"This is the slum," Ren Yexiang extended her hand, pointing at the area before her.
Unlike the normal city, the slum was actually located deep within the residential area. Because of the grand sight of the main road, they wouldn't notice the deserted area like this unless they moved deeper into the city.
But it seemed that the brighter the light, the darker its shadow reflected the Dragon City very much. There wasn't even a road in this place.
When the people were running around, they ended up kicking not a small amount of dust, which would cause another problem for health. The hygiene in this place was terrible, and the condition was poor.
The houses were made of wood, but he could see a lot of them having holes in them. The roofs were just straw sticking to each other, so when it rained, there would be a massive leak.
It might be due to the gap in wealth that the people in this city seemed sad and depressed. They could only watch the glamor the city had but not experience it.
"So, this is the slum… what do you know about it?" Hao Yu asked.
Ren Yexiang had prepared the answer since she had lived in this place for a long time. "The slum condition is very bad. It won't be weird if you see someone lying on the ground lifelessly. It can be from hunger, malnutrition, and other things. Thugs are everywhere, and it also produces a lot of beggars. If you are not careful here, there would be a lot of imaginable things that would happen to you, to the point where death might look like mercy."
Hao Yu nodded in understanding. He asked, "Then, if you have my power, what do you want to do?"
"I don't dare to make a suggestion," Ren Yexiang shook her head, realizing that she was a new subordinate. It wasn't her place to make a decision.
"It's fine. Just tell me about your thoughts," Hao Yu insisted.
Ren Yexiang hesitated for a moment before wording her answer differently. "This is what I've heard from my father. If one wants to fix the slum, they need four things. First, they need to feed them until they can get back on their feet."
"That's understandable."
"Then, they will need to solve the beggars' problem because it'll become the only thing that they can do. They need to destroy that image from their heads. The third problem would be the hygiene, which should be enough if we build a road and repair the buildings, but it will create another problem."
"Fair enough. If we just give them everything, it will cause the normal citizens who have been working hard all their lives to get jealous."
"And last but not least, they need a leader, the one who controls the slum. In other words, another administrator directly taking care of the slum."
Hao Yu fell silent for a moment before saying, "I can agree with the food and the beggar completely, but the method to solve the hygiene problem and leader are not something I like personally. Though, I have one solution that can completely fix all the problems."
"Really?" Ren Yexiang widened her eyes in shock. Even her father had a hard time thinking about the slum, yet, Hao Yu actually had a suggestion that could fix all those problems? She remembered that Old Si told her that Hao Yu was competent. It seemed that it wasn't an understatement.
"Yeah." To her surprise, Hao Yu's expression turned dark, and his tone became cold. "We just have to send the cultivators here."
"!!!" Ren Yexiang was taken aback by the suggestion. Her mind went completely blank. Sending the cultivators here only meant one thing. The condition would just infuriate the cultivator, and they would end up destroying everything here and killing every single living person in this place.
It was an insane suggestion even though it would resolve the problems. Yes, the problem would be resolved if there was nothing left in the slum. In fact, it couldn't be called a slum anymore. It was just a graveyard.
"Are you insane? Do you not know what the cultivators have done?!"
"Of course, I know. They will simply erase everything in this place… Just like how they exterminated your family."
"You…" Ren Yexiang grabbed Hao Yu's collar. Her anger soared as she never thought that Hao Yu was this crazy.
"What's wrong? Hurry up and tell me." Hao Yu smirked as if antagonizing Ren Yexiang even further. Before that anger erupted, Hao Yu added, "Tell me… how far do you plan to go?"
"Eh?" Ren Yexiang seemed to have realized that Hao Yu was asking something else.
"If I say that this slum can help you achieve your revenge, what will you do?"
Hao Yu was actually testing her. He wanted to see how far she dared to go in order to kill a cultivator. If she answered that she was willing to sacrifice the slum if it meant she could achieve her revenge, then she would be as insane as Hao Yu portrayed himself. But if she wasn't willing, it meant that Hao Yu couldn't recruit her.
Ren Yexiang fell silent, facing a dilemma. On the one hand, she couldn't forgive the cultivators, especially the one that exterminated her family. In fact, killing them would have been a mercy. That elder actually forced the women in the family to suffer from humiliation. Only her, who had been sheltered by Old Si, managed to survive this ordeal.
That hatred couldn't be solved easily. But because she hadn't undergone all those humiliations, she still had a part of her humanity left and managed to control her hatred.
It was just that Hao Yu's offer ignited that hatred.
Ren Yexiang was biting her lips to the point where her lips began to bleed. The hands that grabbed Hao Yu's collar were shaking.
"I…will do it. I will do it even if it costs me my life. Even if I don't die during the process, I will kill myself after the revenge to pacify all the souls that I have sacrificed along the way. They can do whatever they want with me in the afterlife, including even if I have to endure the endless torture and never be reincarnated again!"