Yang Quan was troubled. He wanted to know why Yang Ding executed a soldier. His brother had pored his flesh and blood into raising his soldiers and yet he kills them without mercy? And for no good reason.
The killing intent that he had unleashed while he killed the man was as if Yang Ding was facing his mortal enemy. It was like he held a grudge against the poor soldiers for seven reincarnations!
How could he do such a thing?
The soldier would think even after he died what wrong he had done to be subjected to such hatred.
"Why else do you think I killed him? Wasn't he branded as a traitor to our clan?"
"That might be true. But we put that tag on him only to escape the charges of the five great clans."
The man who had died to Yang Ding's sword was one of the spies Yang Ding had himself trained. He was supposed to spy on one of the five great clans of the Black Pearl Nation.
But alas, he made a small mistake causing the clan to become suspicious of him. But, before the clan could take any actions and confirm their suspicion, Yang Ding fabricated fake proofs to brand him as a traitor to his clan. And now, here he was lying dead cause of the treason he had never committed.
The Geijing clan might be second only to the five great clans in the Black Pearl nation but there is no way it can offend any one of them. Being a subject of their anger, Geijing might be wiped out from the face of the planet.
That is how much of a difference the two had.
The only reason that the five great clans hadn't destroyed Geijing was that they were keeping each other in check.
The losses surpassed the profits by a fair margin! If at all any of them were to plunder the Geijing for its resources, that clan would have to face the other 4 clans alone.
"But brother Yang Ding, he was always loyal to us. He had never committed any treason… always faithfully carried out your orders. Had stood with his brothers in times of war and had shared joy with us in times of peace. How could we kill him, when he had done no wrong?"
Yang Quan felt guilty. The man and he both used to exchange words before. They used to exchange sweets on their days of joy. Even when he had a child Yang Quan was the first person who he had informed of his joyous fortune.
Now with him gone. Who will look after his family? His son now has no father… his wife no husband. What did they do to deserve such fate? And what did he do to be killed in such a manner?
Yang Quan had lot of questions but he doesn't wanted to oppose Yang Ding cause of them. After all Yang Ding was his own brother while this soldier a fellow clan member.
But neither of his unasked questions were answered.
For all Yang Ding did was sigh.
"Yang Quan, I am disappointed. You should know this better than anyone… the reason behind my decisions. Do you think I wished to kill him? Or do you think I am some bloodthirsty maniac like Long Bai?"
Yang Quan stepped back as he hastily shook his head.
"I dare not. I, Yang Quan, will never question your decisions… But it is the guilt that I feel in my heart for this man that never seems to rest. I just wanted a good enough reason so that my chaotic mind can be at peace and nothing else. I mean no offence. I, Yang Quan, will forever follow brother Yang Ding in thick or thin, in treasons and glory. I shall always be your vassal." He spluttered.
Yang Ding nodded.
"If that's the case then toughen up your heart for there will come many a conflicts like this… and many innocent deaths will follow. You must know this. If it is for our clan we should be willing to do anything!
Massacre the innocent. Be grounded in shame. Be hated. Be laughed at. No matter how tough the situation is. We should be willing to do anything for our clan."
Yang Ding raised his sword in the air.
"All for the glory of our Geijing Clan!" He roared.
Yang Quan raised his sword too.
"All for the glory of our clan!"
[Flash back ends]
Yang Quan was jolted back to reality when the book in his hands toppled and fell to the floor.
For a second his eyes shot out wide in surprise.
He shook his head.
"Ah, what am I doing."
He laughed at his stupidy. He was so much lost in thought that he forgot about his surroundings and his work.
He ducked low and picked up his notebook. Dusting its side twice, he opened it again as he flipped through its pages.
"Here it is!"
He rubbed his fingers on the header of the page.
It read: "When clans are at war!"
"Let's see."
"Conflicts are a part of human nature.]"
"When two clans cannot find a common ground they are bound to actively oppose each other."
Yang Quan felt bored reading the long list he himself had made. So decided to skip.
His fingers travelled down skipping all the text that came between.
.
.
.
Then he stopped somewhere he felt was important to read.
"There might be a lot of reasons that might begin a war but the end result can only boil down to one thing."
"Destruction and Growth"
"Destruction if not fought properly, a good leader would guide his army in such a way such that there are minimal losses."
"The best war fought is one with no losses."
"Growth exists solely for the winning side."
"If their profits outwit their losses in war only then growth exists."