Chapter 1875

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, "A key? I've never seen a key with such a big head."

Liu Yuzhang said, "The wisdom of the Heaven's Mandate Ones far surpasses ours; even a sage like Zhuge Yun Chun would be deceived by them, let alone ordinary people."

Hu Xiaotian nodded and said, "These two Heaven's Mandate Ones may be smart, but they ultimately couldn't escape the fate of being slain. Right, there are murals in Long Ling Shengjing; the Heaven's Mandate Ones who came to this world back then shouldn't just be these two—why didn't their companions come to save them?"

Liu Yuzhang smiled and said, "Perhaps they couldn't, perhaps they didn't dare, or perhaps they didn't want to!"

Hu Xiaotian's heart gave a jolt; he had also thought before that if he felt his ability insufficient, those aliens wouldn't choose to rush into death like moths to a flame—fear comes from being afraid in heart, only caring about self-preservation; as for unwillingness, that would mean internal conflict among the Heaven's Mandate Ones, perhaps the other side actually wanted these two to die, a possibility Hu Xiaotian had never considered.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Who are you again?"

Liu Yuzhang laughed and said, "You sure have a lot of questions."

Hu Xiaotian said, "You're not a Heaven's Mandate One, nor likely their descendant—could you… you be one of the Space-crossing Plan?" Hu Xiaotian's eyes suddenly brightened.

Liu Yuzhang said, "You actually know about the Space-crossing Plan; it seems Madam Xu has told you quite a bit."

Hu Xiaotian had already basically concluded in his heart that Liu Yuzhang was one of the five members of the Space-crossing Plan, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly—having just arrived in this world, he had thought he was alone, yet he didn't expect this time and space to be so small that he could run into fellow countrymen wherever he went; needless to say, among the five members of the Space-crossing Plan, he had already met three. He smiled and said, "Although I've met Xu once, she never told me anything; I heard about the Space-crossing Plan from Guiyi Fulou."

Liu Yuzhang had just heard Hu Xiaotian say that Guiyi Fulou was still alive in this world and was still doubtful; now hearing him mention the Space-crossing Plan, he had basically dispelled his doubts and said in a low voice, "Guiyi Fulou really is alive in this world?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "He's alive and well, and even has a capable bunch of followers."

Liu Yuzhang said with a sinister chuckle, "And there's you, this capable disciple of mine."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Although he acknowledges me as his disciple, I don't acknowledge him as my master; to him I'm merely a tool he's using." Actually he has no relation whatsoever with Guiyi Fulou; he only said that to confuse Liu Yuzhang.

Liu Yuzhang said, "He's actually hidden himself for all these years."

Hu Xiaotian said, "Faking death isn't something only you old-timers can do."

Liu Yuzhang said, "What else did he tell you?"

Hu Xiaotian said, "Back then, the Space-crossing Plan had five participants, but because the landing point deviated, they unfortunately ended up on a battlefield, and only he managed to survive by luck." As he spoke, his gaze stayed fixed on Liu Yuzhang; in fact, Hu Xiaotian now knew that among the five who took part in the Space-crossing Plan, Guiyi Fulou and Xu were alive, and if Liu Yuzhang was one of them, then three of the five had survived.

Liu Yuzhang said disdainfully, "He still loves to lie so much."

Hu Xiaotian said, "It seems you, like Xu, are also one of them."

Liu Yuzhang said, "Guiyi Fulou's patronage of you must have cost him quite a bit, right?"

Hu Xiaotian knew Liu Yuzhang was doubting his relationship with Guiyi Fulou, and he laughed, saying, "I'm actually closer to you than to him."

Liu Yuzhang said, "Kid, don't think I don't know your origins."

Hu Xiaotian said, "You heard that from Hu Buwei, right? You also shouldn't take what he says as the absolute truth—I'm not a Fire Seed like him!"

Liu Yuzhang gazed at Hu Xiaotian with interest; this kid actually knows what a Fire Seed is—it seems Guiyi Fulou told him too much, and Liu Yuzhang hadn't expected that it was Xu who told Hu Xiaotian about it.

Hu Xiaotian said, "What do you want? Power? Money? Or women?" Actually he had already ruled out all three possibilities in his heart; Liu Yuzhang is a eunuch, so he naturally wouldn't be interested in women; as for money, if he wanted it he could easily become the richest man under heaven; power? He had once been deeply favored by the Emperor, yet he withdrew at the height of favor, retiring to the deep palace without contention—surely he wasn't a power-seeker. Could he truly have come with lofty ideals? To find humanity a new home, to save all mankind? Seeing Liu Yuzhang not respond for a long while, Hu Xiaotian then said, "Or is it, like Guiyi Fulou, to save humanity?"

Liu Yuzhang slowly shook his head and said, "People can change; at the outset, the five participants of the Space-crossing Plan all held lofty ideals, cherishing the beautiful vision of saving humanity, willingly giving up their youth and lives, yet reality turned out to be cruel." His gaze became vacant and distant, as if his memories were instantly pulled back to the past.

Hu Xiaotian said, "Why did you choose to split up?"

Liu Yuzhang said, "In the face of death, human nature is laid bare; as long as there's a chance to live, nobody wants to die. When someone decides to sacrifice himself for his comrades, only to discover he was actually betrayed long ago, he wishes to give the chance to live to others, but they had already agreed to let him die—what a sorrow that would be." His face was shrouded in a tragic hue.

Hu Xiaotian secretly wondered, could Liu Yuzhang have been betrayed by his companions? It seems likely. If so, then he and Xu, Guiyi Fulou ought to be mortal enemies, yet why would he help Hu Buwei? What hidden circumstances lie within this?

Liu Yuzhang said: "Time-space travel is not as brief as everyone imagines; in an instant one can arrive at a completely different world, during which one must endure darkness, loneliness, fear, and bewilderment. What is a moment in others' eyes is extremely long for those who traverse space; we even each regret our choices, we become mutually suspicious. If not for the team leader's persistence and determination, this space-control squad would likely have been destroyed midway."

Hu Xiaotian listened quietly; although he had no such experience, he could feel what Liu Yuzhang described.

Liu Yuzhang said: "The space-travel plan encountered no error, and we were not unfortunate enough to land on a battlefield. We arrived at a beautiful, dreamlike world; every blade of grass and tree here, every life form, closely resembles where we once lived. We rejoiced in our discovery, yet we also realized a fact: we can come but not return, because the instruments were completely destroyed, and we cannot even transmit our spacetime coordinates back to our former world."

Hu Xiaotian first heard about the space-travel plan from the ghost doctor Fu Luan, later obtained more information from Old Lady Xu, and now Liu Yuzhang mentioned the plan again; the matter gradually became clear in his mind. For some reason, he always felt that what Liu Yuzhang said was closest to the truth, perhaps because he and Liu Yuzhang were almost like grandfather and grandson in their past connection, or perhaps because the ghost doctor Fu Luan's lies were too obvious.

Liu Yuzhang said: "Although we cannot return, we are still alive, which is already a great blessing from heaven; moreover, they have brought humanity's hope."

Hu Xiaotian said: "The fire seed?"

Liu Yuzhang nodded: "Not bad! The fire seed, the fire seed never dies, passing the torch from generation to generation; even if the former world is inevitably destroyed, they can still rely on these fire seeds to carve out a brand-new world of their own here."

Hu Xiaotian sighed inwardly; actually the space-travel plan is a colonization plan, humanity intends to use these twenty thousand frozen fertilized eggs to occupy the new world, regardless of whether the world already has owners.

Liu Yuzhang said: "However, regarding the use of the fire seed, the five of us were not of one mind; one person insisted that this world already had its own master, that we were merely intruders passing through, and that we should not harbor the idea of becoming masters of this world, ruling it. His opinion opposed ours and was unanimously opposed by the other four, yet he was extremely stubborn; he even took advantage of his teammates' inattention and attempted to destroy the fire seed. When we discovered his move, a struggle ensued, in which he was accidentally killed by his comrades, yet he still caused great loss."

Hu Xiaotian pursed his lips; who exactly was the slain person? However, from Liu Yuzhang's description, this should have been a good person; his decision was undoubtedly correct—choosing not to disturb the lives of this world's humanity, not to change its rules, is the moral course.

Liu Yuzhang said: "Their dispute, however, attracted the attention of some people; they had thought they had no rivals in this world, but they did not expect that there already existed a group of Heaven's Mandate beings who mastered even higher technology than they did. When the two groups discovered each other's existence, a battle was inevitable." His expression became grief-stricken and indignant.

Hu Xiaotian secretly thought that this battle must have been extremely brutal.

Liu Yuzhang said: "Both sides had few people, yet their strength surpassed ours. To protect his comrades, the team leader chose to actively sacrifice himself, luring away the Heaven's Mandate beings and giving others a chance to live. Everyone thought the leader had died, but he had not; he was merely captured by the Heaven's Mandate beings and subjected to torment beyond ordinary imagination." As Liu Yuzhang spoke these words, he involuntarily clenched his fists; pain and hatred burned fiercely in his chest.

Hu Xiaotian had already guessed his identity; Liu Yuzhang must be the leader of the space-control squad, the one who sacrificed himself years ago to rescue his teammates.

Liu Yuzhang whispered: "He thought he would surely die at the hands of the Heaven's Mandate beings; heavens pity him, or perhaps heaven felt his life should not end, granting him a chance to escape." (~^~)