Chapter 225: The Qinghai Mystery Domain PART 1

Jiang Ying threw them into a secret chamber and went off to busy himself with who knows what.

The four of them ate while discussing their strategy.

Cong Xia looked around. “There aren’t any listening devices in here, are there?”

Zhuang Yao shook his head. “No, I already checked. You think it’s easy to modify things in this thousand-year-old ancient city?”

Cong Xia said glumly, “Well then, let’s talk. How do we get out of here? A brain-domain evolved human who’s even more powerful than you guys, and a lynx we can’t beat. We’re really getting bullied to no end. If Tianbi were here… sigh.”

Shan Ming said defiantly, “Give me a Barrett and I’ll take out that damn cat.”

Cong Xia advised, “Brother Shan, please don’t act rashly. That lynx is too fast, and it seems to really hold a grudge against you for injuring its leg.”

“No matter how fast it is, it can’t outrun bullets.” Shan Ming looked at his MP5 submachine gun and said glumly, “Only half a magazine left. Damn it, that big-headed freak really looks down on us—he didn’t even confiscate our guns. Let me see your gun.”

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“Ebyv?”

“Did you notice? Jiang Ying said that multiple alien species would lose their self-consciousness, but why hasn’t he lost his self-consciousness?”

Cong Xia said, “Because he’s a brain-domain evolved human, right? Brain-domain evolved humans should have ways to control themselves. Didn’t he say he won the struggle for self-consciousness?”

“Think about it—what do alien species who successfully win the struggle for self-consciousness look like? Take Liu Fengyu, or the Devil Pine. Not only can they freely switch between different forms, they can completely control themselves in any form. If he really won the self-consciousness battle, why would he end up looking like that?”

Cong Xia was stunned. “You mean he didn’t succeed? Then how does he maintain his self-consciousness?”

Professor Sun said, “We suspect that from beginning to end, he never truly occupied that body. Maybe their alien transformation wasn’t even successful—perhaps because they’re an extremely rare same-species alien transformation, or because they’re brain-domain evolved humans. In any case, Jiang Ying didn’t truly win. He may have forced the consciousness of the other two people into those four arms.”

“What?” Cong Xia showed a disgusted expression. “You’re saying those arms contain the consciousness of the other two brain-domain evolved humans?”

Zhuang Yao said, “Only thinking this way makes sense. It’s impossible that he wanted to become that way himself. I think when he first underwent the alien transformation, the self-consciousness of the other two brain-domain evolved humans was too strong. The three of them struggled for control of this body for a long time without result. Later, Jiang Ying, who had a slight advantage, transplanted their arms onto this body, then used some method to put the consciousness of the other two into their own arms, creating the illusion that they still belonged to themselves in exchange for temporary peace. If you look carefully, you’ll notice he doesn’t really use those other four arms much, and they’re not really under his control. He probably doesn’t want to use them because it might awaken the self-consciousness of the other two. Understand? This might be our only breakthrough.”

Cong Xia said happily, “If we can awaken the consciousness of those two people, he definitely won’t be able to deal with us, and then we can escape.”

Zhuang Yao said, “If things go smoothly. If we fail, he’ll have the lynx bite the three of us to death and keep you as a translator for the five-colored stone.”

Cong Xia said with a long face, “That won’t happen. If the lynx bites you all to death, I’d rather die than comply.”

“Idiot, I was just talking. Colonel Tang isn’t just sitting around doing nothing—he’s definitely thinking of ways to rescue us too. But first we need to find a way to sabotage the mechanism system here so he knows where we are.”

“So how do we act now?”

“Professor Sun and I are still thinking about it. Let’s talk about something else first.” Zhuang Yao said, “When you first got the ancient jade, was it already like that?”

“Yes, it had none of the characteristics of the five-colored stone, so actually I still have some doubts even now…”

“There’s nothing to doubt. If the five-colored stone really exists, then it’s definitely this thing. It’s just that there are many suspicious points I can’t figure out.” Zhuang Yao said, “You once told me the text inside was Sanskrit, and there’s that box we found in the underground palace of the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda—if it really has anything to do with the ancient jade, it was also discovered in a Buddhist pagoda. What’s going on?”

Cong Xia said, “I’m also very puzzled about this. But the ancient jade’s appearance has changed dramatically. Could something have happened during these two thousand years?”

“Obviously…” Zhuang Yao seemed to have a headache as he rubbed his ears. “Indeed, the more we know, the more we don’t know. Now I have many more questions about the existence of the puppet jade.”

Cong Xia frowned. “Me too. I’m increasingly unable to understand the puppet jade’s existence. If it’s a tool of the Cambrian consciousness, why does it promote our evolution, making us stronger to resist the Cambrian consciousness?”

“To figure out this question, we must first know what Cambrian energy is. Cambrian energy, according to our research, is a type of biological energy that can act on cells, promoting their evolution, mutation, and repair. This energy also complements the five-element energies, can manipulate nature, and can even be converted into electrical and thermal energy for industrial production like many other energies. It can be said to be an omnipotent energy—it should be the source energy of this planet. Without it, there would be no Earth as we know it today. That’s why Cambrian energy is omnipotent and can arbitrarily change the people, animals, plants, and landscapes on this planet. This kind of energy obviously cannot be created by any person, so Cambrian energy must be a tool of the Cambrian consciousness. Using Cambrian consciousness to trigger natural disasters, mutate bacteria to cause plagues, make animal and plant cells evolve—the Cambrian consciousness can be said to have countless methods to deal with humans, as long as it controls the omnipotent Cambrian energy. But today, after learning so many secrets, I’ve realized we may have fallen into another preconceived misconception.”

Shan Ming raised an eyebrow. “What misconception?”

Professor Sun said, “There’s no doubt that Cambrian energy belongs to the Cambrian consciousness, but the puppet jade may not necessarily have been created by the Cambrian consciousness.”

Cong Xia was stunned. “But the puppet jade is used to carry Cambrian energy.”

Zhuang Yao said, “Exactly. Because of this, we’ve always thought the puppet jade was a natural carrier of Cambrian energy, a tool of the Cambrian consciousness. But what if it’s not? Cambrian energy can obviously be utilized by humans. We use Cambrian energy as weapon fuel and for heating in winter—these are all elementary uses of Cambrian energy. Advanced utilization was already achieved by Master Zhang two thousand years ago. The ancient jade taught you many methods for utilizing Cambrian energy well, showing that Master Zhang’s understanding of Cambrian energy at that time was far, far more profound than ours. Even his utilization of Cambrian energy—you’ve only learned the basics. In the current situation where technology has regressed by hundreds of years, we still learned to use and store Cambrian energy. Even you can craft energy-storing jade talismans to store Cambrian energy. Master Zhang, who utilized Cambrian energy to a miraculous degree, why couldn’t he create a massive-capacity energy-storing jade talisman to store Cambrian energy?”

Cong Xia said in a low voice, “You’re suggesting the puppet jade might also have been created by Master Zhang?”

Zhuang Yao shook his head. “I can’t be certain. The Cambrian energy stored in the puppet jade is too enormous—it doesn’t seem like human work. Even if it wasn’t Master Zhang’s doing, it could have been the work of the ancient divine beings. In any case, I increasingly suspect that the puppet jade wasn’t created by the Cambrian consciousness—it came from human hands.”

“Why would humans create it?” Cong Xia couldn’t quite accept this idea. All along, they had regarded the puppet jade as humanity’s “enemy.” Although it had many uses, it was also the biggest culprit behind the apocalypse. They had walked this far with the determination to seal it away. They never expected that today’s conversation with Jiang Ying would overturn their long-held judgments. Now many things needed to be reconsidered, even repeatedly overturning their own mistakes. This process was really quite painful and frustrating.

Professor Sun smiled bitterly. “The thoughts of the ancient divine beings are too difficult to fathom. If we continue thinking along this line, many problems can be explained again. Of course, maybe our current speculation is wrong again. We’ve already gone back and forth between errors and correcting errors many times. Proving something is like this—have some patience, young people. In the end, the truth will definitely reveal itself to us.”

Shan Ming shook his head. “Leave this brain-taxing stuff for you to think about. Listening to you go round and round, my ears are getting callused. Can we discuss something practical now—how to deal with that big-headed freak and the lynx?”

Professor Sun smiled. “Do you have any good suggestions?”

Shan Ming took a drag of his cigarette and wiped his gun barrel with his dirty clothes. “I only have two guns, one knife, and one life. If you can deal with the big-headed freak, I guarantee I’ll keep that lynx occupied. When the time comes, you just run. If I can live, I’ll live. If I die, it has nothing to do with you.”

“Brother Shan, we’re thinking of a way. We won’t let you go to your death.”

Shan Ming grinned. “That little kid doesn’t think so.”

Zhuang Yao said, “If sacrificing you alone could get the three of us out, it would indeed be quite cost-effective. After all, compared to us, you have the least value for existence.”

Cong Xia shouted, “Zhuang Yao, don’t say that!”

Shan Ming didn’t get angry either, just grinned and said, “The kid’s right. Without taking a gamble, all four of us will die. You three are core members of the team, I’m just an ordinary person. Whether from an emotional or interest perspective, you’d definitely abandon me first. In that big-headed freak’s view, if he’s going to kill someone, he’d definitely kill the one with the least utility value first—me. So I need you to deal with the big-headed freak, and you need me to deal with the lynx while you’re handling the big-headed freak. Cooperation achieved. You should really be grateful this is the apocalyptic era—otherwise you might not be able to afford my fee.”