Chapter 11 Why Be So Stubborn
"Ningyu, be careful of the hidden arrows!"

Outside Tianxing Tower, Lin Fangda and Luo Ningyu walked sideways with their backs against the wall. The wall behind them and the eaves above their heads made them feel less concerned.

"Where did those two groups of people come from?" Luo Ningyu asked in a low voice while carefully looking around. "If the one who caused trouble for us was the minions of the nobles in Lin'an City, then who were the other group of people? Why did they save us?"

Lin Fangda was not very smart to begin with, and his mind was even more confused after the thrilling experience. He shook his head and said, "I can't tell where the other group came from, but judging from their appearance, they are probably not our people."

Luo Ningyu speculated, "Maybe they didn't come to save us, but just to seek revenge on that group of powerful minions, and we just happened to run into them. Didn't Dad say that Lin'an City is full of children of powerful people? These people must be as self-righteous and arrogant as the dandy boy in the teahouse. They often cause trouble outside, so it should be common for them to seek revenge on each other."

Lin Fangda was confused and didn't quite understand what he was saying. He could only nod and agree, "That makes sense! That makes sense!"

"Strange!" Luo Ningyu came to the corner first, looked around the dim street, and said to herself in confusion, "There are clearly people ambushing outside Tianxing Building, how come we haven't seen even a shadow of a ghost along the way? Could it be that those ambushing arrows outside are not aimed at us?"

"I think so too." Lin Fang laughed. "It's just like the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. This time we don't have to do it ourselves. Someone has already taken care of it for us."

Luo Ningyu frowned slightly and said, "If that's the case, then we can't leave. We should go back and help them deal with those knifemen. Otherwise, wouldn't it be too disloyal? If this gets out, outsiders will think we are cowards." As she spoke, Luo Ningyu dragged Lin Fangda back to Tianxing Tower for a battle. However, just as the two of them turned around, a slight sound suddenly came from the night sky. Lin Fangda's face changed and he hurriedly reached out to pull Luo Ningyu behind him. At the same time, a sharp arrow as black as ink "bang" pierced deeply in front of Lin Fangda.

"This..." Lin Fangda subconsciously took a step back, looking cautiously at the dim street. After waiting for a long time, no second arrow came. Without turning his head, Lin Fangda said to Luo Ningyu: "It seems that they don't want us to help. I think we should leave!"

"You take my kindness for granted. If I don't want to help you, then I won't help you! Humph!" Luo Ningyu muttered unhappily, and dragged the cautious Lin Fang away with her, and disappeared at the end of the street in a hurry.

A moment later, two shadows quietly appeared on the roof of a teahouse on the south side of the street. They were Liu Xunyi and Qin Wei who came here on orders. Qin Wei held an iron bow in his hand. It was obvious that the arrow that stopped Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda just now was shot by him. At this moment, behind the two of them, the ten black-clothed men under Bai Jin's command had been tied up and could not move. And beside them, eight golden sword lieutenants were lurking with a covetous look.

"They finally left!" Liu Xunyi breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda leave.

Qin Wei asked curiously: "Brother Liu, is this the person you met in the teahouse?"

"That's right." Liu Xunyi nodded, and before Qin Wei could ask again, Liu Xunyi said, "I know what you want to ask. In fact, I know nothing about their identities or origins. I only know that the man is called Lin Fangda, that's all."

Hearing Liu Xunyi's voluntary "confession", Qin Wei couldn't help but look disappointed, muttering to himself: "They must have a secret, otherwise the Marquis would never have sent so many people to protect them."

At this point, Liu Xunyi's eyes suddenly moved, and he said to Qin Wei in a hurry: "It's bad, Brother Qiu is still in Tianxing Tower. He must be very sleepy after staying up all night. I'm afraid he will suffer a loss if he fights with others. You take people to help him immediately!"

"What should we do with these people?" Qin Wei turned his head and glanced at the ten tied men in black.

"Take them along, maybe we can use it as a threat to help Brother Qiu." Liu Xunyi answered without hesitation.

"how about you?"

"I always feel that this matter is not simple. They dared to set up such a large formation in Lin'an City to arrest people. I think the couple must have offended some important person in the city." Liu Xunyi thought, "I will follow them and make sure they can leave the city safely."

"Then I'll go help Brother Qiu. We'll come find you after this is resolved. Be careful!" Qin Wei knew that protecting Luo Ningyu was an order from the East Palace, so he didn't stop him. After giving him some instructions, he led the Golden Sword Captain and escorted the man in black straight to Tianxing Tower.

Luo Ningyu and Lin Fangda left Tianxing Tower and ran all the way out of the city. About half an hour later, they arrived at a dilapidated temple on the outskirts of the city. Since they did not find anyone chasing them, they were not in a hurry to leave the city. They decided to rest in the dilapidated temple and leave Lin'an after dawn.

"I have long asserted that Lin'an City is a place of trouble and we should not come here alone. If something really happens to you in Lin'an, I, Lin Fangda, will have more than ten lives to live." Lin Fangda squatted beside a pile of dead branches and made a fire to keep warm, his tone quite bitter.

Luo Ningyu snorted and retorted, "You are the one who caused all this trouble. Why were you reciting poems in the West Lake Teahouse? If you didn't recite poems, how could you attract those playboys? If you didn't provoke those playboys, how could you be sought after tonight? It's obviously your own fault, but now you blame me?"

Lin Fangda realized Luo Ningyu's displeasure, and hurriedly apologized with a smile: "It was me who caused the trouble, it really has nothing to do with you. And if you get hurt because of the trouble I caused, even if I have a hundred lives, I'm afraid it won't be enough to compensate. Hehe..."

Luo Ningyu stretched her hand over the fire and felt the warmth. Although it was early summer, it was still chilly in the early morning. With the warmth coming from her fingertips, Luo Ningyu's nervous mood slowly calmed down. She smiled and said, "Don't worry, my father likes you so much, he will definitely not want to kill you."

In response to Luo Ningyu's comfort, Lin Fangda just smiled awkwardly and said nothing more, for fear that he would say something wrong and provoke her again.

"It's strange. Suzhou is only a day's journey from Lin'an. Now several days have passed, why haven't Second Uncle Xie and his men arrived yet?" Luo Ningyu said, "If Second Uncle Xie was here, why would we have to flee so miserably tonight? We would have made sure those troublemakers never came back."

Lin Fangda smiled bitterly and said, "We secretly left the team in Suzhou. Second Master Xie must have sent everyone to look for us near Suzhou. How could they leave so easily before finding us?"

Luo Ningyu blushed upon hearing this and muttered, "Second Uncle Xie is too stupid. Why didn't he think about the fact that we would come to Lin'an one step ahead?" "It's not that Second Uncle Xie is stupid, it's just that your safety is too important for Second Uncle Xie to speculate easily. We disappeared in Suzhou. How dare Second Uncle Xie take people away from Suzhou so easily?"

"I should have left a letter before I left..." Luo Ningyu pouted guiltily, but was choked back by Lin Fangda's strange look. She suddenly remembered that when they were in Suzhou, Lin Fangda wanted to leave a letter to explain his whereabouts, but Luo Ningyu firmly opposed it because she was worried that they would be found too easily and would not be able to have fun.

Under Lin Fangda's slightly "contemptuous" gaze, Luo Ningyu snorted softly, and stubbornly tried to smooth things over for herself, saying, "I finally convinced my father to let me come out with you guys. How can I not have fun? Besides, my father will definitely punish me to reflect on my mistakes after I go back this time. I don't know when I can come out to play again, so it's not a loss for us to sneak out this time! Lin Fangda, do you think I'm right?"

Facing Luo Ningyu's obsession and willfulness, Lin Fangda felt overwhelmed. Because he was about the same age as Luo Ningyu, Luo Ningyu would always ask him to be an accomplice before doing anything "bad", and although Lin Fangda knew that he shouldn't follow her, he couldn't resist Luo Ningyu's persistence, and Lin Fangda had always had a secret admiration for Luo Ningyu in his heart, so he had to accompany her to do whatever she wanted again and again. This time, they were supposed to follow Mr. Xie to Lin'an City to do business, but they sneaked out when they arrived in Suzhou, in order to satisfy Luo Ningyu's playful heart.

"Fortunately, we escaped unharmed this time. We should wait until daybreak and rush to Suzhou to meet up with Master Xie." Lin Fangda felt depressed when he thought about the severe punishment he would face after returning.

Luo Ningyu seemed to see what Lin Fangda was thinking, and she righteously put her arm around Lin Fangda's shoulders and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I will definitely ask Dad for you this time."

"When have you not pleaded for me? And when has it ever worked?" Lin Fangda muttered with a look of grievance.

"Then I will take the punishment for you!" Luo Ningyu couldn't help showing a trace of embarrassment and quickly changed the words.

"When did you not intend to be punished for me? And when did you really get punished?" Lin Fangda once again poured a basin of cold water on the enthusiastic Luo Ningyu.

"Then...then I...then I can only promise that I will never drag you down with anything I want to do in the future. Are you satisfied this time?"

"When have you ever gotten into trouble but didn't you say that? But every time you were about to get into trouble you didn't drag me into it first..."

"You still dare to say that?"

Faced with Lin Fangda whispering, Luo Ningyu finally became angry and kicked a burning branch out of the fire towards Lin Fangda. Lin Fangda turned over and kicked the branch away lightly, then dodged aside angrily under Luo Ningyu's murderous gaze.

“Ningyu, I’m just joking with you, how can I really blame you?” Lin Fangda stood in the distance and smiled apologetically, “Next time you want to do something bad, remember to call me, I will definitely help you. I’m not afraid of being cut into pieces for you, hehe…”

"I'm tired and don't want to walk to Suzhou anymore. Go find a carriage!" Luo Ningyu ordered unhappily, "I'll let you go if you find a carriage."

"In the middle of the night..." Lin Fangda looked at the darkness outside with bitter eyes and smiled awkwardly, "Where do you want me to find a carriage? How about this, we go out of the city after daybreak. There is a horse farm outside Lin'an City. I will pick a good horse for you then!"

Luo Ningyu snorted lightly and deliberately said, "I don't want to move a step now. I won't go anywhere without a carriage!"

"Ning Yu, this..."

"Miss Luo is a wealthy woman, so what does a mere carriage mean to her? Since Lin Fangda can't find one, how about I give Miss Luo one?"

Just as Lin Fangda and Luo Ningyu were bickering, a weird laugh suddenly came from outside the ruined temple, which made them both startled at the same time. The playfulness on their faces disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by an indescribable solemnity.

Lin Fangda flashed in front of Luo Ningyu, holding a steel knife in front of him to protect himself. Facing the darkness outside the gate of the ruined temple, he shouted coldly: "Who is sneaking around outside? Get out now!"

"it's me……"

As the voice got closer, a young man in a moon-white robe slowly walked into the ruined temple in the dark. Although he was a man, he had a woman's face. He also painted his face with makeup like a woman. He had a slender figure, fair and tender skin, slender eyebrows, narrow phoenix eyes, and two bright red lips painted with lipstick under his straight nose. His words and actions were as gentle and light as a woman's. The corners of the man's mouth held a charming and evil smile. In his left hand, he held a sword engraved with peach petals, and in his right hand, he carefully picked up a blooming peach blossom with his orchid fingers.

"Peach blossoms all over the ground, a sword in hand. I am Ding Qinghong from Peach Blossom Sword Island."

……

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(End of this chapter)