Heavenly Book The Great Void

Chapter 17

He immediately remembered that this person was a specialist at the US headquarters, someone even Vice President Shang wouldn't dare offend; perhaps his tone had been a bit harsh. Besides, Mark might have contacted him for work-related reasons.

So Qiqi said apologetically, "It's nothing, I was just startled... Did you call me here for work?"

"Work? It's sacred time to get off work now! Any work can wait until tomorrow."

Mark said nonchalantly.

"Then you should look for me—"

Mark looked around warily and said, "Come with me."

Qiqi had no choice but to follow him in small steps.

Mark entered the Azure Dragon Department office.

The office was empty.

Mark walked straight to the small conference room of the Azure Dragon Division.

As soon as the door opened, Qi Qi was startled. At the end of the long table in the pitch-black small conference room of the Azure Dragon Division, there was a person sitting with his back to the door!

Mark urged Qiqi to come in from the door of the small conference room.

Qiqi reluctantly shuffled inside.

Mark immediately closed the door and turned on the light.

The person sitting with their back to the door turned around.

"Xiu! It's you?" Qi Qi exclaimed in surprise.

Xiu smiled slightly.

It turns out that Xiu can smile, and his smile is quite charming.

"Because it's you, it's me."

Xiu's words were like Zen koans, leaving people puzzled.

Mark said, "You two, you have to help me!"

"Me—us? Me and Xiu?" Qi Qi asked in confusion.

Mark raised his hand, spread his fingers, frowned, took a breath, and said, "I don't know where to begin—but please believe what I say."

Qiqi didn't know how to respond to this request, so she could only say, "Then you go first."

Mark ran his fingers through his beautiful silver hair and said, "On the surface, I'm an Englishman..."

"What about in reality?" Qiqi asked curiously.

"In reality, it may just be that his appearance, or rather, his earthly identity, is British."

Mark spoke very quickly.

His explanation only made Qiqi more confused.

Xiu spoke up: "Miss Yang, it's like this, what Mark means is—his memory—or soul, let's call it, is not the soul of an Englishman, but his physical identity, which is recognized by the world, is that of a British citizen."

After Xiu said that, Qi Qi understood a little and said to Mark, "This is normal. You are a medium yourself, so of course you know about reincarnation or possession. One person's soul can enter another person's body. It's not a big deal."

Mark asked anxiously, "Miss Yang, do you often have strange dreams? Has anyone told you that your identity is special?"

Qi Qi shook her head: "No, I rarely dream, and no one has ever said I have a special identity. You're the first. What's so special about me?"

Mark was deep in thought.

Then, he slowly said, "Let me tell you a story first. The story is absurd, so just take it as a fool's dream."

"A fool's dream," Mark is good at using idioms, Qiqi thought.

Just when everyone thought he was about to start spouting nonsense, he asked Qiqi again, still unwilling to give up: "You really haven't felt—from childhood to adulthood—that you are actually a very important person?"

Qiqi was both amused and exasperated: "I am very important, but only to my mother. Does that count as 'important'?"

Mark stared at Qiqi with a pained expression, sighed, and asked again, "Have you ever heard of... heard of... the 'Heavenly Book'?"

“Of course!” Qi Qi replied.

Mark was overjoyed: "Really? Then tell me how much you know!"

"'Heavenly Book' is, as the name suggests, a book that no one can understand. If someone writes in a flamboyant and incomprehensible manner, it will also be called 'heavenly book'."

Xiu laughed.

Mark was discouraged.

He asked Qiqi another question: "Why do you think so many people in the world know how to predict the future, especially the Chinese, who are so proficient in this art and have so many methods of prediction?"

When he asked Qiqi, he also glanced at Xiu, clearly asking him the same question.

Before Qiqi could answer, Xiu said, "This question is too broad. Please rephrase what you are asking."

Mark thought for a moment and said, “For example, Westerners believe in God, that God is the creator, and that human destiny is determined and controlled by God. So, all humans should be pawns and toys in God's hands, subject to His life and death—and here I must pay tribute to the Chinese language, 'life and death are at His disposal,' which, even expressed in the simplest language of Europa, would require six syllables, and would still lack a bit of the 'God-like' connotation—sorry, I digress. If God controls everything on Earth, how could He allow some of His toys to possess the ability to predict or even alter the life trajectories of other toys? That's practically God's power! Excuse me, do you have any coffee? I think our conversation is unlikely to end within an hour.”

Qiqi got up and made three cups of coffee.

Mark thanked him and said, "If we delve deeper, who sets the fates of these prophets, or people with all sorts of predictive abilities? Don't you think that all humans shouldn't actually have predictive abilities? If they do, it's a huge bug in God's game for humanity?"

"God is actually a game programmer. After the game was released and sold for a while, he discovered this huge bug. So, he was in a hurry to recall the game or design an antivirus program that customers could download for free to eliminate those with predictive abilities."

Xiu said it in a very serious tone.

Qiqi couldn't help but laugh.

Mark paused for a moment, then snapped his fingers: "Right! But fortunately, God's programming language is extremely sophisticated—using DNA sequences to control everything: gender, race, height, weight, when to get what disease, main talents and weaknesses, and so on. God can allow, and even appreciate, humans doing this kind of thing, slowly studying DNA—such humans, in God's eyes, are nothing more than—Have you ever played a game that China calls 'ant farm'? It's about raising a nest of ants in a nutrient solution in a transparent plastic box and watching them work and reproduce."

Qiqi nodded and said, "I have one on my desk at home. But Mark, why are you discussing Western Gods with two Chinese people like us?"

Mark said, "It's just a difference in terminology. Westerners call it God, Arabs call it 'Allah,' Indians call it 'Indra,' and Chinese call it 'Jade Emperor.' In more popular terms, they could also call it 'extraterrestrials.' Getting back to the topic, so-called 'predictive abilities' come in two forms: innate and acquired through learning. Throughout history, very few people have been born with predictive abilities. This might be due to genetic mutations or a mission bestowed by God. They revere God, dare not speak carelessly, and dare not casually 'reveal heavenly secrets,' fearing 'divine retribution,' that is, persecution by God. In reality, most of these prophetic masters met tragic ends. For example, the French prophet Nostradamus died of a painful, strange illness; the Chinese Jin Dynasty prophet Guo Pu was even beheaded. Fortunately, such people are few. If God discovers them, He can track them down, and if warnings are ineffective, He can eliminate them, even at the cost of violating the rules of the game."

Mark, who was thirsty, gulped down the coffee in his paper cup and then looked at Qiqi with longing eyes.

Qiqi had no choice but to get up and make him another cup.

Mark suddenly asked, "Xiu, Qiqi, have you two been good at feng shui since you were little?"

Xiu and Qiqi shook their heads at the same time.

Mark took a small sip of his piping hot coffee and said, "You guys actually have a coffee machine that grinds Blue Mountain coffee fresh, not bad—where was I? Right, you weren't born with predictive superpowers, but learned them through training, you all had 'masters' who taught you, right?"

Xiu and Qiqi continued to nod.

"You can also teach others Feng Shui, right?"

That's utter nonsense; Xiu and Qiqi didn't even bother to nod.

“Teaching someone to master the complete set of Feng Shui techniques must be a very complicated matter, right? It would take at least several years, wouldn’t it?”

Mark continued rambling.

Xiu and Qiqi both started drinking their coffee with their heads down, no longer looking at Mark.

Mark showed no shame for his rambling; instead, he asked a bunch of incredibly stupid questions: "Why does Prophet Company exist? Why does Prophet's Shanghai headquarters exist? Why does Prophet hire you and pay you? Why do clients keep coming to us to solve problems and generously donate money?"

Xiu yawned and said, "When you called me here, you told me you had something important to discuss. Now it seems—how about we switch to English or Japanese? What do you think?"

Mark laughed and said, “Don’t think I can’t tell you’re implying that my Chinese is bad and I can’t express myself well. Actually, what I’m trying to say is very clear: no one would pay someone to teach us how to chew and excrete, how to walk and read—because these are normal human instincts; similarly, nowadays very few people would pay someone to reinstall their computer system or how to use their mobile phone to access the internet—because these can all be done by studying the manual.”

Xiu said weakly, "Mark, I understand what you mean... You mean, our Prophet Company should develop a feng shui software program, along with a user manual, for example: 'On the day of Ji You in the year of Wu Chen, east and west are auspicious, north and south are inauspicious; travel is suitable, marriage is not...'"

"That's far from enough." Mark's eyes crinkled with amusement. "What you're describing is China's 'old almanac,' used by generations of Chinese immigrants in Britain and America. It's quite an innovative practice, and it's actually taken away a lot of business from our Prophet Company... You can master the whole process of burying ancestral graves, choosing houses, adjusting office feng shui, predicting annual fortunes, and even promoting wealth, career advancement, romance, and longevity—oh, I don't think there's such a thing as 'promoting longevity,' it's basically just praying for blessings. Wait—I know what you're trying to say, Xiu. You're saying that books teaching feng shui have existed since ancient times, countless in number—you're probably going to use those two idioms, right? I've noted them down. Please note, I said—there's a book that teaches you how to master feng shui without learning the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, or the directions, or even the Hetu, Luoshu, Six Lines, and Eight Trigrams, and reach the level of a professional feng shui master at our Prophet Company—you tell me, isn't that amazing!?"

"horrible!"

Xiu and Qiqi had no choice but to admit it.

"In that case, will you still be able to keep your jobs? Will Prophet Company still have any value?"

Xiu and Qiqi shook their heads repeatedly.

Qi Qi asked, "How could such a book exist? Who could have written it?"

“Yes,” Mark replied.

Mark stood up.

With a serious expression, he paced heavily a few steps in the small open space of the conference room, then, in a very adult and leader-like manner, rested his chin on his right hand, gazed at the banks of the Huangpu River outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, and uttered two words: "'Heavenly Book'."

Qiqi never expected that Mark would go around in circles and come back to the original topic!

Mark's voice suddenly sounded low and old: "Actually, there is a record of the 'Book of Heaven' in the Bible Prophecy. It says that the Book of Heaven is a classic book kept in the Kingdom of Heaven. It records many famous people and their deeds on earth. It has seven seals."

Xiu asked, "Does it also contain stories of famous Chinese Feng Shui figures? To be included, do you have to pay an 'editing fee' to God and buy a sample copy yourself?"

Mark turned to look at Xiu, frowning. "I have to say, Xiu, you're the most sarcastic person I've ever met... But I like it. I'll learn more about your way of speaking to be sarcastic to others, hmph. What I'm saying is—actually, this is all nonsense from God! After he finished programming the game for humans, he was afraid he'd forget the complex settings, so he wrote a guide only for himself—then, on his way to celebrate at a nightclub, he forgot this game guide, which anyone could understand, in the back seat of a taxi. In his frustration, he came up with the idea of publishing a notice in the newspaper declaring it invalid—telling whoever found the game guide not to take it seriously, that what they found was actually a record of famous people's deeds—what a joke—in fact, anyone who can beat that newly released game will get a million-dollar bonus!"

“You really are being harsh.” Xiu Jiaxu nodded.

Mark was quite pleased with himself.

Qi Qi asked somewhat skeptically, "Are you saying that the 'heavenly book' really exists, and that God is afraid that humans will value and study it?"

Mark nodded: "Absolutely right! Of all the races in the world, God fears the Chinese the most. That's why God portrays the dragon, the totem of the Chinese, as evil—because the Chinese possess 'heavenly books,' the ability to change the rules of the game, and directly confront God!"

Qi Qi was a little excited: "Really? Then why haven't I heard of anyone among the Chinese who possesses this 'heavenly book'?"

Mark looked at Qiqi with a complicated expression and said, "Probably no one but God should know when someone will move into a certain room, when they will get a promotion, or when they will have a car accident."

Qi Qi was startled! Yes, as a feng shui master, she could skillfully recount her clients' past experiences with almost perfect accuracy, but she never imagined that doing so was actually God's prerogative!

How can a mortal know the past and future fortunes of another mortal, and adjust or change them? This is something only the Creator can know and do!

Mark slowly said, "God allows so-called 'prophets' and 'psychics' to exist. Because such people are few in number and controllable. They can even be one of the character settings in the entire 'Human Game.' But what God cannot allow is someone who obtains the entire game's settings and modification methods! If his Human Game strategy guide, which he left in the back seat of a taxi, is found and printed into free flyers and distributed globally—God can only declare the advertisement for the million-dollar bonus after completing the Human Game invalid—otherwise, God's game company can only apply for bankruptcy protection from the Universal Bank!"

Xiu laughed heartily.

This was the first time Qiqi had ever seen Xiu laugh out loud.

So she laughed and said, "Mark, you have indeed become much more sarcastic in a short period of time."

Mark's expression turned serious: "Therefore, those who possess the secret book will be hunted down by God. They'll have nowhere to go, neither heaven nor hell will accept them. The only way to survive is—"

"Spread the Heavenly Book as quickly and widely as possible. Let everyone on Earth know about God's game rules, and then bring God into the game for a fair fight!" Xiu interjected slowly.

Mark snapped his fingers: "Great! Xiu, you're amazing. Exactly. You know... actually, the boss sent me here not just for some big order from some mysterious client, that's just a smokescreen, a way to fool God. The real purpose of this trip is—"

Xiu and Qiqi both tactfully leaned their heads toward Mark.