Chapter 335 (1/2)
The four ascetics did not speak after the spacecraft entered hyperspace. Other than Big Beardy, the other three simply sat on the floor, closed their eyes and began to meditate. Hao Ren wanted to talk to them about The Plane of Dreams and the Disciples of Glory, but they were not keen on chatting. They answered all the questions earlier only because they desperately needed to know the state that they were in. Now that they already understood their situation, the ascetics were back to a blank state.
However, Lily’s actions were not affected by the atmosphere. She did not care if they wanted to talk to her or not. She just started to talk to the three ascetics sitting on the floor, “Hey, don’t sit on the floor, there are chairs…”
The three ascetics sitting on the floor just shook their heads and did not say a word. Big Beardy simply replied, “We do not need unnecessary enjoyment. Meditating on the teachings of the goddess is already the highest pleasure.”
Hao Ren scratched his head and looked at Big Beardy, suddenly remembering something quite important. “Oh, yes! I forgot to ask your names!”
However, Hao Ren did not expect Big Beardy to shake his head gently and say, “The monks have no names. We do not need names and we do not need to be remembered by names.”
Hao Ren was shocked. “No Names? You all don’t have a name? How do you usually call each other? And how do you do things regularly without a name?”
Hao Ren felt like he had just heard something unimaginable. He could not picture how a group of people with no names could live or work. How did they assign tasks? How did they communicate with each other? How did they know who people meant when they talked about other ascetics? How did they report an accident involving another member out there? Nonetheless, Big Beardy looked really serious. He was obviously not joking.
“We don’t need names.” Big Beardy spread his hand and tilted his head towards the other three ascetics sitting next to him. Although no one was talking or opening their eyes, one of them slightly nodded and said, “The ascetics have their own methods of interaction and identification. The Pope is also be able to contact each of the ascetics using a secret method. Other than that, we don’t need to be responsible to anyone or require any more complex social interactions.”
Hao Ren was amazed to learn that these ascetics had built something like a spiritual network! They did have names, but only those within their “network” knew how to recognise them. He wondered how the network was established; was it simply by means of this boring meditation?
But, Big Beardy had stopped answering anymore questions. He lowered his head and entered into a meditative state like the other three. “Notify us once we’ve arrived.”
The four ascetics sat on the floor as if they were in an endurance competition. They were as lifeless as statues and they managed to turn the entire bridge into a dreary place. Lily could not stand the boring atmosphere and she soon started to walk restlessly around the four ascetics. She then ran around them, sniffed at them and muttered, “I’m so bored, I’m so bored… They make the air so stuffy! Why didn’t I feel this way when we were on the planet of little green men…”
“Of course, you didn’t. They weren’t meditating that time. Come back here, don’t disturb them. They are meditating.” Vivian was sitting in her seat comfortably, lecturing Lily as she knitted. A number of thick, silvery-white thread balls were in the small basket on her lap. Lily ran to the basket when she saw the thick thread. She grabbed a ball of thread and compared it to the fur on her tail. “Wow, this is my fur… and you turned them into threads in such a short time? How did you do it?”
“With the power of magic,” Vivian answered, knitting speedily. When she saw Lily rubbing the ball of thread against her tail, she poked Lily in the arm with the end of the needle. “Don’t bother, they won’t grow back. But, if you don’t mind becoming a hairy monster again, I can get you some of that hair tonic. Maybe I can knit a sweater for our landlord… and get me a pair of gloves.”
The fur on Lily’s tail all stood up the moment she heard this. She quickly threw away the ball of thread and ran back to her chair. Soon after, she was curled up and asleep.
Actually, the Sacred Relic of Origins was already on the Petrachelys and Hao Ren could have started experimenting with the Orb of the Holy Synod once they left the planet of little green men. However, he wanted to keep a sample for research purposes, so he gave the MDT one hour to replicate the Sacred Relic of Origins and hide it from the ascetics. After the spacecraft stopped at Kuiper Station, Hao Ren woke the ascetics up and pretended to communicate with the port’s Handling Department. He then told them in a serious tone, “Well, the device has been placed in the spacecraft’s laboratory. Let’s go see if the orb belongs to it.”
The four statues… Well, the four ascetics immediately stood up without a second of delay and said, “Let’s go.”
They rushed to the scientific research cabin, and half of them were there to watch the fun. The original version of the Sacred Relic of Origins had been put away and its replica was now placed on the research equipment in the centre of the laboratory. It looked exactly the same as the authentic one. The shipborne plant would never make a mistake in replicating such a “simple device”, and its accuracy of replication was on Gangplank¹ level.
So, the replica in the middle of the room could basically pass as the “genuine Sacred Relic of Origins”.
The ascetics ignored the dazzling, advanced machinery in the scientific research cabin. All their attention was placed on the Sacred Relic of Origins. This “ancient” device was hugely different from any other creation in The Plane of Dreams. However, the four ascetics saw signs of their homeland in the lines on the device. The MDT directed the manipulator to open the cover of the upper part of the Sacred Relic. The round hole the size of a football swiftly appeared before them.