"Brother Xu, this affair is probably a test. You'd better be careful."
Xu Yang and Zuo Mu sat on a large rock, gazing toward the distant Fu Family estate.
"A test?" Xu Yang asked, puzzled.
Zuo Mu nodded. "The Fu Family is a major lineage in Cloud Province. They aren't a Millennium Family, but they've endured for centuries and have tangled connections with all the province's factions. Once we act, will you kill or not?"
Xu Yang understood. Killing would offend the factions closely connected to the Fu Family; refusing to kill would offend the Heavenly Strategy Academy and the Imperial Court. The Heavenly Strategy Academy wasn't a place like the Violet Sun Gate. Most of its resources were allocated by the Imperial Court. One could say the court was feeding them, its students.
If the Imperial Court fed you, yet you refused when told to kill a few people who colluded with the Demon Cult, how could it dare keep nurturing you?
"Those people with connections to the Fu Family are in trouble," Xu Yang said, relishing their misfortune.
He had not the slightest connection to the Fu Family, so he had no reason to show softhearted mercy. The Demon Cult had tried to kill him repeatedly. Anyone who colluded with it was his enemy, and he would not hesitate to kill them.
"Several people are even related to the Fu Family by marriage or blood. They certainly are in trouble."
Zuo Mu nodded and continued, "But we aren't entirely free of trouble ourselves. The Fu Family has nearly a thousand members. Surely only a small portion colluded with the Demon Cult. Those who did deserve death, of course, but can we really bring ourselves to kill the innocent?"
Xu Yang said nothing. His hands had been drenched in