Zhou Yue murmured to herself, then looked at Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others, saying while thinking:
“If only the ‘Advanced Heartless’ had the ability to create illusions, or if Zhang Jin saw a dragon in his mental breakdown, it wouldn't be too surprising, but the combination of the two is indeed a bit of a coincidence.”
“There are other explanations; this is not decisive evidence.” Shang Jianyao was almost smoking a pipe.
Zhou Yue, thinking he was usually like this, didn't pay too much attention, nodding slightly and saying:
“Indeed, it's possible that Zhang Jin heard our lectures, or that the ‘Advanced Heartless’ had some interest in the old world's dragon culture before getting the ‘Heartless Disease.’
“But no matter what, I have to report this matter to see what the ‘Dream Protectors’ think.”
Jiang Baimian carefully chose her words:
“We don't mean to doubt your sect; we just think it's a coincidence.”
“No.” Zhou Yue, the Nan Ke Temple’s Abbot, flicked her sleeves, saying quite freely, “After hearing your description, I myself am a little suspicious.”
Jiang Baimian said "Uh-huh" a couple of times, not continuing the topic, and instead said:
“Abbot Zhou, the main reason we came this time is to ask for advice.
“If we go into the mountains to investigate the ‘Advanced Heartless,’ how should we deal with illusions?”
Zhou Yue's gaze swept across the faces of the four members of the "Old Task Force," nodding slightly:
“Illusion is a vast field, and I only have some superficial knowledge in this area.
“If you don't mind, I can talk about it briefly.”
As the highest-ranking clergy member of the Mirage Dragon Church in Tarnan, the Abbot of Nan Ke Temple, Zhou Yue couldn't say that she didn't understand illusions.
These two words permeate their teachings.
“We don't mind.” Shang Jianyao immediately replied.
Saying 'we don't mind' at this time gives the impression that you considered whether or not to mind. You, who value politeness, should directly say 'please speak'… Jiang Baimian muttered inwardly, but didn't say much.
Zhou Yue looked around, lowering her voice slightly:
“This world itself is an illusion, a dream from the Ruling Age.
“The purpose of our Mirage Dragon Church is to please the Ruling Age ‘Shattered Mirror,’ to make Him take back this painful illusion and present the true, beautiful new world to us.”
Hmph, as expected of the Abbot, taking the opportunity to proselytize… Jiang Baimian found it amusing, but on the surface, she put on a look of attentive listening.
Speaking of which, Zhou Yue once again half-raised her body, slightly raising her hands, paying respect to a certain existence in the void:
“Mirage Dragon Supreme.”
After performing the ceremony, she continued:
“Our daily life is dealing with illusions. If I said I didn't know what illusions were or how to deal with them, I would definitely be lying to you.
“But you can also see that I am still wandering and suffering in the dream.”
Huff, Zhou Yue breathed out:
“The most essential problem with illusions is that they are always illusions. Even if they are the same as reality in every aspect, there must be something false about them, more or less. Once you grasp it, you can see through it.
“Of course, at the level of the Ruling Age, the dreams He creates are indistinguishable from reality and cannot be seen through by humans themselves.”
“Then how do you find the false parts?” Jiang Baimian asked.
The more she listened, the more she felt that the "Mirage Dragon Church’s" ideology was somewhat similar to the "Eternal Era" sect. Zhou Yue and Daoist Jia Luolan also had certain commonalities in their temperament and attitude, except that one relied more on gods and the other paid more attention to their own experience and understanding of the Dao. This led to many differences.
The most typical point was that Zhou Yue's performance always carried the implication of "Anyway, it's just a dream, why be so serious," while Jia Luolan was more inclined toward "Take it easy" and "Follow the law of nature."
Zhou Yue smiled slightly:
“One of you should cooperate with me.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and Bai Chen's gazes all turned to Long Yuehong.
“…” Long Yuehong's expression froze for two seconds.
Since the organization had decided, he could only choose to accept it, stepping forward and saying:
“I'll do it.”
No matter what the reality was, he had to pretend that he had volunteered.
Zhou Yue nodded, pointing to the last and the most marginal chair of that row of black backed chairs:
“Touch it.”
So simple? Long Yuehong suspiciously approached, bending his back and cautiously reaching out his palm.
After touching the chair, he felt the texture of the wood, the hardness of the object, and the unevenness of the surface.
“How is it?” Zhou Yue asked with a smile.
When she smiled, her eyes narrowed into slits.
“No problem.” Long Yuehong told the truth.
“Then sit on it.” Zhou Yue made a further request.
Long Yuehong once again had the question of "so simple," and then turned his body and slowly sat down.
Just as he was about to touch the chair surface, even though he had already felt the wooden board, his whole body sank down.
Although he had made some psychological preparation, he still couldn't stop his downward trend and fell to the ground with a thud.
During this process, he saw himself sinking into the black backed chair, but he didn't feel anything extra.
When he hurriedly stood up and looked back, the black backed chair was intact.
“This, this is an illusion?” He exclaimed in shock.
Before sitting down, no matter which angle he judged from, he felt it was real.
Zhou Yue nodded with a smile:
“Yes.
“So, you can also see that no matter how real the surface is, it cannot replace the real thing. The real cannot be fake, and the fake cannot be real.”
Jiang Baimian replied thoughtfully:
“To determine whether it is an illusion, one must start with the actual effect, rather than the feedback from the senses?”
“This is an effective method, but it is not a panacea.” Zhou Yue said very cautiously.
At this time, Shang Jianyao put forward an idea:
“If the four of us go into the mountains holding hands, do we not have to worry about being affected by illusions and treating our companions as monsters?”
Jiang Baimian understood what he meant:
Whoever is holding hands is a companion.
This should be effective, but imagining that scene, it feels weird… Jiang Baimian imagined the situation described by Shang Jianyao, and always felt like this was a game for children.
Zhou Yue then said "Hmm":
“Theoretically, yes, but wouldn't the two people in the middle lose their combat power?”
Both hands are being held by someone.
“I can use my feet to shoot a gun.” Shang Jianyao gave a “solution.”
Zhou Yue didn't know how to respond for a moment. After a brief thought, she said:
“This does not completely ensure safety.”
Seeing that Long Yuehong and the others were a little puzzled, she further explained:
“This does not guarantee that the person you are holding hands with will not suddenly ‘disappear.’”
The meaning of "disappear" in her context is to disappear from the senses, not to actually not exist.
When you can't see this person, can't hear his voice, and can't get a tactile sensation from your hand, then he is equal to "disappeared."
Shang Jianyao had expected this, looking at Long Yuehong, he said confidently:
“As soon as he disappears, I'll pinch him.”
“…” Only one thought was echoing in Long Yuehong's mind:
Why pinch me?
He then woke up and found the loophole:
“Even if the person being pinched shouts in pain, you should not be able to hear it.
“You won't have any feeling when you pinch it either, no…”
As he spoke, Long Yuehong suddenly understood Shang Jianyao's true meaning.
Even if the companion seems to have disappeared, when you really pinch down, because the real object exists, Shang Jianyao's hand cannot sink down too much.
“This is a method.” Nan Ke Temple’s Abbot, Zhou Yue, expressed her approval.
She then added:
“It depends on which field of illusion the ‘Advanced Heartless’ is good at. He may be able to make you have errors in judging distances.”
“So, that's how it is…” Jiang Baimian realized that her previous understanding of illusions was still too little.
After exchanging ideas for a while, she, on behalf of the "Old Task Force," politely bid farewell.
Wearing a white robe and tied with hemp rope, Zhou Yue watched them leave, then turned around and faced the shrine dedicated to the giant dragon symbol, and muttered to herself:
“It's really a strange thing…”
Whoosh, a wind blew through the patio, entering the hall.
The rows of black backed chairs and several praying believers around Zhou Yue instantly disappeared.
It became empty, except for the shrine, wooden beams, pillars, and the Abbot, only a few deep blue prayer mats remained.
…………
In the jeep outside, Shang Jianyao said as soon as he sat down:
“Those people are fake.”
Seeing Long Yuehong looking over in surprise, he added:
“They don't have human consciousness.”
“Nor do they have corresponding electrical signals.” Jiang Baimian nodded, smiling and saying, “That Abbot Zhou's illusion ability is still relatively rough.”
She then said:
“From this, we can deduce that her illusion is created by her own cognition, rather than inducing our memories and letting us generate illusions ourselves.”
If the source of the illusion was herself, then Jiang Baimian would definitely "sense" the electrical signals, and Shang Jianyao could also "discover" human consciousness.
Long Yuehong hurriedly recalled what happened before, not believing that the few believers who were praying with their eyes closed were illusions.
But since the Team Leader and Shang Jianyao were so sure, he would not doubt it, and couldn't help but sigh:
“As expected of the Mirage Dragon Church…”
Most of the people and things in the temple are actually fake, illusions.
Seeing Bai Chen start the jeep, Long Yuehong casually asked:
“Where to next? Do you want to go into the mountains?”
He believes that he has a certain degree of understanding of illusions.
Jiang Baimian laughed immediately:
“What are we going to do? Play a monster-fighting game with the previous ruins hunter team?”
Seeing Long Yuehong a little dazed, Shang Jianyao helped “explain”:
“You can go biubiubiu at them, and they can go biubiubiu at you.”
“That's right…” Long Yuehong woke up.
At that time, if the two teams meet in the mountains, affected by illusions, they will definitely treat the people on the opposite side as monsters.
Faced with this situation, it is definitely not okay not to respond. What if it's a real monster?
Jiang Baimian then breathed a sigh of relief:
“Let's wait for them to come back. Even if we want to go into the mountains, we have to ensure that there is only one team, which is our team.”
ps: Asking for monthly tickets at the end of the month~