Chapter 1276: A Pair of Lonely Figures (XVI)

There was a light jazz tune playing on some old record players. In front of the display cabinet, Schiller was wiping a crystal sculpture with a piece of suede.

Although he was just doing cleaning work, his expression was very focused. From time to time he would stretch out his arms to move the sculpture away, admiring it quite seriously, playing to the melodious tune, as if he was dancing with a non-existent partner. .

"Schiller looks very relaxed." Hal frowned and said, "Even more relaxed than when we were on vacation in Beach City. Isn't the hot sunshine in Beach City not as good as the rain in Gotham?"

"You can't ask everyone to adapt to the sunshine." Bruce said expressionlessly: "There is essentially no difference between every day being sunny and every day being rainy."

"Come on." Clark obviously disagreed with this statement: "Human beings are sunlight creatures, and the sun gives us energy."

"That's just you." Bruce turned to look at him.

"I don't understand him a bit. The Batman in this world is quite difficult to deal with. If I meet him, I will definitely stay away." Constantine coughed twice and said, "But Schiller He seems to be enjoying it, haven’t you noticed? He is enjoying it.”

"There seems to be a difference." Clark touched his chin gently and said, "When he left Gotham, his mental state was not much worse, and so was Bruce's. After staying at my house for a while, Bruce was much better, but Xi Professor Le seems to be getting more and more tired."

"Although it has only been a few days, I still feel that Schiller's mental state is much better than when he was in our universe." Clark shrugged and told the truth: "He is much more energetic."

"Maybe it's some kind of chemical reaction between mental patients." Lucifer's voice came.

"Have you ever thought that in Schiller's view, the kind of relaxed and leisurely life that common sense considers is not normal?" A sickly voice also slowly sounded: "That is not the pattern of his life, maybe this is it. "

"He fully understands your good intentions, knows that you can get a lot of happiness from that kind of relaxed life, and wants to share this happiness with him, so he will never tell you that he actually doesn't like that kind of life." Greed. He shook his head slightly and said.

"You guys did the right thing by accident." He said with a sick and deep smile: "It sounds incredible, right? He likes this kind of life of fighting wits and courage with Batman. Since it is not painful, there is no need to do it. Necessary change.”

"The question is, isn't Batman in pain?" Clark raised his voice and said, "Isn't he tired enough? He does business during the day, patrols at night, and has to fight wits and courage with all kinds of lunatics every now and then, and now there is one more Madman, God, who can save him?"

"Do you really think Batman is in pain?" Morbid chuckled. Before Clark could answer, he saw on the screen that Schiller had walked to the door and opened it.

Appearing outside the door is Batman.

They had met several times today, but they didn't seem to feel tired. Batman came again. After he finished the first phase of patrol, he arrived at Schiller's residence on time.

Schiller opened the door for him without any hesitation, stepped aside to invite him in, and put the wine that had been prepared on the table.

They sat down next to the window on the first floor again, and with the streetlight reflected in the Gotham River, everything in front of the window was reflected in a somewhat gloomy dark orange.

"It's hard for me to imagine that one day I will have a conversation like this with the greatest detective in the world." Schiller took a sip of sparkling wine, and the dense bubbles exploded on the tip of his tongue, no matter what If you like traditional fortified wine, you have to admit that this is more stimulating to the palate and more refreshing.

Batman didn't pick up the glass. He just stared at the wine in the glass quietly and said, "I didn't expect that I would talk to other people about things other than murder."

"Knowing that I might be the Joker?"

"No." Batman gave a negative answer, and then said: "You are not the Joker, you are nothing like him at all, you are not infinite chaos and madness, but you are still under control."

"It sounds like a curse." Schiller said without giving any face: "I admit this, but I must say that purposefully restricted madness may not be stronger than complete disorder, just like Batman always beats the Joker."

"'Always win.'" Batman read these words in his mouth, then shook his head slightly and said, "If I talk to other people, I will definitely emphasize this. Batman will always win." Win, but I know this won’t scare you, because you know me better than I thought.”

"How many times have you lost?" Schiller asked.

"It's more than you think, and it's more serious than you think."

Batman's voice always fits in well with all music. Originally, his deep voice should be more suitable for a major symphony, but if paired with light jazz, it doesn't seem out of place. It's a bit like harmonizing jazz. .

Schiller laughed softly, and then said: "You may think that I will ask you to give an example, but I can imagine what you did. You paid too much attention to some rational things, or cared about winning or losing. Never give in and make the people you care about suffer.”

"But this is not what hurts you the most, but that they came back to you after experiencing unimaginable pain. Although they didn't say it, they still love you and are still worried that you are lonely, so they are still with you."

"That's why I said, you are not the Joker." Batman's blue eyes were hidden in the darkness, but they looked bluer than usual.

"The Joker wants me to laugh, but you, like every other psychiatrist in the world, want your patients to cry."

"Crying is not a solution to the problem, but venting emotions and regaining motivation is. Perhaps this is also one of the ways to regain a smile?"

"You must have experienced it to express it so aptly, but what makes you say it all so lightly? Is it the courage that ordinary people don't have? Or is it the objective, rational, and indifferent third-party perspective that you and I have experienced?"

"Neither." Schiller shook his head gently and said, "If you can look at your own and others' scars calmly, it is not indifference that counts, but reconciliation with the guilt in your heart."

Schiller and Batman's voices were slow and low, like hypnotizing the air, so the audience in the theater also felt hypnotized, and their thoughts fluctuated with every word they said.

Constantine focused his attention, as if he wanted to listen to how to reconcile with guilt. To some extent, he needed this secret the most, not only for what Schiller had done to him, but also for too many people and things that he felt guilty about.

"Do you know why I study psychology?" Schiller asked a question first.

Batman hesitated to say the answer in his mind, because it would seem a bit narrow-minded, but in the end he said: "To understand others, to understand what they are thinking, to beware of them."

"One of the reasons, but not the biggest reason."

Schiller shook his head gently, took another sip of wine, and said: "As you inferred, I have also hurt people close to me, and it was direct harm, and the consequences were very serious."

"It was this incident that made me firmly choose psychology. I did want to figure out the psychology of others, but more importantly, I wanted to know what made people get rid of the most extreme fear of death, and when they knew they might face harm, they did not escape, but waited in place. , like a lamb to be slaughtered. "

"Perhaps you have never thought about what humans will do when they face the fear of death, and how powerful their instincts will be. As long as people are afraid, they can do anything. "

"People always say that humans do not have sharp teeth and claws like beasts, but in fact these deadly weapons are hidden in the human soul. If they want to resist, there is nothing they can't tear apart, especially at the moment before death. "

Batman was silent, but seemed to have thought of something. Schiller blinked and continued: "But when I hurt them, they violated their instincts, did not resist, and did not run away. "

"Maybe they were powerless to resist?" Batman said softly.

"You underestimate the potential of humans. Think carefully about the images that flashed through your mind. Does the person who was hurt really have no chance to resist? Or take a step back, does he not even have a chance to escape or retreat? "

When this question landed, Batman had already got the answer. Of course not. If you really want to escape, of course there is a chance.

"This kind of thing that goes against their instincts is what makes me most curious."

"So what have you found out?"

"Love and hope."

"It sounds very clichéd." Schiller explained: "It's like what the protagonist says to their descendants at the end of a prime-time TV show, but the amazing thing is that the answer given by professionals is the same."

"The victim's love for his enemy?" Batman didn't seem to agree.

"No, hatred will not turn into love. If there is a similar phenomenon, it must be the sequelae of abuse. I mean, they have hope for their loved ones, and they think that their loved ones will not let them down and will definitely save them."

"But this idea will only increase guilt, because their loved ones did not save them and hurt them." Batman said.

"But it is this love and hope that brings them back to us, and at this time, that hope is still not wiped out. The harm he suffered did not make them despair because they still have hope that we will get better."

Schiller's voice sounds like string music to Batman, and the trembling feeling when it fluctuates makes people a little upset.

"And the only way for us to stop disappointing their hopes is to try to become better, but if we really can't do it, we don't have to force it, because people who can tolerate such harm and not despair love you more noble than you think."

"This kind of love does not require you to become what they want you to be, but just the simplest hope that you are happy and joyful. If you don't think you need to change, then don't change."

"They must have seen the pain brought by your inner contradictions and guilt. They don't want you to be like this, because they have already forgiven you in a more noble way, that is, to return to you."

"Your speculation that you hate them is completely narrow-minded and prejudiced. It is trampling on their nobility, judging others by one's own standards, and wasting their kindness."

"Enough."