Xia Huren piloted the saucer along the route provided by the rebels, while Bai and Xue sat in a corner, talking in hushed tones. Despite being here for so long, I still couldn't grasp their conversation; the language was so bizarre. With my foundation in Mandarin, speaking such twisting syllables was a challenge. It was truly remarkable that the Dragon Girl had mastered both languages; perhaps fate itself had orchestrated this connection.

The events of the last couple of days, aligning increasingly with historical legends, had begun to fill me with unease and apprehension. If I truly was that Zhurong clan, the one who brought eternal light to the prehistoric people, and Kang Hui represented Gonggong, then Long Xi was the progenitor of future humanity, Fuxi. This made his sister, the Dragon Girl, Nuwa—a point perhaps proven by her proposal to implement a "Marriage Law" in primitive society. According to myth, events like Nuwa creating humans, the Great Flood, Nuwa mending the heavens, and Fuxi and his sister surviving to marry and procreate hadn't happened yet. If our arrival was not changing history but merely fulfilling its course, then these events were bound to happen sooner or later. The sequence might differ from the legends—time discrepancies in myths were normal—but if these things truly unfolded, it would be a massive complication!

I didn't know the basis for the legend of Nuwa creating humanity, but creation must surely relate to marriage and childbirth. If the Dragon Girl truly followed my advice and absolutely refused her brother's desire to leave a pure Dragon lineage for the clan, where would the legend originate? They wouldn't just clone a Dragon Girl, would they? It seemed that cloning was no longer possible for Taihao now.

According to my plan, I needed to leave with the Dragon Girl before the Great Flood. But if we left beforehand, how could the myth of the "brother and sister escaping disaster" and the later myth of "Nuwa mending the heavens" be explained? Many things expected to appear in this era were missing, like the Bagua symbols—that masterpiece attributed to Fuxi himself. Few in Huaxia didn't know of it, and not many foreigners were unaware. Yet, observing the times, people were consumed by war, with their very lives at stake; who had the leisure for such abstractions as the Bagua or Jiugua?

I could ignore other matters, like teaching humans to make clothes, fish, or farm; I had no need to interfere, as humanity could already fly; surely they could manage these fundamentals? But without the Bagua, later figures like Leibniz wouldn't be inspired to invent binary notation, leading to no later computers. If there were no computers, how could Xiao Yudidi and Xiao Hui exist ten million years hence? If they didn't exist, many of my wives wouldn't have been able to join me—disaster! Did I really have to teach Long Xi about the Bagua? During our long talk that night, I’d revealed most of what he accomplished in the future, but I omitted the Bagua because I didn't fully grasp it myself. Judging by recent events, Long Xi must understand this concept, or the impact on my future would be catastrophic.

With me present, no one could force the Dragon Girl to do anything against her will. So, the matters of marriage, procreation, and creation could be postponed; the Bagua diagram must be dealt with first. As for the Great Flood, that would simply signal the successful construction of our moon. The launch would experience a critical failure, or, as He Yuqing and I previously speculated, it would be triggered by the rebels attacking the anti-gravity mechanism, forcing an emergency ascent that caused the deluge. Water doesn't scare me, so that part caused no anxiety.

Lacking paper, I used my leg, sketching the Bagua diagram based on a faint memory. Since the circulating version in later ages was overly complex, I randomly picked one aspect to recall. As for the underlying principles—the Two Forms, Four Phases, Eight Trigrams, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four hexagrams—I was profoundly unclear. It seemed everyone around me studying this field were fortune-tellers, and I decidedly disliked superstition. Yet, my mother often consulted diviners to see if I’d find a good wife; now she was satisfied, though I wondered how accurate her past readings were.

As I sketched and drifted into thought, the Dragon Girl beside me looked utterly bewildered. "Dragon Envoy, what are you doing? Your movements are so strange."

The Dragon Girl and I had nothing left to hide. "Dragon Girl, do you know? Seeing one event after another align with future legends makes me somewhat frightened."

"Frightened of what?" she asked, puzzled. "Didn't Nana say that we win in the future? So Kang Hui is destined to fail, and I’m not afraid of him."

I said gravely, "My fear isn't Kang Hui right now. The issue is that some legends involve you."

The Dragon Girl grew curious. "Oh? Nana was vague. Why don't you tell me the whole story, Dragon Envoy? I’m not some great figure; how could I be mentioned six thousand years from now?"

"While no official historical document explicitly states a nuclear war occurred in prehistory, later archaeology repeatedly proves that numerous ancient cities were destroyed by nuclear blasts. Even if not direct blasts, the resulting devastation perfectly matches what we've observed. And now, Kang Hui has already destroyed six major metropolises across the world. This aligns perfectly with future facts. If my predictions hold, the next event should be the Great Flood..."

The Dragon Girl clutched my hand urgently. "Dragon Envoy, I don't fear the flood. As long as you are here, I trust we will overcome it. Humanity will ultimately continue to rule Earth, and Kang Hui’s clones and beast-men will eventually exit the stage of evolution."

"I'm not worried about the flood. If water comes, we face it; if soldiers come, we meet them. I fear what comes after."

"What is it, tell me quickly, Dragon Envoy."

I hesitated. "According to the myths from six thousand years hence, the surviving siblings, Fuxi and his sister, married, conceived children, and became the progenitors of future humanity. If my guess is correct, your brother Long Xi is the prototype for Fuxi, I am the prototype for Zhurong, Kang Hui is the prototype for Gonggong, and you are the prototype for the great goddess Nuwa. Your current era is too chaotic; humans and beasts mingle freely, and there’s no concept of adultery or incest. It seems history is proceeding along its original track."

The Dragon Girl laughed instead. "So that’s what you’re worried about. No wonder you kept reminding me about the Marriage Law and specifically warned me against close-kin intimacy. You’re afraid I’ll have relations with my brother, Long Xi. Silly you! I already promised you that no other man would touch me, so why would I break my word? Even though Long Xi is intent on securing a pure bloodline for the Dragon clan, I won't agree to it. Besides, Long Xi treats me exceptionally well; he definitely won't force me to do something I don't want to do."

I nodded, fully believing that. Viewed through the lens of six thousand years later, Long Xi, though slightly perverse, was fundamentally a responsible and good king worthy of my respect. "But if you don't have that kind of relationship with Long Xi, will the later legends be false?"

The Dragon Girl replied, "You said yourself they are just legends. Who truly knows what the truth is? I am certain that I will have your child, and someone later will mistake you for my brother Long Xi. After three tellings across a few thousand years, everyone will fully believe it."

That was a clever solution. Since no one knew the truth, if I let the Dragon Girl bear my child, wouldn't that make me the ancestor of future people? Damn it! It was a paradox! I am a future person, yet I would become my own ancestor! But whether I was an ancestor or not aside, there was no way I could have relations with the Dragon Girl—at least not now. Should we return to the future, get cured, and then come back to have children and leave?

The Dragon Girl seemed to have considered this problem too. "Dragon Envoy, the issue is that I can't possibly conceive your child right now. I want to be intimate with you, but it's all that human-faced wolf’s fault; if not for it, wouldn’t we be fine?"

I drew the Dragon Girl into my arms. "You'll be alright. Perhaps you are correct; legends are ultimately just legends. What you will have will definitely be my child, because you are my woman!"

The Dragon Girl nodded emphatically. "Mm! Dragon Envoy, I love you so much. I can’t live without you. Please don't leave me, okay? I don't want to be the Goddess Nuwa you mentioned; I only want to be your Dragon Girl, a very good and obedient woman."

"Rest assured, Dragon Girl. Even six thousand years cannot sever our bond. I don't care if it collides with the wheels of history; your Dragon Girl is mine, and I will protect everything about you!"

The two embraced tightly, a wave of passion surging between them, leading to a kiss. Seeing this, Bai and Xue on the other side also began to grow restless. However, they both knew that Long Xi had recently enacted the Marriage Law, publicly engaging in intimacy was no longer allowed—kissing and flirting were fine, but for anything more, they needed to go home and close the door.

After the kiss, the Dragon Girl said, "Dragon Envoy, please tell me in detail everything future people know about six thousand years ago. Although we don't believe in destiny, if our carelessness inadvertently harms those older sisters in the future, my guilt would be immense. Within our capacity, I still hope history follows its intended trajectory."

"I absolutely agree with that. I was just sketching a Bagua diagram earlier. Legend says your brother created it, but I don't think he has the mindset for it right now. Since we have some spare time, and we are no longer outsiders, why don't we help him get this done?"

The Dragon Girl sat in my lap. "I wholeheartedly support that. You are a qualified brother-in-law. But you must teach me about this Bagua diagram first, or I can’t translate it to my brother. And you must slowly tell me the rest of the details tonight—no telling, no sleeping, and no intimacy with Nana."

I laughed. "Fine. For the sake of my conjugal happiness, I will give it my all. To be honest, I only have a superficial understanding of the Bagua; I can only roughly imitate it based on what I recall. Whether it works depends on your brother's comprehension."

As the two carried on passionately over there, Bai and Xue were locked in their own embrace. Bai had pulled off Xue’s top, kneading her ample breasts until they were unrecognizable. Judging by Xue’s state, she didn't look like someone who had recently been a mother at all; she possessed the vigor of Ouyang Qian.