Chapter 349: Humanity
Chapter 349: Humanity
In short, Zhao Ru never truly stands on either side. She is neither with Lei Jiang nor with An Ran. She believes she is guided by fate and given a unique ability to save the world, but in the end, she realizes she is the one who needs saving.
Like An Ran, she is a lamb in the sheepfold, waiting to be slaughtered. So she turns to Lei Jiang, flatters Tang Siluo, does her best to hide her true abilities, and confesses her ability to An Ran. All of this she does just to survive, to live well with her elderly aunt in this turbulent end of the world.
An Ran, Lei Jiang, Luo Feifan, Zhan Lian, and even Zhao Qianru don’t really know what she’s planning, because Zhao Ru sees things too clearly and is too good at hiding herself. She wavers between An Ran and Lei Jiang, watching and observing who gains the upper hand, and then follows the winner.
“But don’t you understand human nature? You actually wanted to take Doll just to control me together with Lei Jiang?” An Ran looks at Zhao Ru angrily. She’s grateful to Zhao Ru, but she’s still furious at such thoughts.
“No, I understand human nature. I see it more clearly than you do.” Zhao Ru has never reflected on what she’s done. She thinks for a moment, then suddenly laughs. “An Ran, have you ever been to Africa? Have you seen those child witches abused by entire villages, with arms so skinny they’re barely covered with skin? You haven’t seen that. Do you think the end of the world only exists now? When you have power and don’t have to survive in the cracks like I do, have you ever reflected on what you can do for this world?”
“Why should I think about that?” An Ran looks at Zhao Ru with some sarcasm. “Sorry, I live in a peaceful, lawful society. I haven’t been to those backward places. I have abilities, but before I had them, let me tell you—I crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, and I wasn’t alone. I had a newborn child with me. So I never thought about what I could do for this ‘world.’”
Because this ‘world’ has never done anything for her.
“Exactly. Human nature is selfish,” Zhao Ru nods with a slightly vicious smile as she looks at An Ran. “Knowing you won’t have such great thoughts—neither will Lei Jiang—so people like me are forced to cater to you. I flatter you, obey you, work for you, because you never hold any goodwill toward the world. So why shouldn’t I be a tiger’s accomplice?”
“Then being so honest now—isn’t it all for nothing?”
“There’s no other way. Zhan Lian won’t let you go. He’s not easy to manipulate.” Zhao Ru smiles, with a hint of self-mockery. “So I’ll stand on your side. Compared to Lei Jiang, standing with you is better—Lei Jiang is only an earth element!”
An Ran’s team has wood, metal, and even Luo Feifan, who’s fire-element. Adding Zhao Ru, that covers metal, wood, water, and fire—only earth is missing. With earth, the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—would all be present.
Don’t the ancient books say the essence of the world is composed of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth? Compared to that, Zhao Ru still feels An Ran’s team is stronger.