This place is fun

Chapter 101 Small Hole
"Okay, young master, let's go." After wiping the blood off the knife on the corpse, Liu Song turned to Zhou Qinghe and said.

The atmosphere was somewhat depressing.

The strong wind pushed the dust and sand, blowing through them in waves. The corners of their clothes rustled in the wind. The dim sunlight flickered, shining on the corpses and blood on the dry and uneven ground, making the whole world fall into a desolate and cruel atmosphere.

As the personal bodyguard of the young master Zhou Qinghe, and also one of the few warriors in the Zhou family who is ranked first in strength below the sixth-rank masters, Liu Song is a core member of the Zhou family and has participated in many of the Zhou family's actions.

Liu Song killed a lot of people, and he also liked killing people.

There was almost no fighting in Yishan City. But once outside the city, you could do whatever you wanted. If you met a blind horse bandit, you would kill him. If you attacked the enemy's property, you would kill him. Sometimes, if you met a lone caravan in the wilderness, you would kill him on a whim.

As for refugee settlements, it was common to kill a few annoying refugees who were begging for food or ungrateful women.

But Liu Song has always been very clear that he relies on the power of the Zhou family. Although the Zhou family is only a family in a remote town, it is powerful enough in the wilderness of Xiazhou Beijun. Add the Mi family, and the tentacles can reach very far.

There are some corners and some partners that even Liu Song can only vaguely guess about.

What Liu Song didn't expect was that one day, the power and status of the Zhou family would plummet to the point of being in danger. Therefore, when Zhou Qinghe ordered the attack on Su Daoshan, he did not object at all. He even wanted to kill more than Zhou Qinghe.

The key to everything that happened to the Zhou family lies in Su Daoshan.

But unfortunately, God gave such a great opportunity to kill Su Daoshan without anyone knowing, but no one could do anything to the Zhou family.

No one knows what happened in this dust storm.

Whether it is the Su family or Hangu, without any evidence, they would only think that Su Daoshan died at the hands of the crazy puppets. Without this Hangu's personal teaching, the Su family's status in Yishan City would instantly drop by more than two levels.

If things go well, they can even let Wang Mingzhe and Yue Zhen stab them a few times, and take the opportunity to tie the Wang family and even the Yue family back to the Zhou family.

This is definitely a great achievement for the Zhou family!
But Liu Song never expected that things would turn out like this... There is no point in saying more now, the most urgent thing is to leave here first.

"Okay." Zhou Qinghe looked a little absent-minded. He withdrew his gaze from Wang Mingzhe's body and nodded, "Master Liu, you decide."

Liu Song nodded, and together with the remaining guard Fu Chao, they protected Zhou Qinghe in the middle, identified the direction and walked forward.

Walking in a dust storm that blocks out the sun is a very desperate experience. You never know whether the path you have chosen is right or wrong, and you don’t know whether you have deviated from the route unknowingly. It seems that you are walking in a straight line, but in fact you have gone in a big circle.

Moreover, there were countless crazy puppets in the dust storm. No one knew whether they would be surrounded by crazy puppets in the next second.

This process of repeatedly doubting oneself, cheering oneself up, persisting, doubting again, cheering oneself up again, persisting again... but in the end, you may not know the answer until you die is the most torturous. Especially if a group has disagreements...

At the beginning, Zhou Qinghe completely gave the decision-making power to Liu Song, and just followed him. This was a very normal thing for him. After all, Liu Song was the guard assigned to him by his father. Not only was his strength close to the sixth rank, but he was also very experienced.

Under such circumstances, it is natural for Liu Song to take the lead.

But for some reason, as he was walking, a thought suddenly popped up in Zhou Qinghe's mind: "Isn't it possible that I'm going in the wrong direction?"

To be honest, it is not surprising to have such doubts in this situation. I am afraid that one hundred out of a hundred people are not immune to this. Even the person who led the way is the same.

But generally speaking, as long as there is mutual trust and certain rules, such thoughts will only come and go. After all, I don't know which direction is right. Raising questions will only cause doubts and internal friction.

But this time, Zhou Qinghe found that the doubt in his mind seemed to have taken root. Not only was it difficult to eliminate, but it was growing bigger and bigger, making him more and more uneasy.

As they walked, Zhou Qinghe finally couldn't help but said:

"and many more!"

# # #
When he heard Zhou Qinghe's voice, Su Daoshan's mouth corners slightly curled up in the thick dust not far away.

In fact, the Zhou family had always had good luck before.

When the dust storm first came, they accidentally chose a good way to get out. When Su Daoshan dealt with them, they had actually reached the edge of the range of the crazy puppet group, so Su Daoshan ran a long circle and only pulled 60 to 70 crazy puppets over.

If Su Daoshan had not met Yue Zhen at that time, things would have gone on as they had always been. It would not have been difficult to pull in waves of crazy puppets from afar and surround and kill them.

But Su Daoshan didn't expect that they were so lucky. They were surrounded by sixty or seventy crazy puppets. He was only delayed for a moment, and they actually broke out. And what a coincidence, they just broke out to where he and Yue Zhen were.

Obviously, their good luck was still going on. Although the direction Liu Song chose was not the best, it was not wrong. As long as they walked two or three hundred meters and dealt with the dozen or so crazy puppets scattered on the road, they would basically be out.

Although there was still a dust storm ahead, without the crazy puppet, they naturally would not change direction at will. All that was left was to move straight forward.

This was naturally not what Su Daoshan wanted to see. So, he started to ask questions to put some doubts in Zhou Qinghe's mind.

After becoming a "scholar", Su Daoshan acquired three special skills: "reading", "asking questions" and "copying", which respectively represent the three stages of "learning", "asking questions" and "doing" of a scholar. That is, from learning silently, to asking questions when confused, and then to doing things.

Reading can clear the mind, enhance comprehension and understanding, and make one see things clearly. Su Daoshan usually uses it the most. Combined with the martial artist's literary roots and the unique characteristics of [scholar], it is simply invincible.

Copying can be used to imitate another person's special skill. Su Daoshan used it a lot to solidify the [Mist Dispersion] he got from Fan Caiyi.

Perhaps the least used one is rhetorical question.

This technique can induce a question in the opponent's mind. From the perspective of the technique itself, there is nothing surprising about it. Because the conditions for its use are very harsh. The opponent's mental strength must be too strong and his will must be too firm. The question must be too abrupt and strange. The question must be too easy to answer and cannot cause trouble to the opponent. If you are not careful, it may even backfire on you.

Therefore, this strange skill seems to have no other function except to suddenly disturb the opponent in a fierce fight.

But in Su Daoshan's mind, asking questions is the most interesting and terrifying of the three major techniques of a scholar's path.

What is the method to induce a question in other people's minds without leaving a trace?
That is the devil's method!
You know, the only way for ordinary people to influence others' thinking is through language. And language is based on the relationship with the other party. This means that you must first know him, then gain his trust, and finally rack your brains to ensure that no trace is left.

But no matter how good the relationship is, when one person tries to influence the other person's opinion, the other person will be instinctively alert. Moreover, the bigger and deeper your goal is, the more time and energy you need to spend in the early stage.

For example, if you want to sow discord between the other person and his father, can you do it just by meeting them a few times and drinking with them a few times?

But [rhetorical questions] allow you to put a question directly into the other person's mind!

It just emerges naturally, like an implanted Trojan virus. Although it may not take effect immediately, as long as it exists in the mind, it will leave a mark like a diamond scratching on glass.

And the human heart is the thing that cannot stand the test.

Once people have doubts, they can't help but ponder them. As they ponder, some of the ideas that come up are bound to go astray. Thus, the traces become deeper and deeper, and when there is a fierce collision, it may turn into a crack with a snap.

Just like Zhou Qinghe at this moment.

Su Daoshan had no doubt that Zhou Qinghe trusted Liu Song. This was a close bodyguard that he could trust with his life, and a trusted confidant among trusted confidants. Many of Zhou Qinghe's private matters might not even be known to his father, but Liu Song must know them.

Therefore, Zhou Qinghe would not have any doubts about Liu Song, especially in the current situation, Liu Song was his greatest support.

But all of this is just appearance. As long as you peel off the seemingly reasonable logic on the surface and continue to peek into the deep logic, you will find that the complexity of human nature is enough to make any strict surface logic collapse in an instant.

First of all, even if Liu Song was trusted by Zhou Qinghe, he was just a guard. For a young man from an aristocratic family, respecting the wise and humble was just a matter of weighing the pros and cons. Being high and mighty and bossy was the essence of this status gap.

Secondly, Zhou Qinghe was in a serious setback at this moment. Su Daoshan ran away with Yue Zhen, and Wang Mingzhe, who had always had a good relationship with him, was also dead. The situation went from being under control in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to a sudden downturn and a complete defeat.

Thinking about the consequences he would face after returning, Zhou Qinghe felt not only frustrated, disappointed and angry, but also uneasy and fearful!
But at this time, will Zhou Qinghe reflect on himself and take the initiative to take responsibility?

will not!

This is not the cultivation and cognition of a child from an aristocratic family who is usually arrogant and domineering. He will only subconsciously blame everything on others. And the scapegoat is naturally the leader Liu Song.

He would think, Liu Song, Yang Guang, Fu Chao and the Wang family guard had clearly surrounded Su Daoshan, but why did Su Daoshan escape in the end?

Later, when dealing with Wang Mingzhe, Liu Song was straightforward and decisive. He did not discuss it with Zhou Qinghe in advance. He and another guard took action together and killed Wang Mingzhe like killing a chicken.

Perhaps in Liu Song's view, this is simply a matter of course. As long as there is any hidden danger that is unfavorable to the Zhou family, he will eliminate it without hesitation.

But he forgot that, not to mention that Zhou Qinghe and Wang Mingzhe have known each other for many years, just from the perspective of status, Wang Mingzhe is also a child of a distinguished family!
This is a world with strict hierarchy. And their behavior is not so easy for Zhou Qinghe to accept.

Su Daoshan didn't want to guess Zhou Qinghe's specific mood.

Maybe it was because of some stimulation, or maybe he felt danger and some kind of offense. In short, when so many conditions came together, Su Daoshan was certain that Zhou Qinghe's mentality would definitely change, and he would definitely make some kind of reaction.

For example, because of a little uneasy doubt, one might take advantage of the topic to reaffirm one's status and authority.

So Su Daoshan used a question to induce this change, just like opening a small hole in the dam.

This is a very interesting, but also very scary thing to think about.

Su Daoshan did not expect this small hole to collapse into a huge gap. He also did not expect to provoke internal strife with this little doubt. As long as Zhou Qinghe was not a fool, no matter how much resentment he had in his heart, he would not completely turn against Liu Song at this time.

Su Daoshan's goal was simple from the beginning.

On the one hand, Zhou Qinghe's current situation, the series of changes he had experienced before, and the mentality that resulted from them...all the conditions were like dominoes tailor-made for the question. It was hard not to give it a push and be curious about the result.

On the other hand, Su Daoshan needed the other party to stop.

The magic is Su Daoshan's biggest trump card. But the most critical magic, [Mist Dispersion], was copied from Fan Caiyi. This caused Su Daoshan to use both the copy and mist dispersal magics at the same time every time he teleported, consuming a lot of mental energy.

More importantly, because it was copied, the minimum interval after each teleportation was more than thirty seconds, and it was impossible to perform it continuously like the original.

Therefore, if he wanted to launch an attack, he only had one chance to use this strange technique. Su Daoshan didn't want to play his biggest trump card right at the beginning.

But without this trump card, it would be difficult for Su Daoshan to get close to the other party. Liu Song and others had been extremely vigilant during the journey, not missing any movement around them. This made it difficult for him to get within eight meters even with the cover of the dust storm.

And eight meters is the farthest distance he can advance at one time!
At this moment, as Zhou Qinghe called for a stop, Liu Song turned around and asked something with a puzzled look on his face. Zhou Qinghe frowned and pointed forward and in another direction, speaking. Liu Song's face became a little surprised and a little ugly.

At the same time, Fu Chao, who was walking on the other side, was also attracted.

Su Daoshan was moving slowly in the dust storm.

(End of this chapter)