Near the hour of Shen (3-5 PM), the city's sky gradually revealed a hint of brightness. The afternoon wind had stopped, and as far as the eye could see, the city was slowly quieting down. Outside Ze Prefecture, a group of hundreds of refugees desperately charged the camp of Sun Qi's army, only to be slaughtered in large numbers. As the sunlight pushed aside the clouds and poured its radiance from the sky, soldiers were already cleaning up the blood-soaked battlefield under the sun on the slopes outside the city. In the distance, the part of the refugees who were blocked outside Ze Prefecture could also see this scene.

A small number of survivors were tied together in long strings and dragged into the city. At the city gate, the local informants, paying close attention to the situation, quickly ran around, describing this scene to the civilians gathered in many teahouses in the city.

Self-organized militias and volunteers were also gathering and patrolling in various places, trying to contribute to the chaos that might occur next. At the same time, on another level, Lu Anmin and some of his subordinates were running around, lobbying the officials involved in the operation of Ze Prefecture, trying to save as many people as possible and buffer the inevitable disaster. This was the only thing they could do. However, as long as Sun Qi's army controlled this place, and there was still rice in the fields, how could they stop harvesting?

Like the activities of animals when a natural disaster strikes, after sensing the danger, people were also choosing to resist in their own ways, as much as their abilities allowed.

Ning Yi and Fang Chengye walked on the street, watching all of this from near and far: the anxiety amidst the tension, and the unease beneath the facade of calm. Would the Black Flag really come? Would those hungry ghosts cause a great riot in the city? Even if General Sun suppressed it in time, how many people would be affected?

Children chased and ran through the dirty and chaotic vegetable market, and perhaps the women, who were probably their mothers, watched all this from the doorways not far away.

"...The situation in the South is actually okay. The environment in Tibet is a bit harsher. You know that Guo Yaoshi's remnants went there. We had some friction, but they didn't dare to provoke us. From Tibet to the Miao region of Xiangnan, we have three strongholds in total. In these two years, internal transformation and rectification are the priorities. It is very important to have everyone working together with one heart... In addition, I used to intervene too much, which could boost morale, but internal development cannot rely on one person. I hope they can sincerely agree with some ideas and use their brains more, think deeper. What kind of future do they want... So, it's not a bad thing that I don't show up often for the time being..."

"Then what has the teacher been doing these past few years..."

"When I have nothing to do, I give lectures. Several groups of your fellow disciples have been found to discuss the future of the Huaxia Army with me. Slogans alone are not enough; the outline must be detailed, and the theory must withstand scrutiny and calculation. You should have discussed the 'Four Principles' many times."

"Nationalism, Rights of the People, Livelihood of the People, and People's Intelligence. I have discussed the first three with Uncle Zhan Wu several times, but People's Intelligence... It seems a bit difficult to get started with at the moment."

Ning Yi turned his head to look at him, frowned, and smiled, "Your mind is sharp; you really are a monkey. It's not simple that you can think of these things... People's Intelligence is a fundamental direction, connected to the investigation of things and all aspects of thought. In the South, it is the guiding principle, starting with the investigation of things. In the North, for People's Intelligence, we have to change direction. We can say that those who understand the meaning of Huaxia have opened their minds. After all, this is just the beginning."

Fang Chengye thought for a while. He was still a little hesitant, but finally nodded, "However, they have been investigating too fiercely these past two years. The old methods of the Bamboo Records are not easy to use openly."

"After this incident, we can start moving. Tian Hu can't hold back, and we've been waiting for a long time. It's good to kill the chicken to scare the monkey..." Ning Yi said in a low voice, then smiled, "By the way, you grew up here, right?"

"Two streets over is the house where my parents lived when they were alive. After my parents passed away, I came back and sold the place. I used to come to this area a lot before I was ten." As Fang Chengye spoke, he maintained a nonchalant expression on his face. He greeted an uncle on the street. After slightly concealing Ning Yi's identity, the two continued to walk. "Uncle Li, who runs the inn, took care of me a lot in the past. I also came over a few times later to chase away some troublemakers for him. But he is weak and fearful, so even if things get chaotic in the future, it won't be good to develop and reuse him."

Ning Yi patted him on the shoulder, and after a moment, he said, "Have you thought about what it would be like if this place became chaotic?"

"I've thought about it..." Fang Chengye was silent for a moment, then nodded, "But compared to when my parents died, it wouldn't be any worse, right?"

Ning Yi looked at him. Fang Chengye lowered his head slightly, then showed a firm look in his eyes. "Actually, teacher, I have also thought these past few days about whether to warn the people around me to leave here early – just thinking about it casually, of course, I wouldn't do that. Teacher, if they encounter trouble, whether it has anything to do with me or not, I won't say it's irrelevant. Let's just say it does. They want peace, and everyone wants peace. Why don't the hungry ghosts outside the city want to live, and I am a Black Flag, so I have to do my job. When I was following the teacher's lectures, Tang Minjie said something that might be right. It's always the ass that determines the position. That's what I think now. Since I've chosen where to sit, a woman's kindness will only ruin more things."

Ning Yi's expression calmed down, but he shook his head slightly. "That idea is very dangerous. Tang Minjie's statement is incorrect. I said it a long time ago, but it's a pity I didn't say it clearly enough back then. He went out on business last year and used too harsh methods, so he was punished. It's understandable not to treat the enemy as people, but it's not good to not treat the people as people and use cruel methods."

"He..." Fang Chengye was stunned for a long time, wanting to ask what had happened, but Ning Yi just shook his head and didn't elaborate. After a moment, Fang Chengye said, "But, how can there be a universally unchanging right and wrong truth? The right and wrong of the Ze Prefecture matter, for us, is ultimately different from theirs."

Ning Yi shook his head, "No, it is exactly the same."

They turned out of the vegetable market and walked forward. The temple of the Great Brightness Sect was already close at hand. At this time, there were monks and disciples of the Great Brightness Sect guarding outside the street. When Ning Yi and Fang Chengye walked forward, someone first greeted them and led them in from the side door.

Fang Chengye was naturally not surprised that Zi Fang also had arrangements in the Great Brightness Sect. Compared to the pseudo-Qi and Tiger King forces, which initially conscripted troops on a large scale but later had some kind of system, the Great Brightness Sect, a greenwood organization that broadly recruited heroes and refused no one, deserved to be infiltrated like a sieve. After being active in secret for a long time, he truly understood how much significance the Huaxia Army's several rectifications had.

However, as they walked along the way, there were more and more greenwood people around. After passing through the back door of the Great Brightness Sect, even more greenwood heroes gathered in the temple square in front. From a distance, there seemed to be more than a thousand people. The person who led them in took the two of them to a monk's room on the second floor. The people gathered in the aisle also made way for the two of them. The two stopped by a railing. The people around them all looked like various greenwood heroes, even including men and women. Only when they were among them did they feel the atmosphere was strange. Probably all of them were Black Flag members that Ning Yi had brought with him.

This corridor was located in a corner of the martial arts field, which was already full of people below. In the center of the martial arts field in front, two groups of people were obviously confronting each other. This side was like a stage. Someone leaned over and spoke to Ning Yi in a low voice.

"Shi Jin learned of the plan of collusion between the Great Brightness Sect and the Tiger King, and led the heroes of Crimson Peak Mountain to expose the matter in public just now. Saving Wang Shitong is a fake. The Great Brightness Sect wants to take this opportunity to win over everyone's hearts, and perhaps will also put everyone in a dangerous situation... However, there is a problem within Shi Hero's side. The person who was found to have leaked the information just changed his statement, saying that he was forced by Shi Jin and others..."

After explaining these things and introducing the situation, that person took a step back. Fang Chengye felt a surge of doubts in his heart and couldn't help but whispered, "Teacher..."

Ning Yi looked at the front and patted him on the shoulder, "In this world, there are eternally unchanging truths of right and wrong. There are two of these truths. Understanding them will basically allow you to understand all the right and wrong in the world."

Although he didn't look at Fang Chengye, the words from his mouth didn't stop. They were calm and gentle, "The first of these two truths is called 'Heaven and Earth are Impartial.' What it means is that everything that governs our world is an immutable objective law. In this world, as long as it conforms to the law, anything can happen. As long as it conforms to the law, anything can happen. It will not change in the slightest because of our expectations. Its calculation is the same as mathematics, strict, not vague or ambiguous."

"And the second truth that constitutes the measure of right and wrong is that life has its own tendencies. Let's tentatively call it 'All Things Have a Spirit.' The world is very bitter. You can hate this world, but one thing is immutable: as long as it is a person, they will feel warmth for those good things and feel happiness and satisfaction. You will feel happy, and when you see positive things, you will have positive emotions. All things have tendencies, so this is the second immutable truth. When you understand these two, everything is just calculation."

Then, Ning Yi's words slowed down, as if to emphasize, "Life with tendencies exists in a world without tendencies. Understand the basic rules of this world, understand the basic attributes of people, and then calculate, ultimately reaching a result that tries to satisfy our tendencies as much as possible in a positive and warm way, is the noblest use of human wisdom. But the reason for emphasizing these two is because we must see clearly that the result must be positive, and the calculation process must be cold and strict. Anything that deviates from these two is wrong, and anything that conforms to these two is right."

Almost in a low voice, he finished saying these words one word at a time. Ning Yi raised his hand and pointed to the martial arts field in front, "Look, all things have a spirit. Everyone is fighting for what they think is a good direction. They use their wisdom to deduce the development of this world and then do things that they think will get better. However, Heaven and Earth are impartial. Whether the calculation is correct has nothing to do with whether you are kind, whether you are generous and passionate, or whether you are full of great goals. If you are wrong, the bitter fruit will definitely come."

"So, Heaven and Earth are impartial and treat all things as straw dogs; the sage is impartial and treats the people as straw dogs. For the sake of the positive and substantive that can truly be achieved, the calculations made by putting aside all localism and all fluke are the closest we can get to the correct thing. So, you can calculate whether the kind and innocent people of Ze Prefecture can achieve the ultimate positive outcome..."

……

Heaven and Earth are impartial, but all things have a spirit.

……

Therefore, everyone is making efforts for the direction they think is right.

On the martial arts field, Shi Jin stood holding a staff. He was tall and imposing, standing upright. In the round of verbal sparring just now, the people of Crimson Peak Mountain had not expected the betrayal of the informant, who had actually taken off his clothes in the martial arts field and revealed his body full of scars, causing them to become extremely passive afterwards.

But Shi Jin closed his eyes slightly and remained unmoved.

Since participating in the great battle to assassinate Nikan with Zhou Tong, he had fortunately not died and had since embarked on a constant battle with the Jurchens. Even during the situation where the world was besieging the Black Flag a few years ago, Crimson Peak Mountain was the most fierce rebel army that clearly fought against the Jurchens, and he had accumulated a thick reputation for it.

But what drove him to this point was not that layer of false fame. Since Zhou Tong's final personal transmission that night, he had been fighting in battle formations for nearly ten years, and his martial arts and will had long been as solid as a rock. Apart from Crimson Peak Mountain, which collapsed due to internal strife, and the innocent brothers who died, which could still shake him, there was nothing else in this world that could break his defenses.

Ten years of sandy battles, from martial arts to the Dao, at this moment, he was already a true and well-deserved grandmaster in martial arts.

If Grandmaster Zhou were here, what would he do?

Lin Zongwu had already walked down the martial arts field.

"...Although there are many misunderstandings, this one has long admired and respected Hero Shi... The situation is complicated today. Hero Shi seems not to believe this one, but with so many people, this one cannot let them just disperse... Then you and I will use the rules of the greenwood and let our skills do the talking."

Lin Zongwu raised his hand, also possessing the momentum and pressure of controlling wind and thunder.

"One! On! One!"

The Nine-Tattooed Dragon who was a chivalrous young man in the past, now the Dragon King standing tall, opened his eyes. At that moment, it was as if lightning flashed.

……

"Good."

……

On the martial arts field, wind and thunder collided together in a roar, and a duel that surpassed the limits of martial artists began—