My girlfriend is a Miao demon.

Nomads Go to Party (South Wind's QQ name): 2011.12.31 20:55

"I'm sorry, there was a slight accident yesterday, a guest came over. Please pretend that Gui Luyao's matter never happened."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 20:56

Why?

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 20:57

"It seems it really was my hallucination. I was wrong. I'm sorry. I was indeed in a coma for 46 days. It was all a dream, just a dream. But thank you anyway. If you ever come to Wangshan again, I'll treat you to a meal!"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 20:58

"Wait, can I ask why? Who exactly did you see yesterday? How come they've suddenly disappeared?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:00

"Lin Shu. I saw Lin Shu yesterday; he's not dead. Since he's still alive, everything that followed was just a dream. I've betrayed your trust."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:03

"It's a dream, of course it's a dream. But Xiang Nanfeng, don't you think this dream of yours is too strange?"

What do you think I trust you about?

"I believe in Gui Luyao's existence, but I have never said that she is a real person in our world. What I believe is that your dream world is real, and she is a person from that world."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:07

"Yes, you're absolutely right. I can't explain such a strange dream, such a vivid one."

"Let's assume you're right for now. Of course, subjectively, I do agree with what you said. But the problem is that the dream is over now, the door to that dream world has closed, I've woken up, and I'm still in this world. What can I do?"

"There is no such thing as Loubei No. 92 in our world."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:08

"No No. 93 Loubei? What do you mean? Did you go to Loujia Village?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:09

"Yes, I went today."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:13

"You mean today? Wait, Xiang Nanfeng, didn't you say you saw Lin Shu yesterday? Since you already knew yesterday that it was a dream, why did you go there in person today? Since you told me to pretend this never happened, why did you still go? What are you looking for, or what did you find?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:16

"No, I didn't find anything. Actually, I wasn't looking for anything. In my dream, Gui Luyao's house and Grandpa Hexiao's snack shop were a rather strange walled city without doors in reality, but I'm sure there wasn't a single two-story building inside. Because there was no Loubei No. 93 at all."

"The house numbers on Loujiacun North Road only go up to number 92. The next number after that is number 1 on Loujiacun South Road. Haha, I was discharged from the hospital today. Maybe I had a really deep dream. My body was a little out of control, and I just walked there inexplicably."

"But don't worry, I'll get better, and I'll definitely get out of this dream as soon as possible!"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:18

"What, a walled city without a door? Why is No. 93 Loubei in my dream a walled city without a door? What's inside that walled city? Why does it have no door? Why doesn't it have a house number? Have you ever thought about these things?"

"No, south wind! Perhaps for you, the ultimate goal is not to achieve psychological self-healing by stepping out of the dream and returning to reality, but to find a way to enter the dream world."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:19

"My God, what are you talking about? This is too insane! Master Mao Xi, you may not know, but the day before yesterday I was almost locked up in a mental hospital by my direct supervisor."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:20

"Madness? No, not at all. When were the first and last times you saw Gui Luyao and that old man He Xiao in your dream? What were the dates?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:21

"I'll have to think about that."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:25

"I first met Gui Luyao at Lin Shu's funeral, on November 15th."

"Of course, if it's the time she saw me, it should be November 7th, after my car accident; the last time I saw Luyao was when she went missing, six days ago, on December 25th. As for Grandpa Hexiao, the last meal Luyao and I had before we set off to climb Shounan Mountain was at his restaurant, so it was also on the same day, but the first time I saw him should have been at the end of November, but I can't remember the exact date."

"But what's the point of asking these questions?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:25

"It's all in the past."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:27

"Yes, it's all in the past, but I think they're all waiting for you."

"I don't know how to answer why you're asking these questions right now. But I'd like to tell you a story, and I wonder if you'd like to hear it."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:28

"Of course, I'd like to hear more details."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:30

"Whether you want to believe it or not, this is a true story that I personally experienced."

"That was in the early 90s. I was very young then, living in the Miao village of Maoxi. There was a child in our village who was older than me, but he was only about seven or eight years old at the time."

"It was winter at the time, and this child often stole oranges from other people's trees. Instead of picking the oranges one by one, he would climb up the tree and break off whole sections of the thinner branches, then pick out the red oranges inside to eat."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:30

"Oh, eating and destroying at the same time."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:33

"Every family in the village grows oranges, and many families have suffered at his hands. He has been caught by several people, but he is not afraid of being scolded. If you go to report him to your parents, they are even more irresponsible and do not care at all."

"Then one day, the child came home with a pale face. He suddenly said that his stomach hurt, and then he had diarrhea and vomiting. He was in so much pain that he rolled on the ground. In less than an hour, he started to have bloody stools, talk nonsense, and even lose consciousness intermittently."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:34

"So fast? Acute malaria?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:38

The child's parents were terrified and rushed the child to the township health center overnight. The health center couldn't treat the child at all, so they sent the child to the county hospital, but the county hospital couldn't treat the child either.

"Medicine and injections are completely useless. And when we do lab tests on the child, all the detectable indicators are normal. In other words, we can't find out what the problem is at all."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:39

"and then?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:39

"Hey, wait a minute."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:42

"Maoxi, Miao village? You're not going to tell me that after all the doctors were helpless, an old woman came out and confidently said that the child had been cursed, and then the villagers invited some kind of shaman or sorcerer to use some mysterious witchcraft to break the curse, and then the child's illness was immediately cured?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:43

"Heh, you're quite knowledgeable."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:43

"Could I have been right? Is it really witchcraft?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:47

"Yes, it is indeed witchcraft. You're right, the child was indeed bewitched. But you've misunderstood the ending. There was no old woman, no sage, no witch doctor. The child went home and died in agony. Because there's no way to break true witchcraft; otherwise, it wouldn't be witchcraft."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:47

"this……"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:48

"Frankly speaking, while your story isn't exactly exciting, it thankfully doesn't have any cliché plot twists. However, although it's based on your personal experience, I still don't think it's logically flawless."

"For example, that child was only seven or eight years old back then, and you were even younger. Is your memory accurate? Did you have the ability to think independently at that time and not be influenced by external opinions?"

"For example, what about Maoxi 20 years ago? Even in a county-level hospital, were the medical conditions good enough? How many tests could the Maoxi County Hospital perform back then?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:48

"It seems you don't believe in witchcraft? Well, Xiang Nanfeng, you're a liberal arts student, so you must have heard of the dangers posed by witchcraft, right?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:49

"Of course, but just because you've heard about it doesn't mean you have to believe it, and just because it's recorded in history doesn't mean it's the truth."

The Witchcraft Affair was a widespread political tragedy during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty in the mid-period, a fact Xiang Nanfeng remembers very clearly. But in Xiang Nanfeng's memory, wasn't the Witchcraft Affair clearly not a miscarriage of justice? If it was a miscarriage of justice, shouldn't the evidence against it be invalid?

To verify his memory, Xiang Nanfeng immediately opened his browser and searched for this historical event. Sure enough, he found the relevant historical record in the Book of Han:

In 91 BC, the second year of the Zhenghe era, Gongsun Jingsheng, son of the Han Chancellor Gongsun He, was accused of using witchcraft to curse Emperor Wu of Han and of having an affair with Princess Yangshi. At that time, a type of witchcraft was prevalent in society.

"The sorcerers would carve paulownia wood into human figures, bury the figures underground, and then use some secret witchcraft to curse the cursed person. Once the witchcraft succeeded, the cursed person would die inexplicably. When Emperor Wu of Han heard that Gongsun Jingsheng had spent a lot of money to hire a sorcerer to curse him, he imprisoned Gongsun He and his son Gongsun Jingsheng and sent his favorite minister Jiang Chong to investigate the witchcraft case."

"Jiang Chong was a notorious cruel official. He used torture on everyone involved in the case and framed them. This witchcraft case resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people. Moreover, because Jiang Chong had a personal grudge against the then Crown Prince Liu Ju, he used the case to frame the Crown Prince. Fearing that he would be implicated, Crown Prince Liu Ju hastily raised an army in rebellion, which was later suppressed by Emperor Wu of Han."

"The final result of the rebellion was that Crown Prince Liu Ju and Empress Wei Zifu were killed, the entire ruling group of the Western Han Dynasty was brutally massacred, and hundreds of thousands of people died unjustly as a result."

Yes, the Witchcraft Affair is a real tragedy recorded in official history, but the authenticity of the Witchcraft Affair cannot prove the authenticity of witchcraft.

Thinking of this, Xiang Nanfeng immediately retorted.

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:53

"Wait, wait a minute, you're trying to change the subject."

"The witchcraft accusation was a miscarriage of justice. If the charges in a miscarriage of justice are fabricated, then can't the evidence be forged?"

"We do not know whether Gongsun Jingsheng really asked a sorcerer to use witchcraft to curse Emperor Wu of Han. You cannot infer that witchcraft existed in history just because history records the witchcraft disaster, nor can you use the verdict of a wrongful case to justify the perjury in the wrongful case."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:55

"Is that how you understand it? Xiang Nanfeng, and you call yourself an investigative journalist! You think the 'Witchcraft Persecution' is called that because the false evidence that led to the wrongful conviction was witchcraft, hence the name?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:55

"Isn't that so? This case arose from false evidence of witchcraft."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:57

"Then go check it now. See if there's a sentence like 'The Witchcraft Persecution originated with Zhu Anshi' in the 'Biography of Gongsun, Liu, Tian, ​​Wang, Yang, Cai, Chen, and Zheng' in the Book of Han? Who is Zhu Anshi? Did he know witchcraft? According to your understanding, Zhu Anshi should be that sorcerer who used witchcraft, right?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 21:58

"Let me tell you."

"Why did the witchcraft incident happen? Essentially, it was because Emperor Wu of Han suspected that someone was trying to harm him using witchcraft. And why did Emperor Wu of Han have this suspicion? It was because a year before the incident, in 92 BC, the first year of the Zhenghe era of the Western Han Dynasty, a man holding a long sword suddenly broke into the Jianzhang Palace in the Shanglin Garden where Emperor Wu of Han lived late at night."

Emperor Wu of Han saw this man with his own eyes and ordered his guards to arrest him. However, the man threw down his long sword and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"The palace guards searched the palace, turning Jianzhang Palace upside down, but they couldn't find him. The Imperial Guards expanded the search area, placing the entire Shanglin Garden under martial law and conducting a thorough search, but still found nothing. This person had traversed layers of palace restrictions, essentially coming and going freely, treating the troops as nothing. In the end, Emperor Wu of Han had no choice but to execute the official in charge of the palace restrictions to settle the matter."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 21:59

"But what does this have to do with Zhu Anshi?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:01

"Good question, no problem."

"Zhu Anshi was known as the Great Hero of Yangling. He was a famous swordsman at the time, with extremely high martial arts skills, and he used a sword. So afterwards, some people speculated that the person holding the long sword was him. But the problem is, no matter how high his martial arts skills were, he couldn't have come and gone freely with such high palace walls. With tens of thousands of Imperial Guards searching the palace, no one could possibly escape alive."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:01

"So what you mean is?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:02

"Zhu Anshi is just a suspect. The person Emperor Wu of Han saw wasn't actually human; it was a Gu worm. The 'Witchcraft Persecution' is called that because it began with the witchcraft assassination attempt at Jianzhang Palace in the first year of the Zhenghe era. You must have heard of the Yelang Kingdom, right?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:03

"Of course, everyone's heard of arrogance and hubris."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:06

"Emperor Wu of Han conquered Yelang. Yelang was once a powerful state among the southwestern barbarians, but it disappeared without a trace in the history of the Han people."

"We don't know where it came from before the Western Han Dynasty, nor do we know how it disappeared after the Western Han Dynasty. But you should know that the location of Yelang is the ancient land of the Sanmiao Kingdom and the Sanmao Kingdom, which is today's Maoxi."

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:10

"I understand. You mean that the people of Yelang learned witchcraft and came to Chang'an to seek revenge against Emperor Wu of Han, which led to the witchcraft disaster?"

"Okay, okay."

"Your reasoning seems reasonable, but frankly, I'm not very familiar with this period of history, so I have no opinion on your viewpoint and will not make any judgments. Including your personal experience, I understand you want to prove the existence of witchcraft to me. But I don't think you need to prove it to me; it's both a problem and not a problem."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:11

"How so?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:15

"I don't believe in witchcraft, just like science has proven that there are no supernatural abilities. But whether witchcraft exists or not is none of my business."

"Even if there were Gu worms in the Jianzhang Palace of the Western Han Dynasty, and even if there were witchcraft in the Maoxi Miao villages in the 1980s and 1990s, I am now in Wangshan. I can find three McDonald's within two kilometers of my home. From Wangshan Airport, I can get to London, New York, or even Buenos Aires within 24 hours."

"Even if witchcraft still exists in the world, it couldn't possibly appear here, could it?"

"If it's not there, what does it have to do with me?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:17

"Two companies have three McDonald's locations? 24-hour delivery to London?"

"Alright, south wind, let me ask you, are McDonald's and London really that close to you?"

"Is McDonald's closer to you or Gui Luyao?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:18

"What do you mean? Is this related to witchcraft?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:20

"I'm asking you, during the period you just mentioned, from November 15th to December 25th, let alone in your dreams, in the real world, was there anything that recently appeared close to you? Or rather, what was closest to your brain or heart?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:20

"This is ridiculous, Master Mao Xi, what are you talking about?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:21

"Don't ask, just answer me!"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:21

"How would I know I was unconscious?"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:22

"I'm lying in bed, and what's closest to me... well, it's my pillow, of course. What's wrong? What's wrong now?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:23

"Pillow? Is that the pillow from your hospital room? Were you using the same pillow while you were in a coma?"

Pillow.

"When Mao west Gu Master mentioned the pillow, Xiang Nanfeng, though still repeatedly asking 'What's wrong?', felt a strong sense of unease. Who is he?"

"Who exactly is the master of the Maoxi Gu? Is he right next to me?"

Xiang Nanfeng felt a chill run down his spine. He turned his head sharply and stared at the blue pillow that he had brought back from the hospital and was now casually tossed on the sofa.

"That blue pillow definitely wasn't from the hospital ward. But he didn't know where it came from, nor did he care."

He remembered that he had only casually asked Ningning, who had come to visit him, after waking up in his dream. But in reality, he had no idea why he had such a pillow or who had given it to him.

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:25

"What's wrong? How do you know about that pillow? It's definitely not from the hospital ward, but I don't know where it came from. I only know that someone must have given it to me, and I think it's more comfortable than the hospital pillow, so I've been using it. When I was discharged and came home, I just brought it back with me. What's wrong? Is there something wrong with this pillow?"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:26

"Then go take a look. Go open that pillow and see. I think there might be something inside!"

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:27

"No, there's something inside the pillow? What do you mean? The pillow core, the inner lining? What else? Don't scare me!"

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:27

"Heh, trying to scare you? I'm not in the mood. Take a look inside your pillowcase; I think you've been bewitched."

As Xiang Nanfeng stared at the line of text that popped up on the screen, he felt a sudden shift in temperature.

On the surface, he continued to pretend to be a staunch defender of science, but in his heart, ever since Gui Luyao's appearance became an untenable illusion, his absolute trust in science had quietly crumbled. It wasn't that he didn't believe in science, but rather that he realized more deeply that the end of scientific knowledge was not the end of science itself.

"What Mao Xi Gu Master said wasn't nonsense; it was from the very beginning." Xiang Nanfeng nervously ripped off the blue pillowcase, revealing a pillowcase with double-sided linen and four decorative edging. He patted it; it was full, probably filled with buckwheat.

Xiang Nanfeng hesitated; he was afraid. At this moment, he clearly had a bad feeling.

Who sent this pillow? Who was it?

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:30

"How's it going? Is there something there? What is it?"

"Ding ding ding, ding ding ding," the QQ notification sounded so impatient and uneasy in the dark night. Xiang Nanfeng picked up the utility knife from the drawer, pushed out the blade, and carefully cut the cotton thread on one side of the seam: the dark brown buckwheat was revealed.

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:32

"We haven't found anything yet. I'm going to pour it out and take a look."

Xiang Nanfeng unfolded the newspaper, carefully grasped the two corners of the pillowcase, and poured out the buckwheat:

What? What is that?

Amidst the flowing, dark brown buckwheat, a reddish-brown object suddenly flashed by. Xiang Nanfeng put down his pillow and hurriedly dug it out with his hands.

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:33

"There really is something! Look, what's this?"

It was a plain bamboo strip, about the size of a mini USB drive, with no decorative lines. Its simple shape made it seem like anyone could make it by just picking up a bamboo and whittling it. However, its surface was covered with a thick patina, which indicated that it must have been made a long time ago, and perhaps it was played with by several generations of owners after it was made.

"Xiang Nanfeng loves cultural relics and museums, and often visits museums in his spare time. He saw the bamboo pen holders of Zhu Songlin and Zhu Sansong at the Wangshan City Museum. These two, grandfather and grandson, were bamboo carving masters from the Zhengde period to the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty. The patina on this small bamboo piece is comparable to that on their bamboo pen holders."

What is this thing?

Xiang Nanfeng casually took two photos, one of the front and one of the back, and sent them to Mao Xigu Master.

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 23:23

"This is called a bamboo strip. It's a strip of bamboo. Look at the photo behind you, what are those two characters on this bamboo strip?"

What? There are words on it?

Xiang Nanfeng turned over the bamboo strips and turned on the lamp to search carefully. Upon closer inspection, he found two small ochre characters faintly hidden in the patina. The two characters were—Lu Yao.

Nomads Go on a Party 2011.12.31 22:34

"Luyao! It's Luyao! How could this be!"

The moment Xiang Nanfeng sent his astonished message, a message from Mao Xiguzhu at 22:34:20 PM also appeared on the screen:

"Gui Luyao's secret must be hidden inside the walled city of Loujia Village. To find it, you'll probably have to go back to your dream world. Believe me, you can no longer stay out of it, because you've been cursed with a 'sword curse'."

Mao Xigu Master 2011.12.31 22:34

"Oh, right, Xiang Nanfeng, don't touch those two small ochre characters. That ochre paint is probably corpse oil!"