Ming Dynasty, New Rome, and Infinite Divine Machine

Ah, your cauldron's father. Look east.

Shangluo looked eastward—the Sun Chariot was becoming increasingly clear. It represented the true form of the sun, and while it shone as brightly as the real thing, it was surprisingly visible. A golden figure drove the chariot, just as it had every other day. Phaethon's "solidification" seemed to have had no effect on the father's state of mind; he continued to perform his duties.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. Go back now." Titus walked out of the phone booth. "Sorry to excuse me for a moment. I have to go to the Muse Palace. After I send you back to the Glazed Tower, I'll come back. Please tell Captain Lu not to worry. I'll be back in the night of Yujing."

Although the tour was short, Shangluo felt it was worthwhile - mainly because the ice cream was really delicious. When he reached the breakwater, he had not finished his ice cream.

The sentry let them through, just as they had when they came. However, someone ahead of them was walking on the breakwater. Based on the first-come, first-served principle, they had to wait for them to come out.

Scholar-looking people came out of the lighthouse in a line, all wearing white coats, most of them wearing glasses. The night's rest time was over, and the day was their working time.

However, for Shangluo, a very familiar figure appeared there and seemed to be walking ahead.

Titus extended his hand, asking them to step back. "Make way for the staff. The Lighthouse Project engineering team has arrived, and they've brought a lot of equipment. Um, do you see that guy up ahead? He's your fellow townsman, the chief physiognomist Shang Buhuan, who was invited from Aurora. Perhaps you know him? Oh, by the way, his name is very similar to yours, Shangluo. Is he a relative of yours?"

I'll update once tonight, and then three more during the day.

Chapter 134: Shangluo is not troubled

Shangluo stood by the roadside.

Shang Buhuan walked up to him and the two of them looked at each other.

Shang Buhuan walked over.

This was the first time the two had met since leaving San Francisco.

"Hmm? Aren't you relatives? Or rather, distant relatives?"

"This is how we get along in our family. This is how it is." Shangluo expected this to happen. "We can just walk the path ahead on our own, okay?"

Titus shook his head. "No, no, we must send them to the entrance of the Glazed Tower and then return. How can we leave children alone on the road at night? Come on, returning tourists, please follow me. We are going back."

At the entrance to the glazed pagoda, Lu Huaiyang sat on a stool, drinking tea. A small tea table sat in the middle, and the abbot of Baoen Temple sat beside it. He sipped his tea, and a few sesame oil and mung bean cakes were placed in the middle as a snack.

"Come on, Abbot, where did this sesame oil and mung bean cake come from?"

"Oh, that's a long story. Back when Emperor Taizu was a monk, he collapsed from hunger on the side of the road. Suddenly, a passing monk saw an auspicious aura rising to the sky. When the monks rushed to Emperor Taizu's side, they happened to be carrying sesame oil and mung bean cakes. Emperor Taizu ate it and praised it highly, and immediately rushed to the rebel army. Later, Emperor Taizu held a banquet for his ministers and brought out the cakes. Captain Lu, you don't have anything to do this afternoon? Why did you have afternoon tea here?"

"We've handed the Ripper case over to the Romans, and now we're out of things to do. We may be monastics, but we're also worldly. Drinking tea all day isn't the way to go."

"Don't you need anyone on the emperor's side?"

"Tianzi doesn't have any other hobbies besides refining pills, and there's nothing else to do in Nanzhen if he's not investigating cases. So I want to ask, Master, what do you usually do, Abbot?"

"It's nothing more than sweeping the tower, sweeping the tower and sweeping the tower."

"So, are you used to living here?"

"I wasn't used to it at first. I've gained weight since I stopped playing ball with the late emperor. Every day I just sweep the pagoda, sweep the pagoda. As I kept sweeping, I got used to it. As I got used to it, I became the abbot."

"But Master, your military registration is still with the Imperial Guard, and you can go back anytime."

"Forget it. This tower needs someone to watch over it. Junior Brother Fu Yuanshan comes to see me occasionally, and he's a lot younger now than when we first met."

Hearing this, Lu Huaiyang stopped his hand from twisting the mung bean cake and said, "Then Master, do you still want to build your foundation?"

"Maybe it's just not our destiny yet. I went to the hospital for a checkup a few days ago."

"Master! Master, you won't get it." Lu Huaiyang's face showed sadness.

"Are you in such a hurry to come to the feast? It's not a terminal illness, it's not a terminal illness. The doctor said you've gained weight and shouldn't eat too much greasy food at your age. I remember eating light meals when I was young, but ever since I started playing basketball with the late emperor, I feel weak every morning if I don't eat some pork elbow."

"You don't have any dietary restrictions, do you?"

"As a monk, I ring the bell every day, so of course I have to avoid certain foods. So I eat vegetarian pork elbows, which are vegetarian meats that have been marinated. Normally, these are vegetarian dishes that pilgrims eat to imitate meat, and monks are not supposed to eat them. But I didn't change this habit when I came here, and I still eat these vegetarian dishes that imitate meat - so many years have passed, I can let go of the matter of building the foundation."

"Are you still worried about Wen Yan?"

"How is his son doing lately?"

"A very good kid. He's not very serious, but he'll be a good person."

"Just like his father, he was a good man. It's a pity that he didn't see through the secrets of heaven. Building a foundation is not such a simple matter. When his spirit disappeared and his Taoism perished, even the Taoist Ancestor sighed."

"We have another one recently. He just entered the sect and was appointed by His Majesty the Emperor as the Chief Sword Master of the Imperial Palace today. He is the son of Shang Buhuan. He also has an opportunity. Do you think he can succeed?"

The monk sighed, "Whether or not one can succeed in building a foundation should actually be known before one even begins. Building a foundation is always a sure thing. It succeeds when it should, and it doesn't succeed when it shouldn't. Wen Yan's failure in building a foundation wasn't due to bad luck; there's no such thing as luck."

Lu Huaiyang was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Could it be..."

"Well, it's good that you know it yourself. The late emperor, who had always been accustomed to following Daozu, also sighed at the time: Daozu, the most ruthless. But I heard that Daozu met him? That Shangluo?"

"Yes. Before he even returned to Yujing, Daozu specifically requested to see him."

"Do you know the significance of this?"

Lu Huaiyang nodded: "The Dao Ancestor is the sky, and all living beings are the earth. The common sense of this world has always been 'the earth is connected to the sky'. Only the Son of Heaven can communicate between heaven and earth. There are two possibilities for the Dao Ancestor to meet him."

"Which two?" The old monk looked at Lu Huaiyang.

"Or, Daozu wants him to be the successor of the emperor. But that's impossible. Daozu's favor is limited to his own flesh and blood. Daozu will never let anyone else be the emperor. Then there is only one possibility."

"Go ahead." Lu Huaiyang hesitated, but the old monk patted him on the back. "Speak out, and you'll feel better."

"The second possibility is that Daozu is not looking for a successor to the Son of Heaven. Instead, he is looking for a successor to 'Heaven,' a successor to himself."

Lu Huaiyang himself couldn't believe this inference. The world was about to change, right before his eyes.

"Master, is this possible?"

"The late emperor showed me an interesting detective novel. There's a line in it that I still remember: 'When you eliminate all impossibilities, whatever remains, no matter how unbelievable, is the truth.' Even the Daoist Ancestor was once Fei Yuan Zhenjun, Wan Shou Emperor, and Zhong Xiao Emperor, not the current 'Sun Palace Tai Dan Yan Guang Yu Ming Tai Yang Emperor.'"

"." Lu Huaiyang didn't say anything, just nodded silently.

"Does he know it himself?" asked the old monk.

"I guess he knows something, but I'm not sure yet. It seems that Daozu has assigned him some tasks. Should we help him?"

"Of course I have to help, but I must not overstep the line. I think what the Taoist Ancestor values besides one's aptitude is the strategy for establishing oneself. The fruits of Taoism can be cultivated slowly, but the heart of Taoism must be planted from the very beginning. If one's heart of Taoism is not stable from the beginning, it will be impossible to go further later. But I always feel that..." Now even the old monk hesitated.

"Master, what are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking, when Daozu recruits people, it's not like they're applying, right? There's no need to consider aptitude or character. The reason Daozu recruited him and had to recruit him was because of Heaven's will. Since it's Heaven's will, then his every move is Heaven's way. So no matter what he does, Daozu won't change his mind. So Daozu might not be testing him at all, but rather having a conversation with him. He wants to know what his successor will be like. In short, you all remember to stay within the rules, and then further eliminate other possibilities. Hmm? They're back, go open the door. I'll get the broom, the comings and goings have brought some dust in, so I need to sweep the tower."

Chapter 135 Intelligence

Back on the ground again, I saw the sunlight through the crack in the door, and the chill I had just felt from drinking the water of the Styx disappeared immediately. Besides, the chill this time wasn't as intense as the first time. It felt like I had drunk a bottle of pain-free liquid nitrogen.

It feels similar to that. If you actually drank something that cold, your digestive tract would experience a burning sensation, not just pure cold. The coldness of the Styx isn't physical, but it feels profound. This is how it creates the sensation of drinking "liquid nitrogen," which doesn't exist in reality.

He looked back at the other three people: they were quite normal.

In fact, Shangluo had always wanted to ask, but they didn’t seem to feel anything strange when they took the first sip.

He asked Wen Yuan who was behind him.

"Cold? If you want to say it's cold, it is. But I don't feel it once it enters my stomach. I feel like there's something warming it. How about you guys?"

Han Xingzhi gave a similar answer, but Lu Liang added:

"It seems to be true Qi. I only have the bottled Qi Hai as my Qi source, so I can feel it more directly. I can feel the coldness neutralizing the warmth of the true Qi. The two forces seem to be in conflict. But after the conflict, it seems that they don't eliminate each other. Hmm, it feels very strange."

"By the way, each of you should tell me about your situation." Han Xingzhi, who was standing behind, pulled out a small notebook. "Before I left, Captain Lu assigned me a task. I need to write down each of your feelings and then submit a report. Tsk, so they called me here because they're short of help. Let me repeat what you said."

Han Xingzhi stood aside. "Wen Yuan is fine, she only felt cold for a moment, and I feel the same way. Lu Liang also feels fine, but he can feel the innate energy counteracting the coldness of the EITR potion. Shangluo, what about you? Since you asked first, did you feel it very strongly?"

"Yes. And it seems that the Romans had to 'freeze' like this every time they traveled. Only after long-term training could they adapt to it."

"Tsk tsk." Han Xingzhi shook his head and took notes. "Those Romans really worked hard. I'll go back and add some more information. I'll be done by evening. What time is it now?"

"Eh!" Wen Yuan took out the sign and glanced at it. "It's not even three o'clock yet! It's not even afternoon yet. How about we go back to school?"

Lu Liang nodded. "I have no objection. Are you two going back too? Okay, if you have no objection, then go back. Don't be absent for the entire afternoon, or it will be counted as absenteeism."

These were student issues, and it wasn't easy to discuss them in front of a "parent" like Lu Huaiyang. Otherwise, they would have to go back to school anyway. Although the outcome was the same, making the decision on their own felt different from "having to go back just to save face."

After confirmation, Shangluo, who was at the front, opened the door.

Lu Huaiyang was standing at the bottom of the steps of the glazed tower. Another old monk was standing next to him holding a broom, seemingly waiting for them to come out.

"Well, are you having fun?" Lu Huaiyang asked. He knew from the beginning that there seemed to be a very good experience inside.

Han Xingzhi submitted the report on the spot. He had been recording everything from the lighthouse to the ice cream and Caesar incidents.

After a quick glance, Lu Huaiyang nodded:

"It seems like everything's pretty normal over there. We've actually worked with the Internal Security Service a couple of times before, but those were all official meetings between adults. They wouldn't take us out for ice cream. Maybe they don't want their work to be associated with the beauty of childhood. You guys are different, though. Children have no taboos, and that's how it is until they reach adulthood. So..."

He thought for a moment. "Actually, we're also evaluating whether or not to let you go. While the Golden Branch Ceremony is important, there's more than one solution, and even sheer force can be a miracle. As long as it doesn't bring you uncontrollable danger, you can go. The experience itself is valuable. The tentative date is this Sunday, and you can withdraw before it begins. If any of you have objections, you can raise them now."

No one spoke.

"Since you guys haven't said anything yet, I'll assume that you've agreed so far. And, Xiao Han, if you really don't want to come, you don't have to."

"No, no, no, I won't get angry with anyone who doesn't let me follow my big brother."

"Tsk, because of the clay figurine? You're way too utilitarian, you do a 180-degree turn when you come across something good. You're just like your uncle. Well, as long as you don't have a problem with that. Then the picnic is over for now, and you can all go home. I still have to sweep the floor."

Sitting in the car on the way back to school, Shangluo was in a good mood.

"You seem to be in a normal mood? Don't you have any thoughts?"

"what idea?"

"That's your father, right? No one else seems to realize it's your father, so they don't feel anything. But, isn't it a little strange to be so distant from your own father?"

"Are you asking about my personal privacy?"

"No, I'm exchanging information with my partner. I really want to know, even if you're unwilling to answer. In return, you can ask me a question I normally wouldn't answer."

"Okay. There's no need to actually exchange. This question isn't that difficult to answer." Shangluo was indeed somewhat reluctant. But then he thought, he should be more sincere towards his partners.

"To put it bluntly, the reason for the alienation might be 'lack of familiarity'."

[How do you describe "unfamiliar"? ]

"Not familiar, that's all. There's no affection between him and me, probably because I have no memories of my childhood. My memories start when I was six, and it seems to have started very suddenly. Old Shang... I think he knows more than I do. At first, our relationship was quite like a normal father and son. He would take me to watch the sunset and talk to me a lot. But I still have some resentment."

[It makes sense, after all, a parent-child relationship can only be established once. If you call everyone you see who treats you well father, wouldn't that be like Lu Bu?]

"Yes. I'm afraid Mr. Shang also noticed these differences. At that time, I thought he might have felt that the child had grown up and it was time to let go. Ha, a six-year-old child is as young as a little kid, how could he let go? I guess he also anticipated these situations, and our relationship gradually became more subtle. However, it was also from then on that he no longer held back on me technically. He spent almost all of his working time with me, watching me disassemble the alarm clock bit by bit and deal with the gears and springs."

Chapter 136 Sympathetic Connection

[Hmm] Apollonia thought for a while:

"I can help you analyze this. Here, Lao Shang's attitude has changed, so he may feel that he has lost his paternal authority over you."

"Is that right?"

"My guess is this. He didn't teach you his craft initially because he felt he could decide your future. He probably didn't want you to go down that path. However, after noticing some irreparable rifts, he might have wanted to put the choice in your hands. But it wasn't the time to make a choice then; he was simply trying to prepare you as best he could."

"Then now is the time."

"Yes. But it seems you didn't have any verbal communication before?"

"Ah, that one. That's indeed a work habit, and I was the one who suggested it. Don't have unnecessary verbal communication during work hours, because he can be a bit annoying sometimes."

[Lao Shang's job is quite impressive! Do you know what the Lighthouse Project is?]

"I don't know. Do you know?"

【I don't know either. 】

"??? You don't even know it, how can you say it's amazing?"

"Because even I don't know, that's what's so amazing! There's no such thing as an impenetrable wall. The larger the project, the easier it is to breach the sympathetic link. Because someone will always accidentally leak relevant information to the public, and then one by one, they can figure it out. And so far, nothing about Project Lighthouse has been uploaded to the Akashic Records. Besides the name, I know absolutely no details. If I hadn't heard of it, I wouldn't even know how to describe it or how to search for it."

"Um"

So I still want to confirm. Do you know any other relevant surrounding information?

"I don't know." Shangluo shook his head. "He left suddenly that day. He just said he was going to buy cigarettes before he left. I guess he was suddenly transferred and didn't have time to explain. Oh, and what is 'Breaking the Sympathetic Link'? I was also wondering why he didn't call and just sent a postcard back."

That's right. Using letters instead of phone calls is a form of confidentiality. "Breaking the sympathetic link" is a form of information encryption based on the six degrees of separation theory. The theory states that you can know any stranger through at most six people. Because information can't exist in a vacuum, it must be known by someone. This means that you are six degrees away from any piece of information in the world. Break through six degrees of sympathetic link, and you can know everything.