Chapter 355: If a Dog Bites You, Must You Bite the Dog Back?

On the way to the Liang Duke Prefecture, Yin Yunzhou led as the guide, walking at the very front; behind him walked Hua Changxi and Jing Le, side by side; following them were the Embroidered Uniform Guard, trailing closely.

The once bustling streets, upon their passage, saw vendors pack up and pedestrians retreat; in the blink of an eye, no ordinary people remained visible, leaving only a few cultivators scattered in small groups, standing along both sides of the street to watch them from afar.

Hua Changxi glanced at the common folk who had ducked into shops, noticing how they fearfully averted their eyes from her gaze; recalling the reactions of the neighbors in Nanluo Alley, her mood grew increasingly gloomy.

"What did you want to say to me? Speak."

Jing Le had remained silent the entire way, forcing Hua Changxi to break the silence herself.

Jing Le looked over and smiled: "I just wanted to accompany you for a stretch."

Hua Changxi chuckled: "I have been back in the capital for less than an hour, and you were already here to block my path. If you claim you have nothing to say to me, I simply won't believe it."

Jing Le fell silent for a moment: "Regarding the affairs of the Liang Duke Prefecture, what do you plan to do?"

Hua Changxi snorted with laughter, looking at Jing Le with cold eyes: "The Duke of Liang hunted me down and even besieged my family. Looking at your demeanor, one would think I am the one oppressing the Liang Duke Prefecture."

Jing Le gazed at her: "Your emotions are somewhat overly agitated."

Hua Changxi shot him a sidelong glance but said nothing.

How could she not be agitated?

Clearly, she and her family were the victims. She could forgive outsiders who did not know the full story, but she truly never expected that in Jing Le's eyes, she had become the villain.

Jing Le said: "The actions of the Liang Duke Prefecture will be judged by the world; the question now is, what do you intend to do?"

Hua Changxi looked at him and asked with a smile: "Are you worried about me? Worried that if I face the Liang Duke Prefecture alone, I will be at a disadvantage and get hurt?"

Jing Le shook his head, his expression serious: "Even if you combine everyone in the Liang Duke Prefecture, none are your match."

Yin Yunzhou, walking ahead, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, trailing behind, had been pricking up their ears the entire way, closely monitoring the conversation between the two.

Once Jing Le spoke those words, both Yin Yunzhou and the Embroidered Uniform Guard underwent repeated changes in expression.

Hua Changxi, however, laughed, looking at Jing Le: "I did not expect you to think so highly of me."

Jing Le said: "The highest cultivation in the Liang Duke Prefecture belongs to the Duke of Liang himself, who is at the Spirit Platform realm, and he is now half-crippled. Beyond him, the Yin family has ten or so Nascent Soul cultivators. I do not fear even all of them combined, let alone you."

Hua Changxi fell silent for a moment: "Since you are not worried about me, then you must be worried about the people of the Liang Duke Prefecture? What, are you afraid that once I arrive there, I will start a massive fight and indiscriminately kill the innocent?"

Hearing this, Yin Yunzhou's breathing became unsteady.

Jing Le looked at Hua Changxi and countered with a question instead of answering: "Would you?"

Hua Changxi's eyes turned cold: "I am not a monk; I do not possess such abundant compassion. My principle is to treat others exactly as they have treated me."

Upon hearing this, the corner of Jing Le's mouth curled up, and he suddenly remarked: "So, if a dog bites you, you intend to bite the dog back?"

Hua Changxi's previously resolute and firm heart was instantly thrown into chaos by this remark; she looked at Jing Le tongue-tied and astonished, completely unable to expect him to say something so... down-to-earth.

Jing Le, however, reined in his expression, shifting from his earlier teasing to seriousness: "The Liang Duke Prefecture uses power to oppress people, while you use martial force to oppress people. One uses authority, the other uses violence; do you believe there is an essential difference between you?"

Hua Changxi rolled her eyes; she knew that Jing Le rushing over so quickly was definitely to lecture her: "Of course there is a difference. The Liang Duke Prefecture actively harms people, whereas I am merely responding passively."

Jing Le said: "...I am not here to persuade you to put down your butcher's knife and achieve instant Buddhahood. I simply want you to ask your own heart: do you truly wish to become the same kind of person as the Duke of Liang?"

Hua Changxi frowned and remained silent.

Jing Le continued: "Regardless of the justification, the results of one's actions cannot lie."

"The Yin family members currently terrified and uneasy under your threat of martial force are exactly like the Hua family members who were once oppressed by the Liang Duke Prefecture using their power. The essence of your actions is identical."

The more Hua Changxi listened, the more irritable she became; unwilling to hear any more, she interrupted: "What exactly do you want to say?"

Jing Le looked at Hua Changxi, his gaze exceptionally serious, and asked once again: "Do you want to become the same kind of person as the Duke of Liang?"

Hua Changxi remained silent for a long while before saying: "...So you are just here to stop me from going to the Liang Duke Prefecture? You want me to swallow this insult? Even though the Duke of Liang hunted me down and implicated my family, I must simply endure it?"

Jing Le did not answer this question, continuing to walk forward alongside Yin Yunzhou.

Hua Changxi also did not wish to say anything else, lest her resolve be shaken.

The group moved forward in silence; no one spoke another word, and soon they arrived at the entrance of the street where the Liang Duke Prefecture was located.

Jing Le stopped and looked at Hua Changxi: "The Three Non-Leakage Studies of the Buddhist Gate are Precept, Concentration, and Wisdom. Among them, Concentration tests one's original heart; it means that a person must guard themselves."

"A person must figure out exactly what they want, and exactly what kind of person they wish to become."

"The Liang Duke Prefecture oppressed you first; your counterattack is understandable, but have you clearly considered the intensity and boundaries of that counterattack?"

"You must know that outsiders perceive you through your actions. Violence has always made people fearful; do you intend to become someone whom everyone avoids as if fearing a plague?"

"Venturing into the world for trial has never been easy. When facing external malice and violence, if one cannot stand firm, it is very easy to lose one's footing and ultimately become an accomplice to that malice and violence."

Having said this, Jing Le paused, remaining silent for a moment: "Changxi, the path of cultivation is fraught with thorns; I hope we can both traverse the thorns and walk toward the light."

"Alright, I will accompany you only this far."

Standing at the street entrance, the Liang Duke Prefecture was already visible. Jing Le glanced in that direction and smiled: "The rest of the journey, you must walk alone."

Hua Changxi looked at him but said nothing.

Jing Le looked deeply at her once more, then turned and left without hesitation.

Jing Le's words ultimately did affect Hua Changxi; the most direct manifestation was that as she walked toward the Liang Duke Prefecture, her pace slowed.

According to her original plan, she intended to directly intimidate the Liang Duke Prefecture with martial force.

Even if she could not physically act within the capital, she planned to manipulate her soul power to terrify the key figures of the Liang Duke Prefecture.

As for the chief culprit, the Duke of Liang, she certainly would not let him go; in her mind, she had already pictured the scene of the Duke of Liang being engulfed in flames.

But Jing Le's words...

Although there was a hint of someone speaking easily without bearing the burden, the points he raised startled Hua Changxi, even frightening her.

Before this, she had never once considered that she and the Duke of Liang could be the same kind of person!

Yes, he was right; using power to oppress people and using martial force to oppress people are, in essence, both using violence to intimidate the weaker party; both are bullying the weak with strength.

Amidst her chaotic thoughts, they arrived at the Liang Duke Prefecture.

At the entrance, there was not a single person; even the gatekeeper normally stationed there was nowhere to be seen.

Yin Yunzhou, seeing Hua Changxi lost in thought, quickly said: "Wait a moment; I will go in first to announce your arrival." With that, he dashed into the Liang Duke Prefecture like a streak of smoke.

Hua Changxi did not stop him; she merely gazed at the mansion of the Liang Duke Prefecture, narrowing her eyes slightly, as Jing Le's words led her to other realizations.

The karmic reckoning on the Karma Fire Platform, the trial of virtue in the Fire Spring Palace...

All seemed to point to the same conclusion: that cultivators must cultivate and restrain themselves!