"Wow, it really is you, what a coincidence, Uncle Yan." Lin Li was somewhat pleasantly surprised.
The world is vast and full of wonders, with too many magical coincidences.
For example, Bai Bufan once surprisingly discovered a coincidence: his father and mother actually got married on the same day. It was truly destiny.
Moreover, clearly from a legal perspective, Father Bai and Mother Bai were direct blood relatives within zero generations, which is absolutely forbidden for marriage, but they somehow managed it. Who knows how they bypassed legal sanctions.
And their luck was quite good.
After all, close-relative marriage very easily results in mentally deficient or deformed children, but this son of theirs was perfectly fine.
When Bai Bufan shared this secret with Lin Li, Lin Li felt that their predecessors were truly wise, and the existence of laws has its meaning.
Close relatives really shouldn't marry.
Look, what the fuck did they produce?
At this moment, Yan Aosong opened his eyes, closed his eyes, opened his eyes, closed his eyes... repeating this, but still couldn't believe his eyes.
Why, exactly why.
What kind of scene is in front of me—
The standing victim, Lin Li, wore a smile, while the lying robbers looked utterly miserable.
Everything in front of him gave Yan Aosong an extremely strong sense of déjà vu.
It always felt... like he had experienced it an hour ago.
It's not a fucking feeling, I did experience it!
The only difference between now and just now was that Lin Li seemed to have listened to his advice. He was no longer holding that telescopic baton in his hand, but a brick that was probably picked up by the roadside.
And there were two fewer robbers lying on the ground; this time there were only two, that's all.
"It, it is a coincidence."
Yan Aosong finally accepted the fact that the person who called the police was Lin Li again. With a complex expression, he nodded exceptionally hard.
He didn't even know what to say now. Was Lin Li, who was robbed twice in one night, miserable, or were these two groups of robbers who actually chose to rob Lin Li more miserable?
"Phew—"
"Lin Li, why... haven't you gone home yet?"
Yan Aosong shook his head to make himself feel better, took a deep breath, and asked.
"Oh, oh, it's like this, Uncle Yan. I was a bit hungry, so I planned to buy a late-night snack here before going back. After eating, I found I was a bit full, so I thought about taking a walk to digest a bit. As a result, bad luck, I got robbed again. It really scared me."
The weak, pitiful, and helpless Lin Li hugged his arms and explained.
"Where the fuck are you scared?" Looking at Lin Li's relaxed and leisurely face, the corner of Yan Aosong's mouth twitched slightly.
"Scared here! Scared here!" Hearing this, the robbers lying on the ground holding their heads immediately sat up straight and shouted affectionately at Yan Aosong:
"Take us away! Take us away quickly! We know we were wrong! We'll never rob again!"
Yan Aosong: "..."
A second time.
Fuck.
He could only say that these two robbers in this batch were not as smart as that blond guy just now. They actually confessed directly, and didn't even think about framing Lin Li.
The situation was very clear. Yan Aosong sighed, turned around, and waved to his subordinates: "Take them away!"
...
At the entrance of the Demon Suppression Division.
The interrogation ended.
Yan Aosong and Lin Li came to this location again.
"Mind if I smoke a cigarette?"
Glancing at the night outside the door, Yan Aosong asked Lin Li.
"Go ahead." Lin Li naturally didn't mind.
"Phew—" Taking out a cigarette, lighting it, and exhaling white smoke from his mouth, Yan Aosong frowned tightly. Then, with some solemnity and seriousness, he turned his head to stare at Lin Li and said in a deep voice:
"Lin Li, did you... do it on purpose?"
After interrogating the second batch of robbers as well, many things, even if you didn't want to think in this direction, the facts spoke louder than words.
Because a normal person would absolutely not, after being robbed once at night, swagger around holding cash, counting it while walking alone on a dark road, and even saying the exact same words as last time.
Lin Li's excuses immediately became untenable.
This was absolutely premeditated.
The blond guy really wasn't wrong. Lin Li was really deliberately luring them to rob him. Could it be... this child really has violent tendencies that need venting?
"Uncle Yan, I don't understand what you're talking about."
Hearing this, Lin Li also looked at Yan Aosong, but just denied it with a smile.
"Why did you do this?"
Seeing this expression, Yan Aosong knew that Lin Li had actually admitted it, so he continued to ask in a deep voice.
"Did I do something wrong? I didn't do anything excessive or illegal, right?" Lin Li asked back: "Whether it's walking alone at night, or counting money alone on a dark road and sharing my joy with a friend, none of this is illegal at all, right?"
"Victim-blaming is absolutely unacceptable, Uncle Yan."
"No, Lin Li, I'm just wondering, what's the point of you doing this? Are you trying to get something? Or are you really... enjoying legal violence?" Yan Aosong's face remained solemn.
If that was really the case, then sometimes, the harm a person like Lin Li could cause to society would be even greater.
Because such a person is a bomb that you never know when it will detonate.
And even more frantic and illogical.
"Of course not. Actually, I am very resistant to violence and have no interest in it at all. Holding a brick just now was just to deter those two guys and keep them from acting rashly.
"Uncle, you should have found out from your interrogation just now. Because those two people became very honest after I gave them an over-the-shoulder throw, I didn't launch any further attacks on them, just waited for you to arrive.
"If I had violent tendencies, I absolutely wouldn't have stopped just like that, right?
"So Uncle Yan, you can rest assured, my sunshine is not faked, I am not impotent."
(Translator's Note: "Yang wei" (fake sunshine) sounds like "yang wei" (impotence)).
Lin Li smiled and cleared his name.
"Then... what exactly is the point of you doing this?"
The facts were indeed so. Yan Aosong nodded, and the worry in his heart dissipated for the most part. But now, he couldn't guess Lin Li's motive even more.
What exactly is he after?
"Uncle, do you have a cigarette?" Hearing this question, Lin Li looked up at the sky and said softly.
So young, yet so weathered, with such a story? Yan Aosong, who should have advised a young person not to smoke, hesitated, but still took out his cigarette case and handed Lin Li one.
As a smoker, one must always remember: smoking alone benefits oneself, smoking with a group benefits the group. (Translator's Note: "Li qun" (benefits the group) is also a brand of Chinese cigarettes).
Sharing is a virtue.
Then, Yan Aosong took out his lighter to light it for Lin Li, but Lin Li waved his hand to refuse.
"You have your own?"
"No, no need to light it, Uncle, I don't know how to smoke."
Yan Aosong: "?"
"Then you want this cigarette to..." Yan Aosong was stunned.
"I just feel that having a cigarette in my mouth at this time will give people a feeling that I'm very street-smart, very capable, and have experienced a lot. It fits better with what I'm going to say next, it will look very cool."
Lin Li explained.
Yan Aosong: "(；☉_☉)?"
So you're fucking using it as an atmosphere prop??
"Give this cigarette back to me first, I'll change one for you." Yan Aosong took out another pack of cigarettes from his back pocket and said to Lin Li.
"What's the difference?" Lin Li asked curiously.
"This one is cheap, it won't hurt to waste it."
Lin Li: "..."
Uncle Yan is quite calculating.
But he's quite a good person. When I asked him for one, his first reaction was actually to give me a good cigarette.
After changing the cigarette, Lin Li pretended to take a drag and exhaled a piece of nothingness.
"Alright, speak." Yan Aosong urged.
Lin Li nodded, his words deep: "My goal is very simple, to use my method to protect Xiling."
Yan Aosong: "?"
Yan Aosong had thought of many answers, but he really didn't expect these few words.
"Uncle Yan, do you know Batman? The one where a family of six legs goes into an alley, and only two legs come out." Lin Li said lightly.
"...I know, Lin Li, just saying Batman is enough. Most people should know. That supplementary description at the end is really fucking redundant."
The corner of Yan Aosong's mouth twitched—but this time it was to keep himself from laughing.
"It's all the same. If you know, you'll better understand what I'm going to say next."
"When Bruce Wayne realized that the justice of Gotham City would never be served if no one was willing to plunge into the darkness, he chose to become—Batman."
"And when I, Lin Li, realized that the justice of Xiling Town is actually not comprehensive, and there are still people living in areas where they dare not walk at night, I chose to become—Black Silk Hero."
"Oh right, Uncle Yan, I'm using Batman as an analogy, not because I'm also an orphan. I'm not an orphan, my mom is still alive and well. I must emphasize this to you."
Halfway through being deep, Lin Li suddenly explained un-deeply.
"No need to emphasize these unnecessary things—wait!! What did you just say? What hero did you say you are!?"
Yan Aosong, who was complaining about Lin Li's sudden supplementary description, came back to his senses, somewhat doubting if he had misheard those few fucking words that had raped his brain again, so he confirmed.
"I am—"
"Black, Silk, Hero."
Lin Li smiled and stared at Yan Aosong, reaching into his pocket.
Under Yan Aosong's somewhat wary gaze, Lin Li took out a pair of black silk stockings.
Under Yan Aosong's somewhat dumbfounded gaze, Lin Li stretched the black silk open.
Under Yan Aosong's somewhat terrified gaze, silently shaking his head and begging, Lin Li, dame dame, absolutely don't do this, wow, consider it Uncle begging you, okay?, Lin Li put the black silk on his head.
"Don't need to thank me, I'm... Black Silk Hero."
Although the timing and occasion were quite different from what he expected, Lin Li finally said this line.
Yan Aosong: "..."
Your mom.
Yan Aosong found it hard to describe what was going through his mind right now.
It seemed like he thought of a lot, yet it seemed like he thought of nothing.
It seemed like his head was pointy, yet it seemed like his head was concave.
The corners of his mouth were twitching so hard they were about to spark.
Yan Aosong reached out, closed his jaw that was about to dislocate, and thousands of words finally converged into one word: "Ah?"
"Arousing the evil thoughts hidden in the hearts of wicked people, and then bringing them to justice, I am using this method to protect Xiling."
Lin Li, no, he should be called Black Silk Hero, stated his grand ambition to Yan Aosong, then stretched out a hand and issued an invitation:
"Uncle Yan, Batman has his Commissioner Gordon, so, are you willing to be my Commissioner Gordon!"
"As long as you use a spotlight to project a black silk pattern in the sky, I will come find you and assemble!"
Stop torturing Yang Liang, change to another uncle to torture.
Yan Aosong: "?"
Yan Aosong felt that he hadn't typed as many question marks in his entire life as he did tonight.
"I, let me process this."
Not expecting his brain to suffer heavy trauma more than once today, raped twice, Yan Aosong, whose legs were slightly weak, leaned against the wall at the door again.
His eyes were vacant, clear not like an experienced Demon Suppression Envoy, but like a college student.
A long time passed.
"Lin Li, what, what you're doing is, is wrong." Yan Aosong spoke with difficulty to refute Lin Li, "Entrapment itself is... illegal."
"Where is it wrong?" Hearing this, Lin Li smiled and shook his head, "Uncle, I'm not doing entrapment. I'm not a law enforcement officer, you are the one catching them, I'm just calling the police.
"I'm not doing it for my performance, I don't have any interest demands, it absolutely doesn't constitute entrapment in the legal sense."
"Secondly, Uncle Yan, do you think among the six people caught just now, are any of them innocent?"
"Tonight I tempted many people, but only they took the bait."
"My fishing is not making kind or neutral beings become evil, but just letting evil beings show their evil side."
"I didn't make good people turn bad, I just made the hidden bad people surface."
"Yes, in front of me, not only did they not get any benefits, but they also have to suffer imprisonment, but... what if the person who appeared in front of them wasn't me?"
"If one day, the target they identify is just an unprepared ordinary person?
"When a knife is held against the victim, when things are snatched away, and it's hard to recover them without surveillance, will you still be firm in your current answer, will you still think it's wrong for me to put them in jail in advance?
"You think I'm wrong, just because these robbers are considered a vulnerable group in front of me, but you should know, unprepared ordinary people, they are the most vulnerable!"
Lin Li's words were pearls of wisdom, constantly outputting his views to Yan Aosong.
Obviously, this output was effective.
Yan Aosong closed his eyes, his brows tightly furrowed, his expression complex.
Among the two groups of people caught tonight, there were indeed no innocent ones.
A child carrying gold through a busy market, having evil thoughts is not a sin, everyone will have more or less evil thoughts in their hearts.
Returning lost money is a virtue, keeping lost money is a dark side of human nature that can be understood.
But the dark side has degrees. Evil thoughts to the extent of robbery and hurting people, if actually implemented, are inevitably a crime, without any room for argument.
Was it wrong to catch them? No. Yan Aosong felt that if they weren't caught today, sooner or later they would enter the Demon Suppression Division again for other petty thefts and illegal acts.
Bufan can never change his habit of eating shit, this is nature.
It's just that Yan Aosong didn't understand why an eighteen-year-old child would have such understanding and conviction.
For a moment, it even made Yan Aosong feel ashamed of himself.
The hot blood that had been silent for many years almost boiled, and Yan Aosong wanted to transform into Xiling's Gordon, assisting Xiling's Black Silk Hero.
Coming back to his senses, fortunately he was fucking close, didn't get hot-headed and speak out.
He was a bit curious, in his past life, what unforgettable things had Lin Li experienced?
Yan Aosong opened his eyes, looked at Lin Li with firm eyes, hesitated, and changed direction:
"Batman has absolute wealth, has the best equipment, but even so, he still gets hurt constantly. Lin Li, what do you have?"
Lin Li blinked.
—I have a mom, and I also have a system.
In the superhero world, Batman's superpower of money is really not enough, but his own superpowers in the real world are more than enough.
But these words couldn't be said.
"Walking often by the river, how can one not get their shoes wet. Lin Li, your intentions are good, but if you continue like this, sooner or later you will be blinded by an eagle pecking your eyes. I... even less want to see that scene.
"A child like you shouldn't encounter these dangers.
"Perhaps, you should adopt a gentler way to systematically and fundamentally protect the justice you desire..."
This was not a responsibility an eighteen-year-old child should bear, so Yan Aosong kindly advised.
Lin Li blinked again.
Bro, you're actually overthinking it. I won't do this anymore after finishing the task. It's quite strenuous. My WeChat steps are now fucking fifteen thousand—you know, Lin Li spent the whole day in the library.
Although he thought so in his heart, he couldn't say it out loud, so Lin Li just stuck to his persona:
"That day is too far away."
Silence.
In the silence of both sides, it was still Lin Li who chose to break it, but his opening words were already a farewell:
"Uncle, I think I should go."
"Will we meet again tonight?" Without asking him to stay, Yan Aosong looked up and asked.
"I don't know." Lin Li shook his head, also looked up at the dark night sky: "Tonight's night is really dark, I don't know what it portends."
Yan Aosong turned his head and glanced at Lin Li, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
You're fucking wearing black silk over your eyes! Can it not look dark to you!
"But perhaps not meeting again is our best expectation." Lin Li said lightly.
"Perhaps." Yan Aosong sighed, responded softly, and then added: "We've already added each other on WeChat. I'm on the night shift tonight, you can contact me directly if anything happens."
"Thank you, Uncle, then... I'm leaving."
"Mhm, but Lin Li, remember, no matter when, safety is the most important. Batman doesn't have a mom and dad, but you do. If you suffer any harm, they will worry." Yan Aosong's voice was softer.
Lin Li: "Uncle, I don't have a dad either."
Yan Aosong: "..."
Fuck, I'm so fucking damned.
"Sorry."
"It's okay, I'm used to it."
Lin Li walked forward, into the dark night.
"..."
"Some people belong to the night, some people belong to black silk. The night belongs to everyone, but black silk only belongs to me."
"Who says only those standing in the light are heroes."
"I'm... Black Silk Hero."
"..."
In the night, came the oath of the Black Silk Hero.
Yan Aosong: "..."
What bullshit is he muttering here again.
Yan Aosong shook his head. Tonight's situation was really too complicated and headache-inducing.
Yan Aosong even felt a bit sentimental and sorrowful.
Sigh.
Just as he was about to smoke a second cigarette to relieve his sorrow, footsteps came from in front of him.
Yan Aosong looked up and saw Lin Li walking back reluctantly like a wilted eggplant, and beside him was another Demon Suppression Envoy.
"What's wrong, Changzi?" Yan Aosong asked this Demon Suppression Envoy in confusion.
"Oh, Brother Yan, I just came back from a mission, and saw this kid wearing a mask sneaking out of our bureau, muttering words I couldn't understand.
"Felt like he did something bad, so I pulled him back planning to ask him first." The Demon Suppression Envoy answered.
Yan Aosong: "?"
Lin Li coughed somewhat awkwardly, lowered his voice: "Commissioner Gordon, save me, clear my name. I said I'm Black Silk Hero, but your colleague didn't believe me."
"..."
"Smack."
Yan Aosong slapped his own forehead, and then... laughed out loud.
Your Black Silk Hero... seems to lack a bit of prestige.
(End of Chapter)