Cold sweat trickled down in streams. While calculating against Xi Jie, wasn't he equally calculating against me? Nian Bing's heart turned icy; he realized he had been too young, too naïve. Xi Jie's appearance of nonchalance, tinged with subtle resentment, was clearly a deliberate act to make me believe my scheme had succeeded. But the one truly succeeding was him. I tried to use wisdom to narrow the gap between us, but he used his own wisdom to widen that gap further. In this situation now, is there even a point in fighting tomorrow's battle? What should have been my advantage has already transformed into a definitive disadvantage.
Staring at his own hands, Nian Bing experienced a fleeting moment of confusion. He couldn't figure out how to turn around this defeat. He was thinking hard, yet even thinking offered no solutions to the predicament staring him in the face!
