"Xu... Xiao... Shou!"

Luo Leilei's face turned deathly pale, but she seemed to look much better after clutching her chest and swallowing an elixir.

​​

She knew she'd gone against her word. Thus, she'd had the intention of having a proper discussion with Xu Xiaoshou. She wouldn't have minded trading something in return for the scabbard.

She had other valuable items on her she could've traded for it. In fact, she'd been willing to trade multiple items.

But Xu Xiaoshou had attacked her first before she could make the first move.

He hadn't held back at all, and had hit her hard. What was that he'd said about not hitting women?

"Men are all liars!"

Nevertheless, his attack had shocked her. She'd done her homework on the new cohort of Inner Yard Thirty-Three, and they were hardly her match.

She'd known she wasn't going to run into any worthy rivals during her short stay in the Tianxuan Gate.

But then she'd come across Xu Xiaoshou…

His physical strength and resilience were incredible, and his swordsmanship also seemed quite accomplished.

Compared to Brother Shuangxing…

Well, they were worlds apart.

"Xu Xiaoshou! You're really asking for it, aren't you?" She got mad once again, and her eyes burned with anger as she glared at him.

Suspected, Passive Points +1.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

Missed, Passive Points +1.

"Missed?" he thought, and he hurriedly stopped his flight. His two fingers looked ready to destroy his enemy.

"Why has she started missing me?"

He wasn't frightened of being cursed. What he was terrified of was being remembered and missed, especially when it was a woman doing the missing.

Nothing good ever happened when that particular notification popped up.

If he was remembering correctly, the last time it appeared it'd come from the masked intruder!

Xu Xiaoshou shivered uncontrollably.

"Hold on a minute. I'm not asking for anything."

He raised his hands in a placating manner. "You tried to snatch my scabbard from me, so I hit you once. We're even. We can go our separate ways now.

"…You go do whatever you're supposed to do while I go on my merry way."

Luo Leilei was so shocked she almost threw up another mouthful of blood.

Did he just call his attack and her attempt at taking the scabbard from him a fair exchange?

His attack had landed, so shouldn't he let her have the scabbard, then? This man had absolutely no shame.

She had to control her temper.

There was something not quite right with him. This was a man who, like her, had been chosen to go on an undercover mission. He wasn't someone to easily trifle with.

He must be trying to provoke her. She had to keep herself from blowing up!

Xu Xiaoshou stared at Luo Leilei as she panted violently, not saying a word, and couldn't help but be taken aback.

Was she that weak? She'd taken an elixir, hadn't she? So why was it taking so long for her to recover?

"Are you dying? I have some medicinal juice I just brewed. Would you like to try it?" He paused, then smacked his lips together. "It should taste delicious."

"I…" Luo Leilei's eyes widened with incredulity. She was unable to believe her ears.

Did he just ask her if she was dying? No decent man would've asked that! Had he forgotten who'd hit her in the first place?

Hnn!

She could no longer keep it in and finally spit up blood.

Cursed, Passive Points +1.

Resented, Passive Points +1.

Xu Xiaoshou started to panic. He had no intention of killing her. Even though Zhang Xinxiong had sent her after him, she seemed different from the others…

She seemed less aggressive.

She was like a dog whose bark was worse than its bite. She might talk about killing him, but she never seemed to do it.

Xu Xiaoshou felt bad for trying to kill her.

He pulled out a bottle of medicine. "Try it? It tastes really sweet."

As a result of Cooking Expert, Amber Juice had turned out sweet without being excessively so.

Xu Xiaoshou had a few bottles of it on him. When he had nothing else better to do, he would treat it like soda and drink it.

This was a chance to test its efficacy on someone else and maybe even promote the elixir.

Luo Leilei's eyes darkened with anger as she swiped the blood from her lips.

"Hah…"

She told herself not to blow up.

This was the first person in years who'd managed to infuriate her to the point of puking blood.

She'd always been the one to infuriate people! Not the other way around!

Luo Leilei decided to be honest with Xu Xiaoshou and spill the truth. "Xu Xiaoshou, stop that act of yours. We both want the same thing. Honestly, we really need that scabbard. Why don't you sell it to me?"

"We?" Xu Xiaoshou thought, raising an eyebrow. His spiritual senses flooded the area, but he didn't sense anyone in the vicinity.

Was she trying to mislead him?

Did she think he had only his spiritual senses at his disposal?

He extended Sense but failed to sense another presence in the area.

Xu Xiaoshou was speechless.

That was interesting.

He had to admit it. He was stumped.

Had the enemy somehow hidden his presence?

Sense could detect anything in all directions. Yet, it didn't detect anyone else in the vicinity… Was Luo Leilei trying to trick him?

It was unlikely that there was someone hiding out there. He would've believed this were the case if they weren't in Tixanxuan Gate. But only ten of them had passed through the gate.

None of the ten could have slipped past Sense.

The other possibility was that Luo Leilei was trying to trick him.

Well, two could play this game.

Xu Xiaoshou raised his chin slightly and feigned a look of scorn.

"Well, let's show our cards, then.

"We need this scabbard very much too. We're already having trouble deciding how to split the scabbard amongst the group."

So she had one other person hiding out there, didn't she? Well, he had a whole group of invisible lurkers out there!

Two could play this game.

This wasn't his first rodeo. He pretended that he had an entire army and had successfully gotten two assassins killed with this deception of his. Luo Leilei had met her match.

The young woman froze. She'd thought that Xu Xiaoshou's organization was a small and insignificant one, but it appeared that they had something ambitious planned.

"Are you sure? You know of the Heaven's Vision, don't you? As soon as this scabbard leaves the barrier, the people outside will sense it immediately.

"When that happens, the next time the Tianxuan Gate opens again… you'll be greeted with the Spirit Palace's upper management!" Luo Leilei laughed.

What was going on?

Xu Xiaoshou was utterly bewildered. What was Luo Leilei going on about? He had a feeling that they weren't talking about the same thing at all.

There must be a few screws loose in her head…

He was still in the middle of ridiculing the young woman internally when Luo Leilei continued in a mocking tone, "It'd be a pity if you were to lose both the scabbard and your life when you leave the Tianxuan Gate despite the great lengths you've gone to steal it. It'd be such a loss."

Xu Xiaoshou's heart skipped a beat.

Was this theft?

He felt a sudden prickling numbness shoot up his spine… could it be that the both of them had never been on the same wavelength?

Had she been trying to steal the scabbard all along?

Oh my god!

Xu Xiaoshou was dumbstruck. He was reeling with shock.

He took a deep breath and swallowed his heart back into his chest. Then, he spoke as clearly as he could, enunciating precisely so that there would be no misunderstanding, "Do you… know who Zhang Xinxiong is?"

"Zhang Xinxiong?" Luo Leilei barked out a laugh. This young man was definitely an eccentric fellow. They'd been having a serious conversation, and here he was, interrupting it with a sudden change of subject.

"Of course. He's been in the Inner Yard for a while. Everyone knows who he is. Why do you ask?"

"Of course? What the h*ll!" Xu Xiaoshou cursed inwardly. It seemed that… Zhang Xinxiong hadn't sent Luo Leilei after him.

He realized that the situation had gotten out of control. In fact, he might end up in a terrifying predicament, one where his life might be put at risk.

At that moment, Xu Xiaoshou bravely struggled to get the gears in his mind to spin rapidly.

He was a decisive man in moments of crisis.

Everything that Luo Leilei had said and done since they'd met flashed through his mind.

Xu Xiaoshou got rid of the assumptions that he'd had of Luo Leilei and placed everything in the correct context of her attempted theft of the scabbard. It was clear that the young woman had planned everything. She had entered the Tianxuan Gate to steal the scabbard!

Xu Xiaoshou's heart grew cold…

He couldn't believe his luck. How could he have bumped into something so unlucky during a simple trip to the Tianxuan Gate?

Was the scabbard extremely sought after?

He revealed no hint of what was going on in his mind as thoughts flashed through his mind at lightning speed. Then, he said casually, "I've made plans to deal with the aftermath when I leave Tianxuan Gate. I'm not afraid at all…"

"How about you? Aren't you afraid? I'm curious. Who are you?"

Luo Leilei rolled her eyes. The man truly knew no shame.

Would anyone answer such a question?

"How can you ask me that question when you haven't made a proper introduction." Luo Leilei curved her lips into a smile and tilted her head. "Where are you from?"

He'd decided to trick her, he naturally wasn't going to hold back.

"I was worried that the name would terrify you…" He folded his hands behind his back, paused deliberately for a moment, then lifted his chin slightly. "I'm from the Holy Vassal!"

The Holy Vassal… was the organization that the masked man belonged to. It was a terrifying organization whose members could take on the entire Tiansang Spirit Palace alone!

Xu Xiaoshou activated Sense so he could observe the young woman's reaction to his words in detail, but the expected shock and horror didn't appear. Instead, he was greeted with a stunned look.

"The Holy Vassal?" Luo Leilei looked unconvinced. "Are you a part of the Holy Vassal? Why don't I know you?"

Xu Xiaoshou was dumbstruck.

Clang.

Hiding Pain dipped suddenly, and Xu Xiaoshou took an immediate plunge towards the ground.