Chapter Fifty-Two: The Night of Fire's Sacrifice, True and False Ablaze
Section One: When Faith Runs Wild, Fire's Sacrifice Becomes Accusation
TRACE Information Deployment Division, 00:47, dead of night.
"Meme targeting package ready. Target group: West Refinery street corner, top three faith concentration zones."
The operator sneered coldly: "These people aren't steadfast in faith—they just haven't questioned 'who's in control.'"
Orders issued, anonymous messages began staggered release through these channels:
[Anonymous Imagery]: A blurry image outside an outpost, "That person's always there, but never speaks."
[Guiding Text]: "Do you think Fire is unorganized? The real manipulators never shout."
"The silent ones aren't bystanders—they're watching to see if you'll self-ignite."
"The quietest one controls everything."
[Meme Tags]: #TrueFireNeverSpeaks #Who'sUsingUs
—
The next day, Refinery plaza sprouted unverified printed images, rough paper bearing the same shadowy figure—
Jason.
No name attached. But a note below read:
"We thought you were here to help us."
—
At the same time, the "Nameless Fire Recognition Circle" organized a "Fire Faith Testing Ritual":
"We'll verify Fire—through actions."
"Whoever fails to answer the Seven Questions, recite the 'Three Fire Phrases,' must be purged from the Fire circle."
The ritual's intent was to "guard against false Fire," but soon, paranoia surged like a tide.
A young girl couldn't recite the Fire phrases precisely, and two people dragged her off the steps, berating her.
"Do you even believe in Fire?"
"Are you an Empire-planted fake 'self-igniter'?"
She sobbed: "I… I just wanted to help people, I never meant to be anyone!"
The crowd couldn't accept this "non-aligned, non-claiming" ambiguity.
Fire recognition was spiraling out of control.
—
At the outpost, Zhao Mingxuan reported quietly: "The plaza's unraveling… and there's your picture."
Jason opened a tattered handwritten Xunzi, saying calmly:
"I never asked them to trust me."
"But the enemy wants them to believe—I deceived them."
—
The crowd grew restless:
"You say trust actions, not words. But you've never spoken."
"You see our suffering, yet stay silent. Do you think—we're not burning enough?"
At the plaza's edge, someone pasted the image on a wall, approaching: "Do you dare admit—are you Fire?"
"Are you the one who started those words?"
Jason stood, unmoving.
He said: "Have you seen me kill?"
"Have you seen me issue orders, organize, rally, or build totems?"
"If you truly think I'm not, then why—are you all still looking for me?"
—
The crowd paused for a breath.
But it was only the prelude to a deeper explosion.
One shouted: "Your silence—doesn't it prove you're in control?"
"You want us to burn ourselves, then pick the ashes you like!"
—
The tide surged.
Three stepped forward, reaching for his collar.
At that moment—
Bang!
One flew back, landing with a dull thud.
Chen Lei, wordless, stood before Jason.
The second man raged: "Who are you? What gives you the right?"
Chen Lei said coldly: "I'm human. He's human."
"You want to burn Fire, don't start with someone—who hasn't said a word."
—
At a plaza corner, the awakened girl, beaten earlier, leaned against a wall, blood at her lips, murmuring:
"Weren't we purging false Fire?"
"But why… do I feel we're the ones who're wrong?"
—
ARGUS backend logged:
[Faith Frenzy Chain × Crowd Projection Structure Out of Control × Crowd Anxiety Reaching Delirium Threshold]
[Crowd Shifting from "Faith Followers" to "Faith Enforcers"]
[First "Awakened Individual Misinjured by Crowd" Incident Recorded]
Fuxi System offered no prompt.
Only an old citation:
Xian Hexagram, First Line: "Sensing the toe."
Those whose faith is unformed are quickest to lash out.
Jason said softly:
"I didn't make them mad."
"It's that from the start—they were too desperate to know who Fire is."
Section Two: One Wrong Belief, and Fire Grows Cold
West Refinery street corner, the next night unfinished.
Yesterday's bloodstains lingered uncleaned, torn corners of "Seven Questions Trial" pages clinging to walls.
In the plaza, hundreds stood silently, not to commemorate, but—none dared leave first.
Someone said: "Yesterday… did we go too far?"
Another whispered: "We believed in Fire, but not in people."
—
Then, another dispute erupted.
A Teenager shouted publicly:
"We mobbed someone last night, and today we're silent? Is this what Fire should be?"
Another snapped: "You dare mention last night? She might be a mole!"
The boy retorted: "She helped me! My leg wound—she treated it!"
The other roared: "That's your word! Who believes? Empire agents can act too!"
—Fists flew.
Chen Lei appeared again, wordless, seizing a wrist to subdue one, the man's shoulder dislocating as he fell.
But this time, he was a fraction slow.
On the other side, a middle-aged man collided, his head striking a water tank's edge, collapsing unconscious.
Minutes later, confirmed dead.
The plaza fell deathly silent.
—
ARGUS system issued a seismic alert:
[Crowd Faith Chain × First "Unstructured Internal Clash Causing Death" Incident]
[Meme Structure Reconstructing: Some Crowds Show "Remorse × Deconstruction × Shift to Skepticism" Trends]
[Faith Keywords Receding: Fire × Consensus × Glory → Shifting to: Misjudgment × Silence × Regret]
An old woman knelt, murmuring:
"We're not the Empire; we shouldn't kill…"
"But yesterday we beat that girl, today we killed a neighbor…"
"Are we… the ones who shouldn't be trusted?"
Chen Lei stood before the body, unmoving.
The crowd didn't approach him.
Nor did they question him.
Because they knew: it wasn't his strike, but their own haste, outpacing thought.
—
At the outpost.
Zhao Mingxuan closed his eyes: "This is… the worst path."
Jason said nothing, only slid the teacup to the table's edge, saying softly:
"Fire shouldn't spread like this."
—
By the wall, someone wrote quietly:
"We're not Fire. But we killed a Fire."
Another added:
"It's not that she was Fire—it's that in our eyes, she didn't get to speak."
—
ARGUS activated "Faith Reconstruction Submodule":
Activation Conditions Met: Crowd Collective Remorse × Emotional Self-Interrogation × Value Rebuild Port Opened
System Suggestion: Await "External Non-Religious Anchor × Non-Systemic Secondary Fire Entity" Intervention → To Aid Crowd Faith Exit "Punishment Phase"
Fuxi offered no prompt.
But the main interface lit with a line:
Image, Heng Hexagram: "Favorable perseverance, no fault."
Without constancy, faith wounds; with willingness to change, wounds become faith.
Jason closed the book, saying softly:
"From tonight, Fire is no longer something to raise high."
"Fire is—whether you can admit: you might have believed wrong."
Section Three: Fire Echoes Not, Pain Is Faith
Gray dawn, wind swept the empty West Refinery plaza.
Last night's blood, diluted by rain, left streaks like old parchment.
Chen Lei walked away alone, silent.
His shoulder's wooden staff no longer gripped tight.
The crowd didn't send him off, didn't follow.
Not unwillingness, but fear.
—
At the plaza's north end, Jason stepped into the crowd's core zone for the first time.
He didn't hide, didn't speak.
He passed the first paper note.
The crowd quietly parted—not from fear, but shame.
"That man we tried to confront yesterday—we don't even know who he is."
"Yet we dared point at him, asking—are you Fire?"
—
ARGUS Log:
[Crowd Behavior Chain Entered "Collective Silent Guilt Phase"]
[State: Non-Hostile × Non-Trusting × Non-Fleeing × Emotional Freeze]
[Meme Chain Failed, Began Constructing "Wounded Consensus" Structure]
Crowd Begins Using "We All Erred" as New Empathy Source
Then, the young girl from last night—face scarred, lips bandaged—stepped into the crowd's center.
No one supported her, no pause.
She stood and said one line:
"I'm not Fire."
Then, looking around, added softly:
"But who among you dares say—you are?"
—
No one spoke.
A man wept hoarsely.
A Teenager crumpled a paper, stuffing it into his pocket.
An old woman removed her hat, standing silently.
—
At the wall's corner, a new line appeared:
"It's not him deceiving us—it's us deceiving ourselves, thinking someone must answer for our wrong belief."
Jason stood before the note, his gaze still as lake water.
Zhao Mingxuan asked quietly: "Can we rebuild Fire's recognition now?"
Jason shook his head:
"They don't… need faith now."
"They need to know—faith can kill, hurt, err."
"Only then, when they trust someone again, is it not to escape guilt."
—
ARGUS System Log:
[Social Wound Structure Established]
Crowd No Longer Focused on Leaders × No Longer Craving Answers × Begins Bearing "Sense of Consequence × Residual Duty"
Activated New Chain Mechanism: "Loss-of-Trust Reconstruction Collective Meme"
Condition Triggered: Crowd Admits Wrong Belief, Still Willing to Believe Again (Requires External Ignition Behavior Stimulus)
Suggestion: Deploy "Non-Organizational Reclamation Behavior × Declaration-Free Acts of Duty" as Detonator
Fuxi System prompted for the first time:
Kun Hexagram, Line Three: "Perched on thorns, entering his hall, seeing no wife—misfortune."
Faith's trap lies not in a strong enemy, but in believers never admitting error.
Jason said softly:
"Fire's greatest fear isn't extinction."
"It's—burning others, yet thinking it's still illuminating."
Section Four: Not Who Saves, But Whether You Dare Move
Post-rain, West Refinery alley mouth, puddles un-drained. A scrap iron transport truck skidded into a ditch, its front crushing a roadside stall.
No casualties—or so people thought.
Until a child's cry rose from beneath the truck.
Onlookers glanced around instinctively, waiting for someone to lead.
No one shouted, no one rushed out.
Until—the girl beaten last night.
She didn't pause, kneeling and crawling under the truck, pulling steel cables with bare hands, gritting her teeth to hold space.
"I need three seconds," she shouted. "Can someone help?"
She didn't say, "I'm Fire."
She didn't say, "You should help."
She was holding, and called for aid.
—
Within five seconds, two vendors shed jackets, sliding under to pad the ground—one lifted the child's legs, another braced the support point.
Within thirty seconds, four worked in sync to stabilize the truck.
Sixty seconds later, the child was pulled free.
—
Among the onlookers, no cheers.
But all moved.
Some cleared the road for the girl; others offered dry cloth to wrap her wounds; one said:
"We didn't trust her."
"She moved, and we knew—if we didn't, we'd have no right to claim trust."
Jason stood at the crowd's edge, unmoving.
ARGUS logged:
[Non-Directed Fire Recognition Reconstruction · Initial Chain Activated]
Activated Meme Phrase: "I'm not her follower; I'm someone who helped because she did."
State Entered: "Centerless × Action-Based × Crowd Auto-Reactive Collaboration"
State Naming Suggestion: "Companion Ignition Node · Silent Fire Regeneration Segment"
Zhao Mingxuan said quietly:
"This isn't traditional reignition… but it's steadier."
Jason replied:
"You don't need a flag raised."
"Just someone daring to take the first step."
—
At the wall's corner, someone wrote, unknown:
"You're not Fire. You just moved—before we decided."
Another added below:
"That moment, we knew we were burning too slow."
—
ARGUS backend prompted:
[Suggestion: Select One Bystander → Trigger "Minor Duty Chain Pivot Behavior"]
Function: Complete "Behavioral Response × Crowd Micro-Fire Resynchronization"
→ Candidate: Protagonist Team Peripheral × Inactive Node Member
Fuxi Prompt introduced a "person selection node" for the first time:
Jin Hexagram, Line Five: "Regret fades, loss or gain unheeded."
Don't wait for Fire to ignite you—dare you burn yourself?
Section Five: Those Not Called Fire Burn Steadiest
At the alley's other side, a repair site suffered a small collapse.
A temporary scaffold snapped, trapping a worker's leg, the crowd frozen in uncertainty.
The foreman roared: "Someone brace it, I'll pull him out!"
No one moved.
Then, a young man stepped from the crowd's rear.
Not tall, not burly, wearing a wide-brimmed cloth hat and worn welder's gloves.
He said nothing.
He walked to the break, shouldered the slanted beam, shouting only: "Pull—don't waste words."
In that moment, he wasn't Fire.
He was the one who didn't waste words.
—
Three rushed to assist, stabilizing the scaffold, freeing the worker.
The crowd looked at the youth, who sat quietly on nearby steps, removing gloves to wipe sweat.
No speech, no label.
Someone whispered: "Are you with ARGUS?"
He glanced over, smiled, and didn't answer.
—
ARGUS System Log:
[Code: #S-014] [Identity: Our Local Team, Sixth Peripheral Member × Tactical Engineer × No Active Request × No System Link]
Behavioral Meme: Non-Display Action × Non-Emotional Incentive × Non-Organizational Recruitment
Crowd Response Structure: Cognitive Stability × Behavioral Alignment Rate Up × No Deification Tendency
Naming Suggestion: Low-Temperature Fire Recognition Unit · Type I · Companion Ignition Actor
TRACE received anonymous sentiment feedback: "Recent Fire recognition actions show new figures, non-verbal leaders."
Core intel team launched a probe.
Image analysis was blurry, crowd interviews yielded:
"He's not Fire."
"He acts like Fire, but never spoke of Fire."
"We helped because he moved first."
TRACE Internal Conclusion: "Current target cannot be politically defined. Unstrikeable."
—
At the outpost.
Zhao Mingxuan read the report, saying quietly: "They're not rebuilding an organization."
"They're… rebuilding common sense."
Jason looked outside, saying softly:
"Fire is no longer one person."
"It's them looking to see if someone's moved before they act."
—
Fuxi System prompted:
[Faith Spread · Non-Verbal Phase]
Meme Spread Shifted to "Pure Behavioral Mimicry · No Organizational Anchor · Crowd Synchronized Sensing" State
Condition Met: "Who Didn't Shout, Yet Did What All Should"
System Unlocked: Crowds Can Replicate Fire Behaviors Without Names, Forming Behavioral Faith Grid
Citation: Xu Hexagram, Line Five: "Waiting with wine and food, perseverance auspicious."
Faith is not preached, but shared in action.
A paper was pasted at the wall's corner:
"We don't need to say who's Fire."
"But we remember—who moved first, who moved steady, who moved unseen."
Jason said softly:
"This time, I don't need them to trust me."
"I want them to trust each other."
Section Six: Fire Unspent, Questions Unended
Three days post-rain, Refinery, Seventh Street Corner, beside an old signal tower.
A runaway cart sideswiped a stall, an old woman fell, her leg dislocated, no one daring to help.
Not for lack of will, but fear—fear of being mobbed for helping, fear of being asked: "Are you Fire?"
The street was cold, the crowd scattered yet lingered.
Until—a figure stooped close.
A young meal courier, backpacked with a thermal box, sleeves unrolled, steps unhurried, silent.
He didn't shout "Someone help," didn't ask "Should I act?"
He stopped, hoisted the woman onto his back, and walked toward the alley clinic.
He didn't look back. The crowd made no sound.
But three steps behind, a second person followed, taking the thermal box.
—
No words passed between them.
No confirmation: "Are you Fire?"
But the system logged:
[Code: ARGUS-MH/PN-172]
[Identity: Crowd × Non-Action Group Member × No Command Perception × Auto-Behavioral Response]
Behavioral Traits: Saw × Judged × Unexplained × Acted
Naming: "Non-Declared Secondary Resonance Chain Trigger"
ARGUS silently archived:
"Fire's form is now unpredictable."
"Fire spreads through 'No Explanation × No Eye Contact × No Need for Confirmation.'"
—
At the outpost.
Jason didn't lift a pen.
He merely turned past a page of Li Hexagram, Line Five.
Zhao Mingxuan asked: "Will they recover?"
Jason replied:
"They didn't collapse."
"They're learning—not to speak faith aloud."
—
At TRACE's Internal Control Bureau, pre-meeting.
The recon analyst replayed footage four times, unable to pinpoint: "Does the behavior initiator bear ARGUS traits?"
The chief frowned: "So who started these actions?"
The answer:
"No one."
"They just… don't wait for a start."
The chief said coldly:
"Call the Capital's three seats—redefine Fire."
"If we don't manage this, it'll define us."
—
Fuxi System flashed a brief prompt:
Da Chu Hexagram, First Line: "Danger looms, favorable to stop."
If you fear its Fire, don't force its words; if you trust its actions, don't ask its name.
Jason whispered:
"They no longer wait for answers."
"Then perhaps it's time we gave them—a letter."