Chapter 256 Apricot Leaf Sutra
The name of the book is "Apricot Leaf Sutra". It looks quite thick, but in fact it is just because of the thick paper. The actual content is not many pages, it is just a short story.
Ning Zhe flipped through it briefly. The content of the story is roughly as follows:
This world is a dream made by the great creator god. When the god wakes up, the dream will Then it burst like a bubble.
The Apricot Leaf Sutra warns believers:
Believe in God, because God created this world and us in his sleep.
Fear God, for God is omnipotent in His world.
Sacrifice to God is necessary, because God’s awakening is inevitable.
When God wakes up, the whole world will be shattered like a dream. Only the most devout believers will be chosen by God, manifest themselves to God and become His favorites, while the rest of the living beings will not be blessed. , will all return to nothingness and cease to exist as the dream is shattered.
What is piety?
Offering large amounts of sacrifices to God is called piety, and donating large amounts of money to the church is called piety. So said the great prophet who wrote the Almond Book.
“The Apricot Leaf Sutra says that if you offer the souls of unblessed filthy people to God, the world will become a better place, and God will indulge in sweet dreams and be reluctant to wake up. Lifespan will be extended accordingly.”
“On the other hand, if the world is filled with unblessed filthy people, the world will be a nightmare for God, and God will be displeased by the nightmare. So wake up earlier. ”
The world will be destroyed earlier.
"Hmm..." Ning Zhe closed the book and didn't know what he was thinking.
The Biloba Sutra, as the name suggests, was first written on ginkgo leaves by the great prophet. However, it is known that the ginkgo tree is native to the Kyushu continent, which means that the birthplace of this religion is actually in China.
But Ning Zhe has not seen any Apricot Leaf Sutra or the so-called 'Sleeping God Creation Theory' belief in China.
In a sense, this can be regarded as flowers inside the wall and fragrance outside the wall?
Ning Zhe put the Apricot Leaf Sutra into his arms, carefully picked up the corpse oil lamp, ignored the lifeless 'audiences' under the lecture platform, and turned towards the side door of the lecture room.
He is not yet interested in trying what will happen if he is exposed to the light in front of these listeners.
Going out from the side door of the lecture room is a fresh path surrounded by flower gardens. At the end of the path is a cleansing hall, or popularly known as a big bathhouse. Believers of the "Sleeping God Creation Theory" need to go there first. After washing your body in the purification hall and putting on clean clothes, you can walk through this flower-studded path to the lecture room to listen to the sutras.
The already brightly colored rose garden looks particularly delicate under the illumination of the corpse oil lamp. The fresh and tender stamens are as red as fresh blood released from the blood vessels, carrying the warmth of the human body.
Under the interplay of light and shadow, Ning Zhe vaguely saw a pale arm stretching out tremblingly from the soil under the flower bed. The light flickered and disappeared again.
Walking into the cleansing hall, it was still gloomy and dim. Only a little outdoor light came in through the skylight on the roof, illuminating the bath in the center of the hall with sparkling waves.
The water in the bath was crystal clear. Even in such a dim environment, Ning Zhe could still clearly distinguish the texture of the stone slabs at the bottom of the pool, which looked like a large piece of transparent glass. As soon as he got closer, the clear and transparent water turned turbid under the illumination of the corpse oil lamp. The bottom of the pool was filled with messy daily debris, and the floor tiles under his feet became wet and sticky.
There are some branches, cupboard doors, broken chairs, table legs and other debris floating on the water. A pale human back floats quietly in the middle of this pile of debris, which is particularly conspicuous. Ning Zhe bent down to pick up a branch and poked the floating corpse in the water. Waves of rotting stench wafted out of the water.
A splash of water suddenly sounded, and a hand that was swollen by the water suddenly stretched out from the water, grabbed the branch that was poking on the back of the floating corpse, and pushed it to the bottom of the water. The ground pulled, causing Ning Zhe to stumble. He lost his grip and the corpse oil lamp fell out of the skin.
For a time, the dim light in the cleansing hall became extraordinarily bright. There were corpses floating in the water, the withered palms grasping Ning Zhe's feet, and the audience who came here through the flower garden path at some unknown time. ', all showed their figures under the light, and Ning Zhe was instantly surrounded by 'people'.
“Hu——”
At the critical moment, Ning Zhe, who fell to the ground, crawled to the ground, picked up the lampshade and blew out the corpse oil lamp. The ghosts surrounding him disappeared in an instant.
"It's so dangerous." Ning Zhe wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, stood up with the lamp, and looked at the flower garden path behind him with lingering fear.
There are more and more 'things' following him, and there is no room for mistakes in the process of exploration. If you are not careful, you will be in a situation that is beyond redemption.
"Speaking of which, what is that thing?" Ning Zhe reinstalled the lampshade and skin, feeling suddenly curious.
The headless corpse on the execution platform, the audience in the lecture room, the floating corpse in the bath, what are these strange entities that can only be revealed within the lighting range of the corpse oil lamp? What are the core rules of the strange events that shroud this castle?
After reinstalling the glass lampshade and tightening the skin, Ning Zhe took out his lighter and relit the corpse oil lamp.
The skin on the lampshade was slightly lifted, revealing a corner of the light. A body that was swollen and whitened by the water climbed out of the water to the shore at some point, and lay quietly at his feet.
Ning Zhe held up the lamp and turned around to look, only to see three or five tall and thin ghost figures standing silently behind him. He could not see clearly that the large cloth robes covered his facial features. They were in the lecture room before. The listeners sitting on the benches.
"Why are they following you?" Ning Zhe frowned slightly, thinking of the "Apricot Leaf Sutra" that he had slipped into his arms.
After hesitating for a moment, Ning Zhe took out the Apricot Leaf Sutra and placed it on the ground, holding the lamp and slowly retreating.
This time, the listener did not follow.
"I took something I shouldn't have taken..." Ning Zhe breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and left the ablution hall through the arch on the other side.
Connected to the cleansing hall is the laundry room. The dirty clothes changed by believers in the bathhouse will be sent directly here to be cleaned by the maids of Vanessa Castle.
Ning Zhe walked into the laundry room holding a lamp. There were folded sets of clothes piled on the long table in the middle, and the bamboo baskets beside the wall were filled with dirty clothes that had not yet been washed, except for some that were washed with water. Apart from the sink and some cleaning utensils, there was nothing else.
"Wait, that's..." Ning Zhe covered the kerosene lamp to make sure that what he saw was not an illusion.
In the far corner of the laundry room, between two dirty clothes baskets, a petite blonde girl hugged her knees with her hands, buried her face in her arms, and sat there motionless.
Her whole body was buried in clothes and she didn't make any sound. Even Ning Zhe almost ignored her.
Looking at the corpse oil lamp that had never been lit at the girl's feet, Ning Zhe suddenly felt that her appearance seemed familiar.
(End of this chapter)