Chapter 1431: Good and Evil Have Boundaries
Li Kun thought what Duan Cheng said made sense. "The key to both tasks is still the gem. It's a pity we can't use communicators in the fairy tale world, otherwise we could find out the situation in Moon City in advance."
Now the key to the two clearance tasks lay in one in Gem City and one in Moon City. With seven days, if they went to Moon City, it basically meant giving up on the first task.
"Then we need to think of a legitimate way to enter the castle," Yan Jiayu said. "Sneaking in will definitely get us chased and beaten."
"Are there any recruitment notices or something from the castle?" Xu Huo asked. "The daily delivery of fresh vegetables and fruits to the castle should also be a channel."
"That's a way, but it's a bit time-consuming." Duan Cheng nodded. The key issue was that they couldn't directly replace the people going in and out of the castle. To blend into their ranks and get in, they'd have to build good relations with the residents.
"Never thought I'd be looking for a job in a fairy tale world one day." Li Kun sighed.
"Aren't you bounty hunters?" Yan Jiayu said. "Don't you have to go catch thieves with the others during the day?"
"That requires knowing information about the gems and the thieves first." Duan Cheng glanced at her.
"Didn't three thieves come out last night?" Yan Jiayu said matter-of-factly. "If we catch the thief who broke into the castle, can't we also enter the castle legitimately?"
Li Kun and Duan Cheng exchanged a glance and actually found it somewhat reasonable.
But there was uncertainty involved. After all, based on the information they had gathered earlier, those players who had brought "thieves" and gems hadn't managed to enter the castle.
"At least that person broke into the castle last night and must have taken something out. Even if it's not the previous gem, other things are still stolen goods." Yan Jiayu said firmly.
"Are you planning to catch people too?" Duan Cheng asked Xu Huo.
"Let's split up," Xu Huo said. "We still have performances at night, and we need to prepare things during the day. If we can't catch last night's player or disguise ourselves as delivery vendors to enter the castle, this is also a backup plan. Maybe the king will want to see a circus performance from out of town."
Although he thought the possibility was slim, and even if successful, it would likely take up most of the clearance time, Duan Cheng and Li Kun had no objections. Because it meant no loss for them. If Xu Huo's path really worked out, they would just need to pretend to be circus members and follow him into the castle, saving a lot of trouble.
After discussion, it was decided that Xu Huo would follow the original plan to purchase items, Yan Jiayu and Duan Cheng would go after last night's player, and Li Kun would look for a job.
The four split up on the street. Xu Huo followed the map given by the Gem City locals and even bought a cart in advance to carry the purchased items. To make the evening performance look more plausible, he added some puppets, plush toys, and pinwheels that children often played with.
Although the daytime residents of Gem City had returned to their normal lives, the topic of conversation still revolved around last night's thief. Xu Huo listened as he walked, occasionally stopping to chat while buying things.
"Why have there been so many thieves coming and going lately, and even breaking into the castle? Could there be bad people inside the castle?" Xu Huo probed.
To his surprise, the residents he asked all laughed. "A criminal could never hide in the castle. When they commit a crime, a criminal's mark is stamped on them. Everyone can recognize them at a glance."
As for how they could tell, they were vague. But this vagueness wasn't due to deliberate concealment; rather, they considered "recognizing a criminal at a glance" to be a matter of course, just like they could instantly tell whether someone standing before them was a Gem City local or an outsider.
"Could the thief have escaped outside the city?" Xu Huo asked again.
The people of Gem City had the same concern and added, "If they escape outside the city, then they can't be punished."
"That's right," another person said. "People who have committed crimes can never enter the city again, and the lost things can never be recovered."
"As long as we can keep the criminals outside the gates, that's fine." The residents were good at self-comfort, and soon smiles returned to their faces as they said with longing, "Gem City has always been so peaceful."
Xu Huo pushed his cart to the next place, where he met a vendor who had been to Moon City. He asked whether the escaped criminal might have gone to Moon City, bringing danger there.
The vendor clearly had the same worry, because the laws of Moon City and Gem City regarding criminals were different. Although the ultimate consequence of crime was execution, after the new king of Moon City ascended the throne last year, some "criminal acts" had been abolished, such as accidentally entering someone else's house, accidentally stepping on someone's flowers, or whipping animals.
The last one, whipping animals, particularly angered the vendor. "Animals are humanity's good friends. If they turn on their masters, there must be a special reason. How can you beat them recklessly!"
Note that in Gem City, there were only two concepts for animals: one was poultry, raised specifically for eating, and the other was livestock, half-pet and half-labor. The vendor was referring to the latter.
As for other creatures like snakes, insects, rats, and ants, they generally only existed in the wild. The people of this instance world viewed them no differently than outsiders.
From this, it was clear that Gem City had clear standards for good and evil, and no one could cross that line.
Naturally, when mentioning this, one might have to talk about children. In fairy tales, children often broke rules out of innocence. Even after receiving education, it took time. This instance world wasn't like the Platinum Eye, which could use robots for all-around protection, so they made a concession: children who committed violations before reaching a certain age wouldn't be considered criminals, including murder.
Of course, children in the fairy tale world wouldn't be evil enough to commit murder. The most common offenses were sneaking into someone else's house to play, secretly taking an adult's things, or lying to deceive others—none of which generally had serious consequences.
Then, upon reaching the designated age, children would have learned from adults what was permissible and what was criminal, and they would officially enter a new stage, becoming one of the guardians of the rules.
What was amazing was that Gem City's laws were not public. The only legal document was inside the king's castle.
In other words, Gem City wouldn't actively tell outsiders what behavior constituted a crime, and outsiders had no way to find out what they couldn't do. But once a crime was committed, everyone would know that someone had committed a crime, and it would only be written out at the time of execution.
"A mentally sound person knows very well what behavior is allowed and what behavior infringes on others. There's no need to write it down in black and white." The shop owner said to Xu Huo with a smile.
(Chapter End)