Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

"Hu Wan's move was extremely clever; first, he brainwashed the onlookers by focusing on the quantity of mung bean jelly, thus setting a limit on the extent of public discourse, ensuring that it wouldn't stray onto other topics,"

"On the topic of mung bean jelly: one bowl? Or two bowls?"

"In the end, he used the identity of the magistrate's son to sweep away any semblance of fairness claimed by the magistrate."

Su Jie elucidated the profound implications of Hu Wan's statement, enlightening everyone present.

"But surely, there must be other solutions, right?"

Chen Tian Yuzi offered his opinion, "After all, he claimed there was not enough--but was there anyone who saw it?"

"That's right."

Suddenly, other scholars echoed the sentiment.

"One could simply argue: why should a bowl of mung bean jelly cost so much?"

"Or one could say: I paid for two bowls! He's swindling and cheating!"

For a time, all the students were thinking of ways to refute the claim.

However, after everyone, including Su Jie, had shared their thoughts, he slowly added, "What you all say makes sense, but the bystander sees clearly."

"Besides, I have said before that Xiao Liuzi has ideals and resolve, and not to mention, both the martial examinee and Hu Wan emphasized Xiao Liuzi's status as the 'magistrate's son,' blocking any chance he had to stall or act shamelessly."

"Therefore, even though he knows he could say those things, he would not and could not say them."

"After all, in doing so, the magistrate would become the epitome of 'unfairness,' and language, too, is a weapon that can kill without blinking an eye--used well, it can be quicker than blades and guns against those of weak spirit."

"Xiao Liuzi is a steadfast idealist, but his spirit is not strong."

A student named Li Feng spoke up, "Indeed, we have the perspective of God, seeing things clearly, but purely on the matter at hand, before I entered Ming Lun, I too have experienced being wronged--it's truly unbearable."

Su Jie also had had such feelings. Content sourced from MV4LEMPYR – My Virtual Library Empire.

This is a common human experience.

When a person is wronged, the person in question always fixates on the framework that they have been wrongfully accused, knowing well that they are innocent, and often even the accuser is more aware of this fact.

But the third party does not know.

In such a situation, the defense and anger of an accused person without evidence can lower their standing in the eyes of the bystanders, who may even tend toward the accuser's narrative.

On a small scale, it's like classmates' erasers or pencils disappearing, randomly picking a classmate as the suspect, and then being ostracized and slandered by the others; on a grander scale, it's akin to various cases of wrongful crimes."

Therefore, if one is slandered, one must not be constrained by the fact of being slandered; instead, one should break out of this mindset and contemplate why the other party is slandering them.

Those who slander others must have some purpose, or are gaining some benefit.

Of course, one must exclude the possibility that the slanderer themselves are mentally ill or psychologically abnormal, deviating from normal human logic.

Even so, as long as one is being slandered, by thinking outside the box, one can naturally find things the slanderer cannot explain or justify on their own.

Even if these things cannot prove one's innocence, they can at least prevent public opinion from being completely one-sided."

Unfortunately, for most people, escaping from established frameworks is difficult.

Not to mention, for Xiao Liuzi, the path from the start had been blocked by the martial examinee, and moreover, as a naïve idealist, after being slandered, his steadfast truth was repeatedly challenged, causing him to gradually lose his reason—

The tragedy was already predetermined.

[Under Hu Wan's words, Xiao Liuzi lost his reason and sought to beat Hu Wan, held back by the martial examinee.]

[At this point, the gazes of onlookers nearby changed.]

[What they revealed in their eyes was one thing: Xiao Liuzi surely ate two bowls and paid for one, and now, when the truth came out and he couldn't justify his actions, he resorted to violence.]

[This incident assumed a new nature—regardless of whether Xiao Liuzi paid for two bowls, he definitely ate two bowls!]

Su Jie surveyed the eyes of the occupants within the lecture teahouse and slowly said, "Perhaps, most of them know the truth, but they choose to remain silent, even assisting tyranny."

"Why?"

"At least through witnessing Xiao Liuzi's performance, they have surmised that Zhang Muzhi and the others stand no chance against Huang."

"Since they can't win, why would they help?"

"Even if Zhang Muzhi and his ilk are overcome, they can leave Goose City, but these people still have to live here. Once they catch Huang's attention, their hard times would only begin."

Everyone realized that the so-called end of hard times did not signify the arrival of good days, but the end in a physical sense.

Offend the tyrant of Goose City and expect to live?

Dream on!

Thus, even if there were those among the spectators, elders, and commoners who knew the truth, they wouldn't offer help.

They side with the victor.

But now, Xiao Liuzi's performance has shown them that there is no hope for Zhang Muzhi and the others to defeat Huang. Rather than being resented by Huang afterward, it's better to be an indifferent observer."

To remain detached might mean living in confusion for a lifetime.

But in that confusion, they could survive.

This was the most pragmatic thought of these onlookers, caught up in survival, not one to spill blood over so-called ideals.

["Hehe haha haha!" Hu Wan patted himself down and laughed heartily, already knowing that Xiao Liuzi, who had lost his reason, was doomed.]

[The martial examinee stepped out to speak for Xiao Liuzi, "Hu Wan, Liuzi is the magistrate's son, how could he owe money for the mung bean jelly? Did you personally see it?!"]