mtl008 Chapter 124 You Need to Have a Flexible Moral Bottom Line
Chapter 124 You Need to Have a Flexible Moral Bottom Line
Liu Ren's decisive action made the hearts of the people around him skip a beat.
In any case, they are now facing a target that looks no different from that of an ordinary child.
To wield a knife against such a target would certainly be a moral condemnation.
Human society has developed to the point where various ethical and moral concepts have come about for no reason.
"Ah!" Shu Yan screamed in pain.
The cut caused by the card began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Fine, fleshy tentacles extended from inside the wound, like stitches, forcefully "stitching" the wound shut.
In the end, only a blood-red "centipede" remained on her arm.
"As expected, he is a practitioner of the Ghostly Realm."
Upon receiving this result, both Ding Chen and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
But then another problem arose.
"What are you doing! It hurts! Waaah... I want to go home..."
Shu Yan started crying, looking pitiful.
However, under Liu Ren's fifty points of mental attributes, her performance clearly carried a sense of "acting".
Like a puppet devoid of any emotion, diligently performing the acting techniques learned from the book.
It seems to make sense.
However, upon closer inspection, one can sense a lingering sense of unease.
"What do we do now...?"
Ding Chen is not Liu Ren, so there's nothing out of place about him.
The others were much the same.
Chang Bingyu stared at Shu Yan without making a move, but his fingertips were rubbing the tip of the knife that extended from his wrist.
Both are rubber figures, puppets, who "cannot understand emotions".
She could clearly sense that Shu Yan's performance contained nothing superfluous.
Unlike others.
The one in front of her was one of her kind.
However, after being active in real life for so long, Chang Bingyu also realized one thing—
The problem lies with myself, not with others.
Finding someone like her is what's "abnormal" for her.
In her mind, being different is the "normal state".
“There’s no precedent for this situation. Let’s handle it according to the procedures for dealing with those who have been possessed,” Liu Ren replied. “I need to take her back to the Zero Association for observation.”
Whether Shu Yan is a mutant or a possessed person at this moment makes no difference.
For normal human society, the threat posed by deformed individuals and those who have fallen into the trap is the same.
The only difference is that the former has no thought at all, only knows how to kill, and is more destructive to the security environment.
The latter allows for communication, exchange, and cooperation.
That's it.
"Okay." Ding Chen opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but after thinking about it, he swallowed his words.
Generally speaking, there are more compliant procedures for handling lost children.
But the current situation is not ordinary.
It should be said that the entire Jiuhuang is no longer in the "normal" state it used to be.
"Fall back." Seeing that Ding Chen didn't say anything mindless, Liu Ren ordered, "Yao Qing, keep an eye on her."
"Yes."
Shu Yan, whose wrist was being held by Yao Qing, was still putting on a show of struggling.
"What are you going to do? Where are you taking me? You bad people!"
"Quiet down." Yao Qing didn't mince words and glared at Shu Yan directly.
"Ugh..." Shu Yan immediately shut her mouth and was pulled into the car by her wrist.
After getting into the car, she said again, "You can't take me away, my mother will come looking for me."
"..."
No one paid any attention to her.
She continued, "My dad is very capable; he will definitely find me."
"..."
Still, no one paid any attention to her.
Fang Qian looked puzzled, feeling that Shu Yan's tone of voice was odd.
But she couldn't quite put her finger on what was strange about it.
If I had to use an analogy...
Shu Yan gave her the feeling of...
A fake.
"Aren't we going to keep trying to get Yan Ling and the other two into the monster's trap?" Yao Qing asked as she drove.
"Let's figure out Shu Yan's situation first, and then try again with the other two." Liu Ren looked lost in thought, putting off the matter of Yan Ling and Liang Nian's involvement with the supernatural.
"But this is the first time we've encountered such a situation, right? How do you plan to figure it out?"
"What do you think?"
"...Although it's still uncertain whether she's a possessed individual, I still suggest we don't go too far," Yao Qing said with some reservations.
"Heh." Her words made Liu Ren chuckle. "My silly apprentice, do you have some misunderstanding about those who are possessed by supernatural beings?"
"misunderstanding?"
"I told you long ago, entering the realm of monsters is a path of no return." Liu Ren's tone was icy. "Once we're tainted by this thing, we'll be completely severed from being purely human. From now on, we'll only have one identity—that of monsters."
"..."
The atmosphere inside the car suddenly became very tense.
The silence lasted for a while before being broken by Fang Qian's question.
"But entering the realm of the supernatural does indeed make one stronger."
“That’s right. If you want to become stronger, that is indeed the only option,” Liu Ren replied. “But the two are not contradictory. In this world, only monsters can kill monsters, and only dragons can slay dragons. The human body has its limits, and to break through those limits, one must become inhuman.”
“But she still looks like a single person,” Yao Qing stated.
"Of course you can say that, but don't you think it's terrifying?"
"……What's the meaning?"
"What if the existence of a special individual whose identity cannot be distinguished as either a possessor or a mutant is not a 'rare' case?"
"..."
"According to the information provided by Ding Chen, Shu Yan is clearly not an ordinary individual. We must find out why she appeared, and what exactly she is. For this, some special methods are unavoidable."
"..."
Yao Qing did not respond; she was simply lost in thought.
He was pondering some questions that only he could figure out on his own.
Liu Ren didn't pay any attention to it.
He simply opened his mouth and continued teaching the three people in the car.
"Old values and logic will eventually become inadequate to solve more and more new problems. Adapting to the changing times and adjusting one's moral bottom line is often necessary. Otherwise, it will only make one more and more exhausted."
"Until one day, I encountered something that I couldn't bear, and I was completely taught new concepts and positions. Although the old saying goes, you can learn something after you've been taught it once."
"But I don't want you to actually encounter that kind of thing. You should understand these things sooner rather than later."
Of the three people sitting in the car at that moment, only one of them didn't need to listen to Liu Ren's earnest advice.
The other two, even if they listened, didn't take it to heart.
Fang Qian was simply too inexperienced in society and was a bit confused. She didn't even know what Liu Ren meant by "special methods".
Yao Qing was still struggling with her own sense of justice, trying to accept Liu Ren's explanation, but a thorn remained deep in her heart.