"I have already forged an indelible karmic bond with the Buddhist Cultivators. With the Wisdom King heading north, the Ning Family cannot extricate itself. It is not just me who has no way back—the Ning Family has no way back either."
Ning Xiangyi remained silent.
Ning Xinping looked increasingly aged, yet less and less like an old man. He had said he wanted to speak to Ning Xiangyi as an elder, but when he truly admitted these things, every calculation he made was that of the Ning Family's patriarch.
"If I stay, the entire Ning Family will be dragged into the Wisdom King's journey north. If I leave, a few deaths will suffice. Thus, Yang Houjia's invitation to Mount Huayu is both a threat and protection. Once I leave, members of the Ning Family will die. Perhaps one, perhaps ten. Remember this: until I return, endure whatever you can. Do not take up arms lightly."
"Patriarch, what should I do...?"
Ning Xiangyi felt his mind had become a tangled mess. He had never imagined a moment would come when he would ask Ning Xinping, who had never understood such scheming, what he should do.
Ning Xinping shook his head. "Do nothing. The tide of events will push you into action. There is no need to worry about the future. With my bones and blood, I will bear the Ning Family safely to the ground."
He rose, reached out, and gently lifted the flame of the lamp that was about to go out. With a twist of two fingers, the flame leaped anew, driving back some of the gloom.
Holding the lamp, he walked slowly to the other corners, rekindling the dying flames one after another.
Soon, the room stood fully revealed. Rows of ancestral tablets sat high above, silently watching