Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 326 Insight
No one knows his past, and he is unwilling to expose his scars to the public, unable to speak of his suffering.

That's why he's so cold and aloof now.

He didn't talk about those things, so no one could know them. Therefore, he remained a mysterious figure in the heart of the leader.

He also understands that ideas are ideas, and reality is reality.

Those who come knocking on their door are most likely enemies or threats to their team, and he must eliminate them for his own sake and for the sake of his team.

Because he and the team led by the core member were already tied together, if one of them had a problem, the other would have a hard time escaping.

Therefore, whether it was to protect the team or not, he was naturally going to have a life-or-death duel with the guard Li in front of him.

Li, the bodyguard, should feel the same way; he was also unwilling to engage in a life-or-death battle with the steward.

In Li Huwei's mind, he would be happy to spar; but if it were a life-or-death duel, and if he had a choice, he would rather not.

Even as a martial artist, he was unwilling to risk his life, because there were still things and people in this world that he cherished.

As a martial artist, he was no different from other martial artists. He wanted to improve his strength and also wanted to see what the Jade Cultivation Passage was like one day.

Even when he first started learning martial arts, he dreamed of one day becoming a cultivator who could roam the skies.

These are things he dreams of.

However, he would not risk his life for a sparring match, and now, he does not want to risk his life for a life-or-death battle.

But he had a mission and a duty to fulfill, and in order to protect Jiang Xian, he had no choice but to fight.

However, he hoped that in the end, he would win.

Even though they both had concerns, the matter still needed to be resolved and couldn't remain deadlocked indefinitely.

Therefore, wishes are always hard to fulfill, ideas are ultimately just ideas, and some ideas are difficult to turn into reality.

The steward felt that since a battle with the person in front of him was inevitable, he decided to give Guard Li a quick and painless death.

Perhaps the steward had already decided that he would be superior to Guard Li.

However, even if Li Huwei's final decision was to grit his teeth and stand at the forefront, even if he was a guard of the Jiang family and had received benefits from the Jiang family, he should naturally work for the Jiang family and fulfill his responsibilities.

However, with Jiang Xian by his side, he wouldn't let Guard Li lose his life in vain.

Jiang Xian understood that even though Li was a guard of the Jiang family, he was ultimately not a member of the Jiang family.

Since Guard Li was a high-level Heaven-rank martial artist, it wouldn't be difficult for him to shake off the steward and escape on his own.

Even though such things have been heard so often, and the betrayal of guards by their masters is not uncommon, at this point, a guard who is a high-level Heaven Rank martial artist has only a weak young lady by his side. For his own safety, some guards will naturally not care about the young lady's life or death, and may even betray her.

Jiang Xian had heard of the importance of protecting oneself in critical moments more than once or twice, so he was also watching to see if Guard Li would rush to the front to protect her when things got tough.

As long as Guard Li is willing to take action, as long as Guard Li is prepared to fight the steward with all his might, and as long as Guard Li is willing to protect her even if he gets hurt, she will naturally help Guard Li get rid of the steward.

She was even able to ensure that Guard Li could finish the battle unscathed, just like Steward Ming.

The reason she's not making a move right now is naturally because she wants to put pressure on Guard Li.

She was quite curious to know just how far Li, the bodyguard, could go for the Jiang family.

She doesn't ask many questions; asking is useless. She just wants to see with her eyes.

This was Jiang Xian's true test of Li Huwei, and also the last.

If Guard Li passes the test this time, she will never doubt him again. But if he fails the test, she will never choose to trust him again.

Even if Guard Li is truly planning to betray the Jiang family, then he may have no future.

Although Jiang Xian had a backup plan, if Guard Li was disloyal, she would not care about his injuries. She would only focus on the battle situation and let Guard Li fight with the steward for a while. For her, that would not be a bad thing.

Although she didn't think that Guard Li would do something so treacherous as to betray the Jiang family, if Guard Li really did do it, Jiang Xian would not spare Guard Li's life.

There is absolutely no room for negotiation when it comes to betraying the Jiang family. Moreover, if Guard Li were to reveal anything about the Jiang family, even the slightest overheard information, she would not hesitate to eliminate everyone present.

Even if she only heard a little bit, or even if it was hard to connect it to her Jiang family's affairs, she would not leave a single one alive.

She wouldn't let the Jiang family face any risks due to her own carelessness, even if the risks were only slight. She would be on high alert because she had heard of many outrageous things and even more outrageous things had happened before. Therefore, she would naturally not take her own family's affairs lightly.

However, Jiang Xian was not without tolerance.

Logically speaking, since Li Huwei has received favors from the Jiang family, he should naturally fulfill his duties as a guard of the Jiang family.

But if he doesn't do that, in fact, as long as he doesn't leak anything about the Jiang family, whether he wants to escape or leave Jiang Xian alone, Jiang Xian won't kill Li Huwei at this moment.

Jiang Xian will only take Li Huwei back and hand him over to his father, Jiang Yuan, for disposal.

She has always had a high tolerance for things and people, even higher than most people.

She can accept many things happening, and she has seen quite a few outrageous things.

Therefore, she was actually quite used to things involving betrayal.

However, the reason she has this mindset is that she has read many books and is curious about many things, so she knows a lot of things that she would not normally have access to at her age.

In her daily life, not only through books, but also through rumors and things she knew herself, she understood that people's hearts are complex.

In this way, she wouldn't make a fuss over trivial matters. Whether from books or in real life, she knew far too many things that people found objectionable.

Moreover, as a young lady of the Jiang family, she is now in a state of gradual decline.

However, the Jiang family still retains strength and has hidden cards. It's just that the Jiang family's hidden strength and resources haven't been revealed yet, and there are some things they haven't yet decided to do.

However, Jiang Xian would not allow anyone to shake the Jiang family's position in Yingzhou at this time when her family's momentum was at a low point.

Otherwise, there is only one outcome.

The Jiang family members, whether they are the head of the family, his wife, or the young master and young lady, are all kind-hearted. Unlike other families, they do not readily take the lives of their servants. However, the Jiang family is by no means weak or easily bullied.

At least, the Jiang family treats traitors just like those who want to continue to stand in this world and take root in this land. In order not to harm their own interests, they need to be decisive in killing those who betray them, no matter who they are.

Otherwise, it will turn into a situation where everyone can bully us.

Jiang Xian knew, and the Jiang family knew, that the consequence of some useless acts of kindness was that they could drive people to the brink of despair.

However, the steward and Guard Li are now at each other's throats.

Jiang Xian paid no attention to their fighting styles or their pointless words; she was simply focused on Li Huwei's movements to gauge his strength.

Of course, she would occasionally spend some time on the manager to see how capable he really was.
As a fellow martial artist, she was also interested in seeing how strong others were and whether they had any novel moves.

But her most pressing task now is to keep an eye out for dangerous moves that could seriously injure or kill Li.

The purpose of keeping a close watch was to observe how Li Huwei would react when faced with dangerous actions.

If Guard Li reacts well, Jiang Xian will naturally step in to help and prevent Guard Li from being in danger.

Of course, Jiang Xian would not reveal anything about his martial arts skills, nor would he disclose his identity as a martial artist to Li Huwei.

Jiang Xian only knew how to use some hidden weapons or poisons to take down the manager on the other side.

However, if Guard Li is not fearless in the face of danger, but instead tries to escape, or tries to plead for mercy by saying something, then Jiang Xian will let Guard Li fend for himself, or even kill him himself.

If, after Li Huwei speaks, she tries to prevent him from revealing anything more profound, she will strike him before he can.

If what Guard Li said was just some trivial matter, she would ignore it for the time being and deal with everyone present one by one after Guard Li.

And all of this depends on Li Huwei's choice.

Regarding the contest between Guard Li and the steward, Jiang Xian was more concerned with Guard Li's loyalty than with his strength.

She also wanted to know how many capable people the Jiang family had who could stand up for the Jiang family and help them overcome difficulties in times of crisis.

Therefore, for Jiang Xian and the Jiang family, while someone with considerable strength might be useful in certain situations, they are not someone they can entrust with long-term responsibility.

When faced with danger, what the Jiang family needs most now is someone who can stand up and help them.

In the long run, loyalty will always be more important than ability.

Having only ability but lacking good character and integrity makes one vulnerable, like a venomous snake that bites its master. Employing such a person can easily lead to backlash.

Therefore, Jiang Xian was already secretly testing the waters to see how many capable people were in the Jiang family.

For someone like her, who was seen as a sickly young lady by outsiders, this was a very suitable person to do this. She was also willing to do this for the Jiang family in order to protect the Jiang family in the future.

The duel between the short sword and the dagger was a back-and-forth battle, with the two wielders each controlling their respective weapons. The fight was evenly matched and showed no clear winner.

However, the more this situation occurs, the more likely it is that a battle between two martial artists of similar strength will result in one side exhausting the other to death, while the other side will also suffer severe injuries.

Therefore, if that's the case, neither of them will have a good outcome.

Jiang Xian planned to observe the progress of their battle further. If such a situation were to occur, she would add fuel to the fire and inject more spice into their fight to speed things up and allow her to achieve the desired outcome more quickly.

Even if Li Huwei acted impulsively this time, disregarding his own life and fearing death at a critical moment, whether it was due to a momentary impulse or to protect Jiang Xian, as long as he made such a move, he can be considered a trustworthy person.

Although he made this choice this time, he may not make the same choice next time. He may also feel fear when he reviews this battle afterward.

Perhaps he won't make the same decision next time, but the result this time is enough.

Human beings are endlessly tested, and human nature cannot withstand trials.

Therefore, as long as Li Huwei is usable this time, he can be a useful person for the Jiang family for the time being.

Therefore, when the Jiang family encounters difficulties and is in a predicament, entrusting matters to someone like him who has been tested and is capable is naturally more reliable than entrusting them to someone casually in the Jiang family, and the probability of success is also much greater.

Suddenly, before Jiang Xian could even add fuel to the fire, a very important turning point occurred in this battle.

The short swords and daggers clashed, and as soon as the two combatants separated, one of them swallowed a pill.

The person who took the elixir was the steward who managed this courtyard.

The pill he took was not placed in a container, but hidden in his sleeve.

The owner of the wide-sleeved garment applied a force to the cuff, causing the sleeve to swing rhythmically. The pill then slid out of the sleeve and, with practiced ease, landed in his mouth.

Clearly, he was very familiar with this move and had performed it many times with ease, which is why he could do it so smoothly.

While the two were deep in thought, Jiang Xian was observing the steward's every move.

(End of this chapter)