knife

Chapter 271 Who are you?

The heavy snow fell like goose feathers, covering the already chubby Li Kaixin in an even thicker layer, making him look like a round, rolling snowball as he rode his horse. From a distance, he was enough to scare people half to death.

Li Kaixin was too lazy to shake off her snow-white clothes.

Anyway, this little bit of snow didn't bother him at all.

It also has a limited impact on the horse.

As a master of the ninth rank of Xuan Yuan, his true energy was constantly circulating on its own, which made him feel almost no weight on the horse. Otherwise, given Li Kaixin's weight, even a divine steed like Xiao Hei wouldn't have been able to carry him for very long.

Li Kaixin has been truly happy these days.

Watching their young master wave his hand and turn the world upside down, destroying enemy ships and towers in the blink of an eye.

What could excite him more than this!
Although he was the steward of the city lord's mansion, Li Kaixin only respected Zhou Zhi, while Zhou Zhi mostly regarded him as a friend with whom he could speak his mind.

But Li Kaixin always saw himself as a servant to Li Dachui.

Because he, Li Kaixin, was a eunuch serving the Crown Princess decades ago.

An unusual little eunuch.

She still remembers the surprise she felt when she first met that woman who was as beautiful as the moon in the sky.

She said she had never seen a man with a purely yin constitution.

Generally speaking, men like this tend to die young.

His unexpected opportunity was becoming a eunuch.

This gave him a chance to survive.
However, at that time I was still physically weak.
I always thought it was because of my poor health, but I never imagined it was for this reason.

Li Kaixin didn't know what a pure Yin body was, but judging from the Crown Princess's expression, he knew it seemed to be a very remarkable thing.

The Crown Princess taught him how to use the Phoenix Fire technique.

At that time, he had no idea what this meant.

All he knew was that the Crown Princess treated him very, very well, giving him a level of respect and care he had never experienced before.

Later, he also met Stephen Chow.

During the Chang'an Incident, he happened to be delivering a letter to Zhou Zhi on behalf of the Crown Princess, or perhaps the Crown Princess sensed something and wanted to make some preparations.

Just as he found Stephen Chow, the Crown Princess arrived.

One after the other.

But things turned out to be completely different.

The Crown Princess handed the young prince over to Stephen Chow and him, then turned and left.

He was also among those who witnessed the final phoenix-like rebirth scene alongside Stephen Chow.

Then he and Stephen Chow took the young master and fled to the border region.

It has been twenty-seven years since then.

Zhou Zhicheng achieved the Innate Realm, and he also cultivated the Phoenix Flame to the ninth rank of the Profound Origin Realm.

Without the Phoenix Flame, I would have died long ago due to my special constitution.

Although he lacked the opportunity and strength to break through to the Innate Realm, the ninth rank of the Profound Origin Realm was enough for him to be able to walk sideways in the future.

What's more, I have such a gifted little master!

The young master can now be called the king of the Northeast.

With the Northern Yuan in chaos and the area within the pass in chaos, how far is it for our young master to lead his army into the pass and return to Chang'an?
Although Li Kaixin disliked the gloomy inner city of the imperial palace in Chang'an, he longed to see his young master one day sit in the Ziwei Hall, facing north and ruling as a sovereign.

That should have been his all along.

If that day ever comes, then the person in charge of the palace can only be himself.

Li Kaixin was beaming with joy.

Decades of hard work, wasn't it all for this day?

Those traitors and troublemakers from back then, none of them will live.

The horse suddenly neighed, and Li Kaixin looked up to see a person sitting cross-legged by the roadside ahead.

The wind and snow raged, and the person's head and body were covered with snow, with icicles even forming on his eyebrows, making him look like a snow sculpture.

An ordinary person seeing this scene would most likely assume that the person had frozen to death.

However, Li Kaixin could sense the other party's powerful aura.

A martial arts master.

At this moment, waiting here, there is naturally only one goal.

It's yourself.

It's really strange that someone would dare to plot against me in this small piece of land outside the Great Wall.

Is he a ninth-rank Xuan Yuan master I've never seen before?
This is not surprising for Li Kaixin.

Many heroes emerge from humble beginnings; it's not uncommon for a naturally gifted individual to suddenly appear from some obscure corner.

Li Kaixin dismounted, shaking off the snow, and looked half as thin as before. Watching the other person stand up, and seeing the snow and icicles vanish from their body in an instant, Li Kaixin raised an eyebrow.

"Wait for me?" he asked.

The stranger nodded: "Yes, I've been waiting for you all day."

"From where?"

"A very, very far place!" The stranger smiled and said, "Butler Li, I mean you no harm, I just want to ask you a few things!"

Li Kaixin laughed and said, "If you had no ill intentions, you should have gone to the city lord's mansion in Tai'an City to find me. Intercepting me on the way would naturally be malicious, so I suppose what you're asking about isn't anything good either. Are you really that confident in yourself?"

The stranger nodded and said, "I certainly meant no harm, but I feel uneasy if I don't clarify some things. Of course, if you're unwilling to answer, I'll have no choice but to use force."

"Use force?" Li Kaixin sneered.

“I know that Steward Li is at the ninth level of the Profound Origin Realm and cultivates the Phoenix Flame!” the stranger said calmly. “If I weren’t confident, why would I dare to come to you?”

Li Kaixin was taken aback.

Very few people knew that he cultivated the Phoenix Flame, and he couldn't even use one hand.

He took a deep breath: "Who exactly are you?"

The stranger did not answer his question, but instead asked in return, "The Phoenix Flame comes from the Southern Divine Sect and is never passed on to outsiders. Those who can cultivate the Phoenix Flame are all outstanding figures within the sect. Butler Li is not a member of the Divine Sect, so where did you learn the Phoenix Flame from?"

Li Kaixin sneered: "I'm exceptionally talented, I figured it out on my own. What, you're not convinced? Are you from the Southern Demonic Sect?"

The stranger chuckled: "Butler Li, you're being very uncooperative. Over the years, only a handful of people have been able to cultivate the Phoenix Flame, and even fewer have had the opportunity to pass it on. With a little investigation, we can easily find some clues. Moreover, Butler Li, you're a eunuch, which further narrows down the possibilities. What is your relationship with He Qingqiu?"

Li Kaixin's eyes narrowed slightly, and a murderous intent suddenly arose within him.

If this person knows about the Crown Princess, then he cannot be allowed to live.

Because once someone connects the Crown Princess with himself and Lord Zhou, they will inevitably be able to find clues from back then.

Nothing can truly be invisible and traceless.

Both myself and Lord Zhou were recorded back then.

Once these things are discovered, the young master's identity will be in jeopardy.

It's best to keep the young master's true identity hidden for now.

Strength doesn’t allow it!

Once the prince's identity is exposed, those who harmed the crown prince and crown princess will immediately find a common enemy and unite against him.

Because the young master now has the qualifications to challenge them.

“Butler Li has murderous intent; it seems I’ve hit the nail on the head!” The stranger smiled and gripped the hilt of his sword with his other hand. “But I also want to capture Butler Li and interrogate him thoroughly about those old matters!”

Before he could finish speaking, Li Kaixin had already rolled over like a ball.

Although it's called rolling, it's actually extremely fast.

Along with Li Kaixin, dozens of blue sparks hurtled towards the stranger.

Blue sparks enveloped Li Kaixin's white clothes.
Extremely dazzling, yet extremely eerie.

"Impressive skill!" The stranger drew his sword and swung it.

The blue spark seemed to plunge into a bottomless abyss, disappearing without a trace amidst the sword energy.

Li Kaixin was greatly shocked and retreated rapidly, putting distance between himself and his opponent.

Phoenix Fire is indestructible. Even when it intercepted Chang Jian last year, Chang Jian, with his high cultivation level, was unwilling to directly confront it. Yet this stranger in front of him annihilated Phoenix Fire with a wave of his hand.

This is not because the other party has a high level of cultivation.

The moment the two started fighting, Li Kaixin could sense that even if his opponent was stronger than him, the difference wouldn't be significant.

However, the opponent's technique seems to be naturally able to counter Phoenix Fire.

As far as Li Kaixin knew, there were only two kinds of skills that could restrain the Phoenix Fire: one was the Qi of Heaven and Earth, and the other was the Moonlight Weak Water, which was of the same kind and origin as the Phoenix Fire.

The opponent certainly wasn't practicing the Qi of Heaven and Earth.
Then there is only one possibility.

Moonlight over weak water.

"The Southern Demonic Sect, Moonlit Weak Water!" Li Kaixin said in a deep voice.

The stranger lightly flicked the blade, and the sword whistled repeatedly.

"Steward Li is indeed related to He Qingqiu. Then you should also know that Phoenix Fire and Moonlight Weak Water are mutually reinforcing and mutually restraining. Although I am only slightly stronger than you, for the two of us, the balance of power is such that I have a huge advantage. Moreover, Moonlight Weak Water is extremely yin and gentle, and this season and this weather are of great help to me. Steward Li, do you still want to fight?"

Li Kaixin sneered, "So what? Don't forget, this is beyond the Great Wall, not the South. You little devils can do whatever you want in the South, but beyond the Great Wall, this is our territory. Even if you can defeat me, so what? I guarantee you'll be hunted down until you have nowhere to run!"

The stranger sighed: "Butler Li, whether it's He Qingqiu or you, your martial arts skills both come from the Divine Sect, so why do you harbor such hostility towards them?"

"Pah!" Li Kaixin spat, slowly drawing his knife from beside the saddle. "I'd like to see just what kind of skills this Southern Demonic Sect, which is stirring up trouble, actually has."

The stranger smiled slightly. He had mentioned He Qingqiu many times, but the butler opposite him had never denied knowing He Qingqiu, which already spoke volumes.

Ordinary people would never know who He Qingqiu is.

The Qin state completely erased the names He Qingqiu and Li Anze.

(End of this chapter)