Chapter 48 Farewell.

When Xia Youjie fell silent, Jiang Lai beside him suddenly spoke up: "So, you caught them and locked them up?"

His tone was calm, and it was impossible to tell the emotion behind it. The slightly raised question was vaguely mixed with a certain inducement.

The villagers who were talking excitedly naturally interpreted it as a kind of compliment: "Of course! But it was mainly the village chief's credit. He led us to catch these two monsters."

The middle-aged woman next to him said, "This cage was used to keep wild animals. It's very sturdy. Our village is still discussing how to deal with these two dirty things."

The young twin sisters in the cage shuddered, feeling an instinctive fear of the possible "treatment" that might come their way.

"..." Xia Yujie's mind was filled with mixed thoughts. He grabbed his left arm tightly with his right hand, and the stinging sensation made him restrain himself.

Just at this moment, a voice suddenly came from the side calling him:

"Got your cell phone, Jay?"

Jiang Lai held an ancient book upright in his hand and looked at him half-sideways.

Xia Yujie was slightly stunned when he heard this, and pulled himself out of his struggling thoughts. He subconsciously replied, "I brought it."

Jiang Lai: "Oh, okay. I took photos and recorded the conversation. Wu told me your mobile phone and email address. I will send you these materials later." He told the story slowly.

After all, it is not convenient to explain the principle on his mobile phone (book). Jiang Lai thought, it is better to give it to Xia Yujie.

"…Sorry, what?" The topic jumped too suddenly. The boy with the ball-shaped hair was still in a daze and did not understand what the person in front of him meant for a moment.

"After the Jiechuan incident, I deliberately learned the rules of human beings." Jiang Lai's eyes moved and he blinked lightly, "Logically speaking, illegal imprisonment, personal injury, and lynching should now be——"

"Have you called the police?"

His words came out in a calm voice, like a stone that caused a thousand ripples.

——

The sun was setting in the west, and the afterglow of the setting sun illuminated the village. It had never been so lively here before, with uniformed police officers verifying, questioning, detaining prisoners, and then escorting them to police cars on the road and taking them away.

Jiang Lai watched this scene silently, tossing his mind.

In a modern society ruled by law, evidence should be collected when necessary, and the police should be called when necessary - this is Jiang Lai's dual habit in both the secular world and the scientific world.

Although the world of sorcery in this world has a set of systems that belong exclusively to sorcerers and cursers, ordinary people in society still follow the basic laws of society.

It is difficult to convict people collectively in some feudal villages; however, if there is solid evidence, a few typical cases can be arrested to serve as a warning and deterrent. For example, the village chief mentioned by the two villagers just now played a leading role in these crimes.

At this moment, looking at the bustling situation in front of him, Xia Yujie was still a little dazed.

"The magic world has its own survival rules, and ordinary people have their own behavioral norms." Jiang Lai shook the book lightly and said, "Recently, I have learned the rules of both sides."

"..." Xia Yujie was silent for two seconds, then smiled and said, "Well, for you, learning these things is actually not very useful, right?"

——After all, [existence] is beyond the mundane world and outside the human world. The free wind, clouds, water, and trees will not come into contact with these rules.

"It's still useful." Jiang Lai's eyebrows slightly curved, "For example, this time it's very suitable."

So, did Lai learn these new knowledge for the sake of these human friends he had made? Xia Yujie thought about it, retracted his gaze, and responded softly.

He didn't tell anyone around him that he had just thought of "massacre the whole village". And... at this moment, this thought was still lingering in his mind.

But he respected the decision of his friends. Xia Youjie looked forward. So let this village be like this. As Lai said, the rules of ordinary people are also a punishment for them.

However, at this time, he no longer had a clear concept of "punishment".

Under the fiery red sunset, the boy with the ball-shaped hair reflected the villages and distant mountains in front of him. His heart seemed to be separated from everything around him by a layer.

Xia Yujie knew that the decision made by the navy blue figure was correct. Ordinary people should be bound by the laws and regulations of ordinary society. This is a kind of justice.

However, the "great justice" he has chosen now is no longer a pursuit of "absolute justice."

Let the useless people pave the way for the useful people. He chewed on this sentence quietly in his heart.

Although he did not end up killing the entire village, some thoughts in his mind had quietly undergone the final qualitative change in the incident just now.

He would hold back for the sake of his friend's [existence], but that was all he would do. Kagome blinked. After the last boot landed, he was no longer entangled in the path he had chosen.

At this moment, after leaning heavily to one side, the boy with the ball-head hair relaxed for a long time, even if it was a false relaxation.

Jiang Lai has been silently paying attention to Xia Youjie's micro-expressions. From the details, he has noticed some changes in the people around him.

In fact, he was also very clear that in the first week, Geto Suguru had too much contact with the regulatory agency and thought about this, and it was basically impossible to pull him back.

This village incident was just a prelude. Even without this village, there would be the next village and the next mission location, which became the last straw that broke the camel's back in the ball-headed boy's heart.

Jiang Lai took the initiative to choose to "call the police" to solve this problem. On the one hand, it was to avoid the recurrence of the massacre, to protect the innocent people who might exist in the village, and to reduce the mental breakdown of Xia Youjie after his extreme behavior.

On the other hand, it was also silently showing Geto that in addition to the laws spoken by the higher-ups in the world of sorcery, there was another set of laws that could be applied in the world.

Bathed in the sunset glow, the edges of both of them were tinged with soft, warm light.

"Those two girls have no relatives in the village anymore." Jiang Lai said from the side, "They may be sent to an orphanage if no one adopts them."

Kayuki got out of his swirling thoughts.

"You are a minor, so it is not convenient for you to go through the formal legal adoption process." Jiang Lai said, "The documents I forged in the human world can handle the adoption process."

He thought for a few seconds, tilted his head slightly, and continued, "Or, let Wu mobilize his people to do the operation. Or, we can explain to the assistant supervisor that these two are the seedlings of future sorcerers, and let the person who specializes in sorcery and these matters coordinate."

Adopt?

For a moment, Xia Yujie did not speak. He just raised his head and looked at the little girl who was protected by the police.

The twin girls, covered in scales, huddled together trembling with fear.

But when they caught a glimpse of Jiang Lai and Xia Yujie not far away, they put away their frightened expressions and tried hard to force out a smile in response.

The twin girls looked up and whispered a few words to the policeman beside them, then trotted over to find Jiang Lai and Xia Yujie.

Noticing the two little ones approaching, Jiang Lai half-knelt down with a gentle expression. He stretched out his hand and made a gesture of leading and supporting them, so as to prevent the two little girls who had just walked out of the cage from losing their balance and accidentally falling.

Facing Nanako and Mimiko, Geto Xiayou also wiped away the blank expression he had just had. He smiled and bent down to interact with the two little ones for a while.

The little girls, with light and dark hair, came to express their gratitude. Their voices were small, and their expressions were a mixture of timidity, trust, and a hint of expectation.

——Hope that the people who lead them out of the cage can also take them to further places, teach them how to apply their abilities, and help them find more similar friends.

After the two little ones returned to the police, Jiang Lai stood up and asked, "After the formalities are completed, do you want to adopt them?"

"..." Xia Yujie lowered his eyes, and after a long while, he replied slowly, "Let them go to the technical high school. Let them keep Maki and Mayi company."

"Well, it's not bad to be in a technical college." Jiang Lai responded.

However, before Xia Yujie finished speaking, someone else followed up: "... and then, I won't go back."

After rehearsing it in his mind thousands of times, he finally spoke these words clearly. Xia Youjie still lowered his eyes, restraining himself from paying attention to the reactions of the people around him.

"I intend to practice a new [righteousness]. Ordinary people should pave the way for sorcerers. Useless people live too long, so it is better to let useful people continue their lives. If there were only sorcerers in the world, there would be no more accidental deaths of cursed spirits and sorcerers."

He guessed that what followed would be shock, questioning, persuasion... and maybe even arguments.

However, the reaction of the dark blue figure beside him was exceptionally calm.

The evening breeze brushed my cheeks, bringing with it the words of [existence]: "Have you decided?"

"..." Xia Yujie curled his fingers slightly, and said calmly, "I've thought about it."

"If you have made up your mind," Jiang Lai said, "then go ahead and try it out."

After hearing this, Geto paused for a second, and habitually replied in a half-joking tone: "It hasn't even started yet, do you think my choice is wrong?"

"Right or wrong, it's not for me to judge." Jiang Lai Shushu said frivolously, "You can only know what the right path is after you walk it."

"I hope my choice is right. After all, life is a one-way street. There is no turning back." Xia Yujie chuckled. "I can't go back and choose again."

Beside him, the figure in navy blue kimono replied gently: "Not necessarily."

"..." Xia Yujie tilted his head. He didn't understand his friend's response, but the other party didn't seem to want to explain further.

They didn't say anything. The air was quiet for a while.

The orange sunset slowly sank into the mountains. The last remaining light of the sunset glowed particularly bright and dazzling against the backdrop of the night, like the last breath before the night curtain envelops it.

In the last few minutes before the sunset, Geto Xia turned sideways and handed over two small bags of black sesame cookies: "...I'll trouble you to take these two to Wu and Xiaozi." He said in a gentle tone.

"Okay." Jiang Lai nodded, and he raised his hand to take it naturally, "Are you leaving now?"

"That's about right." Xia Yujie's slender eyebrows curved, "It's a bit incredible that I can still chat with you so calmly in the end. Even if I suddenly made such a choice."

"After all, your future is your own. No matter how much I say, it will be useless, right? Then I won't give you any useless advice." Jiang Lai's eyes flickered. "If you insist on taking a certain path, just go ahead and give it a try."

Xia Yujie chuckled, coughed, and said gently: "Anyway, I'd better say sorry first. I'm sorry for causing you trouble. You still need to go back to the technical high school to inform the high school, especially Wu... because I can't go back."