There was a light jazz tune playing on some old record players. In front of the display cabinet, Schiller was rubbing a crystal sculpture with a piece of suede.
Although he was just doing cleaning work, he looked very attentive. From time to time he stretched 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 he was 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 all."
"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 was only 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 thinks is not normal?" A sickly voice also slowly sounded: "That is not the law of his life, maybe this is .”
"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 have done something right 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. Change is necessary.”
"The question is, isn't Batman in pain?" Clark raised his voice and asked, "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 madmen every now and then. Now there is another madman. Oh my god, who can come and 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 placed 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 such a conversation with the world's greatest detective." 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 taste 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 murders."
"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 about your loneliness, so they are still with you. you."
"That's why I said, you're not the Joker." Batman's blue eyes were hidden in the darkness, but they looked bluer than usual.
"The clown 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. Maybe this is also one of the ways to regain a smile?"
"You must have experienced it to be able to express it so aptly, but what makes you say all this so lightly? Is it the courage that ordinary people don't have? Or is it the kind of objective and rational thing that you and I have experienced? , an indifferent third-party perspective.”
"No." Schiller shook his head slightly and said, "If you can look at your own and other people's scars calmly, it does not rely on indifference, but on reconciling with the guilt in your heart."
The voices of both Schiller and Batman were slow and low, as if they were hypnotizing the air, so the audience in the theater felt themselves hypnotized, their thoughts rising and falling with each of their words.
Constantine focused his attention, as if he wanted to hear how to reconcile with guilt. To a certain extent, he needed this secret book the most, not only for what Schiller had done to him, but also for what he had done to him. People and things are settled.
"Do you know why I studied psychology?" Schiller first asked a question.
The answer in Batman's mind makes him hesitant to say it because it would seem a little narrow-minded, but he ends up saying, "To understand people, to know what they're thinking, to be wary of them."
"One of the reasons, but not the biggest reason."
Schiller shook his head slightly and took another sip of wine, and said: "As you can infer, I have also hurt people close to me, and it was a direct injury, and the consequences were very serious."
"It was this incident that made me firmly choose psychology. I did want to understand the psychology of others, but more importantly, I wanted to know what makes people get rid of the most extreme fear of death. When he knew that he might face harm, he did not run away, but waited there, like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.”
"Perhaps you have never thought about what kind of things human beings will do when faced with the fear of death, and what powerful instincts it will inspire. As long as people are afraid, they can do anything."
"People always say that human beings do not have the sharp teeth and claws like wild beasts, but in fact these deadly weapons are hidden in the human soul. If they want to resist, there is nothing they cannot tear into pieces, especially when they are facing death. Moment before.”
Batman was silent, but he seemed to have thought of something. Schiller blinked and continued: "But when I made a move to hurt them, they violated their instincts and did not resist or escape."
"Perhaps he is unable to resist?" Batman said softly.
"You underestimate the potential of human beings. Think carefully about the images that flashed through your mind. Does the person who was hurt really have no chance to resist? Or if you take a step back, he doesn't even have a chance to escape or retreat. ?"
When this question landed, Batman already got the answer, of course not. If he really wanted to escape, of course he would have a chance.
"This kind of thing that goes against their instinct is what makes me most curious."
"So have you found anything?"
"Love and hope."
"It sounds very cliché," Schiller explained: "It's like what the protagonists say to their descendants at the end of a prime-time TV series, but the amazing thing is, the answer given by professionals is also so."
"The victim's love for his enemy?" Batman didn't seem to agree.
"No, hate will not turn into love. If there is a similar phenomenon, it must be the sequelae of abuse. What I mean is the hope they have for the person they love and feel that the person they love will not live up to it. They will definitely save them.”
"But this kind of thinking will only increase the guilt, because the people they love did not save them, causing them to be hurt." Batman said.
"But it was this kind of love and hope that made them come back to us, and at this time, that hope was still there. The hurt he suffered did not make them despair, because they would still become better to us. And have hope.”
Schiller's voice sounds a bit like string music to Batman's ears, and the trembling feeling when it fluctuates is a little disturbing.
"And the only way we can no longer live up to their hopes is to try to become better. But if you really can't do it, don't force it, because people who can tolerate such harm without despair love you more than You imagine it is nobler.”
"This kind of love does not ask you to become what they ideally want, but simply wants you to be happy and happy. If you feel you don't have to change, then don't change."
"They must see the pain caused by your inner conflicts and guilt. They will not want you to be like this, because they have already forgiven you in a nobler way, that is, by returning to you."
"Your speculation about their hatred is completely narrow-minded and prejudiced. It is trampling on their nobility. You are judging a gentleman with a villain's heart, and it is a waste of their thoughts."
"enough."
(End of chapter)
