Madmen don't keep diaries

Chapter 514, 513 He didn't know.
After leaving the student dormitory, the three walked towards the car dealership in silence, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts.

Feng Xiuhu had a sullen face, Fang Youliu seemed to be deep in thought, and Shunzi's eyes showed doubt and confusion.

They wandered onto some street and saw students handing out flyers again.

They spoke with great enthusiasm and passion, proclaiming their ideas, but the response they received was often just a perfunctory wave from passersby.

Shunzi stared for a while, then suddenly said to Feng Xiuhu, "Brother, I don't understand."

Feng Xiuhu said impatiently, "I don't know."

Shunzi seemed not to hear him and continued to press on, "Brother, do you think Chen Dejin's words were influenced by a curse?"

Feng Xiuhu still had that same furious look on his face: "I don't know."

Shunzi added, "If we break the curse on Chen Dejin, will he no longer feel that going to his death is meaningful?"

Feng Xiuhu took a deep breath, this time too lazy to even reply.

Shunzi, oblivious to Feng Xiuhu's expression, continued to ask, "Brother, do you think what the Women's Society is doing is right or wrong?"

"Snapped!"

Feng Xiuhu jumped up and slapped Shunzi on the back of the head, yelling, "I don't know! Don't fucking ask me!"

Shunzi was stunned. Seeing that Feng Xiuhu was really angry, she stopped talking.

Feng Xiuhu stormed off alone.

The remaining two stood still, while Fang Youliu grabbed a straight, and the two of them followed from behind.

Why is my brother angry?

Shunzi asked in a low voice.

Fang Youliu countered with a question: "Suppose you were to go back to ancient times and see a severe drought in the land, and the people were about to offer human sacrifices. You knew in your heart that such sacrifices were completely useless. Would you save the dying human sacrifice?"

Shunzi answered decisively, "If it's right in front of me, of course I'll save it."

Fang Youliu then asked, "You want to go forward to save the person, but the human sacrifice is willing to die and instead rebukes you for meddling and disrupting the ceremony. What should you do then?"

Shunzi frowned: "Since I know this method is wrong, why should I care what the human sacrifice thinks? Of course, I should save them first."

Fang Youliu smiled and nodded: "That makes sense, but—even if you save this one, the people will turn around and offer new human sacrifices, each one just like the one you saved, each one willing to die. How many of them can you save?"

Shunzi fell silent.

But Fang Youliu hadn't finished speaking: "And there's one more important thing—you think this kind of sacrifice is wrong, but what if you're the one who's wrong? What if they really can successfully summon rain through this method, how would you know?"

Shunzi's eyes widened in surprise.

Fang Youliu pointed to Feng Xiuhu's back in front of him: "If you ask him why he's angry, he'll tell you from the beginning—because he didn't know."

"What good would it do to break Chen Dejin's curse? We don't need another 'human sacrifice'; what good would it do if we didn't? We might just make things worse."

Fang Youliu shook his head and sighed: "So doing nothing is actually the best thing to do. It's not that standing by and watching is the right thing to do, but to know whether the outcome is right or wrong, someone has to be sacrificed to take the hit."

"Right now, our top priority is to leave Fallen Cloud City as soon as possible. Although we have already confronted Zhou Xiuqing and the others, who knows if the Women's Society will continue to use Ma Erye San's name as a banner? So getting away from this place of trouble is the safest way."

……

The three arrived at the carriage shop, and after Fang Youliu retrieved the carriage they had left there, they left the city without stopping.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, Feng Xiuhu sat in the carriage, his complexion slightly improved. He glanced at Shunzi across from him, who seemed to regret his earlier outburst, and thus initiated a conversation.

"You don't need to worry too much about Chen Dejin's matter."

Shunzi looked over upon hearing this, only to find that Feng Xiuhu had his eyes downcast and staring at the ground—the words seemed to be addressed to him, but also to Feng Xiuhu himself.

"Regardless of whether what the Women's Society is doing is right or wrong, essentially they are trying to find a way. The problem is that before this path is successfully traversed, no one knows whether it is right or wrong, so more people need to explore different paths—the Women's Society is one, the Grand Duke is one, the President is one, Xi Jun is one, and perhaps the God of Truth is one..."

Shunzi suddenly asked, "Big brother, what about you?"

"I?"

Feng Xiuhu paused for a second.

He chuckled and said, "I'm just an ETC at most."

Shunzi was confused, but Feng Xiuhu changed the subject.

"Where are we going?"

He asked about the six squares on the carriage shaft.

Fang Youliu replied, "Go north along the main road to Yuluan County."

Feng Xiuhu then asked, "The county town? What's so special about this place?"

“Yuluan County is located on the edge of Yu’ai Prefecture. After we rest there for a while, we can go directly into Lingdong Prefecture.”

Fang Youliu paused for a moment: "But the reason I stayed in Yuluan County was mainly because of my own selfish reasons—I was quite curious about that place, so I wanted to take a look."

Shunzi muttered to herself, "Last time you said you wanted to go see Zizai City... and you ended up attracting the true god."

Feng Xiuhu ignored Shunzi: "Explain more clearly, what exactly are you curious about?"

Fang Youliu paused for a moment, then began to speak eloquently.

"Actually, it's not unusual for foreigners to set up factories in Xuan Kingdom, but do you know why Zhou Xiuqing is so vehemently opposed to foreigners undertaking large-scale construction projects in Yu'ai Prefecture?"

He asked himself and answered, "The cause lies in this Yuluan County."

"Yuluan County is no longer called by that name; it is now called Fornas City."

Feng Xiuhu raised an eyebrow: "Why choose a foreign name?"

Fang Youliu smiled slightly: "Yuluan County is a transportation hub in terms of geographical location. It can reach Lingdong Prefecture to the north and several major roads directly radiate to many important cities in Yu'ai Prefecture to the south. Therefore, for foreigners who are preparing to mine, Yuluan County is their bridgehead for developing industry in Yu'ai Prefecture."

"It is said that the Heretoz Empire and the President reached an agreement to develop Yuluan County into an industrial city. As a result, the President issued an official letter approving the expansion of Yuluan County, upgrading it from a 'county' to a 'city'. Furthermore, to show goodwill, the President also adopted the foreigners' suggestion to rename the county, and from then on, Yuluan County became Fornas City."

"During this expansion, countless people's fields and houses were forcibly seized—we do not know whether it was the foreigners or the government that did it, but Zhou Xiuqing was able to stir up the emotions of the students of Yu'ai Prefecture by seizing this obvious result."

"An industrial city, a transportation hub..."

Feng Xiuhu suddenly remembered something.

He lifted the carriage curtain and looked into the distance: "This city—was it built to support a railway?"

Fang Youliu turned his head and gave him an approving look: "That's right, there are also steam trains."

"Moreover, as far as I know, the level of industrialization in Fornas City is among the best in the entire Xuan Kingdom."

(End of this chapter)