Chapter 602: Knocked Out in the First Clash |
Captain Chen was a bit dazed and didn’t quite understand.
Old Nan Feng laughed and said: “The Deity said that a person being sold around like a commodity is a sorrow for this world. It’s also a sorrow of the backward social system, something everyone should feel sad about. Only by trying to prevent others from being bought or sold can we and our families avoid becoming commodities traded by others in the future.”
Captain Chen said: “Ah… I don’t understand it much.”
Old Nan Feng: “It’s fine that you don’t get it. The Deity teaches the principles of the celestial realm—it would be odd if you did understand. Only those kids at school who study the heavenly books can grasp it.”
Captain Chen: “…”
Old Nan Feng poked Captain Chen’s forehead and thought to himself: “Don’t overthink it—just be happy. Enjoy this dazzling world for a few years, marry a wife, have a child, then send the kid to study the heavenly books so he can keep up with celestial principles. Then we can die peacefully in our graves, all right?”
Captain Chen rushed with pride and said: “Got it!”
Just then, the girls rehearsing on stage changed again. This time, it was actually a five-person group. As soon as they stepped on stage, they sang and danced energetically all over the place—a very intense and joyful song.
The atmosphere instantly ignited.
The group felt bewildered: “What is the wave?”
Old Nan Feng: “The person at the far end stands up first, raises a hand, then sits down. The one next to him stands up then, raises a hand, and sits down…”
These men were soldiers after all, with long drilling in formations, so they caught on right away.
Soon, they picked up the knack of making the wave. They performed it even better and more accurately than future ordinary crowds making spontaneous waves. Each person’s rise and fall came at perfectly identical intervals—it was flawless.
Old Nan Feng: “Holy hell, never thought an army could be used for this. Why even fight wars anymore? Let’s become professional at this instead.”
Everyone laughed together: “That won’t do—we focus mainly on war still.”
That evening…
The concert kicked off officially—no more rehearsals.
Around 600 fewer tickets were sold than usual because “privileged guests” had filled over 600 seats. Luckily, the concert venue had grown much larger, accommodating far more spectators than at the start—up to 5,000 when full—so skipping 600 tickets wasn’t a big concern.
At the concert’s peak, those 600-plus “privileged guests” suddenly started making a wave.
Other audience members were seeing the wave for the first time, instantly finding it new and exciting. Many spontaneously joined in the wave-making. The whole grand theater rocked with joy from all 5,000 people, having a blast.
Even the Governor of Puzhou, Qiu Qianfan, stood up among the crowd, waved his arms, then sat down… They cycled through it several times, thrilling him so much he nearly blew his beard off.
…
Wang Zheng set out toward Chengcheng County in a carriage, guarded by a transport team of servants.
He genuinely wanted to see what science and technology that deity called Dao Xuan Deity had brought to the world—whether more than what Catholicism had provided.
When he was young, he believed in Buddhism, but later saw it seemed useless. Then he switched to Taoism and noticed it had few achievements beyond chemistry. Eventually, he encountered Catholicism and found it brought tons of Western scientific tools—practical skills—so he got baptized.
His rule was: “Whichever religion works best, I follow that one.”
Currently, Catholicism topped his list!
“Master, up ahead is Dali County. After passing through here, we’ll get to Chengcheng County.”
Wang Zheng nodded. He’d visited Dali County before—an ordinary spot. With no plan to stop and rest, he aimed to hurry through.
Just as he mused, he heard a servant cry out: “Huh? What in the world is that?”
“That thing can actually run!”
The workers outside murmured in confusion.
Wang Zheng was a curious soul. Hearing noise, he didn’t skip a peek—so he lifted the cart’s curtain to look. He froze on seeing it: the main road between Dali County and Chengcheng County wasn’t dirt but a weird, pale-gray hard path.
At that moment, on this odd road, a giant strange vehicle crept forward slowly, heading straight toward Wang Zheng’s group.
It drove sluggishly, as if straining under a heavy load.
In truth, it genuinely struggled—saddled with several massive weaving machines.
Wang Zheng recognized it instantly: “This! It’s the sun chariot from ‘Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale.'”
He stared in shock—reading about it in the book, he’d been half-skeptical, doubtful it could be real. Seeing it now, its sheer size was staggering.
How could a contraption this huge run solely on sunlight? It seemed beyond belief.
Wang Zheng ordered: “Halt! Pull over! I must examine that big chariot closely.”
Wang Zheng’s transport team stopped in its tracks.
His servants dashed ahead and blocked the path, so the enormous strange vehicle slowly halted too.
A head poked out—it was Song Yingxing, yelling at the obstructive servants: “Why block my road?”
The servant didn’t know Song Yingxing was someone special and readied a rude retort. Wang Zheng hurried over, shoved the servant aside, and bowed respectfully to Song Yingxing: “I’m Wang Zheng. Spotted this sun chariot and got curious—I paused my group to sightsee. My underling misread my intent, rudely blocking your chariot. Forgive such discourtesy.”
Seeing the politeness, Song Yingxing cooled down, returning the salute with clasped fists: “I’m Song Yingxing. It’s natural to wonder about this chariot—I’m equally fascinated, trailing it daily to probe its inner workings.”
Hearing that, Wang Zheng gleamed—this brother seemed a kindred science buff.
Wang Zheng took a big leap forward: “Brother, learned anything yet?”
Song Yingxing: “Likely, it harnesses solar energy. It soaks up sunlight’s heat, converts it to electric power, then uses that electricity to spin a motor and turn the wheels… That’s the gist I’ve pieced together. Trouble is, I grasp ‘what’ but not ‘how’—this heat-to-electricity gear baffles me utterly.”
Wang Zheng thought: “!!!”
Shoot, just one word from him and I’m totally lost.
Wang Zheng flopped face-first to the dirt. Defeated. That knocked-out-in-the-first-clash feeling—truly awful.