Chapter 319: Hiding in hiding (1)

Guardian Spirit in the Sky, P78.

The clouds are unstable tonight, with ghosts drifting about. This isn't a good sign. I slowly part the clouds, letting the ghosts clear their path. Balansay Skagi's eyes glazed over. The delivery boy, nearly possessed by a ghost, sat stupidly behind me, seemingly unable to think.

“I don’t understand,” Balansay said.

"You don't need to understand," I told him. "Controlling a crowd is a complex technique. It's not as simple as punching."

"That's not what I meant," Balansay said, choosing his words carefully. "Look, you've been doing such terrible work! You've protected so many people, yet why do you remain anonymous?"

"Why are we making such a fuss?" I asked. "Look at the passengers below us. They play cards, read, sleep, and fly at 13,000 meters without a trace of worry. They have a strong sense of security, a combination of the 'credibility' of modern life: technology, management systems, social credibility, and so on. They believe in their own lives."

"But what about you, big fool? If you return to your seat now, can you join them with confidence?"

"I can't," Balanzai said quickly. "I have to watch you! If you fail, we're finished."

"You see, you're scared. When people realize that the safety of the aircraft depends on us, the little guys, they lose their sense of security."

I used a long pole to stir the mist and rambled on to my rare audience: "They'll think this is horrible! How can we trust so many lives to one person's self-awareness? Isn't there anyone to manage these guardian spirits? What if the guardian spirits mess up? Who guarantees these little creatures? Who's responsible for them?"

They will feel fear, doubt, and complain. Most importantly, they will no longer be able to live the carefree lives they once did. Gradually, they will doubt everything they see, and they will gradually lose trust in the world before them. For they will realize that the world is not a solid earth, but a fragile boat, whose safety depends solely on the boatman.

"That's the scariest thing, man."

Barand pondered for a long time, then adopted a soothing tone: "No matter what, everyone should thank the guardian spirits. You have always done a good job."

I sneered, "Not always."

"Have you ever made a mistake?"

"Even when delivering food, people often fail." I told him, "Don't ask, buddy. It's no good knowing too much - remember to remind me when you get to the station, and I'll have to delete your memory, otherwise how can you be a happy young man?"

·

Chu Hengkong put a bookmark on it and told himself that he would stop reading here today.

The new book the bookstore had strongly recommended was quite good in terms of storytelling. Although the writing was immature and the dialogue was long-winded, there was a passion between the lines. He planned to read a few pages every day and finish it in one go on the day he left the city-state.

"Dude, it seems like you've been practicing less and less martial arts lately," said Vander.

"I've reached a bottleneck. Training alone is useless. I need to overcome this mental barrier before I can move on to the next step."

Fan De was still furiously writing; judging by the length of the contract, it looked like it was almost finished. Chu Hengkong went down to the first floor and was greeted by the aroma of cupcakes. The bookstore was having a promotion today, and the editor had ordered five trays full of cupcakes, with a free one for every purchase of 10 or more. Bang Bang Crucian Carp, standing guard over the trays, strictly preventing the store manager from sneaking in any treats, was munching away on something.

"It's embezzlement." Chu Heng laughed.

Manager Yu quickly glanced around and threw him two small cakes: "Shh!"

The cupcakes were frosted with a light white icing, perfect for hot tea. He went to the counter to ask for half a cup of black tea—behind the counter at the Otter was a large beverage machine covered in colorful buttons that offered a variety of drinks he had heard of or not, all of which tasted great. He could have a cup as long as he sat down in the bookstore.

The drink machine was already running, and the Otter Editor was chatting with the guests.

"Let me guess, do you have an idea for the next book?"

"Yeah. The half month I spent collecting materials in the library gave me a lot of inspiration..."

"Please, don't." The venomous otter waved its claws. "Parimanism again?"

"You misunderstood! I actually plan to criticize the next book..." The customer hurriedly explained. He caught sight of the book in Chu Hengkong's hand and his eyes lit up: "Oh, are you reading my book?"

She was a short young woman with large round glasses and a prim bob haircut. Dudu Otter turned around to help pour tea. "Let me introduce you. This is Tieque 987, the author of 'Guardian Spirit.'"

"You can call me Miss 987..."

She lowered her head shyly, but her eyes revealed the unique aura of a young author, feeling that she had become a celebrity. Editor Otter chuckled behind her back.

"The book is good, although I haven't finished it yet." Chu Hengkong handed her a small cake. "It would be better if the dialogue was more concise."

"I'm so glad you like it!" 987 said nervously. "I... usually talk a lot. When it comes to my thoughts, I always talk endlessly. It's a bad habit of mine..."

"It's your bad habit to always fall into sentimentality easily." Dudu Otter said mercilessly, "I still remember that last month there was a guy who didn't want to write a book because of mushrooms-"

987 interrupted hastily, "That's different! I thought we'd lost our meaning because of mushrooms."

"You see, you can't face even the slightest setback. This is the common trait among you Parrimanists."

Chu Hengkong found this interesting and asked, "What is Parrimanism?"

987 looked at the editor in confusion, and the editor explained, "He's from out of town."

"No wonder!" she said briskly. "This is a new trend of thought with a thorny character. It encourages people to bury information and embrace life."

The otter made a loud "tsk" sound.

·

The origins of Parrimanism date back 20 years, to the last change of fronts.

At that time, the offensive of the foreign forces was extremely intense. They took advantage of the window of opportunity between the battle lines and launched a lightning-fast surprise attack. At that time, the reinforcements from Longquan Township had not yet arrived, and the rear had lost support due to the destruction of the Netherworld Divine Kingdom. The defenders of Jingsha struggled to repel the enemy, but also suffered heavy casualties.

The battle ended in a bitter victory, but the war's impact would not end there. Nearly 40% of the troops died in the battle, and countless more were wounded. Jingsha had not suffered such a devastating loss in a long time. Many citizens looked forward to the return of their families after the rotation period, but instead received news of their deaths.

The sense of dislocated expectations and the pain of losing loved ones plunged Jingsha into a sudden and tragic situation 20 years ago. The emotionally charged citizens of Jingsha were saturated with grief. Temples were packed day and night, and society came to a near standstill. Demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and protesting the war were a daily occurrence. Despite a series of emergency measures implemented by the authorities, the shift in social sentiment was nearly irreversible.

At this time, a politician named Parriman proposed a novel proposal: block information about the war, stop reporting on casualties, and seal existing materials in a large library, physically isolating any "information that could provoke extreme emotions among citizens." He believed that the transformation of social atmosphere was closely related to citizens' ability to associate. If the media that triggered associations disappeared, people would have the courage to return to their lives.

The information blockade, implemented locally, had a far more positive effect than anticipated. Citizens, exposed to this positive atmosphere, showed remarkable recovery, with some even voluntarily depositing letters and personal belongings in the Great Library as a way of "saying goodbye to the past."

From this advocacy, order in Jingsha gradually returned to stability. In the process, postwar emergency measures transformed into a new trend of thought: in order to maintain the present life, one should actively seal information, avoid unnecessary mention of the past, and isolate media that trigger grief.

This idea is named after the politician and is the currently popular "Parmanism".

·

"That is to say, being an ostrich." Chu Hengkong said.

"You're too straightforward..."

"The fragile, sensitive, and confused post-war generation can't survive without nestling in a warm information cocoon," Dudu Otter slammed. "What happened 20 years ago is nothing! When we were fighting the war—"

"Editor, when you were in the army, Captain Trick wasn't even born yet," Gulibo interrupted. "That was when my great-grandfather was farming. Now he can't even tell the difference between mung beans and yellow beans."

"Your great-grandfather can still eat beans..."

"My teeth are very bad. I can only eat bean paste."

Chu Hengkong imagined a white mouse with a thick beard and eyebrows leaning on a cane saying "boo," and felt a subtle sense of amusement. He coughed and said seriously, "Even if the written record is sealed, what happened in the past will not change."

"I imagine that Transformers like you tend to think about turning the past into motivation. However, it's hard for those without power to think that way," 987 said seriously. "People die, people get hurt. The world is cruel. Even if we remember this, most people are powerless to change anything..."

Without the talent to embark on the path of advancement, even with all the drive, life will only become more dull. This naturally leads to a desire to bottle up sadness. Changes should be left to the strong. Even in an artificial greenhouse, if a powerless person can regain a happy life, that is a kind of 'happiness'.

After she finished speaking, she immediately covered her mouth and whispered, "I'm sorry for talking too much... Thank you for liking my book!"

987 shyly ran out of the bookstore, looking like someone fleeing in despair. The Poison Otter editor shook his head, "You're quite effective against young girls."

"I'm just above average looking."

"With your red eyes open, you're more than qualified to be the top girl in a gigolo parlor."

Dudu Otter carefully put away 987's trial reading manuscript and asked, "Do you want to go to the library?"

"I plan to read some old books."

"Be prepared. With Parrimanism so prevalent these days, the dusty areas of the Great Library are incredibly difficult to access."

Chu Hengkong put down his teacup to show that he understood. When he returned to the room, Fander had just finished writing the contract.

"I'm exhausted!" Vander slumped on the table. "I drafted a version based on the curriculum, but it's not guaranteed to be completely safe. I suggest you ask Mr. Fulatali to review it. He's an expert at playing word games."

"Forget it, I trust you more."

"Are you really going to sign a contract with that Kanin guy?"

"Feeding him some devil scum is nothing." Chu Hengkong said, "I want to see who is standing behind him."

(End of this chapter)