Honesty
Chen Ling froze.
Liu Qingyan silently opened her backpack. Inside, just as Chen Ling had expected, it was stuffed with various easy-to-eat canned goods and dicines. She seed to have prepared it long ago... she just never had the chance to bring it out.
"If it wasn't you, then who else could it be?" Chen Ling was sowhat confused.
Liu Qingyan let out a light sigh.
...
Chen Ling walked briskly through the Alleyway.
By the ti he returned under the Bridge Underpass, the sky had turned completely dark.
Due to the lack of electricity, the entire city was enveloped in darkness, but precisely because of this, the stars in the night sky seed even brighter... Under the dim starlight, the glow of a boiling pot's fire was silently dancing under the Bridge Underpass.
Gurgling hot steam drifted up from the hotpot, greatly stimulating one's appetite. But bizarrely, whether it was Jin Fugui, Jian Changsheng, or Jiang Xiaohua, they were all sitting rigidly on the side at this mont, their expressions solemn and ready to spring into action like prey being targeted by a ferocious beast.
And on the other side of the hotpot,
A beautiful figure wearing a white training suit was holding a soup spoon, calmly stirring the hotpot base.
Seeing that figure, Chen Ling's gaze focused slightly...
He slowly walked down to the Bridge Underpass.
"You're finally awake." Su Zhiwei didn't look up. As she swished the cleaned tripe in the pot, she spoke, "Do you eat it with oil dip, or sesa paste?"
"..."
Chen Ling didn't expect to see Su Zhiwei here... and in such a down-to-earth manner at that.
Jian Changsheng and the other two, sitting ramrod straight to the side, looked at Chen Ling eagerly. Although the hotpot was extrely tempting, how could these Dusk Society mbers dare to actually eat what one of humanity's Nine Monarchs cooked? At this mont, each of them was like a mouse that had seen a cat, trembling with fear.
The look in their eyes as they looked at Chen Ling seed to say: Fight or flee, give us the word!
Chen Ling gave them a look in return, signaling them to stay calm.
"I'll have sesa paste."
Chen Ling casually sat down across from Su Zhiwei just like that.
Su Zhiwei nodded. She directly pulled out what looked like a homade glass jar from behind her, scooped out a spoonful of sesa paste, and placed it in the bowl in front of Chen Ling.
Chen Ling couldn't help but ask, "Since when did you know we were here?"
"Since the very beginning." Su Zhiwei glanced at him. "That day when you guys ca out of the Ancient Vault of the Ghost Path heavily injured, I was thinking whether I should empty out a house specifically for you all to recuperate and receive treatnt... But thinking that you probably wouldn't want to get too close to the Human Domains, I didn't bring it up, and just had Hong Xiu deliver so dicines over ti."
Chen Ling: ...
So not only did Su Zhiwei see that the four of them were forcing themselves at that ti, but the fact that the higher-ups of the Dusk Society were silently living under a bridge was also taken in by Su Zhiwei's eyes long ago?
"So the reason you hesitated back then was because of this?"
"Otherwise?" Su Zhiwei spoke leisurely. "Did you really think I would lock you all underground like Wang Jian?"
Chen Ling was speechless.
"...Sorry, because I don't... really understand the you of this era."
"Not trusting people easily is correct. Especially as the Red King of the Dusk Society in this generation, you should inherently have this kind of quality."
Su Zhiwei placed the cooked tripe in Chen Ling's bowl.
Chen Ling looked down at it, very naturally swirled the tripe in the sesa paste, and put it into his mouth...
It's so sweet.
Truly worthy of being a Southerner.
Chen Ling wasn't afraid of Su Zhiwei poisoning him. Even if he didn't understand the Su Zhiwei of this era, he knew she wasn't soone who would use such thods.
"So you ca to find just for small talk?"
"The last ti we t, there wasn't much opportunity for an in-depth exchange. Now that you're in the Tianshu Domain, naturally I had to co see you." Su Zhiwei paused for a mont. "What do you think of Wu Tongyuan?"
Chen Ling knew Su Zhiwei was finally getting to the main point. After thinking for a mont, he answered:
"He has responsibility, he is reliable, and he has ability... But, he is a bit stubborn about certain things."
"Correct." Su Zhiwei nodded. "He is the person with the most hope of saving humanity, and also the person most likely to push humanity into the abyss... Even if he is one of us, I wouldn't place all my bets on him."
Chen Ling understood her aning. "So, you also support the Dusk Society."
"I wouldn't go as far as 'support'... using the word 'trust' is more appropriate." Su Zhiwei spoke indifferently. "The Dusk Society's Reboot the World has indeed saved humanity many tis, but the infinite reboot loop is ultimately just an escape. Only by dealing with the Red Star can we settle it once and for all... So between Wu Tongyuan and the Dusk Society, I lean more towards supporting Wu Tongyuan.
We need soone to fight for a future for humanity, and we also need soone to Act as a Safety Net for humanity's fate."
Chen Ling nodded slightly:
"I understand."
"But the Dusk Society is a double-edged sword. You can Reboot the World, but you will also bring unprecedented laziness to humanity... Precisely because soone Acts as a Safety Net, people will lose the conviction of Burning One's Boats. The Red Star's existence is too despair-inducing. In a situation where they can't see a sliver of hope, people will very easily give up struggling and willingly fall into humanity's reboot loop...
I know there are many people, including Wu Tongyuan, who don't like your Dusk Society. This is a good thing.
If one day the Dusk Society becos a savior loved by everyone, blindly supporting you in Rebooting the World, then humanity would truly be finished."
This perspective made Chen Ling freeze slightly... It was his first ti realizing this issue.
No wonder Wu Tongyuan's attitude towards the Dusk Society was so subtle. No wonder the Red King, clearly the leader of the Nine Monarchs, didn't have the support of all the Nine Monarchs... The Nine Monarchs were too smart. They could see the deeper aspects beyond the Dusk Society, and they all had their own persistence and choices.
Of course, the Dusk Society had to exist. But they absolutely shouldn't be an organization known and loved by everyone in the sunlight; they could only be the guardian deities in the shadows.
"But just as you said, Wu Tongyuan is stubborn... Once he hits a dead end, he will do so crazy things." Su Zhiwei paused for a mont. "And what I want to do is find a balance between you and him."
Su Zhiwei was very honest. The hotpot had just begun, and she had already told Chen Ling her stance and goals.
The primary reason she did this was naturally because she trusted Chen Ling, or rather, she trusted the previous Red King's judgnt... There were so things she couldn't say directly in front of Wu Tongyuan, as that would cause him too much pressure. So, she chose the most efficient thod.
"Thank you for your Honesty," Chen Ling smiled.
"Although this sounds a bit like being a spare tire, you are very right... Dr. Su, you are really very smart."
But then Chen Ling changed the subject, adding a sentence:
"But allow to ask one more question..."
"If Wu Tongyuan really hits a dead end... Do you, or rather do we... really have the ability to hold him back?"
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