Chapter 119: Truth And Illusion
Li Nuowei looked at the two candies on the table. Intuition told him it was best not to eat either, but there was a bewitching voice in his heart telling him “pick one to eat.” This made him hesitate for a long time.
Red, blue…
Which one to pick?
“I’ll pick the red one.” After hesitating for a long time, Li Nuowei tremblingly picked up the so-called “strawberry flavor” candy.
“Looks like you still like strawberry flavor.” Lin Ling smiled slightly. He then took away the so-called “blueberry flavor” candy. This seemingly casual action completely cut off Li Nuowei’s retreat, because invisibly, Li Nuowei felt he no longer had the right to make a change.
Li Nuowei took a deep breath, faced death unflinchingly, and stuffed the strawberry flavor red candy into his mouth.
Strawberry scent, hard fruit candy, sweet and sticky, with a lingering aftertaste between lips and teeth… A normal strawberry candy with good texture?
Li Nuowei first grimaced in pain, closed his eyes tightly, but the fruit candy’s flavor made him unable to resist savoring it. Upon closer tasting, he increasingly felt this candy was surprisingly ordinary.
He opened his eyes and saw Boss Lin watching him with a faint smile, seemingly amused. Li Nuowei only felt he was overthinking, imagining Boss Lin as too adverse… The other party might really just want to treat him to a candy.
“Is it tasty?” Lin Ling asked with a smile.
While trying to chew the candy to pieces, crush it with his teeth and swallow it into his stomach, Li Nuowei nodded with a dry laugh: “Tasty, not bad… It has the taste of childhood.”
Lin Ling nodded, then suddenly asked Li Nuowei a strange question: “Do you think reality is cruel, or beautiful?”
Hearing this, Li Nuowei paused his chewing, thought for a while, and countless death memories flooded his mind. He couldn’t help but bitter smile: “Reality might be cruel.”
“Hehe, then let’s go back to the beginning. Suppose before you encountered all those bizarre things, what was your impression of reality?” Lin Ling chuckled lightly, guiding the other to follow his train of thought.
Li Nuowei had no resistance toward Lin Ling. He would only think along the questions Lin Ling raised and wouldn’t give answers that went against Lin Ling’s thinking.
Hearing Lin Ling’s words, Li Nuowei showed a bewildered expression. It was as if he was flipping through a thick stack of photo album in his mind, trying hard to find the version of himself who was still an ordinary human, who hadn’t encountered any extraordinary things.
Recalling his life before age twenty-one, Li Nuowei nostalgically had a slight shimmer in his eyes. He chuckled and said: “If it were like that, I would think reality is neither good nor bad. Cruel things might happen, but one could always live on with hope in heart.”
“Oh, so you’re in the majority, an optimistic pessimist.” Lin Ling smiled and clapped his hands, then stated his own view. “I’ve seen most people, and their view of reality is the same as yours. Only those unfortunate ones who have experienced all sorts of human pain would say reality is cruel, that reality is hell of suffering.”
While speaking, Lin Ling beckoned toward the darkness in the corner of the small shop. With a “meow,” a large black cat that had been staying in the dark corner jumped onto the counter, rubbing its head against his extended finger.
Lin Ling grabbed the cat’s butt with both hands. The black soft fur and flesh between his fingers undulated with the kneading motion, looking soft. The black cat comfortably lay on the counter surface, contentedly swaying its slender cat tail.
While petting the cat, Lin Ling continued: “Humans are creatures that yearn for light and hope, yet are drawn to darkness and despair. Bitter and tragic fate resonates more with humans. So when most people like you hear or see others’ bitter fates, they recall their own painful experiences. Painful memories are always impressive, so on a mental level, they unhesitatingly lean a bit toward them, then sigh in their hearts ‘that’s so damn real’.”
And when someone shares their beautiful life in front of everyone, people find it hard to resonate, thinking it’s false, acted. Life is nine out of ten unsatisfactory, so how does this person get all the good? They secretly envy or even jealousy in their hearts, comforting themselves ‘that’s fake’.”
So, integrating human thoughts, I think so-called reality is composed of ‘cruel truth’ and ‘beautiful illusion’ together.
After hearing Lin Ling’s view, Li Nuowei only felt Boss Lin’s ideas were unique. Though carrying a color of sophistry, they unexpectedly aligned with human heart, deeply feeling there was some reason.
But immediately after, Li Nuowei felt like the sky was about to collapse. He only heard Lin Ling say: “So I was thinking, if we divide truth and illusion into two, clearly demarcate the boundary between truth and illusion, what if a person can only see truth, or a person can only see illusion—can they still distinguish the correct reality?”
Lin Ling looked at Li Nuowei, baring a mouth of white teeth. “And right now, you need to see the path of truth.”
Li Nuowei’s expression changed. He felt the sweetness in his mouth was the best-disguised poison in the world. His throat contracted dryly and uncomfortably. He said hoarsely: “So that candy…”
“The candy is just candy.” Lin Ling said with a smile. “Aren’t you eating it right now? Is the taste not real enough?”
Listening to Lin Ling’s words, it was clearly a very simple method to discern reality, but for him, it seemed no longer applicable. He could no longer correctly judge in a short time whether the thing he was chewing in his mouth was really a candy. It might be a candy, but it might also be a poison pill, or maybe nothing at all…
The so-called candy was Boss Lin’s definition of that thing from the beginning. He tasted the flavor, savored the texture and taste of candy, so he believed it was candy.
But could there be a “poison” that was exactly the same as candy?
No, no… The texture and taste might also be after Boss Lin instilled the information “this is candy” into his subconscious, that he tasted such feeling… No, no…
Li Nuowei fell into endless self-doubt. His already somewhat chaotic spirit became even more deranged at this moment.
With Lin Ling’s light chuckle, Li Nuowei, trapped in his own thinking loop, startled awake like from a dream. Li Nuowei, sweating coldly, looked at Lin Ling: “Boss, how long have I been here?”
“If just staying here, time has no meaning.” Lin Ling said with a smile. “That’ll be five mao for one strawberry flavor hard candy.”
Li Nuowei paid the money in a daze. He didn’t know if besides that five mao, he had paid something else. With a bitter smile on his face, he walked toward the shop door.
“Welcome to come again.” Wei Jiang, who had tidied up the sundries inside the shop, returned from outside and thoughtfully opened the shop door for Li Nuowei, seeing him off.
“Brother Wei, again…” Li Nuowei was about to thank him, but he felt his vision blur. Wei Jiang’s upper and lower body appeared clearly misaligned, as if severed. At the same time, the other’s face was no longer the upright and kind one he had seen before, but a ferocious red mask, glaring with round eyes, spitting a pair of sharp fangs. Seeing this, Li Nuowei trembled all over, his mood in chaos, forgetting his words.
Second update written more than halfway, but eyelids are fighting, really can’t write anymore, push to tomorrow noon break to update.
