Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 47: The Forty-Seventh Path

"Is there enough money?"

Shen Ke pushed aside the mirror, and the world spun around, like the fragmented mirrors of a kaleidoscope, with light and shadow shifting, each prism displaying a different dark web space.

This action reminded Suger of casually refreshing a browser page.

"He charges a lot of money?"

"After all, the risk of pollution is very high. Out of ten thousand water ghosts, you might not find a single normal person."

"What exactly is this contamination data?" Socrates asked. "Viruses, harmful information?"

“There are many types. The pollution data we just saw is neural data turbulence. The impact of this type of pollution is relatively intuitive and easy to remove.”

"what about others?"

"Some pollution data can subtly distort your perception."

Shen Ke exhaled a mirror.

In the mirror, a sika deer tilts its head back and chews on a leaf.

"What is this?" she asked.

"deer."

Su Ge already understood what example Shen Ke was going to use—calling a deer a horse.

"Your experience and knowledge tell you it's a deer, but if everything around you tells you it's a horse, is it still a deer?"

"Swapping the names of a deer and a horse is no big deal, but what if you changed them to something else? For example, what if you wanted to replace your heart with an artificial one?"

She raised her hand, and a heart beat in her palm, its aorta and atria shining brightly, rhythmically bulging and contracting.

"All its technical principles and experimental data are impeccable. You can find many real-world examples. If this were the 21st century, there might even be many authoritative papers proving its authenticity. But in reality, it's a bomb. You print it out and then put it in."

Shen Ke's lips opened and closed.

With a "pop," her heart exploded in her palm.

The air inside the launch silo was cold and damp. Suger subconsciously raised his hand to cover his left chest, feeling his heartbeat.

Shen Ke's words stirred up his frozen memories before hibernation, when they could "alter reality," changing all the organization's scheduling, strategic direction, plans, and projects, plunging it to the brink of collapse several times.

For this reason, the organization banned electronic devices, and they had to pick up paper and pen to get the job done.

"But this kind of pollution only distorts your perception of the outside world."

Shen Ke blew away the fireworks swirling between her fingers.

"Your personality, consciousness, memories... can also be objects of contamination."

The image of Fengyu Mountain God appeared in Su Ge's mind.

The ultimate principles of that war are outdated, and the last bastion of humanity—thought—no longer belongs to humankind. Socrates had long sensed this, but only now did he dare face it. Times had changed; to cling to a two-hundred-year-old saying as gospel was a pathetic obsession. The reason he dared to let go of that obsession now was because the situation had taken a turn for the better.

At least he now has access to information.

How should we filter this pollution data?

"The 'water ghost' will package the data and conduct basic data quality tests. There are more than a dozen mainstream testing methods popular on the dark web, with the top three being the most credible—the Divine Revelation Evidence Index, the International Data Quality Index, and the Neko Data Quality Index. Generally speaking, data quality is divided into five levels, with different testing standards and prices for different levels. The data sold by the 'water ghost' is generally only level three, with both value and risk. As for Wang Xiang, he only sells high-quality data of level two and above. If you want to find him, be prepared to spend hundreds of thousands."

Suger hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"What do you want to ask?"

"Is there a way to make quick money?"

“Stealing, robbing, cheating,” Shen Ke said meaningfully. “If you wanted, it would be very easy for you.”

The kaleidoscopic illusion faded, and the humming sound from the distant skytrack grew louder, seeping through the sparse ivy and into the tail flame exhaust. Sog remained silent, undecided.

In today's world, the only "social value" he can create is to dredge data from the depths of the dark web, like those scavengers. If he has to find another way, it's only as Shen Ke said: by any means necessary.

"Never mind..." he sighed, "Let's get familiar with the dark web first."

"Would you like to come with me? I have something to take care of."

"What are you doing?" "Coordinating awareness."

These four words reminded Suger of the words of that nun—"Consciousness coordination is the foundation of ascension."

"it is good."

Shen Ke took out a letter with a plum blossom branch attached.

Countless shattered worlds swept past her, and a window rapidly enlarged, swallowing Shen Ke whole.

……

The world was shrouded in a white mist, with plum blossoms falling like snowflakes.

Shen Ke, wearing a gray trench coat and brown ankle boots, landed alongside Mei Hua. The boots transformed into snowshoes as they touched the ground, concealing the plum blossom-patterned hem of her coat.

Ahead was the threshold of a courtyard, and Shen Ke stepped inside.

A piece of "Ode to the Wooden Figure" was framed on the screen blocking the door. In the center of the room, a woman knelt with arched eyebrows, black lips, a snow-white face, and ochre-colored makeup, wearing the fashionable makeup style popular in the Tang Dynasty.

Her slender fingers held an even thinner silver pipe, and she used the tip of the pipe to pry open the letter with plum blossom branches pasted on it on the table.

The room was neatly furnished. A statue of Maudgalyayana was enshrined in a niche, and there were pictures of "Skull Illusion Play" and "White Bone Contemplation" on the wall. More than a dozen string puppets hung in a row, their arms and legs dangling.

There are four rows of low wooden cabinets at the foot of the wall, with hundreds of books crammed into the cabinets, including "Miscellaneous Records of Music", "Tsurezuregusa", "Mahaparinirvana Sutra", and "Record of Transmission and Practice".

The windows were made of paper, reflecting the silhouettes of flowering branches. Plum blossoms drifted down, only to wither in mid-air before they even hit the ground.

The atmosphere here gave Suger a vague sense of emptiness.

This is the Hermit of Wujin.

Shen Ke silently conveyed her thoughts to Su Ge.

【she is?】

[A person from Luqi.]

[A person from Luqi?]

[Those who circulate in the dark web, possessing the technology for ascension, but not yet attaining enlightenment.]

Shen Ke explained, then sat down opposite Wujin Jushi. Wujin Jushi looked her over, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"Oh? You've finally come this far. Weren't you unwilling to fully upload your consciousness before?"

"Something unexpected happened."

"No wonder."

Wujin Jushi looked at Shen Ke, his eyes beneath his arched eyebrows seeming to gaze into the depths of her soul.

"Your personality conflict is intense."

"Ah."

"You have many contradictions in your heart. Sometimes these contradictions are easy to notice, but sometimes you are influenced by them without realizing it, which leads to losing your true self and not being able to see what you want."

As the hermit Wujin spoke, the room's furnishings gradually faded into darkness, with only the plum blossoms outside the paper window flickering in and out.

Apart from that, one could only see the number of suspended puppets on the wall gradually increasing, one after another, surrounding the surroundings.

The woman used a certain method to induce a hypnotic state in the person involuntarily.

"You must rid yourself of contradictory personality traits and stop letting distracting thoughts drain your mind. Only then can you achieve unity of knowledge and action and reach a higher realm."

The surrounding puppets gradually developed blurry faces, becoming more and more like Shen Ke.

"Find her and get rid of her."

The hermit of Wujin put down his silver pipe, got up and took down a peach branch bow and willow branch arrows from the wall, and handed them to Shen Ke.

The term "Luqiren" originated in the Song Dynasty and refers to performers who traveled from state to state and wandered the world.



(End of this chapter)