Chapter 47: The mysterious life in the holy village

The cave dug in the loess is cleaner, more comfortable and warmer than I imagined. There are household items left in the room, but I don’t know who they belong to or which family they belong to. There are no specific clues. The usual items are only a blue floral jacket left behind, which is white and has the mark of time, as if it is telling a story.

I have been living in the so-called holy village for three days. It is a single cave, and it is obvious that there was a “master” here before, but I don’t know where he went. Now it has become a “cage” that imprisons me.

There is a courtyard at the entrance, which is where I can move freely. In the afternoon, I was squatting at the base of the wall, basking in the sun, smoking a cigarette, and looking sleepy. In fact, my mind was always extremely active, thinking about everything here.

Because I don’t think this is a real “Holy Village,” but more like a prison, and the people living here all live a life similar to that in prison.

From the first day I was brought in, my friends and I were separated from each other. Since this place is called a village, it is not small in size. In short, I don’t know which cave they live in, and they don’t know which cave I live in.

However, it is not absolutely impossible to meet. The time for meeting can only be fixed at the three meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner. We must eat quietly and there is no way to talk to each other.

The rest of the time, in the morning, we would be endlessly ‘brainwashed’ into believing that the ‘God’ here was omnipotent, and then we would be taught a set of strange methods to exercise ourselves. In fact, I could see through this at a glance. It was adapted from the health-preserving boxing commonly used in Taoism. It seemed plausible in other places, and the key points were still useful. Persistent exercise over the years also had an effect. But it became the credit of the God.

I don’t understand why they ask us to exercise, but I do understand another strange thing, which is that we must devote ourselves to worshiping the gods for an hour every day. This should not be just for the sake of piety, but a simpler truth. When a person is “brainwashed,” the more they focus on one thing, the more “pure” their soul becomes. This “purity” is not about being noble or pure… it’s like a piece of black, which is also pure.

The soul that does this is focused, the will is concentrated, and the soul power is also stronger, just like the “fanatical believers” of some religions.

This is more important than exercising in that weird way. In short, it is the most important thing every day. Every time I go to the so-called “worship” room, there is always a core figure to guard it. The name of this core figure is very interesting—village cadre.

Oh, village cadres, let’s just call them cadres. In fact, every time the village cadres wearing mysterious masks appear, I can feel very keenly that they are cultivators, not necessarily Daoists. In short, when we first entered the village, what happened was linked to the fact that this is definitely not a world that an ordinary person can control.

Or, is that old Taoist the village chief?

Thinking of this, I exhaled a puff of smoke and my eyes almost closed. In the eyes of outsiders, I looked like I was so comfortable in the sun that I was about to fall asleep, completely defenseless… The village committee members who were patrolling the village looked at me with satisfaction and then turned and left.

I continued to follow my own train of thought as if I hadn’t seen them.

Because the village cadres are always present during every worship, I dare not even fake it. I must devote myself wholeheartedly, only keeping a clear mind in my heart and trying not to be “brainwashed” by that kind of piety. In fact, as long as there are cultivators, there is no way to fake this kind of thing. Devote yourself wholeheartedly to the The sincere worship is actually similar to meditation. After a person enters that state, the aura they emit is different from pretending. Even if there is no cultivator to carefully sense your aura, ordinary people can probably tell the difference just by looking at you. Moreover, the so-called village cadres have a way of telling whether your inner concentration is directed at their so-called god. This is a bit weird… So, it is very difficult for me to maintain a clear mind.

If I continue like this, will I be brainwashed into becoming a fanatic of this “god”? Obviously I won’t let that happen. These three days are just for observation, and it may take longer… but I will definitely take action.

The cigarette burned to the end, and I put it out. Although this village looks like an ordinary village in the barren northwest of China, it is actually not lacking in material life. Money is useless here. What is useful is a kind of piety that the village cadres distribute to you. For example, if you are obedient every day and nothing an accident-free day, you will usually get 15 points. If you show something special, such as being particularly pious when you worship, being quite effective in keeping fit, or reporting that the villager has a double heart, you will get extra rewards. In short, there are many ways to get rewards.

These points are worth much more than money outside. Three points can be exchanged for a pack of what is considered high-end cigarettes at the village’s “supermarket,” which is what we’ll call it for the sake of convenience. What does this tell us? It shows that this village is probably very wealthy, because the supermarket has everything you need for enjoyment, and as long as you have points, there is even a special entertainment room.

Even though they are both in captivity, the facilities in this holy village are a hundred times better than those in the villages around the black smoke seedling village. They are generous with their money. What is the purpose of this?

At this time, it was afternoon free time, and I could move freely in my own courtyard and cave. I had nothing to do anyway, and I had only been here for three days without spending any points in the entertainment room, so I lit another cigarette and continued to think about my own thoughts.

I firmly believe that this so-called holy village is not at all what I saw. Even this “cage” is larger than I imagined. In three days, I have figured out one thing, that is, there is more than one so-called supermarket in this village, but they are distributed in different areas.

Every afternoon, I have an hour to hang out in the supermarket, but I haven’t met my friends once. This shows that they deliberately isolated us. If there weren’t enough ‘zones’, how could they completely isolate us?

I concluded.

First, this is definitely a prison, but in order to pacify the people, the conditions are very good, and the people are numbed by a regular and “indulgent” (recreation room) life.

Second, they need people who are physically strong and pure in spirit. What is the purpose? I put a question mark because the people in the town are sacrificing to the Holy Village, and what are the Holy Village asking them to do? Especially the children!

Third, this should be a peripheral location, definitely not the real core of the holy village! For example, the cultivators never stay in the holy village. Except for specific times, I can’t see their presence at all. Where are they?

Without any buffer, I was forced to integrate into this so-called holy village from the very first moment, and enter into an absolutely regular life. This is what I have gained in the past three days.

However, this is still the Loess Plateau. I stood up and stretched, put my hands in my pockets, and walked lazily in the courtyard. When I came here, it was a place of green mountains and clear waters. It turned out to be just an appearance. The real interior is still the scenery of the Northwest. The owner of this place spent a lot of effort to transform it. What for?

This is a very interesting proposition. I thought about it and it brought a smile to my face. Or is it a flaw in my state of mind?

Outside the courtyard, a drunkard was making a lot of noise, hugging a woman in his arms and laughing loudly. It looked like he had gone to the so-called entertainment room to get drunk and die, and brought out a “village slave” who was lower than the villagers.

Oh, I almost forgot about the existence of the “village slaves.” These people are even lower in status than the villagers. I don’t know how many “village slaves” there are, but I know that there are some in the entertainment room. Why are they “village slaves”? How are the villagers and “village slaves” distinguished from each other? I still don’t know anything. It seems that I need to know more about this place.

Obviously, the drunken man’s noise attracted the attention of the village patrol, and the drunken man shouted, “My soul belongs to the Holy Spirit.” The few village patrols just glanced at him and left.

I stood in the courtyard and pretended to glance at him casually. I could tell that the drunkard was sincere and pious… So, his appearance was a small thing that could be ignored.

All that is needed here is piety!