Striving for Science C94 pt1

In the hearts of all the yaos, the Heavenly Dao was a mysterious and unattainable existence. Yet, here and now, before the eyes of everyone, he actually claimed to be a panda yao, and even worse, a panda yao that had only cultivated for a thousand years?

The elders of the Beast Yao clan trembled, unable to raise their heads. They were afraid that if they did, their faces would betray their terror.

They didn't understand why Heavenly Dao Lord would lie, but they knew that at this time, in this place, no matter how many questions they had, they couldn't show even a hint of it.

Shen Chang'an felt his mind was a bit slow, as if he had heard a sentence, but it couldn't enter his brain. He couldn't react to it emotionally.

Panda, panda spirit?

Dao Nian?

A gust of wind blew in from somewhere, lifting the blanket covering Shen Chang'an's face. His eyes met Dao Nian's. Those eyes were still so beautiful, but the usual calm, like a deep pool, now held a hint of stubbornness and anxiety.

What was Dao Nian worried about?

Was he worried that Shen Chang'an would despise him for being a yao?

Or was he worried that Shen Chang'an would be angry?

Or perhaps... worried that Shen Chang'an wouldn't believe he wasn't a panda yao?

This thought suddenly flashed through his mind, and Shen Chang'an found it absurd. He struggled to turn his neck and looked at the people kneeling in the rain. Lightning flashed continuously, and his eyes had been splashed with rain, so they were blurry. He could only see a mass of people kneeling below.

"They... aren't human either?"

Dao Nian: "Mm."

He placed Shen Chang'an on the sofa he conjured with magic and used spells to dry his clothes. "Are you hurt?"

Shen Chang'an shook his head blankly. He looked at the kneeling people, some of whom had even turned gray, and felt a little uncomfortable. "They're kneeling, and I'm sitting. Isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

Seeing his unease, Dao Nian turned and told them to get up.

Rain pounded on the glazed tiles, making a clattering sound. Shen Chang'an fiddled with the blanket covering him, finally finding his voice. "Since you're a yao, why do you still provide funding for scientific thought propaganda to our Civil Service Department?"

"What do you mean by that? Species discrimination? You humans believe in science, so we can't?"

Shen Chang'an: "..."

Your existence is already unscientific. What discrimination, not discrimination, now there's a room full of yaos, and he's the only human. Who's discriminating against whom?

A cold wind blew in, and Shen Chang'an's mind cleared a bit. "Won't they get sick standing in the rain like that?"

"It's fine, they've all been through rough times." Dao Nian glanced at the yaos who dared not breathe. "Those who can't even endure this hardship won't become yao."

"Becoming a yao... is really not easy." Shen Chang'an replied dryly.

"It's ten times harder than you humans getting the top score in the college entrance exam. At least you don't have to be struck by lightning before taking the exam." Dao Nian also replied dryly.

The yaos looked at Dao Nian with tears in their eyes. Since you know it's so hard to become a yao, can't you lower the standards a bit?

"Only strict standards can make yaos understand what they can and cannot do." Dao Nian seemed to know what they were thinking and said to Chang'an, "This isn't a place for chatting. I'll send you back."

After such a long transition, Shen Chang'an had a lot to ask, but in front of so many people, he wanted to give Dao Nian some face, so all his emotions were suppressed deep down.

Dao Nian's words were exactly what he wanted to hear, so he stood up without hesitation.

But as he stood up, he saw these yao cultivators all say in unison, "We bid farewell to the two gentlemen."

Among these yaos, he recognized a few familiar faces. Since Long Guang had given him pearls and gems, he had a particularly strong impression of him.

Seeing Shen Chang'an looking at him, Long Guang gave him a warm smile.

Shen Chang'an: "..."

This person's surname is Long, and his ship is even named Crystal Palace. Could it be that he is really...

"He is the dragon who holds a very high position in your folk culture," Dao Nian knew what Shen Chang'an was thinking. "There's a shortage of everything in the ocean, except for pearls and gems. If he gives you any more of these in the future, don't be polite."

Hearing Dao Nian's nonchalant tone, Shen Chang'an couldn't help but ask, "Why can you make the dragon bow to you?"

"Perhaps..." Dao Nian turned his gaze to the yaos, who all lowered their heads, "Perhaps because I am a national treasure."

Shen Chang'an: "Huh?!"

"National treasures hold a special status. Humans have declared me a national treasure, so I have gained faith power, and other yaos will show me respect." Dao Nian said without changing his expression. "My ancestors were the vanguard and mount of Emperor Chiyou, and have always held a position above others."

But didn't Chiyou lose to the Yellow Emperor? What does "always" mean in this context?

Shen Chang'an's intelligence didn't allow him to believe Dao Nian's words, but as a friend, wouldn't it be impolite to express disbelief to a friend?

"Really?" Shen Chang'an raised an eyebrow at Dao Nian, then secretly observed the other yaos' expressions.

But these yaos were as if they had eyes on their foreheads, nodding in unison to agree with Dao Nian.

The sudden appearance of the man, the sudden provocation, and Dao Nian, who claimed to believe in science and acted as if he didn't see the female ghost, suddenly turned into a yao. Shen Chang'an felt that in his short life, he had experienced too many shocks that he shouldn't have.

He even felt that if someone told him at this moment that he wasn't human but the Jade Emperor, he could accept it with his eyes closed.

Even though it was the age of technology, Shen Chang'an felt like a traveler who had wandered into a different world. 

He lifted his foot and walked on the moss-covered stone steps, and suddenly a black umbrella appeared above his head.

This umbrella, full of modern vibes, seemed to pull him out of the bizarre world. He turned his head in a daze, looking at Dao Nian, whose hair was as black as ink, and suddenly wanted to reach out and touch his silky smooth hair, wondering if it was real.

But he didn't reach out.

"The ground is slippery." Seeing that he didn't speak, Dao Nian held the umbrella with his left hand and grabbed his wrist with his right. "Let's go back."

Shen Chang'an felt his feet lift, and the rain-soaked stone steps turned into soft... white clouds?

A gentle breeze blew on his face, and Shen Chang'an thought in a daze, was he flying?

The scenes he had fantasized about as a child were becoming real?

What made him feel even more bizarre was that as they gradually ascended, he didn't feel the coldness of the high altitude, and even the umbrella Dao Nian was holding remained perfectly still. This didn't conform to the laws of nature.

But, shouldn't it be against the laws of nature for creatures without wings to fly?

Shen Chang'an's mind was in a jumbled mess, so he simply sat cross-legged on the cloud.

The rain stopped at some point, and the sunlight, after breaking through the layers of clouds, stubbornly shone on the earth. Shen Chang'an stared blankly at the ground, then turned to look at Dao Nian, rubbing his face. It seemed he wasn't dreaming.

His best friend, wasn't human?

But... a panda?

He stared at Dao Nian, hesitant to speak. Dao Nian sat silently opposite him, letting him examine him.

"You really... are a yao?"

Dao Nian froze for a second or two, then nodded.

In that instant, many mythological stories flashed through Shen Chang'an's mind. Like the White Snake and Xu Xian, Nie Xiaoqian and Ning Caichen, the crane and the scholar... yaos and humans falling in love, it seemed none of them had a good ending.

No, why was he even considering this interspecies romance issue?

"Do you yaos have any clauses prohibiting yaos from dating humans?" Shen Chang'an couldn't help but ask.

"What?"

"Nothing." Shen Chang'an quickly shook his head. He sighed in dismay. Before he could figure out if he had improper intentions towards his good brother, he had to worry about the feasibility of human-yao love. What kind of dramatic life was this?

"Don't overthink it." Seeing Shen Chang'an's worried expression, Dao Nian reached out and touched the top of his head. "Although I'm a yao, I don't eat people."

Shen Chang'an: "..."

He didn't even have time to consider this question?

"Do you have any enemies who have it out for you?" Shen Chang'an asked. "There was a strange man today who suddenly said some strange things to me and brought me to you."

And made me expose your identity that you've been hiding for so long.

"Sigh." Shen Chang'an sighed. "Although you're a national treasure, your status is indeed very high, but you should still be more discreet. Otherwise, what will other yaos think? Jealousy is a terrible thing. It can make yaos lose their minds. To defeat you, they might do anything. So, whether you're a human or a yao, it's better to be low-key. The feudal dynasties have been gone for a hundred years, kneeling and bowing is not appropriate."

"I know who that person is, you don't need to worry." After waiting for a long time, he didn't receive any blame or resentment from Shen Chang'an, Dao Nian felt a sense of gratitude in his heart. "Chang'an, no matter what he says, don't believe him, I would never hurt you."

"I know that," Shen Chang'an nodded matter-of-factly. "We've lived together for so long, if you wanted to hurt me, you would have had countless opportunities. You wouldn't need him to provoke you. I'm not stupid, I'd rather believe a stranger than you. Whether you're good or bad, you don't need others to judge you, my heart will tell me."

Right after saying those words, Shen Chang'an saw Dao Nian actually curl his lips, revealing a smile.

What would it be like if a handsome person who rarely smiled suddenly burst into a genuine smile?

Shen Chang'an felt like his heart had stopped beating, his blood had stopped flowing, and nothing else in the world mattered.

Forget that Dao Nian is a yao, even if someone told him now that Dao Nian was actually a ghost, he'd still want to have a seventy- or eighty-year human-ghost love affair with him, and then a few hundred years of ghost-ghost love after he died.

Silently clutching his chest, a voice kept repeating in Shen Chang'an's mind: Shen Chang'an, Shen Chang'an, calm down, don't rush over.

If he rushed over now, Dao Nian would kick him off the cloud, leaving him to only experience a heart-wrenching ghost-yao love affair.

"Chang'an, thank you."

The heavy dark clouds finally dissipated, and golden sunlight bathed the entire world.

Shen Chang'an couldn't bear the glaring sunlight, so he raised his hand to shield it, looking at Dao Nian through his fingers as he sat bathed in the backlight.

Thump.

Thump.

He heard the sound of his heart struggling desperately.