On June 6, Shen Mingde returned to his home in Wuning City. If it weren't for Chen Huaizhi booking a plane ticket for him and the constant uneasiness in his heart, he would rather stay in Nanjing forever. In that city far from home, he seemed to find a moment of peace. The exchange with Fang Jiuling seemed to have caused him to take a break from the incident for a while.

He talked to Fang Jiuling about many things, such as the origin of the title "Mountain Miluo Great God", and the "mountain" symbol mentioned by Gao Shan Xing. Obviously, the name "Yamamira" did not originate. Whether it is from the memories of Shen Mingde and Fang Jiuling, or in ancient mythological books, or even on the Internet, this "great god" or "demon" has never appeared. This "god" seems to exist only among the believers in the lakeside village, and among the few people associated with the lake. As for why it is called "Yamamira", it is estimated that it is because the worship of mountains and rivers by ancient ancestors has been written into the genes. In addition to describing the gods and beasts in ancient mythology, the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" also records 26 mountain systems and 447 mountains. As an ancient mythological and geographical work, the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" is enough to show the worship of the ancients for the peaks. The ancient ancestors believed that the "gods" were in the mountains, and the mountains were the places where the "gods" and "immortals" gathered. The word "immortal" seems to illustrate the close relationship between "man" and "mountain", "the old and immortal are immortals." Immortals, move also, move into the mountains also". Therefore, Fang Jiuling followed the word "ascending immortal" in the novel. The same vocabulary also appears in the dialogue between Wang Yajuan and Shen Mingde. Therefore, the believers in the lakeside village refer to the attainment of "immortality" as "ascending immortals". Almost all of the "Dengxian Village" is carried out in the ancient village by the lake, so it becomes the "Dengxian Village", as if it indicates that this village is the intersection of "the world" and "fairyland".

However, the word "Miro" is a headache. This term appears in Tao Hongjing's "True Message: Interpretation of the Subtle II" in the Southern Dynasty. Among them, it is said: "There are heroes and talents, Miluo all over the world, punishing violence and rectification, leveling Kyushu, establishing the emperor, and concubines from all over the world." At the same time, it also appeared in "Baiyulou Buxu Words", saying: "The Pearl Sky Realm, but it seems to be a human palace." The Sanskrit Qi Miluo melts into all things, and the twelve leans of the jade building are empty, and they are in a treasure of light. From the ancient texts, it can be seen that "Miro" probably contains the meaning of "all-encompassing and spreading". However, what does "Shan Miluo" mean, it really makes the two very puzzled. It wasn't until Fang Jiuling found a Taoist "Mi Luo Bao Huo" from the Internet, saying: "Taishang Mi Luo is supreme heaven, and there is a ...... of the Xuan True Realm", that they seemed to have found a clue. The word "Miro" here refers to the "Miluo Palace", which is a high position in the sky and inhabited by the Jade Emperor. So does "Yamamira" not refer to a specific god, but a palace in the mountains? Do believers believe that it is the abode of the gods, a fairyland? This made Shen Mingde resound the worship of the Valhalla temple in Norse mythology. Legend has it that in Asgard, the abode of the gods, Odin, the king of the gods, resided in the temple of Valhalla. The temple also serves as the residence of the souls of mortal heroes after death. I don't know if the believers in Dengxian Village have also formed a similar belief. Then the so-called "immortality" may not refer to "immortality" in the human world, but rather that the spirits of the dead will go to the abode of the gods called "Shanmira".

It is relatively easy to understand the devotion of the believers to the mountain and the dwelling place of the gods in it. But why do they have an aversion to the "mountain" symbol? Isn't that very contradictory? In Shen Mingde's experience, Gao Shan Xing once led him into a house painted with the character "mountain". I don't know if it was because the house was disgusted by the believers, or because the self-symbolic "mountain" painted on the door was disgusted, or maybe both. Therefore, it became a safe place for Gao Shan Xing to meet Shen Mingde. Coincidentally, there are two stories of dislike of this symbol in the story of the mad woman. One of them says that a person was forbidden by the devotees to perform a ritual for him because of a scar in the shape of a mountain. The other says that the face of the expelled believer should be engraved with the symbol "mountain" to show that he is "the sworn enemy of the mountain."

The symbol of the character "mountain" was used by the ancestors in ancient times a long time ago. In the excavation of a Liangzhu cultural site on the west bank of Taihu Lake, the "mountain" character symbol was found for the first time. Experts speculate that the symbol is more than a thousand years older than the oracle. According to Fang Jiuling's thoughts and his research on the story, the belief in "Shanmiluo" has been formed in ancient times, even in ancient times. It's just that in the long process of cultural change, this belief has lost its true character. If this belief is so old, it may not be impossible to have something to do with the Liangzhu culture more than 5,000 years ago. Before the "Yamamira" was sealed, its actions were much more brutal than they are now. Therefore, the ancestors invented certain "incantations" to restrain this "evil god". And this symbol in the shape of "mountain" may be part of the "mantra". Those who use the character "mountain" are regarded as "mortal enemies" by "Shanmira" and its followers. Thinking about it this way, the belief in "Shanmiro" and the symbol of "mountain" are a kind of opposition.

It rained for two days, intermittently. Shen Mingde stayed in a hotel not far from Fang Jiuling's "lair". From the 4th to the 5th, he began to receive frequent calls from Xiao Jing. In the initial phone call, Xiao Jing said that her doctor felt that the diagnosis of her might be wrong, that it might not be a very serious illness, but just the sequelae left by the shock, and that it would be cured soon with more people to talk to, and with effective psychological counseling. Shen Mingde also had the same experience and was pleased with her gradual recovery. After that, Xiao Jing chatted with Shen Mingde about her colorful dreams, which felt as if she was in Wonderland. According to her description, in her dreams she had seen some strange creatures, they were beautiful, white and transparent. They were as friendly to her as one of them. The creatures took her to elegant ceremonies and ceremonies to praise the gods, and they told her a lot of knowledge she never knew. The dance of those creatures was graceful and elegant, like fairies.

Every call seemed very pleasant. It wasn't until later that Xiao Jing talked about dreaming that she had returned to that village and felt that she might have misunderstood those villagers in the past, which made Shen Mingde feel very uncomfortable. Xiao Jing mentioned that those villagers were the inheritors of those beautiful and noble creatures. Since people in the world are still unable to accept some facts, those people can only live in seclusion to avoid persecution from the outside world. Shen Mingde suddenly felt a chill, could it be that Yang Chuan's death and those murders were also for the purpose of "self-defense" by the believers? But he didn't say it, and sometimes he wondered if he was right. Whether the monster that killed Yang Chuan and chased him was the work of the villagers has not yet been determined.

On the evening of the 5th, Shen Mingde walked along the ruins of the Ming Dynasty city wall. Not for the fresh and cool pleasure after the heavy rain, nor for the freedom in the drizzle. He just walked aimlessly along the city walls, as if the straight walls were the routes of the planes in the air, the beacons of the ships of the sea. Looking at the sky under the dark yellow night, Shen Mingde recalled a passage:

"A lonely rainy night is unforgettable, how many youthful ambitions.

Broken and haggard ditch, only now Huafa has been born.

Talking about wine until the moon sinks, who knows the pain in his heart.

The solitary shadow is filled with fog, and there is no place to live. ”

The above paragraph was written by Shen Mingde in what he thought was the most difficult day of his life. At that time, he had just returned from studying abroad. When dreams meet reality, they disappear like sandcastles at high tide. Watching his childhood playmates either get married and have children, or have a small success, he really regrets the five years of youth he delayed abroad. That was the year when Shen Mingde was already established. But like a newborn beast, it can't find its place in the food chain. Everything had to start anew, and Shen Mingde was just as mixed up in small companies in big cities as the fresh graduates who were seven or eight years younger than him. Unpaid overtime in exchange for a meager income. Staying up late and being nervous for a long time caused him to suffer from vagus nerve disorder. The illness caused his mood to fall to the bottom, and his depressed temperament fostered the worsening of the disease. Shen Mingde survived this vicious circle for two years. In those days, he was especially afraid of being alone, and often chatted with friends late into the night. On a rainy night, he walked alone on the way home, and suddenly remembered those grand ambitions. However, when he looked down and saw his own reflection in the puddles on the ground or in the ditches where he was beaten to pieces by raindrops, Shen Mingde couldn't help but sigh for his age and lost time. And now, after Shen Mingde experienced this series of events, he once again felt the mood at that time.

Shen Mingde walked along the ancient city wall for nearly an hour until the road was sparsely populated. I don't know if it's the magic of disturbing people's hearts on this rainy night, or if it's my chaotic mood that causes the light rain to keep falling. Shen Mingde felt that every time his heart beats, a drop of water fell from the sky, and every raindrop that hit him reminded him of a picture. That one is the picture when Yang Chuan was killed, and that one is the living corpse in the water tank...... That's the imprint on my wrist...... That was Xiao Jing's frightened face...... All the pictures became blurry, except for the imprint on his wrist and Xiao Jing's face.

Xiao Jing's phone call has always disturbed Shen Mingde's heart. She seems to be shifting from an extreme of fear to an extreme of euphoria. In the early days, Xiao Jing had extreme fear and disgust for the lake and the believers around the lake. However, in the past few days, she began to defend them. Could it be that the psychiatrist's treatment has the opposite effect? Or was Xiao Jing devoured by the magic of "Shan Miluo"? No matter which possibility it is, it is stirring up Shen Mingde's emotions. In the growth of this uneasiness, under the urging of Chen Huaizhi, Shen Mingde finally boarded the plane on June 6 and returned to Wuning City.

Shen Mingde returned home. Nini was well cared for by a temporary breeder, but hid as if she were a stranger. At about 9 o'clock in the evening, Shen Mingde received a call from Xiao Jing again. On the phone, he couldn't hear Xiao Jing's fear and hesitation in the past, but with an indescribable excitement. Xiao Jing said that she did misunderstand those villagers, but in fact, they were kind and not good at killing. Since ancient times, they have believed in one God, and that is a true God. They had a lot of evidence that God was in them. They know many secrets of the world, but they are not accepted by the world. You can only hide yourself. They are to work together to summon the true God back. The true God can heal the sick and give mankind eternal life, just like the villagers. Under the guidance of the true God, humanity can usher in a new era. Shen Mingde was terrified to hear this phone call, and Xiao Jing talked endlessly like a missionary. Shen Mingde put down the phone and played for a while, suddenly realizing that in the past, Xiao Jing would say "I dreamed" or "I felt" when telling him about dreams, but this time she didn't have such words at all, and her tone was firm, as if she was with those people. Shen Mingde picked up the phone again and dialed the number, and Xiao Jing's mother's gentle voice came from the other side of the phone. Shen Mingde calmed down and asked politely, "Is Xiao Jing okay?" The mother replied with a smile: "She is very good, and I talked to her on the phone just now." She said she had gotten better lately. It seemed that he was too worried, so Shen Mingde smiled bitterly and ended the call with Xiao Jing's mother.

On the second day, Shen Mingde rested at home for a day and adjusted his mood. When he returned to the company the next day, Manager Chen reported to him about his recent work, and everything was as usual.

Just as Manager Chen was about to leave, he suddenly said, "That lake is so beautiful." ”

Shen Mingde was puzzled, and asked rhetorically: "What lake?" ”

Manager Chen replied with a smile: "It's the lake scene you shot with the company's drone." ”

So, Shen Mingde quickly played the video. Manager Chen pointed to the lush forest in Shen Mingde's eyes and said, "Isn't it this lake?" ”

So, Shen Mingde fixed the picture on the picture of the lake in Manager Chen's eyes. Subsequently, several more employees were called and asked to enter the office one by one, and each of them replied that Shen Mingde could see the lake himself. Shen Mingde then locked himself in his office again. Suddenly, he remembered the photo taken by Zhou Tengfei. He operated the computer, and almost instantly, the photo of the lake taken by Zhou Tengfei appeared in front of Shen Mingde's eyes. He slumped into his place. At this time, those swaying "gnats cages", the terrifying black shadows of the hospital, the strange deaths of Yang Chuan and Zhang Baoshan's father and son, the mysterious lake that others can see but can't see, and the village in the fog, the terrifying pictures of this scene have returned to Shen Mingde's brain.

That night, Shen Mingde received a call from Xiao Jing again. She seemed extremely excited and told Shen Mingde that she had met the messenger of God and was humbly invited to join them in their great plan. For this plan, the messenger of God needs her help, and he also needs Shen Mingde's help. In fact, human beings and those who believe in God are the same, they need guidance, and they want guidance. Therefore, the superstitious ancestors created false gods in the hope of being enlightened, and modern people are looking for more advanced extraterrestrial civilizations in the hope that they will give humans more advanced knowledge. This kind of behavior is nothing more than superstition in the guise of science. In the end, Xiao Jing said: "Now is an opportunity to end this superstition, Mingde, let's be together." We will wait for you. You can walk along that path and someone will pick you up at any time, the sooner the better. ”

Shen Mingde, who hung up the phone, continued to lie on the bed, and he had insomnia again. This call made him feel very strange, first of all, Xiao Jing omitted his surname from his name, and directly called him "Mingde". It was the first time I'd ever known her. Secondly, Xiao Jing's personality seems to have changed. She has always been a quiet, sane woman. But tonight he suddenly became a cult believer's fanaticism. What frightened Shen Mingde the most was that Xiao Jing seemed to have returned to that village and was with those people.

Shen Mingde dialed Xiao Jing's mother in the middle of the night. However, the reply was that "Xiao Jing calls her mother every day, she is still at her cousin's house in the south, and she plans to stay there for a few more days". Shen Mingde strongly suggested that Xiao Jing's mother contact her cousin in the south, because he always felt that things had changed. About ten minutes later, Xiao Jing's mother passed the truth that Shen Mingde didn't want to hear - Xiao Jing was missing. Xiao Jing's cousin claimed that "she had gone home a few days ago, and when she got home, she called her cousin to report that she was safe." However, Xiao Jing's mother has not seen Xiao Jing's shadow in the past few days, but she can receive calls from her almost every day. So where did she go? Shen Mingde briefly comforted Xiao Jing's mother and said that he would also help think of a way, and then ended the call. By this time, he was completely sleepy, pacing back and forth around the bed in the bedroom. Shen Mingde could almost conclude that Xiao Jing had returned to the village, whether voluntarily or kidnapped. He felt that maybe he should save her, but from Xiao Jing's phone call, it seemed that the villagers were waiting for him to appear. So, isn't this a self-defeating trap? He suddenly felt a sense of powerlessness, this kind of thing was far beyond his ability, so it was better to leave it to the police to deal with. Thinking of this, Shen Mingde quickly found the suitcase and stuffed the clothes in the cabinet into it. However, he suddenly thought of the case of Zhang Baoshan and his son, the monster who killed Yang Chuan, and Xiao Jing's kidnapping or abduction from a little-known southern city. He suddenly stopped what he was doing again. If they have the ability to do these things, and the ability to hide themselves for more than a decade, or even decades, from the world, and the police have been searching in that mountain forest and still have no results, then what is the use of running away and calling the police? Even if you go to the police, what should you say to the police? Isn't the so-called "lost" or "missing" Xiao Jing calling her mother and herself every day? Shen Mingde pressed his forehead against the white wall, his eyes closed. He felt that he had been taken by a chess master, and he couldn't find a solution at all. He felt like a pair of eyes were watching him, and no matter where he intended to flee, no matter what he did, it would be of no avail. He felt like a fly lying on a window, able to see everything outside but unable to find a way out. The weight of despair and loneliness weighed down him and crouched down the vertical wall.