Chapter 372: Playful

Liu Shushan drove the carriage and stopped in front of the old residence of the Ximen Family.

The Ximen Family had moved away in its entirety more than a year ago.

At this moment, one could see the stone steps covered in withered leaves, and the two stone lions in front of the gate were covered in bird droppings on their heads.

Ximen Kankan stood there and watched for a few moments, then sighed, "No matter how fine a residence is, once it loses its human vitality, it will soon fall into such a dilapidated state."

Ximen Kankan reached behind his waist, fished out a ring of keys, picked one out, and opened the copper lock—which was larger than a fist—that was fastened to the vermilion-lacquered main gate.

The copper lock was already somewhat rusted; Ximen Kankan twisted it several times before the mechanism triggered.

Ximen Kankan pushed open the main gate and waved for Liu Shushan to drive the carriage inside.

Originally, there was a side gate specifically for carriages, but since the residence had already fallen into such a state, why bother with such formalities?

Liu Shushan drove the carriage, clattering up the stone steps and crossing into the gate; when the wheels reached the threshold, Ximen Kankan held the bottom of the carriage, channeled True Qi into his palms, and sent the carriage inside.

Afterward, Ximen Kankan closed the main gate.

Once the carriage was inside the mansion, Ximen Kankan had Liu Shushan sit in the back, and he drove the carriage himself, following the garden path toward Xueyan Residence.

The rules of Ximen Mansion were strict; a carriage had never traveled through the main courtyard gate before, and this was the first time. The garden path was already overgrown with wild grass, and as the carriage passed, a flock of birds was startled and flew off in all directions.

In the time it took for a single stick of incense to burn, the carriage had already stopped at the entrance of Xueyan Residence.

Ximen Kankan jumped off the carriage, and Shen Mizhi and Liu Shushan also jumped down from inside the carriage cabin.

Ximen Kankan glanced at the two of them and said, "Shall we get the things down as well?"

Shen Mizhi said, "Get them down now?"

Ximen Kankan said, "Yes. Get them down and put them in the room. He said he would come over to look tonight."

As for who the "he" Ximen Kankan spoke of was, Shen Mizhi and Liu Shushan knew as soon as they heard it.

The two of them jumped back into the carriage cabin.

Liu Shushan smashed the wooden board at the bottom of the cabin with a punch; the board shattered, revealing the space inside.

There was actually a hidden compartment at the bottom of this carriage cabin.

Liu Shushan and Shen Mizhi carried a rather heavy, long iron box, got off the carriage, and followed Ximen Kankan into Xueyan Residence.

Ximen Kankan signaled for them to place the pitch-black, long iron box on the floor against the wall next to the cabinet.

The three of them had been through the dust of the journey and were all somewhat exhausted, so they sat on chairs and rested for a while.

Twilight had already descended, and it soon grew dark inside Xueyan Residence.

Ximen Kankan lit the Candle Lamp; he licked his lips, feeling his throat somewhat parched. However, Ximen Mansion was completely empty, and with no servants present, where would there be any ready-made tea to drink?

Just at this moment, Ximen Kankan's eyes suddenly brightened; he walked a few quick steps, True Qi surged at his fingertips, and with fingers sharp as blades, he sliced through the lock on the cabinet beside him. He opened the cabinet door, looked inside, and his eyes filled with joy.

"The fine wine I hid here three years ago is actually still here. I almost forgot about it!"

As Ximen Kankan spoke, he took a small wine jar out of the cabinet.

Shen Mizhi and Liu Shushan also had parched throats, and seeing Ximen Kankan bring out a wine jar, they both licked their dry, cracked lips with expectant eyes.

Although there was no one in the mansion, Ximen Kankan had brought plenty of silver; they could have gone outside to have a good meal and wash away the fatigue of the journey, but seeing that it was already dark and not knowing when Duan Rong would arrive, they didn't want to go out, lest they miss each other.

Ximen Kankan dusted off the wine seal and used his hand to pry it open, and a fragrance of wine permeated the air.

Using the tea cups on the side table as wine vessels, Ximen Kankan held the wine jar and filled three cups. One could see white, pearl-like wine foam floating on the pale green nectar.

As soon as Liu Shushan saw the quality, he slapped his hand and exclaimed, "Good wine!"

Shen Mizhi had already picked up a cup and tilted her head, pouring it down her throat.

Ximen Kankan said, "You call that drinking? You're wasting the wine."

Shen Mizhi shot Ximen Kankan a glare and said, "Is it any of your business? I'll drink however I want to drink."

As Shen Mizhi spoke, she poured herself another cup.

Ximen Kankan knew Shen Mizhi had a stubborn temperament, so he stopped paying attention to her, and he and Liu Shushan each picked up a cup and sipped slowly.

Liu Shushan was clearly a fellow who understood wine; after taking a sip, he closed his eyes and sat there, a faint, intoxicated smile appearing on his face.

After several breaths, he began to take a second sip.

Shen Mizhi drank three cups in a row and wanted to pour more, because she discovered that the taste of this wine was actually very good.

Ximen Kankan pressed his hand on the wine jar and said, "Don't drink anymore! This wine has a kick; you'll get drunk in a while."

Shen Mizhi had just wanted to mock Ximen Kankan for being stingy by only letting her drink three cups, but she suddenly realized her face was feeling slightly hot. Only then did she realize Ximen Kankan wasn't bluffing; the wine tasted mellow, but it certainly had a kick.

Shen Mizhi drank three cups, and Ximen Kankan and Liu Shushan each drank two cups, then he put the remaining half-jar of wine back into the cabinet.

Ximen Kankan turned around, looked at Shen Mizhi and Liu Shushan, and said, "It is not peaceful in Xiangu County right now; we must be careful of spies approaching. Shen Mizhi, you go guard behind Xueyan Residence, and Liu Shushan, you guard in front of the gate."

Shen Mizhi looked at Ximen Kankan and said, "Then what are you doing?"

"I will sit and guard the center, waiting for him to come over," Ximen Kankan said. "If you don't want to, we can swap."

Shen Mizhi didn't take his bait, turned around, left Xueyan Residence, and went to patrol the back.

Liu Shushan also went to patrol near the front gate.

Just as Liu Shushan stood still in the shadows of the trees not far from the entrance of Xueyan Residence, the fragrance of that fine wine was still lingering in his mouth...

Ximen Kankan suddenly acted like a thief; he looked left and right at the entrance, and seeing no sign of Shen Mizhi, he assumed she had gone to the back to patrol. Only then did he quietly walk to Liu Shushan's side, patted him, and laughed, "Monkey, come inside with me; I'll show you something good."

Ximen Kankan had just walked to the entrance when Liu Shushan saw him in the tree shadows, but he didn't know why Ximen Kankan was acting like a thief.

Liu Shushan was suspicious, but he still followed Ximen Kankan into Xueyan Residence.

Ximen Kankan had Liu Shushan carry the lamp and brought him to the chest behind the screen.

Ximen Kankan opened the chest, rummaged through it for a long while, and finally fished out a scroll from the bottom; on one corner of the scroll, an ugly plum blossom was painted with clumsy brushwork.

Ximen Kankan held the scroll and looked at Liu Shushan triumphantly, saying, "Monkey, today I'll let you broaden your horizons."

Liu Shushan sneered in his heart; his own family was quite wealthy, and he had been immersed in brush and ink since he was a child—what kind of paintings had he not seen?

Ximen Kankan looked at Liu Shushan's expression but didn't mind; he knew that no matter how cold Liu Shushan was now, he would be just as worshipful later, because what he was showing Liu Shushan was the light of humanity!

Ximen Kankan walked to the side table.

Liu Shushan lit the lamp, and he spread out the scroll.

The moment Liu Shushan saw the painting, his eyebrows involuntarily twisted into a knot; it was nothing but a chaotic mess of ink blots, how could it even be called a painting?

Liu Shushan felt stifled in his heart, thinking Ximen Kankan was playing him for a fool. But he had always had a very good temper, so he did not just flick his sleeves and leave.

Ximen Kankan took the lamp from his hand, removed the candle from the lamp, and then signaled for Liu Shushan to hold one end of the painting; he grabbed the other end himself to hold the painting taut, and then Ximen Kankan carefully used the candlelight to slowly move and heat the underside of the painting.

Liu Shushan's gaze shifted; following Ximen Kankan's movements, the ink blots in the painting faded inch by inch, gradually revealing a naked woman.

"This is..." Liu Shushan's eyes almost fell out.

It was not that he had never seen a Spring Palace Painting, but those were basically all half-hidden and half-covered, and even if some were a bit more explicit, they never had such a large scale or such delicate brushwork.

The painting before his eyes was almost as if a real person were standing in front of you; it was breathtakingly lifelike, and even the hair in certain places was visible strand by strand.

This was the very Spring Palace Painting that Duan Rong had originally painted for Ximen Kankan!

Once this Spring Palace Painting appeared, Ximen Kankan had kowtowed directly to Duan Rong back then!

And at this moment, Liu Shushan felt almost the same way.

Ximen Kankan put away the Candle Lamp, looked at Liu Shushan, and said, "Brother Liu, how is this painting?"

Liu Shushan's expression was stiff, and he said without blinking, "A peerless masterpiece! Unrivaled in the world!"

Ximen Kankan laughed and said, "I knew you were a connoisseur, Brother Liu. Brother Liu, if I say this work is the light of humanity, is that an overstatement?"

Liu Shushan said, "Not an overstatement. It is just right! Such a masterpiece is enough to stand alone through the ages! Brother Ximen, you must protect this painting well!"

Ximen Kankan said, "Rest assured, Brother Liu! I treat it as my life!"

Ximen Kankan had also not seen this painting for three years, so he began to admire it together with Liu Shushan, the two of them clicking their tongues in wonder as they looked.

Behind the Xueyan Residence, Shen Mizhi faced the pitch-black bamboo and garden, feeling more bored the longer she stayed; besides, she had been guarding for so long and hadn't even seen a shadow of a person, so where were the secret agents?

Shen Mizhi had a spoiled temperament to begin with, and as the night wind blew in gusts, it made the bamboo rustle and sway chaotically, just like ghost shadows.

Shen Mizhi did not want to stay anymore and turned to walk toward the front door of the Xueyan Residence; she arrived at the door of the Xueyan Residence and discovered that Liu Shushan was not patrolling there at all. Shen Mizhi felt suspicious, and seeing the dim candlelight in the main hall of the Xueyan Residence, she walked in slowly.

As soon as she entered, she saw Liu Shushan and Ximen Kankan in front of a small table, holding a painting with fanatical expressions.

Liu Shushan asked, "Brother Ximen, I wonder which extraordinary person painted this?"

Ximen Kankan smiled faintly and was just about to answer when he suddenly saw Shen Mizhi standing at the doorway, looking at them with eyes like knives.

Ximen Kankan immediately shivered.

Shen Mizhi stared at Ximen Kankan and asked, "What are you two looking at?"

"Nothing!" Ximen Kankan said while rolling up the painting.

Shen Mizhi's gaze swept over Liu Shushan and Ximen Kankan. She discovered that their expressions seemed somewhat awkward.

Ximen Kankan had arranged for Shen Mizhi to patrol behind the house just to send her away so he could enjoy the Spring Palace Painting with Liu Shushan; he had not expected that after only a short while, Shen Mizhi would actually return.

Shen Mizhi stared at the scroll tucked under Ximen Kankan's arm and suddenly remembered the incident that occurred at the city gate three years ago when they were about to leave Xiangu County after the Talent Selection Assembly; Xia Shuangshuang had told her every detail of that matter in the carriage later on.

Shen Mizhi's expression immediately turned angry, and she glared at Ximen Kankan, saying, "Give it to me to look at!"

Ximen Kankan said, "Don't even think about it!"

Shen Mizhi flashed forward, intending to snatch the painting, but Ximen Kankan had after all achieved the Second Layer of the True Qi Realm; the two of them moved back and forth in the hall, their figures flickering.

Ximen Kankan's evasion only served to make Shen Mizhi's suspicions grow even greater!

In the pitch-black night, Duan Rong used his Divine Sense to scout the path all the way until he reached the vicinity of the Ximen Mansion.

Under the probe of Duan Rong's Divine Sense, he discovered that five secret agents were crouching and keeping watch around the Ximen Mansion. There had only been five secret agents following him and Xiao Yu back then. It seemed these people still valued Ximen Kankan quite highly.

Through his Divine Sense, Duan Rong found a blind spot for the secret agents and flashed into the Ximen Mansion.

Duan Rong darted into the Xueyan Residence and saw Ximen Kankan and Shen Mizhi in the hall, their figures crossing and flickering left and right, while Liu Shushan stood to the side with a somewhat awkward expression.

Duan Rong stopped at the doorway, and the three of them immediately noticed him; Ximen Kankan and Shen Mizhi both stopped their pursuit and looked at Duan Rong vigilantly.

"Who is it?!"

"Where did this little beggar come from?"

Duan Rong looked at them with an angry expression and scolded, "There are five secret agents crouching outside, and you still have the heart to mess around in here?!"

"Secret agents?!"

As soon as the three heard the voice, they knew the person who had arrived was Duan Rong. It was just that their expressions were momentarily dazed, not knowing how Duan Rong had turned into the appearance of a little beggar.

Duan Rong's gaze swept over the scroll under Ximen Kankan's arm, and he immediately understood what it was.

He sighed in his heart: This guy Ximen Kankan is good at everything, but he is just too playful! At a time like this, he was still messing around with Shen Mizhi over a Spring Palace Painting.

He wondered if it was right or wrong to have called them here?

The bones all over Duan Rong's body let out a series of cracking pops.

Amidst the cracking sounds, his figure grew larger in a strange, circular fashion, and after a few breaths, he had returned to his original stature.

Ximen Kankan was full of astonishment and asked, "What kind of trick is this?"

Duan Rong said, "Bone Shrinking Technique."

"Teach me!" Ximen Kankan's eyes were full of anticipation.

Duan Rong glanced at the scroll under Ximen Kankan's arm and said, "If you burn this thing, I will teach you!"

This Spring Palace Painting, as well as the painting of Xia Shuangshuang's nude body, had both been painted by Duan Rong for Ximen Kankan. It had been an expedient measure at the time, intended to win over Ximen Kankan so he could use this connection to obtain the auxiliary medicines for practicing the Womb Treasury Sutra.

But these things were truly not presentable. Duan Rong really wanted to burn them at this moment.

Ximen Kankan immediately hugged the scroll under his arm to his chest and said, "Impossible! I won't learn it then!"

He wanted to learn the Bone Shrinking Technique only because he thought it was a fun trick, but this painting was his life! Which was lighter and which was heavier was clear at a glance.

Duan Rong shook his head and asked in a deep voice, "Where are the things I asked you to get?"

Ximen Kankan pointed to the long iron chest at the base of the wall and said, "They are right there."

Duan Rong walked over slowly, and Ximen Kankan immediately hugged the painting and turned behind a screen, pressing it into the very bottom of a certain chest.

Duan Rong walked over, True Qi surged from his fingertips, and he snapped the copper lock on the iron chest.

Duan Rong opened the iron chest, his gaze shifting slightly.

A large bow! Twenty black iron Arrow, each as thick as a finger!

At this moment, Ximen Kankan had already put away the painting and walked over; looking at the large bow in Duan Rong's hand, he smiled and said, "This bow is called the Black Python Bow!"

"Black Python Bow?"

Ximen Kankan said, "The main body of this bow is made of black wood, which is to say, sunken wood. The bowstring is made from the tendons of a giant python. Hence the name."

Duan Rong's gaze shifted; he also had some understanding of sunken wood. This sunken wood must be of excellent timber, buried underground for a thousand years or more before it can transform into a piece of sunken wood.

Only by using this wood to make a bow can it truly be called a powerful bow!

Ximen Kankan said, "Time is tight! My father spent a great price to get this."

Duan Rong patted Ximen Kankan on the shoulder and praised, "You did a good job with this!"

As Duan Rong spoke, a thought stirred in his mind, and the vigorous True Qi within his dantian instantly surged and billowed through his meridians. He suddenly stood in a bow stance, his arms crossed, and the airflow around his body seemed to become chaotic, causing his sleeves to flutter wildly!

The Black Python Bow was instantly drawn to its full extent, like a full moon!

At that very instant, the expressions of Ximen Kankan, Shen Mizhi, and Liu Shushan all changed!

Because the moment Duan Rong drew the bow in his hand to its full extent, his entire aura had become completely different!

Duan Rong possessed three types of archery at the True Qi Realm Great Perfection!

One is called Ash. One is called Illusory Yin. One is called Star Fall.

One Black Python Bow, twenty black iron Arrow!

To kill thirteen people, it is enough!

(End of this chapter)