But things always defied expectations. As this round of eerie events began, and the storm of attacks commenced, a hand, a soft, white hand, reached out from the grass!

Like the hand of a cute little girl catching fireflies, her index finger and thumb lightly closed, pinching the poisoned needle that Fan Xian had shot out.

Then, the figure flew out of the grass, seemingly afraid of Fan Xian's unstoppable thrust. Gracefully retreating, she avoided the tearing airflow brought about by the sharp tip of the black dagger like a gust of wind.

Seven long sabers arrived, like wind-blown snow, covering everything. The figure flew beautifully, dancing gracefully amidst the snow-like sabers. Finally, she stepped lightly on the most powerful saber, her figure suddenly retreating forty feet, standing quietly on the grass.

Gao Da grunted, retracting his saber, and along with the other six Tiger Guards, stood between Fan Xian and Xiao En, afraid that the expert would suddenly launch an attack.

...

...

It was a woman, a woman with a floral headscarf and a basket in her elbow, filled with fresh mushrooms.

To be precise, she was a village girl.

But everyone knew that someone who could break Fan Xian's poisoned needle, avoid his all-out thrust, and escape gracefully from the encirclement of seven snow-like sabers... was definitely not as simple as a village girl.

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Fan Xian noticed out of the corner of his eye that Xiao En, the Northern Qi secret agent leader behind him, who hadn't even blinked in the face of death, twitched his eyelids twice upon seeing the village girl. Fan Xian was slightly shocked. Who exactly was this female expert lurking in the grass?

He walked forward, and the seven Tiger Guards opened up a space. Gao Da lowered his head and stepped back, gripping his long saber tightly, ready to deliver a thunderous blow at any moment and sever Xiao En's head.

"May I ask who you are, Miss?" Fan Xian asked the woman softly and gently, his face radiating a spring breeze-like aura.

The woman raised her head. Her appearance wasn't particularly striking, nor could she be considered a beauty, but her eyes were exceptionally bright, seeming to reflect all the colors of the meadow and the morning blue sky she saw. They were clear and bright, incredibly righteous.

Fan Xian was momentarily stunned, then cupped his hands in salute and said, "I am an official of the Qing Kingdom's Supervisory Council, tasked with escorting a major criminal to the Qi Kingdom. I don't know why you are here, Miss. Please forgive any offense I may have caused earlier."

This village girl, this unfathomable village girl, was more powerful than Fan Xian. And Fan Xian was a man who was gentle on the outside but shameless and sinister on the inside, so he smiled and spoke words that he himself didn't quite believe. He knew what the other party was here to do, and the other party knew that he knew this fact, but he insisted on speaking grandly and innocently.

The village girl smiled slightly, and her face, which wasn't particularly beautiful, became incredibly lively because of the smile. Even the seemingly vulgar floral headscarf began to exude a sense of warmth. She looked down at the thin needle between her fingers and said after a long while, "This is the first time I've learned that Young Master Fan's weapon is a thin needle."

Since the other party had already spoken his surname, Fan Xian could hardly bear to pretend any longer. He could only touch his nose and say with a wry smile, "Am I that easy to recognize? Or has my reputation spread so far that even the Northern Kingdom knows about me?"

"A generation's poet immortal is naturally known throughout the world... This poet immortal suddenly became a Director of the Qing Kingdom's Supervisory Council. Such an absurd but shocking event, naturally no one would be unaware of."

The village girl held up the thin needle, looking at it carefully against the sky. Her eyes narrowed, forming a crescent moon. The thin needle against the azure sky looked just like the flying swords that those immortals in legends rode.

"Ah, it's actually an ordinary sewing needle." The village girl seemed very surprised by this discovery. There was even a threading eye at the back of the poisoned needle.

Fan Xian smiled wryly, thinking that it was prepared by his younger sister, so of course it was a sewing needle. He suddenly asked with concern, "Miss, are we going to continue chatting like this? Mr. Xiao is bleeding a lot and probably doesn't want to listen."

Xiao En smiled slightly.

The village girl said with a smile, "Aren't you trying to set a trap to kill him?"

Fan Xian smiled gently, "Wrong. It's that Northern Qi rebels intend to rob the prisoner, disrupting the peace agreement between the two countries. During the fighting, Mr. Xiao En was unfortunately struck by a stray arrow and died."

The village girl giggled, pointing at Fan Xian's nose with her hands on her hips, like the farmers in the fields, "Lord Fan is not only good at writing poems, but also at lying without changing his expression. He truly deserves to be called the legendary Heavenly Vein wielder."

"How dare I, how dare I?" Fan Xian said without changing his expression, still looking gently at the village girl's face, and said softly, "Miss is the legendary Heavenly Vein wielder. I'm just a very diligent and lucky person."

The village girl's expression changed slightly, and she looked at Fan Xian with even more interest. The scene fell into silence.

Suddenly, an early bird chirped and flew onto the nearby meadow, seemingly smelling some danger and the scent of blood, and quickly flew away in fright. She smiled self-deprecatingly and introduced herself, "My name is Duo Duo."

"Hai Tang Duo Duo?" (Sea棠朵朵)

"Exactly."

Hai Tang, the most outstanding figure of the younger generation in Northern Qi, a disciple of the grandmaster Ku He, and the legendary most likely Heavenly Vein wielder. In the Supervisory Council, Yan Ruo Hai had once reminded Fan Xian. At that time, Fan Xian was full of hope that she wouldn't be a woman, but he hadn't expected that she... indeed, still, turned out to be a woman.

Fan Xian's expression was calm, seemingly without any reaction. He still said gently, "Is Miss Hai Tang here to take Mr. Xiao back to the country?" Knowing the other party's identity, he concealed the shock in his heart very well, smiled, and glanced back at Xiao En, who was still staring intently at the battlefield below the meadow, and said softly, "I didn't expect to meet you so soon."

This woman named Hai Tang, clearly one of the world's top figures, had deliberately disguised herself as a village girl. She smiled and said, "Just call me Duo Duo. It sounds more pleasant."

At this moment, Xiao En suddenly said hoarsely, "Neither of you are Heavenly Vein wielders. You're just two little brats who like to bicker."

Fan Xian was secretly ashamed, knowing that although this old man was no longer as brave as he was in his prime, his judgment of people was still good. It was really superfluous for himself and this "village girl" to be pretending here.

At this moment, Hai Tang bowed slightly towards Xiao En, who was sitting slumped on the meadow, and said respectfully, "Upon the order of my master, I have come to escort Lord Xiao back to the capital."

Fan Xian frowned and lowered his hands naturally to his sides, saying softly, "We haven't crossed the border yet, Hai Tang... Miss Duo Duo, you're worrying too early."

He shook his head and waved his hand. The six Tiger Guards behind him immediately changed their formation, forming a thrusting formation with himself as the arrowhead, aimed at the other party. Gao Da in the rear was already gathering strength in both arms, preparing to use a lightning-like saber strike to sever the head of the dying Xiao En.

A strange smile flashed in Hai Tang's eyes. She gently released her fingers, and the poisoned needle fell silently into the grass. The corner of the rough cloth clothes she was wearing trembled slightly in the morning breeze. She said softly, "Does Young Master Fan intend to kill someone in front of me?"

Fan Xian smiled, his mind spinning with countless thoughts. Looking at the other party's eyes, he knew that she wasn't here to stop him from killing... she was probably here to watch him kill. He didn't know what kind of secret Xiao En possessed that could make National Preceptor Ku He break his years of non-involvement in worldly affairs and send this woman, who clearly possessed the superb power of Ninth Rank Upper, to act as an assassin.

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In this world, sometimes you need to make difficult judgments in a very short period of time. Fan Xian had spent a lot of effort to lure Xiao En into a dead end and create the current opportunity for a sure kill - but in this instant, he had to not only abandon his original plan, but also go in the opposite direction!

Undoubtedly, this was an absurd and ridiculous choice, so ordinary people would probably find it difficult to overcome this mental obstacle.

But Fan Xian was a person who was very willing to give up. Since this plan had failed to trap Yan Xiao Yi in the net, whether or not Xiao En was killed was no longer a very important matter. Moreover, he was also very interested in the secret in Xiao En's heart. So he smiled strangely and pounced towards Hai Tang, the girl with the floral headscarf and the basket in her elbow, while issuing an order for the seven Tiger Guards to protect Xiao En and retreat towards the Black Riders.

...

...

Chi, chi, chi, chi... A total of seven sounds of wind breaking, extremely rhythmic and orderly, rang out over this meadow. Even the morning breeze seemed to have been cut into countless fragments by the slender, black, poisoned dagger. Fragments of true energy, like countless broken blades, danced around Hai Tang's floral headscarf.

Fan Xian was very satisfied with his seven consecutive strikes. Although he had been chasing all night and his body was a bit tired, when facing this most outstanding figure of the younger generation in the world, especially a certain character that he had a natural aversion to when reading novels in his previous life, Fan Xian finally stimulated all the potential in his body and unleashed several extremely dazzling strikes.

Like seven black lotus flowers, they bloomed around the hair of this woman named Hai Tang... then withered weakly and faded away.

Hai Tang smiled, holding a simple short sword in her hand. There were still grass clippings beside the sword, and the green, juicy clippings formed a few small dots on the sword's surface in a very strange way.

In the previous moment, each of Fan Xian's extremely poisonous and extremely fast thrusts had been gently met by the short sword in this woman's hand. The tip of the sword trembled slightly, appearing particularly weak and powerless in the wind, but it was like countless breezes, restraining Fan Xian's slender dagger and ultimately turning the domineering true energy attached to Fan Xian's dagger into floating clouds and light wind.