The small lakeside house against the bamboo wall was quiet but dim. The middle-aged tea expert sits on a chair carved from Kunhu stone, and in front of him stands a coffee table, also carved from Kunhu stone. On the coffee table is a long tea made of ebony with a gentle and smooth teapot and teacup. Next to the coffee table, a small portable charcoal stove was found, with a kettle on it, and the mist spread out from the mouth, which was not yet boiling.

On such an unbearable hot summer night, the middle-aged tea expert in a single layer of clothing did not seem to be affected by the heat of that small charcoal stove. Instead, he is like a hospitable host, waiting for visitors on a snowy winter night...... He is the person named Yan Suqing.

Ning Que was very sure of this. His previous vigilance outside the small house by the lake was finally confirmed at that moment, for his opponent had anticipated his visit and even predicted the purpose of his visit.

His cracked eyes had already detected a few tea leaves at the foot of the bamboo wall. After a moment of silence, he looked at the tea expert on the stone chair and asked, "Then let's get to the point...... "I want to know, in the complete destruction of General Xuanwei's family and the massacre of the border villages of the Yan Kingdom, were you involved?" ”

Yan Suqing's brows furrowed slightly, she never expected that the young man who came to kill him tonight would be for an affair many years ago. He had thought that the old things had disappeared with the dead. Then, he was slightly silent and said with a smile: "Of course I am involved, otherwise how can a promising military officer like me become a tea expert and look at houses for tea merchants?"

"I shouldn't be the first person you want to find." Looking at Ning Que, he asked, "Where are the others?" We haven't seen each other in years, and I wonder what they're doing now.

Ning Que silently observed his small lakeside house and surroundings, looked at this quiet and luxurious mansion, and replied, "They are just so-so, at least not as good as you." You can even enjoy such a nice place.

Yan Suqing chuckled and shook her head and sighed. "Do you know why they just muddled up their pathetic life while I lived a satisfying life? Because I'm still good for the Empire.

The casual clothes, the water waiting to boil on the small stove, and the empty teacup in his left hand all indicate that the tea expert has just woken up. But that was only because he had sensed that Ning Que was close to the small house by the lake, not that he had pre-imagined the intention to kill.

Should a seemingly emaciated tea expert, busy with tea sets and spring water every day, predict the arrival of the killer, sit in his chair and wait so calmly, without any intention of calling for help or running away? What encouraged him to do so? More importantly, what good is a tea expert for the empire? How does a tea expert look after a house for a tea merchant? How is it possible for a tea expert to live a better life than Chen Zixian?

All of these possibilities were thought of in Ning Que's mind for a moment, including the most unlikely one. An unprecedented, suffocating look gradually emerged from his delicate eyes, obscured by gauze masks, as he looked at his opponent and asked, "Why don't you try to escape?"

"Why run away?"

Yan Suqing grinned at the young man. "Now that I'm awake, how can you kill me?"

Then with a flick of his sleeve, a dim little sword without a hilt stepped out of the teapot on the stone table.

Ning Que was a little stunned, and his brows furrowed. He realized that the most unlikely one had appeared: this emaciated tea expert...... It's actually a cultivator!

At that moment, the conversation between him and Elder Lu Qingchen on this trip returned to his mind—Chang'an's sword saints were like dogs, and psychic masters could be seen everywhere.

Back then, Lu Qingchen smiled and said that this view was a bit exaggerated. When he came to Chang'an City, Ning Que witnessed the cultivators of the Southern Sect of Haotian Taoism summoning spirits on the roadside altar and fighting against the immortal cultivators with Chao Xiaoshu in the Chunfeng Pavilion. However, he never expected that behind such an inconspicuous name on the revenge list, there was actually a powerful cultivator.

Zhuo'er's message didn't give a hint, and Sangsang didn't notice it. No one expected that a document appraiser who used to be in the military department, and now a tea expert supported by tea merchants, turned out to be a cultivator who was proficient in sword control!

Ning Que's frowning brows lengthened little by little. Then he stared at Yan Suqing, who was sitting in the chair, and the handleless mini sword in front of him, and smiled gently: "Since you don't try to escape, then I'll escape."

His voice had not yet disappeared, and without hesitation, he turned back and galloped out of the small house by the lake like a madly galloping horse.

...

...

Staring at the disappearing back of the young man beside the bamboo wall, Yan Suqing chuckled with interest, shook his head and sighed, "Since you came to kill a cultivator, how could you escape safely?"

Those gentle words, mixed with strong confidence and murderous intent, slowly came out of the lips of the middle-aged man, who put down the thick teacup in his left hand and flipped over his left sleeve with the other hand. The index and middle fingers of his left hand were closed together to form a sword technique, which was diagonally pointed at the outside of the small lakeside house separated from the air. The whole process is natural and uninhibited.

With the point, the dim handleless mini-sword on the tea suddenly let out a low humming sound, as if infused with some kind of magic. Then suddenly, it bounced off the tea table and disappeared in a flash of light, splitting the darkest sky above the small house by the lake before dawn and pushing it straight outward.

Ning Que felt a burst of pain in his back, as if he had been pricked by a needle. However, what others can perceive in the eyes outside the gauze mask is only calm, not panic. On the verge of breaking through the bamboo groves, he stomped heavily on the ground with his left foot, causing his whole body to turn over, and then his right foot stepped on a heavy buttercup bamboo.

"Deng! Deng! Deng! Deng!

The sturdy soles of his shoes alternately stepped on the bamboo, causing the tree to shake violently, causing countless bamboo leaves to rustle like broken arrows. With the help of the bamboo tree, he quickly climbed the wall of the house, which almost dodged the sword light in the room. Then he bent his knees slightly, borrowed the elastic power of the bamboo tree, and galloped into the yard.

With a whoosh, his body swept across the wall like a sharp arrow, and the sharp channel had been pulled out of its sheath. Then, with a snort, Ning Que pulled out his strength from his waist and abdomen, flipped his wrist, and then the pod slashed down towards Yan Suqing like a blizzard!

When he realized that this tea expert was a powerful cultivator, it was clear to him that he was bound to face another fatal test tonight. Although he knew very well that his current ability was not comparable to that of a powerful cultivator, he still had no intention of backing down. Because he understood that when facing a cultivator, running away meant death.

At the Beishan Pass, he witnessed firsthand how Peng Yutao and other elite bodyguards of the Tang Dynasty fought a great sword saint with their strong will and strict discipline. Outside the Spring Breeze Pavilion, he also saw how Chao Xiaoshu relied on his incomparable strength and fearless control to kill two powerful alien cultivators. From these experiences, he learned that when facing a cultivator, he should not retreat, but move forward, which might help him avoid being killed.

So his previous retreat was not actually a retreat.

This is a disguise for moving forward.

Went up and killed him.

...

...

Heard the bell!

Ning Que twisted his body and swung the wave, slashing away the dim sword light that was stabbing at him from behind, and then he fell from the sky.

When they first met, a particle-sized slit appeared at the edge of the channel, and a small crack was found in the upper half of his old clothes. However, his expression outside the gauze mask was still not fearful. His legs were glued to the ground like two nails, and his hands were gripping the long handle of Bodao. At the same time, he lowered his head slightly, vigilantly observing his surroundings.

Suddenly, the treasure path in his hand flipped upward, leaving a trail of blood on his left shoulder while helping him dodge the sword light that came from the right. The subtle vibration he felt from his hand confirmed that his blade had at least touched the flying sword.

Ning Que still lowered his head slightly, quietly staring at Yan Suqing, who was sitting on a chair a few steps away, listening intently to the occasional muttering sound around the small lakeside house in the dark. What he wanted was to determine the direction of the flying sword.

He strode forward.

A fallen leaf outside the courtyard was split in two by an invisible force.

He fell backwards like a mountain, and a faint shadow of the sword rose into the sky, scraping his shoulder.

He thumped the ground with his right hand, tightened his waist and stomach and got back to his feet. Then he double-crossed like lightning, and the faint shadow of the sword slammed into the crack between the stone slabs in front of his feet, buzzed, and quickly flew away, then vanished.

He is currently three steps behind the previous one.

A small oil lamp to the right of the coffee table glowed. On the stone chair next to him sat Yan Suqing, showing a half-smile.

The distance between the two was only a few steps, but the darkness of these few steps was so insurmountable.

Because no one knew the location of the faint shadow of the sword in the darkness.