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Thank you to SOLEIL for the ko-fi~

When the first batch of silk was produced in the valley, the freezing season had already come to an end. The people in the valley had not left it for several months, not even knowing what the outside world looked like. It was unlikely to be optimistic, to say the least.

Every winter, a significant number of people would die in the harsh cold—frozen, starved, killed by others, or through even more brutal means. But this was life; this was the barren star.

Because everyone had experienced such hardships, they cherished the valley all the more. Staying indoors for months didn’t feel dull or stifling; instead, they enjoyed the hard-earned tranquility.

As for renaming the base to Shui Jing Gong, no one opposed it.

In fact, the decision to rename was made by Nan Ge after careful consideration, and the timing was quite clever. It was during the freezing season, and if anyone disagreed, they could naturally leave the valley. Of course, Nan Ge wouldn’t issue such an order but simply stated that not everyone had to join, but those who chose not to join would need to leave once the weather warmed up, and they could even take their acquired resources with them.

This requirement seemed reasonable, but there was still a transitional period. It couldn’t be said that everyone had no reservations at all, but with the outside world covered in ice and snow and nowhere else to go, they naturally continued living in the valley. As long as they lived here, they would be subtly influenced, and their emotions would naturally shift from doubt and resistance to integration. Eventually, they would spontaneously support the Shui Jing Gong.

This is the human tendency to yield and adapt, and Nan Ge skillfully used this trait to create the first group of loyal followers for the Shui Jing Gong. These people would be the cornerstone of the base’s future development, regardless of how newcomers arrived. They would always remember this harsh winter, this valley, and the original form of the Shui Jing Gong.

The leading team of the Shui Jing Gong had also been mostly established. Considering that Gu Langu and Shu Shuishui preferred not to be disturbed when they were in their “do not disturb” modes, and given that Gu Langu wasn’t particularly suitable for communication with other factions while Shu Shuishui had an unconventional way of thinking, the daily leadership and management duties fell on Nan Ge.

Nan Ge had indeed been responsible for these matters since following Gu Langu, and he handled them adeptly. As for Yu Jin, in Nan Ge’s words, although his brain wasn’t the sharpest, he had sufficient combat power and innate talents in warfare, which was why he had followed Gu Langu at such a young age.

As for Xie Feng, he led in technology and development, as well as providing fundamental guidance in cultivation. Yes, in the dungeon, due to the unique cultivation environment, several of the individuals in the dungeon had already begun cultivating their Qi, but the fastest progress had been made by Gu Langu and Xie Feng. Over the past few months, besides those participating in the dungeon, several talents in the base had also sensed spiritual energy due to their prolonged consumption of purified mutant flora and fauna.

Nan Fang assisted Nan Ge and was responsible for the more concrete implementation of tasks. Of course, he also took care of the cat.

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As the only cat in the valley, Huali maintained the daily rhythm of bringing a fish. Her life had gradually become more comfortable, and with the abundance of resources in the jungle, she had even gained some weight since arriving in the valley. Her round face had become more popular in the base, transforming her from a pitiful kitten into Her Royal Highness once again.

With everyone’s efforts, the valley had undergone a drastic transformation in just a few months. The electric grid now covered the entire valley, and even some electric lights had been added in the jungle. Of course, it wasn’t an intentional invasion of the territory of the mutant rats, but rather a request from the rats themselves. In a small area, they had set up electric lights that attracted insects, and the mutant rats would gather under the lights to dine and chat.

Solar power generation, wind power generation, and thermal power generation had all matured in the valley. The crops in the valley grew rapidly due to ample lighting. Various modern technological devices had gradually appeared, thanks to Xie Feng, the technology guru, and the research team that had transferred from the Fei Luo base earlier.

As the snow outside the valley grew thicker, the valley truly lived up to its name, becoming a bona fide Shui Jing Gong, a marvel hidden amidst the icy wilderness. Even Nan Ge had exclaimed more than once that the name was truly well chosen.

Gu Langu gave a faint smile at this, revealing no clues.

While the valley was rapidly developing, Nan Ge and his group would occasionally enter the simulation space. Interestingly, despite Shu Shuishui and Gu Langu’s initial intention to hibernate in the simulator until they awakened, they hadn’t entered the simulator since leaving the dungeon. Even when they logged into the simulator, it was only to dawdle in the login space.

This had once made Gu Langyi, who had finally found his elder sibling, burst into tears, but there was nothing he could do. The elder sibling was addicted to his own world and couldn’t be pulled away, leaving no time for their newly acquainted cousin with the same surname, Gu.

As Shu Shuishui had initially estimated, Gu Langyi and Xie Feng had indeed become kindred spirits. Since they belonged to different barren stars, they could only meet when there were collective dungeons. However, even these occasional encounters were enough for them to highly appreciate each other.

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Xie Feng was a scientific genius, while Gu Langyi was a linguistic prodigy. The collision of these two geniuses resulted in Gu Langyi being able to decipher the texts from unfamiliar civilizations, and Xie Feng’s scientific prowess allowed them to reconstruct the technology of those civilizations. This accelerated the development of the valley significantly.

In the last month of the Frozen Season, Xie Feng participated in a collective dungeon once again, even though there was no communication. He knew that Gu Langyi would also be there.

Yu Jin accompanied him, while Nan Ge and Nan Fang stayed in the valley, preparing for the upcoming summer.

Shu Shuishui and Gu Langu didn’t go either. The valley could no longer satisfy their wanderlust. Starting a few days ago, they had expanded their walks into the jungle.

This particular jungle connected directly to the mountains beyond, lush and sprawling, extending far until the snowy horizon.

With Shu Shuishui’s protective array as the dividing line, the lush jungle created a clear boundary between pure white and verdant green, making it two entirely different worlds inside and outside the boundary.

Walking on soft green grass, their heads were under the intertwining canopy of branches. The trees in this jungle grew tall and straight, with few thick branches except in the canopy area. This meant that despite walking in the jungle, there was no sense of oppression from the canopy above. Instead, there was a deep and refreshing sense of openness.

“Gu Gu, we’re having mushroom soup for lunch today,” Shu Shuishui bent down and plucked a brown mushroom from under a tree. “Don’t judge a mushroom by its appearance. Although it looks ordinary, it’s incredibly smooth on the palate, tender, and slightly elastic. I’ll make it for you at lunch.”

Gu Langu took a bamboo basket from his Shui ring and lined the bottom with grass leaves before placing Shu Shuishui’s plucked mushrooms inside. At the same time, he searched for the brown mushrooms as well.

“Like this, don’t pull out the whole mushroom. Cut it from just above the root to avoid getting soil…,” Shu Shuishui squatted beside Gu Langu, giving him an on-the-spot tutorial, hands-on.

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This led to what seemed like a clever Gu Langu finally growing into a man who could independently pick mushrooms after Shu Shuishui taught him about ten times. When he “learned,” he couldn’t help but self-blame. “I’m just too stupid.”

Shu Shuishui tiptoed and patted Gu Langu’s head in his comforting style. “Gu Gu is the smartest little one.”

The smartest little one felt satisfied with this praise and continued exploring the jungle alongside Shu Shuishui.

In fact, it was Shu Shuishui’s first time venturing deep into the jungle. After all, the mutant rat brothers might not appreciate being disturbed, so he had communicated with them in advance before entering.

“Gu Gu, there are berries here!”

“Gu Gu, there are apples here!”

” Gu Gu, there are tiny red flowers here, let me put one on you!”

“Gu Gu, there’s a stone here that looks like the one in the flowerpot at Li Dream Study!”

In the lush jungle, Shu Shuishui’s voice, accompanied by cheerful bird songs, frequently echoed. Gu Langu followed closely behind, and as soon as he heard his call, he would appear the next moment and collect everything Shu Shuishui mentioned. Fortunately, just like the Lan ring, the Shui ring had infinite space, so there was no need to worry about running out of room.

In this way, in the midst of the jungle, Shu Shuishui and Gu Langu saw familiar stones, ate apples, picked small red flowers, and even climbed up a tree to closely observe a nest of fluffy little birds.

The little sparrows didn’t recognize people and were unaware of the danger. They opened their round eyes, displaying great curiosity toward the two people climbing the tree. Shu Shuishui leaned in close to Gu Langu’s ear and whispered, “Gu Gu, look at how cute and fluffy they are. Why are Da Bai and Xio Jiao Jiao both bald? Let’s have another fluffy son.”

Gu Langu’s ear tips turned slightly red. Was he implying something?

Shu Shuishui originally intended to say that the one in front of them was already good, but he noticed the slight blush on Gu Langu’s eartips, so he changed his words casually. “A fluffy girl would be nice too. Gu Gu, it’s up to you.”

Gu Langu suddenly turned to look at Shu Shuishui, then nodded seriously. “Okay.”

Shu Shuishui scratched his head, “Okay,” but why did he look at me so deliberately? He suddenly felt a bit flustered.

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Gu Langu didn’t shift his gaze and continued, “Shall we start today?”

Shu Shuishui: “…”

The jungle was vast, and Shu Shuishui and Gu Langu had no specific destination. When they had leisurely explored the jungle within the protective array for about half a month, they realized it was time to return.

Both of them had brought camping equipment, so they didn’t look disheveled when they returned. In fact, they both had rosy cheeks, indicating that they had been eating well.

When they arrived back at the base, they found out that Xie Feng had already returned from the collective dungeon. To avoid causing panic, the news about Xie Feng’s return hadn’t been made public yet.

“Xiao Feng didn’t encounter Gu Langyi in the dungeon, and it seems that something unexpected happened on Gu Langyi’s side. He just sent a piece of paper with encrypted contents to Xiao Feng. The decrypted information is… hard to put into words,” Nan Ge said with a strange expression.

This piqued Gu Langu and Shu Shuishui’s curiosity. Nan Ge was usually mature and composed, and to say he could face a major catastrophe without changing his expression wouldn’t be an exaggeration. The fact that he was showing such a complex expression was indeed unusual.

Nan Ge unfolded a piece of paper and handed it to Gu Langu and Shu Shuishui. “This is the translated text. Gu Langyi obtained a book on text decryption in the Li Dream Study. He accidentally discovered that according to the book, the mysterious cosmic sounds in the Xian Ge Galaxy seem to be decipherable.”

Since the birth of civilization in the Xian Ge Galaxy, it has been able to capture audio of different frequencies from the universe. These sounds came from space, but their exact origin couldn’t be determined. The audio was complex, making it impossible to ascertain whether it came from living beings. However, over the years, it had never disappeared, and this was how the Xian Ge Galaxy got its name.

Gu Langyi realized the potential for deciphering the mysterious audio in the Xian Ge Galaxy and had been researching it. He discovered that as the Xian Ge Galaxy developed, these audio signals changed. Until two years ago, the audio had suddenly remained in the same fluctuation, as if it were continuously repeating the same sentence. After repeated analysis by Gu Langyi, the final decrypted message turned out to be: “Run! Run! Run…”

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