Absolute Choice 9

by Pear Lands In The Autumn Spring

  Chapter450 The Conversation of Fate

  The truth is typically harsh and cruel because it packages the true rotting nature of something in sugar-coated lies.

  At the age of three, Dawn had already understood this harsh reality.

  The nefarious people who had left her on the uninhabited island did not know that the intelligent three-year-old girl had been pretending to remain unconscious. From the very beginning, she had seen the sins they had committed.

  The lone island that was left stranded in the middle of the ocean did not exist in the human world, but situated in a particular land of trials. It was an extremely easy land of trials meant to train neophytes, but to a three-year-old, it was no different from hell.

  Furthermore, the island she was on was not the only island in the land of trials. In it, there existed thousands, if not tens of thousands of islands similar to the one she was on.

  Therefore, she was not the only child left alone on the uninhabited island. There might have been hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands. But all these children had a common trait, they were all orphans.

  These thousands of orphans were placed in beast-infested islands in the land of trials, allowing them to attempt to survive unaided in a perilous environment. Such an extreme plan of selecting talent was termed "Project Orphan".

  When "Project Orphan" began, despite being a progeny of the Li family, due to her only direct family member, her mother, dying from an illness, the parentless her was just considered a collateral relative. Therefore, she was unluckily chosen to make up one of the numbers, making her one of the targets of the project.

  And most ironic of all was that the faction behind the project was the Li family. Their initial goal was to nurture a batch of 'outstanding' assassins. If a three or four-year-old could survive independently for three years in a danger-riddled island, it was obvious how monstrous the child's abilities and willpower was. Regardless of the number of children sacrificed, as long as about ten were left behind, or even a few excellent budding candidates made it all worth it. After all, those children were bought cheaply or even freely adopted orphans.

  However things seldom go as one expected. The project was still overly ambitious. After three years, when the Li family was prepared to 'reap in the harvest', they realized that among the thousands of orphans, only a six-year-old girl had survived.

  But what delighted the proposer of the project—the Li family's Patriarch—was that the six-year-old girl was of the Li family bloodline. Even though she was just considered a collateral relative, there was no doubt that this girl who had 'accidentally' entered Project Orphan had Li family blood flowing in her.

  As the only survivor, the girl's value exceeded any previous estimations. And having a Li family bloodline resulted in a substantive change in her fate.

  After a short test of the fruits gained from the girl's survival on the uninhabited island, the Patriarch seemed to see a more glorious future for the Li family from her.

  The follow-up plans of nurturing the girl into an assassin were immediately overruled. The Patriarch adopted the girl on the spot and proclaimed to the public that he had found a long-lost grandson.

  Maybe it was on a whim or because the male progeny was too mediocre, the Patriarch made a bet after a lot of thinking. He decided that the girl who could survive three years on an uninhabited island would be nurtured as his successor. Therefore, he hid the truth of the girl's sex from the public.

  What happened was the cruel truth. It was a truth that Dawn was extremely familiar with all along.

  But the Patriarch, who was mistaken to think that Project Orphan was carried out flawlessly, did not know that the girl long knew of the truth. The lies he painstakingly crafted was a beautiful layer of sugar-coating that concealed the rotten truth.

  The 'harvesters' sent to the island were explained as rescuers. They claimed that she had fallen victim to the Li family's enemies, and that they had never given up searching or hopes of rescuing her. It took them three years to finally find her.

  The Patriarch told her in tears that her father was actually an illegitimate son of his and that she was his granddaughter. After that, he said how all the heir candidates of the family clan were mediocre and wished for her to disguise herself as a male, and work hard to inherit the role of Patriarch.

  The six-year-old looked at the Patriarch's exaggerated performance with a deadpan expression. In her heart, she could only silently sneer.

  If she did not know of the truth, she might have been grateful to the Patriarch and the Li family for their kindness, eventually becoming the most loyal clansmen of the Li family.

  However, even after she was six, when she really gained the treatment as the Li family's successor and the Patriarch treated her as his real granddaughter, allowing her to grow up in an enviable environment, she never lowered her caution.

  That was because she knew very well that everything was an illusion that could be shattered at any time.

  If she did not work hard enough or lacked the talent, she would not be able to demonstrate her value as a 'successor'. Then, all that she possessed would be gone. The Patriarch would also take back his kindness and benevolence.

  But thankfully, she was more hardworking than anyone else. The talent she possessed was unprecedented. The value she demonstrated far exceeded the Patriarch's expectations.

  The antisocial personality that was a result of her surviving in the uninhabited island for three years was naturally pardoned. She did not need to meet anyone nor attend any family gatherings. She did not even need to deliberately act the part of the Patriarch's grandson. All she needed was to constantly become stronger and become so dazzling that she would become the apparent heir of the Li family.

  Although everything was constructed on a bed of lies, there was no way to deny that such a life was beautiful.

  However, having seen through the lies and deceit, while understanding what human nature was, the six-year-old her left a lingering scar in her heart.

  From the age of six, Dawn became germaphobic.

  ...

  Being a germaphobe was having a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder. It treated objects that were considered hygienic by normal standards as dirty. One would feel anxiety and a strong urge to clean, examine and reject any item that was 'unclean'.

  Dawn's germaphobia was rather unique. What she rejected as 'unclean' was limited to only one thing—people.

  She refused to be close to anyone, nor did she allow anyone to come close to her. It was just like how a germaphobe would not be able to stand a tiny bit of dust, once someone came close to her, she would find it nauseating.

  Dawn knew that she was abnormal, be it 'not being able to hear voices', or 'rejecting humans', they were very serious mental illnesses. However, she never thought of changing because she was accustomed to being alone. She was accustomed to a world without humans that only had plants, rocks and birds.

  Only at that moment in time did she finally realize that it was not because she did not want to change but because she had no way of changing. It was not that she could not hear, but because the voices of humans could not reach her. It was not that others could not approach her, but because the ugly nature of humans could no longer be cleaned in her heart.

  But that was not necessarily the truth.

  That was because a boy named Shi Xiaobai had shattered what she believed to be an immutable fact.

  He allowed her to hear a voice.

  Against absolute power, not only did he not retreat, he instead held a firm obsession for victory. He used all his strength to slash out a strike without any regret, and through that, emitted the most beautiful light of humanity.

  He is special, different from everyone else.

  If it were him, it would be fine.

  She mustered her courage to take the initiative to approach him. Indeed, she did not find it gross. She hugged him in an embrace while enduring her embarrassment. She did not find it re
pugnant, and instead she recalled the warm memories of her lying in her mother's arms at the age of three.

  The feeling was very beautiful and warm. It made her unable to extricate herself from it.

  But how long could such a feeling last?

  She suddenly understood for the first time, what it meant to be mindful about one's personal gains and losses.

  "Sigh, so you really are... are not human after all, right?"

  Dawn muttered to herself, but she regretted it the moment she said it.

  Shi Xiaobai had clearly said he was open to chatting about anything, but she had unknowingly fallen into a daze. It was because she had already forgotten how to have a chat in an ordinary and casual manner. She did not know how typical conversations even began.

  You are really not human after all, right?

  Dawn never expected that she would have a brain fart to be so stupid that she would start the chat with a sentence that would ruin the mood. That was the worst beginning ever.

  "Calm down."

  "Anyways, quickly change the topic."

  Dawn hurriedly racked her stiff thoughts, but she never expected to hear Shi Xiaobai's voice of sudden excitement.

  "This King never expected you to realize that so quickly. Clever girl, This King is obviously not human!"

  When Dawn heard that, she felt her heart jump as her body immediately stiffened.

  Hey, hey, what is this strange development?

  So he wasn't human at all?

  Could it be because he did not possess ugly human nature which allowed her to conquer her disorder and muster the courage to approach him?

  That, can't be true right?

  "So...you are really...the Infernal King of the world of the seventh level?"

  Dawn tried her best to calm herself down as she helplessly realized that she had failed to distinguish which words of Shi Xiaobai were true or false.

  Shi Xiaobai's reaction had once again exceeded her expectations. She heard him suddenly chuckling disdainfully, before he said with a sneer, "The Infernal King of the world of the seventh level? Please do not use the idiocy of this world's demons and gods to compare with This King. A mere soldier from the real divine and demon races can wipe out the gods and demons of this world. As for This King, he lords over the true demons and gods. This King is a supreme and lofty existence!"

  "Listen well, This King's true identity is...the King of kings! Be it the king of humans, the king of Celestials, the king of Infernals, or the other kings of the myriad worlds, they all bow before This King as his subjects and would loudly proclaim 'Sire'. This King created good and evil. This King rules over the goodness and evilness of the myriad worlds and because of This King's existence, the war between good and evil could come to a pause. As This King trampled on the ambitions of the various kings, peace was ushered into the myriad worlds."

  The boy's voice slowly turned excited. Words filled with eight-grader syndrome left Dawn stunned for a moment. After she slowly calmed down, she realized that nothing about what he said could be believed. She had been silly enough to consider if it were true.

  Dawn found it amusing, but she did not dislike it. She could not help but make a joke, "Then wouldn't I be someone who accidentally beat the King of kings to the point of him not having the strength to even speak? Could it be that my identity is actually not so simple?"

  With that said, she immediately felt from her shoulder that Shi Xiaobai was turning his head from left to right. She heard him grunt softly and say, "Naive girl. This King was only blindsided by the kings of the myriad worlds. This King's holy body was destroyed, and his indestructible soul was sanctioned by thousands of seals. This King had no choice but to reincarnate into an mortal body. This King's true strength is only sealed. Now, This King's strength is not even a quadrillionth of his original strength. Of course, you should be proud that you can tie with a quadrillionth of This King's strength. You are one of the few true geniuses among humans."

  His confident tone made it seem like he was narrating facts, but yet they sounded like preposterous lies.

  A quadrillion? Did he know how many zeroes there were in that number?

  It was obviously a speech filled with eight-grader syndrome, yet for some reason, Dawn's mind gradually relaxed. The lost feeling of not knowing how to create a topic of conversation completely vanished.

  The casual chat he mentioned was really casual. It was so casual that she could not grasp it, but she also felt like anything would fly with him.

  "Since you have been reincarnated into a mortal's body, are you now a human?"

  First confirm what his designation is before naturally asking questions that I still mind.

  Dawn thought to herself. She felt her 'tiny scheme' had an indescribable joy to it.

  Shi Xiaobai hesitated for a moment, as though he was in a dilemma about his answer. Finally, he said with a sigh, "This King is temporarily...temporarily...a human."

  "Temporarily!"

  After admitting that he was human, his voice rapidly decreased in volume, but he immediately used a stressed tone to emphasize that it was only 'temporary'. Although his face could not be seen, the expression that would appear on his delicate face surfaced naturally in Dawn's mind.

  It was definitely very adorable.

  Dawn barely managed to stop herself from laughing. For some baffling reason, she felt her body turn ethereal, as though she was in the clouds while floating in the sky.

  Ah, what a ridiculous joke. Why did she want to let it continue so much?

  "Then, the King of kings that will eventually win back his throne, when you sit back on that throne that rules over good and evil, what would be the first thing you want to do?"

  Dawn found herself weird, but she did not reject it. She even went along with his 'performance', and followed up on the topic. It made her feel very happy.

  There was no need to deliberately make the topic relaxed or serious, but it was so natural. By following his cue and listening to what he wanted to say most, and chat with the topic he was most willing to continue on. Everything was so easy and perfect.

  Heh, she was really irredeemably silly.

  But, the voice she heard from Shi Xiaobai clearly did not sound as excited as anytime before. She felt once again that it did not matter even if it was sillier. That was because the voice she kept wanting to 'hear' was one that was filled with self-centeredness and extraordinary. It was definitely not a voice that would follow the crowd.

  "What would be the first thing you want to do after winning back the throne?"

  The boy fell deep into thought as he began seriously considering the question. He was so serious that she nearly thought it as something real. After a few moments, Shi Xiaobai finally said lightly, "This King will re-establish the concept of good and evil. What is true goodness and what is true evilness. Be it humans, demons or gods, it has been adulterated. People have always been using their own judgment to make mistaken conclusions, and some even do evil in the name of goodness. And correcting this and giving the best answer so as to distinguish good from evil is what This King wishes to do the most."

  Dawn was left dumbfounded for quite a while, as she ruminated over Shi Xiaobai's answer with complicated emotions.

  If that was a question on an exam, most examinees would answer 'seek revenge against the kings that blindsided me' or 'crush the ambitions of the kings, restoring peace to the myriad worlds'. That was because those were the answers that matched the situation the best.

  But Shi Xiaobai's answer sounded overly-realistic. It was as though it was not a simply-posed question. It was as though he was really in the capacity of the king of good and evil as he pondered over the answer to the question. It was as though he was once a king that wielded good and evil.

  What was the reason for that odd feeling?

  Dawn slowly breathed out as she whispered, "Then, from your point of view, what is true good and what is true evil?"

  "This King does not know eith
er."

  Shi Xiaobai sighed gently and said, "When good and evil was born, it was when This Silly King defined such a vague and ambiguous good and evil. For a long period of time, This King always believed that his definition of good and evil was correct until a particular human asked This King a question. This King realized his mistake, and just as his beliefs wavered, This King was blindsided by the various kings. One of the reasons This King was reincarnated as human was partly to search for the true answer."

  The topic of conversation suddenly became heavy.

  However, Shi Xiaobai was not only fabricating a series of ridiculous stories. Instead, he was attempting to express certain thoughts of his.

  That was probably an opportunity to go one step further in understanding him.

  Dawn suddenly became nervous as she hesitated for a moment before she asked. "What did that human ask you?"

  The boy's head that was resting on her shoulder moved gently once again, but almost without any time needed to think, he responded. It was as if the question that made the King of kings realize his mistake really existed and was not something he made up from a flash of wit.

  "The god that created the world and humans cursed a teenager on a particular day. He was cursed to see to feel excruciating pain if he were to see people in suffering."

  Shi Xiaobai began describing the question that changed the fate of the King.

  "In order to avoid feeling pain, the teenager gave a helping hand to the people in suffering."

  "Not long later, the Creator made a counterfeit replica of the teenager."

  "The replica did not have a will of its own, but would do the same actions as the teenager. It would also give a helping hand to people in suffering."

  "The Creator gave the teenager and his replica the names 'Good' and 'Pseudo-good'."

  "Which do you think is Good and which is Pseudo-good?"

  It was not considered a complicated question, but the moral behind the story was not simple, and what was even more remarkable was the question at the end.

  Between the teenager that gave a helping hand to the people in suffering and the imitation who was modeled after the teenager by the creator, which of them were named 'Good' and 'Pseudo-good' by the Creator?