Chapter 129 The Past of the Upside-Down World The Original of the Upside-Down World...
The inverted world was not originally like it is now. Back then, language was in its original order, and animals retained their original forms, with only men and women being different.
In the primitive world, tall women protected the tribe, while men were responsible for raising offspring.
"Where is this...?" Sang Zhitao rubbed her temples, sitting on a tree and looking down at the hunt taking place below.
"What a tall woman!" She looked at the leader and couldn't help but marvel at her strong and tall figure.
The woman was nearly three meters tall, with dark skin and clear, resolute eyes. She held a stone axe and was accompanied by about a dozen women who were slightly smaller than her, all of whom were intently watching a huge animal.
Sang Zhitao couldn't make out the animal's exact figure, but could vaguely see a huge dark shadow behind the grass and trees.
Just as she was looking down, wondering how she would get down, the woman leading the group under the tree shouted urgently, "Kill!"
A dozen or so people leaped out from behind the bushes like cheetahs, scattering halfway through their flight. Before their prey could react, they instantly wielded stone axes and chopped at the herbivore.
After a scream, the giant object collapsed with a crash, nearly knocking the mulberry blossoms off the tree.
Then, a dozen or so women emerged from behind the trees carrying a huge, cow-shaped animal.
Sang Zhitao subconsciously leaned forward, then floated to catch up with their group.
A slightly thin woman approached the leader with embarrassment and said, "Lan, I... can I go back first? I'm worried about my family..."
Lan looked at her with a disappointed expression and said, "I advised you before. Your health is not very good to begin with, and you always get the worst and fewest pieces of prey. You also often pick fruit for him on the way. You've made him lazy."
A flicker of annoyance crossed the woman's eyes, but it vanished in an instant. Embarrassed, she continued, "I...I know...it won't happen again, this time..."
Lan sighed heavily: "Fine, whatever you want."
Upon hearing this, the woman's face lit up with joy, and she quickly broke away from the group, heading straight for the place where the men were gathering.
After she left, the woman behind Lan said unhappily, "Lan, why did you agree to let Cao leave the group early again?"
Lan sighed and slung the stone axe over her shoulder: "What can we do?"
The woman curled her lip: "We are warriors, and meat can increase our strength. But she doesn't want meat; instead, she wants a man's fruit. No wonder she's so thin!"
Lan looked at her disapprovingly: "Alright, Hua, we are our clansmen, we should support each other."
Hua looked at her, then angrily looked away and ignored her.
Lan glanced at the other tribespeople, and seeing their dissatisfaction, she spoke up: "I will tell Lan that she didn't contribute this time, and the prey was halved."
Hearing her say that, everyone's expression improved considerably.
Seeing this, Lan sighed silently, especially thinking about the emotions she had just seen in Cao's eyes, and rubbed her temples with some difficulty.
Sang Zhitao took everything in, her face showing amusement, and followed Lan and the others back to the tribe.
It was then that she realized the men here were only about 1.67 meters tall, which was frighteningly small compared to the women.
However, even though the men here are small, each of them carries a dagger at their waist, and their eyes are filled with determination. Every now and then, a few of them are carrying small prey. It is clear that even if they are not as strong as the women, they are still capable of fighting.
Time flies. In Sang Zhitao's eyes, it seemed like only a blink of an eye before ten years had passed.
Over the past decade, she has witnessed firsthand how a virus, seemingly from nowhere, has eroded this land. She has seen everything turn upside down in the affected areas, and she has seen Lan's tribe become the only safe haven.
The tribe was in turmoil that day, and Lan, with an even more resolute expression, swept her fierce gaze toward Cao, who was kneeling on the ground: "You betrayed the tribe!"
Cao glanced at her indifferently, then suddenly burst into laughter. Before Lan could react, she calmed down and said coldly, "So what?"
"Why?!" A buzzing sound rang out, and black smoke rose from the air. Lan stared at the grass in disbelief. "Why did you do this?!"
Cao shook off the person who was no longer able to hold her down due to the black energy, stood up with a mocking look, and looked at Lan: "I don't like this world. Why should the weak be looked down upon? Why should men enjoy our protection?"
The black aura grew thicker, and the sounds of fighting came from outside. Lan no longer wanted to pay attention to the somewhat crazed Lan, so she immediately picked up the stone axe next to her and rushed out the door.
As Cao watched her rush out, his expression grew increasingly frantic: "You can't leave! You have to watch! I'm right! I'm right!"
Cao followed Lan out the door, but the scene before her eyes gradually erased the madness in her eyes, replaced by a sense of panic.
Lan's lover sat on her shoulders, one holding a stone axe and the other a stone spear, and together they charged at the frenzied animal.
Other tribes members generally form similar alliances; even single men and women can form a brief alliance with just a glance.
There was only one man, taller than the others, yet more delicate-looking. He held his protruding belly, staring blankly at the scene.
Nobody had time to pay attention to him; everyone was fighting for their future.
He took a few steps back, scanning the crowd with a look of panic, hoping to find the person he was looking for, until he saw the grass.
The man's eyes lit up, and his face lit up with joy. He ran forward a few steps, but just as he fell into the attack range of a giant beast.
"No!!" Cao's voice was filled with unimaginable panic and urgency. She ran forward as fast as she could, even as she fell several times and was accidentally injured and covered in blood, she was determined to rush toward the fallen man.
"It's all my fault... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Cao hugged the man with a blank look in her eyes, her hand stroking the man's high belly, which was raised high in the shape of a handprint, just touching her hand.
Cao stared blankly at the sensation in her hand, then watched as the child in the man's womb gradually fell into stillness.
Sang Zhitao was completely bewildered. She felt like she had missed something, wondering how she had suddenly stepped into the apocalypse.
Suddenly everything went black. When she came to her senses, the world had entered an era where men conceived and women raised children. The women here were no longer frighteningly tall, and the men were no longer so delicate that they were pitiful. They were more like ordinary men and women, except that the men's bellies could bear offspring.
The wheels of history roll ever onward, and it seems that only animals and men and women have been reversed in the world; language and writing have remained in their original forms.
Until they accidentally obtained a black stone at a Taoist temple.
Sang Zhitao felt that the stone was ominous and made her extremely uncomfortable. She subconsciously drifted back a few steps.
The Taoist temple regarded the stone as an evil object and suppressed it in the Demon-Locking Tower for many years.
Later, the Taoist temple fell into disrepair, and the last old Taoist priest died. Many years later, the dilapidated temple welcomed its first group of guests, a group of notorious bandits.
They escaped into the only intact building, the Demon-Sealing Tower, and found a wooden box locked with nine chains.
Greedy people cannot resist their own greed; even an ordinary wooden box can become a treasure in their imagination.
The black stone was casually tossed onto the hillside, where it rolled into the stream and was swallowed by a fish.
Everything seemed like fate, or perhaps a coincidence. The dark mist that had changed the world where women were once dominant and men were subservient quietly entered everyone's bodies, and then everything was turned upside down again.
This time, it's the human cognitive and language systems that are reversed.
Delicious food is considered unpalatable, and unpalatable food is considered delicious; moving forward is considered moving backward, and moving left is considered moving right; going out is considered walking in, and spitting out is considered eating.
As everything drew ever closer to the inverted world she perceived it to be, Sang Zhitao snapped out of her reverie.
"Are you asleep?" The Crown Princess hurriedly stepped forward, and Toya followed suit, looking at her with concern.
Sang Zhitao nodded and pointed to a place that no one else was paying attention to, saying, "The miracle I was talking about is there."
The Crown Princess and her entourage turned their heads and saw an upside-down door with a group of people standing behind it.
They greeted each other briefly, got used to each other's way of speaking, and then said a simple goodbye.
“Now that you all understand, let’s talk about the statue.” Sang Zhitao sighed and recounted everything she had seen in the illusion.
The Crown Princess sighed and nodded: "I've seen both of these legends, and I've believed them."
Sang Zhitao nodded: "It's right not to believe, but there's one thing I need to make clear. I don't think this black energy is a good thing. The first time it reversed the body and order, the second time it reversed cognition and language, so what about the third time? Could it be even more dangerous?"
The Crown Princess frowned, a hint of worry flashing across her face.
"Can you handle this?" Toya frowned as she looked at Sang Zhitao.
“Haven’t you noticed? People infected with the forward-order virus have their language systems corrected. You can no longer speak in reverse order.” Sang Zhitao looked at Toya.
"You mean...?" Toya looked at her with some surprise.
Sang Zhitao nodded: "Yes, fight poison with poison!"
Toya turned to look at the Crown Princess, who pondered for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.
Fighting poison with poison is not a simple matter. First, the toxicity of the virus must be removed while preserving its corrective capabilities. Then, the public's bodies must be examined to identify the contaminated areas.
Everything proceeded smoothly, but Sang Zhitao did not return to Earth immediately. Instead, she avoided the laboratory and stayed behind for a while.
Two months later, the vaccine was finally developed and sent to major hospitals, and residents of the upside-down world completed their vaccinations according to the government's arrangements.
Gradually, the language and cognitive systems were corrected, men's fertility was reactivated, and women's powerful genes were also activated. Everything was moving in a positive direction.
Sang Zhitao finally bid farewell to the upside-down world and returned to Earth.
In the palace, the Crown Princess entered a dilapidated palace, where the aged and frail emperor lay on his bed, barely clinging to life.
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