Chapter 1181 Teacher and Student (Middle)_1

Bruce put lettuce into his mouth for the first time, mechanically chewing, and in the same robotic tone said:

"The next trap, even more obvious, you deliberately crafted a weakness for me, which is Harley, the child. You knew, I have a soft spot for children, regardless if they are good or bad."

"When Harley said she had something to look for me, I should have suspected. It's likely you told something to Mrs. Miller, like coming to fetch medical records at a specific time, and Harley would have arrived here at that time. It's not a coincidence; it's another trap."

"Then came the other conversation with Valentine." As Bruce got here, Schiller tapped the plate again with the tip of his knife. Bruce fell silent, and Schiller began to speak:

"One thing you didn't notice, he deliberately acted polite and patient. Do you think he was trying to let your guard down? No, he was telling his difference from me in another way, heightening your sense of unfamiliarity and mental pressure."

"Everyone has professional and personal sides. When people bring their professional side into their personal lives, it can put pressure on their friends and family. However, bringing personal habits to work can also make people feel unfamiliar and confused."

"What were you doing during the second lesson in the third year, when we were debating 'the stimulation of freshness and the pressure of unfamiliarity'?"

Schiller stared into Bruce's eyes and said, "Despite your incorrect answers to the simple questions, you still ignored all the challenging aspects."

"You got all the multiple-choice questions wrong and didn't write a word for the essay questions. Bruce, tell me, what can I do to rescue you from the sea of academic suffering?"

Bruce inserted a bean into his mouth. Schiller took a deep breath to calm himself and tapped the plate, saying, "Go on."

"Next, you dissected Valentine. The process was spectacular... Unfortunately, I was all ears again."

Bruce sniffled, as if he lacked the energy to elaborate. He continued to say, "Then came the most terrifying part, your dissection of yourself."

"But I insist; this part is not my fault." Bruce gritted his teeth and said, "Your logic is too self-sufficient."

"Is it too self-sufficient, or are you too interested?" Schiller leans forward, staring at Bruce, "Bruce, tell me, how many times have I emphasized not to be interested in the inner world of any mental patient!"

Schiller uttered each word deliberately, whereas Bruce could only remain silent staring at him.

Because, during his four-year teaching career, Schiller has practically made this phrase his motto. Even the most unambitious students in the class will surely remember it.

But Bruce knew, he was still interested.

"You can't eat it just because the poison is seductive enough. What's the difference between you and a dumb rat that would be poisoned to death?" Schiller asked, raising his voice.

"I'm a bat, not a rat." Bruce replied quietly.

Schiller suddenly laughed, he looked at Bruce and said, "Remember that you are Batman? In the end, why did you deal with those serial killers instead of dealing with me directly?"

"I can't just..." Bruce started, but hesitated and looked into Schiller's eyes, "I can't possibly team up with serial killers to deal with you, right? That would be siding with the criminals, right?"

"But isn't teaming up with me against the serial killers also siding with the criminals?!"

Bruce fell silent.

"One more thing." Schiller said, squinting at Bruce, "In the second half of freshman year, the causes of Stockholm syndrome, did you remember even a single line?"

Bruce closed his eyes, lowered his head and said, "People confined in a secluded environment will give up their principles because of the capturer, lower standards, even develop attachment."

"Do you think, as long as there is no violence and no injuries inflicted, it doesn't count as captivity?"

Schiller stared at Bruce and asked, "Do you still think that staying in that space was your choice, so it's your fault? What is that? Answer me, Bruce?"

"Emotional control and abuse." Bruce covered his eyes, "It is common in groups, creating an environment with no other choices, then letting the victim make the choice the captor wants. After having severe consequences, they let the victims believe, it was their wrong choice."

Schiller put down the utensils in his hand, slid his hand forward, and said, "The key point of the Stockholm syndrome is, the control the captor has over the victim's means of survival puts the captor in a higher position than the victim."

"Contrary to popular belief, the captors are not extremely cruel and won't resort to violent abuse against the victim. They usually have great personal charm, their attitude is patient and gentle, even expressing their forced circumstances and demonstrating their vulnerability."

"In a high position, but acting humble, the victim's sympathy can be gained and then transformed into a feeling that the captor actually loves the victim."

"Patients of the Stockholm Syndrome are not the masochists that the public has come to perceive. They simply believe in such environments that the perpetrator harms them out of love, that they have no choice, that they don't mean to."

"They wish to repay the love they imagined, which leads to their attachment to the murderer."

"So, Rhomann's gunshot..." Bruce looked at Shiller and continued, "To show you that I am also a victim of a serial killer, that I have a fragile side, that I too can be hurt, that I had no choice, that I didn't mean it."

"Batman, sacrificing yourself like a criminal, don't you find this madness?" Shiller looked into Batman's eyes and said, "Do you still remember who you are?!"

Bruce lowered his head, not wanting Shiller to see his eyes, let alone the flicker of terror in them.

He hadn't anticipated, after such a long period of learning, that he would step into the trap one step at a time, completely incapable of resisting.

Even at the end, after he had hurt himself with a sequence of traps and became incredibly vulnerable, he was still moved by the fact that he would unhesitatingly choose Shiller.

Bruce closed his eyes and leaned back onto the chair, not understanding how psychology, as a discipline, could have turned him into this state.

Shiller lowered his head, took a bite of his vegetables and with a hint of helplessness in his eyes, looked at Bruce and said, "You ruined my final examination."

"Bruce, Bruce," Shiller kept calling his name until Bruce looked at him. Shiller then said, "Never in my teaching career have I revealed so many test answers to any of my students."

"In dreams, I created many serial killers to train your ability to deal with them. While eating, I deliberately emphasized that I do not eat offal. I allowed Morbid to appear once to let you know he dislikes using special abilities, he can't beat you..."

"Do you hope that I would bring all your psychology textbooks, underline every key point for you, and tell you that one day you might meet a special me who would give you a special test to verify my teaching results?"

"I'm sorry," Bruce said as he looked at Shiller.

Shiller put his cutlery-holding hands on the table, looked deep into Bruce's eyes and said, "Did you ever think that I was afraid to show up because I was scared of your concern?"

Bruce looked into Shiller's eyes and although the grey eyes were no longer desolate, what made him feel suffocated was the disappointment in Shiller's eyes.

"When you expressed your concern for me, I wondered whether it was real. But now I understand, it was only verbal, just like when you pretended to be Bruce to spread kindness, there's no difference."

"Everything I taught you, reminded you of, my words, my deeds, you didn't remember a single bit. Even if we were only ordinary acquaintances, at least you should remember some of the theoretical knowledge I've repeatedly emphasized...but you didn't."

Shiller lightly shook his head, leaned back against the chair, and as he laid down his knife and fork, Bruce noticed that Shiller had barely touched the food on his plate. They shared breakfast with the professor, but neither of them really ate.

"Morbid was telling the truth. He is a fixed existence relative to the normal state, and it was he who rebuilt the normal state, rebuilt us. The him that you saw was the me in childhood and adolescence that was untreated but still continued to grow up, it was the original me."

"In the fantasy of the normal state, Morbid plays the image of a father I never had. He shaped us, and we shaped him. He is the product of my heart's fantasy of paternal love, so he can test us."

"Perhaps, because he embodies so many of the characteristics of the father I understand - patient, gentle yet authoritative, curious yet terrifying - it reminds you of your own father and hence you couldn't bring yourself to act, putting the blame on yourself."

"This is exactly what he wants. He is a true master of mind control, taming his prey into harmless creatures that keep introspecting and blaming themselves, into docile lambs."

"So, I don't understand why you're laughing," Shiller looked into Bruce's eyes, "In the end, the reason I didn't hurt your body was because you showed me your loyalty."

"After a series of mental tortures I subjected you to, you disregarded the harm, your resentment towards the criminal, and even the fact that I almost killed you, yet still chose to reconcile with me. Do you think that's normal?"

In response to Shiller's gaze, Bruce closed his eyes in agony, as Shiller continued to speak.

"Don't use your concern as a weapon."

"Because, if you truly understood me, then the fear and self-condemnation caused by what you learned, and the pain you're feeling now, would have a way out."

"Any teacher in this world would hope that the understanding students have for them isn't just to show concern when things are going well. Instead, when the students run into trouble or are in pain, they should use what they've learned as weapons to fight against the trouble and themselves."

"Even if you can't achieve either of these, the views drawn from knowledge should help you accept failure, understand where your pain came from, accept that these things have constructed who you are, reconcile with oneself, so you won't be looking for answers to no avail for the rest of your life."

Midway through Shiller's speech, Bruce could no longer take his eyes off him.

These sincere, detail-oriented, serious and earnest teachings made Bruce fully understand what "guilt is a good knife" means.