Chapter 785: Thousands of Years Later

The fleet of Xuanyuan and his people successfully docked. During the time they were traveling, Baifeng had been thinking about what Xuanyuan had come here for in person, but he could not find a clue for the moment. Major matters had already been resolved and discussed; he could not think of anything else worth Xuanyuan coming for personally. The letter did not mention Changle making any serious mistakes again, and with the lesson from last time, the people of the Engineering Team would certainly not do such a thing again.

Rather than letting his mind wander, it was better to wait and see how things developed. So, Baifeng temporarily set this matter aside. It was not until Xuanyuan and his group arrived that Baifeng sent people to welcome them, and the doubts regarding this matter surfaced in his heart once more.

Xuanyuan was already quite familiar with Huaxia and was very accustomed to this place. When the leaders of the two tribes met, it was only natural to exchange pleasantries and express their etiquette.

After the long journey, Xuanyuan was somewhat fatigued. Moreover, it was too hasty to talk to Baifeng about going to Kongtong Mountain right now; it would not be too late to talk about it tomorrow. Seeing Changle's appearance, he likely had some very important matters to discuss with Baifeng, and Xuanyuan did not want to disturb them too much, so he decided to speak tomorrow.

After arranging for Xuanyuan and his group to stay in that courtyard again, Xuanyuan slept soundly there without standing on ceremony, preparing to have a good rest. The journey had been too exhausting, and he had to maintain his best state to face the arduous road to Kongtong Mountain.

Time and space were naturally left to Baifeng and his son. Without Baifeng needing to ask, Changle immediately told Baifeng the reason for Xuanyuan's arrival.

"Father, Tribal Chief Xuanyuan came to find you, likely to prepare to take you with him to Kongtong Mountain to visit Guangchengzi."

Baifeng was stunned; this matter was indeed too sudden: "Is that what he told you?"

Changle nodded: "Yes, he also asked other things about you and Guangchengzi, but I didn't say anything. Perhaps he will ask you tomorrow." Then, Changle's tone softened: "Father, if you ask me, there is no need for you to go. Going to Kongtong Mountain is too dangerous. I didn't know what the outside world was like before, but now that I have gone out to see, danger is truly everywhere."

"Even if you take Huaxia's elite Soldiers with you, do you really know what kind of place Kongtong Mountain is? To Xuanyuan, it might be very safe, but for you, it might not be."

Baifeng was now finding it difficult to make a choice. Seeing the true immortals of legend was a wish deep in Baifeng's heart; who wouldn't want to see an immortal? Cultivating to become an immortal had always been the greatest pursuit deep in the hearts of the Chinese people. Baifeng hadn't even grasped the threshold of the Dao, that mysterious and profound thing. If he could hear the person in historical records who was earliest associated with the Dao speak on it, wouldn't he be too lucky? "If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die without regret in the evening"—was he truly willing?

Seeing Baifeng's expression, Changle knew that his father truly had such thoughts. He hurriedly persuaded him: "Father, is Guangchengzi really that important to you? Does that 'Dao' really have some charm that makes you willing to ignore the danger to go and learn it? Your wisdom is already sufficient, why do this?"

Baifeng smiled bitterly, shook his head, and said: "Changle, compared to Guangchengzi, I am perhaps the difference between the sun and dust. Guangchengzi is perhaps the true god in this world right now. My claim to be the son of a god is merely using my knowledge to deceive foolish people. You know, everything can be explained by Science."

"But the 'Dao' truly touches upon the origin of knowledge and the world; it cannot be explained. Even if I understand a little bit in my mind, I cannot explain it clearly."

"If I hadn't established this Huaxia, thousands of years later, I might not even have my bones dug up by anyone. Instead, the stones I used would be found by people, taken out to study, and they would say how the savages of this era fashioned and used stone tools."

"But Guangchengzi is different. Thousands of years later, his name is still circulating, and the name of Shennong is also circulating. But Guangchengzi only spoke of the 'Dao' and didn't really say he did anything; he appeared in the posture of a teacher. Just like that, he could make everyone feel reverence. You tell me, shouldn't I want to go and see such a person?"

Changle's expression was somewhat twisted: "Father, you often tell us about thousands of years later, but how are you so clear about things thousands of years later? I cannot even predict what will happen a year from now. This might be because my knowledge is too shallow, but even the smartest person, using their own plans to push the progress of a matter, can only infer a small area and how a certain thing will be a year later."

"You can plan out the future of Huaxia for ten or several decades, and it is indeed changing according to your ideas now. But that is thousands of years; how can it be inferred? That is too far away."

Baifeng recalled that world which was like a dream. Compared to the present, it was more mythical than myth itself. The lack of imagination in this world was such that even the myths were very restrained. If he hadn't truly experienced it, would he really believe it? What should that era of the technological explosion be like now? Is it that humans don't have to work anymore, and everything is done by robots? Have humans already been able to move to the moon to live and land on Mars?

He didn't know; he couldn't guess. Baifeng, who had been disconnected from that world for decades, was just like the savages in the primitive era now, completely unable to imagine things thousands of years later. If he told them about the Xia, Shang, Qin, and Han dynasties, perhaps to them, they would feel it was too close and could be achieved by striving to build such an empire.

Baifeng really couldn't determine whether he should go now. If he went and couldn't come back, what would happen to Huaxia? What would happen to the children?

After thinking it over, Baifeng said to Changle: "Go. Call your brother and sister over; I have something to tell you all."

Changle was stunned for a moment. He felt that his father might be about to tell some earth-shattering secret, so he did not dare to stop for a second, running with large strides toward the office of the Ministry of Revenue. He did not dare to entrust others to do it; he had to go himself.

Although he had already let go of a considerable part of the work, Yulong was still very busy every day. Fortunately, some basic work no longer required him to do it personally; the grassroots officials were capable of doing it well. He had been too cautious and worried in the past.

The investigation regarding the Planned Economy reform had already been summarized from the grassroots and handed to him. He was roughly reading through it. The statistical results had long been clear; it was almost a one-sided state, and everyone supported the Planned Economy. Yulong now had to summarize his own plan based on everyone's opinions; he had to follow the public will and conform to the interests of the vast majority of people.