Chapter 19 Chapter Eighteen

"How is it? How is the situation?" Roda asked me enthusiastically at the breakfast table. "Oh, it's not a cliché." I said indifferently. I knew that Despar was looking at me, which made me feel uneasy, he is a very observant man. "Draw symbols on the ground?" "Well, I drew a lot." "And the white cock?" "Of course, Bella's greatest pleasure is this." "There is also a trance state or something?" "Yes, both." Roda looked a little disappointed. "You seem to find it very boring," she said in an aggrieved voice.

I said that this kind of thing is similar, anyway, I finally satisfied my curiosity. Later, when Rhoda went into the kitchen, Despar said to me: "You're a little startled, aren't you?" "This--" I wish to appear as lighthearted as possible, but Desper is not one to be easily deceived. So I said slowly, "It's kind of—in a way—kind of cruel." He nodded. "People may not really believe that stuff!" Desba said, "at least when they are sane and rational, they won't believe it, but this kind of thing has its influence. I've seen a lot in East Africa, and witch doctors have effects on people." A lot of control, and we have to admit that there are some things that cannot be explained by common sense."

"die?" "Oh, yes, if a man knows he is destined to die, he must die." "I suppose that's the power of suggestion?" "may be." "You are not satisfied with this explanation?" "No—not completely satisfied, there are some things that cannot be explained by our Western scientific theories alone. Europeans don't necessarily believe in such absurdities, but if you take it seriously, it will always be in your heart!" I thought, "I agree with you. One can't be too punitive. Strange things happen in this country. One day I went to a hospital in London and there was a girl who was mentally ill and complained of pain in her bones and arms." Terrible, but they couldn't find any reason. They suspected that she was suffering from hysteria. The doctor told her that putting a hot red iron rod on her arm could cure her disease. They asked her if she wanted to try it, and she agreed.

"During the medical treatment, the girl turned her head away and closed her eyes tightly. The doctor put a glass rod soaked in cold water on the inside of her arm. The girl screamed in pain. The doctor said: 'It's all right now.' She said: "I believe it, but it's terrible, and it hurts so much." I think the strangest thing is not that she believes that she was really burned by an iron rod, but that her arm really has burn marks. It really bubbled up where the glass rod touched." "Did she get better after all?" Desiba asked curiously. "Oh, well, the neuritis or something has never happened again, but she has to heal the burn on her arm."

"It's amazing," Desper said. "That's good for acting, isn't it?" "Even the doctor himself was surprised." "I bet he..." He looked at me curiously, "Why were you so eager to attend the seance last night?" I shrugged. "Those three women confuse me, I just want to see what they're up to." Despar didn't say anything more, but I don't think he believed my words. As I said, he is a very observant person. I went at once to the Vicar's house. The door was open, but no one seemed to be in the house. I went to the small room with the telephone and called Jin Qiao.

It seemed like a long, long time before she came to answer the phone. "Hi!" "Kim Joe." "Oh, you are! What's the matter?" "Are you alright?" "Of course it's fine, how could something happen?" I felt bursts of relief. There's nothing wrong with Jin Joo, and I'm comfortable with her familiar defiant attitude.How can I believe that set of nonsense can hurt someone as normal and healthy as Jin Joo? "I just thought you might be dreaming something," I said awkwardly. "No! I thought there would be, but I just woke up and kept trying to see if there was any accident. In the end, there was nothing. I was really angry."

I can't help laughing. "Go on," Jin Qiao said, "what's going on?" "There's nothing special about it. Xi Bier was lying on a purple couch, and then she fell into a trance." Jin Qiao let out a burst of laughter. "Really? Great, is she wearing nothing?" "Sybil is not Mrs. Montespan, and this is not Black Mass. Sybil actually wears a lot of clothes. There is a peacock blue one with many symbols embroidered on it." "Sounds like Sybil, Bella?" "It's kind of cruel. She killed a white rooster and soaked your gloves in the chicken's blood."

"—Disgusting...what else?" "There's a lot more to come." I said. I thought I was doing a good job, and I added, "Sesha did all she could in front of me, and she summoned a ghost—I think it's called Markand. And there were colored lights and singing. Somebody must Will be scared out of my wits." "But didn't it scare you?" "Bella did scare me a little bit," I said. "She had this horrible knife in her hand. I almost thought she was going to lose her mind and kill me after the chicken." Jin Qiao insisted and asked, "Is there nothing else to scare you?"

"I'm not affected by that kind of thing." "Then why did you seem grateful when you heard that I was fine?" "This, because—" I didn't go on. "Forget it," Jin Qiao said kindly: "You don't have to answer this question, and you don't have to meddle in this matter anymore. I know there must be something that makes you feel uneasy." "I think it's just because they -- I mean Sesha -- seem confident about the outcome." "She thinks the things you told me can really kill people?" Jin Qiao asked in a tone of disbelief.

"Crazy indeed." I agreed. "Isn't Bella very confident too?" I thought about it and said, "I think Bella's only interested in killing chickens and getting herself into a malevolent ecstasy, and it's pretty cool to hear her whine like that 'blood...blood...blood...' A little shuddering." "It's a pity I didn't hear it." Jin Qiao said regretfully. "I feel sorry for you, too," I said. "Honestly, it was a great show." "Are you all right now? Right?" Jin Qiao asked. "What do you mean by 'nothing'?"

"When you called me, you weren't at ease, but now you're all right." She was right, and her cheerful, normal voice gave me a lot of confidence, though, I do have a little bit of admiration for Cessa Gray in my own heart.The whole thing may have been nonsense, but it did affect my state of mind.But now it's all right, Jin Qiao is safe and sound, and he hasn't even had a nightmare. "What shall we do next?" Jin Qiao asked, "Am I going to stay here for another week or so?" "Well, if I want a hundred pounds from Mr. Bradley, you're going to stay." "If you hadn't had to, you would never have thought of that. Do you live at Roda's?" "Temporarily, and then I'll go to Bournemouth. Don't forget, you must call me every day, or I'll call you—that's better. I'm at the parsonage." "How is Mrs. Cassop?" "Very well, I told her all about it." "I thought you would. Well, good-bye. It's going to be a boring week or two. I've brought some work—and lots of books I've been wanting to read but never had time to read." "What about the art gallery where you work?" "I said I went on a trip." "Don't you wish to actually travel?" "Not necessarily." Jin Qiao said... Her voice was a little strange. "There is no suspicious person approaching you, right?" "Everyone you want, a milkman, a Chavas watch, a woman asking me what brand of makeup I use, a man asking me to sign a letter calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, a woman asking me Donations to the blind. Oh, and of course the hotel bellboys, who were very helpful, and one of them fixed my fuse." "That doesn't even sound like a bad guy," I said. "Otherwise what do you expect?" "I do not know either." I thought, maybe hoped that something obvious, public, would give me a clue. But the victims of the "White Horse" all died of free will... No, the word "freedom" is not used correctly, the seeds of physical weakness in those people were planted in a way that I cannot understand. Jin Jo categorically dismissed my suggestion that the person who checked the gas meter could be a fake. "He has the papers," she said. "I asked him to show me! He just went to the bathroom to look at the gas meter and copied it down. He didn't touch anything else. I can guarantee that he never had a chance to do it on purpose. Let the gas leak in my bathroom." No, White Horse wouldn't have arranged for a gas leak—too obvious! "By the way, there is another person who came to see me!" Jin Qiao said, "It's your friend Dr. Corrigan, he's fine." "I think Li Jun sent him there." "He seems to think that people with the same surname as us should stand on the same front. Long live Corrigan!" After I hung up the phone, I felt a lot easier. Back at Roda's, she was busy applying ointment to the dog on the grass. "The vet just left," she said. "He said it was ringworm. I figured it must be very contagious. I don't want the kids or the other dogs to get it." "Or my lord," I said. Oh, it's usually the kids who catch it, luckily they're at school all the time—be quiet, Sira.Don't move.This kind of ringworm will make the hair fall off and leave scars, but it will gradually heal in the future. " I nodded and asked her if she wanted to help, she said no and I walked away gratefully. The most annoying thing in the country is that the direction of walking is usually not more than three directions. In Dipin Village, Horse District, it is either Garsington Road, Long Cottonham Road, or Shee Han Greg walked in the direction of London—Bournemouth Road was two miles away. By noon the next day I had crossed Jassington Road and Long Cottonham Road, and then I had to turn towards Shehanger Road. I walked like this for a while, and on the way, it suddenly occurred to me that the Price House was on the way to Shehanger, why should I not pay a visit to Mr. Winnerb? The more I think about it, the more I want to go. There will be absolutely nothing suspicious in doing so.Rhoda took me there once, and I could ask him if he would like to show me some of the treasures that I hadn't had a chance to appreciate last time. The drugstore owner—what's his name, Ogden?Osborne? ——It's really interesting to actually identify Weiner Bo, although according to Li Jun, because Weiner Bo is not good at work, it can't be the person the pharmacy owner saw, but what makes people feel confused is that the person he identified They actually live near here, and their personalities match so well. There's a bit of a mystery to Venabo indeed, and I had that feeling from the start.His mind, I believe, is first-rate, and he has a—how shall I describe it? ——By the way, "cunning" temperament.Predatory-destructive, this kind of person is too smart to kill by himself, but as long as he wants, he can arrange a perfect murder case. The more I think about it, the more I feel that Winner is exactly this kind of role, the kind of mastermind who directs everything behind the scenes.But the drugstore owner named Osborne said he saw Winable walking on a certain street in London. Since Winable could not walk, his identification was worthless, and Winable lived in "White Horse" Nearby is meaningless. Anyway, I think I'd like to see Mr. Wienerbo again.So I came to the gate of Price House. The footman answered the door last time and told me that Mr. Winable was at home.He asked me to wait in the lobby "because Mr. Winnerb is not always available to receive guests". After a while he came back and told me that Mr. Winnerb was very pleased to see me. Weinabo welcomed me very kindly, pushing the wheelchair and greeted me like an old friend. "Thank you for coming to see me, good friend. I heard that you are here again, and I am planning to call Sister Luo tonight. Please come and have a light meal with me." I'm sorry for being so uninvited, but it was a spur of the moment.I was just going for a casual walk, but I came here without knowing it, so I decided to be an unexpected guest. "Actually," I said, "I wanted to see your little portrait of Mongolia. I didn't have time to look at it last time." "Of course, I'm glad you appreciate that thing, it's really fine." Our ensuing conversation was more technical, and I admit, I really enjoyed taking a closer look at these treasures from his collection. Tea was brought, and he insisted that I share it. I'm not particularly fond of tea, but I do love the steaming Chinese tea, and the nice tea set he uses, and some warm salmon butter toast, and a sweet old fashioned plum cake that brings me back to my childhood The situation with tea at grandmother's house. "It was made by the family!" I said in an appreciative tone. "Of course 'the' family never eats baked goods." "I know you're a very good cook. Don't you think it's hard to keep someone in such a remote place as you do?" Winner shrugged: "I insist that I must have the best things, but of course I have to pay the price! I am a person who is willing to pay the price." From here we can see his proud nature. I said lightly: "If a person is lucky and capable of doing this, of course there will be no problems." "You know, it all depends on what a person wants from life. As long as a person has a strong will, that's enough. Too many people know how to make money, but they don't know what it means to make money! As a result, of course, he just became a so-called money-making machine, a slave to money. He went out early and late to work every day, and never stopped to enjoy it. What is the use of that kind of person making money? The car is bigger, the house is bigger, A wife or mistress spends more money—and, moreover, has a bigger head."He leaned forward. "Most rich people only want to make money and make money. Making money is their only and ultimate goal, but have they stopped to ask themselves why they are doing this? Even they don't understand!" "What about you?" I asked. "Me?" He smiled and said, "I know what I want-there will always be endless space to appreciate the beautiful things in this world, whether natural or man-made. Since I have not been able to reach To appreciate the beauty of the natural environment, I have to let them come from all over the world to accommodate me." "But the main premise is still money." "Yes, one has to plan one's expenses--it takes careful planning, of course, but there's no need these days, really no need to be a lowly apprentice." "I don't quite understand what you mean." "Easterbrook, this is a society that is changing rapidly. It used to be, but it is changing faster now. People must know how to take advantage of this." "A changing world," I mused. "It gives people a new outlook." I said apologetically, "You know, you're talking to someone who can only look back in the opposite direction—the past, not the future." Winner shrugged. "Who knows what the future will be like? I'm talking about the present—today—this moment, and I don't care about anything else. Now it's new technology, we have a lot of machines that can answer questions quickly, It doesn’t take a few seconds, but if you use human power, it often takes hours or days.” "computer?" "Pretty much that." "In the end, will machines completely replace humans?" "Oh, of course, I mean those who can only work blindly, but there is absolutely no way for it to replace 'human beings', absolutely not. There must be people in the world who can manipulate machines and use their minds." I shake my head suspiciously. "Human? Superman?" I deliberately added a slight contemptuous tone to my voice. "Why not? Easterbrook, why not? Don't forget, we have gradually learned something about super animals like humans. The so-called 'brainwashing' sometimes presents some very interesting things. Not just humans The body, even the brain, responds to certain stimuli." "A dangerous creed," I said. "Danger?" "Dangerous to those seeking medical attention." Winner shrugged. "There is no life without danger, we forget that we too have grown up in the little crevices of civilization, all civilizations are like that, Easterbrook, people who grew up in the little crevices, gathered together in bits and pieces , to achieve the purpose of common defense, overcome and control nature, they have overcome the jungle, but this victory is only short-lived, the jungle may raise its head again at any time and take control. The city that used to be full of glory may now be Desolate, full of weeds, a few left to survive, nothing else. Life has always been dangerous - don't forget that. In the end, not just forces of nature, maybe humans What the hands made ruined it. Now, that's a possibility." "No one denies that, of course, but I'm most interested in your theory of power—the power to control the mind." "Oh, that—" Winner suddenly looked embarrassed, "maybe I'm exaggerating too much." I found his embarrassment and retreat from his original theory fascinating.Winner is a person who lives alone most of the time, and a lonely person needs someone to talk to—anyone.What Weinerbo said in his conversation with me today may not be very clever. "Man, Superman," I said, "you know, you've given me a lot of new ideas about this." "Of course there is nothing new. The theory of Superman has long existed, and the entire philosophical theory is based on it." "Of course, but I think you're talking about Superman a little bit differently... He can control powers that no one else knows. He can manipulate everything as long as he's settled in his chair." I looked at him while talking. He smiled and said: "You think I'm that kind of character? I hope so, Easterbrook. One needs something to make up for—this!" His hands fell to the blanket on his lap, and I heard a sudden bitterness in his voice. "I don't want to say I sympathize with you!" I said, "sympathy doesn't do you any good. But if we imagine a man--who can make a catastrophe unseen beforehand--I think you'd Exactly that kind of guy." He laughed lightly. "You're too much of a prize." But I could see that he was happy. "No, no," I said, "I've seen a lot of people in my life, and when I meet someone with a special talent, I'm sure I'll see it." I'm worried about going too far, but flattery never goes too far, does it?This is a disappointing thought, and you just have to understand it in your heart. "I don't know," he mused. "Why do you say that? Just because of that?" He waved at the things in the room. "That's the proof," I said, "that you're a rich man, you know how to use your money, and you have eyes and appreciation, but that's not the only reason I say that. You know how to collect beautiful, interesting things." things, and it has been implied that those things are not obtained by hard work." "Very true, Easterbrook, very true, as I said, only fools do drudgery. One must think carefully, plan. All the secrets of success are very simple--but you have to think! Very Simple, just come up with a plan, execute it—and that's it!" I stare, easy? —like getting rid of an unwanted thorn in my side?This behavior poses no danger to anyone other than the victim.Mr. Winner is sitting in a wheelchair, his big nose is like the sharp beak of an eagle, and his obvious Adam's apple is up and down, just sitting in command. So, who is the person who executes it?Cesar Gray? I looked at him and said, "This way of remote control reminds me of a strange thing that Cesar Gray said." "Oh, Sessa dear!" he said in a calm, cheery tone, (but did he blink?) "those two lovely women are always talking nonsense! And you know, they Believe it, really believe it! Have you ever been to one of their ridiculous seances?—I suppose they'll insist on you?" I thought quickly about what attitude I should adopt. "Oh!" I said, "I—I did it once." "Is it ridiculous? Or impressed?" I avoided his gaze, trying to be as disturbed as I could. "I—er, well—of course I don't really believe it, they seem very sincere, but—" I looked at my watch, "I didn't expect it to be so late, I have to go back quickly, otherwise my cousin must be surprised Where have I been?" "Thank you for making my cripple happy through an otherwise boring afternoon. Say hello to Rhoda for me, and we'll have a light meal together some other day. I'm going to London tomorrow, and there's an interesting show at Suzyby's." It’s an auction of medieval French ivory, which is extremely exquisite! If I can get it back, I believe you will appreciate it.” We parted in such consummation.Did he have a look of amusement and embarrassment in his eyes when he noticed my embarrassment during the seance?I think so, but I'm not sure.I now feel quite likely that I am imagining things again.