Novel Full Chapter 510
Chapter 510: Chapter 36: Senior Brother Is Enlightened, Junior Sister Loses Her Cool Chapter 510: Chapter 36: Senior Brother Is Enlightened, Junior Sister Loses Her Cool Xu Yinglian instructed the village chief to bring the fishermen who had previously caused the death of Junior Brother Qiu.
Like one who had received a royal pardon, the village chief dutifully left to carry out the command, and Qiu Changtian sighed as he asked,
“Junior Sister, what do you plan to do with those people?”
“Naturally, kill them,” Xu Yinglian said gravely.
“Oh?” Qiu Changtian was slightly puzzled, “I would think those men had no choice, after all, who would risk going out to fish if they had enough food at home?”
“I am well aware of what you mean, Senior Brother,” Xu Yinglian replied steadily, “But consider this scenario: imagine you are entangled in a mountainous fight with a Demon Cult Cultivator.
Just then, a hunter nearby, hunting in the outskirts of the forest, mistakes your silhouette for a white deer and shoots an arrow into your back.
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In that instant, you are distracted, and the Demon Cult Cultivator seizes the opportunity to wound you, destroying much of your lifelong cultivation and forcing you to flee in defeat.”
“Afterwards, if you found the hunter who hurt you by mistake, how would you deal with him?”
Qiu Changtian could only give a helpless, bitter smile, having understood his Junior Sister’s point:
According to Junior Sister’s hypothetical scenario, even though that hunter certainly did not intend any harm, the cultivation of a hundred years of hard work was destroyed because of him!
Not to kill the hunter and his entire family in vengeance would already be showing restraint.
It had nothing to do with whether it was the Orthodox Sect or the Demon Cult, it was simply that the loss was too great.
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If the hatred was not vented, it would inevitably lead to the creation of a Heart Demon.
“In the actions of us in the Orthodox Sect, what we seek are the two words ‘compassion’ and ‘reason,’” Xu Yinglian declared firmly.
“Those fishermen, for the sake of their own livelihoods, went out to sea without permission, and their situation is pitiable; however, the fact that they killed a person of Kunlun is undeniable, and for that, they cannot be spared!”
“By executing them, we avenge our fellow Kunlun disciples, which fulfills the principle of ‘reason.’ By explaining the facts to them before the act, ensuring their wives and children are not implicated, we fulfill the principle of ‘compassion.’
“Both compassionate and reasonable, without exceeding the bounds, that is the way of the righteous.”
“Junior Sister speaks the utmost truth; Senior Brother has learned a lesson,” Qiu Changtian murmured thoughtfully, genuinely enlightened.
In these exchanges, he recognized how Xu Yinglian’s “ancient mindset” and his own “modern mindset” had many significant differences.
Modern people prioritize “human-oriented” values, accustomed to cloaking everything in warm human consideration, such that even when contemplating how to deal with those fishermen, someone with great determination, wisdom, and resolution like himself would inadvertently empathize with the other party, unintentionally taking their side.
Junior Sister Xu’s logic was far simpler and clearer:
You unintentionally killed someone from Kunlun; you must pay with your life.
As for whether you have your own difficulties, that’s a separate matter.
One thing at a time, no matter the difficulties, death is the consequence.
All must die!
This brought to mind the so-called “dilemma of slaughtering a city” for Qiu Changtian.
The “dilemma of slaughtering a city” refers to the situation when an enemy army is outside the city.
If you organize the residents to resist, there are two outcomes: if you successfully defend, then all is well; if you fail, the city will likely be massacred;
But if you choose not to resist, while the chance of a city-wide massacre decreases, the residents inside must resign themselves to their fate, suffering losses somewhere between “successful defense” and “massacre by the enemy forces.”
The reason it is called the “dilemma of slaughtering a city” is that faced with this challenge, any human group will inevitably split into two factions: those in favour of ‘surrender’ and those in favour of ‘fighting.’
Since the outcome of choosing to fight is highly uncertain, and humans inherently despise risk, the more peaceful the times, the more people with fragile wills, and accordingly, the more who choose surrender.
As a person who had time-traveled, Qiu Changtian, although burdened with the heavy mission of a Savior, already possessed much steadier determination than most.
Yet, traces of modern thought still lingered in him.
In contrast, if Junior Sister Xu faced the same dilemma of slaughtering a city, she would likely forcefully take control of all those favoring surrender and compel them to defend the city’s walls in battle.
The rational thinking of ancient people still has much to offer!
Indeed, I should learn earnestly from Junior Sister Xu.
I must study her extremely rational thinking, so that when the time comes to fight for the fragments of the Heaven-Mending Stone, I must be cold and decisive in my actions, and absolutely not swayed by romantic feelings!
“Sigh.” Deep in his mind, the Kunlun Mirror let out an almost imperceptible sigh, careful not to let Qiu Changtian hear.
The Green Duckweed Sword did hear it, however, and also sighed softly.
“What are you sighing about?” the Kunlun Mirror asked with a frown.
“I am reminded of sad things,” the Green Duckweed Sword replied with seeming importance, “What about you, why do you sigh?”
“I too am reminded of sad things,” the Kunlun Mirror said somberly, silently reviewing the plan of how the Heaven-Mender would backstab Chen Guanshui, pushing him into the Asura battlefield, from start to finish once again in its mind.
On the other side, the village chief, in a bid to save his own life, quickly captured those few fishermen and dragged them over, kneeling and kowtowing non-stop.
Xu Yinglian rose with her sword, explained to the five kneeling fishermen the reason they were to be killed, and promised not to harm their families, even ensuring that food would be left for them.
Among the five fishermen, three collapsed on the ground trembling, one wept and thanked her, while another’s expression shifted unpredictably and suddenly lunged at her, only to be beheaded by Xu Yinglian with a single sword stroke.
As the Sword Light moved, the remaining four fishermen were also pierced through the heart and died instantly, yet were left with intact corpses.
“Keep the bodies of these five men temporarily in your possession,” Qiu Changtian instructed the village chief, “Once we have dealt with the levying clouds above, you can bury them.”
The village chief dared not refuse and could only comply with a bitter face.
Qiu Changtian then asked the village chief to fetch two Lightning Avoidance Pills from the back house, which were black, round elixirs.
When held in the mouth, they could reduce the damage from Thunderbane.
These were merely common pills; if faced with Heavenly Tribulation lightning, they would be useless-as one would die instantly upon being struck.
But the ominous levying clouds above clearly would not possess the intensity of the Core Condensing Celestial Tribulation, so using the Lightning Avoidance Pills could enhance safety somewhat.
The two left the village chief’s mansion and flew up with Sword Control, only to see the dark clouds churning in the sky, though no lightning seemed to be falling.
“If lightning would fall every time someone stepped outside, which mortal would dare to risk going out?” Xu Yinglian casually remarked, “It is precisely because it’s uncertain whether one will die that people harbor more foolish hope for luck.”
“In the art of war, there are also instances like ‘Leave an outlet in encirclement’, ‘Burn one’s boats’, and ‘Fight with one’s back to the river’, all of which exploit the weaknesses in human nature.”
“Senior Brother, on the path of cultivation, one must be ever vigilant about the flaws in one’s nature.”
I just paid you a few compliments, are you addicted to giving sermons now?
Qiu Changtian internally rolled his eyes without a word, but said aloud:
“Well taken.
Junior Sister, please step back and let me handle these levying clouds.”
Levying clouds that could fight Refining Mansion-ranked Junior Brother Qiu to a stalemate were evidently no match for Golden Core Realm’s Qiu Changtian.
But, just to be on the safe side, he still took out Thor’s Hammer and Thor’s Awl and activated a certain degree of True Yuan to summon the Tai Xiao Thunder.
Silver-white Thunder Light danced at the tip of the awl, quickly coalescing into a giant dragon that plunged straight into the turbulent clouds above!