I sat beside the desk, quietly waiting.
In a flash, the morning had passed.
A family from the Jia family came and knocked on the door, delivering food to the room.
After finishing my meal, I felt slightly drowsy, but since Yuhao was already occupying the bed, I couldn't sleep. So I barely kept my eyelids open and looked at the four cardinal directions.
This was a gut feeling, not because I hadn't learned well and needed to learn something else.
The intuition in the shadows told me that this book was more important, or rather, that the two books were complementary to each other.
"Focusing the mind, the importance lies in regulating breathing. It is both a foundation and a key point."
"Adjusting the mind, adjusting the breath, and adjusting the form are the main focuses. The term 'adjusting form' refers to four methods—standing, sitting, lying down, and crouching."
I murmured to myself, slowly focusing my mind. My thoughts emptied out, and all I saw were the contents of the pages. Each word and sentence seemed to be drilling into my mind.
As the mind settled, involuntarily, my body shifted into a new posture. I sat cross-legged on the chair, head up and body straight, gradually relaxing every part of my body. My hands reached upwards and downwards, intertwining with each other.
My eyelids drooped, leaving only a faint glimmer, allowing me to see my nose.
The gradually quieting mind, however, concentrated on the Yintang acupoint.
As my mind quieted and my body changed posture, my breathing naturally reached a certain state of change.
The tip of the tongue touched the roof of the mouth. When inhaling, the breath rose upward, as if reaching the top of the head, and then slowly exhaled.
I could hear my own heartbeat. It felt like everything around me had disappeared...
A subtle joy welled up within me. With the first part of the Four Noble Truths, requiring one to include eyesight, focus on sound, silence speech, listen to breath, and quieten the heart, it seemed I had accomplished it.
Only then did I understand a point.
In the process of adjusting the breath, one must first adjust the mind and form; otherwise, no matter what, one can never achieve the current state of breathing!
The sustained state of this seems to bring me mental comfort, quickly restoring the energy consumed.
When I finally broke free from this breathing and slowly opened my eyes, I felt entirely invigorated, as if I had slept soundly.
A person stood beside me. Isn't it Yuhao?
She stared at me blankly, and it felt to me as if her entire essence had become more refined.
Her hands were empty, and the white glue from Zhongshan had been completely absorbed. However, her eyes still hadn't regained much vitality.
"Yuhao, are you okay?" I asked.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Yuhao nodded.
My expression did not improve.
Yuhao's nod seemed to answer me, but her sluggishness told me she had not recovered much.
Zhongshan white glue can only make the soul more compact and thick, but it cannot improve her inner state. She continues to forget things constantly.
"Has Sister come by?" I asked again.
After a few seconds of dazed silence, Yuhao shook her head, looking puzzled and saying, "Sister? Who is that?"
Bad thoughts began to swirl in my heart.
Yuhao has forgotten who Jia Ying is?
I furrowed my brows and didn't ask Yuhao any more questions. Instead, I looked at the night pot on the table and walked over to it.
There was still a small amount of Zhongshan white glue left in the night pot.
Yuhao's current condition is not suitable for random touchups. If Lao Gong can't wake up quickly, perhaps I'll have to seek out Fan Jie and see if he can figure out Yuhao's condition.
But there is a risk. It may cause Fan Jie to have other thoughts.
Then, the sound of knocking came.
I went to open the door, and standing there was Jia Ying.
She looked somewhat exhausted.
"How is Yuhao?" Jia Ying asked.
I didn't know how to answer Jia Ying.
In the moment of silence, Jia Ying looked towards the room inside. There was a hint of joy in her eyes.
"It seems that she is better."
"It's almost dark. Let's go have something to eat first. There's nothing much going on in the clan now, and I'm planning to take you to live in the ancestral home. It will be much quieter there."
"Yuhao, come here."
Jia Ying's words were first addressed to me, and then to Yuhao.
Yuhao remained motionless, slightly tilting her head and looking at Jia Ying with unfamiliar eyes.
Jia Ying, so intelligent, immediately noticed something amiss.
I then told her about today's events at the Zhou family. When we left, she got into another car, so I didn't have the chance to say anything further.
Jia Ying's expression changed, and she said, "How could this happen..."
"If she forgets everything, then she is equivalent to having no consciousness, which is the only difference from a ghost. That would be a walking corpse."
"We need to find another soul. How about I go to the old twisted village and check the house where she lived? Or, how about I bring in Luo Yan?"
Jia Ying's words were more precise.
I shook my head and said that there could be nothing left at Luo Yan's place. Moreover, without a Yin mission, one can't see Luo Yan. Currently, returning home has no meaning. If we can't think of a way in Daxiang, perhaps we'll have to go to the village in Yuhao's nightmare.
Jia Ying nodded decisively and said, "I'll go to the city to see if there are any people who can heal the dissipation of soul consciousness."
I paused for a moment, and then replied, "Let's wait another day and see if Lao Gong can wake up."
Jia Ying pursed her lips and shook her head, saying, "We'll do both. You watch over Lao Gong, and I still need to go."
Afterwards, Jia Ying told me that someone would send over the food, and she hurried off.
Time slowly passed by. Lunch was delivered by someone, and dinner was brought over by another person. We waited until nightfall.
Jia Ying hasn't returned yet. Old Gong has absorbed the third of the Zhongshan white glue, and I put the rest into the night pot.
As it neared midnight, the night pot gently trembled, and a head slowly poked out.
I was taken aback for a moment before my brow furrowed tightly.
Because this head seemed unfamiliar.
Although it still looked like Lao Gong, his skin and flesh were much cleaner, without as many wrinkles.
Clean short-cropped hair, slightly gray, looked somewhat like Wu Zhongkuan.
There was no face of Wu Zhongkuan on the back of his head.
Actually, I thought that Lao Gong would emerge as a complete body.
But it turned out to be just a head.
"He's awake..."
Old Gong muttered dazedly.
His tone was still the same as before.
"Mind..."
"What about my mind?"
Old Gong seemed confused.
In the next second, he muttered again, "I see... but it's invisible..."
I frowned, feeling equally strange.
Then, Old Gong looked up at me, his entire face twisted into a smile.
Thump, thump, his head hit the edge of the night pot several times.
"I almost couldn't wake up, that old guy is too hard, I can't digest it. What did you give me, master?"
To be honest, Lao Gong's fluent speech made me feel uneasy.
"Nothing, just some medicinal herbs to nourish the spirit."
I answered, and then frowned, saying, "First of all, don't say anything else. You, take a look at Yuhao. What's wrong with her?"
Old Gong cooed and his gaze fell onto Yuhao.
He hesitated for a second, then let out a hiss and sucked in a breath sharply.
"Miss, she's going to be gone..."
Sorrow and reluctance flashed across Lao Gong's face.
My brow furrowed, and I said, "I asked you to look at her and find a solution, not to say sad things. If you're going to say sad things, you might as well not wake up."
