The music appeared suddenly, and disappeared just as suddenly.
Xie Xuan turned around, but only saw the shadow of a sedan chair disappearing at the edge of the crowd.
He could only turn around and look at Li Mo.
"..."
They stared at each other, wide-eyed.
Li Mo could tell that the sound of the zither was extraordinary, after all, he was someone who had been influenced by the zither skills of Cold Fairy.
He recalled the information he had seen through his Heavenly Mandate Divine Eye. At the time, he thought it was impossible for the Second Hidden Dragon to be such a romantic, but now he realized that his Divine Eye had been too conservative.
Hua Nongying?
Li Mo looked at Xie Xuan, that great victim; he hadn't even seen him, and a single note from his zither had rendered him helpless.
"How... how do we calculate this?"
"Let's have another match?"
"But the atmosphere is already this tense, if we continue, it'll just look like you're stubbornly refusing to admit defeat."
"..."
Xie Xuan thought that seemed to make sense, and some of the martial arts practitioners around him were already casting suspicious glances at him.
But he was unwilling to give up so easily, after all, it was a chance to be alone with her...
"How about this, didn't you say you could defeat me without even making a move?"
Xie Xuan did not sheath his sword, but raised his straw hat to reveal his eyes, which were not large but very bright:
"If such a method truly exists, I can at least have an explanation."
Li Mo's forehead creased with annoyance. "... That wasn't originally the case, and when did I ever say something like that?"
"So you mean it's ready now?"
"Um."
"Show me how to use it."
Are you sure? I'm afraid you can't handle it.
A hint of pity flashed in Li Mo's eyes as he confirmed it again and again.
Xie Xuan: "?"
Even Jiang Yu wouldn't dare say he'd be defeated without making a move, so what's with that impolite look?
They actually pity me? Do I, the second-in-command of the Hidden Dragon, need anyone's pity?
"Make your move."
"..."
Li Mo sheathed his sword and sighed.
Instead of picking up the hammer as Xie Xuan had expected, he walked over to the Ice Block.
"Ice Block, are your hands cold?"
Li Mo blinked.
"... It's not cold."
"Elder sister."
Now!
Before Ice Block's cold gaze could even tremble and she could recover, Little Li grabbed her icy, delicate hand and clenched it in his palm!
Ying Bing lowered her eyes slightly, seemingly still devoid of emotion, but in reality, her small hand in his palm was slightly curled up.
Xie Xuan: "?"
Onlookers: "?"
Suddenly, the slight upturn of the Divine Hammer Little Overlord's lips and the look of pity in his eyes seemed reasonable. It was as if a spice bottle had been spilled in the hearts of those who saw it, a mixture of emotions, with a sour taste rising to the sky.
Li Mo said, "She doesn't love you at all."
Xie Xuan: "!!"
Areca palm--
The longsword in his hand fell limply to the ground, and he seemed to have lost all his strength. He staggered back a few steps, and only managed to stand up by holding onto the doorpost of Cloud-Stepping Tower.
From within the crowd, faint cracking sounds could be heard, as if something had broken.
"?????"
"What are you saying? What are you saying?!"
"Damn it, shut the hell up! Xie Xuan is about to cry."
"If Xie Xuan offended you, then go ahead and hit him with a hammer! We were just watching a show, what did we do wrong?!"
"You're going to fight even if you're just watching a show, huh!"
"So this is the secret to killing without even lifting a finger? Very well, very well, the reputation of your Wife-Prospering Fighting Soul's is well-deserved..."
"Waaaaah... I won't let you talk about her like that! She said I'm a good person, how could she not like me!"
"I'm done playing, I'm leaving!"
The single onlookers became agitated, and the scene became quite chaotic for a time.
Fortunately, this was in the Imperial Capital. A proper exchange of skills was fine, but it wasn't appropriate to really fight in broad daylight. Little Li was only nearly riddled with holes by the stares of others.
The people from Cloud-Crossing Sword City felt their scalps tingle and gasped.
If they weren't in the Imperial Capital, they would have liked to pretend to be bystanders and stab Li Mo a couple of times.
"Sigh... I told you you wouldn't be able to handle it."
Seeing Xie Xuan slumped to the ground, looking utterly dejected, Li Mo felt a little embarrassed.
Fortunately.
He probably has no intention of taking Princess Little Jiang away.
"We've just arrived in the Imperial Capital, how about we do some sightseeing?"
Li Mo felt constantly uneasy standing there, as if someone was looking at him with eyes that wanted to kill him. So he quickly fled the scene with Ice Block and Princess Little Jiang, leaving Qin Yuzhi behind to arrange rooms.
It has to be said that the sunglasses did come in handy.
"Well, actually, if you really think about it, your strength should be a notch above mine."
As he left, he put his sunglasses on Xie Xuan's face, concealing the tears in his eyes.
But on this day...
A piece of news spread like wildfire in the Imperial Capital, becoming the talk of the town. After all, the Hidden Dragon Assembly was just around the corner, and everyone in the Imperial Capital was focused on it.
"Hey, did you know that Xie Xuan lost to Cold Fairy?"
"Huh? How is that possible?"
"The most exciting part was yet to come. He later challenged the Divine Hammer Little Overlord, but was forced to retreat and defend by the opponent's sword, thus losing the bet."
"What? The Divine Hammer Little Overlord? A sword?"
"I heard that Little Tyrant's hobby is practicing swordsmanship."
"If your hobbies are this amazing, your hammering skills must be off the charts!"
"Losing a sword fight to someone who plays with a hammer, is this all the prestige of the Heavenly Mountain Sword Villa is worth?"
The Imperial City, the Eastern Palace.
Upon hearing the news from his attendant, Jiang Yu noticed fine cracks appearing in a porcelain teacup that had been placed in someone's hand. Jiang Yu remained calm, but the servants around him all knelt down.
Jiang Yu hadn't expected Xie Xuan to lose.
Firstly, I didn't expect Xie Xuan to use the light-based sword technique.
Secondly...
"This matter cannot be entirely blamed on my senior brother."
Azure Bird bent down to wipe the tea spilled on the ground and said softly, "Who knew Hua Nongying would suddenly pass by, causing Senior Brother Xie to be momentarily distracted."
Jiang Yu said calmly, "Just a woman, yet she made him unable to even hold his sword properly."
"But if it weren't for Hua Nongying, Senior Brother might not have been willing to go to Cloud-Stepping Tower..."
The Azure Bird stopped speaking halfway through its sentence, knowing better than to interrupt.
This matter was both Hua Nongying and ruined by Hua Nongying.
If it weren't for her, Xie Xuan wouldn't have agreed to this matter; if it weren't for her, Xie Xuan wouldn't have messed things up.
"Heh, what does she mean? Does she also want to be blessed with Wife-Prospering Fighting Soul '?"
A fresh cup of tea was served, and before it had even cooled, an old eunuch with white hair entered the palace gate.
"Your Highness, His Majesty has sent me to summon you."
"To the Imperial Study, or... the Dragon-Raising Observatory?"
"The Imperial Study."
"Ice Block, do you know how to play pitch-pot?"
"Never tried it."
Where is Chulong?
"I don't know how either..."
At a roadside stall, the stall owner watched as the seemingly virtuous gentleman and the elegant, beautiful young lady strolled hand in hand, and a sinister smile crept across his face.
The way he looked at Little Li was as if he were looking at a great victim.
He loves doing business with people like this; with a beautiful woman in front of them, how can they say they're not good enough?
But the stall owner was soon taken aback, because the handsome young man who looked like a gentleman wasn't playing.
"I won."
"Oops... I won again..."
"Good, all ten hits!"
A cold and aloof pitch-pot machine, a cool pitch-pot machine wearing sunglasses late at night.
All the prizes on the table were cleared away.
While he was playing, the Empty-Bright Myriad-Color Pagoda in Li Mo's arms emitted a fluctuation, which made him look strange.
The Empty-Bright Myriad-Color Pagoda is full.
Where does the Power of All Living Beings from?
But that's not important.
This means that he can project the Great Dao Divine Form.