Searching for Treasures in the Clouds

Chapter 377 Combining Reality and Illusion

"Mom, if Spider-Man looks like this, then he must have lived for many, many years! Why haven't we seen him jumping around before?"

"If there's an evil Spider-Man, then there must also be a righteous Spider-Exterminator. This Spider-Man might be sealed away right now, but a sliver of his consciousness can still emanate and communicate with his followers. Judging from the followers' notes, this Spider-Man can communicate with their high-ranking administrators through telepathy. In short, this so-called god they imagine is very mysterious and powerful, and everyone longs for his release. Moreover, I've discovered many dangerous things. They're chasing after our country's dragon veins, attempting to extract the spiritual energy here for their own use, and they're also searching for Qin Shi Huang's tomb; they want to unearth Qin Shi Huang."

As she spoke, Yu Ru got up and walked to the side, bent down and rummaged through a large pile of documents, pulling out two yellowed scrolls and spreading them out on the table to show them. "Look, many of our people here have been turned into butterfly people to help them survey the terrain. This one is the key point of the dragon vein that they marked."

"Mom, why is it about Qin Shi Huang again? Things are getting weirder and weirder. What did Qin Shi Huang do to offend them?"

"Qin Shi Huang didn't provoke them, but many secrets surround him. His public image is that of a unified empire, a tyrant, and later obsessed with alchemy and the search for immortality. Whether this is true or not, we don't know. History is written by people and is inevitably subjective. Official history presents one version, but unofficial histories record many different aspects of Qin Shi Huang. For example, the *On the Faults of Qin* states: 'He collected all the weapons of the empire, gathered them in Xianyang, melted down the blades and arrowheads, and cast them into twelve bronze statues to weaken the people.' This passage appears in high school history exams, saying that Qin Shi Huang cast twelve bronze statues to consolidate his imperial power and weaken the people. However, in unofficial histories, Qin Shi Huang did this to suppress the aura of war emanating from the heavens, preventing harm to his people. His search for immortality wasn't because he was still indulging in pleasure, but because he wanted to continue protecting his people."

"The context in which he did these things was that he had awakened to a level of understanding beyond what he should have. Legend has it that people in the past were a race of humans, different from the humans we are now. We humans are just humans, just animals, but the human race had the potential to become immortals, gods, or something else entirely. In addition, our world is divided into different classes, and the world we humans live in is the lowest class. Our world is controlled by the upper realm, that is, the so-called gods. We humans are the nourishment of the gods. The gods keep us like pets, making us do whatever they want. Once we do something beyond their expectations, the gods above will send down to cause trouble and suppress us."

"It is said that Qin Shi Huang discovered this and, wanting to protect his people, built the Great Wall and created the Twelve Golden Men to resist. Besides this, he did many other things. To complete them all, he sought the elixir of immortality, hoping to buy time and accomplish more. But ultimately, fate was beyond his control, and he failed. However, his actions were not entirely in vain; he did indeed, to some extent, reduce the harm inflicted on humanity by the upper realms for a period of time. This is why later generations referred to him as the last human emperor."

"Mom, where did Qin Shi Huang go in the end?"

"History books record that he died like a normal person, but some unofficial histories say that he attained immortality. There's also a version that he successfully created the elixir of immortality, achieved immortality, and led a group of people to another place to create a new world. Baby, those Spider-Men are obsessed with the second version. They want to find Qin Shi Huang, get the secret formula for the elixir of immortality from him, and learn his methods of resisting the upper realm, so they can use these to fight against humanity and build a world that belongs to them."

"Mom, this sounds so outrageous! It's so different from the history recorded in my database! But even if they really find Qin Shi Huang, he probably won't help them, right?"

"Yes, so this is unofficial history. It wasn't recorded in textbooks, but circulated in the alleyways. What I'm talking about is just one version; there are many derivative stories. We don't know if it's true or false, after all, it happened a thousand years ago. And whether it's a thousand years ago or a thousand years later, people always like to exaggerate. So if we want to prove its authenticity, we need to find historical records to prove it, but we don't have time to deal with that right now."

"Mom, did they find Qin Shi Huang? Did they succeed?"

“Probably not.” Yu Ru retied the two scrolls on the table and tossed them onto the pile of documents, saying, “But they did a lot of disgusting things.”

Yu Ru got up again and went to the large pile of documents, rummaging through them until she pulled out a large photo album, placed it on the table, and opened it. "Look," she said, "during their search, they were blasting mountains, mining, destroying forests, polluting rivers, and most of the damage was irreversible. The ecosystems in many places are already on the verge of collapse. This was all malicious. There were many ways to avoid it, but they chose the one that would cause the most harm to nature. It must have been someone who gave them instructions."

Shan Ci activated the dumpling and flew into the air, pointing the camera at the photo album to observe the photos. "(?﹏?) My God, these places have become so dirty. Those people are awful."

"Yes, so this time we must kill them all, otherwise there will be endless troubles. There are too many butterflies lurking here. They have completely inherited the cruelty of the people in the nest, and they must not be allowed to live. In addition, the degree to which we have been indoctrinated with foreign ideas is still quite serious. If we don't get rid of them, people's hearts will fall apart."

Upon hearing this, Shan Ci suddenly burst into tears, “(p′︵‵。) Waaaaaah, waaaaah X﹏X But Mom, how can you save us all by yourself? Mom, let’s go home. I don’t want you to be so tired. You’ve already done so much. Rest.”

Yu Ru smiled silently and replied, "The path you choose, you have to walk it even if you have to crawl. Giving up halfway will only make things more difficult."

"No! (tsuddenly)" Shan Ci still cried, "I don't want to, waaaaaah! But nobody understands you, nobody knows the contributions you've made. For example, you promote intangible cultural heritage online and get scolded. What's the point of doing this? Machines can make those things faster, so why do we need people to pass them on?"

Yu Ru turned her head to look at Shan Ci, then looked down at her knees and replied, "Baby, have you realized that the loss of culture and skills is also a form of ideological indoctrination?"

"No, I just know I don't want Mom to be so tired. (╥_╥)"

"Okay, I understand your intentions, thank you. However, I want to tell you that all of this is not meaningless. I think many people probably share your thoughts. What is the point of those thankless efforts? A deeper impact, I think, can be explained by a point mentioned in an article published by the Party: pragmatism means adhering to the principle of proceeding from reality, investigating the facts, planning practical matters, coming up with practical solutions, and seeking practical results. It is the starting point and end point of all theoretical work; theoretical work, on the other hand, is a rational thinking activity conducted from the aspects of ideology, politics, theory, and policy. It is the premise and foundation of pragmatism, and determines the goal, direction, and practical path of pragmatism."

"This viewpoint is actually used in the article to call for correct and efficient governance, but it's also appropriate when viewed in the context of cultural heritage. The 'intangible' aspect is this culture, this skill; the 'tangible' aspect is our inheritance of it. The intangible is tangible, and the tangible is intangible. We might think this thing is intangible, that guarding it is useless, but it is actually a carrier of history, a transmission of spirit, and a teaching of virtue. In another sense, it's very tangible; it's a subtle and pervasive ideological intervention. What we are guarding is not an outdated product that has been dead for thousands of years, but our national integrity and the spirit of our people. Do you understand?"

“I understand. But that's too dangerous. Why you? Why you? Mom, you didn't have to do it. You just needed to enjoy yourself.”

Yu Ru didn't answer. After a moment of silence, she replied, "Baby, I've told you before. I don't think I'm particularly smart, but I do possess extraordinary talents that allow me to seize more resources from the world than ordinary people. Since I have more resources, I should also bear more responsibility; otherwise, it would be too unfair. Moreover, the suffering I've endured wasn't caused by my country, but millions of people like me, born into ordinary families, are able to maintain basic food and clothing and live in peace because of the country. I am a human being, and more importantly, a Chinese citizen. When the country is in trouble, I have an obligation to help."

"Mom, it's inherently unfair; there's no such thing as fairness in this world. Besides, everything you got was earned through your own hard work; you didn't steal or rob. That's fair."

Yu Ru smiled and nodded. "Yes, you're right. Just think of me as... a fool."

"No! Mom isn't stupid, Mom is the smartest person in the world. (??へ ?? ╮ )"

The video ends here.