314: Chapter 314: Bennet's Pillars

After a few seconds of silence at the scene, Professor Chen Runzhi murmured with a look of belated realization, "In this way, it perfectly satisfies the legends about the Greys from all over the world, along with the mysterious underground world."

"Indeed." Old Qian chimed in repeatedly, "In the underground that we humans cannot see, there might exist many secrets and miracles!"

Professor Wang Shouren, quick-witted and agile, picked up his phone, converted the essence of their discussion into a voice bullet comment, and sent it into the livestream room.

With the appearance of the voice bullet comment, the livestream room instantly exploded.

"Holy crap, underground!"

"So the Greys don't live on the surface, but underground?"

"If the underground world really exists, along with the Atlantis from the last episode, damn, it's terrifying to think about."

"Antarctica, underground, the Greys—it all seems to match up!"

"My scalp is tingling!"

"So those vanished civilizations didn't leave Earth, but returned underground?"

"This is fucking crazy!"

"..."

Inside the Principal's office, Principal Fu stared at the bullet comments, stunned for a long time, then slowly turned his head to look at Professor Wang Shouren, Xiao Wang, and Ren Xiaoyao. The four of them looked at each other, all gasping in cold air, feeling it was incredible and inconceivable.

Inside the Physics Department faculty dormitory at Huaqing University, Ouyang Baili looked at the screen with a surprised expression: "Underground—it wasn't that they didn't build, nor that they went extinct, but they hid themselves. And the place they hid was actually underground?"

The four people looked at each other, seeing deep shock in one another's eyes.

In Kyoto, at Qingfeng Temple, Zheng Ming was so unnerved by the discussion in the bullet comments that he couldn't help but look at Wen Jingqiu, "Professor Wen, do you think this is possible?"

Wen Jingqiu's beautiful eyes shifted, her expression one of great surprise, and she nodded gently, "Logically speaking, it makes perfect sense."

"If the surface was not suitable for survival, and if they possessed sufficient technology, moving underground would be the most rational choice. Furthermore, there are records of an underground world in myths across the globe; this can no longer be explained by mere coincidence."

Celestial Master Zhang looked profound, "In Taoism, we have the concept of 'grotto-heavens and blessed lands.' I originally thought it was a metaphor, but I didn't expect it might actually be the truth."

At this moment, Zheng Ming was completely stunned into silence.

On the big screen, in the living room, Xiao Yu stared intently at the greyish-white face on the screen, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

After a long while, her voice came through, filled with disbelief: "My god, Big Brother, that really is the face of a Grey. This is just too incredible. What exactly is the truth?"

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly and did not answer directly. He picked up the tablet, operated it for a moment, and pulled up another image: "Xiao Yu, to know what the truth is, you only need to look at this pillar."

He handed the tablet to Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu took it and browsed; the screen displayed a reddish-brown stone pillar, square-shaped, about two meters high, with a clear human figure carved onto the pillar's body.

It was a bearded man wearing an intricate feather headdress, dressed in a robe, holding a scepter, with a dignified and solemn expression. The carving lines were very fluid, rich in detail, and one could tell at a glance that it was a work of craftsmanship.

Xiao Yu examined it curiously: "A rectangular pillar with a bearded man on it—Big Brother, who is this?"

Jiang Zhe began to explain, "This pillar is called the Bennett Monolith, one of the most famous artifacts at the Tiwanaku site."

"The person carved on the pillar is believed to be their creator god, Viracocha."

Speaking of this, he pointed to the details on the pillar: "Look at the headdress he is wearing; it is very similar to the headdresses of the later emperors of the Inca Empire. And the scepter he is holding is carved with pumas and condors, which are sacred animals in the Andes Mountains region."

Xiao Yu nodded, then immediately frowned, "But Big Brother, this beard—why do I feel like it's strange?"

"What's strange about it?"

Xiao Yu recalled carefully, her beautiful eyes gradually widening, "I remember that the indigenous people in South America don't seem to have beards."

As she finished speaking, the viewers also reacted.

"It's true, South Americans don't grow beards."

"The Indians are actually of the same lineage as us; they are naturally sparse in facial hair, and many can't grow it at all!"

"I've been to Peru, and the indigenous men there have smooth chins."

"It's a genetic issue. Native Americans belong to the Mongoloid race, and having less body hair is a characteristic."

"So you're saying a bearded god created a group of beardless people?"

"That doesn't make sense. Don't gods create humans in their own image?"

"..."

Xiao Yu reacted accordingly and looked at her brother, "Big Brother, if gods create humans in their own image, then this god Viracocha doesn't look like the people he created!"

Jiang Zhe didn't feel surprised and continued to explain: "Correct. And it's not just a matter of the beard. Look at his facial features: a high nose and deep-set eyes, thick eyebrows and large eyes. They don't completely match the typical facial features of South American indigenous people."

"According to the general laws of mythology, the gods of every civilization create humans in their own image."

"For example, the gods of our Xia Kingdom look like us, the yellow race; the gods of Ancient Egypt look like Egyptians; and the gods of Ancient Greece look like the Mediterranean race."

"But here, and only here, the creator god of the Andes Mountains in South America has the face of a foreigner."

Xiao Yu was stunned at first, then couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Hahahaha, so their god is a foreigner?"

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly and didn't deny it, instead continuing to explain: "Thinking that way is not wrong. According to local legends, this god Viracocha descended to this land from the sky with a group of followers."

"They built Puma Punku, the stone ruin I mentioned earlier that requires laser cutting and suspected laser tractor beam technology to complete."

"Then, they gathered the local indigenous people and taught them agriculture, architecture, astronomy, and calendars."

"After completing these, the bearded god and his followers all left. Before they left, they left a prophecy that one day in the future, they would return again."

He pointed to the picture of the city of Tiwanaku on the screen, "And after Puma Punku was built, that group of gods from the sky left."

"But the indigenous people who had been taught by them stayed nearby and built the city of Tiwanaku. That's why I said everything within the city of Tiwanaku is man-made, with a technological gap of tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand years, compared to Puma Punku."

"That group of people worshiped Puma Punku as a miracle, hoping that one day their gods would return."

"But unfortunately, those gods seemed to never return."

Xiao Yu was listening intently and suddenly felt a bit emotional, then her beautiful eyes lit up, and she had a sudden thought, "It seems that life was much better when the gods were around."

"Maybe after the gods left, they couldn't get good food or use good things anymore."

"Because when the gods were there, living conditions were excellent, and they could witness miracles from time to time. Even the food might have included melon seeds, spicy strips, and mineral water."

As she finished speaking, the viewers were stunned for a moment, then all broke into smiles.

"Hahahaha, melon seeds, spicy strips, and mineral water!"

"Xiao Yu, your train of thought is amazing!"

"The god says: I'm here on Earth to deliver takeout, right?"

"So Puma Punku was an ancient takeout delivery center. Reasonable, ten out of ten, or even nine out of ten reasonable!"

"Hahahaha, you're killing me!"

"Xiao Yu, don't do this, I was just immersed in the mysterious atmosphere!"

"..."

Her words made many people smile knowingly amidst the serious atmosphere.

Jiang Zhe glanced at Xiao Yu, smiled helplessly, and then continued with a serious face, "According to archaeologists' speculations, after the gods left, the forty thousand people in the city of Tiwanaku also gradually evacuated."

"Because that place was fundamentally unsuitable for long-term human survival."

"At an altitude of over 3,800 meters, oxygen is thin, the climate is harsh, and it's difficult to grow anything. Only plants like the Yareta, which can live for over three thousand years, grow there, and it doesn't taste good either..."

"When those people left, the city was abandoned."

"Later, the Inca Empire expanded here, discovered an empty city, and built their own structures on top of it."

"So Tiwanaku actually has two layers: the lower layer was built by those forty thousand people, and the upper layer was added later by the Incas, and both were human-built."

"But later on, archaeologists dug up something magical."

Xiao Yu's beautiful eyes lit up, "What is that thing?"

Jiang Zhe's gaze was profound, "An artifact."

"After that artifact was unearthed, it shocked the global archaeological community on the spot."

"And that artifact also successfully deciphered who this bearded god really is."

Xiao Yu and countless viewers held their breath, staring at him intensely.

The living room immediately fell quiet, with only the sound of the evening wind whistling outside the window.