Chapter 41: A dead end?

The feathers flying toward Han Han Jiuli and the others were all blown away by a sudden, violent gust of wind.

Yet, the attacker’s momentum did not cease.

A figure, ghost-like, emerged. In the dim light, the figure suddenly lunged at Su Xuan. As they struck, one could vaguely see a sharp feather-blade between their fingers.

Han Han Jiuli was a palace guard with keen insight.

Combining this with the feathers that had fallen from the sky earlier, his heart chilled instantly, and he realized what was happening.

This was clearly someone attempting to assassinate Mr. Su!

Earlier, at the residence of Left Left Sima Liu Yi, the Vulture had appeared abruptly. Although he was killed by Mr. Su, he had ultimately been negligent, failing to notice the Vulture quietly infiltrating Liu Yi’s residence.

Thinking of it now, a lingering fear washed over him.

Now, seeing someone intending to assassinate Su Xuan, he immediately drew the standard-issue longsword hanging at his waist, charged forward, and swung his sword at the incoming figure.

Just as his sword was about to strike this ghost-like figure, it missed.

Literally missed.

The opponent’s speed was simply too fast, faster than the speed at which he could swing his sword.

The opponent’s goal seemed to be purely to kill Su Xuan, or rather, killing Su Xuan was the top priority.

Before that, they could temporarily ignore Han Han Jiuli and the other guards standing by Su Xuan’s side.

Su Xuan knew the opponent’s purpose and couldn't help but feel a sigh in his heart. Although he knew Ji Ji Wuye was daring enough—in the original story, after Han Fei ruined his plans, he had sent people to assassinate Han Fei.

One must know, Han Fei’s status was extraordinary; even if he wasn't valued by the King of Han, he was still a legitimate royal grandson.

Yet Ji Ji Wuye did not care.

So, what did it matter if Ji Ji Wuye sent people to assassinate him?

In the end, although he was favored by the King of Han, there was a prerequisite for all of this: he had to be alive.

A living Su Xuan was a true Immortal Master; a dead Su Xuan was nothing more than a corpse with no value.

In a flash of thought, Su Xuan flicked his sleeves, and violent winds rose again, artificially condensing into layers of obstacles before him. At the same time, he pulled back, temporarily widening the distance between himself and the attacker.

He was not seeing the attacker for the first time.

Earlier that day, he had seen them in the royal court; it was Mo Ya, the leader of the Hundred Birds organization, and also a sharp blade under Ji Ji Wuye’s command.

The earlier case of the ghost claiming lives was his doing.

Mo Ya had been watching Su Xuan for a long time.

Ever since Emerald Tiger died, Ji Ji Wuye had developed a murderous intent toward Su Xuan. He had once ordered Mo Ya to pass a message to the Tide Tide Siren through secret channels, commanding her to finish off Su Xuan, but the Tide Tide Siren had unexpectedly failed.

The task of killing Su Xuan was then transferred to him.

Unfortunately, Su Xuan had been staying in the palace, so even after accepting the mission, he could not find a good opportunity.

Until... Liu Yi died.

Su Xuan was recommended by Zhang Kaidi as the chief investigator for Liu Yi’s case.

To investigate the cause of Liu Yi’s death, he had to leave the palace. Of course, this was not necessarily a good opportunity, but for Mo Ya, as long as Su Xuan stayed outside the palace for even a moment longer, it would eventually allow him to find an opening.

Earlier, because Ji Ji Wuye also wanted to see what Su Xuan could uncover and who the true culprit behind Liu Yi’s death was, he had not acted rashly against Su Xuan.

But as the true culprit behind Liu Yi’s death was confirmed to be the Vulture.

Su Xuan, invited by Lady Hu, left the palace again to go to Liu Yi’s residence, which gave Mo Ya a perfect opportunity.

While Su Xuan was inside Liu Yi’s residence, he had been hiding in the shadows.

At the same time, the Vulture infiltrated Liu Yi’s residence and was subsequently killed by Su Xuan, which surprised him greatly. He had not expected that just after the Great General had issued the order to find the Vulture’s whereabouts, he would run into the Vulture here, and that the Vulture would be dead.

Immediately after, he realized this was a heaven-sent opportunity.

There was no better chance to kill Su Xuan than this.

By killing him on the way back to the palace, he could shift all the blame onto the already dead Vulture.

He would claim that the Vulture, harboring a grudge because Su Xuan had uncovered the truth about his murder of Liu Yi, had been lurking in the shadows and took the opportunity to strike while Su Xuan was returning to the palace.

Although Su Xuan was proficient in many mysterious methods, his martial arts were mediocre, and he and his guards were all killed by the Vulture.

They, the people of Hundred Birds, arrived too late to help. Although they successfully killed the Vulture, Su Xuan was already dead, and they were powerless to save him.

In a short time, Mo Ya had even thought of the excuse.

As for the fact that Su Xuan had encountered Han Fei after leaving Liu Yi’s residence, and that Han Fei and the others had also seen the Vulture’s corpse.

He had a new explanation.

Back when the Vulture was still one of the Three Wolves of Broken Hair, he had once faked his death, and that time he had deceived Liu Yi.

This person was proficient in the art of faking death to escape, so Su Xuan killing him was not truly killing him.

Rather, it was him faking death, intending to escape.

Later, because he discovered it was an excellent opportunity, he suddenly attacked on the way, killing Su Xuan in one blow.

Mo Ya had thought of the excuse well, but when he actually attacked Su Xuan, he discovered that Su Xuan was even stronger than he had imagined.

First, a wind arose for no reason, blowing away the hidden weapons—those "feather-blades"—he used to attack the guards following Su Xuan. However, this was not important; those guys would be handled by Bai Feng. His mission was simply to kill Su Xuan.

However, when he rushed to the front of Su Xuan, this endless wind brought him great trouble.

It made it impossible for him to use the wind to display his light-body technique to the extreme.