The stars slowly move in one direction, and according to Earth's experience, the stars will set in the west. But in this alternate dimension a thousand light-years away, all experience is unreliable; the more real the feeling, the more absurd the reality may be.
The Great Nebula M42 hangs on the western ridgeline, slowly descending towards the other side of the mountain. The massive, sparse Barnard's Loop is only half visible, occupying half the sky. An even more dazzling spherical nebula rises from the eastern sky, like a giant red balloon, with bright stars hiding inside, shining with a dazzling blue-white brilliance.
Qingmu took out the willow branch from his pocket, sniffed it, and the familiar scent from his hometown dispelled the discomfort caused by the distance and unfamiliarity.
A shooting star streaked across the sky, leaving a bright trail and a beautiful straight line across the heavens. After traversing half the sky, it suddenly transformed into a parabola, beginning its descent and disappearing halfway down. Just when you thought it had burned up and vanished, it suddenly reappeared like Ghost, flashing a large S-shape across the sky, flying from south to Tushu, then straight up again, returning to the heavens.
Those who have experienced the arrival of the giant moon and towering waves are no longer surprised and know that this must be another distorted space.
Everyone is tired and needs rest.
The savage camp where Situ was located also had many temporary dwellings set up, similar to the savage camp opposite. After inquiring, it was learned that the group of savages led by Situ had also just arrived here.
The island they originally lived on slowly approached the Sun, or perhaps not the Sun, but some other star; in any case, the disaster struck. Rivers dried up, forests burned, and the savage tribe was engulfed in flames. Their chieftain, under the scorching sun, held his scepter high and struggled for ten days and nights before finally collapsing, turning into a the Mummy corpse.
Situ took the scepter from his hand and led the savages to retreat to the lakeside. The entire island was engulfed in flames, except for the lake in the heart of the island, which seemed to connect to an endless abyss, and even the Sun could not dry it up.
They persevered for several days, waiting until a thick fog descended on the island, before finally crossing the boiling lake and arriving here.
Situ spoke of it casually, as if it were just a matter of waiting at a red light, crossing a street, and having a barbecue on the lawn of a city park. But Qingmu clearly saw the pain on Ivan and Boris's faces as Situ recounted the story. He could tell that these two men, even if their experiences weren't as rich as Petru's, were people who had faced life and death, and anything that could cause them pain must have been extremely unbearable.
When the giant moon hung high in the sky and the waves surged to the heavens, the feeling of despair and suffocation was still deeply etched in everyone's hearts. But Situ and his Situ had clearly experienced a disaster far more terrifying than the approaching giant moon. Most importantly, they fought against the disaster in despair for more than ten days!
The savages' prayers continued all night until the eastern sky began to lighten and the stars above gradually faded, at which point they stopped.
The savage priest in charge of the prayers approached and respectfully handed the silver scepter to Situ. They exchanged a few words in their native tongue, and then the priest went down to gather wild fruits and morning dew from the trees with a group of savages, while the rest of the savages cautiously patrolled the area around the camp, observing the movements of the savage camp opposite.
Mrs. Larry said, "So Mr. Stone is a linguist too! Not only can he understand the language of the savages, but he speaks it so fluently! I'm truly impressed!"
Situ laughed and said, "Madam, you flatter me! When it comes to linguistics, you are the true expert; I was merely taking a shortcut."
Mrs. Larry said, " Mr. Stone, there's no need for such modesty! No language is something anyone comes up with on a whim; it's the result of a civilization developing over countless years. There's no room for shortcuts or tricks. If there are any, please don't hesitate to share them openly. Our history of writing and archaeology still contains many ancient scripts that we haven't been able to decipher and many languages that have disappeared!"
"Madam, you overestimate me!" Situ laughed heartily. "I have no way of translating those characters dug out from underground. I can communicate with the savages only because they are living people. If they were dead, I would be completely helpless."
He glanced around as he spoke, "Learning the language of these savages isn't difficult. Among you all here, Mr. Qingmu, Professor Su, and this Mr. Petru can all do it easily."
Qingmu and Su Huilan's hearts skipped a beat, as if they had thought of something, while Petru was completely baffled and shouted, "I can't even speak the local dialects of those places in Africa properly, how could I speak the language of savages?"
Situ smiled and said, "Language is also a form of memory. As long as you can enter a dream, you can acquire it, regardless of which planet the other person is speaking from."
His words flashed through Qingmu's mind like lightning. He remembered that he had inexplicably been able to speak many languages, as if those things had always been stored in his memory. He had always wondered if he was a top student before he lost his memory? Now he suddenly realized that he wasn't a top student, or if he was, he was probably just a top student who cheated using dreams.
Dreams have no time limit, meaning that as long as you have enough Mental Power, you can learn a lot in dreams. You can enter other people's minds and easily steal their achievements, although this requires a small mental price. But for someone like Qingmu, what's a little Mental Power?
Compared to other things, acquiring a language is more difficult because the process of learning to speak cannot be condensed or visualized, unlike a paper or a design plan, which can be immediately presented. If the other person is not a linguist like Mrs. Larry, then to learn their language from them, you must constantly switch between conscious communication, visual communication, and verbal exchange in your dreams. It's equivalent to learning a new language using the most primitive and clumsy methods. And if you are not a linguist, this process is very tedious and boring even in dreams.
"This is so unfair!" Alice shouted angrily. "You're cheating! You're using cheat codes!"
Mrs. Larry was not without envy, but she showed no jealousy or sense of injustice. Instead, as if she had discovered a new continent, she said, "You really should have stepped forward sooner. Many of our archaeological and linguistic problems might have been solved long ago."
Situ shook his head and said, "Madam, it's not that we're unwilling to stand up. In fact, we've done everything we can, but there are some things we're powerless to change. The progress of civilization cannot be altered by one or two people."
He looked up at the vanished starry sky, "In the vast universe, Earth is not even a grain of sand..."
Mrs. Larry smiled and said, "I agree with you, but when civilization encounters a bottleneck, or history reaches a dead end—there will always be heroes who step forward, won't there?"
She glanced at Situ, then at Qingmu.
Petru interrupted, "Let them do their important business, madam. If you wish to pursue your studies, I am willing to serve you! I will follow you wherever you go. I can help you dig up stones from the ground, learn other people's languages in their dreams, and even protect your safety..."
Mrs. Larry smiled gratefully at Petru and said, "Thank you, Petru, you're a good person."
The Crow, already full and having taken a nap in the tree branch, flew down to Qingmu's head. Intending to ask about breakfast, it heard Petru's words Guagua, "Wow, the pirates have reformed!"
At that moment, the howling of the savages echoed through the valley once more.