The experience hall was situated in the middle of a cluster of towering mushrooms. It was a quiet spot amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. Even in the morning when the city was getting busy, there was not much noise from the experience hall. The mattress had been swept clean, but the two humans and the cat were still squatting on the ground. Judging from their posture, they looked like migrant workers. Even the cat doctor didn't sit on the mattress. According to him, Puppeteer had gone for a stroll and would be back at any time.
"Don't worry," said Meowie Hu. Although he was also sitting on the ground, he was sitting on top of Bohemia's long skirt. He refused to let his paws touch the ground directly, "Taking a walk is good for his recovery."
"I'm not worried about him," Lin Sanjiu said grumpily, "I'm worried about this guy."
She turned her head and asked, "Hey, are you serious?"
"This guy" blinked his eyes blankly because the cat doctor was sitting on her skirt and didn't dare to move an inch.
"I didn't really think about it," Bohemia admitted, "I just felt that it was a good idea, so I said it without thinking … But don't worry, I've already thought about it."
Lin Sanjiu let out a sigh of relief.
"I still want to convert."
There was a moment of silence.
"I wish you all the best," the cat doctor said after a pause. He extended his paw to Bohemia politely, but before he could touch her hand, Lin Sanjiu slapped his paw away.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Bohemia let out a long sigh. She was exhausted to the core, "Aren't you the ones who tried to stop me from converting just now? I feel like I've just woken up from a dream, but you guys … "
A few seconds after Lin Sanjiu finished speaking, Bohemia crossed her arms and looked up. She said softly, "The sky here … is really blue. It's so blue that it seems to be able to see through your body. "
"Is this the reason why you want to stay?"
She shook her head, "I … I don't want to wander around anymore."
Lin Sanjiu could tell that the reason why Bohemia wanted to stay was much more complicated than what she could say. Bohemia wasn't good at expressing herself. Even though she was triggered by the experience hall, this was the only reason she could come up with.
"Then let me tell you the reason why I chose not to convert."
Two pairs of eyes, one green and one gold, stared at her.
"First of all," Lin Sanjiu raised a finger, "Mika and the garbage man we saw in the experience hall might not have any spores on them. This is the premise. "
"How did you know?"
"Because there's no need." Shrugging, Lin Sanjiu glanced at Bohemia. "The original purpose of the spores is to spread and reproduce the mushroom. To use it to brainwash everyone, the amount of spores needed must be huge. This is putting the cart before the horse. Even if we don't consider this, the daily state of the locals here is very different from the state I am in after absorbing the spores."
She felt that she would never forget the experience of absorbing the spores for the rest of her life.
She didn't even have the words to describe the feeling at that time — it was like a mathematician who had studied hard all his life finally confirmed a certain conjecture, like a mother hearing the first cry of her newborn child, like a flash of inspiration and goosebumps all over her skin...
It was like opening her eyes for the first time and seeing the vast starry sky of the universe.
If the human race had been struggling and groping ever since they were born, it must be because they were pursuing something, something that resonated with the universe. It wasn't money, fame, or even love. It was something that was far beyond the human race. As for what it was, Lin Sanjiu still had no idea.
This was the ingenuity of the mushrooms.
"They actually don't know what is the meaning, or the true meaning, you can call it whatever you want. But they are smart enough to avoid this point. They tell you that the thing you are pursuing is the mushroom itself … Hmm, you can also say that it's a way of living in harmony with the mushroom. "
Lin Sanjiu continued to explain, "Of course, outsiders wouldn't believe in such a concept, right? So, they will release spores and trigger a chemical reaction in your brain, making you feel that you have finally found the truth, that you have found something that makes your life meaningful. The feeling I had at that time was similar to the 'epiphany' of a Buddhist, or a scientist who solved the mystery of the universe … It was a kind of happiness that transcended the mundane. Not many people could resist it. "
When she was at her peak, she was thrown into a Pocket Dimension. She forcibly cut off this feeling, so the "sequela" was especially strong. She desperately wanted to find the "truth" that originally belonged to her.
"So, you were tricked by the spores?" the cat doctor tilted his head and asked.
A cat's worldview was completely different, even if it was a cat that could speak human language. It never worried about the meaning of its life, nor would it feel tired and empty because of chasing after all kinds of desires. It was simply satisfied that it existed in this world. Lin Sanjiu envied the cat because of this.
"Hmm, strictly speaking, the mushrooms are indeed tricking people," Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment.
When she saw that Bohemia was listening attentively, she deliberated and said, "But it's more like Zhou Yu beating Huang Gai. One is willing to fight, and the other is willing to suffer. Humans don't know what they want, and they don't know how to obtain peace and happiness … So, the mushrooms gave a completely replaceable answer. You are a cat, so you don't understand the internal struggles and chaos of our race, and the price we have to pay throughout history. "
She paused and said, "But from another point of view, the mushrooms have only used a very realistic and close thing to replace the illusory thing that humans have been searching for, the thing that no one knows whether it really exists or not. Apart from the fact that this thing is not that thing, it means the same thing to humans. To make an inappropriate analogy, it's like a colorblind person who wants to wear clothes. It doesn't really matter if you dress him in yellow or blue. The most important thing is that the colorblind person has clothes to wear. If it were an optimist or a pragmatist, I'm afraid that the mushrooms have saved him a lot of time. "
When Bohemia heard this, she couldn't help asking, "Then why don't the locals need it?"
"I didn't say that they don't need it," Lin Sanjiu smiled, "But for the locals, they don't need to use the spores all the time to achieve spiritual satisfaction and tranquility. They have been living here for generations. You can call it cultural tradition or education, but in many ways, they are completely different from us. "
"So, the mushrooms aren't lying," Bohemia seemed to finally feel relieved. Her expression relaxed.
"Not necessarily," Lin Sanjiu lowered her voice.
The two words were like ice cubes falling on Bohemia's skin, jolting her.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
