At this time, I noticed that the old man's eyes were flushed, and his palms were trembling slightly in his sleeves. All of this qiē proves that his spirit is in a state of extreme euphoria.

When this excitement reaches a critical point, it is a collapse, and at that time, he will go crazy.

I quickly stood up, grabbed him tightly, and then hugged him hard. I wrapped my arms around him and whispered in his ear, "Don't be afraid, there's still a long time, a long time." Don't be afraid, everyone is safe. ”

The old man was guided by my voice, and gradually fell silent.

I have a distant relative, sort of my cousin. After he called me, it was a very mysterious name, like Da Confucian. But his actual identity is that of a psychiatrist.

He once told me that if a normal person is tortured by a certain stimulus for a long time, it will induce psychosis, and there is often a few minutes of rescue time between the beginning of the onset and the complete onset of the disease. If done properly, the patient can be saved from the brink of insanity.

The way to do this is to give the patient a sense of security. No matter who you are, when you are extremely vulnerable, what you want most is your mother, and what you want most is maternal love. And the easiest way for a doctor to convey maternal love to a patient is to hold him tightly. Wrap him around with a warm body. Simulates the image of a woman's uterus tightly wrapping around a fetus.

For human beings, no matter how much he is capable, no matter how many twists and turns he has experienced in the world. The fetus's experience is already engraved in the genes, and in his subconscious, the mother is the safest place.

I had just seen the old man on the verge of madness, and I suddenly remembered what my cousin had said, and I did it at once. I didn't expect it to work.

After the old man had quieted down, he gasped heavily. Then he whispered in my ear, "I'm fine, I'm fine." ”

I cautiously let him go, and noticed that the flush on his cheeks and inside his eyes was fading. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then said gratefully, "Thank you." It's dangerous. ”

Obviously, he also knew that if I hadn't made a move just now, he would have gone crazy.

I patted him on the shoulder and asked, "What's going on?" ”

The old man looked at the world outside the window, pointed to the setting sun, and said, "Every night someone dies." I was stressed out and scared. If night represents death, dusk represents judgment. I couldn't take it anymore. ”

When I first entered the house, I was terrified, and he was like a messenger of God. Now the two of us seem to have switched places. I became very calm, and the old man's heart was still beating down.

I knew that my love would affect him, so I asked more and more calmly, "Will someone die every night?" Do you know the exact time? ”

The old man nodded and said, "The police used to bring a precise timer. I've heard them say that the knife will break at 1:15 sharp. The villagers committed suicide at 1:20. ”

Then, with a look of horror in his eyes, he said, "The devil is coming after him." We fled all the way to the East, where we were sheltered by the Emperor at the will of the Lord. The devil has gone after us, and he has sought us for six hundred years. Now that he's finally here, we're going to be killed one by one. ”

I waved my hand and said, "It's still early in the morning, you don't have to get excited, you have time to tell me what happened." ”

When the old man heard me say this, he became a little dazed, and he asked me, "What do you want me to say?" I don't know anything. ”

I scratched my head and asked, "Who is that devil?" Is it a ghost? Have you seen him? ”

The old man shook his head blankly: "I haven't seen it." But the legend has been passed down from generation to generation. It is said that we left our homeland to escape the devil. Only under the protection of the Ming Emperor will the devil not find us. ”

After listening to this, I already had a judgment in my heart: "This is obviously a lie to them by the Zhu Ming royal family, and it is partly combined with the doctrine to make up such a story." Unexpectedly, the content that brainwashed them back then became a legend and has been passed down to the present. And it just so happened that a demon had recently found them. Naturally, they thought of this ghost as the devil of hundreds of years ago. ”

I thought silently in my heart. What does the demon who stole my broadsword have to do with them? Why can't I get along with them?

So I asked, "What do your knives represent?" ”

The old man said, "The knife is a symbol of life. It is the Lord who gives us the right to live. The devil is coming, and we can defend it with a sword. If the sword breaks, it means that the Lord has given up on us. ”

I couldn't help but shake my head and sigh: this old man is really pedantic. I made a joke and said, "Since this knife is so important, you need to make it stronger." ”

The old man nodded and said solemnly, "Every knife is made of stainless steel. Although it cannot be said that iron is sharpened like clay, it is definitely a good knife of the first class. And after each knife is cast, the knife will be tested, and only the qualified broadsword will be collected. ”

Immediately afterwards, his voice dimmed a lot: "I didn't expect that such a good knife would be broken out of thin air." No wonder they commit suicide. They must have thought it was God's will. But I know no, it's the devil's doing. God told me to look for a savior. ”

The old man sat on the floor muttering something while I pondered what he had just said. I always felt like there was something important in it.

After a while, I looked up and asked a little nervously, "How do you try the knife?" ”

The old man was apparently also a blacksmith, and he was very skilled at telling me. When everyone casts a knife, they will cast three. These three knives were first tried on the iron plate. Those that do not meet the standards will be discarded. The rest slashed each other, and the blades were discarded through the gaps. The best one is left as a symbol of life.

I nodded and said, "I see, what I saw that day was a knife test." ”

I got up from the ground and began to pace slowly around the room. The old man was saying something upside down and mixed with a lot of ridiculous imagination, and I had to weed out the misinformation before I could draw a real conclusion.

I opened the wooden door of the hut and paced back and forth in the twilight.

No one bothered me, so I circled the house and circled around the house. Over time. The more I thought about it, the more I understood.

After hundreds of years, the villagers here have almost lost their memories of the past. Fragmented memory of a little, but also full of mistakes. But their traditions are still there. That is to build a knife for life. Sometimes, actions are far more authentic than verbal narratives.

Instead of believing the commentary they make about their actions, think directly about the meaning of their actions, regardless of the language.

The demons must have been villagers here. There's a good chance that the big knife in my hand is his. He returned with a broadsword. Try the knife with the villagers here. The knife is in the person, and the knife is dead.

Just like what I saw on the wall that day in the empty house, he took a big knife and slashed at it viciously.

I sighed, looked at the increasingly gloomy sky, and thought: Is that evil ghost also a failed knife attempt? Then he committed suicide with hatred.

In this way, this kind of knife trial is a contest after the big knife is cast, rather than the process of selecting a treasure knife in the mouth of the old man.

I nodded heavily: this conclusion should be correct.

I thought of this and looked up with some excitement. I knew that if I wanted to persuade the evil spirit, I had to find the source of his anger. I believe I've found it.

There were three people standing in the distance, all staring at me. These three people are none other than Secretary Wang, Officer Shi, and Officer Chen.

I quickened my pace and walked over, and saw Officer Chen gloating a little and said, "Brother Zhao, was that old man confused?" The guy was confused, and he was talking nonsense when he saw everyone. I think he's kind of half-crazy. ”

I smiled at him, and asked, "Can you guess which old man the demon will be looking for tonight?" ”

Officer Shi said lightly: "I will look for the old man you just saw." ”

I was surprised: "How do you know?" And so sure? ”

Officer Shi said, "It's very simple. It kills people in order of age. Kill the oldest first, then descend, and tonight it's the old man's turn. ”

I hurried back and found the tongs standing next to the hut. I anxiously asked, "What about the prophet?" ”

The pincer said: "The prophet has gone to the messenger of God." He went to confession every night. ”

I anxiously asked, "Where is he now?" ”

Tong shook his head: "The messenger of God is mysterious, no one knows his location except the prophet, that is a blasphemy. ”

I thought to myself, this messenger must have been delusional by the old man. But it's strange that he knows my name in advance.

I thought about it for a while, and suddenly I figured it out. Yes, yes, this old man must have eavesdropped on the conversations of the police, and knew that there was such a number one person as me Zhao Mang in this city. The Taoist skills are extraordinary, and the ability is very good, so they want to invite me to deal with the devil, but I am a heretic in their eyes after all, so these people simply made up a big lie and gave me a false name called the savior.

I breathed a sigh of relief, and suddenly I felt that these villagers were pitiful and funny. I looked up and finally made a decision. I didn't know how brave I could be.

I said to the tongs, "Do you know where the Prophet's broadsword is?" ”

Tong nodded, and then asked, "What are you looking for his broadsword?" ”

I said lightly: "Tonight, I'm going to try the knife on his behalf." ”