Embers of Embers

Chapter 204 The Unknown and the Known
"The problem is that on top of that fog, you've been exposed to high concentrations of hallucinogens."
Kestrel couldn't help but say after hearing Lorenzo's answer to the story.
"Yes, this is why Valley Town is so weird. Doesn't it sound cliché, like a thrilling and suspenseful murder case, but the truth is that the prisoner suffers from mental illness?"
As if he had anticipated everyone's reaction, Lorenzo continued.
"And that's what's most special and impressive about this whole mission."
"In the face of the unknown, we will continue to associate, and our inherent common sense will make us misjudge. All of these will affect us little by little, making it difficult for us to discover the most obvious and simplest truth."
"Even if we maintain absolute sanity, as long as we have the slightest doubt, we will fall into this seamless trap."
Lorenzo recalled the strange feeling at that time.
"A gloomy and isolated town, crazy believers, cruel rituals, symbols that guide fear... Even today, the result you will get from rash contact will be like this."
He looked at the audience as he spoke, "I even say that you who have Geiger counters are more likely to be misled... From the beginning, this has been countless misleading and hints, causing our thoughts to collapse. "
"The whole town of Valley is a trap that induces madness."
Lorenzo looked at the young witchers.
"But that's the thing about this kind of thing, when the unknown becomes known, it loses all its intimidation."
Suddenly there was a voice.
"If you are a staunch atheist, then ghosts and gods cannot harm you, but when your will wavers and hesitates, you give them an opportunity to take advantage of you."
said the robin slowly, for the devout man was saying something that astonished Lorenzo.
Lorenzo looked at him curiously. This was not something a believer could say, but he still affirmed.
"That's it, they've been trying to shake our minds... and they almost succeeded."
But the robin did not follow Lorenzo's words, but asked instead.
"So, if you don't admit it, ghosts and gods really don't exist?"
Lorenzo was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect the robin to ask such a question. After thinking about the story of Valley Town, he answered.
"It depends on how you perceive it. In my perception, 'God' is not a noble and arrogant great being who saves all sentient beings."
Although he often said that he was a priest, Lorenzo had no respect for God at all.
"Then what kind of God do you know? Mr. Holmes, you come from the birthplace of faith, but you don't admit His existence." Robin asked.
"Isn't it the same for you? Robin, you are the knight of the purification mechanism. You try to quantify all the unknowns with formulas and numerical values, but you believe in the illusory God." Lorenzo continued.
"To me God is just a living thing."
"biology?"
"Yes, a creature, a strange and powerful creature that is difficult to understand and describe with ordinary people's thinking. Just like humans a hundred years ago saw today's steam technology, all the myths and power are just beyond our comprehension."
"Just like the 'cognitive pressure', the so-called gods are just unknown and unknown creatures that we don't understand yet. Just like monsters, if we go back to the dark and depressive era, humans trembled behind the wall... Monsters are like this Isn't a powerful and terrifying creature another kind of 'god' in a sense?"
The robin's face changed slightly as he said the fatal blasphemy.
"You sound like a heretic leader."
But Lorenzo affirmed, "Yes, this is what is recorded in the Demon Hunting Order. Many heretical groups that have arisen have obtained the power of demons by some coincidence."
"For example, an unlucky person encounters a demon but is not killed, or comes into contact with a very corrosive pollution source... Think about it, this thing is like Pandora's box. After you pass the first stage of erosion, Your body begins to gradually become demonized...Those of us who know about demons will know that death is coming, but what about those ignorant people?"
The words are like overflowing frost, spreading through the hearts of every listener. The time for the establishment of the purification agency is still too short. They have not experienced the darkest era of fighting against demons. They have no understanding of the filthiest, darkest and most evil era. Little is known about the strange things.
"Mockingbird, think about it, when you have endured the pressure and pain in your heart, you have gained a stronger body in exchange..."
Lorenzo led him to think, to contemplate the terrible end.
The robin grew pale.
"That's it. Ignorant people will not be afraid of those fears. Just like the gift of God, it always needs some tempering before receiving the gift. So heresy groups appear one after another. They regard demons as gods. As long as they survive The psychological fear and depression will make them rise into such powerful beings."
"Actually, it's just a demon that turned into a beast." Lorenzo said disdainfully.
"Don't believe it, these are all from the records of the Demon Hunting Order, a corrosive pollution source, a eloquent mouth, coupled with the closed conditions like Valley Town and a group of ignorant people... this is what constitutes a heresy. Groups, we have wiped out countless of them in the past years.”
Like a disciplining teacher, Lorenzo's voice was stern.
"So robin, now think about your ridiculous god."
With blazing eyes, Lorenzo stared at everyone in the hazy gray fog. He was not only admonishing the robin, but also all the listeners.
"From our perspective, a higher perspective, look at these heretical groups. Those so-called gods are just dirty and hateful demons. They are the objects of our knowledge and hunting. So, is there a higher perspective, that Do the people from this angle look at us, and look at you and your gods, the same way we look at those heretical groups?”
The robin took a deep breath, and Lorenzo guided him until the terrifying truth was revealed. His hands were cold and he looked at Lorenzo. The robin seemed to begin to understand the story Lorenzo told. This story is called horror. Valley story.
All reverence and fanaticism only stem from the unknown.
"And what's the end of the story?" asked the robin.
What is the ending of the story of the witchers?Looking at the stories of the witchers from these higher narrative levels seems so clichéd and simple, but what Lorenzo just said was that he was treating the robin at a higher level.
he asked anxiously.
"It's simple... the ending of the story is simple."
Lorenzo leaned back, thinking about the final outcome.
In the slow narration, the story reaches its end.
The demon hunters walked in the gray fog. Amidst the thick blood and the messy piles of corpses, they arrived at the thickest part of the fog.
"This is it." 016 looked at the things in front of him. Although he was mentally prepared, he was still slightly trembling.
"Don't get too close, the hallucinogenic ingredients are the strongest here." She warned again.
042 seemed a little confused. He didn't know why this was the source of all the weirdness.
"What are these things?"
As he spoke, he picked up the broken things nearby. They were withered flowers and plant parts. They had a stimulating smell. As he sniffed, 042 could clearly feel the increasingly intense psychedelic feeling. .
"A rare plant, this is not its place of origin... Thank you for having me, this kind of thing is something that Raphael branch demon hunters need to master."
016 looked in front of him, and saw that the strange plant had bloomed and spread to the end of the field of vision, almost blending into the gray fog.
Take the torch from 011.They originally wanted to use flames to light the building and disperse the fog, but they didn't expect it to be used here.
016 threw the torch into the sea of ​​flowers, and then the fire slowly rose, igniting all the plants.
"This is mandrake."
016 explained.
"A plant with hallucinogenic properties. This thing originated from the land of abundance. I don't know who brought it here and cultivated it carefully."
"So this is what's weird about Valley Town?" 042 seemed to be unable to believe that the truth was so simple.
"It should be so. This place is located in a valley. A large amount of mandrake grass matures and releases hallucinogenic ingredients. The fog and stagnant air accumulate here. There are also a few lunatics affected by hallucinations talking nonsense... There are no monsters, no weirdness. The power of power, this is the truth, the simple and clichéd truth.”
016 looked at the burning flames and concluded.
The rising sea of ​​fire dispersed the mist, as if it were a beam of light that penetrated confusion. The demon hunters held their breath and kept a safe distance from the sea of ​​fire to avoid being implanted with hallucinations.
Under that rise, the field of vision gradually broadened. 042 saw countless corpses. They fell into the sea of ​​flowers. Although they were dead, their faces were full of smiles. It seemed that the Final Society had succeeded. They The ceremony was completed in a beautiful hallucination.
The place is filled with the smell of death, and the invisible God of Death is laughing loudly in the darkness. He has just finished a luxurious meal.
Suddenly there was a strange feeling. When the unknown became known, and recalling all the inferences and repressions when he first entered Valley Town, 042 felt a sense of ignorance and ridicule.
"That's it in the end. The flames burned for a long time. After checking that there were no survivors, we left there. The uncanny valley ended."
Lorenzo's words put an end to the story, and all the fog disappeared. Heavy stone bricks and wood fell from the sky, stacked up in the chaos to form an old castle, and a warm flame ignited in the fireplace, driving away the cold and returning everything. became normal.
The four of them left the story and returned to the real world.
Their eyes met each other briefly, but there was an unexplainable coldness spreading under the body. I have to say that Lorenzo is indeed a weird guy. What he says will always shake your mind from a strange angle. .
The story ended, and the clock ticked in the darkness.
Lorenzo was sitting on the sofa, half of his face illuminated by the firelight.
"As I said, this story is actually very cliché, but what matters is the difference between before and after, the difference between the unknown and the known, the misleading and implications of common sense."
"If the ones who entered Valley Town were not demon hunters like us, who are almost inhuman, but you, I'm afraid you would have died long ago."
He said bluntly.
No one would refute this, Joey said slowly.
"Indeed, is this what's special about the uncanny valley?"
Lorenzo nodded seriously and continued.
"Do you know that the blind man touches the elephant? This is an idiom originating from Jiuxia. It refers to blindfolding and letting those people touch the elephant. The elephant is so big that they can only touch different parts, even though it is the same one. The elephant came to a different conclusion."
"Its original intention is to satirize those who are short-sighted, using a few points to cover up the whole story."
Lorenzo paused, then he continued.
"But why wasn't it us?"
His eyes were full of doubts. Lorenzo was an over-thinking person. His brain was like a roaring engine, which never stopped, and endless thoughts raced in his mind.
I remember that when he was still in the Order, 016 once said that people like Lorenzo would sooner or later suffer from mental illness and eventually madness.
But Lorenzo never paid attention to it. Rather than any mental illness, he was more worried about the imprisoned Watson in his consciousness.
"Think carefully, everyone, this is the warning that the Uncanny Valley gives us. We are all those blind people. We embrace the unknown, only understand a little of the unknown, but try to use our own simple language to explain the unknown existence. .”
Lorenzo said excitedly, his words seemed to be a taboo temptation, making everyone think.
"Is this the unknown we face? Our understanding may be misleading, causing us to miss the truth."
Just like ants looking up at humans, it is difficult for them to see the whole picture of humans clearly. Their own limitations limit the truth they can pursue.
Human beings need to become stronger, to become visible from the blind, so as to see the terrifying unknown clearly and make the unknown known.
"Then...is the same thing true for demons?"
As you can see, this is what Lorenzo wants to say. This lunatic has weaved a thinking trap that makes everyone unable to help but follow him.
Like thunder, he looked at everyone with a smile, like a ghost hiding secrets, spitting out the forbidden knowledge.
"Secret blood technology, armor technology, we have obtained enough things from demons, but...but do we really understand them?"
Lorenzo spoke faster and faster.
"The Demon Hunting Order has been tracing and thinking about the nature of demons, but just when we were infinitely closer to the truth, the Holy Night broke out, but Lawrence, who seemed to be dead, did not know their nature...or in other words, from the beginning There’s no one who knows.”
"I'm sure, everyone."
The witcher's voice had a slight tremor.
"There is something stopping us... I can clearly feel that every time I think about it, there is something stopping us from discovering the truth."
Like the whispers of ghosts and gods, it echoed in this dark castle.
The truth of the world is within reach.
(End of this chapter)