Later, Zha heard about the execution in the market. Those executions were carried out by the Collectors, but they no longer claimed to be Collectors. Those who were executed were those who broke the old rules by believing that they would not come back. It might as well be said that they were deceived.
The Collectors' treatment of prisoners was somewhat more merciful than in the past. They no longer hang all people under the chariot, but make a simple distinction: theft and robbery will pay double the compensation; the injury will always be deeper in the same part; the result of rape is mostly Castration, death was punished with a stick. Most of the murderers were also killed. Only those who can prove self-defense or were forced to do so, and who have been verified by collectors, are released.
Those who had killed one or two with blades or axes had their heads knocked off by the collectors. Those who have skinned living people, hung many people from the back of a car, or forced the knife used to kill a child into a mother's hands died slowly. Collectors in different places seem to favor different disposal methods. Regardless, they strive to impress the crowd watching.
They did, and it wasn't long before people could learn from Longlegs about the strange executions that had taken place in distant market places. The executions were all extremely painful, and the victims were deliberately allowed to make gestures during the executions. The same thing happened in almost every execution place. It makes no difference here or there, so when Zha knows what happened in the nearest market, he doesn't have to ask how much other people in the world know.
One thing that appears in all execution grounds is the angry questioning of the victim before his death. Everyone knows that collectors never talk empty words. They declare they will never come again, so they should never come again. However, at this moment they appeared once and sent everyone who fully believed in them to the execution ground.
Naturally, the person being tortured will feel aggrieved. They would ask why the collector went back on his word and came back to earth even after Krishna was no longer angry.
Dark day is over. The collector replied. We are no longer collectors. Now we follow the orders of the new leader. From now on, his will will become the law of this land. You must obey it, otherwise you will be punished according to the rules.
This answer did not alleviate the victim's anger at being deceived. Most of the time they will think that this is pure fraud, there is no new leader at all, and maybe Krishna will still be angry in the future. But then the collectors raised their hands, and light shot out from under their wrists, creating an image on the floor or wall. A weirdo with deformed ears. They announced that this was the new leader, but they could not name him with a gesture. This person's name did not exist on the ground and could only be expressed with a few syllables. At the execution ground in every market, the collectors would read it to everyone - "Mr. Ji".
This syllable-only word soon acquired a variety of gestural referents. People began to spread the news, depicting this man in red robes with a gloomy face and deformed ears. Some collectors mentioned that he lived in the place where the running water originated, but he did not receive any visitors who were healthy. He was concerned only with order on earth and had no interest in collecting sacrifices. However, if anyone disturbs his peace for no reason, he will be severely punished.
That's how things settled. When the trial was over, some areas returned to their old life, while others had few living people left. The chaos did end, and people obeyed the Gatherers' orders to move not too far away, or to take on new jobs that were now more needed.
People may have thought about it, but no one actually came to visit. At the moment when the turmoil has just ended, no one is willing to risk their lives, not to mention that rhythmic disease is also a threat to long-distance travel. At least during the days that Zha stayed in the single house, he didn't see any stranger push open the unlocked door.
The doctor did not send him back to work, but seemed to have no problem letting Zha stay with him to recuperate his tired spirit and body. If Zha asked him a question, he could always point out what Zha's family was doing at the moment, or even the development of the fetus in Zha's sister's belly. He knew this as if he were standing next to Zha's family, and Zha never thought that the doctor might be deceiving him.
During this period, Zha occasionally returned to his sister and family. From there he heard about what happened at the market, and finally learned the doctor's name. It is not surprising that the name has a pronunciation, because people also hope that their names can be remembered by Krishna and the ghosts, and both of them are believed to convey their intentions through sound. However, the doctor's name has complicated syllables and is difficult to pronounce, and it doesn't look like a normal name at all. And when Zha pronounced those few syllables, the doctor's reaction was a little strange. Zha didn't dare to say that he must have seen it correctly, but there seemed to be a hint of cunning in the doctor's eyes.
Other than that, the day seems to be the same as before. Although Zha knew that the doctor could order anyone in the world to do anything at the moment, that did not seem to satisfy the doctor himself. Regarding everything under his control, the doctor showed neither the arrogance and reserve of enjoying honor nor the caution and solemnity of shouldering heavy responsibility. He seemed to have no idea about the matter, and just sat there all day long, or occasionally went into the basement and looked at the red lady's tree.
With his indifferent attitude, it was difficult for Zha to feel that the person in front of him was the collector's new master, a person who might be as noble as Krishna. He didn't even realize what a privileged position he was in: doctors had rescued him from danger more than once, and now he was the only outsider in a solitary room.
Even those who served and welcomed the Collectors in the past must have never been as close to the highest power as he was. At certain moments, he vaguely realized that he could ask for something - if he asked for something, wealth, status, or something more bizarre, the doctor would probably agree to it and satisfy him. That was not self-righteousness, and despite the fear and doubt that had not subsided, and despite the fact that he had no extraordinary talents of his own, he knew that the doctor treated him in a fundamentally different way than he treated other people. It was the days and nights they spent together that built them into this relationship, a strange relationship between elders and children.
Before the doctor left, Zha didn't ask for anything more. His family had been assured of safety, and the rest was troublesome, if not beyond his imagination. There was more food than he could consume, and managing others would only make him nervous. And war - the word war is related to ghasts. The evil spirits infected by the disease want to take over Krishna, and the endless conflict between them is war.
While he thought he was dreaming, the doctor also mentioned the war. At that time he didn't understand what was going on. One day after seeing the basement, the doctor picked up the topic again. He fought a war with the old leader of the Collectors, just himself and the Collectors he controlled. He has also mastered the method of making collectors, but there is no need to make more collectors. It is a very inefficient labor force.
The doctor admitted that the result of this war was a failure. The other party completely defeated the troops he sent and captured some things unique to the doctor. Although he admitted failure like this, the emotion he showed did not seem like failure.
In fact, the leaders are very similar to Zha. Doctors pointed out that the differences in their original bodies are minimal, especially in brain structure and thinking methods, which are almost indistinguishable. If he gives Zha, or anyone else here, the same knowledge and body as the leaders, sooner or later they will be able to do the same thing as the leaders. But he won't give it to them, because there is no point in repeating the past.
About life. The doctor mentioned it again. Life must have the potential for innovation, a gift of self-renewal and creation, more than imitation and the accumulation of experience. Life must find a way, a way to the unknown, the unexplored knowledge, because everything is known All approaches failed. He doesn't think the land can escape this failure. In the short time he had allowed the Collectors to leave, this failure had been fully demonstrated.
But failure in itself is nothing - it is something that has long been accepted by seekers, and he simply intends to find a longer-term failure for them. A lengthy failure that lasts at least until the end of their imagination. That method is not difficult to conceive, he just needs to bring in the order from the outside. However, since Krishna is endlessly pulling down the land of light, it is difficult to induce such order.
He must go to the city of golden bells.
