Chapter 161 The First Treaty

The stragglers who came to the edge of the development zone were quickly repelled. Some of them unexpectedly fled towards Lucheng, while the others were meekly recruited by Tu Lanxun and led by Liu Maosheng to the apartment dormitory - of course, each of them was recorded and monitored by the spiritual stem device.

Tu Lanxun returned to the convenience store. Tonight was her turn for the night shift, so the only people on the first floor were N, her, and a kitten, a potato pancake, circling the shelves. The light was warm and dull, but somehow charming in this momentous atmosphere. Tu Lanxun felt as if an invisible blanket was still draped over her head.

"Should we... untie it?" Tu Lanxun asked. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and ate it slowly with a salty sandwich. "Is this convenient?"

N always tied her up within 20.22 meters, and she had long been accustomed to it. But now the door to freedom was right in front of her, and she was not sure whether N wanted to push it.

Moreover, Tu Lanxun also wondered whether her relationship with N would continue to grow steadily without this 20.22-meter bond.

If not, she would rather not have it and choose to let both of them embrace freedom.

N lowered his head and remained silent for a while. Just as Tu Lanxun was about to go over and comfort him, N raised his head and said, "Okay."

Now it was Tu Lanxun who was surprised.

N is a guy who has always been gloomy. She thought he would be awkward for a while, but she didn't expect him to be so straightforward.

"After you're untied, what do you want to do?" Tu Lanxun fancied. "You've just returned to Earth and you're already tied to me. You can go out for a walk. It's dangerous now, but you're very capable, and you still have the traditional methods of the Tree Worshiping Tribe... I'll ask Zhang Xiaohuai for some laurel leaves..."

"Tu Lanxun." N slowly interrupted her thoughts, calling her by her full name, a rare occurrence. But there was warmth glimmering in those broken peach blossom eyes. He whispered, "I'm leaving."

Tu Lanxun was stunned for a moment, "Oh, are you sleepy? Then go upstairs."

N still looked directly at her and repeated, "I mean, I'm leaving."

Tu Lanxun was completely bewildered. Leave? Where was he going? With the war imminent, was N planning to hide somewhere secluded?

"Nanlu hasn't fully recovered yet. Tianguo Group and the Tourism Administration..." will want your value. It's safest for you to stay here.

Tu Lanxun swallowed the second half of his sentence.

Because N had already walked over, leaned over deeply, put his arms around her shoulders, and pressed her face to the junction of his shoulders and neck.

A quick and light touch passed over her head, and Tu Lanxun realized belatedly that it was N who kissed her hair.

N whispered, "Tu Lanxun, do you know what the first three rules are?"

When Tu Lanxun signed the contract with the Tourism Administration, he was given a thick handbook, which contained the work precautions of Tourism Administration employees and some basic knowledge they should know, including an introduction to the four treaties.

She remembered.

The fourth treaty: Ghosts are not allowed to appear before living people and leave a clear impression. Unless the living person is killed within a certain period of time afterwards, the ghost will be erased.

The Third Treaty: Ghosts do not need to sleep, and theoretically have no lifespan, but they will be summoned by the universe's overall consciousness at all times. They feel uneasy because they cannot return, sleep forever, or be reincarnated. The more powerful the ghost, the more deeply it will be affected.

Article 2: Ghosts can possess living people, but they cannot change their appearance or characteristics. Possession can circumvent Article 4 and mitigate Article 3, but it cannot interfere with Article 1.

The First Treaty: The existence of ghosts is determined by consciousness, not matter. This consciousness is not only their own, but also that of others. This consciousness can be traced back. And the tested, homologous consciousness is superior to other ordinary consciousnesses.

Tu Lanxun was feeling a bit sad at first, but she didn't expect the 8 o'clock show to suddenly turn into a popular science education program. She was confused and asked, "Why are you asking these questions?"

Especially the first treaty, she never fully understood it.

I could only roughly understand it, probably just a tongue twister about the definition of "ghosts are ghosts." N said seriously, "We often talk about Article 4 in our daily lives, but we've actually encountered Article 1 cases quite a few times."

Tu Lanxun suddenly realized that, according to the tone of the four summarized treaties, their overall importance should decrease as the numbers increase. In other words, the first treaty was the most important, and even a possessed living person could not distort its existence.

Suddenly it all clicked for her.

"You mean, Suo Niya lived with Suo Fanhua before, but they did not violate the fourth treaty. And Bai Xiaoju and Tang Weining didn't violate it before." Tu Lanxun breathed a sigh of relief.

"Yes." A sudden voice sounded behind him.

Tu Lanxun was so frightened that his scalp was about to explode. He turned around and saw Yan Hailing, who hadn't appeared in a long time, still wearing the same white suit that looked neither Chinese nor Western. "You're talking about cases where the Fourth Treaty was overridden by the First Treaty. Just like when the Yellow River took over the Huai River to flow into the sea, the First Treaty, with its larger and more permanent water volume, temporarily occupied the Fourth Treaty's river channel, so the Fourth Treaty could only become a toy for the First Treaty."

"Why did you show up? No, why didn't you show up before? And what's wrong with the tone of your voice?" Tu Lanxun was a little overwhelmed. Yan Hailing's tone suddenly became trendy for a hundred years.

Yan Hailing stretched lazily: "I was sleeping, and I was reading the online novels that the computer ghost made a list for me."

"I don't believe it." Tu Lanxun asked numbly, "How many books have you read?"

Yan Hailing moved her fingers: "About thirty or forty. They're really good."

So she hasn't appeared for such a long time, is it just because she is addicted to the Internet... These ghosts in the Republic of China era are too good at entertaining.

"And I'm not always hiding." Yan Hailing said: "I sometimes come to the first floor of the convenience store to eat, but you are usually asleep at that time. I have run into him a few times."

She pointed at N. N stood aside indifferently.

Mikhail's bronze lynx suddenly spoke from behind: "I'm here, I can testify, they didn't do anything. N was cleaning up."

Yu Yehua himself didn't show up, but his sneer hung in the air. "He has no other hobbies besides cleaning. Besides, do they need you as a witness? Lynx?"

Mikhail didn't dare to argue with Yu Yehua, or perhaps he really liked Yu Yehua's aggressiveness towards N, so he kept his mouth shut.

Tu Lanxun estimated the floor height and frowned. "From the core of the convenience store to my bedroom on the third floor, it's over 20.22 meters."

If N was on the first floor when she slept, he could only walk to the innermost row of shelves and the small kitchen next to it.

Yan Hailing pointed to the ceiling. "He usually sticks to the underside of the ceiling, wiping the dust." She gestured, "Just like Spider-Man. That foreign character who often runs into Batman and Superman in a relationship."

Tu Lanxun covered his eyes, "First, they are not from the same universe. Second, please read the original version..."

Yan Hailing shrugged innocently and said, "Is this your farewell message? I think he's almost walking out the door."

N was indeed standing at the door, carrying an invisible package, as if he was about to run away. But Tu Lanxun thought he might be embarrassed.

"Oh, I'm not in a hurry to leave, I'm just shy. =w=." Yan Hailing realized it belatedly.

Tu Lanxun's face fell. "Please don't read the book or mouth the emojis as text."

Yan Hailing said "Oh" and disappeared on the spot. I don't know which book she went back to read.

The bronze lynx's jeweled eyes flickered, then dimmed. Mikhail's words echoed with a metallic chord: "I've closed my eyes, too. You two can chat."

What a farce.

As if he could no longer bear it, N appeared beside Tu Lanxun in an instant. This time he continued to hug her, as if it would be difficult to hug her again.

Tu Lanxun didn't know what to say, he just felt the other person's black leather gloves rubbing against his back. It was very smooth and made a rustling sound.

"We just talked about the first treaty." Tu Lanxun said.

N said, "Let's just talk about the First Treaty. It's the end of this topic."

"But I don't understand. Putting aside Suoni, Yasuo, and Fanhua, Bai Xiaoju and Tang Weining were able to transcend the Fourth Treaty because the First Treaty existed, because they were direct blood relatives." Tu Lanxun said, "But what does this have to do with the fact that the existence of ghosts is determined by consciousness? Can blood ties change consciousness?"

N replied, "If you understand ghosts as a kind of light, or a signal that is constantly emitted outward, you can understand its relationship with consciousness. They are both similar substances, just the inside and outside of each other."

"Are the signal frequencies of direct blood relatives similar?"

N smiled and said, "No, the consciousness frequency of direct blood relatives—commonly known as ghost aura—is more likely to be shared. In other words, direct blood relatives are more likely to be of the same mind."

"I still don't understand, what's the point of all this?"

"It's meaningless." N's tone was so gentle for the first time. "Do you still remember the second sentence of the first treaty?"

Tu Lanxun rolled his eyes and said, "Consciousness can be traced back." This sentence was also said in a mysterious way, as if he deliberately didn't want people to understand.

N's fingers brushed across Tu Lanxun's face. "If consciousness is a kind of light or signal frequency, then the gaze that observes consciousness is also an extension of the consciousness of others. Once the relationship of seeing and being seen is formed, seeing becomes two-way, even multi-directional, and even public."

He spoke very abstractly, but Tu Lanxun understood. "When human or ghost 1 sees ghost 2, not only can the former see ghost 2, but ghost 2's original frequency will be disturbed by the gaze of human or ghost 1, and its frequency will change because of being seen."

She paused, then continued, finding herself quite inspired. "And suppose not only is Person 1 or Ghost 1 watching Ghost 2, but Person 2 or Ghost 3 is also watching. So, if they can see an instantaneous change in Ghost 2's frequency, or even two or three times, they can conclude that Ghost 2 is being 'seen' by someone else."

Ghosts, consciousness, and gaze, if we roughly equate these three things, it will form a triangle or even a reflection effect with multiple points at one center.

It's like you're observing a planet in the universe, but while you're observing, invisible aliens in other locations can track you through your gaze...

Seeing that Tu Lanxun understood this, N said, "So, I really have to go."