Chapter 1013: Two Paths

Chapter 1013: Two Paths

Mist-laden droplets fell upon moss-covered rocks, rusted alloy plates groaned underfoot, and from the shadows came a rustling sound like beasts grinding their teeth.

Qiu Ling gripped the "never-extinguishing" torch, treading cautiously through the wreckage of the Gemini-class missile cruiser's cabin, inspecting every corner and every area worth exploring.

A full week had passed since he first stepped into this ruin under the guidance of the Progenitor.

In that week, he had searched nearly every scattered fragment of wreckage strewn across this forest, yet still he had not found the legendary "sacred relic."

To be honest.

Had it not been for his devout faith in the Progenitor, he might have begun to doubt whether that so-called sacred relic even existed.

Ever since he could remember, the elders of his tribe had told him that this palace fallen from the sky had existed since the dawn of the Awakening Era.

Back then, the Forbidden Forest was not as perilous as it was now; the tribesfolk would occasionally venture to the "Heavenly Palace" to pay homage to their ancestors. It was only later, when the wild animals roaming this area grew more numerous and dangerous, that they moved the site of worship to a nearby mountain.

Logically speaking, if a sacred relic truly lay here, the ancestors of the Qiu Kingdom should have discovered it long ago—there was no reason to wait until now.

"Not here, either..."

After finishing his inspection of the last cabin, Qiu Ling crawled out from beneath the pitch-black alloy plates, climbed to the outside of the wreckage, and placed the silver metal disc on his knees, waiting piously for the Progenitor's instructions.

But this time, even the Progenitor, who had guided him all along, spoke with a hint of dejection in her voice.

"Where could it have gone..."

It shouldn't be possible.

All the wreckage is here—it can't be that only the reactor is missing.

No—

That possibility wasn't entirely out of the question.

According to the report submitted by Ye Shi, after the Second Judgment Day recorded in the Temple of Doma, the "Sinners," led by a portion of the Gemini crew, fought their way back to the Forbidden Forest Valley and drove the awakened survivors out into the forest beyond.

Sensing the dejection on the other end of the communication channel, Qiu Ling quickly offered comfort.

"Please do not lose heart. There is still one last ruin... Perhaps the sacred relic you seek is there!"

In truth, he was also anxious, for his tribesmen were already locked in battle with the "Turncoats" in the forest.

Under the leadership of a chieftain named Tun Nan, those Turncoats, once scattered throughout the forest, had become unprecedentedly united.

They claimed to have received the Progenitor's decree—not only to reclaim the sacred relic for the Progenitor but also to seize the holy land lost at the dawn of the Awakening Era!

A mighty force had already crossed the stream and formed ranks around the Qiu Ridge he had once patrolled.

His tribesmen and brothers were there, including reinforcements from other clans.

If not for the mission to find the sacred relic, he would have taken up the "Divine Bow" bestowed by the Progenitor, mounted his wild lizard, and charged back to the front lines to defend his homeland...

Looking at the boy whose face was brimming with confidence, Jiang Xuezhou found herself momentarily speechless.

She knew full well that there was one last "wreckage" yet to be explored, but it was impossible for the reactor to be there.

Why? Because that was the bridge of the missile cruiser—the source of the black box signal...

It was probably the farthest place from the reactor.

She had planned to find the reactor and the remaining helium-3 stock, solve the fuel problem for the return journey, and then figure out a way to retrieve the black box.

After all, if she couldn't go back, recovering the black box would be meaningless.

"You're right. It's not time to give up yet." She took a deep breath and steeled herself. "I'll leave the last ruin to you... First, find a way into the entrance. In a couple of days, a helper will come to assist you."

Qiu Ling respectfully acknowledged the order.

"As you command."

...

The bridge of the Gemini-class missile cruiser was wedged against the side of a mountain, its entire semi-arc steel structure completely flipped over, leaning against the slope.

Because of this awkward position, the entrance to the ruin hung entirely in midair. Without some climbing skill, getting in was nearly impossible.

Entering this ruin was difficult enough, let alone exploring inside.

All the horizontal corridors had become slanted shafts.

Moreover, since the Progenitor had said this area was the least likely to contain the sacred relic, Qiu Ling had not prioritized this most remote piece of wreckage.

But now, this place, which seemed the least promising, had become their last hope.

Following the vines hanging from the steep alloy walls, Qiu Ling, after a harrowing but safe climb, finally reached the entrance to the Gemini's bridge wreckage.

A flock of carnivorous birds had built nests in the dark, gaping hole. Seeing an intruder climb up, they cawed and swooped at him, tearing with claws and sharp beaks.

Caught off guard, Qiu Ling nearly fell from the entrance. Fortunately, the light from the silver metal disc startled the flock, giving him a chance to roll into the cave. He then pulled out a burning fuel rod and swung it wildly, driving the birds away.

Watching the cawing flock fly off, Qiu Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Those beasts would surely return.

He dared not linger at the entrance. He took out the rope given by the Progenitor, secured it to a sturdy point, then flipped over and dropped into the corridor that had become a steep slope, exploring deeper into the bridge.

The scene inside was a mess.

A mass of debris blocked the entrance, forcing him to descend while clearing the garbage blocking his way.

But as he worked, he stumbled upon several suspicious details.

At the bottom of the shaft lay a pile of black charcoal.

Someone had made a fire here!

"There are traces of someone having lived here..."

Qiu Ling pinched a bit of charcoal between his index finger and thumb, rubbing them together, and frowned slightly.

"It was left a long time ago."

As for exactly how long, he couldn't tell.

Just then, the silver metal disc hanging on his chest emitted a pale blue beam, scanning the debris on the ground, then sweeping across the surroundings.

After a moment's wait, the Progenitor's voice drifted into his ears.

"It was left in the early Awakening Era. Probably not long after the Gemini... this palace crashed into the atmosphere."

Qiu Ling's face showed surprise, amazed at the Progenitor's divine power.

But his astonishment was brief; his attention soon shifted to a half-open alloy door nearby.

A horizontal wooden stick propped the door open, forming a convenient toggle mechanism.

He pressed the stick down, squeezed sideways through the gap, and entered the room. Holding the "never-extinguishing" torch, he looked around and was immediately stunned by the layout.

This inverted room had been converted into a living area. There were wooden tables, chairs, and a bed... shaped just like those in his tribe!

And far more finely crafted!

Perhaps the objects in his tribe had actually been learned from here.

"...This is the Progenitor's home," Qiu Ling murmured, moving the light source in his hand. He soon noticed the alloy wall beside him, covered in withered vines.

On the rust-streaked alloy wall were rows of engraved characters, but unfortunately, he could not read what they said.

Not to mention that he couldn't understand it.

Even Jiang Xuezhou, sitting at the terminal in geosynchronous orbit, couldn't make sense of it either.

The passage of time had blurred and distorted those characters, leaving only scrawled traces like ghostly scribbles... Perhaps these weren't Human Union script at all, but some abstract patterns or simply meaningless doodles.

"What does this say?"

Qiu Ling asked in a low voice, but the silver disk hanging on his chest offered no reply.

It seemed even the Progenitor didn't know everything.

Just then, a soft voice suddenly came from behind him.

"I saw Him."

Startled by the unexpected sound, Qiu Ling spun around to find a girl about his age standing at the entrance he had just passed through.

"Who are you?"

"Dora."

"How did you get in—" Qiu Ling's words caught in his throat as he narrowed his eyes at her. "You're a Turncoat."

Dora stared at him without blinking, saying nothing.

As the atmosphere between them grew tense, the silver metal disk hanging on Qiu Ling's chest suddenly let out a soft cough.

"Don't get worked up. I asked her to come."

The tension eased slightly.

Though he didn't fully let his guard down, Qiu Ling did release the dagger he had already gripped.

Dora shifted her gaze from him to the wall behind him.

Following the rust-stained patterns, she found the first line of the poem and continued reading in a dreamlike voice.

"I wandered in a maze with no exit, unable to find where to go. Until I looked up and gazed at the sky."

"A pair of invisible eyes hid behind the clouds, meeting my gaze for a long time. I finally saw Him, like staring at ever-changing clouds, and the clouds stared back at me, like gazing at a living mural."

"Surprise showed on both our faces."

Qiu Ling stared at her blankly, his expression full of confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Dora replied in a calm voice.

"That's the message left by the Progenitor. I can read the symbols he left behind."

"These characters, strung together, should form a poem... The poet might be saying that He is the cloud in the sky, and we are the mural on the wall."

Qiu Ling slowly swallowed, feeling a faint tingle on his scalp.

He had heard from the elders in his tribe that the Turncoats in the forest were all followers of the "Tree of Insov." With the help of that tree, they could pull off some tricks that seemed supernatural.

But that was the extent of their abilities.

No matter how rich their spiritual world, it couldn't make up for the Turncoats' deficiencies in the material realm.

Even if these folks could talk to trees, they couldn't withstand the flames and blades of Qiu Nation.

Thanks to the methods left by the Progenitor, Qiu Nation's power was growing day by day!

Sooner or later, they would reclaim the era before the Barbaric Age and return to that infinitely prosperous olden days!

And by then, these Turncoats would probably still be living in trees!

Still...

He had to admit this one had some skill.

Even if she knew "beast speech," climbing up here was no easy feat.

As Qiu Ling was thinking this, Dora, who had walked up to the mural, extended her index finger and groped along the wall, quickly finding the next stanza of the poem.

"We were both surprised. We were never meant to meet, yet by some twist of fate we did."

"He smiled and told me the exit was not far ahead, but crossing it would be in vain, for new mazes lay ahead, stretching to the world's end, and I had little time left."

"I asked Him how I could float in the sky like Him, I begged Him to grant me more time, but He laughed and left."

"This encounter had used up all the time in my life. He and I both knew we would never meet again."

Having read the poem to the end, Dora paused for a moment in front of the mural, a hint of confusion on her face.

"The poet, Qiu Shiye... the fifth tribe?"

"What does that mean?" Qiu Ling asked urgently.

Dora shook her head.

"I don't know... Maybe it's the Progenitor's name?"

As she spoke, she looked at the silver disk in her hand.

But the silver disk made no sound, as if stunned by the story she had translated.

The Progenitors were mostly slow to respond, often falling silent mid-conversation—she was well accustomed to that—so she waited patiently.

In contrast, the young man standing across from her couldn't wait any longer.

Only now did he notice that she carried something similar to his own—a luminous treasure bestowed by the Progenitor.

But that wasn't the point. Qiu Ling was more concerned with the meaning of this message.

Especially when he heard the Progenitor's surname, he couldn't ignore it.

"I mean this poem! What is he trying to say? The exit of the maze is at the world's end, right? So we have to search beyond the valley?"

A trace of worry creased Dora's brow.

"I don't know... I think perhaps the poem itself is what the Progenitor meant to convey. He wanted to say he was the man in the painting, and He was the cloud in the sky. He had an uncertain, countless future, yet couldn't see the road ahead. He could see everything, but could do nothing, only float in the sky and watch quietly."

She paused, then added,

"You're too fixated on a single answer. Not everything has only one explanation."

Qiu Ling stared at her blankly, still wearing an expression of incomprehension.

In his understanding, everything in the world followed a precise set of rules, and even things that were elusive had their own elusive rules.

And as they delved deeper, the "elusive" part would gradually become clear.

Yet this girl told him there was no single explanation.

Perhaps this was exactly why they could never reconcile with the Turncoats—their fundamental understanding of the world was at odds.

"Maybe so, but I think I understand now why, after so many seasons, we still can't understand each other..."

Qiu Ling let out a soft sigh, and a look of resignation suddenly crossed his face.

Gazing at the wall full of incomprehensible murals, he was silent for a moment before speaking.

"...But at least, we've finally understood the revelation left by the Progenitor."

He paused, then looked away from the mural and turned to the girl named Dora.

"I will take my clansmen to the ends of the earth, to pioneer realms even further away... The holy land is no longer of use to us; I shall return it to you."

That was something he had suddenly remembered.

Long, long ago, when the Forbidden Forest was not yet as treacherous as it was today, the various clans of the State of Qiu would travel to these ruins to worship their ancestors during the year's second Judgment Day.

And it was precisely during this process of ancestral worship that the Council of Elders had taken shape.

From that moment on, an unwritten rumor began to circulate throughout the State of Qiu.

Their progenitor, the first ancestor surnamed Qiu, had left a prophecy of their own within the ruins.

Whoever could comprehend that prophecy would become the leader of the State of Qiu! The "King" who could command a hundred clans!

Now, guided by the progenitor, he had arrived here, and the Council of Elders had already witnessed the divine miracle displayed by the silver metal disc in his hand.

Once he emerged from this place bearing the information from the murals, he would be the undisputed King of the State of Qiu!

"But where is the end of the world?"

Dora looked toward Qiu Ling, a faint trace of reluctance lingering within her crescent-moon eyes.

"Since the progenitor came from the heavens, even if you measure the earth with your footsteps, there are worlds beyond the earth... places that can never be reached by mere footsteps alone."

To exhaust one's entire life performing a meaningless task seemed, in her eyes, utterly pitiable.

In truth, they still had another choice, which was to accept each other and become a family once more.

However, this was merely her own thought.

What seemed meaningless to her was not necessarily so to others.

Moreover, he too had recognized reality.

They were destined to be different.

"Then I shall walk until the end of my lifespan, to whichever place I can reach," Qiu Ling smiled faintly, continuing without a second thought, "As for the worlds beyond the earth, my descendants will see them for me."

That was his destiny.

It was also the destiny of all "Qiu people."

They were born to venture further, to search for the end of the world!

Just like their ancestors before them.

The world he had no chance to see, he and his descendants would see it in his stead!

Dora stared blankly at the youth before her, ultimately saying nothing more.

Just as she herself had said, not everything possessed a singular interpretation.

All things had their own laws of operation, but whether there was "meaning" was decided by humans.

What he had comprehended was precisely his "meaning," and that was exactly the "self" the "Qiu people" had sought in vain for so long.

Suddenly, she could no longer see his future.

Without realizing when it began, the bond connecting them had quietly vanished.

Qiu Ling looked solemnly at the girl before him and nodded slightly.

That was the highest courtesy in this forest and valley, save for kneeling.

"Thank you for telling me my ancestor's name, as well as the words on the tombstone... We will not meet again."

With that, he took off the silver metal disc hanging around his neck and gently placed it on the table to the side.

He had fulfilled his promise, having searched the very last ruin in the entire Silent Forest.

Since it was not here, it could only mean that the holy relic had never been here from the very beginning.

As for now, he had to go save his clansmen and lead them out of this valley!

Dora watched his retreating figure until he disappeared behind the half-open door.

Her intuition told her that perhaps things were not so absolute, and that their descendants would meet again.

However, that would be a matter of untold thousands of years later...

...

In synchronous orbit, within the bridge of the missile cruiser Orion, Jiang Xuezhou, sitting before the terminal, took a deep breath and remained silent for a long time.

"The fifth tribe..."

What fifth tribe...

That clearly meant the "Fifth Division"!

As for that Qiu Shiye, he was likely just like Wu Xinghuan of the Orion, both physicists of the Fifth Division.

Only, the former's execution capability was noticeably much stronger; he had not only led a group of primitive humans who had not awakened psychic powers to burn down the first "Sacred Tree," but had also nearly slaughtered the psychic awakeners who supported the other group of crew members to extinction.

This guy was an absolute lunatic!

The Gemini might well have been brought down by him just to destroy that "Sacred Tree"!

Of course, he might not have truly intended to kill those psychic awakeners to total extinction; after all, many "defectors" had still escaped into the forest and eventually developed into today's forest tribes.

If he had truly wished to exterminate them completely, he wouldn't even have needed to give special orders; he would only have had to turn a blind eye.

Given the cruelty and savagery of primitive humans, it would have been impossible to leave any survivors.

Even in the early days of slavery, slaves were used less as a labor force and more as human sacrifices and living offerings.

As for what the locals called "the second Judgment Day," "you came from the heavens"... that whole series of allegories from the Tree of Insov were probably "spoilers" told by It to those who could hear Its whispers.

Of course, limited by their horizon, those primitive humans could only understand this much.

Jiang Xuezhou still remembered that Yenshi's report had mentioned that the crew of the Gemini had explicitly used dimensional theory to explain It to them.

However, because those primitive humans could not comprehend the concept of dimensions, they actively discarded those overly advanced theories, choosing instead to understand the Tree of Insov through primitive worship and an even more abstract "higher existence."

This could already serve as a classic textbook case of a failed enlightenment.

"Clouds in the sky, paintings on the wall... too abstract. Does he want to express that It is a higher-dimensional creature? Or does he merely want to express that It is an outsider..."

Thinking of a certain elderly old man curled up in the ruins, holding a green crystal to write poetry on a steel plate, Jiang Xuezhou suddenly felt a bit of sympathy for the fellow.

He was probably mad at the final moment of his life, even forgetting his identity as a physicist.

Of course, it was also possible that this information was never meant for "Earthlings" to begin with, but rather left for the locals who would visit these ruins in the future—or even for the descendants of those psychic awakeners he had once driven into the forest.

The most direct evidence was that this poem was not written in the Coalition language at all.

Perhaps it was out of repentance after a sudden awakening, or perhaps out of helplessness and a compromise with reality; in short, there was nothing wrong with his choice. After all, standing from his perspective, the situation back on Earth might not necessarily be more optimistic than here on Gaia.

Jiang Xuezhou tried to deduce it by standing in his shoes.

The 17 crew members who left the Gemini were clearly opposed to the "Final War" plan.

And standing from their perspective, the "Final War" plan had likely already succeeded; the Gemini crew members, who had "anticipated the Orion's anticipation," had already uploaded the virus to the Orion's shipboard server, reshuffling Earth's ecosystem.

No one could have ever imagined that an obscure electrical engineer would pull the switch at the final moment, putting the "Final War" plan on hold for 215 years.

If deduced this way, standing from Dr. Qiu Shiye's position, the little green men on the planet Gaia were the sole remaining bloodline of humanity left in this universe.

He could only use more easily understood pictograms to leave the information he had spent his entire life deciphering to future archaeologists, just before his life reached its end.

Reviewing this buried history, Jiang Xuezhou felt a tangled mix of emotions.

She had successfully recovered Dr. Qiu Shi's research findings, but the most crucial reactor was gone.

"...Did they move that thing? How strange."

Staring at the image on the holographic screen, Jiang Xuezhou muttered under her breath.

The boy named Qiu Ling had already left, and she did not call him back.

Because there was no longer any need.

Since he was determined to leave with his people, this prehistoric war among the primitives would likely end soon.

The Forest People would return to their sacred land and declare victory; the Valley People would embark on a migration path with the ancestors' fables. This planet was vast, and their futures were bright.

Next, Tun Nan would probably apologize to Ye Shi in person, then scour the entire forest to find the lost reactor and its helium-3 reserves.

If they still couldn't find it by the end, they would have to resign themselves to spending the rest of their lives on this unfamiliar planet.

They couldn't count on the primitives to refine helium-3 for them.

"Honored Ancestor... what should we do now?" Standing before the silver metal disc, Dora's face was full of confusion and hesitation.

She vaguely sensed that she had helped her tribe avoid a bloodbath, even reclaiming their sacred land without a fight.

Yet there was still so much she didn't understand.

Including that poem.

Including the murals and clouds described in that poem.

Sitting before the terminal, Jiang Xuezhou took a sip of coffee but said nothing more to her.

Sometimes being too clever wasn't a good thing.

Take that boy Qiu Ling—he was just clever enough, grasping just enough from those murals.

That was the best outcome.

"Don't overthink it. Primitives should stick to what primitives do. If you insist on a piece of advice, you'd better spend some time studying the stars, figuring out a calendar, then work on your language and create a writing system."

"Even if you're determined to abandon writing and language later, I think it's best to invent them first. Otherwise, before you find a stable way to awaken your psychic powers, you might get eliminated by competitors on the same planet."

Was she saying too much?

This was something they should have learned from the twists of history themselves.

But saying it now probably didn't matter.

Jiang Xuezhou cleared her throat softly, interrupting Dora's thoughts.

"...Enough of that. Take a message to your chief for me. Say that the arrow of judgment is already nocked on the bowstring. If he doesn't want to see the sacred tree of Doma City turn to ash in flames, he should hold his forces for seven days and let those 'guilty people' leave. This is his punishment for imprisoning the Ancestor in his arrogance."

She couldn't really launch neutron torpedoes at a group of innocent civilians, but a strategic bluff was fine.

The Valley People were leaving anyway, and Tun Nan, weighing pros and cons, had no need to take risks.

Dora noted the advice and pressed on eagerly.

"Can... you take me to the sky?"

She knew it was a bold request, but she couldn't help asking.

The future king of the Qiu people had grasped the Qiu people's mission from that poem, and she too had found her own understanding.

They were to go to the world's end, conquer the labyrinth beneath their feet, and seek its exit.

But the children of the Insov Tree were to go to the sky, becoming the clouds drifting above the labyrinth.

Hearing the pleading voice, Jiang Xuezhou yawned.

She could guess what Dora was thinking.

This girl had probably fallen into a metaphysical error, mistaking the Ancestor from the sky for the clouds in the poem.

That wasn't it at all.

They too were people in the labyrinth, just farther along, so far that to her, a primitive, they seemed to stand on clouds.

There was no "Insov Tree" on Earth, and who knew if there ever would be, but at least in the future Jiang Xuezhou could foresee, the wastelanders inheriting the Human Union would likely pour more energy into the material labyrinth.

Still, if Dora herself wished it, taking her back to Earth might be a good choice.

At least it would help the reborn human civilization understand dimensions beyond itself and new laws it had never known.

With that thought, Jiang Xuezhou's heart stirred, and a mischievous smile crept onto her face.

Since it was already decided, why not use this chance to test someone.

"Ahem, going to the sky isn't that easy... but since you're sincere, I'll be generous and point you a way."

"That Ancestor your chief imprisoned is actually a remarkable figure. He can decide who to take away from the mortal world."

"If you truly want to go to the sky, go ask him!"