Dialogue

Unknowingly, the end of January arrived, and the school winter break was just around the corner. Zhang Shuai finished his final class, bringing this semester's studies to a close.

He had originally assumed that deciphering the Small Heavenly Cycle Art wouldn't be too difficult. However, the more he delved into paleography, the more Zhang Shuai realized that with his current level of knowledge, truly deciphering the Small Heavenly Cycle Art was simply impossible.

It seemed he would need to reach an extremely profound level of mastery in paleography before he could even hope to decipher the Small Heavenly Cycle Art, and he had no idea how long that might take.

Before the break, Sun Xiaoya sent a message asking when Zhang Shuai planned to return to Qingshui, as she wanted to catch a ride with him.

Zhang Shuai replied that he could leave for Qingshui at any time.

And so, on the very first day of the official school break, Sun Xiaoya packed her luggage. Zhang Shuai picked her up downstairs at her dormitory, and the two of them embarked on the journey home.

They had come as a trio at the start of the semester, but now that the break had begun, only the two of them remained.

Lin Xiuwen had joined the 749 Bureau and likely wouldn't be able to return home for the New Year; furthermore, there was no telling how long she would have to stay there.

After driving to the building where Sun Xiaoya lived, Zhang Shuai took the opportunity to stop by Wang Qiang's place. Unfortunately, Wang Qiang wasn't home; only Jing Fengqin was there.

To avoid any impropriety, Zhang Shuai didn't stay long. After chatting with Jing Fengqin for a few moments and giving Lele an eight-hundred-yuan red envelope, he made an excuse about having other business and, despite Jing Fengqin's attempts to make him stay, drove home.

For the time that followed, Zhang Shuai went nowhere, focusing all his energy on studying paleography at home.

For the people of the Dragon Kingdom, the Spring Festival is the most important holiday—a time for family reunions. But for Zhang Shuai, the Spring Festival was no different from any other day. In previous years, when he was back in his rural hometown, he could spend the holiday with his grandfather, but after his grandfather passed away, he had to spend the Spring Festival alone.

On New Year's Eve, Zhang Shuai received a call from Wang Qiang, who invited him to spend the Spring Festival at his home.

Zhang Shuai didn't want to go at first, but he couldn't resist Wang Qiang's repeated invitations and eventually agreed to spend the holiday at his house.

After buying some New Year gifts, Zhang Shuai drove to Wang Qiang's home. Jing Fengqin had gone to the trouble of preparing a large spread of food and wine. As Zhang Shuai and Wang Qiang drank and chatted about childhood anecdotes, his mood slowly began to improve.

"Zhang Shuai, do you really not remember anything from before you were twelve?"

"I really don't."

"Then what exactly did the aliens look like?"

"Actually, apart from their clothing and style, there wasn't any significant difference in appearance between the aliens and humans, especially humans from the Dragon Kingdom."

"And what was the language the aliens spoke like? I remember you telling me before that the alien language was very strange, and that the tone sounded like chanting. Is that really true?"

Hearing this question from Wang Qiang, Zhang Shuai suddenly froze.

Although he had lost his memory, the language spoken by the two aliens who had abducted him on the spaceship remained vivid in his mind. In particular, Zhang Shuai often dreamed about the day he was taken. Every time he dreamed, the events felt as real as if they were happening right before his eyes, and the dialogue between the two aliens, in particular, left a clear impression in his memory.

At this moment, a bold idea suddenly struck Zhang Shuai: although he didn't know the alien script, he did remember some of the intonations of the alien language. Was it possible that he could decipher the alien script by using the pronunciation of the alien language as a starting point?

If the civilization of the Dragon Kingdom truly originated from an alien civilization, then the alien language might very well share similarities with certain dialects in the Dragon Kingdom today. As long as he researched from this angle and utilized the dialogue between the two aliens in his mind, Zhang Shuai might actually have a chance to decipher the alien script.

Thinking of this, Zhang Shuai grew excited. He hadn't expected that coming to Wang Qiang's house for a meal would lead to a flash of inspiration regarding a method to decipher the alien script. If he could truly decipher it, he would have to thank Wang Qiang properly; if not for his reminder, Zhang Shuai might never have thought to approach the problem from this angle.

After returning from Wang Qiang's house, Zhang Shuai began searching the internet for dialects from all over the country. He played them one by one, listening to the various dialects from different provinces and cities, and then compared them to the alien language in his mind. He needed to find the dialect closest to the alien language, translate the dialogue of the two aliens from his memory, and then compare it to the alien script on the human acupuncture point chart. With this three-way comparison, he might just have a chance to decipher the alien script in the Small Heavenly Cycle Art.

Throughout the night of New Year's Eve, while everyone else was reuniting with their families, Zhang Shuai was painstakingly researching dialects from across the country.

He didn't know how many local dialects he had listened to, but he hadn't found any that bore a high degree of similarity to the alien dialect in his memory.

It wasn't until he accidentally searched for Cantonese on the internet that his eyes suddenly lit up.

Cantonese seemed very similar to the alien dialect!

Zhang Shuai looked up information about Cantonese online and learned that it possessed nine unique tones and retained many phonetic characteristics of ancient Dragon Kingdom language. It was the only regional dialect in the Dragon Kingdom that still preserved these ancient linguistic features.

It had to be Cantonese!

Zhang Shuai began downloading materials online to start learning Cantonese in its entirety.

From the first to the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Zhang Shuai spent seven full days learning Cantonese, studying so intensely he forgot to eat or sleep.

Starting on the eighth day, he watched a number of Cantonese films, confirming that he could understand the language perfectly without subtitles.

On the ninth day, Zhang Shuai began to recall the dialogue between the two aliens in his mind bit by bit, starting to translate it according to Cantonese.

The tone and speed of the aliens' speech were still somewhat different from Cantonese, especially with significant differences in accent. Otherwise, since Cantonese was the most famous dialect in the Dragon Kingdom, even though Zhang Shuai wasn't from Eastern Guangdong, he would have thought of it much sooner if it had been an exact match.

This strange Cantonese-like tone meant it took Zhang Shuai several days to piece together a rough translation of the alien dialogue from his memory.

"In this boy's memory, there are no more cultivators on this planet. These Dragon Kingdom people must be the descendants of some senior from our Yan Clan. It's a pity that after so many years of change, their language and script have both evolved."

"There is no spiritual energy left on this planet, so naturally, there are no cultivators. Does that mean the treasure we are looking for is no longer on this planet?"

"Then what about this boy? His talent is quite good—four spiritual roots of water, wood, fire, and metal. Should we take him back and cultivate him properly?"

"Take him back for what? Even though his spiritual root talent is decent, he doesn't understand our language. Besides, our Yan Clan is currently facing a life-or-death moment; where would we find the time to train disciples? However, he is, after all, a descendant of our Yan Clan, and he carries our bloodline. Do not harm him; just leave him on the mountaintop."

"Since we met, it is fate. I used a soul-searching technique on him, which I fear will have a serious impact on his health; he likely won't live for many more years. As compensation, I will give him a Lesser Creation Pill to ensure he can live out his life in peace and health."

"You, why give a Lesser Creation Pill to a mortal? Is it really necessary to give a seventh-grade pill to a mortal? Fine, it's your pill anyway. Since you want to give it to him, then give it to him."

The dialogue ended abruptly there.

After successfully translating the conversation between the two aliens in his mind, Zhang Shuai felt a shock in his heart that was beyond description.