Chapter 864: Erudition
Fortunately, Aries’s game venue wasn’t too far from where I was reborn—about a forty-minute walk.
Every day I went to see Aries. At first, my emotions were incredibly complicated. I didn’t even know what to consider him.
A partner? A teammate? A teacher?
He was like a very special presence. I could learn a lot from him, but he was definitely not my friend.
After thinking it over, perhaps I was more like a “subordinate.”
A subordinate who took orders and reported to his boss every day.
I actually thought about it too… whether I could become “friends” with Aries?
Aries had changed a lot. Since I had already seen him many times in the “Interview Room,” I could now clearly sense this change.
He had become cold, stubborn… and somewhat ruthless.
Unfortunately, no one else could agree with my view. I never saw Zhang Qiang, Mian Yang, or Shapigou again. They seemed to have vanished from the world.
Every time I came to his game venue, Aries was invariably staring off into space.
Whenever he looked up at me, it seemed to take him a few seconds to remember who I was.
“Brother Yang… are you really okay?” I called out. “You look so different from five years ago…”
“Let’s make a pact,” Aries said coldly. “From now on, don’t mention what happened five years ago to anyone, including me. Just remember that I start being a ‘Zodiac’ from this moment on.”
“What…?” I didn’t understand. “Can you tell me why…?”
“No,” Aries replied. “I don’t think I need to explain everything I do to you.”
I stood in front of Aries and soon fell silent.
I kind of missed Jiang Ruoxue.
If she were here… maybe she would hit it off with Aries right away?
Although my personality had become a bit more outgoing than five years ago, I really didn’t know how to deal with someone like Aries.
He talked even less than I did, and had a sporadic aggressiveness.
But I knew I couldn’t just let things slide. I needed something from Aries—I needed him to help me become stronger. Maybe sometimes I needed to learn from Jiang Ruoxue…
“What are you thinking about?” I walked over and sat down beside Aries, asking.
“What…?” Aries probably hadn’t expected me to be so proactive. His eyes visibly froze for a moment.
“I see you spacing out all day… What’s constantly running through your mind?”
Aries slowly lowered his head after hearing this. The look in his eyes seemed almost bitter.
“Yeah… what am I thinking about?” Aries asked me back.
“I don’t know,” I shook my head. “Would you be willing to share what you’re pondering?”
“Yan Zhichun… what do you think is the motivation for everyone drifting around here to escape?” Aries asked instead.
“Motivation?” I thought about it, finding the question interesting. “I don’t quite understand the way you asked it. We were all dragged here from the real world. To escape a place like hell… does there need to be some clear motivation? Surely no one would be willing to stay here forever, right?”
“I think that’s too absolute,” Aries sighed. “There must be people who don’t want to leave… but the ones who don’t want to leave aren’t important. I just want to know… if someone absolutely must get out, what exactly is the motivation that keeps them going?”
I mulled it over for a moment, then said, “Probably ‘seeking gain and avoiding harm.’ As it says in *Memorial to General Liang Shang*, ‘As for seeking gain and avoiding harm, fearing death and loving life, these are universal.’ Everyone wants to escape dangerous places; no explicit motivation is needed.”
“Makes sense…” Aries nodded, but soon shook his head. “But seeking gain and avoiding harm is only the initial motivation… What if they find out over a long period that they can’t escape this place? Then what?”
I felt I was beginning to understand Aries’s question. He wasn’t asking about ordinary people’s motivations, but those of the strong.
“Brother Yang, for everyone, as long as they collect 3,600 ‘Dao,’ they can escape,” I said. “Because they don’t know the ‘truth.’ Even if they really collect them all, they’ll have their memories wiped and start over. The rulers here constantly impose the same motivation on them—that motivation traps everyone, and it traps this place too.”
Aries nodded after hearing this. “I almost forgot you’re a smart person. Talking with you is indeed rewarding.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Yes,” Aries agreed. “Yan Zhichun, let’s explore another hypothesis. Suppose someone retains their memory over a long time, knows everything about this place, and always finds that they can’t escape—would they still follow the instinct to ‘seek gain and avoid harm’?”
“Probably not,” I said. “People become strong first because they can ‘seek gain and avoid harm,’ and second because they have strong ‘adaptability.’ When a place is destined to be inescapable, they’ll find a way to live there stably—just like how the coldest and hottest places on Earth are still inhabited.”
“So he needs a ‘motivation,’” Aries said. “What kind of ‘motivation’ could make him resist all external pressure and focus single-mindedly on getting out?”
“Even knowing this place is inescapable… he still wants to leave?”
“Exactly…” Aries said.
“But you’re much smarter than me,” I said, puzzled. “Shouldn’t you be able to come up with a better way?”
“It’s because I can’t think of one that I need to discuss it with someone whose life path is different from mine,” Aries said. “Sometimes solutions don’t come from wisdom alone, but from experience.”
I nodded, but I really had no good answer.
The only reason I kept moving forward here was to “become stronger.” So for me, whether I could escape wasn’t the top priority.
Even if I did get out, I had to make sure my days in the “Land of Endings” weren’t wasted—every day, I would be stronger than I was yesterday.
So for me… the “motivation to leave at all costs” was rather abstract. Maybe I needed some time to think of an answer.
“I might need to think about it… maybe I’ll give you an answer later.”
“Alright. That *Memorial to General Liang Shang* you mentioned just now reminded me of something else,” Aries said to me. “Yan Zhichun, I remember you’re quite erudite.”
“I wouldn’t dare call myself erudite,” I shook my head. “It’s just that my innate wisdom isn’t strong, so I have to supplement with acquired knowledge barely to keep up with some monsters’ thinking.”
“Interesting,” Aries said. “From now on, bring me a book every day.”
“A book?”
“Yes. I know there’s a bookstore nearby, right on the way you come to see me. There should still be some undamaged books inside. Pick one up for me on your way every day—one book a day,” Aries said.
“But why not take several at once?” I asked again. “Wouldn’t that be more convenient?”
“I need to pay as I go. I finish one book each day,” Aries replied. “If I had two books at the same time, I’d subconsciously think ‘I still have two days left,’ which would lead to slack.”