Encountering Han Fei on the Road (3)

"Perhaps it is freedom."

"But ultimately, they are not free."

"Like a bird in a cage... Even if the cage is very, very big, so big that it can never fly to the end in its entire life, the cage is still a cage, and its freedom is only relative... When the holder of the cage wants it to die, it doesn't even have a chance to escape. This is the freedom given by the strong."

"As a high-ranking member of the Net organization."

"He is also a Grandmaster who has grasped the Artistic Conception... and who must have clearly understood his own true nature."

"You should understand the true nature of this freedom."

"Haven't you thought about taking it a step further?"

Ye Qingcang debated with Startled Salamander with great interest.

The road ahead may be interesting, or it may be boring.

But it's boring, at least for now.

Find some fun in your life.

Of course, this is all about having some fun without harming others.

It is a very good way to deal with this.

It's incredibly effective at dealing with loneliness, at least.

"The sky is like a dome, encompassing all the fields."

"Who isn't a frog in a well?"

"Then where does absolute freedom come from?"

Startled Salamander lowered her Bamboo Hat, picked up the sword beside her— the Jing Ni Sword —ignoring Ye Qingcang's exposed back and her injuries, and stood up unsteadily. She said coldly, "If you don't kill me, I'm leaving. I have a mission to complete. As payment for letting me go, I promise I won't report your information. But don't misunderstand, if you do anything that attracts the attention of the Net and they send me to kill you, I will still act..."

"I really don't want to kill you."

"But you can't leave."

"Because I am not someone who likes to let hidden dangers run rampant. Although no one in this world can do anything about me, as long as I want to walk, the road is right under my feet... But which of these roads I should take is obviously up to me."

"You couldn't beat me when you were at your peak."

"You're even less likely to beat me now."

"I kindly put your dislocated bones back in place, but if you don't appreciate it, I'll have to put them back in place again."

Do you understand what I mean?

Ye Qingcang sat on horseback.

A calm tone.

A calm gaze.

She met Startled Salamander's gaze as she suddenly turned around.

A moment later, Startled Salamander put down the sword in her hand.

He tore off the black robe to cover his back.

Fortunately, although the soft armor on the front half of her body was broken, it wasn't completely broken, so at least no skin was exposed. With her back covered, although it looked a bit incongruous, she was indeed wrapped up very well.

He couldn't help but glance at the strange warhorse.

Hugging his knees.

I sat back down in the cart.

"You seem to have nothing to fear."

"I'm not afraid of losing my life because I've seen some secrets."

"Is it the Net that gives you your confidence?"

Ye Qingcang noticed Startled Salamander's gaze.

He patted the Earth Stone Warhorse beneath him, signaling to the other side that they could quicken their pace.

At the same time, he glanced at the warhorse's pupils.

The lingering arrogance has diminished considerably.

The original length could reach thirty centimeters.

Now it's less than ten centimeters long.

Instead, there are two-thirds of the pupils, scarlet, exuding an eerie feeling that sends chills down your spine just by looking at them.

"You seem very boring."

"Of course... I can roughly guess why you kept me here."

"Having uncovered too many secrets, I am doomed to die."

"But this is exactly what you wanted to see."

"Isn't that right?"

"They won't even do the most basic cover-up, unless I destroy my eyes... But on the other hand, it is indeed a brilliant excuse. The more I know, the more necessary it is for me to be killed."

When death was before her, Startled Salamander remained calm. Even if she had misunderstood something, Ye Qingcang didn't explain, "As for this sword, I believe someone will come and take it... If you leave as you did when you descended, then pretend I didn't say anything."

"To be honest, I am quite bored."

"But seeing you has lessened my boredom considerably."

"I also want to thank you for your cooperation... Although I'm not sure if you enjoyed it or if you were looking for my weaknesses, you still talked to me about these topics."

"However, you seem to have misunderstood something."

"Not covering it up is not about making excuses."

"I don't need an excuse to kill you."

The reason for not covering it up is simply that there's no need.

Even if you saw it... could you figure out how it's made?

"Even if you understand the principle, do you think I'm afraid you'll steal this trick?"

"That's a gross underestimation of me, Ye Qingcang."

"Oh, right... speaking of which, we haven't even done a basic self-introduction yet. You know my name, I just said it. Now, shouldn't you show some sincerity?"

Ye Qingcang pulled a cup of milk tea out of thin air.

He handed it to Startled Salamander, who was sitting on the cart with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Startled Salamander was silent for a moment.

He hesitated for a moment, which was unusual for him.

In the end, after thinking for a while, she took the milk tea and, imitating Ye Qingcang, put the straw in her mouth, took a sip, and her eyes involuntarily lit up. However, she still restrained herself and let go of the straw, saying in a cold voice, "Startled Salamander... this is my name, and also the name of this sword."

"That's quite a brief self-introduction."

"By the way, don't you have your own name?"

"And aren't you afraid I might have put something in this milk tea?"

"Of course I know you're not afraid of aphrodisiacs."

"But I do have several kinds of Gu worms that can control people's minds."

Ye Qingcang reminded him with a smile.

It seems like a joke.

But it doesn't seem so.

However, this little trick didn't fool Startled Salamander. Startled Salamander maintained her original posture and Bingbing added, "Being controlled and being betrayed are two different things. Moreover, I don't think any Gu worm can hide from my senses. Besides, I can't find any reason for you to use this method to control me. At least in my opinion, any Gu worm that can work on me must be more valuable than me."

"Perhaps I like you?"

To put it bluntly... I'm lusting after your body!

Is this possible?

Ye Qingcang continued to joke.

But except for himself.

Nobody knows if he was joking or not.

However, Startled Salamander's resistance was top-notch. Her expression remained completely unmoved. She simply took a slow sip of the sweet milk tea, silently acknowledging the taste of this drink, which she had been given out of pity before embarking on her journey to the Yellow Springs: "Anything is possible, I don't deny that, but judging from your taste and the force you used on me back then... at least the word 'chivalrous' doesn't apply to you... or rather, my looks don't reach that level."

"Excessive humility is arrogance."

"Among all the people I've ever met."

"Your looks rank... uh... wait a minute, let me calculate."

"Xiao Wu, Rongrong, Zhu Qing."

"A Xue, Na Na, and Bibidong."

"Nan Nan, Wang Dong'er, Three-Eyed Golden Lion... those that haven't taken human form are out of the question."

"Let's add Miss Gu Yuena as well."

"Cai'er, Chen Ying'er, and Wang Yuanyuan are a bit lacking, so they're not considered good."

"Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen, and Le Xuan."

"Meng Hongchen, Shui Bing'er".

"Anyway, you're definitely in the top twenty... so don't worry about your looks!"

Ye Qingcang calculated it carefully.

He conveniently overlooked the fleeting look of surprise in Startled Salamander's eyes.

Startled Salamander doesn't like being judged.

I'm not used to being praised.

This kind of praise is particularly strange. It sounds very good, but then you get a comment like, "You can make it into the top twenty."

Even within the Net.

Among the Eight Swords of King Yue.

She shouldn't have fallen out of the top four.

To be honest, the difference was quite significant; she couldn't even tell whether the young man named Ye Qingcang was praising her or subtly belittling her.

Whether it's praise or criticism, it doesn't really matter.

The two chatted casually like that.

Startled Salamander is waiting to die.

Because she believed that this kind of death was acceptable, not only because it would allow her to learn about her opponent and avoid dying in a daze, but also because she could have this sweet drink, similar to honey water but with a richer flavor, as a precious memory before her death.

Although there was no last meal for the dead.

But she didn't ask for much.

I never asked for a last meal before my execution.

Besides, those mission targets who died by her sword in the past didn't even have a chance to drink water, so she is now being treated with special care.

Therefore, as long as you don't betray the Net.

It should not exceed its own weight ratio.

She would answer any question she could.

For example, the bizarre question Ye Qingcang is asking right now.

"If I want to replace the leader of the Net."

"What should I do?"

"Did you kill Lü Buwei?"

"Or should we go through the competition process that your Net organization might have, which we don't even know exists?"

Startled Salamander sighed.

The secrets of the Net are many.

But this alone is not a secret.

However, to answer this question, she needed to ascertain her image in the other person's eyes, or perhaps more accurately, to clarify her position. "Before answering this question, I'd like to ask you... in your eyes, what am I as a high-level executive?"

"It's... the Heaven Ranked Assassin."

"I can command other assassins from the Net, but not the Eight Swords of King Yue."

"They are also people who have access to the leader of the Net organization."

"As for how I know that the current leader of the Net is Lü Buwei, that's my secret. Anyway, you didn't reveal this secret, so you don't need to worry about taking the blame for it."

Ye Qingcang waved his hand and casually revealed.

But Startled Salamander shook her head.

Under Ye Qingcang's curious gaze.

The voice, clear and cold, corrected. "What you said is quite right, but not entirely... In fact, anyone in the world has the qualifications to become a leader, but this is only theoretical... To become the leader of Net, knowing the true identity of the Net leader is important, obtaining the roster of Net personnel is even more important, and only by controlling Net from top to bottom can one make a decisive move... Therefore, if you want to become the leader of Net, you must first kill the current leader of Net. If the current leader of Net is not killed by you, it will be very difficult for you to take over, because it is unlikely that you can bypass this step and obtain the roster of Net. There are two kinds of rosters of Net, one held by the leader and the other held by high-ranking members like us. The roster held by the leader records the true identities of the Eight Swords of King Yue throughout the ages, including the true identities of our generation. In addition, there are corresponding communication codes. Only by finding us can he be considered the nominal new leader of Net, at least he can integrate and mobilize the overall power of Net... As for the final control, it requires the submission of the Eight Swords of King Yue of Yue Wang, through our control of all the assassins at the grassroots level of Net."

"Understood."

"The hierarchical system."

"It's just like opening a safe."

"Killing the current leader of the Net organization has a chance to drop a clue. Based on this clue, there is a chance to find information about the key and the codebook. Only by spinning the wheel and successfully calibrating the code can you open the outer layer and find the key to the inner layer based on the subsequent information... Only after picking up this key can you open the inner layer and truly confirm what is inside this safe."

Ye Qingcang gave an example that Startled Salamander couldn't understand.

Therefore, Startled Salamander did not agree.

But Ye Qingcang's mind started to wander.

His core purpose in coming to this star system was to collect usable resources. Because for the Stellar Martial Arts to develop further after six sublimations, the resources required are astronomical. However, in star systems with high power levels, not only will the individual energy of resources increase, but the types and total amount of resources will also be improved to a certain extent.

Let's just say that.

It is also a ginseng plant.

A century old.

The quality of herbs from the Douluo Star System is less than one ten-thousandth of that from the Qin's Moon Star System. In fact, even a weed from the Qin's Moon Star System, if transplanted there, could approach the quality of Immortal Herb.

The difference is that big.

This is also the difference between galaxies.

To put it bluntly, in different environments, organisms with weak resistance would have died long ago.

They will survive.

Those are beings with an inherently tenacious nature.

It has endured countless ravages of nature.

The quality is naturally high.

The so-called rose in a greenhouse.

That's exactly the point.

Therefore, if he were to control the massive local power of the Net, it would be quite convenient for this alien to collect resources or gather information.

It's better than him foolishly searching on his own.

Many hands make light work.

Besides, if you really push him too far, he could grab two Grandmaster and throw them into the Douluo Star System, where even the Five Great God Kings would be helpless.

Although this approach is prone to backlash.

Just like when he defeated Startled Salamander before.

Startled Salamander suffered from a lack of intelligence.

However, if Startled Salamander were sent to the Douluo Star System for a trip, she would surely be able to comprehend the laws of space from the phenomena of tearing through the void with her every move. If she were to fight him after returning, his Flying Thunder God Mark would likely be countered.

Ultimately, his level of understanding was still lacking.

He will complete his seventh sublimation.

He could then go toe-to-toe with Grandmaster like Startled Salamander.

This refers to face-to-face interaction.

No tricks involved.

Therefore, adhering to the principle that if I don't occupy the high ground, it might fall into enemy hands, Ye Qingcang silently included the Net in his conquest map. Although he didn't particularly like the nature of the Net, because in terms of efficiency, a unified empire was far more effective, unfortunately, the current Qin Kingdom was just the Qin Kingdom, not yet the unified Qin Dynasty. Even if he could unify the world within ten years, he would no longer need to collect resources. After all, from infancy to now, he had only spent sixteen years. Ten years would be enough for him to roam the starry sky, and destroying stars with a flick of his finger would not be impossible, because the snowball always gets bigger and bigger. He had already set his sights on the resources of other worlds.

There's no need to waste time here.