Chapter 65

The Wuling Wuling Hongguang passed through the tunnel, drove along a straight road, and then passed the checkpoint. Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe paid the toll with cash, returned the 50-yuan note the toll collector had mistakenly given him as change, drove off the highway, and entered the North District of Taoyuan City.

In the early hours of the morning, Taoyuan City did not have the bright neon lights of a major metropolis. Only the core business district and the restaurant street in the city center remained lit; the surrounding urban areas were pitch black, unlike those first-tier cities.

Driving along the riverside road, Bai Zhi, who hadn't said much the whole way, suddenly spoke up: "Mom replied to my message."

"Let me see." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe found a parking spot, pulled over, and took her phone to read the chat.

The content did not exceed Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's expectations; just like Bai Zhi, Feng Feng Yushu had also been attacked in the hospital by people influenced by the ghost.

"Have you read 'The Three-Body Problem'?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe asked, handing the phone back to Bai Zhi.

"I haven't read the original, but I've heard the live-action radio drama." Bai Zhi looked at him curiously: "What about 'The Three-Body Problem'?"

"In 'The Three-Body Problem', there is something called a 'Thought Steel Seal' that can force a person to believe in something from the bottom of their heart."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe rolled down the window and silently watched the shimmering Tao River under the moonlight: "In the book, about 50,000 people were branded with the Thought Steel Seal, firmly believing that Earth was doomed to lose against the Trisolaran invasion... However, regarding the setting of the Thought Steel Seal, the most famous one is probably 'Bill Hines', one of the Wallfacers. The Thought Steel Seal branded onto him was 'Water is poisonous'."

Bai Zhi nodded: "I remember that plot."

She recalled the content of the radio drama she had heard and said: "Hines was a highly educated intellectual and one of the inventors of the Thought Steel Seal technology. He clearly knew that water was an essential component for sustaining human life and that the human body is over 70% water... But under the influence of the Thought Steel Seal, he still firmly believed from the bottom of his heart: Water is highly poisonous."

He knew water was non-toxic, but he firmly believed it was poisonous; not only did he not dare to drink water, but he even drove himself insane.

"Exactly..." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe nodded: "Judging from the current signs, I think the rules of that ghost might be very similar to the Thought Steel Seal."

The gas station owner and employees were branded with the Thought Steel Seal of 'Must kill Bai Zhi'.

The patients and their families in the hospital were branded with the Thought Steel Seal of 'Must kill Feng Feng Yushu'.

Judging from the text message Feng Feng Yushu sent, other survivors, including Tian Tian Chengyun and the manor waiters, had all suffered the same treatment; they were all killed by people influenced by the ghost.

"Let's assume the rule of that ghost is indeed 'forcing people to believe in something', which is branding people with a Thought Steel Seal, but this process of branding should require a trigger condition, which is a 'medium'." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe continued.

Just as Donghuang Taiyi's identity theft requires 'cognition' as a medium, the Serpent God's influence on people's luck requires triggering corresponding taboos as a medium, and the instant death rule of the special concession requires touching the opponent's shadow as a medium...

For that omnipresent, unviewable ghost to brand people with a Thought Steel Seal, it must also require some condition as a medium.

"What is its medium?" Bai Zhi asked.

"I don't know." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe shook his head and gently stepped on the gas to leave the parking spot: "The only clue currently is: Time. Every evening, during the time when the sun sets, the ghost begins to exert influence on everyone exposed outdoors, branding them with a Thought Steel Seal."

As for the content of the Thought Steel Seal, it should be edited behind the scenes by the person controlling this ghost. So imagine, when an innocent passerby triggers the rule, they will be branded with the Thought Steel Seal of 'Must kill XX'. Then what if the next person to trigger the rule is Bai Zhi or Feng Feng Yushu? What content of Thought Steel Seal will they be branded with?

'Water is poisonous'? 'Air is poisonous'? Or—【I must commit suicide immediately】? "There are still too few clues, we don't even know what the medium of this ghost's influence on people is..." Bai Zhi shook her head in distress: "That person has been hiding in the dark, and hasn't shown their face even once until now. Trying to crack a ghost manipulated by human intelligence is easier said than done."

"Is that so? I actually think these clues are enough." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe smiled slightly and turned the steering wheel to drive through the crossroads: "You can't expect the opponent to lay their cards on the table for you to observe and thoughtfully attach an instruction manual. To survive, you must strive to grasp every possible clue."

"You make it sound simple." Bai Zhi puffed out her cheeks and looked out the window: "This isn't the way to the hospital. Where are you taking me?"

"The zoo, or rather, the ecological park, the largest one in Taoyuan City." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe said: "Have you watched 'Cardcaptor Sakura'? Before a head-on conflict, you should prepare more Clow Cards; it's better to be safe than sorry."

"So nerdy, I don't watch that kind of stuff." Bai Zhi expressed shock at Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's taste in anime.

"If you don't watch it, how do you know I'm so nerdy?"

"Ah, this..." Bai Zhi lowered her head guiltily, and it wasn't easy to ask what Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe meant by preparing more cards.

Wouldn't that make her seem very nerdy?

"By the way, you're going to the 'Hengsha Natural Science Exhibition Hall' in the West District of Taoyuan City, right?" Bai Zhi asked again: "I remember that ecological park went bankrupt two years ago due to poor management. Now the entire Taoyuan City doesn't have an ecological base of this scale."

"Yeah, that place closed two years ago... But did you forget? It's 2014 now." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe asked back.

Oh right, it's four years ago.

There were few cars on the road late at night, occasionally one or two taxis drove by with high beams on, but Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's luck was good, and he drove steadily all the way.

The Hengsha Natural Science Exhibition Hall, citizens generally refer to it simply as 'Hengsha Ecological Park'. Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe visited here with his classmates led by his head teacher when he was a child, and it is still fresh in his memory when he thinks about it now.

That was his first time coming into contact with the legendary 'zoo' outside of books.

Just like the 'observatories' and 'children's palaces' that always appear in textbooks, the lines between the words seem to imply that these things are very common and ordinary. However, the first impression of these lessons for students in vast rural areas is—what on earth is a children's palace? Isn't an observatory a place for scientists to do research? Hilarious, I've never even heard of it.

Following his memory, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe drove the car to a remote corner near Hengsha Ecological Park, parked it, and handed the loaded shotgun to Bai Zhi: "I'm going in. You wait for me here. If anyone approaches, just shoot."

After speaking, the young man's tall and straight body turned into a nimble bird, flying over the glass curtain wall.

(End of chapter)