C108 – Probing for Information

This “Pillar,” aside from the causal chain, had a few other peculiar traits.

The first was emotion.

Mu Sichen was no stranger to dealing with Pillars. To unravel one, the first step was always to figure out what kind of emotion it required. Only then could he deduce the method to extract that emotion, and from the method, infer the Pillar’s true location.

But what kind of emotion was this one absorbing?

When he had spied on the Butterfly, he’d learned that “the Butterfly liked positive emotions,” and the Ideal Restaurant had confirmed the truth of that information. Yet this current Pillar seemed to be transmitting only negative emotions.

The Shouwang Community’s setup—murders and framing others—could only produce fear and unease, couldn’t it? Surely it wasn’t like the Repentance Complex, where the name itself hinted at penitence?

But repentance, too, was ultimately a negative emotion—not really a positive one.

Mu Sichen pondered this for a long time but couldn’t work it out.

The second point of suspicion was the constant questioning and classification of “locals” versus “outsiders.” This was already the second time he’d faced such a division.

Why did the Butterfly insist on distinguishing between locals and outsiders? Was it searching for the fallen? That didn’t quite fit either.

In Mengdie Town, everyone seemed particularly fixated on this local-versus-outsider divide.

For now, the information he had about this Pillar was far too limited. Mu Sichen needed to gather more intelligence. Some of it could only be obtained inside the Pillar, while other pieces had to be investigated outside.

He glanced at the people bustling around him and spotted a genuine soul, one with a sanity value of around seventy—still relatively normal. Approaching her, he struck up a conversation.

She was a young, attractive woman. Mu Sichen asked politely,

“Hello, could you tell me how to get to the Shouwang Community?”

By this time, Chi Lian had already lifted the “cut-and-paste” skill, and Mu Sichen’s face had returned to his original appearance.

The young woman blushed slightly at his handsome features, her manner soft and gentle as she replied,

“Why would you want to go there? The Shouwang Community isn’t a very good place.”

At her words, Mu Sichen knew his luck was good—he had found someone willing to provide information.

From her expression, it was obvious his looks were exactly her type.

Back in high school, Mu Sichen had been nothing but a straight-laced guy who only cared about basketball, soccer, and studying. He’d had no idea of the impact his face could have.

It wasn’t until later, when his life took a turn and he had to work part-time, that he realized it. The owner of a milk tea shop had made him dress neatly and stand outside promoting a “buy two, get one free” deal. Only then did Mu Sichen discover his face could actually attract customers.

People were drawn to beauty. He himself liked handsome actors and beautiful actresses—so he understood that feeling. Naturally, he didn’t hesitate to leverage this advantage to negotiate for a raise.

Now, seeing the young woman’s reaction, Mu Sichen knew exactly what approach to take to draw information from her.

He sighed softly, letting his tone carry a touch of melancholy.

“It’s my girlfriend. We’ve been together for a while, but she’s never been willing to tell me where she lives. Later, I found out she lives in the Shouwang Community. I haven’t seen her for days. I miss her so much… I just want to go see her.”

As he spoke that final line, an image surfaced in his mind—Qin Zu seated high above the abyss, and the little octopus that had vanished in order to save him. His eyes subconsciously revealed a trace of desolation.

He wasn’t exactly a master of acting, but in that moment, the loneliness and yearning he revealed were utterly genuine.

True feelings touched the heart most deeply—especially in Mengdie Town, where everyone longed for beauty. Seeing him like this, the young woman couldn’t help but whisper,

“If she hasn’t left the Shouwang Community for several days… then you shouldn’t keep thinking about her. Because she may never come out again.”

“Why?” Mu Sichen’s expression was one of disbelief.

The young woman led him to sit on a bench by the roadside, patiently explaining,

“I only heard it from others, but they say the Shouwang Community isn’t a good place. It holds people who’ve made mistakes.”

“What kind of mistakes? My girlfriend is a good girl,” Mu Sichen insisted.

Seeing his stubbornness, the young woman tried to persuade him further,

“At first, the people who went into the Shouwang Community hadn’t committed very serious wrongs. I heard most of them were petty thieves, vandals, people who cut in line, spat on the ground, or third parties who ruined other people’s relationships. But later…”

“Wait a minute.” Mu Sichen interrupted her, puzzled.

“Cutting in line, spitting, and breaking up a relationship—how can those be put on the same level as theft or robbery?”

“Of course they can.” The young woman’s tone was matter-of-fact.

“Cutting in line and spitting disrupt public order, ruin the image of Mengdie Town, and bring negative emotions to others. The impact is serious. Those aren’t just mistakes—they’re grave mistakes.”

“As for ruining someone’s relationship, that only affects a few people’s feelings, so in scope it’s smaller. Strictly speaking, it shouldn’t count as a grave crime. But because it harms love—a beautiful and cherished emotion—it must be punished harshly.”

Mu Sichen: “…”

Ever since arriving in Mengdie Town, most of his contacts had been with false souls or townsfolk trapped in the Ideal Restaurant’s “Beautiful Dream” poison. This young woman was the first genuine Dream Butterfly Town resident he’d met with normal sanity.

And chatting with her, Mu Sichen realized that even though he had already taken down a Pillar, he had never paid attention to the ideology of the town’s people.

Different towns, governed by different godlike monsters, fostered different worldviews—often radically unlike those of reality.

For example, in Tongzhi Town, everyone took pride in having more eyes, and even thought names like “Sha Dayan” sounded nice. Such a notion would be absurd in the real world.

Here, in Mengdie Town, their standard of what constituted a crime was equally unique.

In reality, cutting in line or spitting were indeed rude, but how could they ever be compared with robbery, a serious crime?

Then Mu Sichen recalled something—while monitoring with the feathers, he had seen a few people, right before their feathers vanished, committing petty acts: spitting, cutting in line, stepping on beautiful statues in the park.

So that was it—these were considered crimes here. No wonder he hadn’t found the common thread behind who entered the Pillar.

False souls who always followed order would never commit such acts. Only true souls could.

So Mu Sichen asked,

“Then between spitting, vandalism, ruining someone’s relationship, and stealing—which is considered worse?”

“Of course cutting in line, spitting, and vandalism are the most serious,” the young woman replied naturally.

“Next comes ruining a relationship. Stealing money is the least serious of all. After all, people in Mengdie Town don’t lack money. Losing a little at most makes someone unhappy, but it doesn’t touch the most important emotions, and it only affects one person. So it isn’t punished heavily.”

“But fighting is different. If you beat someone badly, you could kill them. And once a person dies, all their beautiful emotions vanish with them. That, of course, is a grave crime.”

Mu Sichen: “…”

So He Fei’s crime was indeed different from Sister Ji’s and Chi Lian’s — his was absolutely a violent case.

“What about lying and fraud? What type of crime would those be?” Mu Sichen asked, more concerned with this question.

The young lady replied: “Those two depend on the result to determine whether they count as wrongdoing. If lying and fraud make someone sad and miserable, then that’s a serious crime. But if it makes someone feel beauty and happiness, then what does it matter if they were deceived? That wouldn’t be considered a crime.”

“I see,” Mu Sichen let out a breath of relief, then shifted the topic: “Love really is a beautiful emotion. I miss my girlfriend so much. Do you have a lover? Can you understand how I feel?”

“I have a boyfriend,” the young lady said, though she showed a trace of disappointment. “But… he’s not as handsome as you.”

“Not at all, my girlfriend always says I’m really plain. She tells me all the time that if it weren’t for her, no one would ever like someone as ordinary as me.” In just a few words, Mu Sichen sketched out the image of a nonexistent — and rather unpleasant — girlfriend. “I can’t even reach her most of the time. I don’t know if she hates me now.”

“How could that be!” the young lady encouraged him. “You need to believe in yourself, it’s not your fault. You don’t know… actually, that place, the Shouwang Community… oh dear, am I ruining your relationship by saying this?”

She seemed like she wanted to tell Mu Sichen something about the Community, but hesitated.

“Of course not,” Mu Sichen said quickly. “I’m the one asking. I want to know what kind of place the Shouwang Community is. I want to understand my girlfriend.”

Receiving his reassurance, the young lady went on: “I heard the people who live in the Shouwang Community are all pe-rverts who love committing crimes.”

Mu Sichen played along, looking shocked yet doubtful: “That’s impossible! My girlfriend is so wonderful, she couldn’t be one of those people.”

The young lady said: “You can’t be sure. I heard the rules in the Shouwang Community are completely different from Mengdie Town’s. They can gradually make people start to enjoy the feeling of committing crimes.”

“Enjoy?” Mu Sichen latched onto the key word.

Yes — here, people had their own understanding of crime and guilt. If the residents of the Shouwang Community didn’t see crime as evil, but instead became thrill-seeking killers, then everything Ji Xian’an went through would, for those antisocial psychopaths, be a source of pleasure.

Emotions were subjective — just like how some people suffered when eating durian, while others felt delight.

Mu Sichen was starting to grasp how the second “pillar” operated.

It used the unique rules and systems of Mengdie Town to select people it deemed harmful to the town’s happiness. According to their different crimes, it would send them to different communities, where different systems shaped how they were treated.

But some of these people had only committed minor wrongs — they weren’t true sociopaths. So how could the “pillar” transform them into crime-lovers?

Although Mu Sichen still didn’t fully understand the mechanism of the “pillar,” the young lady’s answers had opened up his thinking, giving him new insight into it.

“Of course they’d end up loving crime. That’s why your girlfriend… well, I suspect she might be controlling you by putting you down, breaking your spirit, making you unable to leave her.” The young lady spoke with sympathy.

Mu Sichen, of course, knew that was exactly the tragic story he had fabricated to win sympathy.

So he stubbornly shook his head and said:

“I don’t believe it. My girlfriend is the kindest person in the world. Sure, she’s impatient with me most of the time and often scolds me, but whenever I feel down, she comforts me!”

The young lady looked at Mu Sichen with even more pity.

That was exactly the effect Mu Sichen wanted. He sincerely asked her:

“Can you tell me how to get to the Shouwang Community? I want to go there. I want to live there. I want to see with my own eyes if my girlfriend is really that kind of person.”

“That’s not possible. Outsiders aren’t allowed into the Shouwang Community. But you can watch it from outside, from a distance. I know the address,” the young lady said.

“Alright, I’ll go right away!” Mu Sichen accepted the map “happily,” politely said goodbye to her, and prepared to take the subway to the Shouwang Community to observe it from the outside.

“No, you can’t. That place is truly terrifying! You’re too naïve. I’ll go with you,” the young lady said.

Mu Sichen: “…”

He had only wanted to fish for more information, but he hadn’t expected the young lady to insist on tagging along — this would interfere with his plan.

He hadn’t planned to go to the Shouwang Community at all. His real destination was the Repentance Community, where He Fei was.

He had to think of a way to shake her off. Fortunately, he could also use this opportunity to ask about the difference between locals and outsiders.

So Mu Sichen said:

“Kind lady, you don’t need to go with me. Maybe you don’t know — I’m actually an outsider. Other than my girlfriend, I’ve noticed that people here don’t really like outsiders. So it’s better if you don’t associate with me too much.”

“An outsider…” The young lady’s steps faltered slightly. “No wonder you know nothing, and why your girlfriend could deceive you.”

Mu Sichen had guessed right.

Eight days ago, taxi drivers had treated them warmly, giving discounts and free coupons — but in reality, they were sending them to the Ideal Restaurant as fuel for the ‘pillar.’

The false souls had repeatedly asked whether they were outsiders — in truth, it was to separate the genuine local souls from the outsiders.

Thus, Mu Sichen suspected that the real local souls might not treat outsiders as warmly as the false souls did — in fact, there could even be prejudice.

The young lady’s reaction confirmed his suspicion.

So Mu Sichen said sadly:

“See? The moment you found out I was an outsider, you wanted to distance yourself from me. I knew it. In this whole Mengdie Town, only my girlfriend treats me well. As long as she still loves me, even if she’s a psychotic killer, I’ll accept it willingly.”

“That’s not true!” The young lady grew anxious. She quickly stepped forward and grabbed his arm, lowering her voice: “I don’t discriminate against you. It’s just that the city administrators always tell us — aside from a few outsiders who surrender themselves to the ‘Dream Weaver,’ all other outsiders are bad people who should be executed. But I believe you’re not one of the bad ones.”

“Executed…” Mu Sichen repeated the word, beginning to understand the operating order of Mengdie Town.

No wonder the butterfly needed to establish a “pillar” in the real world. No wonder Nie Yihai dared to say the “Dream Weaver” was the great existence that cared for and protected the townsfolk. No wonder the false souls were so intent on distinguishing between locals and outsiders.

It was all because the butterfly tried to preserve the lives of Dream Butterfly Town’s residents as much as possible, devouring only the souls of outsiders and of locals who had “committed crimes.”

At this point, Mu Sichen had already obtained all the information he wanted.

He said to the young lady:

“Big sister, you’re so kind. You treat me much better than my girlfriend ever does. It’s a pity you already have a boyfriend, otherwise… I would definitely pursue you.”

“You, wait!” The young lady immediately pulled out her phone, sent a message, then quickly said, “I just broke up with my boyfriend.”

“Huh? That fast? But I was lying just now — the one I truly love is still my girlfriend,” Mu Sichen said.

“What did you say? But I already broke up with my boyfriend!” The young lady was instantly devastated, her face showing deep hurt.

Just as Mu Sichen expected, the moment he admitted he had lied and hurt the young lady, the police appeared behind him.

“Sir, you are suspected of deceiving someone’s feelings, intruding upon their emotions, hurting two innocent people, and desecrating the beautiful sentiment of love. Please come with us to the police station to undergo ideological education,” the two officers said.

“Alright, I’ll go with you. Oh, by the way, I’m an outsider,” Mu Sichen replied.

Hurting someone’s emotions, committing fraud, and being an outsider — these three factors should be enough to send him to the Repentance Community.

Sure enough, just as Mu Sichen expected, after arriving at the police station, he was assigned to the Repentance Community.

However, unlike He Fei, he hadn’t used a weapon or committed violent assault, so they didn’t put him in handcuffs.

Sitting in the transport vehicle, Mu Sichen opened his phone and was relieved to see messages popping up in the game group chat.

Now that he was also inside the second “pillar,” he could once again see what the others were posting.

He wondered how everyone else had been doing during this time.