——The lyrics of "The Book of the Present World" by Xinlian, compiled by Lin Shuwen.
Their eyes met, "Shi" lowered his head nervously, and the cotton swab soaked in white medicine in his hand hurt the wound on Lin Shuwen's face, causing him to subconsciously close his eyes.
"hiss……!"
"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Master "Dagger"! Please forgive me!!"
The continuous apology sentences made Lin Shuwen feel a little awkward, as if there was an obvious gap between the two.
This identity is not an ordinary distance, but a superior-subordinate relationship between personalities.
To put it simply, "Poetry", like a slave or a believer, places itself in a much lower position than Lin Shuwen.
This is a very bad problem.
"A suggestion, usually you only need to apologize once. Every time you say it more than once, you will put your own personality one level below the other person. In many cases, this will lead to very bad results."
"yes……"
Taking the OK bandage from "Shi", Lin Shuwen took it upon himself to put it on the bruise on his left face, poking it from time to time with his fingers.
Opposite him, "Shu" kept her head down and packed the medical kit. Her movements were crisp and neat, like a nun cleaning a church.
Lin Shuwen sat down on the ground. He leaned on the strange stone behind him and looked up at the "poetry" of "finger dance". Under the yellowing sunset, an agate bracelet tied with a red rope was looming on her cuffs.
"Take off the mask. I have covered this open space with the fog of dark elements. There is nothing here that can expose us."
But then again, it seems that this mask cannot hide his identity to a large number of people.
"Yes, Lord "Dagger"."
"here we go again……"
Ever since he saved her last time, Lin Shuwen wanted to complain about this title. It was so embarrassing!
But after the conversation just now, and combined with this period of time together, Lin Shuwen discovered the problem behind this title.
It seems that Xinlian has always been habitually putting her own personality below his.
"I'm sorry, for...Master "Dagger"."
Xinlian took off her mask. When she heard Lin Shuwen's words, she lowered her face almost to her chest. The mask replaced her fingers and danced between her hands.
"Are you afraid of me?"
"No! No!"
"Then you like me?"
"this……"
The skin all over her body began to turn red, and Xinlian listened to her heartbeat that was gradually accelerating, and she didn't know how to answer for a while.
However, at the same time, Lin Shuwen was stunned. His original intention was to introduce the theme in a joking way. Who would have thought that the current development would be a bit strange.
"Ahem, don't beat around the bush, answer me, why do you put your own personality below me? Now that we have taken off the masks, we are no longer a superior-subordinate relationship. To take a step back, even if it is a superior-subordinate relationship, this
It's just about status, not personality. In terms of personality, we are still equal..."
Lin Shuwen coughed lightly and started a lecture that looked like a lecture.
In Xinlian's eyes, that gesture was very similar to that of Sen Ming who once taught her the rules and regulations, but unlike Sen Ming, Lin Shuwen's voice and content were wrapped in a comforting feeling that made people want to listen to him quietly all the time.
Keep talking.
Xinlian blinked, raised her head slightly, raised her eyes, and glanced at Lin Shuwen's face with her peripheral vision.
"So back to the original question, why do you want to put your personality below mine."
"I'm sorry, I can't tell you why..."
Lin Shuwen reveals that he hates iron but cannot become steel
With an expression on his face, he licked his lips and slowly opened his black wings.
"Do you still regard me as one of those "gods"?"
"I……"
"Answer, yes, or no!"
"Sorry..."
"Stop saying sorry!"
"Oh!"
Lin Shuwen stood up from the ground, frightening Xinlian so much that she took a step back. Her face rose for a moment, but then she lowered it again.
Sen Ming once told her: Saved believers cannot raise their heads and look directly at "gods" without permission. This is disrespectful.
"Now, look up and look directly at me."
"yes!"
Xinlian subconsciously looked up at Lin Shuwen, her eyes full of fear and shrinkage.
"Now I ask you to keep looking into my eyes. If you lower your head and avoid it like you did just now, I will kick you out of the "Haizhi" team."
"yes!"
Lin Shuwen looked directly into Xinlian's eyes and began to squat down slowly.
eye level,
below the head,
below the heart.
He squatted on the ground, looked up at Xinlian who kept his gaze, shook the black wings behind him, and said:
"Now, for the second time, you are looking down at a "god" you consider."
"Yes! I'm sorry! I deserve death!"
After realizing it, Xinlian closed her eyes for a moment. She subconsciously tried to lie down on the ground, but Lin Shuwen stopped her:
"Don't forget my order! Do you want to leave the "Haizhi" team?"
"I don't want to! But!"
"Then obey my orders!"
Lin Shuwen tried to get Xinlian to change his bad habits in this way by darkening the relationship between personalities.
So now, after weighing past habits and future consequences, Xinlian silently recited the three words "forgive me" over and over again, and looked directly into Lin Shuwen's eyes again.
This was the third time she looked down at the "god" in her mind.
"Tell me, how do you feel now?"
"Please forgive me! Please forgive..."
"Okay then, this is "God's test". If you correct the two mistakes that made me angry just now, if I am still looked down upon by you in ten minutes, I will kick you out of "Haizhi" on the spot!"
"Well……"
Tears instantly filled Xinlian's eyes, revealing the sight of a puppy abandoned by its owner.
But this is not what Lin Shuwen wants to see.
"If you choose to give up, I will take back the gift I gave you. Since you regard yourself as a "slave", this request is not too much for you, right?"
"No……"
"Bang!"
The mask fell from Xinlian's hands. She tightly covered the agate bracelet on her wrist and gave a rebellious answer for the first time.
And this is a very good signal.
"Then work hard and change. You have less than nine minutes."
"..."
Biting her lips tightly, Xinlian regained her thinking ability and immediately thought of her own powers. She opened her mouth slightly and said words mixed with powers:
"Sue...tell me why you are angry."
At this time, she did not realize that using abilities against "gods" was an even more rebellious act than looking down on them according to the rules given to her by Professor Senming.
Lin Shuwen curled the corners of his mouth silently and looked at Xinlian silently.
This move allowed Xinlian to realize what a disrespectful and outrageous act she had just done, and she was ready to bow her head and lie on the ground again.
"Right..."
"I'm angry
What makes you angry is your devaluation of yourself..."
"well?!"
Lin Shuwen's words interrupted Xinlian's movements, and for the first time she looked directly at her "god" with her own will.
"The sight between you and me is equivalent to our mutual personalities. You avoid it and put yourself in a position like a "slave" for some wrong reasons, with low numbers, or even close to giving up your dignity. You are my family, you are
One of the beings in the world who is most qualified to be my equal in personality."
"The "dagger" is big..."
Xinlian tightened her grip on the agate bracelet on her wrist and recalled Lin Shuwen's words when he gave her this gift in Tiandu.
He deprived himself of his identity as a "saint" and gave himself a name and personality, hoping that he could live in this world as a special human being, as a member of "Shadow Kill", and as his "family".
He respects her habits and beliefs, so he doesn't interfere too much with his respect and love for him...
Thinking of this, Xinlian covered her face and remembered the fantasy she had written more than once in her audio diary.
Ever since she was no longer a "saint", ever since she was a human being with a name and a codename, she has had such irreverent dreams...
She suddenly understood that her posture as a believer was just a disguise to cover up her own feelings so that she could legitimately stay by his side.
Just like the silly girls who are willing to be each other's bullies for the sake of fruitless love.
Xinlian slowly squatted down, placing herself at the same height as Lin Shuwen. She raised her head with her whole body flushed, and looked directly at Lin Shuwen with the eyes of a girl she had a crush on, not a believer.
"I'm sorry for making you lose your temper, Captain Lin Shuwen."
"From now on, just call me "Dagger", Captain, or Lin Shuwen."
"Um……"
Lin Shuwen showed a stone-falling smile. He stretched out his hand and held Xinlian's elbow, and the two of them stood up together.
Under the sunset, there are two equal lives.
"Whether it is life or relationships, unless it is absolutely necessary, equality of personality is the bottom line that cannot be trampled on."
"You can lower your profile and put yourself in a lower position because of love, awe, and faith, but that does not mean that you lose your personality like a "slave". You are first of all a life that can stand up.
, and secondly, a believer.”
"I will abide by the rules, be afraid of nature, respect the elders, be full of awe of the unknown, and full of respect for the things around me... Under these circumstances, I will put myself in a lower position, and even this position will last forever.
.”
"But the premise is that they are worthy, they deserve my respect and admiration, and I am just inferior to them because of respect, that's all."
"I can point out their mistakes and even resist with a knife if necessary. I also respect my own life."
Lin Shuwen patted Xinlian on the shoulder and wondered in his mind whether there were any shortcomings in what he just said.
At this time, Xinlian bit her lip and made a request:
"Shu... Shuwen, can you give me a hug?"
"Yes, yes..."
Lin Shuwen, who was interrupted, took the opportunity and hugged Xinlian tightly. He touched her long black hair like an elder brother.
Xinlian clung to his chest with her wish fulfilled, remembering what Lin Shuwen just said and his last instructions in her heart:
"Whether it's love or life, when you have no bottom line, you even subconsciously put yourself in a lower position than others, constantly apologize, and use your dignity in exchange for his charity. Such a life is very sad and is destined to usher in tragedy.