The girl leaned against the tower, as the cold wind blew, making her skirt swirl.

Her Spiritual Fiend circulated, strands of vitality spilling out, even causing the soil around the tower to sprout new buds.

"You did quite a big thing, hmm?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Gu Yeqi looked at Bai Qinghan, nodding towards Shenjing, a slight smile on his face: "Why the frown? This isn’t like the Qinghan I know; the Qinghan I knew would have smiled at this."

Opposite the girl, another girl silently lowered her gaze. She indeed wanted to smile, but at this moment, she could only twitch her lips, shaking her head weakly: "Killing these pests just makes me feel bored."

Sighing, the white-haired girl tilted her head up, stepped forward to stand beside her friend. She gazed at the wisps of smoke rising from the refugee camp, her voice calm: "Revenge, something that used to be on my mind constantly, now that it’s done feels rather hollow. Because deep down, I know that these specific people are nothing more than pests under the heavens."

"Ye Qi, you know, I want to kill something more fundamental... like the bitter cold of winter..."

As she spoke, she raised her finger, pointing to the soil beneath Gu Yeqi.

In an instant, an invisible, intangible extreme chill penetrated down, frost-white cold light like swords darted through the soil, forcing out countless tiny pests hidden within, preparing to survive the winter. As soon as they touched the air, they froze into delicate ice sculptures. Hidden egg sacs cracked apart, and budding spores were utterly shattered.

"Wipe out all tomorrow’s pestilence in icy dust."

Gu Yeqi lowered his head, looking at the frozen insect eggs in the soil, smiled: "Indeed, you know well those people aren’t your real target, just as the existence of winter cold isn’t meant to kill pests, not that boring thing, but to make everything pristine before spring arrives."

She straightened her posture, no longer leaning against the tower. The girl crossed her hands behind her back, looking at the clouds and starry moon outlined distinctly by Shenjing’s brilliance, she slowly stepped forward: "When I was searching for Heavenly Martial... I saw many things."

"There are many people worse than beasts, many pests lodging in the fabric of society, abusing power, sucking people’s blood; they buy low, sell high, hoard strange goods; they roam the villages, committing all manner of evil."

"I also witnessed the simple kindness that still exists among the people—I once passed through a vineyard’s fields, where the owner warmly invited me to taste the rice wine brewed by their manor, sweet and fragrant. They drove and brought wine, ready to sell it in the city and generously offered anyone interested a cup."

"People so kind and generous, logically shouldn’t encounter anything bad, right? —But in reality, that’s not the case. Upon entering the city, the vineyard owner met a group of sect disciples... perhaps also family disciples, but actually, they’re all the same."

"He invited them to taste as well, and they gave praise. The vineyard owner was very happy; his hard work was recognized. But recognition doesn’t always represent goodwill—because this group of sect disciples grinned and kicked him off the carriage, stealing his wine."

Bai Qinghan said nothing, while Gu Yeqi raised the sword in his hand, somewhat puzzled, staring at the moonlight-reflecting blade: "Hard to understand, isn’t it? I still don’t get why... why do this, completely without any benefit; they aren’t short of money, if they really wanted to drink for free, they could just use their name to threaten a bit, why resort to violence, beat and oppress?"

"Even later, on my way to kill them, I asked, but they couldn’t answer, or perhaps even in death, they wouldn’t dare reveal the real reason. But I can guess, because the reason they resort to violence is simply because..."

"They have violence."

Absurd, simple conclusion.

Gu Yeqi raised his head, his eyes glinting: "Having it means using it, otherwise having violence and not using it equates to not having it—time waits for no one, when finally encountering a target which they can freely exert violence upon, they must use it, otherwise wouldn’t it be wasteful?"

The girl lamented: "This actually is relatively easy to understand, right? After I eradicated the sect wanting to chase after me, I actually came to realize."

"Precisely because everyone is equal, if you don’t use some power, you can’t prove you’re superior, so you must use it."

"That’s how it is."

Bai Qinghan spoke at this moment, revealing a smile with sarcasm: "Those from Great Families and Great Sects, always saying they don’t regard others as people, actually at the moment they have such thoughts, it means they themselves also know they are no different from others, so they urgently want to distinguish themselves."

"Yes, all this is very clear, so neither you nor I will be confused by it, encountering them means killing, it’s just that simple."

Gu Yeqi said softly, lowering his gaze, changing the subject: "But then, I encountered something else that made me feel confused again."

"What?"

"An old lady."

Gu Yeqi said: "When I went to the Dao Domain’s capital, I temporarily stayed in a small village on the city outskirts."

"My neighbor was an old lady, reputed around the neighborhood for having a very bad temper, extremely irritable, reportedly chasing the children playing nearby to hit them, eccentric, difficult to get along with."

"When I first met her, she was chasing a child, hitting him. The child ran fast, while the old lady chased breathlessly, her expression fierce and frightening, almost like an Evil Ghost."