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Chapter 355. Xu Huan Passes Away

The wind and snow carried Wen Yu's departing figure until it completely disappeared into the vast white expanse. Jiang Jianxin turned around and looked back; the huge house stood silently in the snow, appearing even more empty and desolate.

Instead of immediately entering the house, she paused in the courtyard and casually swung her sword.

"Wow..."

As the sword's wind swept past, the snow piled up under the eaves fell in a soft rustling sound.

She sheathed her sword and stood there, then suddenly whispered to her intuition:

Next time I won't buy such a big house; a small 30-square-meter room is better for one person.

The intuitive answer remained sharp, like that of an old friend who knew everything:

【You won't be happy if you actually move in.】

It paused, then its tone softened, carrying a discerning sense of comfort:

This big house is great, with plenty of open space. Settle in comfortably.

Even though people come and go, they will eventually disperse. But that's okay—

It added.

At least, I will always be with you.

Jiang Jianxin did not respond again, but slowly spread his arms, raised his head, and let the cold snowflakes fall on his cheeks, as if to embrace the snow and the boundless silence that belonged only to him.

……

After bidding farewell to Wen Yu, amidst a social atmosphere of unease, the forum once again received a major piece of news—the death of conspirator Xu Huan.

At 2:00 PM, Heitong Pharmaceuticals released an obituary through official channels, confirming that Xu Huan passed away due to heart failure at the age of 24.

In the public's memory, Xu Huan is the invisible hand behind Black Pupil Pharmaceuticals, a strategist who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

His life was intertwined with intrigue and controversy, so when the news first broke, there were many cheers and expressions of relief online.

Some people bluntly said, "What goes around comes around," while others sarcastically remarked, "We've finally waited for this day."

However, this feeling of relief did not last long.

Just hours after the obituary was released, Xu Huan's will, which he had made before his death, was officially made public.

The content caused a stir among the public, and the previously noisy forum fell into a collective silence.

In this will, Xu Huan clearly instructed:
He donated all of his liquid assets, amounting to hundreds of billions of yuan, to the renowned geographer Jing Wei to establish a non-profit geographical society to provide long-term support for basic research in geography and the cultivation of talent in the field.

At the same time, he gifted his dozens of properties and other real estates across various locations, as well as all the copyrights to his works, to his friend Chi Piao.

This unexpected will was like another bomb dropped on a calm lake, quickly causing a huge stir in the geography community and related enthusiasts.

As the direct beneficiaries of this huge grant, this group, who had previously had no connection with Xu Huan, felt extremely conflicted.

Soon, led by several scholars, geography enthusiasts published a heartfelt official eulogy on their regular forum, expressing their sincere gratitude for Xu Huan's legacy and paying tribute to his vision in promoting the development of geography.

Like a stone thrown into a still pond, this eulogy caused an unprecedented split in public opinion regarding Xu Huan.

The schemer who was condemned by everyone just one day has suddenly received remembrance from the serious academic community.

Praise and condemnation intertwined, understanding and contempt coexisted; this infamous strategist truly fell into a vortex of public opinion after his death, with opinions polarized.

Meanwhile, atop the sun-piercing snow-capped mountain.

"call--"

A biting wind, carrying snow that has never melted for millennia, swept past the figure sitting serenely atop the summit.

Jing Wei had just received the news that was enough to shake the entire geography community.

On the phone screen, the messages from colleagues were practically boiling over—the words were filled with unbelievable elation and shouts of relief.

Xu Huan's bequest was so large that it was enough to support their investigation for decades to come.

This means that the exploration plans for uninhabited areas that were forced to be shelved due to lack of funds can be restarted, and the incomplete world map after the apocalypse can finally be accurately and completely drawn. They no longer have to endure the elements to save money, nor do they have to risk their lives due to rudimentary equipment.

This group of people are mostly scholars whose natural abilities are not aggressive.

In a dog-eat-dog world, apart from people like Jing Wei who can earn money by using force to work for the TV station, most of her colleagues can hardly find any decent jobs, yet they still hold on to their pursuit of geography with their pre-apocalyptic beliefs.

This money was a true lifeline for them.

Faced with the ever-refreshing celebrations of the entire group on the screen, Jing Wei simply gazed silently into the distance.

After a long while, he sighed softly, and the white breath he exhaled instantly dissipated in the wind.

He opened his Ping An Forum account, and the top chat message was a sponsorship transfer from Xu Huan that he had received half a month ago.

This strategist, whose reputation was mixed during his lifetime, was actually the most secretive sponsor behind Jing Wei's personal research.

Now, he has bequeathed all his liquid assets to Geography.

The secret support during his lifetime and the astonishing gift after his death left Jingwei feeling dazed.

He closed his phone and looked up into the distance.

At the summit of the snow-capped mountain, the view is vast and boundless.

Beneath my feet stretches an endless snowfield, its surface sculpted by time into cold, hard wrinkles.

On the horizon, the magnificent aurora borealis, like a huge, hazy, colorful curtain, silently surges in the deep night sky, changing halos of emerald green and pale purple, as if it were the unreal breath of another distant world.

The cold wind howled again, stirring up the snow on the ground, like a wisp of white mist.

The snow on Guanri Snow Mountain has remained unmelted for years, witnessing countless changes over the ages.

Jing Wei gazed at the snow-laden branches on the edge of the cliff. A single snowflake was quietly blown away by the wind and vanished instantly into the vast天地 (heaven and earth) without a trace.

History is full of complexities, and those heroes who once wielded immense power, such as Xu Huan, with their myriad merits and demerits, are nothing more than a snowflake on this branch.

Ultimately, it dissipated into the long winds of time, without a sound.

……

Eleven years ago, one evening.

The setting sun painted the sky a warm orange-red, and a prophet in a white robe stood alone atop this nameless hill.

The mountain wind rustled the hem of her robe.

Before me lay a desolate open space, with weeds swaying in the evening breeze.

She knew that eleven years later, a mound would rise here, where a petty, weak, yet stubborn strategist who had been playing mind games with her for many years would be buried.

She put down the bouquet of white chrysanthemums in her arms and placed it on the wasteland, as if gazing into the distant future through the lens of time.

"Ugh……"

A soft sigh dissipated in the wind.

“For so many years, you’ve been sending me withered roses from the market every year. Those flowers… the leaves are all rotten, and the petals smell terrible.”

"Now, you should be calm down."

She reached out and gently straightened the elegantly packaged bouquet of white chrysanthemums she had bought from the florist, her tone still indifferent:

"I'm not as stingy as you."

As soon as she finished speaking, she turned and disappeared into the vast twilight.

Only that bunch of white chrysanthemums remains on this prophesied cemetery, quietly guarding a farewell that has yet to happen.

Until it quietly fades away with time.

Originally, I planned to remove characters who died or gradually faded from the main storyline from the character list on Qidian. However, Qidian allows individual rewards for characters, and I just discovered that some readers had previously rewarded him. Well then, death is not the end, forgetting is. Since someone remembers him, I'll keep a place for him.