"Mountains and Rivers Classic"

Qianlong Robots were divided into three major categories.

The first category, Class A robots, were combat robots. They carried out all kinds of combat missions—hand-to-hand fighting, gunfights, street battles, wilderness warfare, and so on. Their shells were incomparably hard, and they had been implanted with the finest combat neurons. They did not necessarily have humanoid forms, but they were formidable in battle. Of course, that strength was only relative to ordinary people. Before genetic masters, robots' reactions were ultimately somewhat slower, and their materials were not especially durable either. Thus, at present, they were only used in conventional combat and could not rise to high-level battles.

The second category, Class B robots, was like Xiao Luo. They possessed all kinds of knowledge and could cook, do laundry, stew soup, and excel at music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. They were excellent servant models. Under special circumstances, they could even take bullets for their masters—note, taking bullets was perfectly proper.

The third category was Class C robots, which carried out special missions. Their tasks were singular and their functions singular, such as diving robots or mine-clearing robots...

There was actually no fourth category, Class E robots, in the Qianlong Codex. The representative brand of Class E robots was "Catwoman," made to solve people's entertainment and physiological needs. They belonged to the commercial sphere; anyone could place an order online and buy one.

Qianlong did not make them specifically.

Because Qianlong people had basically cast off low-grade tastes.

But if someone truly still had such low-grade tastes and insisted on modifying their personal attendant in that regard, it was an exceedingly simple minor operation for an engineer. Dig a hole, add some gel, implant some neurons, install some moaning and whimpering into the voice system, and wouldn't that do it? What a trivial matter.

An application would basically be approved as well.

Yet among so many people in Unit 101, not a single person had actually submitted such an application. Everyone still wanted to save some face...

Lin Xiaosu looked at the images in the air that needed to be censored, then at Xiao Luo's innocent gaze before him, and felt a little embarrassed himself. Better leave. He would go to the library and continue reading.

At midnight, Lin Xiaosu held a book and stared blankly into space.

The book was called the "Mountains and Rivers Classic." It recorded all kinds of ancient myths and strange beasts—three hundred and sixty bizarre objects and three hundred and sixty exotic beasts in total.

Section seventy-eight of the "Mountains and Rivers Classic" recorded a great bird called the Sky Gu. This bird was a hundred zhang long, with a wingspan of three hundred zhang. Its claws had three talons, capable of splitting mountains and cleaving stone, while three scarlet scales grew from its forehead...

This book was clearly very old. Its pages had yellowed, and it was thread-bound. The writing inside was not printed text, nor was it even movable-type printing, but hand-written by someone.

Judging from the contents alone, it was an out-and-out myth.

Yet an image surfaced in Lin Xiaosu's mind, filling him with terror...

It was the scene he had seen through the Sky Window on the second night he stayed at Willow Grove Temple, during the Celestial Change Day: a huge bird crossing mountains and rivers, flying toward that ancient stone stele. That bird had been incomparably enormous, and the three vivid scarlet scales on its forehead had been so striking...

"Didn't you want to add some functions to Xiao Luo? Why didn't you submit an application? If you dared apply, I'd really dare approve it!" A voice drifted over, accompanied by a waft of delicate fragrance.

Lin Xiaosu nearly sprang up. "Damn! Is there any privacy left? You even know about that?"

Changye stood behind him. She smiled lightly. "Didn't you know this robot was connected to the network? As long as my clearance is higher than yours, I'll know whatever you do to her."

Lin Xiaosu threw his head back. "I really should be thankful I'm an upright gentleman. Otherwise, I'd have made a fool of myself right in Qianlong Headquarters!"

"An upright gentleman, yet you were asking about ultimate functions?" Changye burst into laughter. "What are you doing? Mm, reading mythological stories. Not bad. You know how to tighten the string and loosen it..."

"What do you think of this mythological story?" A glint flashed through Lin Xiaosu's eyes.

"What else is there to think about a mythological story? You admire the author's bizarre imagination. But this one is far too scattered; it can't even be called a story." Naturally, Changye had read this book as well.

"Could it be... that it actually isn't a mythological story?" Lin Xiaosu said.

"Not a mythological story? Then what is it?" Changye asked.

"For example... a true record from some parallel world."

Changye stared at him for a long time, then suddenly broke into a smile. "You came too late. If you had come ten years earlier, perhaps you could have found someone who could bring this topic to life with endless vividness. Unfortunately, he is no longer here."

"Who was it?"

"An old Daoist with blind eyes. He lived here for ten years and left behind this book. I saw him when I first entered Qianlong. He grabbed hold of me and started talking, and what he said was truly as unbridled as a heavenly horse soaring through the sky. Sadly, I had no time to chat with him, so I could not enter the world he spoke of..."

"What was his name?"

"His surname was Lu. I truly don't know his given name. Xin Yue's grandfather invited him here, and he was not originally a Qianlong member."

Lu!

Lu Yun?!

Lin Xiaosu's heart gave a violent leap. "Can I meet Xin Yue's grandfather?"

Changye sighed softly. "You're too late for that too! This time, eight years too late!"

Eight years ago, for the Trojan Horse Project, he had traveled to Luoba Prefecture to "help" an enemy nation improve its genetic program, steering that nation's genetic program down the wrong path. After the enemy discovered him, they cut off his head and sent it back to his hometown...

When he left Qianlong, he could not rest easy over Xin Yue, who was only ten years old then. He entrusted the organization to take care of this martyr's orphan, and also entrusted Changye to look after her.

That was why Xin Yue had grown up in Qianlong.

That was why she and Changye were as close as hands and feet.

When it came to that head crossing the seas and returning to its homeland, Changye grew somewhat despondent. In Qianlong, she had long been accustomed to seeing her comrades sacrifice themselves, yet every time she witnessed a new sacrifice, grief still tore through her...

"Traveling to a foreign land to carry out a top-secret mission, with only his head returning home—his body and head separated forever. All one can say is that generation after generation of Qianlong people truly inspire admiration!" Lin Xiaosu said. "Did you ever find out what that Daoist surnamed Lu's fundamental purpose for coming to Qianlong was?"

"I vaguely heard a saying once: a warning. But what warning he was giving, I don't know."

A warning!

Great waves churned in Lin Xiaosu's heart.

He knew!

Everything was clear now!

Daoist Lu Yun had walked the same road Lin Xiaosu once had. He believed the Primordial Ancient World would descend, and he had told Second Uncle at Willow Grove Temple. But telling Second Uncle was useless—Second Uncle was just an ordinary person. Even if he believed it, what could he do?

So he found the most powerful organization in this world: Qianlong.

He warned Qianlong!

He hoped to gain Qianlong's attention, so they could deploy countermeasures in advance.

Whether Qianlong had taken him seriously, Lin Xiaosu did not know.

Whether Qianlong had any response plan, Lin Xiaosu did not know either.

But this Daoist Lu had done everything he was supposed to do...

"Where else could he have gone?" Lin Xiaosu said. "Don't you have a system that can find people anywhere in the world? Can't you search for him?"

"I already told you. That system has a major prerequisite for finding someone: either they are registered, have a signal source on them, or have appeared beneath a camera. And after leaving Qianlong, he never appeared again. Oh, right. Before he left, he left behind a remark... Demons hide beyond the seas, natives stir beneath the earth's core, the Archaic Realm seeks to shatter its seal and reappear—where will this generation of civilization return to?"

"Demons hide beyond the seas, natives stir beneath the earth's core, the Archaic Realm seeks to shatter its seal and reappear... How did you interpret that?"

Changye said, "I understand the part about demons hiding beyond the seas. Most Western countries have been infiltrated by Hydra. They bear the name of humanity's beacon, yet what they do is worse than bandits. Rotten through and through, from top to bottom. This generation of civilization is indeed facing an enormous threat. But as for the natives and the Archaic Realm, no one knows what they are..."

Suddenly, her voice cut off.

Because a tall figure appeared at the entrance to the library.

The man strode over, carrying a fierce aura of slaughter, and headed straight for Lin Xiaosu.

Lin Xiaosu raised his eyes and met his gaze. The instant their gazes connected, Lin Xiaosu felt that this man must have killed many people, because a killing aura clung to him. The feeling was somewhat mysterious...

"This is Hidden Dragon No. 88," Changye said.

Lin Xiaosu stood and scratched his head. "Do I need to salute?"

No. 88's cold, stern expression was dispelled by that one sentence, and a trace of a smile surfaced on his face. "You are not yet an official Qianlong member, so there is no need to salute. Sit. I need to tell you something."

He sat down. Lin Xiaosu casually poured a cup of tea and handed it to him.

No. 88 accepted it and set it on the table. "Lin Xiaosu, Changye and I have both watched your performance. As your assessors, we unanimously agree that you have passed the assessment and may become a reservist. I came today for two reasons. First, to tell you the basic rules for reservists..."

He raised a hand and passed Lin Xiaosu a tablet.

Five large characters appeared on the tablet: Reserve Corps Regulations.

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