Chapter Twenty-Three Assassin

  Lao Ha's corpse lay on the bed, covered with a quilt, only a pair of feet exposed, the bloody smell was very light, it was clear that the assassin had dealt with it, if not for Fan Xian's nose being extremely sensitive under Fei Jie's guidance, he might have missed it.

  Fan Xian remained quietly standing in the corner, darkness concealed both the assassin and himself.

  He studied the method of Mang Zhuzi, striving to calm himself down, letting his true energy flow slowly inside his body, and his heartbeat harmonized with the hustle and bustle outside.

  The assassin should not have left yet. The Imperial Censorate's spies always handle things meticulously, so after poisoning Fan Xian, they would definitely wait until nightfall to confirm the death of this illegitimate son before leaving under the cover of darkness. And in this city, since the assassin impersonated Old Ha's nephew, he must be most familiar with this building and wouldn't want to find another observation spot.

  But things developed somewhat beyond Fan's expectations. He carefully observed the room, and apart from Old Ha's cold corpse on the bed, he didn't find anyone else present.

  He slowly made his way along the wall into the room, trying to avoid making any noise by bumping into furniture, his eyes scanning the ceiling and some easily overlooked corners.

  He walked along the wall to the windowsill, where the outside light came in through the window. The old Ha's home was not rich enough to use glass, so the indoor light was not very bright. Fan Xian stood quietly beside the dim light, using the contrast between light and darkness to conceal his tracks.

  He stood for a long time, furrowed his brow and thought to himself that he might have misjudged the situation. The assassin who poisoned him might have already left Dangzhou Port. If so, coming here first instead of controlling Zhou Guanjia was clearly a miscalculation.

  He walked to the bedside, wanting to see what had caused the poor old man's death, but as his footsteps drew closer to the bed, his mood also became increasingly tense, because he heard a kind of suppressed extremely light breathing sound, this person's breathing sound had been hidden in the noise of the vegetable market before, until Fan Xian approached the bed, only then could he hear it.

  The assassin had already hidden behind Old Ha's corpse after discovering someone entering.

  The breathing behind the corpse on the bed was very steady, with about seven breaths per minute. If Fan Xian didn't possess extraordinary innate true energy and acute hearing that ordinary people couldn't imagine, he wouldn't have been able to hear it.

  Fan Xian's footsteps stopped, staring at the bed for a long time, he didn't know if this was a trap.

  Outside the window, the sound of peddlers still came, accompanied by a very faint sound from afar, which seemed to be a horse-drawn carriage coming this way.

  He knew that on the front of this building was a vegetable market, and it just so happened that the road became very narrow here. When the horse carriage passed by, it would definitely have some difficulty, so he lightly grasped his dagger and quietly waited.

  The assassin was also waiting behind the corpse, and he didn't see who the person entering the room was. He only knew that the other party seemed to have the same patience as himself. After a long time, he felt that he had underestimated the danger of this place in Tan Prefecture Port and should not stay here to wait for the possible pursuers to arrive, but should leave early.

  ……

  ……

  A horse-drawn carriage slowly drove past the vegetable market, and the vendors on both sides began to scold it. The carter's worried face was clearly visible, and if he wasn't in a hurry, he wouldn't have taken this road either.

  The peddlers finally cleared a path, and the cart driver thanked the people around him before whipping the horse and moving forward, but crushed a box of eggs. The egg vendor was furious, grabbed the reins, and the entire market erupted in a loud argument, with extremely noisy voices.

  Inside the small building next to the vegetable market.

  As soon as the loud noise came from outside, Fan Xian took advantage of the cover to quickly lift his right foot and jump to the bedside. With a swift movement, he stabbed a long dagger into the back of Old Ha's corpse!

  At that moment, Fan Xian saw the assassin's face clearly. His eyes were icy cold, his eyebrows above his eye sockets were somewhat disheveled, and it could be seen that he was not very old. He had an ordinary appearance, except for his thick lips and dry skin on his cheeks.

  The seemingly unprepared assassin on the bed suddenly moved his right hand, a small black crossbow arrow pierced through his sleeve and flew out, shooting straight at Fan Xian's face - while Fan Xian's feet had just touched the ground, his right hand was already raised, with no defense on his chest and abdomen.

  The crossbow arrow flies quickly, like a fleeting shadow!

  At the moment the crossbow bolt whizzed past, Fan Xian reacted in time, thanks to the education of Wu Zhu's wooden stick that was faster than a crossbow arrow. His toes touched the ground without stepping on it firmly, his heels didn't touch the ground, and with the strength of his toes, he twisted his body in mid-air, unable to borrow force, and shifted several inches to the right.

  The crossbow bolt narrowly brushed past Fan Xian's left cheek and deeply lodged itself into the wooden beam of the roof, producing a dull thud.

  The assassin's face was shocked, seemingly unable to believe that the person who came was actually the handsome young man who should have been poisoned to death, and even more unbelievable was that this young man could dodge the dark crossbow shot at such a close distance!

  At this moment, Fan Xian's slender dagger had already stabbed into the assassin's body in the direction of his twisting body, making a very unpleasant muffled sound, just like the feeling of a kitchen knife cutting into pork. Unfortunately, Fan Xian, in order to avoid the crossbow arrow, was slightly off target, and the slender dagger only inserted into the assassin's shoulder, without killing him.

  The assassin sprang up from the bed like an eel in water, his left hand flashing with a sharp edge, ready to deliver a fatal blow to Fan Xian - but immediately, a severe pain in his shoulder and a downward force made him involuntarily fall back down, and his fingers holding the hidden crossbow also loosened.

  When he got up, he was already prepared for the pain in his shoulder, but he didn't expect it to be so severe. Moreover...the little boy's dagger had actually pierced through his own shoulder and was deeply embedded in the bed board, pinning his body down!

  ……

  ……

  The assassin's movements were ineffective, and Fan Xian's left hand swiftly countered and grasped the opponent's throat. The assassin's ordinary face finally revealed a fear of death, his thick lips slightly parted as if he was about to say something.

  Fan Xian's heart contracted, feeling a slight chill. Before the opponent had a chance to speak or counterattack, the tiger's mouth exerted force, and with a cracking sound, the assassin's neck was broken, his head twisted to one side, dying instantly.

  His hand remained on the assassin's severed neck for a while, feeling the shattered bones and the seeping blood gradually cooling down, before he finally withdrew his hand and started panting heavily in a half-crouched position.