CH 15

The warmth of the campfire illuminated the faces of the four wanderers as Lin Shuang sat before them, peeling acorns and telling stories of the village of Xiahe. She could have left at any moment yet a lingering guilt kept her there, and it just so happened that these strangers were unable to efficiently shell the acorns, providing her with a way to repay them.

"So, don't worry if the acorn isn't perfect, it's going to get cooked into mush anyway..." Qin Chuan, who had been eagerly listening, leaned in to Chen Jiu and said: "You see, I told you that improving your goodwill would be useful, and you've gotten a free skill out of it!"

Chen Jiu was speechless. He hadn't expected things to take this turn. But then he asked himself - what use is this skill, anyway? Was he just supposed to go back to reality and become a mouse?

And then he realized his mistake. He had been judging the skill based on its use in reality, when in fact real players didn't think like that.

In their eyes, any cheating skill could give them a better development in the game, giving them an intuitive sense of gain. Of course, they who knew the truth were two-faced, while the players who didn't know the truth were the ones genuinely enjoying the game. At this thought, he gave a satisfied laugh. Indeed, it had to be this way -- you all enjoy the game and help me with some labor, and when my E-level permission is unlocked, we'll divide the profits together! Thus, he praised Qin Chuan highly with words like "top-notch understanding" and "no wonder you're a high-level player". Worm and Wig also acknowledged Qin Chuan's good use of the bug card, and he finally let out a sigh of relief and was no longer the naive Kong Yizi. After learning how to crack chestnuts, Qin Chuan and Worm headed out hunting, leaving Chen Jiu and Wig to look after the house -- he wanted to see how difficult hunting would be without Chen Jiu's perception. Wig chattered away with Lin Shuang, finding the conversation without fixed dialogue options quite novel.

Have you eaten yet? inquired the stranger. No, we only eat at midday and evening, was the reply. What do you eat? Porridge and millet, sometimes jerky, and nuts, too. What do you cook with? A pot? Where does the pot come from? asked the stranger. We use a pot, and every year someone goes out to the mountain to trade for some necessities of life, but not this year, for the coming of the Ice Storm... What is an Ice Storm? It's very cold weather. Do you have electric heating? Do you know electricity? I don't understand what you mean... But I heard there are people outside who can control the power of lightning... Oh, so it seems you don't know what electricity is. Do you know about electromagnetism? I don't understand. And Newton's laws? Do you know that? Again, no comprehension.

Wig nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Chen Jiu and said, "This NPC intelligence is limited... It appears the level of technology has indeed declined here - no, not only the level of technology, the level of science as a whole has plummeted. It's as if they were people from the Middle Ages, not knowing anything... Ah, the game's background is the end of the world, and this is part of the Chinese territories - I wonder how much of our civilization remains here."

"Perhaps you should ask her if she knows any ancient poems," Chen Jiu suggested.

"Good idea!" Wig smiled, then turned to Lin Shuang and asked, "So, mathematics then? Do you know how to count? Are you familiar with calculus?"

Lin Shuang was taken aback, the woman's words had stunned her; she had never heard of such things before. Compared to this, she seemed so... foolish? But if it was a poem from the past... she could recite a few, her village chief had taught them. 

"Come, recite it for me!" Chen Jiu excitedly said. 

Lin Shuang awkwardly smiled, hesitating for a moment before finally starting. 

"When young, not knowing the moon, thinking it a white jade plate. Mistaken for a mirror on the Yao terrace, soaring to the clouds in the sky."

"The Ancient Langyue! This NPC can actually recite it!"

To be honest, Chen Jiu was taken aback by Lin Shuang's response.

Even though basic Newtonian laws have been forgotten, why have ancient poems been passed down?

"And what lies beneath?" he asked, curiosity in his voice.

"What beneath...is there anything else?"

...it seems not all of it has been passed down.

"Do you know this poem is from before the apocalypse?" Chen Jiu asked.

"I know, and I know this poem is not just from before the apocalypse; it was ages and ages before...I heard that people in those times lived much like us now."

"But I'm not sure why the moon is like a white jade plate."

At this, Chen Jiu and worm were both stunned.

Yes.

The moon atop the red soil, never truly round at any time. For its surface was pocked with craters and the inherent pull of gravity not enough to return it to its once perfect circle. From Earth, it appeared more a polygon of jagged edges than a near-round shape. "Perhaps the moon was not like this before," Chen Jiu had to explain. "Perhaps," said Lin Shuang, her expression darkening. No matter what the moon had once been, she would never see it again. "Do you know anything else?" Chen Jiu inquired, eager to learn more of the culture of this red land from her detailed perspective. "I know some of the mythology, and the mythological characters," she replied. "Tell me more!" he said, his enthusiasm palpable.

Before the end of days, the Sun God had spread an array of small suns across the red land, providing warmth to the inhospitable realms. Legends spoke of these suns being able to move mountains and fill seas with the divine power of the Sun God and carry the phoenixes to the moon palace. 

The Eye of Heaven was a mortal who had been blessed with divine power, allowing him to see the arrival of the doomsday demon from the far reaches of the sky. This warning allowed the people to prepare and avert the impending disaster.

The God of Agriculture had created countless seeds filled with power, allowing them to take root even in the most inhospitable soil. Before the end of days, they had brought wealth and prosperity to the red land, allowing most of the people to avoid the need for agriculture altogether.

"Even after the end of days, we continue to use the seeds left by the God of Agriculture—though the divine power of these seeds has diminished greatly, they still nourish mankind," Chen Jiu remarked, watching with reverence as Lin Shuang spoke.

"The bitter rice is a relic of the God of Agriculture. We planted it on the bitter and salty lands, and it sustained us through our most difficult times..."

Chen Jiu was moved by the piety on Lin Shuang's face.

But soon, a thought occurred to him.

"An incredible deity, indeed... But you speak of these gods... such as the God of Agriculture... wouldn't his name be Yuan, by any chance?"