The courtyard lay deep and secluded. The high-walled compound Li Yan and Luo Qi had just purchased after arriving in Jiangnan City to protect their privacy had now become a natural barrier isolating them from the outside world.
For many people, it was still a quiet and peaceful morning, but for the Li family, it was undoubtedly a nightmare.
An assassin's attack was something they had never once imagined before.
Who could have imagined that the useless young man would actually provoke an assassin of Killer Crow's level—and that Killer Crow would use his own right hand to give his left hand a Gold Coin in exchange for his life, for such an absurd reason?
Whenever danger appeared, Li Sinian would always rush in front of Li Mu Yang at the first possible moment.
In her heart, Li Mu Yang was frail and weak, just as he had been when they were children, still needing her to protect and care for him.
"Discuss a deal?" Killer Crow looked at the little girl across from him, who was pretending to remain calm, and felt an utterly absurd sensation. "Little girl, do you even know what you're doing? You want to discuss a deal with an assassin? If assassins could casually negotiate with people—would they still be called assassins?"
"I'll give you the Body-Breaking Technique," Li Sinian said in a clear voice.
When she had thrown that punch just now, the assassin had displayed an extremely shocked expression.
She remembered his expression, so she could conclude that the technique her master had taught her very likely had an extraordinary origin.
Li Sinian was a clever person, and remarkably composed at that.
If any other little girl had encountered such a situation, she would have hidden behind her parents and cried incessantly, or simply collapsed to the ground.
But Li Sinian had taken her parents' and brother's place and was negotiating with an assassin.
"Sinian—" Li Yan called out urgently. He knew how much the yellow-robed Daoist doted on Li Sinian. He also knew that, before leaving, the yellow-robed Daoist had indeed given Li Sinian an ancient book with yellowed pages, repeatedly warning her to keep it safe and never lose it or let the outside world learn of it.
Now his daughter wanted to use it as an exchange. Would that not go against the giver's heartfelt intentions?
But she wanted to use that secret manual to exchange for her brother's life. No matter how much he wanted to stop her, he could not bring himself to say the words.
Li Sinian stared unblinkingly at the assassin Killer Crow, yet explained to her father, "Father, I have kept my master's teachings firmly in mind. But this is a critical moment, and I can't worry about so much right now. I'll naturally explain everything to Master afterward. If I'm punished, I'll bear it."
Seeing that Killer Crow remained silent and utterly unmoved, Li Sinian tried once more. "The only person you want to kill is my brother, but look at his condition—he's frail and sickly, and his body is black. He was struck by lightning right after he was born, and even now his mind remains muddled, leaving him unable to do anything—a good-for-nothing like him is truly worth you coming personally to kill? If your fellow assassins found out, wouldn't you simply invite ridicule?"
"We can kill wealthy tycoons and political leaders, imperial generals, women and children, and heiresses—so long as someone is willing to pay, there's no one we won't kill. As for whether he's a good-for-nothing..." Killer Crow glanced at Li Mu Yang, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Little girl, I'm afraid you still don't know what kind of monster you're protecting behind you, do you?"
Li Sinian naturally had no idea what kind of monster Li Mu Yang truly was. She was even more certain that he was merely a frail shut-in with no ability to protect himself.
"No one actually paid you to kill my brother, did they?"
"He ruined my plans. I have to kill him."
"Spare my brother, and I'll give you the Body-Breaking Technique. As for the matter of you using your right hand to give your left hand a Gold Coin, no one will ever know—"
Killer Crow was indeed deeply tempted by the Body-Breaking Technique. It was a Daoist secret manual, an extremely high-grade treasure. Aside from the Dao Venerable and the seven True Men traveling outside, there was probably no one else qualified to casually give away such a thing.
True Man Ziyang was one of the seven True Men of Daoism. It had been said many years ago that his strength had entered the Withered-Prosperity Realm. One thought gave birth; one thought brought death. Killer Crow did not dare provoke the old Daoist True Man Ziyang, but he still had the nerve to bully one of his disciples.
The person he wanted to kill was Li Mu Yang, not his disciple Li Sinian.
"Even after killing you, I can still obtain the Body-Breaking Technique," Killer Crow said with a cold laugh.
"You won't get anything if you kill me," Li Sinian said. "The Body-Breaking Technique is in my mind."
"Are you playing me?" Killer Crow's expression turned sinister. He could see that the little girl was intelligent—and extremely slippery. Were children nowadays really this precocious? Were they all this skilled at doing business and negotiating? This was a deal involving murder. Did schools teach this sort of thing too? If so, his old assassin school's business would inevitably suffer a tremendous blow.
The Empire's economy was sluggish, and competition in every line of work was intensifying. Even the business of killing people was no exception.
Killer Crow was deeply worried about his alma mater. Back when he had entered the school, the entrance had borne the ancient maxim: "Today I take pride in the school; tomorrow the school will be ashamed of me." He had engraved it in his heart, determined to make a name for himself so that the school would be ashamed of his outstanding achievements in killing.
May the school remain strong and not go bankrupt too easily, he prayed silently.
"I hope you can give me an answer soon. Otherwise, once Big Sister Xiao Xin arrives, you may not get anything at all. I'll give you the Body-Breaking Technique, and you can pretend you never came here today. How about it?"
Killer Crow stared coldly at Li Mu Yang. "Li Mu Yang, do you really intend to let a girl stand up for you?"
Li Mu Yang patted his sister's shoulder and said in a hoarse voice, "Sinian, let me—"
"Brother—" Li Sinian cried sharply. "Don't force yourself. Don't you know what condition your body is in? He's deliberately provoking you with words so that you'll come out, then he'll kill you with one blow. Don't listen to him. Just stay behind me. If he dares touch even a single hair on your head, I'll fight him to the death—"
"Sinian—"
"Shut up."
"..."
"What a cowardly, useless man." Killer Crow curled his lips.
"My son is no one else's business to criticize." Li Yan let out a muffled snort. This usually taciturn man charged over with a long spear in hand.
As the elder of the family and its only adult man, he had the responsibility and duty to step forward at this moment and shield his wife and children from wind and rain.
His spear thrust out, and wind and thunder rumbled faintly.
Killer Crow stood motionless and sneered. "The Lu family's Heavenly King Spear is famed far and wide. It has defeated countless powerful enemies and is known as the Western Wind's number-one spear. Unfortunately, you've learned only a tiny bit of its surface."
Clang—
Killer Crow's hand emerged from inside his black robe.
The spear seemed to have grown eyes, willingly driving itself into Killer Crow's palm.
"You can't even summon wind and thunder, yet you want to use a Heavenly King Spear like this to injure me? Even a seven-year-old child from the Lu family would be a hundred times stronger than you, wouldn't they?" Killer Crow grabbed the spear and spoke with mockery in his voice. "It seems you're nothing more than a servant and lapdog of the Lu family—"
Killer Crow thought for a moment, then said, "Interesting, interesting. I casually picked an ordinary household to take revenge on, yet it actually has ties to the imperial Lu family—"
Li Yan's face flushed purple-red as he desperately circulated his true qi, trying to wrench the spear from Killer Crow's grasp.
Unfortunately, just as Killer Crow had said, his Heavenly King Spear consisted of nothing more than a superficial understanding. He could not even defeat the Lu family's children. As a servant and retainer, how could he have had the chance to learn the true, profound essence of the Heavenly King Spear?
He had only learned this superficial fragment while serving as Miss Gongsun Yu's driver, watching Lu Qingming of the Lu family practice in the courtyard and secretly committing the movements to memory.
"You want to take it back?" Killer Crow smiled. The hand holding the spear suddenly lifted forward, raising Li Yan—man and spear together—into the air.
"Let go of my father!" Li Mu Yang roared furiously and charged toward the assassin Killer Crow.
"You finally look like a man—here."
Killer Crow lightly flicked a finger, and Li Yan's body slammed heavily toward Li Mu Yang.
"Brother, watch out—" Li Sinian warned as she ran.
She knew Killer Crow's strength. One must not underestimate the force behind that push. If it was handled poorly, it could smash Li Mu Yang's frail bones to pieces.
As if he had not heard her, Li Mu Yang leaped high into the air, then caught Li Yan's massive body in his arms.
The two of them tumbled backward through the air before crashing toward the wall.
"Mu Yang—" Li Yan was frantic inside.
He knew his son's body was weak. If his son's body was beneath him and his own massive frame crashed down on top of it, his son's life would likely be lost.
Though they were still in midair, Li Yan tried to force a change of position.
He grabbed Li Mu Yang's body and tried to pull him in front, letting his own body face the wall and become a human cushion for his son.
He failed to move him.
Li Mu Yang hugged his father tightly from behind, as though he were embracing the most precious thing in the world.
"Mu Yang—" Li Yan tried to exert himself again.
Crash—
Li Mu Yang's body slammed into the thick wall built of bluestone, while Li Yan's body crashed heavily into Li Mu Yang's chest.
Dust billowed, and grass and leaves flew from the wall.
At the spot where Li Mu Yang had struck, a huge human-shaped depression appeared.
Crack, crack—
The connected bluestone wall developed one fine fissure after another.
"Mu Yang—" Luo Qi cried out in grief and rushed toward the direction where Li Mu Yang had crashed.
"Brother—" Li Sinian also changed direction, hurrying over to check on Li Mu Yang.
Li Yan's eyes were bloodshot, and tears filled them.
He maintained the posture in which he had landed, not daring to move, even less daring to turn around.
He was afraid that the moment he turned around, he would see his son crushed into a meat pie.
Before you continue