Geisterreich - Kapitel 5
"Whatever you want. Actually, letting the patient lie down is just to help them relax. As long as you can achieve the goal of relaxation, you can lie on the ground if you want," Lu Kang said with a smile.
“I’m not a patient,” Wenshan said irritably.
"Okay, you're not a patient, you're a patient. Sit down or lie down?"
"Hmm... never mind, I'm pretty tired today, I'll just lie down."
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [10]: After lying down, Wenshan twisted his body a few times, found the most comfortable position, and then looked at Lu Kang, waiting for him to speak.
"Tell me first, have you been having that dream again these past two days?" Lu Kang asked.
Wenshan was about to recount the incident involving the residential building and what had happened that afternoon when he suddenly remembered to first see what Lu Kang's analysis of him would be, lest Lu Kang treat him like a patient again. So he smiled noncommittally and said, "Tell me your analysis first."
Lu Kang pondered for a moment, then put on a serious expression, which made Wen Shan's heart tighten. Could it be that his condition was very serious?
"Wenshan, let me ask you a question first?" Lu Kang seemed to have made a great decision before speaking.
"Ask away."
"Do you believe in ghosts and spirits?" Lu Kang asked, adjusting the frame of his glasses with a serious expression.
"Hehe, I'm a Party member and a materialist," Wenshan said with a smile, shaking his head.
"That's good. Before we talk about your situation, let me tell you a few things you might not know... Don't laugh... It's true. Did you know that normally, people have five to six dreams every night, and one or two of them are still memorable upon waking? This depends on where the cerebral cortex is active during sleep. In other words, sleep is actually a rest for muscles and nerves, but the brain doesn't truly rest. I won't go into the more in-depth topics about where the brain is active, as they're not relevant to your question. However, there's a less common type of sleep where even muscles and nerves don't rest. You've definitely heard of this before; we call it sleepwalking." Lu Kang paused here, looking at Wen Shan.
Wenshan shrugged and said, "You think I'm sleepwalking?"
"It's not just that; sleepwalking alone isn't enough to explain your problem. Didn't you say that you later had very clear thinking in your dreams?"
Wenshan nodded, and Lu Kang continued, "Normal sleepwalking is still a dream, so it's impossible to have the same thoughts as during the day. In fact, most sleepwalkers can't remember what happened in their dreams after they wake up, but you can, right?"
Wenshan nodded again.
"Actually, I'm not entirely sure if you have sleepwalking. I need to see it for myself, so what I'm saying is just speculation. I'm more interested in another speculation of mine."
"What speculation?" Wenshan asked hurriedly.
Lu Kang nodded, stood up, walked to the bookshelf, took out a thick English book, and handed it to Wenshan. Wenshan glanced at it and handed it back to him, saying, "Aren't you laughing at me? How could I understand this foreign language?"
"Okay, let me tell you, this is a book about paranormal research written by a very famous British psychology expert."
"What is the supernatural?" Wenshan asked, puzzled.
"Commonly known as the study of the soul!" Lu Kang said, staring at Wen Shan.
"Ha—you, a great scholar, actually believe in this?" Wenshan said dismissively.
Ignoring Wenshan's sarcasm, Lu Kang continued, "When I was in England, I had a mentor who is the author of this book. He was an old Scottish man who devoted his life to the study of the soul, collected paranormal phenomena from all over the world, and personally met many people who claimed to be mediums. However, most of them were scams, and he exposed them one by one."
"That makes sense. It seems he does similar work to my grandma, haha."
"However—" Lu Kang changed the subject and continued, "There are still some things he can't explain, and he personally verified the existence of supernatural phenomena. He told us a story of his own experience. It was about a Gypsy medium he had been tracking and studying for ten years. One year, his wife suddenly passed away. Because he was doing research abroad, he couldn't go back to see his wife one last time and was filled with regret. So the medium suggested that he communicate with his wife through spirit mediums. With the medium's help, he really did communicate with his wife for ten minutes and saw her figure from when she was alive. He told us that he truly felt his wife's presence during those ten minutes, and there were many things that outsiders could never know. Only he and his wife understood the meaning. Therefore, he believed that this communication was not a hoax, but real."
Wenshan was stunned.
"The old man's lifelong research idea is that a person does have a spirit or soul for a period of time after death. It may be invisible, but this spirit retains the thoughts and memories of the person in life. Only after the spirit disappears can a person truly die."
"Is that a ghost?" Wenshan asked in surprise.
Lu Kang shook his head and said, "No, ghosts don't exist; they're just legends. Souls do exist, but not everyone retains this essence after death. Only those with strong beliefs possess this essence."
"What belief?"
"In other words, if a person has something they can't let go of, they will concentrate all their beliefs on thinking about it before they die, so that all their energy and spirit are tightly gathered together, forming a strong state of aggregation that will not dissipate even after physical death."
"What will happen then?"
"It may continue like this, or it may dissipate once the things it can't let go of are resolved and its energy and spirit are relaxed."
"That's terrifying? But what's the use of keeping a mere body and spirit if the physical body is gone?" Wenshan asked.
"Of course it's useful. It will try to communicate with the living or attach itself to a living person, merge with that person's spirit and energy, and try to influence that person's thoughts. You know, a person's thoughts are driven by their spirit and energy. By influencing their thoughts, it will subsequently influence their actions, thereby getting that person to help it complete the things that the dead couldn't let go of."
"Are you talking about being possessed by a ghost?" Wenshan exclaimed in surprise.
“That’s one way to explain it,” Lu Kang said with a smile, “but it’s not like the legends say. It’s just the essence and spirit that a dead person gathered before death, and it doesn’t have the supernatural abilities of a ghost as legends say.”
“That makes sense. Your explanation is quite plausible. The reason I don’t believe in ghosts is because it’s too illogical. Think about it, people are afraid of ghosts because ghosts kill people. Ghosts also think, ‘If I kill someone, that person will also become a ghost. We’re all ghosts. Wouldn’t the new ghosts turn around and cause trouble for the old ghosts? If one ghost goes after another, wouldn’t the underworld never have a peaceful day?’” Wenshan said in one breath.
"Haha... Your explanation is fresh and makes a lot of sense," Lu Kang said with a smile.
"This isn't new; my grandma taught me this," Wenshan said, scratching his head sheepishly.
"No wonder, the old man has a lot of life experience and has seen everything, so he has nothing to fear."
“That makes sense, but—” Wenshan’s mind suddenly skipped a beat, “After all this talk, are you trying to tell me that I’m possessed by a ghost?”
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [11]: "Possibly," Lu Kang said, putting away his smile and looking at Wen Shan: "According to what you said, you are very likely being influenced by a very strong cohesive spirit."
"Then why only in dreams? What about now? Why doesn't it bother me during the day? Is it still that old ghost story where ghosts are afraid of the sun and dare not come out during the day?" Wenshan's face turned a little pale as he asked hurriedly.
"Of course not. According to the explanation in this book, essence, energy, and spirit are not a physical entity; they are merely an invisible spiritual force that only affects your thinking. During the day, your thinking is active, and you have good self-control, so this force cannot affect you, and you are unaware of it. However, at night, when you are asleep, your thinking is at rest, and your essence, energy, and spirit activity also ceases. Then, this external essence, energy, and spirit force takes over your mind, and at that time, you have no control over what you do."
“But I still have my thoughts, and I still have my memories. I can remember them very clearly during the day,” Wenshan argued unwillingly.