“I understand.”
Looking at the pitiful people before me, each ruined for life by unfinished buildings, I asked to confirm:
“So, because your lives were destroyed and you found yourselves with nowhere to turn, you chose to protect Qiongqi…”
“So, what conditions did it promise you?”
“To make the real estate executives pay, to let them taste the suffering we’ve endured,” the little girl said through gritted teeth.
“I see… that’s quite reasonable,” I nodded.
“…?”
Everyone expected me to say something like: breaking the law is wrong, you can’t kill, debts must be repaid by the right people, and so on…
But I simply said, “Other methods couldn’t solve your problems, so you sought out someone who could protect your lives. You’re very brave.”
The crowd halted, surprised and suspicious.
“Then leave here quickly. We don’t want to hurt you,” the little girl slowly lowered her knife with tears in her eyes.
“No. We came to kill Qiongqi,” I shook my head.
Tension immediately returned to the crowd.
A flash of desperate ruthlessness appeared in the girl’s eyes. “Then don’t blame us for being ruthless!”
“One million.”
I suddenly raised a finger.
“Ah?”
“I’ll give each of you one million to buy a new home. Put down your knives. I’ll transfer it to you right now.”
“………”
Solving problems is really that simple.
Ninety-nine percent of the world’s problems come down to money.
I have plenty of money.
So this isn’t a problem.
Of course, I’m not about to just hand out money for free.
So I continued:
“My Xianlu Magic Potion Shop is currently expanding globally and needs reliable employees. After buying your new homes, you can work at the nearest Xianlu Magic Potion Shop—
At my shop, you’ll never work more than eight hours a day, have at least two days off per week, no forced overtime on holidays, enjoy five types of social insurance plus maternity and marriage leave. The company forbids workplace bullying and overwork. If your boss mistreats you, you can come directly to me. My WeChat is…”
Everyone’s eyes went blank.
Even the Qiongqi hidden deep in the building let out an incredulous roar.
“All these conditions will be written into the company’s employment contract. You can take it home to read slowly, consult trusted lawyers, and decide whether to sign after confirming there are no traps… Now, send me your bank card numbers, and I’ll transfer one million to each of you,” I added.
“…”
Silence blanketed the area.
Ten minutes later.
“Chairman, this way~ Qiongqi is hiding over here~”
“Chairman, I just made some ginger soup. Want some? Too hot? Go, Little Hong! Stop mindlessly reciting vocabulary and blow the soup to cool it down for the Chairman!”
“Chairman, be careful! There’s a trap ahead… Hey, yes! Just hop like this and jump over it!”
A resident led us ahead, rolling out a red carpet while guiding us to Qiongqi’s hiding place.
The Suzaku Mentor and I swaggered confidently, heads held high, deeper into the building.
“It’s just the room ahead. I don’t dare go in, so I won’t accompany you two further…”
“Here will do.”
After seeing the happy residents off with satisfied smiles, I adjusted my collar and even politely knocked on the door.
The sound of grinding teeth came from within.
“Enter.” A guttural voice, almost inhuman, came from behind the door.
The voice sounded very defensive.
“Your security isn’t much, huh.” At this moment, I had merged with the Qilin spirit and could sense the Qilin’s thoughts, so I taunted on its behalf.
“Using money to achieve your goals, twisting people’s beliefs with profit, Qilin, you have fallen,” a voice sneered from the darkness.
“Don’t spout nonsense. Money itself is neither good nor evil; it’s merely a convenient medium of exchange… Money can be used to harm or to save.”
“But a gentleman can’t earn such enormous sums… The amount you just transferred is fifty million, right?”
“Jealous? I’ll give you five hundred million. How about being my dog?”
“…”
Qiongqi was speechless.
Seeing that Qiongqi had no intention of fleeing and no spiritual energy fluctuations around, the Suzaku Mentor didn’t rush to act.
She let me interact with Qiongqi.
She also understood this was the destined struggle between two legendary spirits.
“Why do you choose to side with such a villain?” Qiongqi asked confusedly. “From tens of kilometers away, I can smell the murderous stench on her. And yet you say you have not fallen.”
“Are plants alive?” I asked on behalf of Qilin.
“Of course.”
“What about animals?”
“Naturally.”
“Then do saints eat dirt when hungry?”
To survive is to kill. It’s beyond good or evil. Another round lost by Qiongqi.
“I’m quite curious about you,” I stepped into the darkness, looking up at two green glowing eyes. “Besides inciting murder, you incite theft. After all these years, aren’t you tired of it?”
“Of course not. Watching humans destroy each other is the greatest joy—it’s my innate mission!”
“So your dopamine triggers are humans persecuting humans?”
“What dopamine nonsense?”
“Dopamine is a brain chemical that makes you happy. If you feel pleasure and obsession for something, it’s because dopamine is being released in your brain while doing it.”
“Ah? I’ve learned something new…” Qiongqi’s voice showed surprise.
“Yes. So your self-proclaimed noble criminal mission is just an addictive behavior caused by abnormal dopamine secretion.
Considering you all behave this way generation after generation, this developmental defect probably has genetic traits. Hmph, I almost feel sorry for you.”
Don’t fear the Qilin’s martial arts, fear the Qilin’s science.
For generations, Qilin and Qiongqi fought. Qiongqi always managed to corrupt the virtuous master it served…
With limited ancient knowledge, Qilin could never understand why people are so easily addicted to crime.
So this time, while its master slept, it secretly consulted the Xiaoyue Hermit and read extensively on physiology and sociology in its spare time.
Now it had an epiphany.
“So you’re saying my obsession with inciting human crime is because my brain secretes something called dopamine?” Qiongqi asked hesitantly from the darkness.
“Exactly.”
“You’re lying! You treacherous Qilin… and you say you haven’t fallen! Ha ha ha… you even lie!”
“Oh.”
I switched my phone to an encyclopedia entry on dopamine and tossed it to Qiongqi.
“Read it yourself. This is the latest research by modern humans, with many mature academic papers. Tsk, ignorance is truly frightening.”
In the darkness, Qiongqi’s large claw tapped the screen, falling into deep thought.
“No wonder I’m naturally obsessed with crime. So that’s how it is…” came the low muttering.
“Right, this is classic addictive behavior. Actually, most life choices are driven by it. Your preferences and pleasures are all dictated by it…”
“Then my mission, my noble criminal mission…” Qiongqi trembled, roaring softly, “My whole life, everything I’ve done, every choice I made, has been enslaved by this thing? Then what meaning does any of it have?”
“None at all. Especially for someone like you who’s done nothing but tempt others to commit crime.”
“…”
Qiongqi looked up at the sky.
At that moment, it suddenly felt hollow inside, losing all motivation. Everything seemed meaningless.
It was depressed.
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