Unsurprisingly, the already quiet Tidu Manor became even more silent. All the officials present stared at Fan Xian at the entrance, dumbfounded. The naval officers even subconsciously pursed their lips, smelling the storm that was about to break. The entire place fell into a strange silence and an atmosphere of hidden confrontation.

At the heart of the confrontation was the officers' fear, because everyone knew Fan Xian's identity and what the Overwatch Council did. For a Tisi of the Overwatch Council to be dispatched to a remote naval prefecture to investigate a case, anyone could guess that the matter would not be small.

The naval officers hid the worry in their eyes and exchanged glances, all wondering... could it be that something had happened on the East Sea?

Unlike the officers and officials, the singing and dancing girls who had been scolded aside stared at Fan Xian's handsome face with shining eyes. Firstly, it wasn't easy to see such a divine figure like Lord Fan. Secondly, everyone knew that this Lord Fan was now a leading figure in the industry. If he took a liking to them... their future days would be beautiful...

However, the girls were not fools. Sensing the strange atmosphere in the hall, they naturally knew that there was no opportunity to use their charms today.

After a brief moment of astonishment, the officers and officials finally came to their senses. The naval vice-general, Dang Xiaobo, in the absence of Tidu Chang Kun, vaguely became the spokesperson for the navy. He smiled slightly, stood up to greet Fan Xian, and bowed alongside the Jiao Prefecture governor.

All the officers and generals dared not remain seated. They stood up somewhat fearfully and bowed to Fan Xian in greeting.

"Greetings, Tisi-daren."

"Greetings, Imperial Envoy."

Due to their different backgrounds and thoughts, the navy and Jiao Prefecture government addressed Fan Xian differently.

"Spare the formalities."

Fan Xian nodded slightly in acknowledgement, his eyes looking straight ahead. He walked past the officials and sat down... on the chair that belonged to Naval Tidu Chang Kun!

The eight Overwatch Council officials behind him followed, standing behind him with their hands on their sword hilts, glaring menacingly at all the officials in the hall.

A bit arrogant, but he had the qualifications.

Dang Xiaobo saw this great figure's performance and his expression showed a hint of displeasure, but he was secretly pleased. Those who were so domineering were much easier to deal with. It seemed that the rumors of Lord Fan's cunning and secretiveness were not entirely true.

He cleared his throat and asked with a cupped fist: "This humble official greets Tisi-daren. May I ask what case you are here to handle in Jiao Prefecture?"

"You are a naval vice-general. Even if my council needs manpower for a case, I wouldn't look to you for it." Fan Xian said calmly, then turned to the Jiao Prefecture governor: "I am here on imperial orders to handle a case. I don't have enough people with me. I'll trouble Wu-daren to provide me with a battalion of the prefectural army."

The Jiao Prefecture governor, surnamed Wu, named Ge Fei, was a third-rank official from the old regime. He had also curried favor with Minister Lin and the Fan Manor. Hearing Lord Fan actually knew his surname, he felt a surge of warmth in his heart and felt extremely comfortable. He responded with a beaming smile: "At your service, Lord."

This Governor Wu had one good point: he would definitely take the silver he should take, but he would never entertain ideas he shouldn't. He was a most "honest and dutiful" man. In any case, Jiao Prefecture was a wretched place, constantly suppressed by the navy. Many government affairs were uncoordinated, and even if there were great benefits, they would not be his. Instead, he remained clean.

Wu Ge Fei had long wanted to be transferred to another wealthy prefecture, but he didn't have any influential figures in the capital to help him. Hearing the warmth in Lord Fan's tone, he was so happy that he forgot his mother's surname and also forgot that if the Overwatch Council wanted to mobilize troops, it required the council's and the Privy Council's warrant. He directly said a few words to his advisor, who obeyed the order and left without hesitation.

The naval vice-general, Dang Xiaobo, watched coldly from the side, secretly surprised. The Tisi-daren had just arrived in Jiao Prefecture and, without clarifying anything, wanted to borrow troops from the Jiao Prefecture government. What was he planning to do? But after thinking about it, he was slightly relieved. The Jiao Prefecture officials were weak, and even the prefectural army was only a few hundred men, and their training was extremely poor. How could they be a match for the naval soldiers? If the Overwatch Council was really here to cause trouble for the Jiao Prefecture Navy, it was impossible for Tisi Fan to bring only seven or eight people with him, and it was also impossible for him to openly mobilize the prefectural army in front of him.

Therefore, Dang Xiaobo wasn't too afraid, but he was a little puzzled. What exactly did the Overwatch Council... want to do today?

"Where is the Tidu-daren? His Majesty has an edict. Why hasn't he come to receive it yet?" Fan Xian frowned and asked.

Dang Xiaobo's expression was embarrassed, and he also felt strange. With such a big commotion outside, how could the Tidu-daren not have noticed? Even if you were playing with women in the back, you should have come out by now. If you really offended Fan Xian, no one would have a good time.

He explained a few words to Fan Xian with a bitter smile, and with a wink, he sent the Tidu Manor's guards to the back garden to notify the Tidu.

Fan Xian watched this scene with cold eyes, but he was secretly calculating the time in his heart.

…

…

Three breaths later, an extremely shrill scream rang out within the Tidu Manor. The sound directly pierced through the quiet Jiao Prefecture night sky and traveled far.

Everyone in the hall was suddenly startled and, without having time to say anything, they grabbed weapons from under the tables and rushed towards the back garden. Although no one dared to believe that anything could happen within the dignified Jiao Prefecture Tidu Manor, that shrill scream was not fake.

Dang Xiaobo's expression was somewhat strange. He didn't leave, but stared at Fan Xian with a peculiar gaze.

Fan Xian didn't even look at him. A trace of extremely deep worry emerged in his frowned brow, and he said: "Could it be that I'm late?"

After saying these words, he grabbed the wailing Jiao Prefecture Governor Wu Ge Fei and, with a fleeting figure, arrived in the back garden with those anxious naval officers.

The back garden was a pool of blood.

Seven or eight Tidu Manor guards lay miserably in the blood, some with their heads separated from their bodies, some with bloody holes in their chests.

The Jiao Prefecture civil officials were so frightened by this scene that their legs went weak.

The naval officers stared at a black-clothed man behind the pool of blood with extremely agitated expressions, as if they couldn't wait to rush up and tear him to pieces, but they were just anxious and angry, and they didn't dare to make the slightest move.

Because the masked man in black was holding the body of Jiao Prefecture Naval Tidu Chang Kun-daren in his hands!

A stream of blood slowly flowed down from Chang Kun's body and dripped on the ground, while the head of this Jiao Prefecture local emperor was drooping, and it was unknown whether he was dead or alive.

Looking at the corpses all over the garden and the Tidu-daren's body, whose life or death was unknown, the naval officers' eyes were about to split, and they were already red. These powerful soldiers who had been killing people on the sea for many years never expected that an assassin would dare to assassinate someone in Jiao Prefecture, dare to kill so many brothers in front of so many people!

"Put down the Lord!"

"You bastard, put down your sword!"

The officers shouted and surrounded the black-clothed man in the middle, but the so-called fear of injuring the mouse near the valuable vase meant that naturally no one dared to move.

Fan Xian coldly put down Jiao Prefecture Governor Wu Ge Fei and looked at the black-clothed man in the field, as if talking to himself: "As expected, he arrived earlier than me."

After the shock, Dang Xiaobo had woken up. He deeply felt that there was something strange about this matter. Why would the Overwatch Council Tisi-daren personally come to Jiao Prefecture? Why would he burst into the birthday banquet instead of handling the case secretly? Why did Fan Xian's previous expression seem to indicate that he knew someone was coming to assassinate the Tidu-daren? Why did Fan Xian say that the other party arrived earlier than him?

His mind was racing, knowing that this matter must be related to that small island in the East Sea, but he was not Chang Kun, and he did not know about the existence of the Junshan Society. He only vaguely knew that his Tidu-daren was working for a certain organization. Therefore, listening to Fan Xian's deliberately crafted words, he couldn't help but fall into an absurd imagination.

Dang Xiaobo anxiously stared at the black-clothed man, looking at the Tidu-daren in his hands. His temples were throbbing with pain, and he thought... could it be that the imperial court wanted to investigate that organization, so that organization wanted to kill the Tidu-daren to silence him, which led to Lord Fan condescending to come in person? Otherwise, why was Fan Xian so anxious before?

However, this idea was not enough to convince him. He also held a trace of suspicion towards the Overwatch Council. At this time, he couldn't help but secretly glance at Fan Xian.

Fan Xian's eyebrows were tightly locked, looking at the black-clothed man behind the pool of blood, with unspeakable worry and concern, and a sense of heaviness that lingered.

"Don't come over, whoever comes over, I'll kill him." The black-clothed man said in a hoarse voice, with a hint of ferocity and confidence in his words.

The Naval Tidu was a major official, and his life and death would inevitably alarm the imperial court and affect all the figures in the Jiao Prefecture Navy. Therefore, although the naval officers in the garden were anxious, they simply did not dare to move, fearing that the black-clothed man's hand would shake slightly and Chang-daren's head would be cut off.

The naval soldiers outside the Tidu Manor had already surrounded the place, occupying the high ground of the courtyard walls, all drawing their bows and waiting, aiming at the black-clothed man in the garden.

Surrounded by the army, how could the black-clothed man escape?

However, no one dared to give the order to attack. The naval officers did not dare to take this responsibility, and they looked at the Jiao Prefecture Governor with extreme anger and caution.

At least nominally, this was an event that happened in Jiao Prefecture, and it should be handled by the Jiao Prefecture Governor.

The Jiao Prefecture Governor was startled by these frenzied gazes and woke up from the previous fear and terror. He began to curse in his heart, thinking that you damned navy people usually look down on me, but now that something big has happened, you want to push me to the front to take the blame. I won't do it.

The Jiao Prefecture Governor bit his lip. At this time, the highest-ranking person in the garden was naturally Lord Fan Xian, the Overwatch Council Tisi-daren who had just broken into the birthday banquet.

Therefore, everyone looked at Fan Xian expectantly, but the naval officers were somewhat afraid. This Lord Fan was famous for not cherishing life and for valuing the imperial court's reputation. If he ordered the naval soldiers to fire arrows... the Tidu-daren would not survive.

Fan Xian still had his brow tightly locked, took a step forward, and stared at the black-clothed man, saying: "I don't care who you are, but assassinating an imperial official is a capital crime punishable by extermination of the family... My name is Fan Xian. You should know my identity. Even if I let you go today, I can still find out who you are... Please believe me, as long as I know you are dead, your parents, your wife and children, your friends, your childhood companions, your fellow villagers, even the village woman who gave you a cup of water on the road... I will find them all."

A gentle smile appeared on the corner of his lips: "And I will kill them all."

The field was silent, and only the rapid breathing of the officials and the sound of archers' fingers rubbing the bowstrings on the courtyard walls could be faintly heard.

A naval officer was horrified in his heart, thinking that the important thing was to save the Tidu-daren. What consequences could Fan Xian's intimidation have? He was about to say something, but Dang Xiaobo frowned and signaled him to shut up.

Dang Xiaobo looked at Fan Xian's profile with a strange gaze, knowing that Fan Xian's words were a psychological attack.

Fan Xian looked at the black-clothed man and said slowly: "Put down the Tidu-daren, explain clearly who ordered you, and I... will only kill you alone."

"You can also kill the Tidu-daren, and then I will kill you and at the same time kill those people I mentioned earlier." Fan Xian stared at him and said: "Everyone in this world who is related to you, I will kill them one by one."

Dang Xiaobo's heart was slightly settled, knowing that Tisi-daren's method was a desperate measure, and it depended on whether the assassin's mental defenses would be loosened.

…

…

"Lord Fan?" The black-clothed man laughed hoarsely: "I really didn't expect you to come to Jiao Prefecture. This time I miscalculated a bit."

"It has nothing to do with me. Even if I wasn't here, you wouldn't be able to escape." Fan Xian said coldly: "But this official didn't expect that you would make a move so quickly."

The black-clothed man paused and suddenly sneered: "Don't try to trick me, I'm just here to kill someone. I don't know why I want to kill this Tidu-daren."

"Is that so?" Fan Xian took a few more steps forward and said with a smile: "What do you call Yun Dajia?"

Yun Dajia? Yun Zhilan, the sword master of Dongyi City? The chief disciple of Si Gu Jian? Everyone in the garden looked at each other, never expecting Fan Xian's words, especially the naval officers, who were extremely shocked in their hearts. The Jiao Prefecture Navy has always had an ambiguous relationship with Dongyi City. Why would Dongyi City do such a thing today?

However, being able to break into the manor under the heavy protection outside the Tidu Manor and kill so many people not far from the main hall could only be done by those ninth-rank assassins from Dongyi City.

The officers glared at the black-clothed man, but because Fan Xian and the people from the Overwatch Council were nearby, they didn't dare to say anything.

Dang Xiaobo still didn't believe his subconscious judgment, and still didn't believe that the black-clothed man was from Dongyi City.

Sure enough, the black-clothed man said coldly: "I'm not from Dongyi City, Yun Zhilan has nothing to do with me, and don't mention that old dog Si Gu Jian in front of me."

Even if the other party wanted to hide his identity, if he was really from Si Gu Jian's lineage in Dongyi City, it was impossible for him to call Si Gu Jian an old dog in front of everyone. Hearing this, everyone knew that Fan Xian's judgment was wrong, and this black-clothed man must have come from another source.

Fan Xian frowned even more tightly, seemingly unable to believe that the black-clothed man was not from Dongyi City. He laughed lightly at himself: "It seems that there are quite a few people competing with me for business."

The black-clothed man said coldly in a hoarse voice: "Open a path, prepare three horses and three days of food and water three miles outside the city, and I will put down the person in my hands."

"How do I know if the person in your hands is dead or alive?" Fan Xian's tone was even colder than his, and he seemed even less concerned about Chang Kun's life or death.

The black-clothed man was stunned for a moment, perhaps knowing that he was no match for the Overwatch Council in words and negotiations, and simply closed his mouth.

"Aren't you afraid that I will poison the water?" Fan Xian continued coldly, "And the previous threat, it seems that you really don't care."

"I won't let you go."

"If you want to kill the Tidu-daren, then kill him. What does it have to do with me?"

…

…

Although he knew that Fan Xian was attacking his mind, Dang Xiaobo was still frightened by these words when he looked at the Tidu-daren in the black-clothed man's hands, and the naval officers were even more anxiously shouting.

The black-clothed man glanced around and sneered: "You don't care, but someone does. As for what you said earlier... I'm an orphan. No one in this world has ever been good to me, so I don't care if you kill everyone in this world afterwards."

Fan Xian lowered his head slightly, and a strong sense of absurdity welled up in his heart. The black-clothed man opposite him was naturally Shadow, but this negotiation seemed to be becoming more and more real.

"Pretty boy, make a decision quickly." Seeing that everyone in the garden could not deal with him, the black-clothed man coldly issued the final notification, and the cold sword pressed against Chang Kun's neck.

"Say those three words again?" Fan Xian's eyes narrowed slightly, a cold light shot over, and a finger pointed at the black-clothed man's face, cold and full of killing intent.

The black-clothed man opened his lips, preparing to say something.

Fan Xian's finger trembled slightly in the air, and a black crossbow in his sleeve turned into a black light, piercing silently!

…

…

The black-clothed man screamed strangely and didn't even have time to use Chang Kun to block his body. He leaned back and dodged the hidden crossbow with extremely strange movements.

In that split second, Fan Xian had already rushed forward, flicking his finger and hitting his pulse gate. With a twist of his wrist, he grabbed the black-clothed man's wrist.

Swing!

Using the momentum of splitting a coffin, he performed a small trick. Fan Xian himself was very satisfied with this move. His entire right arm shook, pulling Chang Kun's body back, and then he tapped his toes and entangled with the black-clothed man.

In a short while, the two of them fought from the garden to the top of the wall, turning into two terrifying black shadows, fighting at a strange speed. The sword came out without wind, the fist came out without sound, but the strength was overflowing, shaking open a gap in the archers on the wall.

Dang Xiaobo inside the wall had already rushed over, catching the body of Naval Tidu Chang Kun. The eight officials from the Overwatch Council did not go to help Fan Xian, but nervously blocked Dang Xiaobo, fearing that a few more assassins would kill Chang-daren. The urgency was very obvious.

Dang Xiaobo looked at the two black lights on the top of the wall and shouted anxiously: "Lord Fan, step back! Fire the arrows! Fire the arrows!"

Not to mention that Fan Xian had just rescued the Naval Tidu, but based on Fan Xian's own identity, no soldiers in this Qing Dynasty dared to fire arrows at him.

A violent shout came from the top of the wall. Fan Xian took a heavy hit on his shoulder and spat out a mouthful of blood. At the same time, he shrank his body, and a black dagger from his boot unsheathed, directly inserted into the black-clothed man's chest!

…

…

At this time, the archers strangely disordered their formation, as if someone was making trouble in it, making the gap even bigger.

The severely injured black-clothed man covered his chest and quickly swept across, slashing down several people with his sword before disappearing into the night.

A few naval officers were about to lead troops to chase, but they found the Jiao Prefecture night was dark and deep, and there was no trace of the assassin.

Fan Xian covered his left shoulder, somewhat annoyed that Shadow actually struck so hard. He coughed twice, coughed out some blood, and looked around with fierce eyes, saying: "Come back, don't chase."

At this time, the naval officers were somewhat uneasy and fearful, but they all looked at Dang Xiaobo.

Dang Xiaobo's eyes flashed slightly, and he frowned and said: "Tisi-daren has given an order, who dares not to obey?"

Hearing this, the naval officers stopped their pursuit and hurriedly went to see Chang Kun-daren's injuries.

Fan Xian naturally walked over as well, looked down, and saw that the wound on Chang Kun's chest was somewhat wide. One could imagine that the tricks Shadow played must have concealed the wounds he left behind. At this time, Chang Kun was already on his last breath, seemingly about to die at any moment, but for some reason, he had not completely died yet.

"Everyone step aside." Fan Xian looked at these officers with disgust and walked over.

Dang Xiaobo looked at his old superior's miserable state and didn't know what to do. He suddenly thought that Lord Fan also had the identity of a divine doctor, and he suddenly had some hope in his heart.

Fan Xian checked slightly, took his pulse, and finally shook his head: "He's still alive, but he can't be saved." In fact, there was no need to take his pulse. He killed the person himself, and he himself was maintaining his life at the end. He knew Chang Kun's condition best.

The officers in the field were struck by lightning, but they knew that Lord Fan would not tell lies, and they looked at each other, not knowing what to do next.

Dang Xiaobo's body swayed, his face was pale, and he barely stabilized himself. He silently summoned a close follower and whispered a few words in his ear, telling the follower to quickly leave the city and mobilize the officers and soldiers in the naval camp to come.

At this time, the scene was extremely strange. Although Dang Xiaobo was also very grateful for the help of the Overwatch Council, he still felt that something was strange. He braced himself and bowed to Fan Xian: "Daren's body is invaluable, this humble official is extremely grateful..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fan Xian interrupted: "What happened when the assassin escaped earlier?"

Dang Xiaobo was shocked in his heart, thinking, could there be an internal mole of the assassin within the navy?

Fan Xian turned to the frightened Wu Ge Fei and said coldly: "Where is the prefectural army you mobilized? Immediately close the city gates, search for the murderer, and surround this house. All the naval soldiers will be disarmed and await interrogation. No one is allowed to leave this house!"

"Lord!"

Two voices sounded at the same time. Wu Ge Fei accepted the task very readily, while Dang Xiaobo felt great unease from Fan Xian's words and wanted to speak out against it.

…

…

(I'm writing slowly, everyone read slowly, thank you. Also, ask for monthly tickets. Although I didn't write much, I still ask, because monthly tickets are a good thing. The Oscars were just awarded yesterday, and today I wrote about Fan Xian's acting skills. It's quite a coincidence.)