(Yesterday I made another embarrassing mistake. I must have been possessed when I was writing. I didn't notice so many Li Hongchen. My eyes were as blind as could be. Really, there's no explanation... I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I wrote less today because the end of the year is approaching and I'm so busy that I'm panicking...)

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It was still early morning, perhaps the fifth or sixth day of the new year. Usually, red firecracker paper scraps would still be dancing on the snow, and the slightly pungent smell of firecrackers would still be beautifully lingering in the streets and behind houses. Everything would exude a lively and festive atmosphere. However, for the officials and common people of Kyoto, the Spring Festival in the twelfth year of Qingli was not a happy one, but rather gloomy.

Yesterday was the seventh day of the new year, the first day of business for all the government offices. On this very day, a He faction official in Kyoto was assassinated, and the blood awakened countless people from their slightly drunken state. Today, the area near the Imperial City has been placed under martial law. It is said that the court has finally discovered the identity of the heinous criminals who dared to assassinate a minister in the capital, and is conducting a search and kill operation near the Imperial Palace.

Rumor has it that many people have died, and it seems that the little Fan adult, who was stripped of all official positions by His Majesty, is also involved. Furthermore, rumors are circulating that among those extremely sinister assassins, there are many from Northern Qi and Dongyi.

Countless soldiers are patrolling the streets and alleys of Kyoto. The Supervisory Council, the thirteen departments of the Ministry of Justice, the Inner Court, the Dali Temple, the Thirteen City Gate Divisions, and the Kyoto Garrison Command—the massive state machinery of Qing is in full operation. Cold and heavy footsteps echo in the snowy Kyoto, searching everywhere for the assassins who have managed to escape the net. The city gates leading out of Kyoto have been tightly sealed.

Under such a formation, no matter how formidable the assassins may be, it would be difficult for them to escape Kyoto easily.

A team jointly formed by the Supervisory Council and the Inner Court has already surrounded the Fan residence. Many soldiers are conducting a blockade outside the residence, and the search of the Fan residence has been conducted three times, but Fan Xian is still nowhere to be found.

Another search team, personally led by Yan Bingyun, rushed to the West City in the first instance after the chaos in front of the Imperial Palace, to the most secret liaison point of the Qi Nian Group, which was the small courtyard Wang Qi Nian bought for one hundred and twenty taels of silver back in the day. This small courtyard was originally a secret of the Qi Nian Group, but considering the heavy blow suffered by the old subordinates of the Supervisory Council on the West Liang Road, it can be imagined that His Majesty must have planted spies beside Fan Xian and discovered the Qi Nian Group's rendezvous point.

However, the small courtyard remained desolate. Paper and pens were left on the table, and the remaining ink in the inkstone had long frozen into black prisms. The bucket at the well outside was tilting weakly, and it was unknown how long it had been since anyone had come. Naturally, Fan Xian was not here either.

Yan Bingyun frowned slightly at the entrance of the small courtyard, wondering where Director Fan was hiding now. Although Young Master Yan is now the Supervisory Council Director recognized by the Qing court, he, like most of the officials in the Council, unconsciously still placed Fan Xian in the position of the master of the Supervisory Council.

Kyoto has long been under martial law, and the Kyoto Prefecture has mobilized the Lizheng of each village and some capable people to form a large net spread over the streets and alleys. Of course, everyone knows that the Supervisory Council has hidden countless secret points in Kyoto, and with Fan Xian's elusive abilities, no one dares to expect that this pursuit can really catch him. However, the situation is a little different today. First of all, the secret points of the Supervisory Council are no longer a secret to the current court. And most importantly, Yan Bingyun already knew that Fan Xian was seriously injured today, and no longer had his former courage. If no one came to his aid, he was afraid that his injuries would be difficult to recover and he would not be able to escape far.

But where exactly is Fan Xian? The pursuit has lasted for half a day. With strong mobilization, the entire Kyoto has been turned upside down. The Thirteen City Gate Divisions are tightly guarding all the city gates. All the great men in the Qing court are certain that Fan Xian cannot leave the city.

Yan Bingyun frowned more and more tightly. He exhaled a warm breath, patted his tired cheeks, and tried to calm his inner emotions, so that they were not easily noticed. He gently waved his hand, and let the officials of the Supervisory Council continue to disperse.

The pursuit continued until late at night. The residences of the ministers who had some connection with Fan Xian in the past were also searched, and even the Jing Wang's residence and the Liu Duke's residence were not missed. However, no one found Fan Xian. Everyone felt a chill. If this great man really survived this time, escaped from Kyoto alive, and truly betrayed Da Qing, who knows what kind of changes it would bring to the world?

Yan Bingyun returned to the Zi Cheng marquis residence with a tired body. He did not go to greet his father, but went directly to his room. He ate a few bites of the hot food brought by the cook, took a hot towel from his wife, rubbed his eye sockets hard, and sat on the chair in a daze.

"What's wrong?" Shen Wan'er asked softly, looking at the worry between his brows.

A slightly bitter smile appeared on Yan Bingyun's usually cold face. After a long silence, he said: "Speaking of which, I really admire him. I heard that he had been knocked unconscious by His Majesty before breaking out of the square. It was absolutely impossible for him to recover in a short time, and in order to attract the pursuit of those experts, he forcibly broke away from the assassin's main force... seriously injured, alone, how come he can't be found?"

"What about the other assassins?" Shen Wan'er frowned slightly and asked.

"Not a single one was captured alive, only a few were killed, all of whom are top masters in the world..."

Yan Bingyun sighed. At that time, he was not on the square in front of the Imperial Palace. Obviously, although His Majesty trusted him, in the operation to ambush Fan Xian, His Majesty was unwilling to let the Supervisory Council intervene. And he also knew that if it weren't for the mysterious assassin's means, which were like the wrath of the gods, Fan Xian and his people would have died long ago, how could they have killed their way out in the chaos.

After saying this, Yan Bingyun noticed that his wife's face was a little strange. He was slightly startled and asked, "What's wrong?"

Shen Wan'er was silent for a long time, and forced a smile: "It's nothing, I just went to greet my father at dusk, but it seems that the old man is not there."

Yan Bingyun's body stiffened slightly, and he didn't move for a long time. His father, Yan Ruohai, although he had long retired from the position of the chief organizer of the Fourth Division of the Supervisory Council, was actually an extremely formidable figure. He, as a son, naturally knew this very well. The problem was that he knew even more clearly that his father was the most traditional official of the Supervisory Council, and his loyalty was more to Chen Pingping and Fan Xian, rather than to His Majesty.

"He probably went out for a walk." Yan Bingyun twitched the corners of his lips, smiled somewhat difficultly, and said nothing more. When Director Chen was executed by slow slicing in early autumn, Yan Bingyun had been very worried about whether his father would have any激烈的 reactions. However, to his surprise, his father returned to his usual appearance except for getting drunk the night, and spent his days taking care of the rockery garden at home.

Yan Bingyun knew that His Majesty was not making things difficult for his father for the sake of his own loyalty. But today, His Majesty and Fan Xian officially broke up, fighting from inside the palace to outside the palace. Fan Xian naturally wanted to avenge Director Chen. With his father's ability, he would definitely know about this. If he knew about this, what would he do?

"You stay in the room and don't see anyone." Yan Bingyun frowned slightly and instructed his wife in a deep voice: "I'll go see my father."

Walking not far to the west, just passing the unusually large rockery in front of the corridor, Yan Bingyun came to his father's room, respectfully spoke out and entered. First-class Baron Yan Ruohai had white hair on his temples early on. He did not seem surprised by his son's arrival, and said very directly: "He didn't come to the residence. He's not stupid enough to throw himself into your trap."

Yan Bingyun was silent for a long time before saying: "This is the Council's affair, and the son cannot act out of personal feelings."

Yan Ruohai glanced at him and said, "You know best whether the residence can hide people."

Yan Bingyun saluted, bid farewell and left. When passing the unusually large rockery in front of the corridor, he stopped abruptly, his eyes looking at the slightly dry moss and some remaining snow on the rockery. He suddenly thought of some strange rules in his family when he was a child, and he always felt that he seemed to have missed something, overlooked something.

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...

Fortunately it was winter, the secret room was not very humid, but it was still dark. The meridians in his body were full of holes, and the red-hot iron wires were still running through the meridians. Infinite pain pierced into his mind like tens of thousands of fine needles, causing him to want to scream out loud from time to time. This kind of pain, this kind of injury, made him unable to mobilize the Snow Mountain Qi Sea behind his waist, and even the small cycle of the upper Zhou Tian could not be mobilized. Wanting to use the natural Zhenqi of the Heavenly One Dao to repair the meridians had become a luxury at this moment.

He could only rely on time to slowly endure it, or hope for that magical booklet, to absorb those precious Yuanqi from this seemingly empty world, and slowly fill his empty Qi Sea. However, the Yuanqi in the air was so thin. If he relied on this speed to recover, he was afraid that he would still be a useless person even after twenty or thirty years.

Fan Xian leaned against the wall of the secret room padded with a wool blanket, controlling his breathing with a strong mind. His instinct made him breathe a little rapidly and loudly at the moment, but at this moment, the night was quiet and he was in a heavy siege, so he had to be careful.

His body had been bandaged, and extremely famous and effective wound medicine was used without regard for cost. Beside him on the ground, there were many foods and clear water to replenish his spirit. Although the secret room was small, the things inside were extremely complete.

The broken sternum began to ache faintly again. His brows furrowed, thinking of His Majesty's overwhelming fist, and that gunshot. From the panic in front of the Imperial Palace to the extremely strict and effective search by the court later, he confirmed that the Emperor hadn't died by the gun. This fact didn't make him feel too disappointed, but he began to calculate which path he should take in the future.

When the dull sound of the heavenly strike struck the first deep hole on the Imperial City, Fan Xian had already woken up. His eyes narrowed slightly, looking at the direction of the east of the Imperial Palace. He was the first person among the more than 10,000 people on the city above and below to react and clearly judge the position of the shooter, because in this world, he was most familiar with that sound and most understood that box.

Three years ago, Wu Zhu Uncle left Kyoto to go to the distant Ice and Snow Temple to find the ultimate answer to who he was. From that day on, the box left Fan Xian's side. Fan Xian had always thought that Wu Zhu Uncle had taken the box away, so he had no regrets, because he knew that the enemies Wu Zhu Uncle was about to face were even more unfathomable and ruthless than His Majesty the Emperor.

But he didn't expect that the box was still in Kyoto, but not with him. Just as the Emperor had confirmed before he fainted, Fan Xian also knew that the person who used the box today must not be Wu Zhu Uncle. If Wu Zhu Uncle really came back, no matter whether he would use the box or not, he would definitely regard the more than 10,000 elite soldiers of Qing as scarecrows, and would still coldly hold the iron rod in his hand and directly kill into the Imperial Palace.

Who exactly was the person who fired the gun? Fan Xian guessed for a long time, but he still couldn't figure it out. Even if he thought of a few people, he couldn't believe it. He could only be sure that this person who fired the gun must have an extremely close relationship with him, otherwise Wu Zhu Uncle wouldn't dare to entrust his life to the other party's hands.

This heavy sniper strike from outside the heavens was not in Fan Xian's plan. The exit he had originally planned was still in the Imperial Palace, but he didn't expect that Northern Qi and Dongyi had sent people, so that the last gap of using His Majesty's intentions was closed up. What was even more terrifying was that he didn't expect that the finger sword Qi, which he had comprehended not long ago and was very powerful, was finally broken by His Majesty with one finger. And his meridians were in chaos, and he was no different from a disabled person, so he couldn't approach that exit at all!

But that's okay, at least Hong Zhu didn't have to take this great risk.

When Fan Xian and his party killed their way out of the square in front of the Imperial Palace in the chaos, they still encountered great obstacles. Although there was the heavenly strike assassin who could inflict divine punishment, and although the Third Prince stood on the Imperial City's head, trying to seek a way out for Fan Xian with his weak shoulders, His Majesty's decree had been issued long ago. How could those more than 10,000 soldiers watch these foreign assassins escape?

Fan Xian didn't know the specific process of escaping, because he fell into a coma again. When he woke up, this group of people had become hunted rabbits. They were all powerful contemporary experts, but some were injured and some were dead. Only five people were left, running for their lives in Kyoto, and there seemed to be no possibility of escaping.

Fan Xian knew that he was a burden at that time, so he left with unusual indifference and strength. He agreed to meet Ha Tang and others at the old place. A Jian Lu disciple paid the price of his life and sent him to the vicinity of this mansion, and then Fan Xian sneaked in in the chaos, and finally found a chance to rest.

Four Jian Lu ninth-rank disciples fell in the rain of arrows. In the subsequent escape, two more died for Fan Xian's survival. Especially the seventh senior brother, who killed more than a dozen Nan Qing experts with his sword, and finally died under the crossbow arrows, died at the moment when Fan Xian turned the corner of the alley. Fan Xian could see his eyes.

Thinking of the light revealed in those eyes, Fan Xian's heart was extremely heavy. He knew that his debt was greater than in the past. If he could survive this time, he couldn't hide himself, and he would inevitably have to do many things to repay his debts.

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...

While thinking, Fan Xian adjusted his breath. The secret room was silent and dark. His true Qi was completely dissipated, and his eyesight was not as good as usual. He groped to take the clear water beside him, but when his fingers just touched the water pot, he froze.

He raised his head and quietly looked at the dark walls of the secret room, as if he felt that outside this wall, there was a pair of eyes quietly looking at him like this.

A lot of lubricating oil was applied to the well-maintained mechanism. When the door of the secret room was opened, it didn't make a sound, like a silent dumb show. Dim light came in from outside the secret room, illuminating Fan Xian's pale face and calm eyes inside.

Fan Xian quietly looked at the outside of the room. The dim light made the familiar figure outside the secret room appear dark.

"I thought if you found out, you should break it with a hammer." Fan Xian looked at Yan Bingyun and said with a smile.

Standing behind the rockery and quietly looking at Fan Xian in the secret room, Yan Bingyun's heart was filled with mixed feelings. With just one glance, he knew that Fan Xian had lost any ability to resist at this time. After a moment of silence, he said: "Don't forget, I grew up in this garden after all. Although my father forbade me to climb this rockery since I was a child, but you also know that children are always curious, how could they not climb."

"This rockery is too big. When I first entered your house, I felt a little strange. I told your father several times, but he never believed me." Fan Xian coughed twice and said with a soft laugh: "Sure enough, I can find the problem here, of course you can also find it."

Fan Xian was hiding in the rockery of the first-class Chenghai Baron residence. No matter how stormy Kyoto was, he was hiding in Yan Bingyun's home. Who could have thought of this? If Yan Bingyun hadn't had a whim and tried to open the room where he played hide-and-seek in his childhood, Fan Xian would have been able to spend this most tense moment safely with the help of Yan Ruohai.

"My father doesn't know that I know the secret of this rockery." Yan Bingyun lowered his head slightly and said: "Otherwise, he would definitely choose a more appropriate place for you to hide."

"Okay." Fan Xian sighed with extreme fatigue and said: "I just said that my luck in this life is so good that I don't look like a human being, there should always be a time when my luck is bad, but it turned out to be in this rockery."

Yan Bingyun was silent for a long time before saying: "I told my father before that this is the Council's affair, and personal feelings cannot be considered, especially... you, my lord. For the sake of my Da Qing, I cannot let you go to Northern Qi."

"I'm not going to Northern Qi, I'm just going to the temple for a trip. Can we make a deal?" Fan Xian smiled and asked softly.