231 The Moon in the Mirror, the Man in the Dream (1/2)
Maxwell had suddenly appeared in the silver light of the Cave of Sleep beside the sublimation ritual. He glanced at Hermes and asked quietly, ”It started, right?”
Hermes nodded. The wings of light on his back floated soundlessly. They illuminated Maxwell’s eyes, making him laugh. ”I haven’t seen you like this in a long time, Lord Merlin.”
Hermes glanced at him. ”Call me Hermes. You all gave me the title Merlin but I’ve never accepted it.”
”You’ve lost a bit of your humanity after revealing your true nature. I still like your slovenly style. At least then it feels like we’re the same.”
”Don’t come here trying to feel likeness, Maxwell. No one’s the same kind as you,” Hermes said disdainfully. ”No one.”
Maxwell chuckled. ”That’s why we’re the same, right?”
”Ha.” Hermes chuckled too.
Maxwell did not find it offensive. He just squatted and studied the steaming mercury. Understanding filled his eyes. ”You chose the classicist sublimation ritual. The danger level increased a lot.”
”This is the true nature of the ritual. Only this way will its power be the strongest.” Hermes snickered. ”The thing that you all like and find important—increasing the musician’s sensing of aether—is only its side effect. You’ve been changing it over and over all these years and have forgotten how it originally was.”
”As expected of the fallen serpent, the most ancient alchemist,” Maxwell said. ”I’d like to hear the details.”
”The original purpose of the sublimation ritual was to increase human sensing of aether and give humans the right to manipulate aether. Humans refer to this as ‘Deva sensing.’ It’s the sensing between humans and the heavens. You can see the heavens and it can see you. But you’ve mistaken something before this all,” Hermes stated. ”The purpose of the sublimation ritual is not Deva sensing, but the preparation for it.”
”What preparation?”
”The Originator never needs preparation, but you do,” Hermes said. ”You must understand your true nature and true self. If you don’t even know where you are and what you are, how can you sense the Originator? So that’s why you all are like this—like walking blindly at night, using the fleeting luck and experience to grope in the darkness, or practicing and trying endlessly, day after night. It can work but it has gone astray. The true path will never be so difficult and annoying.”
”The true path?” Maxwell pondered for a long while before chuckling wryly. ”Perhaps, to humans, finding their true selves is the hardest thing. After all, they’re the best at overestimating their abilities.”
”That’s why it’s the ‘sublimation ritual,’ is it not?” Hermes studied the youth and looked at his painful expression. ”The burning incense, pulverized gemstones, flowing mercury…the aether will enter his body, letting him see himself and his true spirit.”
-
It seemed as if everything had thinned in an instant and quickly became distant. Ye Qingxuan had forgotten what date it was, where he was, and what situation he was in. He just looked down in shock and stared at the test.
Only the test and his pencil remained in this world.
”You can begin now.” It felt as if something put that pencil into his hand and curled his fingers, one by one, until he gripped it tightly. ”You only have one chance. Don’t waste it.”
But for some reason, he felt scared. The first problem on the test entered his eyes.
Problem:
”Xiao Ming had a happy family with a dad and mom who loved him. Xiao Ming’s dad committed a crime and went missing when Xiao Ming was very young. Because of him, Xiao Ming and his mom were exiled. One winter, Xiao Ming’s mom died and Xiao Ming was alone.
Please describe Xiao Ming’s feelings.”
”Xiao Ming?” Ye Qingxuan muttered.
Xiao Ming, why the f*ck was it Xiao Ming again? It’s been Xiao Ming since childhood!
Xiao Ming at the grocery store, Xiao Ming riding a bus, Xiao Ming going out with friends…and then something happened. One had to figure out how much half a pound of cabbage cost, how much longer it would take before the next stop, how four people could slice a cake with three knives…He knew that this was Xiao Ming’s story, so he could relax. It was just Xiao Ming’s story.
Something had happened to him, so you must help him, just as you would help yourself. He was just unlucky. Bad things would happen to him no matter what he did, but he did not know how to do anything. If no one helped him, he would not even be able to buy fruit. If you did not help him, he would not be able to live. But how could Ye Qingxuan know how Xiao Ming would feel in this situation?
”Xiao Ming” Ye Qingxuan wrote down these two words and then stopped. After hesitating for a long time, he wrote in the space, ”Xiao Ming is very sad.”
The next question: ”What should Xiao Ming do?”
Ye Qingxuan hesitated some more and wrote, ”Xiao Ming doesn’t know either.”
The third problem: ”Xiao Ming is riding a carriage and sees a child playing on the street. The child is about to be run over. Xiao Ming can choose to change the direction and kill an innocent old couple. What should Xiao Ming do?”
Ye Qingxuan thought a little and answered, ”Run over the kid.”
”Why?”
Without hesitating, Ye Qingxuan wrote down, ”Because Xiao Ming hates kids.”
The fourth problem: ”There are two boats. The left one has fifty people on it; the right one has one-hundred. If one boat is going to explode and sink, which one should Xiao Ming choose?”
Left side.
”If the boat on the left has fifty people, but his mom is the only one on the right boat, which one should Xiao Ming choose?”
Without thinking, Ye Qingxuan wrote, ”Left side.”
”If the left boat has ten-thousand people…”
Again, without thinking: ”Left side.”
”If it has one-hundred thousand people…”
Still left.
”If it has one-million people…”
”Enough! How can a boat fit one-million people? And even if it’s one-billion, one-bajillion, or one-gazillion, it would still be the left side! As long as he can live, Xiao Ming will bomb the left side without hesitation, even if everyone on the world is on it!”