Subjectivity

Why was that?

Ling Xiao had never considered that question before.

But she had no clue either, so she could not follow that line of thought any further. Instead, she continued asking, "So... what conclusion have you reached, Senior?"

She did not care what the answer actually was. She only wanted to know Li Qi's thoughts, to infer Li Qi's spirit and bearing through the combination of his thoughts and actions.

Li Qi replied, "Tell me, does everyone's mutual distrust and mutual oppression stem from a fundamental inability for people to understand one another?"

"Hm?" Ling Xiao was surprised.

Wait. Thinking about it carefully, that did seem to be the case.

People naturally distrusted one another. You did not know whether the other person bore goodwill or ill will, nor what designs they had on you, so you naturally remained on guard.

The reason for this distrust was that no one could sense another's thoughts or understand what others were thinking.

"This really is... a very simple idea, but one that is easily overlooked. Still, what use is it? You can't possibly read minds, and even if you could, you couldn't be sure whether what you read was true or false. This deduction doesn't seem to mean much," Ling Xiao said after pondering it.

"No, how could it be meaningless?" Li Qi said. "In fact, it is the foundation of every deduction."

"On one side, there is cold indifference devoid of human feeling and selfishness with a heart of stone. On the other, there is indescribable poverty. The cause of all this is precisely this distrust."

"A few days ago, we went together to observe the residences beside the city's mining district. Did you see them?" Li Qi asked.

"I was watching you the whole time, Senior. I wanted to