Chapter 12: External Cultivation of Tendons, Bones and Skin (Part 2)

  As expected, the black-clad woman's shoulders involuntarily trembled slightly upon hearing Xiao Shouren's words, her confidence began to waver, and she hesitated. This was not a good sign for a female assassin surrounded by enemies on all sides!

  "Listen up, kid! You'd better not make any sudden moves, or I'll take you down with me! Put that poisonous spider away, or I swear I'll kill this old man even if it's the last thing I do!" The female assassin finally couldn't hold back and started making her move, her voice hoarse and obviously altered to avoid being recognized.

  "Oh? Is that so? This trick may work on Lord Yuwen in front of you, but for me, it's useless." Xiang Shouren smiled indifferently and shook his head after hearing this. The candlelight flickered, and the shadow of Xiang Shouren shaking his head on the tent seemed to be mocking the female assassin's words.

  "Aren't you afraid that Yang Guang will slaughter your entire family? As soon as Yizhen Wende is dead, it will definitely trigger another war between Goguryeo and Sui. Yang Guang will surely be enraged, and in his iron-blooded Sui army camp, not even a single person can protect themselves, let alone you. What face would I have left? What's the point of raising you people? Who knows when someone will come to take your heads?" The female assassin shouted sternly.

  "Oh? Maybe you don't know, I'm not a soldier of the Great Yuwen, I'm just a friend of General Xue Shi-xiong, and General Xue Shi-xiong was killed by this despicable old man. If you really kill him with one sword, I would thank you instead. Besides, there are only a few people here, it's impossible for the Emperor to blame only me, right? I can totally drag in General Yuwen, and because of this reason, I believe General Yuwen will also acknowledge my words. I can say that before we arrived, Yizhi Wende and you were arguing, and accidentally, he died. Even if the Emperor doesn't believe me, I'm alone and unencumbered, I can totally escape. You say, am I right?" Xiao Shou-ren explained patiently, really not getting tired of it.

  The female assassin who had spoken was now speechless, and it wasn't just her - the entire tent was so silent that you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was in unanimous silence.

  The female assassin was scared by Xiao Shouren, this is a typical case of being caught off guard and having one's trump card seen through, completely at a disadvantage.

  Yuwen Shu was panting with his beard raised, this kid is really good at talking nonsense and also too daring. It was obvious that he forced the female assassin to kill Yizhi Wende, but now he's saying that if Yizhi Wende died, if he didn't help him shift the blame, he would drag himself down as well. At that time, it would be a real mess, whether it's feces or mud, it would all end up in his pants.

  The man in black had truly experienced the despicability and cunning of the people of Zhongyuan. If he encountered such a person again, he would run as fast as he could, or else he would be deceived by him the next moment.

  Yizhi Wende felt at ease, after these days of contact he already knew what kind of person Xiao Shouren was. He could talk his way out of anything, making the dead sound alive. From this moment on, it was clear that he was impersonating a Sichuan Tangmen disciple, and had fooled this female assassin into being stunned and bewildered. Such eloquence should be used to shave one's head and become a monk, what a pity if not.

  If Xiao Shouren knew what Yizhi Wende was thinking, he would definitely go crazy. He was trying every means to save this old fellow, but this old fellow actually wanted him to become a monk. Although being a monk has its advantages, who wants to be a monk? The world is full of beauty and excitement, the red dust is so alluring, and the lovely flowers are waiting for me to pick them, how can I become a monk so early?

  Just as the female assassin was hesitating, the patrol teams surrounding her had already closed in, showing that the overall quality of the Great Sui's army was still quite good.

  The sound of armor scraping outside finally became too much for the female assassin to bear.

  Yuwen Shu, and you, back off. I'll let this old man go myself." The female assassin said to Yuwen Shu and the black-clad man, finally compromising.

  Yuwen Shu and the man in black exchanged a glance, nodded towards Xiao Shouren, indicating agreement with the female assassin's words. After all, Yi Zhongwend's safety was paramount.

  As Yang Guang's favorite minister, Yuwen Shu naturally knew Yang Guang's thoughts. He wanted to spare the life of Yuchi Wen De in order to salvage some of the lost face. If Yuchi Wen De were to die or be taken away now, Yang Guang would definitely fly into a rage. When the emperor is angry, tens of thousands of people will die and blood will flow like rivers.

  Xiao Shouren also roughly grasped Yang Guang's pulse at this time, so he also wanted to rescue Yizhi Wende first, end the war and save a few more soldiers' lives.

  As for the black-clothed man's thoughts, they were even simpler - he just wanted to get what was on Yizhi Wende's body. If Yizhi Wende died, then this secret would truly disappear with his death into the world. Only if Yizhi Wende lived well did he have a chance of getting what he wanted. Presumably, the female assassin also had this kind of thinking.

  Xiao Shouren took three steps back, staring at the female assassin, not daring to relax for a moment, fearing that if she discovered he didn't have the flower-patterned spider in his hand, she would stab him with her sword and create several holes in his body, making him cry out to heaven asking if there was any justice.

  "Little one, first put away that Flower Spider of yours. Wait till I let go of this old man. If you attack me again, what am I to do?" The female assassin retreated two steps, then suddenly stopped as if remembering something - it was the Flower Spider in Xiao Shouren's hand.

  Xiao Shouren was overjoyed in his heart, he was worried that when she turned around and saw that he didn't have the flower-patterned spider, what would he do? Now he had an excuse.

  "Of course, my reputation is still quite guaranteed. If you don't believe me, go ask around in Jianghu and they'll tell you that Xiao Bai Long's words are as good as gold. I'm putting away my little treasure for now to put your mind at ease, but don't even think about trying any tricks on me. As long as you're within ten zhang of me, I can take your life with just a flick of my wrist."

  The female assassin furrowed her brow, probably searching in her mind for the guy nicknamed "Little White Dragon of the Waves", but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't figure out who this person was.

  Yuwen Shu couldn't help but laugh out loud, this guy was still rambling on, and now all it would take is for the female assassin to turn around and Xiao Shouren's Western-style mirror would be exposed, his life would be left here, and he still had the nerve and guts to spout nonsense.

  The team outside was getting closer and closer, the female assassin knew that she couldn't hesitate at this time. She pushed Wen De towards Yuwen Shu and the black-clad man with one hand, quickly retreating while turning her head to take a glance at Xiao Shouren, although Xiao Shouren only saw her covered face revealing a pair of eyes.

  But Xiao Shouren clearly saw the incredulity in these eyes, and after seeing Xiao Shouren's appearance, this pair of eyes changed several times in a row.

  Xiao Shouren saw that the female assassin, after seeing him, first showed shock, then puzzlement, and finally relief. In just a few breaths, she had already floated out of the tent and disappeared from view with a few ups and downs.

  Turning back, he saw Yuwen Shu Zheng supporting Yizhi Wende in conversation, and the man in black had long since gone unnoticed.