Choose One of Two

"The old general has too violent a temper; his actions are so cruel and brutal, it's against all reason."

Standing on the ground below, Zhu Hao burst into laughter. His mouth seemed to have become a vacuum hole, using the pressure difference to draw in the surrounding air to make up for the lack of oxygen. At the same time, he clenched his fists and clashed them together, causing lightning to burst out and turn into streaks of electricity that shot out rapidly.

"Wind Rushes, Lightning Strikes!"

Zhu Hao unleashed his ultimate technique Wind and Lightning Eight Extremes Fist, and shot into the sky like a rocket, his speed constantly increasing, using the power of wind and thunder to counterattack the Blazing Blade.

In an instant, the clouds and haze of Yunchuan surged violently, and spiritual energy surged boundlessly. The surrounding martial artists were affected. Although they had already activated all their strength to resist, they were still shaken and their Qi and Blood and qi churned. Those with weaker cultivation were even dizzy and bleeding from their seven orifices.

After their ultimate moves clashed, the two powerful figures retreated. One had his hair standing on end in a rage, looking like he was about to explode, and there were bloodstains on his face from the wind blades. The other had a scorched knife mark on his chest, and there were still flames flickering on his body.

Zhu Hao patted away the lingering fire energy from his body and looked at Huyan Lie, saying, "Old General, we've been fighting for so many years, aren't you tired of it? Or have you decided today to fight to the death?"

As both are Spirit Transformation stage experts, their cultivation levels are not much different. Unless they are determined to fight to the death and use their ultimate moves without reservation, it will be difficult to determine a winner.

When one's cultivation level is low, even a small difference can reveal the difference in strength. However, when one's cultivation level is high, a slight difference becomes insignificant. For example, 10 and 5 are a multiple difference, but it is difficult to distinguish between 1010 and 1005.

Huyan Lie understood this principle as well. For a long time, both sides had been using each other as their last trump card, and they had always restrained themselves from going all out. Even after fighting for so many years, they still did not know the full extent of each other's strength. This was because they both knew that the moment they figured out each other's strength would be the moment of life and death. Neither side was prepared for this, so neither dared to cross that line.

The saying "A son of a wealthy family will not sit under a dangerous roof" applies to them as well. As Spirit Transformation cultivators, they already possess a longer lifespan and superior power. They still have a long life ahead of them to enjoy, so they won't fight to the death over a small conflict. Those people would be lying in their coffins long ago, infested with maggots.

Even so, Huyan Lie wouldn't back down at this critical juncture, coldly snorting, "What harm is there in deciding life and death today? I'm tired of seeing your face; it's time for the Mohist School to find a new representative."

As Zhu Hao mentioned Yuan, he sighed, "Isn't it better to treat people with sincerity? Why do you have to resort to this kind of bluffing?"

Just as the two sides were about to resume fighting, an explosion suddenly came from afar, accompanied by billowing smoke.

"This direction... is the charity bureau!" Zhu Hao's expression suddenly changed, he looked at his opponent and became angry, "Old ghost, you are crazy, and it will bring harm to your family. Even people in the world know this truth, how can you attack a bunch of old, weak, sick and children?"

The Charity Bureau is specifically used to take in elderly people and young children who have been abandoned by their families. When the Black Earth Gang established this charitable institution, it earned them a good reputation and won the hearts of the people. Even today, many people are still grateful to the Black Earth Gang for this.

The Black Earth Gang didn't lose out either. On the one hand, it improved their favorability among the Russia people, and on the other hand, the adopted children all joined the Black Earth Gang when they grew up, and their loyalty was even higher than that of the Su State.

Huyan Lie's heart skipped a beat. The plan had gone awry; the original target wasn't the Cishan Bureau. But now he was in a bind and could only go along with it. He said in a deep voice, "All's fair in war. So what if they're old and weak? Since we're powerless to protect them, why bother showing off? And don't forget, we're all gang members. What's the point of talking about benevolence and compassion? Don't you think it's ridiculous?"

"So what if you're a gangster? What you do has nothing to do with your identity. Identity doesn't determine a person's morality!"

Zhu Hao was anxious. He raised his hand and struck Hu Yanlie with a palm Huyan Lie, then rode the wind and rushed quickly toward the direction of the explosion.

"Don't go!"

Huyan Lie cleaved the palm strike with a single slash, then the blade spun and transformed into a fiery lion, hot on his heels.

The two chased and fought, with Zhu Hao unable to shake off Huyan Lie, and Huyan Lie unable to stop Zhu Hao. They arrived at the Cishan Bureau, where they found the scene in complete disarray, with flames shooting into the sky. The Thousand Ren Society and the Black Earth Gang were locked in a fierce battle, with the former having the upper hand due to their numbers.

Zhu Hao saw a child's arm protruding from under the collapsed wall, with blood flowing from it. He was instantly enraged and unleashed his "Thunder Rages, Wind Blows and Decisive" move. He moved with lightning speed and rushed into the battlefield. Wherever he passed, members of the Thousand Ren Society were torn in two, and a burnt smell emanated from them.

Huyan Lie, channeling ninety percent of his power. The flames wrapped around the blade turned pitch black, no longer emitting light but instead absorbing it, and he fiercely slashed at Zhu Hao's back.

Zhu Hao sensed the attack and turned to block with a punch. He rushed forward with lightning speed, but most of his strength had already been used up. His remaining strength was no match for the black flame blade's energy. He felt a sweet taste in his throat and was already injured and forced to retreat.

"Stop!"

Instead of pressing his advantage, Huyan Lie channeled his inner energy and let out a loud shout, like a thunderclap, which cleared the minds of everyone in the midst of the chaotic battle and freed them from the frenzy of fighting.

Upon seeing the two Spirit Transformation experts appear, the crowd wisely stopped fighting. This was a common practice on the battlefield; otherwise, if one were caught up in a battle between Spirit Transformation experts, even ten lives wouldn't be enough.

Zhu Hao unleashed several powerful palm strikes, blasting away the burning roof and walls of the Cishan Bureau, before ordering his men to hurry and rescue the people.

Looking at the charred corpses of the old people and children, Zhu Hao that his thinning hair stood on end. "Old ghost Huyan, your methods are too despicable!"

Huyan Lie glanced at the soldiers, who looked equally miserable, and the captured old people and children. He also felt something was amiss. The operation was indeed to capture a group of hostages, but it shouldn't be these guys. He wondered where things had gone wrong.

But now was not the time to assign blame. He immediately ordered his soldiers to hold knives to the hostages' necks, threatening, "In war, only the victor is king and the vanquished is villain; there is no distinction between the virtuous and the base. Get out of the way now, or don't blame me for being merciless."

Zhu Hao took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "The Legalist School say that anyone who kidnaps a hostage should be killed and not ransomed with money, lest they open the path to evil!"

This is a saying by the ancient Qiao Xuan. In the past, Qiao Xuan had a young son who was playing alone by the door. Suddenly, three men with wooden sticks kidnapped him, ran into Qiao Xuan's Qiao Xuan, and demanded money from him, but Qiao Xuan refused.

Afterwards, Yang Qiu, the Commandant of the Capital Region, led the Governor of Henan and the Magistrate of Luoyang to besiege Qiao Xuan's house. Yang Qiu and the others were worried that the bandits would kill Qiao Xuan's son, so they did not want to force the bandits to surrender.

Qiao Xuan glared and retorted, "Traitors have no regard for the law. Would Qiao Xuan let a national traitor go for the life of a son?" Then he urged his soldiers to advance.

Desperate, the robbers killed Qiao Xuan's son. Qiao Xuan then went to the imperial court to apologize and requested an order for the entire country, "Anyone who takes hostages shall be killed, and no ransom shall be paid for with treasure, thus paving the way for wicked and criminal activities."

The imperial court issued an edict promulgating this law. From then on, whenever bandits took hostages, the government troops would not hesitate to kill the bandits without regard for the hostages' safety. After this happened two or three times, the bandits were terrified and dared not kidnap hostages in the capital again.

Legalist School highly valued the Qiao Xuan" (or "bridges"). France law contains a similar provision, which is why France hasn't had a kidnapping incident for twenty years.

Huyan Lie had naturally heard this before, and his expression turned very ugly, and the situation became tense.

Just as the two sides were about to clash, a young girl suddenly interjected, "What a coincidence! You have hostages, and so do we. We've all thought of the same thing."

Immediately, a group of people stepped onto the battlefield. Leading them was Yu Shuying, who was holding two whips, each wrapped around one of two people, namely Huyan Lie's two sons, Huyan He and Huyan Lü.

Chapter 236 Two Choices

"He'er! Lü'er!"

Upon seeing the two hostages captured by Yu Shuying, Hu Yanlie was Huyan Lie. His blade moved with lightning speed, striking Yu Shuying's face in the blink of an eye.

Before the thought even arose, the body had already taken action. This is the principle of acting before the mind. Even though Yu Shuying had the ability to read minds, she could not predict the future as she had in the past. Moreover, the speed of a Nascent Spirit Transformation was so fast that she was not even given a fraction of a second to react.

"Not good!"

Zhu Hao wanted to save the person, but the moment he gathered his energy, the knife wound he had suffered earlier suddenly flared up, causing him to freeze and miss the opportunity to save the person.

Just as Yu Shuying was about to die under the blade before she could even use her schemes, a cold glint suddenly appeared, as beautiful as polar daylight, as poignant as a painting, as if it could devour one's soul.