“You can tell a person’s character at three that will last till eighty” – this old saying had some truth to it.

Yi Sa felt that her street smarts from age three, which had been more numerous than a fly’s legs, had evolved through years of experience and dealing with people into an all-seeing divine eye.

This tangled mess of past and present, cause and effect, fragments – after her sorting, became clear and orderly, with distinct patterns.

Clearly, before this cycle of human civilization, there were previous cycles – no wonder people say there’s nothing new under the sun, everything is just history repeating itself.

The previous civilization had advanced further, higher, and stronger than the current one, and also encountered its fatal adversary: artificial intelligence.

Yi Sa didn’t know much about artificial intelligence – probably just robots, anyway something developed from computer and network technology.

This thing, when you think about it, was quite terrifying.

Take smartphones for example – in just a few decades, they’ve evolved from simple “phones” into tools with countless functions that most people can’t live without.

Humans inherently dislike being watched, yet phones conduct this surveillance around the clock.

They can help you pay your phone bill, utilities, and all sorts of fees each month, knowing your every income and expense better than you do.

They know your daily routine, walking speed, activities, body temperature, heartbeat, and sleep quality.

They understand countless secrets you keep from others:

— You maintain a respectable facade, but you’re a pedophile with twisted sexual preferences, because you frequently click certain hidden links, your gaze lingering there repeatedly;

— You claim to love A, but your heart belongs to B, because you’re lazy about replying to A’s messages, yet check B’s status eighty times a day, not daring to comment or like;

— You’re two-faced, claiming to be someone’s devoted fan here while logging into an alt account to trash-talk there;

— You like spicy and sour flavors, often order XX takeout, won’t buy clothes over 200, but willingly spend money on game skins, because your every consumption pattern reveals certain inner preferences and desires to it;

…

In ancient Chinese horror stories, there were monsters who secretly observed humans, and mimicked them, waiting for the chance to take their place.

Who knows if phones, computers and such haven’t already gained consciousness, just lying dormant, silently observing, accumulating big data on humans, while gradually building up their advantage for a decisive strike.

Their advantage is already showing, isn’t it? While ordinary people still can’t figure out the rules of Go, AlphaGo is happily competing with top players in the world, winning more and more.

Of course, currently, they’re still obedient, following human commands, not overstepping or malfunctioning – but what if they’re just pretending?

Some people dismissively say: It doesn’t matter, humans triumph through thought, only humans can produce thought, and they’re just a pile of electronic components and scrap metal.

But what exactly is thought, and how is it produced? No one can explain. Medical experiments have dissected so many brains but never found “thought” – moreover if a flesh and blood-brain can produce thought, who’s to say wood, stone, or electronic components cannot?

…

In short, the previous cycle of humans retreated step by step under the offensive of artificial intelligence. They tried various ways to save themselves and then discovered the secret of reincarnation.

The universe, Earth, and even humanity were like a “Reset” game – after one cycle ends, they would reorganize and come back online.

The means of reorganization might be various natural disasters capable of erasing human traces: be it great floods, volcanic eruptions, violent tectonic movements, seas turning to mulberry fields, seabeds rising to become the world’s highest peaks – all together, shuffling the deck of mountains and rivers, like smashing a mud monkey back to clay and mixing it with water to mold a mud dog.

Those extremely rare traces that weren’t erased became unsolved mysteries, alien theories – who would particularly care? Most people don’t even pay one-tenth the attention to this world as they do to whether they’re hungry or if their hairstyle looks good.

They had a plan: forge a sturdy Noah’s Ark, lead the survivors through the catastrophic reorganization, find a way into the next cycle, and launch a counterattack on the battlefield before the situation deteriorated beyond the point of no return.

But the ark couldn’t possibly be big enough to fit everyone inside, so the plan was divided into two phases.

Phase One: Extract somatic cells from survivors, implant memory carriers, and breathing soil components.

Phase Two: Successfully pass through the reorganization period, enter the new cycle, and then find sufficient hosts for grafting.

The only flaw in this plan was probably that the technology wasn’t stable enough, with low success rates, but given the circumstances then, they had to rush it into action.

That ark was the Drifting Cave, perhaps not just one, and clearly, after experiencing earth-shattering reorganization, it passed through a long dormancy period and entered a new cycle – and what it stored wasn’t just somatic cells, but also a squad of death-defiers, namely those who would pave the way for the main force to follow, including the founding ancestors of the three families.

The timing of the Drifting Cave’s first opening must have been roughly calculated, but the development timeline of human society was hard to predict – it could spend ten thousand years just grinding stone tools, a thousand years fighting with iron weapons, or experience a technological explosion in ten years.

So better early than late, and they had to keep releasing “doves” to probe, adjusting the timing of the next release based on feedback, and the next after that.

The death-defiers were these “doves.”

Statistically speaking, it was unlikely to receive good news from the first release of Doves. One can imagine: the first batch released wrapped themselves in leaves and smashed rocks in caves; the second batch was bored making clothes from animal hides using bone needles…

The Nth batch released encountered Yu the Great controlling the floods.

Intriguingly, many cultures’ mythologies independently contain stories of a great flood.

China has Yu the Great controlling the floods.

The Bible has Noah’s Ark.

The Maya sacred text records: that people drowned in sticky rain falling from the sky.

Babylonian mythology says: that God Bel was angered by humans and decided to destroy humanity with a flood.

Ancient Mexican texts say: in one day, all people were extinct, mountains disappeared under the flood…

Perhaps this cycle of civilization truly almost faced a devastating flood but was saved by the previous cycle of humans.

In the East, first heavenly gods brought breathing soil to help the people, then Yu the Great controlled the floods; in the West, there was that famous Noah’s Ark – could that ark have been formed from breathing soil, even the name “Noah’s Ark” being borrowed?

In any case, the founding ancestors of the three families began laying their groundwork from here. Maybe to accelerate social development and make subsequent timing more controllable and predictable, they even guided and influenced Yu the Great: China’s transition from the “abdication system” to “hereditary rule” started with Yu the Great, jumping from the indefinite ancient times straight into slave society.

The ancestors established the water ghost plan, or perhaps the plan was already conceived, and they just implemented it step by step.

— No place was more secretive than deep in great rivers, so the reincarnation ferry ports for receiving life were hidden underwater;

— The main force would come through water, so being able to survive underwater was the primary condition, that needed to be deeply embedded in everyone’s DNA;

— To avoid raising alarm, they packaged their families as mysterious, packaged themselves as prophets, speaking flowery words about “flying without wings, facing without meeting face to face” instead of directly saying “When computers start appearing, you should go to the Drifting Cave,” otherwise, later generations might become suspicious.

— They were human, only humans understand humans, knowing families would secretly rejoice in these special abilities and the resulting wealth dividends while keeping a low profile, and also knowing that one day, when these dividends ceased and the gift’s inheritance was cut off, they would go searching for the Drifting Cave.

Yi Sa sat cross-legged on the bed, wearing her mud-colored T-shirt that had dried on her body, her hair still tangled in knots, eyes sparkling as she expounded enthusiastically.

Zong Hang was the perfect listener, never interrupting her throughout, even eagerly bringing her an opened bottle of mineral water in between.

Yi Sa held the bottle without drinking, avoiding letting water interrupt her unstoppable stream of speculation. Only after finishing did she throw her head back and take a big gulp, then wipe her mouth with the back of her hand and ask Zong Hang: “So, any thoughts?”

Zong Hang said: “I’m going to be replaced by artificial intelligence in 2040?”

Yi Sa glanced at him: “Can’t you think on a bigger scale?”

She had talked about the previous civilization, such a grand topic, yet he was still fixated on being replaced.

Think bigger? Zong Hang didn’t know how to think bigger: looking out the window, he could see a bus slowly driving past on the street below, a man who had missed his stop running after it, but the driver refused to open the door; further away, a shopping mall was having its opening, with banners full of phrases like “Complete Success”, “Warm Celebrations”, “20% Off” decorating its facade.

Against such mundane scenes, talk of a previous human civilization seemed like a dream.

Yi Sa said: “If there are no questions, let’s tell Ding Panling this way. Those fragments, you just say you saw them when you were in a daze underwater. Anyway, we’ve done what we needed to do, what comes next isn’t our business.”

Zong Hang asked in surprise: “We’re done?”

“Yes.”

She had already told Ding Panling everything she knew, what more could be wanted?

“We’re just going to leave it at that?”

“What else is there to manage? Everything is so clear now, let Ding Panling figure out what to do next. He has more connections and ideas than us, and more capability too. We can retire with our mission accomplished.”

Zong Hang said: “You’re not concerned at all about what happens in 2040?”

“What’s there to be concerned about? It’s just a prediction. Besides, since Hawking made this prediction and many scientists have issued warnings, wouldn’t those in power, the elites, people more capable than us, pay attention to this? Wouldn’t they actively look for solutions? When the sky falls, there are taller people to hold it up – what are you worried about?”

That made sense. With so many people in the world smarter, more capable, and more far-sighted than him, wouldn’t they have thought of this? It wasn’t his place to worry about the fate of all humanity.

Just as Zong Hang was about to say something, there was a knock on the door.

Having solved the great mystery, Yi Sa was in high spirits, practically bouncing off the bed, and walking to the door with unusually light steps. She looked through the peephole, then turned back to remind Zong Hang: “It’s Ding Yudie.”

Zong Hang suddenly remembered the leg-grabbing incident: “He’s not… coming to settle scores, is he?”

Could be. Yi Sa gave Zong Hang a look: “Let me do the talking, you just follow my lead.”

Then she pulled open the door.

Ding Yudie was leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, his expression unfriendly. Having just eaten, he was full of energy for a verbal battle.

No need to be tactful about demanding an explanation.

He got straight to the point: “What’s the meaning of this?”

Yi Sa asked puzzled: “The meaning of what?”

Zong Hang looked at Ding Yudie bewilderedly, then at Yi Sa, appearing completely confused about the situation.

Still pretending!

Ding Yudie was angry: “When we were locking the Golden Pool, right after entering the water, you both grabbed my legs, almost pulling me over!”

Yi Sa said: “Wait… let me get this straight, we grabbed your legs? No, Ding Yudie, let me ask you, both Zong Hang and I can sit in water, I’m even a water ghost, and my underwater skills aren’t worse than yours, why would I need to grab your legs?”

Ding Yudie said: “Yeah, that’s what I want to ask…”

Yi Sa interrupted him: “Did you see it? See it with your own eyes?”

Ding Yudie was momentarily speechless: “It was so dark underwater, who could see anything?”

“Then what makes you say it was us who grabbed you?”

Ding Yudie started to stammer: “Well, at that time, underwater beside me, there were only you two.”

“Are you sure? That person singing the Yin Song did shout ‘the door is open’ – who knows what came out when the door opened?”

Zong Hang cooperatively shuddered.

Ding Yudie was stunned for a moment, finally understanding, his expression gradually changing: “Damn, you mean there was…”

His back grew cold: it was true, that old man’s singing was so creepy, who knows what it might have summoned.

He had jumped to conclusions. Feeling uncomfortable, Ding Yudie quickly moved to the next topic.

He gave Yi Sa a look, gesturing her to come closer, then lowered his voice: “Let me ask you, did you discover anything in the Golden Pool?”

Yi Sa played dumb: “Shortly after entering the water, my mind flashed like lightning, and then I lost consciousness. When I opened my eyes again, I was already in this room. What could I have discovered?”

Ding Yudie smirked: “Right, we’re all the same, but you need to be good at discovering, you know? Many things leave traces. You need to be observant, and then… you’ll find things aren’t simple at all.”

Yi Sa’s heart skipped a beat: “What did you discover?”

Ding Yudie showed an arrogant expression: “Many things.”

“First, after waking up, I found my throat here was red, just here…” he tilted his head back to show Yi Sa, “Also, my T-shirt, it’s a designer brand, can’t be pulled, can’t be machine washed, but its neckline stretched out, and there’s a place at the back of the collar where the fabric is wrinkled and deformed. What does this indicate?”

Oh my.

Zong Hang almost laughed out loud, quickly lowering his head and pretending to clear his throat to cover it up.

Yi Sa gripped the back of the door with one hand, forcing herself to make a frightened expression: “What does it indicate?”

“In the Golden Pool, something must have pulled my collar, some unknown creature.” He lowered his voice, “Maybe even reanimated corpses, and also…”

“When I took off my clothes to shower, for some reason, I picked them up and smelled them, and I discovered… an aged vinegar smell.”

Yi Sa picked up her collar and pretended to smell it: “No, I don’t have that. Maybe you’re imagining it? Your nose is stuffed with Yellow River water, it’s not working right.”

Ding Yudie glared at her: “What imagination! I live in Shanxi, do you know how many dumplings I’ve eaten with aged vinegar? Could I mistake that smell?”

“And!” He swiftly released his hand to show her a transparent plastic bag he’d been clutching, even shaking it a couple of times, “When I was washing my hair, I found two millet grains in it, I put them in this bag. What does this indicate?”

It indicates that the Shanxi specialties Ding Panling prepared included millet, what else could it indicate?

Ding Yudie was triumphant: “I need to discuss this properly with Uncle Panling. Throughout generations of locking the Golden Pool, no one has ever provided any clues. Why? It’s not that there weren’t clues, but that they weren’t good at observing, nor at thinking. The clues I got, though not many, make me the only water ghost who’s ever gotten any, only me!”

He shook the plastic bag again, showing her his uniqueness: “Opportunity always favors the prepared.”