Chapter 8: A Question of Existence

When you can see and hear people others can’t, talk and interact with them, even touch them and receive their protection, should these people be considered real or not?

Chen Jing had encountered many individuals with Mental Alterations and dealt with numerous cases.

She’d seen all sorts of madness and bizarre things, finding little surprising anymore. But right now, she felt things were truly strange.

She just felt that Lu Xin, saying these things, seemed incredibly earnest and lucid.

Calmness and madness, normalcy and strangeness—completely different sensations were somehow coexisting within one person.

An urgent voice came through her earpiece: “Section Chief Chen, armed backup is ready. You need to make a final assessment for him as soon as possible!”

Chen Jing remained silent. Across from her, Lu Xin was also silent.

Both seemed lost in thought, contemplating many issues.

Chen Jing quickly made up her mind. She had dealt with many Mental Alteration cases and similar incidents of mental breakdown, possessing considerable experience. After a moment of serious consideration, she looked intently at Lu Xin and said, “I only have one question. If all your abilities come from your family, can you guarantee they won’t randomly influence you?”

She didn’t deny the existence of Lu Xin’s “family,” merely questioned if they would affect him.

Lu Xin looked up at her. “You’re worried they’ll take control of my body, aren’t you?”

Chen Jing didn’t deny it.

To her, the most dangerous aspect of the man before her was the uncertainty of whether he might suddenly become someone else.

Lu Xin considered this question seriously.

He was very aware of his current state. When the symptoms first appeared, he spent a long time in the library.

He read every book related to “mental illness.”

It was from these books he learned about the myriad problems the human mind could have: Dissociative Identity Disorder, Capgras Delusion, Angelman Syndrome, Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, Claustrophobia, and so on. Some he could understand from the name, others were completely opaque in meaning, but he carefully analyzed the symptoms.

Based on what he learned, he made a self-diagnosis.

Schizophrenia?

It sounded somewhat similar, but Lu Xin vaguely felt his condition wasn’t ordinary dissociation.

He’d always wanted to understand what was happening to him and whether his symptoms could be cured.

So, when he first met this woman and heard her talk about things like “Mental Alteration,” he felt a flicker of hope. Maybe they could cure him? Or perhaps, in their view, his state was explainable, not madness but a different kind of normal. But seeing her reaction…

Lu Xin knew that hope was misplaced.

If she saw him as normal, why would she be so wary?

He didn’t like being watched with such cautious eyes.

So he chose his words carefully, slowly replying, “Actually, you don’t need to worry. My family members are all very good people!”

“My sister is a lovely child, she likes toys and running around;”

“My father enjoys cooking, he’s very honest and always stays in the kitchen;”

“My mother is very gentle, she never argues with anyone, preferring to reason things out…”

“…”

Watching his earnest reply, Chen Jing felt extremely conflicted.

This person was too normal…

He was describing people who didn’t actually exist with such a serious, normal demeanor…

The clearer his descriptions became, the tighter Chen Jing’s nerves grew.

She lit a cigarette to mask her feelings. The voice in her earpiece was still urging her.

She had many options: revoke the recruitment offer immediately, raise his monitoring level, or even use her ability to eliminate him right here in this quiet bar as a potential threat.

But thinking about his usual behavior and the current situation in the High-wall City, she hesitated.

Finally, she made her decision. She took an envelope from beside her, pushed it across to Lu Xin, and looked him in the eye. “I arranged the surveillance on you. Test results are most objective when the subject is unaware, so we kept it from you beforehand. But you passed the test and helped us eliminate that level-one Mental Monster!”

“So, consider this a completed commission. This is your payment!”

Lu Xin paused, then picked up the envelope. Peeking inside, he saw rolls of paper money.

Each bill had a denomination of fifty yuan.

Lu Xin’s slightly disappointed expression suddenly lit up.

“That’s ten thousand yuan!”

Chen Jing spared him the trouble of counting, stating the amount directly.

“Ten thousand?”

A distinct change came over Lu Xin’s face.

After the Red Moon Incident, the currency system had been reset. His current monthly salary at the company was one thousand.

And he was a model employee!

“You earned it!”

Chen Jing smiled, looking at Lu Xin’s slightly astonished face. “Besides, with these abilities, making money shouldn’t be hard for you!”

“It’s still pretty hard…”

Lu Xin thought silently, taking the paper envelope and clutching it. “I happen to need money right now!”

Chen Jing looked thoughtful, thinking, “He likes money. Danger index can drop a bit…”

Lu Xin seemed noticeably nervous. He hesitated, then asked quietly, “Do you always pay this much?”

“It will be more than this!”

Chen Jing explained, “This time, because the Mental Monster was already investigated, contained, and controlled, we could have easily eliminated it even without your help. That’s why the reward was only ten thousand yuan. Normally, when an Action Team member completes an investigation and elimination task, the approved compensation is around thirty thousand yuan…”

“Thirty thousand…”

Lu Xin didn’t notice anything else.

He was clearly stunned, a hint of excitement flickering in his expression.

“That’s right!”

Seeing his reaction, Chen Jing felt more reassured. She smiled, “You won’t be short of money anymore!”

Lu Xin really, really liked the sound of that!

…

…

It wasn’t dark yet when they left the bar. The red sunset spread across the dilapidated city.

In the southern sky, the moon, tinged faintly red, already hung near the horizon.

“Ten thousand yuan, just given to me like that?”

Lu Xin still found it somewhat unbelievable.

He hadn’t realized before that he possessed the ability to earn so much money at once.

But he liked this money, and he needed it.

Letting out a soft sigh, Lu Xin gathered himself and went to the bus stop, waiting for the Number 2 bus. He swayed on the bus for an hour, arriving at the east side of Satellite City, in front of a stretch of low, dilapidated buildings. He walked through several alleys, past listless vendors and drunks leaning against walls clutching wine bottles, until he reached a particular house.

Compared to the surrounding decay and ruin, this house seemed bright.

Perhaps it was because the walls were spray-painted with numerous cartoon characters in blue and yellow.

This was a small orphanage.

A rusty iron sign on the iron gate read “Red Moon Elementary School”!

Lu Xin undid the tangled wire mesh and entered the elementary school grounds. The old man in the security booth, reading a newspaper, heard the noise. Seeing it was Lu Xin, he didn’t stop him, just nodded and went back to his paper.

This elementary school had only one classroom; the other buildings were dilapidated and filled with junk.

Lu Xin approached the classroom and saw inside a girl in a wheelchair, wearing a white sweater, playing games with a dozen or so children. The oldest among them were seven or eight, the youngest only two or three. Their clothes were simple but washed clean, and their eyes were bright.

Were they playing Eagle Catches Chick?

So childish!

Lu Xin didn’t disturb them. He placed the paper envelope into the rusty mailbox by the classroom door. Worried the girl in the wheelchair wouldn’t notice it, he plucked a handful of wildflowers from nearby and placed them on top of the mailbox so she’d know he’d been there.

Then he quietly left the classroom area.

As he passed the security booth, the old guard, still reading his paper, said without looking up, “Why don’t you just tell her? Every time, you pick a handful of flowers and put them there. Isn’t it hard work for this old man to grow this patch of flowers? You’re about to make it bald…”

Lu Xin felt a bit awkward and quickly smiled, “I’ll come over on the weekend and treat you to drinks, old sir!”

“No need!”

The old man’s gaze didn’t shift towards him. “When you come, I’ll treat you. I still have peanuts!”

“Alright!”

Lu Xin agreed with a smile, walked out of the kindergarten, and slowly headed towards the bus stop.

“Come on, I’ll give you a ride!”

A Jeep pulled up beside him. Chen Jing smiled and opened the passenger door for him.

“Okay!”

Lu Xin agreed. Otherwise, getting home would take at least half an hour.

After getting into the car this time, Chen Jing directly tossed another bag over.

Lu Xin excitedly opened it, only to feel a little disappointed. It was full of files.

Chen Jing looked ahead, speaking naturally to Lu Xin, “Starting now, you are preliminarily accepted into the Action Team!”

“Uh, okay…”

Lu Xin paused for a moment, then agreed, not quite processing it immediately.

Chen Jing, driving, didn’t offer further explanation.

The first thing someone does after receiving a ‘huge sum’ of money often reveals their deepest desires and true nature. If Lu Xin had taken the money to feast and drink, her assessment would be average. If he’d used it for more indulgent activities, her assessment would drop drastically, and she would never recruit him.

But this man gave his unprecedented ‘fortune’ directly to the orphanage.

Chen Jing couldn’t imagine someone like that losing control.