Five Frozen Centuries

As the saying went in the text ‘Wandering Beyond[1]’. ‘The mushroom that lives only for a morning has no idea of the phases of the moon. The cicada who lives only for a few days does not know the seasons of spring and fall.’ With Wei Huo’s current metabolism, he could use one month as a day. He could cultivate in the beginning of the month, hunt in the middle of the month, and Research in the end of the month. 𝒇𝑟𝐞𝐞w𝐞𝑏𝙣𝑜vℯl.co𝑚

At the same time, he could do push-ups, sit-ups, and jogging the whole day.

Wei Huo was not aware that his thoughts and body were changing gradually. Many thought that living too long was a kind of distress, but in the natural world people with short lives and long lives had their respective way of living.

66 years had slipped by unnoticed. During those 66 years, Wei Huo’s attack bar had reached 594. Surprisingly, his Research Skills had reached Level 15. He was even trying to manufacture mechanical armors now.

Besides that, he built a refugee camp on the northwest of the city. The place was oozing with a modern charm. There were solar generators, wind generators, wood powered generators, electric cables, wires, refrigerators, televisions, and even computers. All of them were manufactured by Wei Huo.

Wei Huo could now put on a pair of glasses and take up the role of a knowledgeable electromagnetic scholar.

If it was not for the lack of materials, he would have planned to research electromagnetic weapons.

However, he stopped because the 300 years time halt was about to come to an end, according to Lu Qiqi. That was why he stopped everything he was working on.

He came to his neighborhood and arrived at the building his parents were living in. He waited patiently because tomorrow would be the first day after the 300-year time halt. Time would be recovered for humanity and Wei Huo could finally return to society!

However, he had yet to figure out how to face humans who were halted for 300 years, how to face his parents, and how to integrate himself back into society.

He waited patiently with a tinge of concern. ‘What should I do if Lu Qiqi lied to me?’

The concern grew heavier in his mind, and finally the first day after the 300-year time halt had arrived!

However, nothing happened after the clock struck 12. Wei Huo frowned slightly, and decided to wait till breakfast. In the end, dawn arrived and the sun rose. Sunlight flooded the Earth, but nothing was different from the day before. Humanity was still halted.

Wei Huo had a bad hunch. However, Lu Qiqi did not mention whether it was the first day or the 365th day after 300 years. So, Wei Huo decided to wait for another year.

However, Wei Huo’s concern grew deeper as he had a bad feeling about it.

‘Maybe... Lu Qiqi lied to me. After all, Lu Qiqi was just an artificial being. How could she know God’s plan?’

Wei Huo could only continue to wait, but his restlessness grew stronger over time.

Wei Huo grew to realize that Lu Qiqi’s 300-year time halt was just a lie. Her purpose was to prevent him from breaking down, or maybe that note was not left by Lu Qiqi at all.

As for who had left the note, it was not hard to guess.

Wei Huo stared at the sky and mumbled, “Do you think I have a fragile mentality? As long as I have the hope to live, I will not give up my life even if I’m the only creature left in this world!”

Wei Huo had persisted for over hundreds of years without falling apart. How could he crumble because of the Giant Panda and Lu Qiqi’s death? Impossible!

Wei Huo had always been a person with a weak presence. He did not have many friends since young. He was used to being lonely. It could even be said that ‘Loneliness Was Wei Huo’s Only Friend’.

How could a person who was friends with loneliness break down because he felt lonely? Are you kidding?

Wei Huo guessed that the note was left by God. However, after careful considerations, he thought it was impossible. If it was the omnipotent God, he would have known Wei Huo’s character well and would not leave any notes.

Moreover, why would the superior God care about such an unimportant person like him.

It was now without a doubt that Lu Qiqi was the one who left the note behind. She had gained a soul after getting along with Wei Huo for that time period. She became a true human, and as the saying went ‘Men Speak Kindly In The Presence Of Death[2]’. Lu Qiqi left behind her equipment and a white lie on her deathbed for him.

She made a white lie because she did not want Wei Huo to break down upon her death. She hoped that time could heal all pains.

The more Wei Huo thought, the more he felt that was the truth. After all, the game was still flawed even after 300 years. The concept of time was different for God and mankind. Perhaps several hundred years was only a few hours for God. In reality, were all games not produced in several years?

However, Wei Huo hoped that his speculations were wrong. After all, he really wanted the halted time to end and to communicate with humans. All the face-slapping and acting cool were just jokes. His only wish now was to see a moving human.

Just like an old man, even if he was profoundly learned, he had not wanted to act up. The only thing he wanted to do was to meet more people, communicate more, visit his children and descendants, then leave this world without regrets.

Why did human’s mentality grow old with the body? It was because when humans know that their time is running out, they don’t want to do meaningless things. They only want to see and hear the world.

However, Wei Huo’s mentality had not grown old. He knew that he could still do a lot of things because he had a long lifespan.

Yet, he had not wanted to do meaningless things. For example, he wasted so much time and energy to build the shelter, but it ended up that humanity’s time was still halted.

As time went by, the 300th year had passed, and the 301st year had arrived. Time was still halted for humans and Wei Huo finally understood everything.

The 300-year time halt was only a white lie from Lu Qiqi on her deathbed.

He was bustling about for over 60 years for nothing. The shelter could have saved a lot of people but it was meaningless now. It was very depressing to work hard with hopes, but achieve nothing in the end.

Wei Huo could not hold back himself. He smashed his fist on the wall that was protected by the golden light. Not even a single trace was left on the wall. It did not even make a sound. That meant the golden lights were still protecting those who had been halted.

Wei Huo’s eyes were flickering. He was unable to determine whether he should be angry about Lu Qiqi’s lie. Although people made white lies for a good reason, it was a severe blow to the person who was deceived when they learned the truth.

The kind of blow when one had to suffer greater disappointment after gaining hope.

The kind of blow when one gained nothing after working hard.

The kind of blow when one had wasted time thinking he was doing something meaningful.

[1] ‘Wandering Beyond’ is one of the chapters in the Zhuangzi Text. ‘The mushroom that lives only for a morning has no idea of the phases of the moon, the cicada who lives only for a few days does not know the season of springs and falls’ meant to see only a small piece of the big picture. http://www.camcc.org/reading-group/adhoc/25012014 𝙛𝚛𝙚ewe𝗯𝓃𝗼ѵ𝚎Ɩ.𝒄ｏ𝐦

[2] ‘Men Speak Kindly In The Presence Of Death’ is a Chinese idiom that means men always speak the truth, and their words will always be out of goodwill on their deathbed.