Chapter 65 Hengsha World
Chapter 65 Hengsha World
The Wuling Hongguang passed through the tunnel, went along a straight road and drove past the checkpoint. Ning Zhe paid the toll booth with cash, then returned the 50-yuan note that the toll collector had given him as change after he had counted the wrong bills. He then drove off the highway and entered the North District of Taoyuan City.
Taoyuan City in the early morning did not have the bright neon lights of big cities. Only the core business district and restaurant street in the city center were still lit, while the outer urban areas were pitch black, unlike those first-tier cities.
Driving along the riverside road, Bai Zhi, who had been silent all the way, suddenly spoke: "My mother sent me a message back."
"Let me take a look." Ning Zhe found a parking space and parked the car, then took her phone and looked at the chat content.
The content inside was not beyond Ning Zhe's expectations. Like Bai Zhi, Feng Yusu was also attacked by people affected by ghosts in the hospital.
"Have you seen The Three-Body Problem?" Ning Zhe asked as he returned the phone to Bai Zhi.
"I haven't read the original novel, but I've heard the live-action radio drama." Bai Zhi looked at him curiously: "What happened to the Three Body?"
"There is something called 'Thought Stamp' in the Three-Body Problem, which can force a person to firmly believe in something from the bottom of their heart."
Ning Zhe rolled down the car window and silently stared at the Taojiang River sparkling in the moonlight outside the window: "In the story, about 5 people were stamped with ideological stamps, firmly believing that the Earth would be defeated by the invasion of the Trisolarans... However, the most famous person about the ideological stamp setting is probably 'Bill Hines', one of the Wallfacers. The ideological stamp he was stamped with was 'Water is Poisonous'."
Bai Zhi nodded: "I remember this plot."
She recalled the content of the Three-Body Radio Drama she had listened to and said, "Hines is a highly educated intellectual and one of the inventors of the Thought Stamp technology. He clearly knows that water is an indispensable component for maintaining human life activities, and that more than 70% of the human body is water... But under the influence of the Thought Stamp, he still firmly believes from the bottom of his heart that water is highly poisonous."
He knew that the water was not poisonous, but he firmly believed that it was. Not only did he dare not drink any water, he even drove himself crazy.
"That's right..." Ning Zhe nodded and said, "Based on the current signs, I think the rules of that ghost may be very similar to the thought stamp."
The owner and employees of the gas station were branded with the idea that "Bai Zhi must be killed."
The doctors, patients and their families in the hospital were branded with the idea that "Feng Yusu must be killed."
Judging from the text messages sent by Feng Yuxu, other survivors, including Tian Chengyun and the manor waiter, were treated the same way. They were all killed by people influenced by ghosts.
"Let's first assume that the ghost's rule is indeed to 'force people to believe in something', which means to stamp people with ideological imprints. However, the process of being stamped with ideological imprints should require triggering conditions, that is, 'medium'," Ning Zhe continued.
Just like Taiyi's identity theft requires the use of 'cognition' as a medium, the snake god's influence on people's luck requires the triggering of corresponding taboos as a medium, and the instant death rule of Terang requires touching the opponent's shadow as a medium...
In order for that omnipresent, invisible ghost to leave a mark on people's thoughts, it must also require certain conditions as a medium.
"What is its medium?" Bai Zhi asked.
"I don't know." Ning Zhe shook his head and gently stepped on the accelerator to leave the parking space: "The only clue at the moment is: time. Every evening, when the sun sets, the ghosts will begin to influence all those exposed to the outdoors, leaving a mental stamp on them."
As for the content of the thought stamp, it should be edited by the person who controls the ghost. So imagine that when an innocent passerby triggers the rule, he will be stamped with the thought stamp of "XX must be killed". What if Bai Zhi or Feng Yushu triggers the rule next time? What content will be stamped on them?
'The water is poisonous'? 'The air is poisonous'? Or - [I must commit suicide immediately]?
"There are still too few clues. We don't even know what medium this ghost uses to influence people..." Bai Zhi shook her head in distress. "That person has been hiding behind the dark curtain and has never shown up. It's not easy to crack a ghost controlled by human wisdom."
"Really? I think these clues are enough." Ning Zhe smiled slightly, turned the steering wheel and drove through the cross street: "You can't expect the other party to spread their cards on the table for you to observe and even attach instructions. If you want to survive, you must try your best to grasp any possible clues."
"You make it sound so simple." Bai Zhi puffed up her cheeks and looked out the window: "This is not the way to the hospital, where are you taking me?"
"The zoo, or ecological park, is the largest one in Taoyuan City." Ning Zhe said, "Have you seen Cardcaptor Sakura? You should prepare more Clow Cards before a head-on confrontation, just in case."
"What a nerd! I don't even watch that kind of stuff." Bai Zhi was shocked by Ning Zhe's taste in animation.
"How do you know I'm a homebody if you don't even look at it?"
"Ah, this..." Bai Zhi lowered her head guiltily, not wanting to ask Ning Zhe what he meant by preparing more cards.
Wouldn't that make you look like a homebody?
"By the way, you are going to the 'Hengsha Natural Science Expo' in the western part of Taoyuan City, right?" Bai Zhi asked again: "I remember that ecological park closed down two years ago due to poor management. Now there is no ecological base of this standard in the entire Taoyuan City."
"Yes, that place was closed two years ago...but have you forgotten? Now it's 2014." Ning Zhe asked back.
Yes, it was four years ago.
There were not many cars on the road late at night. Occasionally one or two taxis passed by with their high beams on, but Ning Zhe was lucky and drove steadily all the way.
Hengsha Natural Science Expo Hall is generally referred to as "Hengsha Ecological Park" by citizens. When Ning Zhe was a child, he was brought here by his class teacher and his classmates to visit. He still remembers it vividly.
That was his first contact with the legendary "zoo" outside of books.
Just like the public facilities such as "astronomical observatory" and "children's palace" that always appear in textbooks, the words between the lines seem to be very common and ordinary. However, the first impression of the majority of rural students when reading these textbooks is - what is a children's palace? Isn't an observatory a place for scientists to do research?
Dirty laughter, never heard of it.
Ning Zhe drove the car to a remote corner near Hengsha Ecological Park according to his memory and parked it. He handed the loaded shotgun to Bai Zhi and said, "I'll go in for a while. You wait here. If anyone gets close, just shoot."
After saying this, the boy's tall body turned into a nimble bird and flew over the glass curtain wall.
(End of this chapter)