Inquiry

If you asked a small-town test-taker from an ordinary, impoverished family what his childhood dreams were, the answer almost always came down to two things. First, to make lots and lots of money to buy all kinds of strange, wonderful toys and eat the snacks he could never bring himself to buy. Second, to become a scientist. Perhaps he had no real grasp of what a scientist actually was, but he believed it was a noble calling. Huang Tian had once been no different. Having repeatedly scored full marks in mathematics and English throughout elementary school, he had been encouraged by his parents, relatives, and teachers to study hard and become someone useful to society. It was back then that he had set his heart on becoming a great scientist. Later, in middle and high school, his grades remained near the top. But his hometown of Boyang was a poor place with mediocre schooling. Even ranking near the top of his class, he still lagged far behind the star students from the prefecture-level cities and across the province. In the end, he was only admitted to the mathematics department at Changda. During his undergraduate years, he had considered giving his all to academics, striving for postgraduate recommendation and eventually a doctorate. Yet financial pressure forced him to abandon that unrealistic notion. While at university, he kept busy taking all kinds of part-time jobs, and as soon as he graduated, he plunged headlong into the bizarre, kaleidoscopic factory of society. And then, barely a year in, he was laid off. Inside the bookstore, Huang Tian placed *Modern Algebra* back onto the shelf, thinking to himself, *After going in circles, everything has come right back to where it started...* Cultivation was a pursuit of unfettered freedom, of leaving behind no regrets. *Since I got laid off anyway, I might as well walk this path. No matter what, top-tier mathematicians and scientists never lack status, prestige, or wealth...* What was more, he wanted to use modern scientific research environments to explore what spiritual qi, cultivation, and magical power truly were. Furthermore, on Blue Star, apart from the path of spiritual qi cultivation, could other paths be forged? For example, genetic modification, bio-armor mechs, consciousness immortality... He harbored plenty of curiosity toward such things. *First, achieve something in my own field of mathematics. Once I gain prestige, I can delve into other disciplines...* The corners of Huang Tian's mouth curled up in a good mood. He browsed around the bookstore for other mathematics books, but after looking around, the only other one he found was a copy of *Functions of a Complex Variable* with yellowing covers. Carrying the book, he sat down on a soft sofa to the west. Soft light washed over the pages as Huang Tian turned them unhurriedly, his mind swiftly committing the knowledge within to memory. In less than half an hour, Huang Tian closed the book and leaned his head back gently against the sofa. Looking at the plain ceiling, all the contents of the book he had just read surfaced in his mind, interweaving with what he had learned in the past and deepening his understanding of mathematics by another degree. After a long while. *Buzz—* His phone vibrated. Knowing Zong Wenjun had finished buying the Kun Tea, Huang Tian stood up, returned the book to the shelf, walked out of the bookstore, and headed toward the tea shop. "Over here, over here!" Zong Wenjun made her way through the crowd, smiling as she handed over a jar of Kun Tea. "Here's your Earthen Jar Fuliang Snow Mountain!" Taking it, Huang Tian realized that this Kun Tea actually came in an earthenware jar cup. On top sat a snow-capped swirl of cream sprinkled with fine chili flakes, over Fuliang black tea below. It looked delicate and charming. Of course, being an earthenware jar, it felt quite heavy in hand, much weightier than an ordinary plastic cup. Plus, once the milk tea was finished and rinsed clean, it could be kept at home as a jar. "I remember when I came here in my junior year, Kun Tea was still served in bamboo tubes. Who knew it had changed." Huang Tian took two bites of the dairy cream on top. It wasn't overly sweet or cloying, and the chili powder carried no heat at all, serving purely as decoration. Taking a sip of the black tea, he remarked in all seriousness, "The flavor of the black tea hasn't changed, though. Good for quenching thirst." Zong Wenjun laughed. "If the owner of Kun Tea heard that, he'd be stamping his feet in fury, saying you have no taste." Huang Tian clicked his tongue. "I'm a common man. I have no palate for refined things." As they chatted and laughed, two wooden windows on the second floor of the Kun Tea shop were suddenly pushed open, revealing the figures of a man and a woman. The man wore a long white robe and a mask over his face, holding a wooden flute. The woman was clad in a pink dress with a veil over her face, a guzheng set before her. The next second, the melodic sounds of the flute and zither resonated through the air. "It's 'Love for Generations'!" The young men and women below excitedly whipped out their phones to snap photos and record videos. Zong Wenjun took two pictures as well, then turned her camera toward Huang Tian holding his Kun Tea, snapping several shots with quick clicks. The tune soon ended, followed by another novel melody, drawing more and more tourists to stop and listen. Standing in a corner below, they listened for a while and finished the Kun Tea. Huang Tian pulled out his phone to check the time—it was past eight-forty. "The lights at Tengwang Pavilion must be on by now. We can go have a look." "Let's go!" It wasn't far, so Huang Tian and Zong Wenjun scanned two shared bikes by the roadside and rode toward the Tengwang Pavilion Cruise Pier in the cool night breeze. They did not plan to ascend Tengwang Pavilion, for to truly appreciate its night view, one had to look from the outside. And one of the best vantage points was from a cruise ship drifting on the Gan River. Before long, they arrived at the Tengwang Pavilion Cruise Pier, arriving just in time for the nine o'clock cruise. The two bought tickets at the pier, boarded an antique-style cruise ship along with the orderly crowd, and headed straight for the third-floor deck. Many excited tourists stood on the deck, the click-clack of cameras rising and falling. A female tour guide in her thirties was explaining the history of Tengwang Pavilion, Chang City, and the Gan River to the crowd. "...Tengwang Pavilion was first built in the fourth year of the Yonghui era of the Tang dynasty. It was founded by Prince Teng, Li Yuanying, the son of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, during his tenure as the Area Commander of Hongzhou. It became world-famous thanks to the 'Preface to Tengwang Pavilion' composed by the Early Tang poet Wang Bo, and is celebrated alongside Yueyang Tower and Yellow Crane Tower as one of the Three Great Towers of Jiangnan..." "...In 202 BC, the Western Han general Guan Ying built a walled city here, known as Guanying City. Over more than two thousand years, its name changed many times—Yuzhang, Hongzhou, Longxing, and so forth—until the Ming dynasty, when it was finally designated as Chang City..." "...The river beneath our feet, as everyone knows, is called the Gan River, but few likely know where its name came from. In fact, back in the pre-Qin era, the Gan River was called Yanghan, and in the Han dynasty, it was known as Huhan..." *Hooo—* A long blast from the ship's horn drowned out the tour guide's narration. The massive cruise ship slowly set into motion, parting layers of rippling water as it steered out toward the middle of the river. The river flowed quietly beneath gentle breezes. On the eastern bank, towers stood tall amidst dazzling lights, like a spilled river of stars. On the western bank rose the grand, antique silhouette of Tengwang Pavilion, bathed in radiant illumination, resplendent and magnificent, like a celestial palace of jade. "This must be what Wang Bo described: 'Tiered ridges soar in emerald green, rising into the multi-layered skies'..." Zong Wenjun was lost in the magnificent splendor of Tengwang Pavilion, while Huang Tian favored the rippling river water. The river mirrored the moon; the cruise ship rippled its reflection apart, but once the ship passed, the waters settled, reuniting the broken mirror into a clear and bright moon.