(I don't want to say anything, a faint sense of melancholy is starting to creep in, how bourgeois of me?)

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In the back garden of the Ye residence, Ye Wan's pupils constricted, staring unblinkingly at the young man in green. He hadn't expected that after his identity was exposed, the other party would have the audacity to turn around and face him head-on, instead of choosing to jump over the wall at the first opportunity.

Fan Xian calmly turned around, his eyes showing only a serene calmness, without a trace of other emotions. He looked at the unfamiliar young general in front of him and immediately recognized his identity. Only the two men of the Ye family, young and old, could enter Ye Ling'er's secluded garden without prior notice. Since the other party was not Ye Zhong, he must be General Ye Wan, who had risen to prominence and was admired by countless Qing army soldiers this year.

A year ago, or even further back, Fan Xian and Ye Wan, these two of the most powerful young men in Southern Qing, might have felt a sense of mutual appreciation, an involuntary attraction. Just like Fan Xian and the First Prince in the beginning, starting with resentment, but eventually growing closer due to their personalities.

However, that was impossible today. Fan Xian was now a traitor to Southern Qing, a heinous criminal, while Ye Wan was a rising star, the young generation figure most trusted by His Majesty in private. Most importantly, Fan Xian had gone through a long journey across the snow plains, and seemed to have seen through everything in this world, his eyes filled only with calmness and indifference.

This calmness and indifference represented powerful confidence, but in Ye Wan's eyes, it was intense contempt. The resentment, unwillingness, and anger that had been hidden in his heart for days suddenly took over his entire being. However, this anger did not cause the slightest deviation in his judgment, but only made him more calm.

"Fan Xian is here!" Ye Wan roared. Although he hoped to have a fair duel with Fan Xian, he would not make such a mistake. To the Southern Qing court, Fan Xian was like a fishbone that could not be swallowed no matter how hard they tried. Catching or killing this man was what Ye Wan wanted to do most.

His Majesty had once said that he could not be at peace unless this man was dead. As a subject, Ye Wan had to suppress his pride. So after he roared to notify the guards outside the garden, he chose to retreat immediately, using this show of weakness to block Fan Xian's retreat, willing to resort to this relatively humiliating way to buy more time.

As soon as the guards arrived and the alarm sounded in the capital, Ye Wan did not believe that Fan Xian could escape. Fan Xian understood this as well. So, when Ye Wan spoke coldly, he had already pounced.

Fan Xian pounced like a wisp of smoke, gentle yet containing a heart-chilling dominance. He tore through the cold autumn air and shattered the tranquility of the garden.

The overwhelming and domineering aura made Ye Wan, who retreated three steps, narrow his eyes. He seemed to feel the sharp wind on his face, as if it were ice knives piercing his bones. He was shocked, but his expression remained calm and unchanged. Without drawing his saber, he crossed his hands in front of him, forming a strong hand bridge in an extremely short time, blocking the front.

As soon as the hand bridge was formed, it was like an iron chain across the river, emanating a chilling and powerful aura, blocking Fan Xian's fist. It made the domineering fist seem like driftwood floating on the river, fierce in its momentum, but without the slightest chance of breaking the iron chain.

Fan Xian was in mid-air, but his eyes had already narrowed. He had practiced the Ye family's Great Coffin Split for years and was very familiar with the Ye family's ancestral skills. However, Ye Wan retreated three steps today, seemingly weak, but unexpectedly erected a thick wall in the air with his hand bridge.

This kind of powerful and exquisite sealing technique was definitely not part of the Great Coffin Split. Could it be Ye Liuyun's Scattering Hand? The ultimate skill left by a Grandmaster, could this young general have learned it?

Fan Xian's heart trembled slightly, but his hand did not slow down at all. The aura emanating from this hand bridge was too powerful. He knew that his domineering fist might not be able to break through the opponent's defense. The power of the Flowing Cloud Scattering Hand lay in its ever-changing forms. Once the opponent's hand bridge blocked his fist, the counterattack would probably be faster than his own.

More importantly, the Flowing Cloud Scattering Hand's counterattack was like floating clouds in the sky, hard to grasp. Even if Fan Xian was not afraid, he might not be able to retreat if he was entangled by the Flowing Cloud Scattering Hand for a while. And Ye Wan clearly wanted to catch or kill him and would not mind holding him back and joining forces with others.

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With a whoosh, like a magic trick, a delicate black crossbow bolt suddenly shot out from Fan Xian's sleeve, exceeding the speed of his fist, and landed on Ye Wan's hand bridge with a thud.

This was a very insidious move. Fan Xian had always been an insidious person. However, the thud sounded problematic. The delicate poisoned crossbow bolt seemed to have shot into wood, leaving only a small red dot on Ye Wan's calloused but still white hands, before falling weakly.

After Ye Liuyun's Scattering Hand was cultivated to its peak, it could withstand Si Gu Jian's extremely violent sword. His grand-nephew Ye Wan clearly did not have this level, but he appeared exceptionally powerful in the face of Fan Xian's insidiously shot crossbow bolt.

After the black light, there was a bright light. With a hiss, Fan Xian's clenched fist suddenly opened, and a black dagger stabbed down fiercely.

Ye Wan still maintained a calm expression, without moving a muscle. The two hands that had formed the hand bridge became soft before the black dagger, turning into two clouds in the sky, gently attaching themselves to the sides of Fan Xian's black dagger, making Fan Xian's immense domineering energy seem to have plunged into a cotton swamp, without causing the slightest ripple.

He was strong, but Fan Xian had encountered the true Bright Moon over the Great River, Gentle Breeze on the Mountain Ridge of the Ye family for the first time, and could not advance an inch!

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Fan Xian's right foot stomped heavily on the stone slab between them, and the stone slab cracked like a spider web with a pop! His expression did not change, but his right index finger hooked with extreme skill. His subtle skill struck out swiftly, and the black dagger drew an extremely mournful arc along his fingertip.

At this time, the two were already face to face. Ye Wan had nowhere to retreat, and Fan Xian had to break out. Both had elevated their cultivation to the peak in an instant.

As the black dagger, carrying a mournful energy, slashed, Ye Wan's hands suddenly turned into two old trees, with the leafless branches blossoming open. They collided with the black dagger dozens of times, but those withered fingers did not leave a single scar!

In this fleeting moment, the corners of Fan Xian's lips turned up, forming a slight smile, a smile filled only with calmness and the confidence that it represented, as well as the power that this confidence revealed. The black dagger at his fingertips slashed dozens of times, all of which were blocked back. He took the opportunity to retract the dagger, and his left hand, which had been hanging calmly by his side, clenched into a fist, without bestowing any exquisite angles, without mixing in any of the techniques taught by a Grandmaster, but simply punched out fiercely.

With a muffled thud, Fan Xian's left fist slammed heavily on Ye Wan's hand bridge, which he had quickly re-established in that instant!

The battle between the two powerful young men had progressed to a contest of martial arts cultivation foundations. Fan Xian abandoned all external emotions and skills, behaving unreasonably and forcibly engaging in a battle of true energy with Ye Wan's inner energy.

The fist and palms collided without any hindrance.

Ye Wan's face darkened slightly, then turned white in an instant. His left foot stepped back, and his hands blocked in front of him. His whole body formed a beautiful arrow shape. His back foot was like a stake nailed firmly into the rock, and his two hands were like an iron plate, blocking any incoming attacks.

Fan Xian's body, however, remained as relaxed and casual as ever, as if he had thrown a punch without thinking in anger. His feet were still not standing properly, and his body still had no proper form.

A powerful wave spread outward from the bodies of the two men in the garden. With a whoosh, a strong autumn wind rose, shaking up countless pebbles and fallen leaves.

Fan Xian's eyes lit up. He stared at Ye Wan's dark and stern face, which was close at hand. He did not seem to have expected that Ye Wan's true energy would be so powerful that he could withstand his long-prepared domineering punch after blocking his two hidden attacks in succession.

How could Ye Wan cultivate such majestic and solid true energy? Could it be that when this man was exiled to Nan Zhao, he had been tempering his spirit and will tirelessly? At this thought, Fan Xian felt a faint admiration for the other party. However, footsteps were already approaching from outside the garden, and Fan Xian did not want to delay any longer.

Fan Xian was slightly surprised. He did not know that the shock in Ye Wan's heart was even more indescribable. Ye Wan knew how strong his strength was, but... facing Fan Xian's seemingly casual punch, he actually had a bad feeling that his hand bridge was about to be destroyed. The reason he had this feeling was purely because Ye Wan was in the arena and felt Fan Xian's strength, which was even more domineering and powerful than the legends, more clearly!

At this moment, Ye Wan finally understood where the fame of "Little Fan Manor" came from. He also finally understood why His Majesty had instructed him to retreat three steps first if he ever saw Fan Xian.

If Ye Wan had not retreated three steps first and built the hand bridge in advance, given Fan Xian's adaptability, strength, and ruthless attacks, he would have probably destroyed his spirit with three consecutive attacks in an instant, not giving him a chance to display the Flowing Cloud Scattering Hand!

Am I really inferior to him? Ye Wan's expression remained calm and steady, but his heart was filled with a strong urge to fight to the death with the other party!

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Fan Xian did not give Ye Wan this opportunity. Although he could not kill the other party in one move, he decided to leave the other party with an indelible impression, leaving a satisfying result for himself in this initial encounter between the two, which was destined to be passed down to future generations.

So Fan Xian's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and his clothes began to rustle in the autumn wind. A faint but continuous stream of heaven and earth's essence began to pour into his body along the autumn wind, along the holes in his clothes, and along every inch of his skin.

Fan Xian closed his eyes, obscuring the unusually bright light in his eyes, and grunted. His left arm swelled up, and the fist that had exhausted its momentum unleashed its full force at this moment!

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A dam built with sand and stones blocked thousands of miles of mighty river water. However, the river water rose higher and higher, and the water势 grew stronger and stronger. Suddenly, heaven did not cooperate, and it rained heavily. Countless acres of rain poured into the river, instantly causing a breach in the dam.

A collapsing palace was supported by countless thick and straight round logs, barely keeping the palace from falling. However, the earth began to shake, and an energy that had not existed before suddenly appeared in the world, shaking the earth and shaking the foundations of those round logs, causing them to fall one by one. The palace lost its support and collapsed with a bang.

From the beginning, Ye Wan had responded to all changes with constancy, using the Ye family's Flowing Cloud Scattering Hand and the hand bridge sealing technique to successfully block Fan Xian's three consecutive attacks. Ye Wan did not feel any pride, even though he was facing the powerful Fan Xian, because he knew best how powerful he was. But now, he suddenly felt that the bridge formed by his two hands was being destroyed, and the palace of his body was about to collapse...

It turned out that Fan Xian's power was even greater than the legends, even greater than his own judgment!

A gust of autumn wind blew, and the withered leaves that had been scattered everywhere by the energy of the two men began to fly again. In the flying leaves, Fan Xian's exceptionally stable fist broke through the hand bridge technique of the Ye family's Flowing Cloud Scattering Hand like a whirlwind and struck Ye Wan's right chest hard!

The autumn wind rose again, and the leaves flew again. Fan Xian's figure was no longer in the Ye family's back garden, leaving only Ye Wan, whose face was pale, clutching his chest and forcibly swallowing the mouthful of blood that had welled up to his lips.

At this time, the guards finally rushed into the garden. However, they did not see any trace of the enemy. They only saw that the always-victorious Young General Ye seemed to have been defeated!

From the time Ye Wan saw the young man in green to the time these guards rushed into the garden, it was only a dozen seconds. In these dozen seconds, the two important figures who would influence Southern Qing in the future had their first encounter and determined the outcome.

Ye Wan clutched his chest and forcibly calmed the true energy in his body that was about to boil. His eyes quickly returned to their sternness, and he said in a cold voice, "Notify the palace that Fan Xian has returned."

As soon as these words came out, the guards finally knew who had defeated the general they regarded as a god of death. Shock appeared on everyone's faces.

Ye Wan slowly turned around, squinting at the high wall that Fan Xian had jumped over earlier, with a very complicated mood, an emotion intertwined with anger and unwillingness. In the previous battle, as a subject, his first thought was to keep the other party here, so he had adopted a defensive posture from the beginning, and his momentum had fallen into a disadvantage. So he was unwilling. Perhaps it would have been much better in a different scene?

Fan Xian's last punch was able to easily break through his hand bridge! Although Fan Xian's domineering true energy would not have much lethality left after breaking through the Flowing Cloud Scattering Hand, it was an undeniable fact that he had been defeated and injured by the other party. Especially the powerful true energy that erupted from that fist at the end, even made Ye Wan realize a fact that the current him was indeed not Fan Xian's opponent.

Ye Wan never underestimated his enemies, especially characters like Fan Xian, who had a widespread reputation. But he still did not expect that the strength Fan Xian showed today was even more powerful than the legends, than the military intelligence, and than his own predictions!

A cough sounded, and Ye Wan wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with his sleeve. His eyes were cold and unusually angry. The reason for his anger was why life was so unfair? He had been practicing diligently between the yellow sands and the southern barbarians since he was a child, so he had his current super-strong strength above the ninth rank, but it did not seem to be enough for Fan Xian to see!

This was impossible! Fan Xian had not lived many more years than him, so why was he able to cultivate to such a realm? A genius? Could it be that having talent could outweigh his own diligence?

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Fan Xian did not know about the anger of the young general in the Ye residence behind him. Even if he did, he probably would not understand, because he knew better than anyone that he was definitely not a genius in martial arts cultivation. It was just that he had good luck, and he was more hardworking and diligent than anyone else.

In the end, he and Ye Wan were walking the same path. However, Fan Xian had started practicing the domineering power technique from birth. He had been fearing death from the first day he lived. No one in the world could compare to this kind of pressure, this kind of feeling, so it had created his strange realm today.

He had defeated Ye Wan, but he could not kill him. Fan Xian did not feel any pride or triumph in his heart, because his confidence, based on his current powerful strength, had already transcended a certain category. Today's battle, ending with breaking through with real force alone, seemed simple, but it was a return to the basics, an extremely wonderful choice.

He lowered his head, shook off the commotion in the capital that was gradually rising, and silently returned to the inn. Then he saw the silent Uncle Wu Zhu, who was not looking at the scenery by the window today, but was looking down, as if thinking about something.

When humans think, God laughs. But if Wu Zhu started thinking, who would laugh? Fan Xian coughed softly twice, coughing out the bloody phlegm that had been caused by the backlash from Ye Wan's hand bridge. He looked at Uncle Wu Zhu and said, "He knows I'm back. I'm going to the palace tonight."

Although he knew that saying these words did not have much meaning, Fan Xian was still used to telling Uncle Wu Zhu everything he did, like the coughing-up-blood conversations they had on the day and night before the snow temple.

Wu Zhu did not react at all, as expected. He just looked down.

Fan Xian's head gradually lowered as well.

The night gradually deepened, and the inn room was not lit, only a darkness, two people.

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When the sky was just beginning to turn light the next day, the inn room had become empty. The unlit candle still maintained its delicate appearance, without shedding sticky tears to prematurely commemorate the revenge and ending that was about to begin.

Not long after midnight, Fan Xian changed into a eunuch's clothes and sneaked into the night of the capital. Before leaving the inn, he took one last deep look at Uncle Wu Zhu, but did not try to wake him up and invite him to join the conflict of human emotions.

Wu Zhu did not seem to mind his departure either. He just waited alone until dawn. At the moment the sky brightened, rain began to fall in the capital of late autumn and early winter. The cold rain pattered against the transparent glass windows, blooming into flowers on them.

It was rain, not snow, but it seemed especially cold. The cold rain did not get heavier, it just drizzled, hitting the tile roofs of the houses in the capital, in the bluestone alleys, by the flowing water of the small bridges, sounding a very rhythmic, slow, and beautiful melody.

All the houses in the capital that were bathed in the small cold rain had windows. Since the revival of the Internal Treasury, the price of glass in the country had plummeted, and most of these windows were made of glass.

So, all the cold rain falling on the human world would bloom into flowers of different sizes on the glass.

Wu Zhu, covered in black cloth, sat quietly by the window, looking at the rain flowers blooming on the glass. He didn't know how long he had been silent when he suddenly stretched out a finger and gently touched the glass, as if he wanted to touch that beautiful flower outside the window, but was helplessly separated by the glass.

"This is glass," Wu Zhu suddenly broke the silence. He looked out the window alone and said without a trace of emotion, "I made it."

Wu Zhu sat for a long time again. Then he stood up, silently looking out the window, as if remembering that it was time for him to go shopping. So he turned around and pushed open the door, walked down the stairs, walked out of the inn, and walked into the cold rain.

There were many dirty spots on his cloth clothes, which were the traces of being smashed by naughty children in a lane yesterday afternoon. But all night, Fan Xian was in a heavy mood and did not even notice this.

No one would go shopping in the rain. Perhaps couples liked to play with sentiment and walk in the rain with umbrellas, but there should be no such people in this world. Scholars holding umbrellas and shouting broken poems in the rain was just foolishness. Wu Zhu, covered in black cloth and wearing cloth clothes, walking in the rain attracted the curious gazes of many people avoiding the rain.

The cold rain soaked Wu Zhu's cloth clothes and swallowed those dirty mud spots. He walked alone silently and lonely in the rain, walked through the streets and alleys of the capital, letting the rain wet his forever dark and shiny hair, and also wet the black cloth that had been covered with thousands of years of wind and frost.

Rainwater dripped down the edge of the black cloth.