Chapter 117: The Knight's Dilemma (Part II)

"Chivalry? Are you trying to stump me?" Wang You wore an expression of disdain, clearly not taking Chen Fan's question seriously.

Chen Fan's lips curled upward. "Not at all. I, too, wish to become a righteous knight like you. But as far as I know, chivalry encompasses many virtues, and I am not sure if I am capable of such a demanding task."

"Demanding task? Hah." Wang You couldn't help but laugh. "Knights are the one thing this society lacks most. Although the class itself no longer exists, the spirit of the knight is eternal."

"Oh, now that you put it that way, I'm curious. Please, enlighten me." Chen Fan played along exactly as planned.

Wang You fixed his gaze on Chen Fan, then looked into the distance, a cold glint flickering in his eyes. "Chivalry originated in the Middle Ages. It is the source of gentlemanly conduct, and it symbolizes glorious responsibility..."

"Stop, stop, stop. No need for a history lesson. Just start from the chivalric virtues," Chen Fan interrupted, afraid the guy would ramble on and derail his own train of thought.

"What a utilitarian," Wang You sneered, casting a disdainful glance before continuing. "Chivalry consists of eight virtues: Humility, Honor, Sacrifice, Valor, Compassion, Honesty, Spirituality, and Justice. Humility represents courtesy, respect for others, and modesty; it is how a knight conducts himself in daily life. And as for Honor..."

"Stop, stop, stop. Just explain the meanings of Compassion and Justice," Chen Fan interrupted again. This guy’s voice was too infectious; listening for too long made one lose track of things.

"Chivalry is a complete whole; why would you only want to hear about those two?" Wang You asked, clearly displeased.

"Uh... well..." Chen Fan scratched his head. "Fine, just go ahead and list them one by one."

Following his explanation of Honor, Wang You proceeded to introduce each of the eight virtues in turn. He recited thousands of words worth of core chivalric values without missing a beat, flowing through the entire lecture in one single breath.

"Bravo. Great memory. A perfect score on a political science exam," Chen Fan applauded, seemingly having forgotten something important.

Having finished, Wang You looked coldly at him. "The introduction to chivalry is complete. Is there anything else you wish to ask? Though, in my eyes, your character is not worthy of being a knight."

"Then the heavy burden of saving society must be left to you." Chen Fan offered a bit of feigned flattery. "It looks like things are wrapping up over there. Are you going to use your 'righteous judgment' to sanction that street vendor?"

"What?" Wang You hesitated, then turned around. The situation was indeed as Chen Fan had described; the 'wrongdoer' was about to get away.

"Damn it. Watch this." Wang You spread his legs and raised his fist. A faint, nearly imperceptible light began to emanate from his body. Through the pulse of his energy, scattered points of light quickly gathered in the center of his palm, and beams of brilliant holy light slowly began to take shape.

Standing to the side, Chen Fan remarked, "Wow, the special effects for this knight skill are flashy—like turning on high-beam headlights."

"Hey, are you really going to hit that vendor?" Chen Fan asked, leaning in with a reckless curiosity.

"Indeed. Justice may be delayed, but it is never absent." Wang You clenched his fist, veins bulging on the back of his hand as the shining light grew increasingly dazzling.

At first, the onlookers thought someone had turned on a phone flashlight, but soon they realized something was off—that flashlight was ridiculously bright. Unknowingly, Wang You had become the focal point of the entire scene.

Seeing the timing was right, Chen Fan hurriedly asked, "But that vendor is an old man. Wouldn't doing this violate the virtue of Compassion?"

"What? I would be violating Compassion?" The sharp, focused look in Wang You’s eyes suddenly wavered, and the holy light in his hand flickered out. He lowered his hand, standing like a statue of The Thinker, pondering the question Chen Fan had just posed.

"Impossible. That old man is a wrongdoer; how can one be indulgent?" Wang You seemed to convince himself, raising his iron fist with a tremor. He repeated the process from before, but Chen Fan noticed that this time, the speed was significantly slower.

"How do you know that old man is a wrongdoer? The city inspectors said he only violated the administrative regulations. In your eyes, is everyone either good or evil?"

Wang You was stumped again. He lowered his raised hand once more. He spread his palms and stared at them. "Isn't that how it is? Besides good people and bad people, could there possibly be a third category?"

"There is. People who are neither good nor bad," Chen Fan replied with a grin.

"People who are neither good nor bad? Impossible. How could such people exist?" Wang You had begun to doubt his entire worldview.

Chen Fan offered an analogy: "Like you said this morning, those people standing on the edge of a cliff—objectively they are law-abiding, but subjectively they are the opposite. What are they? Good people? Or bad people?"

"Good people... no, wait, bad people... no, that’s not right. You can't categorize them like that. If they are pulled back, they are good. If they fall, they are bad. Yes, that’s it." Wang You struggled to distinguish the difference, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"Then what about when you were lecturing? At that moment, you didn't know if he would turn back from the brink. How did you judge then? Take the current situation: which side will you stand on? Will you use your Justice to crush your Compassion, or will you destroy your fragile Justice to defend your Compassion?"

"Why can't both be achieved? Must Justice and Compassion be opposites?" Wang You asked, bewildered.

Chen Fan gradually seized the initiative in the conversation, seizing the moment to fire off a series of philosophical dilemmas. "Then try to achieve both. Are you prepared to strike the vendor? Or perhaps, do you want to strike the city inspectors, too?"

"According to the Justice you described, the vendor must face the iron fist of judgment. But he is an elderly man; doing so would violate the virtue of Compassion. Conversely, if you let it be, your inaction will tarnish the Justice you speak of, and the spirit of chivalry will be shamed."

Chen Fan delivered a final, lethal summary. It was like a multiple-choice question where all the options provided were wrong—a genuine death trap of a question.

"Then I will follow the city inspectors' decision..."

"Oh, that’s even worse. You are abandoning your 'Justice' to cater to someone else's standards. What is that? That is the collapse of faith. Today you doubt your so-called Justice; tomorrow you will doubt your so-called Compassion. And the day after? What about the day after that? Will your chivalry still be what it once was? With the core of your spirit changed, can your physical body even remain as it is? That is why you must insist on your own bottom line today."

Chen Fan, having anticipated that Wang You might one day have an epiphany, had now completely blocked off the man's last remaining escape route.

"Prepare to suffer the torment of the soul, young man," Chen Fan delivered a moral judgment upon the rigid, classical knight.

"So, what exactly should I do?" Wang You pressed his head, the problem causing him a migraine. No matter how he thought about it, there was no solution—it was, after all, an unsolvable paradox.

"How should I know? I'm not a knight," Chen Fan said, shrugging his shoulders and sticking out his tongue.

Wang You looked at Chen Fan, a flicker of hope igniting in his eyes. "I believe you must have a way. Please, tell me how to make the best of both worlds."

Chen Fan smiled faintly. After so much groundwork, he had finally reached the most critical step. "Actually, it is precisely because your standards of Justice are so rigid that you are suffering like this. Are you willing to bestow your power upon me? That way, I can help you solve this problem."

"It's that simple?" Wang You was somewhat incredulous.

"It is that simple. I will ask you one more time: are you willing to bestow your power upon me?" Chen Fan confirmed, feeling as though an invisible hand were clutching at his heart.

"I am willing. I implore you to extend a helping hand to a knight suffering under the torment of morality."

"Of course, it would be my absolute pleasure." Chen Fan loosened his wrists and let out a long, relieved breath.