Niao Ni
Chapter 625: Breaking the Willow into the Hut
ps: Today is the 10th, so I'm asking everyone for monthly tickets. If you're enjoying the read, please throw a few my way. Also: I'll write an extra chapter these next couple of days, but it's definitely not to frantically ask for votes, because the chapter won't be too long, just making up for the one I didn't write because I was too drunk that day. I'm a lazybones...)
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From the emperor's mocking and cold gaze, Si Lili understood many things. Her heart chilled, and she slowly lowered her head, biting her full lower lip, without saying a word. The little Emperor of Northern Qi, looking at her appearance, felt a surge of anger for some reason, and squeezed out a cold voice from between his teeth: "Is this how you repay me?"
The last three words were uttered at a higher pitch. At this time, the eunuchs were all around the small garden, and the experts from both the Sword Cottage and Northern Qi had surrounded the room. The little Emperor of Northern Qi wasn't worried that Fan Xian could get close to him at all.
Si Lili raised her head and replied calmly, "Lili hasn't done anything to wrong Your Majesty."
The little Emperor of Northern Qi's face gradually turned gloomy, and pointing at her face, he said word by word: "How else do you want to wrong me? Do you have to wait until he kills me to be considered loyal?"
Without waiting for Si Lili to reply, he squinted and said, "It's a pity he's about to die."
Hearing these words, Si Lili had already recovered from her previous shock. She knew what kind of person Fan Xian was. Even if Lord Lang Tao and the masters in the Sword Cottage restrained Fan Xian, he knew too much...
She looked at the little Emperor of Northern Qi with pity and said softly, "Your Majesty, if I were you, I would let Fan Xian leave. If you really capture him, or want to kill him, who knows what earth-shattering things he might do before he dies."
The little Emperor of Northern Qi was slightly stunned, not understanding what Si Lili meant. At this moment, a gust of wind suddenly swept through the small garden in the mountains. In the raging wind and sand, a black and red figure smashed down like a rock in the wind, its force irresistible, hitting the Emperor’s slender body hard!
The little Emperor's pupils shrank suddenly. In that instant, he had already seen who the figure was. His heart was filled with shock. Could it be that under his ingenious arrangement, under the combined attack of Master Lang Tao, He Daoren, and the powerful masters of the Sword Cottage, he still couldn't stop this person?
Before he had time to think, he was, after all, an emperor. Faced with this crisis, he didn't panic at all. With a violent shout, he drew his sword from his waist and slashed at the figure!
With a crisp clang, the sword and dagger clashed. The black dagger easily broke through the Northern Qi Emperor's sword, and the figure closed in on the Northern Qi Emperor's embrace!
Like a gust of wind entering the embrace of the forest, like a stone falling into a clear lake.
Arouse a burst of pine waves, creating layers of clear ripples.
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Fan Xian spat a mouthful of blood on the little emperor, covering him with blood. Although the black dagger easily broke the emperor's sword, the light touch this time caused great damage to his weakened meridians, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
The reason he was able to escape from the encirclement of five ninth-rank masters wasn't because Fan Xian had extraordinary abilities, but because the eunuch who went to summon Si Lili to see the emperor made Fan Xian notice a problem.
Although he didn't know how the Northern Qi Emperor guessed that there was someone in the room, there wasn't much time to think. Right after Si Lili took two steps away from the mountain dwelling, he broke out with unparalleled fierceness, forcibly shaking off He Daoren's insidious attack and avoiding the cold glint of the Sword Cottage disciples' swords.
Just that half-instant advantage was the most critical, because on the way of his escape, he encountered Lang Tao. If Lang Tao had attacked outside the house, Fan Xian would have had no chance to escape at all.
After exchanging a palm strike with Lang Tao under the eaves, Fan Xian's body flew up at an angle. Lang Tao's true energy was also stimulated, and his legs sank, temporarily unable to move.
At that time, there were two paths in front of Fan Xian. One was to go up the mountain, and the other was to go in the direction of the thatched cottage. The second path was undoubtedly more dangerous. Yun Zhilan and the second disciple of Sword Cottage were still guarding at the foot of the mountain. If he fell into such a desperate situation, even if Fan Xian had heaven-defying abilities, he would probably find it extremely difficult to survive.
However, contrary to the expectations of the Northern Qi and Sword Cottage masters, Fan Xian turned sharply in the air like a kite, drawing an arc, and rushed straight toward the cliff at the mountain dwelling. Beneath the cliff was one of the holy lands of martial arts... Sword Cottage.
The reason why Fan Xian made such a risky choice was because he was unwilling. He was unwilling to take such a big risk and not even see Si Gu Jian's face, let alone touch the little Emperor of Northern Qi!
Heaven was indeed looking after him, allowing him to run to the small garden on his escape route, and see the little emperor standing beside the mountain gate, disguised as a young master.
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Fresh blood splattered all over the Northern Qi Emperor's head and face like it was free. Fan Xian closed in on his body, but he couldn't stop his steps at all, because forcibly escaping and exchanging a palm strike with Lang Tao on the way had really reached his limit. It was impossible to stop now.
In Si Lili's terrified gaze, Fan Xian, holding the little emperor, like two men committing suicide, resolutely, determinedly, and unswervingly fell toward the cliff!
Several streaks of light flashed past. The masters led by Lang Tao swept past Si Lili, watching in shock as Fan Xian recklessly hugged the little emperor and rushed down the cliff. Without even thinking, they followed and rushed down!
Of course, Fan Xian wasn't committing suicide. In this world, apart from Uncle Wu Zhu, it was him who turned cliff jumping into entertainment. Although he was seriously injured at this time, and he was holding an important figure, he still accurately found a series of footholds, whether it was protruding rocks or sunken grass pits, like a wooden man with springs installed, stepping out a line of dust on the steep cliff. In an instant, he fell to the flat ground below the cliff.
The speed of the fall was extremely fast, and the force of the recoil was extremely strong. Blood seeped out of the corner of Fan Xian's lips again, and the little Emperor of Northern Qi, who was forcibly restrained by him, was even more shocked in his heart, his face pale. But even so, there wasn't a trace of fear in this emperor's eyes. He just stared coldly at Fan Xian's eyes, slightly puzzled, as if he hadn't expected that Fan Xian could not only escape, but also restrain himself.
The flat ground below the cliff was right in front of Sword Cottage. This sudden change occurred, and the Sword Cottage disciples who were originally forcibly preventing Wang Shisanlang from entering the cottage drew their swords from their waists, quickly forming a sword formation, surrounding Fan Xian in the center.
Not far away, Yun Zhilan, who had been hiding in the shadows and hadn't appeared, finally came out, his sword intent soaring into the sky, piercing straight at Fan Xian.
Several gray shadows swept down from the cliff. The masters led by Lang Tao were only a moment slower than Fan Xian, and stepped down the stones, following up.
The scene suddenly fell into silence, a silence filled with boundless tension.
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Fan Xian held the Northern Qi Emperor's pulse gate with one hand, and tightly held the black dagger with the other. His eyes warily watched his surroundings. With just a glance, he knew that the ninth-rank masters in the world, especially those from the Northern Qi and Dongyi veins, had basically gathered here. After the Battle of Mount Dong, probably only today's Sword Cottage could gather so many experts.
And the goal of these people was very consistent and simple, which was to leave Fan Xian here.
The problem was that Fan Xian held the Northern Qi Emperor's hand, although he held it quite gently, but everyone knew that as long as he wanted, with a surge of the strange and domineering true energy in his body, the Northern Qi Emperor would immediately turn into countless pieces of flesh and blood.
"To be able to restrain His Majesty in the encirclement of so many experts, as expected, you are indeed... Nan Qing's Fan Xian."
Someone looked at this scene and praised softly. The person speaking was the second disciple of Sword Cottage. At this time, everyone was in a state of tension, and only this second senior brother, who didn't belong to either side, could sigh so naturally, saying what everyone wanted to say.
Although the world knew that Supervising Censor Fan was now a top expert of the ninth rank, it was clear that the little Emperor of Northern Qi had grasped his whereabouts on the mountain dwelling, ambushing and killing him, but unexpectedly, he escaped and even kidnapped the emperor to use as a hostage!
Whether it was He Daoren or the masters in Sword Cottage, in a one-on-one situation, even if they couldn't defeat Fan Xian, they could at least bring him a lot of trouble. What's more, there was Lord Lang Tao in the mountain dwelling, whose strength was definitely no less than Fan Xian's. Even in such a situation, they still couldn't keep Fan Xian! Everyone present felt a chill in their hearts, thinking that Fan Xian must have had some extraordinary encounters in the past two years, becoming so powerful.
Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, coughed twice, gripped the little emperor's hand tightly, looked around, and said in a hoarse voice: "So everyone's here... It's time for a good talk, right?"
Sword Cottage was located in the suburbs of Dongyi City. The concave-shaped thatched cottage stood against the mountain, covering a vast area. The gate of the cottage was at the foot of the mountain, while the place where Si Gu Jian and his disciples were in seclusion was deep inside the cottage. At this time, a dozen of the world's experts had gathered in front of Sword Cottage, so they shouldn't have alarmed the great figures deep inside Sword Cottage.
Fan Xian knew that he wasn't strong. A powerful Lang Tao was enough to hold him back, not to mention that Yun Zhilan was staring at him with a growing sword intent from outside the crowd. These two were both long-established top ninth-rank experts.
The reason why he was able to escape from the mountain dwelling earlier was entirely due to his animal-like sense of danger that he had had since childhood, and his strong decisiveness. As for catching the Northern Qi Emperor at the end, it was thanks to his luck. Of course, if he hadn't acted unexpectedly and rushed toward Sword Cottage under the cliff with unparalleled strength, he wouldn't have encountered the Northern Qi Emperor.
So the elements of success were: strength, decisiveness, luck, and... the courage that Fan Xian had lacked the most in the past.
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But although he had restrained the Northern Qi Emperor, the situation was still extremely dangerous. No one could escape from the encirclement of these experts. Success? It was too early. He had just started on the road.
A dangerous road full of thorns and little flowers dyed with blood.
The Northern Qi Emperor stood beside him, looking coldly at the man beside him. In such a dangerous situation, he still didn't change his expression, and couldn't help but admire him. He slowly opened his mouth and said, "Fan Xian, you are so bold that you dare to offend me in front of Sword Cottage."
Fan Xian raised his wrist and wiped the blood from the corner of his lips, mocking himself, "Your Majesty wants to kill me, so should I stretch my neck and wait to be slaughtered?"
He raised his head, squinted around, and said, "Although I don't want to do something as technically lacking as kidnapping, you discovered me so quickly, and you were unlucky enough to be caught by me, so I had to be a kidnapper."
He raised his voice, smiled at the approaching crowd, and said: "To put it bluntly, if you want him to live, don't force me."
"Don't force me to go wild."
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As soon as these words came out, everyone fell silent. Yun Zhilan slowly separated the crowd, bowed to Fan Xian, and said softly, "Master Fan, you alone have made my Sword Cottage never have a peaceful day. I, Yun Zhilan, have no choice but to admire you. But even if you restrain His Majesty, this is still Sword Cottage. Do you expect me to let you leave?"
At this time, Lang Tao also came forward, saluted Fan Xian, and said, "Master Fan, I admire your courage and strength, but since so many heroes have gathered here, even if you have heaven-defying abilities, you won't be able to escape easily. As for Your Majesty... of course, we can't let you take him away."
Fan Xian forcibly swallowed the blood that surged up, raised his eyebrows, and his fierce expression rose: "I can't beat you, and if you don't let me, I don't mind letting someone go on the road with me. Remember to arrange a joint tomb in the future, so that I can have a glorious mark in history."
Faced with such a seemingly unreasonable, shamelessly rogue, and extremely insidious expert, no one knew what his tricks were, so Lang Tao and Yun Zhilan both felt troubled. Yun Zhilan glanced at Lang Tao, seeming extremely puzzled, why, since Fan Xian's existence was discovered on the mountain dwelling, with your cultivation and the assistance of several great experts, you would still let the other party run away, and even capture the Qi Emperor as a hostage?
Lang Tao's heart was filled with gloom and anger. How could he have imagined that this kid Fan Xian would run into Sword Cottage, throwing himself into the net under everyone's siege? Who could have imagined that at that time, His Majesty was staring at Sword Cottage in a daze!
At this time, the Sword Cottage side was shocked by the strength Fan Xian showed, and couldn't help but be eager to try, wanting to see where the limit of the leading figure of the young experts of Nan Qing was. But the experts on the Northern Qi side were frightened and trembling, afraid that Fan Xian would accidentally or suddenly be in a bad mood and hurt His Majesty the Emperor.
Just when the situation became a stalemate, the little Emperor of Northern Qi, who had been silent, suddenly said, "Fan Xian, don't scare these pitiful people. You wouldn't dare to touch a single hair on my head."
Fan Xian was slightly stunned, turned his face to look over, and saw the little emperor looking at him with a mocking gaze. For some reason, he was provoked by this gaze and felt a slight anger in his heart. He smiled mockingly, reached out two fingers to lift the little emperor's chin, and said contemptuously, "Little thing, your chin is quite smooth..."
The entire audience was in an uproar. No one could have imagined that Fan Xian would dare to make such a frivolous move towards the monarch of a country, but they heard Fan Xian's next sentence.
"I don't dare to touch one hair on your head, is it okay if I touch two?"
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"I swear in the name of my late teacher, if you let go of His Majesty, we will never stop you." Lang Tao suddenly took a step forward, a wind rose for no reason, and his aura rose sharply, saying coldly. With his position and this oath, it was undoubtedly giving Fan Xian an excellent opportunity to retreat. However, Fan Xian didn't want to retreat at all!
To not think about retreating in the face of so many experts, but instead want to seek more benefits, apart from Fan Xian, there really wasn't another person who dared to be so bold.
"You won't stop me, what about the people from Sword Cottage?" Fan Xian looked at Lang Tao and said.
Lang Tao glanced at Yun Zhilan. Yun Zhilan closed his eyes for a moment and then said softly, "The Sword Cottage disciples won't stop you either... However, once you walk half a li out of Sword Cottage, my Sword Cottage disciples will start chasing and killing you."
Fan Xian looked at him with a mocking smile, turned to Lang Tao and said, "You heard that too, I don't want to be chased and killed."
Lang Tao said angrily, "Then what exactly do you want to do?"
Fan Xian was silent for a moment, his gaze suddenly looking at the continuous thatched cottages not far away. His gaze gradually lowered, and he glanced at Wang Shisanlang, who seemed to have been forgotten by everyone, and said calmly: "I'm a little tired, I want to sit down... If an agreement is reached, I'll let go of him. Within half a li, you can't stop me."
Lang Tao and Yun Zhilan nodded at the same time. In fact, whether it was either of them, their hearts were now burning like a wildfire, fearing that Fan Xian would harm His Majesty the Emperor in the slightest.
Fan Xian slowly released the Northern Qi Emperor's hand, and then the little emperor didn't leave immediately, but quietly looked at Fan Xian's eyes, as if he wanted to see some secrets from his eyes.
The little Emperor of Northern Qi suddenly smiled helplessly and said, "You are really bold."
Fan Xian also smiled helplessly: "I really didn't expect that you could guess what I'm thinking."
"I know you won't let me go." The little Emperor of Northern Qi looked at him coldly, "I'm just curious, how can you always guard against the surprise attacks of the great experts when you're already injured and your physical strength is gradually failing?"
"Of course, I'm reluctant to let you go, and I am indeed tired." There was no expression on Fan Xian's face. "So I'm going to find a place to sit down."
The two people's voices weren't loud. The little Emperor of Northern Qi also knew that even if he revealed Fan Xian's intentions in front of his ministers, it would be difficult to change everything, unless he guessed what Fan Xian planned to do next.
Sit down? In this crisis, where could Fan Xian go to sit and not worry about being chased by these experts?
The little Emperor of Northern Qi's gaze suddenly fell on a New Year picture hanging on the wall of the thatched cottage. His heart stirred, his eyes lit up, and his thin lips parted, preparing to speak.
However, Fan Xian no longer gave him a chance. Taking advantage of the moment when the encirclement was retreating outward, his expression sank, and his left hand probed out like a spirit snake, his fingertips pinching the Northern Qi Emperor's Hukou acupoint, twisting his thumb, using a small trick to cause his right arm to experience a burst of severe pain, unable to call out again.
At the moment Fan Xian's hand probed out like lightning, Wang Shisanlang, who had been silently guarding the outside, standing under a willow tree, slapped a palm onto the willow tree, his face suddenly turning pale, and his body began to tremble violently!
Wang Shisanlang's body hadn't been cleared of toxins, and his strength was far less than usual, but the true energy in his body was still abundant, especially at this time, when he activated it with all his strength, and with his usual indomitable momentum, it actually stirred up a wave in the arena in an instant!
His body trembled more and more violently, and the willow tree under his palm also trembled more and more violently. After three breaths, with a crisp crack, the willow tree broke from the lower part!
Wang Shisanlang shouted violently, holding the willow tree upside down with both hands, using the tree as a sword, gathering all his cultivation in his hands, and displaying the most powerful move in Si Gu Jian's swordplay!
The tree trunk was the sword, the branches were the blade, and the leaves were the edge, sweeping across the army!
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Countless muffled groans and muffled sounds rang out in the arena. Dust billowed. No one knew how many experts reacted in a flash of lightning, either dodging or slashing, and displayed their own unique skills towards this willow tree that had flown in from beyond the sky.
Because they knew that against such a willow tree containing momentum and power, if they didn't use their full strength, they would probably suffer a bone fracture if they were hit even slightly.
The encirclement of Sword Cottage in the arena was immediately thrown into chaos!
However, there were two people who didn't panic. Lang Tao and Yun Zhilan weren't disturbed by the willow tree that swept across the army. The two great experts stared coldly at Fan Xian's every move, and in an instant, they turned into two black shadows, attacking Fan Xian from both sides!
At the moment Wang Shisanlang broke the willow and struck, Fan Xian had already adjusted his breathing, regained control of the Northern Qi Emperor, let out a muffled groan, and forcibly lifted his body, leaping into the air.
When Lang Tao and Yun Zhilan came behind him, Wang Shisanlang's willow tree also smashed towards Fan Xian's body.
Fan Xian tiptoed in the air, and once again lifted half his body in an extremely beautiful way, his toes lightly stepping on the tip of the willow tree.
A leaf shattered into blue threads with a pop, and a branch was soft and elastic, but it seemed to have endless rebounding force, shaking Fan Xian's body into a stream of light, rushing towards...
The gate of Sword Cottage!
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Lang Tao reached out his hands in a hurry, but only tore off half of Fan Xian's clothes with a hiss, and the curved swords tied to his wrists pierced through the air, cutting fiercely, but all fell into empty space.
Yun Zhilan turned around in the air with an extremely smooth and rounded movement. The sword at his waist flowed out like water, slashing towards Fan Xian's back, which was completely exposed, but only barely broke through Fan Xian's right shoulder, drawing a bead of blood.
The willow tree Wang Shisanlang was holding was too long and too big, and the speed contained in the treetop was too fast, so fast that it was like hitting Fan Xian out, actually faster than the attacks launched by the two great experts, Lang Tao and Yun Zhilan, after a long time of accumulation!
With a crisp crack, the thatched gate of Sword Cottage was shattered by Fan Xian. He grabbed the little Emperor of Northern Qi and rushed past like a gust of wind.
Lang Tao and Yun Zhilan let out two clear howls, raising their full cultivation to the limit, and darted into Sword Cottage like maggots in the bone, striking Fan Xian's back with all their might!