"Oh, I can say that." Xu Dingjia shook his head and asked Jiang Chengdao: "Which train line did I take at that time?"
"Line 9." Jiang Cheng answered easily, "He has walked by it several times before when he was on a business trip."
"Now that we've passed by, that's even better." Xu Dingjia said, "Before that, did I remember that train stopped at Yilin Station?"
"Then..." Jiang Cheng was stunned because he really didn't remember. After a moment, he shook his head and said, "Maybe he didn't pay attention, so he forgot."
"Is it because I didn't pay attention? Or maybe that city deliberately didn't let me notice it." Xu Dingjia said.
"That city deliberately didn't let him notice?" Jiang Cheng had a ridiculous idea and asked: "Do I mean, does that city have its own consciousness?"
"I can understand it that way." Xu Dingjia actually nodded.
"Then what's the matter? The city is not alive, so how can it be dreaming?" Jiang Cheng wanted to laugh, but the corners of his mouth curled up, but he still couldn't laugh. He quickly thought about the continuous bad luck after entering the city, and the vague feeling of absurdity, as if the city really had its own consciousness and was wronging itself.
"Is it possible to be conscious only if there is life?" Xu Dingjia asked rhetorically.
Chu Xueying couldn't help it anymore and said, "Isn't it true?"
"No, no." Xu Dingjia smiled.
Jiang Cheng frowned. Every time he looked at Xu Dingjia's expression, he felt like he was extending his fist to the wrong person's face.
"Okay, okay, let's not get involved." Xu Dingjia looked at his leg watch again and said: "The life we think of is probably to the extent of carbon-based life. In other words, the basic elements are composed of carbon and water. The earth basically does not have that type of life form. On this basis, some scientists once speculated that there will be silicon-based life forms in the universe. Because many basic properties of silicon and carbon elements are similar, such as Both elements can form long chains, or polymers, and both can be used to combine dimensions, etc. However, his idea still does not break away from the narrow understanding of the concept of living organisms."
"Narrow understanding?" Jiang Cheng speculated on what Xu Dingjia wanted to say, and asked: "Is it possible that there are many living things that can exist without relying on elements? He remembered that in many science fiction novels, there are even beings that exist in the mind. If it's physical, it's not a novel, it's just a fantasy."
"What is life?" Xu Dingjia suddenly asked, "People in the world often think that consciousness can only exist when there is life. Wrong! Totally wrong! In fact, consciousness has become a living body! Novelists have imagined the existence of alien life forms , have a body structure that is completely different from humans, but they still constrain their thinking in the category of having body structure before life. In fact, life forms that are completely different from humans are not far away, but are around them. ! That city has a hugely powerful consciousness, and now it has lost its life!"
"Why does he think that what I said is just wishful thinking?" Chu Xueying frowned, still unable to accept Xu Dingjia's statement.
Xu Dingjia said: "What do I think life is like? Does it have flesh and blood? Metabolism? Aren't the surrounding buildings the muscles and bones of the city, and the streets running through the city are its blood vessels? They humans, on the contrary, are the city. It’s just an external parasite.”
"That's outrageous!" Chu Xueying exclaimed: "If that's not the case, wouldn't there be life in every city? Then wouldn't humans be very dangerous?"
"No! That city is different. He said before that life is achieved because of consciousness. Therefore, Yilin City is different from other places. I don't know when that city had its own consciousness. ." Xu Dingjia said slowly, "That city is a life form, and it is a life form that is far more advanced than mere mortals. Moreover, without using human standards to consider it, I will find that many of them are meaningless. .”
"Even if that's the case, what does it have to do with the night?" Jiang Cheng continued to ask, "He remembers that I mentioned... nightmares before? Could it be said that that city can dream?"
"He used nightmares as a metaphor." Xu Dingjia seemed to be stuck in the dilemma of expression again, carefully considering the words and said: "Just like human consciousness, that city also has conscious and subconscious minds. When the sky is red, everything is very beautiful. Clearly, it looks like anywhere else, there is nothing unusual, that is when the city becomes conscious. And in the morning, the city's subconscious will emerge from the water. It is only when humans are dreaming that they can distance themselves from the subconscious. Recently. Therefore, he calls the period after midnight when the city reveals its subconscious a nightmare."
"Since at the conscious moment, that city is the same as other places..." Jiang Cheng pondered and said slowly: "Could it be said that at the subconscious moment, there will be a big difference? Nightmare? I would use that word, it must be very... There are other reasons."
"No, once we enter the nightmare, we will easily detect the influence of the city consciousness on us! The reason why they exist in that city is because they have some connection with that city. And that kind of The connection will make them resonate with the consciousness of the city, which means that they will easily fall into the nightmare of the city." Xu Dingjia's expression became very serious, "The reason why Tong Xingtao set fire is not only that he would That evil ritual, and did he want to destroy their residence. Without a residence, they would plunge into the night and face the nightmare of the city. Coupled with the appearance of Lu Fuyuan, if they did not immediately go to the asylum to take refuge, then They are about to face unimaginable dangers."
Jiang Cheng didn't quite believe it and asked, "Even if what I said is true, he still thinks there's something wrong with it."
"What's the problem?" Xu Dingjia asked.
Jiang Cheng said: "I've been talking about midnight before. Could it be that the nightmare started at twelve o'clock in the morning? If so, couldn't they subdue Lu Fuyuan before escaping? Anyway, he had already left the orphanage at that time."