Чумной доктор (Новелла) Том 1 Глава 693 Ка и Ба

What exactly did Zhou Haorui see of himself then?

The people present had many theories. One was related to the power of the Black Goat and its clones. Another was about time and space; they knew too well how unreliable the timeline itself was. Could Zhou Haorui have seen his future self? Or was it a simple mental hallucination?

And now, amidst this tangle of speculation, Chang Qianhan offered another possibility.

"It's the Ka. The Ka..."

Lin Shengbai and Li Zhenjing at the other end of the line didn't understand. In the car, Xiao Xu was the first to grasp the meaning.

"Ka? If that's the case, then the heads on the piles of stone remains inside the blood pyramid, which patients with petrification disease see in the third stage and which look exactly like themselves, might be their Ka."

Xiao Xu and Chang Qianhan seemed to be speaking in riddles, and Lou Xiaoning couldn't stand it:

"What on earth is this Ka?"

"It's from ancient Egyptian beliefs about life and death," Feng Peiqian replied. Ancient Egypt also existed in the world of Mysteries, and thanks to Yu Chi, she knew something about the archaeology of ancient civilizations. "A person consists of three parts: themselves, the Ka, and the Ba."

"So Ka is something like a soul?" Lou Xiaoning understood it that way, and many others thought the same.

"No. Not a soul..." Chang Qianhan shook his head and continued to mumble. "You can't just call it a soul. Ka isn't a soul, and Ba isn't a soul either. The ancient Egyptians had a different conception of the world... Ka and Ba are slightly more like manifestations than souls, but they can't simply be called manifestations either..."

Chang Qianhan's mental state was so poor that meaning that could be explained in one sentence, he couldn't convey in three.

Wang Ruoxiang and Uncle Dan, as doctors, exchanged glances: he really needed to rest. After all, he wasn't Yu Chi, and his frontline experience was far less. If you stretch a string too tightly for too long, it will eventually break. Wang Ruoxiang asked Chang Qianhan to calm down a bit and suggested Xiao Xu explain for him.

But Chang Qianhan seemed to no longer hear those around him and continued with all his might:

"Ka is a person's hidden life force. Ba is a special quality that allows them to act freely. Both are like vital energy, spirit, the very source of life... The ancient Egyptians believed that every person is born with a Ka. An ordinary person has one Ka, while gods and kings have many. Ka takes on a human form that completely matches the original. That's why ancient Egyptian frescoes and reliefs, where gods create humans, often depict two identical human figures facing each other: one is the person themselves, the other is their Ka."

He took a heavy breath.

"Ka possesses life force and recognizes the original as its master. During a person's life, it acts only in a hidden way, but after their death, it begins to play the main role – acting in the afterlife, in the next life. It needs food and drink, and it also needs the master's body to remain intact, otherwise, the Ka cannot exist. That's why offerings to the deceased in ancient Egypt were also called 'offerings to the deceased's Ka,' and the priests responsible for sacrifices were called 'servants of the Ka'..."

After this, Lou Xiaoning had at least a general idea.

"And Ba?" she asked.

"Ba has a different form. Ba symbolizes the ability to move, which is why it's a bird with a human head. After the master's death, Ba also acts independently: during the day, it leaves the tomb to see the sunlight again, breathe fresh air, and drink pure water, and at night, it returns to the mausoleum to be with the master. The ancient Egyptians feared that Ba might not return one day, so the offerings on the table in the tomb were not only for the deceased and their Ka – they were also used to summon Ba back."

Chang Qianhan's face became increasingly strange.

"For the deceased to be resurrected, the body, Ka, and Ba must unite. Only then can they return."

"And do gods and kings also have several Bas?" Li Zhenjing asked.

"Yes," Xiao Xu replied calmly this time, like a walking encyclopedia. "Especially gods. They have countless manifestations. In ancient Egyptian religion, many deities in animal form were actually considered manifestations of the respective god's Ba. Egyptian religion greatly influenced later beliefs. It is believed, for example, that the Kabbalistic system of Judaism originates from the Egyptian religious tradition: three pillars, ten sefirot, four worlds, twenty-two paths. But that's another topic."

Having grasped at least the basic concepts of Ka and Ba, everyone understood what Chang Qianhan was getting at.

"Let's assume," Wang Ruoxiang began to reason, "then Zhou Haorui accidentally entered the ritual area of the Cult of the Lesser Ram and saw his own Ka. His Ka was extracted. Therefore, his spiritual and vital energy weakened, he didn't get into Heavenly Mystery University, and because his life essence became incomplete, he forgot the encounter itself. Two months ago, he contracted quicksand-type petrification disease. Perhaps... it's because the Cult of the Lesser Ram used his Ka as a ritual sacrifice to summon the disease."

— Или тот лес служил своего рода ловушкой для Ка. Последователи Малого Барана осуществляли сбор человеческих Ка, чтобы возвести кровавую пирамиду болезни окаменения, схожей с зыбучими песками. Когда они решили, что время пришло, они инициировали ритуал, и Чжоу Хаожуй заболел. Однако им всё ещё требовались первоначальные тела и Ба этих людей. Лишь объединение всех трёх элементов могло превратить человека в настоящий костяной камень — полноценную жертву.

— Но затем появилась неизвестная сила — возможно, тот самый Ворон — и разрушила замысел Культа Малого Барана. Болезнь, подобная зыбучим пескам, перестала действовать. Более того, похоже, на культ продолжали оказывать давление. Связано ли это с местами из поисковой истории Чжоу Хаожуя, неизвестно, но достичь желаемого им не удалось. Тогда они сменили тактику: вызвали Десять казней египетских, призвали болезнь окаменения, напоминающую наводнение, и пошли на решающую схватку.

После рассуждений Ван Жосян картина, казалось, стала немного яснее. Возможно, они уже приблизились к истине.

Если всё так, то старые культисты Малого Барана обладали поистине чудовищным терпением. С момента, когда у Чжоу Хаожуя забрали Ка, до его заболевания прошло почти два года. За это время произошло множество событий, сила Чёрного Козла даже пережила период расцвета, но культ всё равно не начинал операцию и, возможно, даже не приближался к Чжоу Хаожую.

И лишь совсем недавно катастрофа внезапно обрушилась.

В этот момент Дэн Симэй, долго молчавшая, неожиданно спросила:

— А не может ли тот Ворон быть Ба какого-нибудь умершего или какого-нибудь божества? Тогда чумной доктор, в которого превращается Ворон, — это Ка этого умершего или бога?

Все замерли. Даже Сяо Сюй прежде не рассматривал такой вариант.

Ба — это животное воплощение. Ка — человекоподобная фигура, точно совпадающая с оригиналом.

Если Ворон — это Ба, а чумной доктор — Ка… кто тогда оригинал?

Джордж Рэй?

Во всех этих предположениях было слишком много неизвестного, поэтому ответить никто не мог. Они до сих пор даже не знали, чем на самом деле является Ворон.

Словно стояли перед дверью в тайну, но войти всё ещё не могли. Лоу Сяонин раздражалась, а на лице Чан Цяньхана всё сильнее проступала боль.

Дэн Симэй же о чём-то глубоко задумалась — словно только что уловила новую мысль.