Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 651 - 295 "The Birth of Witchcraft

Chapter 651: Chapter 295 "The Birth of Witchcraft

Yuki did not know that this kind of thing had actually happened many times in history.

Beasts that harm people, unintelligent natural disasters, and even tyrants who wreak havoc in an area, all remembered by people in various forms. Perhaps initially, it was just an attempt by elder generations to impart a "lesson" to their descendants through stories, but soon, customs would form, then morph, and become sanctified.

One can’t know how many immortals and saints in the hearts of later generations were actually murderers and arsonists in their lifetimes.

This kind of thing had happened many times before, and it was happening now.

"But..." Yuki pointed at the stick planted at the entrance of the town, "why do they show respect to that stick?"

"At first, they probably just wanted to use this thing to scare off some Green Forest bandits from other places," Liu Ri speculated. "Three years ago, the local Green Forest, in the battles between the government and the heroes, were shaved over and over, and have not been able to stir up any trouble... Maybe they think the effect of the stick is quite obvious, and then they developed a respect for it?"

Yuki was astonished, "How is that possible? The owner of this stick was beaten to death right in front of them! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Ah!" Liu Ri pointed at Yuki, "So it was, you were here at that time..."

"What? What?" Only Han Zhun, who was the only one out of the loop, asked, "What are you talking about? Silver Transmission Shaft Lev? Isn’t he the renowned Green Forest strongman? He was taken out three years ago? No wonder when I went to see the wanted list, he was gone... How do you guys know so much? You must be heroes, right!"

Since Liu Ri had realized that "Nameless Senior had cut down Silver Transmission Shaft Lev," he was quite content. In his heart, Nameless Senior was a great hero, a giant among men, a great hero, a grandmaster who could effortlessly slay even Moon rangers. It was not surprising at all to him that such a person could kill someone from the Tiger List. He just knew a little of the senior’s past deeds.

He told Yuki, "This kind of thing, people will selectively forget. You should know that there is a deep-rooted illusion in the human mind that ’everything is connected,’ and ’this connection must be based on a single truth.’"

Yuki found it hard to believe. Xiang Shan had said similar things to him before. But at that time, Xiang Shan’s assessment was, "Based on such vain and illusory notions, humans have created the paradigms of science, and when you think about it, it’s quite impressive."

But on reflection, this "vain and illusory notion" seems to be in this form more often.

Humans often associate two completely unrelated things and believe "that they are mysteriously linked," then record this law and remember it intensely.

Sometimes, the two unrelated things people think are related might indeed have a direct connection, or they might be different "effects" of the same "cause," thus having an indirect connection. (For example, "high malaria incidence in a region" and "low diabetes incidence in the same region" are both results of "poverty," rather than "malaria can cure/mitigate diabetes.")

But more often, the things deemed related might really have no connection at all, just coincidences.

Take the concept of a "lucky color," for instance.

But humans inevitably like to seek an explanation for things they can’t understand at the moment.

Some Scientific Knights believe that, in ancient times, individuals who could quickly link the "rustling in the grass" to "the approach of a top-tier carnivorous big cat" had a greater evolutionary and competitive advantage.

The people of this town feel that since the stick was planted at the entrance of the town, there have been fewer visits from the Green Forest.

They are unaware of the momentous Jianghu tides of the past three years, nor do they know about the Apricot Forest Duke’s affairs, nor that King Aqini once suffered losses to the Mobile Cavalry.

In their view, "the stick was planted" and "fewer Green Forest bandits came" are two related events.

So, they respect the stick.

As for "the stick’s former owner was beaten to death by someone," that doesn’t seem to matter much.

Harboring two mutually contradictory beliefs in one’s mind, and accepting both, is not such a difficult thing.

As long as one doesn’t think too much about it.

But Yuki was a person who thought too much. He couldn’t accept it at all.

"Why?" he said, "It was clearly the master... he... he..."

"’Master’?" Han Zhun caught another unusual word once again.

The corners of Yuki’s mouth twisted. It was the only part of him that could make expressions.

He didn’t want to talk about this topic anymore. The young man stopped pointing his finger at the stick but instead stamped his foot firmly, "Damn it, what’s the point of coming here? To bother oneself?"

With that, he walked straight into the town.

Liu Ri shrugged. The Burrow Dragons built their communities based on family units, so he received a complete education as an adolescent. His great grandfather placed great emphasis on the Martial Ancestor’s concept of "overcoming superstition." When he was a child, he would often lie with his siblings and listen to his ancestors talk about the past and the origins of these "superstitions."

To take history as a mirror.

Actually, it was just that Yuki returned too early. If he came back in another decade or so, the people here would have selectively forgotten about the affairs of Silver Transmission Shaft. Then, this stick would become a "magic tool that ensures the Green Forest will no longer come" in their eyes.

In the age when the logic of witchcraft still resided in human minds, many magic rituals were formed by such human exploration—despite the fact they were completely useless in the material world.

Then, various stories would be attached to this stick. These things would be like the dust of human collective consciousness, gradually forming sedimentary rocks in the sea of the soul—if the process is not forcibly terminated by the government, that is.

Of course, it’s also possible that a group of Green Forest bandits would forcibly interrupt this process. Once the bubble of "magic" is pricked, people would discover there was nothing inside the bubble. The stick would be quickly forgotten.

By that time, Yuki would probably find it even harder to accept.

Yuki remained silent, while Han Zhun kept up, incessantly asking about various matters. Soon, they reached the edge of the Copper Candy Crop Plantation Area.

But at that moment, gunshots rang out.

Han Zhun jumped, expertly lying flat on the ground. His prosthetic body ratio was low and couldn’t withstand this kind of rough treatment.

Yuki, on the other hand, looked puzzledly toward the direction of the gunshots.

It was a group of young people. The one leading them was holding a semi-automatic rifle, the barrel pointed at the sky, shouting, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"