He Li sat on a bench by the roadside.
As a certified schizophrenic, He Li was extremely disciplined and paid great attention to his physical and mental health. He wouldn't smoke if he didn't have to.
But as he watched a man and a woman sitting on a bench across the street, staring at him, he became troubled.
Should he kill them?
Or should he let them go?
Unable to decide, He Li took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He had bought it last week and had only smoked two.
"The first cigarette was smoked when you were agonizing over what to have for dinner. The second was smoked because you were worried about the price of eggplants at the Da Dong vegetable market going up by two cents," Li Qin said, then chuckled teasingly, "What is this cigarette for?"
"Uncle Li, please don't tease me. It's because you're here that I'm hesitating. If it were anyone else, I would have already made my decision."
As he spoke, He Li lit the cigarette, took a deep drag, and then slowly exhaled a puff of white smoke, saying,
"The time it takes to smoke a cigarette."
"What?" Li Qin sat down.
He Li continued calmly, "The time it takes to smoke a cigarette is for me to think, and also for them to think. If they leave, I'll let them go. If they don't leave, then... I'll kill them."
Li Qin found it somewhat amusing and asked, "When Jin Fang was here, you didn't choose to kill anyone. Why is killing an option for you when I'm here?"
He Li didn't think much and directly gave his explanation,
"Because they are all somewhat radical, with strong subjective consciousness, making it easy to influence my judgment. But, Uncle Li, you are different from them. You won't sway my decisions, so I have this option."
"I don't know if it's right or wrong. Just like Jin Fang said, who would want to live under someone else's surveillance?"
Li Qin smiled. He didn't reply. At this moment, he was more like an indulgent elder, letting his child act out. Even if it was wrong, so what?
He Li didn't continue smoking. Instead, he held the cigarette between his fingers, lowered his head, and watched the ash fall bit by bit.
Meanwhile, the man and woman across the street had no idea they were standing on the brink of life and death, their fate hanging on a single thought.
In their earphones, they could still hear their captain's urgent calls for them to retreat,
"Bai Fei, Tao Xue, retreat quickly!"
"Bai Fei, Tao Xue, I'm coming over now!"
Then, they heard the sound of tables and chairs being pushed aside. The captain was coming for them.
Across the street, cars passed by intermittently. Both sides were in a tense standoff.
He Li lowered his head, intently watching the cigarette, making no other move.
Tao Xue pursed her lips, her hand at her lower back, tightly gripping the stock of her hunting rifle. She whispered, "Bai Fei, should we go?"
Bai Fei pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "Let's wait for the captain to handle it."
"You're a Level 4 Spirit Warrior and a Level 3 Manifestation ability user. You're a dual-ability user. You can't beat him?" Tao Xue became anxious, her words laced with sarcasm and provocation.
Such a tense standoff that tested one's nerves was undoubtedly an ordeal for a young girl like her, lacking rich experience and wisdom.
Bai Fei took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "We don't need to become enemies with him. Moreover, as you saw just now, he crushed a Level 5 demon with a raise of his hand. It would be very easy for him to kill you."
As if afraid Tao Xue didn't have a more direct understanding, Bai Fei added simply and bluntly, "Just like that Level 5 demon, He Li could instantly crush you into a small bead less than two centimeters in size."
Tao Xue's heart trembled. She couldn't forget what she had seen earlier. The Level 5 demon, over three meters tall, was instantly crushed into a small bead by He Li, and then, gently crushed.
She wasn't afraid of dying in battle with demons, but she was terrified of being crushed into a small bead herself, unable to even let out a scream.
It felt to her like being trapped in a sealed iron box and thrown into the deep sea, gradually being squeezed by water pressure, no matter how much she screamed, the only response would be darkness and silence, being flattened like this, and then dying.
"I... we... let's go," Tao Xue swallowed hard, her voice trembling. She could clearly feel her palm, holding the gun, was covered in sweat.
Bai Fei looked at He Li deeply. He found it strange that He Li had lit the cigarette but wasn't smoking it, instead staring down at it. Then, he said, "Captain, we're starting to retreat now. We'll rendezvous at the designated route."
There was no captain's voice in the earphone, but a man's voice came through,
"Received, agree to retreat. Hurry! We've detected that He Li's spiritual energy is very unstable right now."
Bai Fei immediately stood up, pulled Tao Xue's arm, and ran. Then, the two of them leaped up and disappeared into the night.
*Clink*,
The ash fell.
The cigarette had burned down to the filter.
He Li crushed the butt and threw it into the cigarette disposal bin.
Li Qin also stood up from the bench.
He Li had been calm from beginning to end.
"How did it feel?"
He Li looked back at Li Qin. "Feel... what do you mean?" He didn't quite understand what Li Qin meant by "feel."
"Disappointment or anticipation. It's a shame they ran. If we chased them now, we should be able to catch up."
He Li shook his head. "Forget it, let's go home."
To describe killing as something to be "expected" or "disappointing" always felt a bit strange. In fact, He Li had hoped they would leave. Otherwise, he wouldn't have lowered his head and avoided looking at them.
He didn't want to kill people or cause trouble. He just wanted to live a quiet life.
The time it took to smoke that cigarette was not only an opportunity and time for them to escape but also an opportunity for him to let himself off the hook.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have just watched the cigarette burn to stall for time.
"Hoo..." Li Qin let out a long sigh, patted his chest, and said with lingering fear, "Fortunately, they ran. Otherwise, we really might not have been able to beat them, especially that man. He looked very strong."
He Li smiled, not taking the bait.
Whether he could beat them or not, didn't he already know?
"Uncle Li, it's disgusting for a middle-aged old man to act silly. Don't do that next time."
"Huh? No way. I thought you were quite happy when He Xi acted like that?"
"He Xi is a 6-year-old girl. It's cute when she acts like that, but you're a 48-year-old, greasy middle-aged uncle."
"Me? Greasy? No way, He Li, don't just say whatever you want because you're mentally ill."
"Uncle Li, you know I'm mentally ill, right? Then do you know that whatever a mentally ill person says or does is reasonable?"
"Oh... so, whatever He Li says is reasonable?"
"Congratulations, you got it right."
"He Li, your name is well-chosen. It's destined to be a name for someone mentally ill."
"Thank you..."
Under the streetlights, they chatted and laughed. A single shadow stretched and disappeared, then stretched again, before vanishing at the end of the small path.
After a day of work, eating some barbecue, and then taking down a Level 5 demon to digest. A normal office worker's day is just that simple and fulfilling.
Go home, take a shower, and sleep!
The world of schizophrenia is truly that happy.
......
He Li was indeed quite happy,
But the other side couldn't be happy at all.
Susan sat on the rooftop of a building, her brow furrowed, with Bai Fei and Tao Xue standing behind her.
"Bai Fei, even you aren't confident?" Susan asked in a deep voice.
Bai Fei looked up, then lowered his gaze, saying honestly, "I don't know. I haven't fought him. I'm a dual-ability user with both spiritual power and abilities. He Li is also one. Judging by the abilities he displayed today, it should be a high-level ability like 'gravity' or 'attraction.' In a real confrontation, the best outcome would be a mutually destructive fight, or perhaps, a mutual annihilation."
Susan nodded, then fell silent for a moment before saying, "The situation today doesn't need to be reported to the headquarters. Delete all the video archives of He Li from this evening. Then, Bai Fei, you write a report to be submitted to the headquarters, stating... that He Li is completely normal and the possibility of He Li being an 'Awakened' is low."
Tao Xue looked up, first at Susan's back with confusion, then glanced at Bai Fei.
Bai Fei appeared very calm, nodding slightly, and said, "Understood. I will submit the report before nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
"Thank you for your hard work. You can go back and rest."
After speaking, Susan gently pushed off the edge of the building and jumped directly from the 34th floor.
......