Präziser Kontrollverlust

Kapitel 3

Liyan and Zhang Li were taking a walk nearby when Zhang Li saw Wenxin and Chen Jie running away. He smiled and said to Liyan, "Look how charming I am! They're afraid they won't be able to resist my charm and will run away in panic!"

"Go to hell, you pig-headed idiot! Let's go find my grandpa." Liyan pulled Zhang Li toward the teachers' dormitory area.

Liyan's grandfather, Professor Yang, teaches Chinese culture at the university. In his spare time, he enjoys studying Buddhism and has a deep understanding of Buddhist scriptures. Zhu Zhi is his part-time student, a graduate student majoring in history at the university. He also enjoys studying scriptures and thus became Professor Yang's student. Zhu Zhi is intelligent and humorous, and Professor Yang greatly admires him.

When Liyan opened the door with Zhang Li, Professor Yang and Zhu Zhi were discussing the Buddhist scripture "Great Compassion Mantra" in the living room.

Upon seeing his granddaughter appear at the door, Professor Yang interrupted his discussion, exclaiming loudly, "Rare guests! Rare guests! Didn't you say last time you wouldn't come to this superstitious old man's house?" Zhu Zhi, standing to the side, remained silent, his bright eyes smiling as he watched the two of them. His lively pupils revealed a hint of cunning, and his neatly trimmed eyebrows slanted slightly towards his temples, giving him a somewhat dashing and spirited air. He recognized the couple; he often went to the vicinity of the dormitory building to look at that cloud of mist, and naturally, he often saw the two of them together.

“Grandpa! I’m not going to argue with you. I want to ask you about Buddhist matters. This is my classmate Zhang Li,” Li Yan said, pointing at Zhang Li. Professor Yang quickly invited Zhang Li into the house for tea, only grunting twice at Li Yan’s words. He didn’t think his granddaughter would come to ask him about any Buddhist matters.

"Zhu Zhi, you look so handsome today!" Li Yan greeted Zhu Zhi.

Zhu Zhi smiled and said, "I've always been handsome." He then deliberately tossed his long black hair.

Zhang Li felt a pang of jealousy. He had heard Li Yan talk about Zhu Zhi before, her words filled with admiration. He secretly glanced at Zhu Zhi, who was wearing jeans, a white shirt tucked into his pants, and a black leather belt. He exuded youthful energy, and his bright eyes were looking directly at him.

"Hello, my name is Zhang Li." Having been caught spying on someone, Zhang Li was a little embarrassed, but he still greeted Zhu Zhi as he entered the living room.

"Hello, my name is Zhu Zhi." Zhu Zhi patted Zhang Li on the shoulder generously. "I recognize you! Zhang Li."

After entering the living room, Liyan took out the jade Buddha statue with the crack: "Grandpa, look, it was fine, but the jade is cracked, there's a problem!"

Professor Yang took the Buddha statue, muttering, "What kind of trick are you playing now, you little rascal!" But he still carefully examined the cracks, his smiling expression gradually turning serious. Seeing Professor Yang's expression, Zhu Zhi also leaned over and looked at the cracks; Zhu Zhi's expression also became serious.

Zhang Li really couldn't understand why a senior professor and an outstanding graduate student would take a jade pendant with a crack so seriously. Would they also say that it had some kind of "spirituality"?

"Where's your jade pendant?" After a while, Professor Yang asked Liyan for another jade Buddha pendant.

Liyan turned to look at Zhang Li. Zhang Li cursed his bad luck inwardly: He hadn't wanted to tell Liyan that this one was also broken, and he could just buy an identical jade Buddha from a jade shop to make do, but who knew her grandfather wanted to see it. What bad luck! Embarrassed, Zhang Li took off the Buddha pendant that Liyan had given him last night from his neck and said somewhat apologetically, "Grandpa Yang, Liyan left the jade pendant with me last night, but I accidentally cracked it again."

Professor Yang didn't answer. He took the jade Buddha statue from Zhang Li and fell into deep thought. After a long while, Professor Yang finally looked up and asked Zhang Li what he had seen or encountered when the jade Buddha statue cracked. Zhang Li repeated the entire process of the two pieces of jade cracking. After listening, Professor Yang asked Zhang Li, "Are you sure you saw a black object?"

Zhang Li thought for a moment and said, "At the time, I did see a black object hanging around my classmate's neck, but I'm not sure if the light was an illusion!"

"Did you notice anything unusual when you got back to your dorm last night?" Professor Yang asked.

"The dormitory is very quiet, which seems a bit different from usual." After answering the question, Zhang Li suddenly remembered the reason why he felt something was wrong last night: Liu Li snored loudly after falling asleep; Jiang Bing would occasionally talk in his sleep, but last night, there was no sound at all, it was too quiet! But when they got up this morning, everything seemed normal, they just stayed in bed and didn't want to get up when the alarm rang.

After hearing Zhang Li's answer, Professor Yang exchanged a glance with Zhu Zhi and then went into the study together, leaving Li Yan and Zhang Li looking at each other in the living room.

Because they hadn't slept well the night before, Wang Hongbing, Liu Li, and three others went back to their dormitory to sleep without eating. Soon after, Liu Li's snoring began.

Wang Hongbing felt a headache coming on. Lying on his dormitory bed, he couldn't help but sigh. He seemed to have had a nightmare last night, but the throbbing pain in his back made him wonder if it was a dream or reality! He remembered smelling a musty, fragrant odor last night. When he opened his eyes, he saw a figure seemingly stroking him, but he couldn't make a sound or move his limbs. After a while, however, he could move his limbs again and seemed to be following someone as they walked out in a daze. It was very dark outside, but he could still sense that he was near the abandoned experimental building deep in the campus. Because of the darkness, the artificial hill next to the building looked like a menacing monster, and the branches of the old locust tree next to the hill twisted like snakes. Suddenly, a thick branch grabbed... It came over and wrapped itself tightly around my neck. Then a thin branch pierced my spine, followed by a sharp pain. I tried to scream but couldn't make a sound. As I struggled, I noticed that Liu Li, Chunlai, Zeng Hai, and Jiang Bing had also been pierced in their bare arms by the same thin, willow-twig-like branch, with faint blood flowing out. Just then, it seemed that Zhang Li rushed over. Then, a blinding light emanated from Zhang Li's chest. After that, I couldn't remember anything else.

It was probably the nightmare caused by the murder that unsettled him; talking about it might make him feel better, Wang Hongbing reassured himself. He got up and looked around; Zhang Li wasn't there. He softly called to Chunlai across the room. Chunlai turned over, mumbled a response, and went back to sleep. Watching Chunlai continue sleeping soundly, Wang Hongbing stared out the window, lost in thought. What good would it do to talk about it? Why was the jade he sold missing from Hengsheng Jade Shop? Would he be able to explain it clearly? Was there any progress in the murder case? He didn't know whether he should go to the police station to explain things. If he did, would they believe him...?

After some time, Professor Yang called Zhang Li and Li Yan to his study. Professor Yang took out a book, and Zhang Li glanced at the title—*Baopuzi*. Professor Yang looked at Zhang Li and said, “This is *Baopuzi* by Ge Hong, a Daoist from the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It’s divided into two parts, inner and outer. The inner part mainly discusses elixirs of immortality, supernatural transformations, etc. I know that even if you don’t say it outwardly, you’ll think what’s in the book is nonsense, but that’s not true.” Professor Yang then took out another book and continued, “This is *Yu Shuo* by Zhang Ling, the founder of Daoism from the Eastern Han Dynasty. I can’t be certain whether things different from natural science exist in the world, but what the ancients left behind is indeed worth our attention…”

"Grandpa, when did you start studying Taoism again? Why are you rambling on and on? Tell me quickly, why did that jade crack like that?" Liyan interrupted Professor Yang and asked anxiously.

“I’m not sure what the reason is, but one thing I’m sure of is that there must be some kind of evil thought or malevolent energy that is different from that of humans, and the jade artifact was damaged by its malevolent energy.” Professor Yang paused for a moment and looked at Zhang Li: “Whether you believe it or not, put my copy of the Great Compassion Dharani Sutra in your dormitory and read it before you go to sleep.”

Zhang Li took the book, thinking, "My God, what kind of world is this! I'm just an ordinary person, and you want me to chant Buddhist scriptures!" Zhu Zhi seemed to see through Zhang Li's thoughts, and handed him "Baopuzi" and "Yushuo" together, patting him on the shoulder: "Just think of it as understanding what Buddhist scriptures are, flip through them casually." Zhang Li looked at Zhu Zhi's smiling face and nodded.

After seeing Zhang Li and Li Yan off, Zhu Zhi said to Professor Yang, "Do you remember the faint cloud of mist near the student dormitory that I mentioned to you before? Recently, that cloud of mist has become thicker and thicker, especially on rainy days, when you can clearly see the resentment emanating from it."

"Have you found the source of the fog?" Professor Yang asked.

“No,” Zhu Zhi continued, “I checked it once and saw that it didn’t have any malevolent energy, so I didn’t think much of it. I’ll go check it again soon.”

Professor Yang pondered for a moment: "It seems that among the students of the Class of '96 you mentioned, the one who nurtured this mist might be in Zhang Li's dormitory?"

"The possibility is extremely high!" Zhu Zhi said firmly.

It was already past four in the afternoon when they got back to school. Zhang Li took Liyan back to her dormitory, bought a box of instant noodles and a few packs of biscuits as "food" for the week, and then headed back to his dormitory.

He pushed open the door and shouted, "Wow! You guys can really sleep! It's not even night yet! Get up, get up!!" His shout made Liu Li, Zeng Hai, and the others groggily open their eyes, but they remained in bed.

Zhang Li placed the instant noodles and biscuits on the table, then opened the door to the balcony. The cool afternoon breeze blew into the room, making it very pleasant. After sitting down at the table, he took out the book Professor Yang had given him from his bag and casually flipped through it. When he glanced at Liu Li and the others still lazing in bed, he mischievously began to read aloud: "First Sutra: The Great Compassion Mantra; The Great Compassion Mantra is the great compassion, supreme Bodhi mind, and important mantra of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva for saving the world, cultivating the path, and attaining Buddhahood. This mantra is the main part of the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva's 'Great Compassion Dharani Sutra,' consisting of eighty-four lines. Its full name is: Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva's Vast, Perfect, and Unobstructed Great Compassion Dharani Sutra, Great Compassion Mantra..." Liu Li, who was closest to Zhang Li, suddenly sat up in bed and protested vehemently: "Damn it! So noisy! Cultivating the path and attaining Buddhahood! Cultivating the path and attaining Buddhahood! Boss, do you want to become a monk?!"

Zhang Li chuckled mischievously, "Haha, it's not me becoming a monk, it's us! This scripture is our sacred treasure! It wards off evil and brings good fortune! Everyone must read it!"

"Avoid evil? Avoid what evil? Have you been seduced by a beautiful snake? Or is your Liyan pregnant with a ghost?" Zeng Hai never said anything nice, so no one paid him any attention.

Chunlai picked up where Zhang Li left off: "Boss, to be honest, I had a really bad nightmare. It was such a strange dream! I even dreamt about you."

“I dreamed about the boss too!” Jiang Bing chimed in.

"You guys are just good at making me happy. Were you dreaming about beautiful women?" Zhang Li said with a smile as he unpacked the box of instant noodles. "Are you hungry? I bought a box of instant noodles. Get up and fill your stomachs." After saying that, he took two packs of instant noodles and some biscuits and threw them onto Wang Hongbing's bed. He knew that apart from Wang Hongbing being shy, the others would not be polite at all.

Wang Hongbing picked up the instant noodles and gave Zhang Li a grateful glance. He really felt his stomach growling.

As darkness gradually fell, the sky gradually darkened.

In the girls' dormitory 205, the soft orange light of the desk lamp bathed Chen Jie, who was lying on her bed. Her fair and delicate skin was exposed through her small tank top, which was illuminated by the light in a bright pale yellow hue. Beneath her long, slender eyebrows, her eyes, sparkling like stars, were staring blankly into space. Her small, full lips were tightly pursed, and she was deep in thought, overwhelmed with emotion because of her aunt's phone call.

My aunt was indeed saddened by my uncle's passing. Although they were divorced, she didn't hold a grudge against him; she only hoped he could change for the better. My cousin, Chen Ya, said that my aunt hadn't remarried and still cared deeply for him. Who would have thought that he would...? She didn't know if her aunt's life was a tragedy, nor how long her grief would last. My cousin had graduated from police academy, and being a police officer inevitably involved danger. What would become of my aunt?

"Chen Jie, what are you thinking about? Let me tell you, Zhang Li's dormitory might be haunted. We went to ask my grandfather about it today..." Li Yan started talking as soon as she entered the dormitory.

Chen Jie's train of thought was interrupted, so she listened to Li Yan with a smile.

"Thump, thump..." You could tell from the sound that someone was kicking the door.

Liyan frowned: "It must be Wenxin! She keeps knocking on the door with her foot!"

As soon as the door opened, Liyan's voice immediately changed 180 degrees, becoming gentle: "Oh, dear Wenxin, how did you know I like French fries?"

"Go away, there's none for you, it's all mine!" Wenxin hurriedly walked into the house, carrying two large bags of snacks in her hands and a big box of French fries in her arms.

Liyan exclaimed in surprise, "You, you pig! You eat so much? Let me help you, otherwise you'll get fat, and if you get that fat, no one will want you!"

"You dare say I'm unwanted? See how I deal with you!" Putting down what she was holding, Wenxin lunged at Liyan fiercely...

Outside the window, a pair of eerie green eyes stared intently at Chen Jie in the dormitory.

That evening, Zhu Zhi arrived at dormitory 501 and saw that everyone in the dormitory was crouching down, as if they were looking for something, so he knocked on the door that was already open.

"Come in." It was Zhang Li who spoke, but he didn't look up, nor did the other four. Only Wang Hongbing looked up, glanced at Zhu Zhi, and politely asked, "Who are you looking for?" Zhu Zhi coughed, "Is Zhang Li here?"

Zhang Li then looked up and, upon seeing Zhu Zhi, quickly said, "Oh, what brings you here? Please come in." He then said to Liu Li, Wang Hongbing, and the others, "This is my friend, Zhu Zhi." He then introduced Zhu Zhi, saying, "This is Liu Li, this is Wang Hongbing, those are Jiang Bing and Li Chunlai; that handsome guy is Zeng Hai."

Zhu Zhi greeted them one by one, and then asked what they were doing. Liu Li and the others said embarrassedly, "Catching mice."

"And then what?" Zhu Zhi asked.

"Kill it!" Zeng Hai looked at Zhu Zhi as if he were a monster. "Are you suggesting we raise it?!"

Zhu Zhi didn't speak, but found a stool and sat down. He said, "I'll tell you a story. More than twenty years ago, something happened in a resident's home in Tangshan: The owner accidentally saw a mouse fall into an empty rice jar. Because the jar was deep, the mouse couldn't escape and kept spinning around inside. The owner thought, 'This is a perfect opportunity to kill the mouse.' So he found a stick to hit the mouse. Just as he raised the stick, he saw the mouse bowing to him, as if pleading, 'Let me go!' The owner was moved, but then he thought, 'Mice can't understand human nature,' so he hit it with the stick. The mouse dodged, and the owner raised the stick again to hit it. The mouse quickly bowed again. The owner was touched and didn't hit it, releasing it."

A few days later, the owner discovered that the mice hadn't moved away and were still living in the house with the other mice, but they never damaged anything. The owner had grown fond of them. Later, the owner moved house, and the day after the move, the owner discovered that the mice had moved with them.

In their new home, everyone lived in harmony as before. But one day, the mouse suddenly acted strangely, gnawing and destroying things in the house. The owner thought it was just the mouse's nature and didn't pay much attention. Seeing that the owner was unmoved, the mouse jumped onto him and bit him while he was sitting. The owner was furious, thinking, "A mouse is a mouse; it never changes its nature." So he grabbed a stick and hit it, but the mouse then went to bite the owner's children. The owner was even angrier, thinking, "I must kill this pest!" So he organized the whole family to catch the mouse. The mouse darted left and right, running around, but the family couldn't catch it. Finally, it ran from the house into the street. The owner said, "Let's chase it! We can't let it run anywhere else; wherever it goes, trouble will follow." So he led the whole family to chase the mouse, still holding the stick. As the mouse ran, it unknowingly reached the square in the middle of the street. It got tired and suddenly lay down on the ground, refusing to get up. Seeing it lying on the ground, the owner raised the stick and beat it hard. Just as the owner raised the stick, a blue light streaked across the sky, and the entire city was instantly reduced to ruins. The owner's family was saved, but the rats died…

After Zhu Zhi finished speaking, he paused and continued, "We humans always judge the good or bad of things and animals by whether they are harmful or detrimental to ourselves. In fact, nature not only gives humans life and space to live, but also gives life and space to other creatures. Humans should not be so selfish!"

After listening to Zhu Zhi's words, everyone fell silent for a while.

Zeng Hai thought to himself, "What utter nonsense! I'll throw you into a pile of poisonous snakes and see how 'selfish' you become," but on the surface he acted as if he had seen it all.

Liu Li and Chunlai scratched their heads sheepishly, while Zhang Li smiled and said, "We're afraid these rats will damage our things. Actually, we don't kill living beings, Amitabha!" After saying that, Zhang Li even pretended to put his hands together in prayer.

Zhu Zhi laughed and said to Zhang Li, "It's nothing, I was just saying it casually. My main purpose in coming here is to return this jade Buddha to you at Professor Yang's request. By the way, has anyone encountered anything unusual lately?"

After Zhu Zhigang finished speaking, Wang Hongbing, who was not talkative, unusually interrupted and said, "Yes!" Then he recounted in detail what had happened in the past few days and the whole process of selling jade.

He wanted to tell the story of the woman with mental problems he met that day, but he opened his mouth several times only to swallow it back down.

When talking about their dreams from the previous night, Liu Li, Chunlai, Jiang Bing, and Zeng Hai exclaimed in unison, "We had the same dream too!" Zhang Li was stunned. The light emanating from their chests in their dreams was probably the light emanating from the Buddha statue. How could it be such a coincidence? Could the jade Buddha really have some kind of spirituality?

Zeng Hai was most interested in what Wang Hongbing was saying about the jade he sold to Hengsheng Jade Shop.

After listening to Wang Hongbing's description, Zhu Zhi thought for a moment and then asked, "Do you all have classes tomorrow?" "Of course, but they're all general education classes!" Liu Li replied. Zhu Zhi glanced at his watch: ten o'clock. Not too late. He smiled and said, "Alright, how about we go see that old locust tree from your dreams tonight?"

The boys were clearly excited. Before leaving, Chunlai turned back and grabbed a flashlight.

The campus was quiet. Under the faint moonlight, the laboratory building stood there silently, its long shadow cast by the moonlight, giving a sense of oppressive stillness. The craggy rockery seemed to exude an eerie atmosphere in the moonlight. The old locust tree's gnarled branches stretched out in all directions, as if to cover the entire rockery. Zhang Li, Liu Li, and the others were secretly surprised: they had never noticed before that this locust tree was so vigorous.

There wasn't a breath of wind, yet the locust tree rustled softly, like a woman weeping and lamenting. The group approached, only to find it pitch black beneath. Though the locust tree was lush and leafy, there were gaps, and strangely, not a single ray of moonlight filtered through. It was as if this was a world of darkness, needing no dim moonlight to govern it. The group's hearts, too, seemed to be seeped into by this dense darkness; their initial excitement vanished, replaced by oppression and fear.

No one considered the tree a tree anymore at this moment; a woman's cold laughter faintly emanated from its canopy, as if confirming their judgment. Jiang Bing felt a chill run down his spine. He preferred to believe it was his imagination. He nudged Chunlai beside him: "Did you hear anything? Someone is crying?" Chunlai was already a bit timid, and Jiang Bing's question made his hair stand on end. He stammered, "It sounds like... it sounds like a woman... a woman is laughing."

There were seven of them in total. Zhu Zhi secretly counted and found that there were actually eight shadowy figures. Zhu Zhi thought to himself: Oh no, I really shouldn't have asked them to come along. I wonder what those shadowy figures are and whether they will hurt them.

"You bastard, you ambushed me! That stab hurts my back!" Zeng Hai shouted as he turned to the shadowy figure behind him.

"No, I didn't do anything." The dark figure was Liu Li, who replied, bewildered.

After Liu Li finished speaking, the group suddenly remembered the scene from their dream and froze in place, too frightened to move. At this moment, Zhu Zhi said, "Everyone, quickly get out of the shade and into the moonlight." The group hurriedly turned around, intending to leave the shade. However, after walking several dozen steps, the ground was still completely dark. Seeing this, Zhu Zhi told everyone not to move. He glanced around and saw eight dark figures.

Chunlai quickly pulled out his flashlight and shone it deep into the old locust tree. He saw a pale, skeletal hand, which suddenly shrank back into the trunk. Chunlai let out a low scream. Zhu Zhi ignored his scream, took the flashlight from Chunlai, and shone it into the treetop. Everyone followed the beam of the flashlight and looked into the treetop. Many thin branches, like countless long, thin snakes, were silently bending and twisting downwards… almost touching their bodies. Liu Li felt dizzy and quickly closed his eyes; Wang Hongbing, however, stared silently at the twisting branches.

Suddenly, Zhu Zhi shone his flashlight quickly at the dark figure standing near the tree trunk. In the dim light, the figure's face was clearly visible—with veins like leaves, from which flowed green and red liquid. Then, facing the light, its "mouth" split into an extremely unnatural smile and emitted a "quack" sound. Instantly, they both felt their legs being tightly gripped by something hard and pulled downwards. Zhu Zhi slowly lowered the flashlight—

Numerous fleshless hands emerged from the ground—or rather, deathly pale skeletons! They were tearing at their legs.

Several people screamed in unison. Zhu Zhi hurriedly began chanting the Great Compassion Mantra: Namo Ratna Trayaya Namo Arya Avalokiteshvara Tissattavaya…

In an instant, moonlight poured down through the tree canopy, instantly filling the dark shade with dappled light and shadow; the twisted branches, the croaking monster, the pale skeletal hand, and the faint laughter all seemed to evaporate, vanishing without a trace. With a thud, Chunlai collapsed to the ground. Zhang Li, Liu Li, and the others then reacted, hurriedly dragging Chunlai along, scrambling and crawling out of the shade. When Zhu Zhi emerged, he was still muttering scriptures under his breath.

Liu Li, Jiang Bing, and Wang Hongbing shook Chunlai, who was lying in Zhang Li's arms, and kept calling out, "Chunlai, Li Chunlai, wake up."

Zhu Zhi looked at them and said wearily, "It's okay, he was just scared and will wake up soon."

Under the moonlight, the group of people calmed their fears one by one, without saying a word, and lay sprawled out in a row. Only now did they realize how lovely the moon hanging in the night sky—this planet that reflects the sunlight—was!

After a while, Chunlai slowly opened her eyes, saw Zhang Li beside her, and asked tremblingly, "Just now, just now was it a dream? So many, so many, hands... bones?!"

Zhang Li looked down at Chun Lai's sweat-drenched face and realized that his own shirt was completely soaked. If he hadn't experienced it firsthand, he would never have believed that such strange things really existed in this world! After a long while, Zhang Li nodded: "Maybe it was just in a dream."

The dormitory lights had long been out. Back in the dorm, all six of them ran to the balcony and surrounded Zhu Zhi. Zhu Zhi scanned their faces and sighed softly, "I know you're all wondering if what we encountered was a 'ghost.' Sigh—I can't say for sure, but it must have some connection to you." In the moonlight, these words sent a chill down everyone's spine. My god! A connection?!

Zhu Zhi remembered that Zhang Li had mentioned Wang Hongbing's black jade at Professor Yang's house, so he asked Wang Hongbing, "You dreamed of an ancient woman touching the jade pendant hanging around your neck both Friday noon and afternoon, right?" Wang Hongbing nodded. Zhu Zhi thought for a moment and said, "Hongbing, could you tell me about your jade?"

Wang Hongbing blushed slightly: "That piece of jade was something my parents used to put around my neck when I was a child. I really liked it when I was little. The jade was like a teardrop, a beautiful green color..."

"Lock? Water droplets? Bright green?" Zhu Zhi repeated.

Wang Hongbing stopped: "What's wrong?"

"You said your jade is teardrop-shaped and emerald green? And you wore it around your neck?" Zhu Zhi asked. "Yes," Wang Hongbing scratched his head. "What's wrong?"

Zhang Li chimed in, "But what I saw that day was clearly black!"

"What's the point of all this talk! The key issue is how to prevent us from getting into trouble! Will we have more nightmares?! I don't want to die in my sleep. You, Wang Hongbing, should turn yourself in! Don't drag us down with you!" Zeng Hai interrupted them impatiently.

Zhu Zhi coughed awkwardly: "Oh, because I think today's events might be related to that jade. Here's what we'll do: from now on, don't go under the tree at night. If you feel that unusual confusion again, try to clear your head. Because intangible thoughts can't harm tangible objects. Like computer viruses, I think software, strictly speaking, can't harm hardware. Under normal circumstances, it can only reproduce and spread by attaching itself to a system software or user program. So-called ghosts and monsters, if they really want to harm you, they always have to break your will first, and then attach themselves to things like flowers, trees, or even people to achieve their goal of harming your body. Like what we encountered today, it's not necessarily the old locust tree causing trouble, but rather the old locust tree being attached to."