Chapter 923 Gentleman’s Agreement
"What did you say?"

Xunzhen's words were like a sword, piercing through his heart. Tang Afu's body froze, and his eyes were filled with shock. Of course, there was also a hint of suspicion in his shock.

"Compared to the sinister Jin Fuyu, Liu Xunyi is more trustworthy." Seeing Tang Afu wavering, Xunzhen took the opportunity to encourage him, "After all, you two have a mutual respect for each other..."

"Xunzhen, what nonsense are you talking about?" Xunzhen swore solemnly, which made Liu Xunyi embarrassed and anxious. He whispered in her ear, "I know nothing about the Tang family, let alone who the culprit is. How is it possible..."

"Nothing is difficult in this world if one sets his mind to it." Xunzhen stared at the uneasy Tang Afu without blinking, and interrupted in a low voice without turning his head, "Now is the best time to win over Tang Afu. If you get his help, it will be like adding wings to a tiger. As the saying goes, 'Opportunities are rare and never come back'. As for revenge for the Tang family... it won't be too late to discuss it slowly in the future."

"Talking big but not keeping your promises... How can a gentleman behave like this?" Liu Xunyi was shocked and angry, but he didn't dare to scold loudly. He looked cautious, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, which looked very funny.

"Who said 'it's not true'? Tang Afu has a miserable life, and he is a wanderer like you. Don't you want to help him?"

"Of course I do, but..."

"When a car reaches a mountain, there will always be a way; when a boat reaches a bridge, it will naturally go straight." Xunzhen interrupted Liu Xunyi's obsession impatiently, "Everything depends on human effort."

"But……"

"Wait!" Tang Afu suddenly sorted out the clues from his chaotic thoughts, looked at the two whispering with doubt, and said hesitantly, "Jin Fuyu is the owner of Jinjianwu after all, with extensive power and connections all over the world. But what is Liu Xunyi...? A wanted criminal of the court and a public enemy of the martial arts world. He can't even protect himself right now, so how can he help me?"

"Things change. Even though he has nothing now, it will take time for you to take revenge. You have waited for so many years, so why not wait another year?"

"Wait another year?" Tang Afu was stunned. "What do you mean?"

"Within a year, Liu Xunyi's status and influence in the Central Plains martial arts world will be no less than Jin Fuyu's. By then..."

"Hmph!" Xunzhen's eloquent speech made Tang Afu burst out laughing, and the look he gave them became more and more contemptuous, "You are talking nonsense, so shameless! Do you think the Central Plains martial arts world is your backyard? Do you think your status in the martial arts world is just boasted? Right now, Qingfeng is ordering all heroes in the world to kill Liu Xunyi without mercy. Not to mention that he has no chance to turn defeat into victory, even if he does, he can't turn the world upside down within a year. It's not that I want to boost others' ambitions and destroy your prestige. It's a luxury for Liu Xunyi to gain a foothold in the Central Plains martial arts world, let alone compete with Jin Fuyu?"

"The reason why the Central Plains martial arts world cannot tolerate Liu Xunyi is simply because he killed Luo Tianjin." Xunzhen smiled indifferently, "As the saying goes, 'Hearing is false, seeing is believing'. In fact, the people who killed Luo Tianjin were not Liu Xunyi at all, but Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao..."

"Xunzhen, stop talking nonsense!"

Seeing Xunzhen speak without restraint, Liu Xunyi's face suddenly changed and he interrupted him hastily.

Unfortunately, once words are spoken, they are like water spilled. It is too late to take them back now.

As expected, Xunzhen's blurt-out and Liu Xunyi's panic made Tang Afu dumbfounded, and he couldn't help but doubt in his heart.

"You...what did you just say?" Tang Afu asked in disbelief, "You said the person who killed Luo Tianjin was not Liu Xunyi? It was... Qingfeng and Ling Xiaoxiao..."

“Ouch!” Xunzhen’s expression changed, and he slapped his forehead hard with his hand, looking annoyed and regretful for his wrong words. Under Liu Xunyi’s resentful and angry gaze, he kept scolding himself, “It’s my fault! It’s my fault! It’s my fault that I was careless and told the truth… Even if the Merciless Swordsman was one of us, I shouldn’t have said that…”

Looking at Xunzhen who was pretending to be so pretentious, Liu Xunyi was filled with anger but had no place to vent it. After all, the matter was done, and it would be useless even if he was angry to death, vomited to death, or annoyed to death.

"Forget it! Forget it!" Xunzhen complained to himself, and said to Tang Afu who was full of suspicion, "Now that things have come to this, I will no longer hide it from you. In fact, Liu Xunyi is a scapegoat framed by Qingfeng and his daughter, just as the Song Dynasty court falsely accused him of selling out his country for personal gain."

"This……"

Although Tang Afu could not produce any evidence, for some reason, he believed Xunzhen's one-sided statement from the bottom of his heart. Instead of raising any doubts, he continued thoughtfully: "Even so, what right does Liu Xunyi have to challenge the leader of the martial arts world? Even if he reveals the truth to the world, I'm afraid few people will believe it..."

"Liu Xunyi can't fight against the leader of the martial arts world on his own. If the young king of Qin is willing to use the power of Western Liao to help him... the result will be very different?"

"Young King of Qin?" Tang Afu looked at Xunzhen, who was very secretive, with a look of confusion in his eyes.

"Since we have come straight to the point, there is no point in hiding it. To be honest, I risked my life to rescue Liu Xunyi just because of the order of the Young Qin King." Xunzhen said righteously, "We must not only save him, but also help him to redress his wrongdoings and gain a firm foothold in the Central Plains martial arts world. Tang Afu, you may not know much about the Young Qin King, but you should know Ren Wuya and Luo Tianjin very well. When they were alive... they were all proud to make friends with the Young Qin King. Having said that, you should understand what it means for Liu Xunyi to get the help of the Young Qin King."

"This..." "It is said that Master Xiao has been lukewarm about your revenge, and even disapproves of you acting rashly when you are still immature." Xunzhen turned a blind eye to Tang Afu's suspicion, and changed the subject, directly hitting his soft spot, "For so many years you have been alone, and have not received any help from Jueqing Valley. If not for this, you would not have been desperate and joined forces with Jin Fuyu. Today, as long as you are willing to advance and retreat with us, once Liu Xunyi gains power, we will do our best to help you track down the culprit and avenge your blood feud. I wonder...what do you think?"

"You want me to betray the Valley Master?" Tang Afu's eyes turned cold, "Impossible!"

"Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of asking you to betray Valley Master Xiao. I just hope to join forces with you temporarily so that we can both get what we want. Just like... your 'deal' with Jin Fuyu." Xunzhen smiled meaningfully, "As the saying goes, 'new clothes are worse than old ones, and old friends are worse than old ones.' Jin Fuyu is as cunning as a scorpion. If you are not careful in 'dealing' with him, you will lose everything. But Liu Xunyi is different. You should understand his character. Once he promises to seek revenge for you, he will never go back on his word."

"But Jin Fuyu and I have an agreement, so how can we change our minds?"

"When doing things... one should indeed finish from beginning to end." Looking at the hesitant Tang Afu, Xunzhen was not angry at all. Instead, he nodded repeatedly with understanding.

After a moment's hesitation, she cast a cunning look at the worried Liu Xunyi, and changed her tone: "Since the ruthless swordsman can't bear to kill you, are you willing to understand his difficulties?"

"Xunzhen, what are you planning now?" Liu Xunyi asked unhappily.

"Since Tang Afu has made a promise to someone, how can he not shoot you? I think... the person who tied the bell should be the one to untie it, so you should make the final decision for him."

"This..." Seeing Xunzhen go around in a big circle and return to the starting point, Liu Xunyi and Tang Afu were both stunned, "You let us..."

"Making a break doesn't mean a life-and-death battle." Xunzhen explained seriously, "Ruthless Swordsman, do you dare to make a bet with Liu Xunyi?"

"What are you gambling?"

"You are a ruthless swordsman, so let's bet on the sword in your hand!" Xunzhen thought, "Within ten rounds, let's see if Liu Xunyi can take your ruthless sword with his bare hands. If he can, it proves that you are far from his opponent and it is impossible for you to fulfill your promise to Jin Fuyu. It is God's will, you can't do anything about it, and he can't blame you. As a condition for losing the bet, you must join forces with us. If you can't... we won't force you. From now on, you can chase and kill him, sneak attack, ambush, even hidden weapons, poison, Liu Xunyi will accept it all, without any hesitation. How do you think?"

"Xunzhen, do you know what you are saying? For a swordsman, a sword is more important than life." Liu Xunyi turned pale and refused quickly, "Killing him is easy, but taking his sword..."

"What? Don't you have any confidence in yourself? I've placed a huge bet on you, so don't let me lose money." Xunzhen interrupted with pretended anger, "If you don't even have the ability to snatch the sword, how can you accomplish anything? If that's the case, I'd better tell Shao Qin Wang to give up on you and save him some energy."

"you……"

"I agree with Xunzhen's suggestion." Before Liu Xunyi could refute, Tang Afu spoke in a solemn tone, "Whether you can make me change my ways depends on whether you have the ability. Right now, you are not only powerless, but also bloody. The risk of joining forces with you is no less than joining forces with Jin Fuyu. Jin Fuyu is unpredictable in human nature, and you are unpredictable in the future. If you can take my Merciless Sword within ten rounds, I believe you have the ability to turn the tide. If not, what I said tonight is just nonsense, you and I will do our own thing and take care of ourselves."

"This……"

"We hit it off right away, it's settled!"

Xunzhen was not afraid of trouble and clapped her hands excitedly like an innocent little girl. She looked at the two of them with interest, then walked to the dilemma of Liu Xunyi and said meaningfully: "The ruthless swordsman is arrogant and arrogant. No matter how many sweet words you use, you can't touch his heart. If you want to win his respect, you have to... beat him! Beat him hard! Beat him mercilessly! Beat him until he is convinced! Tonight, the more you dampen Tang Afu's spirit, the more he will be devoted to you in the future. If I were you, I would definitely not hold back."

After saying that, Xunzhen reached out and gently patted Liu Xunyi's shoulder, who seemed to be deep in thought. He suddenly turned around and walked towards his thatched cottage without even looking back.

"where are you going?"

"It's a fight between masters, so don't be a spectator. Besides... I'm sleepy."

"This..." Xunzhen's answer made Liu Xunyi laugh and cry, "Weren't you looking forward to our competition just now?"

“Yes, I am looking forward to it, but what I am looking forward to is not the process, but the result.”

Before the laughter died down, Xunzhen had already stretched his waist lazily and disappeared leisurely into the darkness.

……

(End of this chapter)