Volume 1 Faith Chapter 15: The only thing that can defeat faith is a stronger faith
"We know that the conditions for death in this painting are increasing night by night," Mu Yiran said. "The first condition is that the number of people in the tent does not meet the regulations. There are thirteen of us, but we are only allowed to have two people in one tent. One person is excluded. If we look at this setting in a religious context, what kind of behavior is this?"
Qin Ci's eyes flashed: "Eliminate dissidents."
Sha Liu suddenly realized, "Right! That's right! No matter which sect it is, they will not allow believers with different opinions to exist. They want to keep the faith pure. If you don't believe in it, why do you need to join the sect? Of course, dissidents must be excluded!"
"Using the number of people in the tent to express the act of excluding dissidents is a symbolic manifestation of the sect's behavior," Mu Yiran continued. "After excluding dissidents, we enter the second round of screening, which is the second night. On the second night, the act of excluding dissidents must continue. It cannot be just for a moment. This is also in line with the sect's actual practice. At the same time, the sect must be further purified, so those who are not sincere, that is, those who do not prepare sacrifices by themselves, are selected and eliminated."
Qin Ci nodded: "This is also in line with the reality of the sect."
"After eliminating those who are not sincere, we entered the third level of screening. And just yesterday, everyone prepared all the sacrifices - assuming that all the sacrifices are correct, I think this situation has ushered in the preparations for the sacrifice ahead of schedule." Mu Yiran continued.
"Indeed," Qin Ci pondered, "That person said that the sacrifice will be held on the seventh day. If we prepare the sacrifice on the sixth day, then the sacrifice will be held on the seventh day. We have already prepared the sacrifice yesterday, so we are now ready to perform the sacrifice at any time."
Mu Yiran's eyes were deep and deep. "As far as I know, there is a branch of the Satā religion that has a rule of human sacrifice before the sacrifice, and the person who is chosen for the human sacrifice is the most devout believer in the religion. After all, for the believers, personal sacrifice is the ultimate expression of piety, the greatest honor, and the most glorious way to be guided and converted."
Sha Liu nodded repeatedly: "That's right, this is also the grace that God gives to believers. From God's perspective, it is not killing believers, but perfecting, guiding and saving them."
"So, that thing is full of good intentions?" Wei Dong was dumbfounded. "The original intention of this painting has also become a pious prayer and a desire to sacrifice oneself?"
"But we are not believers," Geng's mother was furious, "What's the point of it killing us!"
"Isn't the purpose of missionary work to convert non-believers into believers?" Sha Liu said dejectedly.
"So, our action of preparing sacrifices has become a hint to Heishi Tian to apply to become the offerings?" Qin Ci's expression was complicated.
"After the sacrifices were fully prepared," Mu Yiran continued, "as a gesture of grace, last night Black Corpse Heaven selected the most devout believers to sacrifice themselves. At the same time, the screening conditions of excluding dissidents and purifying believers still exist, so Li Ziling was not spared either."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Qin Ci said in a low voice: "So, Zhou Bin was chosen as the most devout believer... It makes sense when you think about it. Zhou Bin is indeed more proactive than us in preparing sacrifices, and more... willing to do it."
Sha Liu looked at Ke Xun hesitantly and said hesitantly, "But didn't Ke Xun meet the required number of people in the tent last night, but he was safe and sound? How do you explain this?"
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Ke Xun and Mu Yiran.
"Yeah, why? That guy looked at me for a long time, and it was obvious that he wanted to catch me." Ke Xun also looked at Mu Yiran, "Could it be that that guy dislikes me as much as you do?"
"..." Mu Yiran had a blank expression on his face. "I've said before, perhaps no power is stronger than faith. Gods exist because of faith. Faith is a kind of spiritual power. I think the only thing that can fight against spiritual power is spiritual power. It was on top of your tent last night, and perhaps it felt a force that could fight against it."
"So what you mean is that I defeated it with my mental power?" Ke Xun raised his eyebrows.
"Or maybe it's better to have no moves," Mu Yiran said coldly, "People without any faith or spiritual power are probably impregnable rocks to gods who need faith to exist."
Ke Xun doted on his face: "You are handsome, and you are right."
Mu Yiran frowned and ignored him.
Sha Liu took his words to heart and couldn't help asking Ke Xun, "You must have faith, right? Do you believe in religion?"
Ke Xun looked up at the sky, then smiled and said, "My beliefs may not apply to you. Besides, no matter which religion or god you believe in, you must first strengthen your mental strength... or turn yourself into a piece of stone."
Sha Liu bit her lip and looked at Mu Yiran: "I don't want to die. I have a strong desire to live. Does this count as mental power?"
Mu Yiran replied calmly, "No one wants to die. Everyone wants to live. I believe Zhou Bin's telekinesis is no less powerful than yours. As parents, Mr. and Mrs. Geng's desire to protect their children and keep them alive may be several times stronger than yours."
Sha Liu's face turned pale: "Then...how can I do what Ke Xun did?"
Mu Yiran refused to answer, but seeing that everyone was looking at him waiting for the answer, he had to say expressionlessly: "I think this so-called faith power, or spiritual power, or telekinesis, refers to all the spiritual power that a person truly possesses and is hidden beneath the surface.
“Until a certain moment, even we ourselves cannot estimate the strength of this force.
“Maybe it’s stronger than you expected. As people often say, human potential is unlimited, but you just don’t know it.
"Or maybe it's so weak that it can't satisfy you at all, and you just overestimate yourself.
"So I can't confirm for you whether you can fight it like Ke Xun did. If you want to be sure, you can only try it yourself. There is a 50% chance of success or failure."
Sha Liu didn't dare to try, so he had to look to Wei Dong, seeking someone with the same fate as him.
Wei Dong: “…”
"I think Xiao Ke is just a special case," Qin Ci said after deep thought, "If anyone can fight against the belief in the devil, then the existence is meaningless. I don't think there is anyone else like Xiao Ke among us, so the most urgent thing is to think about how to deal with tonight, and find clues related to the seal as soon as possible."
"Yeah, I've been easily distracted since I was in school, and it's impossible for me to rely on my mental strength to fight against any demon god," Wei Dong quickly followed up, "Let's think of a plan quickly. I'm afraid we will have to choose a sacrificer tonight, and we have to divide the tents. Now there are only nine people left . If we still have groups of three, we may have to choose three people to sacrifice."
Geng's father and mother also became anxious after hearing this. Geng's mother stamped her feet and said, "What can we do? From what you said, if we don't prepare a sacrifice, we will die. If we prepare a sacrifice, we will die again. There is simply no way out!"
Wei Dong smiled bitterly, "It's normal not to give you a way out. Don't forget that this is a painting. They brought us in to kill us in various ways. It's unrealistic to give you a wide way out. Basically, all of us need to find a way out among nine deaths. Going forward or backward is a dead end. You have to find another way out on the dead end."
Sha Liu looked at Mu Yiran and said, "Regarding the seal, do you have any idea, Brother Mu?"
Mu Yiran said: "I only know that the painter Qiu Jian is a fanatical Satya believer, and his seal is likely to be hidden in a place related to religion."
"Could it be in the Suta Temple?" asked Geng's father.
"It may also be on some kind of sacrificial instrument." Qin Ci said.
"And... maybe it's at the Sky Burial Platform?" Sha Liu said, "After all, that kind of place is where the souls of believers like them can be sublimated."
Qin Ci nodded slightly: "We can't just talk about it here, we have to take action and search every place we can think of. Brother Geng and his family of three can try to look for it in the nearby villages. Let Zhao Dan stay here for now. I don't think she will be able to get over the grief of Zhou Bin's death in a short time. The remaining five of us will be divided into two groups. One group will search at the Sky Burial Platform, and the other group will search at the nearby Suta Temple. Try to get back as early as possible in the afternoon. If there is no result, we need to focus on thinking about how to deal with tonight."
Everyone had no objection. Since the sky burial platform was far away, it required men with good physical strength and fast legs to go, so Qin Ci took the initiative to sign up and asked Ke Xun and the other three who were willing to go with him.
Mu said happily: "I'm going to the temple to inquire about some things."
Ke Xun looked at him, then looked at Wei Dong, and smiled: "Doctor Qin, I will go with you, and the three of them will go to the village."
After everyone was divided into groups, they immediately took action, fighting with all their might for their own lives.
When there was still some time before dark, Ke Xun and Qin Ci returned to the tent area and saw that most people had returned, except for Mu Yiran.
Zhao Dan seemed to have fainted from crying and was placed in a corner of the tent.
"Where is Mu Yiran?" Ke Xun asked Wei Dong.
"He left us as soon as he left here this morning," Wei Dong said depressedly. "I don't know where he went. We went around all the nearby temples by ourselves, but we didn't find anything that looked like a seal."
"Where is Brother Geng?" Qin Ci asked.
Father Geng shook his head with a gloomy expression: "We have searched all the tents and houses nearby, but found nothing."
Sha Liu asked Qin Ci: "What about you? Have you searched the sky burial platform?"
"I've looked, but found nothing." Qin Ci said in a deep voice.
"What should I do..." Geng's mother was anxious, "Where else can it be? Where else can the seal be?"
No one could answer and the tent fell into silence.
When it was almost dark, Mu Yiran came back, facing the expectant gazes of the crowd, and said calmly: "It's better to dispose of the sacrifices you prepared."
Qin Ci's eyes narrowed: "Have you found out the exact situation?"
Mu Yiran said, "No, the language barrier is the biggest obstacle. However, I took some local plants that Ke Xun and I collected yesterday to the temple. The elders in the temple asked me for these things, and seemed to want to do something with them. But I'm afraid I won't know before tonight, so I have to wait until tomorrow morning.
“I asked you to dispose of the sacrifices that have been prepared, but I just thought about it on the way back, and I still think that these sacrifices will not do us any good.
“I have said before that thing grows stronger with these sacrifices. We cannot be sure what will happen when it grows to the extent it wants. Will it be a catastrophe for us?
"And since we already know that no matter whether we prepare sacrifices or not, we may be chosen and killed by that thing, then instead of keeping these things to make it stronger, it is better to just get rid of them."
Sha Liu looked at him hesitantly, and said hesitantly: "But... I think that if we keep the sacrifice, that thing may only take one or a few of us, but if we get rid of all the sacrifices, it is very likely that all of us will die in one..."
Mu Yiran's expression did not change at all, and he said calmly: "Whether to stay or not is up to you to decide. I am just making a suggestion."
Sha Liu stopped talking, lowered his head and wiped the lenses of his glasses with the corner of his clothes.
