Chapter 895: The Good Die Young
Zhou Mo gave me a few brief instructions before hurrying off.
She said she was busy too, needing to report to some organization.
But the organization she mentioned wasn't "Heaven's Gate"—it was a different mercenary group. This place was even more complicated than I had imagined.
I waited there for a while and noticed the "participants" in this area were indeed different. They seemed organized and methodical, often entering "Human-level games" in pairs or small groups.
It seemed that this person called Chu Tianqiu truly had some ability, managing to organize so many people in an orderly fashion.
What did he rely on? Force? Cunning? Or a powerful "Echo"?
As I was thinking, I saw a familiar figure walking over from a distance. No matter how hard I tried to guess, I never would have expected her to be among them.
Aunt Tong, accompanied by two young people, was striding past me with a map in hand. They seemed to be talking and didn't notice me.
"Aunt Tong...?" I called out, somewhat in disbelief.
"Hm...?" Aunt Tong turned around and immediately spotted me. "Oh my! You are..."
She paused, then said to the two youngsters behind her, "You two go ahead to the venue and wait for me, alright? I'll be there soon."
"Okay, Aunt Tong," said a boy who looked at most sixteen. "We'll go first. Take care of yourself."
This organization was even stranger than I had imagined. Aunt Tong was in her fifties, while the boy was fifteen or sixteen—why were they working together?
But then again, Aunt Tong was also a "senior Echo user," so she could definitely hold her own in ordinary Human-level games.
After sending the two young people off, Aunt Tong walked up and grabbed my arm, a beaming smile on her face. "Child, what are you doing here?"
"Aunt Tong... I should be asking you that... Have you joined an organization?"
"Oh, yes, I have," Aunt Tong nodded. "I found him."
"Found him...?"
"Remember what I told you?" Aunt Tong had a kindly smile, as if she had struck gold. "I said I was going to find someone carrying a huge amount of 'merit'... and I found him."
I paused at that. "That person is in the organization?"
"He is the organization's leader," Aunt Tong said. "A child named Chu Tianqiu."
"The leader..." I was stunned. "You mean he's a 'good person'?"
"It's not as simple as just being a 'good person,'" Aunt Tong shook her head. "Carrying a huge amount of 'merit' is completely different from being a 'good person.'"
"What do you mean?"
"Think of it like this," Aunt Tong explained to me. "Many people do charity work. But some do it with ulterior motives—some to save face, some for corporate reputation, some to avoid taxes. These people are 'doing good deeds,' and they are 'good people' in name, but their motives are not rooted in goodness. So it doesn't count as 'merit.' It's just that they've done good things."
When I thought about it from Aunt Tong's perspective, I could instantly understand what she meant.
"So the person you're talking about, who carries a huge amount of 'merit'—his motive is purely goodness?" I asked.
"Yes," Aunt Tong nodded. "He does good deeds without any purpose. He does them simply because he wants to. He didn't establish this organization to take anything from the 'participants.' Everything he does is for the sake of helping others. This immense 'merit' will inevitably influence his fate—that is his 'karma.' If anyone here is destined to have a good ending because of karma, I think it would be him."
I not only understood the meaning of "merit," but also the meaning of "karma."
"Child, he calls the normal people here 'Good People,' and the ones who have gone mad are called 'Mad People,'" Aunt Tong continued. "Do you know what the people here call him?"
"I don't know."
Aunt Tong looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. "The King of the Good."
That... was indeed three weighty words.
He wasn't the king of some team, nor the king of the "Extreme Path" or "Heaven's Gate" organizations—he was the king in the hearts of all normal people.
"What a shame, though..." Aunt Tong shook her head with a bitter smile. "Child, have you ever heard the saying 'The good die young'?"
"Of course I have..." As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt a contradiction, so I asked, "Aunt Tong, according to your explanation, isn't 'karma' supposed to mean 'good begets good, evil begets evil'? Then why would the good die young?"
"I said before," Aunt Tong explained, "how 'good' and 'evil' are defined depends on the person doing the act. Overly kind-hearted children, when they do 'good deeds,' never define them as 'good deeds.' As a result, some of their 'merit' becomes 'neutral karma' due to their own perception—neither good nor evil, karma neither increases nor decreases."
It seemed I had been thinking of "karma" too simplistically. If we were to elaborate, the eight words "good begets good, evil begets evil" could fill an entire thesis.
"So, relying on 'karma' to attain a 'good reward' is very difficult, isn't it?" I asked. "You have to persist in doing good, and also believe that what you're doing is 'good deeds.'"
Aunt Tong said, "Child, have you noticed that honest, kind people in this world often live unhappy lives, and sometimes get bullied badly?"
Yes... How could I not know?
"So doing good is never easy. There are many obstacles in this world that hinder your progress." Aunt Tong reached out and picked a loose strand of hair from my skirt, then said, "For a child like Chu Tianqiu, there are only two paths ahead. Either he keeps his heart undefiled and perseveres to reach true enlightenment. Or one day he falls into darkness, and all his 'merit' transforms into 'evil karma.' But at least for now... the direction of his 'karma' is still positive."
It was laughable to think about. If I were the King of the Good, I certainly wouldn't have given selflessly for so long, because human nature is inherently ugly.
The more you give, the more others demand.
A favor too small breeds resentment; a favor too great breeds expectation.
I didn't know if the King of the Good would provide food for these people. At first, something like that would make everyone overjoyed, but after a few cycles, they would grow accustomed to it.
Having food was expected; not having it meant the leader was incompetent. That was human nature.
Seeing that I was silent, Aunt Tong reached out and took my hand, saying:
"Child, if one day someone in the 'Extreme Path' begins to think of withdrawing, by all means let them join 'Heaven's Gate' and trade for a good ending."