Chapter Fourteen: The Fairy and Mahābrahmā

  As he saw the figure flying through the air, Yang Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, and a sharp glint flashed out of his eyes, like a pair of invisible sharp arrows, staring at the figure in the air that looked like a flying bird.

  Then he was startled, because as soon as he looked up, that "bird man" fell down.

  Can my gaze turn into invisible arrows?

  Yang Fan was shocked by his special ability, and the "big bird" came crashing down, falling just behind Ma Qiao's back wall.

  Ma Qiao only felt a gust of wind at the back of his head, and his mouth involuntarily made a swallowing motion. The half-chewed tangerine peel got stuck in his throat. Ma Qiao let out a belch, turned his head to look around, and said in puzzlement: "Strange, it feels like something's there? Why did I suddenly feel a gust of cold wind?"

  Yang Fan didn't respond, he was staring intently at the ground behind Ma Qiao, his hands pressed against the wall, his fingers spread like an eagle's claws, his legs slightly bent inward, and his feet stuck tightly to the wall. If it weren't for the cover of his clothes and the darkness of night, others might have discovered that his buttocks had already completely left the wall.

  Every inch of his muscles was tense, and he now resembled a sharp-clawed eagle perched on the cliff, its seemingly harmless eyes fixed intently on its prey, ready to pounce at any moment.

  That figure slowly stood up from the ground, apparently he was prepared when he fell from the air, so he didn't get seriously injured.

  Yang Fan's tense body was hidden under his robes, the only unusual thing about him was his taut cheek muscles and wide eyes, but this expression looked like he was just dazed, as if frightened silly, the night traveler did not notice anything suspicious.

  Ma Qiao was originally just casually turning his head back, and just as he was about to turn it back, he suddenly discovered a pair of bright eyes behind him. In great surprise, he violently twisted his neck, and all he heard was a "crack" sound, his waist and neck had already been twisted to the largest angle, as if twisting further would make a cracking sound and break off.

  The man who fell from the sky was wearing a green robe, which blended perfectly with the night color, like water merging into water, becoming one color. Even Ma Qiao couldn't see his figure clearly in the hurry, only seeing a pair of bright eyes floating up from the darkness.

  "Oh no......"

  Ma Qiao let out a loud shriek, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. However, with one hand he clutched a delicate-necked, big-bellied porcelain bottle to his ribs, while the other hand supported two tangerine peels; in his shock, amazingly, he neither dropped the bottle nor lost the tangerines - this feat was truly worthy of admiration.

  The figure in blue was the assassin who had sneaked into the Yaochi Palace at night to kill Wu Zetian. He had been wounded on his shoulder, lost too much blood, and was being relentlessly pursued by a small palace maid guard behind him. Eventually, due to exhaustion, he fell to the ground, and although he could barely get up now, his vision kept going black in waves.

  He took a look at the two people sitting on the wall and roughly guessed their identities. The city was enforcing curfew, and those who were wandering around in the middle of the night were either thieves or robbers. These two people were riding on the wall, what else could they be besides little thieves? Moreover, they were holding stolen goods in their hands.

  The assassin didn't have time to look back, he just let out a cold hum, stretched out his hand to lean on the short wall, and sprang over it, flying away like an arrow. This short wall was made of earth and had been weathered by wind and rain for many years, and with just a light touch, the soil would crumble down, but this person ran out like a cat, all the way until he disappeared into the night, lightly as a wisp of smoke, without disturbing a single speck of dust.

  Ma Qiao continued to twist his neck and waist, staring with a pair of cow eyes at the ghostly figure that quickly flashed by, letting out a woman-like shriek: "There's a ghost!"

  "Shut up!"

  Yang Fan covered his mouth and said in a low voice: "Do you want to invite all the Wu Hou over?"

  Ma Qiao pointed behind him and muttered, Yang Fan said in a low voice: "That's not a ghost, it's a person!"

  Ma Qiao suddenly became quiet, to be honest, Ma Qiao's courage was quite big, he was more afraid of ghosts and other intangible things, but if it were a person, no one had ever seen him fear anyone.

  Yang Fan stared in the direction the man had disappeared, saying softly: "We're just small thieves, but that guy must be a big thief! However, no matter how big of a thief, we're all still thieves, and everyone is equally afraid of being seen... what?"

  Yang Fan's voice paused for a moment when he said the word "fear", as if he had heard some sound, but he immediately continued speaking, and Ma Qiao did not notice this subtle change.

  Ma Qiao's fright had just subsided, and he was busy stuffing the delicate-necked, fat-bellied bottle into his bosom with a flurry of hands and feet. Just now, he had almost lost control and smashed the bottle out, if not for the fact that he had been so frightened that his soul had flown away and he couldn't move at all.

  It's really too dangerous, this bottle can at least exchange for a few days of fat pork for the old lady to eat, and it must not be broken. Ma Qiao stuffed the bottle into his arms and said with a trembling heart: "This place is not suitable for staying for a long time, let's leave quickly!"

  The two of them were in a flurry, just about to slip under the wall, when they heard another strange sound coming from the night sky, like the rustling of cloth strips on flags in the wind, and also like the cawing of late-returning crows flapping their wings as they flew into their nests built in the trees on the rooftop.

  Ma Qiao's neck, which had almost been twisted off, suddenly twisted violently to the back again, and he couldn't help but let out another cry of surprise: "Fei Xian la?"

  Ma Qiao's courage wasn't actually that small, it's just that Luoyang was under curfew at night and people shouldn't even be able to see their own shadows. But tonight, not only did person after person appear one after another, but each of them made such a grand entrance, and incredibly, none of them were walking on the ground. Ma Qiao had never seen anything like this before, so he was naturally startled.

  In the night sky, this figure appeared again. With just one glance, Yang Fan knew it was a woman, an ethereal and elegant woman like a celestial goddess from ancient India, with clouds for hair and misty eyebrows, her long dress fluttering, her figure lithe and supple, light as a cloud, and she seemed to be flying among the clouds, a true heavenly fairy.

  The only difference was that she held not a pipa in her arms, but grasped a long spear, the tip of which sparkled with a fine and piercing light under the faint starlight.

  Yang Fan looked up at the sky, subconsciously narrowing his eyes. Just now that assassin fell from the sky like a bird shot with an arrow. Would this fairy also fall down?

  The fairy came down, not falling down, but flying down.

  In the starry night, although the little fairy's appearance couldn't be seen very clearly, her facial features and eyes could be vaguely made out to be quite beautiful.

  She had a slender figure, with narrow sleeves and short skirt that reached her chest, paired with a white silk scarf wrapped around her shoulders, making her look elegant and refined, like a fairy descended to the mortal world. With a long spear held behind her back, she exuded a refreshing aura of softness and strength combined.

  Yang Fan and Ma Qiao had never been to the palace before, they had never seen such a beautiful and elegant palace maid dress, seeing her in this image, combined with the posture that had just floated down, it was simply true that she would be regarded as an immortal from heaven.

  The fairy spoke, her voice unexpectedly sweet and melodious, yet with a hint of majesty: "You two, have you seen where the masked thief escaped to?"

  Ma Qiao saw this delicate little beauty, his color changed, and he immediately lost his fear. A pair of thief eyes wandered around the body of the little fairy, and he asked with a oily mouth: "Little lady, are you a heavenly fairy coming down to catch demons or the county's Shao Fu handling cases and catching thieves?"

  Before he could even finish speaking, his shoulder sank and the snow-white gun tip was already pressed against his shoulder. The little fairy said sternly: "It's me asking you, not you asking me, speak quickly! Where did the person escape to?"

  Ma Qiao smelled a bloody smell coming from the gun, and only then did he realize that this big girl who looked so charming was actually daring to kill people. He immediately shut his mouth and didn't dare fart again.

  Yang Fan said: "Miss, do you believe it? With just one call from me, I can summon everyone in the entire Wu Hou Pu?"

  The little palace maid suddenly turned her head to look at him, coldly smiling and saying: "Youngster, do you believe it or not? As long as I call out, the Wu Hou that you summoned will chop off your head!"

  As he turned his head, Yang Fan saw more clearly. What he noticed first was the little fairy's eyebrows. The little fairy's two eyebrows were black and shiny, her facial features were clear and beautiful with soft and delicate lines, but because of these two eyebrows, they revealed a vigorous and heroic spirit. On her brow, there was also a bright and beautiful plum blossom, which made people feel amazed at first sight.

  At a glance, she couldn't see the details, her line of sight swept across her face, and Yang Fan only had one feeling in his heart: slightly demonic, without any coquettishness.

  "Miss, are you... from the government?" Yang Fan asked suspiciously.

  Yang Fan had an instinctive aversion to the government office, but Xiao Xiannü didn't find it strange that he was on guard. Looking at their attire and the bulging pouches on their chests, they were clearly two small thieves traveling at night. It was only natural for them to feel apprehensive when seeing people from the government office.

  The little fairy coldly snorted and said: "That night walker was chased by me so tightly, no time to hide his tracks. You are here committing theft, you should have seen him, quickly say, where did he escape to? This official is catching a great thief, and doesn't even bother with you small thieves who steal chickens and dogs!"

  Yang Fan said with a smile, "We two little thieves, how can we help you catch the big thief? Miss, if you stay here for a while longer, that thief will be gone and you won't be able to catch him."

  "You!"

  The little fairy's sword eyebrows were about to ignite with anger, but Ma Qiao hastily pointed out: "We just saw a night walker escaping along the earthen wall in this direction."

  The little fairy sneered: "How do I know you're not deceiving me?"

  While saying that, she still flew over to the assassin who was injured. As he flew up, there were inevitably bloodstains left behind. The little fairy sniffed and knew that Ma Qiao had not lied. With a leap, she jumped onto the earthen wall and rushed along the place where the person had disappeared earlier.

  Ma Qiao looked in the direction where Xiao Xian Nu had disappeared, and said in a daze: "Xiao Fan, you say this beautiful little girl... is she really an official? Why didn't officials catch us?"

  Yang Fan glanced deeply in the direction of the creaking waterwheel and said in a low voice, "I'm afraid... it's really an official. Not catching us is just because she didn't bother with small thieves like us."

  Ma Qiao exclaimed, "Really an official! What kind of government office would have an official dressed like this? I'll resign as a neighborhood head and go to her government office to apply for a job. Even being a servant who serves tea is fine!"

  A butterfly hairpin, Pei Da Niang gave Niu Niu a miracle.

  A voice asked for directions, Kunlun gave Yang Fan a miracle

  A vote of recommendation, let's give Guan Guan a miracle!

  Let's work together and jointly create a wonderful life for Yang Fan!