Nine-layer armor-breaking

Chapter 330 Defeat
The sounds of fighting stopped for only a moment, and in the blink of an eye, another whooshing sound rang out.

It turned out that Guard Li no longer had the strength to fight. He was completely exhausted and had no energy left to fight.

This battle was extremely taxing for Li, not only physically but also mentally.

He looked very bad right now. His steps were unsteady, and he could barely hold the short knife in his hand, let alone lift it to fight. He couldn't handle it as nimbly as before.

Previously, Li Huwei held his short knife as easily as if it were a twig, but now, the short knife felt heavier in his hand, making its original weight more apparent.

Often, seeing a Heaven-ranked martial artist like Guard Li wield a short sword with such ease makes the sword seem weightless and effortless to wield, making one forget the sword's actual weight.

The short knife in Li's hand would be extremely difficult for an ordinary person to wield.

This was a short knife that the Jiang family had carefully equipped for Li Huwei according to his habits, so it was naturally not comparable to any ordinary weapon on the market, and it was also quite heavy.

The Jiang family would naturally not be careless when it came to the weapons of their guards, especially top guards like Li.

Although the effects of the pill that the steward had taken were almost at their limit, he was still holding on with his last bit of strength.

After the two men, who had been entangled and wrestling, separated, the steward, having exhausted his strength, did not make another move. He then attempted to assassinate the guard.

However, in this moment of crisis, Guard Li seemed to have no other way to deal with the attack from the puppet in front of him. Even if he had some, he was powerless to struggle or fight back. He seemed to resign himself to his fate and slowly closed his eyes, not wanting to face the impact of the cold short sword from the puppet.

At that very moment, Jiang Xian, who caught this expression, refused to let the matter end there.

Even when Li Huwei was unable to lift the dagger and had resigned himself to defeat, he unexpectedly turned his head slowly and smiled slightly at Jiang Xian.

However, it seemed that he had used all his strength to manage to produce a relatively nice smile.

He pretended to be relaxed when he looked at Jiang Xian, but the next moment, his face showed a completely blank expression.

Li, the bodyguard, turned his head back, straightened his body with all his might, and stood in front of Jiang Xian, using his body and last bit of strength to form a wall between Jiang Xian and the wooden puppet. He was preparing to face the storm and all the crises alone.

That smile seemed to be telling Jiang Xian that he had done his best, that he no longer had the strength to pick up a weapon to protect Jiang Xian, and that even if he wanted to protect him, he could only protect him to this extent.

The bitterness hidden in that smile seemed to be an apology he was making to Jiang Xian.

He failed to complete the mission well, and failed to fulfill the task assigned to him by the Jiang family patriarch to protect Jiang Xian.

Therefore, he naturally felt very ashamed towards Jiang Xian. Even though he was now in a precarious situation and might lose his life in this courtyard at any moment, he still felt guilty towards Jiang Xian and the Jiang family.

Although he had experienced many wonderful things in this world, especially his time with the Jiang family, which was incomparable to what he had experienced before joining the Jiang family, he was actually very regretful to die at this time.

He still has so much to do, so many wishes to fulfill, so many friends, and so many people he cares about. He is not resigned to his fate.

When a person is about to die, their thoughts are naturally complex.

However, aside from all that, what he feels most now is shame towards Jiang Xian.

He was unable to bring the eldest daughter of the Jiang family back to the Jiang family unharmed, and he was unable to give an account to Jiang Yuan, the head of the Jiang family who had always valued and trusted him. Therefore, he naturally felt quite guilty.

Moreover, and most importantly, he did not believe that Jiang Xian could escape from here on his own, so Jiang Xian's life would inevitably be threatened.

He completely messed up the matter, which was a result of underestimating the enemy.

All he could do now was silently pray that Guard Liu would see through all of this and arrive in time if he encountered danger in Jiangxi.

He hoped Jiang Xian could buy more time so that rescuers could arrive.

Even though he knew all about Jiang Xian's intelligence and talent, he absolutely dared not imagine that a delicate young lady could be able to deal with two martial artists in front of her with her bare hands and her own strength. It was absolutely impossible, and he would never dare to think about it.

Of course, if Jiang Xian were to launch a surprise attack on the manager and the leader, and then use drugs to incapacitate those thugs as before, there would indeed be some chance of escaping.

However, Jiang Xian did not use the powder during his fight with the puppet, which led Guard Li to speculate that Jiang Xian might have run out of powder that could take down the puppet.

Furthermore, Jiang Xian had previously faced Earth-rank martial artists, while the steward was a genuine Heaven-rank martial artist. In particular, after taking the pill, the steward fought tirelessly at high speed. Not to mention Jiang Xian, even Guard Li couldn't spare a moment to apply the medicine to the steward.

There is a significant difference between high-level Heaven-rank martial artists and ordinary martial artists. Almost every martial artist who can reach this level is difficult to deal with.

Before the battle began, he had the opportunity to use the packet of powder he carried on his person on the steward, but he did not do so because he was not familiar with how to use the powder and was afraid of accidentally ingesting it, which would put Jiang Xian in danger.

He was unaware that Jiang Xian had given him the antidote beforehand, which led to the current situation.

Right now, Jiang Xian is carrying a large bow on his back. To Guard Li, the bow looks extremely ordinary, and it's not the one Jiang Xian usually carries.

However, in Li Huwei's view, the large bow that Jiang Xian carried on his back was probably just a decoration for Jiang Xian, or an object used to intimidate, which could also be of some help in this trip.

If they encountered someone of lower strength who had designs on them, seeing the large bow on Jiang Xian's back, they certainly wouldn't dare to underestimate him.

Therefore, he didn't think that large bow would be a particularly practical one; in fact, he thought it might not even be as good as the ones sold in ordinary markets. The large bow looked extremely ordinary, and he couldn't understand it. Even if someone didn't know anything about bows and arrows, as the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, finding a better and more exquisite bow would be an incredibly easy thing for her.

However, Jiang Xian carried such an ordinary one, which still puzzled him somewhat.

But none of that matters; it's too late to say anything now.

His life was about to end that night in this unknown forest and in this dilapidated courtyard.

The seemingly ordinary large bow that Jiang Xian carried on his back was not something he intended to hide from the two guards. He made sure they knew about it, so he displayed the bow openly and honestly.

Jiang Xian needs a large bow or some weapons to go to Qizhou to participate in the Five States Martial Arts Competition.

When she was with the Jiang family, someone saw her carrying this large bow on her back, so it's not that strange that she was carrying it on her back this time.

Along the way, apart from sending the two guards away to do some things, he spent the rest of the time with them. So, since he brought the large bow out, it was difficult for them not to notice.

Jiang Xian was a skilled archer. Apart from this large bow, which she picked out from her home and which looked the most ordinary and had never used before, she had used several other weapons during the Five Provinces Martial Arts Tournament. And the weapons other than the large bow were indeed bought in Qizhou.

Even though she bought them in Qizhou, she didn't buy them from those shops, but rather from some martial artists.

She was a very cautious person, and she was even more careful when she was out and about. She would never leave any handle or loopholes for others to use against her. Therefore, she would not go to places where martial artists gathered at this time, nor would she want to buy weapons from shops whose background she did not know.

As long as the weapons are in the hands of merchants, anyone with ulterior motives can find the shop and inquire about them. Therefore, she would not openly buy these things.

For transactions between individuals, even if someone with ulterior motives wanted to investigate, they couldn't possibly uncover such details.

Moreover, she wore a hood during the competition, which made her look less like a woman, and when buying weapons, it was difficult to conceal her voice, so she changed into another appearance to conduct the transaction.

Therefore, given how far she has gone, it would be quite difficult for anyone with ulterior motives to find out her identity or to uncover any clues.

Nothing is without risk. If you really want to hide something, you can only make it as difficult as possible for others to find out about her. In other words, you can make things more difficult for others or make them give up the idea of ​​investigating her altogether.

Jiang Xian's actions would be difficult for anyone who wasn't particularly interested in uncovering her background, but was merely interested in her performance at the Five States Martial Arts Competition. They would likely give up on investigating her soon.

When she was in Yingzhou, besides secretly going hunting with Jiang Xuan, she would also openly hunt small animals.

Therefore, the Jiang family servants who had seen her carrying a large bow considered it a perfectly normal thing.

She originally learned medicine from Pharmacist Tan, but she wasn't a delicate young lady who would leave everything to her subordinates. Instead, she was a hardworking girl who wanted to do and try things herself.

Most of the servants in the Jiang family had the impression that she, the young lady of the Jiang family, was taciturn.

Many of them thought that she devoted herself to pharmaceuticals to kill time when she was bored.

People inevitably think in this direction, because everyone knows her reputation in Yingzhou City. Everyone is also very clear that she is a sickly young lady who never leaves her home and is always taking medicine.

Therefore, the servants of the Jiang family felt that their young lady was devoting all her energy to pharmacology.

This wastes your time and distracts you.

Few people could believe that Jiang Xian was indifferent to the rumors and gossip, especially since she was a woman.

In the general perception of the world, women tend to pay more attention to their appearance.

Everyone knew that Jiang Xian had contracted a strange illness, which was why he often avoided people. Even when he needed to move around the mansion, he would always appear in front of everyone with his face covered. Therefore, the servants of the Jiang family guessed that there must be something wrong with Jiang Xian's appearance.

In fact, the servants of the Jiang family envied Jiang Xian for being born into such a wealthy family, but at the same time they also sympathized with the plight of this eldest daughter of the Jiang family.

After all, anyone would probably be devastated in this situation.

In Yingzhou, his elder brother Jiang Xuan's appearance is basically undisputed as that of a handsome young man.

When people generally consider Xing Yue or Jiang Xuan to be the most handsome young men in Yingzhou, they either talk about them.

However, even with such an exceptionally handsome older brother, it's surprising that their parents, Jiang Yuan and Lou Xingman, also possess such beautiful faces.

As a result, three of the four heads of the Jiang family are exceptionally good-looking. With such family members as a backdrop, Jiang Xian's appearance should have been quite good, perhaps even a great beauty. However, unfortunately, this young lady of the Jiang family, who should have been a great beauty, contracted a strange illness.

In the minds of many people in Yingzhou City, no one really knows what Jiang Xian looks like. However, in the speculation of the Jiang family servants, especially the earliest batch of Jiang family servants, Jiang Xian must have been disfigured by that strange illness. Therefore, they think that Jiang Xian must look somewhat frightening.

Therefore, this explains why she always covers her face and doesn't show her true face to others.

However, as a young lady of the Jiang family, even at home, she could not do as she pleased. She had to wear a veil all day and did not communicate with anyone, which was seen as a very pitiful thing by everyone.

Therefore, the servants of the Jiang family all believed that the strange illness had caused their young lady to gradually become self-conscious and withdrawn.

(End of this chapter)