289: Chapter 289 If it were you, which side would you be on? —Extra Chapter of "The New Type of Salted Fish"

Chen Jiahao's combat power was indeed fierce.

He was like a tireless replying machine, throwing out a new counterattack every three or four minutes, all of which quoted the most heart-piercing plots from ordinary world.

But "The Drowned on Land" was no pushover either.

Although his reply frequency wasn't as fast as Chen Jiahao's, every single one was like a polished bullet, accurately embedding into the gaps of the opponent's arguments.

When Lin Que scrolled to the latest round of confrontation, his cola almost sprayed out of his nose.

[Floor 8287 · Online Alias]: "You say the universe doesn't care about ants? Fine, I admit it. But ants care about ants! Sun Shaoping ground his back raw carrying stones, what was he after?

He was after his younger siblings being able to eat white flour buns! He was after the people he loved being able to live a bit better! The universe doesn't look at him, but the people around him do! That's enough!"

[Floor 8291 · The Drowned on Land]: "So your argument has shrunk. From 'the hymn of humanity' it has shrunk to 'the hymn of the family'.

You no longer say humanity can confront the abyss; you start saying humanity can at least confront loneliness. This is very good.

But have you ever thought, when the people you love are also swallowed by that smear of color, will your 'enough' still be enough?"

[Floor 8295 · Online Alias]: "Whether it's enough is another matter! The key is whether you have ever loved! You Dream Weaver believers shout 'abyss, abyss' all day long, but have you really gazed into the abyss?

Or are you just hiding behind a screen pretending you've gazed into it? Sun Shaoping truly bled; have you?"

[Floor 8298 · The Drowned on Land]: "The blood I've shed... is more than you imagine."

This reply had no refutation and no quoting of classics.

It was just a statement consisting of eleven characters.

Lin Que's finger stopped on the scroll wheel.

The comment section also went quiet for a few seconds.

But only for a few seconds.

[Floor 8301 · Online Alias]: "Then you should know even more that people who have bled shouldn't embrace nothingness. People who have bled should stand up."

[Floor 8305 · The Drowned on Land]: "Stand up, and then what? Stand among a group of people who treat you as an outcast, straightening your spine to be a target for them?

Your Teacher Jian Shen wrote about dignity in suffering, and wrote it very well. But has he ever written about the feeling when you straighten your spine and everyone is spitting on it?"

[Floor 8309 · Online Alias]: "Then wipe it clean and keep standing!"

[Floor 8312 · The Drowned on Land]: "Stand until when? Stand until the spit corrodes your spine into powder?

Your hymn of courage has a fatal premise: it assumes the world is at least willing to accept you.

But what if the world welded the door shut from the very beginning?"

Lin Que leaned back against the chair, his right hand unconsciously spinning the cola can.

"The Drowned on Land's" reply style had changed.

The previous ones were pure philosophical debates, cold and precise strikes.

But gradually, a personal, scalding sense of pain began to seep through the lines.

"Spitting on the spine", "the world welding the door shut"...

These weren't rhetoric moved from books.

This was his experience.

Others in the forum clearly noticed it too.

An interesting phenomenon occurred.

Those onlookers who were originally following and jeering stopped their spamming one by one. They silently retreated to the back row, leaving the stage to these two.

Because they realized their jokes and memes were far too light in the face of a conversation of this level.

Occasional replies changed from "Up" and "Go for it" to:

[Floor 8320 · Chi Gua Bu Tu Pi]: "Sitting in the front row with a stool. These two are serious."

[Floor 8325 · Kan Re Nao Bu Xian Shi Da]: "Suggest both sides publish a book, titled 'One Thousand and One Nights of Soil and the Abyss'."

[Floor 8330 · Lu Guo De Ying Huo Chong]: "No joke, I'm a Chinese department graduate student, and I'm using a notebook to copy these two's arguments. If my advisor saw this thread, he'd be so excited he'd open a research topic on the spot."

Less than five minutes after this comment was posted, it really happened.

[Floor 8387 · BNU_Chen Moran]: "I am Chen Moran, an associate professor in the Philosophy Department of North China Normal University. Just now, my student forwarded this thread to our teaching and research group.

I only want to say three words: Youth are formidable.

Online Alias's argumentation path is very clear, starting from the existentialist 'Dasein' and emphasizing that human meaning comes from relationships with others—this is Heidegger's path.

While 'The Drowned on Land's' refutation carries a strong Nietzschean nihilistic color, but not entirely.

His nihilism is not a passive giving up, but an active embrace, closer to the Sisyphus under Camus's pen.

If you two are students in school, you are welcome to audit classes at the North China Normal University Philosophy Department; I'll treat you to tea."

This reply directly boosted the thread's popularity by another level.

Screenshots of 'Even university professors are taking notes' were carried over to Microblogging platform and Zhihu, quickly hitting the trending searches.

[Floor 8392 · Online Alias]: "Hello Professor Chen! I'm just an ordinary student, but also a believer of Teacher Jian Shen! I don't quite understand that Heidegger stuff, but I know Sun Shaoping's story by heart!"

[Floor 8398 · The Drowned on Land]: "Thank you, Professor Chen. But I don't need tea. There is no tea in the abyss."

Lin Que almost sprayed a mouthful of cola onto the keyboard.

He wiped the corner of his mouth, his gaze falling on 'The Drowned on Land's' IP location.

Hei Province.

Lin Que stared at those two words, and a face inexplicably surfaced in his mind.

Deep contours, a mixed-race face that didn't belong to this land,

And those stubborn, out-of-place eyes at the awards ceremony.

Third place in the Fu Zhi Yao Competition, Danyi Lopivich.

It couldn't be such a coincidence, right?

Lin Que put the cola on the table and re-scanned all of 'The Drowned on Land's' posts from the past few days.

Those words about being an outcast, the accusations about the world welding the door shut, about bloodlines and the spit on the spine...

Lin Que leaned back, crossed his hands behind his head, and let out a short laugh while looking at the ceiling.

One is Chen Jiahao. Tenth place in the Fu Zhi Yao Competition, a rich second-generation from Guangdong Province, the head of Jian Shen's fanatical fans.

One is Dan Yi. Third place in the Fu Zhi Yao Competition, a mixed-race youth from Mo City, a faithful believer of the Dream Weaver.

The two of them had nothing to do with each other in reality.

One in the southernmost Guangzhou, one in the northernmost Mo City.

But at this moment, they were on the internet, fighting to the death for Lin Que's two personas.

"More exciting than a novel!"

Lin Que muttered to himself, his voice unable to suppress that sense of absurd pleasure.

He was about to scroll through two more pages when the phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

Not a normal vibration.

It was the notification sound for a WeChat 'Special Concern'.

Ding-dong.

Lin Que picked up the phone and clicked on that familiar profile picture—The Piano-Smashing Rabbit.

Ye Xi.

[Fugitive Beethoven]: "I'm exhausted, finally finished the last announcement!"

Followed by a selfie.

In the photo, Ye Xi was making a peace sign, behind her was the shooting studio of a top fashion magazine, with light boards and reflective umbrellas faintly visible in the background.

She was wearing an expensive-looking haute couture dress, with exquisite makeup, but the exhaustion in her eyes couldn't be hidden.

After the European tour ended, Ye Xi was frantically sought after by major brands and media.

Magazine covers, brand endorsements, variety show invitations—her schedule was packed tight.

Lin Que was planning to reply with "Hardworking model, thanks for your hard work," but several screenshots popped up in the chat box in succession.

They were all from the Wenyuan Pavilion Forum, and accurately captured the most exciting rounds of the argument between Chen Jiahao and Dan Yi.

This surprised him a bit, since the last time they chatted was three days ago,

At that time, Ye Xi was still curious about what kind of story ordinary world would be.

[Fugitive Beethoven]: "Master Lin, did you see? The fans of Jian Shen and the Dream Weaver actually clashed to a philosophical level!"

Lin Que hadn't even had time to type when a long voice message followed.

He clicked it and put the phone to his ear.

[Fugitive Beethoven]: "Can you imagine? When I was getting my makeup done today, the makeup artist's phone was playing an audio reading version of that thread!

Someone in the forum made a compilation of those two's argument, added BGM, and made it like a radio drama."

Ye Xi's voice carried excitement she couldn't hide, her speaking speed twice as fast as usual.

[Fugitive Beethoven]: "I don't know why, but seeing them 'scold' each other in such a philosophical way, I actually feel so good!

That sense of madness that breaks conventions and tears everything apart is so fascinating!

Especially that line 'The Drowned' said about 'standing up to be a target'—god, my hair stood on end at that moment!"

The voice message stopped abruptly there, as if she realized she had spoken too excitedly.

Two seconds later, a text message followed.

[Fugitive Beethoven]: "Hehe, was I too excited? [Facepalm][Facepalm][Facepalm]"

Lin Que listened to the slight joy in the voice message, his finger pausing on the screen.

He suddenly thought of that girl in the Vienna Golden Hall who played Chopin like Cthulhu's whispers.

The audience's faces were ashen, the judges collectively lost their voices, and the entire hall was dragged into a frenzied journey into the abyss by her.

So, that wasn't an accidental loss of control,

But rather that a beast longing for chaos and tearing was already hidden deep in her soul.

It's just that this beast needed a strong enough stimulus.

For example, a peak battle between existentialism and nihilism to be awakened.

Lin Que smiled and shook his head, his fingertips dancing lightly on the keyboard.

[Mu Xia]: "I saw it. It is indeed exciting."

After sending this sentence, he paused for a moment.

Then, with a subtle probe, he typed another line.

[Mu Xia]: "Then..."

[Fugitive Beethoven]: "Hmm? What's wrong?"

[Mu Xia]: "If it were you, which side would you take?"

...