A sense of foreboding about their fate weighed heavily on everyone, and no one spoke for a long time until Yue Cen suddenly broke the unsettling silence: "Let's not forget, there are still two unresolved questions about these four rock carvings.
"One is the order in which the four carvings are arranged. This is crucial; different orders can express vastly different content and meanings, influencing our judgment of the final truth.
"The other question is the content on this 'prayer' themed rock face. What does the blank space at the center of the circle of symbols represent?"
"Xiao Yue is right," Hua Jiqiu said. "The order of the rock carvings is very important. Xiao Shao's view is: all beings → flood → death → prayer; my view is: flood → death → prayer → all beings.
"See, these are two different paths. Xiao Shao's order leaves the entire event recorded in the rock carvings in an uncertain stage. What will be the result of the prayer? Will it be a divinely granted new life, or a death-like peace?"
"My order might be somewhat idealistic; I gave them a new ending, but whether reality can truly be so beautiful is hard to say.
"And what if we change the order? For example… all living beings → prayer → flood → death.
"See, this becomes another story, full of conspiracy, cruelty, and violence. In a world where all living beings were originally prosperous, someone developed desires—greed, lust for power, any desire to control all living beings or to be above everything, even perhaps anti-human, anti-social genocide.
"So this person, or this group with shared beliefs, uses prayer to perform witchcraft, for personal gain or extreme individual convictions, causing a devastating flood to engulf the world."
"Finally, this reckless calamity, triggered by selfish desires, brought death to humanity, or rather, the devastation of countless lives.
"The story depicted in this sequence aligns with the clues hinted at in the painting 'Reboot' that you told me about. The demise of every civilization is inextricably linked to the advanced intelligent beings that govern it. War, power, wealth, greed, and resentment can all be the culprits in destroying a civilization.
"When a civilization destroys itself, a new civilization will take its place, replacing it. So, after this death, perhaps a new world will emerge, only the people of the era who carved these rock paintings will never see the birth of this new civilization."
"Director Hua's statement makes a lot of sense," Shao Ling said. "Some say that our current civilization is not the first human civilization on Earth; it is said that even more ancient civilizations have been discovered in many parts of the world.
"I recall that a nuclear reactor dating back 2 billion years was discovered in Africa, and some scientists have speculated that the last human civilization was destroyed by nuclear war."
"So, can we infer that the world of mountains and seas might very well be the previous civilization, situated between 2 billion years ago and modern human civilization?
It might not be considered a human civilization, but it was certainly a highly intelligent civilization that once dominated the world. Then it was destroyed by that prehistoric flood, and not long after that, human civilization emerged. It's even very possible... that humans are actually descendants of the mountain and sea civilization!"
"So... the carvings on this rock platform were likely recorded by our ancestors, the ancient people of the mountains and seas, to prevent people from forgetting that history and that world?" Gu Qingqing's gaze held a hint of melancholy.
"To prevent future generations from forgetting that history, they would use such a form as carving to harm their own descendants?" Ke Xun rested his chin on his hand, raising his eyebrows. "That doesn't make sense. And don't forget, they were praying to a blank space. If they wanted to request a great flood, they could have drawn a flood symbol in the middle. It's not like they couldn't draw it, or if they didn't want to be so direct, they could have drawn a dragon or something, right? Isn't a dragon a god of water?" "Anyway, I just feel that this blank space isn't because they can't draw it, or because they can't draw it; it must have a purpose."
"Then could it be that they were actually praying for...death?" Qin Ci said, "Death also means nothingness, so the center of the prayer ritual is a blank space, and the flood is just a means to cause death. If it weren't a flood, it could be other things, like an earthquake or a tornado, and it just happened to be a natural disaster like a flood. If we look at it this way, the order of the rock paintings should be all living beings → prayer → flood → death."
"Then why did they pray for death to come?" Wu You asked, "Is it really like what Uncle Hua said, that a group of anti-human and anti-social guys wanted to perish together with everyone?" "
I'm very curious about the connection between these four rock paintings and another world," Ke Xun sat up straight. "Remember Yi Ran's previous guess? The scene in this Valley of Death is likely a superposition of two worlds, or rather, our world during the day and another world at night, with the two worlds alternating—don't forget the clues that each painting hinted at for us before; the existence of two worlds is already a certainty.
"And that rock platform, it comes from another world. Why is there another half of the 'Shan Hai Tu' on its rock wall? Why is half of the 'Shan Hai Tu' in our world and the other half in that world? "
Why is the content of these four paintings depicted on the half in that world?"
"Regarding this question, we can try to deduce it using common sense," Shao Ling said. "After the Great Flood, many people and animals died. What kind of psychological state would people be in at that time?" "
Of course they're heartbroken," Wei Dong said. "It's very likely that their family and friends perished in the flood, their homes are gone, their fields are gone, their possessions are gone. That feeling must be incredibly desperate. Putting myself in their shoes, I might feel like I don't know how to go on living, feeling helpless and grief-stricken."
"But compared to helplessness, grief definitely takes the lead." Ke Xun's voice was a little muffled.
Wei Dong looked at him, knowing that he had touched the deepest wound in his heart again. He was thinking about how to comfort him when he saw Ke Xun scratch his head and continue calmly, "They must miss their deceased loved ones terribly and hope that they can come back to life. That's their strongest wish. If that wish cannot be fulfilled, they will settle for second best, hoping to see their loved ones one more time, just a glance, or say a word, in short… they just hope to have some communication with their loved ones again… cough." Mu Yiran ,
who had been listening silently to everyone's analysis, noticed that Shao Ling's voice, which he was using to mask his slightly distorted tone with a cough. He reached out and gently patted Shao Ling's back, then stopped and gently held the back of his neck, transferring the warmth of his palm to him.
Ke Xun took a deep breath imperceptibly and said, "If the wish to communicate cannot be fulfilled, then we can only choose the last wish, which is to hope that our loved ones are doing well in another world, to pray for them, and to offer our blessings."
"So—" Shao Ling said, "Throughout history, people's hearts and feelings have always been the same. After experiencing the great flood, the psychological state of the survivors must be one of the types that Ke Xun described."
"So here's the key point: the ancients believed in the power of ghosts and gods. Perhaps they believed that the power of ghosts and gods could bring their relatives back to life, allow them to communicate with their relatives in the dead world, or at least allow them to pray for and bless their deceased relatives.
"The great shamans of ancient times did just that, so this grand sacrificial ceremony depicted on the rock carvings naturally occurred."
"If the ghost script is the language or medium of another world, then it's perfectly reasonable to explain why the altar and sacrificial vessels were covered with it, depicting the cause and effect of the entire event, to express the living's sorrow and wishes for the dead, or even to communicate, negotiate, and plead with the ruler of another world to achieve things like resurrection.
"So, these four paintings were carved on the rock platform, somehow transmitted to another world, which is proof of using shamanic prayers to communicate with spirits. And I still maintain my previous view on the order of the rock paintings: sentient beings → flood → death → prayer."
"And then? Your reasoning doesn't explain the subsequent questions," Zhu Haowen said. "During the Mountain and Sea Era, sentient beings flourished, but suddenly a prehistoric flood occurred, causing widespread devastation. After the flood, the surviving humans performed prayers to remember their deceased relatives and friends, hoping to use the power of spirits to resurrect them, or hoping they would be doing well in another world."
"To achieve this goal, they divided a copy of the *Shan Hai Tu* (Map of Mountains and Seas) into two parts. One part was cast onto the Nine Tripods used as sacrificial vessels, and the other part was carved into the rock used as an altar. Then, using some method, they sent the altar into another world, where it resonated with the Nine Tripods in this world, thus connecting the two realms.
Up to this point, everything seems to make sense, but what happened next? Why did the *Shan Hai Tu* on the Nine Tripods become our skeletal remains? Was it intended for us to replace the Nine Tripods in maintaining contact with the other world? Thousands of years have passed, and this ritual still won't stop?"
"And why were we included in the paintings? Why are the tornado columns growing larger every night? What about the clues in each painting that suggest another world wants to replace this one?"
A barrage of questions left Shao Ling speechless, and Hua Jiqiu also fell into thought. After a difficult silence, Shao Ling looked up at Mu Yiran, who had been listening intently and lost in thought, and said, "It's time to share your thoughts. I don't believe you haven't figured out your own line of reasoning by now."
"I do have my own line of reasoning, completely different from all of yours," Mu Yiran finally spoke. Everyone's eyes were on him as he spoke clearly, word by word. "I believe this 'protagonist' is not Yu the Great, nor is it a human leader or a great shaman, but a great shaman from another world with the 'power of observation.'
"This rock altar also doesn't belong to the human world; it
belongs to another world. "The rock paintings on the rock don't record human sacrifices or shamanic prayers, but—shamanic prayers from another world."