"Coerce?"
It turned out that Yong Shanling had unconsciously spoken her mind. She simply continued, "Shushu, these two little demons have a fair amount of merits on them. Although they're not great philanthropists, they're not bad people either. At most, they're just ordinary folks who haven't done any great good deeds but also haven't done any bad ones. They definitely don't deserve to die."
Yong Shanling stared straight at Mu Yijie, her eyes filled with stubbornness. All the demons she had killed were those laden with sins. She never wanted to kill the innocent. So, she would rather knock this little demon unconscious than directly end its life.
Respecting life was just her bottom line.
It was also the first lesson her master had taught her when she started cultivating, and she had never forgotten it.
Looking at Yong Shanling like this, Mu Yijie felt extremely gratified. The two of them had been through so much, but Yong Shanling had always remained true to her pure self, which was exactly what attracted him the most.
However, while these qualities were highly admirable from an on - looker's perspective, as her lover and kin, he hoped she could be a bit more selfish, for after all, these were their enemies.
"Ling'er, did Ye Wei have merits on her just now?" Mu Yijie asked Yong Shanling in a deep voice.
"She had merits."
"Then did you see what she did? Do you think someone like her could really have so many merits?" Mu Yijie pressed on step by step.
"It shouldn't be. If an ordinary person did those things, it's impossible for them to have so much merit. Usually, they would be filled with killing intent," Yong Shanling's voice got smaller and smaller as she spoke, and her head gradually lowered. She seemed to understand what Shushu wanted to tell her!
"But Shushu, I really can't bring myself to do it. After all, not harming ordinary people or those with merits has become my instinct," Yong Shanling said in a low voice, looking at the ground. Her fingers kept fidgeting, and her eye sockets were a bit red.
After a while, as if making up her mind, a dagger appeared in her hand. "Shushu, I... I think people like them who help the evildoers might have so much merit. So, so I..." Her voice was a bit hesitant, but she still managed to say, "I won't just judge a person's good or evil based on the amount of merit they have."
Yong Shanling summoned up the courage to express her thoughts and then looked up at Mu Yijie uneasily.
The cold look on Mu Yijie's face gradually softened, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up. He became gentle again. "Ling'er, this is exactly what I want to tell you. You can't just judge a person's good or evil based on some data like merit. Instead, you should judge from their behavior and how they conduct themselves in life. Merit and reputation can deceive people, but a person's actions and their heart can't."
Mu Yijie instructed patiently. Yong Shanling was still too young. She had been in the world for too short a time and there were still many things she didn't understand.
At this moment, he was a bit glad that he was more than a decade older than her. In this way, he could guide her on her journey forward.
Yong Shanling nodded half - understanding. She felt as if she understood.
"To tell whether a person is good or bad, we should feel it with our heart, right, Shushu?" Yong Shanling said somewhat naively, but she had directly hit the essence.
Mu Yijie looked at Yong Shanling with admiration. She was truly the purest - hearted and at the same time the most transparent person he had ever met.
"That's right, Ling'er," Mu Yijie said with a smile as he ruffled Yong Shanling's hair. Then he drew his sword and killed the little demon he had knocked unconscious.
Although he wanted her to understand the truth, he was still willing to do these things for her.
At this time, the people locked in the cages also noticed them and excitedly walked to the cage doors one after another.
"Are you here to save us? Please, save us. Let me out. I'll give you a lot of money and spirit stones!" A man closest to them shook the bars frantically, his eyes full of eagerness.
"If you save me, I can offer you the greatest benefits! That one is just a poor guy, an ordinary volunteer. I can give you much more. If you save me, you'll never regret it."
"Please save me. I don't want to die. Please!"
"Let me out. All you need to do is open our prison door. Please!"
...
The room where these people were locked was filled with all kinds of pleas and shrill cries, all for the two of them to save them.
Yong Shanling looked at their eager eyes one by one, took two steps forward, and said softly, "Everyone, don't panic. We will definitely find a way to save you out. But right now, there are only two of us. We simply can't fight them. So, we'll save one person first. Then we'll go and get reinforcements to save you."
The people looked at each other. Looking at the sincere Yong Shanling, they were a bit undecided.
"How do we know if you'll come back after saving someone? What if you don't come back? What will we do?" the man closest to them said loudly.
"Yes, you probably came here just to save one of us. What if you don't come back after saving that person? What can we do? We've been locked up for too long. You're the only hope we've encountered. If you can't make us feel at ease, we won't let you leave easily," an emaciated old man stared at them maliciously with a sinister look in his eyes.
Yong Shanling was stunned by the old man's words and his look. She couldn't help but wonder what on earth had happened that had turned these kind people into evil - looking demons in the end.
Just then, a tall figure blocked in front of her, shielding her from those malicious and probing looks.
"You can only trust us. Do you have a second chance besides us?" Mu Yijie stood there with a cold expression on his face and said firmly.
Everyone was taken aback. They naturally knew that this was their only hope, but who didn't want to have more guarantees? They originally thought the little girl would be easy to persuade, but who knew there was a tough - looking man too?
Those who had survived were all smart people. They immediately fell silent. After a long time, someone said, "Fine, we'll trust you this time. But I hope you won't let us down."
Yong Shanling's clear voice came from behind Mu Yijie, "We won't. I swear on my honor that we will definitely come back. I swear by the Heart Demon."
Everyone's expressions immediately calmed down. After all, the Heart Demon oath was no joke. Once one failed to fulfill it, they would be disturbed during their advancement. In the lightest case, they would just drop in cultivation level, and in the worst case, they would perish. It was a very solemn oath in the cultivation world.