Chapter 144: Network

The mountain path stretched all the way toward the woods beneath the highest peak; if one could look down from above, one would likely discover the path twisting and turning through the mountains like a snake, finally crossing the ridge and disappearing into the mountain range.

Under Du Zhengyi's lead, they quickly found the path, but they did not follow it too far; they stopped before reaching the foot of the main peak, as the Mage's Public Post Station was right by the roadside halfway there.

Guan Xinyue let out an exclamation first, "If no one pointed it out, I wouldn't even be able to tell it was man-made."

Luo Qi felt that Guan Xinyue was right; regardless of whether there were the Mages' illusions or not, this place itself was not easy to spot. The architectural ruins here were almost obliterated by the surrounding environment, and one had to distinguish carefully to see the shape of the piled stones, yet even with careful observation, the first impression would be to mistake it for the main body of a stone bridge common in the south, only no one would build a stone bridge in the deep mountain woods.

However, this place was truly too ancient; the stone bridges of southern Ancient Towns were remains from about the Ming or Qing dynasties, and at the furthest, one could only count back to the Yuan dynasty. But this stone-piled structure was as ancient as an ancient Roman aqueduct; although it was not as grand or magnificent as an aqueduct, standing no more than two meters high and six or seven meters long, it sat silently and alone in the mountain forest, like a nondescript tomb entrance. But as soon as one walked close, one would see the strange, exotic feel in the carvings on the remaining stone fragments, vastly different from the familiar forms of civilization on this continent. The middle of the stone structure was meticulously built into a perfect arch, which was why one would mistakenly identify it as a stone bridge at first glance, but the arched area only extended halfway into the thickness of the structure, looking somewhat like a shrine.

"Was some god worshipped here before?" Guan Xinyue asked again, "The shrine is empty now."

Majiang shook his head and pointed to the flat bottom of the arched area, "Look down here; there are no traces of any deity having been placed here. Someone once theorized about these ancient Public Post Stations; if we Mages also had faith, there should be a pedestal here, after all, gods should be high above and not on an equal footing with humans."

Luo Qi also felt that Majiang made sense; it was his first time seeing this kind of ancient Public Post Station. If Mages discovered an Energy Node that could be used as a Public Post Station, they would leave a mark nearby. For example, by building a house; Public Post Stations in modern cities often open as coffee shops or teahouses, and in recent years, some have even opened internet cafes. The Public Post Station here must have been abandoned for a long time, so long that even the Mages themselves could not clearly state the era it was discovered, nor could they say which era's Mages built the marker here.

Hearing Guan Xinyue say it looked like a shrine, Luo Qi also pondered for a moment, "Actually, I think this height and shape look more like a door, an archway."

Guan Xinyue reached out and pressed against the solid wall inside, "A dead end, an archway leading to a dead end."

"Ah, ptooey, ptooey, ptooey, what kind of talk is that, a door leading to a dead end." Luo Qi almost shouted; wasn't yesterday's incident stimulating enough for him?

Du Zhengyi couldn't help but laugh; he had been standing nearby with his eyes closed, silently chanting a Spell, "Luo Qi, shut up, don't disturb me."

"Why is it me again? I'll go further away." Luo Qi complained half-truthfully, circling around this stone structure while carefully admiring the incomplete carvings on the stones.

Luo Qi saw many symbols here that had been used in books; he reached out and touched several complex Secret Languages, which were the language of his ancestors, a language that Mages today could no longer use to communicate. The remaining primitive Mage language did not have enough vocabulary for communication and could only be used as Spells to drive Magic. However, "Spell" was based on human terminology; in the original Mage language, they called them Secret Languages, the Secret Languages that drove the power of all things.

He felt vaguely sorrowful; if one day the bloodline of the Mages truly disappeared, these Secret Languages, along with these ancient ruins, would eventually be ignored by humans. If one day extraterrestrial civilizations really visited this planet, they would surely think that only a single intelligent species had existed here, and that the unique civilization of Mages, so different from humans, had not even left a trace.

He felt a bit sad and hurriedly walked further away from the others, fearing that his Thought Barrier might not be strong enough if he were not careful. Fortunately, they didn't seem to be affected by him; he heard Guan Xinyue asking, "Isn't there any place that could be used as a Public Post Station that happened to be occupied by humans?"

"Of course there is." Majiang chuckled softly and said gently, "You must know that humans are not truly without Telepathy; do you think humans are really completely insensitive to energy fields? There are always places in this world where, when humans walk there, they suddenly develop strange emotions—perhaps solemn, or ethereal, or sacred, or some other indescribable feeling. And so, humans would build their places of faith in those locations. Many shrines, churches, and Temples were built exactly where our Public Post Stations are located."

"Oh," Guan Xinyue said excitedly, "That's so interesting; sometimes I feel we aren't that different, just that our ways of looking at the world are different."

"I think you're right," Majiang said approvingly.

You old lecher, of course you think everything she says is right—Luo Qi shrugged to himself in his heart. He circled around and walked back to Du Zhengyi's side; they were standing in front of the stone archway. Luo Qi examined the totems entwined around the archway; these patterns were intricate and complex, but if one didn't look closely, one might just think they were natural cracks in the stone.

Luo Qi slowly read the Secret Languages on the archway, struggling to translate them, and realized that these Secret Languages were actually about the methods to open the Public Post Station, just like a protocol for connecting to a computer network. Du Zhengyi was busy compiling a secret message; he was bored and read all the way to the arch's apex, then suddenly froze.

Luo Qi stood on tiptoe and looked carefully at the very center of the arch's apex; there, he seemed to see a twisted snake shape.

He reached out his hand and anxiously wiped away the mud stuck to the apex, but he was just a tiny bit short in height.

Suddenly, a hand reached over his head and easily brushed the apex he couldn't reach twice. It was Du Zhengyi, looking relaxed, with even a hint of a mischievous smile on his lips, "Short-legged civet cat."

"I... damn it," Luo Qi said unhappily, but then he became nervous; under Du Zhengyi's brushing, the apex revealed a snake-shaped mark twisted into the shape of an infinity symbol, swallowing its own tail.

"Isn't this..." he swallowed nervously, "Isn't this the mark of the Great Black Heaven Temple?"

Du Zhengyi also looked carefully for a while, "This is carved into the stone; looking at the style of the carving, it is consistent with the other Secret Languages; this should also be an ancient symbol."