128 128.

"We... WE ARE LIVING HERE!?" Looking at the luxurious cabin, Xiao Li shouted at top of his lungs.

"Shut it brat." Annoyed, Yang Ze hit the back of his head before walking inside.

"Hehe..." Ignoring the hit, Xiao Li followed Yang Ze into the building along with Yao Xiang.

"The top floor is mine. You can take your rooms here." Pointing them to the rooms on the ground floor, Yang Ze made his way toward the first floor.

The interior of the cabin too was decorated with luxurious items. The ground was covered with furs, while some oil paintings were hung up on the walls. On the top, was a small mechanism covered in runes. One look at it and Yang Ze knew it was the source of light. Other than the living rooms, there were a few kitchens and bathrooms. The kitchen too was filled with various spices and food items.

But even all these things were nothing compared to the most impressive thing in the cabin. Reaching inside his room, Yang Ze saw a bed made out of redwood. There were some landscape paintings on the wall along with a few cabinets. Just in front of his bed was a large open window beside which a table and chair were placed. Sitting on the chair, Yang Ze admired the view from his new house. From this place, he could see the entire city along with the other cabins in the distance.

"They really took a lot of care building these." Caressing the wooden wall, Yang Ze narrowed his eyes.

In his mind, this house was nowhere near the exuberant price of four hundred spirit stones. That is until he saw the inside of the house. Others might dismiss the marking on the walls, but Yang Ze was pretty clear about what they were. The entire house was covered in runes, acting as stabilizers and adding a small shield when necessary. No wonder the price of this house was four hundred spirit stones. But whether it was worth it... Only time would tell.

And just when Yang Ze was sitting, enjoying the scenery outside, there was a knock on his door.

"Come in."

"Ma... Master." The hesitant voice of Yao Xiang sounded as she slowly made her way towards the front of Yang Ze.

"Eh!?" It was at this moment, that Yang Ze remembered how he accepted to teach her just to keep her silent.

"I am ready to learn."

"Yeah! There's that too." Feeling a headache, Yang Ze waved his hand. It's already quite late, we will start tomorrow."

"But..." Yao Xiang looked outside the window where the sun was still shining brightly in the middle of the sky.

"No 'Buts'. This is your first lesson. Always respect your teacher and obey what he says. We will begin tomorrow."

"But tomorrow is the celebration of the Xia family's ancestor."

"Err..." Yang Ze paused for a second before giving out a cold snort. "Then we will begin from the day after tomorrow.

Now go away now. Tell that brat Xiao Li to find a cook and someone to take care of the house."

"I can do that." Immediately Yao Xiang peaked her head like a chicken. "I learn how to cook and I can take care of the house. This is the least I can do for letting us live here."

Yang Ze thought for a moment before shrugging. "Do whatever you wish."

The room plunged into a long silence as Yang Ze continued watching outside the window.

"Still not leaving!?" Yang Ze spoke without looking back. He could still sense her heartbeat and her breathing behind him.

"Master... If you don't mind, can I ask you something!?"

Looking at the girl who was clenching the corner of her skirt nervously, Yang Ze smiled before nodding his head. "Go ahead. As long as I can, I will answer it."

"Why!? Why don't you just destroy the entire Leihui Sect!? This way, we won't have to worry about the future."

"And why do you say that!?" Amused, Yang Ze signaled her to take a seat.

"We killed so many people from their sect. With this, they will surely chase us down in the future. Then why not just nip the problem in the bud!?"

"That's a nice question." Yang Ze once again marveled at this world where even a kid has such a style of thinking. And perhaps it was normal for the girl in front of him to think so. After all, she has seen her fair share of troubles, leading her to mature quicker than peers her age.

"Unfortunately, it is never so easy." Shaking his head, Yang Ze slowly explained to her.

"Since you are so eager to learn from me, then let me give you your first lesson."

With a short pause, Yang Ze started speaking.

"You see, most of the times, just killing off people might be the easiest way out. But, unfortunately, it is rarely the correct way of doing things.

Let me give you an example. You see, we have a business to take care of. One day while we are sitting, a random person just barges inside and starts slandering us in front of all our customers.

He says that we are a fraud and everything we do is fake. So, how do we handle such a situation!?"

Yao Xiang thought for a moment before speaking in a firm tone. "Throw him out."

"Oh! And why is that!?"

"Not him, but anyone who does such a thing should be thrown out of the shop. Cussing us in front of so many people... It will have a negative impact on them. Many of them might decide to just leave, costing us money."

Both of them went silent for a long time, just gazing at each other.

"See... This is the problem with you." Yang Ze shook his head with a sigh. "According to you, the best course of action is to just use violence.

It might seem like the right thing to do and work out at the moment, but it will always have some long-term effects. What if the person you beat up decided to burn down the entire shop in the future!?"

"Then we should kill him." Yao Xiang spoke as a matter of fact.

"What if after killing him, his son or daughter decides to take revenge!?"

"Then we should kill his entire family. Pull off weeds, and cut off roots. Eliminate all the future trouble."

Listening to her reasoning, Yang Ze smiled before shooting another question "What if after killing their entire family, some of their friends decide to take revenge!?"

"Then we kill them too. We kill his friends to avoid trouble."

"And what if the family of his friends decided to take revenge?"

"Then we kill their entire families too."

"And what if his friend's friend decided to take revenge!?"

Speaking till here, both of them went silent. This was the first time, Yao Xiang didn't have the answer to this seemingly simple question.

"You see, this is a vicious, never-ending cycle. You might think that humiliating or killing the man might end the problems, but in reality, it is what will create the problems."

"Then..." Yao Xiang looked at Yang Ze with eyes filled with questions. "Then what should we do!?"

"Well, the solution is simple yet effective. All we have to do is to ask him about his problems. Try to understand why he is slandering us!? Perhaps it might be due to our fault!? As long as we could find the cause and solve it, everything would be over.

There won't be anyone seeking revenge or plotting to kill you. Also, your customers will be more trusting of you. They will realize that you are someone willing to stand up and solve problems. You are someone who doesn't cast aside the customers after doing business once. And this will lead more people into your shop."

With a short pause, he continued. "This is the same case for people we hate too. When we are strong, we have two choices. We can either kill them or we can keep them alive for our use.

So, my dear disciple. Don't always look from the perspective of murder, but think differently. There are tons of people that you might not like, but you just can't go killing everyone in sight. This is why you need a plan. Think... Think about what use they have for you. Think about how you can use them for your purpose.

Granted, this will require some humility and humbleness, but it will always be better than straight up murdering people."

Yao Xing looked at Yang Ze suspiciously before asking in an uncertain tone.

"Then why didn't you keep all those people alive!? They might have been useful and we wouldn't have to fear the Leihui Sect chasing us in the future."

"Well..." Scratching his nose, Yang Ze darted his eyes everywhere before putting his hand in front of his mouth and coughing forcefully.

"When you understand what I just taught you, you will automatically understand the meaning behind my actions."

Yao Xiang wanted to speak but kept her words to herself. She didn't know why, but she has a lingering feeling that her so-called master was spouting a lot of bull.

But, perhaps you could call it her inexperience, no matter how hard she thought, she just couldn't point out any flaws. In the end, all she could do was keep her mouth shut and nod her head in agreement.

Looking at her nodding, Yang Ze sighed in relief. The last thing he wanted to hear was more questions.

"And also, it is not so easy to just kill everyone from the Leihui Sect. They have some really strong people." Yang Ze wasn't lying about this. Just the elders were already in Innate, god knows how strong the grand elders or even the sect leader were. Rushing blindly would only result in death.

"But..." Yao Xiang hesitated momentarily "But if you use that thing, it will be easy."

"What thing!?" Yang Ze feigned ignorance.

"That thing..." Pointing towards Yang Ze, Yao Xiang stood up and walked in front of Yang Ze.

"This thing you are hiding in your throat." Slowly raising her hand, she moved it towards Yang Ze's throat. But before it could touch him, it was forcibly stopped in midair by Yang Ze's hand.

Yang Ze whose eyes were filled with murderous intent took a deep breath and closed his eyes forcibly. It was only after a long time he released her hand and slowly opened his eyes.

"What did you see when you use that golden eye thing!?"

"I..." Yao Xiang recalled the scene she saw before speaking in a soft voice. "I saw the figure of a man sitting cross-legged. Only the lower half of his body was covered in a cloth."

"I... I couldn't see his face... It was all so blurry." Yao Xiang tried to recall, but no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't see through it.

"I see." Yang Ze who was finding it hard to control his emotions gave her a nod, "This is all I have for you to teach today. Go and reflect on it."

It wasn't until Yao Xiang left, did Yang Ze clenched his fists. Raising his hand, he slowly caressed his throat before going into a daze, unsure of what to do next.

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