Chapter 2158: The Bottom Layer of Human Nature

He was now closing his eyes to rest his spirit, simply because he was very tired. Holding the divine seal in his hand was an extremely heavy burden for him, but he could not let anyone notice it.

This treasure can usually only be stored in the divine bone necklace, held in proxy by the great square cauldron.

The relationship of the holder of the Fate Divine Seal is now somewhat complicated.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror finally found a chance to interject: "Lu Zhensheng saw our army of one hundred thousand pressing at his doorstep, yet he did not kneel and surrender, and even dared to fight back and scheme against you! Hey, he's so stupid, he deserves to die without a burial place."

As soon as it opened its mouth, it was flattering, but He Lingchuan would not buy it: "You've been by my side for so long, can you really not understand?"

The mirror let out an uh.

Oh dear, the flattery landed on the horse's leg. But it really didn't understand.

"He's not stupid, so he doesn't plan to just wait for death." The eternal lamp on the offering table was about to go out, He Lingchuan went up to change the lamp oil: "First, Lu Zhensheng has a blood feud with my family; I may not dig out all the truth, but he has guilt in his heart and also knows I will certainly not let him go. Even if he knelt, hah, it would only change today's script, but his fate would not change. Not resisting is death; resisting successfully still leaves a thread of hope, at least Lu Qing'an might still inherit Bailie afterward."

"Besides, he's gambling small against big with me; if he wins, it would be very profitable. If you were Lu Zhensheng, would you dare to go all-in?"

Lu Zhensheng scheming against the Nine Abysses Great Emperor is just like He Lingchuan scheming against the Thousand Illusions True Person back then—both are gambling small against big. If he succeeds, the reward could be extremely rich.

The mirror put itself in his shoes: "Indeed."

"Besides, second." He Lingchuan gently wiped the incense ash from the table, "In this world, there are many people whom you consider weak, and you can bully them, humiliate them, spit on them, slap them, and they may not necessarily dare to resist. But you cannot trample their底线! Do you know what a底线 is?"

"Uh, an area not to be touched?"

"底线 is core interest." He Lingchuan said solemnly, "Killing someone's parents, defiling someone's wife and daughter, seizing someone's foundation, cutting off someone's livelihood—these are moving someone's fundamentals, violating someone's core interests. Even the weakest person, even if he has been used to swallowing anger in silence, may this time be unable to bear it any longer and want to perish together with you."

"Are we going to move Lu Zhensheng's core interest?" The mirror strained to think, "Oh right, you want to seize his foundation, seize his position as patriarch of Bailie, and cut off his livelihood."

"He can compromise and pay tribute to Mou State, can let Ya State raid and abduct people, can bear the curses of his subjects and clansmen, but all these retreats are for the purpose of holding onto the patriarch's throne of Bailie." He Lingchuan gave a mocking smile, "But I want to drag him down from the patriarch's throne—this is moving his fundamentals. How can you still expect him not to dare resist and kneel obediently to die?"

"Break the cauldrons and sink the boats, fight to the death." He said lightly, "This has nothing to do with whether Lu Zhensheng is cowardly or brave, or whether he is clever or foolish. When people are driven to a dead end, they really have not many choices."

The key is two words:

Dead end.

"Those who are driven to a dead end yet dare not resist, suffering in silence until death—do such people exist?" He Lingchuan sneered, "Of course they do. But I can only say, those who hold this idea are purebred cowards, not even as good as Lu Zhensheng."

"As for those soldiers of Mou State, a mere three hundred daring to draw swords against me and the Black Armor Army—that is even more natural." He Lingchuan let out a long breath, "Hah, let's change perspective: if the sides were reversed, Luo Xie and Wanqi Liang leading three hundred Black Armor soldiers surrounded by one hundred thousand Mou troops—do you think they would dare to draw their swords against the enemy?"

The mirror naturally said: "Of course they would dare."

The Blood Demon laughed loudly: "You've fallen into his language trap."

"On what grounds would they not dare? Do they lack the nature and blood of warriors? Behind them is a powerful motherland, their hearts filled with the pride of a great nation, they bear the mission of the emperor on their bodies, and they hold swords, spears, halberds, and axes in their hands." He Lingchuan shook his head, "If they threw down their weapons and bowed at the mere sight of my one hundred thousand army, what difference would that make from the vacillating mountain bandits?"

Soldiers without backbone—do they still deserve to be called soldiers?

Martial Commander, what a pity.

He Lingchuan appreciates officers with integrity, but who let him stand in this position, who let him block the steps of the Nine Abysses Great Emperor?

"What I am telling you now is all about human nature: enduring until one cannot endure any longer and seeking to perish together is human nature; daring to defy power and draw swords is also human nature." "Power" said leisurely, "You not understanding is not surprising, because you are not human, you do not comprehend human nature, your minds only know how to bully the weak with strength."

The Blood Demon argued forcefully: "Is bullying the weak with strength not the truth of this world?"

"Yes, but the truth of this world is not just this one. Have you ever thought, how many truths exist simultaneously in the world, influencing each other?"

"But you can only mechanically apply simple, brutal logic to deduce human nature, thinking that if I am strong and he is weak, he cannot and dare not resist, will let me slaughter him, and suffer in silence until death; if he resists a little, you will be astonished beyond belief. If that were truly the case, as long as Beka sent troops to各国 to show off once, everyone under heaven would bow their heads, and Beka's territory should already be ten times larger today; why did Panlongcheng and Yuan State resist it back then, why did Jing State resist Panlongcheng back then? Anyway, with such a huge disparity in strength, kneeling early and enjoying blessings early would be correct."

"Look, you believe in this truth—why is it not working now?"

The Blood Demon also fell silent.

"You are destined not to understand: the deepest layer of human nature is sensibility, and sensibility often wanders beyond reason and logic. The most vile and most glorious aspects of human nature are both sensibility." He sighed, "This is human nature, and also why the fate behind human nature is so complex and hard to grasp."

"Fortunately, most people are as clueless as you. If I could perceive human nature as clearly as I do, I could predict it well and then make good use of it—what advantage would I still have?" The time limit for meditation in the shrine arrived, He Lingchuan stretched lazily, "All wars and actions related to Bailie are important pawns in my overall plan. Once I accomplish the next thing, this game will also be won."

"Ah, you mean..."

"You think I went to such great lengths, even risking myself, just to take down a tiny Bailie?" He Lingchuan turned to open the door, "What I want is eternal peace for Changyan! If handled well, starting next month, Changyan may very well enjoy long-lasting peace, and for a considerable period of time, there will be no need to fight wars again."

He wants to use peace and stability to safeguard the nascent Changyan state.

……

After the ceremony ended, the Nine Abysses Great Emperor and the Lu clan elders renewed their rites, then brought up the Lu clan's Zhen generation to share a belated lunch. During the meal, they talked and laughed, soothing people's hearts, with not a trace of the previous killing intent visible.