Chapter 695: Analysis and Questioning

It was daylight.

People in the camp woke up one after another and began the day's labor.

By the coal pit, someone had already descended cautiously to continue mining.

Those rough marker stones stood silently around.

In Zhu Yue's hut, the oil lamp was still lit.

Three pieces of bark were spread out before him.

One recorded the five sets of pulse-rhythm symbols he had sensed last night.

One was his note of the 'possible meaning' derived from combining known information.

The third was a fresh, blank piece of bark.

He needed to decide how to respond.

Directly imitate that pulse signal? He couldn't. There was no energy source, no modulation technique, and even perception relied only on his vague sense.

Then, what about using a more primitive but clearer method?

For example, firelight.

Beacon fires with a specific rhythm.

Or… smoke?

He pondered.

Burning coal produces thick smoke.

If the burning rhythm could be controlled to produce regular thick-smoke signals, they might be observed from afar during the day.

But this requires a steady fuel supply and a means of forced air, and the signal's transmission distance and accuracy remain questionable.

More importantly—could the other side understand such a primitive smoke signal?

He shook his head.

He rejected this plan.

His gaze fell on those marker stones.

These rough symbols seemed able to gather a weak 'force of order' that opposes Yuneng.

Then, what if we gathered many of these symbols and arranged them into a specific, clearly directional pattern?

For example, a huge arrow pointing northeast—the direction of the Jurchen rise?

Or a clear 'cross' or 'negation' symbol?

This might convey the intentions 'I have understood the threat' and 'our goals are aligned.'

But the same problem remains: can they see it? Can they understand it?

The distance is too great.

And a curtain of light lies in between.

Zhu Yue felt a surge of irritation.

This is typical 'asymmetric communication.'

The other side seems to possess some kind of long-range perception and the ability to send precise signals.

And we are practically 'primitives,' only able to passively receive vague fragments of information.

"'Don't be overly ambitious.'"

He forced himself to calm down.

"'Start with what we can do.'"

He stood up and walked out of the hut.

In the morning light, he examined those marker stones again.

They can weakly resist Yuneng pollution.

This proves that the combination of 'collective will' and 'specific symbolism' can indeed produce an observable effect in this world.

Then the first step should be to strengthen this effect.

Not just drawing them on the stone tablets.

We need to make this symbol truly become the spiritual core that everyone in the camp jointly recognizes and maintains.

He summoned Xu Da, Tang He, and other core personnel.

He did not explain the pulse signal matter—it was too complex and hard to believe.

He only shared his observations and inferences.

"'Everyone, you've all seen the strange things that have happened recently.'"

"'Yuan cavalry scouts, green-eyed wolf packs, blocked mountain roads—even the coal we've dug up seems tainted with something unclean.'"

"'I've been thinking; perhaps behind this is neither a natural disaster nor ordinary military calamity.'"

His gaze swept over the crowd.

"'It's as if an invisible hand doesn't want us to take root here properly, nor to follow our own path.'"

Xu Da and the others' faces grew solemn.

They felt something similar, but couldn't put it into words.

"'What should we do?' Tang He asked."

"'Simple.' Zhu Yue pointed to the nearest marker stone: 'Rely on this.'"

"'This?'"

"'Yes. This symbol is one we chose ourselves—knife and plow, for survival and livelihood.'"

"'It is no longer merely a symbol.'"

It is the proof that we, this group of people, are twisted together into one rope.

If we believe in it and recognize it, it can help us block those unclean things.

That statement is somewhat mysterious.

But after the stone slabs were placed beside the coal pit, the dizzying blue gas indeed lessened, which many people saw with their own eyes.

"Chong Ba, you say what to do, we'll do it!" Xu Da was the first to declare his stance.

"Good." Zhu Yue nodded.

"First, starting today, every morning and evening, everyone will face this emblem, stand silently for a moment. No need to kneel or chant sutras; just think in your heart that we must rely on our own hands to survive here and live like proper people."

"Second, at all important places—grain piles, water pits, coal piles, tool rooms—these stone slabs must be erected around them. Carve them a little deeper, draw them a little clearer."

"Third, from now on, whenever a newcomer joins, the first thing is to make them recognize this emblem, tell them that only by acknowledging it are they considered one of us."

The orders are simple and direct.

Although they didn't understand the deeper principle, out of trust in Zhu Yue and desire for survival, everyone immediately carried them out.

Soon, new stone slabs with deeper engravings were erected all over the camp.

At morning and evening, people gathered before the largest few stone slabs, standing in silence.

An intangible, weak cohesion was quietly growing.

Zhu Yue could feel it.

When he stood among those stone slabs, the subtle discomfort of being invisibly watched or suppressed seemed to lessen somewhat.

It was very weak.

But it indeed existed.

"Psychological effect? Or did it really generate some kind of field?"

He could not be certain.

But he decided to push this effect to the extreme.

He selected the flattest open space in the center of the camp.

He personally designed a circular pattern about three zhang in diameter.

The core of the pattern is an enlarged version of the knife-and-plow crossing emblem.

The outer ring consists of abstract symbols he drew from memory, representing 'vigilance', 'defense', and 'unity'—some borrowed from ancient fu scripts, some are his own geometric designs.

He mobilized everyone to use the gathered white pebbles and pottery shards, carefully inlaying them along the drawn lines.

This is a major project.

But under unified commands and the gradually coalescing collective consciousness, progress was swift.

By evening.

A rough but sizable circular stone array appeared in the center of the camp.

When the last piece of white pebble was inlaid.

The sunset's afterglow happened to sweep across the stone array.

There was a moment.

Zhu Yue seemed to see the emblem at the center of the stone array flash with an imperceptible warm-colored halo for an instant.

It was so quick it seemed like an illusion.

But many people standing around the stone array simultaneously felt their hearts loosen, as if they had shed some inexplicable burden.

"It's done..."

Zhu Yue thought to himself.

He didn't know how much practical effect this stone array could have.

But it is a declaration.

A declaration announcing to the intangible enemy, 'This place is under our own control.'

It is also an experiment.

Testing the limits of how 'collective will' and 'order symbol' can function in this abnormal world.

After doing all this.

He returned to the hut.

On the third blank piece of bark, he began to draw a new map.

Not the surrounding terrain.

But a 'relationship diagram'.

The center is 'our camp', with lines extending to 'survival pressure', 'resource scarcity', 'external threats', etc.

On the other side is 'the intangible enemy', with lines extending to 'yū energy', 'Jurchen', 'historical manipulation', etc.

Between the two main lines are noted interaction modes such as 'guidance/suppression', 'pollution/interference', etc.

And beneath 'our camp', he added a branch: 'autonomous order (emblem/stone array)', and drew an upward arrow labeled 'weak resistance effect'.

Finally, at the edge of the paper, near the east, he drew a question mark and a wavy line, representing the received pulse signal.

The paper is finished.

It clearly presents Zhu Yue's current understanding of his own situation, the enemy, and the source of that mysterious eastern signal.

He put down the charcoal pencil.

What comes next is to formulate more concrete survival and development strategies based on this understanding.

At the same time, continue seeking more effective ways to establish contact with the east.

The stone array may be a beginning.

But it is far from enough.

He needs technology.

He needs knowledge.

He needs to break the absolute asymmetry of information and power.

「Relying only on stones and belief……won't get far. 」

He muttered to himself.

His gaze fell once more on the wavy line representing the eastern signal source.

「You……should still have more, right? 」

「Let me see what else can be transmitted. 」

The night grew darker.

The stone formation at the center of the Huai Xi camp stood still.

And on the horizon further east.

At the edge of the light curtain's fissure, those etheric markings seemed to sense something.

It twitched slightly.

Like a venomous snake, it felt the newly grown, insignificant yet displeasing spur on its prey's body.