TRCP 228 part 1

Chapter 228 part 1

The transport helicopter brought the group back to Xining.

With the barrier over Qinghai gone, the communication systems Mr. Sun had set up across the province were fully restored. While still in the air, they had notified the people in Guangming City. When the helicopter landed, the city’s entire population came out to welcome them.

Rong Lan, carrying Mr. Sun, was the first to step off the aircraft. His silver hair was unbound, and his pale, naked body was wrapped in a black blanket. He walked barefoot on the snow, his face devoid of expression, his eyes as cold as the March ice.

When the people of Guangming City saw the lifeless Mr. Sun, they knelt, one after another. Although the absolute power in Qinghai was held by the natural force evolvers of light and dark, Rong Lan and Chu Xingzhou, neither could compare to Mr. Sun in terms of prestige and reverence in the hearts of the common people. It was Mr. Sun who had used his superior intellect to build the Walls of Light, produce mutated grains, domesticate mutated livestock, and create warming equipment, giving the people of Qinghai a better chance at survival. Seeing Mr. Sun with his eyes closed, everyone felt a deep, genuine sorrow.

The others who disembarked after Rong Lan also wore grim expressions. Compared to the fighting spirit they had when they left, their silence now was suffocating. The people of Guangming City were so intimidated that they didn’t even dare to make a sound when they saw people clearly wearing the attire of Xuanming City.

Rong Lan’s butler led them to the Ming Manor. As they stepped into the warm rooms, everyone felt the illusion of frozen blood beginning to thaw.

“Let’s rest for today,” Tang Tingzhi said in a low voice. “We can talk about everything else tomorrow.”

Rong Lan gently placed Mr. Sun on a bed. “What do we do about Mr. Sun?”

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Cong Xia chased after him. “Colonel.”

Tang Tingzhi turned. “What is it?”

“Is Brother Dan awake yet?”

“Not yet. He just went through xenomorphosis, so his energy is unstable, and he’s physically exhausted.”

“There’s something I must tell you immediately.”

“Is it about what happened in the underground palace?”

“Yes.”

“As much as I want to know right now, contacting Beijing is the most urgent matter.”

Cong Xia hesitated. “I understand. But, after Brother Dan wakes up, could you stop him from saying anything about what happened down there?”

Tang Tingzhi looked at him quietly for two seconds. “Don’t worry. If it’s something that shouldn’t be said, he won’t say it, even without being reminded.”

Cong Xia nodded. “Then I was overthinking it.”

“Go back and watch over Zhuang Yao. I’ll prepare the fuel for the helicopter as soon as I can. We need to get back to Beijing quickly.”

“Okay.”

When Cong Xia returned to the room, he found everyone there. Zhuang Yao lay peacefully on the bed, breathing evenly. His small face was clean and fair, and he had been changed into his favorite Winnie the Pooh pajamas. He looked as if he were simply asleep, though not even Tang Tingzhi was certain he would ever wake up, or if he did, whether he would still possess his former intellect.

The group stood guard by Zhuang Yao’s bed, their faces etched with worry.

Cong Xia forced a smile. “Don’t be so tense. Mr. Sun said Zhuang Yao’s brain was just damaged. As long as a brain-domain evolver and I work together on the cranial surgery, he can recover.”

Deng Xiao looked down at Zhuang Yao and said softly, “The brain is the most complex part of the human body. Can it really be cured?”

Liu Fengyu smacked him on the head. “Of course it can. Cong Xia can regenerate missing arms and legs, so why can’t a damaged brain be fixed?”

Tang Yanqiu stroked Zhuang Yao’s hair. “There are so many brain-domain evolvers in Beijing. It won’t be a problem.”

“Cong Xia, you went to find Tang Tingzhi just now?” Cheng Tianbi asked.

Cong Xia sat down on the edge of the bed. “There was something I wanted to tell him, but he went to the lab.”

“Was it about the underground palace?”

Cong Xia nodded. “A lot happened down there, but not too many people can know. What about you, Tianbi? You were down there for almost half an hour. What happened? You almost didn’t make it out.”

“I got lost at first.”

“What? That shouldn’t have happened. The route I told you was a bit long, but it wasn’t complicated.”

“It wasn’t until I reached the lab that I realized that brain-domain monster wasn’t dead yet. He was trying to close the palace passages while Mr. Sun was trying to open them. In their struggle, the mechanisms kept shifting, and I got trapped for a while. By the time I reached the lab, nearly twenty minutes had passed.”

“What happened then? Did you help Mr. Sun kill Jiang Ying? Why did Mr. Sun end up like that?”

“I discovered some things that confused me, and I didn’t understand much of their conversation. So, I want to know what happened to you in the palace first.”

Cong Xia cleared his throat and told the group everything that had happened in the underground palace, down to the last detail.

After he finished, they were all silent for a while. Liu Fengyu ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “Are you saying that everything we’re doing now is pointless? If even those ancient gods had to kill themselves just to lower the Cambrian consciousness’s assessment value, and our wisdom and abilities are far inferior to theirs, then there’s no way we can come up with a solution to stop it.”

Deng Xiao also found it hard to accept. “We’ve risked our lives so many times. Even though everyone was prepared to make sacrifices, this is completely different from knowing from the start that you’re doomed to die. What… what motivation is there to keep fighting?”

Cong Xia nodded. “That’s exactly why not too many people can know about this. It would be a devastating blow to many, especially the high-level mutated humans. They could have avoided all combat, found a secluded place, and lived a peaceful life. They fight without hesitation because they have hope—hope of stopping the apocalypse and preventing our own self-destruction. If they found this out, many would probably give up immediately.”

“Then what’s our reason for continuing?” Liu Fengyu clenched his fists. “Or maybe this is all just speculation? The truth might not be like this.”

Cong Xia sighed. “Based on the information we have and the combined analysis of three brain-domain evolvers—Jiang Ying, Mr. Sun, and Zhuang Yao—the truth is likely very close to this. Our reason for continuing is that we still have a sliver of hope: the Five-Colored Stone.”

“Is the Five-Colored Stone really our hope?” Liu Fengyu asked. “Zhang Daoling’s abilities couldn’t compare to the ancient gods, right? The only thing the ancient gods could do was sacrifice themselves to lower the assessment value. Zhang Daoling left the Five-Colored Stone, but he also failed to prevent the disaster. Now it’s our turn. What can we do?”

“The self-destruction of the ancient gods was clearly not just to lower the assessment value,” Cheng Tianbi said gravely. “Spreading their genes so that their descendants would inherit and awaken them at the right time was their main purpose.”

Cong Xia nodded. “That’s right. They were buying time. If they only wanted to lower the assessment value, there would have been no need to spread their genes. They should have completely eradicated such dangerous genes that would trigger the Cambrian consciousness. Genes with divine power are the biggest factor in the Cambrian consciousness assessing humanity as exceeding the danger value. The ultimate goal of the ancient gods was to hope that humanity, far in the future, could find a way to fight the Cambrian consciousness, awaken at the right time, and use their power to defeat it. Zhang Tianshi is a good example. He awakened his ancient genes and understood the Cambrian consciousness and the events of the ancient era better than we do. That’s why he left the Five-Colored Stone to help humanity. I think both the ancient gods and Zhang Tianshi hoped to delay the great cleansing of the Cambrian consciousness and place their hope in the future. At least, that’s what I think. So I believe we can’t give up.”

“No matter what, we’ve come this far through so much hardship. There’s no reason to give up,” Tang Yanqiu said. “We have to collect all the Puppet Jades and give it a try.”

Cong Xia nodded forcefully, his resolve firm. “I won’t give up until the moment I die.”

Liu Fengyu let out a breath. “I don’t know what to do with you guys. I was actually thinking of going back to Beijing to enjoy life.”

Deng Xiao scratched his head. “I can’t figure all this out. Anyway, wherever you guys go, I’ll go. Whoever you fight, I’ll fight alongside you.”

Cong Xia looked at Cheng Tianbi. “Tianbi, what exactly happened during those ten minutes you were in the lab? What did they say? Why did Mr. Sun end up like that?”

Cheng Tianbi frowned. “According to what you said, there were two other brain-domain evolvers’ consciousnesses inside Jiang Ying, and Zhuang Yao and Mr. Sun’s method of attack was to awaken those two. In that case, it’s not surprising that Jiang Ying was hiding things from you.”

“What? What did he hide?”

“When I got to the lab, both Mr. Sun and Jiang Ying were on the verge of death. Mr. Sun was a bit surprised. From what he said, he knew we would come down to save him, but he thought it would be Rong Lan or Chu Xingzhou. I wanted to kill Jiang Ying then, but Mr. Sun stopped me. Their conversation was very confusing. But combining it with what you told me, we can deduce that Jiang Ying was hiding information about the ancient gods, the Five-Colored Stone, and the Puppet Jades. He had some insights about the Puppet Jades in particular that he didn’t want us to know. Even when Mr. Sun was talking to him, he was being evasive because I was there. It seems that when Jiang Ying was with you at first, he could still completely control his own thoughts. But by the time I arrived, his consciousness had been invaded by the other two, and he was saying a lot of things he didn’t want to say. One of the other consciousnesses in his brain was trying very hard to communicate with Mr. Sun, constantly forcing him to answer Mr. Sun’s questions. Mr. Sun was trying to get information out of him while continuing to disrupt his thoughts. The brain damage to both of them was getting worse and worse. I wanted to stop Mr. Sun then, but he was very resolute and wouldn’t let me interfere. He said, ‘What I’m doing now is far more important than this old life of mine.’ Those were his exact words.”

“What did they say? Can you summarize the information?” Cong Xia asked, surprised.