Chapter 15: The City’s Condemned

Chapter 15: The City’s Condemned

I understood what he meant.

But why should I pretend to be someone else?

I was a monk, yes, but not necessarily any particular monk. I barely knew Xuanhong. The crowd had mistaken me for him only because Lu Linfeng jumped to conclusions. I’d planned to clear things up once everyone settled down.

Lu Ruixin was clearly worried about exactly that—that I’d eventually blow my cover and tell everyone I wasn’t Xuanhong. That’s why he’d gone out of his way to explain.

Seeing the panic on his face, I softened. Maybe it didn’t matter. Did it really matter who I was? I’d see how things went.

If keeping up the act was all they wanted, I could manage that. But giving these people real hope? I didn’t even know who they were or how they’d ended up here. What hope could I possibly offer? That I couldn’t do.

Old Lu Linfeng finally caught on. He stepped forward and cupped his hands in a bow.

“Master, this is the first time I’ve heard Ruixin speak this way. I don’t dare believe him completely, but I don’t dare dismiss him either. Even if you’re not Xuanhong, you must be an accomplished monk. I can see it. Your bearing, your reverence—the solemnity with which you practice the Dharma—these things can’t be faked. I beg you, in your compassion, help these condemned people out of their suffering.”

I still didn’t know what he meant by “the condemned,” but I understood he was flattering me, afraid I’d refuse his son’s request.

I didn’t want to promise anything. Then again, there was no need to expose the whole charade. Besides, I’d genuinely saved that little girl. The crowd had already accepted me.

I pressed my palms together.

“Then we’ll let things unfold as they will.”

Father and son lit up with relief. They immediately called everyone inside.

People streamed into the hall until it was packed. Some had to sit due to physical ailments, but most stood to hear me teach.

Wearing my blue-gray kasaya and holding my ordination certificate, I stepped forward and took the red chair. The hall fell silent.

I began with the Four Means of Embracing from the sutras, guiding them toward understanding. My master at Mumen Temple had taught me these specifically: generosity, loving speech, beneficial action, and cooperation—adapting to each person’s capacity. No dwelling on mysteries or supernatural powers. Just everyday examples illuminating the principles of the Dharma.

Having already helped the girl, I now taught right view and helped people release their fear. That made them trust me even more.

Buddhism’s heart lies in guiding with wisdom and embracing with compassion. It shouldn’t be delivered as lectures full of arcane terminology. So I often answered questions with questions, prompting self-reflection, using plain language to point directly at the mind. It won their admiration.

Afterward, wanting more direct interaction, I left the platform and moved among them, putting into practice the teaching of mind-to-mind transmission and transformation through conduct.

Seeing this, Lu Linfeng gradually steered me outside and into the neighborhood. As we walked, he explained the place and introduced me to some of its notable residents.

Everyone here had been implicated in AI cases or maimed after installing AI in their bodies. I immediately thought of Meng Ran. If he hadn’t died, he’d probably have ended up as one of them.

In other words, they’d all been AI-enhanced superhumans once. And all were victims of AI.

Lu Linfeng gestured toward a thin man with stiff movements following behind us.

“Look at Mr. Zhang there. He used to be a senior researcher at Xuman Research Institute—made quite a few inventions, achieved some real breakthroughs. Then the Sweepers discovered he’d secretly installed an AI neural network and brain–computer system. When they removed it, his brain was damaged. Now he’s essentially disabled.”

He pointed to a heavyset woman nearby.

“That’s Dr. Lin. She was a chief physician at Huamai Hospital. When AI replaced human diagnosis and treatment, all those doctors faced unemployment. She risked secretly installing an intelligent brain–computer system. The Sweepers found out. Revoked her medical license, sentenced her to two years. After her release, the system’s removal left a physical cavity that severely disrupted her entire nervous system. She ended up here too.”

“What about those kids?” I asked, puzzled.

Lu Ruixin understood I meant Yellow Hair and the little girl. He answered for his father.

“Zhang Yu and his sister came with their parents. Their parents trafficked banned AI products around here—products that could repair the damage from brain–computer system removal. The Sweepers caught them and had them executed. The siblings were orphaned with no one to support them, so they settled here.”

“Why don’t the condemned return to their families? Why must they all come here?”

Lu Linfeng looked surprised by the question but patiently explained.

“Well, Master, you live removed from the world in your temple. You may not know much about secular policy. After the Human–Machine War, the UN passed a special resolution. Anyone who privately used or trafficked AI products faced maximum penalties. Those left disabled after punishment had to be kept under centralized supervision, with the government providing for their needs.”

“So this district is like a detox center for AI?” I offered.

“You could say that. Partly it’s a warning to others. Partly it’s fear that these people might reconnect to AI and become superhuman again. Everyone’s seen how powerful AI can be. No matter how harsh the punishment, someone will always take the risk. As you’ve seen, people stripped of AI don’t lack food or clothing, but their lives are unbearably bleak. These neighborhoods weren’t always this ruined. Most of the destruction was caused by condemned residents after their mental collapse.”

“Don’t they try to escape? I don’t see any fences. I haven’t even seen guards.”

“The entire area is under strict electronic surveillance. More than that, everyone here has an electronic sensor implanted in their body. Attempting escape means certain death.”

So that was it. No wonder everyone here looked so miserable.

I began to feel sorry for them.

One day they’d been nearly superhuman. The next, disabled, forced to endure unbearable physical and mental suffering. Anyone would struggle under that.

But one question still nagged at me. If the UN controlled AI products so strictly, why did modern high-tech enterprises like those in Lanqi Garden still conduct so much AI research and development?

I’d wondered about this on my way back from Pinghu. I’d meant to ask Gu Qiutang, who’d have more authoritative knowledge. But now that the conversation had reached this point, I asked Lu Linfeng instead.

“Think of it this way,” he said. “Medicine can be poisonous, yet it still cures disease. To manage that contradiction, governments allow certain high-tech companies to manufacture products that help people without causing obvious harm.”

His explanation wasn’t exactly expert, but I got the general idea.

Accompanied by father and son, I continued through the ruined neighborhood, walking and talking. People along the road kept bowing to me. I returned each greeting and offered blessings.

Their bleak existence and precipitous fall had clearly driven them to seek spiritual release from gods and Buddhas. My arrival mattered not for anything I’d given them, but because my presence itself seemed proof that the divine still watched—that they hadn’t been completely abandoned.

Just when I thought this visit could end on a good note, a black official car came racing up and screeched to a stop right in front of me.

Four black-clad men got out.

I recognized them immediately. Sweepers.

One walked straight up to me and removed his sunglasses.

Liu Biao.

What was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be in Shuzhou?

His face was expressionless as always.

“Gu Beichen. So you really are mixed up with the condemned. Looks like Gao Minjun’s suspicions were right. There is something off about you. What’s your relationship with Xuanhong? Come with us. You can explain it all more clearly there.”

I had to give the Sweepers credit—true professionals. No matter where you hid, they’d find you.

No choice but to go with them. Still, I didn’t want to leave these believers without hope.

“Liu Biao, give me a few minutes to say goodbye.”

He apparently didn’t mind a brief delay and didn’t stop me.

I took out my ordination certificate and pressed my palms together toward the crowd.

“CWP is taking me in for questioning, so I have no choice but to go. Before I leave, I need to make something clear. My Dharma name is Xuanchen. My lay name is Gu Beichen. I took vows at Mumen Temple in Sichuan. Xuanhong, the abbot of Tansong Temple, is my senior brother in the Dharma. Because of CWP regulations, he couldn’t come to teach you himself. So I borrowed my senior brother Xuanhong’s name. I hope you can forgive me.”

The Sweepers’ sudden appearance had already frightened everyone. After all, every person here had once been targeted by Sweeper enforcement. They were naturally traumatized.

But when they realized the Sweepers were taking me away, fear plainly turned to anger.

Lu Linfeng and his son had even more complicated reactions. I could sense it all.

Lu Ruixin truly hadn’t expected me to be a real monk—one whose Dharma name was Xuanchen and who had some unclear connection to Xuanhong. Beneath his stunned expression, I even sensed a measure of relief.

After all, he’d fulfilled the task everyone had given him. No one would curse him anymore.

Things had already reached this point. No use worrying about the rest.

All I could do was accept fate and do my best. It wasn’t like I could fight off these Sweepers.

With that, I dropped the act and climbed into their car.

At least they did not use force against me. They were even fairly polite when they asked me to get in.

Then again, I hadn’t installed a Wisdom Capsule for them to extract. Liu Biao knew that. He’d personally examined me multiple times.

I didn’t think he’d come to arrest me just because I’d entered a district of the condemned. More likely this was about the fake Gao Minjun case.

If so, there was nothing I could do.