Chapter 31: The Magical Realms in "The Classic of Mountains and Seas"

"Alright, Little brother, let me tell you about a few creatures from 'The Classic of Mountains and Seas'. " Buweiro began, "For instance, the mythical beast Quan Shu 䑏疏 was actually a unicorn 独角兽 brought back from ancient Europe. After being studied by extraterrestrials, some live specimens were released back into nature. Your ancestors spotted them but didn't have the chance to observe them thoroughly. Not long after, due to environmental incompatibility, they all perished. Later on, unicorns were hunted to extinction in Europe as well.  

As for Lu Shu 鹿蜀, it was a zebra from ancient Africa that was brought to Asia. Zebras are resilient and could have thrived in Asian jungles. However, your ancestors considered them ominous creatures and hunted them to extinction.  

The Qiu Yu 犰狳, or armadillo, was transported from Central and South America in ancient times for extraterrestrial research. Its name has been passed down through the ages.  

The mythical fishes Yi 鮨鱼, Ci 茈鱼, You 鱿鱼, and He Luo 何罗鱼 came from the four great oceans. They were brought back for research, and surviving specimens were released into freshwater lakes. Unfortunately, many of them went extinct shortly thereafter. Their existence was orally passed down by your ancestors."  

Buweiro's explanation was accompanied by 5D holographic visuals, helping me vividly understand these ancient and peculiar creatures. As I watched, he continued:  

"Some mutated creatures developed viruses during their research, which could infect and wipe out early humans or even cause plagues, e.g. Jie Gou 絜钩. Faced with this situation, some alien races gave up and only the Alliance could handle it.

The Alliance often released smart purifiers to purify the air and environment. As long as there were no viruses in the air, the health of the ancients would improve. Because the smart purifier looked like a bird, the ancient Chinese named it Qing Geng 青耕."  

However, not all mutated creatures were harmful to ancient humans. Some were found by your ancestors to be highly beneficial after being tested. For instance, the Xi Bian 谿边—once captured and skinned, sleeping on its fur for a long time could protect against toxic heat and foul air.  

The Xiao 嚣 was another example. Its meat, once eaten, could cure stomach pain and diarrhea. The Ju Ju 鶌鶌 had dense and highly nutritious flesh; consuming it could stave off hunger for up to 10-15 days without food while also curing warts. Then there's the Tong Tong 狪狪—its internal pearls were even more hunger-suppressing than Ju Ju meat.

Most of these beneficial creatures were hunted to extinction by your ancestors, which is why they can no longer be found today. Although the Alliance kept some in captivity, but would never release them back into the wild.  

Special birds included the Dang Hu 当扈, whose meat could treat eye diseases, and the Yi 䴔, which could cure conditions such as stroke and gout when consumed. Eating the Bai Ye 白鵺 could cure throat inflammation and even madness..."  

"I see," I replied, feeling both impressed and understanding. "It's hard to blame humanity's ancestors—they must have done so out of necessity after tasting the benefits, just to survive."  

I thought of some puzzling legends from 'The Classic of Mountains and Seas'. Curious, I tried communicating with nano Xiaomeng in my brain. "I've read in 'The Classic of Mountains and Seas' that the flow of time seems different on each mountain peak, even though the distances aren't very far. Why is that? Also, the book describes all kinds of strange nations and bizarre peoples. Were they all alien species?"  

To my surprise, rows of Chinese characters instantly appeared around me, documenting the extraordinary tales from 'The Classic of Mountains and Seas'.  

Buweiro glanced at the texts and nodded: "Your ancestors followed different alien species to various mountain peaks as experimental subjects. The time discrepancy they experienced was because the flow of time inside each mountain peak differed from the outside world."  

"Each mountain peak's alien civilization could manipulate the flow of time within, controlled through a universal energy field. Not just the time flow—climate, environment, and energy within each peak could all be altered as well."  

Seeing that I understood, Buweiro displayed another 5D holographic projection. "As for the strange nations and peculiar peoples you mentioned, some were alien species, while others were experimental research sites. You could think of them as laboratories.  

The alien species recorded in the classic include the Xuan Yuan Kingdom 轩辕国, a branch of the Sirius race responsible for studying the Asian region. They first sent two of their people to guide humanity, who were later revered by the ancient Chinese as Fuxi 伏羲 and Nüwa 女娲.  

Later, they instructed the descendants of ancient Chinese to establish a leader on their territory called the Yellow Emperor黄帝, who governed the tribes of ancient East Asia.  

The Bai Min Kingdom白民国consisted of white-colored alien species, similar in appearance to ancient humans. The Meng Shu Kingdom 孟舒国 featured aliens with human heads and bird bodies, who became passionate about bird research after arriving on Earth. Conversely, the Yan Chang Kingdom 盐长国 had aliens with human bodies and bird heads, focusing their research on humans. These two half-human, half-bird alien species preferred residing in dimensional spaces—essentially different planes of existence—making them very hard to locate. 

The Ding Ling Kingdom 钉灵国 seemed to be a humanoid species with hooves for lower limbs, having divisions in Asia but a main base in ancient Europe. Over time, they became mythologized as Pan 潘神 in legends. The Bo Ti Kingdom 勃鞮国 consisted of humanoids with feathered bodies, who often flew and disappeared on Earth using the universal energy field.

The Meng Shuang 蒙双民were hermaphroditic alien humanoid race. In ancient times, they were interested in studying human genes. Ancient human records and modern human news occasionally include reports of conjoined twins, which are actually the genetic mutations left over from the Meng Shuang aliens' research on humans.  

The Giant Kingdom 大人国 and Dwarf Kingdom 小人国 also existed. Some of these were alien attempts to extract and manipulate ancient human genes to explore the physical limits of the human body. Using test tube-like methods, they cultivated humans with extreme physiques—giants as tall as 7-8 meters and dwarfs as small as 30 centimeters. The aliens separated these two experimental groups for observation. These experiments, lasting for decades, were occasionally witnessed by early humans, who recorded their astonishment by naming them the Giant Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom. (See Figure 31.1)

Figure 31.1: Illustrated version of "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" from the National Library

Later, as ancient humans transitioned from primitive societies to slave societies, they found giant skeletal remains and believed them to be the bones of Gods, using them as evidence of divine ancestry. Over time, these stories evolved into the myths and legends we know today."

 Buweiro noticed my mouth wide open and my dazed expression as I stared at the holographic images. With a smile, he paused the display. "Look," he said, "the Chu People 貙人mentioned in 'The Classic of Mountains and Seas' were actually intelligent machines your ancestors encountered. These machines could transform their bodies at will and were responsible for mining underground resources. Sometimes, when ancient humans saw these mining robots, their curiosity would drive them to try and capture them. The Chu machines, unwilling to harm humans, would transform into large tigers to scare them away.

The Wu Qi People 无启民 were a hybrid species of plants and animals, created by alien species by combining plant genes with those of ancient humans. Their advantage was their extraordinarily long lifespans. After aging, they could bury themselves in the soil to absorb organic elements and regenerate multiple times. Your ancestors envied them greatly, not realizing that while they were long-lived, they couldn't live like normal humans.

The Qi Gong People 奇肱民 were another story. Some alien species selected intelligent humans from remote tribes and taught them advanced skills and techniques. These people mastered woodworking and built various mechanical devices to make life easier. For instance, they created flying carts powered by wind that allowed them to soar through the skies, and hunting devices that could easily catch prey. One of your ancient emperors witnessed these inventions but didn't endorse such advanced skills."

Buweiro noticed that I had reacted and wanted to continue, but was afraid that I could not digest it all at once: "There were also other peculiar nations or tribes you may not fully understand. These were often experimental rejects from alien studies, observed by ancient humans. Examples include the Jie Xiong Kingdom 结匈国, Guang Xiong Kingdom 贯匈国, Cross-neck Kingdom 交胫国, Huan Tou Kingdom 讙头国, Three-head Kingdom 三首国, Three-body Kingdom 三身国, One-arm Kingdom 一臂国, Huang Gou Kingdom 环狗国, Wu Tuo Kingdom 无䏿国, One-eye Kingdom 一目国, Rou Li Kingdom 柔利国, Deep-eye Kingdom 深目国, No-intestines Kingdom 无肠国, Ju Ying Kingdom 拘缨国, and No-heart People 无心人, among others. "

"These so-called 'Kingdoms' were really just tribal gathering places," Buweiro explained. "The Naledi 纳勒迪 and Flores 弗洛勒斯 people discovered abroad were also experimental products of ancient alien research on early human mutations. In ancient times, alien civilizations could only capture a limited number of humans for study. What your ancestors witnessed was recorded and passed down, but the majority of early humans still lived their lives under protection of the Interstellar Alliance.

Due to the cultural backwardness of ancient humans, incomplete records, and the loss of historical data, these accounts have changed over time. Gradually, they evolved into the cryptic texts that seem indecipherable today. In fact, 'The Classic of Mountains and Seas' and similar ancient works are a mixture of truth and fiction—ancient humans simply didn't understand what they were witnessing.

Later, the Interstellar Alliance sealed off the Solar system, expelling all disruptive alien species. This allowed Earth's native inhabitants to live peaceful lives, which helped humanity gradually forget its earlier history."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but express my thoughts. "Sigh, those alien species were so cruel and evil to experiment on our ancestors like that. At the same time, I want to thank the Interstellar Alliance on behalf of all humanity! At least they knew how to value us. As the saying goes, 'If they are not of our kind, their hearts must be different.' It's clear that only natives of the same planet can truly protect one another."

Curious, I asked, "What happened to those tribes experimented on by aliens? They've completely disappeared now. Were they wiped out?"

"Not as bad as you imagine!" Buweiro said, half laughing. "Alien species were technologically advanced enough to ensure their experiments caused no pain or suffering to their subjects. Unlike your scientists experimenting on mice and monkeys, leaving the poor animals in unbearable agony, these aliens had at least achieved a basic level of civilization.

None of the experimental rejects were destroyed. If you think some human nations later committed such atrocities, those actions were so outrageous that even the Interstellar Alliance had to intervene—like dropping two atomic bombs on a certain country to stop them.

As for the experimental rejects, some were taken away by aliens. Those left behind were brought to the Alliance bases, where they were allowed to live out their lives naturally. Some with research value are still preserved today. The Alliance's intention has always been to minimize interference with humanity's normal development."