Chapter 31
Diverted by the “pig incident” and the archaeology introduction, they were running out of time to visit the mountain market. Xia Anran looked at the few remaining minutes of the broadcast, thought for a moment, and finally turned the camera towards a massive willow tree outside her gate, so thick it would take three people to encircle it.
This willow tree had been tall and large for as long as she could remember. Her grandmother had said that when she was a child, the tree was just as tall as it was now. No one knew how many hundreds of years it had lived. It was because of its great age that it had been preserved through the village’s various renovations and not cut down. It had now become a landmark of Yanshan Village.
The willow was still lush with branches and leaves. A gentle breeze rustled the hanging branches, causing the red blessing bags tied to them to sway. A protective flowerbed had been built around the base of the tree, and several children were playing with a rubber-band rope underneath it.
“This is a willow tree. It’s an ancient tree, several hundred years old, but it’s still full of life. In the evening, many people will gather under it to cool off,” Xia Anran said with a smile.
“Because it’s so old, everyone believes it’s a spiritual tree. People make wishes and hang blessing bags. I hung one when I was a child, and my wish really came true!”
Xia Anran walked out with her phone. The nine o’clock sun wasn’t too intense yet and felt wonderfully warm on her skin. The camera panned over the blessing bags tied to the upper branches. They were clearly old, the color having faded significantly, and their style was different from modern ones.
“Sister Anran!”
The children playing under the tree saw Xia Anran and ran over with smiles. There were few young people in the village, and since returning after graduation, Xia Anran had become something of a queen of the kids, often bringing them snacks and toys. They all adored her.
Today was a mountain market day, and most of the villagers had gone to join the fun. Xia Anran squatted down and asked why they hadn’t gone with their parents.
“Last night, I dreamed that Grandpa Willow said he missed me, so I came to play with him!” a little girl with pigtails said in a sweet, childish voice, blinking her big eyes. The other children chimed in, “We’re best friends, so of course we have to be together!”
So, these children had painfully given up going to the market with their families to accompany their friend to visit the old willow tree.
Xia Anran took a few pieces of candy from her pocket, ruffled their heads, and told them to go on playing.
She glanced at the comments and, as expected, it was another flood of questions from curious viewers.
[Wow wow wow, what a huge tree!]
[Such a beautiful scene. Even the human cubs look a little more pleasing to the eye.]
[A several-hundred-year-old tree? Plants can live that long?!]
[I remember reading in a book that the average lifespan of ancient humans was only about seventy years.]
[So there are things on Earth that can live for so long!]
[What are those things tied to it? They look so nice!]
[Blessing bags? What are they? Anran, tell us quickly!]
[Ahhh, such cute kids! So cute! Big sister wants to give you a kiss!]
[Ancient humans really are better looking than modern humans. How did we get uglier as we evolved?!]
[At least we’re better looking than the Imperials, hehe.]
[Hmm… even we Beastmen think the United Star System people are a bit better looking.]
[???]
[Personal attack?!]
[The United Star System people are so vicious! Why are you attacking people’s appearances?!]
[Exactly! We Imperials are much better looking than you!]
[If you ask me, the people from the Alpha System are the best looking.]
[Let’s not even mention that hybrid race.]
[What’s a dream? Ahhh, I’m so curious! The more I watch this stream, the more I feel like an illiterate. How do I not know anything?]
Looking at the pile of questions, Xia Anran could only pick a few to answer.
“Our current average lifespan is indeed around seventy-something. The longest-living person in the world was about one hundred and twenty, I think,” she said, recalling a news report she had seen before.
She wasn’t too sure about this kind of scientific fact and turned to look at Director Huang and Ji Minghui. Ji Minghui gave her a hand signal and then nodded. The moment the topic of lifespan had come up, they had already looked up the information. Although she didn’t know the exact number, what she had said was basically correct.
[They really only live for about seventy years? The lifespan of ancient humans is so short.]
[Seventy is still considered middle-aged for us.]
[Living too long isn’t necessarily a good thing. It’s boring.]
[Is Earth’s environment not suitable for human survival?]
[It’s probably due to a lack of technological development. Humans are very fragile and get sick easily.]
[Seventy is just barely adulthood for our Beastman race.]
[What’s there to be proud of, being thick-skinned and tough?]
….
In the United Star System’s council hall, the Consul General and several consuls were watching the stream together, having gathered because of the state gift.
The consul of the Fifth Planet’s eyes darted around. He suddenly had an idea for a return gift. The moment he looked over, the Consul General instantly understood his meaning and nodded. “Go and prepare it. We’ll send it through the gift channel after the stream ends.”
The gift channel that allowed direct contact with Xia Anran had long been discovered by the viewers. The person who had sent her the first gift had also been found. According to his honest confession, he had simply submitted the gift, and it had been automatically transferred, showing as “delivered.” But now, when they tried to send gifts through this function, it only showed “pending acceptance,” requiring Xia Anran’s approval before it could be sent. Unfortunately, Xia Anran hadn’t found this hidden function yet, resulting in her inbox being piled with hundreds of millions of items waiting for her to sort through.
Unaware of this for the time being, Xia Anran was still dutifully educating her audience.
“A blessing bag is this red thing hanging on the branches. Inside are people’s wishes. People make wishes to the willow tree, praying that it will bless them and make their dreams come true.”
She stepped forward and squinted, searching for a moment, and was surprised to see that the blessing bag she had hung several years ago was still there. “Look, this is the one I hung before. I wished for a good score on my college entrance exams. Hehe, and my dream came true in the end!”
After saying that, she realized it might be a problem. Oh no, could this be considered promoting feudal superstition? If this were a regular platform, her stream might have been banned. Good thing this wasn’t a regular platform.
…
Inside the United Star System’s Academy of Sciences, Director Li stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Prayer? Does this willow tree have some special ability to make dreams come true?” It seemed plausible when explained with higher-dimensional technology, but could such a level of technology have existed on ancient Earth? It felt out of place.
A history expert beside him was a little speechless. “Director, you may have misunderstood. According to our research, ancient humans would use certain rituals or objects to pray for their wishes from things they imagined to have mysterious powers. But this was just a form of psychological comfort. We all know that supernatural forces do not exist in the world. This is precisely a limitation of ancient humans due to their low level of technology.”
Director Li: “Haha, I really don’t know the first thing about ancient history. It seems I’ll have to cram.”
As he finished speaking, he heard a crisp snapping sound from behind him. He turned to see that Ye Yuxing had actually crushed the data recorder in his hand.
Director Li’s pupils instantly dilated. The raw material for that device was extracted from a meteorite and was extremely durable. Although Ye Yuxing exercised, it was only to maintain normal health. Where did he get such strength?
Ye Yuxing’s lips were pressed tightly together as if he were suppressing something. His eyes were fixed on the swaying red blessing bags in the stream. A few drops of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, his face contorted as if in great pain. Seeing that something was wrong, Director Li quickly went to check on him. “Yuxing, what’s wrong?”
Ye Yuxing shook his head, his teeth clenched. He couldn’t speak.
Fortunately, the expert who had been leading the 115th Squadron’s psychic power research was also present. After observing for a moment, he came to a conclusion that stunned everyone.
Ye Yuxing was about to awaken his psychic power.
“That’s impossible. He has never used Wasteland Energy,” Director Li was the first to refute. Currently, the only way for an ordinary person in the United Star System to become a psychic was through stimulation by Wasteland Energy.
But the expert was very certain. “I have seen the state of many people when they awaken their psychic power, and it is very similar to Ye Yuxing’s current situation. Transfer him to the observation room immediately, and notify Major General Qin Feng to come over.”
Ye Yuxing’s consciousness was beginning to fade, and he was finding it difficult to support his body. Director Li couldn’t be bothered with anything else and quickly had him moved. This shouldn’t be happening, he thought, his brow furrowed. Ye Yuxing had only participated in the first phase of the psychic power research. He had absolutely never used Wasteland Energy; at most, he had been exposed to it. But they had long since verified that this level of exposure could not possibly trigger psychic power. Could it be related to the livestream again?
…
In the livestream, Xia Anran was using the last bit of time to answer another question that the audience was very curious about.
“What is a dream? Uh…”
How was she supposed to explain this to them?
Xia Anran racked her brains. “A dream is an activity that the brain carries out after you fall asleep?” She seemed to remember that was the official explanation. Soon, Ji Minghui relayed the scientific explanation of dreams to her through her Bluetooth earpiece.
“Dreaming is a normal physiological phenomenon. It is the process of the brain integrating and processing information during sleep. Dreams are generally fantastical, and anything can happen,” she said, then asked with some curiosity, “Does no one here dream?”
Looking at the comments, which were a mix of denials and questions about what dreaming felt like, she felt a rare headache coming on. It was really difficult to explain what a dream was to someone who had never had one.
She struggled for a long time and could only come up with, “In a dream, anything can happen. The protagonist can be anyone, and anything can happen. Things that violate common sense, things that are bizarre, things that are absolutely impossible in real life, can all appear in a dream.”
After hearing her description, the viewers all expressed their regret, saying they had never had a dream. One comment explained that when they entered a state of sleep, their photon-computers would release energy to put their brainwaves into a dormant state as well, which allowed for the best rest. And if their brainwaves were active, they wouldn’t dream; they would just be filled with various noises and be unable to sleep. For whatever reason, in short, the interstellar humans of today had lost the ability to dream.
Seeing the viewers’ disappointment, Xia Anran also felt a bit wistful. The broadcast time was counting down, so she could only say goodbye to everyone and end the stream.
[Ding—Congratulations on successfully upgrading to Lv. 3! The Shop function has been unlocked. Please check it out as soon as possible. Select items are 50% off for the first week!]