Imperial henchmen? My divine skills are all hacked versions.

Upon hearing this, Jia Mo turned his head, his gaze falling on Ouyang. After a moment, he spoke indifferently.

"She's nothing but a piece of trash. His Highness raised her for twelve years and couldn't get anything out of her. If she hadn't run off to Qingzhou and caused trouble for His Highness, I wouldn't be here cleaning up her mess. You can kill her if you want."

Ouyang stared blankly at the fake Mo Feichang, his mouth slightly open, his eyes reddening, but no tears fell.

She was stunned for several moments before finally coming to her senses.

"No...that's not how it is. This is just Master's opinion and doesn't mean anything. His Highness wouldn't treat me like this. His Highness saved my life, avenged me, and treated me like his own child..."

Her voice was trembling, but she was still trying to convince herself of what she was saying.

"You're good at comforting yourself..."

Xu Xian sneered, "Your master is truly heartless and ruthless, but I am a good person. I can't bear to kill such a beautiful and magnanimous disciple. I like her very much. It would be a wonderful thing for her to become my maid."

Fake Mo ignored this and flicked his rapier at Xu Xian again.

Hua Xi struck him from the side with a palm, forcing him back, and the two became entangled in combat again.

Golden palm shadows and silver sword light collided repeatedly in the air, each collision creating a shockwave that neatly felled a large swath of reeds by the lake.

The butcher climbed out of the lake, soaking wet, with lake water and blood mingling and flowing down his body.

  

The iron mask on his face was still there, but his walking posture was no longer very smooth, and his left leg was limping.

He slung the chipped butcher knife over his shoulder, declaring, "I can't let this prestigious reputation be ruined in my hands!"

Xu put Ouyang down and drew his sword to meet him.

Both of them are now seriously injured. The Butcher was kicked by Hua Xi, and at least several of his ribs are broken. Xu Xian was stabbed in the back of the chest, and several of his ribs are also broken.

But the butcher was more seriously injured. He was struck by a blow from a Golden Body Realm expert, while Xu Xian was struck by the back of Wang Yanni's blade from a Bone Tempering Realm expert. Wang Yanni was not mentally strong when she attacked, and her blade only had 50% of its strength.

Xu Xian clashed with the butcher's pig-slaughtering knife with his eight-sided sword. The sound of the swords clashing was deafening, and the two seriously injured men were evenly matched.

Yang Xu also snapped out of his shock, picked up the broken half of the knife and got up. He pounced on the butcher from the side and wrapped his arms around the butcher's left arm, but the butcher slapped him to the ground. Yang Xu rolled over and pounced on the butcher again, this time locking his arms around the butcher's waist from behind. The two of them fell to the ground together.

Xu Xian dragged his bleeding left leg and the eight-sided sword in his right hand as he crawled toward the butcher.

The butcher's eyes widened as he pressed down on Yang Xu's back, trying to push him away, but Yang Xu's arms were locked tightly like iron hoops, his face turning red.

"Cut him down! Quickly!"

Xu placed the sword on the butcher's neck, gripped the hilt with both hands, and pressed down hard. The blade cut into the flesh, but got stuck when it reached the cervical vertebrae.

The bone density of those in the Bone Tempering Realm far exceeds that of ordinary people, and even the blades of elite Cold Iron warriors can only be slowly worn down.

He gritted his teeth and sawed back and forth for a while, finally severing the neck bone.

A spurt of scalding blood gushed from the severed wound, splattering onto Xu Xian's face and chest. The butcher stomped his legs a few times and then fell silent.

Xu Xian loosened the hilt of his sword, turned over, and leaned against Yang Xu's back, panting heavily.

The two sat back to back on the gravel by the lake, their bodies covered in blood, it was impossible to tell whether it was from their enemies or themselves.

Yang Xu tilted his head back and rested it on Xu Xian's shoulder, his breath barely audible.

"I was so stupid, really... I only knew that following you in solving cases would lead to promotions and wealth, but I forgot that every case we investigated would involve encountering this kind of pervert..."

"I was ambushed and attacked at the entrance of Jingzhou Post Station, and almost killed by a butcher at Sima Mansion. This time, the scene at Luoxia Lake was even more exciting, with even a Golden Body Realm expert showing up. I have no memory at all, how stupid of me."

"It's not too late for you to regret it now. When we get back to the capital, I'll talk to Lord Mo and have you transferred to the internal affairs department, where you'll be in charge of the files. You can sit in your room drinking tea all day long and won't have to come out with me."

"Bullshit! You, a centurion, are charging into battle while I, a chiliarch, am sitting at home drinking tea. Don't I have any dignity?"

Yang Xu coughed up another mouthful of blood, but his tone remained firm.

"Next time you promote someone, you have to promote me too. I've followed you through thick and thin, and I've been stabbed more than ten times. Even if I haven't made any great contributions, I've still put in a lot of hard work. Go back and tell Lord Mo that Commander Yang is requesting a promotion."

Xu Xian didn't say anything, but leaned his back against Yang Xu's back and looked up at the sky.

The battle between Hua Xi and the fake Mo is still ongoing.

Golden palm shadows and silver sword light clashed in the air, leaving afterimages on the lake's surface.

The lake water was stirred up by the air currents, creating columns of water that were then shattered into mist by the next wave of air.

As the setting sun shone through the mist, a faint rainbow appeared in the sky above the lake.

Yang Xu looked up at the rainbow and suddenly spoke, "Old Xu, you're ruthless! You kept it a secret better than anyone else. Why didn't you say you had such a capable sister sooner?!"

"Shh..."

Xu Xian smiled and said, "You absolutely mustn't tell anyone about this. My sister can't act rashly; if someone finds out, it'll be a huge problem!"

Yang Xu paused for a moment, then nodded. "Tsk... I understand, I understand. Masters are always mysterious!"

...

After a brief exchange in the air, Hua Xi suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart, her face turned deathly pale, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

She raised her hand to wipe her mouth, her eyes widened, and she knew something was wrong.

She kicked off the fake Mo Feichang's slender sword, using the momentum to flip and land, grabbing Xu Xian and Yang Xu by the back of their collars with one hand each.

"Brother, I can't beat him, let's run!"

She picked them up like two chicks and flew towards the dense forest north of the official road.

Fake Mo chased after him and slashed at nothing with his sword. The tip of his sword swept across the treetop and chopped off a leaf.

Seeing that Hua Xi had run away without looking back while carrying two people, and that he couldn't catch up, he suddenly turned to look at Ouyang Ruiming, who was lying on the ground.

He leaped forward, lifted Ouyang up, gripped her neck with his fingers, and shouted towards the dense forest.

"Xu Xian, if you dare leave, I'll kill her! Don't you like her?"

Hua Xi carried the two of them down to an old pine tree at the edge of the dense forest. Looking down through the canopy, she was completely bewildered.

"Are you out of your mind? You're threatening me by arresting your apprentice? I'm not her father. If you're going to threaten me, at least arrest someone I know. You could arrest my sister, but what kind of person are you to arrest your apprentice?"

Fake Mo's eyelids twitched.

He knew that threatening others by capturing his own apprentice was indeed unreasonable, but Hua Xi had already run dozens of feet away with two people, and he couldn't catch up. The only bargaining chip he had was Ouyang.

After all, Xu Xian had said he couldn't bear to kill Ouyang, and besides, Ouyang was really beautiful. What if Xu Xian had lost his mind?

He steeled himself and tightened his grip on Ouyang's neck even more. "Are you coming out or not?!"

Xu Xian's eyes darted around, and he chuckled lightly, "You don't want to find the treasure map anymore? How will you explain killing her to your prince?"

Fake Mo was slightly taken aback.

"I didn't expect you to know even about this, but you're overthinking it... He hasn't found anything after more than ten years, His Highness has long since given up hope. He won't care. Are you coming down or not? If you don't, I'll kill her!"

Ouyang was lifted into the air by her master, who had been teaching her martial arts, literacy, and how to kill since she was four years old.

Her lips were trembling, and tears finally rolled down her cheeks, but her voice remained unusually calm.

"Very well, since His Highness saved my life and has done me a great favor, and since His Highness doesn't care anymore, and neither does my master, then I might as well die."

Xu Xian squinted at Ouyang Xinruo's lifeless expression, then looked down at Hua Xi standing on the tree branch.

"Xiao Xi, can you save her?"

Yang Xu was so angry that he coughed up two mouthfuls of blood.

"Tsk...Are you fucking trying to die?! What's the point of saving her?! This woman stabbed you twice, almost whipped you to death at Taibai Tower, and nearly stabbed you through the throat with a soft sword at the Jiaofangsi. Have you forgotten? Did Wang Yanni knock your brains out with the back of her knife?!"

"no..."

Xu Xian explained, panting.

"The evidence I got from Sun Buhai's house was stolen by this bastard. He impersonated the magistrate and took all three pieces of paper. We've worked for nothing again. This woman is now on edge and might confess!"

"Although her testimony isn't as conclusive as physical evidence, she's that prince's loyal follower, and after so many years, she must know more than Sun Buhai did with those three pieces of paper..."

"As long as she speaks, even without physical evidence, we can expose that prince's true colors. At the very least, we can find where he lives. She is living evidence!"

Yang Xu's eyes lit up. "Tsk...that makes sense, but are you sure she'll talk? She almost went insane trying to withstand the power of words at the academy, but she wouldn't budge. Now she's going to give in?"

"Just now, her master said she was a good-for-nothing. That prince raised her for twelve years, and then just abandoned her like that. She stubbornly refused to admit it under the influence of the Word of Power because she believed that prince. Does she still believe him now?"

Yang Xu blinked. "Tsk...that makes sense!"

Hua Xi gave an "oh," loosened the back of their collars, and leaped out of the dense forest.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!!!"

The tree branch beneath Yang Xu and Xu Xian's feet suddenly swayed, causing them to lose their balance. They managed to grab onto each other to avoid falling from the tree.

Yang Xu was clinging to Xu Xian's waist, while Xu Xian was clinging to a tree trunk; the two wounded men were in extremely disheveled positions.

Xu Xian turned around and exchanged a glance with Yang Xu. Both of them felt that their posture was a bit ambiguous. They silently let go of each other's hands and each hugged a tree branch, continuing to look at Hua Xi's side.