263: Chapter 61: Can’t Help But Be Argumentative 263: Chapter 61: Can’t Help But Be Argumentative What are they, and what are we?
This question had been swirling in Wang Yunxiao’s mind and he couldn’t shake it off.
This was obviously not a normally functioning world.
Not to mention the peculiar relationship between the so-called Thousand-Year Dynasty and the Great Wilderness Nomads.
The fact that fighting monsters could even yield money was quite baffling.
The Ghost Shadow he had killed earlier had dropped a Gold Bean.
A literal Gold Bean, it looked just like a bean made of pure gold.
Whether or not it was real gold, Wang Yunxiao didn’t dare to test it with his teeth, but it was definitely heavy.
“Detected a Level I Holy Object: Taxes”
“In the eyes of the Imperial Court’s rulers, their subjects were naturally obliged to pay Taxes, whether alive or dead.
This was the currency circulating within the Thousand-Year Dynasty, even usable in front of His Majesty the Emperor.”
These Undead were not Demons or Evil Spirits; they would dissipate into smoke upon death.
Shepherds herd sheep and cows, the living ones can provide meat, and so can the dead.
Then, it naturally followed that even in death, the subjects of the Dynasty still had to pay Taxes…
Wang Yunxiao wasn’t sure if he understood correctly, as this issue was actually quite complex and not something that could be explained in just a few words.
But if you ran into a keyboard warrior, they wouldn’t need more than a sentence to have you reeling from the blow.
While he was still trying to make sense of it all internally, someone next to him couldn’t take it any longer.
A police officer suddenly tore off his helmet and threw it to the ground, grinding his teeth he barked, “I understand now!”
What do you understand?
Everyone was shocked and watched him, not knowing why he had suddenly lost his sanity.
“My parents were beaten to death by those dogs at the County Government Office during the famine in my childhood because we couldn’t pay the Taxes!”
“It’s all the same!
It’s all the same!
Now we’ve become the Imperial Court’s henchmen too!
We don’t even spare the dead!”
As he spoke, he actually broke down crying.
“Liu Siliang, calm down!”
Someone next to him urged, “The old Imperial Court has been overthrown, we are the new government now…”
“It’s all the same!
It’s all the same!
Look!
The sky is still so dark!
There’s not a glimmer of light!”
The officer who had gone mad had red-rimmed eyes and stared at everyone, his expression dazed, looking like a frenzied lunatic.
“Don’t you all understand yet?”
“What are we supposed to understand?”
“Why don’t you understand!
You…
how can you not understand?”
“What are you asking us to understand?”
Gao Shan knitted his brow tightly and stepped forward to hold the officer’s shoulders, “Liu Siliang, shut your mouth!
You’re not in a normal state right now!”
“I’m not normal?”
Liu Siliang’s eyes widened as he stared intensely at Gao Shan.
“I am normal, I have never been so lucid, it’s you who are not normal, you are all pretending to be asleep!
You don’t want to wake up from this dream!
This is a thorough deception!
We’ve all been fooled!
Pollution, Erosion, it’s all lies!
Only I know the truth, I have seen through it!
I have awoken!
I must tell you the truth!
The truth is…
you’ve all been deceived…”
“Hurry up, find something to gag him with and tie him up, take him away.”
Wang Yunxiao had been curious to hear what he claimed to be the truth, but as the guy went round in circles and ended up back where he started, he felt hugely disappointed and impatiently ordered Gao Shan.
Under the influence of Echo Erosion, those whose wills were not firm enough had become reduced to this state of half-madness and half-idiocy.
When discussing issues, normal people would at least have a complete logical chain, since this is the cause, then that is the effect.
These lunatics, however, lacked logic; they couldn’t articulate cause and effect, merely believing they were right, and so you must also find them right.
Their brains did not possess a thought process but mimicked parrots and aped Dong Shi’s ugly grimace, nothing but human repeaters distorted by Echo Erosion.
If this behavior were transferred to the networks of later generations, one could revel in their own diatribe and then block their adversaries without facing legal consequences.
But in this era, such antics could endanger one’s life.
Gao Shan had merely hesitated for a moment, his action slowed by a beat, when Liu Siliang twisted his neck and broke free, stripping his clothes while shouting loudly, “Laozi quits!
Laozi won’t serve the Imperial Court!
Laozi refuses to be a henchman!”
“Liu Siliang, stop right there!”
The faster Gao Shan yelled, the faster Liu Siliang ran.
He covered the distance in strides, making it to the doorstep of the house where the lantern had just been extinguished, pulled out a pistol, and cried out loudly, “Fellow villagers!
Hear me out!
Do princes and generals have any kind of seeds, huh!”
A billow of black smoke spewed forth from the house, enveloping him completely.
Within a few breaths, his flesh and blood had been devoured clean, leaving only a skeletal frame that wobbled twice before collapsing into a clatter of bones.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Wang Yunxiao grabbed Gao Shan’s collar and demanded in a deep voice, “Captain Gao!
Are you satisfied with sending off a head just like that?”
Gao Shan’s face turned ashen.
He indeed had hesitated, a natural human reaction.
The so-called normal human reaction refers to the sentiment, “Although I know something’s wrong, I think it can still be salvaged.”
This was similar to the mentality of, “I know my cooking isn’t tasty, but since I am your mother, you have to eat it anyway.”
It was this kind of wishful thinking and a complacent attitude that allowed one of his officers to die on the spot right in front of him.
“Do you also think he made a lot of sense?
Are you starting to empathize with them?”
Wang Yunxiao pulled Gao Shan close, spraying him with spittle as he spoke.
“Come on, tell me, when you were in the military, did you retreat with your subordinates who said they were afraid to die and didn’t want to fight, just because your superiors told you to hold the line?
Tell me, did you?”
“No!”
Gao Shan immediately answered, “Soldiers must follow orders!”
“Whose orders do they follow?”
“The orders of the commanding superiors!”
“Now, who is your superior?”
“You!”
“If you feel wronged, you can take your men and strike out on your own; I’m not pointing a gun at your head.”
Wang Yunxiao released Gao Shan’s collar and said coldly, “Control your people; if there’s a next time, I will abandon you and just walk away.”
Gao Shan took a deep breath and nodded slowly, “Understood!”
This was probably a daunting task for him, as at this moment, the morale of the officers under him was low, devoid of any fighting spirit, appearing listless and dispirited.
How to conduct psychological work with them was now Gao Shan’s own business.
Wang Yunxiao had no expectations of them playing any significant role.
It was not that these officers lacked quality; in fact, having been selected, they were far superior to ordinary people both physically and mentally.
But they still could not withstand the Echo Erosion of the Outer Dimension.
Wang Yunxiao was increasingly appreciative of the superior nature of the “Garrison Soldiers” profession.
Not to speak of other aspects, but the strength of their Resistance alone was comforting.
He found Youtiao, then traced a line on the map with his finger, “Let’s establish a quarantine zone here!”