Water droplets condensed by the mist fell on the moss-covered rocks, the rusted alloy plates made a squeaking sound, and the rustling sound in the shadows was like the grinding of teeth by beasts.
Qiu Ling held the "never-extinguishing" torch in his hand and cautiously walked through the cabin of the wreckage of the USS Gemini guided missile cruiser, inspecting every corner and explorable area.
A full week has passed since he stepped into this ruins under the guidance of his ancestor.
During this week, he searched almost every broken wreckage scattered in the forest, but still could not find the legendary "holy object".
to be honest.
If it weren't for his devotion to his ancestor, he couldn't help but begin to doubt whether the so-called holy object existed.
Ever since he could remember, he had heard from the elders of his clan that this palace that fell from the sky existed as early as the beginning of the Awakening Era.
At that time, the Forbidden Forest was not as dangerous as it is now, and the members of the clan would occasionally go to the "Heavenly Palace" to worship their ancestors. It was not until later that more and more wild animals were active around here, and they became more and more dangerous, that they
The place of worship was moved to a nearby mountain.
Logically speaking, if there is really a sacred object here, the ancestors of Qiu State should have discovered it long ago, and they would not have waited until now.
"There is nothing here..."
After checking the last cabin, Qiu Ling got out from under the dark alloy plate and climbed outside the wreckage. He then placed the silver metal disk on his knees and waited devoutly for the instructions of his ancestor.
However, this time, even the ancestor who had been guiding him forward couldn't help but have a hint of frustration in his voice.
"Where did it go..."
Logically speaking, it's impossible.
All the wreckage is here, there is no way that only the reactor is missing.
No--
It's not impossible.
According to the report submitted by Ye Shi, after the second judgment day recorded in the temple of Doma City, the "sinners", led by part of the Gemini crew, fought back to the Forbidden Forest Valley and expelled the survivors who had awakened their psychic powers.
Arriving at the forest outside the Forbidden Forest Valley.
Sensing the frustration on the other end of the communication channel, Qiu Ling quickly comforted him.
"Please don't be discouraged, there is still one last relic left... maybe the holy object you are looking for is there!"
He was actually very anxious in his heart, after all, his tribe had already engaged with the "renegades" in the forest.
Under the leadership of a leader named Tunnan, the rebels who were originally scattered in the forest were united like never before.
They claimed to have received the will of the ancestor, not only to regain the sacred objects for the ancestor, but also to regain the holy land lost at the beginning of the Awakening Era!
The mighty troops had already crossed the stream and formed a formation around the Qiu Ling where he had patrolled.
The tribesmen and brothers from Qiuling were all there, including reinforcements from other clans.
If it weren't for the search for that holy object, he would have liked to immediately take the "divine bow" given to him by his ancestor and ride his wild lizard back to the front line to defend his homeland...
Looking at the young man with confidence written on his face, Jiang Xuezhou was speechless for a moment.
Of course she knew that there was still one last "wreck" left to explore, but there was no way there was a reactor there.
You have to ask why, because it is the bridge of the guided missile cruiser and the signal source of the black box...
That's probably the farthest place from the reactor.
She originally planned to find a way to get the black box after she found the reactor and the remaining helium-3 inventory and solved the worries about fuel back home.
After all, if you can't go back, there is no point in recovering the black box.
"You're right, it's not time to give up yet." She took a deep breath and cheered up again, "The last ruins will be left to you... You first find a way to find the entrance to the ruins. In two days, There will be a helper to assist you."
Qiu Ling respectfully accepted the order and said.
"As commanded."
…
The bridge of the Gemini guided missile cruiser was stuck on the side of a mountain, and the entire semi-curved steel structure was completely turned over and leaned against the mountain.
Due to this strange posture, the entrance to the entire ruins is completely suspended in mid-air. It is almost impossible to climb in without some rock climbing skills.
It is quite difficult to enter this ruins, let alone explore inside.
The horizontal corridors all turned into sloping wells.
In addition, the ancestor said that it was the most unlikely area where sacred objects existed, so Qiu Ling did not make this most remote wreckage the first choice for exploration.
But now it seems that this place where they are least likely to gain anything has become their last hope.
Following the vines hanging down from the steep alloy wall, Qiu Ling finally climbed to the entrance to the wreckage of the Gemini bridge after some near-misses.
A group of carnivorous birds built their nests in the dark entrance of the cave. When they saw an intruder climbing up, they squawked and pounced on them, biting them with their sharp claws and sharp beaks.
Caught off guard, Qiu Ling almost fell from the hole. Fortunately, the light cast by the silver metal disk scared the birds, allowing him to seize the opportunity to roll into the hole, and then pulled out the burning fuel rod. Waving his hands, he drove away the group of carnivorous birds.
Qiu Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the flock of birds flying away with squawking sounds.
Those beasts will definitely come back.
He did not dare to stay longer at the entrance, so he took out the rope given to him by his ancestor and hung it on a sturdy place, then turned over and jumped into the sloping corridor, exploring the interior of the bridge.
The situation here is a mess.
There was so much debris blocking the entrance that he had to try his best to clean up the rubbish blocking the entrance while rappelling down.
However, while he was doing this work, he accidentally discovered several suspicious details.
I saw a pile of pitch black charcoal remaining at the end of the shaft.
Someone started a fire here!
"There are traces of someone living here..."
Qiu Ling stretched out his index finger and picked up a cluster of carbon residue, rubbed it with his thumb, and frowned slightly.
"It was left behind a long time ago."
As for how long ago it was, he couldn't tell.
At this time, the silver metal disk hanging on his chest emitted a light blue beam, which scanned the wreckage on the ground for a while, and then swept around.
After a moment of waiting, the ancestor's voice floated into his ears.
"It was left behind in the early Awakening Era. It should have been shortly after the Gemini... this palace crashed into the atmosphere."
Qiu Ling's face showed an expression of surprise. He didn't expect the ancestor to have such magical powers.
However, he was only surprised for a moment, and his attention was quickly attracted by the half-open alloy door on the side.
An upside-down wooden stick supports the door panel, forming a convenient opening and closing structure.
He pressed the wooden stick down, then squeezed sideways through the crack of the door, entered the interior of the room, looked around with the "never extinguished" torch, and was quickly shocked by the layout inside.
This upside-down room was transformed into a living area, with wooden tables, chairs, and beds...the shape is just like the ones in their tribe!
And it’s much more exquisite than what they do!
Maybe those objects in their tribe were actually learned from here!
"...This is the home of the ancestor." Qiu Ling murmured to himself, moved the light source in his hand, and soon noticed the alloy wall next to him covered with withered vines.
He saw rows of words engraved on the rusty alloy wall, but unfortunately he couldn't understand what was written on it.
Don't say he doesn't understand.
Even Jiang Xuezhou, who was sitting in front of the terminal on the synchronous orbit, couldn't understand it.
The baptism of time has made those words blurred and distorted, and the only scrawled scratches left are like ghost drawings... Maybe this is not a couplet at all, but some kind of abstract pattern or meaningless essay.
"What's written on it?"
Qiu Ling asked in a low voice, but the silver disk hanging on his chest did not answer.
It seems that the ancestors also have something they don't know.
But at this moment, a soft voice suddenly came from behind him.
"I saw Him."
Startled by the sudden sound, Qiu Ling turned around suddenly and saw a girl about the same age as himself standing at the entrance he had passed through before.
"who?"
"Dora."
"How did you get in -" Qiu Ling was just halfway through his words when he suddenly stopped and stared at her with squinted eyes, "You are a traitor."
Dora stared at him intently and said nothing.
Just when the atmosphere between the two parties gradually became stiff, the silver metal disk hanging on Qiu Ling's chest suddenly let out a light cough.
"Don't get excited, I asked her to come."
The stiff atmosphere relaxed a little.
Although he did not completely relax his vigilance, Qiu Ling did let go of the dagger he was holding.
Dora looked away from him and looked at the wall behind him.
Following the rusty lines, she found the first line of the poem, and she continued reading in a sleepy voice.
"I was wandering in a maze with no exit, unable to find where to go. Until I raised my head and looked to the sky."
"A pair of invisible eyes were hidden behind the clouds and stared at me for a long time. I finally saw Him, like staring at the ever-changing clouds, and the clouds stared at me, like staring at a living mural.
"
"We all had surprise on our faces."
Qiu Ling looked at her blankly, with a confused expression on his face.
"what are you saying?"
Dora said in a quiet voice.
"That's the message left by the ancestor. I can understand the symbols he left."
"These characters should be connected together to form a poem... The poet may want to say that He is the clouds in the sky and we are the murals on the wall."
Qiu Ling swallowed slowly, feeling his scalp numb.
He heard from the elders of the tribe that the traitors in the forest were all believers of the "Tree of Insof". And with the help of that tree, they could do some trickery.
But that's all their ability could do.
No matter how rich the spiritual world is, it cannot make up for the shortcomings of these traitors in the material realm.
Even if these guys can talk to trees, they can't stop Qiu Guo's flames and swords.
Relying on the methods left by the ancestors, Qiu's national strength is booming!
Sooner or later, they will be able to regain the barbaric era and return to the old era of infinite prosperity!
And when that time comes, I'm afraid these traitors will still be alive in the trees!
but……
He had to admit that this guy had a few tricks up his sleeve.
Even if you can speak "animal language", climbing here is not an easy task.
Just as Qiu Ling was thinking this, Dora, who walked to the mural, stretched out her index finger and groped on the wall, and quickly found the next chapter of the poem.
"We were all surprised. We would never have met, but we did by accident."
"He told me with a smile that the exit was not far ahead, but it was in vain to cross it because there was a new maze ahead, extending to the end of the world, and I only had a little time left."
"I asked Him how I could float in the sky like Him, and I begged Him to give me more time, but He laughed and left."
"This encounter has taken up my whole life. Both He and I know that we will never see each other again."
After reading the poem to the end, Dora paused for a while while standing in front of the mural, with a trace of confusion on her face.
"Poet, Qiu Shiye...the fifth tribe?"
"What do you mean?" Qiu Ling asked hurriedly.
Dora shook her head.
"I don't know...maybe it's the name of the ancestor?"
As she spoke, she looked at the silver disk in her hand.
However, the silver disk made no sound, as if it was shocked by the story she translated.
Most of the ancestors were slow and always lost their voice while talking. She had already learned about this, so she waited patiently.
But in contrast, the young man standing opposite her couldn't wait any longer.
It was only then that he noticed that she also carried something similar to him - the luminous treasure given by the ancestor.
But these are not the main points. Qiu Ling is more concerned about the meaning of this piece of information.
Especially when he heard the surname of the ancestor, he couldn't ignore it.
"I mean this poem! What does he want to express? Is the exit of the labyrinth at the end of the world? So we must go outside the valley to find it?"
A trace of sadness appeared on Dora's eyebrows.
"I don't know... I think maybe the whole poem itself is what the ancestor wanted to express. He wanted to say that he was the person in the painting and he was the cloud in the sky. He has an uncertain future that is actually countless, but
He cannot see the road ahead. He can see everything, but can do nothing. He can only float in the sky and watch quietly."
After a pause, she said again.
"You are too obsessed with the only result. Not everything has a unique explanation."
Qiu Ling looked at her blankly, still with an incomprehensible expression on his face.
In his understanding, everything in all things has a set of accurate laws, and there are also impenetrable rules for things that cannot be understood clearly.
And as they delve deeper, sooner or later the "unclear" part will gradually become clear.
However, this guy told him that there was no single explanation.
Perhaps this is the reason why they cannot reconcile with the traitors. They have fundamental differences in their understanding of the world.
"Maybe, but I probably understand why we still can't understand each other after so many years..."
Qiu Ling sighed softly, and the expression on his face suddenly showed a touch of relief.
Looking at the incomprehensible murals on the wall, he was silent for a moment and then said.
"...But at least, we finally understand the revelation left by our ancestors."
After a pause, he looked away from the mural and looked at the girl named Dora.
"I will take my people to the end of the world to explore more distant worlds... The Holy Land is no longer useful to us, and I will return it to you."
That's what he suddenly remembered.
A long time ago, when the Forbidden Forest was not as dangerous as it is now, various clans in the Qiu Kingdom would go to this ruins to worship their ancestors every year on the Second Judgment Day.
The Senate was also formed during the process of ancestor worship.
Since then, an unwritten rumor has been circulating in Qiu State.
Their ancestor, the ancestor named Qiu, left a fable belonging to them in the ruins.
Whoever can understand that fable can become the leader of Qiu State! Become the "king" who commands hundreds of tribes!
Now he is here under the guidance of the ancestors, and the Senate has witnessed the miracles performed by the silver metal disk in his hand.
After he leaves here with the message on the mural, he will be the undisputed king of Qiu Kingdom!
"But where is the end of the world?"
Dora looked at Qiu Ling, with a hint of unbearability in her crescent-shaped eyebrows.
"Since the ancestors came from the sky, even if you measure the earth with your feet, there is still a world beyond the earth...that is a place that you cannot reach with just your feet."
Spending her whole life doing something meaningless seemed too pitiful to her.
In fact, they have another choice, which is to accept each other and become a family again.
However, this is just her idea.
What seems meaningless to her may not seem so to others.
Moreover, he also recognized the reality.
They are destined to be different.
"Then I will go to the end of my life and go as far as I can go." Qiu Ling smiled lightly and continued without thinking, "As for the world beyond the earth, my descendants will see it for me."
That is his destiny.
It is also the fate of all "Qiu people".
They were born to go further and find the end of the world!
Just like their ancestors.
The world he has no chance to see, he and his descendants will see for him!
Dora stared blankly at the young man in front of her, and finally said nothing more.
As she said herself, not everything has a unique understanding.
Everything has its own laws of operation, but whether it has "meaning" is decided by humans.
What he understood was his "meaning", and that was the "self" that "Qiu people" had always been unable to find.
Suddenly, she couldn't see his future.
I don't know since when, the bond connecting them has quietly disappeared.
Qiu Ling looked at the girl in front of him seriously and nodded slightly.
That is the highest etiquette in this forest and valley besides kneeling.
"Thank you for telling me the names of my ancestors and the words on the tombstone... We will never see each other again."
After speaking, he took off the silver metal disc hanging around his neck and gently placed it on the table beside him.
He has fulfilled his promise and has found the last ruins in the entire quiet forest.
If not, it only means that the holy object was not here from the beginning.
As for now, he must save his people and take them out of this valley!
Dora watched his back until he disappeared behind the half-open door.
Her intuition told her that maybe things were not so absolute and their descendants would meet again.
However, that will be an unknown number of thousands of years later...
…
In synchronous orbit, on the bridge of the Orion missile cruiser, Jiang Xuezhou, sitting in front of the terminal, took a deep breath and was speechless for a long time.
"The fifth tribe..."
What fifth tribe...
That clearly refers to "Five Parts"!
As for Qiu Shiye, he is probably a physicist from the Fifth Department like Wu Xinghuan from Orion.
However, the former's mobility was obviously much stronger. Not only did he burn down the first "Holy Tree" with a group of primitive people who had not awakened their spiritual powers, they also almost killed the spiritually awakened people who supported another group of crew members to extinction.
This guy is absolutely crazy!
Maybe it was him who smashed the Gemini down, in order to destroy the "holy tree"!
Of course, he may not really want to kill those spiritually awakened people to extinction. After all, there are still many "renegades" who escaped into the forest and developed into today's forest tribes.
If he really wanted to kill everyone, there was no need to give any special instructions, just turn a blind eye and close one eye.
With the cruelty and barbarity of primitive people, it was impossible to leave anyone alive.
Even in the early days of slavery, slaves were not used more as labor force, but as human animals and living sacrifices.
As for what the locals call the "Second Judgment Day", "You are from heaven"... and a series of fables from the Tree of Insof, I am afraid they are all "dramas" told by Him to those who can hear Him whispering.
through".
Of course, due to limited vision, this was the only thing those primitive people could understand.
Jiang Xuezhou still remembered that Ye Shi's report mentioned that the crew of the Gemini had clearly explained Him using the dimensional theory.
However, because those primitive people were unable to understand the concept of dimensions, they actively abandoned those overly advanced theories, and instead used primitive worship methods and more abstract "higher beings" to understand the Tree of Insof.
This can already be regarded as a typical case of enlightenment failure.
"The clouds in the sky, the paintings on the wall... are too abstract. Does he want to express that He is a higher-dimensional creature? Or does he just want to express that He is an outsider..."
Thinking of an old man huddled in the ruins, holding a green crystal and writing poems on a steel plate, Jiang Xuezhou suddenly sympathized with that guy.
He probably went crazy at the last moment of his life and even forgot his identity as a physicist.
Of course, it's possible that this piece of information was not left to the "earth people" in the first place, but to the locals who later visited this ruins - even the descendants of those spiritually awakened people who he had driven into the forest.
them.
This poem is not written in human couplet at all, which is the most direct evidence.
Perhaps it was out of repentance after awakening, or perhaps out of helplessness and compromise with reality. In short, there was nothing wrong with his choice. After all, from his perspective, the situation on the earth's side may not be better than that of Gaia.
optimism.
Jiang Xuezhou tried to deduce it from his perspective.
The 17 crew members who left the Gemini clearly opposed the "Armageddon" plan.
From their perspective, the "End War" plan has probably been successful. The crew of the Gemini, who "predicted the Orion's prediction in advance", have uploaded the virus to the Orion's ship-borne server, causing harm to the earth.
The ecosystem has been reshuffled.
No one could have imagined that an unknown power engineer would pull the switch at the last moment, causing the "Armageddon" plan to be shelved for 215 years.
If this is the case, from Dr. Qiu Shiye's point of view, the little green people on the planet Gaia are the only bloodline of mankind left in this universe.
He could only use pictographic patterns that were easier to understand, and before his life was about to come to an end, he left to future archaeologists the information he had spent his whole life trying to decipher.
After reviewing this buried history, Jiang Xuezhou's mood was also complicated.
She successfully recovered Dr. Qiu Shiye's research results, but the most critical reactor was gone.
"...Did they move that thing away? This is too strange."
Staring at the picture on the holographic screen, Jiang Xuezhou whispered.
The young man named Qiu Ling had already left, and she made no attempt to persuade him to stay.
Because there is no need for that anymore.
Now that he is determined to leave with his tribe, this prehistoric war between primitive people will surely end soon.
The forest people will return to their holy land to declare victory, and the valley people will embark on a migration journey with the fables of their ancestors. This planet is very vast, and their futures are bright.
Next, Tun Nan will probably apologize to Ye Shi personally, and then search the entire forest to find the missing reactor and the helium-3 reserve on it for them.
If they don't find it until the end, they can only plan to spend the rest of their lives on this strange planet.
You can't expect primitive people to refine helium-3 for them.
"Dear Ancestor...What should we do now?" Standing in front of the silver metal disk, Dora's face was filled with confusion and hesitation.
She vaguely realized that she seemed to have successfully helped her tribe avoid a bloody ending, and even took back their holy land without any bloodshed.
However, there are still many things she doesn't understand.
Including that poem.
Including the murals and clouds described in that poem.
Jiang Xuezhou, who was sitting in front of the terminal, picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, but didn't say anything more to her.
Sometimes being too smart is not a good thing.
For example, the young man named Qiu Ling is very good, he is just right smart, and what he has learned from the murals is just right.
That's the best result.
"Don't think too much. Primitive people should do their duty. If I have to give you one piece of advice, you'd better spend some time studying the stars, figuring out the calendar, and then pondering your own language.
Get the words out."
"Even if you make up your mind to abandon writing and language in the future, I think it's better to invent them first. Otherwise, maybe before you find a way to stabilize the awakening of spiritual energy, you will be trapped on the same planet.
The competitors above were eliminated.”
Have you said too much?
This should have been something they themselves concluded from the twists and turns of history.
But it doesn’t seem to make any sense to say this now.
"...Stop talking about those things, give me a message to your leader. Just say that the arrow of judgment has been nocked on the bowstring. If he doesn't want to see the holy tree of Thomas City reduced to ashes in the flames, then
Stand still for seven days and let the 'sinful people' leave... This is a punishment for his arrogance and imprisoning the ancestors."
It is impossible for her to actually release neutron torpedoes on a group of innocent civilians, but there is nothing wrong with strategic intimidation.
The people in the valley were going to evacuate anyway, so Tun Nan weighed the pros and cons and there was no need to take the risk.
Dora took note of this advice and continued to ask hurriedly.
"Can you... take me to heaven?"
She knew this was a presumptuous request, but she couldn't help but ask it.
The future king of the Qiu people understood the mission of the Qiu people from that poem, and she also realized her own things.
They want to go to the end of the world, conquer the maze at their feet, and find the exit of the maze.
The children of the Tree of Insof will go to the sky and become the clouds floating above the maze.
Hearing the pleading voice, Jiang Xuezhou yawned.
She could guess what Dora was thinking.
This little girl probably made a metaphysical mistake and misunderstood the ancestors from the sky as the clouds in the poem.
Actually not at all.
They were also people in the labyrinth, but they just walked farther away, so that to her, a primitive person, they looked like they were standing on clouds.
There is no "Tree of Insof" on the earth, and no one knows whether there will be one in the future, but at least in the future that Jiang Xuezhou can foresee, the wastelanders who have inherited the People's Federation will most likely put more energy into it.
Poured into the labyrinth of matter.
However, if she has that desire, bringing her back to Earth may be a good choice.
At least this will help the reborn human civilization understand other dimensions beyond its own, as well as new laws that were originally unknown.
Thinking of this, Jiang Xuezhou's heart moved slightly, and a mischievous smile appeared on his face.
It's something that has been decided anyway, why not take this opportunity to test someone.
"Ahem, it's not that easy to go to heaven...but for the sake of your sincerity, I will show you the way with great mercy."
"The ancestor who was imprisoned by your chief is actually an extraordinary figure. He can decide who to take away from the mortal world."
"If you really want to go to heaven, just ask him!"