Chapter 284 Winter Carriage's Unpredictability 2

The winter train, which was originally located at a train station hundreds of kilometers away, was suddenly caught by the white fog and brought to Moonshadow Mountain. It seems that this strange phenomenon of fog that seems to be just lingering in Moonshadow Mountain is more powerful than I imagined.

Whether Dongche successfully found the young passenger who had acted on his own is obvious. Since he is now acting alone, it means he is still searching. The fact that he is still worried about that young passenger he just met makes me feel a little sorry for him.

I wonder if he realized that if he weren't a fully-fledged Witcher, but just a skinny boy like his appearance, the nature of the matter would be quite different—a young adult traveler, after realizing he could finally escape, actually abandoned his fellow sufferer, a mere thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy, in a remote and desolate mountain village and ran away. From a purely moral standpoint, this is truly hard to praise.

I myself am not a person with universal moral values, and I have no right to criticize the young passenger, but Dongche is different; he could have scolded the other party and then left the matter alone. I wanted to know how Dongche viewed this matter, so I specifically pointed this out.

“I forgive him,” Dongche said without changing his expression.

"Forgive me?" I asked.

“Because I am strong, even if he abandons me, it won’t cause me much loss. Instead, he will have to face the unknown risks in the fog alone,” Dongche said matter-of-factly. “Just as a healthy mind needs to reside in a healthy body, a strong mind also needs strong strength to support it. If I were weak, seeing him abandon me would inevitably make me hate him and generate a lot of weak and dark emotions. And this is the same for him.”

"Because he is weak, he cannot bear the consequences of failure. Just getting lost in the mountains makes him feel the shadow of death; when he sees unfamiliar mountain people, he also has to think about whether they have treacherous intentions. And after finally finding a way to survive, his heart will naturally be filled with the joy of being rescued, so it is only natural that he would forget about me, his fellow traveler, if he accidentally does so."

"The hearts of the weak are weak, and selfishness and darkness will sprout from weakness. He is, after all, just a mortal, while I am strong... Perhaps in your eyes, Senior Zhuang Cheng, it seems shameless of me to say this, but at least compared to him, I am indeed strong. So I must be tolerant of him, instead of retaliating every time he does something bad to me... That would be too immature."

If I were in the winter train's shoes, I would definitely disregard the safety of the young passengers, just as I would disregard myself. This might be what the winter train meant by the immature "retaliatory" behavior.

However, I don't think my judgment is wrong. I will treat others the way they treat me. Although I am a superhuman with great power, I am at least an equal to others on a spiritual level.

In a sense, I may also lack the self-awareness of being a strong person. If you ask me what a true strong person is like, I find it difficult to give a clear answer, but at least I understand that being vindictive and petty is unbecoming of a strong person.

Perhaps Toussagi is closer to a true strongman in his thinking than I am, but on the other hand, I also feel that Toussagi does not regard that young passenger as a human being equal to himself.

It was just that the cats and dogs on the street bared their teeth at him—that was how he seemed to be expressing that thought.

While his actions clearly reflected a policy of governance, he seemed to reveal a deeper, almost supernatural, nature.

"Unfortunately, I couldn't find him after that, and then I ran into you guys..." Fuyusha looked at me and Asaha with a puzzled expression, "Excuse me... Senior Shojo, what are you doing here?"

“I have clues about Silver Moon’s whereabouts. Silver Moon is very likely in Moonshadow Mountain, and my trip is related to this.” I decided to reveal some information.

"Silver Moon!?" His expression changed drastically. "Then, could this mist be..."

“It might also be related to Silver Moon, but let’s not talk about that for now. Could you lead us to Ancient Moon Village?” I asked.

"Guyue Village?" he asked, puzzled.

“It’s Hujia Village,” I said.

“That’s possible, but I still need to find that passenger. Maybe he’s encountered danger somewhere…” he said worriedly.

If nothing unexpected happens, I think the young passenger he mentioned should be the body that Ma and I found earlier.

Although, chronologically speaking, the young passenger the winter train was looking for should have been alive not long ago and couldn't have decomposed to that extent, time is likely in a state of disorder in this fog. It's entirely possible for someone who was just alive to be found again already decomposed as if they'd been dead for days.

Let alone something like that, even if that long-decayed corpse suddenly came back to life and walked over to chat with us as if nothing had happened, I wouldn't be unable to accept it now.

"Was that passenger wearing a black and green windbreaker?"

I first confirmed the information, and as expected, Dongche nodded. Then I continued, "We found his body earlier."

Upon hearing this, Dongche paused for a moment, then tried to confirm other characteristics of the other person with me, such as the color of their pants and shoes. I hadn't observed carefully at the time, but as long as I retrieved the relevant information from my mind, I could answer fluently.

After a few questions and answers, Dongche confirmed the other person's death. He didn't say much, but just sighed with great regret.

“I will guide you, but…” He looked troubled. “I may not know how to get back to Hujia Village… No, I remember the route, but you may have also discovered the nature of this fog. Even if you follow the route you came from meticulously, you may not be able to return to the original place.”

“No problem, you just need to walk.” Mazao suddenly spoke up. “As long as you walk with us and have a strong desire to return to that place, I can try to help you get back to where you started.”

Mazao can actually help others return to their starting point? She really surprised me again.

Although Dongche showed confusion, he didn't ask any further questions. Perhaps he understood that it was Mazao's unique ability, and thus followed the tacit understanding among demon hunters not to actively inquire about each other's abilities. He simply nodded, then obediently walked ahead, leading the way for us.

Asa and I followed behind. Asa kept a close eye on the back of the car, and I didn't let my guard down either.

Just like last time, Winter Chariot still gives me an inhuman, almost superhuman feeling. I even suspected that he might be Silver Moon in disguise, although the possibility is extremely low. First, Silver Moon has no reason to impersonate Winter Chariot to get close to me; second, if it really is Silver Moon, it's hard to believe that the other party would so easily reveal their true colors in front of me. But perhaps Winter Chariot's true form is some other type of strange being.

Considering that this Winter Chariot has been relatively friendly to me so far, I won't destroy him as long as he doesn't harm us. Therefore, I need to at least see what his true intentions are first. According to my past thinking, the real Winter Chariot is probably already dead, and he is a strange being that has taken its place, and may even be thinking of himself as the real Winter Chariot.

So, if I expose him to his face, how will he react?

"Dongche," I called out to him.

"What's wrong, Senior Zhuang Cheng?" Dong Che turned around in confusion.

I bluntly said, "You might be a fake Dongche."

"Huh?" He was even more confused. "Senior Zhuang Cheng... what are you talking about?"

I saw your obituary at the foot of the mountain.

Starting with that sentence, I simply voiced all my doubts about him to his face. He involuntarily stopped in his tracks, listening to my words with a bewildered expression.

In some ghost stories, a vengeful spirit disguised as a living person loses its ability to maintain its human appearance once its true identity is revealed. Even in the Ming Dynasty classic *Investiture of the Gods*, there's a story of Bi Gan, whose heart was removed, being told by a vegetable seller, "Vegetables can live without a heart, but a person dies without one," and thus dying instantly. Whether it's a demon hunter or a supernatural being, self-awareness possesses power. And once that awareness is lost, the incredible power of disguise vanishes.

However, I know that my words themselves may possess power. I am now gradually moving towards the realm of the unpredictable, and my words may contain mystery. To prevent this power from influencing the actual outcome, I try to use wording that leaves room for interpretation. What I need to do now is not to force my own ideas onto Toussagi, but to encourage Toussagi to think for himself about what the truth is.

My moral judgment is relatively lenient. Even if he killed the real Toussamurai, as long as he doesn't regain his self-awareness as a monster, continues to see himself as the real Toussamurai, or at least intends to continue being a good person, then I wouldn't mind continuing to be friends with him.

As for the real Wintercart, whom I've never met, although I feel somewhat guilty towards him, that's not a reason for me to be hostile to the Wintercart before me. Of course, if this Wintercart is hunted down by the Witchers because of what he did, I won't help him. That's a debt he owes himself, and he has to pay it back.

After hearing my words, Dongche stood there in disbelief. While he was still processing the information, Mazao slowly walked around to his back.

Asa raised her left hand, on which hung a black rope heart-locking ring on her left middle finger. The ring was still burned and damaged, but then the power of restoration surged forth, and the ring was restored to its perfect state as if time had reversed.

Her left hand transformed into a phantom and pierced through Dongche's back.

She should have already captured Dongche's heart by now.

"Winter Cart, answer me—" I said, "Are you Winter Cart?"

(End of this chapter)