"If you won thirty million in the lottery, what would you do?"
"I'd wait until the end of the month to resign, because of the two hundred yuan full attendance bonus."
...
"If you suddenly gained superpowers, what would you do?"
"For the first week, I'd fight for justice."
"And after that?"
"I'd become Omni-Man, flying through the sky and遁地, and breathing air!"
...
"If she were still here, what would you do?"
"I'd dump her first!"
...
"If you could go back ten years, what would you do?"
"I'd go home, stay by Grandpa's bedside, and let him see me one last time."
...
He Li was reading a book called "What If...", a collection of interviews. "What if... what would you do?"
The book contained no platitudes, no grand pronouncements, no profound insights, only reality. While some answers were… unsightly, it was still an interesting read.
Sister Jiang had fallen asleep on the counter, but the pinhole camera on the counter was still working. He Li paid it no mind.
It was like "The Truman Show," where the protagonist, from birth, was the subject of a globally broadcast soap opera. Everything around him was fake.
Of course, this was all without Truman's knowledge.
But He Li was aware.
This made things very interesting.
When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
This line couldn't be more fitting for He Li.
Things continued as they were, with He Li unilaterally in a state of "tacit understanding."
Covering his ears,
Closing his eyes,
Putting on his underwear,
After doing these three things, everything remained as peaceful as ever.
"That woman was pretending to sleep twenty seconds ago, but now she's asleep. In seven minutes, she'll be in a deep sleep, her senses will be at their lowest, and my suggestion is to use the chopsticks you ate your lunch with to stab her in the side or back of the neck, compressing the carotid sinus. She'll resist a little, but not too much, as she already has severe arrhythmia and heart failure. Then, she'll die within two seconds."
Jin Fang appeared beside He Li at some point, leaning against a bookshelf. His eyes were fixed on Sister Jiang's neck. At this moment, Jin Fang was like a vampire, his eyes revealing an insatiable greed and cruelty.
"No!"
*Slap!*
As He Li refused, he slammed the book shut. The sound of the book closing startled Sister Jiang, who had just fallen asleep.
Sister Jiang rubbed her eyes, put on her black-rimmed glasses, and looked at He Li, asking with a nasal tone, "He Li, what's wrong?"
"Sister Jiang, it's nothing. I was just reading. You go back to sleep. There are no customers this afternoon anyway," He Li said with a smile.
"Oh, okay. If someone comes, wake me up." Sister Jiang, suspecting nothing, took off her glasses again and rested her head on the counter.
Sister Jiang had no idea she had just walked through the gates of hell while asleep.
He Li placed the book back on the shelf and then walked out of the bookstore. Outside the bookstore was a small plaza with seating around several large trees.
He Li sat down, lit a cigarette, and said with some displeasure, "Jin Fang, you can't always be thinking about killing people. This is a society governed by law. You'll get me killed."
Jin Fang put one hand in his trouser pocket and raised the other, conjuring a lit cigarette out of thin air. He took a puff, then sneered:
"He Li, you're so adorable. A society governed by law?
This world has demons, spirit warriors, and psychics. What kind of world do you think this is?
Face reality. This isn't your original world anymore, and you can't go back."
He Li frowned, a sign of his displeasure, a feeling of being stifled, wanting to retort but unable to. After a long pause, he weakly countered, "Still, you can't just kill people arbitrarily."
"But you wanted to kill those two people last night, one of whom was a sweet girl about your age," Jin Fang, not one to indulge He Li, directly exposed He Li's actions from the previous night.
"They had knives and guns, and more than one gun. That's why I thought about fighting back."
He Li's emotions flared, and he continued, "What weapons does Sister Jiang have? Those old black-rimmed glasses? Or the hair tie with the exposed elastic band used to tie her hair? Or her round-toed leather shoes that she wears year-round?"
"Exactly,"
Jin Fang nodded in agreement, looking at He Li as if he had found a kindred spirit.
"From my professional perspective, anything you mentioned, besides weapons, even a clipped fingernail, can be used to kill someone."
"To disgust someone to death?"
"To stab the main artery!"
He Li and Jin Fang fell silent. After an argument, there's always a period of calm. Calmness was impossible; instead, it was regret over not performing well, while simultaneously trying to formulate better arguments for the next round.
"Jin Fang, you..."
"Admit it," Jin Fang said.
He Li blinked. "Admit what?"
Jin Fang looked directly into He Li's eyes and said calmly, "Deep within your soul, there lies violence and cold-bloodedness. No one understands this better than I do, not even yourself."
He Li ignored Jin Fang and directly stated, "I think you could be a psychologist, specifically one who helps patients recognize the psychology deep within their souls."
"Psychologist?"
Jin Fang pondered for a moment, then said, "A so-called 'companion'?"
"Mr. Jin Fang, please respect all professions. A psychologist is not merely a 'companion' as you put it."
"Oh… I see. A high-class companion, the expensive kind, like Doctor Lu at the Third Hospital. I really like Doctor Lu's sexy, fair collarbone. It must be very brittle, and the sound of it shattering must be incredibly beautiful."
"Get the hell out of here!"
Ten minutes later...
The police officer, holding He Li's ID and proof of schizophrenia, had a serious expression.
"Mr. He Li, firstly, we don't have any discrimination or prejudice against you. It's just that the people around you are confused and frightened by your behavior of arguing with yourself. We hope you can understand."
He Li nodded obediently. "Yes, I understand. Sorry for the trouble."
The beat cop glanced back at his colleague who was on the phone. After his colleague nodded to him.
The beat cop returned He Li's documents and saluted him.
"The misunderstanding has been cleared up. We hope Mr. He Li will return for regular check-ups and continue with his psychological treatment. We wish you a speedy recovery."
Beat cops usually didn't handle situations so formally and politely; more often, they resolved conflicts like old neighbors, with laughter and jokes.
But He Li was different. He was mentally ill, and they had to maintain a professional attitude and show respect. They didn't want to provoke a mental patient who could even argue with himself.
"Yes, I will." He Li retrieved his documents and stood at attention.
The beat cop left.
He Li fell into a dilemma. Returning to the hospital for psychological counseling wouldn't cost money, but there was a risk of killing the psychologist.
After all, Jin Fang really liked Doctor Lu's… collarbone.
Not returning to the hospital meant finding a private psychologist for counseling, which would be prohibitively expensive.
Furthermore, he didn't have much money.
For a moment, he was lost.
Jin Fang found it uninteresting and disappeared.
...
Meanwhile,
At the Spirit Management Bureau building,
Bai Fei's report, submitted to the Spirit Management Bureau Headquarters that morning, had received a reply.
Bai Fei took the report's reply and found Captain Susan, placing the report on the desk in front of Susan and saying, "The Headquarters' stance is that we cannot relax our vigilance. They recommend recruiting He Li into the Spirit Management Bureau for easier supervision and protection."
"Even if he's not a spirit awakener, a dual-ability user like him is a delicious… dish for demons."
"It's very necessary to protect him."
......