The snow still fell, the night deepened, and the village elder arranged for the officials to rest in various residences. Fan Xian didn't let Hong Changqing and the swordsmen stand guard, because he knew there was still danger lurking outside. Although the swordsmen of the Sixth Bureau were skilled in assassination, they didn't have good methods for long-range attacks. In the spacious ancestral school, only he was left in a daze. Although the fire in the brazier was burning, and plenty of bamboo charcoal was prepared next to it, it still felt like the temperature had dropped.

A silence.

Fan Xian stretched out his hands to warm himself by the fire, his head slightly tilted, clearly lost in thought. He suddenly said, "That sword of mine was unleashed."

He paused, then concluded, "But it struck air."

The light in the ancestral school's hall shifted slightly. The red light from the brazier illuminated Fan Xian's shadow, which twisted and moved on the ground. Then, a person dressed in black walked out of the shadows and naturally sat down beside Fan Xian.

Fan Xian glanced at the pale-faced middle-aged man and handed him the wine skin.

The Shadow silently watched Fan Xian's wrist, watched the wine skin in his hand. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head and said in a somber voice, "Wine slows down reaction time."

"What's Yan Xiaoyi's son's name?" Fan Xian changed the subject, took back the wine skin, and took a sip, feeling a fiery, spicy sensation burn from his lips to his core.

"Don't know." The Shadow shook his head, then said, "The nickname you gave him is good."

Fan Xian said, "Don't live too tensely. That little Arrow Brother should still be freezing in the snowy night outside. He wouldn't dare to attack so close."

The Shadow nodded.

Fan Xian handed the wine skin over again, saying, "Have a couple of sips. I'm not Chen Pingping. Although there are many people in this world who want to kill me, it's not that easy, at least."

The Shadow thought for a moment, took the wine skin, and took two shallow sips. After a moment, two streaks of red appeared on his pale cheeks, making him look like a clown on a stage, quite amusing.

Fan Xian chuckled and said, "If we were to switch places, I don't think I could endure the loneliness in the dark... I've always been curious, don't you need to eat or drink?"

When closely protecting Chen Pingping or Fan Xian, the Shadow was always by their side, so it was no wonder Fan Xian asked this question.

The Shadow said somberly, "I naturally have my ways."

Fan Xian shook his head, said nothing more, and turned back to the previous sentence, "You saw my sword strike air."

"Yes, my lord." The Shadow's voice was devoid of emotion, "That Wang Shisanlang is very strong."

Fan Xian was silent. Of course, he knew Wang Xi was strong, strong enough to approach the ancestral school silently in the snowy night without him or the Shadow noticing, strong enough to stand in front of Fan Xian like a ghost when that arrow came through the air, so that Fan Xian's sword... struck air.

Seemingly a simple block with the blue pennant, but Fan Xian knew the strength contained in that black arrow in the snowy night. The more understated Wang Xi appeared, the more it proved his strength.

"I can't see through him." Fan Xian picked up an iron poker from his feet and stirred the fire in the brazier haphazardly, "This Shisanlang is indeed very strong, but he is very patient. Those who are patient must have great schemes..."

He suddenly raised an eyebrow, "Not patient, he doesn't care. Wang Xi's demeanor shows that he doesn't care about many things, doesn't care about my verbal attacks, doesn't care about my deliberate humiliation... If he really was sent by Si Gu Jian, why does he not care so much? Only by not caring can one be indifferent. It's a bit troublesome when you can't see what a person wants."

What exactly did this Wang Shisanlang want?

This question gradually weighed on Fan Xian's mind. He didn't like the situation where an outsider suddenly ran in and disrupted the situation.

The Shadow suddenly said, "This person... should be from the Sword Cottage, but not just from the Sword Cottage."

Fan Xian didn't quite understand, but he trusted the Shadow's judgment. The closed-door disciple taught by Si Gu Jian was indeed mysteriously powerful.

He sighed and said, "Let him kill Little Arrow Brother first."

The Shadow glanced at him, knowing that this was the so-called 'admission ticket', knowing that Fan Xian was using this knife to kill, not to see the quality of the knife, but to see the knife's heart. If Wang Shisanlang truly represented Si Gu Jian's attitude, and Yan Xiaoyi's son died at his hands, Fan Xian would have a lot to work with. At the very least, the relationship between Xin Yang and Dong Yi City would have a significant rift.

"Others don't know that Wang Shisanlang is Si Gu Jian's closed-door disciple," the Shadow reminded him.

Fan Xian calmly explained, "If he kills Little Arrow Brother, I will let the whole world know that he is Si Gu Jian's closed-door disciple."

The Shadow was silent for a moment, "Your Lordship is wise... However, this benefit may not be enough."

Fan Xian understood what he meant. Pulling Si Gu Jian into it would anger Dong Yi City. Although Fan Xian and the entire Qing court were used to putting the blame on Si Gu Jian's idiotic head, now that Si Gu Jian had given a trace of his sincerity to Fan Xian, it would be a shame if this trace of sincerity was only used to sow discord between Xin Yang and Dong Yi City.

He glanced at the Shadow and said quietly, "I'll listen to you on matters concerning Dong Yi City. You're more familiar with it than I am."

"Yes, my lord." The Shadow slowly said, "Also, the next five days will be snowy, which is perfect for archery attacks. Be careful."

"How far away are the Black Knights?"

"Ten *li*."

Fan Xian fell silent. In such snowy weather, a master archer following the caravan from afar was quite troublesome. Fortunately, the Black Knights were sweeping the area, and the opponent couldn't mobilize military troops to take the risk.

To mobilize troops to kill Fan Xian, they would have to kill all the targets cleanly, without leaving a trace of evidence to be presented to the palace.

And even the most powerful army in Qing could not slaughter five hundred Black Knights cleanly without leaving a few survivors.

"I don't understand why they would choose to attack me on the way back to the capital. They should know the chances of success are slim," Fan Xian frowned and said, "Although Yan Xiaoyi's son is young, he shouldn't be so arrogant."

"Maybe he has a reason to act." The Shadow slowly said, "I'll go kill him."

Fan Xian pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head, "I don't know who else is around him. With the two of us together, let that Wang Shisanlang do it... Safety first. It's hard to gather a dozen or twenty experts. If there are only a few people, why should we worry?"

The Shadow gave him a strange look, but said nothing.

Fan Xian looked up at the dark, cobweb-covered beams of the ancestral school's hall and sighed inwardly. He didn't dare to launch the most powerful counterattack with his own men in this snowy night because... in the past two or three years, the biggest gap in his mind was that arrow, that bow.

Yan Xiaoyi's bow and arrow.

Even two years later, Fan Xian could still clearly feel the aura of death in the corner tower of the imperial city. He still felt an incomparable palpitation about the baleful aura attached to that arrow.

The arrow outside the ancestral school earlier came too suddenly, too irrationally, so Fan Xian worried that it was a trap, a trap to lure himself or the Shadow into the snowy forest for assassination.

Yan Xiaoyi had also been summoned back to the capital this year. The Court Report said he was still on the road, not yet arrived in the capital, but who knew... on the road, on which road? Was it on his way back to the capital?

Fan Xian haphazardly poked at the charcoal in the brazier, his mind already drifting to the snowy forest outside the village. The fire in the brazier gradually dimmed and eventually went out.

"Go to sleep early."

Fan Xian sighed in the darkness, got up, patted his buttocks, tightened the collar of his fox fur coat, and pushed open the door of the ancestral school. The wind and snow outside poured in, making his eyes squint, but no arrow shot over, which actually made him a little disappointed.

———————————————————————

The next day, the caravan followed the official road north of Yingzhou, heading towards the capital. Because of what happened last night, the security work of the entire caravan became even more strict. Three of the Sixth Bureau's swordsmen were disguised as merchants traveling in the snow, lurking in the shadows, watching all suspicious figures.

Fan Xian also issued an order that the five hundred Black Knights, who had been protecting the front and rear of the caravan from a distance, also shortened the distance to the caravan, and the sound of hooves could be faintly heard, striving to ensure safety.

And along the way, there were always some figures with a *jianghu* aura, watching the caravan in teahouses, restaurants, inns, and outside post stations.

The secret agents and swordsmen of the Supervisory Council were somewhat vigilant. After reporting to Fan Xian, Fan Xian only nodded lightly, without much reaction.

Just as they were about to leave Yingzhou, a woman with a missing arm waited respectfully by the roadside, stopped the caravan, and requested to see the Lord.

Fan Xian saw her, drinking tea while looking at the woman, who was indeed somewhat charming, with a hint of amusement.

The woman knelt in the carriage, with a hint of awe and a hint of fear, and said, "This subordinate greets Your Lordship."

Fan Xian nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Guan Wu Mei, rise and speak."

"Yes." This former famous female bandit of Yingzhou, Xia Qifei's cousin, respectfully stood up, half-bowed, so that her head would not touch the top of the carriage.

"Any discoveries?" Fan Xian rubbed his eyebrows and asked. Although the Supervisory Council's intelligence network spread throughout the world, if they were to investigate people in the city, it was still not as good as the Jiangnan Water Bandit, a gang that was originally deeply rooted in the people. No matter which inn received what guests, which carriage company sent who, the Jiangnan Water Bandit could find out everything.

Guan Wu Mei reported the situation these days, and then said, "Only vaguely found one person, carrying a large package, but the brothers in the gang couldn't keep up with him. He disappeared at Fu Jia Po the day before yesterday. Judging by the direction, he should have gone to the capital."

Fan Xian was silent for a moment, thinking that Little Arrow Brother was indeed a very strong and brave person to come and kill him alone.

After speaking a few more words, he let Guan Wu Mei get out of the car.

The caravan started moving again. As the Shadow's observation of the heavens predicted, the sky in the following days continued to be covered with snow, the snowflakes sometimes large, sometimes small, gradually dazzling, confusing people's hearts.

Finally, they arrived safely at Weizhou, upstream of the Wei River. This place was the last prefecture before the capital, a small city, but very prosperous. However, the court's return date was set early, and Fan Xian's family wealth and silver boxes were still on the Great Jiang Wei River, slowly heading to the capital under the protection of the Shazhou Navy, and he could not delay any longer.

So, the next day, he left Weizhou, but by this time he had revealed his identity, and at the same time requested a hundred state soldiers from Weizhou. The Weizhou side, fearing that something would happen to this important figure, of course, responded to every request.

The enlarged team traveled north for a day, leaving Weizhou and entering the jurisdiction of the capital.

Fan Xian stood on the carriage and looked back, only to see Jing Ge, wearing a silver mask, watching him on the low mountain behind him. He nodded, Jing Ge mounted his horse, clenched his right fist, and the five hundred Black Knights, like a black blade, cut through the tranquility of the mountain and crossed the hills, preparing to return to the Black Knight camp forty *li* away.

This was a fixed rule of the Qing court. The Black Knights were the invincible personal army that His Majesty the Emperor had personally assigned to Chen Pingping, but in order to ensure the Supervisory Council's independence and balance, the Black Knights were strictly forbidden to enter the jurisdiction of the capital.

Entering a step meant death without pardon, this was the iron law of the Black Knights. Fan Xian often thought that from this iron law, he could see that his Emperor father, although confident to the point of narcissism, and could treat even rebellion as a child's play, was afraid that... in his heart, he understood that if the Qing nobles rebelled, the cripple would be the most terrifying.

Although the Emperor would not believe that the cripple would rebel, as an Emperor, he had to guard against it.

Entering the territory of the capital, the official road gradually widened, the mountains and forests gradually decreased, the pedestrians gradually increased, the wind and snow gradually stopped, the accumulated snow gradually melted, and the wet mud wrapped the horses' hooves, making the progress of the entire caravan somewhat difficult.

However, the hearts of the Supervisory Council were already relaxed. No one dared to assassinate in broad daylight around the capital.

Fan Xian, although a very cautious person, was no exception. Since the founding of Qing, even if ambitious people occasionally emerged in the military, no one dared to cause trouble near the capital.

A small valley appeared in front of them, with heavy snow pressing down on the precious evergreen forest, making the branches creak, and the ice formed dragons.

Fan Xian lifted the heavy cloth curtain, looked at the valley, and found that there were no stones on the mountain. In the distance, he could vaguely see the huge outline of the capital, suffocating like a giant beast.

Fan Xian smiled brightly. The capital, he had finally returned. That extremely unreasonable arrow from Little Arrow Brother had actually made him nervous for so many days. It seemed that he still needed to strengthen his cultivation in terms of temperament.

……

……

Suddenly, his earlobe twitched, and he heard the sound of sharp blades entering flesh in the forest ahead, the sound of the Shadow making a move. Then, he heard the sound of a crossbow mechanism moving.

Fan Xian shrieked and reached out to grab the coachman in front of him. All the carriages in the caravan stopped abruptly with this shriek!

From the low mountain, a huge crossbow arrow pierced through the air, carrying the sound of howling wind and thunder, and struck Fan Xian's carriage with a hiss.

The coachman in front of the carriage screamed and broke free from Fan Xian's hand, standing in front of Fan Xian!

Although Fan Xian reacted extremely quickly, the crossbow arrow, about the length of a person's arm, still pierced the coachman's chest and abdomen fiercely. Blood and internal organs sprayed out, smearing the walls with liver and intestines!

The crossbow arrow pierced through his body and nailed the coachman's body beside Fan Xian. Fan Xian's face was gloomy, he clapped the wall, and with a *ge* sound, a wooden board quickly descended inside the carriage's cotton curtain, sealing the entire carriage.

Immediately afterward, he heard countless terrifying, suffocating sounds of crossbow arrows ringing in the valley!