13: Chapter 13: The Demise of the Neon Lights

At this moment, inside Old Wang's dormitory building.

Three grown men were huddled around a small bed, their gazes fixed collectively on the projection screen.

On the screen was Jiang Zhe's peerless face. He had just reached the 39th hexagram and had not yet officially begun his lecture.

Old Wang couldn't help but look at the two old fellows beside him. "Teacher Wu, Teacher Zhao, what do you two think this 39th hexagram represents?"

"Let's see how our interpretation differs from the hexagram of Xiaoyu's brother!"

Old Zhao pulled out the tui bei tu in deep thought. Looking at the 39th hexagram, he spoke up:

"First: [A bird without feet, a mountain with a moon]. [A bird without feet] refers to the traditional character for 'bird' [ bird] without the [dots] at the bottom. Adding the [mountain] from the second half of the phrase creates the character for [island] [ island]."

"Then look at [A mountain with a moon]. In the image for the 39th hexagram, there is a sun, which is [Sun/Day]. Combining Sun and Moon creates [Bright/Ming]. This refers to the Wokou pirate disaster of the Ming Dynasty, or perhaps the White Lotus Sect rebellion during the Qing Dynasty."

"The following [The rising sun is born] likely refers to the initial aggressive momentum of the rebel forces."

"[Everyone cries] is the fate the disaster brings upon the common people, causing countless citizens to die in the catastrophe, their families broken and homes lost."

"This hexagram refers to the Wokou pirate chaos of the Ming and Qing periods!"

Hearing this, Old Wu nodded in agreement. "I think so as well."

"But I always feel it's not that simple!" Teacher Wang, who had watched one of the previous livestreams, felt their interpretation was a bit too conventional.

"It is exactly that simple!" Old Zhao and Old Wu rolled their eyes at Old Wang. "If it weren't for your sake, I wouldn't deign to watch this kind of livestream. Doing some actual research is more practical than watching some amateur livestreaming national studies!"

It wasn't just them; even most history teachers, professors, and even scholars in this world believed—

That this hexagram was about some Wokou pirate chaos during the Ming or Qing dynasties.

And it was a war that occurred along the coast!

Meanwhile, on the screen.

Jiang Zhe picked up the tui bei tu and asked, feigning ignorance, "Xiaoyu, based on this hexagram, what do you think it could be?"

Without hesitation, Xiaoyu repeated what her teacher had taught her:

"Is it the coastal wars against the Wokou during the late Ming Dynasty?"

Xiaoyu answered this way, unaware that the answers from the viewers in the livestream were very similar!

"Right, it's the coastal wars of the late Ming and early Qing!"

"It might even be the Battle of Baekgang in 663 AD during the Tang Dynasty, where the Tang army defeated the Wokou."

"..."

"Wrong!" Jiang Zhe shook his head gently. "This actually predicts two things!"

"1: The Pacific War!"

"2: Neon's invasion of China—the modern era, not the Ming or Qing!"

Facing the wild guesses of his sister and the viewers, Jiang Zhe dropped a bombshell in a single sentence!

As soon as he finished speaking, the two hundred thousand people in the livestream fell silent for a moment, followed by a tsunami-like eruption of comments!

"Impossible, that's absolutely impossible!"

"I'd believe it if you said Li Chunfeng predicted the late Ming and early Qing, but by the modern era, guns and cannons were out. He could predict the Pacific War and Neon's invasion?"

"Is your brother crazy? The tui bei tu is from the Tang Dynasty. Even if Li Chunfeng was powerful, he could only predict the feudal era. How could it be about modern events?"

"I don't believe it! If this is true, holy crap, that would be terrifying!"

Due to the sudden surge in traffic, many people were watching for the first time.

Even those who had seen the previous two video edits didn't believe Li Chunfeng could predict anything from the modern era!

...

Inside the Gusu High School dormitory.

The three teachers—Wang, Wu, and Zhao—standing before the projector were so shocked by Jiang Zhe's viewpoint that their scalps tingled.

"W-what did he say?" Old Zhao looked astonished. "How can he claim it's the Pacific War and the Neon invasion?"

"How can there be any connection?"

Old Wu sucked in a breath of cold air, shaking his head repeatedly in disbelief.

Seeing the reaction of the two old men, Teacher Wang's scalp tingled too, but he didn't argue. He was certain this hexagram was from the Tang Dynasty and not a later forgery.

"If he proves this hexagram indeed describes the Pacific War and the Neon invasion, it will overturn many people's materialistic worldviews!"

...

Dougou Platform Operations Department.

"It's exploding! It's exploding!" Operator Wang looked at the traffic flooding into the backend and nearly cried.

"What's wrong with you now?"

Supervisor Liu was getting impatient.

Little Wang would shout something exaggerated every now and then, giving him a headache.

"It's [Da Yu Da Rou]! Xiaoyu's brother just dropped a shocking viewpoint. Traffic surged by over 100,000 in an instant; it's almost at 300,000!"

Operator Wang was so excited he was gesturing wildly. "You have no idea how crazy this viewpoint is!"

Supervisor Liu stared at the data screen in shock. It was a sea of 'impossible' and 'fake'. He couldn't help but cover his forehead. "Even though he's strong, just follow up on it yourself. His numbers haven't broken a million yet; it's not enough for me to add new servers for him!"

"Arrange a featured spot for him!"

"Yes!"

...

In the living room.

Looking at Xiaoyu's expression of wonder and curiosity.

"The Prophecy says: A bird without feet, a mountain with a moon; the rising sun is born, everyone cries."

Jiang Zhe pointed at the image and began his lecture: "These four phrases must be explained in conjunction with the image!"

"This is a mountainside. Standing on the mountainside is a black-feathered bird, and in the bottom right corner is a rising sun."

"The bird in this image has no [feet]."

"Combining the traditional character used in the Tang Dynasty: [ bird], remove the four dots at the bottom and replace them with what's under the bird in the picture, and you get [Island] [ island]!"

"Yes!" Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly. "That's how my teacher explained it too."

"Then that proves this part is correct!" Jiang Zhe moved his finger down the tui bei tu. "Now look at the third and fourth phrases: The rising sun is born, everyone cries."

"This phrase can be directly interpreted as: [An island nation called 'Rising Sun' has begun to rise, causing everyone to cry]!"

"This 'Rising Sun' is precisely the Rising Sun Flag—which is Neon!"

"Wait, what!"

Xiaoyu was stunned by her brother's explanation. "It can be interpreted like that? My teacher never taught us that!"

Upon hearing this, the previously noisy livestream instantly fell silent.

An island nation called 'Rising Sun' rose, and everyone cried!

"Holy crap, it can be explained like that?"

"This interpretation seems to have no issues!"

"I originally thought it meant [Those from the island nation are all 'animals', causing everyone to cry]."

"Upstairs, your interpretation doesn't seem to have much of a problem either..."

Teacher Wang, Teacher Wu, and Teacher Zhao looked at each other, their brows furrowed. Finally, one responded:

"It's the same as our interpretation; this part isn't an issue!"

"We still have to look at the following Verse!"

On the screen.

Jiang Zhe nodded slightly. "Yes, it can indeed be interpreted that way."

"But!"

"The following Verse is the key!"

Jiang Zhe picked up the tui bei tu and pointed at the first line, his tone very steady: "In the middle of the twelfth month, the Qi is not in harmony!"

He looked up at his sister on the opposite sofa, who was trying hard to stay focused. "Xiaoyu, what do you think [the twelfth month] refers to?"

Jiang Xiaoyu had been peeking at the comments on her phone screen. Suddenly questioned by Jiang Zhe, she responded in a panic:

"The fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month? When the New Year is approaching, causing the atmosphere to be disharmonious?"

"This..." Jiang Zhe was speechless and advised helplessly, "You can broaden your thinking. The tui bei tu uses the [Lunar Calendar]. The so-called [twelfth month] doesn't represent a specific day in the twelfth month, but the solar terms of the twelfth lunar month: around the winter solar terms; the weather is very cold at this time!"

"If we switch the twelfth lunar month to the Western Gregorian calendar and look at it alongside the previously interpreted [island nation], the middle of this twelfth month corresponds exactly to the beginning of December in the solar calendar!"

His voice was very steady, sounding full of confidence!

"Xiaoyu, in December 1941 of the solar calendar, what super major event happened that dragged the world hegemon, the USA, into conflict?"

Before Jiang Xiaoyu could recall, the livestream screen instantly exploded with comments!

"No need to say it, it must be the Pearl Harbor incident!"

"Neon's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor!"

Seeing Xiaoyu's blank stare, Jiang Zhe gave the answer directly:

"December 7, 1941. It was the Pearl Harbor incident. Neon launched a sneak attack on the USA's Pearl Harbor in the North Pacific, causing the 'Qi of war' between Neon and the USA to be out of harmony, directly breaking the world's original balance and structure!"

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoyu looked astonished and couldn't help but cover her mouth.