The Flaw Hidden Deep Within the Heart

"What kind of person is a normal person?"

This question can be incredibly comical, or it can be profoundly philosophical.

The reason it is comical is simple: ordinary people do not ask such a question without a reason.

If someone around you were to suddenly ask such a question one day, your first reaction would surely be to laugh, right?

After all, a normal person would certainly not suddenly feel the urge to ask something like that.

The reason it is philosophical is even simpler; it is merely that, from an objective perspective, this question could just as easily become a debate topic rich with depth.

However, such a debate topic would never be proposed as a school assignment unless one had reached high school.

Yet, Fang Li posed this very question to his teacher on his first day of first grade.

That year, Fang Li was only eight years old.

One can imagine how awkward and bewildered the elementary school teacher standing at the podium and the surrounding group of ignorant children must have felt when such a question emerged from the mouth of an eight-year-old child.

From this point alone, Fang Li could already be considered anything but normal.

Such a question should absolutely not have come from an eight-year-old child.

And yet, no matter how you looked at it, Fang Li was actually a normal person.

When children his age were playing, Fang Li was playing too.

When children his age were causing trouble, Fang Li was causing trouble too.

When children his age were being innocent and naive, Fang Li was being innocent and naive too.

When children his age were babbling childish nonsense, Fang Li was babbling childish nonsense too.

In other words, Fang Li was neither precocious nor abnormal; both physically and mentally, he was a normal child.

It was just that, on his first day of elementary school at the age of eight, Fang Li couldn't help but ask that question.

Because, in his dawning awareness, Fang Li had discovered the one anomaly that made him different from everyone else.

That year, Fang Li was only seven years old.

Before the age of seven, Fang Li had always grown up as an ordinary child.

At that time, because his parents were busy working to support the family all day long, the person who spent the most time with Fang Li was his grandfather.

His grandfather doted on Fang Li very much.

When Fang Li wanted to play, his grandfather would play with him.

When Fang Li was scolded by his parents, his grandfather would step in to defend him.

When Fang Li bumped or scraped himself, his grandfather would comfort him through the unbearable pain.

When Fang Li took an interest in any toy, his grandfather would buy it for him, just to make Fang Li happy.

Therefore, Fang Li loved his grandfather very much as well.

Even after growing up, Fang Li could naturally tell those around him that the person he loved most was his grandfather.

When such a person disappears from your world, what would your reaction be?

In the past, Fang Li had never considered this question.

But in that year, when he was seven, Fang Li was forced to consider it.

"Wuu... wuuuuuu..."

Crying sounds echoed throughout the entire space.

Some were incredibly stifled, others unbridled, yet anyone could feel the sorrow and sadness within them.

Under the weight of those cries, the entire vast space was permeated with an atmosphere of mourning.

Influenced by the weeping, the ignorant children were caught up in the emotion, one after another bursting into loud sobs.

Fang Li stood in the midst of such an environment, one hand held by his mother, his gaze cast forward.

There, a black-and-white photograph was displayed.

The person in the photo was Fang Li's grandfather.

Looking at that photo, Fang Li truly missed his grandfather.

Fang Li knew that the people around him missed his grandfather too, which was why they were shedding tears at this moment.

However, Fang Li could not shed a single tear.

Even though his parents were crying, and the adults and children around him were crying, Fang Li still could not cry.

And so, Fang Li asked.

"Mom, why is everyone crying?"

At that time, his mother, streaming with tears, answered Fang Li like this.

"...Because, Grandpa is never coming back."

Fang Li knew.

This fact, Fang Li was still aware of.

Fang Li knew that Grandfather would never come back.

However...

"But, why must one cry because of this?"

When Fang Li asked such a question, his mother's expression was one of both surprise and confusion.

Then, his mother answered Fang Li like this.

"Grandfather won't be coming back; normal people would feel sad and upset, so they cry."

Hearing these words, Fang Li said nothing more.

However, deep within Fang Li's heart, there was a question.

"Should normal people cry at a time like this?"

It was precisely because of this that, at the age of eight, Fang Li posed that very question to his teacher.

Only after growing up did Fang Li realize that it was indeed a matter of course.

The passing of a loved one, to a normal person, should naturally be met with tears.

Because to feel sad, to feel upset—that is what makes a person normal.

From the perspective of psychology, when a person's subjective world and objective world share a principle of unity, they are considered normal.

Because the psyche is a reflection of objective reality, any normal psychological activity and behavior must maintain consistency with the objective environment, even if only in form and content.

When a person's spirit or psyche loses its unity with the external environment, that person will inevitably be misunderstood.

At that point, this person becomes an anomaly.

Therefore, according to this theory, Fang Li was not a normal person.

That day, Fang Li did not cry.

When others were sad and upset, Fang Li's heart felt only calm.

When others found things to be a matter of course, Fang Li's heart felt only confusion.

When others were weeping and shedding tears, Fang Li's heart felt only surprise.

Being so out of place, even to the point of being called cold-blooded and heartless, how could he not be an anomaly?

After all, the person in question had raised him since he was small, had a wonderful relationship with him, and was his favorite relative.

Such a person had passed away and would never be seen again; precisely because he was a child, shouldn't he have been even more sad and upset?

Yet, from beginning to end, Fang Li never felt a shred of sadness, a shred of grief, or even the slightest impulse to shed a single tear.

At the time, the adults did not pay attention to this, assuming Fang Li simply did not understand the meaning of death, or perhaps he was just precocious and hadn't been influenced or swept up by the crying of the other children.

Only Fang Li, in his state of ignorance, understood one thing.

That was...

"I am different from the people around me..."

That was Fang Li's only thought at the time.

After growing up, Fang Li understood why he had been that way back then.

It was not only because Fang Li had begun to mature, but also because he had inevitably experienced a few more similar events.

At those times, Fang Li was still unable to cry, unable to feel sad or upset.

Then, Fang Li understood.

No matter how important someone was to him, or how close they were, once they died, he would absolutely never shed a single tear, nor would he feel a hint of sadness.

It was not that Fang Li was immature, nor was it that Fang Li was overly cold-blooded or heartless.

It was merely a defect.

A personality defect that Fang Li had begun to vaguely sense at the age of seven, hidden deep within his heart.

"I have no way to develop feelings toward the death of others..."

Then...

"I must also have no way to develop feelings toward my own death..."

This fact was confirmed in the year Fang Li turned eighteen.

"Bang—!"

It was an incredibly loud sound of impact.

The moment the sound of the impact rang out, Fang Li felt the world spin, and when his vision finally cleared, the first thing that entered his sight was the sky.

However, this sky was gradually being dyed red, and bit by bit, it was being replaced by black.

The red appeared because Fang Li's irises began to bleed.

The black appeared because Fang Li's consciousness began to fade.

In this moment, Fang Li felt as if his body no longer belonged to him; he could not move, and he could not even feel anything.

Fang Li's only sensation was—heat.

Very hot.

Extremely hot.

His entire body was burning up.

All around him, pedestrians began to gather, appearing within Fang Li's blurred field of vision.

Fang Li had no way of hearing what they were saying.

However, Fang Li could sense a wave of panic and fear permeating the surroundings.

And as his body burned, it felt as if something vital was draining away, causing the ground beneath him to grow damp.

Fang Li turned his head with great difficulty and saw the asphalt road mere inches away.

There, it was gradually being dyed red.

Dyed red by the blood flowing from Fang Li's entire body.

Thus, Fang Li finally understood.

The vital thing draining from his body was not just blood, but life itself.

At the same time, Fang Li finally realized what had happened.

A car accident.

Just a sudden, unexpected accident.

Accidents like this happen over one hundred thousand times a year in this country.

Fang Li was merely one of those one hundred thousand traffic accidents this year.

"So that's how it is..."

Fang Li accepted his fate in an instant.

There was no unwillingness, no resentment, not even fear or resistance.

After all, Fang Li was incapable of feeling any emotion toward "death."

This was a fact he had vaguely realized since he was seven years old.

Now, it was simply being confirmed.

If there was one thought Fang Li had regarding his impending death, it was only this.

"Where exactly do people go after they die?"

Carrying this thought, Fang Li closed his eyes.

At the very instant Fang Li completely lost consciousness, a cold, mechanical voice flooded his mind.

Number 11273 has entered the Main God Space.