Chapter 51

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Chapter 51: Similar Legends

Ying Zhao quickly reached out to confirm, and soon the three segments of footage sent by Ti Ran began to play above the round table.

Several large birds stood on the ground, looking from a distance like cranes. As the perspective zoomed in, it became apparent that each bird stood on only one leg, and it seemed like it had only one leg. The feathers on these birds were a mix of red and green, and they had sharp, white long beaks.

“This is a Bi Fang,” Ying Zhao said immediately after watching, “There is a bird that looks like a crane, stands on one leg, has red and green feathers and a white beak, called a Bi Fang.”

“Wow, you really know your *Shan Hai Jing* by heart now,” Zhu Huai commented after watching the footage and glanced at Ying Zhao.

The footage was short, lasting only about twenty seconds. By the time they exchanged words, it was already over, and the second segment began to play, showing farmland.

The filming distance was quite far, showing many people working in the fields, appearing to be without modern mechanical tools yet.

This segment also lasted about twenty seconds, soon transitioning to the third segment, which featured a large wooden and stone structure built on a plain with many women gathered around it, dressed in lavish attire. Some people on the platform at the top of the building were dancing, adorned with colorful feathers, suggesting it was some kind of ritual activity.

“This should be the footage sent recently by the exploration team, capturing human civilization from thirteen thousand years ago,” Ying Zhao summarized after watching all three segments. “It seems that the civilization in that time period had not yet entered the industrial age and was still in the agricultural era. Over the following two thousand years, that era gradually developed technology, leading to the highways and bionic aircraft we see today in the six segments in the time travel center.”

Luo Yu and Zhu Huai nodded in agreement to her statement, and Zhu Huai thought for a moment, saying, “Those strange beasts really did exist, but they look very unscientific.”

Ying Zhao smiled gently, “In our world, there are many animals whose structures are difficult for science to explain. Just because we live in a world where they have truly existed, we don’t find it that strange.”

Luo Yu recalled the deep-sea animal models she had seen when she was younger, with their diverse shapes making her question whether those creatures were real or not.

“From these new segments of footage, it’s basically confirmed that there is a recurring cycle of civilization spanning over ten thousand years,” Luo Yu said thoughtfully. “However, we still need to find out how long this cycle truly is. We can only figure it out after they explore two thousand years into the past.”

Zhu Huai looked up at the ceiling of the lounge, “If there truly is a recurrence, what happens to civilization at the end of one cycle?” After saying this, she turned her gaze back to Luo Yu and Ying Zhao sitting on either side.

The three fell silent for a moment, hesitant to speculate on anything too negative. After a while, Ying Zhao said, “Since the exploration team can go to ten thousand years ago, they should also be able to observe what kind of interactions occurred at the junction of those two civilizations. Let’s wait for further messages to come back.”

Luo Yu and Zhu Huai nodded and said nothing more. They sat in the lounge, their minds still excited from the visit to the time travel center and the new footage they had just viewed. They didn’t feel like going back to their rooms for rest. Instead, they enjoyed late-night snacks brought by the housekeeping system while discussing Ying Zhao’s recent studies of the strange beasts in the *Shan Hai Jing* and the myths of the Ponsuo Tribe.

Although this world doesn’t possess ancient texts like the *Shan Hai Jing*, it has many ancient myths that have been passed down, including the origins of some place names and various folk legends.

Over the past few days, Ying Zhao had compiled a list correlating the Ponsuo Tribe with the place names in the *Shan Hai Jing*, marking each location and its topography. From the comparisons, it was evident that aside from similar names, there were many discrepancies in geographical positions and landscapes.

If these place names, like those strange beasts, belong to the timeframe the exploration team is heading toward ten thousand years ago, it seems that only the names have been passed down, while the original geographical positions have long been altered.

“Over ten thousand years, it’s common for seas to turn into mulberry fields or the other way around. As for those creatures, perhaps, like in our world, some environmental or climatic issues have led to the extinction of many species,” Ying Zhao concluded.

At this moment, Zhu Huai recalled that she had just mentioned the local myths. So she asked, “Can you tell us about the local folk legends, to see if any align?”

During a music party hosted by Ao Ci that Zhu Huai attended with Ying Zhao, Ying Zhao got to know a sociologist from the Ponsuo Tribe through Ti Ran. That night, she had a delightful conversation with her and learned many local myths and legends. When she returned, she borrowed a considerable number of historical books and footage records from her.

When Ying Zhao heard Zhu Huai’s question, she smiled, raised a finger, and gestured for them to wait a moment. Then she turned and dashed back to her suite. A little while later, she returned with a small projector and placed it on the round table. After turning it on, three-dimensional drawings of some animals appeared above the table in the same spot where they had just viewed the footage.

“These are some of the ancient mythical beasts restored based on descriptions from local historical legends. Take a look and see if any look familiar,” Ying Zhao asked with a smile.

Luo Yu and Zhu Huai leaned in to examine closely. There were a total of eight uniquely shaped creatures displayed, including a golden bird resembling a phoenix and a light blue dragon. However, aside from these two, the other creatures looked quite unfamiliar, and they hadn’t seen similar forms in their world’s mythological illustrations.

As Luo Yu and Zhu Huai pointed out the phoenix and dragon, Ying Zhao nodded with a smile, “Yes, after studying the local myths here, I found that the only two connections between the mythological creatures of this world and ours are the phoenix and dragon. The rest don’t match up, but there are some creation myths you’ll definitely find familiar.”

Then, Ying Zhao began recounting the local creation myths about the origin of humanity, saying that humanity was formed by the heavenly mother goddess using her hair, mixed with soil from the bank of Ji Shui, molding the shape of humans. The goddess’s strands of hair represented the human spine, and because of this hair, humans were the only intelligent species in nature capable of standing upright.

Luo Yu and Zhu Huai exchanged glances after hearing this. “That sounds a bit like… Nu Wa creating humanity?”

Ying Zhao nodded, observing that the Ponsuo Tribe had a set of ancient creation myths that had their own logic. Some parts of these stories related to theirs, and a few of the mythical beasts shared similar descriptions. When combined with the corresponding place names from the *Shan Hai Jing*, it felt like piecing together a whole new world.

After listening, the three of them fell silent for a moment, and Zhu Huai leaned back with her legs crossed, “Now we have footage confirming the existence of some mythical beasts. Well, these myths are increasingly resembling truth, which is intriguing. Someday, I’ll look for a chance to apply to join the exploration team to see it for myself.”

They sat in the lounge discussing the mythical stories Ying Zhao had shared until late into the night. It was only when Ying Zhao began yawning and was unable to resist her sleepiness that the three finally got up and returned to their rooms.

The next morning, Luo Yu slowly woke up in the warm sunlight. She lay on her soft cozy nest, blinked her eyes, and quietly counted the days in her mind. Her training in the channel simulator was going smoothly, and with about five or six more days of gradually extending the simulated paths, she would become familiar with the route to the designated coordinates at the space station. After that, she needed to set aside one or two days to prepare for final checks.

Realizing that the time for their return was drawing nearer, she looked outside at the lush green trees and gently sighed before propping herself up to sit.

After she freshened up and changed her clothes, she came out of her room to find that Zhu Huai had already risen early and was sitting in the lounge with Ying Zhao for breakfast. When Zhu Huai saw her come out, she waved, “You woke up just in time! The kitchen at the cave center has new dishes. Come over and see what there is to eat!”

Luo Yu walked over to the soft cushions and, while looking at the menu on the central panel, asked Zhu Huai, “What made you get up so early today?”

Zhu Huai scratched her head and chuckled, “Wanhua sent me a message inviting me to the Biological Research Station today to listen to the Old Director talk about the origin of life.”

Ying Zhao chimed in, “The Old Director also sent a message saying there’s new progress in the gene decay calculations for 015 and suggested we join him to take a look.”

They were originally scheduled to do return simulations in the simulator today, but Lei Ming had arranged a vacation recently and went climbing with friends from the rock climbing association. If Zhu Huai also had commitments, there was no one available in the control room of the channel simulator to take over.

Luo Yu, having returned from the time travel center yesterday and listened to Ying Zhao discuss those myths, wanted to explore the laws of the cycle of civilization. If the cycle truly exists, she also wanted to know where their world currently stands in this cycle.

However, the return process was crucial; she couldn’t neglect her daily simulation training and disrupt the plans for their return.

Zhu Huai knew what she was thinking and quickly said, “That’s why I got up early today. After we finish breakfast, I’ll do a round of simulations in the simulator, and then in the afternoon, we can go to the Biological Research Station to check on the Old Director’s research progress. When we return in the evening, we can do another simulation. You can consider it a change of pace for your mind, how does that sound?”

Luo Yu looked back and forth between the two of them, then nodded, “Okay.”

After having breakfast together in the lounge, the three walked to the mountaintop helipad. There, they conducted a longer return simulation compared to yesterday. Although the process of navigating independently without guidance still encountered small-scale gravitational field fluctuations, Luo Yu had become much more proficient over the past few days. Each time a simulation ended, she felt more confident about the return.

After finishing the morning simulation, they stayed on the helipad and had the hangar robot set up a tent. With the beautiful summer scenery of the opposite cliff, they enjoyed some snacks and took a short break before boarding the aircraft to rush to the Biological Research Station.

Mo Chuan led the three of them through the shortcut along the dark riverbed of the lake they took on their way there. Luo Yu was unfamiliar with this route, so this time the three of them followed the aircraft’s default navigation, landing at the helipad outside the main door of the Biological Research Station. Following the robot that came to receive them, they walked into the research station.

Wanhua had been waiting in the lobby. When he heard they had arrived, he quickly walked over to greet them. The four of them took the elevator down to the exhibition hall on the underground level.

On the way, Wanhua introduced them to the day’s lessons, explaining that there was a student group from Nanzhou visiting to observe the animal and plant specimen exhibition. At that moment, they were in the downstairs exhibition hall listening to Ao Ci explain the model of biological cells. Wanhua thought the content today would be somewhat related to what they had experienced yesterday at the time travel center, so he invited them to join the lecture, just as it was starting.

The four of them arrived in the exhibition hall and saw more than a dozen students who appeared to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, quietly listening to Ao Ci talk about the origin of life in front of the exhibits.

“Natural life, at the beginning of its birth, primarily propagated through self-replication. It wasn’t until hundreds of millions of years later that sexual reproduction evolved. Thus, the ancestral receptors for estrogen that appeared in the self-replication era exist in all tissues of organisms, including certain male-specific organs, which also show traces of estrogen evolution.” Ao Ci kindly addressed the crowd, “Do you know what this means?”

A student in the front row raised their hand and answered, “Females are the initial gender.”

“Exactly,” Ao Ci smiled and nodded. “Cells composed of estrogen receptors form the nucleus of life, the very source of all beings.”