Assassin

Chapter 11: Assassin

Gao Xian lay back in his armchair, one hand warming itself by the brazier, the other holding a book.

However, Gao Xian's brow was furrowed as he read. The tapping of his booted foot against the table leg grew faster and faster, until he finally stood up abruptly and slammed the book onto the table.

After finishing Romance of the Sword Immortal, Gao Xian was so enraged he felt smoke would pour from his ears.

"Slander! How dare these commoners spread rumors about me, the Great Immortal, and even write lewd stories about me."

"My immortal aura, my divine wind in both sleeves, all ruined by these commoners."

Now, when people mentioned the Sword Immortal Kongchenzi, it wasn't just about that one legendary Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens slash. It was also accompanied by all sorts of scandalous tales, recounting the Sword Immortal's passionate love stories with the Two Daughters of the Li Family, interspersed with Young Master Silver Flower and several other martial arts heroes. The stories were told with such vivid detail, it was as if they were real events.

And all of this originated from a book titled Romance of the Sword Immortal, written by someone named Hong Yuan. Although the Duke of Wei's Estate had already banned the circulation of such books, they were selling even better in secret.

Even General Donkey, the great protector, had somehow gotten his hands on a copy. It just went to show how brazen the seller, Hong Yuan, was operating in secret.

The copy in Gao Xian's hand was obtained from General Donkey, along with a good thrashing that made the donkey yelp in pain.

After venting his anger for a while, Gao Xian picked up some fruit from a plate, preparing to read it carefully a few more times.

He intended to find its flaws and thoroughly criticize the unscrupulous author, Hong Yuan.

Know yourself and your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without defeat.

"The writing is too poor."

"There's no literary or intellectual depth."

"Distorting facts, twisting the truth."

"All they do is pander to readers with erotic content, lacking any of the integrity and principles of a true scholar."

From the writing style and literary approach to the intellectual depth and social responsibility, even the scholar's integrity, Gao Xian condemned the book from every angle, deeming it utterly worthless. Yet, as he read, his voice faded, completely absorbed in the story.

This was a sublimation from verbal criticism to spiritual critique.

As he reached for another dried fruit, Gao Xian suddenly felt something was wrong.

"Hmm?"

He leaned over the table and discovered a transparent silk thread hanging in the air, precisely aimed at his fruit plate.

Following the thread upwards, he saw it led directly to the roof. A thief dressed in night-blooming clothes was crouched on the rooftop, pouring a colorless and odorless poisonous liquid downwards.

Gao Xian had caught him red-handed.

The small opening in the tiles perfectly aligned with Gao Xian's large eyes.

However, Gao Xian's eyes were filled with amusement, while the other's were wide with panic.

The man was about to flee, but it was too late. The moment Gao Xian saw him, he had already acted.

Gao Xian flicked his finger, and the poisonous liquid immediately flowed back up the silk thread, instantly transforming into a water arrow that pierced the man's eye, eliciting a scream.

He then rolled off the rooftop, falling to the ground, his fate unknown.

This was not the first time.

Recently, someone had tried to poison his food. Gao Xian tasted it, realized what it was, and then pretended to be dead in bed. The people who came in to collect the "body" then tasted their own concoction and were carried out horizontally.

The morning before yesterday, a master of disguise, posing as a waiter, came in to clean before the sun was even high in the sky, intending to steal. Gao Xian, who was extremely grumpy in the morning, beat him to death.

Yesterday, there were people digging a tunnel under cover of darkness. Before they even reached under the house, General Donkey stomped his foot, burying them alive.

Five or six top martial arts experts had died consecutively. The courtyard had practically become a bloodbath.

As the situation escalated, the entire Yinglai Inn was completely sealed off, with Gao Xian having booked it entirely.

Apart from the waiter who came in to deliver food on time, no one dared to approach. All the martial artists knew that the Sword Immortal and the people from the Silver Flower Palace had clashed again.

The Sword Immortal had killed the Palace Master of the Silver Flower Palace and taken the inheritance artifact. The Silver Flower Palace would never let this go.

Without the inheritance artifact, the entire Silver Flower Palace would decline.

Without the antidote to the Silver Flower Powder, countless people would die.

Gao Xian was not in a hurry. He wanted to see how many people the Silver Flower Palace would send to their deaths. It would be best to kill them until they were disheartened, to annihilate them completely.

The moment the thief on the rooftop died, it was like a signal. Immediately, twenty to thirty people appeared around the inn.

For many consecutive days, only one person appeared at a time, and after the assassination attempt, there was a long interval before the next wave appeared. It was as if they were just trying to make Gao Xian lower his guard. These people seemed to be creating this very moment.

"Attack!"

It was the dead of night, and most people, except for night owls, were asleep. From a carriage at the corner, a short boy alighted, his face filled with the triumphant smile of a successful scheme.

With a command.

These people moved simultaneously.

"Boom!"

A raging fire erupted, engulfing several courtyards and the entire wooden structure of the inn.

The violent sound reverberated like an earthquake, alarming the entire Gongzhou City.

Residents in other districts of the city opened their doors and looked towards West Street, seeing the sky ablaze with flames leaping dozens of meters high.

Inside an official building east of the city, Zhongxing Du seemed to have anticipated the Silver Flower Palace's move. The moment he heard the commotion, he burst out, along with a considerable number of men gathered and ready.

However, Zhongxing Du hadn't expected them to be so audacious as to use Yu Fire Thunder within Gongzhou City. Staring at the towering inferno in the distance, he was utterly stunned.

This Yu Fire Thunder, used on battlefields and banned by the imperial court, was an extremely dangerous contraband. Possession alone meant a death sentence. To deal with Gao Xian, the Silver Flower Palace had deployed dozens of these devices at once.

Their value alone exceeded a thousand gold pieces, and even with that much money, they were usually impossible to obtain.

Even more terrifying was that Yu Fire Thunder contained the oil of exotic beasts. Once ignited, it was incredibly difficult to extinguish, and if it spread, it could burn for days and nights without stopping.

"Bastards, how did these Silver Flower Palace remnants get this stuff in here?"

"Guards, what are you standing around for? Put out the fire... put out the fire!"

Zhongxing Du rushed outside, shouting urgently as he hurried towards the main street in the west of the city.

The Duke of Wei's Estate was also in chaos. The Duke of Wei, Li Guoyuan, had also been awakened and was gathering his men to guard against any unforeseen events.

In a small building in the back courtyard, Li Rong'er got up, throwing on a robe. She stood on the upper floor of the small building, looking into the distance. A maidservant hurried up the stairs and said to her, "Miss! It seems something has happened near the Yinglai Inn on the west side of the city. Master has asked us to go to the main hall."

A hint of worry appeared on Li Rong'er's delicate brows.

In a courtyard, a swordsman with streaks of white at his temples was practicing his swordplay. He stopped immediately upon hearing the commotion.

"This is bad." Although Lu Canghai was blind, he could sense from his intuition that something had happened in the direction of the main street in the west of the city. He immediately grabbed his sword and rushed over.