The Only Flaw

"Brother He, I'm done!"

An hour later.

Fan Xingwei wiped the sweat from his forehead and tiptoed into the room.

At a glance, he saw He An sitting where he had been.

He An opened his eyes and said calmly, "If you're done, sit down and rest."

"When Brother Sun and the others get back, keep this matter buried deep in your heart."

"Even if someone asks, don't say a word more than you have to."

Before He An could even threaten him, Fan Xingwei hurriedly promised, "Don't worry, Brother He. I'm very tight-lipped."

"Besides the two of us, no one else could possibly find out about this."

He An nodded, then took out some silver and tossed it over.

"Take these Silver Taels."

"This..."

Fan Xingwei hesitated.

Once he took He An's silver, he would be He An's accomplice.

If one day,

the matter came to light,

there would be no way he could escape responsibility.

But if he refused, he might not even make it through today alive.

After thinking it over, he steeled himself, bent down, and picked up all the broken silver.

Might as well take it.

This silver was enough to support his family for a long time.

"Thank you!"

Afterward, he didn't forget to thank He An.

He An chuckled softly and said nothing more.

Fan Xingwei didn't dare sit inside the room. He went outside and found a quiet place to rest.

Another half an hour passed.

Footsteps sounded in the mountain forest.

Then,

an angry voice rang out.

"Damn it, he actually got away!"

Stepping outside,

He An saw Sun Wangxian and the others returning, cursing as they came.

Two of them were injured.

He An immediately realized that they hadn't caught the man who had fled.

If so, he was in danger.

"Brother Sun, you're back!" He An called out, suppressing his anxiety.

Sun Wangxian nodded.

Just then, he noticed a corpse lying on the ground not far away.

Lü Jiang!

"How could this happen? How did he die?"

In an instant,

the others who had just returned were all drawn to the corpse.

Sun Wangxian's expression darkened.

They had gone after their target with a large group, already knowing where he was hiding.

Yet they had failed to kill or capture everyone.

Worse still, one of their own had died.

As the one in charge, he would have to bear a heavy responsibility this time.

"Who killed him?" Sun Wangxian asked He An, his tone stern.

"I don't know, but we suspect it was the fleeing bandit."

He An explained, "After you left, Brother Sun, Brother Fan and I wanted to help too. So after explaining things to Brother Lü, we chased after them."

"But we were too weak. No matter how hard we pursued them, we couldn't catch up with you, so we had no choice but to come back."

"When we got back, we saw Brother Lü's corpse."

Sun Wangxian eyed him suspiciously and frowned. "Then why do you suspect it was one of the fleeing bandits?"

"We saw him." He An kept his expression unchanged.

"On our way back, we happened to see the bandit fleeing."

"He was wearing exactly the same clothes as the man who ran off earlier."

"If you don't believe me, Brother Sun, you can ask Brother Fan. He saw him too, didn't you?"

Sun Wangxian looked at Fan Xingwei.

Fan Xingwei backed him up. "Brother He's right. We really did see the bandit when we were coming back."

Sun Wangxian didn't respond.

He crouched down and carefully examined Lü Jiang's corpse. There was indeed only one fist mark on his body, and his internal organs had been completely shattered.

Sure enough,

the one who struck him was a Martial Artist.

He An and Fan Xingwei had only just begun practicing martial arts. There was no way they could have become Martial Artists in such a short time.

"So it seems they weren't the ones who did it!"

That was what Sun Wangxian thought.

Just as he was about to stand, he suddenly noticed a dagger trapped beneath Lü Jiang's body.

Its blade was coated black, clearly poisoned.

In an instant,

he seemed to realize something, then rose to his feet without showing it.

"I believe you. Lü Jiang wasn't killed by either of you. You don't have the skill to do something like that."

With that,

he looked around at the others.

"Everyone, go on and disperse. Wait here a little longer. Captain Wang and the others should be back soon."

"When they get here, we'll ask if they caught the people who fled out the back."

After he finished speaking, everyone dispersed.

He An breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing he didn't suspect us!"

Before long,

Captain Wang and the others returned as well.

One of their group was a prisoner, still alive.

At the sight of them,

Sun Wangxian's eyes lit up.

"Did you catch them all?"

"No."

"There were three of them on our end. We killed one and caught one, but the other got away."

Captain Wang glared at the prisoner, his face full of anger.

"That bastard was the reason. If he hadn't fought us tooth and nail, the last one wouldn't have gotten away."

"Then that person must have quite a high status."

"Yeah!"

Captain Wang was filled with regret.

Catching that young man would have earned him great merit.

But now,

the credit had flown away!

Who wouldn't find that hard to swallow?

"What about your end?" After suppressing his frustration, Captain Wang looked at Sun Wangxian and asked.

Sun Wangxian shrugged.

"He got away!"

Captain Wang looked helpless.

"Two people got away just like that. This mission's a bust. Forget getting credit—if the County Governor doesn't punish me, I'll be lighting incense and thanking the gods."

"Enough. We should head back first," Sun Wangxian sighed as well.

On the way down the mountain,

the group trudged along with their heads bowed, nothing like the imposing force they had been when they went up.

"What bad luck. Two got away, and we lost one of our own. We'll be laughed at when we get back."

"Ha. Laughed at? We'll be lucky if we aren't punished."

He An walked at the back, doing his best to keep a low profile.

And, at a time like this,

he carefully replayed every detail of the day in his mind, wondering if he had let anything slip.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Sun Wangxian had reacted a little too calmly after examining Lü Hao's corpse.

"Could I be overthinking it?"

Suddenly,

something flashed through his mind.

When Lü Hao had tried to assassinate him, he had been holding a dagger.

Since it was his first time killing someone, he had been too nervous. Afterward, he'd focused only on what to do with Fan Xingwei and had completely forgotten about that thing!

He slapped his forehead, regret flashing across his face.

"Brother He, what are you thinking about?"

As he was lost in thought,

a voice suddenly sounded beside him.

He An jumped in fright.

He turned to look.

Sun Wangxian was standing beside him. He didn't know when he had come over.

He was still toying with something in his hand.

Lü Hao's dagger!!