Extreme Good and Evil

Chapter 39: Extreme Good and Evil

Facing a group of vicious individuals, the girl took the initiative to offer to stay behind and let the others seek help.

If they hadn't known anything, Linton and Iris might have found the girl brave. But knowing the boundless malice in her mind, they couldn't help but suspect her motives in the worst possible way.

"Bad feeling?" Caven looked at the two curiously. "What's wrong, are you feeling unwell? I have some leftover herbs at home."

"We're fine," Linton said, glancing up slightly. "Caven, in your eyes, what kind of child is Bella?"

He needed to confirm it once more.

"Huh?"

The question stunned Caven, who fell into a long period of thought.

After a long while, he slowly said, "Bella is a bit clumsy, but she's actually a very good person."

Caven's description made Linton and Iris freeze again.

"I say, how accurate are your feelings?" Iris looked at the man suspiciously. "You said Bella's head was full of bad ideas, and I almost thought her parents were deliberately... But this child says she's a good kid. Help, I feel like my brain is going to break."

"You should trust a Necromancer's sensitivity to the state of the soul," Linton mused for a moment, then asked Caven, "Bella is clumsy? I thought she was quite smart?"

"Not at all!" Caven retorted. "She'd fall in by the river while walking, and in the mountains, she'd always be caught by fierce beasts. She could climb trees but was afraid to come down. There are many similar things. Don't you think she's clumsy?"

"..." Linton wanted to ask more, but the girl beside him suddenly tugged at his sleeve.

Linton took out a few candies from his bag and handed them to Caven and the others. "Thank you. I'll take care of these flowers. You guys go play."

"Okay!"

"Wow, this candy is sweeter than what the merchants give!"

"Thank you, brother!"

After they left, Linton crouched down and gazed at the girl who was lowering her head, afraid to look at him.

"Bella?"

Bella looked up, her expression sorrowful. "Big brother, I remember now."

"You guessed right, I killed my parents."

"I didn't like them, so I tricked Caven and the others, saying that fierce bad guys were chasing us, and had them go find my parents. Then, I really led them to those bad guys..."

"They say I'm clumsy, but I was actually doing it on purpose every time."

"I deliberately fell into the water, and then let those who couldn't swim save me. I also deliberately lured the fierce beasts over. When they saved me, I hid behind and watched them get bitten to death. When climbing trees, I hid stones in the trees, and when someone caught me below, I'd throw the stones down..."

"—I am the real villain."

"You..."

Iris's face was filled with disbelief.

She finally understood how immense the malice Linton had spoken of truly was.

A child could use others' kindness to commit such heinous acts.

Linton's feelings were not wrong; she was indeed a wicked person full of malice.

"Why!!"

Bella's eyes were somewhat numb. "I hate them, I hate all of them! I hate that they have things they like."

"My parents liked flowers, so I broke all their flowers; they liked adventure, so I led them to their deaths on an adventure..."

"A total of seventeen people, four adults and thirteen children, were all killed by me like this!"

"—Just because I hated them."

"Just because of that?"

Iris felt as if something was squeezing her heart, making it difficult to breathe for a moment.

She extended a trembling finger to point at Bella, her lips parting, but no words came out.

Even if she exhausted all her vocabulary, she could hardly describe such a simple sin in words.

"There's something wrong with your story."

Iris and Bella froze simultaneously and turned their heads to look at Linton, who had suddenly spoken.

The Necromancer said calmly, "People died because of you every time. Didn't they suspect you? These people are kind, but it happened at least seventeen times. Unless they were mindless puppets, they would definitely notice your abnormality, right?"

"I don't know why," Bella said blankly. "Even though I was right in front of them sometimes, they still thought I didn't do it on purpose. Even if their own children died, they still thought it was an accident..."

"Are you still believing she's innocent at this point? Still trying to whitewash her?" Iris asked, confused. "She admitted it herself. That's seventeen lives!"

Linton shook his head and fell into thought.

After a long while, he slowly said, "I won't try to deny what has already happened. I'm just thinking... Iris, don't you find this village very strange?"

"What do you mean?" The girl was stunned. "Besides the villagers being a bit simple and kind, what else is strange?"

"It's their kindness that's strange," Linton sighed. "They readily welcome strangers; they refuse to accept compensation deliberately left by guests. I can understand these as good intentions, but if they still defend the killer even after their own child dies before their eyes, it can't be explained by simple kindness."

"Also, don't you think these children are too easily fooled?"

"Huh?"

While Linton's previous statement made some sense, Iris didn't really agree with his latest point.

She herself was constantly being played by him, both ways.

"Shall we do an experiment?"

Seeing that the girl seemed somewhat unconvinced, Linton walked out on his own.

"Wait a moment."

Iris scratched her beautiful blonde hair.

They were supposed to be having a criticism session, so why had it suddenly turned into an experimental exchange?

She hesitated for a moment, about to go out and follow him, but then glanced at the numb, stiff girl. She then pulled the girl out with her, as if carrying a small chick.

"What kind of experiment are you going to do? Are you trying to prove that this guy is actually innocent?"

Linton shook his head, not answering.

He looked around, and upon spotting a man weeding in the yard, he strode right in.

Seeing how reckless he was, Iris immediately shouted, "Hey, isn't it a bit rude to barge into someone's house without saying hello? Huh?"

She stared blankly as the Necromancer apologized and then pushed the man who was weeding aside.

"What is this for?"

Soon, her confusion deepened.

The man who was pushed down patted his butt, stood up, and asked Linton with concern, "Are you alright?"

Linton shook his head. "I did it on purpose."

"No, no, no, how could you do it on purpose?" The man waved his hands repeatedly. "Is the ground by my door too slippery? You must have slipped on it while passing by and accidentally pushed me down. How could you have done it on purpose?"

Iris's pupils suddenly constricted, and a chill ran down her spine.

A stranger barged into your house, inexplicably pushed you down, and then you worried about their well-being and even made excuses for them?

She finally understood why Linton had called this kind of kindness abnormal.

The Necromancer returned to Iris's side and said calmly, "I've been recalling the scenes since we entered the village. I've realized that whether it was the owner of the house where we stayed, the old lady, or those children, they all viewed us in the best possible light, never suspecting us of any ill intentions."

"They believed me without question when I said we were travelers and friends of Bella. Bella actually dislikes flowers and only likes to break things her parents like, but in the eyes of others, she broke the flowers because of her physical condition. Those children simply thought she broke the flowers because she liked to snap them. Even when I deliberately pushed someone in front of them, he still found excuses to defend me."

"No matter what we did, they didn't think we were wrong. Even if we were wrong, there were reasons beyond our control."

"I didn't realize this problem before. I also thought the reason was the 'kind and simple' nature I imagined. However, when I started to doubt this 'goodwill,' I discovered that this village was full of problems."

"But didn't you say… you had come to this village before and investigated, and found no problems?"

"Because I didn't stay here long back then, and Bella wasn't with me."

Linton said faintly, "Iris, I mentioned before that Bella's other emotions were suppressed, and her malice was amplified. What if the others in this village are the opposite?"

"If Bella's actions were extreme, pure evil, then perhaps they are the opposite…"

"—Extreme Good!"

He looked up at the sky, gazing at the ethereal quest panel.

[Pursuit, The Void's Mirage]

Pursuit, pursuit.

Is the second part of the quest, the part that requires exploration and decryption, this mutually opposing abnormal phenomenon?

Thanks to the boss "Zang Zhi Tuo Kui" for the reward of 1500 Qidian coins, thank you very much! orz!