northernbook Chapter 190 The Clown Was Actually Me
Chapter 190 The Clown Was Actually Me
Bo Wang snorted and chuckled, "You say you know a little, but not much. Mars is the third planet. The stars are in the sky. If you're so capable, go see for yourself. There's no faking it."
Lin Fan didn't dwell on those things and wanted to get straight to the point: "Brother Ma, putting aside these astronomical matters, is there any way to go to other worlds?"
Bo Wang shook his head. "Isn't it obvious? Build a space shuttle and fly it out."
"What? Space shuttle?" Lin Fan hadn't expected such a simple and straightforward question.
And ultimately, what Bo Wang said made perfect sense, and it was indeed a simple and straightforward truth. But it was uncertain whether his own world was even in the same universe, and what his coordinates were. Nevertheless, clinging to a sliver of hope, Lin Fan still intended to get to the bottom of it.
So there really was a space shuttle?
King Bo nodded and then shook his head. "Back when humanity was still a primitive civilization, when my Bo clan controlled fire, it certainly existed. However, even with the abundant talent of my clan at that time, we couldn't reach another star system, let alone humanity today, whose civilization is now dimmed. Moreover, those spatial artifacts back then..."
Lin Fan interrupted the other person, "All this talk is just a way out because there's absolutely no other way."
The king's horse-like face revealed a strange smile. "I've told you the method. How you do it is up to you. I can't expect you to build a space shuttle for me just because I've told you the method, can I? You humans always think about getting something for nothing. To accomplish anything, you have to rely on your own efforts..."
"Alright." Lin Fan was a little annoyed. "I didn't ask you to lecture me. The method you suggested is not a solution at all. Look at me, how much longer can I live? No matter how hard I try, what can I accomplish in my lifetime?"
King Bo spread his two strange, long arms and said, "You look quite old, but you talk like a child. You humans should understand the principle that to attain the Dao, one must first achieve immortality!"
Lin Fan simply plopped down on the ground and said nonchalantly, "Fine, I also want to live forever. Didn't you say you knew the Eighteen Forms of the Longevity Technique? Teach me one, please."
"I'm your father, why should I teach you everything for free?" Although King Bo said this, he still generously said, "There are seventeen kinds. If you want them, I'll write them down for you. Anyway, in this day and age, all the spiritual herbs from back then can't be collected anymore, so they're useless to you."
"You big horse, you're useless and you still want to be my father? By the way, among your seventeen kinds, is there any that uses people's hearts, livers, intestines and stomachs as medicinal ingredients?" Lin Fan simply asked about the matter with the Taoist Wanshou before, and if there was a bad result, he would burn it and tell his cheap master.
After pondering for a moment, King Bo said, "If it's the flesh of some spirit beasts, that's fine, but what use is it to humans? If you're going to say that, then we ate plenty of it back then, and we didn't see anyone gain immortality from it."
Upon hearing this, Lin Fan's gaze towards Bo Wang turned hostile.
"Hey kid, so what if you ate human flesh?" King Bo snorted and chuckled. "Back then, what was the difference between you humans and pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep? What if one day your human race declines and is replaced by something else—in your words, half-pigs—who become the overlords of this world? Would you think it's justified to hold you humans accountable for eating pork back then? You are the most intelligent of all beings now, but you weren't back then. Besides, as the last king of the Bo race, after surrendering to you humans, do you think I would do something so suicidal?"
Lin Fan was speechless for a moment. As a human, he would definitely abhor any animal that eats people from a human perspective. However, Bo Wang's words did make sense from another angle.
Ziyue squeezed Lin Fan's hand, and Xiao Yi crawled out of the haystack and gently nudged Lin Fan's palm with its head.
Lin Fan made a joke to ease the tension, "So I really need to find out which race will be next after humans. Starting tomorrow, I will stop eating their flesh to avoid being purged in the future."
Bo Wang grinned, a mocking expression appearing on his horse-like face. "You don't need to worry about that. Although you have a dish called 'Ants Climbing a Tree,' as far as I know, there are no real ants in it."
Lin Fan was startled and looked in surprise at the head he was touching in his palm. It was an ant!
In fact, Lin Fan had been wondering why there were such lifelike mechanical beasts. He couldn't understand why the Mo Clan, which could make mechanical beasts of this level, would really need to use living people to make the mechanisms.
It seems that's not the case now; Xiao Yi was always like this, only transformed like a human. Of course, a new question arises: how do ants chant scriptures? They don't seem intelligent enough to speak.
Without delving into the endless questions that followed, Lin Fan finally understood why King Bo had said yesterday evening that this moment was enough to be recorded in history—it was because it was a meeting of three generations of intelligent beings.
No, no, Lin Fan suddenly snapped out of the King of Rebuttal's logic. He didn't need to believe everything this big horse said; it was all too absurd. Horses ruled the world before humans, and ants ruled after humans? And before horses? Surely not dinosaurs?
Lin Fan glanced at Bo Wang, but had no desire to continue arguing with him about such matters. He wasn't interested in questions that transcended the realm of human history. Lin Fan was still pragmatic; he didn't want to delve into things that would be pointless to know.
"Okay, okay, I'll be more careful not to step on ants when I walk from now on. So, is there really no elixir of immortality that uses human heart, liver, intestines, and stomach as medicinal ingredients?"
To explain this matter clearly, Lin Fan carefully recounted the story of the Longevity Ceremony at Linglong Temple.
Sure enough, Bo Wang grinned again, "Hahaha, this stupid old Taoist has definitely been fooled. There is no such pill formula. The medicinal properties are wrong. The purple aura of emperors and the courage of generals and ministers are incompatible. Although I don't know how to refine pills, I still understand such a simple principle."
In a corner of the stable, a girl in red squatted on the ground, drawing something on the ground with straw while muttering to herself, "The medicines clash? It seems so. Long live the Emperor, long live the Emperor, damn it, I actually died because of such an absurd thing. No, maybe there is a solution."
As she spoke, she began to study the texts seriously, but soon burst into tears, burying her face in her hands. "Waaah! I haven't read enough books on alchemy, and I don't even know all the auxiliary medicines he used. Alchemy books! Where can I find alchemy books?!"
Lin Fan squeezed Zi Yue's hand, and Zi Yue understood. She got up and kicked the crying and screaming Ma Sijiao away.
Lin Fan looked at Bo Wang and said, "Brother Ma, you're so capable, why are you willing to stay here all this time?"
King Bo was puzzled and frowned. "Yes, Lin Fan didn't expect even a horse to frown," he said.
"Why are you unwilling? Look outside, all of them are my beloved concubines. Tsk, you don't know that the horses that can enter my stables are all pretty girls that I personally picked. Here, I can eat whatever I want. Although it's not as luxurious as the old palace, the living space is more than enough. Besides, the Duan family doesn't really restrict my freedom. As long as I don't do anything to offend the Imperial Observatory, I can go wherever I want and for as long as I want without anyone interfering. If it were you humans, you would have food and drink, be able to leave whenever you want, and be constantly sent all kinds of beautiful women. Wouldn't you be unwilling?"
Ah, this. Lin Fan, who thought that Brother Ma was being held captive here and forced to breed, realized that the clown was himself.