Chapter 23: The Proposition
Chapter 23: Chapter 23: The Proposition
’Time for some event analysis.’
Most things have a cause and an effect; they don’t just appear out of thin air.
In his past life, most of the surreal, dreamlike incidents he’d encountered weren’t as random as they seemed. After a thorough analysis, he could always find clues that led to their occurrence.
Whether the matter was large or small, as long as he could discern the cause, the process, and the result, he could grasp the full picture.
’For this matter, let’s start with the result...’
In the rightmost circle, Zhu Ge wrote: "The entire village lacks corporeal souls."
This was the current result.
The middle, then, should represent the process.
The villagers lost their corporeal souls because they were seized by gods.
The people of Jianshan Village all remembered Zhu Ge and Hua Liusha’s wedding. This corresponded to their corporeal souls being seized by the Wedding God.
Remembering that Hua Liusha had died corresponded to their souls being seized by a different god.
The two gods had different true forms, so the resulting manifestations were also different.
This was the process.
The cause was also simple.
One cause: The Teacher left Jianshan Village.
Two processes, which led to the villagers’ differing manifestations.
One result: The entire village is without corporeal souls.
Cause, process, and result. It all seemed fine. The logic held up.
However...
’Is the logic really sound?’
Zhu Ge looked at the crooked words on the ground and fell into deep thought.
’Let’s try working backward from the effect to the cause.’
When deriving the effect from the cause doesn’t yield the desired answer, it’s worth trying to work backward.
In logic, if the original proposition is true, then the contrapositive must also be true.
In other words, if a proposition is true—if A implies B—then not-B must imply not-A.
For example, take the proposition "If you are happy, then you will laugh," and assume it’s true.
Then its contrapositive, "If you are not laughing, then you are not happy," must also be true.
He had used this logic in his past life, giving his then-girlfriend the example: "If you love me, you will buy me flowers on Valentine’s Day."
Obviously, the contrapositive, "If you don’t buy me flowers on Valentine’s Day, then you don’t love me," is a false proposition. Therefore, the original proposition must also be false.
This was logical deduction in its simplest form.
Now, Zhu Ge felt that many of the base propositions in the current situation were true; they were real.
But he felt something was wrong.
’I’ll have to test them. I’ll write out their contrapositives and see if they hold up to scrutiny.’
That way, he could find out exactly where the problem lay: in the cause, the process, or the result.
’Time to start deducing...’
Zhu Ge began to write and draw on the ground.
Starting with the Teacher’s departure, he moved on to Yu the Scholar, Hua Liusha, and the villagers’ strange condition...
He outlined all the various base propositions in a simple "If..., then..." format.
Then he wrote out the contrapositives one by one.
Finally, he erased most of what he had written, leaving only a few propositions. He stared at them, a look of realization dawning on his face.
’If that’s the case...’
A ripple went through Zhu Ge’s heart. He murmured thoughtfully, "So that’s how it is..."
He felt he had figured some things out, but he still needed to verify them.
He looked up; the moon was still bright and soft.
Zhu Ge now had many ideas, many things to do, and many things to prove and verify.
But the most important thing was to return home and rest his weary body and soul.
He gave his surroundings a casual glance.
Aside from the Big Cricket and the nursery rhyme from just now, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.
’Time to head home!’
...
His sleep was not a peaceful one.
He was woken by Yu the Scholar before the sun had even risen.
"Zhu Ge! Zhu Ge! Are you really back?!"
Yu the Scholar’s voice came from outside.
’Yu the Scholar is here? This early...’ Zhu Ge woke up groggily, his body aching all over and a thick fog of sleep still clinging to him.
’The dangers of insufficient sleep are significant. Short-term effects include poor concentration, fatigue, dizziness, and irritability. Long-term, it can lead to endocrine disorders, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and so on.’
’Not to mention dull skin, dark spots, and more wrinkles...’
’But none of that matters. The prerequisite for any problem is being alive in the first place.’
Zhu Ge took a deep breath, expelling the inexplicably chaotic thoughts from his mind.
Then, running purely on instinct, he pushed his upper body up from the bed planks, forming an L-shape.
"Can’t sleep?" his father’s mechanical voice sounded.
"The insects are a bit loud. It’s annoying," Zhu Ge replied, his own voice just as formulaic.
"Go to sleep. Don’t let your mind be seized." After mechanically muttering a few words, his father fell back into a deep slumber.
Zhu Ge then slipped quietly out of bed, opened the door, and saw Yu the Scholar, a faint light glowing from his chest.
"It’s good you’re alright..." Yu the Scholar sighed in relief. "I was enthralled by that Insect Demon earlier. After I got home, I managed to break free and rushed over to find you."
"I’m fine, too. But I did learn something from that Insect Demon." Zhu Ge stepped outside, gently closing the door behind him. He pointed to an open area not far away. "Let’s go over there. We can talk under the moonlight."
Yu the Scholar nodded.
The two went to the open space and squatted down in the light of the setting moon.
"Is the Wedding God really a god?"
As soon as they squatted, Zhu Ge got straight to the point. "Have you had contact with the Wedding God before? Is Its appearance related to you, or maybe to the Teacher?"
Yu the Scholar was visibly stunned for a moment, then sighed. "You truly are sharp... I don’t know why the Teacher said you had no aptitude for the Confucian Dao..."
At these words, Zhu Ge’s expression shifted, revealing a look that said, ’I knew it’.
But he said nothing, merely adopting an expression of one ready to listen intently.
"Did you know that after Hua Xiaomei died, the Teacher and I once spoke late into the night by candlelight?" Yu the Scholar shook his head, a lamenting expression on his face. "The Teacher said he couldn’t support things alone, and I was slow to achieve a breakthrough. So, he wanted to nurture an Incense Fire God, using the villagers’ faith to sustain its growth."
"But Hua Xiaomei didn’t become a god back then. We all thought it was a failure..."
’So that’s what happened!’
Zhu Ge nodded slightly. He now understood what Yu the Scholar had wanted to say on several previous occasions but had held back.
"Then why has Hua Xiaomei become a god now?" Zhu Ge wondered aloud, not so much asking Yu the Scholar as muttering to himself.
"Exactly! Why?" Yu the Scholar’s brow furrowed deeply, equally mystified.
Then, as if it were just a passing thought, Zhu Ge added, "Do you think it’s possible... that it’s not the Wedding God, but the Xigui?"
Though he feigned a casual expression, his eyes were locked on Yu the Scholar, watching his reaction.
Yu the Scholar’s eyes first shot wide open as he looked at Zhu Ge. Then, his pupils dilated slightly, and his mouth fell open unconsciously, a look of dawning comprehension spreading across his face.
"You mean..." Yu the Scholar’s gaze held a hint of shock.
Seeing Yu the Scholar’s reaction, Zhu Ge relaxed inwardly. He let his guard down a little more and wrote out the propositions he had deduced earlier, one by one.
"This is a method I figured out myself. You can take a look..."
"Look. If you follow the logic of my method, Hua Xiaomei isn’t the Wedding God at all. She’s the Xigui."
"And she’s on our side!"