Ning wondered for a few seconds if he heard it wrong. Then the next few seconds he looked at the old man's face, expecting him to burst out laughing, saying that it was a joke.
However, even as seconds passed, the old man's face showed no change.
Silence hung in the air for a moment and Ning finally spoke again. "You want to bring peace… through fear?" he asked.
"Yes, that is the only way Peace can be achieved," the old man stood finally for the first time since Ning had come to his room.
He walked towards the window and stared out of it. "Look at them, those insignificant specks. Every day, they live in fear that something bad will happen to them. They don't know it themselves, but they fear it."
"They fear that someone will steal from them. They fear that someone will hurt them. They fear that someone will kill them."
"They won't say it if you ask them. But deep down they know that they fear it."
