Chapter 1164: Teacher and Student (Part 2)

Bruce sent the lettuce into his mouth for the first time, but he was just chewing somewhat mechanically, and also said in the same mechanical tone:

"The next trap was even more obvious. You artificially created a weakness for me, which is Harley, who is a child. You know that I am full of sympathy for children, regardless of whether she is a good child or not."

"When Harley said she had something to find you for, I should have been suspicious. It is very likely that you said something to Mrs. Miller, for example, to pick up medical records at your place at the appointed time, so Harley would come here at that time. This is not a coincidence at all; it is another trap."

"And afterward, it was another conversation between you and Valentine." Bruce said this, and Shiler tapped the plate with the tip of the knife again. Bruce fell silent, and Shiler opened his mouth:

"One point you didn't notice is that he deliberately performed full of politeness and patience. Do you think this was him relaxing your vigilance? No, he was using another way to tell the difference between him and me, increasing your strangeness and bringing you psychological pressure."

"People have two sides: professional and life-oriented. When people bring the professional side into life, it will bring pressure to friends and family, but if people bring some habits of life into their profession, it will also make people feel strange and confused."

"In the second class of the junior year, when doing the debate topic of 'Stimulation of Freshness and Pressure of Strangeness,' what exactly were you doing?"

Shiler stared into Bruce's eyes and said: "You missed all the simple questions, and ignored all the difficult points."

"All multiple-choice questions were wrong, not a single word written for the big questions. Bruce, answer me, what exactly do I have to do to fish you out of this sea of learning bitterness???"

Bruce inserted a bean and sent it into his mouth. Shiler took a few deep breaths, calmed his emotions, tapped the plate, and said: "Continue."

"Next, you analyzed Valentine, the process was very exciting... but unfortunately, I listened to it again."

Bruce sniffed, as if he no longer had the strength to describe too much. He continued: "Next, it was the most terrifying part: your analysis of yourself."

"But I insist, this part is not my fault." Bruce gritted his teeth and then said: "Your logic is too self-consistent."

"Is it too self-consistent, or are you too interested?" Shiler leaned his body forward again, stared at Bruce, and said: "Bruce, tell me, how many times have I emphasized not to be interested in the inner world of any mental patient!"

Shiler almost said this sentence word by word, and Bruce could only look at him in silence.

Because in Shiler's four-year teaching career, he had almost turned this sentence into a catchphrase. Even the most unlearned classmate in the class had definitely remembered this sentence.

But Bruce knew that he was still interested.

"You can't really eat poison just because it's tempting enough. Then what difference do you have from a mouse stupid enough to be poisoned to death?" Shiler asked in a raised tone.

"I am a bat, not a mouse." Bruce answered in a low voice.

Shiler suddenly laughed. He looked at Bruce and said: "You still remember you are Batman? In the final link, why exactly did you go to deal with those serial killers instead of dealing with me directly?"

"I couldn't..." Bruce said a sentence, but he hesitated, looked into Shiler's eyes, and said: "I couldn't go with serial killers to deal with you, right? Wouldn't that be standing on the side of criminals?"

"But you went with me to deal with serial killers, isn't that standing on the side of criminals?!"

Bruce was silent.

"And one last point." Shiler looked at Bruce with wrinkled eyes and said: "In the second half of the freshman year, did you remember even one sentence about the causes of Stockholm syndrome?"

Bruce closed his eyes, lowered his head, and said: "People imprisoned in a closed environment will constantly abandon their principles because of the murderer, lower their standards, and even develop attachment."

"Do you think that as long as it's not violent kidnapping, and no beating or injury, it doesn't count as imprisonment?"

Shiler stared into Bruce's eyes and said: "Do you still think that you staying in that space was your own choice, so it was your fault? What is this? Answer me, Bruce?"

"Emotional control and abuse." Bruce covered his eyes and said: "Common in groups, creating an environment with no other choices, then letting the victim actively make the choices the murderer expects. After causing serious consequences, letting the victim think that this is the mistake of their own choice."

Shiler put down the tableware in his hand, moved his hand forward, and then said: "The key point of Stockholm syndrome is that the control of the victim's survival data will bring the murderer a position higher than the victim."

"And unlike public cognition, the murderer will not be very cruel, nor will they treat the victim with violent abuse. They often have great personal charm, and their attitude is very patient and gentle, even expressing their helplessness to the victim and showing their fragility."

"Being in a high position but lowering one's posture can win the victim's sympathy, which then evolves into the victim feeling that the murderer actually loves them, is forced to do so, and is not speaking from the heart."

"They want to give feedback to the love they imagine, which is why they show attachment to the murderer."

"So, Roman's shot..." Bruce looked at Shiler, and Shiler continued his words: "In order to show you that I am a victim of a serial killer, I also have a fragile side, can also be hurt, am forced to do so, and am not speaking from the heart."

"Batman, sacrificing yourself for a criminal, don't you think this is too crazy?" Shiler stared into Batman's eyes and said: "Do you still remember who you are?!"

Bruce lowered his head, not wanting Shiler to see his eyes, and more importantly, not wanting Shiler to see the trace of panic in them.

He didn't expect that after such a long period of study, he still stepped into the trap step by step, completely without any ability to resist.

Even in the end, after harming himself due to this series of traps and becoming incomparably weak, he was still moved by the fact that he would unhesitatingly choose Shiler.

Bruce closed his eyes and leaned his head against the back of the chair. He didn't understand what kind of discipline psychology was to have turned him into this.

Shiler lowered his head, inserted a piece of vegetable, sent it into his mouth, and chewed. He looked at Bruce somewhat helplessly and said: "You ruined my final exam."

"Bruce, Bruce." Shiler looked at Bruce, constantly calling him, until Bruce looked up at him, and Shiler opened his mouth:

"In my teaching career, I have never given so many answers to any student."

"I fabricated many serial killers in my dreams to train your ability to deal with them. When I was eating, I specifically emphasized that I don't eat internal organs. I let Pathological come out once so you knew he didn't like using special abilities, so you knew he couldn't beat you..."

"Do you hope that I take all your psychology textbooks over, then draw the key points word by word, and tell you that one day you might meet a special me, to conduct a special exam on you, to verify my teaching results?"

"I am very sorry." Bruce looked at Shiler and said.

Shiler placed his hands holding the tableware on the table. He stared straight at Bruce and said: "Have you ever thought that I was afraid of your concern and didn't dare to show up?"

Bruce looked into Shiler's eyes. Although those gray eyes were no longer so desolate, what made him feel stuffy in his chest was that Shiler's gaze was full of disappointment.

"When you expressed concern for me, I also thought about whether this was true, but now I understand that this only stayed on the verbal level, and it is no different from the kindness you radiated to people when you disguised yourself as Bruce."

"What I taught you, what I exhorted you, what I said, what I did—you didn't remember even a little bit. Even if we were just ordinary acquaintances, at least you should have remembered a part of the theoretical knowledge I repeatedly emphasized... but you didn't."

Shiler shook his head gently. He leaned his body backward, leaned against the back of the chair, and when he put down the knife and fork, Bruce discovered that the food on his plate was almost untouched. He had breakfast with this professor, but actually, neither of them had eaten breakfast.

"Pathological said the truth. He is a fixed existence relative to the normal state, and he is also the one who rebuilt the normal state, rebuilt us. The him you saw was the Shiler who had grown up without any treatment during childhood and adolescence. He is the most original me."

"In the fantasy of the normal state, Pathological played the image of the father I had never possessed. He shaped us, and we also shaped him. He is the product of the condensation of Shiler's inner fantasy about fatherly love, and therefore, he can test us."

"Perhaps, precisely because there are too many traits of the father I understand on him—patient, gentle, but authoritative, full of curiosity, but full of fear—making you think of your father, which is why you couldn't make a move and attributed the guilt to yourself."

"This is exactly what he wants. He is a true master of mental control who will tame his prey into a docile lamb that only knows how to constantly reflect, constantly admit mistakes, and constantly harm itself."

"That's why I said, I don't know what you are laughing at." Shiler stared into Bruce's eyes and said: "And in the end, that me didn't harm your body because you expressed your loyalty to me."

"After I conducted a series of mental abuse on you, you ignored this harm, ignored your hatred for criminals, and even ignored the fact that I almost killed you, and still chose to reconcile with me. Do you really think this is normal?"

Facing Shiler's gaze, Bruce closed his eyes in great pain, and Shiler continued:

"Don't take your concern as a weapon."

"Because, if you really understood me, those things you learned would find a way out for the fear and self-blame you produced, as well as your current pain."

"Any teacher in this world, what they hope for is that the understanding students have for them is not to express concern when things are going smoothly, but when students encounter trouble and fall into pain, they can use what they have learned as a weapon to fight against trouble, to fight against themselves."

"Even if you can't do these two points, the views you draw from knowledge should also make you learn to accept failure, understand where your pain comes from, accept that these things constructed a you, and reconcile with him, so that you don't have to spend the rest of your life seeking answers in vain."

When Shiler said this halfway, Bruce's gaze could no longer move away from his eyes.

These sincere, detailed, and earnest teachings made Bruce fully understand what it means that guilt is a good knife. ===== CHAPTER 1165 =====