52 Holmes.Shi Xiaobai (1/2)

Chapter 52: Holmes.Shi Xiaobai

Everyone had a scale in their hearts. It measured so-called righteousness, but when life of different quantity and qualities were placed on the opposite ends of the scale, the standards of measuring righteousness was different depending on the person.

A number of people would treat life as a cold, lifeless number. They would assign salvation to the larger number, while the smaller number would be sacrificed. They would rationally calculate and obtain a final result with the highest number, and stick strictly to it.

And there were others who assigned different weights to different lives. A person’s utility in life would determine whether they would be sacrificed or saved. These people would emotionally determine the utility of a life before rationally abandoning the one with least utility.

When overlaying the two different value systems into the question Shi Xiaobai was facing, the former would choose to save the convicts while the latter would choose to save Dan Liang.

Then, what choice would Shi Xiaobai make? Or instead, where did Shi Xiaobai’s moral compass lie?

Kali watched Shi Xiaobai with interest. Although they were hidden in a black cloud, the black cloud was internally filled with light, so Kali could clearly see Shi Xiaobai’s expression.

“Only two choices?” Shi Xiaobai contemplated for a moment. Before he gave an answer, he responded with a question.

Kali was stunned for a moment before she asked with a smile, “You are thinking of saving both sides?”

“No!”

Shi Xiaobai immediately pointed his finger in a particular direction. With a solemn expression, he said, “This King wants to save…it!”

Kali traced Shi Xiaobai’s fingers and saw a ginger cat walking across a broken pillar.

In a land of destruction that resembled hell, why was there a cat walking so carefreely?

No, that’s not the point. The point was—the life Shi Xiaobai wanted to save was this cat?

“Don’t tell me that when you first asked me the question…it was to save this cat?” Kali could not help but think of this possibility.

“Of course!” Shi Xiaobai nodded seriously.

Kali’s immediately blushed as she realized she had cut Shi Xiaobai off, and how she had taken the liberty to say a bunch of “nonsense” that she found profound. Had she been the one overthinking things?

But at the same time, her heart sank slightly. The reason she made Shi Xiaobai make the choice was clearly to see his take on righteousness, and how he decided on matters regarding sacrifice and salvation. She never expected that given a choice between humans and cats, Shi Xiaobai would choose the cat.

Was Shi Xiaobai a person with such a heart of stone?

“Why don’t you want to save the humans, but instead choose to save a cat?” Kali wiped the smile off her face and turned serious. Since she was his mentor, she naturally had to understand the situation, as well as guide him towards proper moral values.

“One side wants to die, while one side deserves to die. So why should I save them?” Shi Xiaobai similarly looked serious. He looked even more serious than Kali.

Upon hearing this, Kali ruminated over his words. The glimmer in her eye that had converged immediately sprung back, turning more intense.

“I want to hear your thoughts. Can you tell me?” Kali smiled with a blink, like a girl yearning to listen to a fairytale.

Shi Xiaobai was momentarily startled. His eyes swept the devastated land, before looking at the sky-watching Dan Liang and the desperately running convicts. He then took a deep breath.

“This King does not know what sins these convicts have previously done; nor do I know if they feel any gratefulness to that Hero, much less know if they would turn over a new leaf if they were to survive. But there is one thing This King knows with certainty. They have never helped each other. While they were running, they would pull their own companions down, entrapping others.

“They are selfish creatures, maggots that yield to their instinct. If they are saved, they might very likely harm others because of their personal greed or desires. The reason why Darkness is Darkness, is because it constantly devours the Light. If saving the Darkness gives humanity a gloomy shade, why bother?”

“No one forced them to run towards death. Their direction in life and the direction they are currently running towards are made by their own choice. The reason they will die is because—they deserve dying. This King does not save people deserving of death!”

Shi Xiaobai finished speaking with a heavy tone before pausing. He then turned his head towards the figure lying on the Silver Scaled Tigerhead Snake. Shi Xiaobai’s eyes were somewhat in a trance.

Kali kept nodding as she listened to him speak while constantly murmuring a “hmm”. When she noticed Shi Xiaobai stop, she urged him to continue, “Carry on?”

“He lives a tired life. Death might be a form of release for him.”

Shi Xiaobai pointed at Dan Liang and said, “This King does not know what he has experienced. Just now, I heard from you that his superpower is called ‘Death Hypnagogia” and using it requires a fresh head to be sacrificed. And from the feeling he gave This King when he beheaded the convict, intuition tells This King that his motion is very smooth and honed, as though he has rehearsed it thousands of times.”

“So This King believes that he has killed before, and has even killed many. As he needs fresh heads, the ones he has killed are not only enemies. A portion of them might be his partners, friends, or even closed ones.

“So why would such a cold and cruel person throw his life away to save a bunch of incorrigible human scum?”

Shi Xiaobai turned his head at Kali and asked her softly.

“Why?” Kali noticed that Shi Xiaobai’s face looked much more handsome because of his seriousness. Being lazy to think, she directly asked him.