Chapter 1771: Summer in Fool's Village (20)

Talia's gaze followed Shiler's face closely. The request was made without any hesitation. This is indeed the problem she needs to solve most urgently at the moment.

Someone drugged her unconscious. This proves that the anti-drug training she had undergone was ineffective against such drugs. That proves that this is a completely unfamiliar and potent drug. And if she cannot fully understand the nature of the drug, Talia cannot judge when the drug effect will pass.

Walking in Gotham with hallucinations caused by drugs is no different from looking for death. Talia must find a way to figure out whether she will have hallucinations and what kind of hallucinations she will have.

Shiler is not a good person to ask for help, but Talia has no other choice. She instead thinks she can use this to probe whether Shiler is in the same group as Bruce.

Talia has an 80% certainty that she had hallucinations, and if this is a trap set by this pair of teacher and student, Shiler will definitely cover up for Bruce. In this way, they can unite to paralyze Talia, and then use drugs to constantly erode and manipulate her.

This will be the real decisive battle, Talia thought. She cannot relax her vigilance. She can only win.

"With all due respect, miss, some of your panic states might be related to taking excessive drugs, but if you want to find out the source of similar symptoms, I'm afraid you can only go to the hospital for a blood test."

Shiler had already walked back behind the desk for reading, sitting in the chair with his hands on the desk, looking at Talia and saying: "Psychologists can only analyze your mental state. I cannot draw any accurate test results through your description."

"What I need is analysis," Talia turned to look at Shiler and said: "You will help me, right?"

"Then tell me about the hallucinations you saw first."

Talia opened her mouth. She felt this was absurd, because she was not sure that the 20% certainty that she saw hallucinations came from the man in front of her.

She regarded him as a monster in human skin, but couldn't firmly believe that this was a persecution delusion caused by the panic of the drug effect. Is he? Is he not?

Talia actually didn't believe Shiler's analysis. She made the request just to probe. She only believes in her own judgment forever. And to judge whether she had hallucinations about Shiler, she must understand what kind of person Shiler is.

Is there really a gorgeous and dangerous feather snake hidden under this perfect human skin?

Talia's aggressive probing gaze can usually uncover the disguise of most people, but when it fell on Shiler, it didn't even leave a trace on that perfect shell.

And she now decided to lift a corner of his human skin—this would be quite dangerous, but Talia is forever fascinated by danger.

"I saw you," Talia's gaze followed Shiler closely. She leaned her body forward, folded her forearms and supported them on her knees, making a probing posture, and said: "I saw you turn into a Feathered Serpent God with bright feathers. You spread your wings, and there were sharp fangs in your mouth. And I was intimidated by your gaze, my whole body stiff and unable to move."

Shiler seemed to show some interest in this topic. He played with the fountain pen in his hand and said: "People always feel that the hallucinations they see are groundless, and are chaotic fantasies woven by the brain when it is in disorder. But in psychology, hallucinations often reflect people's subconscious needs."

"What need did you see from my hallucinations?"

"You said you saw the shadow of a mythological creature on me. Can you describe his appearance in more detail? What was your first impression of him?"

"Very huge, like a sun."

Shiler opened his mouth to say after thinking slightly: "People see religious imagery in hallucinations, usually not because they really have any profound understanding of religious culture, but because they bring certain religious rules into themselves, so as to anchor their existence in the floating waves of consciousness. Therefore, they need to bring in religious roles. When facing the Feathered Serpent God, what role are you playing?"

"Sacrifice."

"Interesting," Shiler evaluated, then paused and opened his mouth to say: "Have you ever had such hallucinations before?"

"I have killed many gods in my dreams."

"Quite brave."

"Isn't it crazy?"

Shiler shook his head and said: "This proves that you are not a person who needs to rely on external objects to prove your existence. You feel that you are a victim of gods. Why?"

"Shouldn't it be you telling me?"

"But I am not a prophet, nor a priest. I cannot stand before the altar and judge you guilty."

"Yes, because you are the evil god standing behind the altar waiting for the sacrifice."

"That's just your hallucination, Miss Talia, and we are going to talk about why you would have such hallucinations. Have you ever seen similar imagery at any other time?"

Talia was silent. Clearly, she thought of a past, but wasn't sure whether to tell Shiler. After a while, she opened her mouth and said: "When I was thirteen, I was sent to Central America to perform a mission. The imagery of the Feathered Serpent God was frequently used in the decoration of ancient cities."

"At that time, I was too young, and the mission didn't go smoothly. Perhaps it was also for my father to train me, and he found me a strong enough opponent. I escaped with serious injuries. When I was lying on the cold floor of the tomb, I heard the whispers of the Maya."

"That made you associate the Feathered Serpent God with death." Shiler stood up from the chair again. He walked to the table, placed the fountain pen flat on the table, looked at Talia and said: "Answer me, Talia, what were the Maya saying?"

Talia was trance-like for a moment. That long-sealed memory surged up again. Her lips opened and closed, but no sound came out.

"Can't you understand?" Shiler continued to ask. He said again: "Then what do you think they were saying to you?"

"They let me lie on the altar."

"Then how do you feel?"

"I am feeling incredible."

"Not fear, not panic, but shock. Why?"

"Before the mission started, I heard the myth of the Feathered Serpent God from a local guide. He... doesn't seem like an evil god. He doesn't accept any living sacrifices."

"So you are surprised by this, surprised that the Feathered Serpent God is different from the myth?"

Talia bit her lip. She said somewhat blankly: "What's surprising is that I would be chosen."

Then Talia was silent for a long time. When she came back to her senses, Shiler was standing on the side of the single sofa, with his hand on the back of the chair, turning his head to look at the window.

Discovering Talia came back to her senses, Shiler turned his head and said: "You are not surprised that the Feathered Serpent God chose you. You are surprised that only the Feathered Serpent God chose you. You realized that you were abandoned by your father."

"I have never been as close to death as that day," Talia's tone sank, and she said: "And I realized that this is not a trial. He won't come to save me when I fail the exam. Dead is dead. He doesn't need a weak daughter."

"Is that the first time you realized this?"

"Perhaps," Talia tilted her head slightly and said: "People always have such a moment to realize that their childhood is over. Others either don't want to or are unable to be responsible for your stupid choices, and then you must become strong, save your life, and you won't die until everyone in this world is dead."

Shiler stood behind Talia. Talia could feel his hand on the chair, but couldn't see his expression. This actually made Talia feel relaxed. For anyone, analyzing Shiler's psychology through his demeanor is like the foolish old man moving the mountains.

"In many studies of mental illnesses attributed to emotions, we focus on studying the childhood trauma of patients. All the abuse suffered by people when their personality is not yet fully developed will leave them permanent mental wounds."

Talia smiled helplessly, seeming to scoff at this argument, but Shiler changed the subject and said: "But one kind of person is an exception. They have no childhood."

Shiler walked slowly to the piano stool by the window and sat down. His whole person was completely in Talia's field of vision, looking at his expression against the light. There were no bright feathers behind him, and there were no sharp fangs in his mouth. When he spoke, it was like piano keys that would make a low alto sound.

"All the sense of security of human childhood comes from the parents behind them, and they also receive education from their parents. And the essence of education is rehearsal. Children make mistakes, parents preach, and then punish. This is to establish a concept of rules for children."

"But children didn't really pay the price for their mistakes. The preaching and punishment they received were all virtualized by their parents within their acceptable range. Parents are like a protective cover, filtering out all the prices that children shouldn't pay, and replacing them with gentle education. Childhood is spent in such a cycle."

"And as you said, as age grows, there will always be a mistake that makes children realize that their parents are unable or no longer willing to pay the real price for them. They must take social responsibility for the first time, the protective cover disappears, and children also move from family to society."

"But people like you and me have to pay the price ourselves from the first mistake. We skipped the entire family education process and have been responsible for our own life safety, living conditions, and mental stability since we were conscious."

"This is not abuse in childhood, because abuse is just within the scope of the protective cover. The scenes rehearsed by parents or others are too cruel. A major feature of child abuse is that parents control children by controlling their survival resources."

"But people without a childhood are not like this. No one provides them with survival resources. Everything depends on themselves to maintain. From the time they have the ability to act, they are responsible for themselves."

Shiler sighed lightly and said: "But you are different from me. I am an orphan, so it is naturally like this. Why would you be like this?"

Talia was distracted again. What Shiler said reminded her of the training she received in her childhood. She fought with all kinds of people or creatures. Only victory could get medicine and food. Failure meant nothing.

Talia didn't know everything when she was born. During the battle in her early years, she would also make mistakes. And because her opponents were much stronger than her, a small mistake could bring failure. After failure, she wouldn't get punishment and scolding, just nothing.

Now, she understood the principle behind this—what Ra's al Ghul did was not education.

All those actual combats and missions were not rehearsals. They were not simulating the situation when she really fought alone in the future, not to let her understand the consequences of failure or taste the sweetness of victory, nor to repeatedly hone her combat skills.

That was just to let her not be a child anymore, and be able to pay the price for her choices like an adult, so he didn't need to pay.

"What did he say to you?" Talia slowly raised her eyes to look at Shiler standing opposite the coffee table. "My father said something to you on the phone, right?"

"He said I could dispose of you at will." ===== CHAPTER 1772 =====