The dagger in Haitang's hand was like the breath of the wind, wrapping around Fan Xian in strands. Fan Xian jumped, leaped, squatted, or lay down, making all sorts of strange and comical postures. Between each pose, he used his powerful body control to ensure the consistency of the postures.
The tip of the dagger pierced the mud next to his left ear, pierced through the grass under his right pinkie, and picked up the dewdrop by his throat.
It just couldn't pierce his body.
A strange look gradually appeared in Haitang's eyes. She had practiced martial arts since she was a child, and her talent was peerless. She was confident that the dagger in her hand had long obtained the way of nature. Other than the four great grandmasters, she had never looked upon anyone else as a threat. The young man before her, Fan Xian, was no match for her in any way … but why was it that even though he was in such a sorry state, the dagger in her hand was still lacking? Every time she was about to stab him, his body seemed to predict it, and at the most dangerous moment, he would move a few inches away!
The sweat on Fan Xian's forehead was already dripping. The situation was too dangerous, and there were many times when he had almost lost his life to the dagger. Although the dagger in his opponent's hand was not as fast or accurate as Wu Zhu's, it was truly marvelous. He felt a bit of regret. He shouldn't have dodged. He should have done what he had done earlier and fought to the death, using his valiance to overwhelm his opponent's indifference.
But the situation had come to this, and there was no other way.
In this moment of life and death, Fan Xian rolled on the wet grass, dodging in a sorry state. He had no chance to complain about Wu Zhu's level of education, and his own lack of talent in martial arts.
With a sharp sound, a black arrow pierced through the air, heading straight for Haitang's face. Haitang's entire attention was on Fan Xian. Seeing that she was about to kill him, she only lightly turned around, and the arrow swept past her cheek.
Immediately after, two more arrows, and then three more!
A rain of arrows accurately avoided Fan Xian, who was rolling around like a puppy. Dense and murderous, they dodged toward Haitang's body.
Haitang sighed softly in her heart. She pulled back her dagger, sweeping away the arrows one by one. She found that her wrist was also a bit numb. She couldn't help but be surprised. The light bows of the cavalry could actually shoot arrows with such power!
Immediately after, a long knife flew over like a hot knife through butter. This was Tiger Guard Gao Da's … flying knife! The tip of the blade stabbed fiercely into the ground in front of Haitang, forcing this expert back several steps.
…
…
The sound of hooves thundered. The Black Knights outside the small town had finally arrived on the meadow. More than a hundred steeds stomped their hooves uneasily, as if they were afraid of the air on the meadow. The masked Black Knights on the horses all raised the longbows in their hands and aimed them at the peerless expert in the clothes of a village girl.
"You're lucky." Haitang's body floated lightly and pulled a long distance away from this terrifying group of riders. She then gently stroked her long hair and spoke to Fan Xian, who was climbing to his feet with some difficulty.
Fan Xian smiled bitterly and did not argue. Looking at the village girl standing in the distance, he waved goodbye.
The meadow quieted down. The Black Knights heard the command and dismounted one by one. They shouted in unison, "Greetings, Commissioner."
Fan Xian turned around and looked at these powerful riders, their bodies emanating a cold aura. His heart finally calmed down. He said tiredly, "There's poison here. In a bit, the horses will be restless. Be careful."
— — —
Back in the camp, the accompanying doctor had already taken out some things to treat Fan Xian's wounds. Casually wrapping him up, Fan Xian walked into the tent with a grave expression. He ordered his subordinates to rest for the day. Tomorrow, they would enter Wuduhe.
"Who was it?" Fan Xian was not in a good mood. He looked coldly at Wang Qinian.
Wang Qinian bowed and replied, "The one who opened the carriage door was someone from Xinyang. The spy in the Council should also have some connection to Xinyang. As for the soldiers outside Wuduhe, although they were disguised, we have already found out that they are the private soldiers of Northern Qi's General Lv Jing. This Lv Jing served in Shang Shanhu's army ten years ago. Since then, she has risen through the ranks rapidly. "
Fan Xian nodded. He realized that the small wound on his shoulder was beginning to hurt. He frowned. "I can guess at the relationship between Xiao En and Shang Shanhu, so it is normal for Lv Jing to come. As for Xinyang … this time, Xiao En was able to get out of prison because of Xinyang's methods. But I don't know why they arranged for a prisoner rescue when they could have safely reached Shangjing. "
He had a headache. He could not understand what agreement the Eldest Princess had with Northern Qi.
"It is clear that the Eldest Princess and Shang Shanhu do not wish for Xiao En to fall into the hands of the royal family of Northern Qi." Wang Qinian analyzed. "It seems that the secrets that Xiao En holds are what the royal family of Northern Qi wants, but Xiao En himself is not what they want."
"If that is the case, then even if Xiao En safely reaches Northern Qi, I'm afraid he will die of old age in prison instead of regaining his power. No wonder he was in such a hurry to escape. " Fan Xian frowned and spoke to himself. "It seems that the young Emperor of Northern Qi is not an idiot. I'm afraid he also understands the relationship between Shang Shanhu and Xiao En."
"But … what kind of secret could it be that the royal family of Northern Qi is so concerned about? Why would even Ku He send Haitang to silence him? Why would Chen Pingping be willing to let Xiao En go? Why wouldn't he be willing to kill him back then? "
— — — —
"I feel so stupid." Fan Xian looked at the heavily injured Xiao En and rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought. This was how things were in the world. Before he had fought Xiao En, he was a tiger. Only after fighting him did he realize that he was only a paper tiger. He thought to himself that what his mother had taught Chen Pingping was indeed very reasonable.
He continued. "I clearly wanted to kill you, but after all this effort, at the last moment, I became your bodyguard." The development of this matter was truly absurd.
Xiao En's old voice rang out. "The affairs of the world are always like this. If they were not absurd, they would not be affairs of the world."
Fan Xian smiled. "But the temptation to kill you is still very great."
"Haitang is Ku He's student. In Northern Qi, no one dares to disobey the words of that baldy," Xiao En said lightly. Xiao En said indifferently, "Since she knows I'm alive, then you can't justify framing the corpses outside the town. If you kill me now, I'm afraid it'll be very difficult for that young master Yan to return alive."
"What kind of secret are you hiding in your heart?" Fan Xian looked at him calmly. "Something that could make Ku He lose all decorum and come to kill you."
"Just some old stories."
"When we were on the meadow, talking about the secret in your heart, it was then that she revealed herself and revealed her murderous intent." Fan Xian looked at him indifferently. "It seems that secret is indeed extraordinary, to be able to throw a ninth-level master's state of mind into chaos."
Xiao En looked at him mockingly. "Why don't you think that she was preparing to kill you?"
"I have no enmity with her. Why would she want to kill me?" Fan Xian stared into Xiao En's eyes. It seemed that those eyes, which were no longer filled with the scent of blood, wanted to see the long-hidden secret.
"You're wrong." Xiao En smiled gently. Since leaving the Overwatch Council's prison, the cold aura that had surrounded him had long since disappeared.
"It seems that Ku He does not wish for you to return to Northern Qi alive."
"Correct. The reason why I dared to take the risk of escaping, despite knowing that it was a trap set by you, was because I knew that in the end, neither the royal family of Northern Qi nor the Eldest Princess, whom I have never met, would let me die so easily. Perhaps the Eldest Princess you speak of wants to use my life and death to reach some sort of agreement with Hu 'er. After all, she is too young, and does not know some of the secrets of the past … "
"More importantly," continued Xiao En, "Ku He wants me to shut up, so he will try to kill me before the diplomatic mission leaves the country... and you are a very curious person. You must be wondering what kind of secret it is that would provoke him to come after me. Since that is the case, you can only change from the person who will kill me to the person who will protect me. "
Fan Xian was silent.
"You set a trap, I broke it, and in the end, I failed. But I had one last thing to rely on. I only had to play my final card, and you would not be willing to kill me. Tomorrow, when we enter the country, you will have no chance to strike. So this time … you have lost. " Xiao En's face was expressionless. Although this wily old fox was not as strong as he had been in the past, his calculative mind seemed to be able to see through everyone's hearts.
"I am indeed interested in that card of yours, even more than anyone else. I admit that is enough for me to spare your life for now. " Fan Xian did not seem disheartened. Instead, he smiled. "But you did not escape. When we reach Shangjing, Shang Shanhu will not be able to save you. You will still be imprisoned by the royal family of Northern Qi, tortured until you die of old age, waiting for you to reveal that secret."
A sudden look of fear flashed through Xiao En's eyes. After this old man had been injured today, it seemed that even his mental defenses had weakened.
"What kind of secret is it?" Fan Xian repeated the words he had said in the meadow. "If you are not afraid of death, why do you not dare to say it? Don't tell me what is more terrifying than death. I don't believe such nonsense. "
It seemed that Xiao En had only just discovered the coldness in the depths of Fan Xian's heart. He smiled and closed his mouth.
Fan Xian suddenly closed his eyes and thought for a moment. His hand moved like the wind, and he gently removed the poisonous needle from Xiao En's neck. Ever since this needle had been inserted into Xiao En's acupoint in the fir forest, it had not been removed. As the needle slowly left Xiao En's body, the old man suddenly gave a muffled grunt. A pained expression appeared on his face, and the wounds on his body began to bleed!
"This needle can block the circulation of your blood, but in reality, it is also helping to staunch your bleeding. After it is removed, you will probably only be able to count to twenty before you die from excessive blood loss," Fan Xian said softly. He gently moved the needle between his fingers. "This is the only weapon that I have trained in, so I have always been very careful with it."
Blood flowed from Xiao En's body, soaking his clothes and dripping onto his chair. The old man's face grew paler, and the smell of old age on his body grew stronger, as if it were gradually transforming into the smell of death.
But his mouth remained tightly shut.
…
…
Drip, drip. After an indeterminable amount of time, Fan Xian slightly frowned. His fingers stretched out like lightning, and once again pierced into another acupoint of Xiao En's, helping to staunch the bleeding. Then, he carefully smeared some knockout powder on the half-conscious Xiao En's nose.
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