Chapter 5: Leaving Alone
Yuan Qiyang’s mental pollution had always been dissipated by mental power users raised by the Imperial family, so his personal demand for Jingshenli Zhe wasn’t particularly high.
Unless he could find a High-Level Jingshenli Zhe whose age wasn’t too different from his own—but currently, all the High-Level Jingshenli Zhe in the Empire were of the grandfather generation.
This was why he hadn’t yet planned to find a mental power user to be with.
As for Nan Yu’s reputation, he had heard of it long ago. Rumors outside claimed he was the number one Middle-Level Jingshenli Zhe. Although there was likely some exaggeration involved, the fact that he alone was responsible for the mental pollution of three High-Level Yineng Zhe—the Nan father and his two sons—spoke volumes about his strength.
So even if the rumors were a bit bloated, everyone was well aware of his potential and couldn’t stop thinking about him.
To be honest, if it weren’t for Nan Yu’s engagement to Bai Zhouyun, the threshold of the Nan family home would have been trampled flat by suitors.
Yuan Qiyang frowned slightly. He opened his mouth, instinctively wanting to ask Zhang Yun about Nan Yu, but then decided against it. No matter how impressive Nan Yu was, it didn’t have much to do with him.
Nan Yu had no idea that Zhang Yun hadn’t come alone this time, but was accompanied by someone of such formidable status.
As he walked, he concentrated fully on recalling which path he had taken or which direction he had headed when he came to the Heiye Senlin in his previous life. He couldn’t remember the exact details, but he had an impression of the general direction.
Bai Zhouyun hadn’t actually been here many times either; he simply followed behind Nan Yu, acting as his protector.
Nan Yu paused at a fork in the road to think, finally deciding to go left. He had initially forgotten which way he went, but the memory quickly resurfaced.
In his past life, he had wanted to go right at this spot, but after walking for a long time, he discovered it was a dead end. Only then did he remember to go left.
When he had walked back from the right path in his previous life, he hadn’t found any useful herbs, and the round trip had wasted a lot of time.
As a result, when he eventually went left and reached the area where the Nianshen Cao grew, he happened to encounter a beast passing through.
Truly, if Bai Zhouyun hadn’t pulled him aside, he really would have been in danger. But this time, that wouldn’t happen!
However, when Bai Zhouyun pulled him back then, he had used a bit too much force, causing Nan Yu to stumble onto the ground. When his hand brushed against one of the plants nearby, he was surprised to find that the grass felt somewhat unique!
After careful observation, he discovered it was actually Nianshen Cao!
One had to know that every Nianshen Cao discovered so far looked different. If you put them together, you wouldn’t even think they were the same species.
Nianshen Cao looked very similar to ordinary weeds, but in certain places, there would be slight differences. In reality, whether it was the real deal or not required the direct touch of a Jingshenli Zhe.
How many weeds were there in this world? If one had to touch every single one, even if you counted every mental power user in the entire Empire, there wouldn’t be nearly enough people.
So Nan Yu’s luck was truly beyond words. Of course…
He gritted his teeth. Nan Yu couldn’t deny that Bai Zhouyun deserved a bit of credit for that encounter. Hmph!
Fine, if anything happened to the man in the future, he would let it slide once. But if this Bai Zhouyun shamelessly continued to entangle and frame him, then don’t blame Nan Yu for being ruthless!
Bai Zhouyun suddenly said, “There are people ahead.”
Nan Yu asked, “Hmm?”
People? Why would there be people here? When he came in his previous life…
Right, the timing was different. In his previous life, he had arrived here several hours later than this time, so he had run into them now.
But it didn’t matter…
“It’s actually Zhouyun and Student Nan Yu. You two are here as well? What a coincidence.”
The people appearing here were actually Yun Feiyu and his brother, Yun Feijiao. Incidentally, Yun Feijiao was also a Middle-Level Yineng Zhe.
Because Bai Zhouyun and Yun Feiyu were on good terms, and both he and Yun Feijiao were Middle-Level Yineng Zhe, they had a lot in common in certain aspects.
Consequently, their relationship developed very well later on.
Calling him “Student Nan Yu” while calling Bai Zhouyun “Zhouyun”—it seemed the current relationship between Yun Feiyu and Bai Zhouyun was already much better than he had imagined.
Seeing Yun Feiyu running toward him with a beaming smile, Bai Zhouyun’s mood also improved significantly. He had endured quite a bit of frustration earlier when they met Zhang Yun.
“You guys are here too? It really is a coincidence. Although this is the outer perimeter of the Heiye Senlin, some Low-Level beasts still appear. Why don’t we walk together? It’ll be safer that way.”
Yun Feiyu and Yun Feijiao naturally had no objections.
Yun Feiyu, in particular, appeared exceptionally happy. He didn’t avoid Nan Yu—the one engaged to Bai Zhouyun—at all, skipping right over to Bai Zhouyun’s side. “That’s great. With Zhouyun here, there definitely won’t be any problems.”
Nan Yu remained silent, watching them talk to themselves.
Before long, Bai Zhouyun and Yun Feiyu were chatting and laughing together. Nan Yu felt like a fool.
In his previous life, scenes like this had happened countless times, yet he had turned a blind eye every single time, or simply failed to see the trickery involved. That was why he ended up with such a tragic fate…
For some reason, thinking about it now made him furious!
If these three wanted to laugh and talk, they could stay here and do so. In any case, his purpose for coming to the Heiye Senlin this time was to take the Nianshen Cao that rightfully belonged to him!
As long as he obtained the Nianshen Cao, combined with his experience from his past life, he would definitely be able to break away from Bai Zhouyun early.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Bai family and the Nan family had equal status, and that the Bai family had a massive backer, an ability user like Bai Zhouyun wouldn’t be worthy of him even now.
If not for that backer, who knows who would have assassinated Bai Zhouyun by now.
And the backer behind the Bai family was none other than the current Emperor of the Empire!
When Old Man Bai was young, he had served in the military to fight against beasts and happened to save the Emperor once. It was that single incident that made the Emperor owe him a massive favor.
Of course, that didn’t mean the Emperor would protect the Bai family in everything, but as long as the Bai family didn’t actively cause trouble, the Emperor certainly wouldn’t stand by if someone tried to cause problems for them or assassinate their juniors for no reason.
It was because of that Emperor that Nan Yu had to act cautiously now. At the very least, his side couldn’t be the first to drop all pretenses.
He stood to the side, coldly watching the three of them chat and laugh, ignoring them entirely. In any case, since even Yun Feiyu and Yun Feijiao could come here, it was clearly quite safe.
Taking advantage of the moment before the three of them could react, he turned and walked toward his destination.
The three of them actually didn’t notice for several minutes that Nan Yu was gone!
By the time they snapped out of it, several minutes had passed. It was Yun Feiyu who first pointed it out; as for exactly when he realized Nan Yu was gone, that remained unknown.
“Oh no, where did Student Nan Yu go?!”
Translator’s Note:
Ugh, the “White Lotus” energy from Yun Feiyu is real! He’s acting all innocent while basically ignoring Nan Yu’s existence as the fiancé. Also, just a reminder: Heiye Senlin is the Black Night Forest, and Yineng Zhe refers to those with special elemental or physical abilities, while Jingshenli Zhe are the rare few who can heal the mental damage caused by fighting beasts.
Recommended Reads
