Chapter 030 Lotus
Li Daming was in such a state that I didn't dare drag him down. I didn't mention the fact that I wanted to entrust him to help me and Wang Yue. After we rested, Li Daming's condition gradually improved, and his face became rosy. I wanted to send him home. Li Daming suddenly asked, "Lin Cong, are you having problems?" He hesitated to speak.
His observation skills are still so sharp. I hesitated and said, I don’t know whether I should tell you that you are in this state now...
He said it was okay and urged me to speak.
I sighed and told him about how Wang Yue came out of the bardo and met my mother. Finally, I told him that Wang Yue and I planned to enter the bardo again, and we needed someone outside to protect and communicate with us.
Li Daming suddenly realized: "Is that so? I can do it." Seeing that I was still a little worried, he said: "It's okay, I'm just helping you keep an eye on the outside, it's not me who's going in, you don't have to worry about me."
"In that case, I will contact Wang Yue." I said. Li Daming said to contact her quickly.
I called Wang Yue and told her the situation. Wang Yue also said to let Li Daming come, as there was basically no danger.
Li Daming and I went to Wang Yue's home in the evening. We met each other and Li Daming smiled: "Wang Yue, I usually see you at work as a delicate and weak girl. I didn't expect you to have such a strange identity."
Wang Yue smiled and said nothing more. She exchanged a few simple pleasantries. Suddenly, she stared at Li Daming and said, "How are you feeling now that you've returned to life?"
Li Daming said: "I was a little confused and my mind was not clear at the beginning, but I feel much better after this day. Thank you."
Wang Yue hesitated for a moment and said, "Li Daming, there is still a negative energy in you that has not been dispelled."
I quickly said, "Then help Damin clean up."
Wang Yue shook her head: "This Yin Qi is not very strong, I don't understand it, it may be because the soul has not stabilized after returning, let's observe it for a few more days and see."
Li Daming waved his hand : "No need, I think it's fine."
I told Wang Yue about the long dream Li Daming had, and she listened very carefully. She told us that Li Daming's situation was quite special, as his spirit was out of his body during those three days, and the dream he had was the information his spirit had obtained while wandering outside his body.
Li Daming blinked: "You mean, my soul left my body and entered someone else's body?"
Wang Yue looked confused. "I don't know either. There are many things in this world that cannot be explained. There are many theories about dreams. Some say that when people are sleeping or meditating, their brain waves will resonate with the waves of cosmic rays, and then they can receive information from another parallel world."
I was both amused and confused when I heard this: "Wang Yue, aren't you a ghost messenger, a sorcerer who performs shaman dances? How can you still believe in parallel worlds?"
Wang Yue was a little unhappy and looked at me angrily: "Parallel world, another dimension, the underworld...these are just different names for the same thing. What's wrong with science, what's wrong with witchcraft, they are all an explanation of nature."
Li Daming called it wonderful and clapped his hands a few times: "Look at Wang Yue, how tolerant she is. Back to my dream, you mean that my soul left my body and entered another parallel dimension during these three days?"
"I don't know." Wang Yue said, "If I can explain your dream, then I am not a ghost messenger, but I will go to Longhu Mountain to be the head."
I didn't say anything, thinking about it. Wang Yue and Uncle Zhong actually have one biggest characteristic: they are both unable to give a systematic scientific explanation of the magic they are good at. They know the results but not the reasons. They can use supernatural magic, but if you ask them to explain the principles in detail, they are confused.
The three of us chatted for a while, and then it got dark. Wang Yue and I went to the bedroom, ready to enter the bardo realm.
There are currently two known ways to enter the bardo realm. Either you have great magical powers, a path to heaven and a door to the underworld, and can go to the underworld and the living world at will, and come back at will. This is the first way. The second way is death. In the state of death, you can break free from the constraints of the physical body and enter the bardo realm to accept the test of Meng Po. This test is also a kind of judgment.
Normally, there is one level per day, and the total is seven days in the bardo. Passing through seven levels is said to bring great benefits, either reincarnation into the family of officials and wealthy people as a rich second generation, or entering the underworld as a free and easy ghost fairy to enjoy a good life, or at the very least, you can return to the original body.
It was my first time entering this space and I had no idea what was going on inside. Even though Wang Yue was here this time, I still felt uneasy.
There was no need for a mirror this time. Wang Yue asked me to put on the bracelet and fasten it tightly around my wrist. Li Daming watched quietly beside me while Wang Yue quickly lit the altar and burned incense.
Her every move was like she was at a tea ceremony, her movements were extremely graceful. She had changed her clothes, no longer wearing her usual casual attire, but one that resembled ancient Chinese finery, with fluttering ribbons and a faint gauze scarf, and she had her hair tied up, which made her look particularly beautiful.
After she burned the incense, the whole bedroom was filled with a faint fragrance. She wrote quickly on a piece of yellow paper with a brush dipped in cinnabar, filling up a whole page with scribbles and not a single word was recognizable.
My curiosity was overflowing and I wanted to ask what this meant, but the atmosphere was so serious, as if some kind of ceremony was being held, and I was too embarrassed to open my mouth.
After writing, Wang Yue placed the page of paper on the candle and lit it. The flame quickly licked a corner of the paper, then spread out, instantly burning the entire paper and finally turning into ashes.
Wang Yue slowly put the mask on her face and said to me, Lin Cong, close your eyes and open them when I tell you to.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I heard Wang Yue instructing Li Daming that after we entered the bardo, he would close the bedroom door and wait until this time tomorrow to open it again. If we can come back, we will come back. If we can't come back, she will find a way to leave a message.
Li Daming agreed.
I could hear Wang Yue chanting sutras in my ears. Her voice was very pleasant, but at that moment, it sounded like many little insects were flying around my ears. I became more and more sleepy as I listened, my eyes became sticky as if they were glued shut, and I fell asleep.
I don't know how much time passed before I heard Wang Yue's voice: "Lin Cong, open your eyes."
I slowly opened my eyes. In front of me was a very old-fashioned house. There was a wooden sofa in the middle. Opposite the sofa was a 20-inch shoebox-sized TV. LCD TVs are popular nowadays, and I haven't seen this kind of old-fashioned TV for a long time. On one side of the sofa was a desk with many documents neatly placed on it. There was also a green desk lamp on the desk.
The room was very quiet. There were only Wang Yue and I in it. We looked at each other.
"Have you been here before?" I asked.
She shook her head: "I was just about to ask you, this is my first time here, I'm very unfamiliar with this place."
I pointed to the landscape paintings and banners hanging on the wall and said, "We rarely hang things like this in our house."
The room was a little dark. Wang Yue looked around the wall but couldn't find any light switch. She looked at the desk lamp.
"Open it," I said.
Wang Yue said softly, "We have now entered the realm of the intermediate state. Every scene and every detail did not appear for no reason. They are all born out of our state of mind and our will. Moreover, this is also the place where Meng Po judges us. Once we take action, the test of judgment will begin."
"Are you afraid that the lamp is a mechanism?" I asked.
Wang Yue nodded slightly.
I thought about it and said, "I have to do it. I have to do something."
Wang Yue bit her lower lip and said, "Lin Cong, I need to explain this to you first. Once the mechanism is activated, this room will become a secret room. This secret room may be the fourth level I have to go through, or it may be your first level. The difficulty is different. We will be trapped here and will never get out."
I made a gesture, indicating, come on.
Wang Yue walked to the desk and twisted it gently, and the green desk lamp lit up with a click.
Nowadays, desk lamps are all energy-saving bulbs, but the lamp tube of this desk lamp is actually a miniature fluorescent tube, which is very bright and dazzling. However, the brightness cannot illuminate the entire room, and a light spot area similar to a stage effect is formed around the desk lamp.
I looked around in surprise, and there seemed to be no change in the room, except that it was even darker.
The sofa and TV were both submerged in eerie darkness.
"Ah. Lin Cong, look quickly." Wang Yue shouted.
She walked quickly to the table and picked up the lamp. There was a long black wire behind the lamp, which was not far away. Wang Yue pulled the wire hard, as if she wanted to use the lamp to illuminate something in the distance.
I hurried over to help her move the desk, which was very heavy and my shoulders ached with fatigue, but I finally found a gap. Wang Yue pulled out the wires, then took the desk lamp to the wall and lifted it up to shine.
In the vast white light, I saw a painting appear on the wall at some point. I am sure that this painting was definitely not there when we arrived.
I stood behind Wang Yue, feeling a chill on the back of my neck. This place was too weird. My throat moved as I looked at the painting.
The background of the painting is a temple-like place, which is extremely dilapidated. The camera is looking down from top to bottom, and you can see a shabby incense table. A person is reaching out to touch a strangely shaped lampstand on the table.
This lampstand has staggered layers and looks like a blooming lotus.
