Atavism

Chapter 25

He quickly shone his flashlight around the area. This inhuman cave had no other way out, and apart from the dead body, there was nothing else noteworthy. Oh, the stone walls were covered with images of three rabbits, and in one spot, there were even words carved into them.

I placed an energy-saving lamp in the center of the stone chamber, and Liu Er turned on another one, instantly illuminating the cave as if it were daytime.

Approaching the skeleton, I was stunned. The reason this skeleton, sitting on the ground, didn't fall was because the finger bones of its left hand were embedded in the stone wall beside it, reaching all the way to the base of the bones. Only then did I truly believe that those three-rabbit images were carved directly from the stone by his own hands.

Looking at his head again, his upper and lower jawbones were extremely wide apart, clearly indicating that he had shouted loudly before he died. Such a person with incredible abilities died in extreme pain.

However, his skeleton looked quite intact, with no signs of being stabbed or wounded.

I was about to ask Liu Er for his opinion when I saw him staring blankly at the words left on the stone wall, his mouth agape, completely shocked.

What did this person carve before they died? I've never seen Liu Er so surprised. My curiosity instantly surged to its peak, and I quickly turned my gaze to the stone wall.

The lines of iron-like strokes and silver hooks, along with the inscription "Qitian Guisuo" at the cave entrance, are from the same hand.

"At the age of twenty-six, I suddenly encountered a strange change, my appearance drastically altered, yet I gradually comprehended the way of transformation. My body was now covered with 108,000 hairs, which could twist and turn at will, becoming soft or hard as I pleased. Thus, I first became a chivalrous hero in my hometown, then traveled throughout the Central Plains, meeting heroes and extraordinary individuals from all over the land, and none could rival me. During this time, divine images would occasionally appear spontaneously, slightly easing the pent-up frustration in my heart. When my mother died at the age of forty-eight, my footsteps had covered all of China, yet my heart was still not content. I longed for the scenery overseas, and my impatience grew increasingly unbearable. Finally, I parted ways with my brother, set sail, and only then did I realize the heavens..." The world is vast, the magnificent land of China. Yet I occupy only a small corner of it. In the blink of an eye, more than sixty years have passed since I left my homeland, traversing dozens of foreign countries, witnessing countless outstanding individuals. My innate talents and supernatural abilities grow stronger day by day, my blood and qi surge within me, and though divine diagrams frequently emerge, they cannot be stopped. Knowing my time is near, I return to my homeland, only to find the world now under the Ming Dynasty, and my brother long since turned to dust. I sigh at the fleeting nature of time, how quickly things change. I consider myself no ordinary person, unwilling to be like a clay chicken or a tile dog, disappearing into the fields. I find the secret cave I discovered in my childhood, which I call the Returning Place of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

It was originally called the Great Sage Equal to Heaven during the Yuan Dynasty. And so it returned to the world.

And then, in his final moments, he was overcome with rage, and the divine map appeared in haste. His father, in his youth, had unearthed a stele in the fields and placed it at home; it bore the divine map. He reasoned that his strange transformation must be related to the divine map. He added, "Throughout my life, I have left behind countless divine maps. These divine maps possess a spirit that chooses its master; perhaps, a thousand years later, another Great Sage Equal to Heaven will emerge—who knows?" Having read Sun Yu's final words, a mere three hundred-odd words, I, like Liu Er, stood there, stunned.

There really was a Monkey King, but he wasn't called Sun Wukong; he was called Sun Yu. His famous seventy-two transformations were actually far more than a hundred or a thousand. Someone must have seen Sun Yu's true form, which is why the rumor arose that he was actually a monkey.

"So I am the successor of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven," Liu Er murmured to himself.

Sun Yu described the characteristics of his own transformation, such as the "way of change" and "one hundred and eight thousand hairs all over his body, which could bend and twist as he pleased, and be soft or hard at will." Isn't that exactly the same as Liu Er's situation? And before Liu Er's transformation, he also happened to have seen the Three Rabbits Painting. I remember that everyone had already left the Twin Saints Temple, but Liu Er was still alone in the temple, touching the Three Rabbits Painting in a daze.

The truth is, everything is based on this picture. It's not some genetic trick. This picture can actually transform an ordinary person into the almost omnipotent Monkey King!

"The successor of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven." Liu Er kept muttering, his voice growing louder and louder, his emotions overflowing from initial shock to current excitement.

So many people used the Three Rabbits brand underwear back then, yet not a single one experienced any mutations. Instead, it was Six-Eared Macaque, who happened to see the Three Rabbits image in the Twin Saints Temple, who became the modern-day Monkey King of the 21st century. And this nickname given to You Hong now seems extremely fitting. The Six-Eared Macaque King, also skilled in transformation, is the creature most similar to the Monkey King.

I sighed, then looked at the bones of the previous Great Sage Equaling Heaven. With one predecessor, there was naturally one before that. The stone tablet Sun Yu's father dug up from the ground bore the image left by the Great Sage Equaling Heaven before that. Every Great Sage Equaling Heaven left behind images of three rabbits in various places; even with the lowest probability, many years later, a successor would still appear.

My gaze shifted from the skeleton, but I noticed something peculiar about the stone wall nearby. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that the stone wall was covered with countless tiny holes.

"Six Ears, come and see what this is."

These tiny pores are most concentrated around the bone and gradually spread outwards.

Looking at Sun Yu's wide-open mouth and thinking of his suffering before his death, a guess flashed through my mind, and I blurted out: "It was his hair. His hair exploded in all directions when he died."

Liu Er shuddered, clearly recalling the pain that would have occurred in that situation.

I ran to the stone wall opposite the other side of the skeleton and found the same narrow hole. I then shone my flashlight directly above Sun Yu's skull and asked Liu Er to check the cave ceiling for any holes.

"Yes." Liu Er nodded.

"Then that's it."

"To gain this skill in return, even if death is painful, it's worth it. Besides, Sun Yu has lived for over a hundred years, so it's all worth it," Liu Er said dismissively.

We sighed again at Sun Yu's skeleton and then returned the way we came.

As they climbed past the entrance to the rubble cave, a large rock suddenly fell from above. Luckily, they weren't hit, but some flying debris struck their cheeks. They quickly scrambled through, using both hands and feet. Liu Er followed closely behind, and another rock fell behind him.

When I stepped on solid ground, I felt a slight vibration, which didn't seem like it was caused by a large rock falling down; it would have been much stronger.

"Earthquake!" I exclaimed.

We immediately sprinted off, sharp stalactites constantly falling from above. It only took us three minutes to go from the Small Strange Stone Plaza to the Large Strange Stone Plaza. The earthquake had subsided somewhat, and several sections of the passage behind us were likely blocked. The most dangerous moment came when a boulder weighing over a hundred pounds fell directly on us. With no room to dodge, Liu Er shouted and punched the boulder away.

Running to the rope, Liu Er bent down and said urgently, "Come on up!" I pounced on his back, panting heavily. Liu Er used both hands to climb up the rope, and in a few seconds we reached the opening above. Fortunately, the worst hadn't happened; if the narrow opening had been blocked, we would have been doomed.

As soon as we entered the cave above, the tremors returned. The space on this section of the path was very small, and Liu Er practically ran out by skimming the ground. There was a cracking sound behind him, and when he turned around, the stalactite that had been holding the rope had broken. The space, which was 1.5 meters high, had shrunk to less than 50 centimeters. The mountain had pressed down, truly squeezing out all the space.

When we got back to the cliff, Liu Er was sprawled out on the ground, and I rolled off his back. We were both completely limp and had no strength left.

We later learned that the earthquake had a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale. Shunchang City suffered minimal damage, but the "Qitian Guisuo" (a sacred place) inside the Water Curtain Cave was gone forever. It was the small café that Liang Yingwu and I frequented. When I arrived, Liang Yingwu was already waiting.

“You’ve come,” he said.

After returning to Shanghai from Shunchang, I told Liang Yingwu everything that had happened. He was very surprised to learn that it was all the work of the Three Rabbits Diagram, because he and I had both thought that the Three Rabbits Diagram was one thing, and the Six-Eared Genetic Mutation was another.

He asked me to obtain hair samples from the perpetrators of the "4.23" case, and Wang Maoyuan helped me with this, bringing Zhang Wuyin's hair along with the samples. The test results showed that the samples had varying degrees of genetic mutation, and I also confirmed with You Fang that she had also worn San Tu brand underwear.

Therefore, it is an undeniable fact that the image of three rabbits can cause gene mutations. This new discovery is a leap forward far beyond what was reported in *New Discoveries*, which states that human genes are altered by maternal affection during childhood. Simply seeing a certain pattern can cause a dramatic change in an adult's genes! This will likely astound all orthodox geneticists; it remains to be seen whether Organization X will publish this discovery.

After the hair follicle test results came back, Liang Yingwu told me that Organization X hoped to conduct related research with Liu Er. He said that such research would definitely allow Liu Er to better understand his own situation, thereby enabling him to better utilize his abilities.

Maintaining a good relationship with Organization X would be quite advantageous, and after I emphasized this to Liu Er, he agreed to the request. One morning two weeks ago, he finally left my bedroom and got into the car that Organization X had driven downstairs.

Liang Yingwu asked me to meet today, presumably because his research on Liu Er has yielded results.

"I'm here. Is there a result yet?" I asked anxiously as soon as I sat down.

“You Hong is gone,” Liang Yingwu said.

"What? Gone? Where did he go?" "He must have left Shanghai. I don't know exactly where he went. He probably doesn't even know where he should go. Maybe he's just wandering around." "How could that be?" I wondered if I'd misheard. "How could he leave without even saying goodbye to me? What have you all figured out?" "The truth." I then noticed that Liang Yingwu had been looking melancholy all day.

"What truth? What other truth is there?" "The truth about the Three Rabbits Picture, the truth about the Monkey King."

I stared at him blankly. Wasn't the matter basically clear? What did Liang Yingwu mean by saying this?

“Actually, I’ve always had some doubts. Do you remember the last two hair samples you sent?” I nodded. “Didn’t you say the tests showed a genetic mutation?” “There’s something I didn’t tell you then, which is one of the reasons I later suggested that You Hong come to the institution for research. In the two samples, the mutated part of the female sample was almost identical to any previous sample; while the male hair sample, although the genetic mutation was different from You Fang’s, had a very similar arrangement found in You Hong’s mutated genes.”

The female sample Liang Yingwu mentioned was Zhang Wuyin's hair, while the male sample was the hair of a perpetrator in the "4.23" case.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

"If all men who experience intense desire due to the Three Rabbits image have the same genetic mutation, then the mutated parts of You Fang and Zhang Jinlong can be found in You Hong's mutated genes. Do you remember that metaphor you used about seeds?"

"You mean, Liu Er's father and mother each gave him half a seed?" Generally, human genes are inherited half from the father and the other half from the mother. Therefore, when I discovered that the mutated genes from both You Hong's mother and father could be found in You Hong's genes, I simply couldn't believe that You Hong's mutation was purely caused by the Three Rabbits Diagram and had nothing to do with his parents' inheritance.

"So it turns out I was too simplistic... But all of this must be related to the Three Rabbits picture. Even Liu Er would often unconsciously draw the Three Rabbits picture, just like that Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Yu."

"Yes, the key lies in why he unconsciously drew the 'Three Exemptions Chart'," Liang Yingwu said.

"According to the records of the Monkey King, drawing such a picture can calm one's inner turmoil," I said, recalling the stone carvings in "The Monkey King Returns to His Place."

“Yes, You Hong also said that drawing three rabbits makes him happy. But that doesn’t explain the root of the problem. Take a look at these.” Liang Yingwu took out four photos and handed them to me.

In the photos, Liu Er is in an empty room, as are the following ones. However, in the second and third photos, three images appear on Liu Er's clothes, but they disappear in the fourth photo.

"What is this?" I asked Liang Yingwu.

"The farm clothes that Liu Er is wearing in the photo are actually modeled from his hair."

"I know that, but what's with the 'three exemptions' chart on it?"

“These photos were taken at high speed. From the first to the fourth photo, only 0.3 to 0.4 seconds had passed. If you were standing next to him at the time, you would never have realized that there was a picture of three rabbits on him. Moreover, even You Hong himself did not know it.”

"He didn't even know it himself?" I frowned. "Another subconscious reaction?"

"We can't find the reason for this, so we're trying to work backward from the result."

"So, what effect would this three-rabbit flashback have, right? People can't see it, it's only 0.3 seconds, what could it possibly do..." Before I could finish the word "effect," I thought of one possibility: "the subconscious!"

Liang Yingwu nodded emphatically: "Something that only appears for about 0.3 seconds won't leave a clear impression on the human eye, but it's not so brief that the eye can completely ignore it. The optic nerve still captures the fleeting image and hands it over to the subconscious to analyze. If the image appears clearly, the eyes see it, but the person may not remember it. However, the brain actually expends a great deal of resources to analyze this fleeting image."

"So, this 0.3-second clip leaves a deep impression on people's subconscious," I interjected.

"To be precise, the Three Rabbits painting leaves a very deep impression on onlookers in this way."

"Six Ears actually achieved this effect without even realizing it..."

"Prolonged exposure to the Three Rabbits image can have two diametrically opposed effects on a small number of people, but these two effects share a common thread: they are both related to sex. In other words, they are related to biological reproduction."

My eyes lit up: "That's right."

"If the goal is to produce the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, certain conditions must be met, and most capable people are unsuitable. Suitable individuals would experience significant stimulation to their reproductive and endocrine systems. However, the direction of this stimulation is uncertain. This change is the second round of selection, like God flipping a coin. Those who land heads have sexual urges and pass; those who land tails become sexually apathetic and are eliminated. Only when a pair of 'coins' that both land heads combine can the Great Sage Equal to Heaven be produced. This is only a possibility; for example, Sun Yu's younger brother clearly lacked his brother's abilities."

"By the way, Sun Yu's message mentioned that his father dug up a stone tablet with a picture of three rabbits when he was young, and his mother must have been influenced by it as well. His parents were both adaptable, which is why he was born."

"Moreover, the mutation might only occur when a person reaches a certain stage of development. Ancient people's physical conditions were much worse than modern people's, which is why Sun Yu underwent the mutation at the age of twenty-six and You Hong under twenty-three. The birth of a Great Sage Equaling Heaven means that a vast number of people have already been selected, and the most suitable ones are only a very small minority. However, after the Great Sage Equaling Heaven appeared, he left behind many Three Rabbits images through conscious and unconscious means. After many experiments, it was found that drawing Three Rabbits images on paper was more pleasurable than drawing one casually, and spending effort to leave Three Rabbits patterns on stone or metal made You Hong feel refreshed. Simply put, the deeper and longer the mark is left, the more pleasure it brings to You Hong. In this way, the Three Rabbits images left by You Hong throughout his life will inevitably continue to influence a vast number of people."

"Reincarnation," I blurted out.

"Yes, reincarnation. What does that remind you of?"

Seeing me deep in thought, Liang Yingwu sighed: "This is an important theory that you may not know about, which once sparked debate in the field of genetic science. Some scholars think this theory is too absurd. But now it seems to be the only theory that can explain the cycle of the Three Rabbits and the Monkey King."

"What theory?"

"Have you ever heard of the swamp fire orchid?" Liang Yingwu suddenly brought up plants.

"No."

"This is a type of orchid. In order to reproduce, this orchid has evolved very ingenious traps."

It has a large, two-part lip. The part near the base of the flower resembles a large cup filled with nectar, attracting insects, while the outer lip resembles a racetrack. When an insect lands on the 'racetrack,' the 'racetrack' collapses, revealing the nectar inside. When the insect crawls along the outer lip into the 'cup,' the 'racetrack' bounces up, trapping the insect inside the nectar 'cup.' To escape, the insect must use the only exit, inevitably resulting in it being covered in pollen.

After Liang Yingwu finished talking about plants, before I could even react, he began to describe another creature even more wondrous than the swamp fire orchid.

"There is a type of microorganism called myxobacteria. Under normal circumstances, they exist independently as grass cells, much like amoebas. However, when living conditions become harsh, they crawl and gather in a central area, looking almost exactly like slugs. Of course, these slugs can't crawl very far; they usually just crawl from the bottom of a pile of leaves to the top, to a relatively exposed position."

This trick of bacteria transforming into insects wasn't over yet. Once the myxobacteria felt they had reached a more advantageous position, they changed their appearance again, becoming plants. Through some wondrous process, the cells completely changed shape, extending a 'stalk' like a plant, with a 'bud' forming at the top. Inside the 'bud' were millions of spores. These spores were carried away by the wind, becoming single-celled microorganisms, thus beginning the repeat of this process.

“These two organisms are indeed amazing, but are they related to the topic we just discussed, the theory in the field of genetic science?” I asked Liang Yingwu, not understanding.

"It doesn't matter; I was just setting the stage. The story of the swamp orchid was to show you how intricate and complex structures organisms in nature can evolve to utilize other organisms for their own reproduction. Without pollinating insects, many orchids would quickly become extinct. Some organisms have even evolved to rely solely on another single organism for survival. For example, after the dodo birds on Mauritius were driven to extinction by humans, the island's giant trees, lacking the powerful gizzards of the dodo birds to feed on their fruit, are on the verge of extinction because their thick-shelled seeds cannot germinate. And the story of the sticky bacteria is to show you that even such tiny, structurally simple organisms possess amazing survival wisdom, capable of radically modifying themselves. Now, let's return to the topic of genes."

I listened intently—he was about to get to the point.

“Genes are segments of DNA molecules that have a hereditary effect. What an organism is like and what abilities it has depends entirely on how hundreds of millions or even billions of base pairs are arranged in its genome. Some arrangements allow organisms to grow sharp teeth, some allow them to not eat meat, and some allow them to sleep during the day and be active at night. So-called gene mutations are, in essence, the sudden appearance of a new sequence. What is the most important point of Darwin's theory of evolution?” Liang Yingwu suddenly asked me.

"Survival of the fittest, elimination of the weak." I answered without hesitation.

"That's right. There must be some genes that allow the organisms that carry them to better adapt to the environment, survive and reproduce; there must also be other less desirable genes, and animals with these genes will not be able to adapt to the environment and will die quickly. Therefore, superior genes are the key to the survival and development of organisms. However, this view can also be viewed from the opposite perspective."

"Look at it from the other side?"

"Yes, there are scholars like Dawkins, who wrote 'The Selfish Gene,' who believe that every gene strives to replicate itself as much as possible. The body is merely a temporary gathering place for genes, a survival machine controlled by genes. Once the genes have replicated in the next generation and passed on as many copies as possible, the body can die and decay. The various behaviors exhibited by organisms are simply means for genes to ensure their perpetual existence!"

I was stunned; this completely overturned my common sense.

…We are survival machines, blindly programmed automatons, designed to protect selfish molecules called genes. Genes exist between us; they create our spirit and body; protecting our genes is our ultimate reason for existence. 'This is what Dawkins wrote in *The Selfish Gene*.' That is to say, the 'fittest' in 'survival of the fittest' is not a species, not a population, not an individual organism, but the basic unit of heredity—the gene. If this theory is applied to You Hong…' At this point, Liang Yingwu paused and sighed deeply.

"It wasn't caused by the Three Rabbits Diagram, but by genes? Those mutated genes in Six Ears' body?"

I couldn't help but shout.

Liang Yingwu nodded slightly: "If we boldly imagine that in the billions of years of evolutionary history, a gene emerged that cannot directly reproduce through its carrier—humans—but it has another way of survival. This gene can reproduce through non-physical contact. People who carry this gene possess special abilities, which often lead to their being being deified. This makes it easy for a certain image they constantly draw to spread widely and last for a long time. Some people who see the image experience genetic changes, but such changes are only a necessary condition for the propagation of the peculiar gene. Children born to men and women who meet the necessary conditions have a high chance of becoming the complete embodiment of the peculiar gene."

Of course, this fully formed gene needs to be visualized again after its vector has reached adulthood. This image acts like a key, reopening the door to gene replication.

"But why is it a picture of three rabbits? Why are there three rabbits instead of other kinds?"