Nightmare Despair

Chapter 37 The Trolley Problem
Li Xiangqian let Ding San stay at the police station a little longer. The two of them buried themselves in piles of papers, rummaging through case files and retrieving surveillance footage from various sources.

After finishing his breakfast in the cafeteria, he drove his police car to take Ding San home.

On the way, Li Xiangqian couldn't help but bring up the mirage again.

"In ancient texts, the Mirage is said to be a fourth-realm martial artist who went mad from practicing the ancient pictographic martial art..."

Ding San waved his hand and said, "Come on, the fourth realm? In the entire Crimson Star, you can't even find a few martial artists in the third realm. The emergence of enhanced humans has already squeezed the living space of martial arts to the limit."

"The frequency of mirage sightings and mirage-related incidents is increasing year by year, both domestically and internationally. Are these all the corpses of fourth-realm martial artists? Impossible."

Li Xiangqian downshifted, and the police car sped onto the intercity highway. He chimed in, "So, that thing is more likely what you're talking about... the corpse of a Nightmare Walker?"

Ding San nodded: "Most likely."

"The process of nightmare sufferers trying to survive is also a process of becoming more and more closely integrated with nightmares... Their bodies and minds will gradually become distorted, becoming a bridge between nightmares and reality."

"Therefore, the corpses of those missing travelers would exhibit some characteristics that are difficult to explain by common sense."

At this point, Ding San paused, then added, "Any more and it would violate the confidentiality regulations."

"In short, you only need to understand one thing."

"That thing is extremely dangerous! Expanding nightmares? That's just an unconfirmed guess. The most direct harm of the mirage... is killing those poor wretches who unintentionally trigger its killing rules."

Li Xiangqian's throat bobbed, and he subconsciously shuddered: "Rules of killing? What are those?"

Ding San's phone suddenly vibrated. While answering the call, she said, "Who knows? Every mirage has different rules."

"Most likely, it's related to their nightmares before they died..."

Ding San swiped the screen; the call was from Ye Zi.

"Third sister, she is a 'nightmare of reality'."

A nightmare in reality?

Ding San's face instantly turned extremely ugly.

"I see."

The call was abruptly cut off.

Ding San hung up the phone, his eyes flickering, as if he were making a difficult decision.

The police car sped along the highway, and a fork in the road appeared ahead.

Continue straight... or turn on your turn signal, enter the ramp, and exit the highway.

"Xiangqian, have you ever heard of the trolley problem?"

Ding San suddenly spoke.

Li Xiangqian subconsciously slowed down and frowned.

Of course he knew.

An out-of-control trolley is about to crash into five people on the tracks.

There's a lever next to you; if you pull it, the tram will veer off onto another track, but there's also someone strapped to that track.

La, you intentionally kill one person to save five others.

No, you watched five people die while saving one innocent person.

No matter which choice you make, your hands will be stained with blood.

"I know, what's wrong?"

"How do you choose?"

Without hesitation, Li Xiangqian blurted out, "I'm inclined to pull. Although that person is innocent, it's better than five people dying."

"But if I really had to choose," Li Xiangqian laughed self-deprecatingly, "I wouldn't choose. Without the uniform, I'm nothing, I have no right to decide who lives or dies."

"I'm curious, Third Sister, what will you choose?"

Upon hearing this, Ding San shook his head without giving a direct answer.

She simply turned her head to look at the rapidly receding railing outside the window, her voice flat.

"It's time to get off the highway."

"Row."

The police car turned on its turn signal, smoothly merged into the left lane, slowed down, and entered the ramp.

……

"Xiao Kai, why are you suddenly interested in these flowers and plants?"

Looking at Zhou Kai's bulging pockets, Lu Yan asked curiously, "Speaking of which, your sister used to really like these things too." "When she lived with me before, the living room was full of potted plants... Now that she's been run off with that bad woman, I have to take care of all those flowers and plants."

"troublesome."

Her eyes suddenly lit up, as if she had found a savior to get rid of her burden: "Why don't you come and help me? I'll pay you a salary!"

Zhou Kai hummed in agreement, pretending to be seriously considering it.

After a moment, he nodded: "Okay, forget about the salary."

Perfect! It saves him the trouble of rummaging through his own shabby rented room for flowerpots and potting soil. He can just use the ready-made stuff from Sister Yanzi's place.

The nursery in the basement was dark, and although it now has dim light, the conditions are still harsh.

Zhou Kai specifically selected several plants that can thrive in this environment.

One type of orchid, two types of ferns.

These are all varieties that are openly sold in the botanical garden and can be picked for a fee.

'I just don't know if planting these plants will bring me any benefits... I'll try them out tonight and find out.'

Soon, Zhou Kai followed Lu Yan home.

He moved several flowerpots into the bathroom and, after confirming that the environment was sufficiently humid, carefully planted the three plants.

After placing the plants, Zhou Kai turned and left, his movements swift and decisive.

As for Lu Yan's lace lingerie casually resting on the bathroom doorknob, Zhou Kai's gaze swept over it, but didn't linger on it for more than a fraction of a second.

"Sister, I'm leaving."

He greeted Lu Yan, who was watching TV in the living room, and then left.

It was almost 3 p.m., and there wasn't much time left before my appointment with Ma Yifan.

Now that it's over, the timing is just right.

……

Ma Yifan comes from a well-off family, and the place where he arranged to meet Zhou Kai was his suburban villa, nestled against the mountains and by the water.

This villa has three floors and two large courtyards in the front and back... Who could resist that?

"He's really hiding his true abilities."

Zhou Kai shook his head, entered the password sent by Ma Yifan, and pushed open the heavy wrought iron gate.

Zhou Kai has always taken matters of great importance, especially those that could resolve his financial crisis, very seriously.

Before leaving home today, he made a point of wearing another training uniform from the boxing gym under his jacket.

Now, he takes off his coat, revealing the loose training clothes underneath, and a convincing image of a martial artist emerges.

There was a cleaning lady in the villa who was responsible for cleaning and cooking. She must have been instructed by Ma Yifan beforehand, because she was overly nice to Zhou Kai.

"Mr. Zhou, have you had lunch yet? The young master won't be here for a while."

Zhou Kai shook his head: "No need."

When the people arrive, I'll be busy eating, and that scene just doesn't look professional.

It's better to do less than more; keep everything simple.

"You're... the Zhou Kai that Ma Yifan was talking about?"

Before long, Ma Yifan led a few people in.

The one in the lead, or rather the one surrounded in the middle, was a foreign girl with a delicate appearance like a porcelain doll.

But in stark contrast to her beautiful face was the arrogance that emanated from her very bones.

She practically held her chin up, scrutinizing Zhou Kai as if he were a product: "Is he reliable? Has he competed in competitions? What were his results?"

Zhou Kai and Ma Yifan exchanged a glance. The latter's face showed an unconcealable panic, clearly not expecting the opening to be so awkward.

"No competitions, no results." Zhou Kai narrowed his eyes, neither humble nor arrogant.

The blonde girl frowned: "You have nothing, so what makes you think you can teach us?"

"You can't squeeze into a circle that doesn't belong to you just by relying on a little bit of cleverness."

She speaks directly and without any reservations.

The other two youths also crossed their arms, shook their heads, and their expressions were full of disappointment.

(End of this chapter)