"Really?" Dean held the steering wheel tightly, "Because there were several times when I felt that something was not right with you. For example, when Cass was going to execute the child at Birch's house just now, I felt that Bai and I were the only ones who were opposing it."
"I'm right next to you." Sam said.
"Really?" Dean's voice was a little deep, "To be honest, I feel like Bai and I are the only ones who think it's inappropriate. You stand over there with Cass."
Sam retracted his gaze and looked at the road ahead, his tone still calm. "I stand with you. But we need information, there is no other way. We can't let that angel go because of a child."
"I know we need information. But that's a child, Sam." Dean's voice was a little tight, "We tortured a child. Just for a name. I feel like you don't care at all."
"You are thinking too much."
"I just want to understand." Dean paused and turned to look at him, "You have changed, Sam. You know it yourself, right? You have been different since you came back from Hell."
"Yes, I know." Sam admitted frankly.
"Really?" Dean was stunned for a moment, he thought Sam would deny it.
"I have been hunting monsters this year, and have been wandering in the wild." Sam shrugged, with a nonchalant tone, "Maybe it's a bit rough. I've seen too many dead people, so I don't make a fuss about it."
"I understand." Dean nodded, his tone softer, "But I always feel that you haven't told me the truth. You have been to Hell, Sam. I know how tortured that place can be, and I know what it feels like. I think it is still torturing you now."
"That's true for you."
"What?" Dean didn't understand.
Sam turned to look at him, his eyes were very calm, without a trace of ripples in his eyes. "You know the impact Hell has on you, it tortures you, and I think it still does now. But Dean, I'm fine. I got over it."
"So you are saying that you are better than me?" Dean's tone was a bit harsh.
"No." Sam shook his head and looked out the window, "I'm just saying that we are different."
Dean didn't speak any more, but his brows furrowed even more tightly. He looked at his brother's profile reflected in the car window, the familiar outline, but with an unfamiliar coldness.
The car continued to drive forward, and the road ahead was like ink that could not be melted. The uneasiness in his heart became more and more intense - Sam who came back from Hell seemed to have left the softest part of his soul in the darkness forever.
The Sam who would feel sorry for strangers, be soft-hearted, and feel guilty seems to be missing.
Bai Haorui in the back seat suddenly opened his eyes.
He opened his mouth to break the silence, his voice was very calm, but it was like a stone thrown into calm water.
"It's not that it's rough. It's that the core of the soul is missing and the ability to empathize is blunted."
Sam's body suddenly stiffened and he froze. He slowly turned his head and looked at Bai Haorui in the back seat, with a trace of imperceptible panic in his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"I have explored your soul." Bai Haorui looked at him with a calm tone, but with unquestionable certainty, "When we were at Birch's house, you were standing next to me and I took a glance. The shell of your soul was intact, but a piece of the core was missing.
Pain, pity, guilt, these emotions that should be there are all sealed up. So you can't feel other people's pain, and you don't feel the need to care."
Dean slammed on the brakes.
Impala made a "squeak" sound, the tires screeched against the ground, and suddenly stopped on the side of the road.
He turned his head, his eyes widened, and his voice changed tone. "What?! The soul is missing? Haorui, please explain clearly! How can the soul be missing?"
"The one who came back from Hell is not the complete Sam." Bai Haorui looked at Sam and said slowly, "Part of your soul remains in Hell's Cage. In other words, someone only sent your body and memory back, but not the whole soul."
Sam's face turned pale a little. He pursed his lips, said nothing, and quietly clenched his trouser legs with his hands.
In fact, he had already vaguely felt it.
After he came back from Hell, he realized that something was wrong with him. He would not be sad or guilty. Facing death and pain, he would not have any trouble in his heart, just like a bystander. He kept lying to himself that it was the experience of Hell that made him stronger and grew up.
But Bai Haorui's words directly exposed the truth.
It turns out that I am not strong, but a piece is missing.
"How could..." Dean's mind went blank. He looked at Sam's pale face, and his heart hurt like a knife. "Then what should I do? Haorui, can I get it back?"
"Yes. But it's difficult." Bai Haorui shook his head, "First of all, we need to know who pulled him out and what deal was made. Campbell Family's collective resurrection is absolutely inseparable from this matter. Your grandfather's family is not that simple."
Dean looked at Sam, feeling hurt and angry in his heart. What hurt was that his brother had suffered such a big crime, and he didn't even know it. What was angry was that he clearly knew something was wrong, but he kept hiding it from himself and didn't say anything.
"Sam, why didn't you say something about such a big thing?" Dean's voice was a little hoarse.
"What's the use of saying it." Sam turned away and looked at the night outside the window, his voice was a bit stiff, "Let you worry about it? Or should I ask you to give up Lisa and Ben to find my soul? It's not necessary."
"What do you mean it's unnecessary!" Dean's voice suddenly rose, "You are my brother! You are my only family member! How can it be okay if you are missing a piece of your soul?"
"Okay."
Bai Haorui interrupted their quarrel.
"It's useless to argue now. The top priority is to find out the transaction behind the Campbell Family and find Sam's missing soul; second, keep an eye on the situation of Heaven's civil war. If Raphael suffers a loss, he will definitely take revenge. The sacred object in Balthazar's hands must not fall into the hands of Raphael."
Dean took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He looked out the window at the overwhelmingly thick night, feeling heavy in his heart.
God is gone, Heaven is in chaos, the monster is out of control, and even Sam has lost a piece of its soul.
They fought hard, shattered Apocalypse's fate, and won their freedom.
But what's the result?
"So..." Dean's voice was a little hoarse, "The freedom we fought so hard to win has resulted in such a mess?"
Bai Haorui looked at the rapidly retreating tree shadows outside the window, his tone was calm, but with deep meaning.
"Destiny is a shackle, but shackles also mean order. It is easy to break the shackles, but it is difficult to establish a new order. Heaven is like this, and the world is like this too."
The carriage became quiet again.
Dean slowly thought about this sentence, and suddenly understood something in his heart.
The current situation is no longer black and white.
In the pattern of Heaven, Castiel wants to reestablish order, Raphael wants to restore the old system, and Balthazar is the third person who is chaotic and neutral;
In the division of camps, angels and hunters are two sides, and Bai Haorui is a third person who is independent of the two parties and acts according to his own rules;
Even in his brotherly relationship with Sam, in addition to the brother he was familiar with, there was now this third person who was soulless, strange and cold.
Three "third persons", triple chaos.
No one can use simple standards of right and wrong to judge, and there is no established script to follow. Everyone is groping in chaos and bearing the price of freedom.
Dean restarted the car.