The Lost Tomb : Sea Of Sands

Chapter 145: The Truth of the World

Wang Xiaoyuan helped Li Cu clean and dry his hair in the ward, before she finally left. It was already dark by this time, and Li Cu didn't see her again until a long time later. The girl was like a shooting star, passing before his eyes so quickly that he couldn't seem to see her clearly.

Li Cu seldom felt disappointed. He closed his eyes, recalled everything that Wu Xie had experienced, and calmly added answers to his homework in his heart. It was undeniable that the two-day course had given him a completely different way of thinking about things.

He still couldn't see the big picture clearly, but he gradually felt that something was strange.

On the third day of class, before the middle-aged man could ask his question, Li Cu asked his own question: "Teacher, after listening to the class for two days, I have a feeling. What you're saying now sounds very grand, but it doesn't seem important. I keep feeling like there's something between King Mu and Wu Xie— between the setter and the chess piece— which makes this all unimportant."

When the middle-aged man looked at him in surprise, Li Cu tried to make it more clear: "You said I shouldn't cling to the surface. I was thinking that based on what you said, the Queen of the West and the immortality elixir were both conceptualized, just like the materials covered in textbooks. For example, when we're in physics class, the teacher would gives us the formula for gravity and tell us about the structure of the solar system. We've never doubted the importance of the knowledge itself, but in fact, no one has ever been to the universe or knows what it's like. For ordinary people, our knowledge of the universe is instilled into us by others. If we assume that the one doing the instilling is malicious, then that means we're likely to be in a world designed by others from several generations ago. Even the laws of nature and the scientific system have been set."

The middle-aged man continued looking at him in silence, so Li Cu kept going: "Maybe Copernicus was wrong. The earth is the center of the universe, and we were deceived by the new 'science' sect. Facts have proved that our belief in 'science' is much stronger than that of many religions. Before verifying these scientific theories, there were countless correct answers as long as you couldn't prove they were wrong."

"It's bold and imaginative, but that doesn't matter. Go on."

"Why can the immortality elixir stop death? Immortality isn't logical in itself. If I follow your way of thinking, I'll end up refuting the basic concept you've given me. I shouldn't believe there's an elixir just because you say there is, but in fact, the elixir itself is more like a ruling idol. Does it really exist?" Li Cu touched his chin: "If the immortality elixir exists, then the whole story falls under the myth category. It sounds like a mysterious, ancient treasure, and all the people involved in the great mystery will fall under the intellectual category of novelists. I feel like a group of novelists is playing games in a story. If King Mu was really so powerful and clever, then his intelligence shouldn't be trapped in this kind of story-like mystery."

Li Cu continued, "I was thinking, what if there is no elixir? There are several key points. First, this matter has nothing to do with ruling, because it's obviously lasted for thousands of years. After such a long time, power, love, and wealth are no longer important, so King Mu didn't do it to rule. In the whole deified story, the elixir is so conspicuous that it seems to have only one purpose—to conceal something."

He was using the feudal concept of immortality to conceal information he didn't want others to know.

From another angle, it was still the same manner of thinking. It was hard to believe that King Mu would make up such a bold and imaginative story, but if he did, it probably meant that he was the only one who knew the truth of whatever he couldn't say. He wanted to make up a story because a lot of information had been exposed, and he needed the type of story that would explain the information.

They would have to extract the information about King Mu's real experience, the one he used the illusion of immortality to cover up.

What was his real purpose?

The legend of immortality was related to the Queen of the West, and King Mu's expedition to the west was recorded in history books, so there shouldn't be any mistakes. He entered the kingdom of the Queen of the West, but his experience may be completely different from the story he brought back. What did King Mu see in the Queen of the West's country?

If he had experienced ordinary things, why couldn't he forget about his experience in the Queen of the West's country when he returned to the central plains?

He made up lies and set up a series of plots, which all led to the present situation a few thousand years later.

He had countless kings and grave robbers turn the grave robbery industry into the oldest and longest running industry in China. He brought about societal disarray, and made the theft between the living and the dead an inevitable relationship.

Without society in disarray, there wouldn't be a tradition of generous burial, and without the tradition of generous burial, China would be like most systems in Europe— there would only be body snatchers, not grave robbers.

Without grave robbing, there would be no industry and no culture.

For what reason?

Li Cu asked the middle-aged man, "What exactly did King Mu experience in the Queen of the West's country? The poem you read to me before, and the actual situation of the Queen of the West's country all seem illogical. The Queen of the West's country was a slave-holding minority country, so it's impossible that there was such a Chinese-style poem. The legend of the Queen of the West was invented by King Mu based on the actual situation. What did he see in her country that would cause him to do so many things?"

The middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "What King Mu saw in the Queen of the West's country was the truth of this world. You're right, the history I told you proved unimportant in the end. Too many kings and grave robbers have been attracted by King Mu's story. They were led to believe that they were looking for a way to live forever, while King Mu actually brought them the truth of the world."

Not everyone could accept this truth. Some people died, some went crazy, and some calmed down and tried to understand it.

The sound of applause came from outside the window. Li Cu didn't know when he had appeared, but the former leader of the black-clad people clapped his hands and entered the ward.

"He's a little quick-witted." The middle-aged man nodded to the black-clad person.

Li Cu continued to ask, "But what's the truth of the world?"

"We don't know." The black-clad person said: "The biggest secret in the world has been hidden by Zhang Qilin's family in a place we can't enter. They must be the last people in the world who have come into contact with this secret. I don't know why, but all those who come into contact with it choose to hide it forever."