Yan Qing grabbed her finger and bent it outward. Shang Xin Lei hurriedly pulled it back. "It's going to break! It's going to break!"
"Hmph." Yan Qing lowered his head and began eating the pan-fried dumplings.
"You still haven't answered me." Shang Xin Lei asked, "What exactly do you want by coming to Thieves' Den, you pig?"
"To take control of Thieves' Den." Yan Qing said calmly, "There's no safer place in this world than Thieves' Den, and there's no more convenient place, either. As long as I control this place, I'll always be in an invincible position. I'll also be able to reach anywhere. No one will be able to trap me, and no one will be able to threaten me."
"By then, I'll be able to take off my mask and no longer need to conceal my identity."
When Shang Xin Lei brought up Shang Xuanwen, Yan Qing also realized the flaw in his thinking. So what if it was one of the main cities? Wasn't Shang Xuanwen still repeatedly assassinated there? The Ping City military camp also frequently heard rumors of the Emperor of the City of Evernight killing people indiscriminately in the streets. The main cities weren't absolutely safe.
Even if he grew stronger, there would always be someone stronger. The only exception would be cultivating all the way to the Ninth Turn. By comparison, Thieves' Den was the most reasonable target. Once he became its master, Yan Qing would have no more worries.
At the end of the day, his thoughts were still aimed at surviving. He wasn't harboring some grand goal. It was just that before, he had been "figuring out how to stay alive," whereas now he was "figuring out how to live better." But most things in the world were like that.