CDJMM – Volume 4 -Chapter 66 Filming in the Interstellar Era (Extra 2)

Luo Bao knocked on his granddaughter’s bedroom door. “Lili, time for dinner.”

“Wait a minute, I’m watching a video!”

“I’m coming in.” Luo Bao pushed the door open. “What video has you so absorbed?”

He stepped forward a few paces, just in time to hear the video playing out loud: “Let the facts speak and unveil the truth behind history. Hello everyone, this is the large-scale historical investigation program Journey Into Legend, exclusively sponsored by Bai Energy Group and premiered globally on Qijiang VidNet. I’m your host, Zhao Tao. When it comes to today’s feature, I’m sure everyone has heard of this name—Shi Jing.”

“Well? Didn’t I say so? Everyone should know him, right?”

At that name, Luo Bao’s footsteps stalled.

Shi Jing…

That name left a deep imprint on his youth. It’s no exaggeration to say that Shi Jing’s death changed the trajectory of his entire life.

“It’s a documentary uncovering Shi Jing!” his granddaughter said, not even raising her head, her voice sharp with excitement. “I’ve been waiting for this forever! I hope this time they’ll finally explain how Shi Jing knew the real human history.”

Luo Bao silently sat down beside her, eyes drifting to the holo-screen.

The screen was displaying posters from Shi Jing’s works:

In The Young Marquis Who Sealed the Wolves, a teenage general held his long spear with spirited confidence.

In Records of Republican-Era Literati, intellectuals wielded their pens like weapons, fighting to save the nation.

In The Queen’s Hound, an aging queen sat upon her throne with unparalleled majesty.

In Quiet Flows the Dawn, the elderly Menshak lay smiling in a pool of blood.

In The Five-Starred Red Flag Beneath the Wooden Plank, prisoners lifted their heads proudly despite the bayonets before them…

One familiar scene after another flashed by. Luo Bao’s eyes blurred with mist.

Unknowingly… fifty or sixty years had already passed. He had gone from a brash high schooler to the white-haired old man he was now.

At his current age, he could practically be Shi Jing’s grandfather.

The host’s voice continued calmly:

“To today’s youth, Shi Jing is synonymous with a martyr who resisted the Zerg. But to your grandparents’ generation, Shi Jing was the most famous director of the time. Every film he released was a sensation.”

“Among them, Quiet Flows the Dawn directly sparked a worldwide anti-Zerg movement. The Five-Starred Red Flag Beneath the Wooden Plank, I Have a Dream, The Last Indian—these wartime films profoundly strengthened humanity’s resolve to resist the Zerg and awakened countless people to their longing for freedom. One could say that during the first six years of the war, Shi Jing dominated the global film scene.”

“If not for his brutal death at the hands of the Zerg, every director of that era would have lived in his shadow. He would have been the uncrowned king of cinema.”

“Shi Jing carried countless mysteries. The most shocking one—the one people simply could not explain—was how every historical film he made turned out to be an accurate reconstruction of real human history.”

“Young people today may not comprehend it, but sixty years ago, humans were like a people without roots. The Zerg had wiped out Earth’s ancient history; our civilization had lost its most important pages. Who were we? What were our ancestors like? Even the most authoritative historians couldn’t say.”

“It was precisely because humanity’s cultural and ideological foundations were so fragile that Zerg cultural infiltration took root. Human ideology was severely contaminated—some people were even parasitized and reduced to Zerg puppets. High schoolers probably all know this now: in the Hamburg Incident in Europe, the Federal President killed by a Zerg assassin was, in fact, a parasitized puppet.”

“And in that storm-torn era, Shi Jing’s ancient-Earth historical films burst onto the scene, injecting courage and pride into the lost and directionless people. Yet back then, no one believed his movies depicted real history. Everyone assumed the stories were creations of his imagination.”

His granddaughter turned to him suspiciously. “You really didn’t suspect anything back then?”

Luo Bao nodded. “Truly. Who would’ve guessed those films were real history?” He sighed. “Probably only the Zerg knew—so…” He sighed again, trailing off.

“Later, when the interrogation video of Shi Jing spread, his conversation with the Queen repeatedly mentioned ‘real history,’ which caught people’s attention. Some smart folks connected his movies to true human history. But at the time, there was no evidence.”

“A year after the war ended, the United Nations government finally cracked the Zerg database. Humanity’s long-lost ancient history was revealed. And suddenly—people realized Shi Jing’s films were perfect restorations of real events. You can imagine how shocked everyone was.”

Luo Bao drifted into memories.

He had been thirty then, newly promoted to fatherhood, changing diapers when the announcement aired. His hands shook so hard he nearly smeared the soiled diaper across his son’s face.

That news solved mysteries that had haunted him for years… and created new ones.

The host listed the very questions in Luo Bao’s heart:

“How did Shi Jing know real human history? What exactly was his relationship with the Zerg?  Why did he accept a suicide mission to assassinate the Queen? Was he a hero—or a Zerg spy? For decades, people have debated these questions without conclusion. Today, we’ve invited Professor Liu Yinxiu, dean of the Ancient Earth History Department at Luodu University.”

An elderly, frail man with snowy hair slowly walked onto the stage.

Luo Bao exclaimed, “It’s Old Liu!”

His granddaughter blinked. “Grandpa, you know him?”

“Of course. We’ve been friends for decades. We went fishing just the day before yesterday,” Luo Bao said proudly. “He’s a fan of Shi Jing too—just like me.”

Only then did the girl understand.

“Professor Liu is an expert on Shi Jing, author of Shi Jing and Me, Former Sceneries, Where Are You Now?, and A Discussion Beginning With Shi Jing’s Death. Among these, Former Sceneries, Where Are You Now? is required reading in middle school Chinese classes. Today, let us welcome Professor Liu, who will help unravel Shi Jing’s mysteries.”

“Hello everyone, I’m Liu Yinxiu. I originally didn’t want to come, but my grandson told me, ‘Grandpa, a classmate of mine said Shi Jing wasn’t a martyr but a Zerg spy, and we were all fooled.’” Liu raised his voice, trembling slightly. “I know many young people think the same. I don’t know when slandering martyrs became fashionable among the youth!”

“To show off their so-called clarity, to appear different and ‘awake’ while everyone else is ‘asleep,’ they twist history, smear martyrs, and interpret their deeds with the greatest malice—then feel proud of themselves. These people are like maggots in the sewer—disgusting!”

His granddaughter nodded fiercely. “Those people are idiots! Shi Jing was tortured so horribly and still never submitted. He sacrificed his life to shorten the war and saved our ancestors. Without him dying together with the Queen, those people would now be livestock kept by the Zerg. Would they still be sitting in air-conditioned rooms talking nonsense?”

Luo Bao glanced at her but decided to ignore her language. When he was young, he cursed far worse.

“I’m glad you think this way.” Luo Bao nodded. “Regardless of how Shi Jing learned real history, his contributions to humanity cannot be erased. As for those people’s insane rambling…” He snorted coldly. “No sane person listens to dogs barking anyway.”

On screen, Liu Yinxiu grew even more impassioned:

“Shi Jing is a benefactor of all humankind! In the darkest hour he cleared confusion, strengthened conviction, and shortened the war with his own life so that more sparks of civilization could survive.”

“In recovered history, you’ll find countless people like him. Whenever catastrophe strikes, such people rise—reversing tides, turning the impossible, pushing humanity forward at the cost of their lives. They are the backbone of our species.”

“What was Shi Jing’s relationship with the Zerg? Mortal enemies, of course! Why did he accept a mission guaranteeing death?” Liu Yinxiu inhaled, his snowy hair trembling. “For the continuation of human civilization—for saving more lives!”

“Who exactly was he? How did he know real history? Does it matter?” Liu Yinxiu regained calm. “If you insist on an answer, then I’ll give you mine.”

“Shi Jing was a star of humanity. He wandered among men, and now he has returned to the sky. So he was born knowing—knowing our past, guiding our future.”

“He was the light of humankind.”

…

His granddaughter was quiet for a moment, then mumbled, “So they still didn’t explain how he knew real history.”

Before Luo Bao could comfort her, she solved it herself. “Never mind. There’s no better answer anyway.” She stuck out her tongue, her eyes bright with mischief, smiling at her grandfather. “Actually, I always thought Shi Jing was our guardian spirit. But Liu Yinxiu’s ‘light of humanity’ sounds pretty good too.”

She stood, stretched, smacked Luo Bao’s arm, and urged, “Grandpa, aren’t we eating? I’m starving!”

“Oh, right, right.”

Luo Bao withdrew his gaze from the screen, faintly smiling.

You must be watching us from the heavens, right?

From now on, every year of this peaceful era will be illuminated by your light.