Film and Television: The Villain's Life Begins with Joy of Life

Along the official road, the lush leaves remained dark green, their resilient vitality rustling in the wind.

Fan Xian, mounted on his horse, glanced back at Xiao En in the prison cart.

The former "Great Demon King" had his eyes closed, as if he were dozing off, and the chains on his body made a soft clanging sound as the carriage bumped along.

He glanced again at the carriage in the middle of the procession, which was originally his own, but now contained Fan Ruoruo.

It's been more than half a month.

The girl followed him all the way from Kyoto, and after traveling for more than half a month, they were about to leave the border of Qing Kingdom.

He tried countless times to persuade her to go back, and even considered forcibly sending her back, but she absolutely refused.

She said that in Kyoto she felt like prey surrounded by wolves, watched wherever she went, which she wasn't used to and didn't like. She wanted to be with him, free and unrestrained.

Fan Xian sighed.

He recalled the first two days after they set off when he discovered Ruoruo disguised as a man, sneaking around in the crowd. It gave him the creeps.

He wanted to send her back then, but she insisted that she had left a letter for her father.

She said that if her father really wanted her to go back, he would definitely send someone to chase after her.

He thought it made sense at the time, and then he waited for several days, but no team caught up with him.

After thinking it over, he concluded that Fan Ruoruo hadn't lied, which meant Fan Jian had tacitly approved of it.

He just couldn't understand why his father would agree to let Ruoruo take such a big risk with him.

"Dad, oh Dad, what are you thinking?!"

Fan Xian sighed again.

He was of course unaware that no sooner had he led his troops out of the capital than Fan Jian went to the Imperial Study to apologize with a bundle of thorns on his back.

The reason he apologized was that the personal guards he arranged for Fan Xian on this trip far exceeded the normal standard.

In Kyoto, even when a prince goes out, he is only accompanied by a maximum of two eighth-rank guards.

As for Fan Xian, the nominal son of the Marquis of Sinan, even when he was sent as an envoy to Northern Qi on behalf of the Qing Kingdom, he was not entitled to have a whole team of seven Tiger Guards by his side.

The Tiger Guards are there solely to protect the Emperor.

Even though the Tiger Guards were personally trained by Fan Jian, they were not authorized to be dispatched at will.

Fan Jian's actions constitute a serious overstepping of authority and a grave crime.

Therefore, he had to go and apologize to Emperor Qing.

As for why he committed such a sin, it was simply because he was worried about his children.

His daughter, Fan Ruoruo, was unruly and audacious; she secretly hid in the delegation and left with Fan Xian.

Out of maternal love and concern for his daughter's safety, he increased the number of guards.

The carriage curtain was lifted slightly, revealing half of Ruoruo's face. She was resting her chin on her hand, looking at the scenery outside the window with a smile on her lips, as if she were out for a spring outing, completely unaware of the risks ahead.

Fan Ruoruo was unaware that she wasn't pursued because she became Fan Jian's excuse to surround Fan Xian with more skilled fighters.

Although Fan Jian's reasons were full of loopholes, Emperor Qing knew the truth perfectly well.

He was very dissatisfied, but he picked it up high and put it down gently.

He reprimanded Fan Jian, fined him three months' salary, and that was the end of the matter.

Emperor Qing was actually pleased to increase Fan Xian's guards. After all, he was his own son, and he was naturally somewhat worried.

Fan Jian's actions, while pleasing him, also somewhat crossed his bottom line.

……

The group stopped to rest by the roadside.

Fan Ruoruo jumped down from the carriage, carrying a bowl of water and some dry food, and walked straight toward the prison cart.

"Ruo Ruo!" Fan Xian called out to her, his voice tinged with helplessness, "Let someone else go."

Fan Ruoruo turned around and smiled at him, a smile as clean and pure as a cloudless sky: "Brother, no one else dares to get close to him. It's alright, I've been seeing him off the whole way."

Fan Xian frowned as he watched her walk to the prison cart.

Sean opened his eyes, his cloudy pupils darting around before landing on Fan Ruoruo.

"Girl, you're here again." His voice was terribly hoarse, but a smile stretched across his face, a smile that looked particularly eerie against his deeply lined features. "You should listen to your brother. Given the chance, I really won't be able to resist killing you!"

Fan Ruoruo nodded, said "Oh," and squatted down beside the prison cart, holding the bowl of water to his lips, seemingly unafraid of his threats.

Sean's lips twitched, and he could only obediently lower his head and suck the water in the bowl with his chapped lips.

Fan Xian stood not far away, his gaze never leaving Xiao En.

This old fellow was the former head of the Northern Qi secret service, ruthless and vicious, with countless lives on his hands. Even after being imprisoned for twenty years, he dared not let his guard down.

But Ruoruo wasn't afraid of him. Along the way, she often chatted with Sean.

He had no choice but to stare helplessly.

Sean took a sip of water, licked his lips, looked up, and suddenly stopped.

His gaze was fixed on the road ahead, and after a moment of hesitation, a strange light flashed in his cloudy eyes.

Fan Ruoruo sensed something was wrong. She kept holding the bowl and followed his gaze.

In the middle of the official road, there was an extra person who appeared out of nowhere.

It was an old man in a green robe, with a thin face, standing in the middle of the road with his hands behind his back.

The bright sunlight shone on him, casting a long shadow on the ground. The shadow remained motionless, as if nailed to the ground.

Strangely, even though it was broad daylight and he was standing in the middle of the road for who knows how long, no one noticed how he got there.

Fan Xian, who had been keeping a close eye on Xiao En, also noticed something amiss.

He followed Ruoruo and Sean's gaze, his pupils contracting slightly.

The newcomer stood in the middle of the road, no more than twenty feet from the group. But in his perception, there was nothing there. No aura, no presence, as if it were not a person, but a tree, a stone, blended into the heavens and earth, a part of this wilderness.

Alarm bells rang in Fan Xian's mind.

The person who could give him this feeling must be a master.

Moreover, he is a top-tier expert!

Sean squinted, his withered fingers gripping the iron bars of the prison cart tightly.

His unusual behavior immediately alerted the group, and then everyone saw the old man in the middle of the road.

Sean stared at the figure in the green robe, then suddenly spoke loudly:

"Ye Liuyun!"

Ye Liuyun.

The moment those three words were uttered, the entire room fell silent.

"After more than twenty years, a grandmaster like yourself is here to kill a cripple like me?"

Sean's voice continued.

Everyone looked on incredulously, glancing at Sean and then at the old man in the middle of the road.

Ye Liuyun!

One of the four grandmasters, the ancestor of the Ye family, a legend among legends. How could such a person appear here?

Ye Liuyun's gaze passed through the crowd and landed on Sean in the prison van.

His gaze was calm, as if he were looking at a tree, a stone, or someone who had been dead for a long time.

"Sean, it's been a long time." His voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it carried clearly to everyone's ears. "If it were thirty years ago, I would have gladly killed you. Now—"

He shook his head very gently.

"Never mind."

His gaze shifted from Sean to Fan Xian at the front of the group.

"The person I want to kill is him."

He raised his hand and pointed at Fan Xian.

The movement was very light, as if it were just a casual gesture.

But everyone present, standing in the direction he pointed, felt as if an invisible hand had gripped their hearts and was slowly tightening them.

Fan Xian felt a chill run down his spine, as if a cold emanated from the top of his head.

He instinctively wanted to back away, but he forced himself to.

Just as Ye Liuyun raised his hand, the seven Tiger Guards moved almost simultaneously.

They emerged from the ranks, blocking Fan Xian's path and forming a battle formation. Seven people, seven swords, their auras intertwined, their killing intent coalescing into one, like a newly drawn blade.

Their mission is to protect Fan Xian.

Despite their instinctive fear and knowing they might not be a match for a Grandmaster, they still stepped forward.

Ye Liuyun did not look at them.

He simply walked forward unhurriedly, step by step, his strides small yet seemingly pressing down on everyone's hearts. With each step, the invisible pressure grew heavier. The air thickened, breathing became difficult, some people's legs began to tremble, and some people's hands started to shake.

The Tiger Guards knew they couldn't wait any longer.

"kill!"

Among the Tiger Guards, the leader, Gao Da, gave a low shout, and seven figures rushed out simultaneously, their blades flashing like snow and their killing intent surging like a tide.

The seven auras were linked, advancing and retreating in perfect unison, their coordination flawless. This formation was enough to withstand a ninth-rank superior.

Ye Liuyun's gaze didn't even fall on them for a moment.

He simply raised his hand and gently flicked it.

The movement was very light and slow, like a celestial being casually parting a cloud that was in the way.

But with such a slow and unhurried movement, the air under his palm was compressed into a tangible wall, solid as a sea of ​​clouds, as heavy as a mountain.

The cloud wall crashed out, colliding with the Tiger Guard's formation. The seven figures were like leaves swept into the sky by a hurricane, flying out without any resistance.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

Seven men fell to the ground by the roadside, crushing a patch of grass. Knives lay scattered on the ground, gleaming coldly in the sunlight. They struggled to get up, but it was as if all their strength had been drained away, and they couldn't move for a long time.

The entire room fell silent.

No one dared to move.

Some of the other guards in the group forgot to breathe, some forgot to blink. Cold sweat trickled down their foreheads, dripping onto their clothes and spreading into dark stains, but they were completely unaware.

They dared not draw their swords.

Ye Liuyun continued walking forward.

One step, two steps, three steps.

He stopped a foot away from Fan Xian.

It was only one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) long.

He sized up Fan Xian, his gaze calm.

"Fan Xian?"

he asks.

Fan Xian's throat was dry and his palms were covered in cold sweat.

He never expected that what that bastard Zhou Cheng said about a Grandmaster coming to kill him was actually true!

He wanted to turn around and run away, but he knew it would be futile.

He took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound steady.

"Yes."

Just one word.

Ye Liuyun looked at him and nodded slightly, as if confirming something.

"I have been invited to come and kill you."

His tone was very calm, as if he were saying that the weather was nice today, or that the wildflowers by the roadside were in full bloom.

Fan Xian gave a wry smile.

The Grandmaster has really come to kill him in person!

What merit or ability does he possess?

Now, it seems he has no choice but to die.

But he was unwilling to submit to execution.

With so many people watching, he should at least die with some dignity.

He took a deep breath and slowly assumed a fighting stance.

The domineering true energy within his body began to operate beyond its capacity, as if magma was surging within his meridians, scorching, violent, and uncontrollable.

His face was covered with an unnatural paleness.

"Please enlighten me, Senior Ye."

Upon seeing this, Ye Liuyun raised one hand.

Chapter update reminder: Chapter 65 Ye Liuyun, Background, Reading address.

The movement was still slow and gentle, but in the perception of everyone present, the entire world changed with that hand.

The sunlight dimmed, the wind stopped, and even the air seemed to freeze.

His palms were empty, but in everyone's eyes, they held an entire sea!

A vast, boundless sea of ​​clouds surged and roared, threatening to collapse at any moment.

Fan Xian faced that hand directly.

He felt like he had become the Monkey King!

However, this is not the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, but the Great Sage Equaling Heaven who was knocked down from the heavens by Buddha's palm and was about to be suppressed by the Five Elements Mountain.

His instincts screamed a frantic warning, every cell in his body screaming for him to run. But his legs seemed rooted to the ground, unable to move an inch.

If that hand were to flip over, he would die.

The threat of death made the veins in his temples throb, like a taut string that was about to snap at any moment!

But in the next instant—

Fan Xian's internal energy suddenly exploded!

The bottleneck of the eighth-grade peak was forcibly broken through at this moment, and the domineering true energy surged and roared through the meridians like a flood breaking through the dam.

His senses became sharper than ever before, his spirit stronger than ever before, and his condition better than ever before.

Ninth rank.

At the peak of the eighth rank, he broke through to the ninth rank under the pressure of death.

He looked at Ye Liuyun's hand.

He saw more things more clearly.

then,

He found himself seemingly even more dead!

Ye Liuyun slightly turned his palm, as if about to push forward.

Not only Fan Xian, but everyone standing opposite him felt as if they had lost their balance, as if they were being held down by an invisible hand, unable to stand steadily.

The world was spinning, vision was distorted, and it seemed as if the world was about to be turned upside down. Some people knelt down, some lay prostrate on the ground, and some clung tightly to the carriage wheels, their knuckles turning white.

"stop!"

A slender figure suddenly blocked Fan Xian's path.

Fan Ruoruo.

She had thrown away the water bowl at some point and ran from the prison cart to Fan Xian's side.

She spread her arms wide, like a mother hen protecting her chicks. Her body trembled, from her fingertips to her knees, every inch shaking. But she didn't back down, not even a step. She gritted her teeth, her jaw tightened, her eyes filled with unwavering resolve.

Ye Liuyun's hand paused slightly.

But he didn't stop.

The hand was still turning downwards.

Fan Ruoruo's mind was almost blank. She was breathing heavily, her breath trembling, and she mustered a courage and strength from who-knows-where:

"Ye Qingmei! My brother's mother is Ye Qingmei!"

Ye Qingmei!

These three words seem to possess some kind of magic.

Ye Liuyun's hand froze in mid-air.

Then, he casually withdrew his hand.

The surging sea of ​​clouds and the imposing Mount Tai vanished in an instant. It was as if someone had torn a painting in half, revealing the calm sky behind it.

Ye Liuyun looked at Fan Ruoruo, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment before shifting to Fan Xian.

He scrutinized Fan Xian's face, his gaze moving from his eyebrows and eyes to the bridge of his nose, and from the bridge of his nose to his chin, as if trying to confirm something.

a long time.

"They do look somewhat alike!"

He nodded.

"Since he is Ye Qingmei's son, then I'm leaving."

After saying that, he turned and left.

His green robe fluttered slightly in the wind, and in just a few steps, he was dozens of feet away. A few more steps, and he disappeared at the end of the official road, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, never to be seen again.

The audience was silent.

Fan Xian stood there, stunned, his mind blank.

That's it?

A grandmaster, who came all the way here to kill someone, stopped killing after hearing someone call his name? And just left?

The others were also dumbfounded, looking at each other speechlessly.

Fan Ruoruo stood there, still trembling all over.

From the moment she stepped forward, she trembled uncontrollably. The mere thought of standing up in the face of a Grandmaster's mental pressure had exhausted all her strength.

She had originally rushed out with the idea of ​​living and dying with Fan Xian, but in that life-or-death moment, she suddenly remembered what Zhou Cheng had said before leaving the capital.

At that time, Zhou Cheng told her that a Grandmaster would come to kill Fan Xian. And to stop the Grandmaster, she needed to call out Fan Xian's mother's name.

At the time, she thought Zhou Cheng was talking nonsense.

Unexpectedly, it actually came true.

A single name was enough to make a grandmaster abandon his killing spree and turn away.

Fan Ruoruo's mind was in complete chaos, with countless thoughts swirling around, making her dizzy.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Just as everyone in the group was baffled by the Grandmaster's arrival and departure, feeling a sense of relief at having escaped a calamity, a hoarse laugh came from the prison cart.

"Ye Qingmei's son? You're actually Ye Qingmei's son?"

Sean laughed so hard he almost fell over, the chains binding him rattling and making a commotion against the bars of the prison van. He was laughing so hard he was almost crying.

"Chen Pingping, what a cunning schemer! He's been plotting against me for a full twenty years!"

He stared at Fan Xian, his turbid eyes like two will-o'-the-wisps burning in the darkness.

"Fan Xian? Fan Xian! Interesting, they actually sent Ye Qingmei's son to escort me!"

Along the way, through conversations with Fan Ruoruo and various other clues, he had almost come to believe that Fan Xian was his grandson.

He suppressed his feelings and endured it all. In order to protect his bloodline, he dared not acknowledge Fan Xian along the way. He even threatened Fan Xian with words, revealing his murderous intent.

Then Ye Liuyun's unexpected appearance, and Fan Ruoruo's unexpected revelation...

This made him suddenly realize that he had been tricked by Chen Pingping.

Chen Pingping deliberately made him misunderstand that Fan Xian was his grandson, intentionally giving them opportunities to interact.

"That cripple, he's really ruthless!"

Sean gritted his teeth, his withered fingers gripping the iron bars tightly, his knuckles turning white, and the veins on the back of his hands snaking like snakes.

He almost fell into a trap and almost secretly told Emperor Qing and Ye Qingmei's son the secret of the temple that had been hidden for more than 20 years!

Fan Xian finally came to his senses.

He supported Fan Ruoruo's trembling body, wanting to ask her something, but swallowed the words back.

Now is not the time.

He helped Fan Ruoruo to the prison cart.

"Senior Xiao, what did you mean by that just now? Do you know my mother?"

Sean exhaled and squinted as he scrutinized Fan Xian, his gaze seemingly trying to see right through him.

"Chen Pingping is really bold. He actually let you escort me."

He sneered, a mocking smile curving his lips.

"His surname is Fan, interesting! With this kind of scheming and plotting, it's no wonder I was outsmarted!"

Fan Xian became more and more confused as he listened.

"What do you mean by 'willing to let me escort them'? I am Ye Qingmei's son, that's true, but what makes me special?"

Sean looked at him in surprise.

"you do not know?"

"What should I know?"

Sean stared into his eyes for a long time.

"Is your father Fan Jian?"

Fan Xian nodded.

The last trace of doubt on Sean's face vanished.

"Fan Jian...that makes sense then."

As the former intelligence chief of Northern Qi, he was very clear about the relationships between Emperor Qing, Fan Jian, Ye Qingmei, Chen Pingping, and others.

Fan Jian was Ye Qingmei's number one sycophant back then. There was nothing he wouldn't do for Ye Qingmei.

He didn't know why Emperor Qing and Chen Pingping had entrusted Ye Qingmei's son to Fan Jian's care.

But what they didn't want people to know, he, as their former greatest adversary, insisted on letting the world know.

Sean chuckled, his voice hoarse and grating.

"Your biological father is not Fan Jian."

Fan Xian and Fan Ruoruo were both stunned.

They never expected Sean to say that!

"You're not the first person to say I'm not my father's biological son." Fan Xian suppressed his emotions, his voice as calm as if he were talking about someone else, but the hand gripping Ruoruo's wrist tightened. "You say Fan Jian isn't my biological father, then who is my biological father?"

Sean chuckled, a nostalgic look on his face, and a glimmer of light appeared in his cloudy eyes.

"Ye Qingmei is truly a fairy-like figure. I cannot imagine any man in this world who could be worthy of her."

He paused.

"I don't want to admit it, but there's nothing I can do. Back then, Ye Qingmei did accept a man and even got pregnant with his child."

Fan Xian and Fan Ruoruo both held their breath for a moment.

Judging from Sean's tone, that person was clearly not Fan Jian.

The words of the masked man, the jokes of Zhou Cheng, and countless past events flashed through Fan Xian's mind like a revolving lantern. He hesitated to ask.

Fan Ruoruo, however, didn't have so many concerns.

"Who is that person?"

Sean glanced at Fan Xian, then grinned at Fan Ruoruo with a hint of malicious glee.

"That person is Emperor Qing."

Emperor Qing!

"How is this possible!" Fan Ruoruo's eyes widened, and she stood up straight in an instant, seemingly drawing strength from nowhere.

Fan Xian didn't react as strongly as Fan Ruoruo.

He was even unusually calm.

From Danzhou to Kyoto, from the masked man's reminder to Emperor Qing's unusual treatment of him, many things can actually be traced back to something.

But all along, he has been unwilling to think about it deeply or investigate it thoroughly.

Until this moment, Sean completely exposed his true intentions!

He knew Sean wouldn't lie about this. Nor did he need to.

Even though Fan Xian was mentally prepared, he couldn't help but feel upset.

He didn't want to speak, and he couldn't speak.

Fan Ruoruo glanced at Xiao En, then at Fan Xian, who remained silent.

incredible!

She couldn't believe it!

Although she found Sean's words highly questionable, judging from Fan Xian's expression, he clearly believed them.

As a devoted fan of Fan Xian, she naturally knew how suspicious he was. The fact that Fan Xian showed this expression clearly meant he already knew something in the past.

Sean's words have now been proven true.

"Oh, actually, that guy was right again!"

Fan Ruoruo was almost numb from the shock!

Not only is Fan Xian not her biological brother, but Zhou Cheng has also correctly predicted that Fan Xian is not her biological brother!

From Ye Qingmei's name causing Ye Liuyun to retreat, to Xiao En revealing Fan Xian's biological father's identity...

In just a quarter of an hour, two earth-shattering events occurred, as if Zhou Cheng had foreseen them!

Although he is the third prince, and although he is the Prince of Cheng!

That shouldn't be!

How did he know that a Grandmaster would come to kill Fan Xian? How did he know that Ye Qingmei's name could make a Grandmaster retreat?

And how does she know her brother Fan Xian's true background?

Fan Ruoruo looked completely bewildered, her mind a jumbled mess, the more she tried to sort it out, the more confused she became.