Chapter Thirty-Six: Conspiracy

Nan Gong Kexin lay in her hospital bed, growing more anxious by the minute as half an hour passed and Nan Gong Yuchen still had not returned. With both legs injured and unable to get down from the bed, and with Zhou Haoran also in this hospital, she was nearly driven mad with worry. Yet at this very moment, Nan Gong Yuchen was nowhere by her side. The more she thought about it, the darker her mind became, and just as she was about to call for a doctor, the door to the ward opened, and her younger brother finally came back.

Seeing the familiar figure, she could not help but complain, “Why were you gone so long?”

“Um... I ran into a little trouble just now.” Snapped out of the thoughts from earlier, Nan Gong Yuchen looked at the anxious Nan Gong Kexin and casually made up an excuse.

Nan Gong Kexin stiffened, fear flickering across her face. “You didn’t run into Zhou Haoran and the others, did you?”

“Not them.” Nan Gong Yuchen gave her a reassuring smile.

Hearing this, Nan Gong Kexin’s expression eased somewhat, and then she urged, “Let’s hurry and leave this place!”

What had happened yesterday had made her truly feel death for the first time in her life. Especially now, when she thought of Zhou Haoran being in this very hospital, fear made her wish to leave at once.

Nan Gong Yuchen nodded and bent down to lift Nan Gong Kexin into his arms.

His sister was very light. Though she stood one meter sixty-five, she weighed only a little over forty-five kilograms. So Nan Gong Yuchen carried her without effort. It was only that the bandaged wound on his back tore painfully as he bent over, making him grimace slightly.

“Yuchen, are you all right?” At such close range, Nan Gong Kexin saw the color drain from his face and asked anxiously.

“I’m fine.” Looking at the bandaged wounds on his sister’s slender, beautiful long legs, Nan Gong Yuchen felt a trace of guilt in his heart. Then he shook his head, carried her to the doorway, placed her in the wheelchair, and pushed her out.

On the way, both Nan Gong Yuchen and Nan Gong Kexin were extremely tense. This was especially true when they reached the corridor from before; Nan Gong Yuchen grew even more worried, for he knew that Uncle Zhao and the other man were nearby.

Seeing the quiet corridor, Nan Gong Yuchen quickly pushed his sister into the elevator beside them and took her to the first-floor lobby. Only then did he secretly let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, they had not run into those people.

Afterward, they went to the front desk, finished the formalities, and left in haste.

By the time they returned to their home in District D, it was already nine o’clock. Unlike the home in the Xi Yuan residential complex, there was no place here to cook, so on the way they could only eat a little something to take the edge off their hunger.

Nan Gong Kexin lay on the bed, watching her brother busily putting away the wheelchair, and asked in a downcast voice, “Nan Gong Yuchen, are we unable to go home anymore?”

The home she spoke of naturally referred to the place in District C, the Xi Yuan residential complex.

“Yes.” Nan Gong Yuchen nodded.

“Then we’ll live here from now on?”

Nan Gong Yuchen nodded again.

Hearing the answer, Nan Gong Kexin tiredly burrowed under the covers and said no more.

Nan Gong Yuchen did not know how to answer either. In the end, he had no choice but to rummage through the blankets in the closet.

His rented place was already small to begin with. Apart from the bedroom, there was only a bathroom. Now that Kexin was sleeping on his bed, he could only find another quilt and sleep on the floor.

When he finally finished all this and was about to lie down, Nan Gong Kexin poked out her little head. “Yuchen... maybe you should also sleep on the bed. After all, your injury...”

Halfway through, her pretty face began to feel hot, and she quickly added, “If you dare lay a hand on me, I’ll absolutely...”

“It’s fine. Sleeping here is pretty good for me.” Nan Gong Yuchen smiled and interrupted her.

He understood his sister’s temper. For her to say something like this now was already enough to satisfy him. Besides, the bed was so small; how could two people squeeze together and sleep comfortably?

Nan Gong Kexin finally breathed a sigh of relief. Though she had said that, she had actually been somewhat unwilling in her heart. After all, men and women should be kept apart, and they were no longer as they had been when they were children.

Nan Gong Yuchen got up and switched off the light, then lay down again on the blanket. Thinking of his conversation with Mu Feng that afternoon, he quickly fell asleep.

...

In the A district of Xiasha City, inside a villa, Lu Bolong and the housekeeper were speaking in low voices.

“Patriarch, Miss Cheng Shiyu came to see you just now, but I sent her away.”

“Mm, well done. For the time being, do not let Shiyu know that Tianyou is gone.”

“And if Madam asks about it?” the housekeeper asked again with a furrowed brow, still worried.

“She...” Lu Bolong sat in the soft chair and fell into thought. After a while, he said to the housekeeper, who was bent over before him, “Keep it from her as well. If we truly cannot hide it, then tell them the truth. After all, they also know that Tianyou disappeared after challenging Mu Feng to a duel!”

“Understood.” The housekeeper nodded and stepped back, preparing to leave.

At that moment, Lu Bolong spoke again, his voice extremely stern. “During this period, I need to go below and supervise the making of the destructive quantum. There are a few things you must not neglect!”

As he spoke, he looked at the respectful housekeeper and continued issuing orders. “The assassination of Mu Feng absolutely cannot stop! We must retrieve Tianyou’s space-time ring, or else if this is exposed, all of us will be finished!”

“Yes. These past few days I have been using demon beasts to lay a trap, but every time, those two girls from the Shangguan family are always present, so...” the housekeeper said helplessly.

A cold glint flashed in Lu Bolong’s eyes at those words. “You mean the daughter of Shangguan Yufeng, those two girls, Shangguan Youran and Shangguan Yueling, who have both broken through to the first rank?”

The housekeeper hurriedly nodded.

“Since they are in the way, then eliminate them as well. In any case, it won’t be long before we tear our faces off with Shangguan Yufeng!” Lu Bolong’s face was full of killing intent. Thinking of the things from the past, his whole demeanor became vicious.

“Understood, Patriarch. Once the timing is right in these next few days, I will order them to act!” the housekeeper replied.

Lu Bolong nodded in satisfaction and went on, “Have Shijie speed up the infiltration of the Mu family. Since Mu Xiyan is already gone, the fat meat of the Mu family must fall into our hands as soon as possible!”

“Understood, Patriarch!” the housekeeper replied respectfully.

“Lastly, do not forget for even a moment the matter entrusted by that lady. We must capture as many humans as possible and send them over. If the destructive quantum is not completed within the stipulated time, we cannot afford her wrath!”

“Yes, understood!” The housekeeper bowed his head again respectfully.

“Good. Then you may go. If there is nothing important, do not disturb me.” Lu Bolong reclined in the soft chair and turned away.

After a while, the housekeeper, who had left with his head lowered, unexpectedly came back, hesitating as he looked at Lu Bolong’s back, as though he still had something to say.

“What is it? Anything else?”

“Patriarch, do you think what we are doing now, if one day...” The housekeeper bowed even lower. Having heard this much, he no longer dared continue.

“Speak.” Lu Bolong turned his soft chair around and looked at him. “If you have something to say, say it.”

“It’s just that... if one day, what we are doing now is discovered by Young Master Shijie and Miss Shiyu, then what should we...” The housekeeper stammered his words out.

Yet Lu Bolong on the other side did not flare up. He knew that the housekeeper who had followed him for more than ten years was utterly loyal to him; otherwise, these words would never have been spoken.

Still, this question changed his expression. After a long while, he finally said with a vicious look, “They will understand in the future! If we do not act now, there will be only a dead end. Only this way is there a path to survival...”