Chapter 37: Belief 15┃ defeats belief, only stronger belief.

"We know that the death conditions in this painting are gradually added night by night." Mu Yiran said, "The first condition is that the number of tents is not met. We have 13 people, but they are only Being able to account for two people and one person is excluded. If you look at it in a religious context, what kind of behavior is this setting."
Qin Ci's eyes flashed: "Exclude dissidents."
Sha Liu suddenly realized: "That's right! That's it! No matter what kind of sect, it will not allow the existence of alien believers. To maintain the purity of the religion in the church, if you don't believe in, why do you need to join the religion? Of course aliens. To be excluded!"
"Using the number of people in the tent to express the act of excluding aliens is a symbolic manifestation of sect behavior," Mu Yiran continued, "Excluding aliens and entering the second screening, which is the second night. In the second night, The act of excluding dissidents must continue. It cannot be done for a while. This is also in line with the actual practice of the sect. At the same time, it is necessary to further purify the inside of the sect. Eliminate."
Qin Ci nodded: "This is also in line with the reality of the sect."
"After removing the insincere people, enter the third level of screening. And just yesterday, everyone prepared all the sacrifices-assuming all the sacrifices are correct, I think this situation will usher in advance. Preparation for the sacrifice." Mu Yiran continued.
"Indeed," Qin Ci groaned, "The man 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 ushered in on the seventh day, and we have already prepared it yesterday. With sacrifices, it is now equivalent to being in a ready state for sacrifices at any time."
Mu Yiran has a deep gaze: "And as far as I know, there is a branch of Suotuo Sect. Before offering sacrifices, there are people making sacrifices, and the people who make sacrifices are the most devout believers in the religion. After all, for believers. For us, personal sacrifice is the ultimate manifestation of piety, the greatest honor, and the most glorious way to be received and accepted."
Shaliu nodded again and again: "It's like this. This is also the grace God gives to believers. From the perspective of God, it is not killing believers, but perfecting, attracting and saving."
"So, so, is it a good intention to work with that thing?" Wei Dong was dumbfounded, "The original intention of this painting has also become a pious prayer and a willingness to dedicate myself?"
"But we are not believers," Geng Ma was furious, "what's the use of it killing us!"
"Converting non-believers into believers is not the purpose of preaching," Sha Liu said gloomily.
"That said, our act of preparing sacrifices turned out to be a hint to apply to Hei Shi Tian to become sacrifices?" Qin Ci's expression was complicated and unspeakable.
"After the sacrifices are ready," Mu Yiran continued, "As a grace, Hei Shi Tian selected the most pious believers last night and sacrificed them with their bodies. At the same time, the screening conditions for excluding dissidents and purifying believers still exist. , So Li Ziling was not spared either."
Everyone was shocked, and Qin Ci's voice was low: "So, Zhou Bin was selected as the most devout believer... It makes sense to think about it. Zhou Bin is indeed better than us in preparing sacrifices. More proactive, more... more handy."
Sha Liu looked at Ke Xun hesitantly, and he said: "But didn't Ke Xun have not met the number of people who met the tent requirements last night, but he was in good condition? How can I explain this?"
After hearing the words, everyone looked at Ke Xun and Mu Yiran.
"Yeah, why? That guy looked over my head for a long time, obviously he wanted to get me out." Ke Xun also looked at Mu Yiran, "Is that guy, like you, despise me?"
"..." Mu Yiran expressionlessly, "I said, maybe there is no power that can be stronger than faith. Gods live by faith. Faith is a kind of spiritual power, I think it can fight against spiritual power, It's still mental power. It was on the top of your tent last night, and maybe you felt the power to fight it."
"So you mean, I used my mental power to defeat it?" Ke Xun raised his eyebrows.
"Maybe there is no way to win without a move," Mu Yiran said indifferently, "A person who has no faith or spiritual power is probably an invulnerable stone for the gods who need to believe in existence."
Ke Xun petted his face: "You are handsome, you are all right."
Mu Yiran calmly ignored him.
Sha Liu listened to what he had just said, and couldn't help but ask Ke Xun: "You must have faith? Are you religious?"
Ke Xun looked up at the sky, and then smiled: "My faith may not be applicable to you. Moreover, no matter which religion or you believe in, first you must first strengthen your mental strength...or let yourself be too Become a rock."
Sha Liu bit her lip and looked at Mu Yiran: "I don't want to die. I have a strong desire to live. Is this considered mental power?"
Mu Yiran answered her indifferently: "No one wants to die, everyone wants to live. I believe that Zhou Bin's thinking power is not inferior to you. As parents, Mr. Geng and his wife want to protect their children and want to live. The power of thought may be several times stronger than yours."
Sha Liu paled: "Then... Then how can you achieve Ke Xun?"
Mu Yiran refused to answer, but seeing everyone looking at him waiting for the answer, he had no choice but to say indifferently, "I think, this so-called power of faith, or spiritual power, or mental power, refers to it. It is all the spiritual power that a person really possesses, hidden under the surface.
"This force is not at a specific time, and even we ourselves can't estimate its strength.
"Maybe it is stronger than you expected. As people often say, human potential is unlimited, but you don't know it.
"Or maybe it's too weak to satisfy you, you just overestimated yourself.
"So I can't determine for you, whether you can fight against it like Ke Xun, you want to be sure, you can only try, success and failure, each has half the possibility."
Sha Liu didn't dare to try, so she had to look to Wei Dong, seeking someone who had the same fate.
Weidong: "..."
"I think Xiao Ke is just a special case," Qin Ci said after thinking deeply. "If individuals can contend with the belief in demon gods, then the existence of gods is meaningless. I don't think there is a second person among us. It's like Xiao Ke, so the most urgent matter is to think about how to deal with tonight and find clues related to the seal as soon as possible."
"Yeah, since I was in school, I have been prone to lose energy, and it is impossible to rely on mental power to contend with any demon god," Wei Dong quickly followed up, "Let’s try to recruit, I’m afraid it’s not going to choose another one tonight. There are also tents for the sacrificers. Now there are nine people left. If there are still three people, maybe three sacrificers will be chosen."
Geng's father and Geng's mother were also anxious when she heard this, Geng's mother paused: "What can I do? Listen to your words, if you don't prepare sacrifices, you will die. If you prepare sacrifices, you will die. There is no way out!"
Wei Dong smiled bitterly: "It's normal not to give a living. Don't forget that this is a painting. We were originally brought in to kill us in various ways. It is unrealistic to give you a spacious living. Basically we These people all need to find a life in the nine deaths, going forward and backward is a dead end, you have to make another way of life on the dead end."
Sha Liu looked at Mu Yiran: "Does Mu Ge have any thoughts about the seal?"
Mu Yiran said: "I only know that the painter Qiu Jian is a fanatical Satu, and his seal is likely to be hidden in places related to religion."
"Will it be in Suotuo Temple?" Dad Geng asked.
"It may also be on some kind of sacrificial artifact." Qin Ci said.
"And... will it be on the Sky Burial Platform?" Sha Liu said, "After all, that kind of place is the place where the souls of their believers can be sublimated."
Qin Ci nodded slightly: "We can't just talk here, we have to take action and find all the places we can think of. Brother Geng's family of three can try to find them in nearby villages. Zhao Dan asked her to stay first. Here, I think she may not be able to escape Zhou Bin’s death grief in a short time. The remaining five of us are divided into two groups. One group goes to the celestial burial table and the other goes to the nearby Suotuo Temple. , Try to come back as early as possible in the afternoon, if there is no harvest, we still need to focus on how to deal with tonight."
Everyone had no objection. Since the sky burial platform was far away and needed men with good physical strength and quick legs to go, Qin Ci took the initiative to sign up and asked Ke Xun who of the three of them would like to go with him.
Mu suddenly said: "I'm going to the temple to inquire about something."
Ke Xun looked at him, then at Wei Dong, smiling: "Doctor Qin, I will go with you, the three of them will go to the village."
When everyone was divided into groups, they acted immediately and worked hard for their lives.
When it was still a while before dark, Ke Xun and Qin Ci returned to the tent area. Seeing that most of the people had also returned, only Mu was missing.
Zhao Dan seemed to cry and fainted and was placed in a corner of the tent
"Where is Mu Yiran?" Ke Xun asked Wei Dong.
"I dumped the two of us as soon as I left here in the morning," Wei Dong was depressed, "I don't know where we went, we both went around the nearby temples by ourselves, and we didn't find anything with suspected seals."
"Where is Big Brother Geng?" Qin Ci asked.
Dad Geng shook his head gloomily: "All the tents and houses nearby have been searched, and nothing was found."
Sha Liu asked Qin Ci: "Where are you? Have you looked for the Sky Burial Platform?"
"I found it, there is nothing." Qin Ci said solemnly.
"What to do..." Geng's mother was anxious, "Where else can I be? Where else can the seal be?"
No one could answer, and there was silence in the tent.
When the heavens were about to be wiped out, Mu suddenly came back, greeted everyone's expectations, and said lightly: "The sacrifices you prepared, it's better to dispose of them."
Qin Ci's eyes narrowed: "Did you find out the exact situation?"
Mu suddenly said: "No, the language barrier is the biggest obstacle. However, I took some local plants I picked with Ke Xun yesterday and went to the temple. The elders in the temple asked me to go to these things. What to do with them, but I’m afraid I won’t know before tonight, so I have to wait until early tomorrow morning.
"I ask you to dispose of the sacrifices that have been prepared, but I have considered them on the way back. I still think that these sacrifices will not do us any good.
"I have said before that the thing grows stronger with these sacrifices. We are not sure what happens when it grows to the extent it wants, and for us, will it be A catastrophe.
"And since we know that regardless of whether the sacrifice is prepared, it may be selected and killed by that thing, then instead of keeping these things to make it stronger, it is better to dispose of them altogether."
Sha Liu looked at him hesitantly, and said hesitantly: "But... I think that if we keep the sacrifice, that thing may only pick one of us, or a few of us, but if we keep the sacrifice If we dispose of them all, it is likely that all of us will die once..."
Mu Yiran's complexion remained unchanged, and said lightly: "You decide whether to stay or not, I just make suggestions."
Sha Liu stopped talking, lowered her head and wiped the glasses with the corner of her clothes.