved desk, like the kinds you see in the parliament. These people, I assume, are the parliament of the dead. 

I for one, know that stumbling in will not leave a good impression on others. So I tried to reagin my balance, and straightened my posture.

"Good afternoon, Ling, please stand in that little circle over there," said a woman, who did not look fat at all. I dared not to think of anything, in case my mind was read and all my weird thoughts would get exposed.

"Now let us watch a documentary about your life, and we shall pick out your sins, your good deeds, and we'll leave the rest out. Whatever is here stays here, except for you and us, we can go out. Okay, we shall begin," a petite man said. 

Oh no, I don't want to watch my life documentary. Let's just pray that they only show the wrong and right, not the in between.