Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

“Then let’s continue.”

It said, “Yesterday, we listened to the story of ‘Alibaba and the Forty Thieves’ in the One Thousand and One Nights. We happened to hear that, because of greed, the elder brother of the Ali Baba entered the cave to move the treasures, but he forgot the spell to open the door and was discovered and killed by the bandits. What happened next?”

In fact, it had heard the story many times.

But Peipei was still talking and listening with great interest.

When Ali Baba received the news of his brother’s death, he felt sorry for Ali Baba; when the bandits learned that someone had stolen the body of Gohsi’s mother and followed the clues to Ali Baba’s home, he was also on tenterhooks together with Peipei; when in the end, the witty maid, Markina, thought of a way to eliminate all forty bandits, he and Peipei took a long breath for Ali Baba’s family.

Deep inside its mind, countless pearl-like bumps were growing, which were its synapses.

When it was tired, the ‘pearls’ would emit lackluster yellow brightness. When it was angry, the ‘pearls’ would emit bright red brightness. When it was bored in the sea of stars, the ‘pearls’ would emit vague blue brightness. When it was rarely nervous, the ‘pearls’ would emit short and dazzling colors.

As for now, the colorful brilliance was flowing slowly like mist, turning the wrinkles of his mind into a splendid lake, indicating that it had been dwelling in the girl’s story. Two completely different ways of thinking, or rather, two vastly different souls, were echoing and resonating with each other.

“Just like that, Ali Baba told the secrets of the treasury in the mountains to his children and grandchildren. They inherited it from generation to generation and continued to enjoy the endless wealth in the mountains. They became the richest family in the city and lived happily ever after.

Peipei placed her two feet, which were as pink as lotus roots, into the dense brainwaves visible to the naked eye, as if she was really playing with the clear lake water. “Alright, the story of ‘Alibaba and the Forty Thieves’ is over. Do you want to hear a new story, Shanuya?”

In the past, it would only be satisfied after listening to several stories from Peipei.

But today, for some reason, a weird lightning seemed to have passed through its enormous and bloated neural network, giving it a new, weird idea.

“No.”

It said, “I don’t want to hear a new story. I want to… ask some questions.”

“Problem?”

Peipei was dazed for a moment. Shanuya rarely asked her questions, let alone in such a serious tone. “What do you want to know, Shanuya?”

“I still don’t understand the story of ‘Alibaba and the Forty Thieves’.”

It said, “Why did the bandit leader hide so much treasure instead of sharing it with his companions? Didn’t you say that ‘treasures’ are important to your species and can be traded for everything? Why did you hide your happiness instead of sharing it with everyone?”

“Well…”

Peipei blinked her eyes. There was embarrassment and confusion on her face.

“Also, if you want to share your happiness, why don’t you ask the bandit leader directly?”

It then asked, “After all, the leader of the bandits had so many treasures that his children and grandchildren wouldn’t be able to finish them even after hundreds of years. Therefore, there was no reason for the leader of the bandits to turn down the request, was there?”

Peipei pursed her lips and raised her nose. She frowned and blushed.

“Marquina, the smart maid, was not the leader of the bandits. Why did she lie to the bandits who were hiding in the urns?

It continued, “In other stories, you told me that it was wrong to lie, and it was wrong to hurt each other. But here, Malkina deceived the bandits first and killed them all with hot oil. Your species is different from mine. When you die, all your memories and legacies will be gone. They will be completely obliterated. Why did Malkina do such a cruel thing and seem to be praised by everyone?”

“That’s because the bandits wanted to kill the entire family of Ali Baba, including the maid Markina!”

Pepe finally found a question that could be answered. “This is a scheme. A good man slays a bad man. How is this cruel?”

“Scheme?”

It pondered for a moment. “The information blockage, information interference, and information misdirection that one type of carbon-based intelligent life does in order to kill another type of carbon-based intelligent life? But how to determine which type of carbon-based intelligent life is good and which is bad? Must the good be killed the bad?”

Peipei was speechless again.

The girl was dazed for a long time. Looking at the confused green brightness that was blinking nonstop on the other party’s synapses, she could only raise her hands in surrender. “I don’t know, Shanuya. The stories were written by my ancestors when they were still on Earth a long, long time ago. They were all about when they just got rid of their ignorance. There are a lot of concepts that I don’t understand, nor do I understand why they are doing this… Lying to each other, hurting each other, and possessing things that they simply don’t need.

“Maybe, maybe they were not really ‘intelligent creatures’ at that time, but a bunch of silly fools who often did inexplicable stupid things.

“Maybe. Your species is a bit silly. There are many things that cannot be explained.

It said, “For example, why do you call me ‘Void Hunter’? I’ve never hunted before. If ‘Hunting’ is a form of carbon-based life that preys on another carbon-based life in every way possible, my species does not have the concept of ‘hunting’ at all. You should know that we only eat planets and crush and swallow crystals and minerals directly. We don’t need other carbon-based life.

“I don’t know, either. It was a long, long time ago. At that time, our ancestors had just run away from their destroyed home. They were scared out of their wits by the vastness of the universe, and you… looked so different from us.

“Maybe my ancestors were scared that your mother would hurt them, so they called you ‘Void Hunters’ like the hunters did to their prey.

“It’s weird. Are we scared because we look different?

It thought for a long time but still failed to understand. “However, although Ali Baba and the forty bandits look the same, they are still wary of each other, deceiving each other, and hurting each other. You said that your ancestors had never seen any alien species in space before, and their biggest enemy was themselves. Then, why should they be scared of a stranger who has never hurt them?