If someone suddenly kneels down in front of you, you'll be startled and instinctively help them up. But if it's not just one person kneeling down, but a group of people, you won't just be startled, you'll be stunned—in modern terms, completely dumbfounded!
Qingmu was in a state of utter bewilderment. Of course, he wouldn't help the enemy up; in fact, he couldn't even if he wanted to, because he suddenly realized he seemed unable to move.
His feet seemed to have taken root, deeply embedded in the soft mud and sand of the lake shore. His root system was like an ever-expanding neural network, constantly growing into the distance and into the depths.
He seemed to see the black soil beneath the yellow sand, the grass shoots struggling to emerge from the cracks in the black soil, and some insects lying quietly in the soil.
Further down, the soil became drier, and there were many stones. His roots weaved through the cracks in the stones, where many insects scurried about, unlike those in the soil.
The stone gradually grew larger, dark and cold, and appeared increasingly hard. He saw a snake, twisting and crawling upwards.
Further down, the soil became moist again. There were only the roots of some large trees stretching out from afar. Following these roots further into the distance, they became denser and denser, crisscrossing underground. Above them were strong tree roots, which broke through the soil to form thick tree trunks. The tree trunks formed a forest, and in the forest were the camps of savages.
The savage chieftain held up his scepter, his eyes filled with incomprehension, anger, and fear. His hands trembled, his facial muscles were stiff, and his wrinkles were like cracks in a mountain, resembling a painting that was half realistic and half abstract.
The deeper the soil, the wetter it became; even the stones between the soil were damp. Finally, with a sudden boom, the view opened up, and he heard the rushing sound of water and saw a dark stream flowing in an underground river, its destination unknown.
Qingmu knew that this was not what his eyes saw, but what his mind saw—the scene he witnessed as his Mental Power traversed between the earth and the surface. In the past, he could do this too, but he needed to be alive and have consciousness. For example, he could release his Mental Power to find an earthworm underground, but he could not see the soil and pebbles next to the earthworm.
He knew that all things possessed a spirit, and that consciousness and Mental Power pervaded the world. He had also tried to sense the spirit of plants, and he succeeded under the willow tree in Liuying Lane. But away from there, in other places, this connection became very weak.
Now, he sensed the spirit of all things. He was finally able to confirm that Mental Power was something universally present in the universe, not something unique to conscious beings.
He had always believed that Mental Power was a product of consciousness, but now it seemed that he was wrong. Consciousness does not generate Mental Power, but it can mobilize Mental Power. The body is likely a unique Mental Power Field, and consciousness needs such a controlled Mental Power Field to be condensed. This could explain why those Parasitic Consciousness invade Earth and humanity.
Could consciousness itself be a product of the Mental Power Field? From a human perspective, it's possible. But the existence of the Tapu made Qingmu doubt this, almost negating the hypothesis, because if a powerful Mental Power Field can produce consciousness, then all the Tapu would likely be alive, possessing thoughts, and possibly far more intelligent and powerful than humans.
The savages' chanting startled their companions in the camp, and they all came out, then knelt down on the lake shore in droves.
Qingmu watched them kneel and worship in his direction, and listened to their chanting, a strange feeling arose in his heart.
Strangely, he didn't feel any discomfort at that moment; he felt it was only natural for them to kneel before him. When he accepted it all so readily, he felt a strange sense of comfort, even more comfortable than smoking.
He didn't know why he had such thoughts and feelings, yet he was too lazy to stop them from arising, and even less inclined to stop the savage's behavior. He enjoyed the pleasure brought by this spiritual opium.
He found his body slowly growing taller, like a tree. His arms spread out, becoming thick branches, and his forked fingers branched out into even more branches. His hair grew rapidly, becoming a dense canopy that blocked out the sky, and a bird's nest was built at the top of the tree.
Of course, he knew this wasn't real; it was just a feeling, an extension of his Mental Power, extending not only underground but also into the air.
Perhaps it was the willow branch in his hand that made him feel like a tree. A tree seeks sunlight and grows upwards. So, his spirit kept pushing upwards, and he grew himself very, very tall.
He looked up and saw one Sun disappear behind Sun, then emerge from behind yet Sun. The two Sun, one large and one small, were stuck together, like a burning gourd hanging horizontally in the sky.
He heard Crow Guagua caw twice.
The gourd spewed out a flame, like a fire dragon flying in the sky.
A scorching heat swept over him, so hot that every leaf on his body felt like it was being roasted.
Only when the fire gourd transformed into two Sun again, and the smaller Sun slowly moved away from the larger Sun, did Qingmu feel less hot. The roots beneath her feet were slowly shrinking, and the branches and leaves in the air were also slowly shrinking.
The Crow Guagua twice more.
Petru's vision blurred again, and the tree disappeared. A gentle breeze swept across the lake, and the previously sweltering air became cool again.
He heard Mrs. Larry say, "Let's go take a look!"
Petru looked towards the lake shore, where groups of savages were kneeling. Qingmu stood before them like a log, and it seemed there was no danger.
He helped Mrs. Larry walk over, all the way to behind Qingmu. He saw Qingmu slowly walk forward, and the kneeling crowd moved their knees to make way for him.
Petru suddenly remembered a movie he had seen before about the last emperor of China. In it, a group of people with queues (braids) knelt before their emperor in the same way. But that emperor was just a puppet; he could only live in a palace surrounded by high walls and climb to the roof to see the outside world. The real power in that world was in the hands of those with guns outside the city.
"Madam, I will avenge you." Petru gripped the gun in front of his chest tightly.
However, he immediately remembered that in this distorted spacetime, the symbol of power was not a gun, but that black scepter.
He saw the savage shaman, holding a scepter, come down from the distant hillside and walk all the way to the center of the lake. Qingmu also walked to the center of the lake.
They stood face to face, surrounded by hundreds of savages kneeling in a circle.
The savage shaman's eyes blazed with fury, and his hands, holding the scepter and Tushu, trembled. He was like an enraged Lion, baring his sharp teeth, ready to drive away all the thieves and intruders who threatened his territory.
Petru heard the wind howling, like the prelude to a storm at sea; the lake water also gurgled, as if pulled by a powerful tide. He knew it was all a mental illusion, like a dream.
Just when he thought a great spiritual battle was about to take place, he saw the once arrogant savage shaman kneel down, place his scepter horizontally in his hands, and raise it high above his head.
The wind blew across his face, carrying away a few grains of sand from the deep wrinkles of his face, which fell to the ground with a rustling sound.
Qingmu extended a hand and accepted the scepter.
The Crow cawed Guagua, and the silent savages began to sing again.