Twenty minutes later, in a school in the city of Madura, Huai Shi finally met the philosopher.

Obviously, this is a private aristocratic middle school, both in terms of security and facilities, it is different from the schools that Huai Shi has seen along the way.

It's cleaner, it's safer, and it's more expensive.

Like an aristocratic manor, between the elaborate buildings and courtyards, young men and girls walked together on the road, talking excitedly or calmly with each other.

In the distance, there are children running excitedly in the grassland, and you chase after me.

The beautiful breath of youth is blowing in the face.

Walking in it, Huai Shi and Seyal behind him are like two aliens who are out of place.

Looking around in amazement, Seyal looked like those big brothers and sisters, as if he was ashamed, shrunk behind Huai Shi, and drooped his head.

Huai Shi walked calmly on campus, calmly looking around and staring at the curious faces of those young people.

Even if they look like they're about the same age.

"That's nice. ”

He sighed softly, staring at the stretches of greenery and those white buildings, listening to the sound of the piano in the piano room, a little stumbling, but he was persistently trying to move forward intermittently......

Until Seyal couldn't stand the gaze of the people around him, pulled his cuffs, and then pointed ahead.

Huai Shi saw a middle-aged man carrying a paper bag.

Slightly old and emaciated, the bespectacled man was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and suit pants, rough knuckles and calluses from years of writing, and was pinching a bulging paper bag.

Very conspicuous.

Not because of the dress, but by blood.

The sparse black hair was meticulously combed behind his head, his eyes were dark, his complexion was fair, and his wrists were wrapped around rosaries representing the Holy Spirit......

Huai Shi did not expect that the philosopher turned out to be a Roman.

He stood next to the bench and beckoned to Huai Shi, there were still a few thick textbooks on the chair beside him, he had been reading for too long, and the cover was a little broken, but there was no curled edge, obviously very caring.

"I'm sorry I can only entertain you here, Mr. Huaishi. ”

After they sat down, the philosopher was the first to speak, and he looked at the two people in front of him, and sighed softly as if in amazement: "I have to say that the two of them are younger than I imagined, especially this one...... Mr. Seyar. ”

Seyar was stunned for a moment.

The philosopher smiled kindly at him, and did not say anything more to him, but looked at the puzzled Huai Shi: "I already know your intentions, but do you mind if I finish eating?"

In the paper bag in his hand was a sandwich that he had already eaten two bites, seemingly made by himself, with a large amount of hot sauce, mustard and raw beef that had scared Huai Shi a little.

After asking Huai Shi's permission, he took out the sandwich and continued to eat.

When he eats, he is very regular, not hurried and embarrassed, but gentle and full of regularity, each bite is fully chewed before swallowing, every few bites, he will take a sip of tea from the thermos cup next to him.

Five minutes later, he took out his handkerchief, wiped his mouth, screwed the lid of the thermos cup, and looked up at Huaishi.

"I've been waiting. ”

"Actually, I don't mind waiting longer. Huai Shi shrugged.

"I like this kind of patience - full of tolerance and reverence for knowledge and understanding, Mr. Huaishi, such a quality is rare. ”

The philosopher seems to be happy, but it is also regretful.

"One thing I need to make upfront - my soul ability is to make people think that what I say makes sense, and even some fallacies will sound convincing. ”

After a moment of silence, he explained somewhat abruptly: "It's a pity that this effect is passive, and I can't turn it off myself."

However, this kind of thing, as long as you think about it a little, you can understand it. ”

He thought for a moment and gave an example: "Let's say – today's sun, it's black. ”

A word of nonsense.

Huai Shi frowned, is the sun really black today, wait......

He was stunned for a moment, subconsciously raised his head, and looked directly at the dazzling sun above his head, and finally reacted after a few seconds, and couldn't help but gasp.

I have some chills in my back.

This kind of soul ability is a little too terrifying.

If the philosopher does not explain it in advance, even the sublimator will not be able to guard against it.

"Makes you laugh. ”

The philosopher sighed with some headache, "This ability can be used in education, of course, only if the theory I tell my students is correct." But there are so many uncertainties in this world......"

"Thanks to this troublesome soul ability, I originally majored in advanced mathematics and theoretical physics, but now in order not to mislead the students, I can only come to the middle school to teach grammar...... After all, this kind of thing, even if it is said by mistake, it is at most a two-point deduction in the exam. ”

After a pause, he looked at Huai Shi solemnly: "The reason why I say this is because I am honest, and on the other hand, to avoid misunderstanding - I don't think what I say is absolutely correct, so I hope you can always be suspicious of what I say." ”

In the silent thinking, Huai Shi was vaguely abrupt.

In any case, the philosopher did not harbor ill will towards himself, but rather confessed at the beginning, and when Huai Shi thought about it later, he was able to abandon the influence of the philosopher's soul ability to the greatest extent.

"Ah, you're starting to think. ”

The philosopher smiled with satisfaction: "Very good, thinking is the first step to survival, Mr. Huaishi, you have entered the state, I believe we will have a good conversation next." ”

"Do you need me to ask questions?" asked Huai Shi.

"No, I know what you're here for, and I've got the answer ready. ”

The philosopher pondered for a moment, and then suddenly said, "But, before that, may you allow me to ask a few questions? Sorry, this is purely out of professional habit, and I always get into the state of a teacher—"

Huai Shi shrugged indifferently: "Didn't I come here to ask you to answer my doubts?"

"So, let's just think of it as a temporary lesson. ”

The philosopher happily slapped his knees twice, straightened his expression, and suddenly asked, "Do you think there is any essential difference between a sublimator and an ordinary person?"

"Do you mean souls, stigmata, or talents?"

"No, it's more different than these superficial things, and it's more substantial. ”

The philosopher shook his head: "I am not referring to the abundance of essentia and the prominence of power, nor to the heroic performance of heroes and the disgusting behavior of criminals, not to the difference of personality, but to some kind of ...... Something closer to the prime mover.

That might be too obscure, so let's give you an example. ”

His fingers subconsciously tapped the pen, and after thinking for a moment, he suddenly asked, "Do you know, 'philosophical zombie'?"

"As for zombies, I've had contact and understanding. ”

Huai Shi replied that in fact, he had cut a lot, whether it was a ghoul, a human-wolf infected, or even others, this kind of goods always appeared in various places, acting as cheap cannon fodder.

"No, no, no, it's actually an interesting hypothesis. ”

The philosopher shook his head: "It doesn't mean that there is such a perpetually hungry corpse with bloody flesh waiting to bite you twenty-four hours a day and then infect you with a deadly virus."

Rather, let's suppose there's a strange thing, and he's mixed in with the crowd......

Moreover, he looks and behaves as well as his physiology is the same as that of a normal person. ”

"If you poke him with a knife, it will cry out in pain," he said. He will tell you that it is cold after the air conditioner is turned on. He can work, he can talk, he can sing, he can take pictures and blog, he will see beautiful girls meet red hearts, and when he is hungry, he will go out to eat like us - and maybe cook it himself at home, but it doesn't matter.

Anyway, this thing looks like a human touch. ”

He paused and said calmly:

"Except that he doesn't have a sense of self. ”

"Huh?"

Huai Shi subconsciously frowned, feeling that something was wrong.

Or, more precisely, he never had anything of his own in his head. ”

As he said this, he raised his head and stared at Huai Shi with an unsettlingly sharp gaze: "It just can't think.

It's just, not thinking.

It's like a zombie alive, deadliving, the living dead, a puppet, a machine, anything you want...... But how do you verify that he is self-aware?"

Huai Shi didn't know how to answer.

Even if you think about it, you can't draw conclusions, it's just a ridiculous assumption.

Just as some extreme psychologists would think that the existence of 'self-will' was nothing more than a lie of the brain, until the advent of the soul, this theory was quite marketable.

"You should know, Mr. Philosopher. ”

Huai Shi said: "Everything that is not falsifiable is within the scope of rational discussion—in other words, this hypothesis is doomed to be fruitless from the beginning." ”

"I know. ”

The philosopher bowed, "I'm just, I'm just curious about this...... How many people will think about it, Mr. Huaishi, have you thought about it? How many people will choose to become a living corpse?"

When he looked back, his eyes were calm and terrifying, and he asked softly, "If I told you that there may really be such living corpses in this world, or even a large number, how would you feel?"

Huai Shi was stunned.

I shuddered to be looked at by those eyes.

"You should have seen such a person, right?"

The philosopher leaned on the bench and said indifferently: "When he hears those meaningful words, he will feel that they are wise sayings, and when he turns over two small stories made up in the biographies of celebrities, he will also seem to understand the truth of this world."

When he finds something being snatched around, he will also think it's a good thing. After seeing one or two articles reprimanding Fang Xuan, he found the direction of his life.

He will say what others say, and what others think is right, he will also feel that it is the truth. If anyone had sinned, he would have been indignant in the crowd.

Maybe he will still appeal, he will feel injustice, he will always be on the side of the majority, hiding in the crowd, mediocre......

Knowing that there is reason, but not thinking, being able to feel love but not spreading it, learning the truth but not using it, knowing where wisdom is, but being proud of its ignorance, longing for justice, but being paranoid about pushing something different from oneself into the evil side—"

"I was, for a time, terrified, Mr. Huaishi. ”

The philosopher calmly recounted: "I wonder why they can't think, why don't they open their eyes and expose the childish lies? Do they really understand what they are doing? Do they really understand their role? Are they really alive?"

After a brief pause, he finally asked the final question:

"—Is such a person really qualified to have a soul?"