Yang Zhai returned to the village. It was already night. He went to the inn where he had ordered the disciples to wait. He saw that they were sleeping. He didn't disturb them and returned back to his house.
He was going to ask them to rest in the inn anyway. So, it was good that they were resting already. Because, in the morning, they will be doing a lot of work. The reason he didn't let them go home today was that he needed to leave early in the morning, he didn't want to bother in the morning and go gather them or wait for them.
He came to his room and rested.
In the morning, just when the sun was about to rise.
"Si Yu, Li Na, listen to me carefully. You already know the place you need to arrive at. You need to leave the village right at the moment you hear that the inheritance has opened. I am not coming back to the village after this. Make sure to always keep the Golden Shield ready. Even though you should encounter anyone on the way I told you, it's better to be careful," said Yang Zhai.
"Yes, brother, we will do as you said," both of them replied politely and with a determined face.
Yang Zhai nodded and left the house.
He came in front of the inn where he had told the disciples to wait.
He went to the counter and said.
"Prepare 25 morning meals. Make sure there are plenty."
Yang Zhai ordered 24 meals for the disciples and 1 for himself.
There were only these disciples here besides the workers. The workers didn't close the inn last night because of the disciples. This was a mortal's inn, so they didn't dare to offend even a rank 1 cultivator, let alone these many.
"Everyone, wake up!" Yang Zhai shouted.
Everyone woke up, some were even startled by Yang Zhai's shout.
"Brother Yang? Why are you so late? We waited for you last night and you didn't arrive, so we slept here," a disciple spoke.
"I was busy with something. Anyway, your morning meal is ready, eat it. We need to leave soon."
Yang Zhai sat on a chair as well. The workers quickly brought everyone's meals and placed them on the tables.
"But we didn't even wash our faces."
"Doesn't matter, start eating."
Yang Zhai began to eat. He also forced others to eat.
"Bring more!" Shouted Yang Zhai.
He noticed that a few disciples had finished their meals and ordered more.
This went on for a while before everyone was near to full.
"Let's go." Yang Zhai stood up.
"But, brother Yang, where? The sun has not even risen yet."
"Are you following me or not?!" Yang Zhai looked at the one who asked with narrowed eyes.
When the disciples saw this, they went silent. They knew that Yang Zhai was not to be messed around with. If they did, he wouldn't even think for a second before punishing them.
Everyone started following Yang Zhai.
They all noticed that they were getting closer to the village gate. The tall fences had already been placed. So, even looking outside the village was difficult.
"Wait here." Yang Zhai stopped the disciples and went to the guards.
This guard was the same Yang Zhai had bribed in the past. He went to him.
"Where are you going?" Questioned the guard.
"Brother, I am the class leader of these disciples. Clan leader Tai Qi asked me to help anyone who came here injured. He also gave me this." Yang Zhai handed a pouch to the guard.
The guard opened the pouch and was shocked.
There were essence stones in it. Yang Zhai had given him more essence stones than he needed to.
When the guard saw this, he didn't even hesitate and said,
"Fine, you can go."
The guard also went to the other guys and convinced them.
"Follow me."
Yang Zhai had around 50 mid-grade essence stones and 6000 low-grade essence stones. He handed 20 mid-grade essence stones to the guards. These equaled 2000 low-grade essence stones, which were not at all small for a disciple, let alone a guard.
The disciples started following Yang Zhai.
After a while, they all reached a mortal village. They came to a stop at the front gate of this village.
"Why are we here, brother?"
A disciple asked Yang Zhai.
"Simple, start killing them," replied Yang Zhai.
They couldn't react at first. They didn't get what Yang Zhai said at first and someone asked,
"Brother, what?"
"Didn't you hear me, start killing them."
Everyone was shocked.
"Brother, what are you saying?! Isn't it too much?! We can't listen to you on this." Hong Mi said.
"No, not at all. You are bound to listen to me. Now, begin, and don't test my patience."
They all hesitated and didn't move.
Yang Zhai knew what to do here. He activated Rank 1 Red Poison and just a little bit of poison appeared before his finger, even less than an inch. He grabbed Hong Mi's left hand and pressed the poison against his palm.
Ah…!!!
When this happened, Hong Mi was about to scream out of pain, but Yang Zhai placed his other hand on his mouth and stopped him.
Yang Zhai was far stronger than Hong Mi, so Hong Mi couldn't free himself. When Yang Zhai saw that Hong Mi stopped screaming, Yang Zhai removed his hand.
Hong Mi was panting and his eyes were red. These disciples were not used to pain or fighting. Their hands were fragile, in fact, too fragile. They hadn't yet forged their hands into hard, calloused ones through constant work. So, even a little needle was enough to give them a lot of pain. Whereas, Red Poison was far worse than this.
Hong Mi's left hand had rotted in the middle, which was clearly visible. Everyone saw this and a fear appeared on their faces. A disciple even started vomiting after seeing this.
"This is just a little bit of poison. If you don't want me to throw this on your hands, start doing what I told you. Anyway, you are used to listening to me, so why hesitate now? If you want, you can just place all the blame on me later on. Go ahead," said Yang Zhai.
Yang Zhai had already made them into someone who listened to him obediently. If he hadn't, the retaliation would have been fierce and far worse than this. They might have even attacked him.
"I will count till 3."
"1… 2…"
When Yang Zhai saw them standing, he started counting to put pressure on them. They were also not used to taking pressure yet. This was why experience was important. They didn't have experience in battles, their brains also didn't have any experience, nor did their bodies.
When Yang Zhai started counting, Hong Mi, who had already experienced Red Poison, went ahead and was about to enter the village.
"Stop!" Yang Zhai stopped Hong Mi.
When Hong Mi heard Yang Zhai, fear arrived in his mind. He feared that Yang Zhai might use poison on him again.
"Make sure to make the wounds as big as possible, try to spill as much blood as possible. If I find even a single corpse without blood spilling out of it, you guys will be the ones bleeding. Also, here, take these essence stones."
Yang Zhai handed everyone 100 essence stones each.
"Use them to refill your essence water quickly and continue. I want to see no one resting for more than two minutes." Said Yang Zhai.
Hong Mi entered the village. When others saw this, they also entered the village one by one.
A child who grows while seeing swords is more used to them than someone who hasn't seen them. This is what the atmosphere does. Their brains were like empty boxes, waiting to be filled up. What you throw in them will identify them. However, these boxes could be refilled again and again, but the smell they develop over time will remain. Even if washed, it would not go away instantly. This smell will remain in the roots. It will need to be washed again and again and with the passage of time, it will go away.
This is how experience accumulates and how an atmosphere affects someone. Even the animals adapt to their atmosphere with the passage of time.
However, if a ruthless manipulator like Yang Zhai meets those empty boxes, then they are left to others' mercy, and that's how a teacher and the system manipulate children. This is how the rules of the Bai clan were built as well.
A person going to an event wearing different clothing than others would feel embarrassed, then the next time they will also wear the same clothing as others even if that clothing is of the worst kind. This is where the difference happens.
Some would keep on wearing what they see fit, even if it differed from others, displaying their next level of shamelessness. However, people like these would mostly be removed. After all, they were the ones trying to bring change.
"Some would be like sheep in wolf's clothing," muttered Yang Zhai.
But they too are a product of at least some atmosphere.
Even Yang Zhai was also a product. At first, he was kind, but the atmosphere of the jungle made him into this.
Yang Zhai looked straight. He saw someone coming towards him.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?"
The man asked.
He was a rank 2 cultivator placed on guard by the clan. Every mortal village of the Bai clan had at least one rank 2 guard.
"Greetings, I am here to meet you. Here, take a look at this. Clan leader Tai Qi sent this," answered Yang Zhai.
He raised his left hand and a token, Kroy City's token, was in his hand.
"What's this?"
When the man saw this, he was confused and didn't recognize it.
He went closer to take a look.
However, the token disappeared, and Yang Zhai jumped at the man. The man tried to dodge, but he was too close to do anything, and his neck was grabbed by Yang Zhai's left hand. A knife appeared out of Yang Zhai's left hand and pierced his neck.
/!*****!*****!/