Chapter 190: Seizing the Opportunity to Lurk

The team continued forward, and Li Xian gently touched his chest, his face filled with lingering fear. Just now, death had been so close—really, it was only by a hair’s breadth! But this assassination also marked the beginning of a change in Li Xian’s heart. The caution he had always practiced in the past was slowly starting to fade.

With the stimulation of true essence, his wounds were temporarily stabilized, but the faint, lingering pain kept urging Li Xian, making him feel a new desire for cultivation, for a higher level of power.

Xu Ren stayed by Li Xian’s side, the carriage moving slowly forward.

Meanwhile, Xiao Yuquan did not continue with his research but sat on the carriage at the front. Relying on his Nascent Soul cultivation, Xiao Yuquan, confident in his skills and courage, prepared to act as bait himself.

At the rear, Song Xing and the others were interrogating the captured prisoners, having taken seven alive. From the carriage at the front, Li Xian could occasionally hear the anguished screams coming from the back.

Song Xing and the others were even angrier than Li Xian. In Song Xing’s view, after all his hard work, he had finally managed to achieve something. If anything happened to Li Xian, his future would be utterly bleak. Therefore, Song Xing and the others showed no mercy, employing all sorts of means.

Listening to the screams from behind, Li Xian glanced at Xu Ren. “Sir, who do you think ordered this assassination?”

“It’s hard to say.” Xu Ren shook his head. “We’re less than fifty miles from the border of the Great Xia Kingdom, so the assassination could have come from Qi, Jin, or Great Xia.”

“Though Qi seems fine, they might not want a living young master.”

“Jin hasn’t had direct contact, but there’s still some possibility they could strike.”

“The most likely source, though, is from within Great Xia itself. But Great Xia is currently in chaos, so almost everyone is a suspect, including… the eldest young master.”

“But the most probable suspects are the Wang family, Guangling County, and the Kong family, Nanyang County.”

Xu Ren’s words were harsh, but Li Xian didn’t mind, because sibling rivalries were never new.

Li Xian remained silent. When he truly took control of “New” Anyang County, such matters would be inevitable.

Being assassinated was also a symbol of status. Who else would face an assassination? Perhaps this could even be considered a form of “rich disease.”

After the team had staggered forward for over ten miles, Song Xing came over, his head hung low. “Young master, we couldn’t extract any information for now.”

Li Xian shook his head indifferently. “That’s normal, don’t worry about it. Just hide these people well for now. When we get back to Anyang, we’ll have plenty of ways to deal with them.”

“Understood.” After Song Xing left, Li Xian continued to rest, healing and adjusting his body.

Suddenly, Xu Ren spoke. “Young master, this injury may, in fact, bring unexpected benefits. Recently, you’ve been gaining too much attention. Perhaps, you should… feign death from this injury. Just say that you were on the verge of reaching the Golden Core realm, and the sudden blow left your soul injured.”

“Feigned death…” Li Xian had a dark expression, but for every word Xu Ren said, he pretended a little more; by the time Xu Ren had finished, Li Xian seemed genuinely “mortally wounded, and possessed.” His face was pale, his eyelids darkened, and his pale face even had a subtle, barely noticeable black aura flowing beneath it. He looked like someone drained of life, slumped in the carriage. To achieve such a realistic effect, Xiao Yuquan’s assistance was indispensable.

Xu Ren looked at him seriously and nodded. “Perfect. But don’t make it too perfect. Show just a slight struggle and anger, yes, just like that.”

Then, Xu Ren called Song Xing and the others over, instructing everyone to walk with mournful faces, which made the atmosphere of the team much heavier.

They walked and stopped along the way. The next fifty or so miles took them a whole day to cover before they finally entered the territory of Guangling County.

The new Inspector of Guangling County came to greet them. This new Inspector made Li Xian’s brows furrow—this man was Wang Yuhe! The father of Wang Ming, whom Li Xian had beaten to death! Seeing him, Li Xian could almost be certain that the assassination had been arranged by Guangling County. Of course, this wasn’t completely certain.

When Wang Yuhe saw Li Xian, he simply put on a stern face, offering a few indifferent words of comfort, and finally said sarcastically, “Young Master Li truly has friends everywhere, everyone’s greeting you.”

His tone had a touch of schadenfreude. After hearing this, Li Xian didn’t react much, but Xu Ren’s face darkened slightly. “Inspector Wang, the young master is in a critical condition. We cannot stay long. We take our leave now.”

“I understand.” Wang Yuhe sneered a few times, then arranged for one of his officers to escort Li Xian and his group out of Guangling County. It wasn’t because Wang Yuhe was truly kind, but because if Li Xian really died in Guangling County, it would make things awkward for him.

Once the team had left Guangling County, Xu Ren finally spoke to Li Xian, “Young master, it seems the situation is more complicated than we thought. This assassination wasn’t likely orchestrated by Guangling County. The real culprit must be someone else.”

Li Xian was somewhat confused. “Sir, how do you know it wasn’t Guangling County? Just because of a single remark from Wang Yuhe?”

“Yes, it’s precisely because of Wang Yuhe’s words. I’ve studied Wang Yuhe, and while he’s somewhat cunning and capable, after his son was killed, he’s grown more ruthless and his methods have improved, but his scheming still lacks a bit. If he were behind this, or even aware of it, he would have made some subtle insinuations—perhaps accusing Qi of being unstable or something of the sort.”

“But his reaction was one of schadenfreude. It seemed more like he was thinking, ‘I don’t have to lift a finger because someone else has already done it.'”

“Furthermore, judging by his expression, I can almost be certain that this incident has nothing to do with Wang Yuhe, the Wang family, or Guangling County, but with someone else.”

Li Xian smiled slightly after hearing this. “If no one is jealous of you, you’re just an ordinary person. Someone tried to assassinate me, which means I’m still doing well, right? Ha ha…”

Xu Ren was stunned. “Young master, have you lost your mind?” He could only give an awkward laugh. “Yes, yes, young master, you’ve done very well.”

“Actually, from this incident, we can also see that some people can’t wait any longer!”

The team wobbled forward, and for the rest of the journey, they encountered no further assassinations. However, when Li Xian returned to the capital, countless people came to visit. Upon hearing that Li Xian had been assassinated and was gravely injured, everyone expressed their concern.

Xia Qingqing even rushed up to the carriage, her face full of panic as though the sky was collapsing. She threw herself at Li Xian, saying, “Husband, don’t scare Qingqing, I… I…”

Li Xian’s face was ashen. “Qingqing, don’t worry, I’m fine.”

While speaking, his hands started to behave inappropriately. Xia Qingqing froze for a moment before glaring at Li Xian, not saying anything but extending her jade hand and giving him a thorough “White Bone Claw” practice on his body.

At that point, Li Xian truly looked “gravely injured and incurable,” his lips twitching.

After Li Xian had finally fought his way through the thick crowd and returned to the Li residence, the Emperor had actually sent the imperial physician over. The imperial physician was an old acquaintance—the very same one Li Xian had once threatened.

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