The short sword in Haitang's hand moved like the wind, swirling around Fan Xian. Fan Xian leaped, dodged, squatted, and lay down, assuming all sorts of strange and comical poses. Yet, with his powerful control over his body, he ensured the continuity between each posture.

The sword tip pierced the mud beside his left ear, pierced the grass beneath the little finger of his right hand, and knocked off a dewdrop beside his throat.

But it just couldn't pierce his body.

A hint of surprise gradually appeared in Haitang's eyes. She had practiced martial arts since childhood and possessed extraordinary talent. She was confident that the short sword in her hand had already grasped the Dao of heaven and earth. Apart from the four Grandmasters in the world, she didn't take anyone seriously. This young man named Fan Xian, no matter how you looked at it, was no match for her... But why, even though he was already so disheveled, did her sword always miss him by a hair's breadth? Every time she was about to strike him, his body seemed to anticipate her movements, shifting a few inches away at the most dangerous moment!

Sweat was already dripping from Fan Xian's forehead. The situation was too dangerous at this moment. He had nearly lost his life several times. Although the sword in the opponent's hand was not as fast and accurate as Fifth Bamboo's, it was truly somewhat mystical. He regretted it a little. He shouldn't have dodged; he should have fought to the death as before, using his bravery to overwhelm the opponent's calmness.

But the situation was already like this, and there was no other way.

In a moment of life and death, Fan Xian rolled on the wet grass, dodging in a disheveled manner, with no opportunity to blame Fifth Bamboo's educational level or lament his own lack of martial arts talent.

With a sharp whistling sound, a black feathered arrow pierced through the air, shooting straight towards Haitang's face. At this moment, Haitang's entire mind was on Fan Xian. Seeing that she was about to kill him, she simply turned slightly, letting the arrow graze her cheek.

Immediately after, there were two more arrows, then three!

A shower of arrows precisely avoided Fan Xian's body, which was rolling around like a puppy, densely packed and full of killing intent, heading towards Haitang's body.

Haitang sighed lightly in her heart, swung her sword lightly, and swept away these arrows one by one. However, she found that her wrist was also a little numb, and she was slightly surprised, thinking that the light bows of those cavalrymen could actually shoot arrows with such force!

Immediately after, a long knife flew over like a bamboo splitting, it was Huwei Gao Da's... flying knife! The blade plunged fiercely into the mud in front of Haitang, forcing this powerhouse back several steps.

……

……

The sound of hooves thundered as the Black Riders outside the town finally arrived on the meadow. More than a hundred steeds uneasily pawed the ground, seemingly feeling some kind of fear for the air on the meadow, while the masked black cavalrymen on horseback all held longbows and crossbows in their hands, aiming at the peerless expert dressed in peasant clothes.

"You're lucky." Haitang floated lightly away, opening a long distance from this terrifying cavalry, then gently smoothed her long hair and said to Fan Xian, who was struggling to get up in the distance.

Fan Xian smiled bitterly, without arguing, and waved goodbye to the village girl standing gracefully in the distance.

The meadow became quiet. The Black Riders, listening to the command, dismounted one after another and shouted in unison, "Greetings, Supervisor!" (拜见提司大人。)

Fan Xian turned around, looked at these powerful cavalrymen exuding a chilling aura, and finally felt much more at ease in his heart. He said wearily, "There's poison here. The horses will be restless later, so be careful."

————————————————————————

Back in the camp, the accompanying physician had already taken out supplies to treat Lord Fan's injuries, wrapping them up casually. Fan Xian walked into the tent with a grim face, and ordered his subordinates to rest for a day today before entering Mist Crossing River Town (雾渡河小镇) tomorrow.

"Who was it?" Fan Xian wasn't in a good mood and looked coldly at Wang Qinian.

Wang Qinian bowed and replied, "The one who opened the carriage door was from the Xinyang (信阳) side, and the spy in the courtyard should also be related to the Xinyang side. As for the group of soldiers responsible for receiving us outside Mist Crossing River Town, although they were disguised, it has been verified that they are the private soldiers of the Northern Qi (北齐) general Lü Jing (吕静). This Lü Jing served in Shang Shanhu's (上杉虎) army ten years ago, and has been promoted extremely quickly ever since."

Fan Xian nodded and found that the slight wound on his shoulder was starting to hurt. He frowned and said, "I can guess a little about the relationship between Xiao En (肖恩) and Shang Shanhu, so it's normal for Lü Jing to come. The Xinyang side... This time, Xiao En's release from prison was originally a means of the Xinyang side, but I don't understand why they would arrange such a mid-way prison break when they could have safely reached the Northern Qi capital."

He had a bit of a headache and couldn't figure out what agreement the Princess of the Eldest (长公主) had with Northern Qi.

"Obviously, neither the Princess of the Eldest nor Shang Shanhu want Xiao En to fall into the hands of the Northern Qi royal family," Wang Qinian analyzed. "It seems that the secret Xiao En holds is what the Northern Qi royal family wants, but they don't want Xiao En himself."

"In that case, if Xiao En safely arrives in Northern Qi, he will probably die old in prison and not regain power. No wonder he is in such a hurry to escape," Fan Xian frowned and muttered to himself. "It seems that the young Emperor of Northern Qi is not a fool either, and probably understands the relationship between Shang Shanhu and Xiao En."

"But... what kind of secret can make the Northern Qi royal family so vigilant? Why would even Ku He (苦荷) send Haitang to kill him and silence him? Why would Chen Pingping (陈萍萍) be willing to let Xiao En go? Why didn't he kill him in the first place?"

————————————————————

"I feel very stupid." Fan Xian looked at the seriously injured Xiao En, propped his chin and pondered. Things in the world are like this. Before fighting Xiao En, he was a tiger, but after fighting him, he realized he was just a paper tiger. He said in his heart that his mother's words to Chen Pingping were indeed very reasonable.

He continued, "I was clearly going to kill you, but after arranging it so painstakingly for so long, I became your bodyguard at the last moment." The development of this matter was indeed very absurd.

Xiao En's aged voice rang out, "The world is often like this. If it weren't absurd, it wouldn't be the world."

Fan Xian smiled and said, "But the temptation to kill you is still great."

"Haitang is Ku He's student, and no one in Northern Qi dares to disobey that bald guy Ku He," Xiao En said indifferently. "Since she knows I'm alive, then your blaming the dead bodies outside the town is no longer convincing. If you kill me again now, I'm afraid that young Master Yan will also have a hard time getting back alive."

"What kind of secret are you hiding in your heart?" Fan Xian looked at him quietly. "A secret that can make even Ku He tear off his mask to kill you."

"Just some old stories."

"When we were on the meadow, talking about the secret in your heart, that was when she revealed her true colors and showed her killing intent," Fan Xian looked at him indifferently and said softly. "That secret seems to be really extraordinary, able to throw a Rank Nine Upper expert into such confusion."

Xiao En mocked him, "Why don't you think she was going to kill you?"

"I have no grudges against her, why would she kill me?" Fan Xian stared into Xiao En's eyes, seeming to want to see the secret that had been hidden for so long from those eyes that were no longer filled with a bloody taste.

"You're wrong," Xiao En said with a gentle smile. The chilling aura that had been surrounding him since he came out of the Supervisory Council (监察院) prison had long since disappeared.

"It seems Ku He doesn't want you to return to Northern Qi alive."

"That's right. The reason why I dared to risk escaping even though I knew it was a trap you set was because I knew that in the end, neither the Northern Qi royal family, nor even that Princess of the Eldest I had never met, would let me die so easily. That Princess of the Eldest might want to use my life and death to reach some kind of agreement with Tiger (虎儿), after all, she is too young and doesn't know some of the secrets from back then..."

Xiao En continued, "More importantly, Ku He wants to shut me up, so he will come to kill me before the delegation leaves the border... And you are a very curious person and will definitely want to know what kind of secret it is that would provoke him to kill me. In that case, you have no choice but to go from being someone who was going to assassinate me to someone who protects me."

Fan Xian was silent.

"You set up the game, I broke the game, and in the end, I failed. But I have my final reliance. As long as I play that final card, you won't be willing to kill me. Once you enter the country tomorrow, you will have even less chance to attack. So this time... you lost." Xiao En was expressionless. Although this true old fox was not as strong as he used to be, his extremely precise brain seemed to be able to see through everyone's hearts.

"I am indeed interested in that card of yours, even more interested than anyone else. I admit that this is enough for me to spare your life for the time being," Fan Xian said with a smile, seemingly not discouraged. "But you didn't escape. Even if you get to the capital, Shang Shanhu won't be able to save you. You will still be imprisoned, tortured, and left to die of old age by the Northern Qi royal family, just waiting for you to reveal that secret."

A hint of panic suddenly flashed in Xiao En's eyes. After being seriously injured today, this old man seemed to have become much weaker in his defenses.

"What kind of secret is it?" Fan Xian repeated the words he said on the meadow. "Since you are not even afraid of death, why don't you dare to say it? Don't say that there are things worse than death, I don't believe such nonsense at all."

Xiao En seemed to have finally discovered the coldness deep in Fan Xian's heart and smiled, closing his mouth.

Fan Xian suddenly closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then reached out like the wind and gently plucked the poison needle from Xiao En's neck. This needle had not been taken out since it was inserted into Xiao En's acupoint in the short cedar forest. As the needle slowly left Xiao En's body, the old man suddenly groaned, a painful expression appeared on his face, and several large and small wounds on his body actually spurted out blood at the same time!

"This needle can block your blood flow, but in reality, it is also helping you stop the bleeding. After it is pulled out, you will probably only count to twenty-odd, and you will die from excessive blood loss," Fan Xian said softly, gently twisting the needle tip. "This is the only weapon that this junior has cultivated himself, so I have always been very careful."

Blood flowed from Xiao En's body, wetting his clothes and dripping down the chair. The old man's face became paler and paler, and the old man's smell on his body became stronger and stronger, as if it was gradually transforming into the smell of death.

But he still kept his mouth shut.

……

……

Drip, drip, after an unknown amount of time, Fan Xian frowned slightly, stretched out his finger like lightning, and re-inserted it into another acupoint on Xiao En, helping him stop the bleeding, and then carefully smeared a dose of sleeping drug on Xiao En's nose.