Indescribable cyberpunk

Chapter 188 Puppet Ballad (110)

life and death

shed puppet

When the line breaks

Luoluo Leilei

——Zeami's "Flower Mirror"

This poem is engraved on the mottled light gray stone wall. Any visitor to Brahmamyoji Temple will pass by here and see it first.

Some people just glanced at it and strode past, carrying the dolls under their arms, rushing to get a good seat for the blessing ceremony later.

Some people stopped for a while, not to have any insights, but just to stand in front of it and let their friends quickly take a few photos to show off on social networks.

There were also people like Zhu Jue who stood in front of the wall, silent for a long time, and were stunned for a while.

That was the man I had seen in the mask shop before. To be precise, it was the man in the cloak next to him. He just stood aside and kept asking some things in a low voice.

"The meaning of this poem is that life in this world is nothing but a body that is manipulated by the strings of the soul like a puppet. When the soul leaves the body, the remaining body is nothing more than scattered waste like a puppet with broken strings. That’s all.”

There was a tour guide nearby who was explaining to the tourists who were following him. Those people listened with half-understanding, and soon someone shouted that they should quickly visit Brahma Myooh Temple instead of surrounding a stone wall outside to analyze. go.

"Brahmadenmyoji Temple is really a magnificent building."

Li Qinglian's gaze also did not stay on the stone wall for too long, and soon moved to the building behind the wall. In the shock, she really couldn't think of any gorgeous words to describe it. She could only smack her lips and sigh repeatedly. Wu Tong and Ollie next to her The same goes for Wei.

It was almost dusk when they arrived, and the sunset was thousands of miles away. The orange light and the deep blue sky set off this world.

The Brahmamyoji Temple with an overall octagonal layout is like a heavenly palace standing among the clouds and mist. It is a kind of magnificence that cannot be described in words, because it cannot be seen at a glance. No matter from which angle you look at it, in the end you can only see it. Infinite emotion.

"We may have to go in early, otherwise there will probably be a lot of people crowded into the square inside later. The ceremony should be about to start, let's go."

Zhu Jue took one last look at the man and the cloaked man over there, and unexpectedly found that the cloaked man seemed to be looking at him too, because his body was facing this way, but Zhu Jue didn't care much about it. Follow the crowd into Brahmamyoji Temple.

A considerable number of people have gathered in the square in front of Brahma Myoji Temple, and in the center, some performers in costumes are parading back and forth holding some plastic swords, guns, swords and halberds. Occasionally, they will collide with each other a few times. This caused the people around to cheer loudly.

Zhu Jue relied on his strong body to push through many people and move closer.

"Look, they all have dolls in their hands."

Li Qinglian stood behind Zhu Jue, pointing at the dolls that the people in front of her were holding, holding under their arms, or carrying on their shoulders. She had mentioned this issue on the way here. But I never mentioned buying two dolls to burn.

"They started preparing."

Zhu Jue's eyes were always on the two empty roads separated by colorful ribbons on the other side of the square. At this time, someone was driving a tall mechanical horse covered with colorful satin and talismans pulling two iron basins nearly ten meters in diameter. Walking inside.

This was the first time Zhu Jue had seen such a scene.

It should be that the iron basin is too big for ordinary horses to pull, but if it is replaced by a truck or something like that, it will make people feel inconsistent. After all, it is such a solemn blessing ceremony now, and two large trucks really need to be driven over. , the atmosphere here is probably disturbed to the last bit.

So I don’t know who came up with this idea to build two robot horses, and they are not of ordinary size. Not counting the horse’s head, the height of the horse’s back alone is nearly three meters. This is a huge mechanical horse. As a prop for pulling the iron basin.

It stands to reason that something of this form should be a bit weird, but the miscellaneous things on this horse completely cover up the original technological elements on it, or use these bright things to divert people's attention.

The sound of the horse's hooves tapping seemed to follow a certain pattern. There were several people wearing colorful robes with oil paint on their faces standing on the horse and constantly making various movements. They were holding white strips hanging in their hands, some of which looked like The legendary Chinese hell seducer kept waving his soul-calling stick while chanting some scripture-like content that Zhu Jue couldn't understand at all.

And their performance is also extremely effective in drawing people's attention away from the mechanical horse.

At first, the local residents of Rongxia City stopped talking, and then the silence quickly spread among everyone as if it was contagious. In just a minute or two, the square that was originally bustling with people became quiet and a little disturbing. People are panicking.

At this moment, Zhu Jue saw several people wearing gray cotton robes beside him looking up at something. Out of curiosity, he followed their gaze and saw a stone pillar standing in the center of the square. There seemed to be a statue on the top, but it was not clear due to the angle of view. Zhu Jue recalled what he saw on the plane when he first arrived.

Maybe it's a statue of Guan Erye?

The iron basin was set up in the central square, followed by another ritual performance, but this time it was more of a religious nature.

Some people held two copper cymbals and kept beating them, some people held a magic staff with strips of paper connected by prismatic pieces of paper tied to the top, and some people held a bell high and kept shaking it.

During this period of time, Zhu Jue kept staring at the pillar. As time went by, the sunlight that could first hit the bottom of the pillar continued to move upwards, and the shadows from Brahma Tian Mingwang Temple continued to spread across the entire square. Night was about to fall. As the sun sets, the light in the square becomes darker and darker, and the remaining sunset light eventually turns into a decadent, gloomy golden brown.

When the sun did not reach the middle of the pillar, several people divided into two teams. The person at the front held a mechanical stick with fire balls on both ends. The chants of those behind them became mournful and long, and they circled around the iron basin. , chanting incessantly.

Not only them, but after a while, the locals in Rongxia City also began to chant. Just like the silence before, it was just a small area of ​​chanting at first, and soon spread to the entire square. The content was not dry prayers, but He sang words like a ballad in a cadence:

Even if there is no moon shining day and night

The tiger thrush cries sadly as before

Suddenly looking back at the remains of hundreds of flowers

It’s like the comfort has disappeared without a trace

Gods Gathering in the New World

Tiger and thrush crow at night

Flowers bloom and pray to God

Feeling empty and sad

The dream is gone

hate drifting

These people are not humming randomly, but more like they have been practicing for a long time. They only show their skills at certain times a year, which only locals can do. Their rather ancient singing tunes are paired with eerie and sad music styles, like Zhu Jue's. As a foreigner, after just listening to a short paragraph, he couldn't help but become completely addicted. Soon, his whole spirit relaxed and he merged into this decadent sacred atmosphere.

Yes, Zhu Jue privately believed that this atmosphere was decadent and sacred, and what happened next only deepened his thinking.

As the ceremony progressed, the iron basin suddenly burst into flames.

The dimness that had been waiting for a long time was illuminated by the fire, as if the light was igniting again in the darkness, or it symbolized the new life in the end of the world.

At this time, everyone began to wear masks quite solemnly.

Zhu Jue looked around and saw a series of ferocious ghost faces and strange facial makeup illuminated by firelight. Somehow, he felt that it was normal for such a scene to appear at this time.

But the so-called normality here is actually the normality that conforms to the surrounding atmosphere. In his opinion, this is still a slightly weird ritual behavior.

Of course, he also wore a mask at this time.

The most important part of the ceremony began at this time. Wave after wave of people came forward and threw the dolls with their own sins and desires into the fire pot, hoping that the fire would completely destroy them and save them for themselves. Reward.

Even this kind of prayer itself represents some kind of desire

Zhu Jue stood quietly in the crowd. His eyes fell on the puppets in the brazier. Those exquisite and lifelike puppets were stripped of their gorgeous shells under the burning flames, revealing the ash underneath. The brown body and long hair were burned completely early.

The so-called burning of sins means letting them suffer on their behalf.

Zhu Jue always felt that something was wrong.

"Why let them be burned?"

Someone asked.

"Because these people are unwilling to atone for their own sins, they want to let these dead creatures help them atone for their sins in exchange for spiritual comfort."

The young man looked at the cloaked man beside him, his eyes full of love.

"They are not puppets, so how do you know that those puppets are soulless dead things? I remember some of you humans said this: A child is not a fish, how can I know the joy of a fish? Then can I say that a child is not a human being? Do you know that the puppet has no pain or fear?"

"Haha, how can dolls be confused with fish? They are not alive and have no emotions at all. Not every doll is the same as you."

In his eyes, only the "person" in front of him is unique, and the others are dead things without any life.

"Is it different? In my eyes, you are the aliens, and they and I are the same kind. Will one day you also throw me into the fire pot to atone for your sins?"

"Of course not! Suzi, you are my beloved wife. This is destined by God. Since you suddenly became self-aware, can't you still see my love for you? I will not allow you to leave me. It is absolutely not allowed, even if I try my best, I will not let those people take you away from me!"

Speaking of this, the young man's eyes became more determined and sad.

The person under the cloak did not respond to his words, but looked at a special machine in the brazier. Compared with the surrounding dolls, it was obviously more advanced. It was a driveable mechanical doll.

"Do you hate it?"

Talk softly to yourself.

The mechanical doll in the fire suddenly stood up the next moment!

I have been thinking about this chapter for a long time. I hope everyone is satisfied. Maybe I will take a day off tomorrow to sort out my thoughts.