My CEO Harem Cultivation System

This wasn't what Li Yang wanted to hear from Ying Yue He. Everything that was supposed to be accounted for, the escape and fulfilling the mission—he frowned slightly. That was the only expression apparent on his face even as Bao threw off the Shawl of Enshroudment and gave him a glare.

"I thought you agreed to leave with me."

"I did, Yang—but I thought it was some sort of like we wake up in the morning here and then I make a formal leave to the Liu Group. If it weren't for their help, I wouldn't have been able to get strong like this. They deserve to have a formal goodbye instead of just us running away like some kind of fugitives."

It was the first time that he really received a contradiction from her. 

"Are you aware what they will want to make you do?" Li Yang asked. "These people's cultivation methods are, no, even what they do is—"

"Dangerous and risky. They kill people—they send their own men to death missions too. I'm aware of that, I knew what I was going into when I received the offer and they have all been very straightforward in that regard." Ying Yue He scratched the back of her head.

Li Yang clicked his tongue.

Ying Yue He rubbed her arm and averted her gaze. She didn't expect that she would have an argument with him like this right now. While she was aware that morality in this cultivation group was extremely gray—it was normal, wasn't it?

She had seen her boss stab what was an Undine seafolk person with a ballpen and made them bleed all in order to save Bai Minghua back then. It was strange if they were going to measure themselves in the standards that ordinary people placed themselves in anymore.

"Is this some sort of mind control thing?" Li Yang stared at his secretary from head to toe. He didn't realize any sort of mind control gases or anything in this regard, but his [ Mind Fortitude ] had allowed him to ignore those kinds of influences, the same couldn't be said for Ying Yue He.

"Mind control? Are you nuts—ahem," Ying Yue He caught herself and gave her old boss a look. "Why is it so hard to hear that I want to give a proper and solemn goodbye to them? Yang, weren't you the one who taught and ingrained proper business dealings with every individual we come across to. Why can't it be the same here?"

"Then are you willing to do those things?" Li Yang asked. "How long did they ask you to serve them? What services will you have to offer them? What if they ask for your body—if you're not bothered by deaths. What about the people who are probably used as human cauldrons? Bastards like those that exist in this group—"

"Fine, there are bad apples here. A whole damn lot of them actually." Ying Yue He shuddered slightly. "But… I can't expect you and for me to attempt to run here without any single clue as to what we're going to do. Do you want them to hold a grudge? Who are we going to turn to? Shen Society?"

Li Yang stared at her silently. 

Ying Yue He made sense, even if he did wonder if those words were ingrained in her mind, but she was right that after their escape—what was going to happen next? They might be safe during their passage in the sea, but what happened next after they reached the harbour?

Mou Gu explicitly said that all organizations were in some sort of uneasy peace treaty with one another that kept them from murdering or battling each other. Li Yang ground his teeth and raised his hand to his forehead.

He wished he could say that it was him that Ying Yue He could depend on—that she could leave it up to him. That it was all going to be okay for them to leave. That he could buy some kind of super expensive 100,000 Charm Point stronger than a nuclear weapon and blow the island to bits.

… That was a waste actually. 

The island was filled with resources unimaginable to him and it now seemed ridiculous that he considered running away without even using any opportunity to obtain something to strengthen him. A special technique that could strip people out of their powers or godhood—that was always the plan.

Even then, diplomacy had its own rewards from the very same individuals that blessed his own daughter before. It meant that their preferences aligned with peace or at least non-confrontation.

Did it mean that they cared about his situation as entertainment though?

Ying Yue He looked at him and wondered if she said too much. 

She didn't want to hurt his pride or ego… or just him in general. But if this was what it meant to keep themselves safe and avoid any sort of conflict, then even if it made her unlikable, if he thought of her as some kind of ridiculous woman—then she would do it.

Hah. What kind of woman has she transformed into?

Was she that callous now?

Ying Yue He was aware of the atrocious acts that Li Yang was implying—she had even heard some of the other cultivators discuss it with either the same detachment as heror a sadistic glee that once made her shudder.

However, she learned to cool her expression.

Weakness was not acceptable here. 

But was that really the proper stance for her to take? There was no problem in being vulnerable sometimes and also standing up for what one believed in. How could she have grown so numb to others' afflictions?

The two of them shared a look and spoke at the same time.

"You're right."

"You made a point." 

A small huff and laugh escaped both of them right now. It was weird that they managed to come to some sort of middle ground immediately that made things worse. They were both unafraid of looking at another perspective even if it contradicted theirs. 

That was when the first explosion sounded.