Joy of Life

From the Emperor’s cold and mocking gaze, Si Lili understood many things. Her heart turned cold. She slowly lowered her head. She bit her full lower lip and didn’t say anything. The young Northern Qi Emperor looked at her. For some reason, a wave of anger surged through his heart. Gritting out his words from between his teeth, he coldly said, “Is this how you repay me?”

On the last few words, his voice rose in pitch. The eunuchs were all outside the little garden. The Sword Hut and Northern Qi aces had surrounded the room. The Northern Qi Emperor was not worried that Fan Xian would be able to get close to him.

Si Lili raised her head and calmly replied, “I have done nothing wrong by you.”

The Northern Qi Emperor’s face gradually grew dark. Pointing at her face, he said each word clearly, “How much more wrong can you do by me? Does he have to kill me for you to have done right by me?”

Without waiting for Si Lili to reply, he narrowed his eyes and said, “It’s a pity that he is about to die.”

Si Lili heard these words, but she had long woken from the earlier shock. She knew what kind of person Fan Xian was. Even if Sir Lang Tiao took a group of aces from the Sword Hut to subdue him, he knew the truth about too many things.

She looked pitifully at the Northern Qi Emperor and said in a quiet voice, “Your Majesty, if I were you, I would let Fan Xian leave. If you capture him or try to kill him, who knows if he will cause some world-shattering catastrophe before he dies.”

The Northern Qi Emperor did not understand Si Lili’s meaning. Suddenly, a strong wind picked up in the little garden in the mountain residence. Sand whipped up. A human shadow between black and red came crashing down like rocks caught up in the wind. Unstoppable, it crashed directly toward the Emperor’s weak body.

The young Emperor’s pupils constricted. In this brief instant, he saw clearly who the shadow was. Boundless shocked crashed down in his heart. Could his clever plan and the combined attacks of Master Lang Tiao, Friar He, and the warriors of the Sword Hut, still not hold back this person?

He was a ruling figure. Faced with imminent danger, he didn’t panic. Before anyone knew it, he gave a roar and pulled out a sword by his waist. He sliced down toward the human shadow.

With a crash, the blades clashed together. The black dagger easily pushed aside the Northern Qi Emperor’s sword. The human shadow move closer into the Emperor’s arms. It was like a gust of wind entering the embrace of the forest or a rock landing in the calm lake and rattling a patch of pine trees or setting off waves of ripples.

…

…

Fan Xian spat a mouthful of fresh blood onto the young Emperor, covering his entire body in blood. Although the black dagger had easily broken the Emperor’s sword, the gentle contact had caused great damage to his heart meridian. As he had reached the end of this strength, it made him spray out a fountain of blood.

Fan Xian was able to escape the combined forces of five ninth-level aces because he had spotted a small issue when the eunuch had come to the room to summon Si Lili.

Although he didn’t know how the Northern Qi Emperor had guessed that there was someone in the room, he didn’t have much time to think about it. Just after Si Lili had left the room, he had ruthlessly broken out and forcefully shaken off Friar He’s sinister attack. He also had avoided the cold sword light of the Sword Hut’s disciples.

He was only half a moment early, but it was a vital half moment. As he escaped, he ran into Lang Tiao. If Lang Tiao had been able to attack from outside the room, Fan Xian probably would not have had any chance to escape.

He exchanged blows with Lang Tiao under the eaves. Fan Xian’s body flew outward. Lang Tiao’s zhenqi had been irritated. His legs became heavy, rendering unable to move for a moment.

At that time, two paths lay in front of Fan Xian. One was to go up the mountain. The other was to go toward the grass huts. The second path led unquestionably to danger. Yun Zhilan and the second disciple of the Sword Hut were still standing guard at the bottom of the mountain. If he sank into such an extreme situation, even if Fan Xian had exceptional powers, it would still be difficult for him to survive.

Out of the expectations of the Northern Qi and Sword Hut aces, Fan Xian made an abrupt turn in midair like a sparrow hawk. Drawing an arc through the air, he charged straight toward the precipice outside the mountain residence. Below the precipice was one of the holy lands of martial arts, the Sword Hut.

The reason Fan Xian had made such a dangerous choice was because he was not satisfied. He was not satisfied by the fact that he had taken such a risk, yet he had not seen Sigu Jian’s face or touched the Northern Qi Emperor’s side.

The heavens were looking out for him, allowing him to run into the little garden during his escape and see the young Emperor dressed up as a noble standing by the mountain gate.

Fresh blood sprayed wildly over the Northern Qi Emperor’s head and face. Fan Xian was close to his body, but he was completely unable to halt his steps. Because of his forceful escape and the exchange of blows with Lang Tiao on the way, he had already reached his limit. He wanted to stop himself but was wholly unable to.

In front of Si Lili’s shocked and terrified gaze, Fan Xian held on to the Emperor like two men sacrificing themselves for love as they resolutely and decisively fell toward the bottom of the precipice.

A few streaks of light flash by. With Lang Tiao in the led, a number of aces went by Si Lili’s side. With shock, they watched as Fan Xian held onto the Emperor desperately as he charged down the precipice. Without even thinking, they followed them down.

Fan Xian was not committing suicide. Although he was not lightly injured and held an important person in his arms, he still accurately found places to land his feet, whether it was a protruding rock or a sunk grass pit. Like a wooden figure installed with a spring, he bounded down the precipitous cliff side. In a moment, he landed on the flat ground at the bottom of the precipice.

They came down quickly. The rebound shock was powerful. Blood seeped out again from the corner of Fan Xian’s mouth. The Northern Qi Emperor, who had been forcefully subdued, was shaken to his core. His face was deathly pale. Even so, there was still not a glimmer of fear in his eyes. He only stared coldly into Fan Xian’s eyes with some confusion. It was as if he didn’t think Fan Xian would not be able to escape or subdue him.

The flat ground at the bottom of the precipice was right in front of the Sword Hut. Things changed quickly. The disciples of the Sword Hut, who had been forcefully preventing Thirteenth Wang from entering the Hut, pulled out their swords and quickly formed an array of swords, surrounding Fan Xian in the center.

Not far away, Yun Zhilan, who had been hiding in the darkness, finally walked out. The sword intent on his body shot into the sky. He charged toward Fan Xian.

A number of gray shadows flashed past the precipice. With Lang Tiao in the lead, a number of aces were only a moment behind Fan Xian. Landing on the rock, they quickly caught up.

The scene immediately plunged into silence with endless tension.

Fan Xian had one hand clamped over the Northern Qi Emperor’s meridian, and one hand tightly holding the black dagger. His eyes cautiously watched all around him. With just a light glance, he knew all of the ninth-level aces in the world, particularly the ones from Northern Qi and Dongyi, were pretty much gathered here. After the Dong Mountain incident, only the Sword Hut today would be able to gather together so many powerful warriors.

These people’s goals were identical and simple. They wanted to keep Fan Xian where he was.

Unfortunately for them, Fan Xian was holding the Northern Qi Emperor’s hand. Although he held it gently, everyone knew that if he wanted to, he could send through his strange Tyrannical zhenqi and the Emperor would immediately become countless balls of blood and flesh.

“To still be able to subdue the Emperor despite being surrounded by so many aces, no wonder you are the Qing Kingdom’s Fan Xian.”

One person watching these scene sighed quietly in admiration. The person who spoke was the second disciple of the Sword Hut. Everyone currently had a tense mood. Only the second disciple, who belonged to neither side, was able to express himself naturally and speak the words he thought everyone was thinking.

Although everyone in the world knew Commissioner Fan was a superior ninth-level warrior, it had clearly been the Northern Qi Emperor who had discovered his tracks in the mountain residence and arranged people for an ambush. Unexpectedly, Fan Xian had escaped and taken the Emperor hostage.

Regardless of whether it was Friar He or the aces of the Sword Hut, in a one-on-one situation, they were not a match for Fan Xian. They could still bring him a great deal of trouble. They also had Sir Lang Tiao, whose abilities were not below that of Fan Xian. Even in these circumstances, they still didn’t manage to hold down Fan Xian. The heart of everyone present grew slightly cold. They all wondered if Fan Xian had had any other strange encounters these two years to have become so powerful.

Fan Xian lowered his head slightly and coughed. Holding tightly to the young Emperor’s hand, he looked around and said in a raspy voice, “So, everyone is here. Now we can finally have a proper talk, right?”

The Sword Hut was on the outskirts of Dongyi. The dome-shaped grass hut was built against a mountain and took up a large piece of land. The door to the grass hut was below the precipice. Sigu Jian and some of his disciples were secluded for refinement in the depths of the grass hut while a dozen of the world’s most powerful warriors gathered outside it.

Fan Xian knew he wasn’t that powerful. Lang Tiao was enough to delay him. Additionally, Yun Zhilan was staring at him with sword intent from outside the group. These two were superior ninth-level warriors who had made their names long ago.

He was able to escape from the mountain residence earlier because of his beast-like sense of danger, which he had from birth, as well as his decisive decision-making ability. As for later capturing the Northern Qi Emperor, that could be credited to his luck. If he hadn’t done the unexpected and bravely charged toward the Sword Hut at the bottom of the precipice, he would not have run into the Northern Qi Emperor.

Thus, the ingredients to successes were: strength, decisive decision making, luck, and, what Fan Xian lacked the most in the past, courage.

Although he already controlled the Northern Qi Emperor, the situation was still dangerous. Regardless of who it was, no one would be able to escape from these warriors. It was still too early to tell if it was a success. He had just stepped onto this dangerous path filled with thistles and little flowers dyed red with blood.

The Northern Qi Emperor stood by his side and coldly looked sideways at the man beside him. Despite the present dangerous situation, his expression did not change. Although, it couldn’t help but be admiring. Slowly, he said, “Fan Xian, you are quite daring to offend me right in front of the Sword Hut.”

Fan Xian lifted his wrist and wiped away the blood by his lips. Self-mockingly, he said, “Your Majesty wants to kill me. Should I stretch out my neck and wait for it?”

He raised his head and glanced around with narrowed eyes. “Although I don’t wish to do such unskilled things as kidnapping, since you have discovered me so quickly and have such bad luck as to be caught by me, I can only be a bandit for once.”

He raised his voice and said to the people inching closer with a slight smile, “To say something a bit vulgar, if you want him to live, don’t force my hand. Don’t make me flip out.”

After hearing these words, everyone fell silent. Yun Zhilan slowly separated the crowd and raised his hands in salute to Fan Xian. Quietly, he said, “Sir Fan junior, by yourself, you have managed to cause my Sword Hut never-ending trouble. I cannot help but express my admiration. However, even if you control the Emperor, this is the Sword Hut. Do you think that I would let you go?”

Lang Tiao also walked forward and bowed toward Fan Xian. “Sir Fan junior, I admire your courage and strength. With such a crowd of warriors gathered here, even if you had extraordinary powers, you would still be unable to escape. As for the Emperor, we cannot let you leave with him.”

Fan Xian forcefully swallowed the blood that surged up. Raising an eyebrow, he said ruthlessly, “I cannot defeat you all. If you are not going to make way, then I have no objection to taking someone with me. Remember to arrange for a shared tomb. I also want to leave a glorious mark in history.”

Up against such a seemingly unreasonable and shameless but actually very sinister warrior, whose next moves were wholly unpredictable, Lang Tiao and Yun Zhilan both felt that they faced a thorny problem. Yun Zhilan glanced at Lang Tiao as if he could not understand how, given his cultivation and the help of a number of aces, they could discover Fan Xian’s existence in the mountain residence yet allow him to escape and even take hold of the Qi Emperor as a hostage?

Lang Tiao’s heart was dark and angry. How could he have expected Fan Xian, under attack by everyone, would throw himself right into danger. Who would have thought the Emperor would be looking at the Sword Hut in a daze?

The Sword Hut was shocked at the strength Fan Xian had demonstrated and couldn’t help but want to give it a test. They wanted to see just what the limit was for this young leader of the Qing Kingdom. However, the Northern Qi aces were trembling in fear. They were terrified Fan Xian would accidentally, or purposely if his mood suddenly became bad, hurt the Emperor.

As the situation became a stalemate, the long silent Northern Qi Emperor suddenly said, “Fan Xian, don’t scare these poor people. How could you touch a single hair on my head?”

Fan Xian turned his head to look, only to see the young Emperor looking at him with a mocking gaze. For some reason, his gaze angered him. Smiling mockingly, he extended to fingers to lift the Emperor’s chins and said with contempt, “Little child, your chin is still so smooth…”

The entire scene burst into clamor. No one thought Fan Xian would make such a disrespectful action toward the ruler of a country. Then, they heard Fan Xian’s next words.

“I won’t touch a single hair on your head, so how about two instead?”

“I swear on my former teacher’s name, if you let go of the Emperor, we will not stop you.” Lang Tiao suddenly took a step forward. A wind picked up. His aura flared as he spoke in a cold voice. Given his status, this promise gave Fan Xian a perfect opportunity to retreat. However, Fan Xian had no intention of retreating.

To be threatened by so many aces and not think of retreating and, on the contrary, think about how to extract more advantage from it, other than Fan Xian, there was not another person who could be so bold.

“You won’t stop me. What about the people of the Sword Hut?” Fan Xian asked as he looked at Lang Tiao.

Lang Tiao glanced at Yun Zhilan, who closed his eyes for a moment before quietly said, “The disciples of the Sword Hut will not stop you. However, once you are half a li from the Sword Hut, we will begin to pursue you.”

Fan Xian looked at him and smiled mockingly. Turning his head, he said to Lang Tiao, “You also heard it. I don’t want to be pursued.”

Lang Tiao angrily said, “What exactly do you want to do?”

Fan Xian was silent for a moment. His gaze suddenly turned toward the connected grass huts not far in the distance. His gaze dropped suddenly. His eyes swept past Thirteenth Wang, who seemed to have been forgotten by everyone. Calmly, he said, “I am a bit tired. I want to sit for a bit. When the deal is made, I’ll let him go. Within half a li, you cannot stop me.”

Lang Tiao and Yun Zhilan nodded at the same time. Regardless of which, both of them felt as if their hearts were being burned by wildfire. They were terrified Fan Xian would harm the Northern Qi Emperor.

Fan Xian slowly let go of the Northern Qi Emperor’s hand, but the Emperor did not immediately retreat. Instead, he looked calmly into Fan Xian’s eyes as if wanting to find some secret in them.

The Northern Qi Emperor suddenly laughed helplessly and said, “You are very daring.”

Fan Xian laughed helplessly. “Who would have thought that you could guess whatever I am thinking.”

“I knew you wouldn’t let me go.” The Northern Qi Emperor looked at him coldly. “I am curious. You are already injured, and your strength is gradually fading. If you continue to hold out like this, how can you defend against a sudden attack from a number of warriors?”

“Of course, I can’t let you go. Furthermore, I am actually tired.” There was no expression on Fan Xian’s face. “That is why I have to find somewhere to sit.”

The two people’s voices were not very loud. The Northern Qi Emperor knew that even if he exposed Fan Xian’s intentions in front of his people, it would not change all of this. Unless, he could guess what Fan Xian would do next.

Have a seat? Under the present dangerous situation, where could Fan Xian sit and not worry about being killed by these aces?

The Northern Qi Emperor’s gaze suddenly slanted to a picture hanging on the wall of the grass hut. His mind moved as his eyes lit up. Opening his thin lips, he prepared to speak.

However, Fan Xian gave him no more opportunities. Taking advantage of the moment that the surrounding circle retreated backward, his expression became solemn. His left hand struck out like an agile snack. His fingertips pinched the webbing between the Emperor’s thumb and index finger. Pressing down with his thumb, Fan Xian used a little trick to send a jolt of pain up his right arm and render him unable to cry out again.

As Fan Xian extended his hand like a flash of lightning, Thirteenth Wang, who had been standing silently on the outside under a willow tree, slapped his palm against the willow. His face immediately became deathly pale. His body began to tremble violently.

The poison inside Thirteenth Wang’s body had not been cleared out. His strength was far from his usual, but there was still copious amounts of zhenqi in his body. Particularly now, since he used all of his strength. Given his usually imposing manner in pushing forward, he immediately caused a disturbance.

His body trembled more and more violently. The willow under his hand also shook more and more violently. After three breaths, the willow snapped with a crack.

Thirteenth Wang roared and used both his hands to pick up the willow. Using the willow as a sword, he poured his life’s cultivation into his hands and demonstrated the most powerful of the Sigu Swords.

With the trunk as the sword, the branches as the blade, and the leaves as the edge, it swept away thousands of troops.

Countless muffled grunts rang out all around as dust whipped up. A number of aces reacted in a flash, dodging or attacking. They demonstrated their tricks against the willow that had flown in from outside.

They knew that faced with a willow that contained so much power, if they didn’t give it their all, they could lightly be clipped and suffer the consequences of broken bones and shattered tendons.

The ring around the Sword Hut immediately descended into chaos.

Two people did not panic. Lang Tiao and Yun Zhilan were not phased at all by this willow sweeping aside all before it. The two aces stared coldly at Fan Xian’s every action and suddenly became two streaks of shadow that charged toward Fan Xian.

Just as Thirteenth Wang broke the willow to attack with, Fan Xian had finished recovering and regained control of the Northern Qi Emperor. With a muffled groan, he lifted his body and jumped into the air.

When Lang Tiao and Yun Zhilan approached behind him, Thirteenth Wang’s willow was falling toward Fan Xian’s body.

Fan Xian rose to his toes in the air and cleverly lifted up another half figure. The tips of his toes gently stepped on the branches of the willow tree.

With a puff, a leaf shattered into green silk. A tree branch was gentle and bouncy, but it seemed to have boundless rebound power. It shocked Fan Xian’s body into a streak of light heading toward the front doors of the Sword Hut.

Lang Tiao’s hands quickly stretched out. With a tearing sound, he only held half a piece of Fan Xian’s clothing. The curved knife tied to his wrists slashed through the air viciously, but it only landed on empty air.

Yun Zhilan turned gracefully in the air. The sword at his waist flowed out like water as it chopped toward Fan Xian’s exposed back. However, it barely managed to slice Fan Xian’s right shoulder, leaving a streak of blood.

The willow Thirteenth Wang held was too long and too big, and the speed contained at the tip of the tree was too much. It was as fast as Fan Xian had been flung out. It was quicker than Lang Tiao and Yun Zhilan’s attacks, which had been contained for a long time.

With a crash, Fan Xian shattered the grass door of the Sword Hut into powder. Holding onto the Northern Qi Emperor, he charged in like a gust of wind.

Lang Tiao and Yun Zhilan let out two clear whistles and raised their bodily cultivation to the limit. Flashing into the Sword Hut like clear light, they struck toward Fan Xian’s back like flesh-eating maggots. They were determined to bring him down at all costs.