Chapter 227: For the Greater Good
"Su Mo?"
"So late at night, you’ve come to challenge me?"
"It must be an assassin!"
"Not seeing him!"
Ning Zhuo received a report from the Foundation Establishment guard and immediately shook his head, saying, "Send him away."
Ning Zhuo's attitude was straightforward and firm.
The Foundation Establishment guard hesitated and said, "Young Master Ning Zhuo, if you do this, I’m afraid..."
"Afraid of what?"
The Foundation Establishment guard continued, "I’m afraid it might affect your reputation."
"This Su Mo claims to be a low-level cultivator. If you don’t respond to such a challenger, what would others think of you if the word spreads?"
Ning Zhuo sneered, "Do you think I don’t know that?"
"He’s probably heard some rumors and came here on purpose to spy on me."
"There must be someone behind him!"
"And who knows? It might not be spying but an assassination."
"Reputation is important, but my life is more important."
"I crawled up from the bottom. Look, others find the black market business dirty, but not me! I’m practical."
After saying this, Ning Zhuo continued, "However, you’re not wrong."
"Alright, invite Su Mo into the courtyard. Treat him with good food and drink."
"Tell him that recently, the atmosphere has been tense, and the situation has become strange. Someone has been spreading slanderous rumors about me."
"As for the challenge, I’ll remember it, and when there’s time, I’ll compete with him."
"These days, I’ll be staying out of sight and won’t act rashly. The signs are wrong, very wrong."
"Someone might be coming to assassinate me!"
"Do you think I’m a fool?"
"Hehe, I won’t easily give an assassin a chance."
"Hmm..."
"I’ll move back to the family estate tomorrow."
Ning Zhuo let out a cold laugh.
"Understood, I’ll take care of it." The Foundation Establishment guard withdrew.
Ning Zhuo's explanation convinced him.
However, Ning Zhuo’s words were not mainly for the guard but for someone else.
Zhu Xuanji and Ning Jiufan frowned slightly as they listened to Ning Zhuo’s plan.
They wanted Ning Zhuo to act as bait to lure the City Lord's mansion into making a mistake by attempting an assassination. But Ning Zhuo himself had realized the danger and was planning to retreat.
"This won’t do!" Zhu Xuanji thought.
Ning Jiufan frowned, "Moving into the family estate, does he really think he won’t be assassinated? Naive!"
He didn’t want to see Ning Zhuo act like this.
Although moving to the family estate would indeed be safer for Ning Zhuo, it wouldn’t stop assassins from the City Lord's mansion if they were determined. The family estate wouldn’t be enough to block the assassins.
If Ning Zhuo moved into the family estate, it might increase casualties. After the assassination, other family members of the Ning family could also suffer.
Zhu Xuanji privately transmitted to Ning Jiufan, "Brother Ning, please arrange something. Ning Zhuo is from your Ning family."
This wasn’t something Zhu Xuanji could intervene in directly.
It was more appropriate for Ning Jiufan to persuade him.
Thus, Ning Jiufan transmitted his voice to Ning Zhuo.
"Ancestor, Ancestor!" Ning Zhuo was overjoyed when he heard this and called out, "Ancestor, you’ve come to save me! I will never forget your life-saving grace."
Ning Jiufan, however, told Ning Zhuo not to be afraid, as he had already arrived nearby, lying in wait to protect him. He also encouraged Ning Zhuo to face the challenge boldly.
"Even if this Su Mo is an assassin, I will ensure your safety," Ning Jiufan said.
Ning Zhuo shrank back, "Ancestor, I... I don’t want to."
He touched his head and suddenly looked as if he had realized something.
"Wait, could it be..."
"Ancestor, could it be that the rumors about me obtaining the demonic scripture were spread by you?"
"You’re secretly protecting me and now want me to face the challenge. Isn’t it obvious you’re using me as bait?"
"Who exactly are you trying to deal with?"
Ning Jiufan coughed and said, "You don’t need to know who."
If he told Ning Zhuo they were targeting the City Lord's mansion, Ning Zhuo might faint from fear.
So Ning Jiufan didn’t respond directly and brushed it off.
But Ning Zhuo wasn’t stupid.
"I won’t do it, I won’t!!"
"This job is too dangerous. One wrong move, and I’ll lose my life, Ancestor."
"My small arms and legs can’t handle this."
Seeing Ning Zhuo’s refusal, Ning Jiufan coldly snorted.
Unexpectedly, this snort didn’t scare Ning Zhuo. Instead, it triggered his defiance.
"Ancestor, you can’t do this. I may be from a branch family, but I’m still a Ning, after all."
"You can’t treat me differently like this, Ancestor."
"If you do, it’ll break my heart."
Ning Jiufan suddenly felt like an unfair patriarch and a confused old man.
Ning Jiufan said coldly, "Stop whining. Even if the main family’s patriarch were in your position, he’d still have to do it."
"This is for the greater good."
"You’re in this position, and the situation demands it. You must think of the bigger picture, child."
Ning Zhuo stubbornly said, "No, I won’t do it!"
"Ancestor, stop forcing me."
"What kind of ancestor forces their junior to die?"
"If you keep forcing me, I’ll kneel in the ancestral hall, hold your father’s and grandfather’s tablets, and cry!"
"I’ll complain! I’ll move into the ancestral hall and live there, eating, sleeping, and everything!"
Ning Jiufan: ?!
He was stunned.
To be honest, he had never seen such a junior in the family!
This was too outrageous.
He was about to teach Ning Zhuo a lesson, but Zhu Xuanji stopped him.
Zhu Xuanji said, "We still need him to cooperate with our plan."
"For the greater good, it’s best to keep him stable for now."
Ning Jiufan frowned deeply.
Zhu Xuanji continued, "Don’t you know Ning Zhuo well? He’s from a branch family and has been harshly treated since childhood. Although he attended school and received training, his mechanical skills have been building up but never shone."
"This means that during his time at the school, he wasn’t given much attention."
"It wasn’t until recently, when the Lava Immortal Palace emerged, that his mechanical skills finally flourished."
"Only recently did he discover his talent."
"A boy like him, who’s grown up in a harsh environment for sixteen years without much care, won’t be too loyal to the Ning family’s elders and upper ranks."
"Don’t forget, he just dragged down your family’s young patriarch. Isn’t he still imprisoned in the family’s private dungeon?"
Ning Jiufan furrowed his brow even tighter, "So, what are you suggesting, Lord Zhu?"
Zhu Xuanji just smiled without answering.
Ning Jiufan felt frustrated.
What?
As a Golden Core expert and the family’s ancestor, he had to appease a junior?
This was absurd!
But Zhu Xuanji wasn’t wrong. The bigger picture was important.
And what was the bigger picture right now?
It was to lure the City Lord’s mansion into making a mistake by sending assassins after Ning Zhuo.
Only by catching the City Lord’s mansion red-handed could they prove and expose the major crime of the City Lord’s mansion—sending shadow demon cultivators, bombing the Immortal Palace, and raising bandits for personal gain!
Once this crime was proven, the Southern Dou royal family could justifiably intervene and overturn the entire situation in Huoshi Immortal City.
At that point, Zhu Xuanji wouldn’t need to do anything but be directly promoted to become the master of the Immortal Palace.
Ning Jiufan fell into silence.
If Ning Zhuo backed out now and stopped pretending, Fei Si would easily notice something was wrong and become wary. How could there be an assassination then?
So Zhu Xuanji was right; they had to keep Ning Zhuo on board and persuade him to cooperate.
Of course, Golden Core ancestors weren’t without means. For example, they could use techniques to control Ning Zhuo like a puppet.
But this wasn’t ideal.
On one hand, they were righteous cultivators and needed to maintain their integrity. Six dignified Golden Core experts bullying a junior at the Qi Refining stage wouldn’t look good.
Especially since Ning Jiufan, as the Ning family’s ancestor, was supposed to protect the younger members of the family. Instead, he’d be joining five other Golden Core experts to bully and control his own junior—it would be disgraceful.
On the other hand, Ning Zhuo needed to act naturally. Only if he cooperated willingly could they fool Fei Si to the greatest extent.
If the ancestors used forced control techniques, it would leave traces or strange signs that Fei Si would easily detect.
"Ancestor, Ancestor, are you still there?" Ning Zhuo, not hearing a response from Ning Jiufan for a while, called out quietly.
"I’m here." Ning Jiufan chuckled in anger, "You little brat, you deserve a beating."
"I’m telling you clearly: you can’t run away. Stay put and
wait for the assassination."
"With me here, you won’t die!"
"The emperor doesn’t starve his soldiers. Tell me what you want, and I’ll see if I can reward you. I won’t let you take risks for nothing."
Ning Zhuo sighed and slumped into his chair.
His face turned pale, "So I really can’t run, Ancestor?"
Ning Jiufan said seriously, "No, you can’t."
"Alright. State your demands," Ning Jiufan grew impatient. As a Golden Core expert, he was already showing incredible patience with Ning Zhuo, who was just a Qi Refining cultivator.
"Fine," Ning Zhuo gritted his teeth, "Ancestor, I want to inherit the whole family! I want to be the patriarch!"
Ning Jiufan: ...
"Ancestor? Ancestor?" Ning Zhuo called again.
Ning Jiufan was once again amused and angry, "You’re just a mere Qi Refining cultivator, and your ambitions are this big? You dare aim for the position of patriarch?"
Ning Zhuo quickly replied, "Ancestor, being the patriarch is so prestigious. I just want that!"
"Especially now, our Ning family’s main branch looks down on us branch members all the time. They’re always trying to suppress us from all angles."
"Life has been tough for us in the branch family."
"If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have brought a group of people to make a living in the black market, Ancestor."
Hearing this, Ning Jiufan fell silent again.
He wasn’t unaware of the Ning family’s situation. He knew Ning Zhuo wasn’t wrong.
But Ning Jiufan found it difficult to act against the main branch.
The main branch was still part of the Ning family’s bloodline and descendants of another Ning family ancestor, a direct line of his old friend. Ning Jiufan had promised to take care of their descendants.
(End of the chapter)