I bought a secret manual of the Hehuan Sect for ten yuan.

"Is this your first time killing someone?"

Xia Siyuan smiled as she looked at Qin Ge.

He and Qin Ge arrived at a teahouse in the antique market. As soon as they sat down, Qin Ge began gulping down tea, drinking several cups in a row.

"I'm sorry you had to see this." Qin Ge smiled awkwardly. The situation in the private room at Tianxiang Restaurant was so urgent that he didn't have time to think too much. Now that he had calmed down, he was still quite shaken.

After all, it was my first time killing someone, and the scene was so gruesome. Even now, the image of that person being cleaved in two still makes me feel nauseous. It would be a miracle if I didn't have nightmares at night!

Qin Ge admired Tang Yirou quite a bit. She looked dazed and silly as if she had been frightened, but she managed to stay calm.

Unbeknownst to him, Tang Yirou rushed into the bathroom as soon as she returned to Linlang Pavilion and vomited violently.

Lunch was a complete waste; it even included breakfast.

"Don't underestimate yourself. To have such a reaction and performance in such a situation for the first time is already quite remarkable!"

Xia Siyuan was lavish in his praise, his eyes filled with admiration.

"Mr. Xia, you flatter me. I am far inferior to you." Qin Ge's words carried a hint of probing. "Mr. Xia, you seemed so calm back then. I felt that you didn't take Jiang Yunzheng seriously, did you?"

"You don't need to test me. You can ask me anything directly." Xia Siyuan's smile was gentle and kind. "Since I dared to go to the appointment, I naturally have a plan in mind."

"Huo Qianjue thought that since he chose Tianxianglou as the location and informed me at the last minute, I didn't have time to make any preparations."

"Because over the years, the Xia family, the Han family, and others have never had any contact with Tianxianglou, little did they know that it was something we deliberately orchestrated!"

"Sometimes a piece placed casually can play an unexpected and wonderful role at a crucial moment."

"Of course, although it's done casually, Tianxianglou isn't the only place we've prepared. Whether Huo Qianjue can choose it depends on luck."

Qin Ge exclaimed in amazement and wondered, "Elder Xia, just who is this Huo Qianjue? Why are you all treating him with such caution, almost as if he were a formidable enemy?"

"He is a ruthless and ambitious man!" Xia Siyuan took the initiative to invite Qin Ge, having already expected him to ask these questions. His eyes narrowed slightly as his thoughts drifted back to the past.

More than twenty years ago, Huo Qianjue was also developing in Donghai. He could be described as a man of great talent and ambition, but that's not entirely accurate.

Because Huo Qianjue was too arrogant, so arrogant that he thought he was invincible and could handle everything.

At that time in Donghai, the Xia family, Shen family and other prominent families almost all followed Huo Qianjue's lead.

Huo Qianjue led Xia Siyuan and the others to continuously "expand their territory" in the East China Sea, using any means necessary to achieve their goals. Everything seemed to be going well and they were thriving, but in reality, they were already on the verge of falling into an abyss.

Xia Siyuan and the others sensed the crisis and felt uneasy. They began to persuade Huo Qian not to be too radical.

However, Huo Qianjue wouldn't listen to any of their advice, and Xia Siyuan and the others' repeated attempts to persuade him were all in vain.

Finally, after Huo Qianjue destroyed another powerful family in the East Sea and absorbed its assets, the long-simmering conflict finally erupted.

Xia Siyuan and his group completely broke with Huo Qianjue. After some discussion, they decided to distance themselves and stop messing around with Huo Qianjue. However, Huo Qianjue had no intention of letting them go.

Huo Qianjue believed that he had brought up the Xia family, Han family, and other major families. Since he was going to turn against them, he wanted to do it completely and swallow up the Xia family and the others. He wanted to be the only "king".

In fact, the Xia and Han families were already powerful and influential families in Donghai. Huo Qianjue did bring them to new heights, but even without Huo Qianjue, they wouldn't have been much worse off.

On the contrary, the Huo family was not very prominent in the East China Sea at the time, and it was only with the support of resources from the Xia family that they were able to grow and prosper.

After the falling out, neither Xia Siyuan nor his family could stand up to Huo Qianjue alone; they had no choice but to join forces.

In addition, Huo Qianjue made many enemies during his rapid development over the years, and Xia Siyuan's alliance grew stronger and stronger, eventually leading to the destruction of the Huo family and Huo Qianjue being driven out of the East China Sea.

After listening to Xia Siyuan's words, Qin Ge was filled with emotion, "This Huo Qianjue is truly a remarkable person!"

"However, Elder Xia, I don't quite understand. If you continue to develop under Huo Qianjue's leadership, as long as you don't fight amongst yourselves or scheme against each other, isn't that a good thing?"

"If that's the case, the entire East China Sea will be your territory, and you might have already expanded outwards."

Xia Siyuan gave Qin Ge a deep look, a half-smile on his face, "You're still young after all. Your idea is similar to Huo Qianjue's back then."

"But do you really think it will turn out the way you imagine?"

"With Huo Qianjue's ruthless methods and his tendency to eliminate his opponents, he was bound to attract attention sooner or later."

"Do you think the authorities are blind or just sitting around doing nothing?"

"Corruption requires evidence. If Huo Qianjue continues his reckless behavior, all it takes is a coordinate, and we'll be wiped out overnight!"

"Such things have happened before on the land of China; it has been the case from ancient times to the present."

"Leaving aside the fact that Huo Qianjue's methods are shady, even if he used only reasonable and compliant methods, the result would be the same."

"When you become too powerful and show signs of losing control, danger is approaching."

"Unless you're powerful enough to be unafraid of all this, which is impossible!"

"I was short-sighted." Qin Ge recalled that Shen Tingzhi had said something similar to him. This world is indeed much more complicated than he thought!

If you're too weak, you'll be bullied and live a humble life at the bottom of society. If you're too strong, you can't do whatever you want either; on the contrary, you have to be even more cautious, otherwise you might bring about your own destruction at any time, unless you can stand at the very top of the pyramid!

Qin Ge pondered for a long time before asking, "Elder Xia, I have a question that may be a bit presumptuous."

"Why didn't you kill Huo Qianjue back then, leaving this future problem?"

He didn't believe that Xia Siyuan and his group were either reluctant to do it or hadn't considered this point. They'd already gotten to that point; what was the point of talking about morality?

In that situation, being soft-hearted for a moment will only sow the seeds of endless trouble for yourself!

The things that happened to Hong Zhendong and Han Qianyun, as well as what happened today, all prove this point.

Xia Siyuan gave a wry smile, then sighed deeply, "Looking back now, it seems like child's play, but it really happened."

"At that time, Huo Qianjue was utterly defeated. Rather than saying that we drove him out of the East China Sea, it was more accurate to say that he took the initiative to do so, and he even promised that he would never return to the East China Sea in this lifetime."

"I wanted to kill him, and so did everyone else, but no one dared to mention it at the time. No one wanted to be the villain. Because of this untimely yet perfectly timed tacit understanding, Huo Qianjue escaped a disaster."

"Isn't it hard to understand?"

"Imagine a group of people stranded in the wilderness catch a wild rabbit and are about to roast it, but someone says that's too cruel."

"If you were one of them, what would you do?"