35: Chapter 35: What if everything in the world was predetermined?

Jiang Zhe's gaze fixed on Xiao Yu's curious face. He then spoke slowly: "37218!"

Just after saying these numbers, he shook his head and dismissed it. Explaining the hexagram directly would be like listening to celestial scripture for his sister.

He thought quickly, his eyes narrowing. He decided to cut in from the fundamental logic to bring his sister a more subversive realization!

"Before decoding this string of numbers, Xiao Yu, you should understand the world that you and I are in."

"What kind of world is it exactly!"

Jiang Zhe's voice was low, his tone unquestionable. It instantly made Xiao Yu and countless netizens sit up straight, their eyes like torches.

"Xiao Yu, do you know about 'Predestination'?"

"Predestination?"

Xiao Yu nodded and responded without hesitation.

"Teacher Wang said when teaching history before that everyone's fate is determined the moment they are born."

"It's related to their date of birth, and no matter how much they struggle, it's useless."

"It seems to be an answer based on [Causality Theory]."

Xiao Yu paused for a moment and added another point.

"However, everyone doesn't accept 'Predestination' nowadays."

"So a phrase is popular: [My fate is determined by me, not by Heaven!]"

"A good answer." Jiang Zhe suddenly chimed in, his eyes incredibly sharp.

"What if the phrase 'My fate is determined by me, not by Heaven'..."

"...is also 'determined'?"

The moment the words fell, the happy barrage in the entire livestream vanished abruptly.

Every netizen who heard this interpretation felt a chill run down their spine, terrified.

Inside the First High School dormitory building, Old Wang was just about to speak up and agree with the "Man can conquer nature" sentiment Xiao Yu mentioned.

The next second, he pursed his lips, his smile freezing on his face. Even the air seemed to drop a few degrees.

Meanwhile, in the retirement building for professors in the capital, Professor Chen Runzhi's hand, which was just about to pour tea for his brother, hung in mid-air at this moment.

His entire expression was filled with horror. He looked at Old Qian and Old Wang in astonishment.

Both of them also looked like they had seen a ghost, shrinking back. It was simply terrifying to think about!

After a long while, the barrage slowly drifted out.

"!!!"

"No, something's wrong, this isn't right."

"Didn't I tune into a mystery and Sinology livestream? Why did it suddenly turn into a horror livestream?"

"My fate is determined by me, not by Heaven, is also determined... Maya, this is terrifying to think about!"

"..."

Inside the operations department, Operator Wang and several junior operators all gasped.

He looked at his brother beside him in horror, "Old Yu, we are watching a Sinology livestream... right... right... right?"

The young man called Old Yu shrank his neck, "Maybe, perhaps it's a horror livestream!"

On screen, it took a long time for Xiao Yu to recover from the shock.

"Brother, hearing those words from you is inexplicably terrifying."

Jiang Zhe smiled slightly and continued his explanation to himself.

"So!"

"The core of our debate over whether fate is determined lies in [whether the future can be changed]!"

"But the deeper question is: Why can fate even be discussed as [predestined or not]?"

"What exactly is the logic supporting the concept of [Predestination]?"

Listening to her brother's interpretation and voice, Xiao Yu felt as if his words were opening the Pandora's box of the real world.

"Xiao Yu!"

"Is it just superstition passed down by word of mouth?"

"Or?"

"No!" Jiang Zhe answered his own question.

"The answer has long been hidden in the only truth the universe has told us humans!"

At this point, he raised his hand and pointed to the night sky outside the window.

"You must remember a core cognitive point: mathematics was never invented by humans, but discovered by humans."

"Mathematics is not the rules of the world we created, but the [source code] of the universe that we caught a glimpse of while gazing at the night sky and observing rivers and mountains!"

"The universe is dark, cold, and reticent."

"But every moment inside the universe, earth-shaking changes are happening."

"Destroyed planets, stars gradually becoming massive, passing wandering meteors; dead stars, the paths devoured by black holes..."

"The universe never chooses to speak, yet it constantly uses mathematics to show us humans its [appearance] and its [trajectory of motion]."

"Why is the speed of light 300,000 kilometers per second, rather than 29 or 31?"

"This cold number is the law carved into the underlying rules of the universe."

"It cannot be questioned, and it is forbidden to disobey!"

As Jiang Zhe's resolute words fell, a cold and grand worldview was secretly unveiled!

The livestream was no longer arguing about whether it was predestination or defying heaven to change fate.

It was replaced more by barrages of [Holy crap], [Terrifying to think about], and [I'm scared, family].

Watching Xiao Yu curl up unconsciously, Jiang Zhe put on a smile and continued:

"Naturally, predecessors from ancient times and modern times, both at home and abroad, Pythagoras said [Number is the source of all things]."

"Laozi said [The Dao produced the One; the One produced the Two; the Two produced the Three; the Three produced all things]."

"The [369] that Tesla pursued is the mysterious key to unlocking the universe!"

"They are all doing the same thing!"

At this moment, his voice became incredibly solemn and cold.

"They are all trying to break the [World Manual] formulated by the Creator..."

"...and constructed by numbers!"

"Under this grand framework, the fate of every human being."

Jiang Zhe's gaze passed over his sister and looked at the gradually quieting night outside the window.

"It is just like a unique, yet traceable, [subroutine] that can be found in this independent system!"

As his series of certain words fell, Xiao Yu and everyone else were instantly enlightened!

The previous fate calculation, at this moment, had a clear and shocking realization!

It was not metaphysics, but [science] built upon the rules of the universe!

The three teachers, the three professors, and countless netizens all seemed to have fallen into an epiphany at this moment.

They inexplicably became clear-headed!

"Awesome!"

"Just for this interpretation, I'm convinced."

"I didn't expect Xiaoyu's brother to be not only an arts student but also a science student; he's practically mastered both!"

"Is this the romance of a science student?"

"Wait, that's not right, her brother dropped out in the second year of high school!"

"Upstairs, don't kill the vibe!"

"..."

Jiang Zhe didn't give Xiao Yu too much time to react either. He picked up the blue book and began to interpret:

"Now, Xiao Yu, let's go back to 37218, back to your classmate's brother's [personal program]."

Xiao Yu had just recovered from the shock and took a deep breath.

Even the way she looked at Jiang Zhe became fanatically worshipful!

"For example, 3 belongs to Zhen Wood — representing change and restlessness."

"For example, 7 belongs to Gen Earth, representing obstruction and stagnation."

"For example, 2 belongs to Dui Metal, representing defects and gossip."

"For example, 1 belongs to Kan Water, representing danger and flow."

"For example, 8 belongs to Kun Earth, representing bearing and multitude!"

Speaking to this point, Jiang Zhe nodded slightly.

"Xiao Yu, look, these five numbers have basically given an [energy field] full of contradictions and conflicts."

After saying this, he lowered his head to look at the Eight Trigrams diagram and the detailed breakdown diagram in the blue book.

This blue book was unique. All the annotations were incomparable to anything the natives of this world could produce.

Xiao Yu and the netizens showed contemplative expressions; it was indeed so.

The framework given by this hexagram had already presented an objective conflict visible to the naked eye.

Soon, everyone frowned and shook their heads.

Even if the conflict was presented, it was still impossible to calculate — from the red router to the project proposal.