The Path

Xu Yuan felt somewhat relieved that Xu Xinyao had learned this inside the Prime Minister's Manor, and had posed the question directly to him. Now, the problem was how he was supposed to steer his fourth sister back on track. She wasn't wrong: the Prime Minister's Manor was indeed the instigator behind it all. The game in the north had been plotted jointly by the Emperor and their father; the sects being drawn into the fray were merely mounting a passive counterattack. Once the imperial court drew its blade, could anyone expect the sects to simply bind their hands and wait for death? And a battlefield was a living hell bound by no moral constraints. Thinking of this, Xu Yuan sighed softly. He felt like his old man had set him up. It was his father who had shown Xu Xinyao the dossier. Whether as a father or as the Prime Minister whose schemes spanned the realm, he should have known that her current mental state was highly unstable. By not handling it himself, he was clearly dumping the mess onto his third son to resolve. Looking at the young girl with downcast eyes, Xu Yuan let out a soft breath and said gently, "Xinyao, look up at me." From the information she had received, Xu Xinyao had already concluded that their Prime Minister's Manor was the culprit responsible for everything in the north—something her long-ingrained nature could never accept. In moments like this, eye contact was vital, carrying even more weight than words. In the silence, Xu Xinyao obediently lifted her eyes, a faint sheen of tears glimmering in her lovely gaze. Holding her gaze, Xu Yuan posed his first question: "Do you believe our Prime Minister's Manor is the villain of this war?" "Are we not?" Xu Xinyao bit her lip. "Heh." A helpless smile crept onto Xu Yuan's lips, and his voice was very low. "When interests cannot be secured through negotiation, the resort to force is brought to the table. "Xinyao, "what interests do you think our Prime Minister's Manor wants to gain from this war?" Xu Xinyao did not hesitate. Her hands gripping her thighs tightened once more. "The northern sects' industries. "If I've guessed correctly, under Father's orders, the Black Qilin Army's mandate to preserve those production facilities took far higher priority than protecting the countless millions of common folk suffering in the war, didn't it?" "You're not wrong. That is indeed the case." Xu Yuan did not deny it, because his fourth sister's conjecture was the truth. Compared to the sects doing everything possible to destroy them, the orders issued from the study of the Prime Minister's inner court did include directives to aid disaster-stricken refugees, but only on the condition of safeguarding the sects' industries. Human lives—or rather, the lives of mortals—paled far in comparison to the production facilities accumulated by the northern sects over centuries and millennia. Great Yan did not lack people. Even if the common folk of the northern border were wiped out, the court could use its vast network of official roads to relocate populations from elsewhere. But if those facilities were destroyed, rebuilding them would take centuries. There was even a darker conjecture in Xu Yuan's mind. He did not want to think so, but the strategists of the Prime Minister's Manor and the imperial clan had surely devised similar ruthless schemes. Now that the Barbarians in the Land of Utter Darkness were nearly extinct, the three northern provinces had become a "safe" territory free of external threats. Once all fighting in the north concluded, relocating massive populations from other provinces dominated by the sects to fill the void in the north would strike a blow against the sects' war potential in the coming conflict. However, Xu Yuan could not share these things with his fourth sister before him. If she found out, she might fall into darkness right then and there. With these thoughts in mind, Xu Yuan continued, "Then, what does our Prime Minister's Manor want those industries for?" "..." Xu Xinyao did not answer. Yet seeing the girl's trembling grow more pronounced, Xu Yuan knew she already had the answer in her heart. He said faintly in a slow voice, "You're thinking correctly. For the coming war, the three northern provinces must be forged into a vast rear base." Xu Xinyao's breath hitched. She had suspected as much, but she could not accept it. She did not understand. She did not understand why Father insisted on waging war, why he insisted on plunging countless millions of living souls into misery. Her voice carrying a trace of a sob, Xu Xinyao looked into Xu Yuan's calm eyes and asked timidly, "Brother... could you... could you go persuade Father?" "I can't, and I don't want to." Xu Yuan's voice was very soft, yet in the quiet wing room, it sounded like a crack of thunder beside Xu Xinyao's ear. Xu Yuan looked at the young girl before him, watching her bright, lovely eyes gradually turn hollow and lifeless. Xu Yuan vaguely remembered this expression. In *Cangyuan*, the character illustration of Fourth Sister when she fell into darkness had looked just like this. Yet his words were not finished. Keeping his tone calm, Xu Yuan continued to ask: "Xinyao, why do you think Father wants to wage war?" Xu Xinyao's expression wavered. She gritted her teeth, her voice faint, yet sounding frantic and desperate: "Could... could it not be done through peaceful means?" *Thump!* Xu Yuan suddenly slammed a palm onto the redwood table before Xu Xinyao. A palm print formed directly upon the dense redwood. He looked at her and asked, "Back in Shengshan County, I should have already told you about this. Did that experience still not make you realize it?" The girl seemed startled, shrinking her neck back slightly, yet her gaze remained stubborn. After staring at each other for a few breaths, Xu Yuan suddenly sighed. He raised a hand to rub between his brows and let out a soft chuckle. Lowering his hand, Xu Yuan curved his lips and asked with a smile, "Neither the sects nor the court will back down. You've traveled across the realm, so you must have seen the demonic plagues and human calamities for yourself. Since you think Father is in the wrong, how do you think this should be solved?" The question was sharp, yet Xu Xinyao did not waver in the slightest. Looking at Xu Yuan with misty eyes, her voice was resolute: "That's... that's why I want to make the Soul-Nourishing Ring!" "..." Xu Yuan was taken aback by her words. For a moment, he couldn't see the connection between the Soul-Nourishing Ring and the realm's demonic plagues and human disasters. Yet immediately afterward, his habits of thought from his past life provided the answer. An energy source. The Soul-Nourishing Ring represented a brand-new energy source—a creation capable of altering the entire landscape of Great Yan. The martial academies spreading martial arts across the realm had already caused Great Yan's national strength to swell. If the technology of the Soul-Nourishing Ring matured, every facet of Great Yan's power would experience another meteoric rise, and by then, both demonic disasters and human woes could be resolved. Thinking of this, Xu Yuan's gaze as he looked at Xu Xinyao shifted slightly. This fourth sister of his seemed to have genuinely found a path distinct from that of their Prime Minister father. Seeing Xu Yuan's silence, Xu Xinyao lowered her gaze and said slowly, "Brother... when I first traveled the realm, I truly set out to befriend the descendants of those sects, trying to unite their power to change Great Yan." At this point, a smile surfaced on the girl's fair, flawless face—a self-deprecating smile. "At first, I thought I was right, because those friends were genuinely good people. "Upright, kind, hating evil as their enemy... I didn't believe they would ultimately become villains driven purely by self-interest. "But after Shengshan County, I thought carefully about what you told me back then, and I ran a few tests on those friends. "And then I discovered you were right all along... "Even if they didn't want to become like that themselves, their elders and the positions they held would force them into it. "I was too naive... "People cannot withstand tests, and people truly do change... "So the path I originally clung to was a dead end. Everything in this world revolves around interest, and in this vast world, the vast majority of people act only for profit." "..." Xu Yuan listened attentively without interrupting. He felt a wave of relief. Her departure without saying goodbye back then hadn't been stubborn obstinacy after all; she had gone to seek proof of whether the path she walked was truly correct. "Brother, "when the tests gave their results, I was so lost. I didn't know what to do with myself, much less how to save those despairing common folk." As she spoke, Xu Xinyao raised her eyes to look out the window at the full moon hanging high in the sky after the dark clouds parted. "The formations I've learned can save many people—millions, tens of millions... but compared to the whole of Great Yan, that is still far too few! "Even if I spent my entire life, I could never set up formations in every corner of Great Yan. Not to mention, apart from those like the Wanxiang Sect who harbor ulterior motives, very few would ever be willing to contribute funds and effort to help me accomplish it. "So I parted ways with those friends, ended my travels, returned to Di'an, and returned to the Gewu Academy. "Since interest is the immutable truth of this world, I wanted to use my own methods to develop something that could solve all of this." "..." Silence fell with her words. Xu Yuan's calm gaze grew complicated. Prejudice truly was a mountain. In his mind, his fourth sister had always been that bleeding-heart saint from *Cangyuan* who might betray the Prime Minister's Manor for the sake of the realm's common folk. But now, he suddenly realized that this preconceived notion was wrong—completely and utterly wrong. She had been reflecting on herself all along, constantly seeking a path different from their father's. He felt a pang of shame and slightly tightened his fists. Xu Xinyao had been putting her words into practice, striving to realize everything she believed in, whereas he had merely been drifting with the current. The Prime Minister's Manor's Fourth Miss was far stronger in this regard than its Third Young Master. Xu Yuan parted his lips, but found himself at a loss for words. Because speaking them would deeply hurt his fourth sister. Under Xu Yuan's conflicted gaze, the girl lowered her head to look at her slender, delicate hands. Her tone was firm: "Brother, I feel this is probably the true purpose of all the knowledge I've learned over these years. "Even if this thing is put to military use, even if it slaughters countless people on the battlefield, there's no helping it. "After all, even if I refuse to let you use it, Master would do it in secret anyway. "Wouldn't he?" At this, Xu Xinyao looked up once more at her silent third brother. Her eyes curved into a sudden smile like crescent moons, shimmering with tears as she choked back a sob: "Brother... "Just this once... in this one thing, will you help me?"