Only Action Brings Answers

"Qiao Er, what brings you here?"

Linsey quickly stepped forward to greet him, and the young craftsman gave him a forced smile:

"Excuse me."

"I left in a hurry yesterday and forgot to return the key to you."

Qiao Er took out the key to the cabin and handed it back.

After Linsey took it, Qiao Er was about to leave, but Linsey stopped him in time:

"Qiao Er, don't rush off."

You look pale. Is something wrong? Do you need my help?

After being called back, Qiao Er stopped and sighed.

He knew he couldn't hide it from Linsey, so he put aside his inner turmoil and sat down in the front hall. "Linsey, you didn't even know you were here."

"My husband told me some things this morning."

"Last night, Lord Anrui returned from Black Mountain and summoned the Awakened Ones in the town for a rather intense meeting."

Linsey noticed the hesitation in the other person's tone. "A rather intense meeting?"

Qiao Er nodded. "It was very intense. To put it simply, many people in the meeting expressed their desire to leave the Hidden Borderlands."

Linsey asked tentatively, "I'm afraid Uncle Anrui won't allow such a thing to happen?"

Qiao Er agreed with Linsey's guess, "That's right, Lord Anrui reprimanded those who had such ideas on the spot, and the two sides had a big argument!"

Linsey pressed further, "And what was the final result?"

Qiao Er shook his head. "He was still Lord after all, and not everyone supported the idea of leaving the Hidden Borderlands. In the end, everyone argued and parted on bad terms."

"..."

Linsey gazed at the young craftsman in front of her.

From Qiao Er's expression, he could easily tell which side the other person was on.

After all, long before Linsey entrusted the task of making props to him, Qiao Er had repeatedly expressed his desire to leave the town.

It was only because of the threat posed by the Black Mountain Dragon Beast.

Most people, out of respect for life, would not choose to risk their lives to attempt illegal immigration.

Now, the situation is different.

The advancement of Dragon Beast is like planting a bomb on a countdown timer in Border Town, and it's a bomb whose detonation is uncertain! The crisis, coupled with unpredictability, and the thoughts of the awakened ones in the town, all add to the problem.

This is even more destructive than a clear-cut destruction!

Qiao Er suddenly asked Linsey, "Linsey, what's your opinion on this?"

Linsey candidly expressed her thoughts. "I certainly don't want everyone to be trapped in Hidden Borderlands indefinitely."

"If we are to choose to break through Black Mountain, I think we should first find a safe way, at least we can't let everyone blindly go to their deaths at the feet of the Dragon Beast."

Qiao Er sensed the conservative tone in Linsey's voice.

His tone immediately quickened considerably. "But do you know what? That Dragon Beast is advancing from the Seventh Stage to the Eighth Stage!"

"If it actually succeeds."

"What may be a faint glimmer of hope now could be completely gone by then!"

The concerns Qiao Er expressed.

This is also one of the biggest crises currently facing the Hidden Borderlands.

But what can the weak, the awakened ones in the town, do? Like, go to their doorstep and give the Dragon Beast that are in the midst of their intense advancement a treat? At this point, Qiao Er was already extremely agitated.

Linsey knew it was impossible to persuade the other party of their current thoughts through her personal opinion.

He decided to rephrase the question and let Qiao Er find the answer himself, "So Qiao Er, which do you think is more important, your life or leaving the Hidden Borderlands?"

Qiao Er was about to speak, but Linsey interrupted him immediately:

"Don't rush to answer me right away, think about it carefully!"

"..."

Interrupted by Linsey, Qiao Er blinked and began to think.

Once his thoughts had calmed down from that anxious state, he still couldn't give an answer. Instead, he shook his head with a bitter expression. "How could I possibly understand such a thing?"

"Linsey, I know you've always had a lot of ideas, that's why I wanted to ask for your opinion."

Next, Linsey told Qiao Er a story:

"Qiao Er, do you know?"

"Somewhere outside, before a war begins, people always preach the idea that honor is above all else, or that the mission to defend one's homeland is above all else."

"After the war ends, some people will preach that life is above all else and that life is incomparably precious."

"These two ideas are clearly contradictory, yet they were proposed by the same person."

"But in the context of the time, both ideas would be accepted by the vast majority of people, even if their previous ideas were contrary to them."

Which of these two statements do you think is correct?

The young craftsman was immediately speechless.

Given his upbringing, how could he possibly have considered such a question?

Qiao Er choked for a long time, but finally shook his head as before. "I... I don't understand."

Linsey walked over and patted Qiao Er on the shoulder.

He and the young craftsman walked out of the wooden house together, and the two walked side by side toward the town.

Linsey didn't tell Qiao Er.

These are all necessary propaganda efforts made to cope with the current situation, and there is no question of right or wrong.

He still gave a compromise answer:

"My thought is that none of them are correct, nor are they wrong."

"It's just that everyone's goals are different at different stages."

"The reality is the same; between every different choice, only concrete actions can tell him what the answer is for him."

With that, Linsey led the bewildered Qiao Er back to the Artisan's Cottage.

But as Linsey returned to the cabin under the cover of night, she couldn't help but sigh:

"This kind of problem..."

"How could someone like me, a terrible gamer, possibly solve this so easily?"

Being caught in this contradiction between human nature and reality.

Linsey's dilemma at this moment is the same as Qiao Er's, who just left.

He certainly hoped not to be confined to the Hidden Borderlands, but he also couldn't bear the thought of the townspeople losing their lives because of it.

If he could, Linsey would love to be like the protagonist in the game, rushing headlong into Black Mountain without a care in the world, hoping that some wonderful twist of fate would allow him to kill the Dragon Beast and resolve all the conflicts.

But reality often doesn't give people such opportunities.

As Linsey pondered this, her somber gaze gradually sharpened under the cover of night.

Based on his limited knowledge, he has now come up with some new speculations.

The conflict between Anrui and the awakened people in the town is essentially an irreconcilable ideological conflict.

A meeting that ends badly cannot be brought to a close.

This will inevitably cause a huge uproar in the town.

To put it more seriously, the town might eventually fall apart, or even erupt into violent internal conflict! "If all of this really happens, what should I do?"

As he pondered, Linsey's gaze finally settled on his own Attribute Panel, which represented the possibilities he possessed.

The answer was just as he had told Qiao Er: "The only way to solve a problem is through action."

"We must become stronger and address the root causes of the problem, otherwise things will only spiral out of control amidst the contradictions!"