Chapter 734 The Noble Appears
As the night deepens, a bright moon hangs high in the sky, shining through the lush woods into the quiet valley, echoing the blazing bonfire in the distance.

The night breeze was cool, coming slowly, stirring the flames into different shapes, brushing past the beauty nestled in Liu Xunyi's arms, causing her three thousand black hair to flutter slowly, adding a touch of tranquility and moving beauty to Zhao Xin in her sleep.

Zhao Xin fell asleep gradually while chatting and laughing with Liu Xunyi, so there was always a faint smile on the corner of her mouth. On the other hand, Liu Xunyi was motionless like a clay sculpture, for fear of disturbing Zhao Xin's sweet dream.

At this moment, he felt extremely happy as long as he quietly stared at Zhao Xin's face and carefully observed her facial features and expressions.

How he wished that time could freeze at this moment forever, so that he could hold Zhao Xin until the end of time.

The vast Qinling Mountains seem like an isolated paradise, and it seems that there are only a pair of lovers in love left in the world.

At least at this moment, the happiness and satisfaction filling Liu Xunyi's heart were the strongest he had ever felt in his life, and his attachment to time was the most desired one so far.

"Turning around the red pavilion, lowering the beautiful window, shining on the sleepless. There should be no hatred, why does it always look back to... the moon when we parted?"

Liu Xunyi murmured the poem he and Zhao Xin had just recited. His pretending to be calm and happy mood gradually fell into a trough because of Zhao Xin's sleep. A deep sense of loss and melancholy involuntarily emerged on his face.

"Why does the moon always appear when we are apart..." Liu Xunyi reached out and gently stroked Zhao Xin's hair. His fingertips accidentally touched Zhao Xin's flawless white skin. An indescribable sadness and desolation surged in his heart again. "Why is God so cruel? Why does he let all the beauty in the world feel the taste of complete happiness only when we are apart... The moon appears when we are apart, the moon appears when we are apart... Is this what fate does to us?"

Just like that, Liu Xunyi, with tears in his eyes, stared at the sleeping Zhao Xin, unknowingly forgetting the passage of time.

It seemed that even the wind, birds, flowers and grass in the world had fallen into a deep sleep, and the mountains and forests became increasingly quiet until there was complete silence.

"Come out!"

Suddenly, a sharp light flashed in Liu Xunyi's eyes, and the trance between his brows disappeared in the blink of an eye, replaced by a hint of caution.

"You have heard and seen, now it is my turn to see the true face of Mount Lu." Liu Xunyi stared at the dark and secluded valley, and said with a smile, "Since you rescued me, you are my friend. Since we are friends, why do you have to hide your head and show your tail?"

"I didn't want to disturb your love, but Liu Xunyi has eyes and ears everywhere, so I have nowhere to hide. I am ashamed! Ashamed!"

With a slightly awkward laugh, a blurry figure flashed through the darkness. Then, this person broke through the air like a ghost, leaped over the bonfire with a beautiful dragonfly skimming the water, and landed lightly in front of Liu Xunyi.

With a black scarf covering his face and wearing night clothes, he was hidden in the darkness and it was really difficult to distinguish him.

However, what interested Liu Xunyi the most was that this person was carrying a peculiarly shaped iron bow on his back, which seemed to have been seen somewhere before.

"Since you have revealed yourself, why hide it?"

Under Liu Xunyi's temptation, the man hesitated for a moment, and then slowly pulled off the black scarf on his face, revealing a fair and handsome face.

"It's you?"

Liu Xunyi recognized his identity at a glance. This person was Li Haitang, the closed disciple of Tang Xuan, the guardian of Longxiang Mountain.

Although Liu Xunyi and Li Haitang had met several times, they had no friendship, so when faced with Li Haitang's sudden appearance, Liu Xunyi couldn't help but feel very surprised.

"Why? Are you disappointed by my appearance?" Li Haitang asked jokingly, "Who do you hope will save you?"

"I……"

Liu Xunyi was about to speak when Zhao Xin, who was nestled in his arms, suddenly frowned and let out a soft moan, as if she was disturbed by their conversation. Frightened, Liu Xunyi quickly shut his mouth and waved to Li Haitang, motioning him to retreat to the campfire and wait.

Liu Xunyi carefully laid the sleeping Zhao Xin down on the bluestone, took off his robe and gently covered her with it, then meticulously tucked in the corners of her clothes, and squatted aside and waited for a moment. Only when Zhao Xin's brows relaxed and her breathing became even did he heave a sigh of relief as if a heavy burden had been lifted, and tiptoed towards Li Haitang.

"I can't believe that Liu Xunyi, who kills without blinking an eye, has such a gentle side." Li Haitang sat on the ground, stretched out his hands in front of the campfire to keep warm. Seeing Liu Xunyi coming slowly, he couldn't help but tease, "Since you care about her so much, why don't you take this opportunity to take her away..."

"bass!"

However, before Li Haitang could finish his words, Liu Xunyi suddenly drew his sword from its sheath, and with lightning speed, he pressed the tip of the sword against Li Haitang's neck, and asked in a cold voice, "Is the man in black last night related to Longxiang Mountain?"

"You treat your lifesaver like this?" Li Haitang never expected that Liu Xunyi would turn hostile without warning, so he was stunned. He looked at Liu Xunyi with a gloomy face and said aggrievedly, "If it was Longxiang Mountain who did it, why would I shoot my own people? Besides, Longxiang Mountain has no grudges against the Mongols, so why would they make enemies for me for no reason?"

“God knows what Yun Zhuiyue is planning!” Liu Xunyi narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Li Haitang unkindly, “You’d better tell the truth, otherwise don’t blame me for being ruthless with my sword!”

"No wonder the rumors in the martial arts world are that Liu Xunyi is a selfish, cold-blooded hypocrite who repays kindness with enmity. Today it seems... it is indeed true." Li Haitang swallowed hard, suppressed the uneasiness in her heart, and said indignantly, "In the past, Luo Tianjin cultivated you, but you killed Luo Tianjin instead. Now, I took the risk to save you with good intentions, but you want to kill me without any reason. You really have no sense of morality..."

"Stop talking nonsense!" Liu Xunyi dropped his wrist, and the tip of the sword pressed towards Li Haitang's neck again. "If the bloodbath in Yunya Town has nothing to do with Longxiang Mountain, why did you suddenly appear?"

"I... I followed you here." Whether out of fear or shame, Li Haitang's voice trembled a little, "I followed you all the way from Lin'an." "What?"

"Recall it carefully. I saved you once in Lin'an's West Lake Langyuan." Li Haitang rolled his eyes and reminded, "That time you were blocked in the restaurant, and I shot and killed those who wanted to attack you..."

"What?" Liu Xunyi recalled for a moment, then suddenly realized what had happened and asked in surprise, "Were you the one who shot the arrow that day?"

"Of course!" Li Haitang nodded quickly, "Do you think it's your clever friend?"

"Playing smart?" Liu Xunyi asked suspiciously, "Are you talking about... Qin Wei?"

"That should be it!" Li Haitang curled his lips and said, "He threw a handful of copper coins on the street, causing passers-by to scramble for them. He deliberately created a chaotic scene. I don't know what his intention was..."

"So that's how it is." Liu Xunyi murmured thoughtfully, "I always thought it was Qin Wei who shot an arrow to save me that day, but it turned out to be you. And the 'little trick' Qin Wei mentioned was to throw money to create chaos and deliberately create the illusion that he brought 2,000 reinforcements..."

"Do you believe me now?" Li Haitang timidly pushed the Wuji sword against his neck with his fingers and laughed dryly, "Swords have no eyes, can you please take it away first? With your martial arts skills, it would be easy for you to kill me..."

After a moment's silence, Liu Xunyi slowly retracted the Wuji Sword and said hesitantly, "The arrows you use are unique, I already know them. But the arrows you used to save me and to send me the news were ordinary arrows, not the arrows you usually use."

"As expected of Liu Xunyi, you are a very observant person." Li Haitang said with a smile, "Fortunately, I am not stupid. I changed the arrow because I was afraid that you would find out my identity too early, so..."

"Forget it!" Liu Xunyi had no interest in Li Haitang's arrows and waved his hand impatiently to interrupt, "Why are you following me? Why are you protecting me in secret? If you were afraid that I would discover your identity, why did you show up tonight?"

"I followed you and protected you because I had to obey the order of the Holy Lord." Li Haitang was very happy and answered all of Liu Xunyi's questions. "As for why I showed up? It's because you are no longer the same as before. The wedding procession has dispersed, and you have lost the protection of elite soldiers and generals. Therefore, the road ahead is bound to be full of dangers. In this case, you definitely need my protection and you will definitely not chase me away. It will be meaningless for me to dodge and evade, so I might as well be honest with you. What's more, with your martial arts, you will find my whereabouts sooner or later. What if you accidentally mistake me for a bad guy with ulterior motives and kill me without giving me a chance to explain, then wouldn't I die unjustly?"

"Why did Yun Zhuiyue ask you to protect me?" Liu Xunyi frowned and thought, "I do have a lot of questions that I want to ask him, but I just can't find the right opportunity. Since you are here, why don't you tell me?"

"Me?" Li Haitang said self-deprecatingly, "You overestimate me. I am a nobody in Longxiang Mountain and my influence is not taken seriously. I can only follow orders. How dare I ask questions?"

"This……"

Li Haitang swore solemnly and looked firm, and it didn't seem like he was lying, so Liu Xunyi didn't force him.

"Um..." Liu Xunyi changed the subject and asked anxiously, "Is Miss Yun okay?"

"Miss Yun?" Li Haitang was startled. "Are you asking about Ping'er?"

"Yes." Liu Xunyi looked at Li Haitang excitedly, his tone full of anticipation and nervousness.

Liu Xunyi's strange behavior made Li Haitang wonder, and she asked, "Why do you care about Ping'er? What's her relationship with you?"

"This..." Liu Xunyi couldn't tell whether Li Haitang was good or evil, so he didn't dare to confess rashly. He evaded the question by saying, "I just thought Miss Yun looked kind, so I asked casually."

"Ping'er is fine, don't worry about her." Li Haitang seemed to still be afraid of Liu Xunyi's threat, so he spoke and behaved in a somewhat timid manner. "That Liu... Brother Liu, now that you know I have no ill will towards you, you shouldn't kill me again, right?"

Liu Xunyi stared at the uneasy Li Haitang without blinking, and remained silent for a long while before his expression relaxed and he uttered two words slowly: "Thank you!"

Just these one sentence made the uneasy Li Haitang feel relieved and suddenly enlightened.

"Since you tipped me off last night, you must know about the men in black." Liu Xunyi asked again, "Who ordered those men in black?"

"I recognized an acquaintance. I saw him at the martial arts conference." Li Haitang recalled, "Dong Xiaoer from Tianshan Jade Dragon Palace."

"That woman!" Liu Xunyi immediately thought of the masked woman from last night, and suddenly realized, "I was wondering why her voice sounded familiar. It turned out to be Dong Xiao'er from the Jade Dragon Palace... No! She has now defected to the Golden Sword Dock. In other words... the group of men in black last night were actually under the orders of Jin Fuyu?"

"And Xu Guangsheng, he was secretly colluding with Jin Fuyu." Li Haitang interrupted, "Without Xu Guangsheng's help, how could Jin Fuyu's people launch a surprise attack at the right time?"

"Good! Good!" Liu Xunyi nodded excitedly, "Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its creditor. As long as I report the secret collusion between Xu Guangsheng and Jin Fuyu to the court..."

"They won't believe it!" Li Haitang interrupted with a bitter look on his face, "Without any evidence, no one will believe your revelation. Instead, they will think you are shirking responsibility."

"How can there be no evidence? As long as we find Xu Guangsheng..."

"Xu Guangsheng is dead!" Li Haitang poured cold water on Liu Xunyi again, "Not only is Xu Guangsheng dead, but the 300 guards he led were also burned to charcoal. In other words, everything that happened in Yunya Town last night has now been burned to ashes and nothing remains."

……

(End of this chapter)