Zhu Lian had never met the visiting elder scholar Zhao Shi of the academy, but he had heard Li Bao Ping mention the eye-catching white deer accompanying him.

Zhao Shi, with his tall crown and wide belt, walked with footsteps and breath just like any other old man.

Even though Zhu Lian couldn’t see anything amiss, he tensed up immediately.

At this moment, everyone appearing near the courtyard was highly likely to be a Da Sui assassin.

Immortal magic was ever-changing and difficult to defend against.

Immortal duels were also battles of wits and courage. Zhu Lian had sparred with Cui Dong Shan twice and was well aware of the many uses of cultivators’ magical treasures, which opened the eyes of this former top figure in Lotus Flower Paradise.

If he hadn’t followed Chen Ping An and his household registration hadn’t been moved to the Da Li Dynasty, Zhu Lian would have already taken action based on his nature in Lotus Flower Paradise – better to kill by mistake than let one go.

However, restraining himself from rashly killing didn’t mean Zhu Lian wouldn’t test the waters to gauge the other party’s depth.

Zhu Lian glanced at a wutong tree on the roadside. The stem of a lush green wutong leaf snapped silently, shooting towards the old scholar Zhao Shi, accompanied by the white deer, like an arrow.

Zhao Shi was completely unaware and continued forward.

Just as the wutong leaf was about to slice off the old scholar’s head, it suddenly lost its force, turning into an ordinary fallen leaf, drifting and falling to the ground.

Zhu Lian had traveled across two continents and knew the weight of an academy headmaster in the Confucian world. Even if it wasn’t one of the Seventy-Two Academies but a private school built and run by great Confucian scholars from various countries, it was the best kind of protective charm.

This kind of identity was similar to a human monarch or a royal prince, and would receive the protection of Confucianism.

If a cultivator dared to assassinate such a figure, they would be hunted down by the Confucian academies. The entire Vast Sky was under the control of Confucianism, where could they run? Either they would hide through secret channels in some obscure, fragmented blessed lands, or they would simply have to stay far away from the world. However, if treacherous officials, eunuchs, or powerful generals harmed the monarch, whether by usurping the throne or establishing a puppet regime, the Seventy-Two Academies would not intervene.

If Zhu Lian really sliced off the head of a private academy headmaster like this, and Zhao Shi turned out not to be an assassin but a genuine, venerable Confucian scholar who had simply come to visit Cui Dong Shan on a whim, then Zhu Lian would definitely be in deep trouble.

But Zhu Lian wasn’t willing to give up. He kicked a roadside pebble with his toe, sending it towards Zhao Shi’s calf.

He skillfully controlled the force to be equivalent to the seventh-realm golden body stage cultivation.

The poor old scholar cried out in pain, looked down, and saw a bloody gash torn into the side of his calf, covered in cold sweat.

Zhao Shi raised his head, gnashing his teeth, and said, “Who are you?! Why are you attacking me? Do you know this is Cliff Academy!”

Zhu Lian looked surprised, with a hint of fear. He mumbled to himself, “Didn’t they say academy headmasters are high-level qi refiners with the power to speak the law? Since he’s accompanied by a spiritual creature like a white deer, why is he so weak now? He’s a good-for-nothing. Alas, alas…”

Then Zhao Shi saw the man jog over, smiling apologetically, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was just wandering in my thoughts and kicking pebbles when I accidentally bumped into Headmaster Zhao. I deserve to die…”

Zhao Shi was in great pain and had to bend over, his face pale, covered in sweat, probably not daring to look at the bloody wound. He glared at the trembling, hunched-over old man.

Zhu Lian came to Zhao Shi’s side and reached out to help him, “Headmaster Zhao, let me help you to the courtyard to heal your wounds.”

Zhao Shi allowed Zhu Lian to take his arm and sighed, “How can there be such reckless martial artists like you? Now that you’ve learned some martial arts, you should restrain yourself even more. Can the antics of a child be the same as a fight between grown men? ‘Knights use martial arts to disrupt the law,’ that’s what they’re talking about with people like you!”

Zhu Lian nodded repeatedly in agreement.

In the blink of an eye.

Zhu Lian, already accustomed to hunching over, suddenly shrank, like an old ape. He moved to the side, stomped heavily on the ground, and slammed violently into Zhao Shi’s chest.

A natal flying sword that should have pierced Zhu Lian’s forehead only pierced his shoulder after Zhu Lian transformed into an ape.

Zhao Shi was sent flying by Zhu Lian’s powerful collision, directly knocking the white deer behind him away.

Zhao Shi swayed, landed steadily, and felt terrible.

Why was there a far-traveling realm martial artist hidden in the academy!

Zhu Lian completely ignored the shoulder wound soaked in blood, his eyes blazing, grinning, “I’ve finally experienced the ability of an Earth Immortal sword cultivator. How delightful!”

Inside the courtyard, Yu Lu jumped onto the high wall and said in a deep voice, “They’re here.”

Xie Xie reminded, “Bao Ping, Li Huai, Pei Qian, the three of you retreat into the main house’s study and remember to close the door tightly. Unless I open the door, you are not to step out!”

The three children didn’t ask any questions and ran into the house.

Lin Shouyi said softly, “I may not be able to help much now.”

Yu Lu stared at Zhu Lian and the old scholar Zhao Shi confronting each other on the road, “Find your own opportunity.”

Xie Xie came to the courtyard, silently recited the incantation in her heart, formed hand seals, and stepped on the Dipper Steps. Following the secret technique taught by Cui Dong Shan, she began to control the spiritual energy of the small courtyard, temporarily transforming this place into a delicate miniature world. She would then have the chance to taste the feeling of a “sage of one side” controlling the river of time. If Mao Xiao Dong controlled a river of time, then Xie Xie could only mobilize a stream.

Fortunately, the courtyard wasn’t large, so it wouldn’t be easy for significant loopholes to appear.

The old scholar, who inexplicably became an assassin, didn’t use his natal flying sword to fight Zhu Lian to the death.

The flying sword drew streaks of light in the air, repeatedly flashing towards the courtyard.

Each time the flying sword tried to break into the courtyard, it would be blocked by the sky of the small world, exploding into a brilliant light, like shattered glass.

Yu Lu had already retreated into the courtyard and asked softly, “How long can you hold on?”

Xie Xie’s forehead was covered in sweat, her voice trembling slightly. She laughed bitterly, “Even if Zhu Lian can hold back this sword cultivator, preventing him from fully controlling his flying sword, I can only hold on for at most half an incense stick… The flying sword’s attacks are too swift, the spiritual energy stored in the courtyard is being consumed too quickly!”

Sword cultivators were, after all, the best in the world at breaking through various barriers.

The saying that “one sword can break ten thousand laws” wasn’t self-praise from sword cultivators.

Xie Xie said helplessly, “It’s a pity that Mountain Master Mao left Dong Hua Mountain.”
Yu Lu shook his head and said, “If the Master of Maoshan doesn’t leave Donghua Mountain, the opponent will have other strategies to keep him here. Perhaps the Master of Maoshan and Chen Ping’an have already successfully lured the enemy’s main force, making it even more dangerous than here.”

Outside the courtyard, on the small path, Zhu Lian’s figure was so fast that it only appeared as a wisp of green smoke. The sword cultivator tried to avoid him, focusing more on using his sword to break through the small world. Above the courtyard, colorful and dazzling lights bloomed time and time again.

Facing a Grandmaster of the Distant Travels Realm who possessed the advantage of terrain and could engage in close combat, the old sword cultivator was struggling quite a bit.

If it were originally a pure martial artist and a Qi refiner of equal strength, once the former closed the distance, the latter would be in deep trouble.

But the reason why no one wanted to provoke a sword cultivator was because their long-range attacks, close combat, and instantaneous bursts of power were all daunting.

Zhu Lian swept a leg at the sword cultivator, smashing his head into a wutong tree, breaking it in half.

Zhu Lian was not unscathed either, his abdomen pierced by the opponent’s natal flying sword.

Worthy of being a martial arts fanatic, Zhu Lian wiped the blood flowing from his stomach, took a look, burst into laughter, smeared it on his face, and continued chasing after the sword cultivator.

The battle was fierce, on the verge of life and death, yet Zhu Lian still had the leisure to remind the people in the courtyard, “Be careful, this old guy is hiding his true strength. I don’t think he’s just an ordinary nascent soul cultivator. What if he uses some bullshit secret technique…”

The old scholar Zhao Shi spat out a mouthful of blood and smiled after hearing this. He pinched a Bingjia Pill, covering his body in armor, actually planning to become a shrinking turtle.

Then he turned to look at the small courtyard and roared, “Open for me!”

With a flash of his sword.

The natal flying sword, always known for its speed, emanated a refined essence of Li Fire.

It collided with the barrier of the small world, making a loud noise. The flow of time in the entire courtyard began to shake violently. Yu Lu, as a Golden Body Realm martial artist, was still able to stand firm. However, Lin Shouyi, who was sitting in the green bamboo corridor, had not yet reached the Fifth Realm and found it extremely difficult to endure.

Xie Xie’s mouth oozed blood, but she remained motionless.

As the anchor point of this small world, Xie Xie’s cultivation was too shallow after all, and she dared not move, otherwise the world of the entire courtyard would become unstable, revealing even more flaws.

Xie Xie pinched a sword seal with both hands, blood droplets flowing from her eyes.

The old scholar Zhao Shi put on the Bingjia Pill and laughed while fighting with Zhu Lian, “Have you made up your mind to entangle with me, allowing my flying sword to break through the barrier, and not trying to save it?”

If his Li Fire flying sword was cultivated to the extreme, and he reached the Jade Purity Realm, it wouldn’t be difficult to burn rivers and boil lakes. What was a small world that wasn’t even worthy of its name, guarded by a little girl who hadn’t even reached the Dragon Gate Realm?

Xie Xie’s face was already covered in blood, but she still persisted. However, human strength had its limits. After spitting out a mouthful of blood, she fainted and collapsed to the ground.

The flying sword not only pierced into the small world inch by inch, but it also seemed that the Li Fire contained in the sword body could burn a hole the size of a dustpan.

Therefore, whether Xie Xie, who maintained the small world, was awake or unconscious, it no longer mattered much.

Yu Lu leaped high, punching the flying sword.

The fist energy shattered, and the nascent soul immortal’s flying sword directly pierced through his fingers, then “broke ground” from the back of his hand, heading straight towards the study room in the main house.

Being in the flow of time was already a torment. The sudden removal of the small world, this unexpected shift of the world, made Lin Shouyi lose consciousness, swaying and reaching out to hold the corridor pillar, still hoarsely saying, “Block it!”

Shi Rou’s figure appeared at the window of the study room. She closed her eyes, allowing the Li Fire flying sword to pierce into the abdomen of this immortal’s remains.

A snap of the fingers, sounded softly, but clearly echoed in the ears of everyone in the courtyard.

At the foot of Donghua Mountain, at the entrance of the courtyard, the old man surnamed Liang handed over a jade token and stared fixedly at the white-clothed youth with a golden flying sword swirling around him, sternly saying, “Cui Dongshan, I’ll trust you this once, and temporarily hand over the academy to you. If there are any problems…”

The guy standing at the door clenched the jade token, took a deep breath, and smiled, “Got it, got it. You, surnamed Liang, talk the most.”

That flying sword, shaped like a golden wheat ear and named “Golden Autumn,” was the same flying sword that had previously gone to Mao Xiaodong to warn him of the changes on Donghua Mountain.

Cui Dongshan stepped across the academy gate, closed his eyes, and looked up, intoxicated. “How many years has it been since I breathed in this majestic aura as a Fifth Realm immortal?”

Cui Dongshan opened his eyes, snapped his fingers, and Donghua Mountain instantly became its own world, “First, close the door and beat the dog.”

Then he took one step out, and the next step he arrived in his own courtyard, rubbing his hands and smiling, “Then it’s beating the dog. Senior Sister’s words are so learned, if you want to beat a dog, beat the wildest one.”

Xie Xie had already fainted, and so had Lin Shouyi, who was suddenly thrown into the small world.

Yu Lu, even as a Golden Body Realm martial artist, was unable to move.

Shi Rou’s current situation was the most ridiculous, because she had a body of immortal remains, so her soul was not easily affected by the scouring of the long river of time in the small world.

However, after eating the Li Fire flying sword in her stomach, the flying sword rampaged like a headless fly trapped in a thunderous cage.

It caused Shi Rou, who was blocking the window, to lurch back and forth in the air, tumbling around.

Seeing Shi Rou’s appearance, Cui Dongshan rolled his eyes, feeling that she was losing face for him. He stretched out a hand and gently patted the air.

Shi Rou’s entire immortal remains were patted into the green bamboo corridor, countless floor tiles shattered.

The seemingly casual slap directly stunned the soul consciousness hidden in the remains.

Cui Dongshan stepped on Shi Rou’s abdomen, the Li Fire flying sword, which had been mistakenly allowed to “walk into a trap,” suddenly stopped and became quiet.

Cui Dongshan squatted down, about to use a secret technique to “pick up” the flying sword of decent quality from Shi Rou’s abdomen.

Outside the courtyard, on the road, the nascent soul sword cultivator drew a long rainbow and fled far away to the west of Donghua Mountain, realizing that the situation was not good. Confirming that killing anyone was now a pipe dream, he was even willing to abandon his natal flying sword.

Cui Dongshan yawned and stood up,

“Luckily Mao Xiaodong isn’t in the academy, otherwise, after seeing the next scene, this sage of the academy would be so ashamed that he’d dig a hole and bury himself.”
On the edge of the humble abode of the academy west of Donghua Mountain, a golden divine statue, tens of zhang tall, materialized—the revered visage of a Confucian sage.

Terrified, the sword cultivator immediately shot northward, fleeing for his life.

Yet another golden avatar of a venerated sage manifested between heaven and earth.

Perhaps Cui Dongshan’s patience was wearing thin today, unwilling to play a game of cat and mouse with the sword cultivator. Simultaneously, two more divine statues arose in the east and south.

The sword cultivator gritted his teeth and shot straight towards the celestial dome of the academy’s small world.

Atop Donghua Mountain, the tallest divine statue of all emerged—the aged scholar image of Cui, the Grand Tutor of Great Li. He extended a golden hand, directly seizing the nascent soul sword cultivator. Clenching his fist, rumbling sounds echoed within, as if a god held thunder in his palm.

A white-clad youth stood upon the shoulder of the aged embroidered tiger avatar, his beauty like sculpted jade. He rubbed the crimson mole between his brows, patiently awaiting the slow erosion of the nascent soul cultivator’s cultivation by Donghua Mountain’s abundant spiritual energy.

Of course, if that old codger wished to make a last-ditch effort, detonating his golden core and nascent soul in one fell swoop, Cui Dongshan wouldn’t interfere. After all, the damage would only be to Donghua Mountain’s literary fortune and spiritual essence.

Nevertheless, Cui Dongshan still hoped to squeeze a small bonus from this nascent soul cultivator—such as… that natal flying sword, temporarily isolated within the corpse of a deceased immortal.

Cui Dongshan glanced toward the small courtyard.

That white deer was indeed a spiritual creature belonging to the pedantic Zhao Shi, but a master had employed a secret art upon it.

As for the old master held captive in the golden avatar’s hand, it was certainly not Zhao Shi.

Although Zhao Shi was the head of a mortal academy, he lacked the aptitude for cultivation. His scholarship, however, did not reach the level of heavenly communion, suddenly forming a small independent world the moment he “read until he shared a knowing glance with the sages”. Therefore, how could he suddenly transform into an extremely rare nascent soul sword cultivator? On Treasure Bottle Continent, nascent soul sword cultivators were few and far between.

Even with his buttocks, Cui Dongshan knew this pathetic, failed earth immortal assassin was not a native cultivator of Treasure Bottle Continent.

More likely, he was a loyal, expendable follower of the new Great Sui Zhuangyuan, Zhang Dai.

Direct descendants of the School of Diplomacy, secretly traveling the world under various identities, were often accompanied by one or two Grand Cultivators as expendable assassins.

Cui Dongshan sat cross-legged, tutting. “You scurried away quickly, scheming to kill two birds with one stone. Quite the calculation, pitting the Great Li Song family against the Great Sui Gao family. You have a bit of my style from back then. We really should have a good chat. Just think, you almost ruined my grand plan. If I don’t stuff your soul into a woman’s body, I’ll change my name! And she has to be a virgin! To teach you that a tough guy shedding blood but not tears is nothing special.”

Cui Dongshan seemed to be rambling, but in reality, he focused half his attention on the avatar’s palm and the other half on Shi Rou’s belly.

With this type of expendable assassin, there was no need for torture. They would never carry anything that could reveal clues.

Cui Dongshan had to carefully watch that Li Huo flying sword!

Though he possessed countless magical treasures, who in the world would complain about having too much wealth?

Even without a natal flying sword to command, the sword cultivator’s nascent soul was still a formidable force. Using his Yang Spirit avatar, he shattered the golden avatar’s fist. Then, his Yin Spirit detached, and the three separately chose a direction to escape.

The true body, severely wounded and seemingly the slowest, suddenly curved like lightning, rapidly plummeting towards the small courtyard, still unwilling to abandon the assassination.

Cui Dongshan, still seated on the shoulder of the avatar, sighed, “Trying to outwit me? Grandson, you’ve met your ancestor. You should kowtow.”

The Yin Spirit, traveling far away, was clapped into dust by a Confucian sage avatar corresponding to its direction. The surging, scattered spiritual energy was a compensation to Donghua Mountain.

The Yang Spirit avatar was struck into the academy lake by another golden sage avatar. The avatar stomped down, creating a massive wave, crushing the avatar into fragments.

The old nascent soul, his soul incomplete and without a flying sword to control, was about to detonate his golden core, seeking to take the entire courtyard with him.

But suddenly, the old man froze.

The immortal flying sword “Golden Autumn,” which Cui Dongshan had won in a bet long ago, pierced the old man’s golden core, churning it to ruin.

Then, bizarre black-gold characters “crawled” over the old man’s body, slightly different from the golden characters of righteous Qi that Mao Xiaodong projected when he guarded the small world.

Cui Dongshan stood before this “Zhao Shi,” wiped his face, and peeled off a bloody, Moist school’s secret superior “face,” then, with his fingertips, peeled away the flesh that originally belonged to the old man’s own face. He shook it a few times, scattering blood and shredded flesh, and collected it into his sleeve. He looked up at the terrifying “face” that revealed bone, and smiled, “Thanks, you helped me make a small profit.”

The old man could no longer speak. Not only was his skin cracked like tightly-patterned porcelain, but even his eyeballs were covered in fissures, shattered and broken. Only a violent surge of hatred and resentment roiled within his soul.

Cui Dongshan widened his eyes and took a step forward, staring the man eye to eye. “What, you want to kill me with your eyes? Come on, I’ll give you a chance!”

A moment later, Cui Dongshan flicked the man’s forehead. The old man, whose life had already been completely extinguished, flew backward, transforming into a rain of blood in the air.

Cui Dongshan stood in the courtyard, walking toward the main house. He passed the unconscious Xie Xie lying on the ground, and said angrily, “Useless thing.”

He kicked Xie Xie against the wall.

Yu Lu stood in place, somewhat bitterly smiling.

Cui Dongshan brushed past him, saying in annoyance, “I don’t even bother to say anything to you.”

Nearing the steps.

Cui Dongshan slapped his forehead, remembering that his Master was about to arrive with Mao Xiaodong. He quickly grabbed Xie Xie and “placed” her in the green bamboo corridor. Cui Dongshan even ran over, squatted in front of her, and stroked her face with his hand.

In the end, she was turned into a smiling Xie Xie sitting there.

Cui Dongshan looked at it, quite satisfied with his handiwork, but the more he looked, the angrier he became. He slapped Xie Xie’s face, waking her up. Before Xie Xie could speak in confusion, he slapped her unconscious again, “The smiling face from earlier was more pleasing.”

After another round of tinkering.

Xie Xie continued to maintain that smiling posture.
Cui Dongshan confirmed that Shi Rou was unconscious, the Li Fire Flying Sword in her womb sorrowfully trembled, temporarily without the possibility of breaking free from its cage.

Only then did he raise both hands high and clap heavily.

He dispelled the small world of the Donghua Mountain Academy.

Zhu Lian returned to the courtyard, sat on the stone stool, and looked down at his abdomen with some regret. That Nascent Soul sword cultivator was too restrained, and his injuries were not severe enough, so he estimated that both sides were not fighting to their heart’s content.

Cui Dongshan scurried into the main room and knocked on the study door, ingratiatingly said, “Little Treasure Bottle, guess who I am?”

A sinister assassination that even the Emperor of Great Sui was kept in the dark, let alone Cai Fengmiao and others, came to an end in this way.

The academy, up and down, after Mao Xiaodong told a few deputy heads of the academy and the old teacher with her mind voice, began to organize the aftermath in an orderly manner.

Near the academy gate, Mao Xiaodong and Chen Pingan walked side by side on the hillside.

Mao Xiaodong smiled slightly and said, “One day, you will also be able to protect the people you care about and protect them all in that courtyard. The wind and rain outside, the changes in the mountains and rivers, will not harm them at all. Of course, after growing up and leaving that courtyard, unless someone is too unreasonable, then the younger generation should suffer the losses themselves, let the children cry when they need to cry, bleed when they need to bleed, otherwise, no matter how old they get, they will not have truly grown up in their entire lives.”

Mao Xiaodong lamented, “Those who are parents, those who are teachers, are still unable to take care of anyone for a lifetime. Can someone as learned as the Sage Master take care of all sentient beings in the vast world? It can’t be done.”

Chen Pingan nodded and said, “That’s the principle.”

Mao Xiaodong felt a surge of anger at the thought of meeting that man surnamed Cui.

Mao Xiaodong was silent for a long time, walking on the dilapidated road outside the small courtyard, and suddenly said some words that surprised Chen Pingan.

“I think the most critical place that cannot go wrong in the world is not on the dragon throne, or even on the mountain. But in the large and small academies and classrooms of the world. If there is a problem here, it will be difficult to save.”

“Those poor scholars, those who have no hope of fame, the teaching gentlemen who can hear the crowing of chickens and the barking of dogs every day, determine the future of a country.”

“Cui Dongshan, or rather Cui, has done countless impressive or despicable things in front of and behind the scenes in the Great Li Dynasty. In my opinion, there is only one thing that even the Sage Master cannot fault.”

“The National Preceptor Cui in the Great Li Dynasty adheres to the principle of ‘if a country is about to prosper, it must respect teachers and value mentors’. To this end, he has introduced many policies that are generous to teachers, and personally oversees local officials, incorporating this matter into the local assessment that determines officials’ promotions. National Preceptor, National Preceptor, this is what a National Preceptor should be like.”

The Great Sui lost because the vast majority of scholars were relatively impractical. The so-called barbarian Great Li was not only strong in its military might, but also excelled in the fact that even the scholars were striving to be practical.

Finally, Mao Xiaodong stopped and said, “Although it has the suspicion of being a petty person, I still have to say it. Cui Dongshan is now tied to your Great Dao, but who in the world would harm themselves? In the final analysis, he is closer to Cui. Although they are destined not to merge into one in the future, you still need to be careful. Those two old bastards and little cubs have a belly full of bad water, and they feel uncomfortable all day long if they don’t plot against others.”

Near the entrance of the small courtyard, Cui Dongshan, with a red stamp mark still on his forehead, jumped up and cursed, “Mao Xiaodong, did I dig up your ancestral grave or abduct your wife? Why are you alienating the feelings between us teacher and student like this?!”

Mao Xiaodong waved his sleeve and drove the jade pendant that Cui Dongshan was hiding back into his own hand, “Make the best use of it. You, me, and Chen Pingan will go to the study to review the game. Things may not end so easily.”

Cui Dongshan was about to burst into curses at Mao Xiaodong, but in the next moment, the three of them appeared in that study.

The three took their seats.

Cui Dongshan surprisingly did not pester them, which surprised Mao Xiaodong.

Mao Xiaodong roughly explained the trip to the Wen Temple and the assassination.

Chen Pingan would occasionally fill in the gaps.

After listening, Cui Dongshan stared blankly at Mao Xiaodong.

Mao Xiaodong glared at him and said, “Take care of your dog eyes.”

Cui Dongshan sighed and said, “Didn’t Yuan Gaofeng tell you all the answers? It’s just that your Mao Xiaodong’s vision is too narrow, no better than that Wei Xian. Yuan Gaofeng’s intentions were painstaking, and his courage was great, only a little short of telling you the truth directly. You can’t hear that? How did Yuan Gaofeng scold you? Bargaining, merchant’s trickery, a disgrace to scholarship!”

Mao Xiaodong frowned and said, “Are merchants really involved? Stirring up trouble?”

Cui Dongshan sneered, “There’s more. A guy who has appeared in the Great Sui for many years as Zhang Dai is probably a direct descendant of some master strategist, participating in a secret test.”

Mao Xiaodong asked doubtfully, “Are there two groups of assassins? Weren’t they a group agreed upon long ago? Able to proceed so discreetly, and grasp the timing so accurately? Not to mention anything else, just saying that Chen Pingan and I went out as bait…”

Cui Dongshan sneered, “Aren’t smart people allowed to exist among bad people?”

Mao Xiaodong felt heavy, waved his hand, “It’s your turn.”

Cui Dongshan coughed a few times, moistened his throat, turned his head and asked, “Xiaodong, isn’t there a cup of tea to drink?”

Mao Xiaodong ignored him and began to ponder.

Cui Dongshan sighed and looked at Chen Pingan with a smile, “Please bother me, Teacher, to listen to some crude opinions from your student.”

Mao Xiaodong really couldn’t listen anymore, and shouted angrily, “Little bastard! Can you have some shame, stop being disgusting here!”

Chen Pingan smiled slightly and said, “Just get used to it.”

Cui Dongshan was complacent, squinting at Mao Xiaodong, “I can’t tell, Xiaodong has made a lot of progress after arriving in the Great Sui from the Great Li. It seems that being with me for a long time, you’ve been influenced by what you’ve heard and seen, and you’ve gained a lot of inspiration. You even knew to start preparing for the mountain moving early, taking advantage of the right time, right place, and right people, and knowing to kill the most crucial formation master first. Otherwise, that sneak attack, hidden by that military strategist…”