Mrs. Larry a poet standing on the grand stage of the Covent Garden Opera House, had a melodious and soaring voice that was particularly beautiful. Her singing seemed to have also infected the savages not far away, making them excited as well.
" By the God Si of the High, and the descendants of the Weir, we swear this oath... and the Book."
When the savage language of the savages and Mrs. Larry's language mingled together and reached Qingmu's ears, although they were still different languages, the meanings they expressed were highly overlapping, and the savage language sounded more harmonious and unobstructed, conforming to the rhythm of poetry.
"I will raise my spear, and those who block your way back will be shattered, even mountains! I will draw my bowstring taut, and those who destroy my Holy Land will be brought down, even the sun!..."
The sound grew louder and louder, echoing through the empty valley and reaching the woods opposite. The savages on the other side were also affected, their rhythm and tone of voice changing noticeably.
First, a similarly loud sound came from the direction where Situ was, echoing the rhythm on this side, like the reverberation of the sound waves coming from here. Only the languages on the two sides were slightly different, like a Yuezhou person and a Bashu person reciting the same poem in their dialects.
Then, the savages on the other side joined in.
"... With my hands, I will become weapons; with my blood, I will become springs of sweet dew. I will remain with this Holy Land, generation after generation, until the day God returns..."
The people of the three tribes spoke different languages, yet maintained a perfectly synchronized rhythm, chanting the same poems. Their voices rose in waves, colliding and resonating in the valley in the middle, becoming an even more powerful wave that rolled out in all directions.
Even Petru, who had always been disdainful, unconsciously began to chant along:
" By the God Si the High, Weir, we swear this oath..."
Qingmu felt a spiritual energy surging in the air with the chanting of the people. The starry sky seemed to blur, and the dark, usually quiet, Divine Wooden Staff in his hand began to vibrate and hum.
"This is the power of a unified will!"
Situ walked over at some point, sat down by the campfire, picked up the fish that was almost burnt, peeled off the charred exterior, took out a small piece of salt, rubbed it on the fish meat, then tore off a piece, put it in his mouth and tasted it. He nodded in satisfaction and handed the salt to Qingmu.
Qingmu followed his example and rubbed some salt on the fish, and it tasted much better than before.
"Won't something go wrong while you're not there?" Qingmu asked.
"Don't doubt their faith. Despite their barbarity, they are more devout than any other religious person on Earth," Situ laughed.
"What did you just say, a unified will?"
"Pious people have simpler thoughts; when they chant vows, their minds are free of other distractions. This is the power of faith, and it can also be said to be the source of the power of religion."
"You mean, religious faith gains strength through the believer's... spirit..."
Situ removed the fish bones from the fish, put the fish meat into his mouth, and chewed it carefully. His movements were elegant; even eating wild fish looked like a refined and graceful act to him.
"Can you imagine what would happen if everyone in the world had the same thought at the same moment, without any other distractions?"
"That depends on what kind of thoughts you have."
"For example, the Earth is round."
"The Earth is round."
"Okay, then let's say the Earth is flat."
Qingmu saw the slightly sly smile on Situ's lips and didn't understand what it meant. He was originally a lazy person and extremely unwilling to follow other people's ideas, but he still thought about it for a moment.
"The Earth will become square!" He was startled by the thought that popped into his head, but then realized it was a highly probable event. "If everyone had the same thought at the same time, without any other distractions or external interference, they would fall into a dream-like illusion, or even a dream itself, where they would create a square Earth."
Situ nodded and said, "Not only that, in order to make the existence of a square Earth reasonable, they will create a cosmic environment and physical laws suitable for a square Earth, and then use experimental and computational methods to prove that the Earth is square."
Qingmu knew, of course, that this was absurd, but upon closer examination, he found that it made logical sense, which gave him a headache.
"What are you implying? Are you suggesting that our world is just a figment of people's imagination? Or that we're all living in a dream?"
Situ shook his head and said, "I'm not sure. I just mean, if everyone thinks the earth is flat, then the earth can be flat. Just like these people from the tribe in front of you, ask them if the world is flat or round."
Qingmu didn't disturb the savage's devout chanting, but he could guess without asking, "Like the ancients, they probably think the world is flat, or maybe they just call it square."
Situ said, "But actually, we don't know whether the world is square or round. Perhaps saying it's flat is quite accurate, because a Klein Bottle is flat. No matter how undulating the earth is, it's flat to an ant. No matter how complex the higher-dimensional world is, it's relatively flat to three-dimensional beings."
"You mean time?" Qingmu seemed to understand something. "To us, time is flat, but from a higher dimension, time also has fluctuations and folds."
Situ laughed and said, "You've been influenced by Professor Mei, haven't you?"
Qingmu was taken aback, not understanding why Situ would say that, but he had to admit that these physical concepts were indeed heavily influenced by the professor.
He didn't want to talk anymore, mainly because he disliked riddles and found talking like a game of charades exhausting. He'd get sleepy after a while, and he didn't have a cigarette. He wished he could smoke in his dreams, but he couldn't even dream. He couldn't exactly go into Mrs. Larry's dream and say, "Can I borrow your space for a smoke?"
Qingmu asked bluntly, "How are we going to fight tomorrow? That guy on the other side looks really strong."
"I've come precisely to discuss this matter with you," Situ said, handing over the scepter. "Take a look at this scepter; how much of it can you wield?"
Qingmu hadn't expected Situ be so agreeable. Before, Mrs. Larry had borrowed his scepter, and he had given it to her without hesitation. However, since Mrs. Larry wasn't Awakened, it was understandable. But Qingmu was now one of the three leaders who also possessed the scepter, and he knew better than anyone what the scepter meant.
Qingmu naturally wouldn't take advantage of him, so while accepting the scepter and the book, he also handed over his own ebony staff.
He held Situ's silver Situ, which felt completely different from his ebony staff. The ebony staff was soft to the touch, like wood, while this one was cold to the touch, like stone or metal. Although the surface of the silver staff also had a patina, there were many stone-like textures and dark spots inside, somewhat like some kind of mineral with a high metal content.
Qingmu tried it out and found that the scepter was not as easy to use as his ebony staff, and the Mental Power he could draw upon was much less. Moreover, the consciousness that had previously penetrated the savage's mind like tentacles had disappeared. He guessed that it could only be used by people from his own tribe, so he tried to use the scepter to sense the consciousness of people from other tribes, but he was unsuccessful, whether because of the distance or because of his method.
He handed the scepter back to Situ: "Forget it, this thing of yours is useless. You'll be the general tomorrow."
Situ returned the ebony staff to Qingmu, without saying how much he could use it, but simply laughed and said, "Then let's be two generals. Tomorrow morning, our two tribes will join forces. The natives on the other side are stronger than us, so we need to be careful."
He stood up as he spoke, "You should rest early. Don't worry about these savages. When they chant, they have no distracting thoughts; it's like their bodies and brains are mostly at rest."
Situ left, Qingmu, following his advice, leaned against the fire and fell asleep, clutching the scepter in his hand.
He thought the next day would be a great battle, but when the stars faded and the sun rose again, and he and Situ met up, the savages on the other side retreated.
The lingering echoes of the night's chanting still reverberate through the valleys and forests.