Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!
Chapter 40 - 40 40 Knowledge Toxicity and Echo Erosion

40: Chapter 40 Knowledge Toxicity and Echo Erosion 40: Chapter 40 Knowledge Toxicity and Echo Erosion Chen Yan, holding a kettle in one hand and a bowl in the other, poured a cup of water for everyone and dutifully called out, “Brother.”

Aside from a bit of a temper, this child was fundamentally good-natured.

Sensible and willing to take advice.

Wang Yunxiao, having seen countless cases of unruly children in the internet era of the future, had a high tolerance for this kind of behavior.

But from the perspective of ordinary people of this era, her behavior was already considered unseemly for a woman.

You dare to go out to eat with a strange man?

Aren’t you afraid he might harbor ill intentions towards you?

In those days, it wasn’t uncommon for unmarried girls and young wives going out alone during the daytime to disappear without a trace, alive or dead.

It was only because Old Man Chen was still around, with a man in the family to stand guard, that the spit and censure of the neighbors hadn’t drowned them.

It’s often said that women had a low status in traditional society and their lives were difficult, yet it’s also women who love to gossip the most.

Men generally just want to sleep with you, but the meddlesome women in the neighborhood truly want you dead.

Chen Yan was young and protected by her family, still oblivious to such malice.

Youtiao wanted to remind her, but felt it wasn’t his place as they weren’t related, so he scolded indirectly using Little Gourd as a proxy.

“No matter what happens, you must not leave the school alone, do you understand?

Do I need to tell you how dangerous the streets are?”

“Oh…”

Of course not, Little Gourd rolled her eyes while obediently nodding.

She was much more mature than Chen Yan.

“Leng Nian?

Judging by the name, he must be a disciple of the Cuojin Sect, from the Geomancy branch.”

Upon returning to school, Wang Yunxiao reported in detail what happened at Chen Yan’s home to Nurse Liu.

Just hearing the name, Nurse Liu guessed the background of this person.

“Geomancy?

Cuojin Sect?”

Nurse Liu had mentioned before that among the forty-nine Heavenly Dao, there were Twelve Laws, and all the practices of cultivation in the world ultimately fell within these Twelve Laws.

But she wouldn’t elaborate on what exactly these Twelve Laws were.

She would only explain when they encountered them.

They had already encountered “Advisor” and “Chess Herald” previously, and now they had come across “Geomancy.”

As for what these terms specifically meant, Nurse Liu wouldn’t say.

She just claimed that with their current level of cultural knowledge, they wouldn’t understand.

“Although the Cuojin Sect primarily specializes in Geomancy and Physiognomy, they are more famous in the Jianghu World for their life-preserving methods.

This sect’s disciples seem particularly obsessive, willing to modify their own fate to attract fortune and avoid disaster, even at the cost of a great opportunity.

They would rather live in mediocrity than risk danger, which is why they are named the Cuojin Sect.”

“The most distinct characteristic of disciples from the Cuojin Sect is their peculiar and twisted names.

Take ‘Leng Nian,’ for example; they’ve restructured the ‘Leng’ character to create a new ‘Nian’ character.

By using their surname to cover up their true name, others can’t use their full name to curse or prognosticate about them.”

Wang Yunxiao understood.

This was akin to registering a shell company in the Cayman Islands, right?

Legal tax avoidance it is!

“A true disciple of the Cuojin Sect would certainly have disguised their name, gender, age, and appearance.

They tend not to get involved in karma, and since you didn’t agree immediately, they won’t come to ask you a second time.

Even when you meet again, you might not recognize them.”

“Teacher Liu, I have a question!”

Wang Yunxiao raised his hand and asked, “I remember you said before that Chen Yan was cultivating ‘Chess Herald,’ and this time she wants to take on disciples in ‘Geomancy.’ Won’t these two Dharma Gates conflict with each other?”

“Good question!”

Nurse Liu clapped her hands and said, “Let me answer your first question first.”

Wang Yunxiao: ???

What did I just ask?

“First of all, there are no conflicts between Dharma Gates, just like if you manage to get into university later on, you need to choose a major.

No one prohibits you from choosing two majors, but under normal circumstances, it is simply impossible for an average person to manage both, let alone cross majors…

Being able to cultivate both the positive and negative aspects of the same Dharma Gate already sets you apart as extraordinary.

I’ve never seen anyone in my life who can cross majors and earn a double degree.”

Nurse Liu held up two fingers and said, “Now I’ll answer your second question, even though you didn’t ask it—however, the way of thinking you’ve shown is already very dangerous.

It’s like a child who just saw a car, not knowing what brakes or gas are, but has already started to fantasize about speeding.

Of course, that’s not your fault, but rather because you have been influenced by that Evil Object.”

“In the process where our Real World combines with the Outer Dimension, two kinds of ‘abnormalities’ will occur.

One of them is what I’ve told you about before, toxic knowledge, which can pollute thought and twist the mind.

The other we call Echo, to put it in terms you can understand, is being possessed.”

“Information is not necessarily valuable; it can also simply be an expression of emotion.

We often heard people say in the past that someone got haunted and went crazy, with unclear consciousness.

The essence of this phenomenon is Echo.

If knowledge can twist the mind, then Echo can lure you into losing your rationality.”

“Let’s give an example—”

Nurse Liu raised her chestnut again.

“Let’s assume, and this is still an assumption, that our classmate Jiang Xiaotang…”

She placed her hand on Little Gourd’s shoulder, who immediately sat up straight.

Little Gourd’s real name is Jiang Xiaotang, nicknamed Tangtang.

Because of this somewhat sweet-sounding nickname, even after she had bruised her face, she was still the subject of undesirable attention.

Some people’s imaginations are particularly rich in this regard.

In the eyes of some, a good woman’s name cannot be separated from “Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, Chrysanthemum, Shuzhen, Fufen,” which immediately lets you know the parents are respectable people with good family upbringing.

Anything besides that is considered a flirty tramp unworthy of respect.

Fair game for a flirtation.

Wang Yunxiao had broken the leg of a shameless old bastard over this matter in the past.

Later on, he discussed with Youtiao and gave Jiang Xiaotang a new nickname, calling her Little Gourd.

It is the gourd from candied gourds.

The name also had the homophony of “fortune and prosperity,” which was a more low-key and common kind of women’s name, similar to names like Zhaodi, Yanan, Shengnan, Jinbao, Ruyi…

“Let’s assume that Classmate Jiang Xiaotang stole someone’s wallet outside, got caught, was taken to the school, and everyone became aware of it…”

Little Gourd, though expressionless, had shifty, flickering eyes.

How could anyone possibly catch me…

Seeing her nervous demeanor, Wang Yunxiao’s brow furrowed, and he turned his head to look at Youtiao.

Did she really steal?

I don’t know!

Youtiao’s face changed slightly as he thought hard and began to calculate their past accounts.

Once Youtiao started doing the accounts, Little Gourd’s whole body became tense, and she subconsciously shrank her neck.

“Then yesterday—”

Nurse Liu turned around, put her hand on Chen Yan’s shoulder and continued, “The class fees collected by your class monitor Chen Yan went missing!”