Techniques and Dao

Chapter 173 The Water Jade Pact
Faced with the puzzle of drawing a magical triangle array with three right angles, Mieying was clearly annoyed.

Jane replied coldly, "Angels never say things without reason. If an angel writes it down, then such a Belka-style triangular magic circle will surely exist in the world."

Hanamori was clearly stunned as well, saying, "If there really is such a strange triangle, then all my math lessons have been for nothing!"

He pointed to the words on the door and said, "Shouldn't you look at the Latin text again? Putting aside the magic circle, I've studied math. The sum of the interior angles of a triangle is only 180 degrees. Three right angles would be 270 degrees. Is that still a triangle?"

Jane frowned and said, "The angels set up this magical barrier to prevent ordinary people from disturbing it. Naturally, not just anyone can break it, but the answer must exist in this world."

Mieying said, "Nonsense! There is no triangle in the world with three right angles. I have only ever seen a triangle with one right angle at most. I have never even seen one with two right angles, let alone three at the same time?"

Jane ignored her and continued to think.

Seeing that he had made a fool of himself, Mieying took out the transparent glass bottle he had bought at the market and sat down in a nice spot. He began to play with the bottle by himself.

Hua Sheng rested her chin on her hand and thought for a while before asking Jian, "Does this triangle have any special requirements? For example, could we draw a square and then name it 'Mr. Triangle'?"

Jian glanced at Hua Sheng sideways: "Can you get lost? Just seeing you annoys me. How can we think things through like this?"

Seeing that she couldn't help either, Hanamori went to the side to look at the sea.

Mieying was fiddling with the glass bottle. She opened the bottle and muttered a few words in a foreign language, then blew on it. Shaking her head, she chanted "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands!" and cast a spell on the bottle.

Hua Sheng was astonished when he heard Mie Ying speak a foreign language, and asked, "You just spoke a foreign language?"

Mie Ying said nonchalantly, "That's right! It's a French phrase that Jane taught me."

What did you say into the bottle?

Mie Ying pouted, but said mysteriously, "I can't tell you!"

"What are they fiddling with?"

"A message in a bottle," Mieying said, patting the glass bottle. "I put some traces inside so the world will remember me."

Hana looked at the bottle; it was empty.

"But this bottle looks empty?"

Instead of answering, Mieying asked, "Tell me, what is happiness?"

"Happiness?" Hua Sheng felt something was off. "That doesn't seem like something you should be asking. Where did you hear that word?"

"Never mind me. Just answer."

"Are you referring to the kind of luck that Tianjizi has? Then happiness is just being lucky."

"No, I don't think so," said Mieying, gazing at the distant blue sea. "Happiness is not about satisfying desires, but about having no regrets about the past and full of hope for the future even when you can't see the sun."

Hua Sheng pondered for a moment: "That sounds quite poetic."

"So, this is our agreement."

"What's the agreement?"

Mieying smiled slightly and said, "You must be happy."

Hua Sheng scratched the back of his head, nodded, and said with a smile, "In human terms, even though fate is determined by heaven, please be happy."

"And I hope you outlive me."

Speaking of this, Hua Sheng suddenly remembered what Tai Shang Xiao Jun had told him about the lifespan of the three races of Sheng, Ping, and Ning, and said, "I heard Tai Shang Xiao Jun say that the immortal race has the longest lifespan, followed by the spirit race, and humans have the shortest lifespan..."

"I don't care!" Mieying insisted. "I know this, that's why I need to make a wish."

"Alright." Hua Sheng knew he couldn't win against Mie Ying. "I do wish I could live forever."

"It's a deal! This is my wish as a message in a bottle."

"A message in a bottle isn't a shooting star, how can you use it to make a wish?"

"If that's what I say, then so be it. That's why I'll call her Shuiyu..."

"Shouldn't it be called glass or crystal?" "Try interrupting me again? I call it the Water Jade Bottle. So this is my Water Jade Agreement with you."

As he spoke, Mieying forcefully threw the drifting water jade bottle out, and the bottle flew high into the air with a whoosh.

The water jewel truly streaked across the sky like a shooting star, and Hana almost doubted that she was seeing things. The "shooting star" drew a beautiful, dazzling arc before falling far into the mirror-like, azure waters of Angel's Bay.

Hua Sheng and Mie Ying stared into the distance without saying a word.

The two stared silently at the sea for a long time.

Hua Sheng suddenly asked, "Was the parabola of that bottle a straight line or a curve?"

"You're so annoying! You ruined such a nice atmosphere!"

Hanamori, however, began to ponder to himself: "It's a curve for us, but for that bottle it should look like... a straight line?"

"What do you mean?"

"When we were driving in the car last night, the road was straight, but it had some undulations and seemed curved. But when we were walking, it should have been a straight line no matter where we went, right?"

Mieying still didn't understand: "What do you mean by curved lines and straight lines?"

"I understand! I know the answer to the riddle!" Hua Sheng turned around and immediately ran to find Jian.

Jane was sitting on the ground, holding her wand and gesturing with different sized triangular magic circles.

Hearing that Hua Sheng had run over, she didn't seem to have any expectations. Instead, she waited a while before raising her head and saying hesitantly, "What do you know! You don't know even the slightest bit of magic, how could you know this triangle magic circle?"

"I may not know how to draw a magic circle, but I do know how to draw a triangle with three right angles!"

Jane jumped up from the ground: "Really?"

Hanamori explained, "Listen to me, do you know what shape is called a triangle?"

"Then it should be a closed figure formed by connecting three line segments that are not on the same straight line in the same plane, end to end?"

"That's right! Let me confirm with you, does your triangle magic circle have to be set up on a perfectly level surface, or can it be set up on uneven ground like where we are standing now?"

Jane thought for a moment and said, "The triangle magic circle is very adaptable, so it can be set up in places that are not completely flat, such as soil or tree bark."

Hua Sheng exclaimed excitedly, "That works! I've got a solution!"

"Then how do you suggest we lay it out?"

"I read in a book that space is bendable? That is to say, many so-called straight lines are actually curves. And some curves are actually straight lines."

Jane shook her head: "Hmm... I don't understand what you mean at all."

Hanamori pointed to the horizon and said, "If I sail straight ahead in the direction of the sea forever, will I be traveling in a straight line or a curve?"

"straight line?"

"If it's a straight line, why do I end up back where I started?"

Jane's eyes widened: "That's right, it's a straight line, but we ended up back where we started! Because the Earth is round. Actually, what we perceive as a straight line is a curve?"

"Yes. The so-called straight lines and curves are actually relative. If we walk in a straight line, then we should pass through the atmosphere and reach the outside of the Earth. But if we walk along the Earth, then although this straight line is a straight line, it becomes a curve relative to the line we take to reach the outside of the atmosphere!"

"The theory of relativity?" Jane seemed to understand.

Hanamori continued, "Conversely, if the path on Earth is a straight line, the path out of the atmosphere becomes a curve! They are all relative to each other. Moreover, all straight lines in the world are relative! There is no absolutely straight line!"

Jane didn't seem to fully understand and said, "I understand what you mean, but we can't draw a triangle that's all curved lines, can we? If there are curves, it's not a triangle anymore."

"Therefore, these three lines must be on the same plane and must be lines to each other."

"But as you asked, no matter how bumpy or uneven the plane is, you can't draw this kind of triangle."

Hua Sheng said, "It's possible! If we can't bend a straight line, we can bend the plane space to which the triangle is attached!"

(End of this chapter)