Chapter 399: One Strike To Topple The Building
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Fan Xian's first and only time meeting Ye Liuyun was the year he was 12.
That year he was lying on a precipice with strange colors swirling before his eyes. He was watching the solitary half boat below the precipice, the millions of holes on the beach, and the one hit battle of the strong between the two exceptional people.
One of the people was the Great Grandmaster of the Qing Kingdom and the other was his uncle.
The 12-year-old Fan Xian had only mastered the basics for the Tyrannical Way. His perception was not very insightful, so he could only sigh in admiration for the reputation of that battle but extracted the essence within it. On the contrary, it was in recent years he would occasionally think of a time or scene and then gradually find, within his memories, the marvelous parts, the shocking parts, and the parts from which he could learn.
The more he remembered, the more admiration he felt toward Uncle Wu Zhu and Ye Liuyun's exceptional methods. Sometimes the image of Ye Liuyun on the solitary half boat sailing on the ocean would still rise in his mind and that very strange song would still sound beside his ear.
But he had never, ever thought that this Great Grandmaster of the Qing Kingdom, this major figure that was revered by tens of thousands of people, would be in the top floor of a brothel and become someone he had to face.
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Fan Xian was the person who feared death the most in this world, so for enemies that he might have to face alone, he had once done ample research and analysis.
After much calculation, and weighing up of his strength and background, among these people, the one he should fear most ought to be Dongyi's Sigu Jian, the most unfathomable would be Northern Qi's Ku He, and the most troublesome were, of course, the ones in the Royal Palace.
However, although Sigu Jian was an idiot and could kill him easily, everyone knew that idiots hated going out to strange places.
While the most unfathomable and the one who most enjoyed exploiting others, the Imperial Advisor Ku He, had been personally struck down into the mundane world by his closest Uncle Wu Zhu—a person who could be injured did not feel so scary.
As for the ones in the Qing Royal Palace, they were all related and did not need to be considered for now.
The people Fan Xian truly feared were all at the level of a Great Grandmaster, thus it could be seen that this was not excessive self-confidence, it was just a bit arrogant. However, the topic had come back round again. Given his power, in addition to his blind uncle, they only really needed to consider these people.
Among the Four Great Grandmasters, it was only Ye Liuyun that Fan Xian had not worried about.
For one, his childhood memories were overly deep. He always felt that this elder of the Ye family had a refined and graceful attitude. Spending much of his time traveling, he was a true person with a path. His personality was bright and cheerful, not one that would be involved in the pointless battles of the mortal world.
Second, the state of the Ye family in Jingdou made Fan Xian see clearly that Ye Liuyun was truly a sympathetic person, otherwise, it would be impossible for the Emperor to maintain the balance between the two sides. The Hanging Temple was a dark flame that destroyed the Ye family; such a base method, yet Ye Liuyun could resist returning to the capital. He considered the Ye family's contentment and safety and the continuation of the Ye clan to be more important than anything else.
As long as Ye Liuyun did not stop in Jingdou and impact the balance of the current situation, the Emperor would not truly do anything to the Ye family. This could not be publicly announced. In the place between the imperial power and Ye Liuyun that surpassed martial ability, there was a natural implicit understanding.
Fan Xian could not understand why Ye Liuyun would make a move because of the Junshang Conference matter and charge so determinedly to him and use his life to threaten him.
If this wasn't stupid, then what was it? Even if the Black Knights were called back this time, would the Emperor not know of the connection between the Ye family and the Junshang Conference? Wouldn't this balance still be destroyed?
Since he had come, so be it. Fan Xian had calculated this Great Grandmaster's fate. Only then did he dare to be so mocking and disgracefully acerbic. He knew very clearly, If you are Ye Liuyun, how could you dare to kill me?
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Fan Xian stared at the pair of eyes that were as calm as limpid autumn waters below the bamboo hat as if he wanted to divine the Great Grandmaster's true purpose in suddenly coming to Suzhou.
In the depths of his heart, he was prepared if Ye Liuyun immediately answered his question with one of his own, "Why wouldn't I dare to kill you?" He would immediately coldly toss out his mass murder weapon that walked the jianghu as an explanation.
If you kill me, Uncle Wu Zhu would naturally kill everyone in the Ye family. This was a very simple truth. Ye Liuyun would certainly believe it and furthermore, would not accept it.
"Ah…so that year, you hid on the precipice and secretly watched."
Unexpectedly, Ye Liuyun did not continue Fan Xian's previous sentence. He only slowly returned the sword in his hand back into its sheath. He looked at that handsome face and sighed.
Fan Xian's heart jumped, but no expression appeared on his face. It was still cold and calm.
"Don't understand?" Ye Liuyun asked.
Fan Xian truly did not understand and nodded his head. The ferociousness and confidence he purposely showed earlier immediately weakened greatly.
Ye Liuyun smiled slightly and said, "If you weren't on the precipice, how could you recite those lines? How could you know I am me? How could you be sure I knew you were you? How could you know I wouldn't dare to kill you?"
It sounded very complicated, so Fan Xian was actually a bit dazed. Fortunately, his enlightenment had come a dozen years earlier than normal people. Having lived twice, his foundational knowledge of logic and such was stronger than most. He turned it over in his head a few time and finally unraveled Ye Liuyun's words.
What Ye Liuyun wanted to express was very simple: In this world, at least today, at least in Jiangnan, there were not many people who could recognize him.
This shocked Fan Xian. Was it true that very few people would be able to recognize the Qing Kingdom's Great Grandmaster?
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He unconsciously loosened his tight grip on the paper fan and a glimmer of mocking rose to the corner of his mouth. "Don't think that if you pretend to be ruthless you can imitate my uncle. Don't think that if you wear a bamboo hat you can imitate bald Ku He. Don't think that if you carry a sword that others will believe you are Sigi Jian."
"You are Ye Liuyun, whether or not I recognize you, you are still Ye Liuyun."
Sigu Jian's movements were of utmost importance to the Overwatch Council. It was impossible for Ye Liuyun to imitate him, so this was something that Fan Xian could not understand. Did Ye Liuyun do this because he truly wanted to shed of pretenses of cordiality with the Emperor?
He smiled mockingly and said, "Although Sigu Jian is indeed rather stupid and has been the scapegoat countless times for the Qing Kingdom, your acting is a bit too lacking in effort."
"Who I am is not important." Ye Liuyun looked at Fan Xian coldly. "I am just here to remind you. Your visit to Jiangnan has resulted in too many deaths already."
Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and looked at one of the four extraordinary martial art masters left in the world without cowering back at all. He slowly said, "In this world, how could goals be achieved without people dying?"
"What goal do you want to reach?"
"I am an official…my responsibility is to protect the Emperor's interests so that they are not damaged at all." A strange light flashed through Fan Xian's eyes. He smiled slightly and said, "Other than this, I have no other intentions."
"Even if it is death?"
"No, I won't die."
Ye Liuyun became silent. A few moments later he said, "Your…mother was not like this back then."
Fan Xian did not find it surprising that the other party would bring up his mother, but his face wore a frosty expression as he coldly replied, "Don't use my mother to pressure me. Besides, speaking of killing people, I'm sure you remember very clearly that my mother was no better than me."
"I am talking about roots and natural disposition." Ye Liuyun's voice suddenly deepened. "Those who like to kill, how could they hold great power?"
The slightly warm atmosphere earlier from reminiscing about former times immediately froze over and became tense again.
"In Jingdou, you have those people taxing their body and soul to worry for you, for the time being, I will not talk about that." Ye Liuyun sat upright beside the table, his whole person seemed as tough and unyielding as the pine trees on the Easter Mountain. "When you came to Jiangnan, Jiangnan became troublesome. How many people have died because of your clever hands?"
Fan Xian narrowed his eyes and felt an incredible anger in his heart. He lowered his voice and said, "Perhaps if I didn't come to Jiangnan, these people would not have died? The palace treasury bastards would not be bastards and the rotten Ming family would become virtuous?"
He smiled disdainfully. "Elder, earlier I said not to pressure me in my mother's name, now I will add to that, using righteousness also has no effect on me."
Ye Liuyun's expression did not change. It was impossible to see either joy or anger. He only quietly said, "In the matter of killing Yuan Meng, you drugged the servants in the manor, so it appears you have some kindness. However, these drugged people were all captured by the Suzhou government later and killed to keep them from talking."
He looked warmly into Fan Xian's eyes and continued to speak, "When you left, you should have guessed that under the pressure of the Overwatch Council those innocent people could only die. You didn't kill the innocent, but the innocent died because of you."
"I only need to shoulder the responsibilities I need to shoulder."
Fan Xian's mouth had some teaching from his previous life for a light reply, but great astonishment surged up in his heart.
It was not because of those innocent people dying because of him. Although this did darken his heart slightly, the astonishment came from Ye Liuyun's tone. That tone seemed to faintly hint that…the details of his entry and killings in the manor were completely known to the other person.
Fan Xian stared into Ye Liuyun's eyes. He didn't know just how much this Great Grandmaster knew. If he knew he had already mastered the Sigu Sword, that would be bad…this was one of Fan Xian's secrets. Once it was known by the Emperor in the capital, the entire Overwatch Council would be trampled into the ground because of the incident with the Shadow at the Hanging Temple.
Ye Liuyun could certainly use this to threaten him, but looking at his expression, it seemed like he did not know the details.
Of all the things Ye Liuyun could have brought up, why did he bring up the completely unimportant Yuan Meng?
A severe light flashed through Fan Xian's eyes, and he immediately recovered his calm. He gave up the thought of killing him to stop him talking. Today's situation was not the same as in the past. He had always been the knife, and the people the meat. Today, it was him struggling desperately on the chopping board. If he wanted to kill this man in front of him, it would be essentially impossible to do during Uncle Wu Zhu's recovery period.
Thus, Fan Xian slammed the table and roared in anger, "To succeed in an important matter, one cannot bother about the trivialities! If I didn't strike like lightning and allowed Jiangnan to go on like in the past, how many deaths would the Ming family cause? How many more people would those pirates kill? Will you fill in the deficit in the national treasury?"
Without waiting for Ye Liuyun to reply, that resentful finger of his extended out again. He very daringly and rudely pointed it at Ye Liuyun's nose and cursed, "What about that Junshang Conference? Is it cleaner than me? What is your identity…how could you lower yourself to work for them? You are the Grandmaster of the Qing Kingdom, why do you not stand on my side? Why do you stand on that side?
The last sentence twisted cleverly and pointed straight at his heart.
Ye Liuyun furrowed his brows slightly and slowly said, "The Junshang Conference is not like what you imagine."
Fan Xian laughed mockingly and said, "Of course I understand. You are a lofty Great Grandmaster but you are still a person, you still need luxuries. Walking the earth and wandering the horizons seems joyful, but if you always scorched and drenched by sun and rain, how could it feel fun at all? If everywhere you went, in each province and land there was someone to receive you, to serve you, to worship you…naturally you will be happy. Other than the Junshang Conference, who else could offer you the entire world?"
Ye Liuyun smiled slightly as he looked at him. It seemed like he didn't expect for this young man to be able to so easily discern his relationship to the Junshang Conference.
The matter was just this simple. Ku He was worshipped by Northern Qi. Sigu Jian was worshipped by Dongyi. The one in the Royal Palace was naturally worshipped by the Qing Kingdom. But what about Ye Liuyun? He walked the earth and did not return home. He blew the wind on the sea and supported the pines on the Eastern Mountain, and he traveled the rivers and lakes. All of this needed someone to manage, someone to look after.
The Great Grandmaster also needed to eat and to live in inns, particularly someone of his status. Surely he didn't like the clichéd fawning and preferred to live in a quiet garden and talk with hermits hidden within the mountain.
A garden needed money, going into the mountain to visit friends required travel expenses. Traveling around the world was actually a very extravagant life. It wouldn't do for a proper Great Grandmaster to be a highway robber.
Fan Xian was done speaking. He smiled coldly and said, "But your disciples' relationship with the Junshang Conference is not so simple…if you want to scoop up people from my hands, it will not be so simple. For your sake, the Junshang Conference has protected these maiden-like hands. Are you going to use these hands to hold up the sky for the Junshang Conference?"
As he spoke, his gaze, with or without intention, landed on Ye Liuyun's hands that were lying on the table.
That pair of hands were as white as jade without a single wrinkle. They did not look like an old person's hands. They looked like a pair of woman's hands that had never seen sunlight and only knew embroidery in a boudoir.
This was from many years ago when Ye Qingmei pushed Wu Zhu to enter the Qing Kingdom's Jindou and his first battle with Ye Liuyun. It was a mark of Ye Liuyun successfully sacrificing his sword and letting go of his hand. After all these years, nothing had changed at all.
Hearing Fan Xian describe his hands as womanly, his eyes, which had been as calm as limpid autumn waters, gradually began to flare up.
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The most important thing in a negotiation was to understand the other person's emotions, even if that person was a loft Great Grandmaster. When Fan Xian first realized that Ye Liuyun was about to show his anger, he immediately changed the topic of conversation and slowly said, "There should still be a while before the Black Knights make their move…if you truly care about your disciples in the garden… shouldn't you give Mr. Zhou to me?"
Ye Liuyun looked at him with a not-quite-there smile and seemed to be mocking him as well as looking at an ignorant child. "Now you are willing to accept my condition?"
Fan Xian slightly lowered his eyelids, but his heart gave a thump. He originally thought that since Ye Liuyun had dragged the account master of the Junshang Conference all the way to Baoyue Brothel, he intended to use Mr. Zhou to exchange for the descendants of the Ye family in the Junshang Conference.
Perhaps the other party never intended to do this?
"I never accept any condition when threatened by others."
He raised his head. His calm eyes gazed with sincerity at Ye Liuyun's strange appearance. "But, that does not mean I am not willing to come to an agreement with an elder worthy of respect."
Hearing this, Ye Liuyun finally made an expression. He sighed and said, "Indeed so shameless…"
Fan Xian smiled slightly. "You use martial abilities to threaten people; I use lives to threaten people. If we are talking about being shameless, the difference is not that big."
Ye Liuyun slowly stood up.
Fan Xian's heart jumped, although his face remained calm. He once again opened that poor fan that had already been warped and drenched in sweat and fanned it randomly.
Ye Liuyun looked at the fan in his hand and a glimmer of amusement flashed through his eyes. He could see that this young man was actually very nervous deep in his heart.
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"Do not think that you understand everything and that you can control everything," Ye Liuyun said. "Otherwise, there will be a day that you will die very unfortunately."
Ye Liuyun sighed.
"You are a clever man, but don't be overly clever," Ye Liuyun lectured.
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"You should know how the later matters should be handled." Ye Liuyun slowly lowered his head allowing the bamboo hat to hide his strange appearance. He held the long sword wrapped in rough cloth backwards and walked to the rail to pick up Mr. Zhou by his collar.
Fan Xian finally felt a glimmer of helplessly and confusion. If Ye Liuyun was not here to deliver account master Zhou to him, then why did he condescend to talk with him for so long?
Ye Liuyun turned his head. Smoke and god gradually rose in his eyes and an instinct yet chilling murderous intent shocked Fan Xian's body. He finally slowly said, "I carry a sword not to imitate that idiot Sigu Jian. Perhaps you, child, have forgotten that back then I used to wield a sword."
As he spoke, he slowly drew out the sword. The snow bright and sharp blade did not give a trace of light. It seemed that all of the light had been absorbed by the palm of that steady and pure white hand.
Fan Xian's eyelid jumped, and he gathered his mind. He bit down hard on the tip of his tongue and used the pain to alert himself. At a time of life or death, every stratagem and battle of wits was fake. He suddenly forced out the Tyrannical zhenqi surging in his lower back and moved it into his fists before striking forward. He struck the table.
Following a strange and sharp cry, Fan Xian's entire person was shocked up by the Tyrannical double punch. His body twisted in the air like a pathetic dog, anxiously and dismally, he dissolved into a black line at an admirable speed and sped out of the building.
Fan Xian swept over the long street. His entire person hovered in the air. His eyes were full of terror. Even now he could feel the murderous sword will behind him chasing after him as if it could chop him in two at any moment.
He twisted his body and kicked out with his leg. He opened his mouth and spat out blood before increasing his speed again. He made three flips in the air and the tips of his feet stepped on the green banner outside the building opposite. Using the strength of the rebound, he once again dissolved in a light smoke and landed on the street.
The six Tiger Guards and the Overwatch Council swordsmen had long charged over and securely protected him in the middle. Layer upon layer, the acted as his meat shield without fearing death.
In an instant, Fan Xian felt surrounded by people and could not see the situation outside. A glimmer of gratitude flashed through him before his body returned to its most sensitive state, prepared to escape at any moment.
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It was absolutely silent on the long street, a strange silence.
Fan Xian did not dare move rashly. He hid for an indeterminable amount of time behind his guards before he felt something was strange. He ordered his subordinates to make a small gap.
Ye Liuyun was no longer in the Baoyue Brothel.
Looking down the gap his subordinates, who were half dead with nervousness, had opened up, Fan Xian saw, at the end of Suzhou long street, a cloth-clothed man in a bamboo hat manhandling a person and slowly walking toward the city gate.
Although he was walking slowly, each of the other person's step seemed to be 30 meters long. He gradually grew distant.
Fan Xian swallowed some saliva to soothe his burning throat. He burrowed out of the crowd with a confused expression. Standing on the long street, he gazed at Ye Liuyun's retreating figure in a daze.
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Gao Da had already come down from the building opposite. Seeing the safe and unharmed commissioner, he was overjoyed and asked in a trembling voice, "Sir, are you alright?"
Fan Xian placed his slightly shaky hands behind him and said with a forced calm, "What could have happened?"
As he spoke, he watched Ye Liuyun's figure disappear into the city gate.
No one had noticed that on the top floor of the Baoyue Brothel, other than the deep gash Gao Da had left, there were gradually some new changes. Beside the table that Fan Xian had broken with his fists, a crack suddenly appeared in the thick red paint at about half the height of a person on the thick corridor column.
The fan that Fan Xian had thrown down during his escape had disappeared without a trace.
The gash on the paint suddenly split open with a crack like a miserable injury. The skin was peeling outwards and revealed the wood inside. The solid wood inside was also slowly cracking open.
The crack was impossibly deep, and it had already bisected this huge column.
It was not just the column. All of the wooden columns, railings, walls, decorations, and tables had begun to crack at waist height. The cracks gradually grew and extended, slowly becoming one unit. It was like a supernatural workman had instantly drawn a black line across the room.
Only, the line wasn't drawn in ink, it was drawn with a sword.
With a crisp crack, the first thing to fall over was a vase shelf in the corner of the top floor of the Baoyue Brothel. The vase fell onto the floor and shattered into power.
Then there was a gigantic sound.
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The long street had emptied long ago. There were only Fan Xian and the dozens of his subordinates surrounding him. Hearing the sound, they consciously raised their heads and gazed up and to the right.
Everyone was dumbstruck and speechless, including Fan Xian. Their eyes were filled with shock and fear, and their mouths were opened wide revealing perfectly white, tea stained, or missing teeth, to the point that they didn't even react when the wood and dust gradually filling the sky fell into their mouths.
The Baoyue Brothel collapsed. More accurately, the top floor of the Baoyue Brothel collapsed. Even more accurately, half of the top floor of the Baoyue Brothel was, with a determined poise, neatly collapsing according to a perfect design, sending dust up into the air.
As the dust settled, everyone clearly saw that it was like Baoyue Brothel had been cleaved in half by a heavenly sword. The top had completely collapsed, leaving, very tidily, on the bottom half of the boards and decorations.
The break was very neat and smooth. It was truly like a giant sword had sliced it through the middle.
Everyone knew that this had indeed been sliced open by a "person." In everyone's hearts, their first impressions once again rose up—this person was not a person.
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Fan Xian was the first person on the long street to close their mouth. He looked at the long empty city gates and then turned back to his own broken building. He couldn't resist slapping his face heavily to convince himself this was truly happening.
Once the Overwatch Council and the Tiger Guards woke from their daze, the gazes they turned toward Fan Xian were somewhat strange, full of shock and lingering fear, and some confusion. How did the commissioner get out alive?
This question…Fan Xian was not too sure either.
"Deng Zi Yue." Fan Xian's voice were slightly hoarse and his eyes were flushed with an unhealthy red. As he coughed he said, "Make a trip to over there."
It was clear that Deng Zi Yue was still in a daze. Only after Fan Xian had repeated himself angrily twice that he woke up and quickly acknowledged it.
Fan Xian called him over to stand in front of him and lowered his voice, "If…I'm saying if, someone surrenders, then you have to ensure their survival."
Deng Zi Yue was slightly shocked and raised his head to look at the commissioner.
A glimmer of fear flashed through Fan Xian's eyes and he said, "Bring the person back…no, have the Black Knights directly escort them back to Jingdou."
He sighed in his heart and didn't want it to have any connection to it. In an elder's matters, let the elders play by themselves. He couldn't suffer such mental torment again.
Deng Zi Yue accepted his orders and turned his head to glance at the half destroyed building. He couldn't resist swallowing and asking in a shaky voice, "Sir, who exactly was that person?"
Fan Xian glared at him and said, "Didn't Gao Da say it was Sigu Jian?"
Deng Zi Yue proved himself to be a trusted aide of the Second Bureau and very directly countered, "It is clearly written in the Council report, Sigu Jian is still in Dongyi…"
Fan Xian directly cut across his words and said angrily, "Look at this broken building! The other person was a Great Grandmaster! Can our spies keep an eye on their movements?"
Deng Zi Yue did not understand why Fan Xian was angry. He took his orders and went in search of a horse to ride out of the city. He had to quickly meet with the Black Knights.
After Deng Zi Yue left, Fan Xian remained standing on the street and refused to return to Hua Garden. His subordinates and the Tiger Guards could not persuade him, so they could only stand with him.
Fan Xian couldn't resist glancing again at his broken building. He wanted to say something but resisted.
In a short time, there was an express report from the Overwatch Council.
"Report, already left the city gate."
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More time passed.
"Report, already passed the Night Pavilion."
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In the end, a frightened rider stopped.
"Report, already passed the Seventh-Li Hill."
The Seventh-Li Hill was more than seven li away from Suzhou. It was already the road back to Jingdou, more than a full 20 li. Although no one dared to believe that the man in the bamboo hat could have traveled 20 li in such a short time, they remembered the other person's identity and understood a little.
Having confirmed that the exceptional martial artist who split a building with one strike had left Suzhou, everyone let out a breath. Tiger Guard Gao Da wiped the cold sweat from his brows and moved closer to Fan Xian's side. In a quiet voice, he said, "Sir, should we arrange for someone to stop him?"
"Who could stop him?"
Gao Da thought for a bit. He had indeed said something very stupid, so he quickly said, "Quickly write a secret report and send it to Jingdou."
Fan Xian furrowed his brows and said, "I'm afraid it won't be in time, but I'll still have to write it."
"Deng Diwen." He called another member of the Qinian Unit, one of the original swordsmen of the Sixth Bureau responsible for protecting Xia Qifei a few days ago. When Deng Zi Yue wasn't around, Fan Xian trusted him the most.
Fan Xian didn't hide it from Gao Da and directly said in a cold voice, "Go tell the governor's yamen that tomorrow we are going to Ming Garden again. We are going to seize all of the Ming family's private soldiers."
Gao Da listened at the side and felt slightly apprehensive. He had indeed not expected that after such a dangerous moment, the commissioner would first think of how to use this incident to his advantage.
An assassination attempt on the imperial envoy was a big matter. Right now the anger of the Jiangnan people was at its height. Everyone was sure to think of the Ming family. This incident could be used to further weaken the Ming family and at the same time, it could also decrease the people's rage at the old Ming matriarch's death. Gao Da truly prostrated himself in admiration for the commissioner.
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Having confirmed that Ye Liuyun had left Suzhou, Fan Xian's heart relaxed. Only, he still had great misgivings and was confused. However, it was impossible for him to speak of it to anyone. He looked again at the half-broken building beside him and couldn't help pulling a gloomy face and cursing, "How much will this cost to fix? That old bastard!"
Hearing these words, everyone jumped in fright and was immediately shocked. No one dared to open their mouths. The street was completely silent. No one would have thought that the commissioner actually dared to curse out a Great Grandmaster.
Fan Xian looked at everyone's strange mood and felt anger surging up. He opened his mouth and ranted, "This is my building! Someone destroyed it, and I'm not even allowed to curse? That is a bastard!"
Gao Da wished he could cover the commissioner's mouth, but he didn't have the boldness. He couldn't help feeling even more admiration for the commissioner. He was indeed an exceptional figure full of daring.
Earlier, Fan Xian faced Ye Liuyun alone in the building, which already had made his subordinates admire him. Later, he survived and even successfully had the Great Grandmaster leaving swiftly, so everyone felt an admiration of Fan Xian to their very bones.
Of course, what everyone most admired was that Fan Xian dared to curse him on the streets after the incident.
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Under everyone's admiring and praising gazes, Fan Xian muttered something but no one heard clearly. They only saw his body go soft, and he sat down.
A floral image floated past, and a girl held onto Fan Xian's body.
Everyone knew she was the commissioner's close female friend, so they were not nervous. They were just a bit worried. It looked like having gone against a godlike Great Grandmaster, the commissioner still received some internal injuries.
Everyone quickly followed the young man and woman in front toward Hua Garden. The soldiers from the governor's manor finally arrived.
Fan Xian tilted his body into the girl's embrace and smelled that faint floral scent. He couldn't resist saying resentfully, "He's already left and then you come out."
An apologetic look flashed across Haitang's face and she said, "I can't beat him."
Fan Xian couldn't resist rolling his eyes. "Who can beat this kind of strange creature?"
Haitang asked worriedly, "Internal damage?"
"No." Fan Xian replied seriously. "I pretended for too long upstairs. Actually my legs…turned to water long ago from fear."