Embers Ad Infinitum

"Tampering with memory?" Jiang Baimian turned his head to look at Shang Jianyao and repeated the key words.

Guo Zheng's hysterical shouting made her feel slightly frightened.

This is not only because of the other party's performance and voice, but also because memory is a person's most private and precious thing. If this can be tampered with, it will be impossible to distinguish what is true and what is false.

When the time comes, you may have no choice but to actively join a monastic order and recite "the four elements are empty", "dreams are in vain" and "all appearances are false" every day.

Shang Jianyao showed no fear and nodded seriously:

"The 'Father' has all the abilities."

"Indeed..." Jiang Baimian came back to his senses and exhaled.

Judging from the information currently available, the three awakened abilities of the true “priest” are:

The one who hypnotizes; tamper with memories; create a common illusion.

Compared with the fake "priest", this does not involve the manipulation of the body and does not improve the fighting ability, but it is more fearful, mysterious and terrifying.

At this time, the fake "Father" Guo Zheng slowed down after screaming and sat there, breathing heavily.

Shang Jianyao looked at him on the screen and suddenly smiled:

"Then the question is, since the real 'priest' can tamper with other people's memories, why not just let you remember that you are the real 'priest'? In this case, you don't have to worry about being destroyed by others to destroy the 'hypnosis' effect. "

The words just now that broke down the psychological defenses and exposed false perceptions will have no effect.

Guo Zheng fell silent and said after more than ten seconds:

“Maybe it’s because he doesn’t allow the false ‘priest’ to become the real ‘priest’. Even if it’s just the real ‘priest’ in his own memory.

"There can only be one true 'priest', and it can only be him."

When a person remembers that he is the true "priest", then no matter what kind of torture he undergoes, he will still be the true "priest".

Just when Jiang Baimian wanted to say that this idea was a bit dangerous and crazy, Shang Jianyao said in agreement:

"I accept this reason."

"..." Jiang Baimian rolled his eyes quietly.

She turned to ask:

"Besides the 'tampered' memories, can you remember other details related to the real 'priest'? For example, what was the price he paid?"

Guo Zheng shook his head:

"The only thing that's certain is that we should be the same ones who awakened."

For similar questions, Jiang Baimian believes that Odike should have used the influence of dreams to find answers. Since he did not remind his good brother Shang Jianyao what to pay attention to, it means that the memories related to the fake "Father" Guo Zheng either never existed. , or something went wrong.

She stopped worrying about this matter and started asking other questions:

"How many elders of the 'anti-intellectual religion' do you know?"

Under the Pope, the elders of the "Council of Eight".

"I have only been in contact with one person, the one who presided over our awakening ceremony. He was also the one who gave me orders later." When the topic no longer involved the real "priest", Guo Zheng's condition improved significantly, "He is Honghe The man, named Buyong, is responsible for the First City area, well, not the entire 'Primal City' sphere of influence, but that city and its surrounding areas."

Prime City, the capital of the "Prime City" force, is currently recognized as the most prosperous city on earth, and is also known as the "City of Desire."

"What does he look like, and what awakened ability does he have? Looking at other people's memories on a large scale should be just some application of one of these abilities." Jiang Baimian's eyes lit up.

This is a big fish.

Of course, this doesn't look like something their "Old Tune Team" can handle. According to Du Heng, these may be awakened people who have entered the "soul corridor", regardless of the scope of their abilities or the influence they can have. The number of targets is exaggerated enough.

"Do you think I can remember his appearance?" Guo Zheng said with a self-deprecating smile, "His nickname is 'Shepherd', and the voice he speaks always makes people a little uncomfortable, similar to the feeling of a throat injury that has never healed. "

Jiang Baimian's thoughts turned around and he found a possible problem:

"Since 'Shepherd' Buyon is responsible for the Chucheng area, why were you sent to Weedao City just for the task of assassinating Xu Liyan?" (Note 1)

"Weed Grass City is an area not covered by the sect. Whoever preaches first will be in charge." Guo Zheng simply explained, "Anyway, if you want to come here to assassinate Xu Liyan, why don't you just pass on the teaching."

Jiang Baimian then asked who the pastors under Guo Zheng were, how many believers he had developed, and where he got his daily supplies. Guo Zheng only smiled:

"Odik should have already known the corresponding situation through the dream. You can just ask Xu Liyan to report it directly. Why do you need to ask me to repeat it again?"

"This is the process." The person speaking was not Jiang Baimian, but Shang Jianyao, who was dubbing her.

Not bad... Jiang Baimian nodded slightly, praising silently.

After the fake "priest" Guo Zheng finished answering, Shang Jianyao took the opportunity to ask:

“What do you know about the ‘soul corridor’?

"What happened when the Pope entered the new world? Where is the new world?"

Guo Zheng laughed and said:

"These are all secrets among secrets. Don't tell me, even the real 'priest' may not know it.

"I only have a vague impression: Elder Bouillon has some magical little items, which he says are gifts from Zhi Sui.

"Haha, I'm still facing those inner fears in the 'Origin Sea', and I'm still a hundred and eighty thousand miles away from the 'Soul Corridor'."

Having said this, Guo Zheng suddenly froze and muttered to himself:

"No wonder... no wonder I haven't been able to cross that island... People who are 'hypnotized' can never succeed..."

Jiang Baimian nodded thoughtfully and asked about another important point:

"When did you know that Lei Yunsong and the others were 'Pangu creatures'? And where did you learn about the price Odik paid? Christina, the vice-president of the Hunter Guild?"

"It's not her, it's the 'mute'. Haha, maybe it's the real 'priest' who gave me the information." Guo Zheng shook his head and said, "At first I just wanted to find a few 'helpers' who had nothing to do with the sect and could be discarded at any time. Who knows 'Mute' directly gave me the information about this group of people, and then I came up with the plan to frame them and provoke disputes."

Is the real "priest" because Lei Yunsong and others wanted to visit Xu Liyan, so they looked through their memories, checked their backgrounds, and then "set" the time so that they could not avoid the fake "priest"? Jiang Baimian was making further guesses in his mind.

At the end of the interrogation, Shang Jianyao asked for advice with great interest:

"How do you 'anti-intellectuals' pray and salute?"

This is a light topic. Guo Zheng exhaled, rubbed his temples and said:

"To pray is to shake your head before eating. It doesn't matter how many times. It means not to think. To salute is to cover your eyes with both hands from both sides, which means not to see, not to hear, and not to notice. The blessing is 'May you also lose your IQ', which involves holding the year. At that time, he said, "Please believe in God with all your heart." When preaching, I mainly said, "Doubt everything, there is no truth," "Thinking is a trap, and knowledge is poison."

Shang Jianyao took out a small notebook at some point and wrote down:

"The symbol is a person without facial features? So what does Mass look like?"

"Yes, people without facial features." Guo Zhenghou leaned on the back of his chair and said, "Our mass is very simple, that is, preach first, listen to the disadvantages of knowledge and thinking, and then follow the priest to shout slogans. What to shout specifically, and how loud should it be? The sound, depending on the situation, may also be replaced by applause.”

Hearing this, Jiang Baimian asked curiously:

"How do you preach? How do those people truly believe?"

Guo Zheng looked at the screen in front of him and said angrily:

“At the beginning, we used temptations such as food, and then we deeply understood the believers’ difficulties and helped them solve some of them. Finally, we made them completely dependent on us and gave up thinking completely.”

"The first half is quite normal, but the second part..." Jiang Baimian curled his lips, "I thought you just used your 'hypnosis' ability to teach."

"It's not necessary. I will just make some arrangements during mass to enhance the effect." Guo Zheng said with a slightly complicated smile, "For most people on the earth, living is a very hard thing. If we can help them think about it, help them make arrangements, and allow them to live a more stable life, then even if they know that there is something wrong with the teachings, they will still deceive themselves and choose to believe it."

Huh... Jiang Baimian breathed out and closed his notebook.

…………

On the second floor of the "Afu Gun Store", in the damp and dark corridor, Long Yuehong put her hands in her pockets and walked step by step towards the stairs.

When passing by a house, he sniffed and smelled the aroma of food.

The uncle who was cooking something on the coal stove at the door saw him and greeted him warmly:

"Would you like to try it? I cooked the remaining things together in the 'chowder' way you mentioned."

After fighting together to protect their homeland, Long Yuehong developed some friendship with many people in this courtyard and building.

He waved his hands repeatedly and said:

"No, no, I just ate."

He was too embarrassed to eat from this family - they were also affected by the disaster and needed relief to maintain their lives.

With a smile on his face, he passed the uncle and entered the stairs.

After a while, a girl of seventeen or eighteen years old ran up from the first floor.

She has a delicate face, wrapped in a shriveled white cotton-padded jacket, with a yellow steamed bun in her mouth.

"Uh?" Long Yuehong was a little surprised to see the other party at this time.

The girl took the wowotou and said hello with a smile:

"good morning."

She noticed Long Yuehong's question and explained casually:

"There has been no business recently, and we are receiving relief. Teacher An is also willing to give a few more classes at a discounted price, so of course we must hurry up!"

After saying that, she stuffed the steamed buns back into her mouth, waved with a bright smile, and walked quickly upstairs.

Long Yuehong laughed, went down to the first floor, and met Aunt Nan at the doorway leading to the yard.

Aunt Nan led a seven or eight-year-old girl and was walking inside.

"Good morning." Long Yuehong took the initiative to say hello, and then asked curiously, "Where is Xiaodong?"

"His grandma and his mother are both still alive. They took him back and said that since the new year is here, they will sell the shop here and go to the original city to make a living." Aunt Nan said calmly, "That's fine."

She then smiled and touched the little girl's head:

"I won't have any children anyway, so I just have a couple."

The little girl flinched a little, half-hiding behind Aunt Nan, her eyes bright and dark.

Long Yuehong gave a heartfelt blessing and entered the courtyard.

He immediately raised his head and looked at the winter sky, which was not bright but not dark either, and he was in a daze.

"What are you thinking about?" Bai Chen came closer.

Long Yuehong withdrew her gaze and said with a smile:

"Every time I walk in the corridor upstairs, I feel like I'm back in the company. It's a very closed environment. From time to time, I can meet acquaintances and chat with me."

He looked at the sky with floating clouds again, and said softly:

“It’s just that here, as soon as you step out of the stairs, you can see the sky, see the clouds, and feel the wind.

"I'm thinking, I don't know when we will be able to live on the ground without worrying about being attacked. After saying hello and chatting, we can see this when we walk out..."

Note 1: From now on, "prime city" with quotation marks will be used to indicate power, and "prime city" without quotation marks will be used to indicate that city.

PS: I wish everyone a happy Spring Festival~ We have just finished two or three chapters of the story of Wild Grass City. We will start single updates tomorrow and will resume double updates on the 10th day of the lunar month, which is the 21st and 22nd.

At nine o'clock in the evening, I will send out a wave of red envelopes on the WeChat official account, and everyone can grab them