Zhou Wenju slowly lowered his wine cup and looked at Hu Xiaotian. "Lord Hu, do you believe in ghosts and gods?"
Hu Xiaotian had expected him to bring up the subject sooner or later. He chuckled and said, "Ghosts and gods are merely labels. I've always viewed a person as having two parts: the body and the mind. Have you ever considered this question, Mr. Zhou-when the body dies, does the mind remain?"
Zhou Wenju froze for a moment. He gripped his wine cup tightly, pressed his lips together, and furrowed his brow into three deep lines as he sank into thought.
Hu Xiaotian continued, "Have you ever done something and had the vague feeling that it happened before in a dream? Have you ever experienced your body giving out while your mind kept you going? There are things neither you nor I can see through or understand, but that doesn't mean they don't exist." Hu Xiaotian was simply spinning a yarn. In truth, he didn't believe in ghosts or gods himself.
Zhou Wenju still insisted, "I find the whole notion of ghosts and gods utterly absurd. Everyone talks about ghosts, but who in this world has actually seen one?"
Hu Xiaotian said, "A true physician must heal not only the patient's body, but also his mind. A perfectly healthy man becomes convinced that he's ill. Someone tells him he'll die within three days, and he becomes so consumed by worry and terror that he cannot get through a single day in peace. Before those three days are up, he really does breathe his last. Another man has a terminal illness and shouldn't survive a month, but he meets a physician skilled at healing the mind. The physician gives him medicine that does nothing at all, yet convinces him it