As Shen Min and Feng Yi, as well as the mercenary on the other end of the lightning-filled field watched with widened eyes, Wu Long stopped, his calm expression changing to a slightly dissatisfied one.
"Hmm, as I thought... the energy loss in a humid environment is bigger, almost 70% of the released Lightning Qi went to waste as 30% reached the targets, and that was overkill as well"
He was clearly unhappy with the results as there was simply too much waste of energy, and the outcome was far from the desired effect. He knew perfectly well that concentrated into a single strike, the amount of energy he used would be able to incinerate a Foundation Building Realm expert, but as it stood now, if that high-ranking mercenary stood within the range of the attack he would most likely be unscathed, possibly a small burn.
The mercenary also seemed to realize that, as his eyes that were initially filled with horror gradually became just shocked.
"How is this... but he's just a mortal..."
A sheepish voice came out of him as he could clearly see Wu Long use elemental attributes which should not be possible. f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com
The words seemed to have drawn attention to the man as two cold eyes turned to him the next instant freezing his mind with fear once more.
With a single step, Wu Long's figure approached the man who started lightly trembling as if from a freezing cold.
"Hmm, you seem to know a bit more than those dimwits. And I might be inclined to let you go..."
Wu Long said looking into the eyes of the mercenary, in which he saw the same broken soul and sufficient level of intelligence as he did in the eyes of the executive in the capital. This man no longer posed any threat to him, nor was he any longer usable by the enemy in almost any capacity.
"...if you answer my questions truthfully"
As a glimmer of hope ignited deep in the eyes of the man Wu Long continued, stifling its growth but not extinguishing it either, keeping it feeble and wavering, capable of being smothered by a light gust of wind.
"W-what do you want to know?"
"Did you notify the executive in charge of the area?"
"I did"
The man nodded without hesitation.
"Is the bigwig that's coming notified?"
"I don't know... but! but I assume he is! he~... he will be arriving soon after all and the executive in charge, S-senior Gwi is obligated to disclose the situation and-..."
The man honestly did not know, but thinking about the repercussions of such answer began urgently racking his brain with a reasonable speculation until he was stopped with Wu Long's hand gesture.
"How long ago did the distribution of stimulants start?"
"Three- no two months ago, I think"
"Hmm"
Wu Long made a pondering expression as he calculated the time, which was approximately a bit after he left the capital with the Crown Prince and the Soaring Feather Trading Company.
"Are there any other large bases around in Tingren?"
"Ehm... there is one in the town near the Royal Winter Villa, and one in the west of the country, but that one is currently mostly empty..."
The man very slightly hesitated but gave out the information, confirming what Wu Long already knew as he nodded.
"Finally, is there anything you think I might want to know?"
He then asked a tricky question which normally was easy to lie to. But since they were holding eye contact the entire time, the man realized that it was the moment his life hang on the very edge, but also the one that could let him live.
"T-there is a transit of stimulants towards the Jurong Kingdom coming soon... a large shipment. It will be delivered by a caravan disguised as normal traders. It comes once every year as long as I remember, and is very massive. It... it will be passing the base in the west in three days time.
And... there are camps of bandits, which have our moles inside... I have the map with the locations in Tingren but there should be more all over the continent... they are responsible for stifling the S-soaring Feather Trading Company's transfer of goods..."
He took out a scroll from his spatial ring, handing it over with a trembling hand. As he finished speaking, he gulped down, awaiting his fate. He knew that in many cases this sort of situation ended with the person speaking being killed anyway. But that glimmer of the usually false hope was simply irresistible, causing him to spill out anything he thought might save his life.
Wu Long suddenly revealed a friendly smile, nodding with satisfaction. And raised his hand to the stiffened man whose heart was beating like a war drum, and then patted his shoulder with two light taps.
"Good job, you can go"
He lightly said, while the man's breath stopped.
"Go on, seriously... you better hurry before your former colleagues come and witness you being alive"
Wu Long chuckled as he made a shooing motion, and the man slightly staggered back, then taking a careful step, another one, and seeing no reaction from Wu Long turned and ran with all his speed, launching the movement technique and soon disappearing into the distance.
"Is it okay?"
Shen Min came up to him looking into the direction of the fleeing man.
"Mm, I know the type. It might be tricky to figure out what people are thinking and how they will behave, but when I see one who is wise enough to never come across me again, I just find it wasteful to kill them off if I can help it"
Wu Long nodded while brushing away a few drops of blood from her cheek with a gentle motion. Meeting different people over millennia gave him an insight into certain qualities of people and their behavior patterns. He could not boast an absolute certainty about all people, but he identified a few particular types that he was never wrong about.
It also meant that he would always eliminate a type he knew should not be kept alive as well, but that was something he did not voice.
"Though, there are exceptions for everything, and someday I might just be wrong. But if you fear being wrong all the time you'll be afraid to do anything. This type usually settles for a quiet life after, so there's usually little harm in letting them go, and they sometimes even do a lot of good"
He chuckled as many people's faces went through his memories. He wasn't really interested in the redemption those people went through, but did find it a bit curious.
"But isn't he a bad man?"
Feng Yi approached as well, her gaze facing the same direction.
"Haha, and we are good? Yi'er, there is a concept of moral good and evil, but in the confines of our conflict they are not applicable to us or our enemies. Because neither side is simply defending a moral stance.
We fight for the good of us and our interests, not for the greater good or ideal, and they are the same. So in this sense, we are not good guys and they are not bad guys, we're just two sides in conflict"
Wu Long chuckled at the familiar and even somewhat nostalgic dual way to view the world, and gently spoke as he tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear. He let that man go because he no longer stood in his way in any capacity, not now not in future, which was all that mattered to Wu Long to decide if he should be killed or not.
"But... are they not doing bad things?"
"They are, not everything they do of course, and not for the sake of being evil either, but they do some bad things indeed. In pursuit of their interests.
But are we going after them because of that? Maybe sometimes but not in this case, here it was just a conflict of interests.
And even when we fight because of our ideals, that is our selfish preference, even if we are right or on the side of moral good. Don't fall into the trap of moral superiority, because when you do, the sky's the limit for how deluded one can get"
Wu Long turned toward the northern horizon, where he could feel approaching auras of cultivators.
He never rejected the notion of there being a moral good in the world, Wei Lan's thinking appealed to him precisely because he believed in their existence and held a longing for it, but was always very cautious about assuming he was representing it even when he was opposing evil or doing good. Since he fundamentally was not doing it for the sake of good.
As Shen Min and Feng Yi, as well as the mercenary on the other end of the lightning-filled field watched with widened eyes, Wu Long stopped, his calm expression changing to a slightly dissatisfied one.
"Hmm, as I thought... the energy loss in a humid environment is bigger, almost 70% of the released Lightning Qi went to waste as 30% reached the targets, and that was overkill as well"
He was clearly unhappy with the results as there was simply too much waste of energy, and the outcome was far from the desired effect. He knew perfectly well that concentrated into a single strike, the amount of energy he used would be able to incinerate a Foundation Building Realm expert, but as it stood now, if that high-ranking mercenary stood within the range of the attack he would most likely be unscathed, possibly a small burn.
The mercenary also seemed to realize that, as his eyes that were initially filled with horror gradually became just shocked.
"How is this... but he's just a mortal..."
A sheepish voice came out of him as he could clearly see Wu Long use elemental attributes which should not be possible. f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com
The words seemed to have drawn attention to the man as two cold eyes turned to him the next instant freezing his mind with fear once more.
With a single step, Wu Long's figure approached the man who started lightly trembling as if from a freezing cold.
"Hmm, you seem to know a bit more than those dimwits. And I might be inclined to let you go..."
Wu Long said looking into the eyes of the mercenary, in which he saw the same broken soul and sufficient level of intelligence as he did in the eyes of the executive in the capital. This man no longer posed any threat to him, nor was he any longer usable by the enemy in almost any capacity.
"...if you answer my questions truthfully"
As a glimmer of hope ignited deep in the eyes of the man Wu Long continued, stifling its growth but not extinguishing it either, keeping it feeble and wavering, capable of being smothered by a light gust of wind.
"W-what do you want to know?"
"Did you notify the executive in charge of the area?"
"I did"
The man nodded without hesitation.
"Is the bigwig that's coming notified?"
"I don't know... but! but I assume he is! he~... he will be arriving soon after all and the executive in charge, S-senior Gwi is obligated to disclose the situation and-..."
The man honestly did not know, but thinking about the repercussions of such answer began urgently racking his brain with a reasonable speculation until he was stopped with Wu Long's hand gesture.
"How long ago did the distribution of stimulants start?"
"Three- no two months ago, I think"
"Hmm"
Wu Long made a pondering expression as he calculated the time, which was approximately a bit after he left the capital with the Crown Prince and the Soaring Feather Trading Company.
"Are there any other large bases around in Tingren?"
"Ehm... there is one in the town near the Royal Winter Villa, and one in the west of the country, but that one is currently mostly empty..."
The man very slightly hesitated but gave out the information, confirming what Wu Long already knew as he nodded.
"Finally, is there anything you think I might want to know?"
He then asked a tricky question which normally was easy to lie to. But since they were holding eye contact the entire time, the man realized that it was the moment his life hang on the very edge, but also the one that could let him live.
"T-there is a transit of stimulants towards the Jurong Kingdom coming soon... a large shipment. It will be delivered by a caravan disguised as normal traders. It comes once every year as long as I remember, and is very massive. It... it will be passing the base in the west in three days time.
And... there are camps of bandits, which have our moles inside... I have the map with the locations in Tingren but there should be more all over the continent... they are responsible for stifling the S-soaring Feather Trading Company's transfer of goods..."
He took out a scroll from his spatial ring, handing it over with a trembling hand. As he finished speaking, he gulped down, awaiting his fate. He knew that in many cases this sort of situation ended with the person speaking being killed anyway. But that glimmer of the usually false hope was simply irresistible, causing him to spill out anything he thought might save his life.
Wu Long suddenly revealed a friendly smile, nodding with satisfaction. And raised his hand to the stiffened man whose heart was beating like a war drum, and then patted his shoulder with two light taps.
"Good job, you can go"
He lightly said, while the man's breath stopped.
"Go on, seriously... you better hurry before your former colleagues come and witness you being alive"
Wu Long chuckled as he made a shooing motion, and the man slightly staggered back, then taking a careful step, another one, and seeing no reaction from Wu Long turned and ran with all his speed, launching the movement technique and soon disappearing into the distance.
"Is it okay?"
Shen Min came up to him looking into the direction of the fleeing man.
"Mm, I know the type. It might be tricky to figure out what people are thinking and how they will behave, but when I see one who is wise enough to never come across me again, I just find it wasteful to kill them off if I can help it"
Wu Long nodded while brushing away a few drops of blood from her cheek with a gentle motion. Meeting different people over millennia gave him an insight into certain qualities of people and their behavior patterns. He could not boast an absolute certainty about all people, but he identified a few particular types that he was never wrong about.
It also meant that he would always eliminate a type he knew should not be kept alive as well, but that was something he did not voice.
"Though, there are exceptions for everything, and someday I might just be wrong. But if you fear being wrong all the time you'll be afraid to do anything. This type usually settles for a quiet life after, so there's usually little harm in letting them go, and they sometimes even do a lot of good"
He chuckled as many people's faces went through his memories. He wasn't really interested in the redemption those people went through, but did find it a bit curious.
"But isn't he a bad man?"
Feng Yi approached as well, her gaze facing the same direction.
"Haha, and we are good? Yi'er, there is a concept of moral good and evil, but in the confines of our conflict they are not applicable to us or our enemies. Because neither side is simply defending a moral stance.
We fight for the good of us and our interests, not for the greater good or ideal, and they are the same. So in this sense, we are not good guys and they are not bad guys, we're just two sides in conflict"
Wu Long chuckled at the familiar and even somewhat nostalgic dual way to view the world, and gently spoke as he tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear. He let that man go because he no longer stood in his way in any capacity, not now not in future, which was all that mattered to Wu Long to decide if he should be killed or not.
"But... are they not doing bad things?"
"They are, not everything they do of course, and not for the sake of being evil either, but they do some bad things indeed. In pursuit of their interests.
But are we going after them because of that? Maybe sometimes but not in this case, here it was just a conflict of interests.
And even when we fight because of our ideals, that is our selfish preference, even if we are right or on the side of moral good. Don't fall into the trap of moral superiority, because when you do, the sky's the limit for how deluded one can get"
Wu Long turned toward the northern horizon, where he could feel approaching auras of cultivators.
He never rejected the notion of there being a moral good in the world, Wei Lan's thinking appealed to him precisely because he believed in their existence and held a longing for it, but was always very cautious about assuming he was representing it even when he was opposing evil or doing good. Since he fundamentally was not doing it for the sake of good.
