Chapter 138: Departure
Yu Lanfeng said, "We'll be leaving soon. We'll talk about it after my people catch that man."
Nan Yu asked, "Can they catch him that quickly?"
Yu Lanfeng replied, "It won't take long. He lived here for a while and left behind far too many traces. Using just one or two of them will be enough to catch him."
Then what had that harsh reprimand just now been about?
Was it merely to motivate them?
That was right. Nan Yu had actually heard Yu Lanfeng speaking inside earlier. Although there had been no one physically in the room, he could still have been communicating remotely, couldn't he?
So Nan Yu had immediately realized that Yu Lanfeng must have been reprimanding his subordinates. He hadn't approached recklessly or too quickly, instead slowing his steps and gradually moving closer.
Fortunately, Yu Lanfeng had understood his intention as well. Before Nan Yu reached the doorway, he had ended the reprimand and come out to eat with him.
Nan Yu, in turn, pretended he knew nothing.
In truth, even if Nan Yu knew about these matters, it wouldn't make much difference. His identity was special, after all.
Yu Lanfeng said, "By the way, the school problem can be considered resolved now. So you should seize the time to cultivate and reach the level of a High-Tier Mental Power User as quickly as possible. Then you can conceal yourself inside the legion. That would make many things much more convenient."
Nan Yu said, "That's true. But I still need to restrain myself when treating people. If I can casually treat Ability Users whose Mental Contamination has reached S-rank, wouldn't that be the same as announcing that there's something unusual about me?"
Yu Lanfeng replied, "Don't worry. I'll arrange the soldiers' combat rotations and leave periods properly. I won't allow their Mental Contamination to reach S-rank."
Nan Yu said, "Rather than doing that, why not have them supervise one another? Anyone whose Mental Contamination approaches S-rank must withdraw immediately to receive treatment."
"If someone realizes their Mental Contamination is nearing S-rank but refuses to withdraw for treatment, they should be punished."
"And if someone discovers that another person is trying to conceal it and reports them, they should receive a reward. What do you think?"
Yu Lanfeng said, "That's a good method."
Nan Yu smiled. "Right? Those who can fight together have all entrusted their lives to one another. They definitely wouldn't want their comrades to completely lose everything they have now because of Mental Contamination."
Yu Lanfeng nodded. "Alright. We'll follow your method this time. Once we depart, we'll begin implementing it."
Nan Yu was quite pleased, but...
"It's just that we'll need to think carefully about what kind of punishment and reward to use."
"If the reward is too large, it would be unreasonable. But if it's too small... sometimes there wouldn't be enough motivation."
"The punishment also has to be carefully designed. It can't be too severe, but it also can't be too light."
Yu Lanfeng said, "Just give them money as a reward and deduct money as punishment. There's no need to make it too complicated."
Realization dawned on Nan Yu.
"That's right. It's such a simple matter. Just give money as a reward and deduct money as punishment."
"After all, it's for their own safety. To them, the more money the better. But even if some is deducted, they'll probably only feel distressed for a while. It won't truly hurt them."
Yu Lanfeng asked, "Are you finished eating?"
Nan Yu put down his bowl and chopsticks.
"Mm. Let's go."
"I want to visit Professor Liu first. If your people catch that man, tell me. I want to see him and find out why he attacked Professor Liu."
If the target had been Nan Yu, then they could have come directly after him.
Why had they deliberately gone after Professor Liu?
That was what Nan Yu couldn't understand.
Could it truly have been nothing more than wanting to beat Professor Liu up?
That was obviously unreasonable.
Infiltrating Yu Lanfeng's legion was no simple matter.
Nan Yu suddenly thought of something.
"By the way, wasn't that man able to live in the family residential building because someone working at legion headquarters brought him in?"
"Who was that person? Have you found him?"
Yu Lanfeng said, "We found him, but he has no memory of it at all."
"We investigated him thoroughly and discovered that he wasn't lying."
"I was just about to take you to examine him."
"Although this matter isn't his fault, if he still wants to continue working here, you'll need to check whether there's anything wrong with his Mental Sea."
Nan Yu stood up.
"Then let's go. Take me to see him."
Under Yu Lanfeng's guidance, Nan Yu soon met the man.
He looked uneasy, but still greeted Nan Yu in a restrained and respectful manner.
Nan Yu raised a hand to stop him.
"Remain seated."
"I'm only here to examine your Mental Sea."
"If there's nothing wrong, you'll probably be able to leave soon."
"So I hope you'll cooperate."
"Yes, yes, of course! I have absolutely no problem with that!"
He obediently sat still.
Nan Yu walked behind him and placed both hands beside his head.
Yu Lanfeng stood nearby watching.
If the slightest thing went wrong, his flames weren't something to joke about.
Nan Yu's mental power slowly entered the man's Mental Sea.
He carefully inspected it bit by bit.
In the end, he really did discover something small.
However, this separated sphere of mental power was extremely tiny.
Very little mental power remained inside it, and it was slowly dispersing on its own.
If they had waited another day or two to examine him, the sphere would have completely dissipated.
By then, there would have been no way to detect it at all.
Nan Yu slowly wrapped it in his own mental power, drew it out of the man's Mental Sea, and placed it inside a special device that had already been prepared.
Nan Yu let out a breath.
"Alright. I've placed it inside."
"Take it away and check whether it belongs to the same person as the one we sent over earlier."
"If it does..."
If it did, then this was truly terrifying.
The most terrifying part was...
That man had integrated himself into this place completely naturally.
He had followed his so-called "family" into the legion's residential building, then used someone else to come here and attack Professor Liu...
Nan Yu asked, "Do you know why he attacked Professor Liu?"
The man looked somewhat haggard after the mental power sphere was removed.
"I don't know."
"He never discussed his own affairs in front of anyone, so I never knew ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) anything."
Nan Yu asked, "Never? How long did you live together?"
"Not long. Or rather, we never truly lived together."
"I happened to meet him by chance when I went into the city to handle some business."
"Since I often had to go there, and he probably lived nearby, I would run into him four or five times out of every ten visits."
"I never suspected anything."
"A complete stranger repeatedly and coincidentally running into me..."
Nan Yu said, "You're remarkably careless."
"If he had been targeting you, you might not even have survived."
"Fortunately, he had another objective."
"Do you know anything about him?"
"For example, who he is, what he looks like in detail, why he might have acted, or whether there was anything unusual about him?"
"No! There was nothing unusual."
"Every time we met, we only chatted for a few minutes."
Nan Yu said, "It seems he used one of those encounters to place something small inside your Mental Sea."
The man was startled.
Nan Yu continued, "But you're fine now. I've already removed it."
"You should still be more careful in the future."
"Why not simply live inside headquarters?"
"Bring your family to the family residential building."
"Constantly traveling back and forth between headquarters and the city is already relatively dangerous."
"In my opinion, it would be better for you to live at headquarters permanently from now on."
"I understand."
"I'll have my family move here."
"If something like this happens again, I wouldn't have the face to remain here."
"I'm sorry for causing everyone trouble this time!"
Nan Yu blinked and looked toward Yu Lanfeng.
Yu Lanfeng raised an eyebrow slightly.
"You will remain here under observation for fifteen days."
"After confirming there are no other problems, you may apply to leave."
"As long as the two doctors here sign off that you're fine, you'll be allowed to go."
Nan Yu stood up.
"Since that's settled, let's leave."
"We've finished everything here."
Yu Lanfeng quickly took him to another location.
There, Nan Yu saw two people forcing a man down into a chair and locking him in place.
Nan Yu blinked.
"Could it be..."
"You caught him already?"
Yu Lanfeng replied, "Mm. Go inside and take a look."
Nan Yu was extremely interested, so he quickly followed Yu Lanfeng inside.
The first thing he noticed was the man's face.
He had never seen him before.
He was completely unfamiliar.
If Nan Yu had ever seen him, even only once in his previous life, he would have recognized him.
But he had absolutely no impression of this man.
That meant they had never had any contact from beginning to end.
When the man saw Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng enter, he suddenly let out a mocking laugh.
"I never expected my actions would cause the Marshal himself to come and interrogate me."
"What an honor."
"And the person beside you must be the partner you've chosen for this lifetime, Marshal?"
"If he weren't here, perhaps you'd already have me pinned to the ground and beaten half to death."
Yu Lanfeng acted as though he hadn't heard him.
He simply sat down to the side.
He didn't look as though he intended to interrogate the man personally.
It seemed he had only come to observe.
Nan Yu walked to the table opposite the prisoner and sat down.
"Naturally, the task of interrogating a Mental Power User should be given to another Mental Power User."
"After all, you look rather slippery."
What shocked Nan Yu was that this man appeared very young.
He definitely looked no older than fifty.
Yet despite being a Mid-Tier Mental Power User like Nan Yu, he could also separate portions of his own mental power and place them inside other people's Mental Seas, using them to control their actions.
Nan Yu was certain this man could also release his mental power externally.
Just like Nan Yu, he could accomplish external mental power release before reaching the level of a High-Tier Mental Power User.
What Nan Yu couldn't determine was whether this man possessed something like the Nianshen Grass.
If he didn't even have Nianshen Grass, then it would prove that his strength and potential were truly formidable.
There was one thing Nan Yu had no choice but to admit.
This man's potential might be even greater than his own.
But now wasn't the time to discuss that.
Just as Nan Yu was about to speak, the man said, "There are several things I want to tell the two of you privately."
Nan Yu glanced at Yu Lanfeng.
Yu Lanfeng gave an imperceptible nod.
Everyone else in the room left.
They agreed so readily not because they trusted the man.
Nan Yu trusted Yu Lanfeng's strength and knew he could protect him.
Yu Lanfeng, meanwhile, was confident in his own power and saw no need to fear danger.
If the prisoner truly dared to make any suspicious move, Yu Lanfeng would be the first to burn him to death.
Nan Yu took a deep breath.
"Can you speak now?"
This time, the prisoner was the one who looked surprised.
"You truly sent everyone else out?"
The door was already closed.
Even the surveillance had been shut down.
He could sense all of that.
So he wasn't mistaken.
It was all real.
Nan Yu said, "You don't need to concern yourself with that."
"You only need to understand that you can explain your objective now."
Instead, the man stared fixedly at Nan Yu.
"I possess a top-level secret concerning you."
"Are you certain you want him to remain here?"
"Of course, don't worry."
"This is your stronghold, and I've heard of your reputation."
"No matter who I try to control, I could never control you."
"So, do you want to know?"
The moment he finished speaking, Nan Yu felt that he sounded exactly like some trash advertisement.
No matter how pleasant the wording sounded, it was still garbage.
Nan Yu said, "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"What do you mean by a top-level secret concerning me?"
"Just say it."
"He already knows everything about me."
"In that case, I won't hold back."
"The organization already knows that you possess Nianshen Grass."
Nan Yu froze upon hearing those words.
It was as though he hadn't understood what the man said.
Yet he had heard and understood every word perfectly.
Yu Lanfeng abruptly stood and walked in front of him.
"Is that true?"
"Do you know who leaked it?"
The man waved a hand.
"I don't know that."
"I'm only an informant."
"When I first received the information, I was also confused."
"Absolutely no one should have known, and none of the evidence indicated that Nan Yu possessed Nianshen Grass."
Yu Lanfeng's expression became extremely dark.
"Is the organization you're talking about the same organization that previously sent people to rescue Bai Zhouyun?"
"The organization involved with prohibited drugs?"
"That's right."
"You already know that much, don't you?"
"The situation is complicated."
"Not many people know specifically that Nan Yu possesses that item."
"Only senior members are aware."
"When ordinary members receive missions, the instructions simply say to capture Nan Yu and bring him back."
"I deliberately caused such a large disturbance this time, even though it wasn't particularly advantageous for me, so I could gain a certain amount of freedom."
"Only then could I pass this information to you."
"The organization has probably discovered that someone inside has been secretly contacting outsiders."
"That's why they've restricted access to the most important information."
"I don't know how many people accepted the same mission and know that you possess Nianshen Grass."
"Probably five or six."
"When I left, they were still receiving the mission details."
"I didn't wait for them and came here directly."
"I needed to arrive ahead of them, make contact with you first, and deliver the information."
Nan Yu asked, "Can you tell us whose informant you are?"
"We need to verify it."
"If there's no way to confirm it, wouldn't that mean you're suspicious?"
The man quietly gave them a name.
Yu Lanfeng immediately had someone contact that person.
A response came quickly.
The man was indeed one of their informants and could be trusted.
Nan Yu asked, "You mean the organization already knows I possess Nianshen Grass, but you don't know where that information came from?"
The man shook his head.
"I know a little about the general source."
"This organization has always searched for people who have used their prohibited drugs."
"Those who were discovered using them and later imprisoned could all be secretly extracted."
"After that, they would be threatened, bribed, or coerced into directly participating in these missions."
Nan Yu asked, "You mean the information about my Nianshen Grass was revealed by someone the organization rescued?"
"That's right."
"It must be."
"Otherwise, many things can't be explained."
"Has anyone who recently had frequent contact with you, and who would most likely know that you possess it, been taken away by the organization?"
The first person Nan Yu thought of was Bai Zhouyun.
But he quickly felt that Bai Zhouyun shouldn't have known about the Nianshen Grass.
Nan Yu had never taken it out in front of him.
He had always hidden it extremely well.
Even his father and brothers didn't know.
The only people who knew Nan Yu possessed Nianshen Grass were Nan Yu himself and Yu Lanfeng.
Yu Lanfeng said, "It was Bai Zhouyun."
Nan Yu frowned slightly.
"That's impossible."
"I never told him."
"I've never taken it out anywhere with other people present."
"And yet the organization knows."
Yu Lanfeng said, "Perhaps he saw it when you weren't paying attention."
"When? Where?"
"That's completely impossible!"
"Unless..."
Nan Yu seemed to suddenly think of something.
His entire expression changed with shock, as though he had finally realized where he might have made a mistake.
But only he knew what had truly crossed his mind.
That possibility was...
It was absolutely impossible.
Yet Nan Yu felt that if he himself could return from the future, why couldn't Bai Zhouyun?
Only at that moment did he recall that Bai Zhouyun's changes later on had indeed happened extremely quickly.
Many of his expressions and subtle reactions had been ones Nan Yu remembered clearly from his previous life.
But those expressions shouldn't have existed in this life yet.
Bai Zhouyun hadn't experienced enough to possess them.
The possibility was truly inconceivable.
So...
Could it actually be true?
Nan Yu soon confirmed his own speculation.
"I think I understand."
If Bai Zhouyun had returned from the future just like him, then it wouldn't be strange for him to know that Nan Yu possessed Nianshen Grass.
Especially since Nan Yu always subconsciously hid it inside his sleeve.
Out of habit, he would take out the tiny flowerpot into his palm...
Then conceal the hand holding the pot inside his sleeve or clothing.
It had already become a conditioned reflex.
"Wow, you really do have it."
"But it looks so ordinary."
"Is it truly Nianshen Grass?"
"Is its effect really as powerful as the legends claim?"
Nan Yu found it somewhat amusing.
"How could that be possible?"
"Those are only exaggerated rumors."
"My reputation had already spread before I obtained it."
"In that case, is it useful to carry it around?"
Nan Yu put the Nianshen Grass away.
"Even now, I haven't figured out how to properly cultivate it or use it to its full potential."
"But I've achieved quite a few results in other areas."
Nan Yu pursed his lips.
"Since you already know this secret, we can't possibly let you go."
"We can't even allow you to leave this place."
"You also can't contact outsiders."
"At most, you'll be allowed to send messages."
"What? Why?"
"Many people already know."
"At the very least, almost all the senior members of the organization know."
"I can guarantee that the entire organization has gone insane over Nan Yu, or rather, over the Nianshen Grass in his possession."
"If Marshal Yu weren't here intimidating them, who knows what kind of chaos would have broken out already."
"They're currently planning to ambush you on the road when you depart for the border."
"Their ultimate objective is either to seize Nan Yu or steal the Nianshen Grass from his possession."
But directly stealing the Nianshen Grass was most likely impossible.
So they could only settle for the next best option and take Nan Yu himself away.
Nan Yu was furious.
At the same time, he felt fortunate.
Fortunately, Bai Zhouyun, who very likely had also returned to the past, was now nothing more than a ticking time bomb.
Yu Lanfeng said, "We should have dealt with him long ago."
Nan Yu replied, "It's too late to say that now."
"The most important thing is figuring out how to resolve this."
Even killing Bai Zhouyun immediately would accomplish nothing.
The information had already spread.
Many conspiracies were gradually beginning to reveal themselves.
The informant spoke again.
"By the way, I really can't endure this much longer."
"For now, you can only arrest me under the charge of attacking Professor Liu."
"The true reason you've mentioned can't be made public."
"So I'll have to trouble you."
"It's no trouble, no trouble at all."
"By the way, when will I be able to leave?"
Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng exchanged a glance.
"As for that..."
"You'll have to wait for further notice."
"Once you receive notice, you'll know."
"In any case, no harm will come to you."
"If you're tired, sleep."
"You should conserve your strength."
"Starting tomorrow, you'll have to rely on your own luck."
Nan Yu didn't show anything outwardly.
But inside, he felt miserable.
Even his family didn't know about the Nianshen Grass.
He had concealed it because he was afraid that if they knew, they would be targeted.
But now...
So many people already knew.
Only his own family remained ignorant.
Nan Yu stood and walked outside.
Yu Lanfeng followed.
The two people who had been guarding the door remained beside it.
When they saw Nan Yu and Yu Lanfeng a short distance away, they moved into a corner and waited for them to approach.
Yu Lanfeng looked at Nan Yu.
"You truly don't remember exactly what happened?"
Nan Yu said, "I probably know when it happened."
"But I still don't know exactly what happened at that time!"
"In any case, the fact that I possess Nianshen Grass has now been exposed."
"What awaits us will be an endless stream of trouble."
"So I'm asking you."
"What do we do now?"
Yu Lanfeng replied, "There's no need to fear trouble."
"No matter how many come, we'll kill them all."
"These people aren't trouble."
Nan Yu stared at him blankly.
Then, feeling slightly embarrassed, he said,
"Alright..."
"I understand."