Looking at the somewhat flustered crowd, Xu Qingchen and Yang Fan glanced at each other, and the reasons for each were very clear.

The banquet ended hastily, and Xu Qingchen and Ayahan walked side by side to the residence. Xu Qingchen was a little silent on the road, as if he was thinking about something.

Ayahan is a character who can't hide things, she saw Xu Qingchen silent, and couldn't help but ask, "Brother Qingchen, what do you think ......".

Without waiting for Ayahan to finish asking, Xu Qingchen nodded: "En...... This should be the best way to deal with it, he has been in the Thorn Gate for so many years, and has many friends and subordinates. If it is hard, it will inevitably hurt the Thorn Gate greatly."

Ayahan tilted her head and asked, "You should have thought about more than that, right?"

"Yes, the location of the hall is very important, if nothing else, it will end up on me."

"That...... Do you wish it was you?"

Xu Qingchen shook his head: "I'm not a general, I understand this point of Luzhou, and I feel a little difficult to manage more than a dozen people."

"I think it's going to fall on you."

"Why do you think so?"

Ayahan thought for a moment and said, "These are all my guesses, don't take them seriously...... Master Shen, there are not many people who can be trusted, you are counted as one."

Xu Qingchen felt that something was wrong, so he said, "I don't have much friendship with the Lord of the Shen Sect, and I have few opportunities to come into contact, so how can you trust me?"

"Stupid," Ayahan said with a smile, "You rose so fast, you think it's all your ability to allow?" You have the same purpose, and you will not betray her until you have achieved it...... Besides, you have a good personality and don't look like you have a backbone."

As she spoke, she heard a slight rush of footsteps behind her, and a light cough. The two looked back, and it turned out to be Yang Fan chasing after them. It seems that he is in a hurry, which makes this noble boy cough more and more.

"Brother Yang," Xu Qingchen greeted, "Are you alright?"

Yang Fan coughed and waved his hand, and it took a long time before the cough stopped. He looked at Xu Qingchen, then at Ayahan, and asked with a smile, "I'm telling you something, you don't have to avoid Miss Ayahan, right?"

"No need, just say anything Brother Yang."

Yang Fan took a breath, nodded, and said, "There is movement under the mountain, it seems that he is preparing to run away."

Xu Qingchen understood the meaning of this sentence and asked, "Did you just get the news?"

"That's right, Qingchen, this matter still has to be left to you."

"Yes, how many?"

"Three to five...... Let's do this tonight, and we'll talk about it tomorrow."

"I see."

"That's right," Yang Fan's qi finally smoothed out, "The people who went to Luzhou with you last time, if you use it well, can be under your command."

Xu Qingchen shook his head: "I just told Ayahan that I am not a general, let's talk about this matter in the future, everything is waiting for the master to decide."

"Okay, I won't bother you."

When Yangfan left, Ayahan looked at Xu Qingchen and asked in a low voice, "Brother Qingchen...... I...... Can I go with you?"

Xu Qingchen smiled and said, "You don't even know what I'm going to do, so you said you want to follow me."

"I know!" Ayahan raised her voice, "I—I'm afraid you're in danger!"

Xu Qingchen pondered for a while and said, "You probably guessed what I was going to do, but you have more experience than me, so help me do it." But keep the three chapters of our covenant."

"I will obey!" Ayahan looked happy, but she wasn't happy at all.

After entering the rivers and lakes, if you don't participate in the fight, you can only be unknown for the rest of your life, not to mention that Xu Qingchen is a person who has big things to do, and killing is inevitable. In Ayahan's mind, Xu Qingchen is a blank piece of paper, once it is stained with any color, it will be difficult to clean. She wanted to keep the paper as dirty as possible.

…

Up and down the Thorn Gate, there was a lot of criticism of Xu Qingchen and Ayahan. It's no wonder that others are thinking that since the last time she went to Houshan, Ayahan has been sticking to Xu Qingchen almost all day long. In the eyes of others, this little girl has to be Xu Qingchen.

Ayahan has a sweet appearance and a quirky personality, and she has not been in the Thorn Gate for a long time, so she has a good relationship with many people, and everyone thinks that this girl can handle it. Xu Qingchen's appearance and temperament are not inferior to Yang Fan, and his personality is better than the good old man Yang Fan. Looking at it this way, the two are indeed a good match.

Therefore, early in the morning, when Xu Qingchen and Ayahan rode down the mountain on horseback, others didn't think it was strange - two young people who admired each other were stared at by a large group of people every day, so naturally they couldn't let go of their hands and feet, and there was nothing incomprehensible about going out for a walk together.

Not far from the mountain gate, the two of them sped up.

There is a village at the bottom of the mountain, which is not large, with only about a dozen families. Two years ago, a family of refugees moved into the village. There are five people in the family, the old couple with three sons, and the whole family makes a living by buying firewood. The youngest of the three sons is also in his twenties, but because of poverty, the brothers are all singles.

I heard that a few days ago, this family was in trouble again, the old man went up the mountain to cut firewood, and did not come back for three days, the village people organized people to go up the mountain to search, and they searched for a day and a night before they found. It turned out that the old man met a wolf when he was chopping wood, and the corpse was almost gnawed clean. In these days, it is normal for wild beasts to go up the mountain.

Seeing that the family was pitiful, the villagers helped send the old man. It's the end of the year, and every household is pasting Spring Festival couplets, but this one is deserted.

In the dilapidated courtyard, in an even more dilapidated house, a family of four sat around the table, looking at each other.

There was no sadness on their faces, only doubts and horrors.

The old lady whispered, "Could it be that she was discovered by the Thorn Gate?"

The eldest son shook his head, "Not necessarily...... Let's not talk about that, what do we do? Keep watching?"

"It's up to him to contact Xiaozhu alone, he's gone, and it's not a way for us to keep it."

The youngest son said, "I have to find a way to contact the chief, and tomorrow I will go to the city and report to the other side."

The other three nodded, and that was the case.

The four people in the house were discussing, and suddenly the door of the house was kicked open, and two figures, one white and one pink, flashed in. The four people were very shocked, when did these two enter the courtyard?

Before they could react, the two had already made a move. With a long sword and two short knives, the small room could accommodate six people at once, and it was very crowded.

These people don't have high martial arts, and they didn't do assassination in the first place, but just spy on intelligence. It didn't take much effort for the three sons to be cut to the ground, and they looked lifeless.

The old lady trembled and fell to her knees with a thud: "What kind of hero are you?!" Why did you kill my whole family? Please let my wife live!"

Ayahan looked at the old lady and hesitated. Even if they were from Night Feather Kozuki, this old lady seemed too old...... And she cried so sincerely, it didn't look like she was acting, could it be that they killed the wrong person?

Just when Ayahan was stunned, Xu Qingchen suddenly protected her behind her, and a sword pierced the old lady's throat.

Before Ayahan could recover from the shock, Xu Qingchen turned around and asked her, "Are you okay?"

As he spoke, he patted her a few times, as if to check if she was hurt. For a while, Ayahan forgot about the shock, pushed Xu Qingchen away, and said angrily: "You touch, you shoot ***?!"

Seeing that Ayahan was not injured, Xu Qingchen breathed a sigh of relief, and then taught him, "Why are you stunned? How dangerous was it just now?"

Ayahan was a little puzzled: Dangerous? Is this old lady dangerous?

Xu Qingchen used his sword to pick open the old lady's cuffs, and the old lady's smooth wrist was tied to a cylinder, which was clearly a mechanism for firing hidden weapons. Ayahan saw that the old lady's palm and arm were two colors, the palm was rough and covered with wounds from the work, and the arm was that of a young woman. She breathed a sigh of relief, first, glad that she hadn't killed the wrong person, and second, glad that she hadn't been hit.

Ayahan, who came back to her senses, found that Xu Qingchen was still teaching herself.

"You're an old man, can't you see this trick? If you really have three long and two short, how can I explain to my eldest brother and sister-in-law?"

"Why did you explain it to them?!

Ayahan suddenly got angry, ignored Xu Qingchen, and turned around and walked out of the house.

Xu Qingchen hurriedly followed, he didn't understand why Ayahan was angry.

There are also two reasons why Ayahan is angry, first, she uses her brother and sister-in-law as an excuse for everything, as if she is entrusted by him. Two...... She hoped that Xu Qingchen didn't stab the sword, even if she was hit.

Watching the puffed Ayahan get out of the yard and get on the horse, Xu Qingchen didn't dare to talk to the side.

After following for a long time, thinking that Ayahan's anger had almost disappeared, Xu Qingchen cautiously spoke: "I'm afraid that you will be injured, don't be angry."

"I know."

It seems that the anger is still there.

Xu Qingchen asked, "When you were angry when you were a child, how did your senior brother and master coax you?"

"No need to coax."

Ayahan whipped a horsewhip and galloped his horse, making it clear that he didn't want to pay attention to Xu Qingchen.

She didn't blame Xu Qingchen, after all, the sword just now was for her. She's just disappointed that people change, anything changes. But what I care about is what I am most afraid of is change. She can't control it now, and she won't be able to control it in the future.

The little girl, who was not yet twenty years old, gave up and felt that it was not worth anything.

It was not yet noon when they returned to the mountain, and the two dismounted in advance and walked slowly towards the mountain gate.

Ayahan suddenly figured it out: There are many things in this world that will leave him, and if he can't keep it, he can't keep it.

She whispered, "Brother Qingchen, I want to go back."

Xu Qingchen asked, "Where are you going?"

"Back to ...... Tianquanmen, or go to Yangzhou to find my brother and sister-in-law."

Xu Qingchen scratched the back of his head: "It won't be because of me, right? I was a little heavy...... It's normal for you to blame me."

Ayahan shook her head and said, "It's not because of you, I'm not from the Thorn Gate, and I'm just a brother and sister at most with you, so there's no need to rely on you all the time."

"How can you say that? I should take care of you."

"I've been alone all these years, and I don't need to be taken care of by others to live well."

Xu Qingchen believes this.

After being silent for a long time, Xu Qingchen nodded: "I advised you to leave before, but you didn't leave...... It's also an eventful time, and you'll be safer to leave here. Go to Yangzhou, my eldest brother and sister-in-law miss you very much."

"Yes, I'll leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? It's the end of the year, let's go after the New Year, it's safe during this time."

"No, it's better to leave early."

"Then you go back and have a good rest, and I'll prepare some coils for you."

"No need."

had already walked to the Thorn Gate Mountain Gate, and Ayahan led the horse and walked in, leaving Xu Qingchen alone in a daze.