"call……"

Closing her eyes and feeling the warm water, Shana felt her originally anxious mood begin to calm down.

Perhaps this has become her habit. She recalled that every morning when she and Fang Zheng were training, she would be beaten to the ground by him. Then she would take a hot bath to clean her body. During this time, she would also think carefully about what mistakes she made today, why she failed, how to change her shortcomings, and then... beat Fang Zheng down!

At first, she just did it out of reluctance, but then she gradually developed a habit. Because of this, Shana is no longer so resistant to taking a bath, which she originally thought was a waste of time. In the past, she would only use the Purifying Flame to remove the dirt on her body and restore her spirit and strength, because at that time she only thought that taking a bath was a useless and time-wasting behavior.

But now, she no longer thinks so. As the water washed over her body, Shana could feel the anxiety deep in her heart, as well as the resentment and troubles brought by failure, all seemed to be washed away with the water, and replaced by a sense of comfort as if she had been reborn.

It's incredible, why do I feel this way?

"You did it on purpose."

While Shana was immersed in her thoughts, Alastair asked Fang Zheng in the living room. As a contractor, he could certainly feel the changes in Shana's inner feelings, which surprised Alastair. He knew very well that his contractor was not a weak person, but being able to sort out her mood and cheer up in such a short time was obviously beyond Alastair's expectations of Shana.

Of course, as a demon god who has lived for thousands of years, Alastor is not completely unable to see through Fang Zheng's thoughts. You know, when Fang Zheng forced Shana to take a bath at first, Alastor just thought he was just teasing the child. But now it seems that, unknowingly, this has been cultivated into a habit for Shana.

"That's right."

While playing with the box in his hand, Fang Zheng looked at the pendant that Shana had thrown on the table.

"As a human being, you always need something to relax. The little girl is too nervous. She keeps herself tense like a spring all day long. This is not good for your physical and mental health. Eat when you should, drink when you should, play when you should, and sleep when you should. Relaxing in moderation and combining work and rest is a normal way of life."

"But, that kid is a Fire Mist Warrior."

“I don’t think it’s any different from humans.”

In response to Alastair's rebuttal, Fang Zheng shrugged.

"If you put it that way, then Shana won't cry? Or won't laugh? Or won't get angry? Or won't get nervous? Even if she's a robot, she'll still think about dead logical loops like 'Who am I' after a while. Even if she's a hero who saves the world, she still has to dance with the princess. Relaxing won't destroy the world."

“Woo…”

After hearing Fang Zheng's rebuttal, Alastair didn't know what to say for a moment.

"People are people. I remember that according to what you said, the Fire Mist Warriors are just humans who signed a contract with the Red World Demon King. Aren't they still humans after all? They can get angry, annoyed, and sad. It's not necessarily that they will turn into a stone and be immune to all poisons just because they have great power... Is that true of you, Alastor?"

“…”

This time Alastor was really speechless. As a demon god, and one of the three most powerful demon gods among the Red World Demon Kings, it also had its own emotions. However, the long years had already made it accustomed to restraining its emotions. Even so, Alastor could not conclude that he was an emotionless stone.

but……

If the person in front of him was just an ordinary human, then Alastor would certainly have a hundred opinions to refute him, but the other party was a being whose strength was no less than that of the most powerful Fire Mist Warrior, which was completely different.

Did we do something wrong?

Thinking of this, Alastair couldn't help but recall the days when he raised the girl in Tiandao Palace. At that time, it seemed that their idea was correct, but now, Alastair was not so sure. Although it was a little different, Fang Zheng was "educating" Shana in a completely different way from what they thought, and more importantly, the results were remarkable.

She became more and more like a strong and brave warrior, and closer to the expectations of Alastair and others. But the difference was that she did not become an emotionless machine. On the contrary, during this period of time, the girl showed far more emotional reactions than when she was wandering in other places before. She would throw tantrums, get angry, and complain. In Alastair's eyes, these would become obstacles to the girl's goal, but now, under Fang Zheng's hands, these seemed to have become her source of motivation.

“Click.”

Just as Alastair was thinking, the bathroom door opened again, and the girl who had just finished taking a bath walked out.

"Alastair...Fang Zheng, what are you doing?"

"Let's discuss the philosophy of life."

Looking at the girl in front of him, Fang Zheng smiled and then raised the box in his hand.

"Okay, now that you're done with your shower, come over here, girl, do you want to play a game of Gwent with me?"

"……?"

Facing Fang Zheng's invitation, Shana tilted her head and revealed a puzzled expression.

“What’s the point?”

"Everything in the world has meaning, and playing cards is no exception. Don't think it's just ordinary entertainment. If you use it well, you can also gain combat experience from it."

"Really?"

Sure enough, after hearing this, Shana immediately perked up and sat opposite Fang Zheng.

"Well, I'll try it!"

"Come on, just don't cry because of your loss."

Looking at the smiling girl in front of him, Alastair remained silent. Although he thought Fang Zheng was just talking nonsense, he soon discovered that what the other party said was not an excuse.

“Playing cards is like fighting.”

Fang Zheng waved the cards in his hand and looked at the girl who was deep in thought in front of him with a smug smile.

"Like this, before the battle begins, neither of us knows what cards the other party has in hand or how they will play, so... the first thing we have to do is to test the waters."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng played a card.

"Want to follow?"

"certainly!"

Shana glared at Fang Zheng, then immediately followed without hesitation.

"This is the process of both parties confronting each other and starting to test each other, just like a battle. I make a move, and you choose to resist, or follow up...then come again..."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng drew a card and played it again. Shana bit her lip and played another card. Then Fang Zheng continued to play cards, and Shana continued to follow.

"Just like this, the intensity of the battle will increase."

After playing another card, Fang Zheng smiled triumphantly.

"So, do you still want to follow?"

“…”

This time, Shana fell silent. She frowned and stared at the cards in her hand. After a moment, she couldn't help but curl her lips.

“Pass.”

"Okay, I win then."

As Fang Zheng spoke, he spread out the cards in his hand, and when Shana saw his cards, her eyes widened.

"Wait, why are your remaining cards so small?"

“I didn’t say it was a big brand.”

Facing the girl's angry questioning, Fang Zheng's smile remained unchanged.

"If you had continued to follow, I would have been the loser, but you chose to give up. Why? Think about it carefully, it's because you were scared by me. You thought that the cards in my hand were infinite and would always suppress you, so you chose to surrender... Isn't it the same in battle? You realized that your strength could not compare to the enemy, so you chose to retreat. Then, how can you confirm whether the opponent is really at ease? Or is he bluffing?"

“…”

Hearing this, not only Shana was stunned, even Alastair was so surprised that he was speechless.

They originally did not think that they could gain any experience from pure entertainment, but now after listening to Fang Zheng's explanation, they realized that even if it was just an entertainment activity, it contained such deep combat knowledge.

"As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. Becoming stronger does not just rely on fighting. Entertainment, cooking, and even painting all contain common experiences. The question is whether you can make use of this experience instead of memorizing it mechanically. Fighting is not just a battle of strength, but also a clash of wisdom. Strength without brains is not enough."

As he spoke, Fang Zheng picked up the cards on the table and waved his hand.

"Okay, today's after-school tutoring ends here, and you should go home and sleep. If you have time, go out and play with your classmates. Don't think they are so weak that you can kill them with just one finger. But if it is a game with certain rules, they may beat you to a pulp. Reading thousands of books and traveling thousands of miles, if you want to improve yourself, the best way is to communicate with others, so that you can gain something."

"Is it the same with you, Fang Zheng?"

Hearing this, Shana frowned and looked at the man in front of her.

"Of course, I still have a lot to learn... Just like the other teachers in the school, in your opinion, their level is quite low, but for ordinary students, they are already very good, right? As the saying goes, there is always a mountain higher than another. There is nothing shameful in admitting that someone is better than you. This will give you the motivation to become stronger."

"Of course I know that."

Faced with Fang Zheng's answer, Shana blushed, then she stood up and pulled open the glass door of the balcony.

"I'm going back!"

After saying this, Shana left with Alastair without even looking back, leaving Fang Zheng alone sitting on the sofa in the living room, enjoying the cold evening breeze blowing towards him...

"When will this naughty kid learn to walk through the door?"