Chapter 911: Changing Home Tactics |
In the endless abyss of darkness, Liu Xing did not know how long he had fallen. When light finally appeared before Liu Xing's eyes, he saw a sudden red, wrathful Vajra.
At the same time, Liu Xing finally landed.
"Liu Xing, do you remember what happened last night?" Yin En asked as he pulled Liu Xing up.
Liu Xing shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Do I look like someone who remembers?"
"Indeed, you don't," Yin En shrugged.
After taking a sip of water, Liu Xing said, "However, I did have a very strange dream last night, and that dream was likely related to the embroidered shoe."
Liu Xing pondered for a moment. He had to omit the beginning and end of the series of dreams from last night because the first and last dreams were not suitable to tell Yin En and the others, especially the first one.
When Liu Xing got a clear look at "Yin En," Liu Xing knew that his initial guess was correct – this dream was "Liu Xing's" memory, except that the world "Liu Xing" was in was a bit strange... well, it was quite strange.
Until now, Liu Xing still couldn't understand why there were so many unrelated buildings in one area.
"In that dream, I became an ancient person participating in the imperial examination, and it seemed that my rank was quite high because there were constant inspections, and some of the inspectors even wore official robes. Unfortunately, although it was from the first-person perspective, I had no way to control the body, so I didn't have a chance to look up and see the specifications of those inspectors' robes to determine their ranks," Liu Xing recounted his dream.
"The imperial examination? That means your dream, Liu Xing, took place after the Tang Dynasty?" Zhang Jingxu frowned. "That's a bit strange. Yesterday, I got some information about that embroidered shoe from a friend. It's basically confirmed that the embroidered shoe first appeared in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, so we all thought your dream should have taken place in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. However, this does match one time point – Jianzhen's journey to the Island Nation."
Zhang Wenbing then said, "Monk Jianzhen made his first attempt to travel to the Island Nation in 742 AD. After eleven years and a total of six attempts, he finally arrived in the Island Nation in 753 AD. So, unless something unexpected happened, the time of your dream, Liu Xing, should be within those eleven years. And considering your participation in the imperial examination, I suspect that in your dream, you might have succeeded in the examination and became an official in a coastal area... However, you might play an antagonistic role in Jianzhen's journey because there was a local official who mistook Jianzhen and his companions for pirates and had them arrested."
Liu Xing raised his eyebrows, not expecting that he would play an antagonistic role in this dream module, which made Liu Xing, who had always played positive roles in the Cthulhu Role-Playing Game Hall, feel a bit uncomfortable.
"Unfortunately, the information you can provide now is still too little. If we can confirm the specific time, we can analyze the plot of your dream going forward," Yin En said regretfully.
At this moment, Ding Kun clapped his hands and, after drawing everyone's attention, said, "Let's get back to the main topic. What do you think about these patterns on the wall?"
Liu Xing looked at the patterns on the wall and found that, apart from the wrathful Vajra, there were many complete patterns, or even pictures, on the surrounding walls, though there were more meaningless dots, lines, circles, which looked like those incomprehensible artworks in exhibitions.
As a rough person without any artistic cells, Liu Xing felt that those things piled up with a mess of lines and colors were not as good-looking as the drawings made by his kindergarten-aged niece...
However, Liu Xing still greatly admired those critics who could analyze all sorts of things from such paintings and make it sound like the truth, just like high school students tackling language and reading comprehension questions.
Of course, Liu Xing now really wanted to invite some critics to analyze what those dots, lines, and circles on the walls represented and what thoughts and feelings the painter expressed.
At any rate, Liu Xing couldn't understand anything at all and couldn't even find any patterns.
However, there were things Liu Xing could understand on these walls – apart from the wrathful Vajra, the walls also depicted a half-unsheathed sword, a soaring giant python, gray wolves with only their front halves exposed, and a carriage.
Additionally, there were a bunch of totems, patterns, and symbol-like characters.
"These totems and patterns are still manageable. If we're willing to research, we should be able to find their origins. As for these character-like symbols, I suspect they're from some ancient civilizations that have long been extinct. The writings of these ancient civilizations are easily taken as sacred symbols by some small secret cults, but deciphering their meanings would be difficult," Zhang Jingxu said, stroking his chin. "So, we should focus on these complete pictures."
Liu Xing pointed at the wrathful Vajra and said, "Obviously, this wrathful Vajra is in the central position because it's the first thing I see when I open my eyes, so its meaning should be the most important – subduing evil and protecting the righteous... Could it be that my Additional Personalities are planning to get rid of me?"
At this moment, Ding Kun suddenly said, "If we follow your interpretation, Liu Xing, these patterns can all be explained – the half-unsheathed sword means their plan is more than halfway done; the soaring python can either represent the preparation for transformation into a dragon or a false dragon; the gray wolves with half their bodies exposed might have a similar meaning to the sword because lone wolves are cunning and cautious animals, and when they expose half their bodies, it means they're about to attack and are confident in defeating their opponents; as for the carriage, I suspect it's not a real carriage but a funerary object."
After listening to Ding Kun's analysis, Liu Xing suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Could it be that the Additional Personalities within him were really planning a rebellion?
Seeing Liu Xing's worried expression, Yin En smiled and said, "Liu Xing, you don't need to worry too much. These patterns might just be random doodles. I don't think your Additional Personalities can do anything to you, the Primary Personality, because after all, they're just your avatars. As long as nothing major happens to you, they have no way to harm you."
"But what if they plan to take Liu Xing down with them?" Zhang Jingxu frowned. "I remember the wrathful Vajra also means 'managing killing but not deliverance.'"
In Buddhism, bodhisattvas and Buddhas often guide people towards goodness and try to convert evil people and demons. However, the wrathful Vajra is different – when he sees evil people or demons, he doesn't bother saying much and just kills them directly.
So, this wrathful Vajra might represent not beating around the bush and instead choosing to go down together.
This was not good news for Liu Xing because enemies who were already prepared to go down together with you were the most terrifying.
Just as Liu Xing was considering writing a will, Yin En's mobile phone suddenly rang.
"It's a message from Sawada Yinyin. She said that Shimazu Nakano suddenly left the Osaka Castle area earlier today and went to meet someone at a villa in the suburbs," Yin En said. "It seems the Freemasons are really about to take action."
At this time, Zhang Wenbing, who took out his mobile phone, nodded and sighed, saying: "It seems that something has happened in Ryukyu. Now, a person claiming to be from the Shang Family of the Ryukyu royal family has come forward, calling on the local Ryukyu people to rebuild the Ryukyu Kingdom. This group has already taken control of Okinawa Island, but more importantly, they have found a large amount of military weapons and equipment from the United States military base in Okinawa, including dozens of armored vehicles. It seems that this is also evidence that the United States is involved in this matter."
"This is troublesome. Among those so-called Ryukyu people, there are probably many who have received professional training from the United States, so their combat capability may be stronger than the Island Nation's Self-Defense Forces. After all, the Island Nation's Self-Defense Forces have been recruiting shut-ins in recent years..." Yin En couldn't help but complain.
Liu Xing nodded in agreement and then complained, "Moreover, the weapons and equipment of the Island Nation are all American goods, so with the shameless character of the United States, they may have installed backdoors in the systems of some vehicles and aircraft. In that case, if it's just infantry combat, the Island Nation's Self-Defense Forces may not be a match, not to mention that the current Island Nation's Self-Defense Forces don't even know who they should listen to."
"If that's the case, the Freemasons' conspiracy is about to succeed," Zhang Jingxu sighed and said, "It seems we don't have much time left."
At this moment, Ding Kun suddenly said with a smile, "Interesting, I don't know if it's organized by the Public Faction or the Warrior Faction, or if it's initiated by the locals themselves, but now the people in the United States' Hawaiian Islands are also starting to make trouble. The locals are preparing to join forces with Island Nation immigrants to establish the Kingdom of Hawaii."
Liu Xing and the others were surprised.
The Kingdom of Hawaii did not last long, as it was officially established in the 18th century, and it was founded by a local tribe with the support of a Western power. Therefore, the Kingdom of Hawaii was essentially a vassal state from the very beginning, as it was dependent on the entire Western world. After all, the Kingdom of Hawaii was isolated in the Pacific Ocean, so with the navigation technology of that time, it was not easy for those Western countries to completely control or colonize the Kingdom of Hawaii.
So the Western countries abandoned their usual colonial methods and only sent a small number of people to the Kingdom of Hawaii, most of whom were missionaries.
In those days, after arriving in the East, the missionaries found that simple preaching was easily rejected by local rulers, so those missionaries would first learn a craft in their homeland, with astronomy and art being the most common.
This is also why during the Ming and Qing dynasties in China, those famous missionaries either painted in the palace or worked at the Qin Tian Jian Observatory, compiling calendars.
So the missionaries in the East at that time were also multi-talented, easily welcomed by local rulers.
The Kingdom of Hawaii was no exception, with its King recruiting many missionaries to take up official positions and giving them many privileges.
However, the good times did not last long. As the land available for colonization became scarcer, the Western countries turned their attention to the Kingdom of Hawaii. Moreover, the location of the Kingdom of Hawaii was very important, so the Western countries began to compete for control over it, eventually evolving into a contest between the United States and the Island Nation. The Kingdom of Hawaii finally perished in the late 19th century and became the Republic of Hawaii.
Of course, the so-called Republic of Hawaii was already controlled by people from the United States at the higher levels. So after World War II, the Republic of Hawaii officially became a state of the United States through a "referendum."
However, it can be seen that although the process of the United States annexing the Kingdom of Hawaii appeared harmonious, it was essentially no different from the Island Nation's annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Therefore, the indigenous inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands have repeatedly tried to rebuild the Kingdom of Hawaii, and sometimes even occupied the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
More importantly, there are still a large number of Island Nation immigrants living on the Hawaiian Islands. Although most of these Island Nation immigrants have already "accepted the thieves as their fathers," there are still one or two who lean towards the Island Nation.
With the help of these Island Nation people, the indigenous inhabitants of Hawaii have also been incited. They have now occupied the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Hawaii again, and more and more people are joining them.
"Heh, the United States has now lifted a rock to hit its own foot. Just a few days ago, they declared their support for the indigenous people in Hokkaido and Ryukyu regions to fight for their 'legitimate' interests, but now Hawaii is also experiencing the same thing. I wonder what they will think about it?" Yin En said with a cold laugh.
Liu Xing shrugged and said, "Yin En, you're underestimating the thick skin of the United States. They'll just play dead again. As long as I cover my ears, it'll be fine. But I don't know who came up with the idea to start playing the home-switching tactic against the United States."
"In this way, the Island Nation won't be at a disadvantage either. After all, the United States still has the debt of the Native Americans to deal with. If it really doesn't work, the Island Nation can go and support Texas and California to cause trouble," Zhang Jingxu said with a smile.
As Liu Xing and the others were "strategizing" for the Island Nation, Shima Mitsuhiro came over.
"Everyone, I've received some new information... Huh? What are these ghosts?"
Shima Mitsuhiro was also startled by the Ghostly Talismans all over the room.
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