Watchmen Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Watchmen Chapter 10: Integrity

 

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong lead the way out of the hall and outside of the teaching block. He took a few steps down a meandering lane, then sat down on a bench under some shade.

He patted at the s.p.a.ce next to him, speaking to Jiu Jie, “Sit down too.”

Jiu Jie then sat down after being offered to.

Noon was fast approaching, the sun was s.h.i.+ning brightly, and the breeze was delightful. Sitting in the school courtyard where everything smelled of books, Jiu Jie felt his whole body relax. The tenseness from being in the hall was gone. Although he felt relaxed, he felt that his mind felt completely empty, as though he was cut off from the outside world.

 

 

 

“Are you prepared?” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong asked.

“Prepared for what?”

“To listen to my proposal, of course.”

“Ah, okay. Explain.”

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong adjusted his posture, making himself more comfortable before complying. He explained his proposal, then asked, “What do you think?”

Jiu Jie thought for a moment, and then replied, “Basically, you want me to pretend to be a patient of your sister. When undergoing the hypnosis treatment, I need to find a chance to enter her dreams and hypnotise her instead, right?”

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong laughed, “Not bad, just like that. You’ve just seen that girl’s skills. To directly spy on her heart would be difficult, but if you pretend to be her patient, you can catch her off guard and hypnotise her, which will in turn, increase your chances of success. It’s just like going to war. When you go on the offense, it’s exactly when the defense is at it’s weakest. Of course, there are still a few details we need to perfect, but the general idea is just that. Do you have any questions?”

Jiu Jie thought about it, then said, “I do. I think this method is inappropriate.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Because Watchmen need to be honest. If we follow your methods, I will be lying and cheating people. This is against the Watchmen’s values and beliefs; I cannot do this.”

When Gu s.h.i.+ Tong heard it, he laughed. “That’s right, Watchmen need to be honest, ha, honest. So meaningful.”

He paused, asking, “Other than being honest, Watchmen also need to be merciful about the wills of people, right?”

Jiu Jie nodded, saying, “Yes, the seven principles that the Watchmen uphold do include such a condition.”
Gu s.h.i.+ Tong lifted his sleeve, and exposed the small of his arm to Jiu Jie, replying, “If there is a chance, I recommend you look at this spot on my daughter.”

Jiu Jie knitted his eyebrows, showing that he did not understand his meaning.

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong continued, “She has three scars there.”

“But… what does this have to do with what we discussed just now?” Jiu Jie asked, confused.

“There’s a relation, of course.” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong said, “The three scars only appeared recently. Her self-harm is getting more and more serious. n.o.body knows why she would suddenly do that to herself. She’s just a ticking time bomb now. On the surface, everything is fine, but she can explode at anytime. Facing with such a person on the edge of danger, can you really be just a bystander? Where’s your mercy?”

“What you said makes sense, but…” Jiu Jie hesitatingly said, “But I cannot give up my honesty because of mercy. When I became a Watchman, I made a pledge to my red book. I can’t abandon my honour as a Watchman.”

“Abandon your honour?” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong grinned. “If you choose to back down because of your honour, then how are you different

from a coward? Watchmen need to be brave, right? Doing this is also the same as abandoning your beliefs.”

Jiu Jie argued back, “Watchmen should be heroic, but at the same time, they need to be upright even more. Lying, no matter how it’s painted, is still lying. Upright people should never compromise on such a baseless excuse.”
Gu s.h.i.+ Tong grinned, “Baseless excuse? Ha, you’re just afraid of affecting the strength of your beliefs. You’re worried that the pages in your red book would decrease, right?”

Each of Gu s.h.i.+ Tong’s words pierced his heart. Jiu Jie was unable to refute it for a moment.

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong’s smile vanished as he said, “Watchmen promote sacrificial spirit, they must be able to abandon their own self-interest or even their lives. Your thinking that’s too selfish, right? Doesn’t this go against the Watchmen’s sacrificial spirit?”

Jiu Jie was speechless. His left hand held his head in dismay as his right hand waved in front, while saying, “c.r.a.p, okay, okay. Uncle Gu, you don’t need to say anymore, let me think. My brain is in a bit of a mess.”

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong was amused by his appearance and couldn’t stop smiling.

Jiu Jie thought about it. He held out a finger, while minding his own business and said, “According to the logic we discussed just now, if we reject your proposal, even if we upheld honesty, we lose our mercy instead. Protecting honour, but losing bravery, Upholding uprightness, but abandoning sacrificial spirit. That’s the pattern, right?”

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong nodded, “Yes. Additionally, when speaking to me, your senior, you speak using profanities. Even if I don’t really mind, but that kind of appearance is not humble.”

Jiu Jie opened his eyes, stared into s.p.a.ce for a while, before speaking in a daze, “Uncle Gu, speaking to you today, I finally realized that being a Watchman is very intricate.”

 

“Oh? Why do you say that?” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong laughingly asked.
“Humbleness, Uprightness, Mercy, Bravery, Fairness, Sacrifice, and Honour. These principles don’t look like much at first, all being direct and positive strengths, but there are times that they are in conflict. Protecting one will inevitably result in contradicting another. Going against one will protect another. When such a conflict has appeared, then what should be done? This… this is really a pain in the a.s.s!”

“You’ve been with Luo Yi De for so long…he never told you about how to handle this kind of situation?”

Jiu Jie shook his head,”No. Also, I have this feeling. Recently, intentionally or otherwise, he’s been avoiding me.”

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong smiled, “Actually, you don’t need to be so worried. You feel that being a Watchman is very intricate, but that’s because you don’t fully understand the true meaning of those seven values.”

“The true meaning?” Jiu Jie didn’t understand.

“That’s right, true meaning. For example, you always say that Watchmen need to be honest. Then, I’ll ask you, why do Watchmen need to be honest?”

“Because Watchmen need to be upright and liars are not upright.”

“Then why does the seven principles not use honesty to replace uprightness? Or just put honesty as one?” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong shot back.

“I don’t know.” Jiu Jie shook his head.

“That’s because Uprightness can be split into ‘real’ uprightness and ‘fake’ uprightness.”

 

“Huh?” Jiu Jie didn’t understand at all. He felt that speaking with Gu s.h.i.+ Tong was mind-blowing sometimes.

“If one person was overly-conscious of other people’s gazes, they will not hesitate to act in a righteous manner to preserve their image. They cover up their behaviour with chains and locks, and use actions with no heart, words with no sincerity. Even if people praise him as upright, in my eyes, that’s just a false coat of paint.”

“What do you think is genuine uprightness then?” Jiu Jie asked.

“Genuine uprightness is being loyal to your own heart.” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong said placidly, “Genuine upright people are very aware of what kind of person they are, and what road they want to walk on. If they are good people, they are good all the way. If they are a scoundrel, then they are upfront about it. No pretenses, no acting, no matter what choices they make, they can protect their inner strength. Disregarding other people’s presumptuous opinions, and only following their own principles. This kind of person has a true, genuine, upright character.”

Jiu Jie blinked a few times, and scratched his head while saying, “Uncle Gu, even though what you said seems to make sense, but… I still don’t understand.”

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong laughed. “It’s okay if you don’t understand. You will naturally understand next time. I’ll just ask you, for the sake of saving my daughter, if you have to lie, just take this situation as an example, is it right or wrong?”

“It’s right. It’s kindness to lie if you are doing it to save someone.”

“That’s it,” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong said, “As long as you yourself believe that it’s the right course of action, then there is no need to care about the other things. Persisting in yourself is a needed bravery, and not betraying your principles is true uprightness.”

Jiu Jie was speechless after he heard that. He faintly felt that Gu s.h.i.+ Tong’s words make a lot of sense, but his consistent conduct also made him feel like there is something wrong.

< property="" of="" fantasy-books.live="" outside="" of="" it,="" it="" is="">

After thinking about it, he was at a loss about what to do for now.

At this moment, a sweet and crisp voice came from the meandering lane. “Old Gu, it seems like you’re here. Why did you not wait for me in the hall? I even thought you weren’t coming.”

Jiu Jie couldn’t help but look in the voice’s direction. He saw a young girl walking over. She had an elegant figure, delicate features, and a pretty face. Her steps were steady and her b.u.t.t and b.r.e.a.s.t.s were both perky. At first glance, she was like snow in the wind, exuding feminism and confidence, she was like the bearing of a lotus flower breaking the surface.

The person arriving was the girl in the hall just now, Gu s.h.i.+ Tong’s daughter, Gu s.h.i.+ Chen.

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong stood up while smiling, “How can I not turn up? I heard whatever you said just now, marvelous, especially the instant hypnotism portion.”
“Oh? You know instant hypnotism? According to what I know, you only know the basics of psychology.” Gu s.h.i.+ Chen felt surprised.

“I only just found out as well.” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong laughed.

“Just found out?”

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong pointed at Jiu Jie, “I heard this young boy’s explanation just now, so I have a little bit more understanding.”

 

“Gu s.h.i.+ Chen’s gaze fell onto Jiu Jie, while asking, “Old Gu, this is…?”

 

“Oh, let me introduce you,” Gu s.h.i.+ Tong turned to Gu s.h.i.+ Chen, “s.h.i.+ Chen, this is the nephew of an old friend, his name is Jiu Jie.”

“Jiu Jie, this is my daughter, Gu s.h.i.+ Chen.”

Jiu Jie stood up and held out a hand to Gu s.h.i.+ Chen. “Nice to meet you, please treat me kindly.”

However, Gu s.h.i.+ Chen did nothing when Jiu Jie held out his hand. Her face was like ice as she said, “Don’t you know that in a regular social situation, the male must wait for the female to hold out a hand first?”

Jiu Jie was a bit shocked. Since he left the countryside, most of his time was spent in the headquarters of the Watchmen, so he spent very little time outside. How would he know the social rules and even if he did, who would apply it when meeting in a school courtyard?

Jiu Jie’s outstretched hand was frozen. Advancing now is wrong, and backing down wasn’t correct either. It was an awkward scene.

Gu s.h.i.+ Tong pretended to be annoyed when he saw this, “s.h.i.+ Chen!”

“Fine. Since you’re the nephew of my father’s old friend, I won’t fight with you over this.”

Saying that, she held out her hand and lightly shook his.

Her hands seemed like they had no bone, but Jiu Jie wasn’t feeling happy, while thinking, “This little la.s.s is very proud. Next time, you’d better not fall into my hands, if you do… if you do…”

Jiu Jie thought for half a day, but he still couldn’t think of what he would do to her as a consequence.