There is a West Lake in Xuanyang City.

The West Lake is in the west of the city, the area is not large, and there is no beautiful scenery around. There are not many legendary stories about the origin of the name West Lake, just because it is located in the market in the west of the city, it was very casually named by people.

There is an inconspicuous restaurant next to the West Lake, called Hongfu.

The building was built fifteen years ago, and the wine is aged for many years, so it is very valuable. Even though this Hongfu Building is only three stories high, the decoration is extremely ordinary, and it is not something that ordinary people can afford.

At this moment, in a private room on the third floor of Hongfu Tower, near the lake, there is a middle-aged man in a long robe, and a one-armed swordsman with a sword stands beside him. He was wearing a gray power suit, but the left sleeve was empty, dangling there.

Not everyone who carries a long sword can be called a swordsman, let alone a disability with only one arm. But the man stood there like a sword.

As soon as he exhaled and inhaled, it was like a volley of fierce sword qi surging in the air.

Such a person can be called a swordsman.

The middle-aged man in the long shirt has a white face, and a pair of eyebrows are extremely slender, but it does not make people feel any discomfort. He sat there very casually, his robe tied only to his waist, revealing a rather strong chest, and his gaze fell on the lake not far away.

There are two-leaf flat boats there, and there are a few businessmen on the boat, and it seems that they should have come here to play.

In front of the middle-aged man, there is a rather delicate clay pot, which exudes bursts of tea fragrance, but for some reason, this is a restaurant, but there is only tea on the desk, no wine.

The next moment, a wind blew and squeaked, and someone pushed open the wooden door of the cubicle and walked in.

It was a short-shirted teenager wearing a pair of cheap cloth shoes with many patches.

The middle-aged man followed the sound and saw the young man appearing there, but he was not surprised, because he came here today to wait for this young man.

The boy is naturally Xiao Xuan.

At the moment when Xiao Xuan pushed the door open, the one-armed swordsman had a blank expression, but his fingers moved imperceptibly.

His fingers were long, and his nails were neatly trimmed, perfect for holding a sword.

After seeing the faces of the visitor, he chose to continue to be quiet.

"You're still so punctual. ”

"Assassins are very precise trades. ”

This is the opening remark when the two meet again after four months.

The boy sat down quietly, looking at the two people in front of him, not intending to say anything. Originally, he didn't come here to speak, his identity today is a listener.

"What happened the other day, you did a good job. ”

The middle-aged man looked into the young man's eyes and showed a hint of a smile, "Although you have never let me down, I still want to say so." ”

Then there was a long silence, and the middle-aged man brought the tea to his lips, but he didn't mean to taste the good tea.

"The next goal may be a little difficult. ”

Xiao Xuan was sitting there with his lap in the face, which was his usual sitting posture when meeting with this person. Hearing that the other party said that it was a little difficult, he understood a little in his heart.

Even this person said that there was some difficulty, and that was really difficult.

However, the boy pursed his lips and was not about to answer.

The middle-aged man still had a faint smile between his eyebrows, as if he had expected the other party to react like this.

"His name is Song Rui, you should know who he is. ”

Xiao Xuan's expression finally changed somewhat.

Song Rui, fifty years old, one of the three waiters of Yushitai, a native of Xiaoshan County, is not good at drinking and is not close to women. The mansion is located on Xuanwu Street in the north of the city, and is known for its clean and clean government.

In an instant, these contents flashed in Xiao Xuan's mind. You can know the general situation of the other party by a name, not only because his memory is really good, but more importantly, because this Song Shilang is too famous in Kyoto.

Don't say it's him, even if it's a gangster in a random alley in the south of the city, he knows the famous Song Ruiqi. Just because in the folk word of mouth, this Lord Song is upright and upright, and dares to speak up for the sake of ordinary people, if there is something he can't see in the court, even if it is the prime minister, he dares to confront it in front of the court.

Legend has it that one year the lord of a small town in Hamjeon County was rebellious and the local people were resentful. This man liked to be beautiful, so he molested the people in broad daylight, and when the other party refused, he broke the woman's hands and feet, and when he heard that his daughter was married, the lord of the city forced the whole city to pay the wedding money. It's just that this castle lord is a distant in-law of a certain marquis in Kyoto, and even the county guard of Hamyan County has turned a deaf ear to what he has done.

After all, there was a brave man who came all the way from Xianyan to Kyoto to sue in front of His Majesty the Emperor. However, the territory of the Great Xia Dynasty was more than 10,000 miles, and the people were more than 10 million? If even such ordinary people could see His Majesty the Emperor in their spare time, the whole world would be in chaos. This person waited in Kyoto for several months, and even knelt in front of the palace for three days and three nights, but he did not even see the shadow of the imperial chariot.

In the end, when Lord Song Rui Song of the Imperial Historical Observatory heard about this, he actually did something that shocked Kyoto.

He dragged the ragged poor man along Xuanwu Avenue all the way to the Suzaku Gate of the Imperial Palace. One official and one citizen, the two of them knelt there for three days and three nights.

No one knows what happened next, and no one knows whether the pauper met the emperor of the dynasty. But a few days later, news came from Xianyan County, thousands of miles away, that a certain city lord was arrested in the capital for corruption and bent the law, and was directly imprisoned in the nine-story dungeon of the Zongren Mansion.

After a few more days, tens of thousands of people in Kyoto witnessed the beheading of the city lord.

Xiao Xuan didn't know how credible the rumors were, but the beheading of the city lord was indeed true. His brow furrowed, and although his expression was still calm, there was some doubt in his heart.

Killing a good and clean official that the people have passed on by word of mouth does not make Xiao Xuan feel any guilt that can be called guilty.

Rumors do not mean facts, but more importantly, even if Xiao Xuan doesn't do it, someone else will do it.

What he could choose was to let that Lord Song die as comfortably as possible.

Assassinating Song Rui may be as difficult as heaven for him, because as an official from the second rank, no matter where he goes, he will always be accompanied by the sergeants and guards of the brigade. But Song Rui is an ordinary person, he is not a cultivator, which is already a good enough condition for Xiao Xuan.

He is concerned about whether the organization has the ability to calm the turmoil after the incident.

In the center of the Great Xia Dynasty, under the noses of the Red Cavalry and the Divine Imperial Eunuch, even the assassination of an ordinary second-rank official would set off a great storm. It's just because in the history of Great Xia in the past few decades, nothing like this has happened. What's more, with Song Rui's reputation and the status of the Imperial Historian, if this person really died, Xiao Xuan would not think that he had the ability to make the assassination an accident and never be tracked down by the people of the Divine Imperial Prison.

Thinking of this, the young man's right hand clenched into a fist, he was not afraid or nervous, but he was quickly calculating the chances of winning this matter.

If he couldn't escape the pursuit of these forces such as the Divine Imperial Eunuch, the Red Cavalry, and the Zongren Mansion, then even if Song Rui died, it would be a completely failed assassination.

The Assassins must have killed people for some gain. It may be money or utensils, but in any case, Assassins are assassins, not dead soldiers, and they will not give up their lives for a goal.

With this in mind, he looked up at the middle-aged man sitting across from him, wanting to know something.

The middle-aged man didn't look at him at this time, but looked out the window again at some point.

Looking at this person's side face and bottomless eyes, Xiao Xuan was slightly relieved.

"I took the task. ”

"You're the only one going this time. ”

"Yes. ”

"According to the previous rules, there is no limit to the time and means of completion, but it should not exceed half a year. ”

"Half a year is enough. ”

"Another ......"

The middle-aged man finally withdrew his gaze and looked at the young man in front of him again, "After this mission is completed, you have two years to become an ordinary person. ”

Hearing this, Xiao Xuan's heart was shocked, and his brows furrowed deeper and deeper.

Becoming an ordinary person did not mean that Xiao Xuan could leave the organization, which was impossible for any assassin organization. Before becoming an Assassin, all Assassins should understand that this is a straight path that may lead to a bottomless abyss, and that there is no fork in the road, and there is no turning back.

What that person meant, Xiao Xuan didn't have to take on any tasks in the last two years, and only needed to maintain his identity on the surface. Conventionally, this is the need to eliminate after-the-fact effects.

In the past many years, Xiao Xuan basically killed someone every few months, and when he heard that he could rest for two years, he actually felt a little uncomfortable.

"By the way, speaking of the previous rules, you have done a good job this time, and you can put forward one condition. ”

Xiao Xuan lowered his head and thought for a while, and suddenly thought of an unlikely possibility.

"I want to get the entrance exam for the Wufeng Academy. ”

Quiet.

Absolute stillness.

For a moment, there was not a single sound in the small private room.

Wufeng Academy, one of the three major sects of the Great Xia Dynasty. And these three major sects, each of which has tens of thousands of disciples, except for the state religion, no force in Great Xia has such a large number of cultivators.

The smile that the middle-aged man had been hanging on his face finally disappeared and was replaced by a bit of caution and heaviness, and the one-armed swordsman's expression was finally no longer wooden, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"I guess I need to know why. ”

"I want to practice. ”

When he said this, Xiao Xuan clenched his fists, and he felt some hot blood surging in his body.

Because of this feeling, the teenager had some doubts. His mind had been at peace for many years, and it was rare for someone or anything to have such ups and downs.

The middle-aged man put down the tea in his hand and looked at the young man's eyes fixedly. However, after watching it for a long time, he didn't see any hesitation or confusion.

He knew that this young man was unusually determined and serious about cultivating this matter.

Even if he doesn't understand why.

For a long time, he looked down at the beautiful clay pot, and then shook his head slightly.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this, you can change the conditions. ”

It seemed that he had expected the other party to answer like this, and Xiao Xuan did not show any sense of loss. In fact, when he said that he wanted to qualify for the entrance exam of the Bladeless Academy, he knew that he was all on the spur of the moment. He understands better that the other party is not unable to do it, but more likely that he does not want to do it because of some concerns.

He was silent for a moment, then left.

After Xiao Xuan left, the one-armed swordsman spoke in a hoarse voice, "Lord, this person is really too rude. ”

Of course, he thinks that Xiao Xuan's behavior can be regarded as rude to his superiors, and it can even be said that he is guilty of the above.

"I've always felt very sorry that boy didn't know how to practice. ”

The middle-aged man did not answer his words directly, but said something else.

"It's like a lion and tiger without teeth and claws, he can't practice, after all, he is just an ordinary person, that boy is one of the best people I have ever seen who is good at killing people, but no matter how good an assassin is, he can't practice, and he is just an ordinary excellent assassin. If he could awaken his divine soul, even if it was just a body refining realm, it would be more beneficial to me and Tianluo. ”

Hearing the word he was best at, the one-armed man snorted and expressed his disapproval.

The middle-aged man smiled slightly and said, "I know that you have not been very convinced by him, but I can tell you with certainty that this young man named Xiao Xuan is not as good as you today, as an ordinary person, he may not be able to surpass you in his life, but ......"

He didn't go on, and those who listened understood what he meant.

"Then Lord, why didn't you accede to his request?"

The middle-aged man was silent, he looked at the tea leaves sinking at the bottom of the pot, and the amber tea, and suddenly felt a little stunned in his heart. His appropriate answer was purely selfish, because he instinctively told him that if he let this young man master the means of cultivation, then he might lose his complete control.

If the one-armed man knew of his thoughts, he would have been amazed. As the attendant of this middle-aged man, he naturally knew that his master's cultivation had reached the point of turning into a middle grade, and he should only be one step away from the top grade. A great cultivator in the realm of transformation of the void can't control an ordinary person? It's just a fantasy!

The one-armed swordsman is naturally a middle-aged man's henchman, but he doesn't know one thing either. That is, his master has read countless people, and I don't know how many big people in the city have seen. Compared to them, Xiao Xuan seemed too small and ridiculous. It's just that he can't see in this fifteen-year-old boy what other teenagers should have.

Plus this time today, he has seen this young man a total of thirteen times. Every time they met, they were as brief as they were today, but every time he felt the same way.

No, it should be said that as the time passed, the young man's eyes became more and more indifferent, and his expression became more and more calm when they met.

The middle-aged man knew very well that assassins could be cold-blooded and even crazy enough to treat human life like a mustard, but they had to admit that they were human beings themselves.

As long as it is a person, there will be emotions, there will be **, there will be birth, old age, sickness and death.

There will also be weaknesses.

He didn't think that Xiao Xuan didn't have weaknesses, but he had too few weaknesses to grasp.

The boy was much calmer than his peers, and this certainly had something to do with his profession. But the problem is that his ability to control his emotions is so high that it can be described as terrifying. If I had to say, he didn't look like a teenager of fifteen or sixteen, but more like a young man of thirty or even older.

There was silence in the building for a long time, and the middle-aged man shook his head, a self-deprecating look appeared on his face, and he said in his heart that it may be that he has been comfortable in Xuanyang for too long, and I, a great cultivator in the realm of virtual reality, would actually make a teenager who can't even awaken his soul have a tricky feeling, which is really unfounded.

He decided not to add to his troubles.

After all, there are still many things to worry about, and it is impossible to put all your thoughts on a teenager.

It's just that......

Shouldn't I pay more attention to this teenager?