Chapter 134
The officer's face turned pale upon hearing that question.
"That... that question has no correct answer..."
Here's a riddle. This riddle is so simple yet so ambiguous that anything could be the answer.
So, let's ask:
If everything can be the answer, what then is the wrong answer?
"That question is not a 'correct question'!" the officer shouted, stepping forward before Seong Min-hyeok could speak.
Barely controlling his trembling body, he yelled at Jinseong, "How can it be a correct question when there's no clear answer!"
Jinseong stared at Cheon Hui-su, then nodded. He stroked the air below his chin as if he had a beard and spoke in a solemn tone:
"Therefore, speak only the truth so that it can become the correct answer. Gather the vague, foggy images deep in your mind, make them clear, shape them, and bring them out. It only needs to be touched by the hand of truth. Speak with sincerity, without a speck of falsehood."
Jinseong's response to Cheon Hui-su's protest was simple:
Speak only the truth.
Answer sincerely, without lies or pretense.
Then it will be considered correct.
Cheon Hui-su sighed and explained this to Seong Min-hyeok in simpler terms.
I'd rather do it myself, but...
Cheon Hui-su wanted to deal with Jinseong himself, but what could he do? Jinseong had pointed to Seong Min-hyeok, not him.
Well, just helping from the side is something...
Just quietly monitoring and advising from the side could prevent disaster from stepping on landmines.
Cheon Hui-su decided to be satisfied with that fact.
Although it felt like the relationship between a zoo bear and its keeper...
Well, was that important?
"Can't we just leave? Do we really have to follow this?"
But controlling this bear was no easy task. If it were easy to control, why would there be keepers and trainers? Animals were called beasts because they didn't properly follow human words, and they were called animals because they didn't follow human intentions.
Seong Min-hyeok was no different from such animals.
The officer, while sighing deeply inside, tried to stop Seong Min-hyeok from acting impulsively.
"Yes, we have to follow. We don't know what he might do if we just run away..."
Fortune-telling fees and payment were different.
Even if one paid an intangible price for fortune-telling, it never went beyond a certain limit.
It meant that it was impossible to take away a chunk of someone's lifespan or take their life or soul just for giving a valuable fortune-telling. At most, it would be a little life force, a little lifespan, a little fortune... It was limited to this extent.
Jinseong used it in a sophisticated form like 'temporarily lowering resistance' as a price, but in other words, no matter how sophisticated it was, it was just to that extent.
But payment was far more barbaric and violent than that.
Because the sorcerer could mobilize their personal capabilities to collect the price.
It was like a loan shark coming to your house to demand money repayment, knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell, lurking and waiting on your commute to and from work, suddenly appearing to threaten you, and constantly calling until the phone burned out.
But even here there was a line, and they couldn't take more than the value, but...
If one thought about the fact that the price of payment was determined by negotiation, the possibility of such 'barbaric behavior' was... quite meaningful.
Moreover, just like attaching GPS to a debtor, there were several ways for a sorcerer to track those who had ordered work from them and not paid. Since the cause and effect were connected and it wasn't finished, finding it was an easy task for a sorcerer of a certain level.
They could find it by floating a compass made by hammering minerals from specific regions on water, or follow a path guided by looking at the stars in the sky, or walk in the direction pointed by throwing a kitchen knife.
Even these were just what came to mind for Cheon Hui-su, who had only picked up sorcery recently, so how many more diverse methods would a real sorcerer know?
"I'm not afraid of sorcerers."
"No... Just do it. It won't be difficult, you just need to answer three questions."
The officer almost forcibly pushed Seong Min-hyeok towards Jinseong.
Seong Min-hyeok opened his mouth with a sour expression.
"Well, I'll answer the questions, but don't you dare say it's not the correct answer."
Jinseong sat on the edge of the well, looking at Seong Min-hyeok. His posture was half cross-legged, half relaxed.
It looked like a pagan being imitating Buddha, meditating in a half-lotus position.
"There are those who deserve to die. Those who harm others and kill. Guys who are like criminals! Those parasites who torment people living ordinary lives and destroy their lives!"
Parasites.
Jinseong reacted to that word.
"Parasites, you say. It's a commonly used metaphor, but yes. It's both right and wrong."
The golden mask's mouth moved, creating sound.
It was like a low, rumbling sound becoming words rather than music.
It sounded like a pipe organ speaking human words.
Jinseong produced multiple voices from various parts of his body as if his entire body had become an instrument.
"Parasites don't kill their hosts, so they don't destroy lives."
"But that's only when there are few of them. When their numbers increase, tragedy inevitably occurs."
"If the number of blood-sucking flukes increases excessively, the human whose blood is being sucked develops anemia, and they could die from cardiac arrest due to shock."
"Anisakis attached to the stomach wall, when their numbers increase, cause inflammation and create holes, making people writhe in terrible pain."
"Even those common things, when their numbers increase and increase, block proper life activities. Blocking the intestines tightly."
"Sucking blood."
"Consuming all the nutrients themselves."
"Eventually, they cause the host to die."
"This is the harm of parasites."
Jinseong quietly looked at Seong Min-hyeok while resting his chin on his hand.
"Your answer contained truth, so it's not a wrong answer. Even if there are other things, could this be called wrong? Your answer is correct. So you have given a sufficient correct answer to the first question."
"However, you said that criminals should be killed. You, Seong Min-hyeok. You warrior who can crush people with bare hands."
"You should tell me what your criteria for criminals are."
"This is not a question, as it's the same as Cheon Hui-su pointing out that earlier I didn't say what I should have. But this is something you must say. Ah, we call this an obligation."
Seong Min-hyeok pondered his question quietly.
"Petty criminals… no. Serious offenders?"
"By serious offenders, do you mean those who kill people, violate people, and ruin people's lives?"
"That's right."
"Then where are the criteria for judging this? The law?"
"That's right!"
Jinseong began to plant confusion in Seong Min-hyeok.
"Then I ask. In some distant lands, killing people in certain situations is not considered a crime. Killing for honor is one such case, and it's not only not punished but even praised and admired by those around. This is clearly murder, but it receives praise from people around. Can this be called a crime then?"
"Of course it's a crime!"
"Then I ask. There's someone who lost their country and regained it. In front of them, a traitor who sold out the country is kneeling, tightly bound with ropes, and the surrounding crowd is all shouting to kill him on the spot. In this case, is you killing him a justified execution or murder? You're no different from an executioner moving your blade according to their intentions, killing someone everyone wants dead. Are you performing the duty of an ordinary executioner? Or is this murder and a crime because you killed a person?"
"Uh..."
He made Seong Min-hyeok's head spin.
"Here's someone dragged out by people. This witch living far in the forest is a being who received knowledge from Satan, and not infrequently let experimental subjects escape, ruining crops and causing villagers to starve to death, and making villagers die from monster attacks. So, a divine sorcerer stepped forward with devout people, dragged this terrible witch, tied her up, and had people throw stones at her until she died. Not only the villagers but even those who came from far away threw stones at the witch, beating her to death.
"Then is the death of this witch right? Is it right that she was executed to pay for the harm she caused and her sins? And if this is a crime, if killing this witch is a crime, are all the people who threw stones and injured the witch guilty of murder? Or does only the one who threw the final stone that ended her life bear the sin of murder? If throwing stones is simple assault, how did the witch die? Are they all criminals?
"If the law is the standard, what is the law that becomes that standard? People's will? The words recorded in law books?
"If laws are created because everyone wants them, then everything that violates those laws is a crime and everything that complies is good. Are all things that exist outside the law criminals who can be killed?"
It was confusing, terribly so.
Seong Min-hyeok could only stand blankly, feeling as if letters were entering his head and shaking up his brain. Unable to stand by and watch, the officer came over next to Seong Min-hyeok again and shouted at Jinseong.
"You said it was correct, so give us the next question!"
"Hmm."
It was to help Seong Min-hyeok, who was confused by the excessive dump of information, shake off his distracting thoughts.
Jinseong adjusted his posture at the sight of the officer shouting at him.
The hand that was supporting his chin went down, and his head, which had been tilted, straightened again.
The golden mask of Seong Min-hyeok's expressionless face looked straight at them again.
"Now, I ask. This is the second question, so give the correct answer. What is greater than the Creator who created the world, more faithful than one who has broken through the gates of heaven, richer than the wealthy, wider than the vast sky, deeper than hell, higher than heaven, more wicked than the devil in hell, more sinful than the sinner paying for their sins in its deepest part, more resolute than death, as blessed as being born, and will exist even if the whole world ends, immortal and eternal?"