Cui Tiq pulled out a sheet of paper, took a pen from his shirt pocket, and drew several gentle wavy lines on the blank paper. "This is the simplest way to draw a river. Why do we consider such lines to be water?"
Li Banfeng couldn’t answer.
Cui Tiq put away the paper and smiled. "Knife Labor Ghosts have different vision from us. Just as we perceive lines as river water, other creatures cannot. When these lines are transmitted through our sight to our minds, our brains generate corresponding amines and enzymes, producing specific proteins. These proteins solidify in our cognition, causing us to perceive these lines as water. But what if I told you this is a disease? Would you believe me?"
"What disease?"
"A contagious one." Cui Tiq pointed at the lines on the drawing. "People from different places, with different languages, cultures, and customs, all see these lines as water. Isn’t that a pandemic? Proteins make all humans contract the same plague. That’s why I’ve always believed one thing: proteins are the true rulers of life."
Li Banfeng pondered for a long time but couldn’t think of any reason to refute him.
At dusk, as the two descended the mountain, Li Banfeng asked Cui Tiq, "How confident are you?"
Cui Tiq responded with a smile, "Faced with such a special type of life, I dare not speak of confidence. I can only do my best. It is the tradition of Disease Cultivation to annihilate one’s fellow disciples, and it is also my personal wish."
That night, Cui Tiq spent the entire night concocting a potion.
To be precise, this wasn’t a potion but a focus of disease, and Cui Tiq felt very confident in the focus he had created.
After sleeping for two hours before departing, he followed Li Banfeng up to Knife Ghost Ridge once more.
It was the same clearing as before, where Cui Tiq poured the potion into a washbasin and arranged six paintings around it.
Each painting was composed of intricate lines. Li Banfeng didn’t look at the specific patterns; he didn’t even want to glance at the paintings again.
He was beginning to understand Cui Tiq’s way of thinking: some cognitions that come from vision are diseases in themselves.
Once the preparations were done, Cui Tiq gave Li Banfeng a simple explanation. "These six paintings create a three-dimensional layout. To the Knife Labor Ghosts, it’s like seeing gushing springs. The pathogen I’ve created will be consumed by them as if it were spring water."
"So they’ll die from drinking it?"
Cui Tiq shook his head. "A pathogen that causes rapid death isn’t suitable as a pandemic carrier. If a Knife Labor Ghost consumes the potion and dies within an hour, it will hardly be able to transmit the pathogen to the next target. Even if transmission is successful, the chain can easily break. We need to let the infected Knife Labor Ghost live for a while to give it enough time to spread the disease."
Li Banfeng said, "If it doesn’t rain, the Knife Labor Ghosts are all hibernating underground. They don’t contact each other. That means, for your plan to be successful, the infected Knife Labor Ghost must experience rain before dying."
Cui Tiq shook his head. "I never gamble on luck. I’ve made more thorough preparations."
He made guttural sounds at the Morning Glory on the ground.
"BLUB BLUB BLUB."
The soil loosened, and the female Knife Labor Ghost they had awakened the day before crawled out of the ground.
She came to the basin and, with her fleshy, segmented limbs, crawled around it.
"WOO WOO."
She let out an unusual cry. Cui Tiq said in a lowered voice, "Do you hear that? She’s delighted! She’s found a source of water! I’ve successfully changed her perception, making her understand that besides rainwater, she can find other sources of water."
The Knife Labor Ghost lay prone and drank a large mouthful. Li Banfeng said, "You only have so much potion; be careful she doesn’t drink it all."
"No!" Cui Tiq said confidently. "The potion contains special ingredients that quickly quench her thirst and induce a strong sense of fullness. See? She’s stopped drinking."
After a single gulp, the Knife Labor Ghost was full.
Cui Tiq laughed. "Now she wants to contact others of her kind. She has the desire to communicate with them—this is a key effect of the potion."
"WOO WOO." The Knife Labor Ghost crouched on the ground, howling repeatedly.
Before long, there was rustling in the surrounding bushes.
Many Knife Labor Ghosts were approaching. Li Banfeng reminded him, "Shouldn’t we be leaving now?"
Cui Tiq said, "Don’t worry. We need a little more time to observe. I can’t yet confirm the efficiency of infection. The potion is limited, and there won’t be too many initial infected individuals who consumed it. After that, it’s up to them to infect each other."
About a dozen Knife Labor Ghosts sprang from the bushes and quickly drank up the potion in the basin.
They squatted on the ground and howled together. At their call, hundreds of Knife Labor Ghosts gathered.
Li Banfeng urged again, "We should go."
With so many Knife Labor Ghosts, a single puff of black mist from each would be enough to kill Li Banfeng.
Yet Cui Tiq remained calm. "Don’t rush. Let’s wait a little longer. After taking the potion, they shouldn’t notice us. They’ll only want to interact with each other. They probably won’t use their poison mist on their own kind."
"Then what will they do?"
"Let me guess. They will argue with each other because they all want to know where the water source went."
Cui Tiq guessed correctly. The Knife Labor Ghosts roared non-stop, already starting to argue.
"They’ll also attack each other. They’re all desperate for water. Those who haven’t drunk any are probably quite angry."