Chapter 551

Chapter 551: A Clever Man Outwits Himself
Nan Gong Jie’s face was blank as he muttered to himself.

His body trembled slightly. The pain of Burning the Soul mixed with Nan Gong Yin’s words, making it hard for him to tell illusion from reality.

“Nan Gong Jie, stop first! Whatever questions you have, I can answer them! Do not throw your life away!”

A rare look of panic appeared on Nan Gong Yin’s face.

The longer time dragged on, the more dangerous Nan Gong Jie’s condition became.

She did not dare delay.

“Stop?” Nan Gong Jie’s eyes were blood red, as if they would drip blood tears. “I cannot stop! I do not want to stop either!”

“Nan Gong Jie! Do not act so willfully!”

“Enough! Enough!”

Beneath Nan Gong Jie’s angry shout was a tremor he could not control.

Why was Nan Gong Yin still scolding him from on high even now?

Did she think a few light words could wipe away all the pain he had gone through?

She had no idea what he had experienced.

She could not possibly understand his feelings.

Her explanation not only failed to comfort Nan Gong Jie, it pushed him into deeper despair.

All the hardship he had suffered was actually because the clan valued him.

How ridiculous was that!

Nan Gong Yin frowned deeply.

She had not expected Nan Gong Jie to react so strongly after learning the truth.

But everything she had done was for Nan Gong Jie’s own good!

From an early age, Nan Gong Yin had learned from the Patriarch about her and Nan Gong Jie’s missions.

She would carry on Elder Yu of the Nan Gong Clan’s legacy, pass the Great Thousand Alliance Examination, enter the Great World, and become the ladder for the clan to climb upward.

Nan Gong Jie would inherit the Patriarch’s position and become the next Patriarch of the Nan Gong Clan.

By then, Nan Gong Yin had already begun to stand out in the clan and was someone many clansmen admired.

Nan Gong Jie was only a newly enlightened young child then, with a round head and round face, very cute, but without the bearing of a young heir.

After much thought, the Nan Gong Clan Patriarch felt that with Nan Gong Yin shining so brightly ahead, Nan Gong Jie might grow lazy. So he came up with a plan to use Nan Gong Yin to push Nan Gong Jie to cultivate.

Besides suppressing Nan Gong Jie, the Patriarch had actually made many other preparations.

For example, he did not let Nan Gong Yin have too much contact with the other clansmen. Instead, he encouraged Nan Gong Jie to build friendships with the other elite disciples of the clan. In secret, he also gave Nan Gong Jie the best and most precious resources.

But all these preparations were done quietly and gradually, so Nan Gong Jie himself could hardly notice them.

That was how so many misunderstandings had formed.

“Nan Gong Jie…”

Nan Gong Yin wanted to explain further, but Nan Gong Jie’s figure suddenly vanished from before her.

When she swept out her Divine Sense, she found that Nan Gong Jie had actually taken Yu Zhao and run away.

Without thinking, she rushed after them, wanting to make things clear, but Nan Gong Jie’s resentful voice sounded by her ear.

“Nan Gong Yin, if you keep chasing, I will fight you until we both die!”

Nan Gong Yin’s body froze where she was. She could only stand there and watch as Yu Zhao and Nan Gong Jie flew farther and farther away.

“Yu Zhao, I…”

After they had flown a long distance, Nan Gong Jie had just opened his mouth when he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Yu Zhao frowned and reached back to steady his arm: “Do not talk yet.”

Her Divine Sense flowed into Nan Gong Jie’s body. She immediately saw meridians full of holes like a leaky sieve and a dried-up dantian.

Even if Nan Gong Jie stopped Burning the Soul now, his condition was already terrible, not to mention the damage to his soul.

The only way to slow the worsening of his injuries was to withdraw from the test in time and let the Nan Gong Clan do their best to heal him.

Yu Zhao sighed inwardly.

She feared Nan Gong Jie would rather die than accept her suggestion.

Sure enough, after Nan Gong Jie caught his breath, he looked into Yu Zhao’s eyes and said solemnly, “Yu Zhao, help me, pass, the test.”

If his wish before had been to take Nan Gong Yin’s place and become the young heir of the Nan Gong Clan,

now his only obsession was to pass the test and go to the Great World.

Even if he died, he wanted to die in the Great World.

He never wanted any ties with the Nan Gong Clan again.

“But your injuries…”

“I am already, a cripple… This is my, only, wish.”

Thinking of how she also had a lot to do with Nan Gong Jie ending up like this, Yu Zhao stayed silent for a moment, then nodded.

“First, take this pill.”

Before Yu Zhao finished speaking, Nan Gong Jie reached out, took the pill, and swallowed it in one gulp.

Seeing that his face looked a little better, Yu Zhao relaxed somewhat.

What she had given Nan Gong Jie was not a Longevity Pill, but a high-grade pill the seniors had given her, which could more or less help suppress his injuries.

Yu Zhao looked again at the rows of immortal mountains on both sides.

This time she did not close off her Divine Sense and spirit power, but emptied her mind and let all her senses merge into the world around her.

The clouds were her, the wind was her, and the mountains were also her.

After a few breaths, Yu Zhao suddenly looked toward an immortal mountain on the right, then threw Nan Gong Jie toward it.

“Leave a Divine Sense Mark.”

Nan Gong Jie forced himself to endure the dizziness and tearing pain in his soul. Just before crashing into the mountain, he left a strand of Divine Sense Mark on it.

Buzz!

An invisible light screen suddenly unfolded.

It wrapped both the mountain and him inside.

Nan Gong Jie lifted his eyes, but before he could say a word, Yu Zhao’s figure had already disappeared.

Yu Zhao had just checked. Among the surrounding mountains, only this one was real.

Also, the light screens in Painting Mountain were increasing, so she did not have much time left.

She flew straight ahead, passing over more than ten mountains before finally finding an immortal mountain that matched her senses.

A trace of joy flashed in her eyes. Just as she stepped forward to leave her own Soul Imprint, her body suddenly paused.

Then a violent gust of wind swept over.

The powerful wind almost tore a person to pieces.

Yu Zhao had no choice but to retreat.

As she stepped back, a faint light flickered.

In the next moment, she found herself staring across the light screen at Feng Jiu Si inside.

Feng Jiu Si smiled easily: “Liu Yun… oh, no, Fellow Daoist Yu, long time no see.”

“You followed me?”

“Yes.”

Feng Jiu Si admitted it very frankly.

After all, his move to cut in halfway was far too obvious.

He also did not feel there was anything wrong with what he had done.

This was a huge matter that concerned the future. Using any means necessary was only normal.

Yu Zhao let out a cold laugh: “You trust me that much?”

Feng Jiu Si nodded. “Fellow Daoist Yu’s fortune has always been good. I want to bask in it too.”

He had personally seen how Yu Zhao had grown from a country bumpkin with narrow vision into someone even the Daqian Alliance seniors looked at in a new light.

He had not missed the faint light that flashed through Yu Zhao’s eyes just now.

Yu Zhao had given up on several mountains in a row and only stopped when she reached this one. She clearly had full confidence in it.

Since that was the case, why should he not believe?

“Feng Jiu Si, then let me give you another piece of advice. A clever man can outsmart himself.”

Yu Zhao’s lips curved into a smile, and there was mockery in her eyes.

Feng Jiu Si’s heart gave a sudden thump.

[Did I fall into a trap?]