Chapter 2 Moon God
The sun gradually rises in the east, just as it has for billions of years.
Zhou Cheng got up early and walked out of the room, only to see that his father and mother had gotten up earlier than him.
Breakfast is already on the table.
After breakfast, Zhou Cheng went downstairs and saw that except for those neighbors who were in poor health and had to rest in bed, almost all the remaining hundreds of elderly people in the settlement had come.
"Acheng, when you have time, remember to come back and visit us old guys."
"Acheng, be careful on the road. Shoot if you see a wild animal."
"Be careful on the road..."
Facing the earnest instructions from so many elders, Zhou Cheng bowed solemnly: "Uncles and aunts, grandpas and aunts, don't worry, I will be careful."
The heavy gate of the settlement slowly opened, Zhou Cheng got in the car, started the car, and slowly drove out.
Letting the car move forward on its own in intelligent driving mode, Zhou Cheng kept turning around, looking carefully and seriously at his father, mother, and a group of elders who had watched him grow up since he was a child, as if he wanted to remember their figures deeply in his heart.
Because Zhou Cheng couldn't be sure whether he would be able to come back in the future and see his father, mother, uncles, aunts and grandpas again after leaving this time.
He was about to do something very dangerous.
Zhou Cheng has been planning this for seven years.
During these seven years, for this purpose, Zhou Cheng, in addition to his main major of physics, also took minor courses in mountain survival, archaeology, and even practiced shooting.
He was going to a place called Yangjiagou.
Seven years ago, the last archaeological team in the human world published an article announcing that they had discovered the remains of an ancient Bronze Age tribe that existed around the 22nd century BC in Yangjiagou.
Archaeological experts have discovered that this ancient tribe, named "Yangjiagou Culture", had maintained the worship of natural gods such as the sun, sky, and earth for a long time.
But on the eve of their demise, the object of their worship suddenly changed from natural gods to anthropomorphic gods, and they began to worship the moon, which the tribe believed held the "power of fertility."
The tribe's worship of the "Moon God" was so crazy that they even killed a large number of pregnant animals and pregnant women as sacrifices.
Not long after converting their faith, the tribe perished and was lost in the long river of history.
According to research by archaeological experts, the tribe's demise was most likely related to its overly crazy fertility worship.
After all, even pregnant women were killed as sacrifices, so the demise of the tribe was reasonable.
Due to natural environmental factors, the archaeological team did not stay long and left hastily after obtaining preliminary conclusions. This paper also did not attract much attention.
Even civilization is about to disappear, who would care about these bottles and jars buried in the soil?
But this paper caught Zhou Cheng's attention.
Zhou Cheng realized a possibility.
The real logic...could it be the other way around?
Is it possible that the Yangjiagou tribe was not destroyed because of its overly crazy fertility worship, which even killed pregnant women, but that the tribe first lost its fertility, which led to a sudden change of beliefs and the mad worship of the moon god?
Is it possible that those pregnant women who were killed were abducted from other places?
Is it possible... that the Yangjiagou tribe suffered the same fate as human civilization today? Was the frenzied fertility cult actually a self-help measure by the ancestors of the Yangjiagou tribe?
If this is true, then is it possible that there are some clues and information about the "disaster" at the Yangjiagou site?
Zhou Cheng put forward his own guess, but everyone who heard his guess, even the archaeological experts, thought he was just daydreaming.
Judging rationally, Zhou Cheng himself knew that the probability was too low, so low that it could be ignored.
What's more, human civilization has declined drastically today. The road in Yangjiagou has collapsed long ago and is located in deep mountains and forests, making it extremely difficult to pass through.
It is unlikely that huge resources would be invested to verify such a fantastic guess.
Today's human civilization cannot afford this investment.
In that case... I'll go take a look myself and try to find some clues.
Zhou Cheng has been preparing for this plan for seven years, from high school to college, and now after graduating from graduate school, all preparations have been completed.
It's time to go.
But before leaving, I have to go back to Dajing City.
All my equipment is placed there.
The smart car sped along the somewhat deserted road.
The road was wide and straight. Zhou Cheng drove on it for over an hour without encountering another car.
Some wild animals were jumping and running happily on the road, but when they saw the car coming, they hurriedly hid outside the road.
There are many abandoned buildings on both sides of the road, some even covered with vines, standing there silently, as if telling the glory that human civilization once had in the past.
A few hours later, the car arrived at the capital of human civilization, Dajing City, and then arrived at the west side of the city center.
This is Dajing City, the world's largest youth community. Half of the 20,000 young people created by the Spring Thunder Project have settled here.
Unlike the rest of Dajing City, which seemed a bit run-down and old-fashioned, Zhou Cheng felt a vibrant atmosphere as soon as he entered the area where young people lived.
Young men and women dressed in fashionable and beautiful clothes, shop signs full of funny styles, young couples leisurely drinking cold drinks under parasols, and so on.
There were even people performing street dance in the street, and some holding open-air concerts with speakers. A crowd gathered around, and the cheers were getting louder and louder.
When I arrived at the bar, my classmates who graduated with me were already waiting there.
"Acheng is here? Come and sit down. Fill up the wine. We're waiting for you."
"Cheers, cheers!"
"good!"
After a few rounds of drinking, Wang Zhe looked at Zhou Cheng with hazy eyes. "Ah Cheng, do you really want to go to Yangjiagou? I heard that there are no people for hundreds of miles around there, and there are wolves, bears, tigers and leopards. It's very dangerous."
"That's right, the climate in the mountains is unpredictable and it can be dangerous if you're not careful."
"There's not even a signal there. If there's danger, people outside won't even know about it."
"Exactly. It's so nice to stay in Dajing City. So many companies are vying for young people like us. Any job pays well. We can eat, drink, have fun, and enjoy life to the fullest."
"If you ask me, this is the best time for us young people. No one is controlling us, there is no pressure, and we can have fun however we want."
"While you're young, you should enjoy life to the fullest. Don't wait until you're old and can't even enjoy it anymore."
The classmates were talking at once to persuade him, but Zhou Cheng just listened with a smile and did not express his opinion.
Wang Zhe sighed, "Forget it, forget it. I knew you were stubborn, but I didn't expect you to be this stubborn. Come on, let's drink."
A girl with short hair and long legs came up behind Zhou Cheng and patted his shoulder.
It’s Liu Yu, also Zhou Cheng’s classmate.
Zhou Cheng stood up and followed her to the corner of the bar.
Liu Yu looked at Zhou Cheng with hope: "Do you really have to go?"
"right."
"Does it make sense for you to do this?"
Zhou Cheng laughed: "Whether it makes sense or not, we have to try it to know."
"Then, I want to go with you."
Zhou Cheng shook his head and refused without hesitation: "Just stay in Dajing City and don't go anywhere. If you go, you will only cause trouble for me."
Liu Yu was annoyed: "Humph, you're talking about mountains of swords and seas of fire."
Zhou Cheng smiled, but his attitude was extremely firm and he was not moved at all. Liu Yu could only remain silent.
"Okay, go back, your classmates are waiting for you."
Zhou Cheng was about to turn around. Liu Yu immediately raised his head and said, "Wait."
"oh?"
As if she had made some kind of decision, Liu Yu stood on tiptoe and slowly hugged Zhou Cheng.
She hugged him tightly, as if she wanted to become one with Zhou Cheng.
Zhou Cheng's body stiffened for a moment.
Liu Yu whispered in Zhou Cheng's ear: "You must come back, you must come back."
Zhou Cheng raised his arm and patted Liu Yu's back gently: "Wait for me."
Behind me, the classmates seemed to be drunk. They had already begun to twist their bodies wildly in the deafening music and sang a tuneless song together: "This is the worst of times, this is the best of times;
We are as free as birds..."
…
Looking at his classmates, Zhou Cheng poured himself a glass of wine and drank it in one gulp.
He waved goodbye to Liu Yu and left the bar without looking back, in her gaze full of reluctance and worry.
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