Linhai Prefecture.
After parting ways with Jiang Wang, Lin Youxie kept her face impassive.
The Green Badges had their own secret channels and could find places to rest anywhere. But Uriel had not used the Green Badges' resources in a long time.
The two walked among the crowds like any ordinary grandfather and granddaughter, close and at ease.
"In a bad mood?" Uriel asked casually. "Because of Jiang Green Sheep's attitude?"
He did not think Lin Youxie had any special feelings for Jiang Wang. They had spent so little time together; it could not have gone that far.
But Jiang Wang was an outstanding young man by any measure, and being treated by him like a venomous snake was bound to make anyone doubt themselves.
Lin Youxie did not deny it. She only asked, "If he's a good person, and he dislikes me, does that mean I'm a bad person?"
Uriel smiled. "The standards by which the world judges good and evil are not always the same as the right and wrong the Green Badges uphold."
"You're not a good person, and neither am I. But neither of us is a bad person, either. The law is rules and statutes. A true Green Badge must first cast aside the labels of good and bad, and obey only the law."
"It's perfectly normal for Jiang Green Sheep to give us a wide berth. Anyone we keep an eye on will hate us. But that's no reason to doubt ourselves, and we don't need to change because of it."
"An outstanding Green Badge is bound to be hated by people and ghosts alike. The more outstanding, the more so. Because we follow the rules and leave human feelings out of it."
Uriel opened his palm and traced its lines, as if counting