"It's like this, one day, all of a sudden, a boy gets attacked by four men in the jungle. A fight broke out. In the fight, the boy was —without a doubt— at disadvantage. During the battle, the boy was played around by the four men. He could not do anything, but this was something that everyone knew." Yang Zhai halted for a moment. His back was facing the librarian.
"There, the torture of the boy began. During the torture, the boy was almost at his last breath. He thought that he was going to die; but, for some reason, the four men stopped beating the boy. The boy was lying on the ground, helpless. He opened his eyes to look. Do you know what the boy saw?" Yang Zhai turned to look at the librarian and asked.
The librarian kept quiet and did not say anything. He was expressionless as a rock.
"The boy saw a man standing in front of him. The man's back was facing the boy. This new man had killed three out of the four men. The fourth man was lying injured on the ground, alive. The new man who had appeared captured the injured man for interrogation. And something impressive was revealed by the interrogation. Do you know what was discovered?" Yang Zhai asked the librarian again.
But this time, there was a slight movement in the librarian's eyes. Even though the librarian kept quiet and tried to hide his emotions, Yang Zhai knew that the arrow he released had already struck its target.
"The boy asked his savior about his identity. Do you know who the man was?" Yang Zhai asked another question.
The librarian still kept quiet.
"Well, the man turned out to be a higher-up. But, do you know from which clan the higher-up belonged?" Yang Zhai queried again.
This time, Yang Zhai saw fear in the librarian's eyes. However, the librarian was still quiet.
Yang Zhai did not mind and continued,
"The higher-up belonged to the Bai Clan. Indeed, he was none other than an elder of the Bai Clan. And do you know who the boy was?"
Sweat began to appear on the librarian's forehead.
Yang Zhai smiled after seeing this. This man was a rank 2 cultivator. Yang Zhai was no match for him. But, a lion was stronger than a man, even then, a lion still danced for man.
"I don't know —unfortunately, or fortunately— it was Yang Zhai, meaning me. Even now, that nightmare haunts me and makes me fear the jungle. But, the elder and I managed to discover the one who gave my information to the four men. Do you know who it was?" Yang Zhai stopped this time and his tone turned serious. He looked at the librarian.
The librarian was sweating profusely. However, the librarian could not keep silent. He said with a stuttering voice,
"Who… who was… the man?"
"Hmm, you finally spoke. I thought you would not speak even if the elder came himself. You know the answer. I just want to ask you one thing, did you not even for a second, think of your own kin? Ok, I am not your brother, but I and you have the same blood, we have the same ancestors, so, why, why did you do this?" Yang Zhai's tone turned emotional. Sadness could be felt in his voice. His eyes turned teary.
The librarian kept quiet and lowered his head.
"So, you won't answer. I thought so, Elder was right, you have already turned evil. He wanted to come himself, but I stopped him. Now, it appears to me that he was right, he should have come himself. Goodbye," Yang Zhai said and was about to leave, when,
"Stop, brother. Please, forgive me. I should not have done this. Please, stop the elder from informing anyone. I promise I will do everything you want. I would even stop providing the information." The librarian hurriedly came in front of Yang Zhai and began to beg. He was agitated and sweating. His face was filled with fear.
The librarian knew the punishment of killing one's own kind and betraying the clan. The librarian knew that after the elder takes action, there would be only one fate for him. And that was an absolute torture. The librarian knew that if that happened, he would wish for death every day. Even death would be a blessing to him then. Thus, he only wanted to stop Yang Zhai and the elder from taking action.
Yang Zhai had deliberately mentioned the torture in his self-made story. He wanted the librarian to realize that there was only one fate for betraying the clan, and that was an absolute torture, especially after killing one's own kins.
This fate could not be accepted by the one who lived for riches and wealth. Specifically, when a person was already used to living with these things. So, how could the librarian accept the fate of being tortured for his whole life? This struck a fear of losing this life in his mind.
Then, Yang Zhai added an elder in his story to deter the librarian from having any harmful intentions toward Yang Zhai. Yang Zhai wanted to put a point in the librarian's head that even if something happened to Yang Zhai, the librarian would still not be freed. Instead, he would be even in a more worse situation.
Then Yang Zhai cried and showed some pity to let the librarian have some hope. Yang Zhai even added that he had managed to stop the elder from doing something to the librarian. This gave the librarian some hope. Imagining that he could still live his old life, the librarian became happy. And, of course, in happiness, a person could promise anything. And in fear, a person would sacrifice anything. Therefore, the librarian promised Yang Zhai that he was willing to do anything.
"No, no, I don't want you to do anything. You can even keep all of the profit that you obtained, but you will provide me with all the information that I need in the future. I also want all of the information on the elders of the academy and the kids. If you can, also provide me with the information about the second Academy. And, I need you to do something for me." Yang Zhai looked in the direction of the Ma clan and smiled.
His plan was going to shake the two clans in the future. Many lives were going to change because of him. A future that was destined was going to change. He was going to go against destiny and fate. After all, he was already free from fate, so fate could not stop him.
"Jun Nie, I wonder if you will be able to endure the shock in the future?" Yang Zhai muttered to himself. His voice was so low that even the librarian could not hear.
"What is your name?" Yang Zhai asked the librarian. He never got to know the name of the librarian even in his previous life.
"My name is Hie Di. I really can't thank you enough for the mercy and the great favor you have done for me. Please, take whatever you want from the study hall." The librarian was extremely happy. He could not believe that he was saved, even after an elder of the clan discovered his deeds.
"No need to thank me. But, remember that betraying me will only give you more regrets. I took pity on you as you're my kin¹. Thus, you should also think of me as your kin." Yang Zhai said this and left.
…..
Five days passed,
On the night before the competition, Yang Zhai was sitting on his bed and meditating. He was concentrating on his aperture because he was about to break through to Rank 1 third stage. And this was going to help Yang Zhai greatly in his plans.
And a Blue Gem was also placed on the bed beside Yang Zhai.
*****/*****
1-Kin: a group of persons of common ancestry. Originally referring to one's family or race, kin narrowed to refer just to one's blood relations. Your "next of kin" is your closest family member: spouse, child, parent, or sibling. Of course, as a clan has people with the same ancestors, they are also kin. Therefore, in this novel, clan members would also be referred to as kin. Thank you!