I'm a bad guy!

With a slight smirk, Jia Mo threw Ouyang to the ground and thrust his sword at him.

He wanted to take advantage of Hua Xi's weakness and finish the battle quickly, forcing Hua Xi to confront him head-on. He was confident that Hua Xi could not outlast him.

She had just fought him for dozens of moves, and the blood at the corner of her mouth hadn't even been wiped clean yet. This time, he would definitely not let her get away.

Hua Xi flew towards the tip of his sword, then suddenly smiled, took out a turtle from her bosom, and threw it forward.

Fake Mo was taken aback. The thin sword pierced the tortoise shell with a crisp clang, and he was greatly surprised!

His sword strike could cleave even a Qi Refining Realm expert in two, yet it only left a tiny white dot on the tortoise shell!

The turtle made a gurgling sound inside its shell, without sticking its head out.

Jia Mo's eyes widened, and before he could sheathe his sword, Hua Xi seized the opportunity to close in on his chest and struck him with both palms.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood, flew out and rolled several times on the ground before falling into the lake with a splash.

Before the splashing water had even settled, he leaped out of the lake and knelt on one knee by the shore, completely soaked. His face, wet from being soaked in water and then brushed by Hua Xi's palm wind, was wrinkled in large patches.

He reached up and touched his face, tearing off a thin mask from his palm. The back of the mask was still sticky with lake water, which was dripping down.

"Tsk...there's another layer?"

Xu Xian was also taken aback. "How many faces does this person have?"

Her true appearance was revealed: a woman in her thirties with fair skin and a mole on her chin, but these weren't the most striking features...

The most striking thing was the four large characters tattooed diagonally on his forehead: "I am a bad guy".

The handwriting was crooked and uneven, as if it had been carved stroke by stroke with an extremely fine knife tip. The ink had seeped into the skin, giving it a faint bluish-black hue.

These four large characters, which sounded like a child's joke, appeared on the face of such a master, making Xu Xian's expression strange.

When Ouyang, who was lying paralyzed on the ground, saw this face, his eyes widened suddenly, and he froze on the spot as if struck by lightning.

"puff!"

She coughed up a mouthful of blood and collapsed.

While Jia Mo was looking down at his fallen mask, Hua Xi picked up the turtle from the ground and stuffed it into her arms. Then she grabbed the unconscious Ouyang and flew back into the dense forest, landing on a tree branch.

Xu Xian quickly reached out and took Ouyang into his arms. Hua Xi lifted the two of them by the back of their collars again, tapped the treetops with her feet, and flew a hundred feet away in a few leaps, disappearing into the depths of the dense forest.

Jia Mo stood up from the lakeside, looked in the direction where the group had disappeared, and looked down at the mask that had fallen off his face.

The skin texture on the mask was extremely detailed, but it has now been soaked in water and wrinkled up, making it unusable.

He threw the mask into the lake and touched the four characters on his forehead.

The strokes of the characters are as clear as when they were originally engraved.

  

He stood by the lake for a while, then raised his hand to pull up his collar to cover the mole on his chin, before turning around and disappearing into the twilight on the opposite shore.

...

Deep in the dense forest, Hua Xi swept through the treetops, holding two people by the back of their collars.

The wind whistled past my ears, and the treetops beneath my feet receded like green waves.

She looked down at the two people she was carrying. Yang Xu had completely passed out, his head slumped, and he was still mumbling incoherently.

"I'm so stupid..."

Xu Xian was also left with only a sliver of consciousness, his eyelids drooping, the blood he had vomited had already stained his clothes red.

"Brother, where are we going?"

Xu Xian's voice was broken, "Go...go to the academy to ask for help. We don't know how many traitors are still in the Qingzhou Inspection Bureau. Going back is too risky. Only the academy is safe to go to, and it can guarantee our safety."

Hua Xi blinked and hesitated for a moment.

She had some reservations about the academy and didn't really want to go there.

But my brother is right, right now only the academy can save them.

She gritted her teeth, picked up the three of them, turned around, and flew towards Zhengxin Academy.

...

Before long, the pair of stone pillars of the academy came into view.

Hua Xi landed on the stone steps in front of the academy entrance, put the three of them down, and called out to the young page who was sweeping the floor at the entrance.

"My brother is dying, can your academy save him?"

The pageboy looked closely and saw that the person lying on the ground was none other than Xu Xian, whom the dean had personally referred to as "Young Master" a few days ago.

He froze for a moment, then threw down the broom, turned and ran, his footsteps echoing away in the corridors of the academy.

Hua Xi squatted down and looked at Xu Xian. His breathing was a little weak. She frowned slightly, raised her hand and pressed it against his chest. A golden light flashed in her palm, and Xu Xian's heartbeat suddenly became stronger.

Her face turned pale, and she turned her head to spit out a mouthful of blood.

She tugged at Xu Xian's sleeve to wipe her mouth, then looked up at the plaque above the academy's gate, a hint of apprehension flashing in her eyes.

Ouyang Ruiming finally recovered from the series of shocks, slumped down on the stone steps, leaned against a stone pillar, and looked at the little girl in front of him with blood on her lips who was still taking care of her brother. His expression was extremely complicated.

This seemingly harmless little girl just shattered Wang Yanni's longsword with a single palm strike, kicked the butcher away, and went head-to-head with the fake Mo Feichang, who was at the Golden Body Realm, for dozens of palm strikes.

She had no weapons in her hands and was not bound at all, but she did not run or launch a sneak attack.

She just sat there, watching Hua Xi wipe the blood off Xu Xian's face with her sleeve.

Dean Zhou hurriedly walked out of the main gate, followed by Master Meng and several young Confucian scholars.

Upon seeing Xu Xian lying on the stone steps, his life hanging in the balance, Dean Zhou's expression changed drastically. He quickly stepped forward, squatted down, and checked Xu Xian's breathing, his brows furrowing slightly.

He turned and gave a few instructions to the young scholars behind him. The scholars carefully lifted Xu Xian and Yang Xu and carried them to the side room.

Hua Xi stayed close by, never leaving his side.

...

The side room was brightly lit by candlelight, and Dean Zhou personally took charge, opening the bamboo slips and performing the Healing Technique.

The pale golden aura of righteousness transformed into fine specks of light that fell upon Xu Xian and Yang Xu, protecting their damaged heart meridians.

More than an hour later, Master Meng arrived in a hurry, leading Pharmacist Sun.

Pharmacist Sun squatted down in front of the bed with his medicine box on his back, took out silver needles and applied them to the major acupoints on the two people's bodies one by one, and then put a few dark green pills under their tongues.

After working for more than an hour, Pharmacist Sun finally straightened up and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

"I'm fine now. A few days of rest and I'll be good as new!"

Yang Xu opened his eyes first, staring blankly at the unfamiliar beam on the ceiling for several breaths, then suddenly sat up, pulling at the wound on his chest, making him wince in pain.

Upon recognizing the people inside, he quickly clasped his hands in thanks to Dean Zhou, saying, "Thank you so much, Dean, for saving my life."

Xu Xian also woke up. The familiar academy room, the familiar bamboo slips and bookshelves, and the familiar smell of ink.

He breathed a sigh of relief, propped himself up on the bed, and clasped his hands in thanks to Dean Zhou.

"The dean saved my life again; I can never repay the academy's kindness!"

Dean Zhou chuckled, "You're too kind, Junior Master."

Xu Xian turned his head to look at the bedside. Hua Xi was sitting on the edge of the bed, her two short legs dangling over the edge and swinging back and forth, holding a turtle in her arms.

Her face was still a little pale, but her eyes lit up when she saw him wake up.

Xu Xian raised his hand and patted her head.

"You're injured too, so rest well. The director and the others will take care of things from now on, so you won't need to lift a finger."

Hua Xi chuckled, took his hand off her head, clasped it in her hands, and shook it.

"It's okay, brother, kids recover quickly!"

Xu Xian smiled and patted her head, feeling touched.

Dean Zhou looked at Xu Xian.

"Young Master, what happened? Why are you so badly injured?"

Xu Xian immediately recounted the whole story, from the appearance of the fake Mo Feichang, Wang Yanni's betrayal, to the ambush and killing at Luoxia Lake, he told it all in detail.

After listening, Dean Zhou's expression turned grave. "Impersonating a second-rank official of the imperial court, openly intercepting and killing officials of the Inspection Department on the official road—these people have no scruples whatsoever. Who exactly is His Highness? Does the Junior Tutor have a clear answer?"

Xu leaned against the headboard, tugged at the stubble on his chin, and plucked out a single hair.

"It's too early to say. One of the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince must be the mastermind, while the other is either an accomplice or being used..."

"But no matter who is instigated, the Qingzhou connection has been severed, Sun Buhai is dead, Wang Yanni's fate is unknown, and the fake Mo Feichang has fled. The most urgent task is to return to the capital and report what happened here to Lord Mo in person."

"However, there may still be pursuers on the road. Fortunately, we never fail. Once we accept a job, we will see it through to the end. The butcher is dead, but fortunately, we have more than one butcher."

Dean Zhou thought for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Perfect timing. The once-in-a-decade Confucian Book Conference is about to begin, and Zhengxin Academy will be sending people to the capital to participate, including Master Meng. Since the Junior Tutor is returning to the capital, why don't we go together? It will be good to have someone to look after us on the way."

Xu Xian was overjoyed and quickly clasped his hands in a fist salute, "Then I'll have to trouble the dean."

Dean Zhou chuckled and waved his hand.

"Young Master, please rest first. I'll go prepare some food for you."

After saying that, he led Master Meng and Pharmacist Sun out of the room.

Only Xu Xian, Yang Xu, Hua Xi, and Ouyang Ruiming remained in the room.

Yang Xu leaned against the headboard, his left arm and chest wrapped in newly changed bandages, grimacing as he adjusted his position.

Hua Xi sat on the edge of the bed, swinging her two short legs back and forth, and poking the turtle's retracted head with her finger.

Ouyang sat in a chair by the window, keeping his head down and remaining silent, with his hands on his knees.

Xu Xian looked at her.

"Ouyang, you saw it by the lake. Now, do you have anything to say? For example, who is your master, and where does he live?"