Countdown: Humanity's struggle to survive against yesterday

"correct"

"Correct again"

"Line 12"

As time went by, everyone noticed that Master Chang would answer a line of questions almost every 30 seconds. After answering more than a dozen lines correctly in a row, everyone couldn't help but start counting along with him.

At first the sounds were scattered, but then they became uniform.

"13"

"14..."

"20"

Upon reaching this point, with the first page completely correct, everyone present couldn't help but stand up. Mayor Yang, at the front of the crowd, excitedly grabbed the arm of his staff member and exclaimed, "Amazing! Absolutely amazing! How did they do that?!"

Wei Xiaoshuai and his group were completely dumbfounded.

They couldn't understand how they could remember the first page, where each line originally contained a string of 25 random 0s and 1s, but now that the 0s and 1s were gone, and how they could even write down the correct decimal answer through mental arithmetic.

Soon, they gave up trying to understand; it didn't matter if they didn't understand, as long as it was awesome.

That's absolutely amazing.

Once this is over, we'll have more to talk about at dinner parties.

Some of them even wondered, "Could it be that this Taoist priest has truly cultivated his Taoist skills, just like in cultivation novels, where after breaking through a realm, one gains the ability to remember everything they see?"

"Should we go offer incense later and pay our respects to the Three Pure Ones...?"

Principal Han did not join in the cheers, but instead fell into deep thought.

Finally, after finishing the first page, he saw that Master Chang did not continue answering questions. Instead, he closed his eyes for a while, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"call……"

"It's good that they're behaving this way; it shows they're still human and can get tired. Otherwise, considering their Taoist identity, it would be hard to explain scientifically."

But as soon as he finished thinking about it, Principal Han chuckled to himself.

The world is now in a state of great regression, and scientists have yet to provide a reasonable explanation, leading to a resurgence of feudal superstitions in various regions.

Now that's great. If Master Chang can advance this time, I wonder what kind of rumors will spread about him.

Thinking about it, Principal Han looked at Mayor Yang, whose face was flushed, and silently shook his head.

He thought to himself, "I'd better leave this kind of thing to the boss!"

"Principal Han..."

Yang Haoran suddenly leaned forward and shouted, "I've noticed something!"

"What's the problem?"

Yang Haoran smiled smugly: "I've discovered that Master Chang's mental arithmetic ability isn't particularly outstanding; he just has a good memory."

"What do you mean?"

Principal Han pulled Yang Haoran to sit down again, and several students around him looked at Yang Haoran with curiosity.

"That's right..." Yang Haoran pointed to the countdown timer in the upper right corner of the large screen on the left, "I just checked the time and found that Master Chang spends about 30 seconds each time he does mental arithmetic. This makes me speculate on a question..."

"Haoran, look at how smug you are, hurry up and tell us..."

When a classmate saw Yang Haoran imitating Principal Han by keeping things mysterious, he couldn't help but lightly punch him.

"I reckon this is Master Chang's strategy..." Yang Haoran chuckled, raising the draft paper in his hand, and said admiringly, "We were just converting the calculations first and then memorizing them. If we do it that way, 30 minutes of memorization time is simply not enough. So we must memorize first and then calculate; that's the right way to solve the problem."

The students were all top students, all academic superstars. Upon hearing this and glancing at their own draft papers, they immediately realized what was going on.

One of them said, "Yes, yes, that should be it. I was wondering why this memory competition required so much calculation, but now that you say it, I realize that this question really does require memorization first."

Another girl said, "If that's the case, this question could be a disaster for ordinary people who have never participated in a memory competition."

Principal Han did not participate in the conversation. He simply watched them chat for a while before starting to analyze it in whispers, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

He has already prepared to register these outstanding students for the "Junior Astronauts" program. Now all he needs to do is wait for the regulations to be issued from above, and then they can be sent directly for training.

Seeing how they've grown from their initial youthful arrogance to their maturity simply by watching a memory competition, Principal Han couldn't help but feel that he was truly getting old.

While feeling sentimental, Principal Han also didn't quite understand why the higher-ups were secretly preparing to establish a "Young Astronauts" program in this era of great regression.

Even if we had the chance to send this group of people into space, wouldn't the world regress in space?

Thinking about it, Principal Han couldn't help but look up at the sky.

Today is a cloudy day with thick cumulus clouds overhead, just like countless other cloudy days in the past, nothing special.

"Could it be that time really flows differently in space than on Earth?" Principal Han wondered to himself.

"25..."

"28..."

"50..."

Every time Chang Niankong answered a line correctly, the crowd erupted in cheers.

Inside the Moyu Internet Cafe, Yang Hongliang frowned upon seeing this. He could understand the cheers of the crowd; after all, ordinary people would be amazed by such a miraculous display of memory.

"But, wouldn't this disturb Master Chang?"

Thinking it over, Yang Hongliang quietly closed the door to minimize the noise.

Chang Niankong had actually heard the shouts outside the door a long time ago, but due to the rules of the competition, he could not leave the camera or move his gaze at will.

It wasn't exactly noisy; he just didn't want to see anyone cheering for him like that.

A world regression would be a catastrophe for all mankind, and Taoism would naturally not be spared.

The global rollout of the "Memory Bank for the Future" initiative is everyone's responsibility.

This is not about having a sense of national pride, but rather about considering things from a personal perspective. If the elders could remember more, the whole family would probably be better off as the world keeps turning.

Therefore, Chang Niankong would disdain participating if it were merely for the purpose of becoming a star or simply to win a competition.

This is just like what the Book of Changes says: "The Great Way is fifty, and the heavens extend to forty-nine, but one of them is hidden away."

Humanity is now struggling to overcome this major setback while simultaneously preparing for its own escape route – a fight for a sliver of hope.

From the perspective of Taoists, Taoism pursues the natural way, believing that all things should follow the Tao and should maintain a state of tranquility and non-action.

Chang Niankong always believed that the prerequisite for becoming a Taoist priest was that one was a human being.

My reason for studying Taoism was for personal gain, not superstition. I never thought about promoting Taoism, let alone achieving success in Taoist cultivation.

It's simply about pursuing clarity of thought and reducing the memory burden caused by photographic memory; it's a kind of skill to learn.

Master Qinghe always said that he could never become a true Taoist priest, and he never refuted it.

However, I never expected that this identity as a Taoist priest might become a new burden today, and perhaps in the future.

After a moment's thought, Chang Niankong opened his eyes and stared at the last page.

The last page also has 20 blank spaces. The original 0s and 1s are gone. You just need to recall them, calculate them, and then fill in the answers one by one.

Chang Niankong moves his wrists, places both hands on the table, and quickly taps the tabletop with his two index fingers alternately.

This is a deliberate action he takes when doing mental arithmetic; it involves some physical movements, which can reduce the burden on his brain.

"79..."

Another thunderous cheer erupted outside the Moyu Internet Cafe.

This enthusiasm suddenly made Chang Niankong a little worried: if he could leave easily after he perfectly cleared the game today.

After all, his master and senior apprentice were waiting for him to buy pig's head meat to take back!

"80"

"It's over, it's over."

Wei Xiaoshuai shouted, and Mayor Yang immediately led the applause.

"Wow, that's awesome!"

"That's amazing..."

When people are excited, they really do become simple and can only use the simplest words to express their feelings.

After a long while, the applause subsided, and someone, feigning composure, shouted:

"Don't rush, this is only the second question. Everyone stay calm. Let's wait until Master Chang advances before we cheer. We can't open the champagne halfway through."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in laughter once again.

However, unexpectedly, on the large screen hanging high in the alley, in many live broadcast rooms where people were watching the game on their phones because they couldn't squeeze into the alley, the game suddenly ended.

Subsequently, the live stream showed 41 participants who had advanced.

"Holy crap, is this question eliminating over 400 participants?"

After a few seconds of confusion, someone was the first to react and exclaim.