Seeing Jiang Baimian and the others looking over, Du Heng pointed to the shadows of the trees in front of him and said in a gentle voice:
“Don’t move for now. Wait for this wave of anomalies to pass.”
At this moment, within the entire city ruins, roars rose and fell, showing no sign of stopping.
Jiang Baimian stared at Du Heng for a few seconds, then nodded to Long Yuehong and the others.
Before she could move, Shang Jianyao had already darted to Du Heng's side and squatted down very naturally.
This scene felt strangely familiar to Long Yuehong, as if he had returned to the inside of "Pangu Biology"—every time after dinner, people often squatted like this at the entrance of the "Activity Center" to chat.
Jiang Baimian was still a little hesitant, but seeing this, she didn't care anymore. She squatted down next to them, looked around, and said sincerely:
“Thank you for saving us just now.”
“It’s not really saving, just helping you return to normal earlier. As long as you weren't attacked before the anomaly subsided, you would have recovered sooner or later," Du Heng replied with a smile.
“This definitely counts as saving us,” Jiang Baimian said casually. “You weren’t affected by that fear at all.”
At this moment, Bai Chen and Long Yuehong also squatted down in the shadows, each holding their weapons, guarding different directions.
Hearing Jiang Baimian's words, Du Heng chuckled:
“As an antiquities scholar and historical researcher who spends most of my time acting alone, how could I survive until now without some means?”
Just as he finished speaking, Shang Jianyao suddenly asked:
“Are you actually an Awakened?”
Du Heng glanced at him and said with a smile, not caring too much:
“Strictly speaking, yes.”
“What should I do after entering the Sea of Origins?” Shang Jianyao asked very directly, completely disregarding the current situation.
Du Heng smiled:
“Under normal circumstances, unless you have a fairly good relationship, no Awakened would tell others about this kind of knowledge. Wouldn’t that be cultivating opponents for yourself and your friends?
“But well, haha, I’ve always had a bad habit: I enjoy being a teacher.
“Okay, then I’ll briefly explain it:
“When you enter the Sea of Origins, you’ll encounter various islands where you can rest, and on those islands, there will be different monsters and different harsh situations that you need to face and overcome.
“They often correspond to the fears hidden in your heart, or some past memories.”
At this point, Du Heng explained from the beginning:
“Based on my personal experience and speculation—personal speculation, mind you, it doesn’t mean it’s correct:
“The power of the Awakened comes from the heart, from one's own consciousness. The so-called Hall of Stars and Sea of Origins are just figurative representations of the subconscious.
“We are essentially excavating the power within ourselves, which requires overcoming the shadows of the mind.”
Shang Jianyao waited politely until Du Heng finished speaking before asking:
“Why does every Awakened see the same Hall of Stars?”
Du Heng’s entire face seemed to wrinkle for a moment. He said with a wry smile:
“You’ve really stumped me with that question. I really can’t explain it.
“But I’ve heard some speculations:
“One is that similar scenes are hidden within our subconscious, that they are the collective memory of mankind, some experiences that our common ancestors had in ages even older than the Old World;
“The second is that Awakened are apostles of the gods, people who have received divine grace. The thirteen Arbiter Years jointly created places like the Hall of Stars to help their followers grow until they enter a new world. This can be inferred from the fact that Awakened abilities are roughly divided into thirteen categories, corresponding to the domains of different Arbiter Years.
“Therefore, in those religions that worship the Arbiter Years, the proportion of Awakened is higher than in other groups, although it won’t be too high; the number is still limited.”
Jiang Baimian listened very carefully and nodded slightly:
“Perhaps many Awakened believe that their abilities come from divine gifts and actively join different religions, which leads to a higher proportion.”
Instead of the Arbiter Years favoring those who believe in them, allowing them to awaken more easily.
“Without investigation and without experiments, I can’t give you a definite answer,” Du Heng sighed. “Unfortunately, the Old World was destroyed nearly seventy years ago, and there were nearly two to three decades of large-scale warfare in between, which has made it impossible to investigate many things. Otherwise, we could gradually trace the origins of the Arbiter Year faiths to see if their domains and powers were intentionally added with corresponding content by certain Awakened during the dissemination process, thus evolving into what they are now, or whether these have never changed from the beginning and can even be traced back to before the destruction of the Old World. This is precisely the responsibility of us historical researchers.”
Jiang Baimian deeply agreed:
“Yes, that’s also the driving force behind my journey.”
Du Heng didn’t say more about this and continued the previous topic:
“From the Hall of Stars to the Sea of Origins, what’s needed is a deep excavation and mastery of one’s own abilities.”
He paused, looked at Shang Jianyao, and said with a smile:
“You should be almost there with this step, otherwise you wouldn’t have asked that question just now.
“When you enter the Sea of Origins and defeat all the shadows in your heart, you’ll have the opportunity to find yourself, accept him, and embrace him, thereby completing your mind.
“This will lead to a qualitative change in your abilities, enhancing both the boundaries of their effects and the range of their influence.
“However, the price you pay during this process will also deepen step by step, making your problems more severe.
“It’s the same old saying: There’s no free lunch.”
At this point, Du Heng kindly reminded them:
“For every Awakened, the price they pay must be kept secret.
“On the one hand, the price itself is a weakness that can easily be exploited and targeted. On the other hand, different prices will vaguely reflect different fields, allowing familiar people to have a preliminary guess about your abilities. And in battles between Awakened, it’s very dangerous for the characteristics of your abilities to be known in advance.”
Shang Jianyao listened quietly and nodded seriously:
“Thank you.”
Jiang Baimian glanced at him and smiled slightly:
“I thought you would clap your hands.”
At this moment, their surroundings were very quiet. It seemed that, as Du Heng had said, as long as they didn’t move too much and didn’t stand in obvious places, they wouldn’t be targeted by the “anomaly.”
“Thank you is a step further than clapping,” Shang Jianyao explained sincerely.
Du Heng laughed silently:
“Once you find yourself, you can cross the Sea of Origins and enter the Corridor of the Mind.
“Alright, I’ve already told you so much. Shouldn’t you give me some information in return?”
Shang Jianyao didn’t answer directly but turned his head to look at Jiang Baimian.
“What do you want to know?” Jiang Baimian asked.
Du Heng looked around and took out a yellowed photograph:
“Have you seen this child?
“His name is Xiao Chong.”
In the photo, a little boy with chubby cheeks, wearing a monster costume, looked very cute.
He was exactly the Xiao Chong that Shang Jianyao and the others had encountered just now!
Xiao Chong… Hearing this name, Long Yuehong felt his scalp tingle.
He never expected that Du Heng had entered the ruins to look for someone.
And he was looking for that unusually strange boy, Xiao Chong!
Jiang Baimian couldn’t help but purse her lips. She turned her head and pointed to the previous location:
“We encountered him near the underground machine room. He even followed us out, saying he wanted someone to play games with him.
“But after we came out, he disappeared, using the excuse of needing to pee.”
Du Heng nodded slightly with a solemn expression:
“I see…”
“Why are you looking for Xiao Chong?” Shang Jianyao turned his gaze away from the previous location.
Du Heng chuckled and said:
“This involves a lot of important information. You definitely can’t pay the equivalent amount right now.
“If we have the opportunity to meet again in the future and you have other key news or clues, we can trade again.”
Seeing that Du Heng clearly didn’t want to say, Jiang Baimian said to Shang Jianyao:
“What else do you want to ask?”
Du Heng spoke before Shang Jianyao could:
“About the Corridor of the Mind, let’s talk about it when you really enter it. It’s impossible to explain it clearly now.”
Shang Jianyao thought for a moment and instead asked:
“Have you heard of the Eighth Research Institute?”
Du Heng was slightly surprised:
“You’ve met its special envoy?”
Seeing Jiang Baimian and the others nod, he thought for a moment and said:
“The Eighth Research Institute is a very mysterious organization that basically doesn’t contact other forces. It seems to be self-sufficient and only occasionally obtains some special items through smugglers.
“But their special envoys often appear in the graylands, not knowing what mission they are carrying out.”
At this point, Du Heng paused:
“Regarding this organization, everyone believes that it was left over from the Old World. Some people think they are collecting various data to build a new world, while others suspect they are destroying clues and burying the true cause of the Old World’s destruction.
“That’s all I know.”
After hearing this, Shang Jianyao suddenly asked:
“Which Arbiter Year's domain does charm abilities fall under?”
“Your train of thought is very jumpy,” Du Heng joked, thinking as he answered. “It should be the Overseer, who presides over May.”
Before Shang Jianyao and the others could speak, Du Heng spoke first:
“It’s my turn to ask, right?”
Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao nodded 'obediently'.
“Which major power do you belong to?” Du Heng asked confidently.
Jiang Baimian answered frankly:
“Pangu Biology.”
“Pangu Biology… I’ve encountered your project team in the Icefield. They pulled a team of volunteers and were doing experiments there on the effects of cold environments on human physique and spirit. Those people were so frozen, tsk tsk, it was a bit tragic.”
Jiang Baimian was a little embarrassed:
“At least they were fed well.”
“That’s true,” Du Heng nodded.
Just as he was about to continue asking questions, he suddenly saw the buildings around them lighting up layer by layer.
Throughout the city ruins, at least more than half of the buildings simultaneously emitted different states of light, illuminating one window after another.
The darkness and silence that shrouded the area quickly receded to the edge of the ruins.
The city’s power had been restored.
This was the first time that Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong, and the others had seen such a scene, as if they were witnessing the Milky Way from their textbooks being moved to the surface.
For Jiang Baimian, the shock that the scene in front of her brought was the same as the feeling she had when she first saw a real starry sky, a real blue sky, and a real sun.
Du Heng admired the scenery for two seconds, stood up, and said to Shang Jianyao and the others:
“The anomaly has subsided. You can leave by climbing over the wall here.”
ps: Seeking recommendation tickets~
ps2: Recommending a book, «Rebirth to Extraordinary Dawn», pseudo-sci-fi, a Earth where mental strength has gone rampant, and things that people "believe" will exist. Cultivating the mind, exploring dungeons, and ultimately interfering with reality through mental power, creating objects from the void, hand-making nuclear bombs, launching plasma, and traveling through space. The protagonist is reborn to the early days of the descent of the spiritual world, before his Yuan Shen is shattered.