There is a trick

Chapter 10: One person does not enter a temple, and two people do not look into a well
I don’t know how much time passed, but the sky outside the window gradually brightened.

Zhou Sanji, who was as quiet as a sculpture in the darkness, stretched his body and tucked in the corner of the quilt for Zhou Chang who was lying on the bed: "It's almost the fifth watch, and we have to get up at the fifth watch and go out to recite the 'Purity Sutra'.

Are you still unable to move now?"

When he spoke, his eyes looked away and he didn't even glance at Zhou Chang's face.

"I can't move." Zhou Chang responded.

The dress that Zhou Chang brought back from the small coffin in front of Yin Sheng's mother's grave, after what happened to Li Xiamei, only had a few threads left. He then followed Zhou Sanji back to his residence in Qingyi Town and made many attempts, but he was unable to restore the "dress of thoughts" in the slightest.

Without the 'Mind Clothes' covering his entire body, his control over Zhou Chang's corpse was little more than nothing.

A strange and distant atmosphere filled the air around the two of them. Zhou Sanji cleared his throat uncomfortably and said, "I have sent a message to my senior brother. When he comes over, we can discuss it together. Maybe there is another way to make you walk and move instead of lying there like this.

Don't be anxious.

I will help you up and sit at the gate of the courtyard. At the fifth watch, all people in Qingyi Town must stand guard at their own gates and recite the "Pure Sutra".

Chanting sutras is also to remove the delusions in people's hearts, so as to avoid the breeding of "demons of thoughts."

Zhou Chang nodded, and followed Zhou Sanji's words and asked, "I have never learned the 'Pure Sutra', how can I recite it when the time comes?"

"It's okay. This sutra is actually a set of jingles. I'll say it once and you'll remember it." Zhou Sanji smiled and looked up at Zhou Chang. As soon as he looked at Zhou Chang, the eager light in his eyes suddenly dimmed a lot, and his voice became low, "Listen carefully, this set of jingles is - 'One person should not enter the temple, two people should not look into the well, three people should not hug the tree, and one person should not lean on the railing.

Don’t go out at night, don’t hold an umbrella when entering the house, ring the bell after three breaths in front of the mirror, and knock on the front door before entering the house’…”

The "Purity Sutra" that Zhou Sanji mentioned was indeed a set of jingles.

Many folk taboos are incorporated into this set of rhymes in order to teach people that by following these taboos, they can always be peaceful, avoid trouble, and prevent evil thoughts from growing.

"In fact, few people can fully abide by these rules. Just write them down and recite them again at the door later.

Anyway, people in the town recite the sutra like this every day, but few people really follow what the sutra says." Zhou Sanji gradually opened up.

Zhou Chang memorized this jingle in his mind, and asked the old man: "Except for Qingyi Town, do other places also get up at five o'clock every day and recite this 'Pure Sutra' together?

Is there anyone who doesn’t get up at five o’clock in the morning to recite scriptures?”

After hearing Zhou Chang mention this, Zhou Sanji looked a little serious: "Anyone who stays in Qingyi Town must get up at five o'clock in the morning to recite the sutras. If you are at home but don't go out to recite the sutras, the neighbors will find out and stare at you immediately.

They will also secretly tell others that you stay at home and don’t go out to chant sutras - then, the whole town will stare at you for several days in a row, and then you will know what it feels like...

It is also because everyone is frightened by the "demon of thought". Once they find anything different about others, they will be like a frightened bird.

I know that in addition to Qingyi Town, several nearby towns and villages also have the custom of reciting the Pure Sutra at dawn. As for other places further away, I am not sure, but even if they don’t recite the Pure Sutra, there must be similar rituals.”

"Can this ritual really prevent the growth of evil thoughts?" Zhou Chang frowned.

People gather together in the morning to recite scriptures, but they cannot fully follow the requirements of the scriptures. This ritual becomes only superficial in meaning and has no practical effect.

How can we prevent the growth of the evil thoughts by relying only on a set of chanting rituals?
On the contrary... once there are loopholes or mistakes in the rituals, people's suspicious thoughts will gather together, which may accelerate the birth of the "Demon of Thought"!

"I don't know..." Zhou Sanji grinned and looked nonchalant. "We have tried countless methods before, but the 'Demon Thoughts' have not decreased. Instead, they have become more and more...

Once a demon is born, it is basically impossible to be killed. They have to rely on killing to maintain their sanity.

As a result, there are more and more demons, and fewer and fewer living people... Now the living people are gathered in a few towns or villages, and there are few big cities. Some people even hide in some sparsely populated mountains and wilderness, but they are still inevitably attacked and killed by demons...

What's more, in this world, it's not just the demons that eat people - do you think I can invite Master Zhong Kui over without paying a price?
Maybe one day you will see what price I paid.

So now, everyone is just muddling along, living one day at a time, following the rules that can be followed, and forgetting about the ones that can’t be followed…”

Zhou Chang remained silent after hearing this.

He could imagine how dangerous and terrifying the world he was in was. After all, thoughts could not be restrained. When thoughts became the root cause of the devil's thoughts, it was obvious that the devil's thoughts would wreak havoc on the world.

Especially in this world, it is not only the living who have thoughts, but the dead, wild animals, plants, soil and stones all have thoughts.

But he could not have imagined that in today's world, living people have become rare animals.

The world is actually controlled by the demon of thought.

Zhou Sanji helped Zhou Chang up and leaned him against the bed, then dressed him carefully.

He stayed in the quilt all night, still as cold as a lump of ice, with a wooden face. He suddenly asked, "Is it impossible to kill the demon?"

"Have you ever been unable to sleep in the middle of the night and had lots of random thoughts?

You tell yourself not to think too much, but your mind just can't stop thinking - at that time, do you think you can control your own thoughts?
If a person can't even control his own random thoughts, how can he possibly control a ghost formed by countless random thoughts? " Zhou Sanji answered Zhou Chang without even raising his head. He thought Zhou Chang's question was quite ridiculous. "Your most important thing now is to find a way to get yourself moving.

You don’t have to worry about anything else.”

"When will your senior brother be able to come over?" Zhou Chang was lifted off the bed by the old man's shoulders. Five 'threads of thought' flowed out from between his eyebrows, connecting the muscles in his body so that they could slightly coordinate with Zhou Sanji's movements, so that Zhou Sanji would not have to work too hard to support him.

The five threads of thought were all that was left of the dress in his mind.

It is still unknown whether this robe of thought can be repaired. If the robe of thought cannot be repaired, Zhou Chang can only try to obtain a way to control his current body from other channels.

"I don't know. He lives in the neighboring town of Maoniu. He went on a long journey seven or eight days ago, and I don't know if he has returned yet.

If he comes back and gets the news, he should be able to come here soon." Zhou Sanji supported Zhou Chang with one hand and held the oil lamp with the other, and moved away from the aisle between the two narrow beds. The light of the oil lamp in his hand flickered, reflecting the vague scene in the main hall.

There is a shrine on the wall facing the main door.

The shrine was filled with smoke and everything inside was blurry.

There is an offering table under the shrine.

A pitch-black tablet stood on the altar, with a line of words inscribed in gold spread out on it: The tablet of the deceased grandson Zhou Chang, date of birth: Wu Zi, Jia Yin, Wu Wu, Jia Yin…

Zhou Chang was helped by Zhou Sanji to sit on a bamboo chair near the door. He looked up and saw the pitch-black tablet, as if he saw his own tombstone.

——On this tablet, only the name of the deceased is different from his, but his birth date is exactly the same!
He didn't expect that Zhou Chang's birth date and time were exactly the same as his own!
An inexplicable feeling floated in Zhou Chang's heart. He recalled the dream he had before, in which those tombstone-like figures called out a name similar to his...

(End of this chapter)