It doesn't matter what the lord is.

"There is no need to restore the sect. Let them live freely."

Reed nodded.

The old man stepped out of the eaves and walked into the heavy rain. The rain washed his gray hair and beard, and his thin body seemed unable to bear the power of heaven and earth. His already bent waist became even more hunched. He raised the bamboo stick in his hand, signaling Lid to attack. Lid was not polite. He raised his hand, and the heavy rain seemed to stop for a moment, and the strong wind that swept the world became much quieter.

Reed threw a punch slowly. This punch might not be more powerful than when he killed other assassins, but it was more serious than when he killed other assassins.

The old man turned the bamboo stick across his chest and took the blow head on. His whole body immediately flew backwards and fell in the heavy rain.

Reed frowned slightly.

In the distance, an old man struggled to get up from the rain with the help of a crutch. His eyes were dull and his steps were unsteady, but he finally stood up.

The old man once again made a "please" gesture to Reed.

Lid sighed, and his body instantly disappeared under the eaves. He punched the old man on the crutch that was across his chest. The force of this punch was enough to shatter the old man's internal organs, and the bamboo stick in the old man's hand also broke with a sound. His body flew backwards like a kite with its string cut in a storm, and a mouthful of blood spilled in the air, turning into a bloody rain.

Reed turned and left, took two steps, but suddenly turned back.

In the heavy rain, the old man stood up again with the crutches, more painful than last time, closer to death. His eyes were red, his nostrils and mouth were full of blood, and he could hardly stand. I don't know if he can still see Lid, but the old man still leaned on the crutches and said in a very low voice:

"There is one more trick. Please try your best."

50. A Story in the Rain

For Lid, not killing the old man in front of him was a favor, but killing him was his duty. No matter what the reason was, after the old man accepted the task of assassinating Lid from Yutaishan, the two sides had already entered into a hostile relationship. If it weren't for what happened in the tailor shop just now, the old man might have taken action when Lid was unaware, and of course he would have been killed in the end.

What surprised Reed slightly was that the old man in front of him was more resilient than he had imagined.

He had already used the ninth level of strength when he threw the second punch, but the old man still got up from the ground. Although he looked like a candle in the wind, he still insisted on not falling down. So Lid did not rush to throw the third punch. He silently looked at the old man in front of him. After a long time, he laughed and said:

"I didn't know there was such a skill. I learned it."

The old man looked at Lid with red eyes, his mouth full of blood:

"You...can tell?"

Lid nodded:

"It's probably because some of your bones broke when you received the punch, which forcibly relieved some of the force. It also seems to have adjusted the position of some of your meridians and internal organs. In short, the damage was minimized. The first punch was more powerful. It should have dodged some of my punches and leaned back in advance through prediction. If it were an ordinary master of the same level, he probably wouldn't even be able to touch the corner of your clothes."

The old man laughed, threw away the broken bamboo stick in his hand, bowed slightly, and said to Lid:

"My benefactor has a keen eye and extraordinary talent, which is probably not inferior to that of the prince of Nanchu. As my benefactor said, the physical skills of our Nanchu Qingping Mountain Sect are indeed like this. It's a pity that our master trusted the wrong person at the beginning, and was colluded with by others, so our sect has become extinct."

The old man took a set of complicated steps, moving through the rain like a dragonfly skimming the water. The rain on his face gradually evaporated, and not a single drop of the dense rain could fall on him!

When in Lingwu, Lid had seen Lingwu Lord Yu Qingzhao walking through the snow without getting a single snowflake on her body. But that was because she could control a special golden flame, and the snowflakes were evaporated far away from her. Now the old man seemed to be able to dodge the rain as well. Several phantoms appeared around him, and the air flow nearby was completely messed up, making it impossible to figure out his exact location.

Lid exhaled and clenched his fists again. In an instant, the wind and thunder exploded. Lid's clothes fluttered in the heavy rain, and the air began to make some creaking sounds. At that moment, a trace of fear suddenly flashed across the old man's eyes, and a scene vaguely emerged in his mind -

The entire Jinxiu City, no, including the unknown distance outside Jinxiu City, was pierced by a wave of air. It was as if a knife several dozen miles long fell from the sky, leaving a straight scar on the ground. This was an attack that could not be avoided at all. Even if one tenth or even one hundredth of the force brushed past his body, his flesh and internal organs would melt instantly.

The old man stopped walking.

Because it's meaningless. Once this punch lands, no one in the world can take it except those at the tenth level. The old man can use his special skills to avoid the previous attack, but this skill is not omnipotent. The gap in strength is so great that no unique secret skill can resist it.

The old man looked at Lid silently, watching him gather strength, and also watching him let go of his hand.

Lid did not throw the punch. He just calmly threw the cloth bag back to the old man and said to him:

"That's enough. Your apprentice is here to see you."

The old man took the bag, looked back, and felt a gust of wind passing by his eyes.

The kelp-haired girl and the young boy attacked Lid one after the other. The girl seemed to be more talented, and she circled in the blink of an eye and stabbed Lid diagonally from behind, while the boy jumped up exaggeratedly and stabbed Lid's head with the knife in his hand like a slam dunk.

Reed just took half a step to the side nonchalantly and slapped the knives out of their hands. The girl and the child bumped heads against each other, and both of them rolled on the ground in pain, holding their heads.

The old man coughed twice and said to them:

"Don't be rude to your benefactor. Stand up and apologize to your benefactor!"

The young girl and the child all stood up and said in a drawn-out voice:

"Apologize to the benefactor~~"

After finishing speaking, the little boy turned back to look at the old man and asked:

"Master, should we still kill him?"

The kelp-haired girl stared at Lid, as if she had just climbed out of a well, with a pair of dark eyes visible between her hair. Before the old man spoke, she whispered:

"It's impossible to kill him... Master, let's go."

Lid looked at the two of them. The kelp-haired girl was about seventeen years old this year, and her realm was the sixth level of perfection. The boy's realm was a little lower, only the middle of the sixth level. But there was something very special about the girl. Her eyes seemed to be able to detect the danger from Lid, so she issued a warning in advance.

The old man sniffed, walked up to Lid, clasped his hands, and said:

"My real name is Mingzhu, which was given to me by my master, but no one has called me that for decades. I have two children, a boy named Qingfeng and a girl named Qingying. Thank you for not killing me, sir. We will not do this job and will leave Jinxiu City right away."

When he heard the words "leave Jinxiu City", Lid suddenly frowned and shouted in a low voice:

"stop."

Old man Mingzhu stood at attention obediently.

Lid turned around and looked at him, and asked calmly:

"To revitalize the sect, money alone is not enough. From your description, I can see that your sect has enemies, and the enemies are not small. Even if you earn enough money by taking missions in Yutai Mountain, do you dare to raise the banner of Qingping Mountain again?"

Elder Mingzhu turned around and whispered:

"What the benefactor meant is..."

Reed replied calmly:

"What I mean is that if you want to revive your sect, you can't stay in Nanchu anymore. But you can go west to a place called Yunyang, which is my territory. If you want to rebuild your sect, I will help you. But now, you need to do something for me."

Elder Mingzhu did not agree immediately. In his opinion, something that even Li De could not do should be very difficult. Elder Mingzhu did not care about his own life, but he did not want to sacrifice his two apprentices.

In the heavy rain, the old man and Lid looked at each other from a distance and asked in a low voice:

"what's up?"

Lid pointed to the ground under his feet and replied calmly:

"Find some friends from all walks of life and ask them to help me pass on a message. Say that Jiang Yuesheng is dead, and died in prison. The faster this message spreads, the better. It must be known to everyone in Nanchu, and those bigwigs must be unable to sleep or eat in peace."

The old man frowned and asked:

"that is it?"

Lid nodded:

"that is it."

The old man thought for a moment, then bowed to Lid and said:

"Okay, I'll take care of this. But I heard that according to Xiang Linglong's arrangement before her death, some of the masters of Yutai Mountain have reinforced the underground prison to serve as guards. Now it's a deadly place... Please take good care of yourself, benefactor."

51. For insurance purposes

Inside the City Lord's Mansion, the rain outside seemed to have affected the inside as well, and the atmosphere was so gloomy that it seemed as if water could drip out.

Xiang Zhehua sat quietly on the chair, with elegant manners and a calm expression.

She picked up a cup of tea next to her, blew away the loose leaves, and said to Xiang Tiange in a calm tone:

"I have said everything I wanted to say. If the Lord City Lord has any other questions, please feel free to ask them."

Xiang Tiange stood in the middle of the room, looking down at her coldly. Dozens of guards were scattered around the room, alert outside and alert inside, blocking the not-so-spacious room. Xiang Tiange thought for a moment and said:

"You just said that getting close to Lid was your grandfather's idea?"

He smiled faintly at Zhehua:

"Yes."

Xiang Tiange suppressed his anger and said in a bad tone:

"Then was it your grandfather's idea to kill Xiang Linglong?"

He smiled at Zhehua, put down his teacup, and said softly:

"What difference does it make whether it is true or not, Lord City Lord? Xiang Linglong's guards dared to draw their swords against me, and Xiang Linglong dared to put me on the assassination list of Yutai Mountain. Do you think I will choose to wait for death? Even if I swallow this breath, can the Xiang family assassins around me just watch it happen?"

Xiang Tiange frowned and stared at Xiang Zhehua, trying to find some flaws in her eyes.

It’s a pity that Xiang Zhehua always behaved like a lady from an aristocratic family, neither humble nor arrogant, and always calm and composed.

Xiang Tiange sat on the chair opposite Xiang Zhehua and asked her:

"Strange, I see you came alone. Where are your guards?"

Xiang Zhehua sneered, tapped his fingers lightly on the table, and said to Xiang Tiange in a low voice:

"Does the City Lord really want to know...? The last person who knew about this was named Xiang Linglong. Isn't the City Lord curious about how he died? If it weren't for Grandpa telling me not to make a big fuss, based on the City Lord's current attitude, I wouldn't mind sending you down with me."

Xiang Tiange turned around and glanced at the guards who were on guard at the door.

To be honest, if Xiang Linglong's death had not been so bizarre, Xiang Tiange would not have believed these words. But Xiang Linglong's death was so strange, there was no sign of a fight at the scene, and he looked very peaceful before he died. Xiang Tiange could only understand that there was a traitor in the City Lord's Mansion.

Xiang Zhehua's words helped him solve this doubt. If it was Xiang Geling who personally arranged the Xiang family's assassins, then everything would make sense. Xiang Tiange took office in a hurry, and although he brought a lot of his own people, most of the guards were still the masters in the City Lord's Mansion.

In Xiang Tiange's eyes, this must be the reason why Xiang Zhehua can be so fearless.

Thinking of this, Xiang Tiange smiled, asked the maid to add more tea for himself and Xiang Zhehua, and continued:

"As long as Nanchu remains as a family, I will call you my niece. Please don't blame me, niece. This matter is of great importance, and only old man Xiang Ge Ling can prove what you said. I have a few more questions, I wonder if my niece can answer them for me?"

He raised his teacup to Zhehua and answered without looking up:

“You can only ask three.”

Xiang Tiange nodded. Xiang Zhehua's bad temper was well known in Nanchu, so it was not surprising that she reacted like this. Xiang Tiange's move was also a slight test. If Xiang Zhehua answered every question with a humble attitude, it would be a sign of guilt. Xiang Zhehua, who was a guest of honor wherever she went, should be more unreasonable, which was in line with her status.

Xiang Tiange cleared his throat:

"First, you said that Lid was being assassinated by Yutai Mountain, so he should be in a very embarrassing state. Why did he come to attack the City Lord's Mansion at this time? According to intelligence, Luo Ye and Xiang Meng were detained before entering Jinxiu City, and Lid was already alone."

Replied to Origami:

"Lid was indeed chased by Yutai Mountain and had to run everywhere, but he also killed many of Yutai Mountain's assassins. At the same time, he is even better at stealth assassinations. He has good physical strength and can stay up all night, and he is also very patient. If he really wants to kill you, unless you don't eat or drink and don't leave the City Lord's Mansion every day, otherwise these few people can't protect you, and my people can't protect you either."

Xiang Tiange was silent for a while, then asked:

"Secondly, since you have your own assassins by your side, why don't you let them stop Yutaishan?"

Replied to Origami:

"It's too far. The headquarters of Yutai Mountain is not in Jinxiu City. What's more, even if I find Yutai Mountain, what can I do? Yutai Mountain is not an official organization, and it cannot enforce orders. The assassins who have received orders will continue to come to assassinate me. Who will guarantee my safety?"

He drank a sip of tea from Zhehua and answered all the questions fluently from beginning to end.

It's just obvious that her patience is getting lower and lower.

Xiang Tiange sighed and said to Xiang Zhehua:

"One last question. I've heard rumors that you, my niece, are not very popular with Mr. Xiang Geling because of your personality. Why did your grandfather give you such an important task?"

Xiang Zhehua put down the teacup and said to Xiang Tiange:

"First of all, this is my family affair. Secondly, does the city lord really think this mission is important?"

In the eyes of Nan Chu, Yunyang is a barbarian land.

In Nan Chu's eyes, Lord Yunyang was naturally a barbarian.

As the richest place in the world, the land here is fertile and the climate is pleasant. Even the lowest class of people can make do and survive, and there is no hunger and cold like in other territories. For Nan Chu, Yunyang, a territory ranked in the middle and lower, is really nothing. Letting Xiang Zhehua, the granddaughter of a peace-loving noble, to win over Li De may be considered giving Li De face.

That explains it.

Xiang Tiange drank a sip of tea, nodded, and said to Xiang Zhehua:

"This is a serious matter, so we have to be cautious. Please forgive me, niece."

Xiang Zhehua secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but on the surface he remained calm and said:

"It's okay. I live here for safety reasons. When I see my grandfather, I will tell him about your contribution."

Xiang Tiange laughed, clasped his fists towards Zhehua, and said:

"Thank you... Someone, please ask Miss Xiang to stay in the confinement room! At the same time, spread the word that Xiang Zhehua is under house arrest in the City Lord's Mansion. If Li De doesn't attack here before dark, Xiang Zhehua will be beheaded!"