Chapter 2313

Xia De sighed in his heart at the mermaid's wicked sense of humor, and Richard actually did not oppose this view:

"This world is heading toward disaster and destruction. If you can use her power to help civilization, that would be good too. I insist on my justice, but I don't require others to be the same as me... but you must be careful, remember to remind yourself: is it you who is using her, or is she using you?"

"Yes, I will be careful."

"Then farewell."

Richard said, and Xia De also nodded:

"Farewell."

The originally blurry figure flickered again, and then disappeared completely. At the same time, the notebook pierced by the long sword on the ground also completely finished crystallizing. Even though Xia De was right in front of it, he could only perceive extremely faint Whispering Elements. Even the elements of the simplest Poet-level relic were more obvious than this.

Xia De revoked the Moonlight Thorns and pulled out the silver cross sword. Holding the solid pink crystal that no longer looked like a notebook in his hand, Xia De asked in his heart:

"What is this?"

【Crystal.】

"Anything else?"

【Nothing at all.】

【Outlander, you have perceived the whispers... the crystal contains a portion of power; do you want to touch it with your spiritual power?】

"What power?"

【A gift.】

Xia De simply touched it with his spiritual power, and a trace of Whispering Elements permeated into Xia De's soul. The brand-new power was easily mastered by Xia De, and "she" by his ear reminded him softly:

【Outlander, you have mastered the curse 'Heart Curse'. By mastering the true name and appearance, combined with simple gestures, you can cause an individual with a heart to suffer from a sudden heart attack.】

"Curse" is one of the most basic forms of supernatural power, and this power Xia De newly mastered is a type of curse. This spell sounds powerful, but in reality, its practicality is not strong. For most supernatural beings, a heart attack is not a problem at all. As for the heart attack that Hou Jue Mosen almost died from this morning, that was obviously because the initiator was a relic.

Xia De's spell - Heart Curse cannot achieve such powerful strength; this is a spell, not a miracle. And by the time Xia De can curse an object like Hou Jue Mosen to death just by relying on this spell, he could actually achieve a better effect by casually slashing out a ray of moonlight.

"Anyway, it came for free, and I just happened not to have come into contact with curse-type powers yet."

He sat back on that rock and looked at the river in front of him, and Coroner Mr. Albert, who had received his signal, also quickly walked out of the rice fields.

The coroner wearing a brown cloak did not sit down, but stood beside Xia De and looked at the river with him:

"You seem very sad?"

"Sad doesn't count; I just heard a story that makes people melancholy. No one in that story had a good ending, but I can't think of how to obtain a good ending if I were a person in the story."

Listening to the river, Xia De sat on the rock and told the coroner the love story of Madeline and Richard. He didn't say that this was related to the relic, but he believed the coroner could hear it.

Mr. Ptolemy Albert did not interrupt at all while listening to the story. After Xia De finished speaking, he looked at the river between the rice fields and said:

"It is indeed a matter that is difficult to make a choice about. If it were me, I probably wouldn't have made a better choice than them either."

It was clearly Xia De who was confiding his troubles to him, but the coroner seemed even more troubled:

"So, what exactly is justice? If justice is exchanged for the sacrifice of a portion of people, is this worth it?"

The river was not very wide, and the Milky Way was not reflected on the river either. Besides the sound of water, there were some insect chirps in the rice fields. Xia De wanted to be quiet for a while before going back; he still had to deal with Mrs. Jude's matter in a while, and he needed to think now.

"Justice... it's really hard to say."

Xia De did not give an answer immediately either. The two men looked at the river at night together, looking at the scenery of the countryside at night. Xia De suddenly looked up at the night sky again; a few clouds floated under the deep blue night sky, the stars were shining, and the three incomplete moons quietly illuminated the earth.

The sound of insects at night made people's hearts calm, and the sound of the night wind blowing through the rice fields needed to be felt with one's own skin. The flying insects that flew around Xia De did not land on him, nor did they disturb him from enjoying the night view tonight.

If possible, Xia De really hoped that he had more time to look at the stars here, instead of considering a series of things that would follow:

"Justice, my understanding is like this."

Xia De said suddenly, and Mr. Albert looked at him somewhat unexpectedly. Xia De patted his own chest:

"It's not to look at other people's feelings, but to look at one's own feelings. Before going to sleep every day, think about the things you have done; if you can still close your eyes and fall into a deep sleep, then this is a just thing—the above words only apply to people with basic moral concepts."

Mr. Albert blinked. Xia De sat on the cold large rock and continued to say with a smile:

"Some things are destined not to have a correct option. If you are forced to make a choice, choose the option that can allow you to sleep peacefully."

"I don't understand."

Mr. Albert shook his head slightly.

"It's very simple. Does a person impose justice to receive praise from others?"

"I don't think so. Even if it is, more of the reason is still wanting to help others."

Xia De smiled, his left leg crossed on the rock, and his right leg continued to step on the river beach ground. He looked up at the starry sky, and Mr. Albert looked at him quietly, looking at the young man under the moonlight as if he were a statue carved from marble.

"Why should a person impose justice? To help others? Then why help others? Is it because one cannot bear to see tragedy, or because helping others can make one feel satisfied?

No matter what the reason is, imposing justice is because doing so can make oneself happy."

Mr. Albert frowned slightly:

"I feel like you are sophistry, but... yes, imposing justice can indeed make oneself happy. Sense of responsibility, sense of honor, sense of satisfaction; even the most conservative ascetic can certainly obtain these when extending a helping hand to the weak."

His eyes seemed to be shining:

"But if justice is only to make oneself happy, isn't it a bit too pale?"

Xia De's gaze moved down from the starry sky and met Mr. Albert's eyes; the latter seemed to see the moon in the former's eyes.

"Mr. Albert, do you think justice must be a very noble thing? Isn't this a bit too arrogant?"

Thinking of the story just now, thinking of his various experiences in Moon Bay for ten years, the middle-aged coroner just pondered for a moment and then felt relieved:

"Yes, pale. Why must justice be colorful? Pale, this word is really too good; justice should have been pale in the first place."

Xia De also started to joke:

"If it were in ancient times, just based on what you understand now, it would be enough to become a 'Paladin'."

The coroner grabbed the strap of his satchel and shook his head slightly:

"I feel like I've lived for so many years, and I haven't seen as clearly as you."

"I actually don't understand either, but in the past year, I have experienced too many stories. Occasionally, when I stop and examine my own actions at night, I think of these things. Pale justice... justice is pale and humble, but by no means a powerless thing."

"This sentence is very good. Who said it?"

"An old folklorist, said when talking to me about the Angel-level relic 【Pale Justice】."

Mr. Albert nodded, patted his chest, smiled rarely, and then turned around to continue looking at the night view in front of him with Xia De.

No one said they would go back immediately, and when Xia De's gaze fell from the starry sky back to the front, looking at Mr. Ptolemy Albert by the lake, he suddenly felt that the other party seemed to have put down a heavy burden.

【Outlander, you have guided a hero; you have gained some insight into 'guidance.'】

"She" suddenly said gently in Xia De's ear, and the voice blended into the night, the sound of the wind, and the sound of insects tonight.

"The second 'guidance', right? It seems this spirit rune will appear soon. Blasphemy - Dragon, Enlightenment - Flesh, Whispers - Red Butterfly, Whispers - Prejudice; if the guidance finally is the 'Miracle' spirit rune, that would be great."

He said in his heart, his eyes looking at Mr. Albert's silhouette:

"Also, so that's how it is."

"She" was still chuckling, and the voice was so gentle under this moonlight.

A long time later, when Xia De and Mr. Albert returned to that barn, Mrs. Jude and Mr. Bernhart were still in the barnyard.

The mud and stains on the gorgeous evening gown Mrs. Jude was wearing had already disappeared, and she stood under the tree with her hands crossed; Mr. Bernhart was not far in front of her, and looking at the difficult expression on his face, it was obvious that his troubles were much more than those of Xia De and the coroner who had just calmly enjoyed the night view.

"You promised to help me, and this is how you did it?"

"Madam, just tell us whether we helped you or not."

"You promised Miss Rice to return a favor, and as a result, this is how you returned the favor?"

"Judging from the result, just tell us whether we helped you or not."

"I was almost strangled to death by your friend with that damn chain!"

"I am very sorry, but just tell us whether we helped you or not. Ahem, don't be angry first."

Mr. Bernhart coughed:

"Didn't you also promise Miss Rice that she would help us, we would help you, and you would not suck blood in the near future?"

This time Mrs. Jude closed her mouth at once, so Mr. Bernhart "pressed on":

"Don't complain that my friend's hand was so heavy; this was to lure out that relic. Don't you realize what kind of thing you were being watched by? Sage-level relic 【Richard's Notebook】; to deal with an existence of this level, the price is just you being knocked to the ground and then hung under a tree, which is really too cost-effective.

And to tell you the truth, Madam, this friend of mine is very unusual; how many pretty girls want him to tie them up, and they don't even have that opportunity."