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墨書 Inktalez
The summer had passed in an overwhelming clamor, and autumn arrived, bringing with it the gradually yellowing leaves and the endless melancholy of poets reflecting on the season.
At the age of Old Shao, he had mostly ceased to feel anger. Over sixty years, he had grown accustomed to darkness and human nature; throughout history, humanity had never truly changed. Indeed, there were kind-hearted saints akin to Buddhas, and there were wicked individuals steeped in sin. Yet, what Old Shao encountered more often were ordinary people who were neither particularly good nor evil.
He had once aspired to be a police officer who upheld justice, but as the years passed, Old Shao found himself increasingly perplexed about what justice truly meant and whether genuine justice existed in this world.
Sitting in a rattan chair by the window, a steaming cup of tea in his hands, he gazed outside. In the glow of the setting sun, bustling pedestrians filled the streets, while sunlight poured into the room, warm and bright.
But Old Shao was not alone in feeling the sun's warmth. In a dark room of a certain city, a frail old man lay on a wooden bed. Dim sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains, casting a narrow beam of light onto the head of the bed.
The old man extended his hand; his cracked and shriveled arm was covered with purple veins. He reached toward that patch of sunlight as if trying to grasp that ethereal glow.
With a creak, the wooden door opened, and a young man stepped inside from outside.
This young man appeared to be in his twenties, dressed entirely in black. As he entered the dark environment, he seemed to merge with it. He closed the door behind him and suddenly knelt by the old man's bedside. The old man's face was marked with age spots and showed no expression as he struggled to turn his head to look at the young man but could not make out his features.
Suddenly, the young man began to cry in the darkness.
"Why are you crying?" The old man's voice was hoarse but steady.
"You are going to die," replied the young man.
The old man responded with a soft "Hmm," reaching out to touch the young man's face.
He spoke again: "Everyone must die eventually. I am over eighty years old; life has treated me well enough. Moreover, the meaning of life does not lie in its length but in its quality. My best twenty years—between thirty and fifty—were spent locked away in a mental institution. Those were my most carefree and fulfilling days, yet also my least free ones. Until your father rescued me."
Mentioning his father stirred something within the young man; he wiped away his tears and asked, "What kind of person was my father?"
The old man's hand withdrew as he lay on the bed, staring blankly at a faint glimmer of light. He thought of the young man's father, but that was twenty-five years ago.
"Strictly speaking, your father was my disciple. The way I taught him hypnosis is just like how I taught you. Your father and I share the same thoughts and goals. Just as I have explained to you, what exactly are we meant to do?"
The old man exhaled a heavy breath and continued, "Sixty-five million years ago, a meteorite wiped out the Reptiles, after which mammals rapidly evolved. Fifty million years ago, Primates emerged. It wasn't until thirty million years ago that Apes appeared. Ten million years ago, Australopithecus came into existence, which is also an ancestor of humanity."
"Until three million years ago, we were using simple tools. Two million years ago, we learned to make fire. Five hundred thousand years ago, Homo Sapiens spread across the globe. Ten thousand years ago, human beings established matriarchal societies. Five thousand years ago, humanity developed art, civilization, tribes, and nations."
"The timeline of human evolution is shortening—from ten million years to millions, hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands, and thousands of years. When do you think the next evolution of humanity will occur?" The old man suddenly asked.
"Now?" The young man replied in shock.
The old man nodded and became suddenly animated: "That's right! It is now. Humanity's sixth evolution is just around the corner. But do you know how humanity evolves?"
The young man shook his head.
"Through death and suffering!" The old man shouted hoarsely, struggling to sit up but failing miserably; instead, he broke into a fit of coughs.
The young man hurried to help him regulate his breathing until the old man gradually calmed down.
"Every evolution of humanity has been accompanied by immense death and suffering. Those mammals that survived the meteorite lived through great hardship; thus they evolved. With the emergence of grasslands and the reduction of rainforests, those anguished monkeys descended from trees to survive on the ground. During the Ice Age, those Homo Sapiens who abandoned their homes began migrating across the world."
"Every war has been accompanied by significant technological advancements; every tragedy has led to a flourishing of art. Why does the prosperity of science and art only emerge during times of war and suffering? Why do so many artists and scientists suffer from mental illnesses?"
The old man pounded his fist against the bed: "Because suffering is the essence of human evolution. But with humanity's progress, neither earthquakes nor tsunamis can destroy us anymore. The next evolution of humanity will undoubtedly take place here..."
He pointed to his own head: "The next evolution must be an evolution of the human brain. Your father and I are destined not to witness it; you too are fated not to see humanity's evolution. But what we are doing is planting a seed—leaving our voices for those who will be capable of promoting human evolution in the future."
"Humans are essentially animals. Anyone with a sense of righteousness and morality, at the moment humanity evolved, inevitably became a victim of that evolution."
At this point, the old man calmed down again. "Let’s see, calculating his age, the one who forced Your Father to his death must be around sixty now. I once saw him when he was young; he was smarter than your father. He stopped us and indirectly caused Your Father's death."
"It’s just that he doesn’t Understand what we aimed to achieve. A few murders are not our goal at all. To evolve humanity, we must sacrifice the vast majority of people. The ones who remain will be the new humans. I won’t live much longer; he has chased me my whole life, forcing me to halt my research and leaving me to hide in the shadows."
The old man's tone grew increasingly cold. "Without him, my research would have advanced at least fifty years further by now. Without Your Father's organization as a source of funding, without Your Father's assistance, I, an old man in my sixties, have no ability to continue my work."
"He killed Your Father, forced me to stop my research, chased me my entire life, yet wants to enjoy peace in his old age? That is clearly impossible. From the moment he saw my black card, he should have Understood that from that moment on, I would come back for revenge."
"Have you figured out his subordinates?" the old man asked.
The young man nodded lightly. "I’ve got it figured out. Detective Wang Chao, has a wife and children. Armed police officer Yuan Jun, unmarried, parents back in his hometown. Forensic Doctor Xu Yiman, mother died a few years ago, father is abroad. Hacker Guan Deng, there’s no information about him online, but from my observations, he has severe Social Anxiety Disorder."
"The most mysterious and elusive person is one of his subordinates named Jiang He. He has no relatives or friends. Aside from himself, there’s probably no one who could threaten him."
"Interesting." The old man suddenly laughed. "Using someone else's family to threaten them has always been a method I despise; it’s simply too lowbrow. As a Criminal Consultant, what we need to do is guide those who harbor resentment and wish to commit crimes."
"Do you know why I always asked you to find those past victims before?" the old man suddenly asked playfully.
The young man shook his head.
"Because people have habitual ways of thinking. In the cases I had you work on, those Victims were often morally questionable individuals. Those murderers kill often out of revenge or necessity. The ones who were killed also had their reasons for being killed. So this time, when they see the black card, they will think similarly. Just wait and watch them suffer."
"Those police officers must think that as a Criminal Consultant, I selectively choose clients based on bias; they believe I see myself as a servant of justice when it's all just bullshit. Crime is crime; murder is murder—it's all for oneself. Humans are selfish creatures, yet the world pretends otherwise—how ridiculous."
"Is everything arranged?" The old man found the previous topic dull.
"Everything is arranged; he just got out of prison," the young man replied.
"That's good," the old man sighed, saying lightly, "Since everything is ready, let's take action. Wu, do not grieve for me. Death is not the end for a person. Your father was my disciple, and you are too. However, your father was my disciple thirty years ago, and in these thirty years, I have grown significantly. Therefore, you should be stronger than your father."
"Death is not the end as long as you can carry on our wishes. In hundreds of years, when humanity evolves, they will know that this head was caused by us."
The old man held the young man's hand. "You must understand that most people do not comprehend what we do. The world has no good or evil; survival of the fittest is the law of society. A criminal is a criminal primarily because he was caught. If he had not been caught, then he would not be a criminal."
"And from now on, the title of Criminal Consultant will rest upon your shoulders." The old man released the young man's hand and closed his eyes. "The foundation of hypnosis is psychology. The person you will face in the future is also well-versed in psychology. I have taught you everything I could; let me teach you one last trick—never play by the rules, and no one will know what you're thinking, not even yourself, so others will naturally be unable to know."
The young man stood up and walked toward the door.
"Do not come back, and do not contact me again; the game has begun."
With a loud bang, the door closed.
The sun set, and that narrow beam of light was swallowed by endless darkness.
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