In the philosophical world, there is a time-honored unsolved case, and that is the ship of Theseus, which discusses the paradox of identity.

The Ship of Theseus, one of the oldest thought experiments. It was first written by Plutarch. It describes a ship that can sail at sea for hundreds of years, thanks to non-stop repairs and replacement parts. As soon as a board rots, it is replaced, and so on, until all the functional parts are no longer the ones that were in the beginning. The question is, is the resulting ship still the original Theseus ship, or is it a completely different ship? If not the original ship, then at what point is it no longer the original? The philosopher Thomas Hobbes later extended on this, if a new ship was to be built from the old parts taken from the Theseus ship, which of the two ships would be the real Theseus ship?

The Greek sage Aristotle believed that this problem could be solved by the theory of four causes, which describes objects. The constituent material is the material cause, the design and form of the substance are the formal cause, and the formal cause determines what the object is. The ship of Theseus remained the original ship based on the formal cause, because although the material had changed, the design of the ship—the formal cause—had not changed. Looking at the question of Heraclitus's rivers from this point of view, the two times we step into the same river, because the form of the river has not changed. The purpose of a thing determines its purpose cause. The purpose of the ship of Theseus is to load and transport in mythology, and in reality the purpose is to prove and commemorate Theseus, although the material has changed, but the purpose has not changed.

Then this problem can also be applied to the current situation, if the body is stuffed with one of the souls of others, then oneself is still oneself. What if one is stuffed in later, what if two are stuffed in? What if all of them are stuffed? Will Shen Qingming still be Shen Qingming at that time? If not, when was it not?

In other words, what exactly is the self?

Ma Liang looked at him and said, "It's better to have a soul than nothing, right? You and I are both sorcerers, so you don't have to waste your mouth discussing what is the self and what is the self, it's just asking for trouble." ”

"Will there be any side effects?" Shen Qingming asked him.

"No, at least not yet. However, there are very few such things as replacing souls, and it is the first time for me to do this kind of thing, how can I know the side effects?" Ma Liang said honestly, "If you hadn't signed a contract with me, I would have more or less a little responsibility for you to lose your original soul, so I wouldn't have helped you." ”

Shen Qingming praised: "I didn't expect you to have a little conscience." ”

"Don't talk nonsense, reach out and make a seal. Ma Liang said.

Shen Qingming shook his head: "Wait, wait, I still have questions." ”

Fortunately, Ma Liang had a better temper, but he was a little impatient, and said: "I, Ma Liang, have lived for several lifetimes, and knowing so many people is the most important thing for you, what else do you want to ask now?"

Shen Qingming said: "You are old and discouraged, I don't have to ask carefully about such a big matter? This is not to buy a rice cooker, and you can still find an e-commerce company to return it if it is broken." The soul is broken, and there is no place to cry when something happens. ”

Ma Liang thought about this reason, so he asked, "What do you want to ask?" ”

"It is said that the three souls and seven spirits dominate people's seven emotions and six desires spiritual thoughts, so where does this soul you always give me go?" Shen Qingming asked, "Is it that after this soul is put in, I will be affected by this soul dominating emotions?"

Ma Liang nodded, then shook his head again, and said, "That's pretty much it, but you don't have to worry, what I brought is the soul of the ancient masters, and it is guaranteed to be beneficial and harmless...... Probably so. ”

"Probably?"

Ma Liang also said: "In order to prevent your consciousness from being affected by those powerful souls, I will only bring one of the two souls and six spirits this time, leaving you enough time to integrate with him. Every time your strength is stronger, the souls you can hold will be stronger, as long as you can practice and gradually become stronger, sooner or later you can make up for the three souls and seven spirits. ”

Shen Qingming vaguely understood, Ma Liang's meaning was simply summarized to let him fight monsters and upgrade.

Ma Liang's middle finger was shocked, and a little blue light flowed. He introduced: "This is one of the seven spirits of Su Qin, the king of sorcerers during the Warring States Period, and it will be of great benefit to you to inject his soul into the way of the Lord and the Lord." ”

The stakes are too high to be overlooked. Shen Qingming gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, and said, "Okay!

Ma Liang's sword finger changed into a lotus seal, and several blue lights suddenly burst out from the seal, rushing towards Shen Qingming's brows together. Ma Liang took Shen Qingming's left hand, lifted it gently, and cut a wound. Those blue lights were attracted by Shen Qingming's blood, and they turned in the air and headed towards his left hand.

Ma Liang let out a low voice: "Seal!"

Shen Qingming comprehended, pinched the Dharma seal with his left hand, and restrained several blue lights. The blue light swirled wildly around and refused to stop, and it was about to dissipate in all directions in a moment or three.

Ma Liang's eyes were closed, a phoenix-shaped pattern appeared between his hands, and then he kicked back the middle finger of his right hand, and the index finger of his left hand passed over the palm of his right hand, closing his hands into a fist. Chanted: "The heavens are long, the earth is long." The reason why heaven and earth can last for a long time is that they are no longer self-generated, so they can live forever, because the saint is the first to live after his body, and the outer body exists, not because of his selflessness, so it can become his selfishness. ”

After reading a paragraph, Qingguang suddenly quieted down, as if he had fallen asleep in the air.

"Read it with me!" Ma Liang shouted, "The movement of the opposite Tao is the use of the weak Dao!"

Shen Qingming dared to be lazy, and immediately recited: "The movement of the opposite Dao is the use of the weak Dao!"

Ma Liang said: "Everything in the world is born from being, and some are born from nothing." ”

Shen Qingming: "Everything in the world is born from being, and some are born from nothing." ”

"The sky is clear, the earth is peaceful, the gods are spiritual, and the valley is ying. All things are lifelong, and the king is upright. ”

"The sky is clear, the earth is peaceful, the gods are spiritual, and the valley is ying. All things are lifelong, and the king is upright. ”

The phoenix in Ma Liang's palm was about to spread its wings and soar, he pushed it with both hands and said, "Please exorcise the soul!"

A warm and unfamiliar power, accompanied by that palm injected into Shen Qingming's body, Shen Qingming's throat instantly sweetened, and a mouthful of blood spurted out like an arrow.

Ma Liang moved slightly, and dodged sideways. Said leisurely: "I won't stay long after this incident, if there is fate, maybe I can see you again." I won't say more nonsense, take care of yourself. ”

Shen Qingming hurriedly got up to stop him, he still had too many things to ask. It's a pity that his limbs are weak and he can't stand up at all, and he doesn't even have the strength to speak, so he can only watch Ma Liang go away and disappear into the alley.

Shen Qingming was now feeling chills all over his body, and that cold was a chill that penetrated deep into his bone marrow. He lay down for a long time, struggled to get up, snatched the wine from the drunken man on the street, and gulped it down, only to provide himself with some warmth with the spirits.

As soon as he took a sip of wine, Shen Qingming immediately felt sick to his stomach, and the leftovers he had eaten in the past few days were pushed to the top.

At this time, time in the outside world began to flow, and the drunk man looked blankly at his wine for some reason in the hands of others, and this person looked much more drunk than himself.

Shen Qingming fell to the ground again, and the vomit that had lost its restraint swarmed out, and he vomited while kneeling on the road, spitting out wine and blood.

The drunk man still wondered, how could anyone still drink and get drunk like this? I've seen too much of it, but I've never seen so much.

Shen Qingming covered his mouth with his hands, vomit still overflowed from his fingers, and his own consciousness gradually became no longer awake, and he could only feel that he was short of breath and his heart was beating faster. His hand scratched twice, and he felt something hard in his pocket, and he grabbed it uncomfortably, and then began to lose consciousness little by little.