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Chapter 350 - The Importance of Child Education

"Michael... help me one more time..."

Their eyes met. Hua raised her eyebrows slightly, her lips moving almost imperceptibly, yet somehow making it obvious to everyone that she was communicating privately with Michael.

"But... this is ultimately Mount Taixuan's business... a matter between you and your disciples. As an outsider, it's best if I don't interfere." Michael crossed his arms, his reply flowing gently, like water, back into Hua's mind.

"Sigh..." Hua sighed. Then, without warning, she rose and slowly paced to the center of the room.

She pondered for a while, so long that even Michael couldn't guess her thoughts. She pressed her lips together tightly, eyelids slightly lowered, her gaze fixed on the floor tiles beneath her feet.

Within her wide sleeves, her fists slowly clenched, then relaxed, then clenched again.

Her mind was a tangled mess. She truly didn't know how to handle this.

This was the future Michael had told her about five thousand years ago. If anything, it wasn't surprising at all.

But not being surprised didn't mean she could accept such betrayal.

Especially after Michael had already conveyed parts of the "truth" through Otto, she had hoped her disciples would pull back from the brink. Yet, it seemed the inertia of so-called fate was too strong; they still ultimately joined forces to set this death trap...

Of course, Hua knew Michael's little tricks weren't entirely meaningless. At the very least, he had successfully secured a better outcome for her—Suyin hadn't drawn her sword, the Wanxi and Wanru sisters hadn't put any real force into their attack, Chaoyu, who should have crippled her right ankle from behind, chose to cling to her instead, and Ling Shuang, who should have delivered the fatal blow, had given her a warning with a dried leaf... Even the resolute Su Mei had only acted to block a blow for Yanqing... that was all.

This contrasted sharply with the original outcome, where all seven had attacked. Only the youngest, Suyin, had tried to warn her beforehand and hesitated during the attack... That was what happened in the Fenghuang Down illusion.

Adding Michael's calculated outcome, after they killed their master, only Suyin's sword heart would shatter, and she would later secretly move Hua's body and the Key of Domination.

This wasn't to say the others wouldn't suffer. Her only male disciple, Yanqing, for example, would spend the next twenty years causing trouble everywhere, seeking only... death.

Ling Shuang would wreak havoc in the southern frontiers, making herself an outcast in the Central Plains, eventually dying alone in the great desert.

And the greatest irony? They killed their master because "the deviated must be purged," yet they would rigidly adhere to this very rule for decades to come... Undoubtedly, only after truly experiencing the world outside would they realize how naive their thinking had been.

But... it would be too late. The mistake was made. They would endure twenty years of pain, regret, and fear, ultimately awaiting the vengeance of a maddened her.

So, while she, the master, was undeniably the biggest victim, her disciples gained nothing, instead plunging into deeper suffering.

Such a lose-lose outcome... wasn't beautiful at all...

This was the future Michael had seen. Logically, the future was uncertain, but Hua trusted Michael. Not because he held dominion over time, but simply because he was Michael. He was...

After everything that had happened, he was the only one on Mount Taixuan she could fully trust now, the only one she didn't fear betrayal from.

But he was right. This kind of matter... should be her decision to make... yet she truly didn't know what to do.

Honestly, after more than five thousand years, she thought she would have grown significantly, become at least a little more mature.

But looking at herself now, did she resemble an immortal who had lived for five millennia?

She was clearly exactly the same as the confused young girl from fifty thousand years ago...

Or perhaps, concepts like growth and maturity were just artificial constructs, things that didn't truly exist. The her of now was different from the her of fifty thousand years ago, certainly, lacking the weight of those five millennia. But that time, that weight, only added embellishments to her existence. In essence, she was still that Hua...

That confused Hua, who only knew how to obey orders.

And so, after a long silence, Hua finally spoke in a low voice:

"To Mount Taixuan, you are not an outsider."

Michael's smile stiffened slightly. Before he could say anything, Hua continued her explanation:

"You chose this mountain back then. You gave it the name 'Taixuan'. Even longer ago, the idea of combining Shenzhou martial arts with Honkai Energy to create a new fighting style... that was your proposal too... You are no outsider to Mount Taixuan. If you wished, you could be the Vice Master right now."

"I..."

Now it was Michael's turn to be flustered.

But only for a fleeting moment. Their eyes met, and he naturally understood her helplessness. This helplessness wasn't due to a lack of power—a fact repeatedly emphasized: the current Hua was the strongest "human" in the world. But precisely because she was too powerful, she didn't know how to wield that strength to make the right decision.

And her ultimate choice, unsurprisingly, was... to let Michael decide for her.

However, raising children... Michael didn't have any more experience than Hua... And this situation... it's hard not to get a certain impression, like when a mother can't manage her kids and so...

"Very well..."

Michael nodded. Hua did the same. After a slight nod, she sat back down in the chair, as if what had happened before, and what was about to happen, had nothing to do with her.

Michael walked to the center of the room, the spot Hua had just occupied. He sniffed lightly; a faint, lingering fragrance remained in the air.

Seeing this, Su Mei wanted to speak before he could, but Michael merely glanced at her coolly. The words she had prepared instantly lodged in her throat. No matter how hard Su Mei tried, she couldn't make a sound.

"No need to say more. I understand your reasons."

Michael leaned back slightly, as if resting against an invisible wall. His pace was unhurried but left no room for argument.

He truly had no experience raising children, but he felt, at the very least, he should make these youngsters understand how wrong their thinking was.

"Your reasons boil down to three points. First, 'Eliminate those who succumb to deviation'... Among the seven of you, excluding Yanqing, the parents of the other six were killed by Hua... your Master... because they succumbed to deviation. At least, that's what you believe, correct?"

"Isn't that the truth?"

Michael turned his head. Unsurprisingly, the speaker was Su Mei.

"I said, that's just what you believe. Let's not even talk about how Honkai sickness, or Dead Apostle transformation—what you call Qi deviation—is inherently incurable. In fact, you think she killed your parents, but in reality, your parents were already dead."

"No... Impossible! I remember, I remember my mother was trying to protect me then..."

Michael closed his eyes helplessly. This was the information gap caused by different eras. Neither he nor Hua could fully explain everything about the Honkai to these people, and humans always tend to believe what they want to believe.

Of course, he possessed the Authority of Sentience, and Hua had Fenghuang Down.

If they wished, they could make the seven disciples forget everything that happened today, along with their pasts, in the blink of an eye. But that would just be covering up the truth with countless lies. And the truth can never be completely hidden, because everything that happens leaves traces.

Just like how Hua erased Suyin's memories of her parents' deaths—setting aside that others knew, were Suyin's own memories truly wiped clean?

Clearly not.

At the beginning of her current memories, she stood alone by the sea, trying to find the line between the blue water and sky. She heard clamor, shouts, clashes behind her, and then her Master picked her up... If she didn't understand what those chaotic sounds meant back then, would she truly remain ignorant after all these years, and in the many years to come?

No...

"I know this is difficult to explain, and you might not accept this answer, but this is the truth that your Master, myself, and countless comrades learned through bloodshed in that endless war countless years ago—"

"The moment someone completely succumbs to deviation, their consciousness—or to use a term you're more familiar with, their soul—vanishes... It dies. Their bodies remain familiar, but otherwise... from that moment on, they become soulless walking corpses. They might perform actions you perceive as intentional, but those are merely the body following instincts buried deep in the subconscious."

"Nonsense! How can you prove what you say is true?"

Michael shrugged nonchalantly.

"As I said, you might not accept this answer, but it is the truth. Believe it or not. Your parents didn't die at your Master's hands. Quite the opposite, she ended their suffering and saved your lives."

"Your Fourth Sister should understand the pain of deviation best. And thanks to the Taixuan Sword Ki, the suffering your Fourth Sister endures is less than one ten-thousandth of what true deviated individuals face. This condition is fundamentally incurable. For those people, death is actually a release from the torment..."

"But, the choice between dying early to end the pain, or continuing to live, even for just one more moment—that choice should be theirs to make!"

Being interrupted repeatedly was starting to wear on even Michael's patience.

He frowned, glanced at the instigator, Su Mei, and subtly released a sliver of killing intent. The girl's face instantly turned deathly pale, the hair on her forehead soaked with cold sweat. Yet, she still took a step forward, shielding Yanqing, Wanxi, and Wanru, meeting Michael's gaze defiantly.

"Troublesome..."

Michael shook his head.

Although this girl was also a pitiful figure, the world had no shortage of pitiful people. Besides, from his perspective, it was difficult to agree with Su Mei's choice.

However, the question she raised was indeed one Michael had to answer. Or rather, she was more like a mouthpiece, voicing not only her own doubts and expressing not just her own dissatisfaction... but everyone's.

"I'm sorry, but they don't get a choice. There are many things you actually understand but choose to ignore—no one can guarantee when they will completely succumb. Rather than letting that uncertainty cause greater casualties, it's better to minimize the risk from the start. It might seem unfair to the deviated individuals, but if we let them harm others, is that fair to everyone else? Honestly, I shouldn't need to explain this. Go out into the world for a few years, and you'll naturally understand why 'purging the deviated' is the best choice for everyone."

Michael deliberately paused here. Seeing Su Mei lower her head in thought instead of asking another question, he slowly continued:

"Returning to the previous topic, I said that deviated individuals are just walking corpses. Their souls are gone, and any remaining human emotion is just the body's subconscious..."

He stopped abruptly again. This time, it wasn't Su Mei interrupting, nor anyone else. It was purely himself...

Hua sighed. Only she understood the source of Michael's sudden grief.

However, it lasted only a brief moment. He quickly regained his composure and continued:

"But, this subconscious within the body rapidly dissipates with the absence of the soul. Before long, they lose their final emotions. At that point, those of you staying by their side would be... in grave danger."

Michael looked around. Seeing no one speak, he held up two fingers:

"Second, it's about your Fourth Sister's situation."

He paused again intentionally, giving them time to think.

Su Mei quickly took the bait:

"Wait! You said deviation is incurable, and I'll tentatively believe you. But aren't there ways to delay it? Isn't Fourth Sister the best example? She's been deviating for nearly ten years, yet that Raksha person judged she could live another twenty or thirty. Fourth Sister is already twenty this year; it's not uncommon for ordinary folk down the mountain to only live forty or fifty years. This also matches what Senior Sister said: when Master first taught her Taixuan Sword Ki, she mentioned it could prevent Qi deviation... So why not widely spread Taixuan Sword Ki? Then everyone suffering from deviation could..."

"Your Master has lived for fifty thousand years."

Michael cut her off. "Even counting only the time she walked the mortal world, it's over five thousand years. Do you think she hasn't considered these things?"

Undeniably, Su Mei was intelligent, perhaps the smartest person on Mount Taixuan currently, besides Otto. But the smarter people are, the more prone they are to arrogance. If teaching everyone Taixuan Sword Ki could reduce the risk of deviation and allow deviates to live decades longer, why hadn't Hua done so during her five thousand years walking the earth?

Su Mei seemed to have never considered this question, or perhaps she had, and was just being stubborn.

"Explaining this is quite complicated. I'll try to put it in terms you're familiar with. Setting aside the extreme difficulty of Taixuan Sword Ki—your Master has only found about ten suitable candidates in all these years—even if we ignored talent and forced everyone to practice it... that would be pure disaster."

"True, Taixuan Sword Ki isn't like ordinary martial arts; it doesn't cultivate the dantian, so the chance of deviation is inherently lower. But it is ultimately a method of controlling internal energy (zhenqi), and ordinary people will deviate just from minor exposure to zhenqi... Need I say more?"

"This technique merely slows the rate at which zhenqi erodes the body, but practicing it requires contact with zhenqi. It's nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst. The fact that Wanru can handle it only means Wanru can handle it. Alright, any more questions on this point? If not, I'll move on to the final..."

"In the end, you're just criticizing us from Master's perspective!"

Michael blinked. He seemed to have grown accustomed to Su Mei's retorts.

"Vengeance for one's parents is a debt that must be paid! This was the oath I swore the first day I came to Mount Taixuan. Regardless of anything else, I only saw my parents killed by Master. That is the truth I witnessed. I admit, during these dozen years on Mount Taixuan, I sometimes forgot that pain. But I know very well, if I don't make this choice, my future will be even more painful. This pain belongs to me; neither you nor Master can possibly understand it, and there's no need to discuss it further."

"The others were merely swept along by me. Besides, they didn't even use their full strength, otherwise the outcome might still be uncertain... But, if you want... In short, whether you kill me or torture me, direct it all at me, Su Mei, alone!"

Unexpectedly, she strode forward until she stood right before Michael, head held high stubbornly, ready to accept any punishment.

But looking at Su Mei, hearing her words, Michael's lips curled, and finally, he burst out laughing without reservation:

"Hahaha... Hahahaha!"

Hua felt a tightness in her chest, unable to exhale for a long moment. She knew what Michael was laughing about, and she knew what he wanted to say next. She was the only one who knew.

"Yes, you're right. Neither I nor your Master can understand your pain. But similarly, do you understand ours?"

Michael spoke slowly, emphasizing each word:

"By your standards: My younger sister succumbed to deviation. Died in my arms. Killed by my own hand."

"Your Master's first-ever friend succumbed to deviation. Died right in front of her. Her severed hand flew into Hua's arms, and her decapitated head's eyes stared fixedly at your Master as it fell."

"And just a few days after that, she personally killed a comrade she had known for years, also due to deviation."

"Every one of us is prepared to kill our closest loved ones if they deviate, or to be killed by them. On this point, you lot don't even measure up to that Raksha girl next door."

"Ultimately, your Master protected you all too well. However, Su Mei, your third reason... wasn't it the freedom to choose?... Fine then, you can have it. And while we're at it, you can also experience your Master's pain."

Michael's pupils instantly turned blood-red. A lance, black and white like a folded paper umbrella, appeared in his hand.

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