Chapter 178: Tianshan Murals_1

This result far exceeded Jiang Yu's expectations, "Three 'Black Cuboids'? Where are the other two?"

Unruffled, Pei Yunqi displayed the second mural, which Jiang Yu did not quite understand. It depicted four circles of varying sizes from left to right.

On the upper side of the circles, three black cuboids went to the slightly smaller circle third from the left, which contained a sinister smiley face. On the lower side, a dotted line led one black cuboid to the far right circle.

Pei Yunqi explained, "The meaning of this mural is that the three black cuboids went to the second planet, which is Venus.

"But they encountered an accident on Venus, and only one black cuboid arrived on Earth.

"The specific accident is not clearly depicted in the mural; this sinister smiley face could represent a trap or enemies.

"In any case, the black cuboid that came to Earth must have been forced to do so, possibly due to some damage or as a means of hiding on Earth."

After a moment of staring at the ancient mural blankly, Jiang Yu asked, "Are we sure that the circles in the mural represent stars and planets?"

Wu Zheng was the one who replied, "Very sure. We've consulted experts in astronomy. Although the proportions between the large and small circles are not accurate representations of the Sun and planets,

"The proportions among the three smaller circles are roughly consistent with those of Mercury, Venus, and Earth.

"Moreover, the distance ratios between the three smaller circles and the large one are similar to the distances between the three inner planets and the Sun."

Pei Yunqi said, "Thanks to this mural, we can be confident that the 'Black Cuboids' taught the group from the Tianshan Ruins various knowledge, including astronomy."

The murals continued downwards, and the third one depicted figures with four arms and blurry faces emerging from a giant 'Black Cuboid.'

Around the 'Black Cuboid,' there were some trees and animals, each with dots on them as if they had been pricked with pins.

Pei Yunqi explained, "This likely represents the 'Black Cuboid' landing on Earth, but because the people who drew these murals were probably not the ones who made contact with the 'Black Cuboid People,'

"They only knew through oral tradition that the 'Black Cuboid People' had four arms, yet did not know their faces.

"We have never fully understood these dots in the murals; they can only tentatively be interpreted as depicting rain at the time."

Jiang Yu gazed at the third mural for a few seconds, feeling that something was off, but couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly it was.

The fourth mural was next, complex in composition, with the 'Black Cuboid' as a large backdrop. On the outside of the black cuboid, several human-like figures were leaving it.

Inside the heads of these figures, a simplistic figure was drawn with four arms, and the whole scene appeared somewhat eerie.

Also depicted were several 'Black Cuboid People' with four arms lying inside the 'Black Cuboid.' Their chests featured a double shadow of a heart, as though indicating the heart was still beating.

Jiang Yu couldn't make heads or tails of what that meant.

Pei Yunqi explained, "This is the mural that has caused us the most debate. Some believe it depicts a human tribe acquiring knowledge from the 'Black Cuboid People' and then killing them.

"Others think that the mural suggests the 'Black Cuboid People' had taken control over a group of humans, making them serve them.

"Regardless, this was likely the origin of the Tianshan Ruins group, who had already been able to smelt metals ten thousand years ago because of their advanced knowledge."

Jiang Yu asked, "Then why didn't they establish a civilization?"

Pei Yunqi responded, "The answer lies in the next mural."

The fifth mural depicted an erupting volcano with smoke obscuring the sun, while groups of people lie on the ground.

Pei Yunqi explained, "This indicates that the area where they lived experienced a volcanic eruption. The ash clouded the sun, causing a sharp decrease in food supply, leading to the death of many of their kin.

"But this explanation upends our understanding of the Tianshan Mountain Range's geology from ten thousand years ago.

"It was assumed that the Heavenly Mountain Range consisted mostly of extinct volcanoes, but it appears there was a significant eruption ten thousand years ago that produced ash capable of long-term solar obstruction.

"Moreover, the mural also suggests that because each tribe had few members, they couldn't cooperate to deal with disasters, leading to numerous deaths.

"This aligns with the research conclusions of anthropologists about the extinction of the Neanderthals, who were generally stronger than Homo sapiens.

"This resulted in their groups being smaller, less able to handle major disasters, and more vulnerable to attacks from Homo sapiens or wild animals."

Pei Yunqi continued the slideshow with the next three murals showing a group of people discarding objects and stealthily observing others while hunting.

Eventually, small groups of humans came together to form larger tribes.

Pei Yunqi's interpretation was that the knowledge learned from the 'Black Cuboid People' could not sustain them,

"So they discarded what they had learned from the 'Black Cuboid People,' started to learn hunting techniques from the Homo sapiens tribes, and formed larger tribes to survive. That is the origin story of the Tianshan Ruins group."

Following the narrative, there was a strange mural showing from left to right, an object shaped like a rectangular cuboid with a large X over it.

In the middle were two people, one above the other, both with a simplistic figure of a four-armed person in their heads.

Between these two strange figures was also a large X.

To the most right, there were two more figures, again one above the other. The figure on top also had a four-armed simplistic figure in its head, but the one below did not.

Between them was an arrow.

Pei Yunqi said, "We can't be sure of what this mural conveys either.

"It seems to suggest that after a long time without contact with the 'Black Cuboid,' the 'Black Cuboid People' could no longer control these humans.

"But such an interpretation does not align with the meaning of the last mural."

The final mural depicted a group of people with a rectangular cuboid above their heads, inside of which lay the 'Black Cuboid People' with four arms, their hearts still shadowed as if beating.

Some of the crowd began breaking off in groups, heading towards the 'Black Cuboid.'

Pei Yunqi explained, "If the previous mural indicated the 'Black Cuboid People' could no longer control them, then this doesn't make sense.

"Why would they seek out the 'Black Cuboid' if they had broken free from its influence?

"Therefore, our more logical hypothesis is that they had lost the technology from the 'Black Cuboid People' in order to survive.

"The final mural suggests that once the Tianshan Ruins group had stabilized, they remembered the 'Black Cuboid' and the high-level technology of the 'Black Cuboid People.'

"Thus, some began searching for the 'Black Cuboid' in hopes of regaining that advanced technology.

"The people from the Heifang Site were likely from one such group."