Arson?

After the incident involving Uncle Wang's son, Zhou Qing said to everyone, "Xiaolan's summary of city management is good, but there is one more important point she didn't mention."

Amidst the curiosity and confusion of the crowd, Zhou Qing slowly said, "That is, putting people first. What Xiaolan said about a suitable system is that the rulers should take care of us like we take care of the crops in the fields. It's somewhat close to what I'm talking about, but not entirely."

First, let's make one thing clear.

We are human beings.

Other people are people too.

We must treat ourselves and them as human beings, equally, not as weeds planted in a field, or as cattle and horses dressed as human beings.

At this point, Zhou Qing took a deep breath and said Youyou, "No matter what status you have in the future, if one day you forget your original intention and no longer treat others as human beings, then you will no longer be human, but just monsters in human skin. When you reach that point, when you are dragged down from your high position by people you don't consider human, don't complain about fate, because you brought it on yourselves."

This principle is simple and applies even in worlds with extraordinary powers.

History has its similarities.

If you don't treat people like human beings, then people won't treat you like human beings either. Once they have the opportunity and the ability, they will drag you down and devour you completely.

And the dragon slayer becomes the dragon—

That's a completely different matter.

The students got goosebumps from listening, but Zhou Qing changed the subject and said with a smile, "Alright, that's enough for class. Class dismissed! Xiaolan, collect everyone's homework!"

Xiaolan immediately stood up, led the students to stand up, and said "Goodbye, teacher" to Zhou Qing. Then she began to have the members of each group collect their homework and hand it to Zhou Qing.

After class, the relationship between the students and Zhou Qing changed from "teacher and student" to "friend".

After all, we're all about the same age...

···

In the blink of an eye, half a month has quietly passed.

After Zhou Qing and Tang San returned, Holy Soul Village and the surrounding villages changed dramatically every day.

"Is this a small village in the countryside?"

Seven uninvited guests arrived outside Holy Soul Village.

The fields are golden, the mountains are fragrant with the scent of rice, and looking down, two- and three-story houses stand tall, showcasing the fresh and rustic charm of rural life.

This scene was unlike anything the seven of them had ever seen on their journey.

"Captain, along the way, none of the villages and fields we've encountered have seen rice growing so well, with such plump grains. And the villagers there are all so thin, not as robust as the Holy Soul Village." Zhang Hengrui was born in an era when Douluo Continent had already entered the age of interstellar exploration. Even with the return of the Great God Circle, it was still the same. He had only ever seen such idyllic scenery in instructional videos.

But he was certain that in this Douluo Era, there were absolutely no such high-yield grain varieties, nor were there any rural farmers who were well-fed and clothed.

It must be a change caused by their mission objectives!

Looking down at the farmers working hard in the fields below, their faces beaming with the joy of a bountiful harvest, Yuan En Xing Tian sighed, "Just looking at the changes they've brought about, it's quite remarkable."

"Country folks are short-sighted; they're satisfied with small favors," Lu Yixin scoffed. "If Zhou Qing and the others really manage to destroy us, this timeline is doomed! Without the protection of the Sea God, their descendants won't survive the invasion of the Abyss Plane 20,000 years from now!"

Huo Zhanji did not speak, but he secretly agreed.

But what should we do next?

They certainly couldn't beat Zhou Qing and his group in a head-on confrontation, but they wouldn't resort to underhanded tactics like digging pits, flooding, or administering laxatives.

That's so embarrassing.

"Jia Zhe, what do you think Zhou Qing and his group's purpose is?" Huo Zhanji asked Chai Jiazhe.

"Those Transmigrator have nothing to do with seizing Tang San's opportunity to become a god, or to become king and hegemon, nothing more."

Chai Jiazhe was the one in the Blue Silver Team who knew the most about "Transmigrator". "Our mission targets: Zhou Qing, Wang Sheng, and Romantina. The situation is a bit special. We also brought Tang San along. I guess we want to use the Fortune of the protagonist of this era to establish their own power."

After a moment of contemplation, Chai Jiazhe glanced at the golden rice paddies below and came up with a terrible idea. "An army marches on its stomach. This grain is probably the foundation of their development. These fools are being deceived without realizing it, but I'm sure that most of the harvested grain will be taken by Zhou Qing and his men."

"So--"

"Why don't we set it on fire and burn it down!"

Yuan En Xing Tian immediately chimed in, "Great! That's a good method!"

On the field, Zhou Qing grabbed her by the neck, and she felt the threat of death for the first time... She hated Zhou Qing to the extreme.

Huo Zhanji frowned, not wanting to do this, but they simply couldn't win in a direct confrontation, and a sneak attack might not be effective either. The only way they could find an opportunity was to make Zhou Qing's side extremely anxious.

More importantly, more than half of the three months have already passed, and we can't delay any longer.

Mission failed...

Huo Zhanji to accept defeat.

Then--

"Let's vote by raising our hands on whether or not to use fire," Huo Zhanji said to his companions.

"Agree."

Chai Jiazhe raised his hand, after all, this was the method he had proposed.

"Agree."

Yuan En Xing Tian raised both hands in agreement.

Zhang Hengrui's Martial Soul is Sylph, and he has a relatively peaceful personality, so he abstained.

Li Jiangqi agreed.

Lu Yixin felt that for the sake of the overall situation in this time and space, the sacrifices of ordinary people and the hardships they endured were worthwhile—time would prove that he and his companions were right!

In fact, this young man, whose Martial Soul was his true form, abstained.

Of the six, four had already agreed. Huo Zhanji did not express his opinion, but simply said, "Alright, four people agree. The minority shall obey the majority and we shall use fire."

Once the plan was set, the seven people began their operation.

An hour later, the Uncle Wang family, who were harvesting rice in the paddy field, suddenly smelled the burning smell of rice. Looking up, they saw thick smoke rising not far away and their eyes widened. "There's a fire to the east!"

People in the nearby farmland also noticed this scene and stopped harvesting rice. They called their friends and family, went home to get firefighting tools, or rushed to the front of the fire to harvest the rice there first, creating a firebreak to prevent the fire from spreading.

"How could these farmers act so quickly?"

Chai Jiazhe secretly set the fire, was observing the actions of the villagers of Holy Soul Village. He noticed that although they looked panicked, they moved quickly. They didn't seem like farmers, but rather like well-trained soldiers, remaining calm even when the rice paddies caught fire.

In less than half an hour, a firebreak was cleared around the flames in the burning area, and the villagers kept passing buckets of water to splash and water the burning rice.

The fire was extinguished in just half an hour.

"Why is it on fire?"

"The kids in our village would never play with fire in the rice paddies. Anyone who dared to do so was made to copy textbooks by Brother Zhou and his friends..."

"It's possible that people from other villages are unhappy because they see us having such a bumper harvest."

"That's impossible. They also attend night school and send their children to Hope Primary School. Unless they're crazy, there's no reason for them to do this. Otherwise, let's go talk to Old Jack, the village chief, and kick their village out of the Worker-Peasant Council! Those village chiefs aren't stupid either; they'll definitely keep the idlers and lazybones in their villages in check!"

"Oh no, there's a fire on the west side too!"

Someone saw smoke rising in the west and shouted.

The villagers immediately went to put out the fire again.

Uncle Wang said to his son, "Go quickly to the Worker-Peasant Council and find Zhou Qing and the others. Someone must have deliberately set this fire!"