It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Xiang Zhehua was silent for a while and asked:

"Is it because you stick to your bottom line?"

Reed shook his head:

"I'm not going to hold on any longer, because if I don't leave now, I'm going to die."

Xiang Zhehua was speechless for a moment.

Lid still smiled and said to Zhehua:

"In fact, in my opinion, your troubles are not a big deal. The things you have been taught since you were a child are still useful. You can survive in the family, and you can survive without your grandfather. It's just a matter of living well. There are many people in the world who are facing life-threatening tests every day, but they are all barely alive."

Lid lifted up Xiang Zhehua's hair that was wet by the rain, looked at her naturally charming eyes, and said to her:

"Your social circle is too narrow. If you only stay with nobles who know your identity, you will always live as Xiang Geling's granddaughter. All your resistance, all your efforts, all your achievements, all your interpersonal relationships are all directed to your grandfather. Naturally, you will feel that you are nothing without your family. But at least for me, it makes no difference whether you are Xiang Geling's granddaughter or not, because I am not interested in that old man anyway."

He smiled at Zhehua.

After she finished laughing, she wiped her eyes and said to Lid:

"What are we going to do next? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Lid looked at Zhehua:

"Not bad, you adjusted your mindset so quickly."

This time, Zhehua shook her head:

"I'm just throwing in the towel. Xiang Linglong is dead anyway, Xiang Tiange and the people behind him are very angry, and my grandfather must be angry too. After all, as a granddaughter, I ruined their plan with my own hands... Lide, I don't want to be the granddaughter of a lord, and I don't want to watch my grandfather and his men kill the lord and the prince. Nanchu doesn't need an opportunistic lord, Nanchu can just stay the way it is now."

Reed threw the secret book in his hand away. It was a burden to carry it with him anyway.

He took out the tea box from the luggage, put the silver bills inside into his pocket, and then threw the suitcase away.

He said to Xiang Zhehua:

"In that case, I'll take you to play a big game. But you can't play it now, because there's one step missing."

Frowning at Zhehua:

"One step short...?"

Reed asked back:

"How do you think we can ruin their plan? It's actually very simple, as I just said."

After recalling it, Zhehua said in astonishment:

"You're thinking--"

Lid's eyes were emotionless, and he even said with a smile:

"Keep killing! Xiang Linglong's death doesn't mean the case is over, so next, we have to go to the prison and kill Jiang Yuesheng. On the way here, I thought that in the past twenty days, all the evidence here should have been eliminated, so why are they still afraid to investigate? Now the answer is obvious, there is an extremely important but indelible existence here, and that is Jiang Yuesheng."

"To them, Jiang Yuesheng is a dangerous explosive... Sorry, that is our Yunyang specialty, you can think of it as fireworks. They must carefully control the time of the explosion to lead the crisis to the Nanchu Lord and Nanchu Prince, so let's let this bomb explode in advance. What happens next depends on how the various forces play the game."

Xiang Zhehua took a deep breath and asked:

"What should I do? What do you need?"

Lid took out his pocket of cash, counted it carefully, and then said to Zhehua:

"I'll tell you in detail what you're going to do. What we lack now is a channel for disseminating information to the outside world. It will be very difficult for the two of us to kill Jiang Yuesheng or leave the city. Even if we can kill Jiang Yuesheng, it will be a problem to spread the news so that everyone knows about it. So wait a little longer, there's no need to rush."

48. Some people are covered in rust

The rain was still falling, but the eaves could not shelter the two people from the wind and rain for long, and the assassin would come eventually.

The heavy rain gave the assassins a good opportunity to act, because fewer people went out on rainy days, and the assassins had time to make various ambushes and take the initiative to attack. Of course, rainy days also have disadvantages. For most masters who are good at using poison, this kind of weather is not suitable for them to release poison. Whether it is the mist or the uncertain wind, it will make the poison extremely difficult to control.

When Reed walked on the street with Xiang Zhehua, it was like walking in a dream isolated from the world.

There is no heroic spirit, bravery, or compassion here, but there is always swordplay and murder.

The assassin of Yutaishan seemed determined to see where Lid's limit was, and Lid also wanted to know how many people he would lose to hurt Yutaishan, so the two sides hit it off. As the fight progressed, the opponent seemed to have gained some experience and began to attack Zhehua frequently, distracting Lid's energy.

Over the past two years, although Lid's realm has been improved to the ninth level, his strength has continued to grow. When he was in the capital, he got the handy black flame armor, when he was in the demon clan, he made up for the lack of sword energy, and in the seabed secret realm, he added the little ghost and the law of soul control of Clenus. Now he is only one step away from the tenth level, not because of any shackles, but like the spiritual warrior lord, he voluntarily gave up stepping over that hurdle.

But in terms of strength, he is no longer the Yuxi City Lord who was stabbed all over by the Ten Kings of Hell when he protected Xi Luo with one hand. Now, even if he is protecting Xiang Zhehua, he can avoid those fatal injuries as much as possible and kill most of the assassins with one blow.

In the heavy rain, Lid said to Zhehua:

"Your mission has just begun. I will take you to the clothing store first and change your clothes. Then we will act separately. I will be responsible for attracting the assassins' attention, and you will go to meet Xiang Tiange."

Xiang Zhehua was not too surprised this time, but answered seriously:

"Xiang Tiange won't believe me. He probably won't believe anyone at this moment."

Lid washed the blood off his hands in the water, turned around and said:

"So you need to make him trust you. You don't have to trust him completely, but you have to relieve his doubts to a certain extent."

After thinking for a while, Xiang Zhehua asked tentatively:

"You want me to act as an undercover agent hiding beside you, and sell out your information in exchange for Xiang Tiange's trust?"

Lid smiled and patted her shoulder:

"That's a good idea, but it won't dispel Xiang Tiange's concerns. Remember, the most important point is that you have to tell Xiang Tiange that everything you did was arranged by your grandfather, including Xiang Linglong's death, which was instigated by you. If he asks you why you killed Xiang Linglong, just ask him 'what do you think'; if he asks you why he doesn't know, just say that only your grandfather, your father and you know about this matter, and he doesn't have enough authority."

He nodded to Zhehua and continued to ask:

"So, what's the purpose? Why am I following you?"

Reed replied calmly:

"Marriage. Your grandfather hopes to marry you to me and radiate the influence of Nanchu to Yunyang in the west, so as to find out and control the movements of Yunhai. If all goes well, of course he also hopes that I can become your subordinate, so that Nanchu can indirectly control the situation in Yunyang. After all, I am a lord from a remote village, and most of the girls around me are of grassroots background. Your grandfather thinks that a lady from an aristocratic family like you must be superior to them in terms of family background, dowry and education, so he must take me down firmly."

Xiang Zhehua's face turned red, but Lid continued:

"So your grandfather secretly doesn't want me to die. Not only does he want to create an enemy for Young Master Nan Chu, but he also wants to gain another bargaining chip for himself."

Xiang Zhehua said quietly:

"And I was forced to leave because I couldn't handle you?"

Lid casually pressed the two assassins who rushed out head to head, and after killing them, he turned to Zhehua and said:

"No, the reason you left is very simple. Yutaishan included you in the assassination list. You thought I was already at the end of my strength and didn't want to die with me, so you ended your undercover career early. As long as you reveal a little information about the secret cooperation between the pro-war and pro-peace factions, he shouldn't be too suspicious of you."

Xiang Zhehua looked at the assassin lying on the ground and said to Lid:

"I see. So when I meet Xiang Tiange, what do you want me to say to him?"

Lid pointed at himself and said to Zhehua:

"Tell him that I am here to kill him. My goal is to kill all the city lords of Jinxiu City one by one until all the capable city lords who have not revealed their positions are dead. Then the truth of the bloody clothes case will naturally surface. Xiang Tiange will definitely strengthen the defense of the city lord's mansion, but the forces he can mobilize in Jinxiu City are limited. The strengthening of the defense of the city lord's mansion means the weakening of Jiang Yuesheng's defense."

He agreed to Zhehua and then began to think carefully about what he would say at that time.

She felt that she still had a talent for acting. After all, during the time when she was forced to get married, she had played the kind of people she hated many times.

After killing all the assassins who were following him, Lid entered a tailor shop. Because it was raining heavily, there were not many people in the tailor shop. There was only an old man with a bamboo stick and straw sandals, who was mumbling to the tailor:

"Maybe it's cheaper, twenty copper coins per foot of cloth. It's raining and I can't see clearly. My two stupid apprentices' clothes were torn by tree branches. This is really the only money I have. I don't have any more..."

The tailor waved his hand impatiently and said:

"If you don't have it, get out of here. Go out and ask around. Twenty-four copper coins per foot of cloth is already our lowest price! Are you still bargaining here? Are you going to do business with me?"

The old man coughed twice, seemed a little embarrassed, and whispered:

"How about I give you credit? I'll give you credit... When I restore the glory of my sect, I'll definitely pay you back. No, I'll double it."

The tailor ignored him and turned to look at Li De and Xiang Zhehua and asked:

"My dear guests, what do you want? We have all kinds of cloth here!"

Reed threw the cloth bag containing all the cash on the counter, and the money made a rustling sound as it shook.

Lid smiled and said:

"Put on your most expensive clothes for this girl. If you don't have any that fit, just get a piece of more expensive cloth and I'll make it on the spot."

Lid glanced at the old man who lowered his head and said to the shopkeeper:

"Also, everyone who comes here to buy things today will just keep it on our account. The only request is that you don't tell anyone else about our visit here."

The tailor opened the cloth bag and saw a pile of golden coins. His smile instantly brightened. He glanced at the old man with a bamboo stick and straw sandals, snorted, and said:

"You're lucky. If you like any piece of cloth, go and grab it yourself!"

After saying that, the tailor took the money calmly, looked at Xiang Zhehua's figure, and went to the warehouse to pick out clothes.

The old man looked at Lid, not knowing what he was thinking. After a long time, he whispered thank you, lowered his head and tore a few feet of cloth from the cheapest pile of white cloth, then left the cloth shop with a cane.

49. I have a dream

The tailor still failed to find a suitable dress for Xiang Zhehua. He brought a dress with good material, but the skirt he matched was not satisfactory. However, for Lid, this was not a big problem. He pulled out a piece of expensive cloth and sewed a dress for Xiang Zhehua on the spot.

The old tailor was amazed at Lid's skill in making clothes, but Xiang Zhehua was concerned about another problem: Lid did not measure her body and started sewing directly, but the final product matched her perfectly. This showed that Lid knew her height, weight, waist and hip circumference very well without her knowing.

However, Xiang Zhehua did not point it out. Instead, she followed Lide's instructions with a slightly red face, bathed, changed clothes, dried her hair, and returned to her former appearance as a young lady from a noble family. Lide looked left and right, and finally helped her put on a blood jade flower headdress with his own hands, and then said with satisfaction:

"That's about it. Go meet that gentleman. Go out through the back door. You don't have to pay attention to anyone, and you don't have to be afraid of anyone. Just go directly to the City Lord's Mansion and knock on the door."

After Reed finished speaking, he exhaled, lifted his wet bangs and combed his hair back.

Xiang Zhehua had regained her former spirit, but Lid still looked miserable. His clothes were still wet and stuck to his body, and many of the bandages were still seeping out traces of blood. But he didn't care, patted Xiang Zhehua on the back, and said to her:

"People often comfort themselves by saying that the future is determined by their own choices. But when making choices, everyone is often restricted by various conditions, and in the end they are likely to choose an unsatisfactory option. Looking back many years later, it is normal for people to attribute all their resentment to the restrictions imposed on themselves in the beginning. But if you stop here, it means that this is the upper limit of your life. If you want to go further, you must learn to break the shackles on your body and endure the pain."

He nodded slightly to Zhehua:

"I know."

Lid watched her leave the tailor shop. Xiang Zhehua walked gracefully with an oil-paper umbrella. Although the city was full of assassins, Xiang Zhehua was completely different from when she was fleeing. She hid her face under the umbrella and did not arouse any suspicion. This place was not far from the city lord's mansion, so there should be no danger in between.

The real danger has always been on Lid's side.

He is Yutaishan’s primary target.

After leaving the tailor shop, Lid saw the old man who had just bought cloth standing under the eaves, seemingly hiding from the rain. After seeing Lid, the old man smiled and bowed to Lid with gratitude:

"Thank you for your help just now."

Lid smiled back at him:

"It's just a few copper coins, don't worry about it."

The old man tapped the ground with his cane and answered seriously:

"To the benefactor, it's just a few copper coins. But to me, it's something extremely important. The weather is getting colder. I brought my two apprentices here. We couldn't finish the work at hand and had to suffer from hunger and cold. They were wearing the only set of winter clothes they had left, but they were scratched in the rain. As their master, I don't have money to buy them new clothes. I feel extremely ashamed."

Reed looked at him speechlessly.

The old man in front of him held a bamboo stick, bowed to Lid, and said:

"I have nothing to repay you for, so I would like to let you make the first three moves in the next assassination."

His tone was gentle, but his voice was steady and powerful, and he didn't feel old at all. Looking at his body, although he was old, he was not slow, and his eyes were still bright. His realm was around the middle of the eighth level, but it was probably due to his old age. He should have been stronger when he was young.

Lid laughed, looked at the rain outside, and said to him:

"I thought that apart from the one in my family, there would be no other assassins who would reveal their identities. It turns out there are still some. You just said that you have two apprentices, right? Then you should raise them well and not just take random missions in Yutai Mountain."

The old man and Reed looked at the rain outside, and the two looked like they were chatting about some family matters.

The smile on his face was somewhat bitter, and the pair of worn-out straw sandals on his feet were slowly soaked by the puddles on the ground.

The old man replied calmly:

"Yes, but I am old now, and this life is nothing... When I was young, I was arrogant and was driven down the mountain by my master to gain experience, but I never thought that it would be a farewell forever. When I returned to the mountain in middle age to report, I found that my master had been destroyed and no one was left alive. This life is about to pass... But when I got old, I dreamed that my master touched my head when he was young and told me to stop being arrogant and revitalize the master..."

The old man kept talking, and the smile on his face gradually became peaceful:

"I have two apprentices, who are about the same age as you. In this world, the best talents have long been picked up by the aristocratic families. The two I taught have good talents, but unfortunately they are both stupid. I don't know how many years I can live. Instead of dying of old age, I might as well use the last time to fight again. No matter whether I win or lose, I can meet my master openly in the underworld."

The old man looked at Lid, bowed, hung the cloth bag in his hand on the door knocker, and said:

"If I die, please help me to deposit these cloths in this shop. My two apprentices will come back to find me when they see that I am not back for a long time, and then they will have cloth to make new clothes. If possible, please help me to leave a message, just say -"

The old man hesitated for a moment, then said with a wry smile: