Chapter 168: Fear

"I have an appointment with Dugu Yan, so I'll be leaving first," Ning Feiliu said to Ye Lingling.

Ye Lingling's beautiful eyes held a complex expression, but she hid it away, nodded, and said, "Then... I'll head back to the clinic first."

During this period, if Ning Feiliu was not at the clinic, she would open the clinic doors to treat patients.

After more than half a year of study, Ye Lingling was now also able to prescribe medicine proficiently.

Ning Feiliu was no longer very interested in the series of tasks involving treating people, saving lives, and receiving gratitude from patients and their families.

To put it bluntly, he had done so previously only because he needed to rapidly improve his level of Pharmacology.

He had simply treated it as a method to gain Dugu Bo's trust.

Now that his goal was accomplished and the completion conditions for those types of tasks were too difficult, Ning Feiliu had shifted most of his energy toward tasks focused on improving his strength and combat power.

Ye Lingling, however, had only recently begun studying medicine; now that Ning Feiliu was not putting much heart into the clinic, he focused his energy on cultivation and actual combat training.

It just so happened that she could accumulate a large amount of medical experience by treating patients at the clinic.

Ning Feiliu did not mind; practice truly produces true knowledge, and reading any number of medical books or performing any number of experiments was not as effective for learning medicine as direct hands-on practice.

Of course, the prerequisite was that one's theoretical knowledge had to be up to par.

To say nothing else, Ye Lingling's learning ability was quite strong; not only had she memorized the medical book "Treatise on Alchemy and Pharmacology," which was a collection of all his current research results, but she had also taken it to heart.

There were also some traditional medical books on Pharmacology from the Douluo Continent that Ye Lingling had dabbled in.

Therefore, in terms of theoretical knowledge, she had absolutely passed the mark.

It was a good thing for Ye Lingling to practice treating patients alone in the clinic; besides, there was no longer any fear of people causing trouble at the clinic.

Although the clinic was located in the civilian district on the outskirts of Heaven Dou City, it was still within the scope of Heaven Dou City, and apart from desperate criminals, few truly dared to make a move inside the city.

After all, the order during this period of the first Douluo story was really not as chaotic as it would be later.

After saying goodbye to Ye Lingling, Ning Feiliu turned and set off for the place he had agreed upon with Dugu Yan yesterday.

However, when he arrived at the Great Spirit Fighting arena, he once again saw his older brother Ning Mingrui looking at him with a complex expression.

"Brother Rui, don't overthink it," Ning Feiliu said to him softly, "I don't hate him that much; I just feel there is no necessity for it."

When Ning Mingrui heard what Ning Feiliu said, others might not have understood the meaning of these words, but he did.

Ning Feiliu meant that he did not exactly hate his cheap father Ning Fengzhi, but he just couldn't bring himself to like him either; going to the banquet was just to avoid exposing his identity, and besides, there was nothing to talk about.

What could he possibly have to talk about with Ning Fengzhi? Ning Fengzhi wanted nothing more than to win him over, or perhaps to win over Dugu Bo.

Yet he himself was a member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect; it was just that his attitude was that unless Ning Mingrui took power, he would basically not help the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Mingrui shook his head, sighed, and said softly, "Perhaps you are right, Xiao Fei, Father really did do something wrong."

"Right or wrong is generally not determined by our subjective will, but by the results," Ning Feiliu shook his head and said, "If the sect becomes prosperous because of it, then it was the right thing to do; if it declines because of it, then it was wrong... therefore, right and wrong can only be determined by future generations."

Everything Ning Fengzhi did was actually for the prosperity of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and that was indeed correct.

As the master of a sect, he should have set his sights on higher and further places; one or two unpromising sons really shouldn't have taken up too much of his energy.

In the eyes of Ning Fengzhi and the disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect other than sons like Ning Feiliu, he had done nothing wrong.

But in the eyes of Ning Feiliu and Ning Fengzhi's other sons, Ning Fengzhi had done wrong.

So such right or wrong had different subjective judgments in the eyes of different people.

Therefore, the only thing that truly judges right or wrong is the final so-called success or failure.

Using success or failure to measure right or wrong—there is nothing more fair or level than that.

After all, in the original plot, Tang San could rely on the might of a God King to do so many good things and still be revered by ten thousand people in the later generations of the Douluo World.

In the history of Ning Feiliu's past life, there were also some famous cases like the hypocritical Uncle Liu, the true-hearted Boss Cao, the usurping Zhao Song Dynasty, and the "brilliant" Ming Fortress Emperor; all these examples proved without exception that as long as you succeed, you are right, and if you fail, you are nothing.

Once you succeed, there will naturally be great scholars to interpret the scriptures for you.

And since you, Ning Fengzhi, want the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to eventually become prosperous, then whether the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect ends up prosperous or declines will naturally be the final verdict on success or failure, right or wrong.

Regarding Ning Fengzhi and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the original plot, according to the final outcome, there is no doubt that they had things they did right and things they did wrong.

But all in all, in the world of ten thousand years later, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect fell from being the deserved second-largest sect on the Douluo Dalu to the third-largest sect behind the Tang Sect and the Clear Sky Sect, and could even be said to have become the Tang Sect's wallet and lackey.

And later, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was renamed the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect because Ning Rongrong's martial soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, was upgraded to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

However, by the time of the Peerless Tang Sect, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had returned to its original name, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, because after Ning Rongrong, no one else possessed the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul; they all had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.

So calling it the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was somewhat inconsistent with reality, and it was changed back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Then there was the fact that the Soul Guidance Device technology of the Sun Moon Empire caused the status of Hidden Weapons and the Tang Sect to decline significantly.

The decline of the Tang Sect and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was largely due to the evolution of technology and the development of Soul Guidance Devices, which caused the Hidden Weapons the Tang Sect was so proud of to lose their utility, and the auxiliary capabilities of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda were gradually diluted.

And the Tang Sect didn't even have a single descendant of Tang San left; they were all disciples who had been absorbed from the outside, which is why it completely declined into a low-class sect.

But the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect at least still had direct-line disciples, so it only declined into a second-rate sect, but is this outcome good?

So... it can only be said that in the original plot, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's rights outweighed its wrongs; after all, at least they were not completely wiped out.

But later, by throwing their lot in with San Ge, letting the Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo give their all to save Tang San...

However, in the original plot, the son "Ning Feiliu" really didn't count for much; whether "Ning Feiliu" was ignored or not had no bearing on the prosperity or decline of the sect.

But in this timeline, a certain soul from another world traversing into this world makes things different...

Ning Mingrui was stunned for a moment, and he remained tangled in place.

And Ning Feiliu left this place directly to go find Dugu Yan.

After Ning Feiliu changed out of the attire belonging to "Yafei" in a certain corner, he quickly walked out of Heaven Dou City.

The place Dugu Yan had agreed upon was a location near the Sunset Forest, but Ning Feiliu had not been to that place yet.

So he had planned to arrive early and slowly search for that location.

But just as he arrived outside the Sunset Forest, he already saw that Dugu Yan was waiting for him there.

Dugu Yan was holding... a bouquet of white flowers, which was a type of flower unique to this world of the Douluo Dalu, named—Spirit Soul.

This flower could also be used in medicine, generally to treat restlessness and external injuries.

But it is used more for... mourning the dead.

Ning Feiliu seemed to sense something.

The pale white flowers appeared somewhat sorrowful, as if a sad Spirit Soul resided within the layers of curved petals.

"Feiliu... let's go," Dugu Yan said softly with a smile after seeing Ning Feiliu.

She did not add the "little" prefix to his name as she had before, nor did she appear as cheerful and lively as she had previously.

Ning Feiliu nodded, then followed Dugu Yan as she walked.

He actually wasn't quite sure what Dugu Yan wanted to talk to him about; was it because he had some sort of accident midway after he absorbed the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring that caused Dugu Yan to change like this?

So, Dugu Yan was probably worried about him, which is why she wanted to have a talk with him.

In reality, although Ning Feiliu had concealed the matter of the mental shock, his absorption of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was absolutely not a gamble.

But regardless, Dugu Yan was doing this out of concern for him.

It was a hundred times better than someone who didn't care about him at all.

So... I'll just patiently explain it to Sister Yan later.

Ning Feiliu thought this to himself.

Just then, Dugu Yan, who was walking slightly ahead to his side, finally stopped, and Ning Feiliu stopped as well upon seeing this.

Then he saw what kind of scenery lay ahead.

He saw that it was shaded by green trees and surrounded by flowers, appearing very quiet.

Here, there was only the wind and the chirping of birds; there were no other sounds.

And not far away, there was a small hill covered in grass and flowers, with a tall tree growing on it, its branches and leaves lush, giving one a warm feeling.

But under the tree, two huge tombstones stood erect.

As a Spirit Master, Ning Feiliu's eyesight was quite good, and from afar he could see the vigorous characters carved into the two hard and expensive stone tombstones with deep soul power—

"Tomb of beloved son Dugu Xin."

"Tomb of daughter-in-law Duan Zilin." (Author's note: Second setting, I couldn't find the names of Dugu Yan's parents.)

"Dad, Mom, Yan Yan has come to see you," Dugu Yan said softly.

Then she stepped forward and placed the Spirit Soul Flower she was holding between the two tombstones.

After observing a ten-second moment of silence, Ning Feiliu also stepped forward to Dugu Yan's side and said to the two tombstones, "Uncle, Aunt, I am Sister Yan's friend, Ning Feiliu. I have accompanied Sister Yan to see you today, my respects to you both."

"Feiliu..." Dugu Yan's beautiful eyes revealed a hint of tenderness as she saw this and said, "Dad, Mom, Feiliu is also a student taken in by Grandpa. He saved my life and Grandpa's life, so we no longer have to suffer the backlash of the toxins in our bodies like you did back then, so today I brought him to see you."

Thinking about it carefully, if it weren't for Ning Feiliu, she would have ended up just like her dad and mom, not knowing when the toxins in her body would backfire, and eventually dying from the poison.

So she had always been very grateful to Ning Feiliu, and she believed... if her dad and mom truly still had a Spirit Soul in this world, they would certainly be very grateful to Ning Feiliu as well.

Ning Feiliu said softly, "I just happened to do a few things..."

Dugu Yan, however, looked at her parents' tombstones for a long time, and suddenly she spoke, "Feiliu... that day... I was really scared..."

Her voice began to tremble now, as if she were afraid of something.

Ning Feiliu hesitated for a moment, then said gently, "That day was just an accident... and didn't I succeed in the end? Sister Yan, don't worry, I can't say much else, but I have a tough life."

"But what if you had failed that day?!" Dugu Yan turned to look at him, her beautiful eyes becoming watery, as if she couldn't help but cry the next moment.

"I..." Ning Feiliu faltered, but looking at Dugu Yan's beautiful eyes filled with worry and fear, his heart couldn't help but soften.

"Alright... it's my fault, I shouldn't have taken such a risk that day," he sighed and said.

"Feiliu... I was really scared... really scared." Dugu Yan could no longer hold it back, and the tears in her beautiful eyes fell like broken beads, "I was just too afraid of losing you... the moment I thought about losing you... it felt like my heart had been hollowed out... I felt that living had no meaning at all..."

"Just like... when I lost Dad and Mom back then... my mind was completely blank..."

"Really... don't leave me behind... don't leave me behind like Dad and Mom did..."

Seeing this, Ning Feiliu was suddenly at a loss. Although he had hidden the matter of the mental shock regarding his absorption of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, he himself had had sufficient confidence in dealing with the mental shock of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast before deciding to absorb it.

Although there was an accident because it was his first time absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, didn't nothing major happen midway?

But in his view, absorbing the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was a close call but ultimately safe.

Yet in Dugu Yan's view, Ning Feiliu hadn't known about the mental shock of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Beast beforehand, and he had almost had an accident midway!

This was completely different from everything being within Ning Feiliu's expectations as before!

This time, Ning Feiliu had just happened to successfully overcome the crisis, but what about next time?

Anyway, thinking about it carefully just made Dugu Yan more and more afraid.

Ning Feiliu looked at Dugu Yan, who was usually carefree and straightforward, now acting like a helpless little girl, and he felt very guilty in his heart.

Perhaps... if he had told her about this from the very beginning, Dugu Yan wouldn't be so worried now.

He lowered his eyes, stepped forward, and pulled Dugu Yan, who was suppressing her emotions and sobbing, into his arms.

"Sister Yan... I'm sorry, I was wrong," Ning Feiliu comforted her gently.

After being pulled into Ning Feiliu's embrace, Dugu Yan began to cry even more loudly; her previously suppressed emotions seemed to be fully released now, and she began to cry without restraint, no longer caring about anything.

(End of chapter)