Chapter 66 The Great Teacher [Zhang Jiao]

After more than ten days of waiting, there was finally a response.

Gu Ye sat on the living room sofa, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the white card-making materials in his hand, his expression calm but unable to hide the turmoil in his heart.

Today, Gu Ye intended to have a showdown with Ning Shijun and ask why Ning Shijun had chosen him.

Gu Ye felt it was impossible that Ning Shijun had chosen him just because he had shown a bit of precociousness when he was a child.

Strength was even less likely, so there must be other reasons.

Knock, knock!!

A rhythmic knocking suddenly sounded, breaking the silence of the living room.

Gu Ye's heart stirred, his fingertips paused, and he looked towards the entryway, a trace of realization flashing in his eyes.

The person had arrived.

After opening the door, Ning Shijun was in his familiar attire. "Uncle Jun, please come in."

Ning Shijun nodded slightly and stepped into the living room.

He saw Bu Yao lying on the sofa, looking just like a shut-in, eating potato chips, lounging in a relaxed manner, and watching TV.

He walked up to Bu Yao with a helpless expression and said, "Is this how I asked you to protect someone?"

"Isn't he fine? Don't block my view of the show."

Bu Yao reached out and pushed Ning Shijun aside. Ning Shijun walked over to the other sofa, sat down, and turned to look at Gu Ye.

"I heard you wanted to see me about something. I've already learned from Bu Yao that you don't want to join us."

Gu Ye nodded. He had his own life to live and didn't want to get involved in the struggles between these major factions.

"Fine, you have your own choices, and I respect your life."

There was no trace of surprise on Ning Shijun's face, his expression remaining calm. However, those clear black and white eyes were now as deep as an endless abyss, hiding indescribable emotions.

"I think you didn't just ask me to come here today for this one thing."

Gu Ye took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and finally asked the question that had troubled him for a long time. "Uncle Jun, why did you go to such great lengths to see me? I don't think it was just to deliver a golden card, and then there's her..."

Hearing her name mentioned, Bu Yao finally deigned to take her eyes off the TV, curled her lips, and said with an expression of disdain:

"Don't bring me into this. I was just too bored at the base, so I accepted Ning Shijun's commission to protect you."

Hearing Gu Ye's question, Ning Shijun straightened his body, then unconsciously leaned back. His eyes were filled with memories, and the air inexplicably quieted down. After a long time, he finally spoke:

"Actually, there was one more thing your parents told me that I didn't tell you."

Ning Shijun looked at Gu Ye. "Brother Yuan, that is, your father, once instructed me that if you accomplished nothing and did not become a Card Master, I should ensure you a lifetime of peace and a quiet life."

He paused. "But when I saw you again, you were already a Card Master famous on campus. So, your father said that if you became a Card Master, I should give you that golden card. As for your future life, it's all up to you."

Gu Ye heard Ning Shijun keep mentioning that father who seemed very ordinary in his memory, and asked:

"Uncle Jun, what kind of person was my father? Was he a Card Master?"

Hearing Gu Ye's question, a faint smile curled at the corners of Ning Shijun's mouth. In that smile, there was nostalgia, helplessness, and a bit of relief:

"Your father, he was indeed a Card Master. As for what kind of person he was, in my eyes, he was an unreliable man, but he could turn the tide at critical moments."

"It was precisely because of your father's unreliability that your mother chose him."

Bu Yao, who had been lazily leaning on the sofa, immediately sat up, perking up her ears to listen to Ning Shijun's words. In her mind, she had already imagined a grand drama full of love and hate.

Gu Ye smiled awkwardly; he didn't want to learn about the love history of Ning Shijun and his parents.

He quickly changed the subject. Bu Yao, not hearing the topic she wanted to hear, stared at Gu Ye with a resentful expression. Gu Ye ignored her gaze and asked Ning Shijun, "So, just because I became a Card Master, you chose to do so many things for me?"

"That's not it." Ning Shijun shook his head.

"It was the experience in a Nightmare-level Card Domain that brought me to Yunlin City to choose you."

"Otherwise, I could have chosen any city to accomplish our mission. After all, what we are doing is too dangerous. If something were to happen to you, I would fail Jing Shu."

Lin Jingshu, Gu Ye's mother. Hearing this name, which was both familiar and strange, Gu Ye's heart gave a sharp tug, and a trace of bitterness welled up in his eyes.

Mentioning that Card Domain, Ning Shijun, as an Epic-level powerhouse, rarely showed an expression of fear and sadness on his face.

"It was an important experience in the first half of my life, and it was also the starting point of the second half. Inside, I broke through to the Epic level, but I also lost my most important brother."

"Everyone died, only I survived. I live carrying their beliefs, which is also the direction of my efforts for the rest of my life. In the final moments of the Card Domain, I received a hint, it was about..."

Ning Shijun stared intently at Gu Ye, "Yours!"

"Me??" Gu Ye looked confused.

"That's right. He told me that you could help me fulfill our beliefs. That's why I came to Yunlin City to find you, but now it seems that he might have been wrong."

Gu Ye also felt he was wrong. In this grand event, a Bronze-level Card Master was not even as good as cannon fodder.

After saying these words, Ning Shijun felt a sense of relief inside.

As for Gu Ye, his mood at this moment was incredibly complex. He had never imagined that his parents had arranged so much for him, even after they passed away, they were still silently protecting him.

Since his parents died, his initial dream was to live a stable life.

After becoming a Card Master, he strove to get into a good academy, but different dangers followed one after another.

A thought suddenly rose in his heart, carrying a faint but extremely urgent hope. He looked up at Ning Shijun, his eyes full of expectation, his voice trembling slightly, almost imperceptibly:

"Uncle Jun, my parents... are they still alive? A Card Master who could leave behind a golden card for him surely wouldn't die so easily."

Ning Shijun was silent for a long time, then sighed and said:

"They didn't survive. I was a step too late. I'm sorry."

Hearing this, the hope in Gu Ye's eyes was instantly extinguished as if doused by cold water, fading away completely.

He tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a calm smile, but that smile was full of bitterness and loneliness.

Although so many years had passed, and he had long told himself to take his parents' passing lightly, deep down, that longing for them to still be alive had never truly disappeared.

Now, hearing Ning Shijun's confirmation, his heart still felt like it was being tightly gripped by an invisible hand, causing a sharp spasm that made it almost impossible for him to breathe.

"It's okay, Uncle Jun."

Gu Ye composed himself. He was a person who knew how to repay kindness. Since Ning Shijun had helped him resolve the crisis with the Witch Society, Gu Ye was prepared to do his best to help them.

What Ning Shijun and his group were doing was resisting the oppression of the Noble Families, which was very similar to a figure Gu Ye knew from his past life.

That person was the recognized Grand Preceptor of Great Benevolence, who cared for the world and could not bear to see the common people displaced and oppressed by powerful authorities.

He founded the Taiping Dao, recruited disciples widely, saved the people from fire and water, and with the slogan "The Blue Sky has died, the Yellow Sky shall stand," he was determined to overthrow the corrupt order and create a new world where everyone was equal and lived in peace and contentment. He was the leader of the Taiping Sect, Zhang Jiao.

Gu Ye prepared to create this card and give it to Ning Shijun. He believed that with Zhang Jiao in Ning Shijun's hands, he would surely be able to realize his ambitions in this world.