I am a full-level celestial master, you let me enter the strange talk of rules?

Despite his thoughts, Zhang Yangqing continued:

"This is your advantage, your 'luck,' and your 'value.' You have abilities that they don't have. However, possessing a treasure is a crime. You have something good, but you don't have the power to protect it. Naturally, it will attract covetousness, just like today."

He paused, then continued guiding: "So, you need to learn to 'share,' not in a forced way, but in an active and selective way. You can use some less important things you find to 'exchange' for the protection of the stronger."

For example, those three over there are stronger than you. If you proactively share some shiny things that you don't need or don't particularly like with them, making them feel that protecting you is beneficial, wouldn't they potentially go from being bullies to protectors?

The boy with one white eye seemed a little confused, and he tried hard to think.

To avoid being bullied, we still have to share our things?
Zhang Yangqing patiently explained: "Think about it, if you share some with them every time you find something, they will get a taste of the benefits and then hope that you can stay safe and sound and keep finding things."

In this way, not only will they not attack you, but they will also stand up to protect you if other bad people try to steal from you or bully you. Because your safety ensures their continued benefit, this is called win-win cooperation.

"You traded a little bit of what you found for three free, long-term bodyguards, allowing you to search for more and better treasures by the lake with peace of mind. What you gave up was probably just a small amount that you didn't really need in the first place. Don't you think that's much better than being beaten up and having all your stuff stolen?"

Although the boy with one white eye is young, he has been picking things up by the lake for a long time, so he is more mature than the average child.

He thought about Zhang Yangqing's words carefully, and they seemed to make a lot of sense.

If you want to stop getting beaten up and get the "protection" of those three annoying guys, it seems like you just need to give them a little something.

Furthermore, if you find something better in the future, you should keep it for yourself and give away the things you don't really want.
A glimmer of understanding began to flicker in his one normal eye.

Once both children had become familiar with each other's "scripts," Zhang Yangqing arranged for them to meet again.

Under the "supervision" of Zhang Yangqing and the chairman, the three boys, especially the tall one, tried their best to force an expression of "remorse," walked up to the boy with the single white eye, and stammered out the "lines" taught to them by the chairman:
"We're sorry, we shouldn't have hit you or taken your things."

"We'll never bully you again!"

"Can we be friends? If anyone dares to bully you in the future, we'll beat them up for you!"

Their acting was indeed poor; their expressions were stiff, and their eyes were somewhat vacant.

But the boy with only one white eye was mentally prepared thanks to Zhang Yangqing's prior "tutoring".

He looked at the three guys who had bullied him before, then at Zhang Yangqing with an encouraging smile, hesitated for a moment, and slowly opened the tattered bundle he had been clutching tightly.

Inside was an irregularly shaped, faintly phosphorescent, dark blue jade stone, emanating a faint chill.

The boy with the single white eye carefully broke the jade into four pieces. Although they were different sizes, he gave the two largest pieces to the tall boy and another big boy, the smaller piece to the third boy, and kept the smallest piece for himself.

"I accept your apology. This is for you. From now on, when we play together by the lake, I'll share anything I find with you," the boy with the single white eye said softly, following Zhang Yangqing's instructions.

Seeing that they could actually get the items without even having to fight for them, and that the boy with the single white eye even gave them the bigger one, the three boys, especially the tall one, had their eyes light up instantly!
The theory of "sustainable development" that Zhang Yangqing had previously instilled in us has now been validated in practice!

A strange sense of accomplishment and satisfaction welled up inside him. The tall boy grabbed the largest piece of deep blue jade, feeling the peculiar energy fluctuations on it, and confidently patted his chest, promising, "Alright! From now on, we're on the same side! If anyone dares to bully you again, I'll be the first to beat them to a pulp!"

The other two boys nodded hastily, looking at the stone in their hands and then at the boy with the single white eye. The malice and greed in their eyes faded considerably, replaced by a sense of satisfaction at finding a "long-term meal ticket" and a nascent, twisted "protective instinct."

Under Zhang Yangqing's "devilish" manipulation, the four children's relationship temporarily transformed from one of bullying and being bullied into a fragile "friendship" alliance based on the exchange of interests.

For a moment, the scene actually seemed quite harmonious and joyful.

Zhang Yangqing solves problems in such a simple and direct way. Perhaps this is something other chosen ones cannot think of, but even if they could, they could not do it.

After all, the chosen one's strength must be above that of these three children for the three children to obey.

Otherwise, being able to leave alive like Song Jae-hyun would be considered a stroke of good fortune amidst misfortune.

As the Chosen Ones ventured deeper, they came to realize that any one of the native inhabitants of this Undying Mountain could easily annihilate them.

After all, not every chosen one has the strength of Zhang Yangqing.

Even if some individuals have completed the analysis of all the powers they gained, none of them are as powerful as the chairman of the board. Therefore, the nature of the chosen ones in the Undying Mountain is to be steady.

Violence will never be used unless absolutely necessary.

Because in their view, everything in the world of ghost stories has clues, hints, and information.

Gaining power is merely adding another means of survival.

Just as Zhang Yangqing was pondering how to use this unexpectedly formed "kids' alliance" to find clues about the finger at the bottom of the lake, the four children had already gathered together and started chattering, forming a small team called the "Lakeside Treasure Hunting Team".

Zhang Yangqing himself didn't realize that his casual suggestion was like throwing a pebble into a calm lake, the ripples of which would spread in the future.

This indirectly cultivated four future formidable bosses who would strike fear into the hearts of everyone in the Undying Mountain, greatly increasing the difficulty for subsequent challengers entering the mountain and providing some unique tips for clearing the game.

Because Zhang Yangqing had forcibly twisted the mindset of these four children from the simple and brutal "survival of the fittest" to a more complex and troublesome "profit above all else" mentality.

In the future, they will no longer be ordinary, irritable NPCs who act on instinct and violence, but will grow into "traceable" BOSSes with fixed behavioral logic, which can be deduced and traded.

If subsequent challengers can guess what they want and meet the conditions they propose, they may even become an asset.
Conversely, if their needs cannot be met or their interests are violated, they will be more terrifying than mere wild beasts.

Of course, these are things to follow.

At this moment, they were still four children who had temporarily become friends over a small distribution of benefits. After all, children's nature is such that hatred comes and goes quickly.

Zhang Yangqing wasted no time. He squatted down, looked gently at the boy with one white eye, and asked, "Little guy, you often find things by the lake. Do you know if there's any way to actively bring out specific things from the bottom of the river? Like a 'finger'?" (End of Chapter)