22: Chapter 22: Aliens Will Descend on Earth

A! Li! Ens!

These three words came from Jiang Zhe's mouth, resonant and powerful, as if beyond question.

The livestream room instantly fell silent. Every viewer and enthusiast in front of the screen, even the professionals, were dumbfounded.

Soon, an overwhelming surge of bullet comments came flooding in!

???

WTF? Did I hear that right?

Holy crap, jumping straight from Sinology to sci-fi, is this freaking appropriate?

Xiaoyu's brother, I used to think you had some skill, but now you're telling me it's straight-up aliens?

The filter is freaking breaking. I really thought you were capable until now...

In an instant, countless viewers gasped, their faces filled with disbelief.

But even more so...

You've got to be kidding me!

...

In a dormitory at Gusu High School,

three teachers gasped, their faces full of bewilderment.

"Absolutely impossible!"

Old Wu shook his head frantically.

"The tui bei tu is an ancient Sinology book of my Great Xia. Every hexagram has a traceable origin, but they are all normal events that occurred within our borders."

"It is absolutely impossible for it to be associated with aliens!"

"Exactly!"

Beside him, Old Zhao also frowned and echoed:

"Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang were masters during our Great Tang era. Their deductions were based on celestial phenomena, calendars, the I Ching, and the Eight Trigrams to calculate the rise and fall of national fortunes and the succession of dynasties!"

"Extraterrestrial civilizations!"

"There is absolutely zero possibility. This time, I do not stand with Jiang Zhe's explanation!"

Xiao Yu's teacher, Teacher Wang, was relatively calmer and not as exaggerated.

"Jiang Zhe has a good imagination and a decent knowledge base."

"But 'a Three-Foot Child' and 'the four barbarians are awed into submission' are surely hyperbolic descriptions!"

"After all, an apocalyptic war in the 56th hexagram cannot truly be resolved by a single person!"

"But looking at the hexagram, does a one-meter-tall little person really have the ability to quell a global doomsday war where both sides are ready to perish?"

At this moment, his thoughts had already begun to waver.

Soon, he shook his head.

"Perhaps there must be another explanation!"

...

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Kyoto, in the home of a retired history professor.

An old professor with gray hair and reading glasses had just been recommended a stream by a former student.

Someone was explaining the tui bei tu, and it was quite—even extremely—interesting!

He immediately became interested.

He didn't expect...

that as soon as he entered, he would hear the word "aliens."

Hearing this, the old professor laughed and immediately sent a voice message to the student:

"When did you stop being a good student?"

"Why are you watching such a grandstanding streamer?"

"The tui bei tu is part of our profound Sinology. How could it possibly be linked to aliens?"

"Although ancient people have seen UFOs in the sky, Li Chunfeng wouldn't be so foolish as to describe a Three-Foot Child as an alien!"

"Don't recommend these grandstanding videos to me anymore!"

The student on the other side replied: [Teacher... I know I was wrong.]

...

Meanwhile, inside the Dougu operations department.

Several junior operators around Operator Wang shouted excitedly.

"It's blowing up! It's blowing up!"

"It's about to break the million mark! Brother Wang, you're going to make a fortune. We're finally about to have a million-viewer streamer!"

"Congratulations, Brother Wang!"

Operator Wang's heart throbbed and raced.

"Exaggerated, it's too exaggerated!"

"In just two and a half days of streaming, this Xiaoyu's brother, Jiang Zhe, is simply too incredible!"

"Even aliens have come up. If he can't make sense of it later, this livestream room will be reported by a massive number of viewers at the very least!"

"Quick, arrange for a promotion recommendation!"

They livestream platform valued traffic most, as well as the streamers they built up themselves.

No, this Jiang Zhe...

was already formidable himself, and he just happened to encounter a brother-pitting sister like Xiao Yu.

He moved his private tutoring sessions for his sister onto the entire internet!

After a long time.

A stunned Xiao Yu looked at her brother's confident expression.

She really wanted to remove the "aliens" claim; right now, viewers in the livestream room were probably cursing her brother!

"Aliens?"

"Bro, that's impossible, right?"

"No matter how you look at it, it doesn't seem like an alien. It looks more like artificial intelligence or even some kind of super humanoid weapon, doesn't it?"

"It's just that the height is a bit short!"

This explanation actually won back some viewers.

They all nodded in agreement with Xiao Yu's words.

Jiang Zhe didn't panic at all. Instead, he took a sip of a sugar-free drink and then began to explain:

"Don't worry, it's indeed not a robot, but an existence that surpasses our wildest imagination!"

His gaze fell on the first four lines:

"[Things reach their extremes only to reverse, using poison to fight poison]."

"When our human civilization truly enters a global cataclysmic disaster."

"Can we really rewrite the global landscape relying solely on human strength?"

"By then, the technological power of several major nations will be similar, on par with each other."

"When major powers go to war, small nations suffer."

"The whole world is on the brink of destruction, and you still think the flames of war can be quelled without relying on external forces?"

As soon as he said this, Xiao Yu fell into deep thought. It seemed... indeed impossible!

During the Neon invasion of Xia, if there hadn't been external forces—those two happy little boys from the USA...

I'm afraid the consequences for Huaxia... would be unimaginable.

When the battle reaches a critical moment, who listens to reason?

Internal forces are completely paralyzed; in the end, one can only rely on the outside.

After hearing this, the retired professor in Kyoto softened his attitude slightly. His intention to leave the stream wavered, and he stayed.

"It makes some sense, but not much. However, artificial intelligence could explain it; aliens are impossible!"

Not just the old professor, but even the viewers and the three history teachers also slightly shifted their attitudes.

It was indeed so!!!

"Xiao Yu!"

He looked at Xiao Yu solemnly.

"Since internal forces are paralyzed, what would the external force be?"

"Look at this line—'A Three-Foot Child, the four barbarians are awed into submission.'"

"First: What does 'awed into submission' mean?"

Xiao Yu frowned slightly and quickly gave an answer:

"1: Refers to a psychological state of voluntary submission due to fear of power."

"2: Refers to forcing others to obey through deterrent means."

"Exactly! Remember this key point!"

Xiao Yu nodded repeatedly, etching the meaning of the word into her mind.

"Next, look at [three feet], which is [one meter]."

"Combining those two lines: How does a one-meter-tall child make global powers feel fear and enter a state of submission?"

"Is this possible?"

Looking at Jiang Zhe's serious expression, Xiao Yu shook her head gently. "Impossible, no single person could do that!"

"Yes."

Jiang Zhe's finger swiped gently over the image of the little person.

"A one-meter-tall little person, even if it were artificial intelligence, wouldn't be enough."

"You must realize that when the world enters the 'Game of Creation' of the 56th hexagram, individual bravery, strategy, and technology, in the face of global trends..."

"...are not worth mentioning!"

He spoke those last four words with resonant power.

Making his sister and everyone watching him in secret focus on his narration.

"So, let's change our perspective. What if it—this one-meter-tall creature—is not human?"

"Not human, and not artificial intelligence?"

Instantly, a terrifying atmosphere rushed toward them.

Everyone watched Jiang Zhe's narration on the screen, not daring to breathe.

"Xiao Yu, you must understand—amidst the global disaster's terrain, oceans, and deserts..."

"...suddenly, one, or even a group of beings, only one meter tall and appearing like young children, appears."

"They possess an astonishing mastery of inexplicable power. They don't arrive as giant monsters, but in a [weak] state that humans can comprehend."

"Ultimately causing major and minor nations across the globe to be completely awed into submission!"

At this point, his tone became slower and slower, his expression more and more serious.

"Precisely so; that is the terrifying part!"

"Awed into submission—it's not that the global landscape was beaten into compliance, but that global governments were forced to directly disarm and submit under such a deterrent."

"This isn't [surrender]; it's [forced submission]!"

"Why [forced submission]?"

Hearing this, the viewers in the livestream room were already holding their breath.

They didn't even dare to breathe. Though they were in their own homes...

...they felt the air turn several degrees colder.

Xiao Yu thought carefully. "Because the disparity in power is too great!"

"Exactly!"

"The power disparity is indeed too vast. Now look again!"

"'Kan and Li Overcome Each Other to See the Heavenly Boundary': Kan and Li mean [Water and Fire] or [Yin and Yang]—"

"Originally from the I Ching—it refers to the state of returning to normal order after water and fire overcome each other."

"What can this be understood as here?"

He threw the question to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu blurted out, "Peace?"

"Correct!"

"Just like the 'water' in the little person's hand and the 'fire' on the ground in the picture."

"After water and fire overcame each other, the order of world destruction stopped and then was restored!"

"And how was peace achieved? Naturally, through the Three-Foot Child. Where did the child come from?"

He pressed his finger heavily on [See the Heavenly Boundary] again. "The meaning of this phrase, combined with future linguistic context, can be understood as—"

"When humanity, for some reason, triggers World War III, bringing global land, oceans, and vegetation to the brink of total destruction!"

"We finally touched a [ Taboo]!"

"Or rather, the clamor of our human civilization finally drew..."

"...the attention of that place!"

He looked at Xiao Yu calmly, but his index finger was pointing toward the sky.

Xiao Yu's vision trembled. "The sky?"

Not just her, everyone at that moment felt their bones go numb, and goosebumps suddenly erupted!