Chapter 142 Two Heads Are Better Than One

"What on earth should we do now, then? Is there any way for us to make a clean getaway?" Lan Wu asked softly, looking around at everyone with a bewildered expression. Judging by the current situation, a direct confrontation was completely out of the question. But how could they escape safely from the King's clutches without him resorting to lethal measures against them in the short term? Lan Wu knew Fu Youming's personality all too well; he would never tolerate anyone defying him. Yet now, regardless of their individual motives, their intent to rebel had been laid completely bare. She was certain someone as clever as the King must have already perceived it.

It was simply that he was overly arrogant and believed they could never escape the palm of his hand, confident that even if they truly harbored rebellious thoughts, he could ruthlessly crush them. That was why Fu Youming turned a blind eye, allowing them to engage in their futile resistance. As long as they did not disrupt his plans, the time had not yet come to slaughter them all. However, he had overlooked one crucial point: these people were never meant to submit so easily. Every single one of them had their own mission to fulfill, tasks they were destined to accomplish. No matter how powerful or formidable Fu Youming might be, he could still not conquer the will of Heaven. Sometimes, when Heaven willed it, no matter how great your abilities, you could not defy it.

"I have never been skilled at plotting, and I honestly have no idea what we ought to do," Yan Xuesu said, hugging her arms as her gaze drifted toward the distant horizon while she muttered to herself. Yet, soft though her voice was, everyone present heard every word clearly.

In truth, had she not just recounted her experience with such emotional clarity, she would never have recalled this matter out of the blue, nor would she have considered it abnormal. But under the present circumstances, those seemingly ordinary actions of Fu Youming must surely conceal some hidden inside story unknown to them. One or two incidents could be dismissed as mere coincidences, but when all of them were strung together, they pointed to a massive conspiracy. Once exposed, there was no telling how many innocent lives would be implicated.

"Xuesu, just tell us everything you know. You don't need to worry about whether it will be useful or not," Yu Shang said with a smile, looking at Yan Xuesu who seemed hesitant to speak. He knew the young woman was afraid that whatever she revealed would prove useless, plunging everyone's hopes straight back down to the freezing depths of despair. She did not want others to endure that overwhelming sorrow—she knew better than anyone what it felt like to go from the spark of hope to ultimate despair.

"Not long after I first entered Youming Capital, I wasn't very familiar with the place yet. Once, out of boredom and a sudden impulse, I wanted to wander around and get some fresh air. But I accidentally lost my way and couldn't find the direction back. So, I started groping around blindly in hopes of returning to my room by my own efforts. Yet, it was precisely because of this that I discovered a secret—and nearly lost my life at the King's hands." Yan Xuesu took a deep breath. It seemed that was indeed a very unpleasant memory.

"What terrifying thing could possibly be behind that door to make someone as fearless as you feel such terror?" Meng Youyuan asked with genuine curiosity. In her mind, Yan Xuesu was always a courageous woman who would never show fear, not even in the face of death. Yet, upon recalling that encounter, such a look of sheer panic had surfaced on her face. This inevitably made the matter seem both baffling and extraordinary; whatever was behind that door must truly be formidable!

"It wasn't anything terrifying at all, but rather someone very familiar to us. Yet at that moment, his expression, his temperament, and even the very aura he exuded were completely different from the past. It was a complex emotion, a mixture of greed tinged with desire, and sinister cunning blended with a lust for possession. It gave me the immediate illusion that I would surely forfeit my life there that day, that this was a person I could not afford to provoke, and whom, if possible, I should avoid having any connection with whatsoever." Remembering the scene from back then, Yan Xuesu felt the man's expression instantly flash before her eyes once again, sending an involuntary shudder through her.

"If I'm not mistaken, the person who terrified you like that must be Fu Youming," Yu Shang deduced slowly. Yet there was one thing he could not puzzle out: why was it that whenever the four people who had come out of Youming Capital mentioned Fu Youming, they wore looks of sheer terror? Just what kind of secret did Fu Youming hold in his hands that kept their lives and deaths under his absolute control?

"You're right. The person I saw was indeed the King, and I also saw the reflection of someone none of you could possibly have imagined. That's also the reason I find myself so utterly bewildered. Although that person did not appear in the flesh but was merely a phantom projection, when I compared him with the King side by side, I was truly stunned. The same face, the same temperament, but the only difference was... a trace of a smile at the corner of his lips, a smile the King had never possessed. I could tell that the King felt both envy and hatred. I have no idea what kind of relationship exists between them; I only felt that at that moment, they seemed to be the exact same person." Yan Xuesu struggled to recall the past as she recounted the memory, yet her tone was completely devoid of emotion—perhaps it was simply a past she wished desperately to forget.

"The same face, the same temperament? Don't tell me the person you saw in that phantom was the brat! Could that old geezer really be perverted enough to monitor his every move?" Upon hearing this, Xiao Yin stared at Yan Xuesu in astonishment. Earlier, when he had first laid eyes on Fu Youming, he had found him somewhat familiar. It wasn't until later, when Fu Youming accompanied the brat back to Youming Capital once more, that he realized the two of them bore such a striking resemblance. It had almost made him mistake them for the exact same person, except that he had inadvertently caught a glimpse of intense hatred in Fu Youming's eyes.

This could not help but make Xiao Yin deeply puzzled: how could a person harbor such intense hatred for another unless he regarded that other person as entirely superfluous, an obstacle standing in his own way? Only then would he have sufficient reason to detest someone who looked so remarkably like himself. It was a pity that no matter how Xiao Yin searched his mind, he could find no connection between the two. He had once thought that perhaps it was all just a coincidence—after all, there were countless creatures in this world, and having a few look alike occasionally should be perfectly normal. But where on earth did that hatred stem from? To this day, Xiao Yin still could not find the true reason.

"That's right, the person in the phantom was none other than Brother Yu! Although it was just for a fleeting glance before the King snatched the vision back, I can be certain that person was Yu Shang. But what baffles me is that when the King discovered my presence, he fell into a momentary panic, just like a child who had done something wrong, terrified that someone would expose his misdeed and subject him to punishment. Yet given the King's status, even if he really had committed a wrong, who on earth could possibly have the authority to punish him? Furthermore, I was the one who stumbled upon this; I posed no threat to him whatsoever. And yet, the moment he saw me, he panicked. I truly have no idea how to explain that expression." Yan Xuesu said with utter helplessness, her vision once again filled with the shadow of Fu Youming, impossible to shake off.

"I suddenly feel that this was simply Fu Youming showing a guilty conscience," Yin Boxuan remarked with utter indifference. Truly, from beginning to start, he had never cared much for the person called Fu Youming. But this time, the man had harmed the person he wished most to protect, and that was simply unforgivable. Sooner or later, he would make him pay the price for his actions.

"I have no idea what was going on with him at the time; I only remember that the moment he saw me appear, he panicked, and then struck me fiercely with a single palm strike that sent me flying several yards away. That pain, that wrenching agony, I will never forget. I still remember the words he said back then: if I dared to flap my tongue and leak a single word of this matter, no matter how great my contributions to Youming Capital might be, they would never make up for this offense, and he would personally kill me to make an example to others!" At this point, Yan Xuesu's heart grew icy cold, as if she were once again gazing upon that cold-blooded demon and had returned to the day she wished never to revisit.

"Why on earth did he want to cover this up? What kind of relationship does he actually have with Brother Yu? Why go to such elaborate lengths to monitor Brother Yu's every move, and even lure him to this Yanlan Academy in the end? What on earth is his purpose? I'm getting more and more confused," Lan Bingxian said, looking Yu Shang up and down before speaking almost to himself. Although he had never laid eyes on the legendary Fu Youming, he had heard more than enough rumors about him to know that the man was indeed a legendary existence.

"To be honest, before I went to Youming Capital, I had never even heard of this person, let alone imagined I could have any intricate relationship with him. In fact, the very first time I saw him, even I was thrown into complete chaos. I almost felt as if I were looking into a mirror—only the person on the other side of the mirror was still me, except that the me over there wasn't living a very good life. At least I could still smile, whereas even when he smiled, it was laced with bitterness. My intuition tells me that perhaps there really is some unspeakable connection between us. But the time to expose all of this has not yet come; even if we search for it now, we won't find any clear answers." Yu Shang smiled helplessly and spoke in a gentle tone, as if he were discussing a matter that had nothing to do with him at all—as though he were not the protagonist of this affair, but merely an outsider looking on.

"The King is so much older than you, and even before the Immortal-Underworld War, no one had ever heard of him having anyone particularly close to him. If we insist on linking the two of you, perhaps we have to trace it back to the time after the King was taken away to the alien realm by the ancient deities. Perhaps some bizarre, inexplicable event occurred during that period, leading to the utterly baffling result we see today. Truth be told, the period of time the King vanished can be considered a total mystery; no one knows what he experienced, nor does anyone know when he returned. That blank space in time meant nothing to others, but for him, anything could have happened." Yu Xiaoeran, who had remained silent for a long time, finally could not help voicing his thoughts. In truth, he had always been deeply curious about the days when Fu Youming was taken away by the ancient deities; he had a hunch that it must have been an earth-shaking, god-defying encounter.

"Yu Xiao'er is right. Perhaps it really was from that time onward that his long-planned scheme began to unfold. To be honest, aside from relatives sharing blood ties, it is simply impossible for two unrelated people to look so remarkably similar. I've always felt that you share a very close relationship with that Fu Youming; perhaps the two of you really are family, who knows?" Xun Mishuan chimed in with a bold conjecture of her own.