Chapter 215: Destiny, Good and Evil
"Boom."
White lightning flashed across the sky as the rain continued to fall without any sign of stopping.
On the eve of a natural disaster, the weather often undergoes certain changes. This rain is likely to continue for a long time.
The two went to an unimpressive old detached villa in the Dawn District, holding their umbrellas.
As the villa door was pushed open, Mu Ling followed Yin's footsteps inside.
When she closed her umbrella, she couldn't help but ask:
"Why didn't your younger brother come to pick you up? Come to think of it, we left early. Did we miss him?"
Yin fell silent, seemingly unwilling to talk too much about her younger brother.
"Perhaps, he had something to do. It's okay... He no longer needs me to take care of him."
"But he should be taking care of you instead," Mu Ling remained silent without further questioning, instead scanning the surrounding environment.
This is a very large house with simple and elegant brown flooring. The classical gold chandelier emits soft light. The exquisite furniture is not particularly luxurious, but it is evident that the owner has an excellent taste in selecting them.
"Yin, have you come back?"
Wearing glasses and with platinum hair that appeared slightly grayish, a middle-aged man came downstairs with his hands in his pockets, wearing silver-framed glasses.
He has an air of a university professor, looking very approachable, wearing a black sweater, beige vest, and slim black pants.
The middle-aged man stood calmly on the escalator and gazed down at the two girls below. After a momentary pause, he smiled.
"Excuse me, this person must be your friend, right? Yin."
"Well, Mr. Carol, she is my friend from Tatsumi City where I grew up."
Nodding gently, Yin replied with a smile on her face.
Carol walked down the stairs and extended a gentle handshake, greeting with, "Hello, beautiful miss. My name is Carol, and I am a scholar of mysticism at the school."
"A scholar of mysticism?"
Mu Ling was slightly surprised and extended her hand as well.
A researcher in mysticism... She knew what that meant. The man in front of her was likely also an extraordinary person?
In a magical world where extraordinary events occur frequently, someone who has devoted years to studying such occurrences cannot be completely ignorant of true mysteries.
However, she couldn't feel even a bit of power from him. He seemed even weaker than an ordinary person. Mu Ling couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Professor Carol smiled and said, 'By the way, I don't know your name yet.'
"Mu Ling."
The moment Mu Ling named herself, she could feel a change in Professor Carol's expression. Although it was only a slight change, it was there.
He seemed to feel surprised, astonished.
She couldn't help but suspect whether the other person knew her name beforehand.
This is not a strange thing.
Mu Ling felt even more that the other person might be an extraordinary being, because the name "Mu Ling" is somewhat famous in Tatsumi City and the Otherworlds.
After all, he was the only person in Babel Tower who was caught with his true identity revealed.
Professor Carol shook hands with Mu Ling and then smiled and said, "Miss Mu Ling, it's a pleasure to meet you. Actually, I'm someone who believes in fate."
"Since you were a childhood friend of my wife, our meeting today might have been destined."
He politely guided Mu Ling to the reception room.
"Please, come and have a seat over here."
After Mu Ling sat down, Yin smiled gently and wanted to pour tea, but was stopped by Professor Carol's outstretched hand.
He personally poured a type of strong-smelling black tea and handed a cup to Mu Ling and Yin respectively.
Mu Ling was very perceptive and noticed the way Yin and Carol interacted. It didn't seem like a couple, but rather a relationship of superior and subordinate.
There's something strange about these two people's demeanor...
She calmly followed the previous topic and said, "I also believe in the existence of fate, but I don't believe that destiny is unchangeable."
Professor Carol smiled and didn't refute Mu Ling's words.
He only sighed and said, "Perhaps only gods and more incomprehensible things can change destiny. For powerless mortals, fate is unchangeable."
"'Perhaps those in love are destined to never be together, perhaps ideals pursued are forever hard to realize, perhaps two who originally wanted to help each other will end up killing each other... Fate is always cruel and fickle.'"
Mu Ling fell silent, the other's words reminded her of everything she had experienced.
"Well, fate is cruel."
She continued, "But there is also a glimmer of hope in fate, that gives people a chance to grab onto in moments of despair. Perhaps, every desperate person can meet someone who gives them hope."
"I agree with Mu Ling's words."
Yin suddenly spoke, her face filled with a happy smile.
"When I lost my sight, I thought I had lost all hope to live, but at that time, Mr. Carol appeared."
"It was him who saved me," she said with a smile.
At that moment, Mu Ling could be sure that she really loved the man beside her. That kind of smile only appeared on someone who was full of happiness inside.
Perhaps since that day, such a smile has never appeared on my face again.
And in order for more people to have happiness, there are some things that one must do.
It's not just for oneself and one's family, nor is it solely to repay the Savior.
After chatting for a while, Yin and Carol went to the kitchen to start cooking, while Mu Ling waited calmly.
In fact, she wanted to help too, but a wise person knows their limits. Mu Ling was afraid that she might waste all the food at her friend's house.
Although Yin has lost her eyesight, she seems to be very familiar with her surroundings at home, and her blindness doesn't affect her actions in the kitchen at all.
After a while, Mu Ling stood up from the sofa and couldn't help but walk around in this somewhat dimly lit house.
She saw a white world map on the wall in the hall, which was the map of Noah world. Many marks were made on this map with a pen, but they were all special characters that she couldn't understand.
Mu Ling didn't know what this meant exactly.
"Roar."
At that moment, she suddenly heard a cat's meow. Although the sound was somewhat weak, it couldn't escape Mu Ling's ears.
Mu Ling turned around and saw a black kitten sitting on the sofa just now. It had double pupils like yellow gems, and was wagging its tail while looking towards her direction.
"Hello, I am a guest here."
Mu Ling crouched down and stretched out her hand.
The little black cat seemed to understand what she meant, actually jumping down from the sofa.
It came to Mu Ling's side, hesitated for a moment, sniffed her hand, and then rubbed its head against her.
Mu Ling stroked the black kitten's head and smiled.
Yin walked out and said with a smile:
"It sounds like the little black cat really likes you... Mu Ling. It's so strange, it's usually very shy, I thought it would keep hiding and not come out today."
"Is it? It doesn't look shy at all."
Mu Ling also felt a bit strange and gently picked up the black kitten, placing it on her chest, then being lightly pawed by the cat's paws.
"Blackie was something I found. It was during a snowy day, and it was buried under the snow beneath a tree, taking its last breath."
Yin let out a sigh and said, "But I won't be like I was before, unable to do anything in the face of the 'pain' of life."
"Let's go, Mu Ling. We'll have a meal together."
Yin's face was full of a gentle smile.
"Alright."
Mu Ling put down the little black cat in her arms and followed Yin to the dining table, where the dishes were very sumptuous.
During the meal, Mu Ling noticed that Yin was constantly picking and serving food to Professor Carol, who seemed to have little appetite but couldn't refuse her and had to eat very reluctantly.
Then, as usual, Mu Ling had a very good appetite and ate a lot... She felt that both of them had very good cooking skills, much better than Huo Xin and the university cafeteria.
"Meow, meow."
The three of them were slightly stunned, seeing that the little black cat had somehow come back to Mu Ling's feet and was rubbing against them gently.
"Little Black actually likes you a lot. I'm a bit jealous because it never liked me before."
Professor Carol sighed and said helplessly, "Maybe it's to get back at me. You can't guess, but in the beginning, I was planning on naming it 'Dog'."
Yin chuckled, as if finding the situation quite amusing.
Mu Ling was stunned and asked, "It's a black cat, how could you possibly name it 'Dog'?"
"Well then, why can't a cat be named 'Dog'? There's no such rule."
Professor Carol gazed into Mu Ling's eyes and smiled, saying, "Just like good and evil, right and wrong, there are no absolute objective definitions in any world. However, people mistakenly believe in them... In fact, many things are just wishful thinking, and if you change your perspective, the situation can change dramatically."
"No, good and evil do exist clearly." Mu Ling shook her head, unable to understand the other's point of view.
Professor Carol seemed to have known that Mu Ling would answer this way and said, "However, there is no concept of good or bad in nature. This is just a matter of opinion of intelligent beings. Would animals have a sense of good or evil where intelligent beings don't exist?"
"Mu Ling, since you think that good and evil exist clearly, then what exactly is the so-called 'kindness'?"
"Kindness..."
After thinking for a moment, Mu Ling shook her head and said, "I'm not entirely sure what kindness is, but I become angry when I witness evil deeds."
"Is this your 'forbearance'? So is 'forbearance' truly kindness? Perhaps, your actions of kindness may lead to wrong results, after all, kindness and correctness are not necessarily the same."
Professor Carol spread out his hands and gave an example, "If a doctor treats a patient with care, even though the treatment process may be torturous for the patient, it will ultimately bring him happiness and health. However, if you witness the doctor's actions and cannot bear the patient's pain, thinking that he is abusing the patient, and without any explanation, you kill the doctor..."
"Can such behavior still be called kindness or correctness?"
Mu Ling said calmly, "This is just a low probability event. If something like this happens, it means that I have made a mistake... But I won't turn a blind eye to evil just because of one mistake."
"Hmm." Professor Carol narrowed his eyes and said, "You are a very determined person."
Mu Ling continued, "And, there will be someone to guide me, that person will never go wrong... I believe in him."
Such words seemed to strike a chord with Yin, and she smiled gently:
"I also believe that Mr. Carol will never be wrong... he is the Savior in my heart."
Professor Carol smiled and looked at Yin, shaking his head and saying, "Yin, I can only do my best. Sometimes, you put a little too much emphasis on me."
Yin lowered her head and shook it. "Because Mu Ling and I are the same kind of people. We will unconditionally trust and adore the person we love."
Mu Ling, who was quietly having her meal, suddenly froze.
"No, it's not... Up till now, I haven't fallen in love with anyone."
"Uh?"
Carol and Yin were both stunned.
--
Once Mu Ling left, Yin started to tidy up the dishes by herself, and Carol didn't help anymore, as it seemed that Yin, who was visually impaired, could handle it very well on her own.
He stood silently by the windowsill with his hands behind his back, watching the raindrops trickle down outside.
"Is she your friend?"
Yin nodded gently and said, "Yes, we went to school together since we were little. The Mu Ling I remember is a strong and kind girl."
"Over the years, it seems like she hasn't changed."
"Perhaps this is just the cruelty of fate... my divination spells are useless against the people of the Babel Tower. It is truly disturbing. Otherwise, you wouldn't have met like this today," said Professor Carol.
"She should be a person from Babel Tower."
Yin stood there motionless, unable to say a word for a long time, finding it hard to accept this fact.
She frowned slightly and asked, "Are you sure?"
Nodding, Professor Carol said solemnly, "I really can't be certain anymore. I just reviewed the information submitted by Abner, and everything matches up. The descendant of that Babel Tower hunter is indeed named Mu Ling... and that hunter's family was also destroyed by Abner."
"Your brother Grey should also have been sent to the real world by the people of Babel Tower."
Yin's expression changed, frowning and looking down. "I can't believe it... Mu Ling. I never would have thought she had been through so much pain all these years. I didn't know anything about it during my time in the wilderness."
"Abner and Grey were both killed by Babel Tower... And Mu Ling probably killed Abner with her own hands." Professor Carol continued, "Abner was a man worthy of respect by all members of the Society. His faith was more steadfast than anyone else's, and he was always more willing to give, even in the end, he was willing to burn his own soul."
Yin walked over to Carol, the man whose real name was actually Ramos, and hugged his body.
She remained silent for a long time and said calmly, "Both my body and soul belong to my master now. Even if she stands in front of you, I will not be shaken."
"You are not only the Savior of this world, but also my only Savior."
