Hu Xiaotian carefully climbed down from the roof to the ground. Now he understood the advantages of knowing martial arts. Even if he had the money to hire bodyguards, they could not stay at his side twenty-four hours a day. There would always be times when he was alone. Fortunately, Xi Yan had no intention of harming him. Otherwise, with her martial prowess, all he could have done was bare his neck and await death.
Hu Xiaotian pushed open his door in the dark, took out his fire striker, and lit the oil lamp on the table. He yawned and was about to head to bed when he discovered a white-haired old man sitting on it. Frightened, Hu Xiaotian jumped more than three feet straight into the air. He opened his mouth to shout, but felt something poke his chest. His mouth hung wide open, yet not a sound came out.
The old man wore gray and had a gaunt frame. He sat motionless on the bed, staring fixedly at Hu Xiaotian like a wax figure-or, less politely, a corpse laid out stiff.
Hu Xiaotian broke into a cold sweat. This fright was even worse than Xi Yan's prank earlier. Only after getting a clear look at the old man's face did he realize that he knew him too. It was none other than An Dequan, whom he had saved at Orchid Temple. Thinking of the Seventeenth Prince, Long Yefang, who had visited tonight, and then of Qiqi's royal status, Hu Xiaotian felt almost certain that An Dequan's appearance here had something to do with Long Yefang, the Prince of Zhou.
Back at Orchid Temple, he had personally performed amputation surgery on An Dequan's right leg and discovered the secret that An Dequan was a eunuch. At that thought, Hu